great googly moogly

i am so sorry i've been MIA. i haven't forgotten any of you guys <3
life has been a little crazy this past month...and you know the feeling where it is about to get crazier?
i have that. i'm qute sure that 2011 is going to be a whirlwind from here on out.

there have been so many secret projects/ideas floating around my head...
and so many fun things to share...aside from my usual craziness of cooking, organizing, scrapbooking and most recently, publishing my books and knitting.

me and the girls were discussing it: we want to do EVERYTHING-- but there is not 72 hours in one day, as we'd like there to be. well, as we NEED there to be.

there are to-do lists everywhere and they seem to grow legs and follow me around. i have given up trying to keep up with them and have taken great pleasure in at least marking items off of them- whichever ones they are.

i have been trying to stick to my 'kind diet' diet...and i do as much as i can but i've found that being raised in my family- it's kind of hard. seems as if when i'm home i am more pone to being vegan/vegetarian than i would be if i was still living with my family. of course, when my blood sugar drops- watch out!

imagine my happiness when i discovered an article about Alicia Silverstone in Redbook magazine! yay yay!

she's just amazing---and she's expecting. yay!
 of course, she talks about some of my fave food- bok choy, kale and collards. yum in the tum.

i have not done my monthly lists, (sorry) but am in the works of my may list...maybe it'll be more of  a seasonal thing. i like that idea best.

hopefully, the weather will get warmer and we can (egads!) start being a wee bit more productive.

in the meantime:

writing more books/stories, ideas, lists...

here i am!

spending time with pup and family...

knitting...

and generally just getting things done.

what have y'all been up to?

so happy

hi and happy sunday, bloggie friends :)

as i write this to you all, i am winding down with some blackberries and a cup of chamomile saffron tea going over the events of the weekend. spending some time with my friends was the downtime i needed to feel refreshed. i am truly blessed to have such happy, amazing (and busy!) people in my life.

we talked about life, love, doggies and food. our new travel destinations and ideas, plans and whatever has been going on while we've been snowed in! i love them so, so much.

this week, i am hoping to get out there and get some things done that i've said i was going to do on my blog and post about them...which brings me to my february list (do you believe that it's the 6th already? Geez)

Let's look at my progress, which is not as great as i think it should be...


YAY:

 

finish writing two of my novels
i am not going to lie and say that i have done much in this department. i was feeling totally unmotivated this week to even try to write down a word, fearing that i would ruin the harmony of my books' ideas. but i got amazing ideas this weekend!

finish illustrations for my second children's book
this item i have been working on diligently, with some advice from my good friends who are much more advanced than i am in the illustrating/drawing/painting realm.

stay in touch
love, love, love my friends. and i am apologizing to them in advance (i'm sorry!) for sending you out old cards, letters, and holiday greetings from yester-year. lol

spread joy
i am definitely going to try to spread some more joy. hopefully we don't get hit with more snow and ice to have that happen.

 say i love you more
this is the goal i've kept up best. i kind of think that i'm driving poor LML crazy...

20 minute activity three times a week
yep. activity is all that's been going on while i've been tucked away in this house- there is ALWAYS something that pops up that i need to do.

wash windows
not yet.

wash walls
not yet.

clean grout
not yet, but i am prepared.

scour pots and pans-
i shined one up real nice, and will post the pictures tomorrow!

polish wood
not yet

research my spring activities
i have SO started this item!

donate, donate
i am setting up donations and  ideas for sites i would like to volunteer at. i am uber-excited about this.

cook/bake new things (this is where 'the kind diet' resolution comes in)
on the menu tomorrow is my next try for lentil soup via the kind diet. i really love this book and can't wait to delve into it a little more.

begin making appointments for activities in springtime (march and on)

 feb. 14th begins my first appointment on the list. i am so excited.

i am just so happy today!

lots of love and enjoy the rest of the weekend!

(i am not watching the superbowl, but i AM squirming while my LML watches Taboo. Eeps.)

following the kind diet- menu

yesterday, my mushy puppy slept all night...and then from 7 am til 3pm.

again.

i was bored, so i went on a cooking-kick

i took the leftover quinoa from my pantry and decided to use it

because it makes me feel better

and i love it

then, i cleaned (very good) the spinach.

and sauteed it with e.v.o.o and garlic.

mmmmm

and i mixed it up and ate it.

i felt better :)

Alicia's Shopping list

(as written on Oprah.com, January 21, 2010)

 

When Alicia Silverstone went vegan, she was afraid she'd never have a good meal again. "I ended up realizing I'm eating even better food than I ever was eating before," she says. "You don't have to sacrifice taste one bit."

 

 

 

Follow Alicia on a trip to the grocery store.

 

 

 

Not sure if you could make the change? Just try her list of vegan must-haves. "I'm going to show you all the things that I love and basically just show you that you can flirt with a healthy lifestyle. It doesn't have to be scary."

 

 

 

 

 

The List

 

• Follow Your Heart cheese
• Vegenaise
• Earth Balance butter
• Field Roast sausages
• Tempeh bacon
• Sunspire chocolate chips
• Annie's Naturals Goddess organic salad dressing
• Brown rice penne pasta
• Organic olive oil
• Balsamic vinegar
• Gardein Chick'n Scallopini (meatless)
• Amy's Organics soups
• Whole grain rice
• Organic EdenBlend Rice & Soy Beverage
• Hemp milk
• Leafy greens
• Maple syrup as a sugar alternative
• Rice Dream Mud Pie (Mint is Alicia's favorite)
• Whole grains
• Newman's Own Organics Dairy-Free Newman-O's cookies
• Luna Bar (Alicia likes the chocolate peppermint stick flavor)

what will i think of next

good morning :)

i love carmen sandiego- and if you've been hanging around here a while...

you'd know that she's a big "role model" of mine...

even though she's fictional.

she runs around like a chicken without a head

to steal or manage a heist...

i run around like a chicken without a head,

to get everything done before i leave

to go somewhere else!

this year i've decided:

i'm going to clean up our food intake a little more

and follow

Alicia Silverstone's, The Kind Diet.

LML gave me the inspiration-

when i was having a bad cooking week.

i was on my cycle, OK?!

geez.

so here's the plan:

•  3 of Alicia's recipes a week
• a mix of my Greek Heritage's/Mediterranean "Diet" every week. They've been passed down to me by my family and LML's "should have been chefs" family
• how we faire along the way.

it won't be so difficult. like i've said, we've changed a lot of our eating habits and lost a bucket load of weight.
over 40 lbs. in the past 3 years is pretty much a good loss, don't you think?

obviously, frequent fruit markets and greek food stores quite often.
we're willing to also expand our horizons and venture into different "supermarkets" for fun.

we're also very keen on making our own concoctions and creations, so join us for the ride!

please note: we are not vegans. we eat a lot of vegetables, which are the mainstaple to our diet. we eat meat or chicken, organic, maybe twice a week for LML and maybe once for me. i am lactose intolerant so i've been staying away from dairy products as much as possible...so far, so good! and, we're sushi addicts. we will never give up a seafood meal because we were raised on eating fish. Especially since our parents came here from Greece.

the following photos are from our meal test...

the above photo is a little blurry, so these were our ingredients:

• extra virgin olive oil from LML's farm in Greece
• Green Peppers
• Mushrooms! Portobello, please.
• zucchini sliver's
• onions
• garlic (make sure onions garlic and onions are carmelized before you throw in the rest)
• oregano
• sea salt, a pinch
• pepper

so we threw everything after we sauteed the garlic and onions in non-stick wok.

and waited until they were the perfect consistency

and all the yumminess melded together.

then, we sauteed broccoli rabe with garlic in the extra virgin olive oil....

and that's what it looked like. yum yum...

oh yeah! in that vegetable mixture we made...

we also threw in tofu!

that is what the final product looked like. of course, i stuck my fill in two wraps, and LML just enjoyed eating it without the wrap-ness.

love at first bite.

i call it, tofu-stir fry medley (wrap optional!)

so there it is, my friends. we will be going around the world with our menu's as well as via my blog and nuttiness.

if you have any ideas, please throw them my way.

alicia, you are an inspiration!!

thanks for visiting me, everyone!
happy wednesday fun to all!

love me,
the globetrotting gamine