This weekend brought many interesting events and discoveries - everything from sewing class at Sew Crafty to a giant/swollen knee to fried tofu yumminess to giant cupcakes. But what I'm most excited about as I blog are 2 new sites I ran into that I'm already using like crazy:
Open Source Food (www.opensourcefood.com) - A really gorgeous social networking site centered around recipe sharing, food rating and cooking. It's a very new site, but is already populated by some really amazing recipes and members.
Almost better than the food (to me at least) are the terrific photos members post - it is truly a visually pleasing site, which is important to visual learners like me who miss not watching cooking shows to get the true idea of how to create a dish. The membership base is pretty international, bringing in a variety of different cuisines and new ingredients to try out - really super.
The Daily Plate (www.thedailyplate.com) - A simple site to help keep track of your caloric intake and exercise regiments. Have a goal weight by bikini season? The site guides you through what you should be eating and how you should be active to help you make it there.
They have different features for paying members, but none of them are really what I need at this point. The site's super powerful search feature makes it easy to search for restaurant dishes, major brands and other more commonly consumed foods. If you can't find what you've eaten during the day, it's no problem to add your own item - with calories and fat info required to help other searchers too.
One of the week's nicest surprises was the addition of video to Flickr - everyone with me now: woo hoo!
However, this great news certainly did not trump the excitement of completing our Master Cleanse - 12 days of a strict lemonade fast, a mighty mighty challenge. We came out on the other side very well - much lighter in body and more present in spirit. Completely 100% worth it - and not just because I can now fit into the beautiful black velvet dress I bought for Dr. Sketchy next week.
If you are interested in doing the Master Cleanse prepare yourself for the following:
Detox is an unpleasant thing - When going through the first couple of days on your Cleanse you're going to feel blah. Some people experience detox symptoms more than others, but I was hit pretty hard with a migraine, fatigue and just all around yuckiness Day 1 and 2. Here's a great article on the physical effects of detoxing, just to get the point across.
Solution: Start on the weekend and be ready for a nice couple of days at home to relax. No social events, no weekend guests, just chill. And seriously, don't be a wuss and quit if you start feeling rotten as what you've put in your body is the cause of all this. Suck it up, be good to yourself for once and move onward. It's all temporary you big sissy.
Drinking lemonade for 12 days is boring - I was rarely ever actually hungry while on the cleanse (the one time I was starving was when I hadn't had a glass of lemonade in a while), but the boredom really gets to you especially if you love to cook and love a variety of foods.
Solution: This may seem weird, but the fact that we still were cooking for the short person (19 months is obviously not an age to start Master Cleansing :) ) and were in regular contact with food was a huge help. Washing, prepping, cooking and smelling really good food made me feel less deprived. Plus an empty refrigerator really depresses me.
Let's talk about coatings - I've heard about getting your tongue and teeth coated during fasts when reading some things about Muslims fasting during Ramadan. Apparently in some cultures, having a tongue coated in white (yah, it's gross) means you're not cheating so it's like a badge of honor.
While I never exactly displayed this badge publicly, it was interesting to see my tongue go from white-white coating to nearly perfectly healthy pink by the end of my fast. I'm not sure, but I think this coating has something to do with your colon cleaning out. Gross but great, but then again I am a mommy now so very little can possibly disgust me that much.
Solution: Brush your teeth and your tongue regularly - but stick to a nice natural toothpaste if for some reason you're still using Colgate or whatever other foul chemically gross brand your grocery store has suckered you into. Have you ever read those ingredients? Shameful. I like Tom's of Maine natural whitening toothpaste and Ella uses one of their kids gel toothpastes too. In fact, she likes it so much she tries to eat it every night, but that's another story.
Not everybody is going to 'get' what you're doing - If you're like me, there are few people that ever 'get' anything that I do so this wasn't really a problem. But it is something to think about. It takes some hardcore willpower to fast for almost 2 weeks and if your environment isn't supportive of your decision you have a whole new set of challenges.
Solution: If you can, fast with a buddy or (better yet) your significant other or roommate or family member. You'll need the support and it is incredibly nice to have someone to commiserate with. PLUS! it's nice being able to take turns making lemonade during a busy day or being able to split store runs for maple syrup, etc.
As with many other things, knowledge really is power. If your Uncle Job-Bob (you know, the relative who thinks that dinner without an 80% meat content really isn't a meal?) is getting freaky on you because he thinks you're turning into an anorexic tree hugger, know about the mechanics of what it is that you're doing.
Be able to explain why you are ingesting the specific lemonade ingredients, what they specifically do for your body and what your overall goal is for the fast. You probably won't convince him to join you, but hopefully he'll back off - even if it's because you had to mention your colon a few more times than he was comfortable with :)
I had a great experience with the Master Cleanse. It was probably one of the hardest things I've done in a long time as most of it really is a mental thing. My goal is to fast this way at least once a year, maybe twice a year if I get a better hang of it. Juggling personal and work events/meals is tricky -- and sometimes just planning each day's lemonade rations gets a little challenging early in the morning. But this can all be overcome.
Honestly, I thought I would drop more weight than I did (I think I lost a total of 9 pounds, a number of which will come back quite soon as it was water weight) but I'm not bummed at all as that wasn't really the point. In fact, I am positive I would have lost more weight had I stuck with the nightly salt water flushes (worth a blog post in themselves, ugh), but I was weak on this point and stuck with my senna tea instead.
So as of today, we have transitioned back into eating 'real' foods again. I feel good and much more in control of my eating habits and future weight goals - this is a great place to be. Drop me a line if you're starting - I would love to hear about your adventures. :)
Also, mad props to Javier as he was very much an inspiration in getting me to do this crazy Cleanse to begin with. He just completed his second cleanse last week and has some amazing healing stories related to his fasting. It is phenomenal the waste that we put and keep in our bodies - sometimes you don't even realize all the bad you do yourself through crappy American food and lack of exercise until you get rid of it. Yay for Japi!
Martha Stewart's Cupcake Week start on Monday (March 31st), so get ready for some frosted happiness on the boob tube. Scheduled cupcakes: - Monday - Martha's coconut cupcakes - Tuesday - a special April Fool's Day cupcake from cookbook
author and baker Karen Tack - Wednesday - Meyer lemon
raspberry cupcakes - Thursday - chocolate graham
cracker cupcakes with toasted marshmallows and adorable cupcake pops - Friday - Mexican chocolate-pudding-filled cupcakes
Yes, I did just list days of the week and their corresponding cupcakes and, yes, apparently you did take the time to read them. Behold the magical power of the Cupcake. Resistance is futile.
If you are uber-talented, you can submit your own cupcake creation to the 'Cutest Cupcake' contest. Thanks to my Mom for looking out for my sweet tooth and sharing this with me!! :)
This post is about 1) super duper chocolate cupcakes and 2) making changes within that may or may not make one outwardly super duper.
I like cupcakes. A lot. But the problem with cupcakes (which I absolutely love, or did I already mention that?) is that they are filled with dairy, sugar and sweet-tasty-glorious-fat. In short, cupcakes = tempting waistline busting time bombs. How depressing.
Enter the amazing cookbook Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World and, as of Monday, enter the amazing Vegan Molten Chocolate Cupcakes (seen above). They are tasty, but filled with things that make your body happy like zucchini, spinach, flax seed meal and sunflower oil. HEALTHY! CUPCAKES! YUM!
Which brings me into the entire idea of changing what's within to be tastier and more lovely on the outside. Adam and I are going on the Master Cleanse starting Saturday, ditching our tofu-eating ways for 12 days straight for spring water, lemon juice, maple syrup and cayenne.
We are a little scared and a lot excited. I think that one of the biggest gifts we can give to the Bunn as parents is being healthy healthy healthy - plus we'll have way more energy to dance to David Bowie, which Ella is quite into right now. Wish us luck and be sure to check in on our updates as they come.
My mom bought me the incredible Vegan Cupcakes will Take Over the World cookbook for Valentine's Day (see Isa's cupcake blog here). So far I have only made the zesty drool-inducing Orange Chocolate cupcakes (with yummy orange pudding filling and chocolate ganache topping) and we.are.hooked. Next time I'm going to use some Grand Marnier and make 5 billion of them, so they will last longer than half a day in our house.
I'm also drooling over this Cupcake Courier, as I am now determined to share the cupcake love with everyone in my world.
Adam and I have a cookbook crush on Isa Chandra Moskowitz as she is the hip vegan lady that gave us Vegan with a Vengeance which in turn gave us Jerk Seitan and other amazing recipes that have changed our culinary lives.
I want a (vegan) cupcake with absurd amounts of creamy delicious frosting. Right now.
Shopping at Kroger's, reaching for generic brand popsicles, discover Jones Soda Frozen Soda Pops instead, leave store in a much more satisfied frame of mind.
Jones Soda Frozen Soda Pops are the biz-omb. The Cherry Soda flavor leaves my mouth garishly red, just as a good popsicle should.
These frozen beauties will hopefully (temporarily) help to curb the Girl Scout cookie feeding frenzy at my house. Helloooo?? $3.75 a box ain't cheap.
I have sung the praises of the Adagio Tea company before - especially after receiving an ingenuiTea maker and both black and green loose tea set.
Mighty Foods has reminded me of their new, beautiful Display Teas - gorgeous 'blooming' tea flowers that unfurl in a steaming cup of water for a beautiful presentation (not to mention taste).
My lovely friend Rebe brought back several similar kinds of tea buds from China a couple of years ago - they were an unassuming tan when dropped into the cup, but a gorgeous pink when blossoming. Such a treat to sip on!!!
*** One sad thing to note, Adagio Tea's new ingenuiTea design is not nearly as sturdy and reliable as their original. The clear acrylic handle and base look way cooler, but I've suffered through a couple of leaky pots of steamy hot tea pouring down the lunch table. Not fun.
R.H. Phillips has gone 100% screw-top, as they are apparently living in fear of cork taint. I've read a couple of articles on similar topics and decided to just go ahead and try it, which is silly b/c we've been collecting corks since forever in hopes of 'making something cool'.
Like what? Funny you should ask -- as R.H. Phillips has a website (Cork Amnesty) dedicated to a multitude of projects involving all of your old cork. I like the idea about creating beautiful cork baseboards the best.
Is anyone else obsessed with visiting random food and other product websites???
Shopping at Kroger's, reaching for generic brand popsicles, discover 
