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By kilax, January 6, 2010 5:40 am

What’s better than arriving home to a fresh cooked meal?

Nothing, really.

When I arrive home and Steven has a warm dinner on the stove, ready for me to eat, I feel like a pampered princess.

Do you like it when someone else cooks for you? Whose cooking is your favorite? Or do you prefer to make your own food?

Last night, Steven made a modified (because we were missing a few ingredients) version of Anna’s (newlywednewlyveg) Black Bean Fiesta Soup.

Here are the original ingredients, crossed out with what we substituted. Check out her site for the full recipe! I hope you don’t mind that we changed it up a bit, Anna!

• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 3 clove(s) garlic, chopped
  
• 1 tsp. olive oil
• 1 red bell pepper, chopped 1 1/2 T. Dried Red Pepper, 1 1/2 T. Dried Green Pepper
  
• 1 4. oz. can green chilies, chopped 1 1/2 Tsp Dried Jalapeño
• 1/8 tsp. cayenne pepper
• 1/2 tsp. chili powder 1/4 tsp. Ancho Chili Powder and 1/4 tsp. Chipotle Chili Powder
  
• 1 tsp. cumin
• 1/8 tsp. turmeric
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1/2 tsp. lime zest
• juice of one lime 1 Tsp. Lime Juice
  
• 3 2 15. oz. cans black beans, drained and rinsed
• ADDED: 1 15 oz. can pinto beans, drained and rinsed
  
• 3 cups 2 cans vegetable broth
  
• 1 15 oz. can corn
• ADDED: 1 15 oz. can diced tomatoes
  

Also, our favorite cornbread made a guest appearance. It went deliciously with this soup! I recommend trying the soup (either the original or our version). It was so tasty – perfect for a cold evening, and not too spicy!

Crap. I better be careful. I don’t want to turn into a food blogger. Stop making such tasty eats Steven! (no really, please don’t stop)

Time for another meme! Ayla (dainty vegan), Leah (why deprive), Kim (Adventures in Wanting) and Trayn Harder all gave me the Happy 101 award. Thank you! I am supposed to list 10 things that make me happy. Making this list was fun (I could have kept going past 10). I think I could do this everyday! Give it a try! Click “more” to read on.

Continue reading 'A twist on Anna’s Black Bean Fiesta Soup / Happy 101 Meme'»

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By kilax, December 29, 2009 5:14 am

According to the article “Lose the Weight: Are Your Friends a Fat Influence?” in the January issue of Women’s Health, our friends’ health decisions have a huge effect on us. So huge that the World Health Organization has listed them as a determinant of health, having as big of an influence as genetics and income level.

When I read that, I thought “Ha ha! That doesn’t affect me!”*

But then I started thinking outside of the realm of the article – about how my eating changes when I am around family. Then it hit – holy crap… their habits do affect me. When I see someone eating more, I feel like I should eat more too. When I see someone with a full plate, I feel like my plate should be full. It’s just an automatic response for me.

The article says that:

Consciously or unconsciously, people look to others when deciding what and how much to eat, and how much weight is too much.

Part of the reason we’re so easily swayed may be hardwired. Gregory Berns, M.D., Ph.D., a professor of psychiatry and economics at Emory University, found that when others influence us, the area of our brain that makes conscious decisions is not activated. Instead, the occipital lobe, where vision originates, lights up. Translation: We focus on what we see other people doing (like biting into a cupcake), not what we know is right for ourselves (biting into an apple).

So, our brains are working against us. I can believe that. I know that I often feel like I need to eat, when I am really just “fake hungry” and looking to fill some other void with food.

And unfortunately, I could relate to this:

In some cases, we may even seek out relationships that allow us to indulge, says Susan Bowerman, R.D., of UCLA’s Center for Human Nutrition. “Many women have ‘food friends’ they can call up to say, ‘I had a lousy day and some fried mozzarella sticks sure would make me feel better.'”

I had a “food friend” in college. I could pig out around her and not feel bad. Unfortunately, it didn’t have to be after a “lousy” day. It was often a weekly date!

Of course, the article mentions that this influence can be beneficial as well – your friends’ good habits can rub off on you. And in the end, it is your responsibility to make your own decisions about food, no matter how hard that is.

Ugh. It is hard. But it’s important to learn how to live in the real world and not some imaginary safe place in your head. As private as we want our food consumption to be, it really isn’t in our society.

What do you think about the article? Do you feel like your friends/family influence the way you eat? What are your tips for dealing with “fat influences**”?

*Mostly because I don’t have many friends to hang out with!
**Their term, not mine.

Comments (26)

By kilax, December 3, 2009 5:15 am

This summer, a friend said to me, “You look great! Better than you ever did in college!”

Um, thanks?

Not to bash this friend – I know she meant it as a compliment. But ouch! The truth HURTS! Most of my five years of college were spent very overweight. And you know why? I felt like I had NO control over my schedule (until my last year). And I was STRESSED out. No time to exercise + stress eating = overweight Kim.

Now, I have a more stable schedule and a very supportive husband. Of course it’s easier to fit exercise in now, and make healthier meals (that doesn’t mean I’m not overweight now, I most definitely AM!). I don’t all the time, but I try.

That comment from my friend made me think – when do I want to be in my best shape? Should it have been in college? Should it be now? Should it be a goal for the future?

Sadly, there was a time when I told myself “You have years to get healthy. Eat those sweets, who cares?!” Whoa, that is MESSED-UP thinking right there. And why would I even ask myself to set a goal to be in my best shape? I would like to get there, and stay there, forever. I want to be one of those ladies who’s 60 but looks like she’s 50 because she’s so fit and active.

Do you think about this? Do you feel like you’re in your best shape now, or where in the past? Are you working on getting there?

Side Note: Don’t forget to enter my Eating Animals Giveaway!

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By kilax, May 20, 2009 7:23 am

Maybe this is why people think I eat so healthy:

This is the fruit I brought to eat at work today – a peach, a gold delicious apple, a gala apple, an orange, a pink cripps apple, grapes and a banana*.

This is a completely normal amount of fruit to eat, right? Ha ha. How much fruit do you eat in a day?

As I am reseaching more and more about veganism, I am realizing I need to be very careful about my protein intake, especially since I exercise. I am sad to say, I think I am going to have to cut out some of the fruit and replace it with legumes and seeds; I need to “re-balance” my diet. Oh well. I’ll get used to it. (I hope!)

*That banana is not brown enough! But at least it did not explode like the one did from yesterday.

Comments (14)

By kilax, April 27, 2009 12:11 pm

Do you ever worry about becoming someone you don’t want to be? Maybe you have a specific person in mind, whose actions you simply abhor… or maybe it’s just a collection of traits that you worry about.

I have both – certain influential people in my life, as well as a list of various traits I try to avoid accruing.

Lately, I haven’t been giving my emotions the attention that they deserve. I’ve been very quick to react to things. Rather then stepping back, observing and evaluating, I hastily make decisions, just to try to keep up with the pace of things. I’ve become incredibly impatient. I don’t want to sit still or slow down for a minute.

This is adversely affecting me at work and at home. And I am beginning to worry more and more about turning into someone I don’t want to be.

I know who I want to be: happy, healthy, someone that people think of as “nice,” fun to be around, a good listener, hardworking, reliable, friendly, funny, intelligent, approachable, attractive, easy-going, patient, understanding…

But how do I get there? And QUICK! before I go to far in the other direction!

I’ve noticed that when I actually do slow down and take time to think about what is going on in my head (why I am reacting to things the way I am) I find the cause of the “problem.” But sometimes I just want to ignore it. I just want to avoid it. How awful is that? Here, let me just shut my brain off for awhile and go on autopilot. Let’s see where that gets me. I don’t like where that gets me.

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By kilax, March 8, 2009 8:32 am

Since I’ve been dwelling so much on how much sugar is in all the granola and protein bars I eat, Steven and I decided to make some of our own.

The base has whole wheat flour, wheat germ, oatmeal, eggs, honey, apple butter and vanilla.  We split the base so I could add fruit to one half and Steven could add almonds and fruit to his. After you mix it all up, you put it into a pan and bake it in the oven.

I started by adding dried prunes and apricots to mine…

…then decided it need some red, so I threw in some cranberries.

Steven’s bars are the thick ones on the left, mine are on the right.

The “Fruity” bars have about 115 calories per bar.

The “Nutty” bars have about 180 calories** per bar.

The bars have a “healthy” taste to them. They are soft, but a bit chewy. I like that they aren’t very complicated, and were super easy to make. I think I am going to wrap them up in plastic wrap to eat throughout the week.

I keep feeling like I should apologize for dwelling so much on exercise, health, nutrition/food, and body image. But, writing about those things is kind of like therapy for me. It gets redundant, I know. Thanks for sticking around.

*I was going to call them “granola bars,” but they don’t actually have any granola in them. Oatmeal bar sounds like a dessert!

**These bars were higher in calories because we made them thicker and cut them larger.

Side Note: Did anyone else see Watchmen this weekend? Did anyone else wonder how, during the fight scene in the jail, Silk Spectre II could possibly keep her hair out of her face while fighting?