I've Moved!

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Luna's Living Kitchen | Restaurant Review | Charlotte, NC

Recently I, along with one of my friends who is also a nutrition major, attended the North Carolina Dietetic Association's quarterly meeting in Charlotte, NC. While in Charlotte, I decided to check out a restaurant that I had heard great reviews about. Luna's Living Kitchen is mostly raw and vegan, so obviously I was in love with it before even going to the restaurant. The atmosphere was a wonderful; quiet, dimmed lighting, comfortable seating, and great service.

After feeling overwhelmed at looking at the huge menu filled with delicious sounding food and drinks, we each settled on what we were going to order. I got the Mock-Tuna Salad Sandwich with a side of Broccoli Waldorf and Hanna got the Pad Thai dish. Our food came out in less than ten minutes, and we both tried to savor the delicious food but it was so good we quickly devoured it. I love going to vegan restaurants, specifically raw vegan because it never takes very long for the food to arrive. Because the chefs aren't dealing with meat, or sometimes stoves/ovens it takes very little time to prepare which is the best when you're really hungry!
My sandwich was made with two slices of vegan bread, I'm not sure if they make this in-house but it was delicious regardless. Inside the two slices of bread was some cashew mayonnaise, I wasn't too sure about this part of the sandwich because I've never enjoyed real mayonnaise but surprisingly it was so yummy and didn't taste at all like real mayo instead it was light and creamy. There were also some crisp lettuce leaves and a few slices of tomato.

My favorite part was the huge scoop of the "tuna salad." Before giving up meat, I had never even tried tun, so I wasn't sure what to expect for this mock version of it. It was amazing! The consistency was creamy and hearty, and I loved the texture of it in the sandwich along with the other ingredients.  The broccoli salad was also delicious, and had the taste of both sweet and savory: my favorite combination. Hanna let me try some of her pad thai which consisted of raw spiraled sweet potato and zucchini and a thai peanut sauce. It was also delicious, and the flavors were spot on. For dessert, we got raw vegan ginger snap cookies that were incredible. It brought me right back to fall time, yum! 
Overall, the service was great along with the food, and the atmosphere was perfect for a nice, relaxed meal. I would definitely recommend Luna's Living Kitchen to anyone that is in the Charlotte area, it is great for everyone even if you're not vegan the food is delicious! I can't wait to go back and try something else.
Check out their website at http://www.lunaslivingkitchen.com 

My Experience Living Off Food Stamps

I am currently taking a Community Nutrition class for my undergraduate major. In this class we learn about the nutrition needs in a community. We have recently been covering food insecurity, as well as the government, state, and local programs/agencies that help with the huge population of people that are food insecure. As part of our course, we are required to participate in the SNAP Challenge. The SNAP challenge is essentially living off of food stamps. We are only required to participate in the challenge for three days. In these three days, we were only allowed to eat off of $4.10/day totaling $12.30 for the entire three days. We were not allowed to eat any food that we already had, or accept food from anyone.

Me and one of my friends in my class decided that we would put our money together, and split everything. We went to Harris Teeter to buy our groceries, and spent quite a lot of time in the store searching for good deals, and comparing prices. We also had to keep track of how much everything was going to be, so that we didn't have to put anything back at the register. After nearly an hour, we decided we had gotten everything we needed and just hoped that we had done all the math correctly. As the cashier was scanning all our items, we were anxiously watching the total get closer and closer to our budget of  $24.60. Finally, the cashier said, "and your total is $24.59," we were ONE PENNY under budget. We couldn't hide our excitement, we did it! Now, the hard part was going to be eating only that food for the next three days. Both of us had a busy week ahead of us, including our first exam of the semester.

Our combined food ended up looking like not as much once we started dividing everything up, but we still had lots of confidence in our food choice decisions. We tried to choose foods that were filling, and that had a lot of bulk/fiber to keep us feeling full. But we also "splurged" on some luxury foods like avocados and coffee.

This is what I ended up with:
4 bananas
2 apples
5 stalks of celery
8 carrots
1/2 bunch of kale
5 Tbsp. peanut butter
3 sweet potatoes
1 avocado
1 can black beans
1 can garbanzo beans
1 can diced tomatoes
1/2 package of brown rice
4 cups oats
1/2 tin of coffee

Day One:
On the first day I woke up with an intense migraine, one of those migraines that are so bad it makes you nauseous. This happens to me maybe once or twice a year, and for some reason it just had to be on the first day of the SNAP challenge. I decided to spend most of the day in bed, thankfully my one class was cancelled and it was snowing/blizzarding too bad for me to drive anywhere. This migraine was unfortunately a blessing in disguise, because all I felt like eating was bananas and oatmeal; two of the foods that I got the most of. For breakfast I had one banana, and 1 cup of oats with a teaspoon of peanut butter. That was enough for my stomach to handle until later in the afternoon when I woke up from a long nap and had another bowl of oats with a banana and an apple. After my migraine started to fade away, I knew I needed to eat some more food, so I roasted one of my sweet potatoes, paired it with some rice and enjoyed that for dinner. Later that night I ate some celery as well, hoping that I would feel much better in the morning and be able to eat a lot more.

Day Two:
Day two was much better than day one. I woke up with no migraine, and ready to start a new day on the SNAP challenge feeling much more like myself. The night before I had planned out exactly what I was going to eat, and even felt good enough (or maybe it was an excuse to not study for my test) to cook a Mexican dish with my black beans, tomatoes, rice, and kale and whip up some hummus with my garbanzo beans. Those two things were on my menu for day two of the challenge. I woke up and was pretty hungry, especially for my oatmeal and coffee. Oatmeal is something I have almost every morning, so I'm definitely used to it. I typically put flax seeds, almond milk, and pumpkin seeds in my oats so on the challenge I've definitely been missing all of the extra little things I usually include in my dishes. So for breakfast, I had 1 cup of dried oats made with water, and a banana, cinnamon, and a tablespoon of peanut butter all mixed in. I paired that with a strong cup of French pressed coffee, and I was good to go.

I had three classes following breakfast, so I decided to pack myself one of my apples, about two tablespoons of hummus, three carrots, and two stalks of celery. I definitely underestimated my hunger during those next four hours, because all of those snacks did not fill me up at all (even though I tried to eat every last bit of the apple, I think I may have eaten a seed by mistake!). I wasn't lightheaded or anything, but my stomach was definitely grumbling most of the afternoon. But I knew I had a big bowl of of my Mexican dish I had made waiting for me at home. I also still had two big sweet potatoes, so I could enjoy one of those as well.
As soon as I got home I made a big plate of the rice, beans, kale, and tomato dish I had made, topped it off with some celery leaves and avocado and I was in heaven. It looked pretty delicious if I do say so myself. I think one thing I've learned in the challenge is to enjoy the little things, one being making food feel/look good. I decided to use some of the celery leaves not only for it's nutrients, but also for it's color and crunch. Because the dish was rather bland, I knew the celery leaves would give it some freshness, which it definitely did. I ate my dinner around 5:30, so by 7:00 I was hungry once again. I think this has been the biggest struggle for me, because I don't really eat meals but instead snacks throughout the day. I've been having to learn to make things last, and to eat small bits of food instead of eating it all at once. So instead of having the sweet potato with the Mexican dish, I decided to wait and eat it later so I would feel like I was eating more food. I also had a lab report I had to write, so I decided to fix a cup of coffee to not only keep me a little more satiated, but also to keep me awake.

Day Three:
Day three went about the same as day two. The last day seemed to last forever though, all I could think about was going grocery shopping and stocking back up on all my favorite foods that I've missed. I ate about all the same foods on day three as I did on day two. I think that was the most challenging part of the challenge, was eating the same thing over and over again. It was definitely difficult to crave something, and not be able to eat it. I like to eat what I crave, and feel like my body needs rather than just eat something because it's on the "menu" for the day. In the three days I really missed my fresh fruit. Fruit is a huge part of my diet, so only having five bananas and two apples as my fruit for three days was very difficult.

Overall Experience:
My overall experience with the SNAP challenge was about what I expected. I really got a grasp at what it feels like to be limited on what I can buy, eat, and cook. While on the challenge I ate foods that I typically would eat, but just on a smaller scale. Some people may ask, if I could eat healthily on a SNAP budget, why can't everyone? Why is obesity and food insecurity such a common occurrence?

 Well there are many reasons for why it is difficult for SNAP recipients to eat healthily on food stamps but there are two main reasons I want to address. One is food deserts, or places where affordable, fresh, and healthy foods are difficult to obtain. In our class we've learned about some SNAP recipients may have to travel (by their own car, bus, train, subway, or by foot) two hours round trip to have access to fresh foods. This is a mind blowing fact, because most of us take driving five minutes to the grocery store for granted, myself included. This challenge would've been ten times more difficult if I had no access to fresh food, or even healthy foods. Another reason is lack of education. Not only have I done lots of self-educating about nutrition, but I am a nutrition major in college, so I have a basic understanding about healthy eating and nutrient intake. But most people don't have that kind of understanding about nutrition. This makes it difficult to shop healthily and buy healthy foods on such a small budget. Health is not the number one priority to a lot of people on SNAP, they just need food, and to stay under budget. 

If you are at all interested in food insecurity, or food deserts, check out the documentary A Place At The Table (on Netflix). This documentary makes you see first had what millions of people who are food insecure go through every single day. It definitely makes you rethink a lot of what we take for granted. It also shows that this is happening in OUR country, in OUR backyards. This should NOT be happening in America, the country that is known as being the richest country in the world. The sad part of all of this is how big the problem is, because money and politics exists, this problem unfortunately may never be solved.

My Thoughts on Dairy & Why I Went Dairy Free

We are conditioned our whole lives to believe that milk is good for us, and that it's essential to our diets. Between all the advertisements, promotions, and doctors, almost everyone is pushing milk as a healthy beverage vital for proper nutrition. We assume that all of this is true, and so most of us begin drinking cow's milk as soon as we are weaned from our mother's milk. Since becoming vegan and doing research on the meat and dairy industry, I've come to realize how wrong all of this is. Not only morally wrong, but chemically and biologically wrong.

Let's first think about how it is biologically wrong for us to be drinking milk from a cow. So we are born, and almost immediately begin drinking milk from our mother. This breastmilk is perfectly designed to have all the nutrients and calories to sustain life, and help us to develop. We drink our mother's milk, the person that gave us life. Cow's milk, on the other hand, is not from our mother; it's from a different mammal. In fact, it's milk that comes from a mammal that gives birth to a 825 lb. baby. A calf is typically weaned from its mother's milk between 7-8 months of age, as are humans. But we as humans continue to drink cow's milk. Humans are the only mammal that continues to drink milk after infancy, and we also are the only animal that consumes milk from another animal. We don't see dogs drinking milk from a cow, or cats drinking milk from a dog. It's not biologically normal.

When we are born we have an enzyme in our bodies called lactase. This enzyme is to help us digest the sugars in our mother's milk, lactose. As we age, our bodies no longer need this enzyme, due to us weaning off of breastmilk and consuming other foods. So chemically, our bodies are not made or fully capable of digesting milk our entire lives due to the decreased production of lactase. This is one of the reasons why lactose intolerance is so prevalent, people have lost the enzyme/ability to digest the sugars in milk.


"But milk is the only way you can get calcium." This is a common question that comes with an argument against drinking cow's milk. This is completely untrue; calcium can be found in hundreds of different plant-based foods. Not only that, but the calcium in milk (especially when pasteurized, which is required in many states) is barely absorbed in the body. Yes, there is nearly 300 mg of calcium in a cup of milk, but there are many studies that show that very little of it is absorbed. Aside from absorption, milk actually has been shown to cause us to LOSE bone mass. "Drink milk for strong bones" is a common phrase we all hear growing up, but because of the acidity in milk, calcium stores are depleted when we drink it.


Although dairy is an entire "food group" on the USDA MyPlate, that doesn't mean that it is good for us. The dairy industry pays big bucks for that spot on the updated Food Pyramid. The USDA includes dairy, and pushes it because they get paid by the dairy industry to do so. The government spends about $30 billion dollars in subsidies for animal products, encouraging meat and dairy farmers to produce as much as possible. Unfortunately, the government spends barely any money to subsidize farmers that grow fruits and vegetables. The government and the USDA are on board with promoting animal products because that's how they can make money; not because it's good for us.

It has become socially acceptable to drink cow's milk, and we have distanced ourselves so much from the actual process of drinking milk from a cow's nipple it almost makes me sick to think about it. We just see milk in a jug at the grocery store, we never think once about how we are drinking from a cow's udder, just like a baby calf. Cows produce milk for their babies, but in order for us to drink cow's milk it has to be taken from a baby calf, which is often killed, or pumped with hormones to "grow" big enough to then be slaughtered and used as meat.When we drink cow's milk, we are drinking milk that doesn't belong to us.


We don't think about this, because we don't have to see it, hear about it, or even process it. Really, whether you like animals or not, this is wrong on all levels. Most everyone doesn't want to look at photos of where their milk actually comes from, but at the end of the day it comes from a tortured, hormone-pumped, sick, depressed, unhappy animal. It took some research and a little common sense to make me realize how wrong I was for not only drinking cow's milk, but for financially contributing to the dairy industry. Whether or not you believe in drinking cow's milk, the way it is generally obtained is enough reason to stop buying and drinking it. I can get protein, calcium, and nutrients from other sources; there is no need for me to be drinking cow's milk and contributing to that type of cruel, money-obsessed industry.

Maybe all of this is a little graphic, or a little disturbing to think about, but it's all true. Often times vegans get a bad reputation for forcing our opinions on others, or being hateful, or judgmental, but most of us just want to inform people about why we are vegan. Sometimes it takes some daunting photos, or images to make us really think about things, and open our eyes to the truth. Being educated and informed on what we're putting into our bodies is something we should all be concerned with.

Dairy is something I cut out of my diet nearly a year ago, and I am so happy that I did. I feel so much better, both physically and mentally, because I'm not putting something into my body that I'm not supposed to. Giving up dairy is easy, and definitely worth it! Do your body a favor and go dairy free!

For more information about the dairy industry, check out this link!
For some dairy substitutes check out these websites: http://dairyfreecooking.about.com/od/techniquessubstitutions/tp/Cooking-Substitutions.htm
http://www.todaysdietitian.com/newarchives/080112p38.shtml
http://www.eatingwithfoodallergies.com/dairysubstitutes.html

What I've Been Loving Lately

Banana Ice Cream
Winter always seems to be a sad time for fruit. But bananas always are plentiful, and cheap! I've been loving freezing bananas in tupperware and keeping a ton in the freezer. When I want a sweet treat, I just throw a few in my blender with a tiny bit of water or almond milk and blend it up. It creates a sweet, creamy ice cream (without the dairy/fat!). I love topping my banana ice cream with some caco nibs or some peanut butter.

For the delicious bowl down below I took two bananas, a teaspoon of cocoa powder, and a splash of almond milk, blended it up and topped with caco nibs. Yum!





Brown RiceI've always loved rice, but recently rice has been a part of my daily food intake. Not only is it cheap and easy to make, but it's a great source of energy and whole grains. I usually either top a bowl of rice with a stew or chill, or some beans and guacamole.


Greens
Sometimes greens get forgotten about in my diet. It's not so much that I don't like them, I just always tend to forget about them or am just too lazy to deal with them. Recently, I've been making green smoothies, which have really helped me to up my green intake. Also, kale is abundant right now so it's hard to pass up a big bunch of kale!


Echinacea
With it being flu season, and cold outside I wanted to start taking some immune booster supplements. Although I'm not a big fan of supplementation, I do like to take herbal supplements that I can't get as easily from food. I love echinacea because it is fairly inexpensive and I really can feel a difference when I take it. I like to buy the Nature Made brand and take one in the morning with my breakfast.

Breaking Bad
I have been wanting to watch Breaking Bad for almost a year now, but because I can easily become addicted to shows and binge watch them, I knew I had to wait for a school break to start watching this one. I'm so glad I waited until Christmas break to watch it because I finished the entire series in about three weeks. It was an incredibly well made show and I would definitely recommend it to anyone. I love and appreciate chemistry, so I loved all the chemical symbols in the credits, the lab experiments, and all the chemistry related solutions to problems that arose in the show.

What I Ate in A Day (Youtube videos)
Youtube is one place that I can easily spend hours watching different types of videos on. Lately, I've been watching "What I Ate in a Day" videos, where people document the food they ate throughout the day. It sounds boring, but for a foodie like me, it's my favorite way to conclude my day. I love to see what people eat, and how they prepare it, especially all the vegans on youtube that make these videos. I get so much inspiration by watching what other vegans eat.

here are some of my favorites!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cdAa3mSRIyE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HwWdPtzy058
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pPQd6BxuTC4
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nz2VdaJvkVI
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2RodkyIpOT4


Vitamix
I could probably make an entire blog post dedicated to my beautiful vitamix. For the past three years I've wanted a vitamix, but have just never put a huge effort in getting one. After using one over the summer during Natural Chef school, I knew that a vitamix would be one of my most used cooking tools for a long long time. My amazing grandparents gave me a Certified Reconditioned Standard Vitamix in black...it was love at first sight. For the past month or so I've probably used it at least once a day, if not more. From smoothies, to banana ice cream, to hummus, to soup the vitamix does it all. This blender is by far the best one I've ever used, I definitely recommend this to anyone looking to invest in a practical and effective kitchen tool.

Elevate
Elevate is an app that I got about three weeks ago, and have been using almost everyday. It is designed to help "train" your mind, and help improve focus, speaking abilities, processing speed, memory, and math skills. Each day, you get three "games" that are quick and fun. The more you play, the more it adapts to your skill level. I know that I need to be keeping my mind sharp, and this app has definitely made it a lot easier to do that.

Flossing/Baking Soda
One of my goals for this year is to floss more, and keep better care of my teeth. Although I brush my teeth twice a day, I always feel like there is more I should be doing. Usually I forget to floss, but I'm making a conscious effort to floss every night after I brush my teeth. It makes me feel like I'm doing something to help keep me from going toothless in about 70 years! I've also been brushing with baking soda after my toothpaste. I really feel like this helps to whiten my teeth without putting a ton of chemicals on them. I simply rinse after brushing my teeth with toothpaste, then dip my toothbrush in baking soda and lightly brush with the baking soda for about a minute and then rinse again. It's a super cheap, and easy way I like to brighten up my teeth.

Go Green!

Green smoothies can be really intimidating to some people but I have a really simple recipe that I wanted to share. Getting in greens can be really difficult, especially if you don't have a lot of time to sit and eat them all. Putting them in a smoothie can hide the taste, and make it a lot more enjoyable.

There are three things I've learned throughout my green smoothie trials/errors over the years that's made making smoothies a lot easier.

1. Don't overthink / overcomplicate things.
    When I first started making smoothies, I would try to cram as much stuff in the blender as possible, not thinking about the actual taste of it. I've learned to not add a bunch of random ingredients, and keep it as simple as possible.

2. Fruit is the key

    Fruit should be the main ingredient in your smoothies, not only for taste, but also for calories and carbohydrates. Using at least 3/4 fruit, and 1/4 vegetables you're guaranteed to have a sweet and refreshing smoothie.

3. Choose your vegetables wisely
    Choosing the best vegetables to put in a smoothie is also important. If you're unsure about adding in vegetables, don't be. You can barely taste them! Sticking with high water content vegetables is best because they have lots of nutrients, but lack in strong flavors. My favorite vegetables to add to smoothies are spinach, kale, celery, celery leaves, cucumber, avocado, and peppers. Not all of them should go into one smoothie, but a choose just a few to put in one.

Now, it's time for the recipe! I absolutely love this green smoothie recipe because it's super sweet, inexpensive, easy to make, and it keeps me full for so long.


Ingredients:

2-3 frozen bananas (make sure they are frozen, this really helps to make the smoothie smooth and creamy. also use bananas when they are spotty, that's when they are ripe)
1 cup frozen mango (you could also use frozen or fresh pineapple instead)
2 cups spinach or kale
4 stalks of celery (include the leaves, they are packed full of nutrition!)
1/3 of a medium sized cucumber (leave the peeling on, it also has lots of nutrients and fiber)
1/4 lemon with the seeds removed
3/4 cup orange juice (I like to buy it with high pulp, to include more fiber)
1 cup water
1 tsp. freshly grated ginger (optional)

Put all ingredients into your blender, and blend! If you like it thicker, add some ice. If you like it a little thinner add some more juice or water. You can keep this smoothie in a jar in the refrigerator for up to two days (although it may separate, just shake it up and enjoy!).

I put all the ingredient's into an online food processor to calculate the nutrition facts. If you're interested in checking them out, you can here!