Reflection: One Summer in Australia Can Change Everything



Windjana Gorge in the Kimberley Region, Western Australia

Soon it will be two years since I came back from Australia... I went in 2009 for just a month, and came back pretty much a different person. Soon enough, I found myself having to grapple with what felt like a completely new identity, one where I would no longer be unaware of what was serving my sustinence, one where I would no longer be controlled by my taste buds...

It was that summer in Australia that I consumed animal flesh for the last time. It is a decision I look back on in awe, sometimes, because just a few weeks before I decided to take the plunge into vegetarianism, I was telling myself and everyone else how I "just couldn't give up meat" because I "like it too much". I had determined that flesh, to me, was no longer considered food.

Becoming something you weren't before, whether that's a Christian, a new employee, a vegetarian, or a healthy person, it requires a drastic change of your thought process. And that's what happened to me. I forced myself to think about what it was that was on my plate--where did it come from? What did it take to get it there? What IS IT exactly? Chicken was the most difficult, but also the most easy... chicken tastes good, especially Tandoori varieties, however the reality that there is dead animal flesh on my dinner plate became increasingly unappealing to me.

Good taste would no longer be boss. I would no longer be fooled by the industry-controlled media saying "you need it for protein". Did you know legumes are in the same category as meat now, and by volume contain MORE protein and nutrients than any kind of flesh? That's without the saturated fat and cholesterol, and with the addition of lots of good-for-your-colon FIBER.

Fruits, veggies, and legumes--food you can feel good about eating.

My end thought on the whole transition was this: Meat tastes good but isn't nearly as good for me as plant foods that can taste JUST as good as meat does... so why bother eating meat? The non-factory farm stuff is too expensive for what I want to spend, anyway. A 2 lb bag of beans costs less than $2. The less cholesterol and saturated fat I consume, the smaller the risk I have for heart disease, high cholesterol, and many forms of cancer. So I populate my dinner plate with delicious, plant-based culinary creations [mainly] for that reason. Of course there are more reasons... environment... how there is no need to manufacture living creatures... but mainly because I just don't need it.

BONUS: Did you know Bill Clinton lost 24 lbs when he switched to a dairy-free, plant-based, very low fish diet? Me either! Read about it HERE!

Product Feature: Fasta Pasta Microwave Pasta Cooker

This has got to be one of the best items I have ever purchased! For just $10, I no longer have to wait for water to boil on the stove to have fresh cooked pasta. Three cups of dry penne into this container, filled with water to "line 4" as indicated on the side, microwaved for 10 minutes (stir once), then 5 minutes... and you've got perfect pasta! It is so easy! I used it to cook two cups of elbow macaroni noodles this weekend--15 minutes and it was done. It could not have been easier. I recommend this product to anyone who has better things to do with their time than watch a pot of water boil!

Purchase it by clicking HERE!

No Bean Left Behind

I love putting random crap I have in my refrigerator into a bowl, food chopper, or whatever and turning it into something completely different and delicious. Leftover chickpeas, basil, green onions, white onion, chopped tomato and tomato sauce were pureed into a lovely, nutty sauce that became a "cream" sauce" with the addition of a few tablespoons of almond milk and nutritional yeast.  "Chicken" pieces (made from quinoa and wheat gluten) from a half-eaten bag I inherited from Mom, served over a small bed of Italian-pearled Farro that had been sitting in the fridge for a while ... garnished with fresh spinach leaves (would've used basil but I ran out!). I really had to control portion size on this entire dinner because it was really protein packed, right down to the sauce... and you know protein-laden items tend to pack a heavier punch when it comes to calories! And can you believe it's vegan?

Creating these crazy concoctions ensures that no Gladware container of beans goes uneaten, left alone to mold in the back of the refrigerator. I will sleep well tonight.

Tonight's Dinner: White Beans with Sauteed Kale

Inside the Breadbox, we love [cooking, eating, and sharing] vegan food!!! This was tonight's dinner. How beautifully green and fresh it looks! I love preparing these kinds of meals for us because I know that there is a ridiculous amount of vitamins and nutrients in it...and I just KNOW my cells are just thrilled to be eating it!

Here's the recipe, which I discovered in The Mediterranean Vegan Kitchen...

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 large onion, cut lengthwise in half, thinly sliced crosswise
2 large cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 pound kale, stems removed and coarsely chopped
3 cups cooked white beans (cannellini, navy, Great Northern...) or two 15-ounce cans of them, drained and rinsed
1/4 tsp dried rubbed sage
1/4 tsp dried oregano
pinch cayenne pepper, or to taste (optional!)
salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste


Heat the oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add the onion and garlic. Cook, stirring often, until the onion is wilted, about 5 minutes. Increase the heat to medium-high and add the kale in batches, tossing and stirring until wilted and bright green, 2-4 minutes. Reduce the heat to medium low and add the beans, sage, oregano, cayenne (if using), salt and pepper. Cook, stirring often, until all is heated through... and serve warm!

Makes four servings... and inside all of them are the following:

333 calories!
18 grams of protein!
8g of total fat! (1g saturated (from the oil))
0 mg of cholesterol

[Did you know?]  Absolutely NO PLANT FOOD contains more than a trace amount of cholesterol. Quantifiable amounts are only found in animal flesh and other animal-derived products, like dairy. Our bodies do require cholesterol to function, but they do not require us to provide it ourselves--what our bodies produce is enough! So interesting!

52g carbohydrates
14 grams of fiber
59 mg of sodium

What a fabulous ensemble of flavor, nutrients, and of course, love!

Feature! Our [Current] Favorite Workout DVD

I'm sure that as time goes on, this will change, but since we purchased it, this is one workout that Ben and I revisit over and over again. We purchased it for $20 (which is a LOT considering all of Jillian Michaels' DVDs cost $10 or less...) this DVD offers so much variety, you could do it every day and achieve a different purpose!

There are four different focus areas:

• Legs
• Sculpting
• Boxing
• Cardio 

Each area contains four different segments, two of which are featured in the two "main" workouts. The DVD is part of the 30 Minutes to Fitness series, and there are about 20 premixes that allow you to focus on two or more of the areas listed above -- some examples include Cardio and Boxing, Boxing and Legs, or  Sculpting, Cardio AND Boxing... the list is pretty much endless. There is also a killer 6-minute abs section that can easily be tacked on to the tail-end of any of the mixes. You can do any of the 30 minute premixes OR, do every single exercise on the DVD for the ultimate one-hour burn. It is an incredible workout that we have used again and again. Kelly's accent is kind of funny, and we love the boxing segments!

 This DVD is an easy way to get in a full-body workout in just 30 minutes. And it's like having 20 workouts in one! You can buy it HERE. And GOOD NEWS -- the price has gone down to $13.49 since we purchased it! What an incredible deal!

Often while working out, we turn to face each other in the living room to encourage each other with how hard the other is working. This is especially helpful with hard cardio moves, like squat jumps and fast feet. Working out is one of our favorite things to do together--it is so good to know that my soulmate cares about his health as much as I do! And it's a lot easier to get out of bed and work out in the morning when you've always got a workout buddy!

Coming Soon to the Breadbox

Our soon-to-be new addition, Boomer Conrad Pyle!

Ben and I have been talking about adopting Boomer Conrad since we started dating. We just didn't know his [full] name yet. We knew he would be named Boomer, and the Conrad was added following a Saturday trip to Petsmart to simply bask in the cuteness of the kittens up for adoption. I couldn't get one yet--I had a visitor from Australia and was about to get married--but simply meeting His Preciousness, the little orange kitty named Conrad, inspired me. Boomer was the name we had set our hearts on, but who says he couldn't have a middle name? Boomer Conrad Pyle. I knew he would soon be ours.

We haven't met him yet, by the way. He was born on approximately March 24, 2011 in a litter of four. Two other orange boys accompanied him, along with a brown female tabby. We had tons of bad weather here and the vet techs that rescued them believe their mother became scared and abandoned the litter during the storm. The babies are currently four weeks old. We had hoped to meet them this Wednesday, but they had been sneezing and placed in isolation until they got better... they can't have visitors for one more week! So, we'll probably be taking a special trip out there to see them, even though we only travel to "that side of town" (Oviedo, FL) every other Wednesday.

Although we have never met, we love Boomer. We have fallen in love with the descriptions we have received from the vet techs--that he is the perfect kitten that does all of the cute kitten things, like play with his own feet. And the picture up there? A-freaking-dorable! He is deliciously cute and I can't wait to make him a part of our family!

Introducing the Breadbox

My husband and I on the evening before our wedding!

What is the Breadbox? Well, I'll tell you... without it sounding like a cheesy children's story. It's simply the name that my husband and I have given our home. What's INSIDE the Breadbox? Pretty much all of the funky things that make it truly "us". Both of us are [mostly] vegan-eating, Jesus-loving, green-cleaning, smart-spending, fitness aficionados. That's the "stuff" I'll be blogging about. That stuff. Hopefully useful, interesting, thought-provoking, perhaps controversial... and I might throw in something completely random here and there. I do that in the kitchen sometimes, so it will probably carry over.  Hopefully I will remember to post, and hopefully it will be interesting enough that people will read it.

Oh and check out "Stuff About Me" for this and even more information on this blog!