Grocery Shopping Gripe

When I moved from a large town to the very large city of Oklahoma City, I had to find a new grocery store. Living in north west OKC for 5 years was awesome. I lived in the Asian district with amazing food culture surrounding me in all directions. There were two great Asian markets, two small Mediterranean markets, and a mix of typical North American foods mixed into the general grocery stores. All within one mile from me. Being vegetarian, and 90 percent lactose intolerant (I can tolerate hard cheeses), I can only eat certain varieties of foods. With these particulars, north OKC was very easy for me to grocery shop.

Then I moved. Although I am happy(ish) with the grocery stores in south OKC, they leave a lot to be desired. There are no groceries within walking distance, which really upsets me. There are mainly Hispanic markets here and only one Asian market that is several miles from me. Alan and I have one grocery store here that we frequent that is quite large. I've been very happy with the prices and the quality of the produce, but there are several foods that are not sold since the store caters to a different cultural audience.

• Mushrooms
• Texas toast (although I don't eat bleached bread often, its really the only way to go for faux BLTs)
• Bread flour
• Soy products of any variety (soymilk, soy cheeses, etc.)
• Fake meat products, ie: Morningstar, Boca Burgers, etc
• Romaine lettuce (Alan loathes Iceburg lettuce)
• Newman's Own Spaghetti Sauces... these are so delicious and contain real ingredients!!
• Fresh herbs. They only have Cilantro.
• Pickled beets 
• Eggplant
• Asparagus
• Sour Kraut
• Balsamic Vinegar

Things they sell that aren't sold in my old grocery store:

• Every type of pepper and chili ever grown
• The best vanilla extract ever made
• Amazing varieties of tortillas, locally made
• Pan (crazy delicious sweet breads!)
• Mexican chocolate
• Nopalitos (Pickled cactus)
• Vegan refried beans

Where Have I Been?

It has been an awful long time since I posted, but life has been busy.
To answer any questions, I did, indeed, find a new job. That I love. I work at a company that allows me to go mentor students and/or rock babies during my work day, hosts exercise classes during my lunch break (that I am really loving!), gives me amazing health insurance...and even pays me to make sure I am going to the doctor for yearly exams and losing weight. They pay me to work out! How fantastic.
I am really loving the job.

Now that I can get home at fairly normal hours without being mentally, physically and emotionally exhausted, I have been thinking up stuff that I've been wanting to do more of.

My list that I've worked up, and accomplished some of:
Pack my lunch. - I love doing this. I really do.
Use new ingredients. - Lately I've been using different rices, quinoa, oats, and wheat berries.
Travel more. - Have a trip to New Mexico planned SOON!
Sew more. - I absolutely love sewing. It's been so fun to get back into it.
Start work on my cookbook. - This is my only one that I haven't done...yet. I am waiting until the winter for this one. I plan on this being the main source of heat for our home this winter, rather than the furnace. We'll see if it gets us into December.

I have also been searching the internet for new ideas. I am constantly looking for new recipes, new fashions, new home decor ideas, new crafts to make.

What websites do you frequent mostly?

Here's some of mine:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/
http://peasandthankyou.com/
http://www.designsponge.com/
http://www.desiretoinspire.net/

Reboot: Finished

So, Alan and I finished our two week reboot diet two days ago. For two weeks we consumed no solid foods. We put a million bunches of kale, celery, green apples, cantaloupes, jalapenos, onions, tomatoes, ginger and lemons and limes through the juicer every day and concocted some amazing drinks that kept us super full. I reached my goal weight. It was great.

However, after two days of eating solid foods again I now understand a bit more about food than I originally did. I was exhausted today! I came home a bit early from work to take a nap! Never during the Reboot did I feel very tired. I miss the juice! I went to the grocery store earlier and picked up some cantaloupes and cucumbers so I can make more juice tomorrow. (Cucumber Melon is by far my favorite juice! Mmmm!)

So, I will definitely be sticking with the juicer for awhile. I am definitely addicted to the juice!

Reboot: Trials and Tribulations

Today has been the hardest day of the diet thus far. We're at day 9 now, and although I wasn't hungry at any point...I craved a thousand foods throughout the day. Everything sounded amazing. They made Indian Tacos at work today...those looked AMAZING! Coworker eating a teriyaki rice bowl? That looked AMAZING! Another coworker eating nachos, AMAZING! I wanted carbs really bad.

But, I was good. I drank my juice and continued on my day. I'm in the homestretch though, folks. I will soon be eating solid foods again. And here is a list of many of the foods I want to be eating asap (and juicing about half my other meals in addition so I don't gain the weight back):
Bruschetta
Indian food
Black bean burrito
Tofu hot dog with onions, sour kraut and mustard
Tomato sandwich on whole wheat bread with extra Veganaise and dill
Baked sweet potato with sea salt

The list could go on and on. Trust me. But I will wait. And then eat all of that stuff in a single day and gain all the weight back. Wait, no. I. will. not. But I will eat them in moderation and have juice for breakfast and lunch to control my caloric intake.

Reboot: End of Week 1

It's been an entire week since I ate food. Still feel pretty stinkin' awesome. It is so surprising how just drinking pure fruit juice can be so filling. I have rarely felt hungry this week. Craving food is the hardest part. I want to bite into something crunchy so badly! I think that I will fix veggie tacos whenever we're done with the diet! Mmmm, tacos!

We're still trying out new recipes to change things up, and found a couple of things I do and don't like. It's funny that I loooove V8 so much, but when I've made any tomato juices, I really haven't liked them. Besides our "Mean Green" recipe we have every day for lunch and dinner, I've stuck to the sweeter fruit juices for breakfast and dessert.

Mean Green Recipe - makes about two glasses
6 Kale Leaves
1 Cucumber
4 Celery Stalks
2 Green Apples
1/2 Lemon
1 piece of ginger

After I make my breakfast juice, I make two batches of this to take to work with me. I drink it just about all day long, and usually have enough left over for a small glass for dinner. Alan does the same recipe and adds some jalapenos. I've been substituting a lot of the celery for cabbage and really like that.

Wish me luck this week! Pray that I don't go crazy and bite into the next crunchy food I see.

P.S. I lost 9 pounds this week!