Calgary Health Show

Well here we are again, the start of another week.  This past weekend my sister and I attended the Calgary Health Show, it was very interesting and overwhelming.  The venue was smaller, but they packed alot of vendors into the space. 

I love these shows, I like to see what is out there, what is new and try all the products.  I have been looking for some new vitamins and anything that I can use to supplement my vegetarian lifestyle on days that I don't eat properly.  My sister made a good point, she was never sure if her vitamins were being absorbed properly.  The first booth we came across was Usana.   The rep right away starts in on how fantastic their vitamins are, the absortion is fantastic, yadda, yadda, yadda.  We are listening, rolling our eyes.  Then she pulls out this book, Comparative Guide to Vitamins and Minerals.  An independent study of vitamin and minerals and she showed us the absorption of their vitamins compared to the ones we take.  Well I use Kirkland (Costco) vitamins and was shocked to see that the absorption rate was 5.1%, Usana's 96.4%.  Wow, so I was paying for vitamins that were really not doing anything for my body.  Such a waste of money.  I am going to be doing more research on this company and probably making the switch.  96.4% absorption rate, amazing!

I also had my aura read and she told me alot about myself that was soooooo true.  Have a big change coming in about two months (hoping that's the sale of our house and our move) and some things I needed to do to align my chakra's.  I need to work on balancing my root chakra, I'm thinking that has to do with the stress I'm feeling about the house.  I had a Clearing your Chakra's book at home, so I have been doing some suggestions from that, listening to a CD of meditation at night, although I have fell asleep during it both nights.  I hope that's okay...

One of the event sponsors was Community Natural Foods, they had a big area full of food, drinks and supplements.  I was buzzing by the end, trying all the energy drinks, energy bars, water, etc.  There was so much to choose from, how do you choose? 

You do what's right for you....only you know how you feel after taking these vitamins, energy drinks or flavoured water.  If these make you feel better, go for it, it not, stop.  My husband says I am a sucker for events like this, yes I am and I LOVE IT!

Let me know what you think, any idea's, suggestions, anything, I love to hear from you.

some catching up to do

Hello out there, again with the craziness, I hope it ends soon.  I have been doing some diet changes, still a vegetarian, but supplementing my diet on those crazy days I'm not going to get all my nutrients.  First I gave up coffee, I was stressed enough as it was with packing, all the purging and the selling of our house, I didn't need anything to keep me awake at night.  Well, that lasted about 5 days, then right back on it, I have no will power, sigh!  But I have been taking melatonin at night to help me have a more restful sleep and that seems to be doing wonders.

I have also started taking Greens+ in the morning, although not the best tasting drink, I do feel better and have more energy.  These days have been hectic and anything to keep my energy up and keep me healthy is great. 

I found a great facebook page yesterday, Vegetarians Rock, I loved that the people commenting on the site were mostly vegetarians in a non-vegetarian family.  It gave me comfort to know I wasn't the only struggling to prepare meals with two different ingredients.  Like I have said before, I don't impose my new way of life on my family, I do a bit on the children, mostly the daughter, she is just starting out and want her to be on a good path.  My husband has given up pork, after viewing a video, so I can only hope that he comes to the same conclusion about beef and chicken as well, but in his own time.  Here is the website, I find their Facebook page as alot more stuff, plus I like to comment.  http://www.vegetariansrock.org/

My other experience this past weekend was a awards reception that I went to, to support my sister.  It was at a nice venue and I was hopeful for my vegetarian meal, sigh!  A big disappointment, there were four vegetarians in the group of about 100 people.  The waitstaff kept coming up to check my ticket to see that I was a vegetarian and checking if I was vegan, it seemed quite the relief that I was a just a vegetarian.  So what did I get for a main course, a big plate of roasted vegetables, piled on top of each other, I think they were trying to make it look appetizing.  Oh and a small triangle of scalloped potatoes.  Needless to say, I ate alot of bread.  GROAN!  I am going to write to the venue today, not to be nasty, but to inform them of all the other vegetarian choices besides vegetables.  As a beginner vegetarian, I could have made myself a much better meal with more imagination then that.

Also today I have my new favourite recipe, Gouda & Lentil Soup:

1 TB butter
1 C chopped onion
1 C celery or baby spinach leaves (I hate celery, so I use spinach, I have also used Kale)
4 C diced sweet potato
1 tsp cumin (I love cumin, so I sometimes add a bit more)
4 C vegetable broth
19 oz can of lentils (I usually use dried lentils, just eye ball it, I never have canned, you will need to cook it a bit longer)
1 C gouda cheese
1/2 C grape tomatoes

1. Over medium high heat, melt butter, add onions and celery (if using) saute for 3 minutes, stir in sweet potatoes, and cumin, saute for 2 minutes.  Add broth and dried lentils (if using) and bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer until lentils and sweet potatoes are tender.
2. If you are using canned lentils, once the sweet potatoes are tender, add the canned lentils, cook over medium heat until heated through.  At this point you can puree part of the soup, but I love the chunkiness of it just the way it is.
3. Remove from heat, add spinach and half the gouda, season to taste with salt and pepper, ladle into bowls and top with remaining gouda, ENJOY!

Hello again

Well it has been a crazy couple of weeks, first getting over being sick and then buying a house, who wants to buy our house???  The next couple of months are going to be crazy, as the last couple of weeks, the purging, organizing and cleaning has been endless.  Thanks to HGTV's home staging shows our house has to look perfect and with two kids that is a challenge in it's self.

So although I have been following my vegetarian lifestyle, it's not been a healthy one.  I have barely been able to get dinner on the table, I am so exhausted from the purging, organizing and cleaning.  We have had alot of slapped together meals, leftovers and ALOT of pasta.  My husband is not too keen.  So now is the time to get back on track.  I did make a huge batch of gouda and lentil soup, still have some in the freezer.

One thing I don't have a problem with is lunch.  The daughter and I love having what I call 'ala carte' meals.  I check what is in the fridge, grab about 4 things and we have a meal.  Today for instance we had some left over Teriyaki Tofu that I fried up, then some carrots that I fried in the marinade after the tofu, cut up tomatoes and a warmed wrap.  Little bits of everything, we can pick and choose, I like those kinds of lunches.  Thankfully our daughter eats anything, so we never really have a waste of food.

I am hoping this weekend to come up with about 3-4 meals that I can always have on hand for myself when I am in a rut, busy and need to make dinner fast.  If anyone has any suggestions, please pass them along.

A short blog today, I am exhausted and the daughter is napping and I am going to join her.

Night, night.

When is this going to end

I can't seem to kick this flu thingy...it's hanging in there at one stage, not getting any better or worse.  So I am going to delay any blog writing until next week.  On a positive note, the husband had decided not to eat pork any more, he was doing some searching on the internet and saw how they treat pigs and said he was crying at this desk.  Now if I can only get him to view video's on the cows and chickens, it's a slow but steady progress.  I try not to preach and give people information if asked and hope they make the right decisions for them and their family, on a good note, now I don't have to buy bacon (yuck) anymore.

Still feeling crappy

Good morning, another quick note to let my followers know that the daughter and I are still feeling crappy today, so I have no new post.  I didn't get out and do any comparison shopping this weekend, spent most of it sleeping.  I hope to do some catching up later this week, the menu this week will include alot of soups or stews. 

Hope your staying warm and healthy.