Negativity- The Elephant in the Room

Ok, so I know this isn't an article on healthy eating, healthy cookbooks, gym reviews, diets, or any of the usual fare I tend to write about- but it still weighs in greatly on your health. Your mental health. How often are you having a great day only to be bombarded by some Debbie or Donald Downer and their doom cloud, only because their life hasn't gone the way of their dreams and they are miserable? How many times have you woken up in the morning only to feel instantly anxious over something negative someone said to you yesterday? It would be nice if we were all ducks and these things could roll off our backs, but sometimes they don't. How do we deal with these negative forces in our lives? How do we handle the naysayers, the racists, the bigots, the perpetually down who want to drag you right with them? How do you keep from stooping to their level?
My coping mechanism is to *try* to keep these people at arm's length, but I know this isn't feasible in the short or long term. Negativity is contagious although unavoidable. If you surround yourself by negative people- by choice or not- you may find yourself falling into their little self-sabotaging habits of talking ill of others who aren't miserable or who they blame their misery on, real or imagined. So what do you do? How do you deal? What are the real answers to this? While there are no answers to this there are some preventive measures you can take to lessen the affects of other's misery. Take care of yourself. Take their negativity with a really large grain of salt- a salt boulder, perhaps. Let your positivity and you inner light outshine their negativity. And if nothing else accept the fact that you don't have to have anything other than a civil relationship with others if they are going to have a negative influence in your life. Be your own best friend. Keep only friends of quality. It is better to have one true friend of quality than a room of people faking it and trying to break you down all incognito-like.
Take care of yourselves. Don't let the small shit get you down. It's all just temporary.

Pasta de Los Angeles Recipe from Appetite for Reduction- Or The Best Pasta Recipe in Existence

So today in my test kitchen I tried the "Pasta de los Angeles" recipe from Appetite for Reduction cookbook and I've got to say this has got to be my all-time favorite pasta recipe HANDS DOWN. I mean this stuff is DELICIOUS. The best. I could probably live off this crap. The recipe? Oh. Here it is:

Pasta de Los Angeles

8 ounces whole-wheat angel hair pasta
1 teaspoon olive oil
1 cup thinly sliced shallot
3 cloves garlic
1 jalapeno, thinly sliced
1 cup chopped fresh cilantro, plus extra for garnish
4 plum tomatoes, chopped (about 3 cups)
½ teaspoon salt
Zest and juice from 1 lime
1 (16 oz) can black beans, drained and rinsed (about 1 ½ cups)
1 bunch spinach, coarse stems removed (about 1 pound), washed well

1. Bring a covered to of salted water to boil for the pasta. Then prepare the sauce.
2. Preheat a large skillet over medium heat. Sauté the shallots, garlic and jalapeno in the oil for about 5 minutes. Stir in the cilantro and let cook for about a minute. Add the tomatoes, salt and lime zest (reserve the juice). Cover the pan and cook for 10 more minutes, stirring occasionally. The tomatoes should be nicely broke down and saucy, but some whole pieces remaining are just fine. Add the black beans.
3. By this time the water should be ready. Add the pasta and cook according to the package directions.
4. While the pasta is cooking, add the spinach to the skillet, tossing to wilt. Once everything is added, cover and cook until the spinach is cooked down, about 3 more minutes. Squeeze in the lime juice. Turn off the heat. 
5. When the pasta is ready, drain and add to the sauce. Use a pasta spoon to toss it, making sure that the pasta is well coated. Serve immediately, garnish with extra cilantro if you like.

Per serving (when serving 8): Calories 220; Fat 1.75 g (saturated 0.25 g); carbohydrates 44.5 g (fiber 9.5 g); Protein 12 g; Sodium 200 mg; Vitamin A 125%; Vitamin C 50%; Calcium 10%; Iron 22%

So here's my subs: I couldn't find shallots so I used purple onions, I couldn't find whole wheat angel hair pasta so I used whole wheat plain ole' spaghetti pasta, and I used canned plum tomatoes. I also used baby spinach. I must say I think this is one of my favorite dishes sp far and can see it being a new staple. I would consider this recipe to be restaurant worthy. I can't say enough good things about it. Make this stuff. You'll love it.

Today's Vegan Lunch- Roasted Spaghetti Squash and Kale

Roasted Spaghetti Squash and Kale

Adapted from The Pioneer Wife

Ingredients
1 small whole Spaghetti Squash
Olive Oil
Salt And Pepper
1 bunch of Kale, Stalks Removed And Torn Into Pieces
½  Onion, Diced
Tony Chachere's, Salt and Pepper to taste
1 teaspoon Balsamic Vinegar

Preparation
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

With a sharp knife, VERY CAREFULLY cut the spaghetti squash in half lengthwise. (Stick the knife into the center of the squash, then cut down. Again—be careful!) Scoop out the seeds and pulp in the center and discard. Place the squash, cut side up, on a large baking sheet. Rub a little olive oil over the cut surface, then place the pan in the oven for 1 hour or until a fork is easily inserted into the squash.

While the squash is cooking, saute the kale: Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the onion to the pan and cook for 3 to 4 minutes, or until starting to turn color. Throw in the kale, sprinkle in some Tony Chachere's, salt, and pepper, and stir to saute until the onions are golden about the kale is partly cooked, about 5 minutes. Set aside.

When the squash is cooked, use a fork to scrape the stringy squash out of the shell. Add the squash to a bowl. Mix together 1 tablespoon olive oil with the balsamic vinegar. Drizzle it over the squash, sprinkle with Tony Chachere's, salt, and pepper. Toss to combine.

Add the squash to individual bowls, then top with a good amount of sauteed kale.

(Or, you can toss all the kale and half the squash together.)

Taa Daa! And it's done! Easy and healthy.

Appetite For Reduction: 125 Fast and Filling Low Fat Recipes- The First Impression

Appetitive For Reduction: 125 Fast and Filling Low-Fat Recipes is written by Isa Chandra Moskowitz, which is also the author of Veganomicon and runs the website Post-Punk Kitchen, a goldmine for vegan recipes. It goes without saying that these are 125 recipes in this book, all ranging between 200 and 400 calories per serving. They are all plant based, low in saturated fat and sugar, and high in fiber. There are many gluten and soy-free options available for those with dietary restrictions. 

There are eight chapters in this book dedicated to different food groupings:
1: Full-On Salads
2: Totally Stuffable Sides
3: Rub-Your-Tummy Veggies
4: Main Event Beans
5: Sink-Your-Teeth-Into Tofu and Tempeh
6: Talk Pasta to Me (& Noodles)
7: Soul-Satisfying Soups
8: Comfort Curries, Chili, and Stews

There is a section explain nutrition and all of the recipes have the nutrition information per serving. Gluten-free, soy-free, items taking 39 minutes or less to cook, and recipes with downtime are all labeled with recipe icons. 

Walsh Pilates of Baton Rouge

Another fitness studio I frequent often is Walsh Pilates on Jefferson Highway in Baton Rouge. The studio is a classical Pilates studio featuring the reformer, the tower, the chair, and other classic Pilates equipment. My Instructor of choice is Melody Benton-Thompson, and I started by taking her Reformer/Tower Therapeutic Pilates classes on Tuesdays and Thursdays, later progressing to her Pilates Reformer Level 2 classes on Tuesdays and Thursdays at 11:00. As someone who took mat Pilates for years in college I thought I was totally ready for these classes, they would be a breeze, and I’d be in the most advanced classes within two weeks. Yep, that wasn’t the case! Turns out the difference between simple mat Pilates and Pilates on the equipment are so day and night they might as well be completely different disciplines. I was constantly challenged and tested in classes, and welcomed the challenges whole-heartedly. At times the machines and exercises tapped into my inner circus performer, which left me giggling. My OCD loves how clean the studio is, the instructors and students are all pleasant, and I love the individual attention I receive in my classes (classes are limited to four people, so no one is overlooked- very important for form and all sorts of good stuff). This is one of my favorite places to take classes in Baton Rouge and I would recommend it to anyone looking for a studio offering classical Pilates in a way Joseph Pilates would approve of.

Veganomicon- The Review

In an attempt to broaden my food horizons and to ween myself off of processed, prepackaged vegan and vegetarian foods I ordered two cookbooks, Veganomicon, as suggested by my friend Christi Gregurich, and Appetite For Reduction: 125 Fast and Low Filling Low-Fat Vegan Recipes just because the sheer number of positive reviews caught my eye. I didn't realize until the books were delivered into my hot little hands that these books shared an author- Veganomicon was composed by Isa Chandra Moskowitz and Terry Hope Romero, while Appetite for Reduction was written by Isa Chandra Moskowitz. I have yet to make anything in either of these books because I haven't been grocery shopping since I've gotten them, but I've had a chance to thumb through them and here's my first impressions of Veganomicon. My impressions of Appetite For Reduction is coming tomorrow, y'all!

One of the first things I noticed about Veganomicon was the vast variety of recipes. There are over 250 recipes organized into !seventeen! different categories-
1: Snacks, Appetizers, Little Meals, Dips and Spreads
2: Brunch
3: Salads and Dressings
4: Dressings
5: Sammiches
6: Vegetables
7: Grains
8: Beans
9: Tofu, Tempeh and Seitan
10: Soups
11: Casseroles
12: One-pot Meals and Stove-Top Specialties
13: Pasta, Noodles and Risotto
14: Sauces and Fillings
15: Breads, Muffins and Scones
16: Cookies and Bars
17: Desserts

Woo, that's a mouthful. Also included are guides for lower-fat cooking, how to cook a vegetable,a grain and a bean, cooking and prepping terminology, menus, and pantry staples. There's something in this massive cookbook for everyone, and is ripe with information for the beginning vegan. Besides- its name is inspired by Evil Dead 2- what's not to love? There's a wide range of cuisines represented in this cookbook, and I'm pleased that they don't depend on synthetic meats, which totally ick me out. No mature way to say it. Fake meats suck. So far my first impression has been overwhelmingly positive- but we haven't put this cookbook to the real test yet. I'm looking forward to testing out some of these recipes in the upcoming weeks.

Yoglates II South Review (Highlandia Location)

So I’ve been going to Yoglates 2 South for on and off once a week for about half a year. I typically attend the 9:15 class on Mondays, and the instructor is usually the unsinkable April and she was definitely a drill instructor in a previous life- and I mean that in a good way. I came into Yogalates expecting some powderpuff pseudo-exercises, some stretching, some feel good mantras, and some rest and relaxation. What did I get? Sore muscles for a week. This surprised the heck out of me. I am a hardcore gym attendee and haven’t been sore from working out in probably a year yet this exercise class had me feeling the pain. It was a major, yet pleasant, surprise. The temperature is amped up to a grueling 250 degrees. Ok, so it’s not 250 degrees, but dang is it hot! You stretch, of course, but you also lunge, plank, squat, and perform other amazing feats of epic pain until your body is slenderized, sculpted, and exhausted, guided by the encouragement of your instructor who is simply not going to let you slack on it. You are left feeling sweaty, somewhat Superwoman-ish, and ready to take on the day. Yoglates is great for those who need something to reboot their fitness regime, want something a little different than your typical Bikram Yoga, or has become tired with the traditional fitness classes.

Quote of the Day

“In our perfection-obsessed, air-brushed society, it can be tempting to measure our self-worth against its set of impossible standards. However, organic beauty is in the flaws that make us vulnerable, human and fallible. We are here to learn, evolve and grow. We do not need to become perfect to be worthy of love, there is no such thing. We can not love others when we are withholding love and acceptance from ourselves. We can not criticize ourselves and then reach with open arms to give and receive love from others. It has to start from within, radiating outward. We need to learn how to be unconditionally loving, accepting and forgiving of ourselves, first, if we wish to forge healthy and loving relationships with others.” (Jaeda DeWalt)

Gym Clothes

So I'm essentially pretty frugal when it comes to gym wear, yet picky. I want good quality and style, as I wear my gym clothes pretty much everywhere, and at times that's an hard order to fill- especially at my size. I've tried everything, from the obvious brands like Nike, Adidas, and Underarmor, to the ultra-frugal and budget friendly Forever 21, and here's what works for me.

I get a lot of tops and leggings from Forever 21, but they can be extremely hit or miss. I don't suggest ordering gym clothes off their site unless the item has a lot of reviews- I've ordered items online with high hopes only to end up with an item that is ill fitting/thin/cheap looking. And I never remember to return the stuff in time. Forever 21 is a great resource, but definitely shop in the stores.

Target is another resource for great inexpensive tops and sports bras. I'm not wild about their bottoms but I estimate about 30% of my workout shirts and sports bras come from there.

Victoria's Secret makes great uber-padded sport bras because sometimes you just get tired of uniboobs. The Showtime one in particular does me a world of good. I have some go their other sports bras and they were just average, and I have one pair of their Pink workout leggings strictly because they are holographic so I can't say much about the rest of their workout lines, but the Showtime sports bra works for me and is great for those days when you want a little extra "oomph".

Another workout company I buy a loooooot of workout clothing from is Fabletics. I like the quality, the sizing's consistent, and the prices are decent. I belong to their subscription service, and have loved all my purchases so far. They have some great fashionable items, and I love the ensembles they come up with. I find myself buying a lot of them and wearing just as shown.

Lastly, I like Iron Fist Athletics, however their bottoms run extremely large and don't fit me worth a damn and I've ran into one or two quality issues like missed stitching, etc. they have some really cute items but those two issues might just be a deal breaker in my book. I might just have had an unlucky streak though- they still have really cool stuff. I would just suggest ordering down and crossing your fingers.

Oh, and I almost forgot- SNEAKERS. I've tried them all, but I prefer Vibram Five Fingers. I know they're ugly, but I like them. I also have a pair of Underarmour sneakers but they are of super-shoddy quality, and I have a few pair of Nikes but they just don't work well with my feet and always look really boxy to me for some reason. Nike just never seems to get it right with me.

So there we go. There's my favorite workout brands in a nutshell. Maybe I need to start doing gym outfit of the days for you guys.

*Disclaimer: I didn't get any free stuff or any other form of comp for these reviews. Just being honest.

My Vegetarian Staples

Let me tell you, it is NOT EASY being a vegetarian in the booming metropolis of Baton Rouge, LA. I am generally either at work or on the go, so my diet sadly consists of a lot of processed food- but even vegetarian processed food isn't always easy to come across in Baton Rouge. We recently got a new Trader Joe's here in Baton Rouge, so my work diet consists of their prepackaged salads and frozen Mexican TV dinners. When I'm out eating if I'm lucky I'm stuck with a black bean burger or garden sandwich, but often I'm stuck with ordering items off the side menu- French fries, steamed veggies, and lettuce and a cherry tomato in a condiment bowl, anyone? When I do have time to prepare my food in advance I'm a creature of habit and find myself making the same things almost every time. I make tons of salads topped with olives, corn, tomatoes, sunflower seeds, and anything else you could imagine putting on a salad that didn't previously have eyes. I also make simple black bean salads consisting of a can of rinsed black beans, a can of rinsed corn, a can of drained rotel tomatoes, lime, and whatever seasoning I feel like putting in there. Sometimes I get all fancy and add quinoa or tvp cooked taco filling style, use fresh ingredients in lieu of canned, top with cheese or Greek yogurt (an excellent sour cream substitute, by the way), and add other veggies like chopped bell peppers and purple onions.
The TVP  I speak of is super easy to make- I heat two cups of water to boiling and remove from heat, and mix in half a cup of TVP and a packet of taco seasoning. Some people add a tablespoon of soy sauce or Bragg's liquid aminos but I find that to be unnecessary. Wait about 10 minutes and kazam! Taco filling that's much better than the "ground beef substitute" they try to hock in the freezer section. Seriously, who do they think they're trying to fool with that nasty crap? Use it as a burrito filling or put in a taco shell with lettuce, tomatoes and cheese or faux cheese, you're golden.
I also snack on these "real food bars", whatever they mean by that. The brand is called Barre and I love the spirulina and the cinnamon pecan flavors. They're excellent to keep in your purse for when you're stuck on the road with nothing but snickers bars and potato chips in sight.
So that's pretty much my diet in a nutshell. The lack of variety may be unhealthy but it's delicious, so things even out. So what do you other vegetarians/vegans out there exist on? Let's swap recipes, I obviously need to mix it up some.

The Juice Fast- A.K.A.: The Failure Post

Hey Everyone!

So my three day juice fast has come and left, and I am sad to report I failed miserably. I meant to post each day of the fast. I meant to do a lot of things. What did I do? I can't really remember, because I was so fuzzy, lightheaded and dumb my memory of the fast is more like a long hallucination. Day one started out simply enough. I had my six juices I had picked up the day before from The Big Squeezy in Baton Rouge (at the tune of $49 a day plus tax). I read the directions and followed as specified on The Big Squeezy's website, and drank the juices in the order listed on the bag. I say website because when I picked up my juice the girl who checked me out was new and couldn't answer any of my questions. I did fine, except ran into a problem. If you drink a juice every two hours and only have six juice that means unless you stay up for only twelve hours you're going to be without nourishment for a few hours. I've got a life, damnit. I've got stuff to do. So I did what any red-blooded starving American did. I ate a baked potato from Whole Foods. So day 1: utter failure. Rinse and repeat on day two. Except on day two extreme lightheadedness and irritation set in. And then there was day three. OH DAY THREE.
So the thing with The Big Squeezy is you get two days of juice at a time. You make an appointment to pick up the juices, they're ready (in theory) when you get there, and you grab them and go. Easy, right? EXCEPT IT DIDN'T WORK LIKE THAT THE THIRD DAY. And I was hungry. And I was cranky. So when I placed the order and made my appointments to pick up the juices the girl who took my order asked what time I would like to pick up my juice on Sunday. I asked her their hours on Sunday and they said from 7 a.m. to whenever. I told them I would be there at 9:00 am for the rest of my juices.
Guess who doesn't open until 10:00 on Sundays? Guess who was stuck sitting around until 10:00, and even then still had to wait for them to get the damn juices together? Guess who was starving and quite over The Big Squeezy after their half-assed excuse blaming "the new girl" again after pulling up my paperwork and seeing their error. Yep.
It probably didn't help that I nixed caffeine and any unnecessary medication during the fast. I feel it was poorly instructed on their part and poorly executed on my part. I probably don't have the willpower required to nix food, caffeine, and modern medicine for three days. I also might have tried to cut out too much at once. Either way my experiment  was a blatant failure. I think the next time I attempt a juice fast instead of buying expensive premade juices I'm going to make my own. I have a Breville juicer and juicing manuals, but thought buying the juices premade and set out would be the way to go for a first fast. I was so wrong. Luckily for me no one was seriously hurt, I didn't incurred jail time, I have not been disowned by any of my friends, and I'm only out $160 and three and a half days of my life.
Oh, and I forgot to mention a few more things of note. After the third day I crashed. Like laying in bed, crying, just all around feeling horrid. My transition back to my normal plant-based vegetarian diet was rocky and at times *ahem* uncomfortable. I also had a severe spike in asthma attacks during the fast which was EXTREMELY unsettling, and likely explains a lot of the lightheadedness and passing disorientation.
My original intent for the juice fast was for detox purposes. I'm not sure if I succeeded in detoxing, I think I may have screwed that part up with the potato. Hopefully my next *homemade* fast will yield clearer and healthier results.


Edit: Does anyone have any suggestions for my next juice fast?  I'd love to hear other's experiences and comments, opinions, any feedback below!

No Caffeine.

I know it's a little off the subject, but it just hit me. After today I cannot have any more caffeine until Monday. Six days – no caffeine. This is really going to hurt. 

The Veggie Transition

Hello Everyone!

My cousin-in-law Stacey is a new vegetarian considering making the transition to veganism, and wanted to know about how I went from omnivore to vegetarian. It all started innocently enough. Years ago I was laying in bed with my dear, sweet furchild Gigi, geared up for a pleasant night of popcorn and Netflix. I'm a documentary buff and of course lean towards food related documentaries, so after browsing through the menu a short while I stumbled upon Food Inc.
Never did I expect it would lead up to where I am today.
I will spare us all the gross and gory details, but by the end of the film I was clutching Gigi with tears running down my cheeks, staring at the refrigerator in disdain. I promptly gave away all the meat products stored in my pantry, refrigerator, and freezer, and began my new "food journey" with a trip to my local produce stand. I haven't looked back. At first it was tough. Meat is much more filling than veggies as most of us know, so I stayed hungry and cranky for the first two weeks, regardless of how much lettuce and broccoli I forced down my throat. New to the game, my knowledge of vegetarian recipes pretty much ended at salads, and it got to the point where I would dry heave over the thought of eating any more lettuce. I hated tofu, couldn't stand Boca burgers, and soy curls made my skin crawl. Fake meat was just GROSS. I threw hundreds of dollars worth of meat "substitutes" away in the beginning simply because they tasted absolutely disgusting. So then I started getting creative. It turns out being a vegetarian isn't all tofu and salad, which is good- that's no way to live. Besides, you don't really want beaucoup soy in your diet, it'll give a man boobs. It won't give me boobs, unfortunately, but it will give a man boobs.* I discovered TVP, which got me through the hump in the beginning, and today my diet consists of mostly beans and veggies. Depending on the way I cook them I can make virtually any style of dish. It's amazing what you can do with a fully stocked spice cabinet.
Now let's not get this twisted. I'm not an omnivore-shamer. You eat meat? Your business. I don't care. My husband eats meat. I don't hold issue with family farms or hunters either. You know what I take issue with? The abuse and the disgusting conditions in huge, industrial animal farms. Cruelty to animals is simply not ok. That being said, I don't suggest anyone watching Food Inc. If the aren't ready to take a good, hard look at what they put into their body.

My next posts are going to be a little comical and will possibly feature cruelty to myself as I embark on a three day juice cleanse. Stay tuned!

Welcome to Skinny Cult!

Hey good-lookin'! Welcome to my blog and my first post. I'm a thirtysomething-year-old Louisiana native who resides in the booming metropolis that is Baton Rouge. I hold a full time job, I'm a business owner, wife, and doting mother to a spoiled Yorkie by the name of Gigi. My husband owns Full Blown Paint, a custom paint and graphics shop operating out of Gonzales, and we both own Stitch Cult, an online retail store selling kustom kulture tshirts, custom handmade bags, purses, and other accessories. We are both avid fitness enthusiasts. Joel prefers weightlifting and bike riding, and I'm game for anything from yoglates to Pilates to yoga to barre to pole fitness and the list goes on! You can expect some workout tips, reviews of local fitness crazes, summaries and reviews of new diet fads, pretty much anything that is upcoming in the fitness world- but I'm drawing the line at colonics. Ain't no way. If you have any tips, suggestions, or anything you like to hear about feel free to drop me a line at stitchcult@yahoo.com. I look forward to embarrassing myself on the World Wide Web for you guys!

Love,
Lacey