Can You Recommend a Food Processor

Well it happened, my old food processor blade disintegrated while making fat free hummus.  So, now I'm looking for the best bang for my buck.  I subscribe to Consumer Reports online.  The top two models are both Cuisinart brand with a Kitchen Aid coming in a very close third.  The Cuisinart models are both 200.00 while the Kitchen Aid is 89.99.  I have to wonder if there is that big of a difference.

Okay so all you veggie lovers out there who might happen across my humble blog please weigh in and let me know what you think.  I'm looking for easy to use and easy to clean up, simple and uncomplicated.

Thanks in advance!

11/11/11

I've heard it said a lot lately that when the dates line up as a series of 1's, like today, that it is a day of connection, of blessing, of unity, of healing.  A moment ago it was 1:11 am on 11/11/11.  I'm celebrating this once in a lifetime moment, but also finding that I'm celebrating everyday  more and more.  I'm starting to see the gift that everyday is if only I will open my eyes and see it.  So as I pause and acknowledge the rare qualities of today I pray that I will also pause on 11/12/11 and do the same.  how wonderful that each  day is unique and precious. 

The Magic Word is.....Choices

I grew up on Bewitched and I Dream of Genie.  I watched as two beautiful women wiggled their noses and nodded their heads in order to solve all their problems.  I have been waiting for magic words, pills, exercise gadgets and gimmick foods all of my life.  The truth is that there is no quick fix to restoring a healthy body when for 40 years I've been doing my best to destroy it.  Yo-yo fad dieting, periods of fanatic exercise followed by long seasons of being a couch potato have left my body 40 pounds over weight and with very little muscle tone.

Choices, that's the real magic, good choices.  Those are the magical moments that got me here and they are the only magical moments that will solve my problems.  Choices like no more meat, no more sugar, no more white flour, no more dairy, no more allowing stress to take the place of exercise, no more sedentary lifestyle, no more compulsive comfort eating when I have a problem that is worrying me and no more letting other people's lives and needs take priority over mine.

I have a choice and it isn't too late to get on track.  I can't get the last 40 years back but I can make the next 5, 10, 15, 20 years so much better if I will just let go of magical thinking and get real by making healthy, loving and consistent choices about my behaviors.

It all sounds so easy when I'm not hungry, stressed or tired.  How do others stick with healthy choices in those moments of weakness?  If you are reading this and you have any suggestions or tips, please leave a comment.  I need all the help that I can get.  I can't wiggle my nose or nodded my way out of this one.  It will be a day by day, decision by decision, choice by choice journey.  It will take a long time but that's okay too.  Why the rush?  Better to take a long time so that there is lots of time for me to learn, to change unhealthy habits and distorted thinking. 

21-Day Vegan Kickstart / a Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM) site / Caldwell Esselsyn JR., M.D.

21-Day Vegan Kickstart / a Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM) site / Caldwell Esselsyn JR., M.D.

No Strings Attached

Typical for me, I've been eating the Engine 2 Diet now for over a month and I haven't lost a pound.  The good news is that my weight has stabilized more.  I still go up and down four pounds on any day, but no more and no less.  I think perhaps this is a period of time when my body is realizing it isn't a yo-yo.  It doesn't have to perform tricks.  It doesn't have to react every time someone jerks on the string.  It can just be!  No strings attached, just free!

I started a Yin and Hatha Yoga class.  It is wonderful.  It isn't rough, or pretzel in its approach.  It is about deep breathing, stretching, connecting from the inside out.  I'm amazed how centered I am when I leave.  There I can breathe.  There I can relax.  There I am safe.  No phones, no demands, no papers to write, no books to check in or out.  I'm just there and all is right with the world.   Of course the problem with that is that it only lasts 2 hours and then I'm back out in the midst of the other ants racing around to build the hill.  I try to hang on to some of it, but the world works to rob me of my peace.  I guess that is its job.  My job is to ignore it, to say no, and to use my breathing to stay connected.  If I'm with the ants, I'm the one humming, peacefully to myself in the corner.

Off to make myself a Rip's big bowl.  I'm totally addicted to this breakfast.  It is so good and lasts all morning! 

Still Vegan After All this Time

Well, long time no write.  I have a good reason.  I saved my dog and screwed up my right arm, shoulder and neck.  I'm still in the pinch of things with my neck and shoulder so my fingers on the right hand are stilt tingling and a bit numb.  I didn't want it to be my neck but the longer this goes on the more I'm suspecting a disc or something of that nature.  I'm calling tomorrow to get an appointment with a neurologist just for safety sake.  Today I also learned at my other doctors that I have a lymph node I need to have examined (swollen).  It is on the same side as the injury so I feel confident that it is merely inflammation or maybe infection, but I could have gone another 100 years without having a doctor get serious with me over a node in my neck. 

But enough of that crisis, I started yoga, to help with my injury and love it!  I have always wanted to attend a yoga class but felt intimidated.  I mean we've all seen yoga teachers, lean, flexible, other worldly peace and tranquility.  What in the world would an uptight, anxious, chubby library clerk be doing in a yoga class?  The answer is loving it.  I do what I can and accept that it is enough for me.  I'm not as flexible as the other ladies in the class, but then again I'm new.  I think my injury, this vegan life and yoga are all about God teaching me patience.  When I say teaching, I don't mean He's teaching me in a slap my knuckles with a ruler sort of way, but just life circumstances and the lessons that can be gleaned from even painful and difficult circumstances.

I am afraid that since I started the new semester I haven't been very creative in my eating.  I've had way too many days of eating Rip's Big Bowl and a Veggie Burger.  I know I need to add better meals preparation, planning and execution to my list but honestly between the pain in my neck, numbness in my dominate hand and stress of online classes with an injury, I have felt too overwhelmed and still feel too overwhelmed to give a hoot about cooking. 

I haven't lost any more weight but I haven't gained.  For this yo-yo I am counting that as progress. 

I've missed this community.  Maybe reading the other blogs I will once again find the inspiration to add more color to my plate and my palate.

Sticky Stories

Ten days, two migraines and an ongoing coup by the right side of my body, but I'm back.  I did eat meat!  I know, I know, the migraine was hitting me hard and the only options involved meat so I ate it.  Skipping food tends to intensify my migraines so I took care of myself the best way I could in that moment.  Then I started beating myself up.  I didn't deserve to continue, I had messed up so why not give up, all those old shame strategies.  This morning I woke and realized that I am eating better.  I am being better to myself, so I slipped, but I didn't slide.  So, here I am again.  Veggies, soy milk and calm in hand still a part of this journey.   I never intended to limit it to 28 days.  I know this is a life long change.  During those years spreading out before me I will eat meat.  I know I will.  I will have a day where it is an option and it is, given the circumstances, the best option to take care of myself.  My overall goal was to take better care of myself.  I am still within that goal.  I'm being less legalistic, more realistic, for forgiving of myself and others, and yes, I'm eating vegetables, fruits and whole grains.   So I'm  back on track and moving forward down the road to  a new kinder, gentler, and more compassionate life.

That's my story and I'm sticking to it!