Updates

I haven't been posting much, because other than being super busy, I haven't had much to say! I've gotten into a wonderful schedule of cooking on the weekends and eating leftovers throughout the week. I'm still working on my yummy vegetable soup and crazy banana-nut-blueberry bread, and am planning my weekend cooking for either Saturday or Sunday. I've been careful to consider the nutritional elements of a vegan diet. I got a book I ordered today called Recipes for a Small Planet. It talks extensively about complementary proteins, and NPU's or Net Protein Utilization, which has helped me to understand our human needs so much better. The book contains hundreds of pages of recipes with complementary protein information provided for each. Though it relies heavily on dairy products and soy, and is a little outdated (copyright from 1973, and I have a feeling this was before science had come to discover soy's negative effect on estrogen levels), it provides a solid framework from which I can extract recipes and obtain an optimally healthy vegan diet.

In all the books I've read concerning nutrition, raw fruits and vegetables are key elements. I've been extremely satisfied making these staples of my diet, having fruit for breakfast like a banana, apple, or berries, and a salad for lunch, which usually contains the following: spinch or spring mix lettuce, bell peppers, broccoli, mushrooms, carrots, sprouts, tomatoes, and topped with dried cranberries and almonds. I've enjoyed nuts, nut butters, dried fruits, and my homemade bread as yummy snacks. Almond milk has also proved to be the perfect milk-substitute, great for smoothies, baking, or drinking alone. Overall, I've been pleased and satisfied with my diet, and my body is adjusting accordingly. I'm still careful to buy organic food, though local is virtually impossible now with the few feet of snow we have on the ground. It feels good to be promoting sustainable industries, and fueling my body with high quality, optimally nourishing real foods.