A Taste of Vegan Chicago

I went to Chicago this weekend to visit some dear friends of mine from high school and just had to try some of the Windy City's vegan cuisine. As you can see from the picture above, I was even able to get in my green drink! (Don't worry, I also sampled some of the best hot fudge and non-vegan cupcakes I've ever had too). We visited Karyn's Raw Cafe in the Lincoln Park neighborhood. Now, it's not all raw so in addition to my green drink (called the Peaceful Warrior) I also had the Wild Rice Mix which included rice, barley, avocado, spinach, tomatoes and other yummy veggies. It was fabulous. Here's what it looked like:

My friend had a portabella dish, seen here:

Overall the food was quite good and I felt especially healthy after the Peaceful Warrior. Attached to the cafe was a little vegan shop with everything from vegan desserts to trail mixes to books about healthy eating. There are also several other Karyn's restaurants in Chicago so check them out if you happen to be in the midwest! Here is the website: http://www.karynraw.com/

Yesterday, we went to brunch at a place called Orange, which was also in the Lincoln Park neighborhood of Chicago. It's not a vegan place (and I didn't eat vegan there) but they had a very interesting and yummy dish I wanted to share. It's called Frushi and it is essentially coconut rice with fruit instead of raw fish (thank you very much). It was a delicious treat and a nice addition to the rest of my meal. Here is the website for Orange:  http://orangerestaurantchicago.com/Main.html

Rabbits and Crickets and Owls, Oh My!

There is nothing better than getting up just before the sun and going for a nice, sweaty, early morning summer run. Okay, well maybe there are a few things that are better like sipping rum punch on a Caribbean beach or box seats behind home plate at the Stadium, but for crazy old me, not much beats running with the bunnies. I'm going out of town this weekend and, given that my half marathon training plan has started, I needed to get in a six mile run that I would normally do on a Saturday. I got up at 5 and took off on a steady pace through my neighborhood. The first thing I heard was a Great Horned Owl hooting in a tree across the street. Of course the crickets were chirping away as well. And what run would be complete without the 22 rabbits that I saw in the hour that I ran? Now, running in the morning may not be your idea of a good time, but as I was out bonding with nature this morning, one thought was going through my mind.

I love this. 


Even if you don't want to run in the morning, go out for a walk just as the sun is coming up or stand on your front porch or just open the window and listen to the sounds of the morning. It can be beautiful so matter where you live. We currently live in a very typical suburban area but I remember clearly my early morning runs when I lived in Hoboken, NJ. I would get up early and get my run in before work and it was just as beautiful, if not more so, as it is here. Part of my run took my along the piers by the Hudson River and there, right before me was the most beautiful skyline in the world. It was amazing! I guess my point is this: take some time to get up early, enjoy the silence before your crazy day starts, and breathe. You might be surprised how well your day will go after that.

Knowing where your food comes from

It's easy to turn a blind eye to where our food comes from. As long as it's in the neat, clean aisles of the grocery store, it must be fine, right? As we speak, however, immense cruelty and suffering is being dealt out to the animals that will become America's sirloin, prime rib, and bacon. But two things are happening in regards to this cruelty: 1) We don't want to hear about it because, let's face it, we'd be morally obligated to give up our bacon double cheeseburger (what a shame that would be!) and 2) We're not being allowed to hear about it or see it because factory farms won't let people in to see how their operations run. Is there not a serious problem when we are not given access to see where our food comes from??? 


Read this article from Mark Bittman and, if you choose, look for his articles in the NY Times. He brings up excellent points and makes a case for being more conscious of our food choices. Hopefully one day his message and others like it will be loud enough for everyone to hear...

http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/07/05/banned-from-the-barn/?ref=opinion

Green goodness

This past week has been really good for me in terms of eating. We've been juicing every day, eating lots of big salads, I haven't had coffee since Sunday and I haven't been snacking on anything sugary. Plus I've eaten 100% vegan this week (save for the one hard boiled egg I had the other morning). And here's the thing: I feel fantastic! Even with a jam packed week and a child who asks "why" questions every one of his waking moments, I feel like I have a ton of energy. So in the midst of this I ask myself, "Why don't I eat like this all the time?" For some reason, it's been really easy for me this week to make good choices in the food department. So why isn't it always like that? For instance, I know how I feel when I have a sugary coffee from Starbucks (crappy and jittery!) so why do I sometimes go and get those drinks? I also know that the graham crackers in my cabinet (the blue box, Eric!) have partially hydrogenated something or other in them, so why do I sometimes choose to snack on them until a whole sleeve is gone? I guess there are often factors in our lives that make us turn toward the comfort of sugar, caffeine, alcohol, whatever! But the thing that has helped me this week is 1) knowing how good I feel right now, powered by plants, 2) setting an example for my son, and 3) really looking at myself as a valuable person who needs to put things into my body that are going to keep it healthy, happy, and strong. This third part has been the most important. There were definitely times during the week when that blue box of graham crackers were calling out to me. But instead, I chose to turn to the container of raspberries in the fridge. When you put good stuff (the real good stuff, not the stuff that simply fulfills a sugar craving) into your body, you ultimately become what you are eating and you feel good about yourself for making good choices!

Should you eat organic?

A friend of mine, who is aware of my veggie obsession, recently asked if we buy all organic produce. My simple answer to this is no. While I do buy organic some of the time, there is an equal amount of time when I don't. To be honest, there really is no rhyme or reason for when I buy organic. Partly, it depends on which store I happen to be shopping at. If I'm at Whole Foods, I have a greater tendency to buy organic simply because their organic selection is excellent. If I'm at Costco, I just buy the vat of strawberries that look the best. At the farmers market, I also just buy what looks best. I know there is information out there about which fruits and veggies hold the most pesticide residue on them and we should definitely take this into consideration. Here is the "Dirty Dozen" list from Crazy Sexy Diet that lists the foods grown with the most pesticides:

1. Peach
2. Apple
3. Bell pepper
4. Celery
5. Nectarine
6. Strawberries
7. Cherries
8. Kale
9. Lettuce
10. Grapes (imported)
11. Carrot
12. Pear

I think it is important to consider these foods and buy organic when possible. But here is the reality: 1) Organic food is expensive and 2) When I am running errands with my 2 year-old son and he's starting to get fussy, I'm not going to get fussy about organic versus conventional strawberries. I'm going to get my darn berries and get out of the store! This is my bottom line: I believe it is better to eat any fruit or vegetable (organic or otherwise) than not. At least you will be eating a strawberry and not a strawberry Pop Tart!

The Choice is Yours

So I went to see Forks Over Knives... again... with my hubby... on our date night! That's right, we saw something educational on our date night. No I did not drag him kicking and screaming. He went willingly. Anyway, after seeing the movie again and mentioning it to a couple friends, I started thinking about the way we eat on a deeper level. Some of the responses I got when telling people what the movie was about included the following:

"I don't want to see something that's going to make me want to change the way I eat."

and...

"It doesn't show animals getting hurt, does it?"

These two comments struck me as very interesting. The first response shows how ingrained our eating habits are in our own being. And believe me, I get this! Even after all the reading and self-education I've done, I still find myself falling back into those habits I've developed over years and years of eating. Let's be honest, it is NOT easy to change the way we eat. When you ask someone to see a movie or read a book about switching to a plant-based diet, it can force them to rethink everything they've ever known or loved about food and that can be a difficult thing to do. To me, however, I can think of no more important thing to do than improve our health through strong nutrition! This is why it is important to make small changes, a little at a time. It is not practical for most people to switch from omnivore to vegan overnight. That's fine! If you eat steak five nights a week, cut it down to 3 nights. If you are eating one serving of veggies a day, add a second, then a third (then a tenth! c'mon people, eat your veggies!). This is what we've done with going from vegetarian to vegan. First I cut out skim milk (which I used to drink like a fiend!), then I replaced cheddar cheese with daiya cheese, then started ordering sandwiches and wraps without cheese when we went out. Heck, I'm still working on giving up the eggs completely!

The second response I received asked about animals being hurt in the movie. I get it. Who wants to pay $12 to see a movie that shows the way a slaughterhouse works? (BTW, Forks Over Knives does not do this). I used to feel this way too but the more I read and studied, the more I realized how important it is to know the truth behind the bacon. Bottom line: animals have to die for us to eat them. There is nothing pretty about that fact. We shouldn't feel guilty though if we still eat animals in some form! Guilt gets us nowhere. What is important is that we think about how we eat and make the connection between what is on our plate and what is grazing in the pasture when we pass that farm down the road.

Ultimately, how we eat is our choice. With everything else going on in our lives, food choices may seem secondary. But remember that when your health is strong, everything else in your life will follow suit. Do the best you can, don't be too hard on yourself, and make one choice today about your food that is healthier than it was the day before!

A Real Review

And now for a review of Forks Over Knives from a true film critic, Roger Ebert...

http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20110511/REVIEWS/110519995

His review does the movie a little more justice than mine. Check it out!