I Hate Wedgies

Hello everyone. Hope you're all enjoying yourselves on this fine Saturday. I decided to post in the afternoon because I had cycling this morning. Do any of you guys take it at the gym? Because if you do, I have one question for you. How many seconds/minutes after you start peddling does your wedgie appear? haha It's usually about 5 minutes for me, but today, I'd estimate it around 7.7 seconds!!! The whole class was an excruciating experience!!! I had a layer of spandex on under my sweats, so that might have been what caused it. I have no clue. I try to wear spandex all the time because there's a lot of perverts at the gym. One time, these guys told me they were getting a "free show" of my ass even though I was wearing spandex. What idiots! haha At least I saw Tubby after class. It was pouring outside, and I felt bad that my baby had to spend the day in the rain. Oh Tubs, what are we gonna do with you?

As for food, I have been eating random stuff lately, which isn't really different than my usual eating habits haha. Ezekial sprouted english muffins are my new obsession as well as Organic Concord grape juice. I can't get enough of those two. The next two recipes are hardly recipes at all, but they taste so good that I figured I'd post them just because I can. haha

Here's the "recipes"

Poor Woman's Garlic Bread

1 ezekial sprouted grain english muffin, cut in half
2 tsp earth balance buttery spread
2 tsp garlic powder
2 tsp nutritional yeast

Directions: Put english muffin in toaster. Wait til it's done. Spread butter on each side. Top with garlic powder and then nutritional yeast. I can't tell you how many times I've eaten this over the past week. I'm addicted!

Grape Slushy

1/2-3/4 cup concord grape juice
1 cup black seedless grapes

Directions: Pour grape juice into 8x8 pan. Add grapes into pan. Cover will foil and freeze for a few hours. When ready to eat, scrape the mixture with a fork to create a slushy type dessert. I had this as my pre-cycling breakfast. It did not sustain me at all, and I was starving through the class!!! haha But it does taste good.

I Voted!!!

Yay!!! I just got back from voting! This is so exciting haha It was my first time, and I took my little sister along with me. She went in her pajamas because she just woke up when I got home... which isn't really surprising. I just didn't want to go alone because I'm weird. Well, I really just wanted somebody to take a picture of me voting, but it turns out that there was no flash photography allowed. DAMNIT! However, she did take a picture of me outside the voting room.

It was truly a magical experience. I walked up to the table and the first words out of the lady's mouth were "Aren't you a little young to be voting?" I was like "Umm.... NO!!!" haha The question at the end (after picking the candidates) was so confusing. I honestly didn't understand it at all so I just said 'no.' I mean, I didn't wanna agree to something when it could be terrible. Oh well, I feel so much better now.

And today's recipe is a good one. On Halloween night, I stayed home because I had the house to myself. That NEVER happens. I finally took out my bread machine and put it to use. I made pumpkin yeast bread from have cake, will travel. I made a few adaptations, and I loved it. It wasn't sweet at all, so you can eat it on any kind of sandwich. I had it with some honey and cinnamon. Everyone who tried a piece wanted more, so I'll probably be making another loaf.

Here's the recipe:

Pumpkin Yeast Bread
3/4 cup canned pumpkin
2/3 cup room temp water or soy milk
1 Tbsp applesauce
2 cups whole wheat flour
1 cup oat flour
1/4 cup turbinado raw sugar
4 tsp vital wheat gluten
1 1/2 tsp sea salt
1 3/4 tsp active yeast or bread machine yeast

Directions: Place all ingredients in your machine following manufacturer's instructions. Flours must be spooned into dry ingredients using measuring cup and leveled with a knife. Use "BASIC" cycle. Once cycle is over, remove from pan and let cool on a rack.

Day 1

Alrighty. Really late last night I decided that I was going to go on a fast. The idea came from my friend, Max and I figured I would try it, too. We are both doing different fasts, but they should have the same effect. The main thing I read was to drink a TON of water... so I've pretty much been drinking my body weight in water haha. I really think that yesterday was just an eye opening day. It was my last day at Sears (until Thanksgiving), and I've never felt so stress-free. A huge weight had been lifted from my shoulders, and I feel like I can breathe again. I came home and did a Tai Chi video just because I felt so good. I LOVE Tai Chi. It's so easy and beautiful... and when I say beautiful, I mean the host. Wow he was hot. So now I'm all in my Chi and I'm drinking one of my fruit juice smoothies. It's good to be alive!

However... I still have a bread recipe for today. My fasting diet doesn't consist of bread, but I made this last week and it is just amazing. I found it on "have cake, will travel" and it's just a really dense, hearty bread. It makes two loaves and I'm proud to say that they both rose beautifully. It was my first time making bread, so I was damn satisfied!

Here's the recipe:

Carrot Bread

(for a 1 1/2 pounder, or about 12 slices)

3/4 cup room temperature soy milk (I used half almond milk, half soymilk)
1 cup finely grated carrots
2 Tbsp turbinado sugar
2 Tbsp canola oil
1 tsp sea salt
2 Tbsp vital wheat gluten
about 3 cups light spelt flour, might need more or less: up to you to find out as you kneed
2 tsp bread machine or instant-rise yeast

Directions:
If you want to proof your yeast, heat your soymilk to lukewarm, add yeast and sugar. Let sit for 10 minutes; it should get foamy.

After 10 minutes, combine soymilk mixture, carrots, canola oil, sea salt, wheat gluten, and 2 cups of bread flour. Stir with a wooden spoon and pour onto a clean, lightly floured surface. Add the rest of the flour as you kneed until the dough isn't too sticky anymore. It should be smooth and elastic.

Place in a large bowl coated with a little oil. Swirl ball-shaped dough a little until it's lightly coated with the oil, cover, and let rise (in a warm, draft-free area) for 90 minutes or until doubled in size.

20 minutes before dough is done rising, preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

Punch dough down and flatten it with you hands into a rectangular shape. Cut in two in length, roll each portion tightly in the shape of a loaf. Place on a parchment/Silpat-lined baking sheet and bake for 30 minutes or until the bottoms sound hollow when tapped. The top should be golden brown and if you have an instant-read thermometer, it should read 190-200 F.

Let cool on rack before slicing.