substitutes aren't all that bad... unless the sub is a teacher.

So yesterday and today I'm learning all about how substitutes really aren't all that bad when it comes to food and drink (and even exercise) as long as you do them right and make them positive. Today, I gave up coffee. Yes you read it right. I've been slowly weaning myself off but today was the big day that I switched from coffee to caffeine free green tea. Getting up today was sort of awful which wasnt helped by the fact that its really gross and overcast outside. Getting to the gym was heinous. I got there and was so asleep on my feet that Gary, the guy at the front desk who normally congratulates me on how great im doing at work outs, said something like, "HEY THERE ASH-MEISTER (yep, Ash-meister) YOU FEELIN OKAY TODAY" When I told him and one of the kinda creepy trainers who was lurking about that I was giving up coffee, Gary acted as if I had just told him that I was about to go jump of a bridge to see if i could fly, and the trainer actually suggested to me that I should try espresso instead. I thanked her for her suggestion (despite the fact that it was an obviously terrible suggestion) but told her that I was just going to try to stick with organic green tea for now and did a quick 25 minute work out on the arc trainer which I also affectionately call "the death elliptical" (another substitution ive made from the tred mill because i had shin splints and you can burn 500 calories in about 32 minutes). But I have to say that I honestly feel immensely better after my work out and am not really missing my cup of coffee very much. I substituted the coffee with some really good and refreshing mint tea so that i would still get to use my favorite coffee cup and make it feel more familiar. I also substituted my aspartame-y gross fake sweeteners (that make me crave other sweet things) for an all natural sweetener called pure-via thats pretty tasty but I think I like tru-via better because its a little sweeter. I've been using the pure-via for a couple of days now and I've already noticed that it is way easier to stay away from all kinds of sweets. This morning I also substituted my normal morning oatmeal (which I will be keeping around) for some amazing vegan muffins that I made last night. They're stuffed full of bananas, walnuts, and dried cranberries. Don't worry, I'll post the recipe below.

In regard to actual food, I've only made a couple of swaps but they were fairly big ones. for lunch I had meatless chicken wings. I've had plenty of meatless things before but not this particular brand or their wings. The brand was Gardein and let me tell you these look just like boneless wings that you'd get from anywhere. Unfortunately it's hard to say how they really tasted because they were so hot I thought my face was actually going to melt off. However, my brother (who conveniently loves really hot stuff like that) really enjoyed them. He was shocked by the fact that they weren't chicken but he came home and ate all of them after lacrosse last night. So, on the "chicken" wing front- if you love spicy stuff then go for Gardein but if your more mild (at least when it comes to spices) then Morning Star makes some that are a little more crispy and not so spicy. I'm yet to find a good vegetarian or vegan swap for ranch or blue cheese to slab on the wings though but I'll work on it.

The biggest swap i've made was for the biggest meal of the day which was dinner last night. It was tough to find a veggie recipe that my family would actually enjoy- i e-mailed my dad a few recipes and all he wrote back was "where's the beef?"- despite the fact that they were pretty traditional things. The first was a mushroom stroganoff, then spaghetti squash at a close second, and then a veggie baja taco thing last. Stroganoff won out in the end and let me tell ya, it was amazing. It was stuffed full of baby bella mushrooms (some of my favorite) and then dried (but revived) shiitakes and then I put it over quinoa pasta as opposed to regular pasta or whole wheat pasta. Lets just say that it was so good that my dad actually said "Wow I'm impressed and I don't even miss the meat!" WOOHOO! It was a downright veggie-victory and I will definitely be making it again.

So swaps aren't bad and so far im not even missing anything too much. I'm trying a bunch of new tofu things though for the next couple of days so I'll keep you updated on how everything is going. Over-all though I'm really enjoying getting a little bit outside of the box with my food especially since I'm finding the swaps to be really great. Hopefully, seeing how well this has gone I'll be able to be more accepting to other changes in my life, big or small :).

Happy Friday!!!

-A

Recipes:

Muffins:

Ingredients-

3 ripe bananas

1/4 cup oil or melted margarine

1 cup sugar

2 cups flour

1 tsp. salt

1 tsp. baking soda

optional: add a handful of walnuts, oatmeal, raisins, dried cranberries or other fruits, chocolate chips, currants, or coconut.

Directions:

mash bananas (overripe are best). Add oil/margarine and sugar. Mix well.

sift the flour, baking soda, and salt together and add to the banana mixture. Mix until the flour is blended (do not beat). Add in any of the optional ingredients you choose.

pour into muffin pans or bread pan and bake at 360 degrees until a toothpick comes out clean.

makes approx 12 normal muffins or 6 large ones.

Stroganoff:

Yield 2 servings.

Ingredients:

10 oz. fresh baby bella mushrooms, sliced.

1 oz dried porcini OR shiitake mushrooms (I used shiitake)

1 small onion, sliced.

2 cloves garlic, thinly sliced

1/2 oz butter

1/4 cup white wine

1/2 cup creme fraiche

a few shakes of quick mixing flour like Wondra

salt and pepper to taste.

Directions:

Start by soaking the dried mushrooms in warm water. the package should say how to revive them properly. I did mine in about 250 mls of warm water for about 30 minutes and then put a water bottle on top of them to make sure they wouldn't just float to the top. After the mushrooms have soaked pull them from the warm water and rinse them slightly in cool water and pat dry. set aside. Strain the mushroom water through a coffee filter and then set it aside. DO NOT THROW IT AWAY.

Melt the butter in a large, heavy based pan and gently fry the onion and garlic until it is soft and translucent.

Add all of the mushrooms in, including the water that the dried mushrooms were soaked in. Stir well and add the wine.

Allow to cook on medium heat for about 30 minutes or until the liquid has reduced. (I had some trouble getting it to reduce so thats when i added a few shakes of the Wondra quick mixing flour.

Just before serving stir in the creme fraiche.

serve over pasta or rice, whichever you prefer, and ENJOY!

Preface?

So this is the first of hopefully many blogs collectively entitled "Minor Things". At first, when I signed up on the site a whole month ago (I've been a little preoccupied since then) I titled the blog after a Red Hot Chili Peppers song, Minor Thing because not only do I really love the song, but I thought that it would go along well with what I wanted to write about. However, at the time I signed up for this, (there was lots of red wine involved) I didn't really know what to write about at all. I only had a vague idea. Then today, I was driving home from my work out, headed over the Davis Island bridge- which is my favorite view of Tampa- and I had a sort of a-ha moment. Minor Thing came on my shuffle and I realized that I wanted to write about what my priorities are right now and what my priorities should be. I feel like I'm at a stage in my life where I really am only just starting to figure out what is important to me. I'm 6 months single and reveling in it. I'm finally figuring out what I want to do just because I want to do it and its been one of the most enjoyable and freeing feelings of my entire life. I'm figuring out what is important to ME and to the people around me that are special parts of my life, not because I have to, but because I want to. It's like a whole new journey that I'm embarking on to figure out not just what/who is important in my life, but who I am as an individual. What is just a minor thing and what/ who should be a major priority? So far I've begun to understand that I am and should always be my first priority. Not in a selfish way, but in a way that means that by being a better person I can lead a happier more satisfying life that benefits me and everyone around me as well. So, the key is start by making me a better person, inside and out, and figure out what's important along the way.

I guess you could call this the preface to what will hopefully end up as a truly rewarding experience for me. Also, hopefully writing about this and sharing it will make me feel more accountable to someone besides myself because this is something that I absolutely don't want to give up on but it may require some help along the way. I guess we'll just have to see how it all works out.

*To readjust you've got to trust that all the fuss is just a minor thing, y'all

-A