Tuesday, November 29, 2011

Mexican Chocolate Snickerdoodles

              Mexican Chocolate Snickerdoodles
             Makes 2 dozen Cookies (130 calories per cookie)

When I was looking at reviews for the recipes in "Vegan Cookies Invade Your Cookies Jar". I noticed that this recipe was like the TOP reviewed recipe in the whole book! I had to find a chocolate cookie to represent mud pie for an event ( has to do with a Buddhist parable). These were the perfect choice! They came out exactly like the picture in the cookbook and were so easy to make. I love how they crack on the top and the cinnamon-sugar coating is so pretty. Don't worry too much about the cayenne kick. It adds a really nice depth plus it's more like the kick in a ginger snap. There is a nice balance of spice and chocolate.

 

                                          
For the topping:
1/3 cup sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

For the cookies:
1/2 cup canola oil
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup pure maple syrup
3 tablespoons almond milk (Or your preferred non-dairy milk)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon chocolate extract (or more vanilla extract if you have no chocolate)
1 2/3 cups flour
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon cayenne


1. Preheat oven to 350 F. Line 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper.

2. Mix the topping ingredients together on a flat plate. Set aside.

3. In a medium mixing bowl, use a fork to vigorously mix together oil,  sugar, syrup, and milk. Mix in extracts.
Sift in remaining ingredients, stirring as you add them. Once all ingredients are added mix until you’ve got a pliable dough.

4. Roll dough into walnut sized balls. Pat into the sugar topping to flatten into roughly 2 inch discs. Transfer to baking sheet, sugar side up, at least 2 inches apart (they do spread). This should be easy as the the bottom of the cookies should just stick to your fingers so you can just flip them over onto the baking sheet.

5. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes, they should be a bit spread and crackly on top. Remove from oven and let cool for 5 minutes, then transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely.


Here is a video of Isa Chandra Moskowitz (vegan genius) showing how to make these scrumptious treats.

Monday, November 28, 2011

Gaining and my goals for next week.

I gained 1.8 pounds this week. Gaining 2 weeks in a row NOT ACCEPTABLE. Now I am 176.2. I was getting so close the the 160's =( . I feel like I'm going backwards. The past couple weeks I have not been counting my calories, going to the gym or chanting very often. I just feel out of tune with life right now! I keep putting myself down and it doesn't help that my parents and I are having issues.

My parents and I haven't been that close for most of my life. When they found out that I'm Buddhist they suddenly have an interest in my life (weather I'm going to hell or not). They are for sure having problems dealing with my Buddhist practice. Even if they want to lay on the guilt about their views on the afterlife, I just need to stand my ground an let them know that they don't have to agree but at least respect my decisions on how I choose to live my life. I feel like I'm venting but this whole situation is stressing me out.


GOALS FOR NEXT WEEK 
  • Go to the gym 6 days.
  • Stick to 1500 calories per day.
  • Only have 1 cookie at the cookie making party.
  • Stop stressing out.
  • Chant 2 times per day.
  • Lose 2 pounds.
I know I can do it!

Still gotta post that recipe for the Mexican chocolate snickerdoodles. On Saturday I'm making over 250 of them for World Peace Prayer. Hope some people show up to the cookie making party. Here is a sneak peek of the sample batch.


Thursday, November 24, 2011

Thanksgiving with SGI friends =)

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! I managed to make it to the gym today! I was so happy when I read a sign at the gym the other day that read "Thanksgiving day special hours 7am-12pm". When I saw that sign I said "Yes" really loud. People were staring at me like "Umm weirdo".

My roommate had a big potluck today and a lot of our Buddhist friends came over at about 3pm. I have to admit it is hard being a vegan sometimes in social situations with large amounts of foods. All I can suggest to other vegans is to eat before an event that you know is not going to have any vegan foods. That way your not a winy vegan. I had a pb and j sandwich for lunch after the gym so I was set.

My roommate Debbie and I.
 
Sharon and her friend and her friend in the back. ( I'm so bad with names!)


Me and Zena.

Todd got home around 5:30 pm. I made a separate thanksgiving meal for Todd and I. Sometimes It seems rude when I make separate food from other people but I also want to prove to people that vegans don't just eat branches and twigs. Lol!

Todd making a super goofy face while eating.
Field roast, mashed potatoes with veg gravy, green beans almondine, stuffing, cranberry sauce.

 -The cinnamon bread roll (veg friendly) was made by Debbie's son . They were so delicious...I may have had 3 or 4 of them.

My goal was to eat just one plate of food and I did! Granted it was a jam packed plate. I'm super stuffed and I had a great thanksgiving.


Anybody else have some thanksgiving adventures?

Tuesday, November 22, 2011

I survived!

 Picture updates. Taken today. 

Size Medium top and size medium yoga pants from Old Navy! 
*Old Navy runs big though.



My problem areas right now are my arms and my stomach. They are really not too big a deal. It's the extra skin that's bothering me. Like my bat wings! This weigh in I gained .8 pounds so now I am 174.4 . I only worked out 4 days and I didn't stick to my diet. I gotta step up my game if I wanna reach my goal and stop mentally sabotaging myself. Sometimes I get week and over eat or get lazy with my workouts. Not to mention there was a Buddhist general meeting / potluck at my house last week. Lets just say that I didn't stop at one plate.


In case anyone was wondering... on Monday I biked 58 miles (from Mukilteo to Georgetown and back) and I'm still alive! I did way better with the hills this time. We went to Georgetown because my boyfriend wanted to go to a farewell party for one of his co-workers. We ended up being an hour late and missed out on the party thanks to my slow biking. My back was hurting me but I realized that my seat was too low so we raised it a couple inches which helped alot. It was so freezing and I couldn't feel my fingers or toes! When we got home I hurt everywhere! It's gonna be a while before I bike that far again. What's funny is a year ago biking 5 miles seemed like too much. I had a lot of fun though = ).
Next week I will blog about how I did with Thanksgiving on a diet! Lets hope I stick with just 1 plate. Oh and I have to post a cookie recipe! I made Mexcican chocolate snickerdoodles! I feel like my post is too long already so I'll save the cookies for next week.

Sunday, November 13, 2011

A weigh in and a bike ride.

I was so sluggish getting out of bed this morning. I'm glad that I finally got my butt over to the scale because it read 173.6. That's a 3.2 pound loss from last week! Total I have lost 84.4 pounds since January 8th . If I lose about 2 pounds per week for the next 8 weeks then I will reach my goal of losing 100 pounds in 1 year. Can I do it?  <----(In case you were wondering I did actually make it to the gym 5 days)

I'm so happy about my work schedule this week! Todd and I have the exact 2 days off. Which means today and tomorrow Todd and I can get out and bike together. Today we biked from Mukilteo to the Everett Co-op just for the heck of it. On our way we got a little lost so that added a few extra miles to our trip.

We decided to stop and take pics on the Inter-urban bike trail...

 
This ones a little blurry but I still like it =)


It's amazing that even though I work out so much at the gym that I still have mental blocks about going up hills on my bike. This one hill that Todd zipped right up was killing me! Going up it was so hard that I was swearing to myself (out loud) and telling myself that I couldn't do it. Of course whenever I do that I get off my bike and give up. On the way back I decided to to just the opposite and it worked! Whenever I got to a really tough hill I would just shift my gears to the lowest setting and say things to myself like "Go Lorrie go!" or "You can do this at the gym so you can do it now!". That probably sounds crazy but whatever!

When we arrived back home I checked Todd's bike computer. His computer said we had gone 23.12 miles! That's the farthest I have ever rode my bike in one day ever!
On the agenda for tomorrow is a bike ride to Georgetown and back. That's like double of the miles we did today!!! Definitely packing some pb and j. If I write another post soon that means I didn't die.

Friday, November 11, 2011

Chapchae = yum.

Ok so today I didn't work out ( I know what a slacker). When my boyfriend went to work this morning instead of going to the gym I went back to bed after breakfast. I just felt so tired. Well if I at least go to the gym tomorrow then I will have gone to the gym 5 days this week. I went over my calories a little in the middle of this week so we will see how this next weigh in turns out.

When I woke up I went to my work to get my check and then went grocery shopping at the local Asian market to buy ingredients for chapchae. When I got home I was so syked to make it because I hadn't made that recipe in a while. Just when I was about to the power went out! When my boyfriend came home from work we walked to the Albertson's to find something to make for dinner that didn't require re-heating. We decided to have a big salad with jalapeno bread and butter on the side. It doesn't sound like a high calorie meal but It was over 1,000 calories for dinner! Good thing I didn't have lunch today! Right in the middle of eating our high calorie cold dinner the power came back on! I decided to make chapchae anyways to box up for dinner for the next few days. Anyways the good thing about today is that I learned that I have 40 hours in the bakery next week!

Here's the recipe....

                         Chapchae with Fried Tofu
                         Makes 4 large servings.
                                  (About 535 calories) 

This recipe is so good! I like to serve mine with a little side of kimchi. Kimchi is good but it does hike up your sodium level!

  • 8 oz mung bean or sweet potato noodles (might be called cellophane or glass noodles or Chinese vermicelli)
  • 1 sweet onion, sliced into thin strips
  • 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
  • 1/2 pound baby spinach, pre-sauted until soft
  • 2 carrots, julienned
  • 3 scallions, chopped
  • 1/2 cup chopped Napa cabbage
  • 5 mushrooms, sliced
  • 2 Tbsp vegetable or olive oil
  • 2 Tbsp sesame oil
  • 3 Tbsp soy sauce
  • 1 tsp sugar
  • 6 oz. pre-fried tofu.
  • Sesame seeds (try toasted)
  • Black pepper

  1. Soak noodles in hot water for about 20-30 minutes. Then drain. Set aside.

  2. In a large pan or wok over medium heat, heat vegetable (or olive) oil and 1 Tbsp sesame oil.

  3. Add onion slices and garlic and sauté for about 1 minute.

  4. Add rest of vegetables and cook for 4-5 minutes, until the vegetables are half-cooked and still a bit crispy.

  5. Turn heat to low and add cooked noodles, tofu, soy sauce, sugar, and the remaining sesame oil.

  6. Mix to combine and cook for another 2 minutes.

  7. Add salt or more soy sauce if needed.

  8. When finished add a few shakes of sesame seeds and a few pinches of black pepper.

Sunday, November 6, 2011

Goodies!!

So I woke up at about 7am and weighed myself. So I am 176.8. That's a .6 pound loss. It's not bad but I wish I could have reached my goal of 2 pounds. 81.2 pound lost. 18.8 more to go before January ( if I want to reach my goal of losing 100 in 1 year).  Recently I cut my cardio from 65 minutes a day to 45. I bet that's what did it because I have been sticking to my 1500 calories. Next week I'm going to stick with my usual 65 minute sessions and see how that goes. I think I'm finally getting used to my 1500. Every time I cut my calories I'm kind of a bitch for the first few weeks so forgive me if I seemed crabby during those times!

After weighing in, my roommate Debbie took Todd and I to World Peace Prayer. Our District has split into 2 so now where I live is it's own district. Of course a new district means new leaders. Debbie was appointed Women's Division Leader, Todd (Men's Division Leader), and I was appointed Young Women's Division Leader for our district!! They called us all up on stage to announce our new leaderships. So many new changes ...so exciting!!! Buddhist meetings at my house!


This weeks blog post is pretty much kind of one of those "haul"ones...I must share my new found goodies!!

First of all I needed new work out shoes so bad. It's amazing how fast you go through shoes when you change up your activity level.  I got these to replace my old Nike's.
 Apparently I went down a size in shoes the past months because I went from an 11 to a size 10. I didn't realize how much I was swimming in my old ones.

I also stocked up on some dark chocolate since they were buy 1 get 1 at Fred Meyer. This is my second fav brand but Theo is still the best!.
 

...Last but not least is this new wine Todd and I picked out.
I'm not usually a fan of wine. When it's dark chocolate wine I for sure am! Don't worry I only had 1 glass =) .

Tuesday, November 1, 2011

My first blog award!

Thanks Jen for mentioning me on your blog (A New Poison). I have never had a blog award before. So here it is!


Versatile: ver-sa-tile [vur-suh-tl] or, especially British, [vur-suh-tahyl]: capable of, or adapted for, turning easily from one to another various tasks, fields of endeavor, etc.: a versatile writer.Word information source: www.dictionary.com


Here is how the award works:
1. You thank the person who presented you with the award.
2. You tell 7 things about yourself.
3. You award 15 other newly discovered bloggers.


 7 things about Lorrie...


1) I love love love love love dark chocolate! Especially Theo Chocolate so if your thinking about what to get me for my birthday there is a hint. Lol

2) The things I am most insecure about on my body are my arms and my stomach. Those seem to be the last places that my weight wants to come off. Plus my extra skin is more noticeable on those places. But I have faith in that if I keep lifting weights and toning up it will all come together.

3) If it wasn't for my boyfriend Todd I don't know if I would have started a healthy lifestyle. I do have my own motivation but it is SO helpful when someone wants to work out and lose weight with you =). He lost about 50 pounds!

4) I swear me and Jen are on the same page or something. We both have interests in looking into fields that involve health and nutrition. It would be so cool to actually become a nutritionist. I just gotta get my butt to school for it!

5) I love Seattle but I really want to travel. Japan would be really cool to go to because that is where my Buddhist practice originated.

6) My fav movie genre is horror! Any kind really even if it's a corny horror flick I'm bound to at least get a laugh out of it. I like stuff Like "Dexter" and "The Walking Dead"...anything with zombies.


7) Sometimes I like to read quotes to get me motivated and pumped to reach my goals. I like to go to http://www.ikedaquotes.org/. Even If your not an SGI Buddhist this site can give you a change of perspective.


These are the blogs that I would like to award for being versatile bloggers!!
I had to follow some more blogs to complete this list but I found some interesting ones.