I feel like I start every post lately explaining how busy I am, but it's true! School is definitely hard this semester. This post is going to be a personal one, because I haven't been cooking anything too creative lately (ok, that's a lie, I've been making some delicious kale salads but I keep forgetting to take pictures of my creations and a food post without a picture is just sad.)
If you read my last post, you learned that I "ended" my vegan diet because I craved fish and chicken, etc. Well, I'm back to my old vegan ways because I kept getting grossed out about making meat and found I was completely dependent on prepared foods (like already cooked meat at Trader Joe's and Whole Foods, which ends up being really expensive). To me, being grossed out by cooking a particular food item is a sign that its just not going to work out. Now that I tried experimenting with a "flexitarian" diet, I feel I can return to my vegan ways and avoid some of the cravings that were sneaking up on me by paying closer attention to micronutrients to avoid certain deficiencies.
Although I've been busy, I did get a chance to take a mini-vacay in upstate NY where I ate at Garden Cafe on the Green, a cute vegan restaurant in Woodstock. I ate there twice. The first occasion I had a chickpea wrap with oven-roasted potato "fries) and the second time I had a blackbean-sweet potato burger. Both meals were delicious and I highly recommend the place if you happen to be in the Woodstock, NY-area.
In addition to eating, I also got to spend much time outdoors during my upstate getaway. I love exploring nature! This blogs tagline is "food for the mind, body, and soul" and I believe being in nature is one source of "food" for the all of the above! Fun fact: I actually used to be the education director of a nature preserve before I decided to go back to school for nutrition!
On a nutrition note, spending time outside, especially when it's sunny, is a good way to boost your vitamin D intake, which often decreases during the winter months.
A short vacation wouldn't be complete without going to a few souvenir shops, and that I did. Woodstock is a fun little town with a ton of cool stores that show it's grooooovy history 🙂
I hopefully will have more time to post some of my recipes. After April I have finals for the spring semester…followed by two summer classes but making time for food (and creating healthy recipes) will always be something I love to share!
-Jess
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