Crazy Apple Lady

Sharing recipes and stories, a middle aged “Crazy Apple Lady” documents her journey of physical, mental and environmental health.

[crazyapplelady]

Hope I’m not getting to annoying posting my food creations! This is my homemade quinoa pizza crust AND home made cashew cheese sauce. I topped with with sautéed mushrooms and spinach and added thin slices of Roma tomatoes. #vegan #wholefoodnutrition #wholefoodplantbased #vermont #802 #pizza #greenmountains

[crazyapplelady]

I am WFPB and GF. This combo made me determined to find a bread substitute. You see I love my oil free blender hummus, baby kale and English cucumber sandwiches. I stumbled upon this recipe from “The Savy Vegan”:

http://www.themicrovorediet.ca/single-post/2016/05/07/2-Ingredient-Quinoa-Bread-Microvore-Recipes

It is meant to be a pizza crust but I make small sandwich sized crusts and it’s great!

#wfpb #wholefoodsplantbased #quinoa #pizza #pizzacrust #cookingwitholants #oilfree #vegetable #fruits #vegan #VT #greenmountains

[crazyapplelady]

Carrot Cake Energy Balls. Family and I gobbled them down in moments. Recipe:

https://cookingwithplants.com/recipe/carrot-cake-energy-balls/

This is a wonderful source for true oil free, WFPB recipes. #wfpb #wholefoodsplantbased #carrotcake #carrot #cookingwitholants #oilfree #vegetable #fruits #vegan #VT #greenmountains

[thefatveganstruggle]

Enamel pins of my dogs face are now available from:

https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/PinPalzUK

Every single penny of these pins goes to FAITH animal rescue in Norfolk where arrow was originally adopted from.

I am not making any money - every penny (apart from postage) goes straight to them!

Please reblog, like and share with friends.

Thank you!

[crazyapplelady]

Life gets in the way and you stop doing “stuff”! Like not posting for almost 4 months!

I whipped up this pizza the other day. I started sauteeing my vegetables (in vegetable broth) before adding to my pizzas. The vegetables are softer and don’t burn, plus the flavor from the broth enhances the taste of the pizza. This one has black beans, mushrooms, red peppers, broccoli, zuchinni, carrots, spinach and cashew cheese. Got the crust recipe on line (hope I can find it again) and sprinkled some sesame seeds and flax seeds on it. The cashew cheese recipe is from “The Medical Medium”

It was amazing

I’ve started to build quite a collection of whole foods plant based recipes. Today I am making cream of broccoli soup. I am constantly experimenting and scouring the internet for WFPB ways to prepare all of my favorite comfort food. Hope to use this venue to catalog them and share with my uh, 2 or 3 followers!

Have a wonderful day.

[crazyapplelady]

Delicious green juice that puts a zing in my step every morning

[crazyapplelady]

Wow

I fell into a hole, and am crawling back out.

Little by little I started to add oils back into my diet, sugars, and ice cream cones. Oh yeah, that piece of cake will be okay. I mean I look great, right?

So guess what, I stopped writing, dark circles under my eyes returned, my nose is stuffed up, I have an irritating cough, and I’m breaking out. Nope, I’m not surprised. So I purchased some whole foods plant based audio books for car rides, spent the day prepping my meals for the week, and took a long hard look at myself…naked…in my mirror. Okay, stop it Mindy-lets get back up on that horse.

I want to write so I can look back and remind myself how far I’ve come, and where I’ve tripped up along the way. Going to shoot for a few times a week.

Have a nice night😃

[crazyapplelady]

12:40am.. Vermont Time

Approaching Tuesday in the beautiful Green Mountain State. I ate chocolate soft serve ice cream and have a bad headache and cannot sleep. Sunday, I had to many corn tortilla chips and slept for 3 hours Sunday night. So, I was thinking (after the motrin kicked in and 32oz of water):

About a year and a half back I had what Dr.’s call a “severe psychotic break”. In the old days it was called a “nervous breakdown”. I was also told by the same Dr.’s I had Bipolar 1, and PTSD. I went for nights on end not sleeping more that 3 hours, I was prescribed 5 different antidepressants ‘till one “worked”. The last two prescriptions I was given eventually gave me severe rhinitis. It was like cement was poured into my sinus cavities and I could not close my mouth because I could not breathe. Then I was given one (my final prescription) that caused severe agitation and restlessness. It was horrible. I would cry because of it. When I told my psychiatrist she gave me another prescription to battle the severe agitation and restlessness. (I was taking another pill to make a pill work???) I began to think, “Mindy, this in not right!” So, I went from 180 lbs to 220 lbs. I did not want to go out in public, began binge eating and drinking laxative tea at night. As much as 6 bags a night. I seriously did not care. Oh, God Almighty, the Headaches!!!

So one day I started to walk, and another day I watched “Forks Over Knives”. My story continues and I watched “Plant Pure Nation”, “Engine 2”, “Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead”, and “Hungry for Change”. I began reading books by Dr. T Colin Campbell, Dr. Caldwell Esselstyn, and Dr. Greger. I started cooking again. Everything I could find from Jane, Rip and Ann Esselstyn. No meat, no dairy, no eggs. Lots of leafy green veggies, eating the rainbow everyday, rice, whole grains, exercise. Then wait a minute I’m in a size 12 again! The hairdresser actually had to thin my hair! (She normally asks if I need more volumizing products), my skin is clear and soft, I can breathe, I just kayaked 60 minutes against current in the Connecticut River! Oh yeah and I am starting to jog, not for like a mile or anything but my walks have occasional jogs (like phone pole to phone pole). Best of all, I’m off all medications and my cholesterol gets a gold star from my doctor and I’m HAPPY. I am happy, inside and out.

Just a long story to try to illustrate that the food I was eating was killing my mind, body and spirit. The chocolate ice cream with rainbow sprinkles, corn chips and insomnia must be my guardian angel telling me I needed a kick in the butt reminder. To be grateful for my past and what it has given me today-a delicious gift of happiness. (Seriously better than ice cream)

So, now I’m going to listen to my dog and husband snore now.

Xoxoxox

[crazyapplelady]

Truckin' Along

While continuing my WFPB journey I have hit a few bumps along the way. I'm glad because I am thinking so much clearer now and can recognize this. I find it really is important for an emotional eater like me to exercise daily. I had a bad week. I lost my dream job, and the first thing I did was eat way to many starches. I am also faced with having to confront someone I know to ask why they are speaking badly about me..wanted to over eat but didn't. However, I isolated myself and did not exercise. It helps to write. Exercising really kills anxiety. (Note to self: remember that.) I am enjoying great new recipes. I try something new a few times a week. There is no limit to the amazing WFPB meals everybody can make! Even me! Twice baked potatos..my fav. "Engine 2" recipes, "Cooking With Plants" on YouTube, and "The China Study Cookbook" are wonderful too. Easy to follow with phenomenal results. Andy (my husband) and I are beginning to educate ourselves on how to be an advocate for animals. Watching "Earthlings", and "Vegucated" was our beginning. Followed by "Plantpure Nation", "Forks Over Knives", etc., etc. There are some great resources on YouTube. I am looking forward to documenting this leg of our journey. Have a great Sunday, and I will write soon . Xoxoxo Mindy PS. Exercise

[crazyapplelady]

They Call Me "Crazy Apple Lady"

So I’m back, and I've changed my name

I am still enjoying my WFPB ways and loving experimenting with herbs, spices and great new recipes from my “China Study Cook Book”. Totally loving experimenting with my own salad dressings too. It is pretty cool not buying store dressings, mine are so much better! I get happy about this kind of stuff because I seriously NEVER imagined I would be cooking like this, let alone making salad dressings!

Couldn’t hack trying full time raw. I do raw for at least a meal a day though. I was eating like a half a watermelon at a time…I was just to hungry and was not making a lot of good choices

Totally cleaned up my taste buds and my sense of smell. Here is another smell story.. Peaches!! It has been at least 10 years since my sense of smell was normal. I mean I couldn’t smell a damn thing. It sucked, and messed up my taste buds too. Well, the other day I could smell peaches at our local produce store. This was a seriously big deal. I was carrying a peach around the store smelling it. (The store is used to my eccentric behavior - they call me, with love, “Crazy Apple Lady”)

Have to get moving more. My hiking has slowed down and I miss it. I started a new job and I am not doing so well at scheduling it in. Progress not perfection - but it’s important to get my vitamin D.

My new job is the bomb dot com. Working for a WFPB food company. We are launching mid - August. I am a total lucky duck!

Be nice everyone. Xoxox

[crazyapplelady]

Our visitor a few nights ago, eating birdseed!

[crazyapplelady]

Started studying this guy after the Cornell plant based nutrition course lectures. Take a listen

[crazyapplelady]

Happy Tuesday!

The struggle is real. Fell off the wagon on my “raw quest” over the weekend, but jumped right back Monday. I got real cranky a few times. Since I’ve been married for 28 years and together for 30 my husband has seen worse. His name is Andy.

I found some products in a co-op we go to called “Go Raw” and “Flaxers”. The “Go Raw” product was little sesame and ginger cookies which were delicious. They have other flavors too I will totally be trying. The “Flaxers” are raw flax seed crackers. All flax seed. So when the hit your mouth they are crunchy but get the flax egg, for lack of better words gooey - ness to them. Kind of gross. So after spending $5.99 for the box I brought them home and put avacado and homemade salsa on them. Delicious of course.

My health continues to improve. I am happy, energetic, dropping pounds (size 12 from a size 18!), and noticing some remarkable mental clarity. Can we talk about taste and smell?!? I have not been able to smell in years - I mean anything…no one could figure out why. I was making my husband (WFPB Andy!) dinner and I could smell his twice baked potato cooking. It was remarkable! My taste buds are born again too. Flavors, everything explodes! Needless to say I’m buzzed about it all.

So the journey continues.

Make it a great day!

[crazyapplelady]

I'm Feeling Good Today

Wowwee! I did it. Day 6 Raw. Okay, last night I had a handful of potato chips which were incredibly SALTY. Even though a handful of highly processed food was something I regretted eating, I'm glad I did. Confirmed that I was doing something right. After beginning my whole foods plant based lifestyle 8 weeks ago and so far 5 full days on raw I know I'm making all of my taste buds and cells happy and healthy again. Eating something that tasted so gross (which I used to eat bags of) reminded me of the many benefits of of my journey and that I have a HELL of a lot to live for. You really are what you eat. So far another 5lbs off. Another cool as hell thing..NEVER hungry. Well, wait a minute-going raw this month. I don't know if I've been hungry on raw or just missing hot food. I'll weigh in on that in another week. Trying some new recipes this week so I'll post again soon . Saying farewell to a dear friend today. Eaten up by Cancer. Really had some great laughs with her, and remember many moons ago when we both smoked (gross I know). We used to go on car rides together and find "secret cigarette hiding places". We thought our husband's wouldn't know, L..O..L..! Her name is Colette and I am proud I have another angel in heaven watching over me. Make it a great day! Xoxo

[crazyapplelady]

[crazyapplelady]

Raw!

Yesterday I started my 4 week raw foods journey. I am going to try to post at least every other day so that I can have a diary of changes, thoughts and challenges. Yesterday I just ate a TON of fruit, veggies, baby spinach and smoothies. I work at a whole foods plant based company so it was GREAT being greeted with a tumeric smoothie when I checked in, and later we all had berry smoothies. My co-workers told me that I will have some incredible mental clarity-now would be great..lol.. Smoothie and hike..make it a GREAT DAY!

[crazyapplelady]

I am thrilled! I have landed a job at MamaSezz Foods, Inc! MamaSezz is a meal delivery service and community for busy folks who want to eat clean, healthy foods. We take the hassle out of eating well by delivering ready-made, satisfying, and delicious plant-based meals to your door. Our page is up on Facebook too:

https://m.facebook.com/MamaSezz/

Happy day everyone!