Our Blooming Life

[ourbloominglife-blog]

Homemade vegan sausage biscuits and gravy. So lucky to have gravitated toward the nutritious food.

[ourbloomingdiet-blog]

Homemade Pizza featuring “sausage”, avocado, mushroom, tomato, white garlic sauce, macadamia “ricotta”, and spinach!

Okay so full disclosure: I made this pizza dough before we set out on our plant based whole food journey and had it in the freezer for a quick meal night. I got the dough from Good Cheap Eats and it thankfully did not include milk or eggs, however this dough doesn’t necessarily meet our goals, since it’s not made with whole wheat, unbleached flour.

Full disclosure part 2: I didn’t read the ingredients on the Lightlife Meatless Sausage until after we ate it, and come to find out – it contains eggs. This is VERY disappointing because the flavor was superb. If anyone has any suggestions of similar, truly vegan options for sausage, please let me know.

Moving on from the goof ups, this pizza was immaculate. So many flavors combined to create a one of a kind smorgasbord. I loosely used the spinach and macadamia ricotta pizza recipe from But I Could Never Go Vegan, but I also added my own toppings.

I’ll be honest, in the past my idea of pizza, even homemade pizza, even meatless pizza, included a TON of melty cheesy on top. This was a huge sacrifice. I thought I would definitely not enjoy this pizza. 

I. WAS. WRONG. 

Flavor: 8/10 Texture: 10/10  Serving Size: 10/10 Meets Goals: 6/10

[the-soul-doctor]

[ourbloomingdiet-blog]

“Nice” Cream

Guys… this is literally just two pureed frozen bananas + a little bit of peanut butter (to taste). Feels like soft serve ice cream, tastes like banana pudding. This is what dreams are made of.

[ourbloomingdiet-blog]

EASY VEGAN RAMEN

I am in love with Minimalist Baker. She only uses recipes that use ten ingredients or less, take thirty minutes or less, or can go all in one bowl.

This is an amazing, one bowl recipe that hit every spot. Despite that it did not meet every one of our goals, this is one of our absolute favorite dishes so far. We replaced the dehydrated shiitake mushrooms with regular white mushrooms and added more of them since we didn’t have the baby bok choy. I always “eat with caution” when it comes to mushrooms, as I don’t particularly enjoy the sought after earthy, nutty flavor of mushrooms (it kind of tastes like sweat to me). These, however, soaked in the broth alongside ginger, scallions, and garlic and they were melt-in-your-mouth amazing. 

The carrots nearly burned, as you can see in this picture but were otherwise immaculate with the miso glaze. Even the flash fried tofu, which I was a skeptic of, tasted amazing once it soaked in the broth. 

Now: about the goals. Ramen is absolutely a processed, refined carbohydrate. It is not a “whole food” and does not occur naturally in nature. Additionally, this dish is loaded with sodium (as is suspected when cooking with miso and soy sauce). Our version of this recipe gave us one carrot each, with 8-10 mushrooms, and really nothing else in the way of veggies. Plus it called for oils, which we want to minimize our use of. So while vegan, and delicious, (and probably lower in calories than our meat eater meals), this beloved dish will have to be used sparingly in our journey.

What’s the rating??

Flavor: 10/10 Texture: 10/10 Serving Size: 10/10  Meets Goals: 5/10

[ourbloominglife-blog]

Late is better than never! Jensen is now seven months old. We're all set for his first Christmas, and our wide eyed baby boy has discovered the presents underneath the tree. This month he learned to crawl and sit himself up almost simultaneously. He is now busy as can be, always trying to move from one place to the next, exploring his world. Jensen has become a great eater. Among his favorites are spinach and potatoes. He reaches for food and even chews, though his little teeth haven't quite poked through. He has become more social, reaching for people he wants and turning away from those he doesn't want. He "sings" when others sing and babbles, mostly making the "b" sound. The time sure does fly.

[ourbloominglife-blog]

Oh my goodness, I can't believe it's been half a year already!! At six months old, my little superhero steals my heart more and more every day. He's grown exponentially in size and achievements. He's a little over 19 lbs. He's become a "chatter" practicing his sounds and becoming quite the socialite. He's able to offer a genuine smile to nearly anyone. He does recognize his mommy and daddy instantly now, and looks actively for us in any room. If he watches us leave the room, he's not afraid to cry anf holler about it. Though he doesn't have any teeth yet, he's started to gnaw on anything in reach, signifying that those teethies are coming soon. And though he hasn't put his hands and knees forward, he now lifts himself up to crawl. He has begun his food journey and has already tried so many new things with baby led weaning. He'll be trying even more in months to come. Happy half birthday, little man!

[ourbloominglife-blog]

At five months old, our little pumpkin is gearing up for Halloween. Though he can't trick or treat yet (and certainly can't have candy) he had become a natural traveller and has even taste tested a few foods. Because we are baby led weaning, I can't tell you what he likes or doesn't like yet, but he's tried pureed green beans and gnawed on raw carrots. Adding to his collection of tricks, Jensen can now roll from tummy to back and (with a bit more effort) from back to tummy. Now that he is able to move from back to tummy and back again, he doesn't hate tummy time so much. He's working his way up to a full bellied laugh -- we just know it's coming soon. He also is aware of his name, and turns his head confidently to answer your call. If a voice is familiar, he will even greet you with a smile. Screeches and coos are the majority of his language, but he is watching every move in eagerness to learn. It's hard to believe in one short month he'll be half a year old!

[ourbloomingdiet-blog]

WEEK ONE - CHRISTMAS & GOAL SETTING

Christmas day we pigged out, as do many Americans. We participated in ‘The Contest’ wholeheartedly. What is ‘The Contest’? It’s American tradition, of course! See who can get the fattest and the sickest in the last two months of the year. (We can always reboot in the new year, right?)

For almost a month we have lived without meat in our home, though we would still eat meat with family, and we still retained our dairy and eggs. These are the hard ones to let go of.

We don’t want to be wasteful, so the eggs and dairy that remain in our refrigerator, will be consumed. However, we have vowed not to buy anymore dairy or eggs until we can gauge our results.

In the past month, we have been slowly stocking up on supplies – vegetable broth, vinegars, whole wheat flour, flax seed meal, wheat bran, old fashioned oats, nutritional yeast, nuts, and more. These are some of the higher priced items that are a small fortune to buy all at once, but are vegan staples. We set our goals, and wrote out a plan.

This week we spent $99.31. I didn’t get a picture of our grocery haul, but here are the things we bought, and their prices. We shopped exclusively at Kroger this week.

So what are we eating this week?

For breakfast, we have potatoes and veggies to whip up a quick breakfast potatoes. We also have some leftover carrot bread (I made four loaves a few weeks ago and froze them).

For lunch, we are having leftovers from dinner, as well as a “suddenly pasta salad” (did you see that price? Appalling! This is the last time I will buy one of those.). We also have frozen enchiladas and burritos that I made a couple of weeks ago. These are dairy items, so we want to consume them as quickly as possible and move onto our exclusively plant based diet.

For dinner, we are having Mexican Falafel Bites, Tofu Feta, Spinach, & Potato Gratin from “But I Could Never Go Vegan!”, Roasted Garlic & Macadamia Ricotta Pizza from “But I Could Never Go Vegan!”, Roasted Root and Kale Salad from “But I Could Never Go Vegan!”, and Easy Vegan Ramen. Some of these meals will likely roll into the next week, since this weekend is New Years Eve, and we will likely have at least one dinner at my grandparents’ house as well, so I didn’t plan out six/seven dinners, only five.

[ourbloominglife-blog]

Friends, we are beginning our plant-based journey this past week, and diving head first in the new year! Feel free to follow along at ourbloomingdiet.tumblr.com!

[ourbloominglife-blog]

At four months old, mommy's "number 1" is excited about the world around him. He engages socially with everyone, including the puppies. His favorite tricks are squealing, kicking, and "standing." Recently he has discovered that he can grasp his feet. It's only a matter of time before he gets those toes in his toothless mouth. His exploration of the world around him is accentuated by his new (ish) ability to grab things and pull them into his mouth. Currently he's into Winnie the Pooh, the book, the movie, and the music. Though he still hates tummy time, he's definitely getting better at it. He rocks back and forth, so we're anticipating a roll soon! He also holds his arms out like he's trying to balance when sitting assisted. We're working hard on unassisted sitting (even if it's a little out of order). I can hardly believe my little baby is growing so fast. If you blink, you'll miss it all.

[ourbloominglife-blog]

At three months, this Cowboys fan is all geared up for for football season. He is making great physical strides in preparation for his football career (or you know... just life in general). He sits up very well in his bumbo, plays in his bouncer for up to 20 minutes without getting tired, and does "sit ups" by grasping hands and pulling up. He's attentive and alert, following people and objects he finds interesting with his head and his eyes. He does not like to smile for the camera, as illustrated by the photo, but he does find the smartphone interesting. He especially like watching snapchat videos from his other baby friends and baby einstein with mommy. Socially, he babbles and talks and even says "moo" (a relatively new trick). He loves listening to words and he chimes in with his own squawks and squeals whenever he sees fit. We are so enjoying having this little guy!!

[tsukidaisy]

every person I know has a different name for these

[fdsfjdsfjkf93723679267-deactiva]

they’re fucking bobbles

[charliedzilla]

gumičky

[sexgasms]

no they’re hair bands

[yeahyeahbecca]

Hair ties.

[vwalker]

(Crappy) hair binders….the good ones don’t have the metal chunk of pain. And the best part of the comments is that apparently other languages aren’t in agreement on one term either lol!

[ourbloominglife-blog]

Ponytail holders

[sinfulangel]

Here’s to all my boys with love handles, stretch marks, ribs that show, who feel they are too big or too small, who feel “unmanly,” who have cellulite, who can’t grow facial hair, who can’t seem to gain weight or lose it, who feel “too short” or wish they looked like a male model. Y'all matter. Love you. 💕

[ourbloominglife-blog]

Why do people say "you're so full of yourself" like it's a bad thing? Honey, be full of yourself. Be proud of who you are. Boost your own ego and don't let anyone tell you that you can't or shouldn't. Yes, I'm full of myself because I value ME. Because I take care of ME. Doesn't mean that I'm inconsiderate. It just means that I put my own well being before others... and notice I said "before others," not "at the expense of others." You can care for yourself without being selfish.

[emmbeeee]

I need help! I typically don’t come to Tumblr for these sorts of resources, but I am challenging a professional appearance standard and I need back up. Currently my work place specifies that employees in the business setting must “demonstrate personal habits of cleanliness including, but not limited to, having clean shaved legs.”

A) You can be clean but not shaved B) They have no problems with clean facial hair C) Just wtf does this even have to do with anything??

I have several problems with the wording and idea behind this, but I need resources, articles, and proper wording to back me up. Even if you don’t have ideas, please spread this plea because I KNOW there are many folks on the site who do. Thanks!!

[ourbloominglife-blog]

At two months old, “The Favorite” no longer sleeps through the night. He wakes every hour or two with a shrill scream and still won’t fall asleep unless he’s being held. When he does sleep, however, he is nearly impossible to wake up. When he’s alert and awake, he likes to sit straight up (with some help of course) and does an excellent job of supporting his head. He sits up in Mommy or Daddy’s lap and smiles, laughs, and coos – all new introductions this month. He has shown an increasing interest in the mobiles on his swing and on his bed (that’s what he’s looking at with such wonder in this photo). He also greets me with a smile as soon as he hears my voice every morning. On occasion, if you stick out your tongue, he will mimic you. He will also grip toys in his hands, though he’s almost entirely uninterested in them. He is much more interested in looking and listening, rather than playing. He also likes to look at himself in the mirror. This month, we went on our first outing as a family. We walked the trails behind our apartment. Jensen was calm and alert, taking in all of his surroundings. In the hour that we were outside, he did not fall asleep or cry once. It was as if he was trying to memorize what he was seeing and hearing. Today he gets his shots, so he can start to go out into the real world. We are looking forward to introducing him to friends and family -- far and wide!!

[hannahhillam]