Simple Lettuce Wrap Recipe

Simple Lettuce Wrap Recipe (Vegan)

 

I've been really enjoying eating lettuce recently. There is something awesome about biting into a crunchy, juicy, wholesome piece of lettuce.

 

But it gets tiring chewing salads forever. I started eating lettuce sandwiches again, but then I realized I was eating a LOT of Veganaise and bread. (Not too healthy in the long run!)

 

So I saw some rice spring roll wraps at the store and decided to try making some spring rolls. I had never tried making these before a few days ago, but I had eaten rolls like this at Thai restaurants and loved them in the past. They are pretty easy to make once you get the hang of rolling them up and I've been loving them!

 

This is the simplest combination of ingredients I've made of these so far. Other variations will be listed below.

 

Ingredients:
Spring roll wraps
Romaine lettuce
Spring mix or spinach
2 - 3 green onion

Sauce:
Tamari
Chunky peanut butter
Water

 

 

Directions:

Dip spring roll wrap in warm water for 10 seconds to prepare the rice paper. (See packaging for details. Yours might be different).

Lay flat on a plate.

Place handful of spring mix inside a romaine leaf. Add green onion.  Place in 1/3 of wrap.  Fold ends in gently and roll the wrap so it is tight.  Place on a clean plate.  Repeat.  Do not let the wraps touch. They will stick to each other and rip when you pull them apart.

 

 

Make sauce: Mix 2 spoons of chunky peanut butter and soy sauce. 

 

 

Heat in microwave for 15 seconds. Add water to make it thinner.

 

 

Dip wraps in sauce. Eat.

 

 

Other ingredient ideas: cucumber, tofu, carrot, basil, mint, cellophane noodles

 

 

I usually eat 6 or so as a meal. If using tofu, you probably only want to eat 4.

Let me know what you think of this recipe!

Week 8 Update

Update time again, my friends!

I didn't get much done this past week. I went to a friend's composition recital, sang at a funeral for a 102 year old woman, and finished reading The Hound of the Baskervilles. That's about it. I went to Koko on Monday and Wednesday and walked around the yard on Tuesday and Wednesday. I did lose 2 lbs this week. I'm not sure that is actually fat that I've lost or not. I know that I've been getting stronger over the past few weeks, but I haven't noticed a change in weight in the way my clothes fit, the way I look, or the way the scale weighs. Other people have asked me if I have lost weight, so I guess I at least look happier than I used to look.

I walked a little over 3 miles this week. Here are my stats:

Week #___8___ WTR Goals: Mileage__5____ Weight ___Who cares?___ BMI___??___ Location* _____The Road_____

Starting Weight	Current Weight	Goal Weight	Projected Goal Date	Days Left
270	268 (yay! it moved!)	175	The Future	Infinity!

Date	Activity	Duration Miles	Beginning Mileage	Ending Mileage	Location*	Anaerobic Exercise	Duration
11/18/13	walk	.82	20:20	21.02	Road		15:00
11/19/13	walk	.85	21.02	21.87	Rolls		16:25
11/20/13	walk	.85	21.87	22.72	Up &		16:00
11/20/13	walk	.63	22.72	23.35	Down		11:32
Totals	This week:	3.15	Total:	23.35		Total Time:	(7:59:14)

Walk to Mordor Week 7 Update

Walk to Mordor Week Seven

I still had some hive in the early bit of this week, but I went back to ballet class on Tuesday. I'm taking 3 classes a week and I am really enjoying being sore all week long (sarcasm is rampant in this sentiment). But seriously. I'm SUPER sore. My entire body is constantly aching from ballet and going to Koko helps a little, but it still hurts to get out of bed most days.

I did a strength test on Friday at Koko. My strength score went up 3 points. I'm not that surprised that I didn't gain much strength in the test since I had been in bed for about a week and was still feeling the effect from that. I was surprised that the one exercise I did worse in than my initial test was the lat pull downs since I have been feeling better about them when I do them in my workouts.

I also started doing 2 cardio sessions instead of one. On Wednesday, I did both of them before the strength training. On Friday I did one before and one after. I realized that I would be hardly breaking a sweat when I was doing the elliptical or treadmill unless I was sprinting or going as fast as I could up at a very steep incline. Doing two sessions seemed to be the logical step to really get a sweat working.

Anywho... this is an update of my Walk to Mordor Challenge. I FINISHED THE FIRST DAY!!! I feel like I should have a party since it took me nearly two months to get this far. This week I walked 3.56 miles. In total I have walked 20.20 miles in 7 hours and 17 seconds. See the chart below to check out where I am in Middle Earth.

Until next time!

Week #___7___ WTR Goals: Mileage___5?___

Starting Weight	Current Weight	Goal Weight	Projected Goal Date	Days Left**
270	270	175	The far future	Too many

 

Date	Activity	Duration Miles	Beginning Mileage	Ending Mileage	Location*	Anaerobic Exercise	Duration
11/13/13	elliptical	.82	16.64	17.46	Climb a steep slope		16:00
11/13/13	elliptical	.77	17.46	18.23	Camp - In a firwood just over top of the hill. Sleep by a large tree. Fox sees them. DAY 1 Complete (18 miles)	DAY 2 Begins Eat at campsite. Water from a stream at the foot of the hill. A little fall where the water fell a few feet over an outcrop of grey stone. After 10:00 a.m. when leave.	16:00
11/15/13	walk	.86	18.23	19.09			16:00
11/15/13	walk	1.11	19.09	20.20	Road rolls up and down		20:00
Totals	This week	3.56	Total miles	20.20		Total Time	(7:00:17)

Cruelty Free and Vegan Makeup: Why it is Important!

Cruelty Free and Vegan Makeup: Why it is Important!

Women wear a lot of makeup. It just happens. Moisturizers, foundation, concealer, powder, blush, bronzer, eye shadow, eyeliner, mascara, lipstick, lip balm, lip gloss, sunscreen, night creams, wrinkle creams...

The list goes on and on. This doesn't include soap and bath products, fragrances, or hair products.  Why is this important? Because many companies test their products on animals to make sure it is safe for humans. Why is this bad? Because animals don't react the same to chemicals as humans. Because hurting animals is cruel. Because it isn't necessary with our advancements in science.

And what about products with animal extracts in them? Lanolin, carmine, ambergris, and beeswax are just some of those ingredients. Do you really want to be wearing crushed up beetle carcasses on your eyelids and lips?

Below I've given some links that I find helpful to try to find vegan and non-animal-tested/ cruelty free beauty products and companies.

Veggiebeauty on YouTube has a lot of very good information about animal cruelty and animal testing for cosmetics: Veggiebeauty Cruelty Free Information

Don't want to wear animals on your face? How to tell if your makeup is vegan? Have a look at this website HERE that tells you what common ingredients are animal derivatives.

An alternative Vegan And Cruelty Free cosmetics list may be found HERE.

And Another!

My favorite cruelty free beauty products:

Foundation: I'm constantly on the search for the perfect foundation. I hope to stop needing to use it in the future, but at the moment I still use it once or twice a week. I don't have a favorite foundation, since I have never found one that I actually like that matches my skin tone and is also cruelty free. I'm still searching. Any recommendations are appreciated.

Powder: ELF complexion perfection powder- this is a fantastic setting powder as well as a redness reducing powder. It is matte and does not clog my pores. This is a vegan product.

Blush: Milani baked blush Corallina- a gorgeous coral blush with iridescence and shimmer. Gives a healthy glow to the skin without being too loud or bright.

Eye Primer: ELF essentials eyelid primer- it is inexpensive ($1), vegan, and it works. What more could one ask for?

Eye Shadow: Too Faced Naked Eye Pallet. My favorite eye look to do is Satin Sheets all over the lid, Pillow Talk in the crease, Lap Dance in the outer crease, In The Buff under the brow bone, and Stiletto as an eyeliner.

 Fyrinnae- Rapunzel Had Extensions as an all over lid color with a white shimmer or matte highlight under the brow.

Eye Liner: ELF brightening eyeliner: black basic eyeliner. Vegan. $1.

Mascara: I don't have a favorite mascara. Any recommendations for contact friendly mascaras would be great!

Lipstick: Wet n' Wild Silk Finish Lipsticks. They are cheap, they have a variety of colors, and they last for quite a while.
Elf Mineral Lipsticks- I only own cool coral, but I love it. So smooth, lasts well, cruelty free and vegan.
 

 

So. Why is this important? Animal cruelty is just as bad and can be even worse in the beauty industry as it is in the meat and dairy industry. Cruelty is never ok. If you have the choice of buying products that are cruelty free and/ or vegan, make that choice. It saves lives.

 

Does this mean you should go out and throw away all your beauty products? Not necessarily. I am one of those people that never throws things away because it is wasteful. Personally, I own products that are tested on animals. I don't want to waste what I already have, but for the past 3 years I have endeavored to buy only cruelty free products and vegan when I can. I have done several Project 10 Pans (go watch the millions of vids on YouTube to find out about them) where I try to use up products from brands that are not cruelty free and don't buy any products until I have finished them. Slowly the cruelty free brands are taking over my makeup and beauty routine and I feel much better knowing that I am hurting fewer living beings because of that.

 

My goal is to gradually become 100% cruelty free and then 100% vegan in all aspects of my life.

 

Hope you all enjoyed this post. Let me know if you want to see more posts about makeup in the future.