Vegan Potato Salad

So here's the thing. My mother-in-law makes the MOST DELICIOUS potato salad ever. The kind that once you've had a bite, you can't stop eating it. And then before you know it, you've eaten the whole bowl and feel like a total sack of potatoes (but it was still totally worth it). And let me mention, I'm not usually a potato salad kinda person. Never have been. That is until I tasted hers. 
However, I try to be a good vegan and am forced to kindly (and regrettably) turn down any offer for this heavenly food. Because it is so not vegan. BUT thanks to ingenious folks out there that make vegan substitutes for staple condiments like mayonnaise, we were able to create a vegan version of her potato salad that is JUST as satisfying as the real deal. And partially guilt free! It still contains quite a bit of fat but.... you sacrifice sometimes. This stuff is so good, that I just had to share for any fellow vegan/potato salad lover out there! So here it is: 
Ingredients:  6 russet potatoes, whole 1-2 whole pickles (I like to add a little extra because I love pickles) 1/4-1/2 onion, finely diced 3 cloves of garlic, finely diced (you can also use garlic powder) 1/4 tbsp salt and pepper  1/2 cup Vegenaise (to start out)  1-3 tbsp of mustard (the condiment, not the spice)


The recipe is pretty flexible, you just kind of keep adding until it reaches the taste you prefer. But it's super easy and did I mention delicious? 
Directions: 
1. Place your whole potatoes (skin and all) in large pot and cover with water. Bring potatoes to a boil, reduce to simmer and cook until soft (usually takes about 20 minutes-hour). You can tell they are ready when you can easily stick them with a fork.    2. Drain, rinse, and let cool until you are able to handle them. About 20 minutes. 
3. Peel skin off potatoes, either with a peeler or your hands, whichever is easier. Chop into 3/4" cubes. 
4. In large bowl, mix potatoes, pickles, onion, garlic, and salt/pepper together. 
5. Start off with 1/2 cup mayo, stirring until well mixed. You can add more until it reaches desired consistency but sometimes this is enough.    6. And last, add the mustard to your preference. I just started with a squirt, mixed, tested, and would add more depending on what I thought. 
7. You can definitely eat it warm but it's best chilled overnight to let the flavors kind of sink in a bit more. And then enjoy! 
This is a special occasion food for us. Because once we make it, it usually doesn't last more than 1 sitting. I seriously can't stress enough about how absolutely tasty this potato salad is. Alright, alright! Happy Hump Day, ya'll! 

Rope Basket

When finishing up our loft, I knew I was going to need some kind of container to round up all the little things we keep laying around. I try to keep it as clean and clutter free as possible so this was muy importante! I didn't want to buy anything so I opted for making instead. After a lot of research, I decided to make some simple rope baskets. 
The process of making them is pretty easy. I searched online for a tutorial and found these three that helped: 1, 2, 3. Basically what you do is start coiling some rope, I used a needle and thread to secure it. But as you see in the picture above, you start coiling and every few inches you secure the new length of coiled rope by binding it to the one before it. And once you have a wide enough base, you start stacking the coils to create the bowl part. Also, I should note that because I used such a thin piece of string (thread) I wrapped it several times to add strength. I tried not to buy a lot of material for this project so I just used what I had, which is the beauty of this particular project.
And voila! You have a rope basket! I also created a larger one to hold our extra bedding and it works fabulously. These baskets where a little time consuming to make (I blame part of this on the thread and having to wrap it a lot) but it's a great craft to do while watching a movie or tv show. I highly suggest it!  

Vegan Noodle bowl

Like ramen but healthy and with a lot more veggies! Yum! 
Ingredients:  1 onion, diced 1 tomato, diced 5 cloves garlic, finely diced  3 bok choy, loosely chopped a few cups of shiitake mushrooms, chopped 1 tbsp fresh ginger, finely diced 1 pint vegetable broth 2 cups water 4 tbsp tamari  1 tsp rice vinegar  2-4 tbs agave 2-3 scallions  a few tsp sesame seeds red pepper flakes (optional) sriracha (optional) ramen noodles, cooked briefly (they only take a few minutes)
Directions:  1. Saute onions with tomato until soft. Add garlic, tamari, vinegar, bok choy, ginger, and mushrooms, cook for 10 minutes.  2. Add broth, tamari, rice vinegar, agave, and water, simmer for 10 minutes.  3. Add noodles, let simmer for a few minute and serve, garnish with scallions, sesame seeds, and sriracha (optional) on top!
A great meal for the whole family! 
Here are a few recipes I was inspired by:  http://bakerbynature.com/20-minute-spicy-sriracha-ramen-noodle-soup/ http://ahouseinthehills.com/2014/1/20/shiitake-bok-choy-soba-noodle-bowl/

Tiny Home Gathering

When we finally finished the tiny home, we had a huge house warming party to celebrate! Most of the pictures turned out blury, I'm not even sure who was taking them... but it's worth the memory! It was such a good night, people came from all over Texas and (since it was still technically summer) all over the U.S.! I can't tell you how happy it made me to have all of these beautiful people there to celebrate this huge accomplishment of ours. Even people that I hadn't seen in months or even years, stopped by to help us commemorate. It was glorious.  It's not a party without a bonfire, right?  For the party, I mixed up a special batch of ghost pepper infused tequila. Only the bravest of the brave dared try my fiery concoction. As you can see by my face below, it was pretty intense. I loved it. Others... didn't. But such a night requires a little mischief and my ghost pepper tequila did just the trick!  I don't know why I love this picture so much. His face!  Also, I can't figure out why we only have pictures of the four of us? There were a lot more people, I swear! I guess we just.... well we took a bunch of pictures and then....forgot about the camera. It was probably for the best anyways.... Oh and speaking of more people, we fit an astonishing amount of people in this little home of ours! Luckily we have land to hold the rest of the crowd but I was pleasantly surprised at how comfortable it was at capacity. Two thumbs up for the tiny home!
What a beautiful night it was to embrace the tiny home, surrounded by all of the people we love the most. Even my dad traveled up to enjoy the festivities, which is saying a lot! 
I look forward to having many more night like this. Friends in tiny homes, what can be better than that? 

Kayla Itsines Bikini Body Guide

Let's talk about HEALTH! 
So I started getting really serious about my health and fitness last February. While I wasn't as dedicated as I could have been (hey, I have a life, I'm not perfect), I am pretty proud that I kept up a decent workout regimen for almost the whole year. You can see my 5 month results here from the time I actually began. And then in about June/July, I started training for my 60 mile bike ride which I successfully completed made it through without dying. Woohoo! 
During all of this time, I had built up some serious muscle. I mean, not a lot but more than I ever thought I was capable of! I had rebuilt my abs and my legs were more muscular than ever! And don't let me forget about my arms, I was surprised they had any substance to them at all! Needless to say, I was pretty happy with myself.
After the bike race in August, I tried to work out a few times a week but nothing too serious and then the holidays came and I (surprisingly) got really motivated again. I actually got a gym membership and Brandon and I started working out together. Which is really fun by the way, to have someone to workout with. 
Buuuut he just got a full time job and I'm probably going to have to cancel my gym membership. But that's ok! Because I recently found this amazing lady, Kayla Itsines that has created this workout plan called the Bikini Body Guide (doesn't that just sound yummy?!) that is absolutely perfect! 
 This workout plan is so great because it doesn't require any major equipment (just simple tools like dumbbells and medicine balls) AND I can do it all from home. Plus, the workouts are only 28 minutes long and the whole workout plan is pretty flexible so I can squeeze the workouts into my week whenever I have the time. 
But the best part of all, is that it's had so much success from women all over the world! The community around this bikini body guide is so incredibly inspiring and extremely helpful when you need a little extra motivation. I can spend hours going through all of the awesome transformations on instagram that all of these women have gone through. And it's all kinds of women too, with this one goal of getting healthy and happy. 
Anywho, I'm really looking forward to stepping up my workout routine and finally get that six pack I've been pining for! I've spent the last year gaining muscle and keeping my diet in check, now it's time to lean up and get ready for summer! 
Because I already have a pretty solid diet, I decided I probably don't need the H.E.L.P guide so I decided to only buy the Bikini Body Guide. This is what it includes: 

12 week workout plan 

189 Page Guide

Effective Cardio Methods

Target Problem Areas

Each Workout Under 30min

"Starting with my Bikini Body Guide is SO simple! Each workout during the 12 weeks is presented in a basic format, making it easy for you to get started right away. The program begins with smaller challenges, then ramps you up over the following weeks, to higher levels. This allows your body to continue adapting, and helps to avoid plateau. A glossary of each exercise is also included to ensure you have the best direction for form, and technique."

And I should note, it also comes with a few weeks of pre-training for those beginners that aren't completely ready to jump into the hardcore training. And it is hardcore! She says "easy" but these workouts will test you and your determination to really have that dream body. I mean, it's absolutely worth it but you gotta do some work to get there. It is by no means, "easy". Simple, yes. Easy? No. 

But enough of my blabbing, I'll let some of those transformations do the talking! These are what lured me into this guide in the first place! 

1, 2,

 3, 4,

5, 6,

7, 8,

9, 10,

11, 12

If that doesn't motivate you, than I don't know what will! I mean, who doesn't want a butt like that ^^

I thought I'd write out how the workouts go for me so here is the first week!

Week 1:  Day 1 (leg day) // Sweating buckets, it's totally kicking my butt. I did each round twice during each circuit. Holy wow. Also, I took a minute between circuits otherwise I might have died. Or passed out. Or puked. 
Day 2 (LISS) // Went for a brisk hike for 45 minutes and worked up a nice sweat. It was really nice, I'm very lucky to live right next to this state forest. Hiking for the win! 
Day 3 (arms and abs) // Great workout, not quite as taxing as leg day as my whole body didn't move around as much but just as challenging as my upper body seriously lacks strength to do a whole lot. I finished the first round of upper body exercises twice in each circuit (with girly push ups though, I can't do full on ones yet) but the second round of ab exercises, I only did about 1 1/2. They just seemed to take a bit longer. Definitely still sweating a lot though. I did it first thing in the morning and hopefully will maintain a nice boost of energy for the rest of my day. Now to carb up! 
Day 4 (LISS) // Went for another hike, this time with Brandon and my mother in law. It was beautiful as always and the weather was perfect! Hiked about 2 1/2 miles in 45 minutes. 
Day 5 (whole body) // I like the whole body workout, it's a little less intense as the exercises are more spread out and not focused on just one portion of the body. 
Day 6 (LISS) // In Marfa! For my LISS, we went hiking for a couple hours at Davis Mountain State Park and it was a dream. Working out on vacation can be fun if you make it! 

Pumpkin Patch

So this one time, we went to a pumpkin patch with my sis and her *new* family. And it was great. This is kind of belated, I know, I know! But I just couldn't resist.   Trying so. very. hard.  Oh. No? Ok.... I'll just KARATE CHOP IT.  Oh guys, meet my nephew Lucas! I'm kind of obsessed with him.   These people right here? I really love them. I'm not one for commercialized pumpkin patches where they charge you 5 bucks to bounce on a dang moonwalk buuuuut it was totally worth it. Even just for this picture. PRECIOUS. 
By the way, that's my brother. Not the baby daddy... cause that would be weird. Just had to put that out there (: 

Mercury in Retrograde

If ya haven't heard, it's that time again! Mercury is officially in retrograde! But never fear, it sounds like things are going to be  looking more up than down. Here's what the pros have to say: 

source.

"The coming retrograde will be an extremely important one showing us a new look at what’s been unveiled, or needs to be unveiled, in our lives. Things from the past will be reevaluated, re-examined, or understood differently. 

“We can get a new look at our goals and ambitions within a larger social whole, as well as new insights into old friends and past group work. Some will get insights into how to manage something differently to achieve a greater ability to contribute in the world, and at times brilliant short cuts can be glimpsed that will accelerate our growth. 

“Consider the next 3 weeks as a bridge between an old way of seeing things and a new understanding of a bigger picture and how everything fits (or doesn’t) in that picture. This time will bring interesting insights through looking back or within about prior relationships, past goals and ambitions, and why certain things came down the way they did… 

"All of us will have a new understanding of what matters to us by mid-February, and will find ourselves ‘liberated from adverse conditions by spectacular events that mobilize us to action,’ which may involve some form of ‘cosmic visitation.’ 

“This will be another important retrograde, where the past will be reviewed to see what we can and cannot bring with us into the future in mid-February. 

“It will help us rehearse or do the research we need to get ready to spring forward in early March, clear about what we know, what we need to know, and what must happen if we are to move forward in our lives. 

“Renewals, returns, reconnections, reunions…are promised by this retrograde.” 

"We will all have the opportunity to look ourselves in the eye and see who’s really looking back at us, before painting on the face we prefer to show the world.” 

“We are speaking here not of intricate scams executed to deceive but of the everyday twists and turns we undertake to avoid coming face to face with who and what we truly are. It is time to illuminate our inner world and look around with eyes wide open to all that we see."

From // Mystic Mamma
I don't know about you guys but I've been definitely feeling this coming. A few things in the insights above are so relevant in my life right now like learning how to manage things differently, new perspectives, understanding what I need and don't need in my life, and a lot of looking inward and into the past to figure out why things happened the way they did and perhaps how to deal with them in a new and improved way. I look forward to delving into these new ideas, reviewing the past, and preparing to move onward. And thinking of it, this relates so much to the first post I did yesterday. Crazy. 
Today, I spent the better part of my day watching this interview that my friend did with the wonderful, Teal Swan. It was brilliant and mind blowing and just what I needed to hear. I had to watch a few parts over again just to wrap my head around it and I'll probably even watch the whole thing again just to soak it in deeper. But she talks a lot about using this time, meaning the retrograde, to our advantage to do "shadow work" which is essentially working on the thoughts that you hold that are not in alignment with source energy, oneness, connection to a higher power, whatever you want to call it. So basically the negative thoughts that inhibit you. She encourages us to use this reflective time to focus on ourselves and work on those things holding us back. Here is the interview done today, I highly recommend watching it: 


So shadow work is exactly what I'm going to do! And if you're interested in doing some emotional healing too, here are a few Teal Swan videos on shadow work that can help you get past those deep unresolved issues that keep triggering certain events in your life. 

I'm not one to fret over retrograde, most of the time, because I know things (good and bad) happen for a reason. But I must say, I am particularly excited about this one. I don't know what it is about working through problems that makes me feel all giddy inside, maybe it's because I can see an end in sight? We'll see I suppose! Happy Retrograde!