Ugh and Delicious

One of the above words describes my workout from last night and one describes the lunch that I made for myself today. Can you guess which is which?

For someone who has run multiple 5k's, running during a crossfit workout is UGH. Because doing front squats for 20 minutes and then some wall balls and toes to bars (or rather knees to chest) isn't enough they had to throw in a 800 meter run followed by even more workout! I don't think I would've been so miserable if it wasn't for that run right in the middle. It wore me out and the thought of giving up ran through my mind, but you just can't give up at crossfit. Too much encouragement from the coaches and fellow crossfitters to give up. I did the best I could but I hit both time caps which is frustrating. However, I got up to 90 pounds on my lifting which I was quite impressed with! Try it out, maybe you will have better luck than me!

1 Full Squat Clean + 2 Front Squats (20 Minutes)

Standing on the Wall, Hands on Your Balls (Gotta Love the Name!)
7 Rounds For Time (6 Minute Cap)
12 Wall Balls
5 Toes to Bars (I did Knees to Chest)
Metcon
For Time (12 Minute Cap)
800 Meter Run
5 Rounds:
30 Dubs
10 Hand Stand Push Ups
Then
30 Burpees

Now onto the DELICIOUS part of my day. When I was working Sunday I wasn't sure what I wanted do make for meals this week. Well, my friend Sandy had a fabulous idea and it turned out so so good I thought that I would share it with you so you can go out there and make some yummy vegan Asian inspired food. And there are only 4 ingredients. Yes, F-O-U-R.

1 Package of 365 (Whole Foods Brand) Frozen Stir Fry Vegetable Mix
1/2 Block of Tofu, Cubed (I used Nasoya Sprouted)
1 Package Noodles (I used Organic Hakubaku Soba Buckwheat Noodles)
Soy Sauce (As much as needed for your taste)
Red Pepper Flakes (Optional)

1. Cook the noodles as directed on the package, mine only took 4 minutes!
2. In the pot used for the noodles pour in frozen veggies with a little soy sauce to start. Cook until hot and then add tofu.
3. Add noodles back in to the pot.
4. Pour some more soy sauce until it tastes like heaven.
5. Sprinkle in some red pepper flakes if you wish. I wished and it was delicious.

You will thank me later. I promise. You can even add more veggies if you wish! Use your Vegan imagination.

And since I'm getting even more excited, 3 days till I'm on a plane!

Happy Hump Day!

In the past 6 days...

I have done a lot of the same things I do every day, things I wouldn't consider blog worthy. On the other hand there were a few things that happened that I would like to mention before I forget.

1. Ordered my textbook for my EMT class! (But just got an email saying its on backorder, so that's wonderful)

2. My flight coming back to Philly isn't until 10:45pm on Monday which means I get to be in Arizona for almost a whole other day than I expected! (Even though that means my flight gets in at 6:15am and then I nanny at 8, that should be interesting)

3. Went to my first Indian market on Saturday and bought some delicious snacks! (Including a flake bar, which isn't vegan but I had to because I can never find them and they are my favorite candy of all time)

4. An Irishman bought me a drink and then proceeded to tell me he hated me because he was a Manchester United fan.

5. Worked at Whole Foods for the first time in almost 3 weeks. I have come to realize I love the people I work with, not so much the actual act of cashiering.

and

6. I crafted a birthday present for a dude and I am super proud of it! (And if he doesn't like it, I plan on keeping it for myself)

So there you have it, 6 things I did in the past 6 days.

I think that I have been looking forward to my trip to Arizona so much that every day that goes by is almost a blur. I just get so excited each morning I wake up because it is one day closer to being in the hot (dry) sunshine with some pretty rad people.

4 days. Just 4 more days.

Hump Day Adventures

It's Wednesday! Which means tomorrow is Thursday which is one day away from Friday! Woohoo! I completely forgot but I'm going to a Phillies game on Friday with some other Whole Foods employees which was a nice surprise! I don't really watch baseball but I will drink a beer and talk away the night!

Today the high was suppose to be around 88. I know that Max likes his walks but in no way was I going to walk for an hour, pushing a stroller, up hill. Sorry buddy. So I decided that today would be a great day to visit the aquarium!! I love the aquarium and what child doesn't. Max was actually excited about going today (unlike the zoo fiasco). And I didn't get lost going to Jersey (thank goodness)!

I think my favorite part was when they fed the hippos. I don't think it was Max or Owens but oh well (I think they liked the sharks best).

Look at that cutie!

I must say, getting lunch at the aquarium was probably the worst part of the whole day. Pushing a double stroller with only one child and chasing another through the aquarium I can handle, but pushing a double stroller with two kids IN it with one hand while carrying a tray of food with another, not so much. Thank goodness for the wonderful cashier who walked to a table with me, filled our drinks, got us napkins and ketchup, and searched for a spoon. I think I would have lost all of our lunch without her. And then I probably would've ended up on the floor crying with the kids because all the food was gone.

This whole waking up at 5:15 and getting home between 4 and 5 has really put a pause on my crossfitting. Not to mention the fact that I was almost sick for a whole week. Once I break routine it is really hard for me get back into the swing of things. However, with a little help from some of the other lady crossfitters at my box I pushed myself to go tonight. Two things.

1. I forgot how much fun I have when I step into the box.
and
2. I forgot how much I sweat once in said box.

If I could give one piece of advice it would definitely be to NOT skip out for a week and half and then think you can just dive right back in. This workout wasn't even that bad looking on paper but after it was all said and done I was miserable. I could barely lift any weight and I was cramping like no other. So I will take my own advice and make sure I go again tomorrow. The WOD we did today is below. I'm not even going to tell you all what my times and weights were because I am embarrassed with myself. Maybe next time!

Floor Press (20 minutes 8x4)

Mean Mugs and Shoulder Shrugs
2 Rounds- For Time (4 Minute Cap)
15 Pull Ups (I did ring rows)
15 Shoulder to Overhead
Metcon
2 Rounds- For Time (4 Minute Cap)
10 Thrusters
10 Burpees
Metcon (7 Minute AMRAP Reps and Rounds)
10 KB Swings
10 Back Squats

Try it out. =) Let me know what you think.

Happy (almost over) Hump Day!

3 of the many reasons why I love Whole Foods

Just having become vegan (about 4 months ago), I didn't realize how difficult it would be to shop in a "normal" grocery store. I like to get in and out, but noooooooo, now I have to look at every label of everything new that I want to eat just to make sure that it doesn't contain milk (ain't nobody got time for that!). Luckily, they have to put a little blurb at the end of the ingredient list if it contains wheat, soy, or milk products so it isn't that hard to determine if I can buy it or not but it is still annoying at times. I've come to realize that Whole Foods really is THE store to shop at if you are vegan, vegetarian, or have dietary restrictions. There are so many awesome products that you will not find at any other grocery store in your town. I don't think that I could ever go back to shopping at another store, they don't have my fake mayo or fake cheese! After having to look at the back of the box of everything I have come to realize the three reasons why Whole Foods makes it so much easier for us vegans to shop there.

1. On the majority of their 365 brand products they have this handy little V+ on the back of the packaging. If it's there, it means it is 100% vegan. No need to read all the ingredients. Hallelujah.

2. In the bakery and prepared foods sections of the store they have these obnoxious green labels that say vegan on them. Again, hallelujah, because baked goods can be difficult to determine if they are vegan friendly or not. And Chelsey loves herself some vegan baked goods.

and.

3. There are many different companies out there today that know that the majority of their consumers are either vegetarian or vegan. So to make things easier for us, they put vegan in front the whole list of ingredients so that we don't even have to look at the long list! Thank you Amy's for giving a sick girl "chicken" noodle soup. Yum.

The list of reasons why I love Whole Foods could go on and on. And I am sure there will be many other posts dedicated to Whole Foods. But for now, this is why I'm loving them and I figured I would share them with you. You never know, maybe you will want to become a vegan and I will have just helped you tremendously on your search for vegan friendly foods because that shit's rough. And annoying.

Hope everyone is enjoying this delightful weekend. I am spending mine on the couch, cuddled with my dog, and ABC Family movies.

PS- Exactly 2 weeks till I'm in Arizona! Can. Not. Wait.

I knew it was coming...

As you may know from my last post, the two boys I nanny for are sick. Guess what that means? Chelsey gets sick too! The past two days have been rough. Not being able to breathing through your nose is probably the worst cold symptom in the planet because when you try to eat you run out of breath like you just sprinted 400 meters. Super attractive. Not being able to work out definitely sucks too.

Hopefully my 20 dollar shopping spree at CVS last night will help me get rid of this junk before Monday or I will be more miserable than I have been. Cranky sick children + cranky sick nanny = disaster.

On the upside, we went to the Philadelphia Zoo yesterday! Even though I have lived in Philadelphia for the past 5 years I have never been so I was probably more excited about the trip than the kids were. I was jealous that they got to sleep on the ride home and I had to drive but it made for one great afternoon filled with goats, flamingos, and tons of monkeys! Maybe some ice cream too.

Happy Thursday!

And now it is bedtime. Good night world.

Day 1 Complete

Before I even begin to talk about my awesome day yesterday I just want to say how excited I am because I finally bought a ticket to Arizona for Labor Day Weekend!!!!!! 18 days could not come soon enough. Seriously. Super stoked.

Okay. Onto my work day.

Yesterday was probably one of the best first days of work I have had in a long time. I mean I got to play with a 10 month old and a 2.5 year old for 9 hours. That alone makes it a lot better than standing at a cash register for 7 hours at Whole Foods any day (Sorry!).

The getting up at 5:15 part was definitely harder than I thought it would be, possibly because I didn't go to sleep until almost midnight. Oops. But thanks to some coffee I was good to go. Luckily the kids aren't awake when I get to the house because I need some time to still wake up before I have two boys jumping all over me. Max, the 2.5 year old was up first! He is potty training, which for someone who had never dealt with that before was a little scared at first but there was only two accidents the whole day which is my books counts for a pretty good day. Especially since he HATES saying when he has to go. One of my favorite conversations happened when I was sitting across from him while he was on the toilet.

(Max holds his hand up to his ear)
"Shh, do you hear that?"
(I then put my hand up to my ear)
"No, what is it?"
"Poop!"

I do believe he was very serious. And it was hilarious. Kids really do say the funniest things and they don't even know it which makes it so much better for us adults. He also wanted corn for breakfast and proceeded to cry after I told him that corn was not a breakfast food (He settled for some go-gurt).

We got to go "fishing" in the morning and "mow the lawn". Typical male.

Owen is the easiest one to handle. He is very independent and just started walking so he just wants to do his own thing and be proud of himself for getting there without crawling.

I could write a whole lot more about how adorable these little guys are and what we did through out the day but then you would be super jealous of my job and I don't want you to end up going to work miserable because you read this. =)

On another note, I got a new planner! And if you know me at all, you know this was one of the highlights of my day. Who doesn't like a nice new shiny planner. Oh and I also bought some everything hummus. Like an everything bagel but hummus form. I'm sure it is equally delicious.

Day off = Target

My thoughts exactly.

Today was my first Saturday off in goodness knows how long and of course I wake up at 6:45. My body clearly hates me or it is just very confused as to why I wasn't feeding it coffee at 4:30. My day was productive to start: cleaned the bathroom, did my laundry, and even rearranged my dresser drawers! Then me and the roommate decided that we needed to go to Target. Every one knows that you never HAVE to go to Target but who can resist?! And this just wasn't a quick trip. No no no. If I do remember correctly, it was a 3 hour long trip. 3 HOURS! But we all know that it isn't too hard to get caught up in the aisles of forever happiness.

My shopping list consisted of 4 things:

1. Conditioner

2. Jelly

3. Bread

4. Shower Curtain Liner

Now, do you think that is all I left with? Of course not. Shoot, I didn't even get the bread or jelly! But I used a coupon for the conditioner. Go me!

Is it weird that I ended up buying more groceries than anything else with today's adventure? Probably wasn't a good idea to go while hungry either so the apple sauce and Rainier cherries were a definite must have.

Side Note: Rainier cherries are probably the best creation on this planet besides Whole Foods vegan oatmeal chocolate chip cookies. Go out and get yourself some! NOW!

I think that the best part of the whole trip was when we were at the check out and got to witness a woman freak out on the poor store manager. Now, I'm not sure why exactly the security guard asked this lady if she had her receipt but she was the wrong one to ask. I have never heard so many curse words come out of a middle aged white woman's mouth in front of a store full of people until today.

"This is the ASSHOLE that asked for my receipt. How dare you! What's your name? I'm calling corporate!"

"Ma'am, you need to calm down"

" It's because I'm white isn't it!"

Whoa whoa lady. I know we are in Philadelphia but I'm pretty sure you aren't the only white person shopping today, all you had to do was show the man your receipt. 

Turns out she was there to buy stuff for her son for college. Poor kid won't be able to show his face in that Target every again. 

Hope everyone's weekend is going as well as mine and not the security guards!

What is better than living with an Indian?

The answer is nothing. Especially when you LOVE Indian food.

I have always loved Indian food. If I had to pick one food to eat for the rest of my life, it would be Indian. You can put anything in a curry sauce and I will eat it. Well almost anything.

Recently, me and my roommate, Sarika, have been eating A LOT of Indian food. At least 2 times a week, with leftovers in between (sorry not sorry). We always have the staples at hand so when nothing else sounds good to eat, Indian it is! It is so delicious and you would never know that it was completely vegan! We mix up the veggies depending on what we have but the recipe below is what my friend Sandy (human, not puppy) likes to call "Chickpea Surprise"

Chickpea Surprise
1 can of chickpeas (try to get the no salt added)
3-4 red potatoes (I've done sweet potato as well. delish.)
1/2 of a Cauliflower head (or frozen works too)
1 Bell pepper
1/2 Yellow onion
Peas, optional
Tomato paste
1 can of tomato sauce
Lots of mumbai bhaji pav masala
Olive oil
Rice
Naan (if you got it!)

1. Microwave potatoes till tender. In the meantime cut up all the veggies into bite size pieces. Heat up some oil in a pot and add peppers and onions.
2. Cut up cauliflower and toss in with the peppers and onions.
3. Sprinkle in some of that yummy mumbai bhaji pav masala.
4. Add tomato paste and sauce. Stir it all up.
5. Add chickpeas, potatoes, and peas (if you want them).
6. Put some more mumbai bhaji pav masala in the pot until you are satisfied with the flavor.
7. Pour over some white rice and dig in with some naan!

If you can't tell, I have no exact measurements for anything. When we make this we just throw in whatever we have. Sometimes there is peppers, sometimes there is broccoli. If you have carrots, throw those in as well. It's really whatever you like. We like our Indian food saucy but if you don't, just go lighter on the tomato sauce. Now for the mumbai bhaji pav masala. I had no idea this existed, but it will forever be in my cupboard. Luckily for me, Sarika's mom gets it for us but there are many Indian markets that you can go to and grab a box... or 5. This is one of those recipes that really is up to the individual making it but I guarantee you will love it and will then know why I am so obsessed with it. And bonus: the leftovers are just as good. I promise.

Enjoy! And spread the word about "Chickpea Surprise"!

My life in three words.

Chelsey. That's me.

Vegan. That's what I eat. (Almond Milk)

Crossfit. That's how I stay in shape. (Barbells)

Nanny. That's my job. (Strollers)

I had a blog once. About going to nursing school. And if you haven't noticed, that's not where my life ended up going. At all. But I can't complain because my life after college has been filled with great memories and even greater friends. If I had to sum up my life this past year some notable events included: moving to Manayunk (twice), having my mom in PA while she was working for a few months (love her), rescuing a dog (Sandy), my mom AND brother being in Philadelphia for Christmas (love him too), getting and losing my first nanny job (miss him), working my life away at Whole Foods (meh), and my best friend getting married (finally!).

My life might not be perfect but I love it and I wouldn't trade it for anything. So I hope that this blog can give you some good vegan recipes, maybe even motivation to get up off the couch and work out, or even get a good laugh at the ridiculous things that the kids I nanny for do and say. Whatever it does, I sure hope that it keeps you coming back for more!