Standing at the Trailhead of Winter

Move over Instant Pot. I have a new love. The Air Fryer. Actually, I love you both equally because you each bring such joy to my life. At this moment, I'm happily munching on crispy seasoned tofu. The crispiest tofu I've ever been able to make thanks to the Air Fryer. Yesterday, I swooned over the Japanese sweet potato that came out hot and creamy from the Instant Pot. Yes, life is good. Since going completely vegan (whole foods plant based), I've lost eight pounds. I'm just one pound from my goal. And I did nothing other than change what I eat. I didn't increase my exercise; I'm still just doing the three to four walks a day with Ado, which ends up being anywhere from 3-4 miles for the day. I haven't starved at all, either. I've simply been eating whole foods that are plant based.  Funny Delightful Son came to visit for the weekend. I talked with him about the changes I've made and how it's such a simple thing to do and such a healthy thing to d...

I've taken the leap into making sauces/dressings for my salads and other dishes that a sauce/dressing just seem to go naturally with. And in the process, I cleaned out the rest of the heavily processed, packed with oil and sugar foods from my fridge. It really is amazing to see just how much oil and sugar is used to create salad dressings and other kinds of sauce. When I think about how much dressing I used to put on a salad, even when all I would have for a meal was a salad, all of the calories were coming from the dressing. They weren't nutrient dense calories, either. Just calorie dense calories. Bad calorie dense calories. I cringe now thinking about all the oil and sugar I was consuming.  So now I'm making my own sauces/dressings. Knowing exactly what is in the sauce and how much of each ingredient is in the sauce creates peace of mind about what I am putting into my body. The first dressing I made is an avocado/lime/cilantro combination. It pairs wonderfully with mixe...