better skin in two hard steps

Step 1: Find the right products. A girlfriend talked me into getting a facial (my first) with her about four years ago. While I don’t think the facial itself did anything to improve my skin, I think it was really beneficial to speak with someone knowledgeable who could look at my skin, recommend a skincare regimen, and have access to better products than I could find at the drugstore. (I would suspect a dermatologist could do an even better job.)  I bought all the basics that day and used them religiously; then went for another facial a year later to fine-tune and update my regimen. I don’t know if spending a lot of money on products made me take it more seriously and do a better job taking care of my face, or whether the more expensive, tailored products just worked much better-- maybe both.

Current lineup (shown above): Refreshing Facial Wash Gel by Simple, Toleriane Riche by La Roche-Posay, Redermic Plus Normal to Combination Skin by La Roche-Posay, Retinol 0.5 Refining Night Cream by SkinCeuticals, Sheer Physical UV Defense SPF 50 by SkinCeuticals, Lip Quench by DermStore, Clarifying Clay Masque by SkinCeuticals.

I wash my face day and night with a gentle cleanser, use the toleriane moisturizer each morning (or sunscreen if I'm going to the pool), alternate the retinol and redermic creams at night, and use the clay mask in the bathtub once a week. I'm obsessed with lip balm and moisturizers, and lip quench is the best I've ever found. I use it constantly.

I buy most of my products from Dermstore. I love them. Shipping is superfast, free for $100 purchases, and they usually have a fun bonus. Here’s a picture of what they sent as a free gift last time; I was pleasantly shocked:

And all keep-worthy. My favorites are the Stila Sparkle Waterproof Liquid Eye Liner in Sequins (Stila's liquid eyeliner is my daily go-to, and I love the slight silver sparkle for getting a bit more fancy), Dermstore Lip Quench (smart to include this as a free gift, as I will be buying it for life now), and the Mirabella Shimmerati powder in Afterglow. I wear these a lot and will buy again for sure.

Step 2: Cutting out dairy. One year ago, I stopped eating meat. Then eggs. Then dairy.* It took about two weeks of being a vegan to notice that my face looked really good. Like not even the tiniest breakout. I commented to my husband, who correlated it to the veganism. I cut foods out in stages, and my skin only noticeable improved after removing every last bit of the dairy. If you read about it one the internet, many sources claim going dairy-free can improve your skin and it was true for me. (TMI: it also lessened my PMS symptoms, like, a lot, which come to think of it is probably all tied in together. Hormones.)

*I’ve since added in bi-valves (clams, oysters, mussels) and let myself be a bit lax about the dairy when I’m eating out at a restaurant. I really need to make the effort to be super strict about dairy in my diet, for the sake of the animals and my face.

I'm writing about deodorant. Wow.

UPDATE: It's been two or three weeks since I started using the natural deodorants, and the Tom's actually didn't work very well. Or at all. The first few days, I layered them both and was hyper sensitive about whether they were working, if you know what I mean. When I was comfortable enough, I tried the Tom's by itself and it just didn't work. But the good news is, the Jason worked great. I like it better than my old deodorant. And, since I kept seeing all these paraben-free lables, I looked up parabens on Wikipedia. Sounds like they are nasty stuff to apply to your underarms. Even though it hasn't been scientifically proven to cause cancer yet, the link is there so why take the chance.

So, one of the things I've decided to do is gradually replace my makeup and toiletries with products that 1) don't contain animal products, 2) aren't tested on animals, and 3) are more "natural." I also have extremely sensitive skin, so fragrance-free/non-irritating is also a must. Since I ran out of deodorant, that's where I started first.

I was pretty happy to find a good selection at my normal grocery store, and picked these two up. (For some reason, some were by the normal toiletry aisle, and some were by the vitamins aisle.) My husband thinks that cruelty-free labeling is a marketing gimmick - I have no idea whether any deodorant contains animal products for instance - but I'm happy to put my dollars towards a company that thinks marketing about not being cruel to animals is worthwhile.

I was very skeptical whether "natural" deodorant would actually work. And both the ones I tried do, in fact I think they may work better than my old stuff.

butternut squash, carrots and oysters

I love butternut squash. Unfortunately, I am the only one here that does. So when I cooked up a big pot of this Butternut Squash Couscous, I ate it all. It was really, really good, and I only changed up the recipe a tiny bit by using dried cranberries because I really hate raisins, and vegetable broth instead of chicken. I also put a cup or so of shredded carrots into my bowl when I was reheating it - which was good, but that was only because I got a food processor for Christmas and went a bit crazy with a bag of carrots. I'd already made carrot bread*, and eaten several bowls of shredded carrots, and still had a ton left.

I want to cook a lot more in this new year, and more healthier foods too. I'm particularly excited about using another of my Christmas presents, this new cookbook:

For the record, I am not a vegetarian anymore. I ate two dozen raw oysters when we were in New Orleans for Christmas, and, shrimp and okra at my aunt's house on Christmas eve. Back in September, my initial reasoning for stopping eating meat, was that I didn't want to contribute to the animal suffering and cruelty of the meat industry. I thought a bunch about oysters, trying to decide whether they are sentient beings and capable of suffering, and I don't believe that they are. Same with clams and mussels. I didn't feel bad at all about eating oysters - I honestly feel much worse about eating dairy, which is something I need to work on cutting out - and I'm not willing to keep them out of my diet in order to keep the vegetarian label, because I don't care much about that. What I care about is that I feel ethically ok with my diet choices. It's a work in progress. (The shrimp though, I keep going back and forth about. They do have tiny brains. I'm not going to eat them again unless I find something to really persuade me.)

*Here's the carrot bread recipe that I used. I substituted applesauce for eggs and blackstrap molasses for honey. It was a decent way to use up shredded carrots, but I can't imagine it tasting good with zucchini.

penne primavera

After our California dinner at Pasta Q, I went looking for a pasta primavera recipe and found this. (You must browse the Meatless section at Ezra Pound Cake, there are so many recipes that I want to make!)

My plan was to make the roasted vegetables, mix with the sauce, and just serve over pasta, but hubby really liked the recipe's idea of baking it, so we did. It was easy, and satisfying, and made a huge amount: two dinners plus a large container of leftover veggie sauce for the freezer.

I made a few changes from the "original" recipe, which was already an adaptation of Giada's Everyday Italian recipe, namely leaving out the peppers and adding matchstick carrots. I also had the frozen peas thawed, but forgot to add them. But, I really don't like peas much anyway.

Baked Vegetable Penne

2 zucchini, quartered and cubed

2 yellow squash, quartered and cubed

4 oz sliced baby bella mushrooms

1 yellow onion, cut in big slices

2 Tbsp minced garlic

olive oil

salt and pepper

Italian herb mix

1 lb. penne pasta

chunky tomato sauce

2 c. (or so) mozzarella

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

Toss veggies on baking sheet with salt, pepper, spices, garlic, and drizzle with olive oil. I divided mine into squash/zucchini/onions and mushroom/carrots, which was good because the mushrooms needed a few minutes less than the squash.

Roast veggies for 20-25 minutes, checking them and mixing once or twice with a spatula.

Meanwhile, cook pasta (according to directions for al dente - in large pot, boiling water, drain, you know this) and, in a medium pot, make chunky tomato sauce. I used a recipe from Sandra Lee, and I this will definitely be my go-to tomato sauce from now on.

Once veggies are cooked, lower oven to 375 degrees, then add them into the pot of tomato sauce and mix together.

At this point, I could have totally stopped and just eaten it with a spoon out of the pot:

But I managed to continue on:

Pour veggie sauce into greased pan and mix in equal part pasta. Top with shredded cheese. Bake for 20 minutes.

Would it have been even better with the extra cheese, Parmesan, and butter called for in the recipe? Maybe, but it so good this way that I wouldn't bother.

And here's the perfect simple chunky sauce recipe:

Chunky Tomato Sauce

olive oil

1/2 c. chopped onion

1 Tbsp. minced garlic

28 oz. can diced tomatoes

1 Tbsp. Italian herb mix

Coat pot with olive oil, saute onion and garlic for a few minutes over medium heat.

Add diced tomatoes and Italian herbs.

Lower heat and simmer for 20 minutes, stirring often.

black bean and quinoa stuffed bell peppers

I read somewhere that the average person who cooks dinner often usually only uses about nine different recipes. This seems about right to me for your tried and true go-to meals, then add in the special occasion recipes and the one-offs that you experiment with but wouldn't make again. Anyway, since the vegetarian thing happened, I've been having to rebuild and adapt my collection of basic recipes. One of my favorite comfort food recipes, that I spent quite a while perfecting, was the classic southern stuffed bell peppers. Enter this Quinoa (and black bean) Stuffed Bell Pepper recipe from Good Life Eats.

I had just halved and made my Black Bean Enchilada recipe, so I already had a half can of black beans that had been drained and sauteed with olive oil, onion, garlic, cumin and chili powder. So, I halved this recipe too, and it still made enough for two meals for us since one (half) pepper was so filling.

This was my first time cooking (or eating) quinoa, and it was easy and good! I made a few changes from the linked recipe, including making all of the stuffing mixture in one pot because the directions were a bit vague there, and using cheddar cheese because we had it, and they turned out fantastic.

Quinoa and Black Bean Stuffed Bell Peppers

olive oil

1/2 c. onion, chopped

1/2 c. celery, chopped

cumin

garlic

15 oz. can diced tomatos, drained, liquid reserved

8 oz. baby bella mushrooms, chopped

1/4 c. + 1/8 c. quinoa

3/4 c. carrots, grated

15 oz. can black beans, drained and rinsed

salt and pepper

2 bell peppers, halved

cheddar cheese

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Heat some olive oil in bottom of medium pot over medium heat. Add chopped onion and celery (I throw mine in frozen, because whenever I have leftover onion of celery, I chop them up and put in freezer bags to keep on hand. They defrost very quickly.) and cook for 5 minutes or so.

Add cumin, garlic, mushrooms, about half of the drained diced tomatoes (which I chopped up because I don't like big pieces of tomatoes) and saute for until liquid is evaporated.

Add quinoa, grated carrots and 1 cup of water, cover, bring to boil, reduce heat to medium low, and simmer for 15 minutes. I had to keep adding water, and stirring a little bit, to keep it simmering, and worried about this having never cooked quinoa before, but it was fine. (My bag of quinoa also said cooks in 10 minutes, but the recipe said 20, so I went with 15 minutes which was perfect.)

Remove from heat, add black beans (I used half a can, but I'd do a whole can next time), season with salt and pepper (and Cajun spices if, like me, you use them in everything).

Pour liquid from tomatoes in baking dish, add pepper halves (I used red and green and I'm not sure which was better... mmm), fill with quinoa mixture, cover with foil and bake 40 minutes. Uncover, top each pepper with sliced cheddar cheese, and bake 15 more minutes.

Omnivore's Dilemma

I picked up this book to read on the plane ride home, because I like Michael Pollan, and because it's recommended everywhere. It's a bit boring, but so interesting. I'm only done with the first (of four) sections, but, like In Defense of Food, it's already changed the way I think about food. If I hadn't already decided to adopt a vegetarian lifestyle, this book would have made me. It's definitely made me want to try to avoid eating processed foods.

About 5 years ago, I had a brief stint as a vegetarian after watching a PETA dvd. It was very effective initially due to the shock value of disturbing images, but a few months later that had worn off and I went right back to eating meat. Even though I know it's the reality, I don't want to carry those images inside of me.

I think books like The Omnivore's Dilemma are more effective for the long run, because instead of just shocking you, they inform you and completely change the way you think. Here are a few other, gentle, resources for people who are considering changing their diet:

In Defense of Food by Michael Pollan

The Kind Diet by Alicia Silverston

Forks Over Knives (documentary)

Supersize Me (documentary)

Loving Hut

I think it's great that more and more vegan and vegetarian-only restaurants are popping up (there's even one in San Antonio). The problem I have with most of them is that they simply replace all the normal meat protein of a meal with fake meat or texturized soy. That was certainly the case with Loving Hut in Palo Alto.

I had the an avocado BLT with tempeh in the place of bacon. It was ok, but the tempeh was kind of meh and the bread was super hard.

Hubby had the spring rolls and hummus, which you can't really go wrong with, although again, instead of just your normal vegetable spring roll, they stuck in some texturized soy protein.

I hadn't had bubble tea in many, many years, so I tried it again.

Either this stuff was particularly bad, or, I don't what I used to see in it. Yuk.

The Kind Diet update

I've now been a vegetarian for over a month. I love vegetables, I love a huge salad for dinner, a bowl of matchstick carrots and peas for lunch, and I really love a big bowl of beans. So, for me, it was a surprisingly easy transition. Even though we are often traveling, and have many long road trips, there is almost always a vegetarian meal to be found, even at fast food joints. (Although one night, my vegetarian dinner was a large order of onion rings... I'll remember never go to a Dairy Queen again.) McDonalds, Taco Bell, and Subway, are all over, and all have good options for vegetarian fast food, even though there is generally only one thing available (salad minus the chicken breast, bean burritos or potato tacos with rice, and veggie delight sandwich with side of apples, respectively). I've had grilled vegetables in a sushi restaurant (Salmon sashimi, you are the only meat I miss), had two appetizer salads as my entree in a rather fine restaurant, and had double sides of beans and rice in a mexican restaurant. I've stuck to this new, kinder, diet and I'm pretty proud of myself for that.

We're traveling now and if it's easy in Texas, it's absolutely no-brainer to be vegetarian here in Palo Alto, CA. Almost every restaurant has an entire vegetarian entree section. Penne pasta with fresh vegetables in a chunky tomato sauce and portobellas sauteed in balsamic vinegar served over grilled bread .... yes, please! There's even an all-organic, all-vegan cafe down the street, which we hit up for lunch today.

Veganism is my looser goal, and that is a different story. That has been really easy to do at home (except once a week when I cook my husbands' favorite meal of black bean enchiladas covered in sharp cheddar cheese), but much harder to do on the road. I was shocked that even a tofu salad that I ordered at a cafe in San Francisco came with an unlisted half of boiled egg on the plate. Hello... Otherwise, it seems like a lot of places just replace the meat on entrees with cheese to make them vegetarian. I can do without cheese, but will eat it if it's there. I was a huge dairy eater, and started every day with a bowl of yogurt and berries. Now, I actually prefer soymilk to regular milk in my coffe, and just eat the berries with ground flaxseed instead of yogurt. I only ever bought eggs before anyway when I wanted to bake, and I was initially sad about no more baking, something that I love to do. I've since baked a few things - pumpkin bread and chocolate chip cookies - using applesauce instead of eggs, soymilk instead of milk, and vegan margarine instead of butter, and they turned out fine. (Although I did learn not to go crazy by in addition to the above, also switching up sugar, flour, and adding flaxseed and stuff. It just alters to much from the original and becomes not satisfying, especially to your non-veg hubby.) So, my casual plan is that I will eat vegan as much as possible without being a drag to be around, stressing myself out, or not enjoying going out to eat.

Although I initially refused to buy any animal products at the grocery, I gave in and now buy whole milk and cheese for my husband. It's a compromise. He's been really supportive of not eating meat, but after a week of soymilk, he insisted on milk and cheese for himself. We researched the brands and picked the seemingly ethically best milk and cheese available, although I'm not convinced. Also, I am continuing to buy non-vegetarian cat food. I just can't justify potentially hurting an animal that I am directly responsible for and love (my cat), to save the other animals (tuna). I've read different things about vegan or vegetarian diets for cats, and I'm not convinced it's healthy for them.

So, that's the journey. It's only been a month, but I didn't expect it to be so easy (especially if I stay out of sushi restaurants). I haven't lost any weight (but luckily I don't need to), which I think is mostly because before I rarely ate any whole grains or pasta or rice in my diet, and now I eat them much more often. I feel like I'm living more true to myself, which is satisfying. I also think I've been eating a much greater variety of more healthy foods than before going veg, since this diet made me hyper-conscious of getting the required nutrients, which can only be good for my body in the long run.

veggie, week one

Week one of the kind diet in effect, and a complete success, until we went out for sushi yesterday.... I feel more full more often, but I guess that's because I've been eating more than usual to try to get enough of everything. I probably will start just eating when I'm hungry, but this week I've been getting at least 3 meals in every day.

My new diet goals:

• Stop buying meat/dairy/eggs (except for a bit of leftover cream cheese, and defrosted lentil soup made long ago with chicken broth, I've not eaten any. Oh, and the sushi.).
• Drink lots of water. (I love my new insulated cup. Actually kept a glass of ice water cool for 2 hours in my parked car in over 100 degree heat.)
• Make mindful choices (I've been good here, except for that bag of chocolate chips... this is much easier when hubby is here, and not out of town!).
• Listen to body (eat when I'm hungry, and aim for variety).
• Move (haven't exercised since 2010! I gotta get on this one, but I keep procrastinating...).

My favorite meal of the week was my Portobello Fajitas. For maybe the first time, I didn't even use a base recipe.

Portobello Fajitas (for 2)

1/2 red bell pepper

1/2 yellow bell pepper

1/2 green bell pepper

1/2 yellow onion

1 package sliced portobella mushrooms

olive oil

1 Tbsp minced garlic

1/2 tsp cumin

1/2 tsp chili powder

1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

soy sauce (I used one small packet from takeout, maybe 1 Tbsp?)

Tortillas (I used small flour ones originally, then whole wheat wraps for the leftovers. The flour ones worked much better.)

Slice up the bell peppers and onion. (I put the other half of everything in a ziplock in the freezer for next time...) Heat olive oil over medium heat in skillet, add peppers, onion, garlic, spices, and soy sauce. Cook for 5-10 minutes, stirring frequently. Add mushrooms, cook until soft. Heat tortillas (I nuked them for 1 minute, but I'm sure there are better ways). Serve with avcacado and salsa.

Simple and really so good!

in defense of food

Started and finished this book on the plane from San Francisco. (Um, 3 books so far for January, not a bad way to start off that resolution.) I bought it because of the cover tagline: Eat food, not too much, mostly plants. I think this is a pretty great philosophy towards food.

Reading the book felt a lot like a validation of our lifestyle, and made me feel like we're doing ok. I have been trying to eat more veggies, cut back on meat, and cook more; this book advocates all. I think the best real-world tip that I got from it was to look at ingredients when choosing food and pick the ones with the fewest, most recognizable, ingredients. This actually resulted in a few different choices in the grocery store yesterday, particularly my choice of crackers and yogurt. It also opened my eyes a little to the importance of organic food, and eating locally, which before I assumed was always a gimmick.

I would probably not have purchased this book except that I was at the airport, but I thought it was a great read - interesting and informative although mostly common sense. I would recommend it, but only if you can borrow it from a friend or the library. It's not complicated enough information to need to keep around as a reference.