Big salads rule!
I love making salads in my huge Tupperware container. :)
The Big Salad:
- 1 heart organic romaine
- 1 cup chickpea stir fry (with zucchini, carrots, celery, sesame seeds)
- Vitality Sprouts (see below)
- 4-5 T salsa
- 1/2 red pepper
- EVOO + Red wine vinegar (dressing)
- Ground black pepper
- handful sunflower seeds
Nothing is better than a big salad!
The Vitality Sprouts from Whole Foods:
It dawned on me after I bought these that I could probably MAKE sprouts on my own…fairly easily? Anyone know how? :) What a fun little science experiment that would be.
Dessert: Organic dark chocolate chips x 2…or 3…
I am obsessed with chocolate lately. And Adore bars. Lock me up and throw away the key!
Valentine’s Day: Who Is It For?
Eric and I got into a discussion on Sunday about Valentine’s Day.
It is no secret that…
1) I love Valentine’s Day. I’m a huge romantic and I start thinking about it in early January!
2) Eric does not like Valentine’s Day and thinks it is a commercial holiday (I pout my lip when he says this!).
I agree about it being a commercial holiday, however I still love the fact that it is a day to devote entirely to your loved one. So many holidays are commercial now, but that doesn’t mean I can’t look forward to it anyways.
When I was single I would use the day as an excuse to spoil myself rotten. One single year I sent myself flowers and I smiled all week. It is all in the perspective.
Eric claims that Valentine’s Day is for women. In other words, men just kind of go along with the motions of the gifts, roses, etc., but they don’t really anticipate it as much as women do. Eric’s male coworkers are his reference group for his scientific survey. ;)
While he does enjoy Valentine’s Day, he thinks that we could celebrate our love on any day we wanted to. He is a person who likes to do things on his own terms and not feel outside pressure to do something. One rule we have is that I told him not to buy me flowers on V-Day. He did a couple times and I found out the price and we agreed to buy them when they were 1/4 the price (and in good shape!).
So the question remains…Is Valentine’s Day for women, men (let’s be real, they get something out of it too!), or both? How do you feel about it? If you are attached, how does your partner feel about it (honestly)?
I have found men who didn’t know how to kiss.
I’ve always found time to teach them.
~ by Mae West ~
I’ve been eating chocolate chips straight up lately too!
I’ve never been attached on Valentine’s Day so I have no idea what it’s like being in a relationship on the day :) It’s just another day for me!
I think the holiday goes both ways… in a different kind of perspective. Women see it as a romantic thing, full of yummy chocolates and sweet flowers, and lots of love-related things that pet our emotional side. From my fiancé’s perspective, he sees it as a time to show his feelings for me and make me happy by spoiling me on this day. In his words “I don’t care what it costs me, seeing you smile is what I live for.”
Ahh. You’d think the kid is bullshitting me or a very feminine guy, but he’s really not. He’s not very good at expressing himself through words, and he doesn’t want to scare off a girl by spoiling her with gifts or run himself into a financial hole that way, so these holidays basically give him a chance to say “Hey, I love you, and I want you to be happy. Please accept this gift and smile for me.”
For me, I just like it because there’s a lot of red and pink things, cute cards, and chocolate.
mmmm. Chocolate. I would be just as happy if he never got me anything on Valentines day, but the fact that he does it just something fun to look forward to.
Yeah, these holidays are hella commercialized, but if you take the time to just go with it and put your own perspective on it, it’s not so bad
And that’s all I gotta say about that. :)
Meh…I think I might feel differently about V-Day if it didn’t fall less than a month before our anniversary, but as it stands I don’t give two shits about it. That said, this year I am going to try to make it special for my girlfriends who are feeling down on themselves for not being in a relationship! Nothing wrong with spreading some love, right?
My man sounds exactly like your man when it comes to V-Day but he more than understands that I will pout if he ignores it soooo…..for the last 4 years instead of going to dinner at a restaurant we head down to our favorite palm fringed beach at night with a bottle of wine. We save a ton of $$$ by doing this and I think it’s more romantic anyway :-) Aloha!
that sounds fabulous!
Note to self: MOVE.
mmmm, I adore sprouts of all kinds!
Hi Angela! I love valentines day but unfortunately my husband is the same of yours and believes it is just a commercial/hallmark thing. However, I will still make the effort with a gift and maybe book dinner somewhere nice because I don’t think there is anything wrong with an excuse to show someone how much you care.
Also, I have been reading your blog for a few months now and just wanted to say a huge thankyou for your recent post on binge eating. I have struggled a bit lately with overeating and it really helped me.
Glad it helped you Laura! :)
Oh, Valentine’s Day. I’ve been out of the country on Feb. 14 for the past three years, and it completely slips my mind. There’s not much fuss about it in developing countries like Nepal and Nicaragua, I guess.
This year, I’ll treat myself to some of those little candy hearts and a guilty-pleasure movie. :)
I am still single, but Valentine’s day hasn’t ever been amazing for me because it is 3 days after my birthday. I haven’t found that guy that wants to spoil me for my birthday and Valentine’s day….yet :)
ps. I can’t wait to get my Adore bars; I ate the last one today…I need more!!!!
Thy are in te air…flying at mock speed to get to you! ;)
so excited!!!!
oh gosh Ange…that cracked me up about sending yourself flowers…you are too funny :-P
I love Valentine’s Day and so does my husband :-D But I agree with Eric that you don’t need an official holiday! In fact…we celebrate on 2 days every month that aren’t “official” but they mean something to us:
Every 6th of the month we celebrate our “monthly wedding anniversary”…so 2 days ago we celebrated our 44-month wedding anniversary hahaha :-P
…And every 12th of the month we celebrate being together because we went from being best friends to being a couple on 3/12/03…so in 4 days it will be our 83rd-month anniversary!
CRAZY, huh?? :-P
and ACTUALLY…very few people know this but Warren and I were officially married on Valentine’s Day! We did it to get his fiance visa process going…but we celebrate our official anniversary when we had our REAL wedding in June…honestly I forget all the time that we made it official for the government on Valentine’s Day…it was only a few days away from when we got the papers we needed and we wanted to get the process going so we thought “hey, why not” :-P
ww how did you figure that out, im dizzy reading it! lol.
haha well it started with our 1 month…2 month…and then it just snowballed :-P
That is the cutest thing that I have ever heard of! I am oddly date-oriented so every day reminds me of something that happened on it in the past…. it drives people crazy. But to put a romantic spin on it is just adorable!
I’m the same way – i remember dates better than anything else. Unfortunately that means anniversaries with exes too – the 11/23 (and the 23rd of every month really…) will be forever tainted for me lol.
Hey Angela,
I’m glad someone else shares my deep love of sprouts! You can grow them really easy (and cheapy, cheap, McCheaperson). They are awesome when the fruits and veggie section at the market is looking a little bare bones during the cold winter months! Thought you might be interested in this website! Crazy good information!!
http://www.sproutpeople.com/
Love your blog!
Carla
I am pretty much neutral towards Valentine’s Day. I’ve been with my boyfriend for 8 years and can honestly say that every one of those Valentine’s Days are not in my top 10 greatest moments with him. However, I agree that it’s nice to spend a little extra time with the one you love and like going to a nice dinner or cuddling up together just for fun.
Love the big salad! I’ve made sprouts before and they’re super easy! I think I found a youtube video to guide me – you should definitely give it a shot.
I so agree about the top 10 moments.
Salad looks delish. Question is, does it really hold you over very long?
Nope, hence chocolate :)
Actually the salad is about 600 calories (mainly due to chickpeas, EVOO, sesame and sunflower seeds. Deceiving isn’t it?
Laughed at the Valentine’s Day question. I think most men don’t love V. Day and blame commercialism etc etc..also my husband’s opinion for the last 16 years UNTIL-
I finally said (in possibly anger) “No one cares about your soapbox, when my friends ask what you did and I say you have a political stance on the day and don’t want to partake …well you look like an ass – just buy me a card!!”
He really listened and years following, he was super sweet..try this or just mention that the Leafs are a corporate giant manipulating poor men around the nation and should be avoided at all costs throughout the year..
lmao! that is an awesome story!!!
haha
The comments that Eric made (i.e., that it is a commercial holiday and that we should show our love everyday of the year) is the EXACT–like to the word almost–thing that my dad says. He calls it “a greeting card holiday”, meaning it is something invented to sell cards, flowers, chocolate, etc. (I don’t have a boyfriend so my dad and 6 brothers are the extend of my experience with men. Haha).
I, however, love valentines day. Sure we should show our love everyday, but don’t we often forget? it is nice to have an extra nudge to realize how much you love someone. I don’t think that love is limited to just a boyfriend, spouse, or fiance, though. Growing up, in my family we would make funny valentines to give to each other. I also love that it brightens up February so much–I’m all about pink and glitter!
P.S. I forget to mention how delicious your salad looks. I immediately started craving a salad after seeing it…and I just ate a huge one for dinner a couple hours ago!
As for the sprouts, I’ve seen lots of tutorials (Check out Kristen’s Raw blog, Meghan Telpner’s blog, or the Sunny Raw Kitchen) about how easy it is to make your own. Personally, I’ve gone so far as to buy the sprouting seed and some cheesecloth…but have yet to actually take the plunge. I guess I’m just afraid of failing and killing the baby seeds, maybe?
im quite scared too!
I really like Valentine’s Day. However, my boyfriend has a similar view as Eric does, that it’s just a Hallmark holiday. But, this doesn’t stop him from acknowledging it because he knows it’s important to me. Although I know it irks him that my birthday is 3 days before Valentines, double whammy!
BOOYAH!
I think it is commercialism at its finest.. But I still like to celebrate the love between my husband and I, just in a non-commercialist way. This Valentines day I’m cooking up a super special dinner followed by a movie and possibly cuddles in the dark *wink wink*.. I believe that you should celebrate your love for that someone everyday, but having one day a year is just a little encouraging to actually do something about it.
ps. sprouts are freaking awesome!!
Thats usually what we do- homecooked meal…going out to eat on Vday is a big hassel most of the time and the fod is half assed because they are so busy. At least that is the experience we have had!
I make a batch of sprouts every week! Alfalfa seeds only take 4-5 days to sprout, so when I put one batch into the fridge, I start a new one. I spent $10 on a big bag of seeds (about 2 cups) about 9 months ago, and I still have at least 1/4 cup left. I sprout about 1 T a week. I don’t do anything fancy like those tutorials suggest. I didn’t even have to buy any new equipment. Here’s what I do:
In the evening, get a big glass jar (old applesauce jar or mason jar works great) and put in 1 T of seeds to sprout (I’ve done alfalfa, but broccoli are good and really healthy, as are lentils, chickpeas, radish – these are a little spicy, sunflower, etc). Add about 1 cup water and let sit overnight. In the morning, cut out a section of a pair of old nylons (or a thin piece of fabric, or cheesecloth if you have it), put over the top of the jar and secure with a rubberband or two. Dump water out (through the cloth), rinse the seeds off by running water over them a couple times. Store jar upside down (over a bowl) for the day. Rinse the seeds every night and every morning until they are the size you like. I like to leave mine in front of a window on the 4th day, so they get nice and green.
These are so much better than the store bought sprouts too! I highly recommend you try it!
Sounds easy! What do you mean by store over a bowl?
Leave the jar upside down over a jar, so the water can drain out. I don’t think this is crucial though. I have a post going up tomorrow about this! Thanks to you!
Big salads do rule!!!
first off, your salad looks delicious!!! i always see other people’s salads and think, “that looks good! i should eat more salads!” then when i make my own, it just never looks as pretty or tasty. hahaha.
secondly, i’m super excited for my glo bars, i hope they get here soon!
third, i have a love/hate relationship w/valentines day. when i was single it made me feel bad about myself watching friends and coworkers get flowers and gifts delivered to work/school….and when i was finally in a long term relationship during vday, my bf announces that vday isn’t a real holiday and it’s definitely not a gift-giving one. :( hahaha. i thought after all those tortuous years of watching girls in relationships get showered w/love on that day, i would finally experience that too…but nope. i’m not in a relationship feeling the same feelings. ahahaha, only now its worse b/c people will ask “what did you do for vday?” and i’ll just respond w/”nothing” then i’ll get asked why i did nothing….
ahhh, vday. how it can make some feel so loved and further point out the loneliness for others. we should boycott. hahaha.