Monday, July 16, 2012
Sunday, January 2, 2011
Some cakes I've made recently.
Everyone's gotta have a hobby right?
All vegan and all made using mostly natural and organic ingredients barring food colour.
All vegan and all made using mostly natural and organic ingredients barring food colour.
Thursday, October 21, 2010
Belize
In Belize we spent our time going to a recently found Mayan ruin area. Altun-Ha. The main languages in Belize are English and Creole. Its a different type of creole than spoken in the South East United States but apparently they can understand each other as there was a creole
couple on the bus that spoke to our guide.
Sugar cane. Warning. Eating this without a knife to cut off
pieces to put in your mouth results in seriously chapped
lips.
If you are familiar with some spanish slang then you know what
cohones (sp?) are. I didn't know the word came from an actual
object. Its a tree that has these oval type fruits/nuts that grow
from it.
J holding his cohone.
Cohone tree.
This picture shows the original mayan building and the renovated part.
The renovated part is the top diagonal half.
For a buck you too can hold a baby alligator. :)
Money from Belize. Belize is like other countries that were once
ruled by England. They operate on their own but in major matters
England has final authority.
Big rain storm coming our way!
couple on the bus that spoke to our guide.
Sugar cane. Warning. Eating this without a knife to cut off
pieces to put in your mouth results in seriously chapped
lips.
If you are familiar with some spanish slang then you know what
cohones (sp?) are. I didn't know the word came from an actual
object. Its a tree that has these oval type fruits/nuts that grow
from it.
J holding his cohone.
Cohone tree.
This picture shows the original mayan building and the renovated part.
The renovated part is the top diagonal half.
For a buck you too can hold a baby alligator. :)
Money from Belize. Belize is like other countries that were once
ruled by England. They operate on their own but in major matters
England has final authority.
Big rain storm coming our way!
Tuesday, September 14, 2010
Caribbean Cruising Part 2 Isla Roatan
Today we visit Isla Roatan. It's an island off of the coast of Honduras.
The tourism trade here is fairly new so they only have a small area for tourists.
There is some bartering here on the island outside of the touristy port area but its very
easy to barter. They practically drop the prices for you just so you will buy something.
Roatan has two shipwrecked ships here. One from the 1960's and one from 1980's.
This one was from the 60's.
This one was from the 80's.
The first shop we walked into off of the pier welcomed us with HUGE bottles
of booze!!!!
YUMMMMM!!!!!
Liquor is cheap here. Most of those huge bottles didn't even hit $100.
I had more pictures to share of Roatan but the uploader for blogger is not letting me
put up anymore pics today. I will have to try later.
When we came back from our day trip we were welcomed with towel animals. We found out that we had to hide the previous animals for them to make new ones.
Another half eaten meal. Sorry :(
I practically ate this everyday since there really wasnt much else for lunch
on the ship. Veggie burgers, fries, salsa/chips, and salads.
When I can get more pics up I can show you what most of my dinners looked like.
The tourism trade here is fairly new so they only have a small area for tourists.
There is some bartering here on the island outside of the touristy port area but its very
easy to barter. They practically drop the prices for you just so you will buy something.
Roatan has two shipwrecked ships here. One from the 1960's and one from 1980's.
This one was from the 60's.
This one was from the 80's.
The first shop we walked into off of the pier welcomed us with HUGE bottles
of booze!!!!
YUMMMMM!!!!!
Liquor is cheap here. Most of those huge bottles didn't even hit $100.
I had more pictures to share of Roatan but the uploader for blogger is not letting me
put up anymore pics today. I will have to try later.
When we came back from our day trip we were welcomed with towel animals. We found out that we had to hide the previous animals for them to make new ones.
Another half eaten meal. Sorry :(
I practically ate this everyday since there really wasnt much else for lunch
on the ship. Veggie burgers, fries, salsa/chips, and salads.
When I can get more pics up I can show you what most of my dinners looked like.
Thursday, September 9, 2010
Cruising the Caribbean Part 1 Grand Cayman
A month ago I took a cruise on Carnival Cruise Lines to the Western Caribbean. The trip as a whole was great but the food was not so great. I knew going in I was going to have some issues with the food portion of the trip but I will get to that soon enough. For now. Pictures!!
Grand Cayman
It occured to me after I came home that I really should have taken a picture of the whole plaque. Oops.
Me with Big Black Dick :D He is the reason for great Caribbean Rum. Yummm!
I won't tell you how many bottles we brought home of that stuff.
These are some of the turtles at the Turtle Farm of Grand Cayman. These particular turtles are in the mating pond. Turtles (unfortunately) are a main part of cuisine at Grand Cayman. But the good news is that at this farm they raise turtles and let some of them out into the ocean.
This one is child size. They have separate ponds for adults, "teenagers", "children", and babies.
This little guy was hamming it up for us.
The chickens and roosters just run around free as a bird (haha) on this island.
A hurricane several years ago took out a chicken farm and they just never built a new
one.
Wild Chickens
This house is the oldest house on the island at 100 years old. It's called the Gingerbread house.
Yes, the water really is this blue and clear. I was awed by it the whole time I was in the Caribbean. And its so warm! You get different colours of blue depending on how deep the water is. The light reflecting back gives you a deeper colour the further down you go. It's absolutely beautiful.
All along the Caribbean there are coconut trees and vendors who cut down the coconuts, shuck them, put them in ice cold water and then for a nominal fee will open a hole for you, put in a straw and you get to drink ice cold coconut water. Some vendors will even break open the coconut for you when you're done so you can eat the coconut.
Coconut Tree
Almond Tree
As for food, like I said. It wasn't all that great. This was my very first meal on the ship.
A lettuce, tomato and grilled pepper sandwich on rye bread. Pathetic. But I was sooooo
hungry that I ate half of it before I remembered to take a picture. This unfortunately had
to keep me going until dinner.
This is part of the salad bar that they have every night on the Lido deck. I made a huge salad and it tasted great but I could not go on dinky sandwiches and a salad everyday.
One thing you should know about the dining room is if you have assigned dining then you can talk to your waiter about your food preferences and they can accomodate you.
If you have anytime dining you will need to talk to the Maitre D, since you may not be in the same seating area everynight or have the same waiter. They will work with you to make out a meal plan for the whole week and check on you every night to make sure everything is okay.
When you walk into the dining room tell the person at the counter that you would like to talk to the Maitre D. It may be a wait though.
One thing I did find out while talking to the Maitre D is that they cook some of their vegetarian foods in chicken stock and I would almost guess that they would use beef stock as well. I told her that cooking vegetarian foods in chicken stock no longer make the food vegetarian. She was unmoved by this comment. I feared for my vegan food. I opted for Indian, since that is one of the easiest foods to make vegan. I'm not entirely sure that my dinners were vegan but my breakfasts were. She was specific about using soy milk in my pancakes and gave me other options for foods that did not have animal products. The oatmeal by default is cooked with water. It is a bit watered down though.
There is also plenty of fruit on the ship. Lunches are all on the Lido deck. They have veggie burgers ( not sure how vegan they were), fries, salads, burritos, and tacos. I did okay on the ship but most of my foods were based on starches. Just about everyone on the ship that is staff is from another country. They speak English but really trying to grill someone on info about vegan products is sometimes like talking to a wall so be careful and use your own judgement.
Coming up, Isla Roatan, Belize and Cozumel
Grand Cayman
It occured to me after I came home that I really should have taken a picture of the whole plaque. Oops.
Me with Big Black Dick :D He is the reason for great Caribbean Rum. Yummm!
I won't tell you how many bottles we brought home of that stuff.
These are some of the turtles at the Turtle Farm of Grand Cayman. These particular turtles are in the mating pond. Turtles (unfortunately) are a main part of cuisine at Grand Cayman. But the good news is that at this farm they raise turtles and let some of them out into the ocean.
This one is child size. They have separate ponds for adults, "teenagers", "children", and babies.
This little guy was hamming it up for us.
The chickens and roosters just run around free as a bird (haha) on this island.
A hurricane several years ago took out a chicken farm and they just never built a new
one.
Wild Chickens
This house is the oldest house on the island at 100 years old. It's called the Gingerbread house.
Yes, the water really is this blue and clear. I was awed by it the whole time I was in the Caribbean. And its so warm! You get different colours of blue depending on how deep the water is. The light reflecting back gives you a deeper colour the further down you go. It's absolutely beautiful.
All along the Caribbean there are coconut trees and vendors who cut down the coconuts, shuck them, put them in ice cold water and then for a nominal fee will open a hole for you, put in a straw and you get to drink ice cold coconut water. Some vendors will even break open the coconut for you when you're done so you can eat the coconut.
Coconut Tree
Almond Tree
As for food, like I said. It wasn't all that great. This was my very first meal on the ship.
A lettuce, tomato and grilled pepper sandwich on rye bread. Pathetic. But I was sooooo
hungry that I ate half of it before I remembered to take a picture. This unfortunately had
to keep me going until dinner.
This is part of the salad bar that they have every night on the Lido deck. I made a huge salad and it tasted great but I could not go on dinky sandwiches and a salad everyday.
One thing you should know about the dining room is if you have assigned dining then you can talk to your waiter about your food preferences and they can accomodate you.
If you have anytime dining you will need to talk to the Maitre D, since you may not be in the same seating area everynight or have the same waiter. They will work with you to make out a meal plan for the whole week and check on you every night to make sure everything is okay.
When you walk into the dining room tell the person at the counter that you would like to talk to the Maitre D. It may be a wait though.
One thing I did find out while talking to the Maitre D is that they cook some of their vegetarian foods in chicken stock and I would almost guess that they would use beef stock as well. I told her that cooking vegetarian foods in chicken stock no longer make the food vegetarian. She was unmoved by this comment. I feared for my vegan food. I opted for Indian, since that is one of the easiest foods to make vegan. I'm not entirely sure that my dinners were vegan but my breakfasts were. She was specific about using soy milk in my pancakes and gave me other options for foods that did not have animal products. The oatmeal by default is cooked with water. It is a bit watered down though.
There is also plenty of fruit on the ship. Lunches are all on the Lido deck. They have veggie burgers ( not sure how vegan they were), fries, salads, burritos, and tacos. I did okay on the ship but most of my foods were based on starches. Just about everyone on the ship that is staff is from another country. They speak English but really trying to grill someone on info about vegan products is sometimes like talking to a wall so be careful and use your own judgement.
Coming up, Isla Roatan, Belize and Cozumel
Tuesday, July 13, 2010
1 month later
This photo was taken 6/5/2010 and I weigh in at 40 lbs less than when I first started and
10 lbs lighter than the last picture. The muscles don't look that much bigger though.
Patience. I've only been lifting since the middle of May. I shouldn't expect miracles.
Stats
weight 155
hips 39
waist 36 3/4
arms 12 1/2
Here is a picture of a pair of my pajamas. MOO!!!!!
10 lbs lighter than the last picture. The muscles don't look that much bigger though.
Patience. I've only been lifting since the middle of May. I shouldn't expect miracles.
Stats
weight 155
hips 39
waist 36 3/4
arms 12 1/2
Here is a picture of a pair of my pajamas. MOO!!!!!
Wednesday, June 16, 2010
On my way to vegan bodybuilding.....well, one day.
A very long story short I've been dieting since I was 12. I decided back in October of '09 that I had enough of my body size. I was sick of it. It's too damn hot here in Tennessee in the summer and I can't take the heat. Here is the closest 'before' picture that I can find.
This picture was taken in March of '09
In this pic I am 4'11''
I weigh 188
size 15/16
hips 44"
waist 41.5"
After this picture I yo- yo'd between 195 and 188. So I decided I would have to force myself to lose weight. The only way I could do this was to treat excercising like it was my second job. I must mention here that I have no discipline and can become quite lazy in the excersice department.
Since then I have lost 40lbs and would like to lose another 20.
People ask me what I've done to lose so much weight. Nothing spectacular really. I just watch my calories and excersice every day , or almost everyday, but the excercise is minimal since like I mentioned before I am lazy but I know I need to go work out. I also eat what I want because if I start restricting myself I know that I am going to binge and thats never good.
I also stumbled upon a link to Robert Cheeke and got motivated to start lifting. He is a vegan bodybuilder. I used to make fun of bodybuilders when I was younger and I never wanted to look like any of them. But as I start lifting weights I find I like it and I love feeling the muscles growing stronger inside my body. Now I know why bodybuilders have a tendency to "feel themselves up" in a sense.
I love being able to move in ways I couldn't before and I have so much more stamina. For those that know me they must think I have become the energizer bunny because before all of this I had an insane amount of stamina so just multiply that by 10! It's crazy.
Really my only crutch has been food. I love to eat. I'm a carbohydrate addict!
I'm writing this blog at this point in my life to really keep tabs for myself on how I am doing in my slow progression to possibly becoming a bodybuilder and for your possible curiosity. For now I just like seeing where my body is taking me on this journey.
Here are some pictures that I took about a month ago. Don't mind the armpits. It's not hair. I have some kind of wierd skin thing where all the places that rub together on my body get dark. I can't stand it. If anyone knows how to get rid of it please let me know!!!
Stats:
165.5 lbs
hips 42
waist 391/4
I also thought I should probably share some of the food that I am eating since this is a food blog :p
I made some coconut soup today.
Very easy to make.
4 cloves of garlic minced
1 lg onion sliced
2-3 cups of chopped veggies
( i generally use water chestnuts, brocolli, cubed tofu thats been previously pan fried, tomatoes, carrots and celery but you can use whatever you want)
saute in 2tbsp of olive oil or canola oil
then add
3 c of veggie broth or water
1 13.5oz can of coconut milk
1 tsp of ground cumin
1 tsp of ground coriander
1/2 tsp of cayenne pepper
1 tsp of ground black pepper
4 soaked stalks of dried lemongrass or if you
use essential oil
2 drops of organic lemongrass oil
cook on med-low for 1 hour.
I'll take a current picture soon since I did say I lost 40lbs I should probably show it.
by the way, if you are reading this vegan sugar I can't post on your blog for some reason. Maybe the commentary settings are set wierd???
This picture was taken in March of '09
In this pic I am 4'11''
I weigh 188
size 15/16
hips 44"
waist 41.5"
After this picture I yo- yo'd between 195 and 188. So I decided I would have to force myself to lose weight. The only way I could do this was to treat excercising like it was my second job. I must mention here that I have no discipline and can become quite lazy in the excersice department.
Since then I have lost 40lbs and would like to lose another 20.
People ask me what I've done to lose so much weight. Nothing spectacular really. I just watch my calories and excersice every day , or almost everyday, but the excercise is minimal since like I mentioned before I am lazy but I know I need to go work out. I also eat what I want because if I start restricting myself I know that I am going to binge and thats never good.
I also stumbled upon a link to Robert Cheeke and got motivated to start lifting. He is a vegan bodybuilder. I used to make fun of bodybuilders when I was younger and I never wanted to look like any of them. But as I start lifting weights I find I like it and I love feeling the muscles growing stronger inside my body. Now I know why bodybuilders have a tendency to "feel themselves up" in a sense.
I love being able to move in ways I couldn't before and I have so much more stamina. For those that know me they must think I have become the energizer bunny because before all of this I had an insane amount of stamina so just multiply that by 10! It's crazy.
Really my only crutch has been food. I love to eat. I'm a carbohydrate addict!
I'm writing this blog at this point in my life to really keep tabs for myself on how I am doing in my slow progression to possibly becoming a bodybuilder and for your possible curiosity. For now I just like seeing where my body is taking me on this journey.
Here are some pictures that I took about a month ago. Don't mind the armpits. It's not hair. I have some kind of wierd skin thing where all the places that rub together on my body get dark. I can't stand it. If anyone knows how to get rid of it please let me know!!!
Stats:
165.5 lbs
hips 42
waist 391/4
I also thought I should probably share some of the food that I am eating since this is a food blog :p
I made some coconut soup today.
Very easy to make.
4 cloves of garlic minced
1 lg onion sliced
2-3 cups of chopped veggies
( i generally use water chestnuts, brocolli, cubed tofu thats been previously pan fried, tomatoes, carrots and celery but you can use whatever you want)
saute in 2tbsp of olive oil or canola oil
then add
3 c of veggie broth or water
1 13.5oz can of coconut milk
1 tsp of ground cumin
1 tsp of ground coriander
1/2 tsp of cayenne pepper
1 tsp of ground black pepper
4 soaked stalks of dried lemongrass or if you
use essential oil
2 drops of organic lemongrass oil
cook on med-low for 1 hour.
I'll take a current picture soon since I did say I lost 40lbs I should probably show it.
by the way, if you are reading this vegan sugar I can't post on your blog for some reason. Maybe the commentary settings are set wierd???
Monday, March 15, 2010
Update on Smart Balance light margarine and more ChrisPaulCreations photos
Sorry its been a while. I wanted to let you know that I have tried frying and baking with the Smart Balance light margarine. The pacakge says its not suitable for either and to use the regular Smart Balance for frying and baking ( which is NOT vegan ) . I've realized that I really don't use margarine for much other than to make icing but I did carmalize some onions with the margarine and I also baked scones. Both came out great, for me anyway. I would recommend using this product for whatever you use Earth Balance for. The Smart Balance light is cheaper and has less calories, fat and other things. It does taste different than Earth Balance. EB has a little more flavor. SBL is not nasty by any means but if you are used to EB you will notice a difference.
Here are some more goodies that I've made recently.
This is my newest cookie called Choc3.
Its basically a choc cookie with choc chips and white choc chips.
A simple birthday cake for man
A floral birthday cake for a woman
My website kinda sucks right now as I am trying to figure out what my webguy is doing/or not doing with it. Big mess. But if you live in or around the Nashville area and are interested in ordering cookies, cakes or cupcakes you can visit the site at ChrisPaulCreations.
I use natural and organic ingredients. Everything is vegan by default.
Here are some more goodies that I've made recently.
This is my newest cookie called Choc3.
Its basically a choc cookie with choc chips and white choc chips.
A simple birthday cake for man
A floral birthday cake for a woman
My website kinda sucks right now as I am trying to figure out what my webguy is doing/or not doing with it. Big mess. But if you live in or around the Nashville area and are interested in ordering cookies, cakes or cupcakes you can visit the site at ChrisPaulCreations.
I use natural and organic ingredients. Everything is vegan by default.
Sunday, February 7, 2010
Cakes and Cookies from ChrisPaul Creations
I wanted to let you guys know that I'm trying to start my own business. Vegan custom cakes, wedding cakes, cookies and cupcakes. Working out of the Nashville area.
It's called ChrisPaulCreations. I make 9" single, double and triple layer cakes, sheet cakes 1/4, 1/2 and full. 2 types of cookies, mini and standard sized cupcakes.
I use natural and organic ingredients but not exclusively.
Right now I am testing things out so I'm not an official business yet. Once I get the licences and an add on the house for a separate kitchen I will be official.
In the mean time for your curiosity :D
I have 8 1/2 years experience in baking and cake decorating. I was serv safe certified. I let the certification run out and am working on getting another one.
After checking out the website, if you or someone you know would like to place an order email is best. I work 3rd shift at the moment and getting me on the phone is near impossible.
Here is a sample of some of the stuff that I've done recently.
German Chocolate Cupcake
9" single layer German Chcolate Cake
Chocolate Chip Cupcakes
Beach Memories Cookie
Banana Coconut Cupcake
It's called ChrisPaulCreations. I make 9" single, double and triple layer cakes, sheet cakes 1/4, 1/2 and full. 2 types of cookies, mini and standard sized cupcakes.
I use natural and organic ingredients but not exclusively.
Right now I am testing things out so I'm not an official business yet. Once I get the licences and an add on the house for a separate kitchen I will be official.
In the mean time for your curiosity :D
I have 8 1/2 years experience in baking and cake decorating. I was serv safe certified. I let the certification run out and am working on getting another one.
After checking out the website, if you or someone you know would like to place an order email is best. I work 3rd shift at the moment and getting me on the phone is near impossible.
Here is a sample of some of the stuff that I've done recently.
German Chocolate Cupcake
9" single layer German Chcolate Cake
Chocolate Chip Cupcakes
Beach Memories Cookie
Banana Coconut Cupcake
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