2015 Resolutions - Appetite For Reduction

2014 was, for me, a pretty good year. Unlike 2013, I actually made a net profit from being a full-time musician, and, in traveling to all of the various Renaissance Faires, conventions, and SCA events at which I performed, I got to try so much delicious food! I took tons of pictures from the various places at which I ate in St. Louis and Kansas City, and I plan on getting those posted to the blog this year (Procrastination, thy name is musician.)

Due to a combination of all of the delicious food I ate through 2014 and the fact that I messed up my right knee jumping on a trampoline in late August, I ended 2014 heavier than I started it. My goal weight is 140 lbs, and I'm currently about 176 or so. I have been using the My Fitness Pal app on my iPhone to track my calories, but eating out at restaurants is very difficult to track, unless you're at a big chain (MFP knows *exactly* how many calories are in a tall soy mocha with no whip from Starbucks!) Since I want to lose weight, since restaurant food is so hard to track, and since I'm such a fan of "Julie And Julia", I've decided to cook and blog my way through Appetite for Reduction: 125 Fast and Filling Low-Fat Vegan Recipes in 2015. I think it'll be fairly easy to cook 125 recipes in 365 days, and I imagine I'll be repeating some recipes that are really good. I'm also planning on having lots of healthy smoothies throughout the year, as well as getting more use out of my juicer, and eating a few raw meals.



I'm going to allow myself one "cheat day" a week (where I can eat pretty much whatever I want - mmmmm, vegan donuts), but at least six days out of the week I'll be eating as healthy as possible. One of the things I love about "Appetite For Reduction" is that each recipe has full nutritional information listed. Talk about easy to track in my app!

Since yesterday was January 1 (Happy New Year, by the way!), I started with "Hottie Black-Eyed Peas & Greens". My sweetie and I went shopping on Dec. 31 to pick up black-eyed peas and collard greens, so I was set to make this yummy-looking recipe. My sweetie swears up and down that he hates collard greens, so I made just half of the recipe so that he can eat some black-eyed peas plain.



I thought this was absolutely delicious! I ended up using both paprika and Tabasco sauce, and the flavor was amazing. My sweetie ended up trying a couple of bites, and decided that he loved the dish, but still isn't fond of the bitterness of collard greens. He's going to use the recipe, minus the greens, to prepare his half of the black-eyed peas, though.

Weight - 181.4 lbs. Recipes to go - 124.

RESTAURANT REVIEWS - The Hogtown Vegan & Bunner's Bakeshop, Toronto, Ontario, Canada (and The Trip To Michigan)

After finishing the banner for her solo music act, April took the last day in Toronto to do some sight-seeing. After the fact, a quick study on Google Maps suggests that she probably walked about 8 miles altogether. (The hedgehogs were freeloaders and rode in her purse.)

After all that walking, some food was certainly in order. A web search had pulled up The Hogtown Vegan, which sounded very promising.

The Hogtown Vegan
834 Bloor St W, Toronto, ON M6G 1M3, Canada
Twitter Page



Hedgie and Buttercup present: Some Facts About The Hogtown Vegan -





One other fact of note - The Hogtown Vegan is a cash-only establishment.

There were so many awesome things on the menu, but the Stuffed French Toast (with peanut butter, banana, and vegan bacon) really spoke to Hedgie's inner Elvis. April paid a bit extra to get collard greens on the side - healthy's gotta come from somewhere! She's a musician, too; one can't tempt fate!





You'd think, after all that amazing richness, that no one could possibly eat a bunch of vegan baked goods.

You'd think wrong.

Bunner's Bakeshop
3054 Dundas St W, Toronto, Ontario M6P 1Z7, Canada
Facebook page

OK, technically, April and the hedgehogs stopped at Bunner's the next morning, on the way out of Toronto. Free parking didn't exist, so April broke the law a little bit and parked in a metered spot in front of the shop, ran in, ooh-ed and aah-ed over EVERYTHING, bought some deliciousness, and skedaddled as quickly as possible.











April ended up with a savory chili cheeze pocket -



a butter tart -



(Hedgie is mad at Buttercup for some reason. Perhaps she didn't want to share the butter tart.)



a s'mores cupcake -



and a sweet roll -



It took 4 hours to drive from Toronto to Canton, Michigan (where April would be staying that night). The first three items made the drive a lot more pleasant, and the sweet roll was a delicious end to the day later that evening.


April gets a bed, and the hedgehogs get a bed. Seems fair.