Day 1 - Vegan - Sweet Potato Lasagna

So as a nutritionist and one who gives advice on eating styles or provides information, part of the job takes research. One of the best forms of research is putting yourself in others shoes and experiencing things that others will go through. So one of the books that is featured at our store suggests moving toward a vegan way of eating to help prevent or reverse many of the top killers in the US cancer and heart disease. I read the book and do agree with many of it’s ideas and ways of eating. The most predominant aspect is the fact that we should all be eating “Plant Strong”. It suggests a 4 week trial on a vegan diet because of the damaging affects of eating a high dairy and meat diet. It gives a structure, recipes, and shopping list on how you can do it and enjoy it. I decided to give it a try. I figured I’m already about 85-90% vegan so it couldn’t be too hard. What a better way than this to be able to help customers find some of the suggested products (cause I’ll have to find them), to experience some of the benefits first hand, and to experiment with some of the great recipes. So, today is “vegan” day one. I had a great breakfast of a combination of cereals, almond milk, and fruit piled in a large bowl and a bean pita with veggies for lunch. Tonight I tried my first big recipe: Sweet Potato/Veggie Lasagna. It was soooo beautiful even before putting it in the oven and tasted great.
Here is the recipe in case you thought you might like to try it out :)

Sweet Potato and Veggie Lasagna

1 onion, chopped
1 small head of garlic, all cloves chopped or pressed
8 ounces mushrooms, sliced
1 head broccoli, chopped
2 carrots, chopped
2 red bell peppers, seeded and chopped
1 can corn, rinsed and drained
1 package Silken Lite tofu
½ teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon oregano
1 teaspoon basil
1 teaspoon rosemary
2-28oz cans chunky tomato sauce
1 box whole grain lasagna noodles
16 ounces frozen spinach, thawed and drained
2 sweet potatoes, cooked and mashed
4 roma tomatoes, sliced thin
1 cup raw cashews, ground

Preheat oven to 400º. Sauté the onion and garlic on high heat for 3 minutes in a wok or nonstick pan. Add the mushrooms and cook until the onions are limp and the mushrooms give up their liq­uid. Remove them to a large bowl with a slotted spoon. Reserve the mushroom liquid in the pan. Sauté the broccoli and carrots for 5 minutes and add to the mushroom bowl. Sauté the peppers and corn until just beginning to soften. Add them to the vegetable bowl. Drain the tofu by wrapping in paper towels. Break it up directly in the towel and mix into the vegetable bowl. Add spices to the vegetable bowl and combine.
To Assemble:
Cover the bottom of a 9-by-13-inch casserole with a layer of sauce. Add a layer of noodles. Cover the noodles with sauce. This way the noodles cook in the oven, saving time and energy. Spread the vegetable mixture over the sauced noodles. Cover with a layer of noodles and another dress­ing of sauce. Add the spinach to the second layer of sauced noodles. Cover the spinach with the mashed sweet potatoes. Add another layer of sauce, the final layer of noodles, and a last topping of sauce. Cover the lasagna with thinly sliced roma tomatoes.
Cover with foil and bake in the oven for 45 minutes. Remove the foil, sprinkle with the cashews, and return to the oven for 15 minutes. Let sit for 15 minutes before serving.

My new life in Chicago

After one week down from work I am starting to become accustomed to the fact I am now a Chicago resident. I walk 18 minutes to work Sunday through Thursday from my beautiful apartment overlooking the city. I have mostly unpacked my three bags, stocked my fridge and cupboard with groceries, opened a new bank account, and went for my first Chicago run along the lake past the aquarium, museum, and Navy Pier. After a few days of paperwork and company info at work I was finally able to start some brainstorming and theme planning for the coming weeks. By next weekend I will be hitting the floor and really starting the position. Right now it is a bit of a brain ache but it feels really good to be back in learning and teaching mode and I have even been cooking alot more which is definitely great. Today I went out to the suburbs and spent the day with my cousins and their families. We had a great time. It was sooo great to meet a few of them for the first time and also become reacquainted with the others. So nice to have family near by. This morning as I walked to the train and listened to my music, with the sun shining down on me and the cool air brushing my cheeks, I felt really happy. I thought to myself...despite the sometimes lonely feelings, the still often ache of missing being near my dear friend Caro, and the mundane tasks that come with moving to a new city....this is gonna be great. I LIVE IN CHICAGO! so cool :)

Welcome back to Full Time work :)

Well, I officially started my new job yesterday. Not super exciting mostly because the first few days is always admin, paperwork, learning about the company, and all sorts of other materials. My head last night was a little inflated from all the info and of course I wanted more and wanted to know it ALL right now. Lots to take in. This morning was an all store team meeting for the couple hundred employees and they went over all the stuff that the company gets involved in throughout the year. Pretty amazing company. Very exciting. Made me very excited to be a part of it and anxious to get more involved. This job is gonna be awesome. (Once I get my feet on the ground and running of course.) It's gonna be alot of prep work and structure building as a new position but I think I'm up for the challenge :)

All moved in

Yesterday I moved into my new home. It is great. I carried my three suitcases through the front door and dropped them in my room and called'er quits for the day. Pretty tough move ;) Well, that is all I have in Chicago at the moment cause I came here straight from Germany. My car and most of the remainder of my stuff in it is slowly making it's way out here. Last night I made Sari and I dinner and we sat and had a bottle of wine while visiting to get to know each other. She is great and we get along very well. I think the situation will work out good. Still have to organize and move some things around in my room. Since it was a quick move in she wasn't quite prepared and still has personal things in there. We'll slowly get it all situated. For now, it works and I am gradually getting comfortable. Today I got some groceries and then I found my new church. Since I am going to have to work on Sundays I needed to find a Saturday night service and I found it. It was a younger crowd, good music, and good message. They also have alot going on and lots of ways to get involved so it should be good. That was easy (not surprisingly when I think of how everything else has been coming easily as well). After church, I walked around the city a bit and then headed back to the condo. All of the sudden I got in organization mode so I reorganized the entire kitchen. It was actually pretty fun and helped get me familar with all that I had access to. Sari didn't mind cause she doesn't cook much, but the kitchen is always my favorite place in the house so I'm glad I got to be a part of it's new creation :) Tomorrow will be a full prep day for the start of my new job on Monday. Coming down to the wire. One more day of my extended vacation :)

Quick hunt and thankfully over :)

So I went and looked at my first room rental this morning and meet the owner and person who would be my roommate. It was great! She is great and the place is beautiful. So many amenities and close to work. That was easy :) When you "go with the grain" in life, things always come a little easier. I have learned that many of times :) It is right in the city, a few blocks from the lake, very nice neighborhood, in a high rise building with floor to ceiling windows, 2bed/2bath, fully furnished (remember, I don't have any furniture since I sold it all before the move to Germany) and a 20 minute walk to work. Sari will be my new roommate and she is very sweet and friendly. We both have a travel bug so will have lots to talk about. Looking forward to moving in this weekend. So glad I can now just relax and prep for my new job starting on Monday. Tomorrow will be so nice to stay at the house (my cousin's house that is). Still jet-legging a little but getting closer to on schedule :)

On the hunt

This week is apartment hunting week. Was difficult for me to drag myself out of the house and go into the city yesterday but very glad that I did. Thank God I have friends that push me when I need a little shove. Just felt a little overwhelmed when I first got here but I was calmed a little after my days events. Picked up some maps, rode the EL, visited with a potential roommate, walked around a bit, and stopped in my new store to explore and say hi to my new boss. The store is so nice. I LOVE IT! The music was fun, the employees were all happy and friendly, the displays were beautiful, and I walked around admiring this new place called "my work." I had a quick visit with my boss and the education director and they are soooo cool and genuinely friendly. Although I am quite nervous, all of those factors make it exciting to get started and get the new job jitters out of the way. Today I have a couple more places to look at. I really hope I find a good one so I can be done with this. I'm not a big a fan of apartment hunting especially finding a new roommate right now. I'm sure it will work out just fine :) Update soon...

The end of a chapter...not the book

A very hard goodbye once again but this time quite a bit harder. After a chill Saturday of fruehstueck with Suse, some walking, a little shopping, a friend Stefano's basketball game, and some Gilmore Girls, the last day of my trip to Heidelberg had come. Sunday was sadly a day of goodbyes and some very heartfelt moments. Sunday morning I met up with my American girlfriends, Grace and Abby and we had coffee at a cute little breakfast place. They were both very sweet to meet up with me and walk me back to the apartment as we wished each other the best. Then Gerhard picked up Caro and I and we went to watch her little cousin Felix play basketball. I was able to spend some time with Kay, Gonilla, Niklas, Felix, and Katharine one more time and say my goodbyes to them. (Gonilla is Anke’s niece, Kay is Gonilla’s husband) They are such a sweet family and another part of Caro’s family that was so welcoming, made me feel like part of the family,will be missed and forever be in my heart. They gave me a very sweet going-away gift of photos, of when I first came to Germany, that were placed in a little photo cube. Sooo thoughtful and very cherished. After the game we headed back home for a little afternoon coffee and kuchen and made our way to the USC-HD basketball game. (Another of Caro and I’s Sunday traditions). We, not surprisingly, missed the bus AGAIN so decided to splurge and take a cab so we could actually see the beginning of the game for once. It was a great game and afterward we followed another tradition and went to our favorite Thai place for dinner. After dinner it was time to do some last minute packing and avoid going to sleep in hopes that the morning wouldn’t come so quickly. In avoidance of the sadness and for a little laughter, we watched a few episodes of Gilmore Girls and then attempted to sleep for a couple hours. Then…. this morning came :( The inevitable goodbye. Why do they have to be so hard? They are especially hard when you leave someone whom you have seen and/or talked to most every day for the past 9 months, someone who has become your best friend, someone who has influenced your life in so many ways in such a short amount of time, and someone who supports you, loves you, helps guide you and understands and accepts you for all that you are. Your heart aches, you’re short of breath, a big knot sticks in the back of your throat, and tears continue to periodically fall from your tired eyes. It seems I have had a couple versions of this experience, more than once and yet it never gets any easier and always hurts like hell; a part of life that we can’t avoid as much as we may try.
At 7:30am this morning, Gerhard and Caro gave me a ride to the Frankfurt airport. It was a pretty quiet trip but very meaningful. After an hour and a half, we made it to the airport, I checked my bags in, and we had a little breakfast. We shared some laughs, some hugs, and some tears and then the time came for me to pass through the gates and step on a plane taking me to the other side of the world once again. While crossing the point allowed for passengers only, I couldn’t stop turning back to wave goodbye, not wanting to let go, not wanting to face my extreme sadness or deal with the fact that I was actually leaving and not coming back for a while. It was a pretty awful feeling. Now, I’ll give myself the chance to grieve a little and then push forward as I always do. I guess it’s time for another adventure; a new chapter. The mind of a man plans his way but the Lord directs his steps….so here I go. It's gonna be a busy next couple of weeks apartment hunting and starting a new job. But never will I forget the chapter that is now coming to an end. Even if it didn't go quite as I had planned, I came out pretty good after a little decision last June to work at a kids camp in the middle of nowhere, California. It, so surprisingly, led me up to a chance to live in a new country, knowledge of a new language, meeting a new group of family, and being blessed with another amazing best friend. Things always happen for a reason and I can give you so many other examples of events in my life that have ultimately led me here. Interesting how we sometimes don’t actually see the reason for some of those evnets until a good chunk of time down the road, if even at all. All I know is… Germany, so unexpectedly, now holds a piece of my heart and always will. Goodbye Heidelberg :( …Hello Chicago :)