Eating Healthy Doesn't Have To Suck!

That's right, eating healthy and preservative free doesn't have to suck, thanks to the wonderful people at Trader Joe's! Those of you who know me well know that I love TJ's, and am probably bordering on obsessed with most of their products. They are not paying me for this, I just love them that much. It helps that I can afford to buy flowers for myself every time I go there, and the people who work there are way more friendly than any supermarket in NJ.  I eat dairy-free, so sometimes finding food that I can eat is like going on a wild goose chase at the grocery store. Cassein, whey, and milk ingredients are in almost all packaged foods, and they sneak it into the craziest things where you'd never even expect it. The awesome people at TJ's provided me with a vegan food list which makes finding dairy free products a cinch! NO, I am not a vegan eater, but at least I know for packaged goods that vegan equals dairy free, always.

So, here is this week's TJ haul. This trip was kind of special since I haven't eaten much solid food in a couple weeks. Those quinoa and black bean infused tortilla chips tasted like they were personally sent from heaven by angels after living on smoothies and jell-o!

Shown here: Puffins cinnamon cereal, quinoa and black bean infused tortilla chips, roasted veggie pizza, extra fiber multi-grain bagels, organic wheat pasta, arrabatica sauce, organic frozen berries, triple ginger snaps (these are the best cookies EVER, especially with hot tea), chocolate covered espresso beans, ginger almond macadamia and cranberry trail mix, savory edamame crackers, almond milk,  chocolate dairy-free sorbet, black bean and corn enchiladas, roasted red pepper eggplant and garlic spread, veggie corn dogs, regular and spicy hummus, sweet potatoes, sugar snap peas,mushrooms and multi colored peppers.... whew!  There is more produce and some protein muffins that didn't make it into the photo shoot as well.

 There is so much awesomeness shown on this table! The frozen pizza that you see is not an ordinary frozen pizza. The good people at TJ's decided to rock my world and make a dairy-free pizza.(I like to believe that was their intention when it was created). I topped it with a half an avocado (I bought a bag of 5 for 4 bucks!), some red bell pepper and a little extra sauce. My taste buds and belly were pleased.

Another thing that I love about TJ's is that they do not use preservatives. If you check the labels on any of their stuff the list is usually very short and every word is easily pronounceable! Let me tell you that their junk food is some of their best stuff, but even the junk is less crappy because it's all REAL.
I am not perfect and I eat questionable food every once in a while, but TJ's makes it super easy to have delicious stuff that is also not going to stay preserved on your insides. Calorie counting or not, it just feels a lot better to know that you are eating real food and not chemicals. They are also very affordable, much cheaper than local grocery stores, and ridiculously cheaper than Whole Foods, a.k.a "whole paycheck".
For those of you who are not near a TJ's, I am sorry for torturing you, and maybe one day you'll understand. I will be back in a couple days to show you some recipes and my favorite quick meals and snacks that I love. I am single, busy as hell, and have maybe 15 minutes a day for food prep, half an hour if I am lucky. If I can make it happen, anyone can.  See you soon!!

The Oral Surgeon Stole My Brain

Hey guys! So, here we are, my first post on Halfway To Zen!
Last week I had all of these great thoughts rolling through my head faster than I could keep up with them. That was when I decided that I needed to get this blog thing going ASAP.  I had my wisdom teeth yanked out and an impacted canine tooth exposed at the oral surgeon on Thursday morning (Dr. Markoff rocks). All-in-all, the procedure was a big success, no major problems. My dad was nice enough to help me out for the first couple days (thanks dad!), and for the last couple I have been at home, vegging. Here is what I have realized: all of those thoughts that I love to produce and spew out onto Facebook and into my journal have disintegrated into thin air. I am convinced that Dr. Markoff took a small part of my brain (the one I use to produce any creative thought) and tossed it into the medical waste bucket!

Today I started to think again (yay!) and realized that the mind/ body/spirit connection really is important and screwing with any one aspect of it can totally set you off balance. I haven't exercised since Tuesday, and am not allowed to do anything more than walking until this Thursday. I also have been set off from normal eating, and forget about spiritual growth when I am barely able to form thoughts outside of which episode of SVU to watch next. I am really looking forward to getting back to MY normal and feeling all balanced again! Tomorrow I have my third photography class and I return to work, wish me luck.

This brings me to the title of my new blog, "Halfway To Zen". I came up with the name when I realized that even when on a spiritual/ life improving journey, while thinking we have it all together, we are always only halfway there. It is a never ending, but amazing process! People will piss you off, circumstances will set you off track, and things will get out of control sometimes. The phrase is sort of a reminder to be patient with yourself, and laugh at the bullshit along the way. I plan to bring you lots of insight from interesting people, recipes, exercise, spiritual articles and most importantly, lots of fun mixed in. Stick with me, kids...