Yummm!

We’ve got a fun line-up for this week’s meals.  I definitely need to get back on the healthy train.  I’ve been a bit of a pizzatarian lately  ;) 

This week I’m really going to try to force myself to stick to this plan (a lot of days I get lazy and scrap whatever I planned to make, which ends up in us being unhealthy and wasting food/money….)

So here’s the plan:

Sunday- Stuffed Acorn Squash with Cranberry Cornbread Stuffing from Tasty Kitchen

Monday- Red Pepper Pesto Pizza from Macheesmo

Tuesday- Quinoa Salad from Macheesmo

Wednesday- Chickpea Cashew Lettuce Wraps adapted from She Wears Many Hats

Thursday- Quinoa Stuffed Poblanos from Natalie’s Killer Cuisine

Lunch/Dinner Salads- Mom’s Green Salad from Shutterbean and Massaged Kale Salad from Aarti Party

…. and this time I mean it!

Hey Ariane, What’s for dinner this week?

I’m glad you asked.  This week the Szynkmini’s will be having:

1. Lentil-Walnut Burgers and Nut Butter Crusted Parsnip Fries from Oh She Glows

2. Spaghetti and Bean Balls from No Meat Athlete

3. Chickpea Tacos from Bee Louise

4. Butternut Squash Casserole from Ezra Pound Cake

Yum!

My favorite vegetarian dish so far!

Tonight for dinner I made Quinoa-Stuffed Poblano Peppers from Natalie’s Killer Cuisine.  I have been really meaning to try quinoa and I’m so glad I picked this recipe to do it!  I meant to take a picture of how gorgeous and delicious these were, but these babies came with a price…. I accidentally burned myself with one of the poblano seeds and spent a half hour balling and dabbing my face with a milk-soaked towel.  Embarrassing.  But luckily it took just a half hour to cook and a half hour to stop the intense burning.  Perfect timing, Hooray!

Sorry, for the lack of picture, but definitely click on the link above and try this out!

***Just make sure to handle the pepper de-seeding veeeery carefully***

First comes marriage, then comes… engagement?

We got the rest of our engagement photos along with our wedding photos.  Our photographer did an amazing job, and here are a few of my faves:

And here’s my favorite from our photobooth at the reception, which was rockin’:

It's my Veggieversary!

I've been a vegetarian for three weeks now! Every new week that I've gone without meat is so exciting for me. This is something I've been wanting to do for a really long time, and I finally just went and did it! People have been asking why I've decided to forgo the animales, and it is really hard to explain. Usually it's over lunch/dinner while they're eating a big ole cheeseburger, and I don't wanna be like:
1. Factory farming produces disgusting meat
2. Factory farming is inhumane and cruel for the animals
3. Eating animals is unnecessary and unhealthy
...so usually I just say that it's something new that I'm trying out for a little while. I'm still not sure if this is going to be a forever thing (though I hope it is), but I do know that unless the meat industry is completely overhauled by the time I have kids, my bambinos will be vegetarian too.

If you've been thinking about taking the leap, here are the things that really gave me the last push I needed into changing my diet:
1. MamaPea's post about "The Cove" and the comments
2. The trailer (because that's all I could stand) of the movie Earthlings
***WARNING: don't watch if you're not ready cuz it is GRAPHIC. I was in tears within ten seconds and then just sat crying for like twenty minutes. SCARY!***
3. The book Food Revolution by John Robbins. I am loving it! I definitely recommend reading this, especially if you've been thinking about a plant-based diet for a while now but just haven't started yet.

So what's it been like? Well, it's been really easy. Surprisingly easy. I am so lucky that Matt likes all kind of foods, and doesn't mind that all the dinners we eat at home are lacking in the meat department. He's loved everything we've tried so far, even tofu! (I thought tofu was pretty good too, but not good enough to have all the time). Here are the meals that we have been loving so far:
1. Lentil Walnut Burgers from Oh She Glows
2. Smoky Black Bean & Cheddar Burritos
3. Chickpea Tacos from Peas & Thank You
4. Tofu Stir-Fry from The Front Burner
I'm just starting to hit a bit of difficulty finding new & interesting recipes. I've got a few for the upcoming weeks (thanks to my favorite blogs) but I'm also going to start getting cookbooks from the library to help broaden our options.

I really love this new choice I've made in my life! Thank you so much to the amazing bloggers who put their lives on the interwebs as a great example of how to live a healthy, happy and balanced life!

Hrmm this is awkward.....

Well hello there! I seem to have misplaced my blog for awhile.... like the past four months maybe... lol. I got so fed up with wedding planning that I did not even want to think about anything wedding-related let alone blog about it. Long story short, the wedding happened, it was awesome, and I'm married!

To entice your forgiveness, here are some pretty pictures:

Wedding: Headband for Reception

For the reception I'm perty sure that I want to have a headband in my hair to make sure my head still feels special after I take the veil off. Here's my inspiration pic:

I love how her hair looks so natural and not majorly done up. In my searches for headbands, here are the finalists:



1. This one is silver, so I'd get it in white, but I just love the bow! I have a thing for bows...
2. Pretty, but does it go with the dress?
3. I like the tulley part, brings in a veil-feel

Opinions welcome :)