mbalavage's Profile

Urg, have definitely felt that frustration of being unable to get a callback. I generally took it as a sign that if they can't manage their business enough to call me back or get me a written quote in a reasonable amount of time (2 weeks!), they wouldn't be able to complete the project to my satisfaction. I also went off recommendations from my real estate agent (she gave us a super-helpful vendor list, and everyone I've worked with on it has been fantastic). I also found it useful to ask the contractors I ended up working with for recommendations for projects that weren't their specialty.

@fulinlin: Eating fat doesn't make you fat.
http://www.marksdailyapple.com/fats/

O electric kettle, I do love you so. You give and you give, multiple times a day, quickly and generously, and save for a bimonthly shot of vinegar, you ask nothing in return.

The banana boats my mum and I used to make growing up: roasted bananas, melted chocolate chips, and broiled marshmallows, to be eaten straight off the foil-wrapped cookie sheet the very second it was just cool enough to not burn our mouths. For pure deliciousness and nostalgia, nothing compares ... not even the time-stopping chocolate chevre donuts I had the other night.

I also have one ice tea spoon that mysteriously appeared! I much prefer it for ice cream.

@ellenx: I, too, JUST discovered how sweet steeped cinnamon is! I made a cuppa with ~1/2 tbsp each of vietnamese cinnamon, ginger, and whole cloves, and it was so deliciously sweet that for a moment I thought I had absentmindedly added honey.

There are definite differences between coconut oil and coconut butter. The butter has some of the meat in it and does not have the same melty effect as coconut oil - sort of like peanut oil versus peanut butter.

I've been experimenting with coconut oil for years now. I like to keep a bit in a butter warmer on the stove so that I always have some in its liquid form (any non-plastic container will work). I am not a fan of coconut flavor, but for some reason, love the very slight flavor that coconut oil gives off when roasting and sauteing vegetables.

Baking recipes require a bit of experimentation; I'd recommend trying vegan recipes that use coconut oil and seeing how the baked goods turn out rather than substituting coconut oil 1:1 for oil or butter in your standard recipes.

It seems expensive at the outset, but it lasts a LONG time, and I've never had any go rancid. Vitacost.com is a great place to buy it for a bit cheaper than the health food store - I like the Nutiva Certified Organic Extra Virgin Coconut Oil.

I manage food restriction in two ways: first, by imagining how my body will digest and feel after eating whatever it is I'm about to eat - that makes it way easier to order a salad over a hamburger; and second, by sticking to a routine.

I can't do cleanses that last multiple days. It's partially a willpower issue, but I also notice that I give myself too much permission to go crazy with the bad stuff in anticipation of the cleanse, which just makes it harder to complete.

That said, I eat quite healthfully 80% of the time (ignore those gummy bears in my desk drawer at work), and I find that eating raw one day a week makes a huge difference in how I manage my cravings the rest of the week. I always have more energy and just *feel* better on raw day, and crave and eat fresh, healthy foods the rest of the week 80% of the time as a result.

I can't do raw all the time - too much prep! Too little bacon! - but one day a week is enough to keep me feeling light, bright, and happy, even when I splurge on decadent foods on other days.

I also like to spend the first day of each month following the first day of this juice detox:
http://life.gaiam.com/article/1-2-3-detox-radiance
It's basically all juice and hot lemon water for a day. It's delicious and satisfying and helps reset my sugar cravings after that time of the month.

Pot cheese has a consistency between cottage cheese and .... cottage cheese?

I attempted this with whole wheat pastry flour and coconut oil instead of canola oil, which resulted in rock hard cookies--oops! Fortunately, I saved half the dough and just plopped about a 1/4 cup of dough into my mini cast iron skillet with a few tablespoons of almond milk and a handful of frozen raspberries. I threw it in the oven at 350, jumped in the shower to wash off the yoga sweat and 15 minutes later had a the most comforting porridge-y breakfast - perfect for this rainy December day! (Let's just pretend that I'm not technically eating cookie dough for breakfast.)