International Women's day + pantry dinner + planning for our roadtrip

Happy Monday Everyone,

I especially want to say hi and give a big hug to all you ladies out there as it is International Women's Day. I have to say I'm not the most outspoken feminist out there. I believe all women should be treated as equals and treated with respect. Heck, I think everyone in the world (including animals) should be treated this way. Yet, I feel deep down that I have the duty to stand up for those women who cannot speak for themselves. I have seen clips and news stories about women taken as sex slaves, stoned to death, body parts being cut off, not able to vote, not able to go to school, etc. Yet I know the media tends to make things for the public a little more easy to swallow so I know it must be much worse. My heart aches for these women and the hardship that has fallen upon them simply because they were born with the X chromosome. Even in my own country women are oppressed in a variety of ways from abusive relationships to workplace biases. As I write this memories of a book I read are invading my brain. The book was called Holding Out by Anne O. Faulk. I picked it up from my Mom's bookshelf. I think this was one of those books that ends up at your house but you have no idea how it got there. The story is about this group of women who get together because they are livid a senator didn't go to jail for verbally and physically abusing his wife to the point that she decided to commit suicide. The women cause such a disturbance in the country when they ask every women to "hold out" until this man goes to jail. Could you imagine if the women in your country banded together for such a cause? It would be revolutionary! I thoroughly enjoyed the book, even though I thought it would be a corny read. If you want something that is fun but still has a message behind it this Women's Day, try this book! This book also made clear something that has bothered me for some time. Sometimes I feel so disconnected from my gender because there is all this competition between us. Women can be evil to other women for the stupidest reasons (men, money, looks etc). At times I feel more emotionally and physically comfortable hanging around guys. Yet, who wants to talk about truck engines? I want the fun girl talk where we open up and talk about whatever is on our minds! I think its time we dropped the defensive wall and encouraged each other. So all you ladies out there..I wish you a great day and never forget that you truly are gorgeous:). And to those women in this country or far away lands who are facing hardships and immense pain, I pray for you and hope that I can somehow make your life better. Maybe it means buying something made by women that was produced fairly, maybe I can volunteer for an organization to helps women near and far who are facing oppression, or maybe I can just shoot a smile at all the ladies I see today (and always). What are you going to do today to show the ladies a little love and appreciation?

So.. backtracking a little bit... how was everyone's weekend? I worked but now I have nearly 3 weeks off the one job so I am stoked! My friend Synje sang at a local restaurant on Friday and so we caught the end of that. Then Saturday we went to the gym after work and then toured the town a little bit. I hit up the co-op to get some dates for my nearly raw protein cookies and I was craving something salty so we picked up a bag of Guiltless Gourmet chips. They were actually decent for a baked chip. Ry is eating up the protein cookies and is feeling stronger than ever at the gym...go figure..lol! I had two for my first break on Sunday and they kept me going for a long time. After work I did some grocery shopping. Ry was at a friends so I had to haul all my goodies up the hill. I was huffing and puffing near the end, but it was a good little workout. As I mainly had picked up fruit, my veggie and grain stash was pretty empty. So, that meant digging through the pantry for something..and that something was rice. I usually have quinoa for dinner as the nutritional value is so much higher than rice. But this is a pantry dinner..and there was no quinoa to be found..so I sucked it up and put on a pot of rice. One of my guilty pleasures is fried onions so I put those with the rice and some sad looking cabbage. For a sauce I made tahini-lemon that I got off the Renegade Health blog. I topped that with paprika, turmeric, and pepper. And voila! The pantry dinner was fun as I got to use up some stuff that I usually don't eat...leaving more space for the stuff I eat more of. Perfect!

Then for dessert I made the 5 minute coconut chocolate from Averie's blog. Yumm!

This Friday we are headed out of town (with Nemo too)! Wahoo! I'm sooo excited to be going to my home town for a night and then heading to the coast for a week. We've got a lot planned and I don't know how we are going to fit all the visits in but I'm just so excited to see everyone again. I'm also getting a medical procedure (nothing serious) done to help with a tendon problem that I have with my knees. I'll write more about that later. Anyways, I need to prepare in advance at least some of the food. We are going to be on the move a lot so I need something that can travel well. Have any ideas? I will for sure be making my protein cookies but I was thinking about trail mix, granola bars, energy balls, cut up veggies etc? Do you have any ideas or suggestions because I would love to hear them!

Also, any pet traveling advice? We are taking Nemo on quite a long trip (3hrs then 5hrs the next day). I've never travelled with a cat before so it should be interesting:)



Have a great week!


P.S Averie is having a giveaway on her blog from Celestial Seasonings. So go check it out!

PPS Bitt is having a giveaway for a wicked ceramic knife. So get check her out as well!