Neglect.

Hi Guys,
      I feel terrible. I feel like I gave up way too quick on this blog. It's obvious that with a new blog you won't have any followers...but I felt stupid writing stuff knowing that noone will see. However...I also need to realize that who is going to know about it if I don't put myself out there...?...and I'd rather have a whole bunch of posts so when people do actually come see my blog, they'll have something to look at lol. Ok, that was a total depressing moment.


 Anyways, MOVING ON!

I have to share with you guys what I did this weekend! I live in Chicago, so we had The Color Runon October 13th... it's called the happiest 5k on the planet and they are not wrong at all. It was rainy in the morning so we were scared it was going to be cancelled..but the weather cleared up after we picked up our stuff. So basically, at each Kilometer they would throw this powdered paint at the runners (btw, there were about 15,000 of us)...after the 3rd Kilometer we started walking and just enjoying the paint lol...one of my friends and I would go into the paint bucket ourselves and just throw it at each other. It was such an awesome race....especially at the end. When the race was over, we all got together by the stage...at a certain point we were all to open up our individual packets and throw the paint in the air...all I saw was a huge cloud of dust...AND IT WAS AMAZING!!!

I definitely want to do this race again next year...we had it this June but it sold out so quick. It was brought back by popular demand this October...and it sold out AGAIN.

The Boyfriend.

Otherwise, my life has been crazy with school and work. I stopped doing p90x because I was concentrating more on running. I also was put back on Metformin. I started taking it originally last March, and in May I stopped because I thought it was causing hair loss....well, Lo and Behold...my hair was just falling out because I am just really in need of a hair cut. Yes, really.   Anyways, I'm back on it again because without it it's almost impossible to lose weight...I've been running my Polish butt off and sticking to a strict vegan diet and have only lost 2 lbs. I feel GREAT though, but the fat around my belly is not going away and it's all from this insulin crap.  Blah. Anyways, hopefully my levels will go back to normal after the Metformin being back in my life (just until everything go back down) :)

Alright, big weekend coming up! Will continue to blog :)

<3

Ewelina

Vegan Orange Chicken

                                                         My oh my..ohhhh my.

 I love me some orange chicken. Chinese food is always a make-evelyn-happy food. When I decided to be a vegetarian, I obviously did not have the luxury of pulling up to my favorite chinese restaurant and taking some Orange Chicken,vegetable fried rice and egg roll to-go. I honestly did miss it sometimes...but not anymore! I don't mean to be totally overhyped about this...but I am.  I love it because this recipe is made with Tofu and you can use tamari, so the recipe is gluten free!  It was absolutely amazing, and even my carnivore parents and boyfriend loved it.


Ok, so now for the part I don't like.  I wish I could share the recipe with you...but I can't. :( Basically for copyright reasons since it's from a fairly new book.  This recipe is by Chloe Coscarelli.  If you don't know who Chloe is, she's this super duper cute (and gorgeous) girl which was on Food Network's Cupcake Wars. (She won!!! and she was the first person to ever win a contest on FN with vegan cooking)  She has her own website called Chef Chloe and she even has her own book! (She has a ton of free recipes on her site btw.)

Anyways, I highly recommend that you guys buy her book. I love the recipes and they never seem to fail. It's not too expensive either, especially if you get it on amazon. It's hard to make vegetarian orange chicken actually taste remotely similar to the real thing...and guys, I've seriously tried so many recipes online...and this one truly takes the cake.

amazon.com

So, here's basically what my experience was.

Some of the ingredients, I love that all of her recipes are completely natural.

Heaviest thing near me to press my tofu.

Decided to add some veggies together to have on the side instead of rice.

Time to fry...this is probably the most tedious part...

almost there....

My photography skills are so great. jk,i suck. (phone camera)

I'm gonna say this one more time...it was so good!!! I really wish I could share this recipe with you guys, but I hope that somehow you find it or buy the book.


xoxo Ewelina <3


FYI: I was NOT sent this book by anyone...I bought it myself. I am not being paid to promote Chloe's book.

It's a bit gloomy.... (and update)

BUT I LOVE IT.

I looove love rainy days. When I was little I used to dream of moving to England for three things, the weather, the accents and my love of tea.

Wow, I sound stereotypical.

Anyways, I'm at work right now and just enjoying some of my favorite tea.

Heaven.

Quick disclaimers, no one sent me this tea to "review", I bought it myself a long time ago when I was trying to kick my coffee addiction. Also, it looks super sunny here because I took this picture         yesterday. It really is super gloomy here in Illinois.

So, I LOVE this tea. It's by Allegro in the "afternoon life" variety and I've only really seen it at Whole Foods. It has a tropical flavor mixed with green tea (but without the bitterness). You can mostly taste hibiscus and maybe a tad of mango...when you make this tea, just breathe it in. Happiness in a cup! <3 

So, update about p90x,  I have been doing it! It's been almost a week and I love it...BUT...after the first day I was so sore for a few days that I seriously just half-assed (pardon my french) the rest of the week. I do feel better and I have lost 2 pounds (YAY!) But I feel like I want to start all over now that I have "conditioned" myself. So this kinda will be a "p97x" for me lol.

 

Alright, back to work for me :'(

XoXo Ewelina <3

It's time to get real. p90x.

Hi Y'all,
    So as you may have read in my "about me" or my last blog post, I've REALLY let myself go. Like, big time. I do blame it on stress and the insulin resistance that I had developed...but regardless, it's still MY fault. And noone can fix it but me.  It's G.I. Jane Ewelina time. I've been meaning to get back into shape, i swear..but the day before I'm all "YES, I'm gonna DO IT!"..and then the next day I don't even bother to start.  Well, I've just about had it when this weekend I went to a wedding, thought I looked presentable and then when I saw a picture of myself (the next day) I swear I thought I looked pregnant. (btw, I'll post the pictures, and I was sucking my stomach in at that point)  (WHAT THE EFF DUDE)

So that was strike one.
Then, the next day, I wanted to go out to the store real quick, and I decided to move back home to the suburbs with my parents (lots of bad luck in the city), so I had a lot to unpack. So, like any other person, as you pack/unpack you discover things that you didn't even remember you had before. (It's seriously like Christmas!)  So I found this shirt that I wore a lot about two months ago...I put that on and I could barely fit. It seriously was depressing.
Strike two.

So, yesterday, I was getting ready to go to my morning Human Anatomy and Physiology class and I needed to put on my jeans super quick....as I was putting them on my zipper broke. Again,wtf!!!  I didn't have any other jeans. Note: I have about 10 pairs of jeans, but they're all size 2-5, I refuse to buy new ones since I know Ill get back to my old, comfy, weight. The jeans I broke were a size 9/10.  Anyway, I had to throw on yoga pants.
and that was strike 3.

I swear, the whole time in class I kept thinking (Evelyn, how could you get to this point)...I may seem like I'm being too hard on myself, but fall is around the corner and all of my clothing from last year is much smaller, and again, I refuse to buy new ones.

So, like any other student, I sat on my macbook the whole time and looked up the p90x schedule...I'm starting it today, will blog my experience (Possibly each day) and then with a quick summary of what I eat.

Mind you, I've done p90x before, but only for ab out 3 days, and I stopped because my TV got stolen. (ahh, yes, Chicago)  Could've done it on the laptop...but I have to use the TV.

Anyways my loves, just wanted to let you guys know what Ill be doing....you should join too! We could bitch and moan together about how sore we are....and THEN we can all tell each other how worth it it actually was. :D

I'll post two pictures, a "before" of what I looked like last year..and then a "now" picture..which was taken this weekend at the wedding...and then Ill just continue posting as everything goes.

As far as food for today goes, yeah, not so much, mostly because I dont have time to eat today.
I'm at work until 3, So, I had a soymilk/fruit/fiber smoothie this morning (will post recipe another day, I LOVE it) and then I had a handful of beer chips (love 'em, couldnt help it)  I plan on doing p90x when I get home at 330, eating a good dinner/lunch and heading off to school for a 545-10 class...and at some point there I'll have a snack.

Current Weight: 190.5 Height: 5'7"
Current Diet: Vegetarian, transitioning to Vegan.

Talk to you guys soon!
xoxo Ewelina <3

This was me a little over a year ago.

This was me this weekend, 8/25/12

Same dude, and of course he's wearing the same exact shirt.  Btw, he's my other half...I kinda like him ;)

Wish me luck!

Oh, hello.

Hi there, my name is Ewelina,  (or Evelyn if you please) I live in Chicago and welcome to my blog. Whether you're here to read about beauty products, or vegan/vegetarian cooking and food reviews..or perhaps even if you're just looking around and happen to stumble upon this blog, I'm glad you're here! <3  I've been meaning to start my own blog for a while, and I sincerely do hope that I will be able to continue posting consistently for you guys because  1) I have a lot on my mind a l w a y s..and usually have a lot to say, 2) I LOVE telling people about things that could potentially help them too, 3) because this is basically my dream "hobby"..I love cooking, makeup, writing, running, dance, science and photography. Therefore, this blog allows me to do almost all of them them...except for the dance, but it may explain some random things in this blog later on. Especially the science, I'm in nursing school and planning on going on to Med School later on...sooo, I will be posting a lot of "this is why this ingredient is bad for you and now I'll give you the chemical break down why.." :)

Any who, if there's some stuff you make want to know about me, simply click on the about me section.

I hope I don't disappoint!

<3 Ewelina, your european vegan.