2015 New Year's Resolutions

It's a misleading title for this post - I'm not really making New Year's Resolutions. In  the close to 4 years I've been blogging, I've never written New Year's resolutions. I stopped making them in general because, to directly quote myself from 2012:
     "They have a lot of potential. I love the feeling of a fresh start, but never in my life have I successfully changed my life with a resolution. Too often they've made me discount my successes and blessings because I didn't succeed in some arbitrary guideline I thought I wanted from my year."

My planner. Journal J 2015.

In 2012 I wrote this post about things to look forward to instead, and in the following two years I never really wrote a New Years post at all.

I think this year I'd like to continue with setting just a couple specific monthly goals, so later I'm hoping to write a "January Goals" post.

However the main purpose of this post is to mention my New Years Resolution alternative: 28 by 28.

I made a pretty fair run at 25 by 25 several years ago, but never really continued it despite my best intentions in the subsequent years.

Since my birthday is towards the end of the year, I have almost a whole year to try to accomplish the 28 things on the list. I'll be applying the same guidelines I did before - this is meant to get me to try new things, but not be a point of stress. Things I don't get done will roll over into the following year and I'll be updating as it goes along.

There is nothing work or medical related on this list, and that is intentional. There is quite enough pressure in residency without putting it on a list like this that is designed to exercise other parts of my brain.

There is now a 28 by 28 page along the top tabs where I'll be keeping a record, and so here it is:

28 By 28

1. Read 4 books (for fun).

2. Update my "In Case I Die" letters. I wrote them in 2008.

3. Develop old disposable cameras.
4. Make another video for the blog.
5. Go to Machu Picchu.
6. Do a primarily strength-based workout for at least 2 months.
7. Do a 1000 piece puzzle.
8. Go to Yosemite.
9. Spend a whole day without any non-essential media (i.e. work email ok, cell phone games not).
10. Eat 1 raw meal a day for a week.
11. Change my gym membership to save some $.
12. Try a vegetable that's new to me.

13. Bike to Nob Hill.
14. Take Luna to a new dog park.
15. Learn to play a new song on the keyboard.
16. Try a new type of art.
17. Take the Railrunner to Santa Fe for the day just for fun.
18. Try a new type of tea.
19. Do 20 full pushups in a row.
20. Volunteer doing something that isn't medical.
21. Make a meal plan for dinners and stick to it for a week.
22. Watch at least 50% of the films nominated for a 2015 Best Picture Oscar.
23. Go to White Sands National Monument.
24. Take a non-medical class or workshop - online or in person.
25. Go to Carlsbad Caverns.
26. Grow something.
27. Try every Thai restaurant in Albuquerque [3 star or higher on Yelp]
28. Go camping.

I'm sure I'll be looking to you all for help and troubleshooting as I go along.

I hope you have a great year and fill it up with new adventures too.

Thanks for reading, see you soon.

WIAW: Thanksgiving Week!

What I Ate Wednesday!

Thanks as always to Jenn for hosting.

It's Fall!

Welcome back WIAW-ers. I'm Kari, I'm a pediatric resident in New Mexico, and I really appreciate you clicking on over.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Many of you are not American, and therefore likely aren't celebrating the great day of Turkey, pie and family. 

It's the holiday tomorrow, and I'm fortunate enough to be invited to the home of a friend's family, since I won't be traveling or seeing my own family - outside of the husband and dog that live with me and can't escape me of course. 

I'm trying to keep it healthy this week in preparation for a little indulgence on the big holiday. 

Breakfast: Shredded Wheat, Banana and Coffee 

There's also a vitamin in this photo. Woo health! Breakfast has gotten a little boring lately. I've just been feeling kind of uninspired. I often get that way in winter when berries are out of season. I'll work on it.

Lunch: Leftover Winter Vegan Corn Chowder

I made this over the weekend and above is the linked recipe post. It's really really good, I'm not just saying that because I made it.

Snacks: Clif Bar, Tea, Antidote Chocolate in rose salt and lemon

This Candy Cane Green Tea from Trader Joe's is one I bought last year. I'm not sure if they still have it - I haven't looked - but it's decaf so great for any time of day.

The chocolate is wow fancy. It came in the Vegan Cuts box this month and I really liked it, but it's very rich and I definitely think it's appropriately portioned - I wouldn't want more than that little piece.

Dinner: Chickpea Noodle Soup [the Veganomicon recipe]

With some red wine from Whole Foods. I had soup twice today and it was great. I love winter.

I'm on Adolescent rotation right now which is great because I do get Thanksgiving off. Granted I'm on call on Friday and I work on Sunday, but still it was a nice short week.

Happy Thanksgiving and WIAW!

Thanks for reading, see you soon.

Vegan Shamrock Shake (No Mint Extract Required)

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

In honor of the holiday (and my roots - not very much descent roots, just hair roots) I freshened up my hair color. 

The light changed a lot between these, so my skin looks different too, but I didn't dye that. Much. I did miss a bit and I do have some spots of dye on my skin I had to exfoliate off.

Now on to the recipe. 

There are a million of these recipes here on the internet. I like to keep it very simple, but there are tons of possible variations.

This one doesn't require mint extract, instead we'll be using tea. If you have mint extract, of course feel free to use it. Or any other extract - it doesn't have to taste minty just because it's green.

Vegan Shamrock Shake

Ingredients

1-2 Frozen bananas, depending on desired size

Handful of spinach

Mint tea bag

1 oz. hot water

1/4 to 1/2 cup (2-4 oz.) Non-dairy milk

Trader Joe's Candy Cane

Small amount of hot water.

1. Combine the tea bag and small volume (1 oz. ish) hot water and let sit. A general rule is that if you let it sit until it's cool, it'll be strong enough. If you don't have that kind of time, let it sit hot for at least 5 minutes, then cool the liquid in the freezer. The longer you can wait, the stronger the minty flavor. Strictly speaking you could get away with blending it in hot, but it'll take some of the nice frozen creaminess away from your banana. 

My bananas are really brown - they were super ripe.

2. Blend all the ingredients, including the mint tea concentrate, together until smooth. 

3. Pour into your preferred receptacle and enjoy. 

Happy sipping! 

I should also mention that the spinach is not technically essential to this combination either - though then it won't be green - it adds nutrition but doesn't change the flavor. 

Besides this I didn't do much this St. Patrick's Day, just worked a bit, took a trip to Costco, you know ... wild.

Did you eat anything green today?

Hawaii!

A few weeks ago John and I came back from a trip to Hawaii. We went to Oahu and stayed in Waikiki.

We got to see friends and family and it was a great vacation. A couple dear friends from college that I haven't seen in ages were there.

   

Morgan, Me, Kitra. I love you girls!

My Mom was also there, along with my Aunt Carolyn who lives there and my grandparents. Hi Mom!

Living in the real world is weird. Granted, I have maybe a juvenile perspective on this because after high school I stayed in ongoing education for 8 more years, so at the age of 25, I started the first year I'm not in school since age 2.

All that to say, part of my real life residency job is that schedules are set way in advance. I requested all my vacations for the subsequent year last March and this one has been in the works for a long time.

Although it rained a fair amount and was kind of cloudy, it still was great. Here's a little photo diary.

We bought a fresh coconut from a guy selling them out the back of a truck.

It was awesome.

Acai bowls are still all the rage. This one was my favorite: Island Vintage Coffee.

More Acai bowls.

View on the North Shore. We rented a car for just 24 hours or so to drive around the island - and so we could get to Morgan who was staying on the North side.

It was pretty windy.

There's an awesome Thai place in Haleiwa called Opal Thai where the owner will ask you about Thai dishes you like, dietary restrictions, etc. and then just start bringing you plates. 

It was amazing, and totally affordable.

Above are lettuce wraps and below is a drunken noodle-esque dish.

Obligatory sandy toes and ocean.

The view from the Edge at Sheraton Waikiki.

Hiking! Koko head is an old track for a tram. You can hike straight up the railroad ties to a 360 degree view. The elevation gain is about 1200 feet and it's over 1000 steps.

We were so confident. 

And then we were super sweaty but it was really fun. There were some crazy people running time intervals up the thing, but I was happy just to survive the climb. 

Later that same afternoon we went to Manoa falls with Kitra and her fiance Darren.

Part of Jurassic Park was filmed here. And Lost.

Yay falls! It was an easy hike but it did start pouring on us on our way back.

And then we were drenched.

It was over far too soon and I was back at work. Immediately after returning I wrapped up my Development rotation and went back to the Wards and we've already had almost 3 weeks of that. We had intern retreat in there which will be its own post, but now it's back to real life. 

Thanks for reading!

Are you taking any fun vacations in the next year?

Vegan Thanksgiving

I know, it's already Nov 27 and maybe you're getting out your Christmas decorations and dominated some Black Friday shopping and you're thinking, "What? Just now you're posting a Thanksgiving meal? That was ages ago."

And to that I say, fair question, and yes, I'm just now getting to it. I've been deeply immersed with my family in many games of Bananagrams and I am very okay with it. For Thanksgiving we had my immediate family (Mom, Dad, Sisters x3) plus my Dad's parents, and Aunt Karen, Uncle Bruce and their two little boys. It was great to spend it all together.

See? Family.

Mom.

Shannon.

Emma.

Nicola.

Typical.

Thanksgiving Food

So when you're the only vegan at Thanksgiving, what do you eat? I think it varies by the person. Some of you in carnivorous households are probably stuck with salad and a potato you baked yourself, but my family's a blessing and I had a feast like nothing else. Almost everything on the table had a little vegan version for me.

Vegan Stuffing Balls - made with a flax egg instead of real. They were more crumbly than usual, but tasted great.

Mashed potatoes.

The whole wheat ones are from Great Harvest, they're vegan. 

Sweet potatoes with orange, lemon, sugar and cinnamon, made with Earth Balance instead of butter. 

Corn casserole with coconut milk. Cheese-topped except for the little close corner there for me. 

Veggies. Naturally vegan.

And don't forget the sparkly.

My actual plate: Roll, corn casserole, potato, stuffing ball, salad and sweet potatoes. I ate at least 3x that sweet potato amount and 2x the stuffing during cooking. 

Nicola: "Look! I'm on a roll."

Mom, Uncle Bruce, G-rents. 

My precious sisters.

Cute faces run in the family it seems. 

And dessert? 

Vegan versions of both Apple and Pumpkin Pie. With coconut milk vanilla ice cream. 

Left: Vegan. Right: Regular. You can tell that it doesn't hold together quite as well without egg, but it tasted great.

My dessert plate. Okay, I had like 3x this. I don't mess around with Thanksgiving. 

Happy [late] Thanksgiving all. 

How did you celebrate Thanksgiving?