Cool as a Cucumber

I'm two weddings into my "summer of weddings".

In June, I went to Geneva, NY (in the Finger Lakes region of upstate) for my friend Sarah's wedding. She is one of my Phi Sigma Sigma sorority sisters from Syracuse and just a really great friend. It was a lovely wedding and I was able to catch up with a lot of friends who live all over the country.


Then, earlier this month, I hit the road for 19 hours (9 hrs there, 10 hrs back) and attended my friend Jen's wedding in Midland, MI. Jen and I share a lot of mutual friends and while we both attended Syracuse, I didn't get to know her until I moved to DC. I'm thankful to have her in my life and was happy to be a party of her perfect day!


I'm heading to Minnesota for my friend Cassie's wedding in a few weeks, which should be a wonderful time. I'm flying in Thursday, staying through Tuesday, so I can see lots of friends and family. This will probably be the only trip to MN until Christmas!

So that's what I've been up to...and trying to keep cool. It's TOASTY in DC right now. We had a heat index of 120-degrees this past week. "Crazy hot", I believe is the technical term. :) So I've been trying to keep my cooking cool - and not use the oven. At the same time, my sister and I are counting calories in an effort to lose weight, while supporting one another. We just started, but I had a very successful week. So, while the recipe I'm sharing today is not the healthiest option, the key is moderation. I've eaten what I want all week...but just limited my portions. I think this will work, long term, for me, since I'm not depriving myself.

Onto the recipe -- Creamy Cucumbers are something my mom has made for us for as long as I can remember. I always loved when our neighbors would bring over some cucumbers from their garden in the summer, because I knew Mom would be making these cukes. It's really easy, doesn't take much time or too many ingredients, and tastes delicious. It always made a great side dish to corn on the cob. I've, of course, veganized the recipe. Again - enjoy in moderation and keep cool!

Creamy Cucumbers

3-4 medium cucumbers
1 medium onion
1 cup Vegenaise (vegan mayo)
1/4 cup white vinegar
1 Tbsp sugar

Peel and slice the cucumbers into thin circles. Thinly slice onion. Combine, salt and let stand for about 15 minutes.
Combine the Vegenaise, vinegar and sugar with whisk and pour over veggies. Marinate in the refrigerator overnight for best flavor (or at least for a couple of hours).

Tracking The Numbers

I have fallen in love with this new tool I found online. Well, it's probably not new, but it's new to me. It's a part of the LIVESTRONG.com site, called The Daily Plate. It allows you to search thousands of food items to find what you have eaten and it tracks all your nutritional info. You can also enter in your fitness level for the day and it will calculate that, as well, to give you an accurate snapshot of your health.

My brother is getting married in May, and I want to trim down a bit for the bridesmaid dress. I have recently read in several places that nutritionists and scientists say to stop counting carbs and doing the fad diets -- that hands-down, it's all about the calories you're taking in. I was actually wanting to start counting calories on my own, thinking I would just read packages and keep a notebook, but this is WAY easier. I can just enter my meals as I go.

It also shows you the breakout of your food intake of carbs vs protein vs fats. I'm not entirely sure how this breakdown should be, but I'm concerned with how many carbs vs protein I'm consuming, and so I'm working to address that. I would have never known this without this awesome tool.

I'll throw some screenshots in, so you can see what I'm talking about -- the example shows what I had for breakfast this morning and then my activity so far (a brisk walk with Jakers, of course!). But once I hit the gym tonight, it puts a solid dent in my calories, so I can eat more than the 1,700 I've been "assigned" when I set up my account. It asks if you want to maintain your weight, lose 1 lb/week, lose 2 lbs/week or more. I selected 2 lbs/week and it gave me the amount of calories based on my height and weight.

Even if you don't need to worry about weight, this also calculates things like cholesterol, so it's just a great overall health tool. (Although I don't eat ANYTHING with cholesterol, being vegan yet have very high cholesterol. I obviously blame my genes.)

Anyhow, check it out yourself and see if it's something that could help you. Anything to simplify my life AND help me lose weight -- I'm on board. :)

Have a great day!