The Healthy Everythingtarian

I should probably stop trying to meditate while laying in bed at 9:30pm with the lights off.

But if I do choose to engage in said meditating at said time with said mood lighting, I should at least brush my teeth, wash my face and put on pajamas knowing I will nod off despite my good intentions.

That way, when I wake up at 1:34am, I can turn off all the lights in my apartment before falling right back asleep on my drool-stained pillow. Instead, I am forced to change out of my daily street clothes, wash my greasy skin and brush my grimy toofers, which inevitably perks me up and causes me to catch a tremendous case of “monkey mind” where I am not able to fall asleep again for another hour or so.

This is my life.

Bienvenidos.

It involves spontaneous bouts of speaking in Spanish, narcolepsy and the food group known as chocolate.

Stonyfield Farms sent me some coupons to try out their new dessert-like Greek yogurt cups. I completely j’adored the caramel…but how did I feel about the chocolate?

Not to switch countries and languages then back again but…le amo.

I love it.

Not as much as the caramel, but this is my life, and I can cry if I want to. Or eat Oikos Chocolate Greek yogurt with Kashi Toasted Berry Crumble…

Because who would rather shed tears than eat that decadent concoction?

Not I.

Not me.

Not yours truly.

Grammarazzi…a little help with this one please?

I like smoothies.

1 Oikos Chocolate Greek yog cup
1/4 cup organic skim milk
1 diced frozen banana
1/2 T peanut butter

A lot.

I also like coffee a lot.

And chocolate.

When you mix coffee AND chocolate, I really get happy.

After a delicious Lemon Coconut flavor and gross Cinnamon flavor, how did this Cocoa Coffee stand up?

It may have taken over the #1 spot. It was perfectly chocolatey with a generous hint of rich coffee flavor, and I wouldn’t lie about that.

I wouldn’t lie about statistics either.

For 140 calories, 16 grams of protein and 7 good-for-you ingredients, I don’t know how they do it.

Good on ya Simply Bar, good on ya.

Just saying that makes me miss Australia and saying good on ya, bush pig and right-O before being inappropriately felt up by Australian men on the dance floor of grungy beach bars.

I digress.

At least I still have PB+B toast.

It never lets me down.

It hits the spot every.single.time. In winter, in summer; for breakfast, for dinner; for mealtime, for snacking; in sickness, in health; for long as we both shall live, I take thee PB+B toast as my lawfully wedded husband.

Yes, husband.

The male persuasion isn’t exactly lining up outside my door at the moment, if ya know what I mean.

Life is not perfect.

It never will be.

But with the help of a pint of Chocolate Hazelnut Fudge Coconut Bliss…

The bad days don’t seem so bad.

Like today.

Today wasn’t a very good day.

But it’s okay.

Because this is my life, and I am going to meditate sitting up, eat chocolate instead of crying, look forward to drinking coffee + eating PB+B toast in the morning, plan another travel venture (where I will perhaps meet someone of the male persuasion…) and remember that tomorrow is a brand new day.

As Ralph Waldo Emerson once said,

“Love of beauty is Taste. The creation of beauty is Art.”

Thinking about it, I am pretty sure Mr. Emerson was an insightful philosopher who was way ahead of his time and could see into the 21st century. I mean, how could he not be talking about us modern day foodies who blog about food and read food blogs?

Let’s be real, we are the world’s best tasters as well as some of the best artists – constantly appreciating and creating beautiful, nourishing and delicious works of food.

And coffee. Always coffee.

I like to think art, beauty and creativity are the ABCs of my life.

Whether in writing, photography, paintings, food, clothes, nature, design, ideas, architecture or just about any thing else I can think of, I get a huge sense of satisfaction from exercising my creative muscles.

More so, I love noticing the little things.

While this PB+J was delicious, it was the blueberries that stole the breakfast show for me.

If you take a minute to look deeper at this dish of antioxidants, you see each blueberry is unique in its own right – with a slightly different shape, color pattern and taste than the next…

And for some unknown reason, that makes me happy.

Because there is nothing wrong in wanting to be things to be aesthetically pleasing, even if you have to Photoshop them to make that happen…

Farmer’s markets, for one, are obviously a great example of showcasing the beauty of food as well as the beauty of people and their Midwestern fashion sense.

“There is no beauty as true as old man Hawaiian shirts, ankle socks with sandals, mullets, mom jean shorts and too skimpy college girl clothing.”

You can quote this Everythingtarian on that.

Plus, when you can get 5 multi-colored peppers, 4 banana peppers, 3 cucumbers, 3 zucchini and 1 bundle of kohlrabi all for just $9, beauty is merely an added bonus.

So what makes this Tortilla Espanola (Spanish Omelet) even more beautiful?

Not peeling the red potatoes.

I find the sliver of brightly colored skin adds a burst of much-needed color.

A work of art AND a delicious lunch?

Double bonus.

Food doesn’t necessarily have to look beautiful.

Sometimes it just IS beautiful…all 17 grams of vegan protein of it.

That’s not to say “ugly” meals don’t happen. I mean, as great as the ingredients and stats are on this Simply Bar, I will be honest in saying I did not enjoy the Cinnamon flavor that much.

C’est la vie.

Life goes on.

To a gorgeous, all-organic farmer’s market salad of spinach, cucumber, white pepper, banana pepper + ranch and a BBQ tempeh sandwich…

And when you can combine your love of art, beauty and creativity with a fellow food-loving friend?

The beauty is doubled…if not tripled.

What if the food at hand is going to be Chocolate Beer Waffles?

I’d say that quadruples the beauty.

But wait…those waffles are VEGAN?

Beauty officially quintupled.

Vegan Cashew Cream + Chocolate Sauce?

How do you say six-tupled?

Excuse me why I do a quick Google search.

Sextupled.

Definitely, sextupled.

I forgot my coffee with coconut milk creamer…that septuples the beauty.

That’s seven, right?

But I haven’t even gotten to the waffles yet!

Take this all-vegan feast of Chocolate Beer Waffles, Chocolate Sauce + Cashew Cream…

…multiply it by 2 1/4…

…and you get true beauty octupled.

But please don’t call me Octomom or even Octoeverythingtarian.

Holly works just fine.

Natural beauty is best, no?