Life is full of failures.

I am going to discuss one on Monday, in fact.

Sometimes they are happy accidents!  One of my favorite stir-frys happened because I couldn’t figure out how to use my spiralizer.  This Indian Ginger Tempeh Stir-Fry happened when I wanted zucchini pasta but failed to  spiralize:

Or how about last week when I accidentally sprouted a spaghetti squash I’d planned for my meal?  That forced me to come up with this Sweet Potato Chicken Salad Strange But Good (don’t forget tomorrow’s link up!) creation:

Breaking my jaw playing roller derby was a fail… but without that experience I would have never come up with one of my favorite oatmeal discoveries: Blueberry Pie.  Made smooth enough to slurp thanks to an immersion blender.

Jaw-breaking in action.

Or how about when you leave for vacation thinking you’re going to Argentina, but end up in Chile?  That was one FUN fail!

All that said, don’t be too discouraged by fails.  Trust in what will be and happy accidents you shall see.

And now I’ll shut up and let Kat tell you about hers!

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Because I blog bi-weekly, this is my first opportunity to say, “Happy New Year!”

I had an A-typical New Year’s Eve, which I used to help me set the tone for the year.  I went to a hot yoga class that lasted from 10:30pm-12:15am.  Yep, meditating, thinking about goals, who I am, who I have been, and who I want to be this year.  It was amazing!  I felt centered, and was happy to bring in the New Year thinking about health, community, and grounded-ness. (Editor’s note: Remind me to do this next year.)

The happiness of your life depends upon the quality of your thoughts.

I want to share a couple of my goals, so you all can partially hold me accountable.  First, I want to say, “No,” more often – in work, in family, and in social aspects of my life.  This seems easy for a lot of people, but it give me knots in my stomach just to think about possibly disappointing someone.

This goal is in support of my second goal, to stop stretching myself so thin.  I tend to take on way too much, and some things I do become a little bit less “quality.”  So, in order to enjoy what I do more, and to have more quality, I have to reduce quantity.  These are lofty goals.  I also started a journal for the first time since I was 12, to help keep me working towards my goals and thinking about them often.

I later got to celebrate with a holiday party, a West Side Story theme.  I got to get all dolled-up, and I was SO excited to get dressed up and dance the night away.  My feet and legs were definitely sore afterwards!

I’m also back on track with all of my runs and work outs.  I didn’t mention it, but December was rough for me and threw me through a loop.

I’ve also been cooking at home like a madwoman!  I had a New Years Day party with mocktails and healthy food to start the New Year catching up with a few friends.

Many didn’t make it due to hangovers and being out way too late, but it was still fun!  The mocktails were delicious, but too sweet, and kept me up all night from sugar!  I made Indian food, pop-corn (Kat-classic), and a number of other fun dishes with lots of fresh fruit and veggies.

Eating and cooking more at home, for me, means many unplanned meals, sometimes just throwing whatever I have in my fridge together, and last week, amazing kitchen mistakes!

I was making dinner for a friend this week, and I had left over quinoa and brown rice, extra fresh broccolini, kale, and sweet potatoes, and some random tofu.  So I just got started, and this is what ended up happening:

Amazing Kitchen Mistake

I sautéed the veggies with fresh ginger and garlic, re-heated the quinoa/brown rice combo (about 75% quinoa, 25% brown rice), and felt like the dish needed something else.  Tofu.  The tofu preparation was the amazing mistake.  I wanted to sort of “fry” it, so I coated it with some brown rice flour mixed with cayenne, salt, and white pepper.  I carefully coated each cube and placed it on a plate for frying.  But I totally forgot cornstarch!  This would have gotten the flour mixture to stick to the tofu and fry properly.  Instead, when I put it in the hot coconut oil, the flour started to stick to the bottom, and it wasn’t going very well.

So, to save the tofu, I took part of a box of Trader Joe’s Carrot Ginger Soup and poured some in the pan with the tofu, stirred and scrambled the tofu with the soup and flour mixture, let it simmer, and made THE most delicious scrambled tofu I have ever had.  (Editor’s note: will you plase make me a mistake too?)

Amazing Tofu Carrot-Ginger Scramble (Mistake)

• 1 block firm Tofu, 1 in cubes (which are later scrambled)
• ½ C brown rice flour
• Salt, Cayenne and White Pepper to taste
• 2 T Coconut Oil (for frying)
• ~ ½ cup of Carrot-Ginger Soup (Trader Joe’s or Imagine Brand)

Follow the directions above and serve with the brown rice/quinoa mixture and sautéed veggies!  This was definitely a healthy meal too!

It feels good to give.  I wouldn’t be myself if I didn’t also say that I’m donating blood today.  It’s SO important.  I also tend to be low-iron so I’ve had an iron-packed diet this week.

Note some things you should eat to pump up your iron (Editor’s note: I read this in an Arnola accent):

• Sunflower seeds
• Sun-dried tomatoes
• Lentils
• Raisins
• Black beans
• Pumpkin seeds

All of these give you almost as much iron as a big steak, and is less harmful to your body if you ingest too much iron because they contain nonheme iron.  They also give you more per serving than the dark, leafy greens that are often recommended.  If you eat whatever, nothing can compare to the iron-filled foods like liver, clams and mussels.  And don’t forget dark chocolate and cocoa powder!  Check out their nutrition facts for confirmation!

Additionally, I have a theory about blood donation for my own health.  I think it promotes cell-regeneration throughout my own body!  Do something good for others, while doing something good for yourself!

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 I echo Kat’s thoughts on the importance of blood donation.  My dad suffered from cancer for 4.5 years and made it as long as he did largely in part to blood, platlet, and bone marrow doners.  Click here for more info on becoming a marrow donor.  It only takes a cotton swab!

What amazing kitchen mistakes have you had that you want to share?

How do you get re-centered when you have an “off” month?