101 in 1001 Update

101 in 1001 Update

After Mackenzie Horan graciously shouted me out yesterday, I wanted to update my list in a post similar to her's to keep everyone posted on my progress and hold myself more accountable. Thanks for getting me back to blogging! Here we go!


11. Eat vegan for a week.

I moved to PA for work from KY and at first, I hated it. But after discovering a vegan food store less than 5 minutes from my house, it turned this rotation into a super awesome experience. The owner of the store stocks ingredients to cook with as well as breakfast and lunch items. It is my favorite place to eat! Naturally, having this store nearby has changed my eating habits a little bit. I wanted to try and be vegan for a week! I usually don't drink much milk or eat yogurt too often but I love cheese and eggs. Eating vegan for a week was a good experience and I try to eat vegan 2 whole days a week now.


15. Europe 

For work, I am helping to implement a quality system within the plants in the Americas region. It's super cool because I am learning a ton but I work/travel a lot too! Usually, I go to Michigan for things because headquarters is there but I got to go to Northern Italy to learn from the best plant for Quality in the company. It was a super awesome experience and I am so glad that my boss let me go. He is a rockstar! It was my first time in Europe for more than 4 hours (layovers for my China trip) but I cannot tell you how much I learned. I will be going back to this plant sometime soon - late 2016 or early 2017 for 6 months so there will be more European adventures to be had!


39. Le Creuset

I always wanted one of these pots after watching countless Food Network shows but when I found a really really good deal on one - I went for it. I had to make my famous meatless meat sauce as the first meal in this beauty and she did not disappoint. I cook everything in it now - stir-fry, quick vegetarian shepard's pie, noodles - you name it, she cooks it beautifully. Sur La Table had the best deal for me so keep an eye out!


42. Meat in Another Country 

When I wrote my list, I knew that going to certain countries meant that I could not maintain my vegetarian diet easily. While in Italy, I ate meat twice: once unknowingly and the other was a too late/can't say anything situation. The eggs in the morning in our hotel in Bruneck were cooked with bacon but since we got downstairs for breakfast so late, we didn't ever see the bacon! After eating them all week, we got up early for our last day at the plant to find there was bacon cooked on top of the eggs. At that point, I made myself another plate and kept it moving. The second time was that I ordered some dumplings at a lodge in the mountains of South Tyrol. When I got my dish, it looked like pieces of beets but it was actually ham when I bit into it, I finished the dish quietly and it was very very good but it felt weird to eat meat knowingly. I know that in that area the meat is treated and fed well so it made me feel a little better about eating it!

I'm trying to complete more items on this list! I have a self defense class to take, guns to shoot, a Vegas trip to plan and a 5K to run!