Zumba-fied & Tahini Dressing

Two hours of zumba on friday + one hour 9 hours later = sore muscles.

My zumba fiesta at my gym went fabulous! I made it through the class, and only took one break. There were four different instructors and so many new songs. After the two hours were over we all noshed on some fruit and I talked with one of the instructors who I had never met before. She told me that I had a really good energy and that I should think about getting certified.

Me? Getting certified?

Back in september I was so nervous to even attend my first zumba class, I never thought that it would have become such a huge part of my life. I love it, I really do. It makes me feel strong and I enjoy it so much. I looked into the process of getting certified and the nearest certification classes are almost five hours away from my house, and they aren’t cheap. But after that two-hour session, and then getting up the next morning to attend another class made me realize that I have to get certified. It just feels so right and it’s something that I definitely want to do. So when will it happen? I don’t know, but I would like to get certified before I go to college so then I can start teaching classes on campus!

Fiesta swag. Love my new bracelet!

This weekend I did a whole bunch of nothing…

• I watched three movies with mom. Pulp Fiction, Catch and Release and my new favorite movie Whip It.
• I went bowling for the first time in three years and bowled a 19. You can laugh its okay 🙂
• I went dress shopping – I totally scored!
• Shopping – new kitchen goodies and a new cookbook.

My original plan was to be super productive, get half of my scholarship essays done… and then I didn’t. But I don’t feel guilty about it at all. I was in need of a break and some good ol’ me time. I whipped up a batch of cashew ricotta, and topped it with a drizzle of a new dressing which I have enjoyed daily for the past week.

Simple Tahini Dressing

2 tablespoons tahini

2 table spoons apple cider vinegar

1 tablespoon of filtered water (omit if you want a thicker dressing, add more if you want it thinner.)

Pinch of pepper, cilantro and paprika

Whisk together until creamy and pour over anything. Enjoy.

Now as promised (three weeks later!) I wanted to share a small excerpt from my senior research paper which I wrote on factory farming and animal abuse.

…The animals traveling to the farms are kept in unbearable conditions and many die before they can make it to the slaughter-house.  Brutally hot in the summer and frigid cold in the winter, there are thousands of accounts of animals who have had their flesh frozen to the sides of trucks, or who have started foaming at the mouth and seizing because of the heat (Freedman Barnouin 77).  Laws must to be put in place to protect the animals on their way to factory farms.  The farms themselves are miserable enough, why must we prolong the agony of the animals?  Comfortable transportation and having access to food and water is a basic human right.  Who are we to deny another living being the basic necessities that are needed to live?  Isn’t it enough that we are taking their lives, let alone we have to make them suffer greatly before we kill them? …

…What gives us the right to choose who or what gets to live or die?  A life is a life – whether in a pig, cow or a human.  We take extreme measures to protect domesticated animals like cats and dogs every day.  If they are considered to be worthy enough of our protection and our love why then can’t the same love and affection be given to factory farm animals?

 Hope you enjoyed that! What are your thoughts about the animal agriculture industry? The purpose of my paper was to persuade legislators to push for stricter laws against the mistreatment of animals in the food industry. I originally wanted to write my argumentative paper on the benefits of a vegan diet but my teacher said I couldn’t do that, so I thought that this topic was the next best thing. I really enjoyed writing it because I got to learn so much about “the industry” and became so well-informed on the subject.

Thats all for me tonight, I really should go work on those essays and I have something in the oven that is smelling mighty tasty. 😉 More on that tomorrow!

Michal ♥

Question of the day – How was your weekend? What did you do?

Kristen from Eating R.D is having a giveaway.

Tags: Dressing, Fitness, Raw, Recipes, Zumba