Accept No Substitutes

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Tonight’s dinner was all about one of the main perks of the vegan challenge – it reminds me to cook from The Holy Grail a.k.a. Dreena Burton’s Eat, Drink, & Be Vegan.  It seems I never turn to this book unless I’m “forced to,” but I’ve loved every single thing I’ve ever made from it.

You might have noticed that unlike the last vegan challenge I have yet to eat 10billion vegan sticky pecan blondies (my very favorite thing from ED&BV, and in fact my very favorite dessert of all time).  In vegan challenges past I’ve gotten so excited about vegan baking that I ate more sweets than is normal even for me.  Since my 25th birthday is coming up in July and I recently had to buy bigger pants I’m just not quite as entranced with the baking.

I’m also making an effort this month not to buy “substitute” products.  At last glance my grocery store carried vegan options for hot dogs, sliced meat, cream cheese, sour cream, mayo, blintzes, ice-cream, cheese and more.  If I ever went vegan for longer than a month I’m sure those products would seem like godsends, but for this challenge I’m trying to keep things pretty natural.  The point of this month (for me) was more about skipping the cheese than making it vegan.  {Note – I’m aware that Allison has recently bought some of these products, more power to her, this post is NOT criticizing that!  Why would I want to insult my self-proclaimed blog twin?}

At 15days in we are officially halfway through vegan month.  I have also officially been vegan for a day longer than any time before.  This challenge has been surprisingly easy for me.  There have been a few times I’ve been jealous of what’s on Adam’s plate (like extra randomly when he ate a cheeseburger at the bbq and I almost cried because I wanted a bite so badly; I haven’t eaten red meat in 10years, wtf?!) but in general there’s nothing I’ve been wanting for.  I definitely feel like I’ll make it through to the end without breaking a sweat.

Back to dinner.  While I waited for Adam to get home I at a serving (2oz) of ww sourdough with Smart Balance Light.

Tonight’s main course was my 2nd favorite recipe from Ms. Burton, Tempeh Hash Brown Casserole.

Yumtastic!  This dish is the perfect example of Unami!  I can’t share the recipe here, but I promise that buying the cookbook is worth it for the blondies alone!

On the side we made pan steamed spinach.

All together now.

Do you ever buy vegan “substitute” products?  Why or why not?

Funky Mood to Funky Monkey

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I ate 75% of my meals yesterday out of the house, which made it particularly annoying that I forgot my camera at home.  Hence yesterday’s missing post.  To be completely honest my funky mood hasn’t fully cleared up either.  I’m betting it has something to do with my lack of exercise; not moving makes me cranky!  I know that I have so so so so so much to do this week that planning formal exercise isn’t realistic, so I’m trying to have the husband drive me as much as possible so I get the 2.5mile walk home.

Today was one of those days I walked.  Since I had 1.5hours to sit at school and read before class I get breakfast there.

Not to worry, I’m still vegan, that leftover yogurt container housed a sliced up mango and a nectarine.

I also brought a ONE Coconut Water with Passionfruit to drink.

I did not love the taste of the coconut water, although I did finish it.  I’ve loved ONE in the past so I’m inclined to think that I prefer the good old simplicity of plain.

After class I walked home, stopping halfway at The Spot to finish up a Sociology chapter.  While finishing my walk I munched on a pack of Funky Monkey Purple Funk.

Thank goodness I had a snack to hold me over for my late late lunch!

Said lunch was made as soon as I got home.

A veggie skillet of half an eggplant, 1/2cup of frozen peas, and chilli garlic sauce.

The husband just called to say he’d be home late (i.e. late dinner) so I guess my late lunch was a blessing in disguise.

P.S. It’d been a while since I had the chilli garlic sauce, insanity spicy!  I cooled my mouth down with a glass of So Delicious Vanilla Coconut Milk,

and some salt and vinegar chips.

Phew!

What are your thoughts on coconut water?  I pretty much adore coconut in any form.

Noteworthy Nibbles

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Most of today was spent at the nearby amusement park, Darien Lake.  We had a fabulous time (and season passes, so we’ll be back soon!) but it was raining when we left so I didn’t bring my camera.  Since I don’t have pictures of everything I’m going to take a page from Cait’s plate book and just do the highlights.

(1) Breakfast = Van’s Homestyle Pancakes with homemade Banana Roux and a sprinkle of cinnamon-sugar.

The pancakes were good, but the Banana Roux might just  be my most genius idea of all time.  You can click the title for the recipe page, but this batch used Smart Balance Light and Silk Almond Milk.

Note – yesterday’s Berry Breakfast Topper has its own recipe page as well.

(2) Dessert, homemade milkless milkshake.

Genius + more genius = holy frick this is amazing!  I took Diana’s maple slushie idea and made it into a milkshake.  Into my blender went 1serving silken tofu, half a tray of ice-cubes, 1cup So Delicious Vanilla Coconut Milk, and 1/3cup maple syrup.

 Yum!

What were some of the highlights from your weekend?

Hun-grrrr-E

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I was a hunger MACHINE this evening!  I had to run some errands and pick up the husband and by the time I got home my hunger had hit me like a train.  FYI – if you are participating in vegan month and are not eating honey then several of these items are off-limits for you.

First I ate a serving of Sriracha Peas.

I randomly grabbed these at Wegmans today (they were on sale) and they are so good!  Same concept was Wasabi Peas but a much deeper taste.

Next I ate 1.5servings of Gardein meat-free Buffalo Wings with honey mustard dipping sauce.

Product review note – I actually don’t like these wings at all.  The texture is great but the spice is over the top and has a weird chemically flavor to it.

Then I downsized a recipe from Women’s Health to make a single serving of honey eggplant (I baked instead of microwaved).

It was ok but not quite what I was expecting.  What is with me and the so-so recipes lately?!?

Next 1.5servings of salt and vinegar chips (I was craving something salty like you wouldn’t beleive!).

And finally another serving of sriracha peas.

Honesty, I’m still pretty damn hungry, but we don’t really have anything else for me to eat.  If I figure something out I’ll update later.

****Updated to add – I ate a cucumber.

Ecstasy and Irony

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I haven’t been all that impressed with my Sociology class.  I like the content a lot because it’s so similar to Anthropology, but my classmates aren’t exactly honor students.  Therefore, I’m always kind of torn about what to wear to class because I don’t like “wasting” a cute outfit.  Sometimes I just go with it though –

Looking spiffy just for me (and the husband during our carpool time) is worth it because it puts a smile on my face.  Today’s awesomeness went far beyond the outfit though ….. Note – this post is filled with bragging and over-excitement; you’ve been warned.

Perhaps today was extra awesome because breakfast was so tasty.  This combo rocks my socks off –

I topped my bowl of Kashi Strawberry Fields and Silk Pure Almond milk with a big handful of blueberries.

Gaaah!  This is the best almond milk on earth.  It is thick and creamy and has none of the nasty aftertaste I’ve found with other brands.  This is also the best Kashi variety in the solar system.  The crispy flakes have achieved a level of perfection in the sweetness and the freeze-dried berries get the best consistency when they start to get soggy.

After I dropped the husband off (and he told me how cute I looked) I headed to school early to get my study on.  I like the subject matter, but apparently not enough to study for my test the night before.  And I really wanted to study in the hour before class, but mostly I just daydreamed about what I’m making for breakfast this weekend.  (It is important to my bragging that you note here that I didn’t exactly break a sweat studying for this test)

I also snacked on a serving of Apple Cinnamon Kathy’s Krackers.

Class went well.  We talked about deviancy and, oh yeah, I scored a 47/50 on my test.  Highest score in the class (most of the other grades were below a 30/50), go me!

After class I had some errands to run so I decided to combine grocery shopping and studying into one.  I picked up some Wegman’s hot bar and sat and read.

I tried to keep my portions pretty small to save $.  Asian bbq tofu and wok seared veggies.

The tofu was not awesome.  More like inedible; here’s what I ended up leaving on my plate –

Thank goodness I had a pack of Banan-a-peel Peeled Snacks in my purse.

They were super chewy and took me awhile to eat so I had time to feel full before I started shopping.

On the way home I developed a new workout plan: 1. Move to a neighborhood with terrible parking.  2. Purchase a humongous watermelon because it’s on sale for $3.99.  3. Trek from your parking space to your apartment carrying said watermelon.  Repeat as necessary 🙂

When I finally got myself home I discovered the other awesome excitement –

I think this wins for most ironic moment of vegan month!  A few months ago I submitted a recipe in a Foodbuzz contest and I won a year’s worth of free eggs!  I think that qualifies for a 2nd go me!!!!!  Our budget has been severely restricted for next year and this will definitely help our grocery bills.

Go ahead and brag, tell me why YOU are awesome!

Go Visit Soap and Chocolate ASAP

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WordPress wasn’t working, wordpress wasn’t working, took a walk, wordpress wasn’t working ….. and now it’s bed time.  So this is going to be super duper speedy.  I don’t have much to say anyway because dinner was disgusting.  As in so god-awful we threw the leftovers out.

It looks good doesn’t it?

We made this vegetable and chickpea curry with rice,

and these braised brussels sprouts in mustard sauce.

Gag me with a spoon!  The curry was beyond tasteless and the brussels were spicy in a weird rotten-tasting way.  I ate less than half of what was on my plate.

Dessert pretty much salvaged the evening though.  I made this maple slushie.

I’ve always thought Diana was a genius, but now I’m planning on giving her my first born.

Good night, sweet dreams, farewell, wish me luck on my 2nd sociology exam tomorrow.

Fake It ‘Till You Make It

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This morning wasn’t a particularly good morning.  My alarm didn’t go off and I stubbed my toe.  But it felt like a good morning, because I said it had to be.  If you tell yourself you’re in a good mood and put a smile on your face, pretty soon you’ll actually feel like smiling.

I wanted to get my incidental exercise on today (2.5mile walk home) so I had the husband drop me off at school this morning.  When he gives me a ride it also means I’m at school 1.5hours early so I brought breakfast to eat on campus.  I think I redefined the word breakfast today though 🙂

Blueberries with a drizzle of honey and unsweetened shredded coconut.

A sliced red bell pepper with a serving of beet humus.

And some apricots from Peeled Snacks.

The apricots were supposed to be a snack for later but I was sooooo hungry.  I don’t know why my morning hunger has been so substantial recently.

Class went well today; fyi – I’ve scored a 90-100% on every one of the daily quizes thus far!  Not so exciting was the fact that our Monday test was moved up to tomorrow.  I only got a B+ on the last exam and I was looking forward to having the weekend to study.

I stopped at the Spot on Elmwood during the walk home and squeezed in some studying then.  I also managed to find some tasty vegan options for lunch.  Carrot and ginger soup,

and a (dry) sundried tomato bagel.

Lunch ended up being really, really good.  The soup was spicy and sweet and had huge tasty chunks of carrot.

Once I finished the walk home I got dinner in the crock-pot (we can’t eat until almost 8!) and now I’ve got to get started on some cleaning.  And find time to study for tomorrow.  But I’m doing it with a smile.

Does the ‘fake it ’till you make it’ philosophy work for you?