Tag Archives: vegan

Vegan Month Challenge

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Ugh.  Today was day 3 of no diet soda and I’m seriously cranky.  Also, when I woke up there was no food in the house (vegan or otherwise) and I’ve been starving all day.  It was one of those situations where I waited so long to eat that I never got full, even now.  Oh, oh, oh!  And I’m annoyed because I have projects I want to start and we haven’t been given all of the information that we need yet.  Okay, I think that’s it for the complaints!

Breakfast was a smoothie.

I found this Vega Tropical Tango smoothie mix (HLS sample) in the cupboard and blended it with 1 cup of orange juice and 7 oz of frozen soursop pulp.

It tasted better than it looked.

My classes went well, though I was cranky the entire time.  Thinking about my newest reason to love Kristen Bell helped.  I made sure to run to Wegmans for an emergency grocery stock-up the minute class was over!

I ate this handful of peanuts x 3 when I got home.

Dinner was stir fry.

We stir fried a bunch of veggies – frozen brocoli/carrot/cauliflower mix, plus more frozen broccoli, plus canned stir fry mushrooms, and canned baby corn – with stir fry sauce and topped with a few toasted cashews.

Tasty, but it didn’t even make a dent in my hunger.

Next I had a huge (2 cups, aka 2 servings) bowl of Wegman’s Berry Corn Crunch Cereal with Silk Unsweetened Almond Milk.

And a huge spoonful of Dark Chocolate Dreams pb.

And now I’m going to go have some popcorn.  I swear that all of vegan month won’t be like this, it’s just that I waited to long to eat and I let my hunger get out of control!

February = Vegan Month Challenge

We’ve done this so many times now that this announcement feels like it doesn’t require much fanfare.

During February of 2012, Adam and I will be doing a 1-month vegan challenge.  No eggs, no dairy, no meat, no honey, and no products containing any of the aforementioned.  No, we didn’t choose February because it’s the shortest month.  Yes, we are excited.

Over the years I’ve done three different challenge introductions and three different challenge recaps (see the links above) on my blog and I feel like there’s no new way to explain why we are choosing to do this.  Basically –

While I think a vegan diet can be healthy for some individuals, I don’t think it is healthy long-term for everyone.
I think that everyone can be healthier if their diet includes more vegan meals and less meat.
Adam and I have both been in a healthy diet rut recently and a month of vegan meals will force us to spend some time with vegetables again.
1 month is a good way to remind myself that not every dish needs cheese.

Would any omnivores be interested in joining me for the month?

You Say Pizza, I Say Piazza

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It was another great day here in Ohio.

Our last day, unfortunately.

For breakfast I poured a bowl of my grandma’s cereal mix (Cheerios, Special K, and Crispix by the looks of it) with some vanilla almond milk.

Lunch was a big salad – romaine, cherry tomatoes, and an Asian sesame dressing – with cold truffle mac and cheese crumbled on top.

Leftover mac is officially the new crouton.

I also had a glass of almond milk,

and a turtle for dessert.

We spent the afternoon switching out Christmas decorations, and the boys found a minute for a quick nap.

Then we were off to the movies.  We saw “We Bought a Zoo,” and all three of us thought it was great.  Very funny and touching.  My grandma handed me a mini York patty mid-movie that hit the spot.

Dinner was tasty as well, La Piazza in Troy.  I started with a house salad with honey mustard dressing,

and two slices of bread with garlic dipping oil.

For our main meal, Adam and I split two entres.  We shared, but both ate a larger portion of our “own” plates.  He had Smoked Chicken Ravioli (stuffed with smoked chicken, herbs, cheeses, tossed with tomato basil cream),

and I got the Eggplant Parmigiana (fresh eggplant sliced and baked with tomato basil sauce and three cheeses).

All the dishes were good, but now we are feeling a little weighed down with cheese.  In fact, I’m going to blame my heavy dinner for my complete and utter exhaustion at 9:45 pm.  Good night!

Primed to Party

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We have got –

a) a problem
b) a packed to-do list
c) a party
d) a profound preference towards alliteration
e) all of the above

If you guessed (e), you’re correct!  Adam and I have the problem of being crazy people because we stayed up past 2am doing absolutely nothing.  This morning got off to a late, rough start, but our day was packed full of to-do’s to prep for tonight’s party.  We are almost set up and I’m all packed for tomorrow to boot.

Today was a double smoothie sort of day.  First, another round of berry chocolate mint.

For two, 2 cups chocolate mint soy milk, 2 cups frozen strawberries, 1 scoop chocolate protein powder, and 6oz 0% plain Greek yogurt.

My second smoothie was a (soy) nog delight.

For one, medium frozen banana, 1 cup Silk Soy Nog, 3 Tbsp malted milk powder, and a handful of ice.

Plus nibbles while we got ready for the party.

I’ll see y’all on the other side, from St. Thomas!

Note – I will probably be blogging every other day or so on vacation (my parents don’t have internet).  If my first post is Monday morning, that doesn’t mean my plane crashed.  But thanks in advance for thinking safe thoughts for me!

Hello, Old Friend

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It’s finally time for my favorite treat of the season –

Silk Soy Nog seriously makes me so happy!  It tastes just like (actually, better than!) regular egg nog but only has 90 calories for half a cup and no saturated fat.

The Silk Nog actually showed up at the grocery store back in early November, and it’s possible I had went into crisis-mode because I thought that meant it would be gone before it was seasonally appropriate.  Thankfully Silk products have a long shelf-life, so Adam bought me two cartons just to get me to stop whimpering!

I like Silk Nog straight from the carton, in coffee, and in overnight oats, but today’s smoothie might have been it’s best use yet.

For 1, blend –

  • 1 medium frozen banana
  • 1/2 cup 0% plain Greek yogurt
  • 3 Tbsp malted milk powder
  • 1/2 cup Silk Soy Nog

Topped with seasonal sprinkles for funsies.

It was thick, and sweet, and Christmas-y, and perfect.

I had a late breakfast because I spent my morning at the dentist.  My teeth are perfect and now they feel nice and squeaky clean.  On of our friends is a hygienist at the practice so it was more like catching up with a friend (literally!) than a scary appointment.  I’m not sure what will happen with lunch because I’m actually leaving the house this minute to pick up a school friend.  We are heading over the Buffalo Centre for the Treatment of Eating Disorders to get in some observation hours.  I’ll see you this evening!

Hello Again

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I swear, with my hand on a stack of Buffy DVDs, I really do have a blog!  It’s been a few crazy days, but I did miss y’all like crazy.  I’m not going to recap, but I will mention a few things – Adam and I are about ready to serve the dog on a bun ~ we’re all ready for a vacation ~ I have two tests tomorrow because I didn’t even make it to school on Friday to take my exam.

Starting again this morning…

I had a group meeting to finish up a project so I headed to school this morning.  We worked for a couple of hours and we are feeling ready good about the assignment, which isn’t even due for another couple of weeks!

Since it was after 1 before I could even think about food, I headed to The Spot for a quick bite while I studied.

Pizza bagels are crazy simple, just a toasted bagel with marinara sauce and cheese on top, but also crazy good.

I ate 3/4 of this, and gave the last bit to my friend when she picked me up.

Then we moved the party to Starbucks so we could take advantage of the 2-for-1 holiday drinks special.

I got a grande, non-fat, eggnog latte. Score!

Mid-studying this afternoon I snacked on a D’anjou pear.

I also took a break to make an easy, fall-feeling dinner.

  1. On foiled, sprayed baking sheets, top chopped tofu and butternut squash with apple cider vinegar, salt, and brown sugar.
  2. Bake for 40 minutes at 350*, then 20 minutes at 400*.
  3. In a large pan, cook shredded cabbage in apple cider.
  4. Combine.

Dinner was so tasty, the squash got almost caramelized.  I liked the undertones of apple spread throughout.  I took a small portion and now Adam and I both have great leftovers for tomorrow’s lunch.

I know I didn’t eat all that much food today, but trust me, Adam and I more than covered it the past few days!!

Have you gotten a holiday drink from Starbucks yet?  Which one’s your favorite?

Veg Head

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The chili sale was good, work was good, but today was crazy and I’m tired so I’ll keep this quick.

Sometimes, when I know that the schedule of a day will make it impossible to keep an all-around healthy lifestyle (like today!) I’ll choose one healthy goal to work on.  Today’s goal?  Making veggies the main “meat” of all of today’s meals.  And in light of today’s goal, I think this is the perfect post to share the vegetarian infographic my friends at RetailMeNot sent my way –

Vegetarian Foods
Source: RetailMeNot.com

Breakfast’s veg was eggplant.

My Cheesy Baked Eggplant leftovers are just as tasty as they were the night I made them, even cold and straight from a Tupperware!

Today’s schedule was class –> chili sale –> orthodontist –> work –> home.  With a fun mid-day addition of cake tasting.

A classmate’s wife is starting a cake business and sent one in for us to give feedback on.

Lunch was a Chili Sale meal (we did great by the way, made more than $250 to give to the food bank!).

Veggie = beans in the vegetarian chili.

Plus a super delicious roll, provided by Romeo and Juliet’s Cafe.

And a bit of the tasty veggie sandwich they brought as well.

Dinner was pure veg.  Spinach, butternut squash, mushrooms, (and tofu and craisins!).

Yesterday I went on a roasting extravaganza.  I did the tofu in maple syrup and rice vinegar, the squash in curry powder, and the mushrooms in truffle oil and salt.  Once everything was nice and toasty (30 minutes at 350* followed by 20 minutes at 400*)  I put them all together in a Tupperware with a few handfuls of spinach and some craisins.  I shook everything together and the heat from the roasted veggies wilted the spinach a bit.

It was perfect.  And the mix of flavors was great.

As were these –

The bookstore was having a Combos’ sale, how could I resist?!?  I didn’t eat that entire big bag but I definitely came close!

I really wanted to make it to the gym today but it just didn’t happen.  I’m hurrying to the bed in the hopes that a good sleep will get me to there tomorrow.

The Circle Of Life

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“From the day we arrive on the planet

And, blinking step into the sun

There’s more to see than can ever be seen

More to do than can ever be done

There’s far too much to take in here

More to find than can ever be found

But the sun rolling high

Through the sapphire sky

Keeps great and small on the endless round

It’s the Circle of Life”

I just can’t stop singing!  It’s possible I’ve hummed straight through my day.  Other than “Aladdin,” “The Lion King” was the Disney movie with my favorite music.

Backing up to where we left off yesterday, I spent some time (not enough) with these –

I popcorned while I studied.

I hated it.

Plus 100 calories worth of Ghirardelli Midnight Reverie 86% chocolate topped with a smear of Biscoff spread.

Adam was in surgery until late so the meet-up plan involved friends picking me up and all of us getting together with Adam whenever he could make it.  The husband had told me to be ready at 5:45 so a bit after 4 I took Webster out on a long walk.  We were heading home around 5 when I got a call from our friend Patrick – “Eithan said to tell you he’s running late, they’ll probably get you around 5:30.”  5:30 you say?  Whoops! 

Thankfully I’d already showered in the morning so I didn’t take all that long to gussy.  I even managed heels and mascara.

Ready on time, we set off to Pearl Street Grill and Brewery for dinner before the show.  Thankfully, Adam got out early enough to meet us for dinner so we did a little sharing.  I ordered the Gobbler (turkey burger) with a side salad subbed instead of fries for veg.

I was not expecting such a large plate of greens though!  In the end I ate ~ 1/3 of the husband’s chicken fingers and fries,

all of the salad (with brown sugar rum vinaigrette!),

and 2-3 bites of the turkey burger.

Adam was more than happy to take care of the rest for me.  We were with a great group of friends – 2 couples of regulars plus another 2 couples who were friends of friends – so even dinner was fun.

Getting to the theatre was a bit of an ordeal – it’s possible all of the girls had to sprint 2 blocks in high heels! – but all that really matters is we made it.  This was my first time seeing “The Lion King” and I thought it was great.  Knowing the music from the movie and being able to sing along (silently!) definitely helped to keep me engaged.  My favorite part of the show was actually the visual appeal; the costumes for the elephants and giraffes were truly breathtaking.  I’m so glad we had the opportunity to go.  Though now Adam and I are desperate to see the movie to hear the songs again!

It wasn’t the earliest bedtime and my 6am alarm felt a little … rough.  Thankfully I thought ahead so all I had to do was put on shoes, grab my bags, hop in the car, and stumble to the gym.  My notecards and I spent some time on the treadmill, more for a wake up and study review than workout purposes.  2 miles walked, 35 minutes.  A quick change and face wipe bath later and I was ready for my exam.

Before the test I ate this White Chocolate Macadamia Chewy Nut Bar Odwalla sent me to sample.

This was sweet, but not too sweet, and a little bit nutty.  I couldn’t savor it the way I would have liked because our test was about to begin, but it did hold me over well through the morning.  210 calories and 2 grams of saturated fat for 25% each daily value of calcium and folate (<– important for baby making).  The white chocolate macadamia flavor will be hitting stores this month; look for it!

My test went alright, not great but not terribly either.  The subjects covered included the clear liquid diet, parenteral feeding, and Latin roots for medical terms, among other things, so no matter how the test went I know it’s all material I will be seeing again. 

I had time for a quick break and then it was on to class #2 and a group presentation.  Our non-nutritive sweeteners group had to present our findings from the last test lab as well as information on the options available to our future clients.  We were the very first group to go which was a little nerve-wracking but the TA said we did a good job.  We also did our 2nd set of sampling today, this time with commercially made products. 

The class had to analyze original and sugar-free versions of cola, yogurt, ice-cream, jell-o, and chocolate syrup.  Normally we can just take small tastes in lab but since I’ll have to write up a report for this one I needed to take really good notes which meant eating all of the samples, even the nasty ones.  And most of them were nasty.  <– Word to the wise – don’t even waste your time with Hershey’s sugar-free chocolate syrup, yuck city. 

Since I didn’t have time to photograph everything I ate (which ended up having to be a lot) I gave myself the afternoon off from blogging as well.  I will note though, that lunch included many handfuls of salty nuts and a big bag of chips to help balance out all that sweet!  And other than eating and dog walking I didn’t accomplish a blessed thing.  We have two huge exams and a paper due next week and I needed some time for tv watching before my long-weekend study session begins.

Dinner was similarly low-key.

The Tandoor Chef veggie Pad Thai is seriously better than most of the Thai available in Buffalo.

Yums.

On my extra-sweet day, check out what arrived in the mail –

Adam’s mom sent us a haul of cookies!  It’s taking a lot of self-control but we are going to wait until the coffee caramel is finished before having at them.  And on that note, we are off to have sundaes!

Which sugar-free products do you use?  Do you prefer the taste or are you diabetic/looking to cut calories?