Day 6 - Breakfast

It's totally normal to get up and make and east sushi for breakfast, ha!

I had it with Ezekiel 7 grain bread toasted with mashed avocado spread on top.

Up next we have lunch.  I made the "Tuna" salad from The Happy Herbivore with the mayo recipe from the same book - I much prefer it to store bought vegan mayo!
The hummus was store bought and not oil free this time.

and finally dinner!
Teryaki sauced noodles with kale, peppers, makimame and garbanzo beans.

ARGHHHH I can't get my photos back to normal!

day 3, 4 and 5

I have been rubbish at remembering to photograph my meals so here are the ones I remembered to photograph....

This is tagliatelle with tomatoes, basil, black beans and sweetcorn.

My photo's are all squished when I upload them.....what's that all about then?

This is lunch...

Salad with kale / spinach / radish / almonds / apricot / tomatoes / cucumber with hummus, triscuits and an apple.

Day 2 of the Happy Herbivore 28 day challenge

Day 2 of the Happy Herbivore 28 day challenge

I cannot wake up and eat.  I just can't. Hubby can so he had a banana frosty (Everyday Happy Herbivore) on his way to work.  I waited 2 hours and then had oatmeal (leftover from yesterday) with a little soy milk, 2 chopped apricots and a tablespoon of raisins. I make my oatmeal like my dad used to make me porridge (he never used fruit) but still it's kind of stiff and then the milk floats around it. He makes the best breakfast.  I've discovered 'baking raisins' they are the bomb. Moist, plump, juicy, oh so good....nothing at all like rabbit droppings....I'm just saying.

Anyway, here is breakfast:








Next up is lunch.  I baked a few potatoes on Sunday so I just reheated one and reheated left over pot pie mix from dinner last night and here it is, every bit as delicious as last night. (Hubby was catered for yesterday so ended up having his salad from yesterday today instead)

For dinner I made Red Lentil Dal over brown rice from The Happy Herbivore.  I used a frozen onion/pepper mix and added in about a cup of frozen chopped spinach.  It was fantastic. My 6 year old had seconds. I didn't have any leftovers. End of story.

Happy Herbivore

Wow, it's been 8 months since I went on a plant based diet. My commitment to it is only growing stronger by the day as I educate myself about food and about animal rights.

Today we started the 28 day challenge set out by Happy Herbivore.  It can be found here. While it is not too different from how we eat anyway it will be a challenge for me not to indulge in the occasional oreo, pretzels, chips, coffee creamer or pastry.  There is a plethora of vegan junk food available if you look hard enough!

So here we go. Day One. (I wasn't very prepared honestly and need to plan.)

Breakfast

 

Here are our breakfasts. I had oatmeal cooked in water with almond milk and a banana sliced on top. Hubby had the oatmeal cookie smoothie from Everyday Happy Herbivore.

Lunches

For lunch I had a kind of fridge clear out, the hash I ended up with consists of chopped baked potatoes, cabbage, black beans, refried beans, artichoke hearts and fresh tomatoes on the top. I sauteed the veggies, warmed the refried beans and left the tomatoes at room temperature.  It was delicious.

Hubby had a salad made of spinach, spring mix, asparagus, tomatoes, snap peas, black beans, carrots, yellow pepper, and Braggberry dressing. Homemade hummus (no oil) in the blue container. Apple sauce (just apples) in the little red container, a Happy Herbivore apple crisp muffin, banana and apple.  I failed and gave him the last of the pita chips.

Dinner

For dinner I made the Veggie Biscuit Pot Pie from Everyday Happy Herbivore with brussel sprouts, asparagus and rosemary roast potatoes.  Dessert was double chocolate chip cookies also from The Happy Herbivore, I'm not sure I was supposed to have them on the 28 day plan....oh well!

Long day but worth it!

I did a freezer cooking day today.  I'm not at all new to freezer cooking but I am new to plant based freezer cooking.  Today I made broccoli and potato soup, roasted tomato soup (both from here), from engine 2 diet book I made sweet potato lasagna, Matt's enchiladas, veggie burgers, meat loaf and meat balls.  From fix it and forget it I put together a winter bean and squash stew. I also made 2 balls of pizza dough, 4 french sticks (I ate the end of one mopping out the marinara bowl) a double batch of Soprano's marinara sauce (minus the oil and I actually think it' better than ever), and I made an entire loaf of peanut butter and fruit spread sandwiches (for those days I just can't be bothered to make lunches).

YUM!

I was busy all day yesterday and the fridge and pantry needed cleaning out, therefore I wasn't at all motivated to open either of them.  That resulted in it being 4pm and no dinner plans.
I found this recipe Lentil spaghetti online an decided that would be dinner.  I did have to use tomato sauce instead of paste and onion powder in place of the onion but aside from those small changes I made it as is.  (I omitted the sauteing altogether and threw the garlic and onion powder in the broth).

It was fabulous.  It was hearty, flavorful, cheap, filling, a pantry meal and the man had seconds. WINNER!

It made plenty and I froze at least half of the sauce for another day.

One month in and going strong

So we did it.  One month of a plant based diet.  I say we did it....Andrew did it without cheating at all, I couldn't help myself at the company picnic and ate the Texas bbq (and then had an upset stomach ALL day and regretted it) and I also ate some chicken last week but didn't really enjoy it honestly.  The first 2 weeks are definitely the hardest for this way of eating.  I craved cheese (which I used to eat at least twice a day if not more) and butter and milk in my tea.  After 2 weeks the cravings went away and I got past the caffeine cravings too and now I don't even drink tea....shock horror I know.  I have the occasional cup of Donut house coffee with coconut dairy free creamer but can't manage more than one, it's just too sweet and thick...if that's the word.
I still haven't booked my doctor's appointment for the physical, must do that this week.  I know the man has lost over 15lbs and I've lost 5lbs (without meaning too).  Mine has gone from that baby pouch in my stomach and my thighs - I know this because my bras still fit right but a pair of my jeans that were too tight now fit awesome.  I didn't need to lose weight however so I'm upping the amount I eat because I could probably do with that 5lbs back on.  I eat a ton by the way but with this way of eating the body processes the food very well and quickly and well there is nothing to hang around after the body has been fueled.

Things I've learned this month:

Plant based eating isn't about replacing meat and fat it's about trying new flavors and tasting real food.

I love collard greens and kale and now regularly eat them sauteed with lemon juice in a baked potato (yes that sounds gross and weird to me still but it's so good).

I can run and I enjoy it.

I don't need sinus medication or an inhaler I just needed to stop putting animal products into my body.

Milk if you think about it is disgusting, if you won't drink it from the source you should just not drink it, cow milk is for baby cows, human milk is for baby humans, it's quite simple when you think about it.

Things cooked in oil/butter/grease taste like grease once you've stopped using it and they hide the real taste of the food.

I still love food.

If it's important you'll find a way, if it isn't you'll find an excuse.  My life is important.

Mexican restaurants are good for eating vegan.

If you order dominoes pizza online they will make it cheese free and load up the veggies.

Real food is colorful and full of texture.

Plant based diet = a new adventure in cooking

After a tiring year of watching people close to us being very sick from cancer (they were told by their oncologists they are what they eat) and watching others taking heart medication, and then the man of my life getting some pretty alarming (to me) cholesterol and blood pressure results I decided I'd had enough.  I wasn't going to let anyone watch me die from any disease I can prevent.  I watched Forks over Knives three nights in a row, then I bought the book, plus Happy Herbivores everyday book and the Engine 2 diet book.  Then I convinced the man to join me in my quest (it didn't take a lot of convincing) and I started a new adventure.  Fast forward 24 days of being fat free vegans and I have cooked a lot of vegetables and changed the way we eat completely.

So, for the time being I will be posting photographs of our meals, which are all vegan and oil free.  I haven't made the switch 100% with the kiddos yet but they are enjoying all the evening meals we eat (I cook those the same for us all) but they are no longer drinking cow's milk (we switched to almond) and they no longer eat meat at home - they have't noticed which cracks me up.  I am very lucky in that they are willing to eat most things and are not picky for the most part.

My favorite cookbook right now is Engine 2 Diet book which I love to cook from.

Up first is Vegan Pizza with a homemade base.

Garden combo ragu for the sauce, squash, red onion, garlic, mushrooms, red pepper, banana pepper, collard greens, tomato, and grated golden beet root, fresh oregano and basil = one very healthy vegan pizza!

Hmmmm

So it seems as though I'm pretty crap at this blogging malarkey.  I will continue to take the pics though and up write when I get around to it!
Here's the latest batch of lunches.

This lunch has cucumber, ranch and some turkey hot dog slices, a clementine, turkey and cheese sandwich and apple sauce.

This lunch (DS7) has peanut butter on whole wheat, mango/kiwi/blueberry and strawberry salad, graham goldfish cookies, a granola thin and orange slices.

This lunch (DS5) has a mango/kiwi/blueberry/strawberry and blood orange fruit salad, peanut butter on whole wheat, carrots and a granola thin.

My lunch is the same (but bigger) fruit salad as above with a chicken/mayo and mixed lettuce on whole wheat sandwich with carrots and 1/2 cup pistachios.  I wished I had made a full sandwich instead of half but wasn't hungry afterwards, it was just good :)

Gadgets and gizmos make me smile

I love kitchen stuff. I love cookbooks; I have a dresser FULL of them and can't part with them it's quite silly, I use probably 12 regularly and have them visible, the rest are stashed away behind the doors only to be taken out when I'm bored and need something to read. My husband finds the fact I read recipes quite strange. No comment. I also love anything miniature (hence my collection of Le Crueset (sp?), mini fruit shaped casserole dishes and appliances.  I have that many kitchen appliances that my oven element burned out 2 weeks ago and it was only when I went bake a ginormous pizza tonight that I remembered it doesn't work!
Today while perusing the Dollar Tree I came across toast stamps.  I had to have them, they're very easy to use.

When I fill the fridge snack box we all eat better, snack better and making lunches is so much quicker.  In this one we have melon, strawberries, raw cashews, carrots and kiwi.

DS7 has to take a snack for the afternoon and so I bought 2 shoe boxes, labelled them and filled them with snack foods that don't require refrigeration.



Working lunch

My love of food I think stems from the fact that in 30 something odd years of eating it there are still flavours I have never tasted. I still remember tasting things for the first time as a child; for example the first time I ever had beef bourguignon, chili and (believe it or not) tuna with vinegar and not mayo were all experienced at my friends house. I remember her not eating her dinner once and I wanted to take it off the side and eat it for her, how weird is that? The thought of her not eating this (what I thought) was a fantastic meal appalled me. The first chimichanga I ever ate was also with this girl's family in this dark restaurant which was very cool and exciting and I'm sure I loved the food too.
I still remember the name of the ice cream I used to order once a year at my sisters birthday dinner at an Italian restaurant, it was called the San Reamo (not sure of the spelling now) and I always had a prawn cocktail before it.
The opportunity to have a new experience from all over the world with a relatively small cost appeals to me and for me it would be very sad to have to eat the same thing week in week out....urgh. For some reason this lunch made my brain spew out that last couple of paragraphs....
On that note here is my lunch today:

This is a common 'study' lunch for me for when I have to eat alone, I hate to eat alone unless it's Cadbury's Whole Nut or Walkers Cheese and Onion then that's a whole other post about comfort food.  When I have to eat and listen and type at the same time I like to dip and snack without a lot of effort.
I have hummus with roasted red peppers and pine nuts, pita chips, 1/2 an apple sliced, broccoli (I've decided I like it raw and not at all cooked), carrots and grape tomatoes, cubes of cheese (cheddar/monterrey jack and colby), and the new PB&J trail mix from Costco which is oh so yummy; it has dried and sweetened strawberries, cranberries, mandarin oranges, peanuts and almonds.
Oh the chocolate is a strawberry filled Ghiradelli square.

Basic lunch box

There's nothing exciting about these lunches I'm afraid, just a basic lunch with some of the boys favorites included.

Here DS7 has cucumber slices and celery sticks with ranch dressing, a clementine, turkey on a whole wheat roll and strawberry yogurt.



DS5 has cucumber slices with mini carrots and ranch dressing, a clementine, turkey on a whole wheat roll and strawberry yogurt.

Catch up!

I've been really busy this week so this post will be mainly photos of lunches!

DS7 - Peanut butter sandwich, Greek yogurt, cucumber and tomato salad and brownie.



I love it when they come home like this.

DS7 - Hot dog, cucumber, mango and grapes, cheese sandwich, yogurt.

DS5 - Hot dog, cheese sandwich, carrots and cucumber, grapes.

My snack box: mango, peanuts, grapes and carrots.

DS5 - Carrots and ranch, tuna and tomato pasta, hard boiled egg and a breakfast cookie.

DS7 - Nut butter cookies, grapes, tuna/tomato/cilantro pasta salad, apricot and apple sauce.

DS7 - Cheese sandwich on homemade Oatmeal Sunflower bread, pirates booty, vanilla yogurt with blueberries/blackberries/strawberries and grape tomatoes.



The first lunches of the year

I took the boys grocery shopping with me today.  This is not something I like to do because I love to grocery shop and they don't.  However, I did have a plan.  Armed with breakfast cookies and the grocery circular I let them eat in the car on the way and tell me what they'd like for lunches from the ads.
We actually had fun when we arrived and I'm happy to say we left with a cart full of great food choices.

So here are the boys lunches for tomorrow, chosen by them.

DS5 has a cold sesame noodle salad from Sneaky Chef with added carrots, crushed strawberries topped with vanilla yogurt, cucumber/carrots/tomatoes with ranch to dip and a mango and grape salad.

DS7 has a cheddar cheese sandwich on 8 grain bread and the same as DS5 for everything else.

DH has an avocado salad sandwich, an apple, vanilla yogurt with crushed strawberries, carrots with ranch to dip, grapes and 2 breakfast cookies.

New Year

There's nothing like a new year to get one motivated and organized.  At least for a month or so anyway.  I'm sick to the back teeth of over eating and drinking and feel like I did more of both in the past 2 weeks than I did for the 6 months prior to that....URGH.
I have therefore spent the past couple of days perusing my new (and extensive collection of old) cookbooks and clearing out the pantry, fridge and freezer.  The result has been some fresh tasting, real food, healthy meals, and snacks including a spinach and goats cheese quiche, breakfast cookies, breakfast burritos, bread rolls, soup, and a fridge stocked with fruit and vegetables to start us off as we will go on.

The breakfast cookie recipe I make is from 30 Day Gourmet's Big book of freezer cooking and I love it.  It seems that every time I make these cookies I don't have the right ingredients and yet despite several substitutions they come out the oven perfect every time.  This time around I used banana baby food instead of apple sauce, and I ground up some apricots, prunes and raisins instead of using craisins.  I also added 1/2 cup ground walnuts instead of chocolate chips, raw sugar instead of brown, and they are delicious.  I make them a regular 2 inch cookie size and package them 2 per snack bag in the freezer.  I love them frozen because it keeps the crunch, they are very much a cake type cookie otherwise which always reminds of dropping your cookie in a cuppa....not a good thing...not that anyone else seems to care!  The photo only shows half the cookies, the rest were in the oven still.

Waste not want not

A few weeks ago I won a $20 gift certificate to a local pumpkin patch.  Not being huge fans of carving pumpkins we only carved one and I cooked the other two to use at a later time.
This week I also got a delivery from Vitacost.com where I had managed to snag some coconut flour for the price of shipping, so off I went today on a search for a pumpkin recipe that used coconut flour.

My search led me to this website Divalicious in Dubai and I made the super easy muffins exactly as posted.  While they smelled great they looked nowhere near as nice as the picture when they came out of the oven, so I decided to frost them.

I used Elana's Pantry recipe for Orange Cream Cheese Frosting and decorated half of them as butterfly buns and half I just frosted (I suck at frosting).  They taste delicious; moist but not gummy, and not really heavy like a lot of gluten free recipes can be.  The kids weren't the slightest bit interested in them, but with a bag of chocolate bars in the cupboard why would they be?

Sushi anyone?

My fridge is on the boring side this week I'm afraid.  We've been drinking fruit smoothies for breakfast most days (made with frozen cherries, strawberries, blueberries, V8 juice, greek yogurt, flax meal and avacado) so the fruit intake at lunch has been on the slim side.

Here DS5 has peanut butter and jelly sushi sandwiches, rice cakes, carrots and ranch and a carrot / flax muffin  the yogurt is lemon Brown Cow brand. 



DS7 has the same muffin, cheddar on crackers, rice cakes, sushi sandwiches and lemon yogurt with an apple sauce pack for snack (I normally avoid individually wrapped items but these were on clearance and sufficiently whined for).

Red White and Blue

For Veterans day on Friday I attempted to make the boys lunch boxes include red white and blue.....which is quite difficult when you have no tomatoes or apples and we try not to ingest red dye.

Here it is, we have veggie tortilla chips (dyed with beets) for the red part. cheese slices, rice cakes, cream cheese sandwich (for the white), dried apricots and pineapple and black grapes (for the blue part).

Dollar Tree finds

I scored in Dollar Tree and Staples yesterday, I found some super cute bento supplies.  Cute little containers that are great for the 'treat' portion of lunch or snack, and great for a small yogurt portion, (Staples $2 for 8) and some snowmen and gingerbread men picks that were part of some little game and not really picks at all but I couldn't resist.

Here is my first Christmas themed lunch of the season.  I saw the sandwich balls on www.easylunchboxes.com facebook page and had to try them.  They are whole wheat with cheddar in the middle.  The tree is half of a huge Bartlett pear with a carrot star and black grape presents.  The mini marshmallows are decorated with food markers.  DS5 LOVES it!  He also got a container of yogurt and some pirates booty.

Here is DS7's lunch. He has the same as DS5 without the marshmallows (he doesn't like them).  The little green tub is part of the set found at Staples and helps a great deal in this older version of a laptop lunch box that doesn't have a small container with a lid.

Finally, here is my lunch for today:  I spent a ridiculous amount of money on the fish shaped sandwich thins because they were cute....yes because they were cute....unfortunately I was more excited about them then the children so I won't be doing that again until the discount bread store starts selling them!
I have fruit and nut trail mix, a tuna salad sandwich, pretzel nuggets and the rest of the pear used in the trees above, seriously that pear was HUGE.

Themed lunches

October starts the holiday season with Halloween followed by Thanksgiving and Christmas.  The month between each is just a blurr and for that reason I am choosing to just make whatever theme I feel like for the next 2 months.
After finding lots of theme food and bento supplies in the last few weeks the lunches have been more for my enjoyment than anything else!

Here's the Halloween lunch I made the boys; they both took the same that day.  In the silicone cup is 2 dried apricots and a piece of dried pineapple (new food for us and very tasty!), peanut butter pretzel nuggets, strawberries, pasta salad made with Halloween shaped pasta (bought at Cost Plus World Market I love their shaped pasta, it is dyed using vegetables so the colours are not super bright but not nasty either), the pasta salad has tomatoes, cucumber, basil and cheddar cheese in it tossed with olive oil, and finally Greek yogurt with a drizzle of honey.