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.