Super Bowl

The last few days have been busy and exciting.  I have not written everything that I have eaten down. But there are some highlights to show. I started Super Bowl Sunday off in purple style - A blueberry smoothie and a purple poppy seed bagel from THB in Canton.

We  snacked on leftovers for lunch while I was cooking for the big game.  I made some Watermelon Salsa with Chili Lime tortilla chips for snacking.  We have really developed a taste for the homemade roasted chips. The big dish was Grilled Ratatouille with angel hair pasta.  I sampled several pasta salads at the party.The only mistake I made was one with a pesto dressing. Pesto traditionally has Parmesan cheese.  There were plenty of chips, nuts and sparkling wine to go around.

Monday and Tuesday were leftover days with oatmeal and fruit at breakfast and pasta dishes for lunch and dinner.Tuesday was the Super Bowl victory celebration and I walked to the stadium.  Lunch was at 3:00 and   very light. Tuesday night we went out to Cinghiale for dinner. Cinghiale is Italian for wild boar and the restaurant     has a heavy meat and pasta emphasis. All of the regular pastas are made with eggs.e They have a gluten free vegan spaghetti that I ordered and they made a mushroom marinara to go with it. I ordered the beet salad off    the menu. I thought the Parsnip and Cannellini Soup would be safe, but it was made with chicken stock.  For dessert I had a Strawberry Red Wine Sorbet.

Today at breakfast I had some left over farina topped with fresh blueberries.  Lunch was the last of the Vegetable Lo Mein.  At dinner  I made Black Bean Burgers served on the carrot rolls with carrots, lettuce and cucumber toppings. The burgers were made from black beans, onion, cilantro, roasted garlic, and bread crumbs.  On the side was a Cran-Apple Quinoa.

Hopefully tomorrow I will get back into a more regular schedule of eating.

Lots of dining out

We ate out Friday through Sunday for dinner.  That is a lot more often than normal for us. It also meant I was not making as many new meals.  Friday started with cereal, banana and almond milk for breakfast.  For lunch I had some leftover Penne al Forno.  For dinner we went to Fleet Street Kitchen for the first time.  The restaurant specializes in creating meals from local sources.  This was a great place for me.  One of the chefs is vegan and made a special dish for me.  Browned shiitakes and enoki mushrooms were served over a saute of kale, peppers, pine nuts and baby turnips.  For dessert I had the pomegranate sorbet.  We had a Chablis with dinner.  Afterwards, the sommelier gave us a tour of the wine cellar.

On Saturday I had a Mango Smoothie before Spin class.  There were no blueberries in the smoothie, so it was not purple.  It was made with mango, vanilla rice milk, lime juice, and a touch of maple syrup.

Lunch was a Creamy Tofu Palak 'Paneer'.  Tofu was marinated in a ginger lime sauce then added to palak and served with spinach.  I made some Herb Roti in the oven on the hot stone.

A friend had a birthday dinner at The Prime Rib that evening.  That was a bit of a challenge.  Every entree and appetizer are meat.  Thankfully, they have a lot of side dishes.  I made a veggie plate of grilled asparagus, baked sweet potato, and grilled artichokes.  I added a salad dressing of white balsamic vinaigrette for some flavor variety.  The waiter gave me a strange look when I said no butter or sauces on the veggies and didn't understand why I wanted the vinaigrette without the salad.  I split some Raspberry Sorbet with Tommy.

Sunday morning I made a Vanilla French Toast for breakfast with some fresh strawberries on the side.  The toast was cooked in a skillet with some spray cooking oil.  It never gained that crispy outside that you get when it is cooked in butter.  It was more of a soggy toast.  Lunch was leftover Pasta al Forno and Herb Roti

The Ravens were playing at night so we went to Shiso Tavern on the square.  They have a great menu for me.  I started with a Tofu Capresse Salad.  It was made of tomatoes, basil, and tofu replaced the traditional mozzarella..  The main course was a Vegetable Stir Fry with rice.  It was too large to finish.  Most importantly, The Ravens are going to the Super Bowl.

This morning, I reheated some leftover Apricot Oatmeal.  At lunch I had a Beet Orange Salad with a Ginger Honey Vinaigrette and piece of pita bread.

Dinner was Aloo Gobi or Cauliflower and Potato Curry with Brown Bismati Rice.  The rice was cooked with smoked cardamon pods, a cinnamon stick, and cloves.  Excellent dish that paired with the Herb Roti.

Football Weekend

I started out the day  with a repeat of yesterdays Ginger Banana Smoothie.  For lunch I toasted some corn chips to go with a Mango Salsa. That was paired with a salad made from what is leftover in the fridge.  It had romaine, cauliflower, grape tomatoes, cucumber, almonds, blueberries, chickpeas and carrot.

Our afternoon plan was to watch the Baltimore - Denver game at the Lighthouse Tavern.  However, the crowd was just too much for us.  We spoke with the bartender the next day and she stated it was the biggest day in the history of the bar.  So we ended up watching the game at home. Of course, that also meant that we ended up drinking more, 2 bottles of wine to be exact. At half time I microwaved some of the leftover Chickpea Ratatouille.  After the game, I had a peanut butter and cherry preserves sandwich on whole wheat bread. Later that night I snacked on a Oatmeal Banana Bite.  Oh, and the Ravens won 38-35.

Sunday started out lite with a Oatmeal Banana Bite and some peanut butter.  For lunch we thought it was just warm enough to eat outside the dogs.  We ventured to Mama's on the Half Shell which has outdoor seating most of the year.  The menu was not the least bit vegan friendly.  The only option besides combing sides was on the kids' menu.  I had pasta with marinara sauce and a side salad. It was good, but I now know it is the only thing I can eat there.  That is a shame since it was one of our go to places for eating out with the dogs that was also in walking distance from home.

Dinner was more emptying out the fridge. I roasted a batch of Kale Chips and mixed the last of the Chickpea Ratatouille with the Couscous with Peas and Carrots. 

Today was the second time this week I have had a migraine.  I usually have one a month.  I hope the change in diet is not a cause.

Dining out

Today was a tough one on the vegan journey.  On the days that the Baltimore Ravens play, we watch at the Lighthouse Tavern with our Raven's Roost. It is a convenient place to watch because it is on the same street  we live on and they have a lot TVs.  The menu is not vegetarian friendly, much less a good place for a vegan.I had a green salad for lunch which was greens with a little bit of carrot, tomato and onion with a balsamic vinaigrette. It was not entree sized.  Tommy had a chicken sandwich with tater tots and I had a lot of those.  Not exactly a well rounded meal to go with my ciders while watching the game.  The good news is that the ravens won their wild card round of the playoffs against Indianapolis.

Breakfast was cereal, almond milk, raspberries and blackberries.  For some reason, cereal pictures seem to come out blurry.

For dinner we had some of the leftover Moroccan Bean Stew with Sweet Potatoes and Couscous.  I made a batch to Kale Chips to compliment it.  It is amazing how 2 people can eat an entire batch of kale after it has been dehydrated, but if it was raw or sauteed we would only make a dent into the batch.

Back to football.  Today was Ray Lewis' last home game as a Raven.  He spent his entire career in Baltimore and was a member of the first draft class.  He has been great to watch over the years.