One Year Review

Chili

So, it has been one year since I embarked on a vegan diet.  It has been a good year. Eating at home is a breeze. Processed foods were not a big part of my diet to begin with, now I eat even less.  I have used some

Tacos and Refried Beans

mock meats and cheeses, but they are not the mainstay of my diet.  I will eat less of them this year.

Noodles and Vegetables

There are still plenty of recipes to make, some are modifications. Non dairy milks are great.  I do not crave meat at all.  The thought of eating a slab of meat is kind of gross.  Sometimes I would like some comfort food with ground meat and cheese, but that is rare.

Thousand Island Dressing

Tommy and I definitely eat out less often.  That is good for the waistline and the pocket book.  Eating out is still the hardest part.  It is frustrating to peruse a menu and see nothing I can eat on it.  The farm to table type places are the worst.  They put bacon in everything.  Some places will easily make a nice dish for me, others do not do a good job.

Noodles with peanut sauce, scallion pancakes

 Brunch is the hardest meal because everything is egg based.  Eating while travelling is tougher.  I have had two veggie sandwiches that had cheese on them.  It wasn't on the menu and we were on the road with the limited options. I am sure that will still happen every now and then.

Oatmeal with nuts and fruit

Granola

Health wise, I feel good.  My cholesterol dropped almost 30 points and it was high before. I lost a few pounds and gained a lot of muscle.  I made weight training a priority at the gym and it really paid off. When I had the Bod Pod analysis done, I gained 7 pounds of muscle.  Although the scale hasn't moved much, I am smaller and my clothes fit much better.

Lentil Soup with Rutabaga Croutons

Tommy has been a wonderful sport with this.  He eats vegetarian most of the time.  He likes a little cheese on most dishes.  I buy him some meat, especially if I am making a dish with a lot of veggies that I do not like.  He is also good at picking out the things that he doesn't like.

Mango Salsa

I have found that smoothies and oatmeal make the breakfasts.  You can add so many different ingredients to them to keep it from getting boring.  I snack on fruit and nuts most often.  I have to be careful with bread because I mindlessly eat it.  We have had lot of soups and

Spicy Lasagna

salads. One dish meals are common for dinner.  Stir fry a protein (beans or tofu) and at least 2 veggies and serve over a grain. I try not to make to many desserts, but we have had cookies, cakes and pies.  Earth Balance and bittersweet chocolate are a great team.  It took several tries to get good pancakes, but I have yet to find a good French Toast recipe. But I will trying.  I have made lots of hummus, pesto and guacamole. I make bread about as often as I did pre-vegan. We are enjoying a whole wheat loaf now.  

Portobello Mushroom with Mashed Potatoes and Gravy

I claim the year a success and looking forward to another meat free year.

Nachos

Quinoa with veggies and  curry sauce

Tofu steaks, bulgar wheat and asparagus

Concert in the Park

It was a beautiful morning, so Tommy and I walked down to Panera for breakfast.  I had a repeat, which was the oatmeal with strawberries, pecans and brown sugar.  The serving size was much smaller than the last time I had it.  I wonder which one was the mistake?

Cinnamon Currant Bread

The post workout lunch was the roasted veggies that I have been eating and Cinnamon Currant Bread.  I made a double loaf, one for now and one for Bonnaroo.  This was a white bread with a cinnamon sugar swirl and dried currants.  I used my flaxseed, baking powder, potato starch, oil replacement for the egg.  The bread baked up wonderfully light and fluffy.

Trail mix

For dinner, we went to the Bellvederes concert in Patterson Park with the dogs.  I packed our meal which included the Panzanella Salad, some fresh corn tortilla chips and roasted tomato salsa, cinnamon bread and a trail mix that I made.  The mix was a combination of leftover granola, dried raspberries, pepitas, sunflower seeds, almonds and nutritional yeast.   We had an albarino to round out the experience.

 We had a great time in the concert.  The big drawback was one portapotty for 2000 people.  The line was so long we left about 30 minutes early.  We were parked across from Bistro Rx, so we had some post concert nourishment after the trip to the facility.  I had a black bean dip made with black beans, corn, onions, and peppers.  It was really more of a salsa and was served with tortilla chips.  I accompanied that with a glass of a white burgundy.

Addicted to Results 6/7 and 6/8

6/7
Workout - 1 hour Personal Training
spin
XPF cardio

Breakfast - Mango, Apple, Lime Juice

Lunch - Noodle Casserole
slice of Italian bread with vegan cheese

Snack - Granola

Roasted veggies fresh from the oven

Dinner -  Roasted veggies - Cleaning out the fridge before vacation.  I roasted, broccoli, chickpeas, asparagus, snap peas, bell pepper, cherry tomatoes,onion, garlic, and black olives in a sauce made from BBQ sauce, tahini sauce and lemon juice.  I added some whole wheat bread crumbs and vegan cheese at the end.
Split a bottle of Gigondas

6/8
Workout - Weekend Warrior Workout
30 minutes incline treadmill
air yoga

Breakfast - Apple oatmeal with almonds

Lunch - Roasted veggies

Snack - glass of white wine

Dinner - at an Anniversary Party
Vegan Sandwich from Atwater's that included cauliflower and cucumber
Potato chips
Sparkling wine
Cider

This was the end of the 2 month challenge at the gym.  I ended up at 162 pounds which is my lowest weight in a long time.    I have definitely increased my strength and aerobic capacity.  My blog will revert from being a food and workout log to the more conversational one that I was doing since the beginning of the year

Addicted to Results June 1 - June 6

Prosecco and grapefruit vodka cocktail at Chazz

6/1
Workout - Weekend Warrior Workout
Thai Yoga and Massage

Breakfast - The weather is nice so it is time for meals outside with dogs.  THB bagels - Whole Wheat Everything Bagel with Peanut Butter

Lunch - Sweet Potato and Chili

Champagne at CWC

Snack - Mixed Nuts
Champagne

Noodle Casserole fresh from the oven

Dinner - Noodle Casserole-  The noodles were a rice and corn flour mix.  The sauce was cannelloni beans, tomatoes and tomato paste, bell pepper, onion, and adobe chili sauce.  This was added to the noodles and baked with a topping of vegan cheese
Split a bottle of wine

Best vegan cheese by far

6/2
Workout - Kettlebells
Air Yoga

Breakfast - Apple Oatmeal with almonds

Lunch - Black beans and Rice

Dinner - Rice Casserole

Snack - Popcorn
Mixed Nuts

6/3
Workout -  1 hour bike
Air Yoga
Xfit

Breakfast - Apple Oatmeal with almonds

Lunch-  Chili and Rice

Snack - dried apricots

Dinner - Noodle casserole

granola

Snack - granola - Fresh batch.  I added coconut, sesame seeds and sunflower seeds to this batch.  The fruit was prunes and fresh grapefruit juice was in the binders.

grapefruit juice

6/4
Workout - 1 hour walk
XPF Cardio
TRX

Breakfast - Outside with the dogs at Panera
Oatmeal with strawberries, pecans and brown sugar

Lunch - Mama's on the Half Shell
Raw vegetable sandwich on whole wheat
Fries and ketchup

Dinner - Panzanella Salad - Italian bread croutons, cherry tomatoes, and basil over Romaine from the farm stand.  Dressing made from red wine vinegar, safflower oil, water, pepper and lots of garlic.

Panzanella salad

Snack - Slice of Italian bread with peanut butter and mango ginger jam
granola

Fresh green stuff from the farm stand at Future Care

6/5
Workout - 1 hour walk
1 hour bike
TRX
Yoga

Breakfast - THB - whole wheat everything bagel with peanut butter

Snack - Granola

Lunch - Noodle Casserole

Paninni

Dinner at Chazz outside with the dogs .Chazz is not a good choice for vegans.  Everything has cheese on it. My sandwich normally comes with smoked Gouda.  Without it, I basically had a pepper and onion sandwich.
Cocktail
Roasted vegetable panini
Dill pickle
Bread and olive oil
1/2 bottle of wine

6/6
Workout - 35 minutes weights, 25 minutes bike
1 hour walk
air yoga

Breakfast - Granola and brown rice crisps, banana, hazelnut milk

Cereal

Snack - Vega chocolate post workout recovery shake.  This one was better than the fruit ones.  It tasted like a cold hot chocolate.  I wonder how it would taste with hot water?

Lunch - Panzanella Salad

Dinner - Noodle Casserole

Snack - Apple with peanut butter
granola

Addicted to Results 5/27 - 5/31

5/27
Workout - 1 hour Personal training
30 minutes weights
30 minutes intervals
1 hour walk

Breakfast - Smoothie made with peaches, rice/quinoa milk, chia seeds, lemon juice, soy protein powder

Lunch - Spinach Salad

Snack - olives

Dinner - BBQ tofu with green onions
Corn on the cob
Grilled asparagus with tahini sauce

5/29
Workout - 30 minutes interval circuit
30 minute treadmill run
TRX
45  minutes weights, 15 minutes bike

Breakfast - Applesauce, prunes and sunflower seeds

Lunch  - Black beans and yellow rice and roasted tomato salsa

Snack - mixed nuts
Vega pre workout shake - acai berry flavor taste was not good

Dinner - Lasagne

5/29
Workout - 30 minutes interval circuit, 30 minute incline treadmill
TRX
Yoga

Breakfast - Peanut butter and mango jam on Italian Bread

Lunch - Black Beans and yellow rice with roasted tomato salsa

Dinner - Chili
Salad - greens, sunflower seeds, olives, pickles beets, and pesto dressing
1/2 bottle wine

Snack - bread
dried apricots

5/30
Workout - Air yoga
30 minutes interval circuit, 30 minutes bike

Breakfast - Apple Oatmeal with almonds - Steel cut oats mixed with apple pulp from the  juicer, topped with almonds and a apple syrup made from apple juice and maple syrup.

Lunch - Sweet potato and chili

Dinner - Rice Casserole -brown  rice,  onions, TVP, celery, diced tomatoes, bell pepper and tomato paste baked and topped with a vegan cheddar.  The daiya cheddar is much better cooked than raw.

Snack - Apple and peanut butter

5/31
Workout - 1 hour Personal training
1 hour walk
kettle bells

Breakfast - Smoothie - banana, strawberries, hazelnut milk, and soy protein powder.  I tried the hazelnut milk for the first time.  It has a nice taste and is a little more tasty than almond milk.

Snack - post workout Vega shake apple berry flavor.  This one did not taste any better.

Lunch - sweet potato and chili

Snack - apple and peanut butter

Dinner - Jack's Bistro
Manhatten
Carrot soup made with coconut milk
Oyster mushrooms and asparagus saute
glass wine
pita bread

Addicted to Results 5/26

Champagne

Workout - XPF Cardio

Breakfast - 3 faux sausage slices with roasted tomato salsa
1/2 grapefruit

Lunch - Wit and Wisdom  updated their menu and added burgers.  One of the sandwiches is a Falafel Burger with a Tahini Sauce.  French fries with ketchup were on the side with a dill pickle spear.  Tommy and I split 2 half bottles of wine.  The restaurant opened up its new outdoor seating area near the water.  It was a windy day, but really nice outside.  We brought the doggies along as well.

Dinner -  Black Bean and Rice burrito filling sans tortilla.

River catching a few rays at lunch