Addicted to Results 4/26miner

Breakfast started out pretty basic - oatmeal with banana and a little bit of maple syrup.

For lunch I did a mix of two different leftovers - the fettuccine alfredo and the  garlic harticot verts.

For dinner, we went out with friends to Aida Bistro in Columbia.  They have wine on tap and serve it in 3 and 5 oz glasses.  I started with a pomegrante martini and we given french baquette slices and olive oil.  For my first course I had a beet salad.  This was shaved beets and arugula.  It also have goat cheese that was not listed on the menu so I had to pick the cheese out of the salad.  My first glass of wine was a gewurtaminer.
I forgot to take a pic of the salad.  The next course was a duo of spreads.  One was the black truffle hummus and the other was a dill cheese spread.  I gave the cheese spread to the table.  I was I had thought to ask for 2 hummus servings instead.  The hummus was nice, but not as rich as I was used to.  Also, I could not  taste the black truffle.

Hummus an crackers

The main course was a quinoa and black bean casserole with corn and a tomato sauce.  Tommy ordered a bottle of Argyle sparkling for the table.

There was nothing on the dessert menu I could eat. I decided to go with a chocolate martini.  It was good, but the chocolate sauce appeared to be a chocolate cream sauce instead.  It was good and looks really  nice in the picture.

Chocolate Martini

Addicted to Results 4/21

Not much new going in the kitchen.  I was basically cleaning out the refrigerator today.  It was grocery day and I needed to make room for the new stuff.  I did get a new haircut.  Four inches came off and I still have long hair. Breakfast was a green smoothie.  This one had soymilk, frozen pineapple, hemp protein, spirulina, and psyllium husk.

It isn't easy being green

Lunch was the leftover Chilaquiles Casserole.  Snack time was cashew nuts.  For dinner I used the rest of the arugula as a base for some of the rice from Saturday's dinner at Orza.  On top of that was the remainder of the mashed sweet potatoes, kalamata olives, and vegan pepper jack cheese.  I had a nice glass of rose with the meal.

Addicted to Results 4/20

Tea of the Day
 

This morning's smoothie was made with soy milk, frozen raspberries, oatmeal, carob powder, and hemp protein.  Good fuel for running and air yoga.  The tea is a rooibos blend that is one of the more flavorful non caffeine teas out there.

Lunch was leftovers. We finished the whole wheat spaghetti and the 'Chorizo' and Pepper Sauce.  I added some kalamata olives and nutritional yeast.

In the afternoon, we had a massage.  That felt great on my fatigued muscles. At this point, I not that sore, just tired.  After the massage went stopped by Vino in Fells Point.  We split a order of hummus and stuffed grape leaves.  I had a glass of Cava and a glass of Savignon Blanc.

I was not very hungry in the evening, so I just had some sweet potatoes with olives, seitan and vegan cheese.  I sipped on some Rose during the evening.

Addicted to Results 4/19 Date Night

Sangria

As usual, the morning started with a smoothie. It is not the most photogenic color, but it did it's job.  This was a blend of soymilk, cranberries, pumpkin puree, frozen spinach, carob powder, spirulina and agave syrup.

Lunch was a mix of leftovers. The seitan mushroom mix was served over mashed sweet potatoes.  I added some kalamata olives and a sprinkling of nutritional yeast.

For dinner, we went to Orza in Little Italy. This is a Persian restaurant. At the start of the meal, they provide some hummus, tomatoes and pita to split.

I had the Veggie Ghormeh Sabzi Stew which is made with red beans, green herbs and mushrooms.  You have a choice of 4 types of rice.  I picked a basmati with sour cherries. The cherries gave a great taste to the stew.  Photo was a little blurry.

 

I tried a dessert which was presented as a lemon sorbet with cherry compote.  It was not at all what I expected.  The sorbet was basically frozen grated lemon peel with a little bit of cherry juice.  That was not good and I did not finish it.  Everything else was fantastic.

Lemon sorbet

After dinner we went to Landmark Theater for a movie - Raid 2.  The nice thing about Landmark is that it has a bar.  I had a Transcendence which was a gin and tonic with blueberries.  The bartender is great and has a good knowledge of foreign films.

  After the movie we stopped by Talara for a night cap.  I had the sangria pictured at the top and we split a order of black bean hummus and guacamole.

 

Wine from dinner

 

 

Feeling Better

I am healing from a sinus infection that included a wonderful temperature that went over 100 degrees. It is nice to feel like cooking again with the muscle aches and shivers.  I made one of my favs for breakfast - a almond butter, orange marmalade banana sandwich on the Acorn Squash Roll.

Leftovers were for lunch. For the last week we have been eating bulgar wheat or brown rice with frozen vegetables for dinner.  It was an easy fix for when I didn't feel good. I put the last serving of that over some spinach, added the Kale Salsa, green onion and some vegan cheese.  On the side, was tortilla chips with cheese.

Mashed sweet potatoes

Dinner started with some mashed sweet potatoes that were seasoned with balsamic vinegar and salt.

I sauteed some seitan, mushrooms, and green onion in a custom spice mix with some balsamic vinegar.

Then it all came together as this.  The seitan mix was layered on top of the sweet potatoes.  There was a side salad made with butter lettuce, kale salsa, vegan cheese and balsamic vinegar.

spice mix

My spice mix is cayenne pepper, ground cumin and salt.  For a late night snack, I spread half a acorn squash roll with sundried tomato sauce and sprinkled some of the vegan cheddar and parsley on top.

November starts

one dish meals

As  the temps drop, comfort food moves in. Lately I have been doing a lot of one dish meals. The one above is  a mix of black beans, roasted corns, Japanese yam (white flesh and is sweet), onion, cilantro and avocado. I baked the potato first, then just sauteed everything together in the skillet.

Blueberry smoothie

This was my breakfast this morning. The smoothie is made with rice milk, pomegranate juice,cocoa, spinach, dates, an lots of frozen blueberries.  I am amazed  at what I put in smoothies, but you do not notice the taste of the spinach.

Another new product for me is this herbal coffee.  I do not drink real coffee, it tastes like an aspirin dissolving in my mouth.  My mother could not stand the taste of coffee either, so it might be genetic. The only way I have ever been able to drink was with lots of hot chocolate and berry syrups which left almost no taste of coffee.  This product is made with chicory and cocoa.  It is prepared like coffee, I used a french press. The taste as nice and very chocolaty. I had to add a cube of sugar for each cup, so it is not the zero calorie beverage like tea. It is caffeine free.

Pesto

One of my clean out the refrigerator before grocery day creations was this pesto.  It is made with basil, cilantro, mint, and parsley for the herbs.  Some pine nuts, garlic, and nutritional yeast finish out the recipe.  I hate waste and it always feels good to use the produce up.  I spread this on sandwiches or used is pasta or rice dishes, such as the pasta primavera with tomatoes and asparagus.

Pasta Primavera

Addicted to Results 5/24

Fitting into the skirt for the first time

Workout - 30 minute treadmill run/walk
30 interval circuit
Kettlebells

Breakfast - Juice made from oranges, tomatoes, limes and cherries.

Lunch - Mushroom Tofu Burger with tahini sauce, lettuce, tomato, and salsa on a sourdough olive roll

Dinner - Spaghetti with tomato sauce and meatless balls.
Split a bottle of 2011 Chambolle Musigny

I am in leftover mode for the next few days.

Addicted to Results 5/8 and 5/9

Jack

5/8
Workout - 1 hour treadmill
TRX
Yoga

Breakfast - Apple cinnamon oatmeal

Leftovers

Lunch - I combined 3 different types of leftovers - Chili, Chickpea Stir Fry, and Veggie saute
Banana Snack Cake with Chocolate Frosting

Snack - Black truffle hummus

Chili Mac

Dinner - Chili Macaroni - Mix of onion, carrot, bell pepper, tomatoes and kidney beans over whole wheat elbow macaroni.

Fresh applesauce

Snack - Applesauce with sunflower seeds.  I made a large batch of applesauce with juice from Gala apples and Fiji apples for the sauce.

5/9
Workout - Yoga flex
1 hour elliptical
1 hour walk
Air Yoga

Smoothie

Breakfast - Smoothie - Banana, strawberries, rice milk, soy protein powder and chia seeds

Lunch - Mixed greens with carrot and sundried tomatoes topped with the tofu salad and some pesto dressing.
Banana Snack Cake with Chocolate Frosting

Dinner - Chili Macaroni
Steamed Broccoli with Pesto

Snack - Pistachios

Addicted to Results 4/21

Kettlebells

Workout - Kettlebells - Hopefully my pain level will be much lower this week.
XPF Cardio and  Conditioning


I am using leftovers, so the meals are repeat dishes.

Breakfast - Black Bean Burrito on a Whole Wheat Tortilla

Lunch - Cheesy Sauce on Whole Wheat Bread with tomato and pesto and some carrot sticks.  I added the tomato to the sandwich to give it a little more veggie.

Snack - Chocolate Bonbons

Dinner - A saute of black beans, onion, carrot, mixed mushrooms, and garlic using the homemade for a sauce. A sprinkled a sample of vegan Parmesan cheese on the bean mix.  It tasted a bit like the fake Parmesan that you get in the cans. I am glad I had a sample, because I would not want to have bought a large amount of the product.  Tofu Salad on a multigrain roll.

Maggie's Farm

 I am a big fan of hot tea.  That is the main beverage during the day for me. I have about 4 travel mugs a day of tea. I rarely use teas with caffeine. This group is herbal or roobios.
 Friday night's dinner was still about using the leftovers.  I made a saute using a red onion, potato, corn, green beans, endame, carrots and parsley. I added a Malaysian dipping sauce for flavor.  We have a side salad of romaine, carrot, cucumber and sunflower seeds.

Saturday's lunch was a simple sandwich.  I spread one piece of bread with leftover spring roll filling and the other slice with tofu mayonnaise.  I sliced a soy protein sausage for the main part of the sandwich.

For dinner we met friends at Maggie's Farm.  This is in the spot of the old Chameleon Cafe and is a locally sourced restaurant.  I brought my camera, but forgot to take pictures of the food.  This is becoming a bad habit. For my appetizer, I had the Roasted Brussel Sprouts with a grape salsa.  Normally,there is a charcuterie meat with it, but they left it off for me.  Everything is made fresh, so substitutions or modifications are easy.  The only other item on the menu for me was the vegetarian special of the day.  The one for today was a crepe based dish with dairy.  The chef made a special dish for me that included an eggplant puree with roasted mushrooms and kale.  I had some whole roasted carrots on the side.  Everything was excellent. I do find it interesting that so many of these local food places are so meat heavy.

For lunch on Sunday, I did a version of the Tofu Scramble.  A red onion, potato and tofu were sauteed, then I added the rest of my spinach so it would have some green. Some plum sauce was drizzled on the top.  Half of a whole wheat pita was on the side.