Rainy Day

Why does it always rain on the day the dogs are groomed? They are so gorgeous and fluffy and the rain curls the fur.  This morning was spent at Valley Motors where I finally got the new gas pedal installed.  Hopefully, that is it for the car until the 60,000 mile maintenance in June.  Breakfast was quick one of Cocoa Rice Cereal, banana, and vanilla rice milk.  The cereal had nice chocolate taste without all the sugar found in the more commercial versions.

During the day, the weather was wonderful making its way to 70 degrees. We took the dogs out for lunch (before bath time) at Mama's On the Half Shell. I had what will be my standard there from the kid's menu of  Pasta and Marinara Sauce. The server told me they could do veggie pizza without cheese for me. I may try that next time. I helped Tommy with some of his fries and his fruit salsa.

Dinner was Savory French Lentils seasoned with garlic, rosemary, thyme, sage and molasses. It was served over fresh spinach and brown rice.  This was a very tasty combination. You can see the steam in the picture.

Nice Day

It was a wonderful day outside.  The dogs and I went on a 3 mile walk.  They were really strutting their stuff.  Tommy and I brought them along to have lunch out side at Panera.  He ordered soup and sandwich, I brought my lunch.  It was leftover Chickpea Salad with mixed greens and some peasant bread.  Breakfast was a variation on the classic fruit and oatmeal.  I made a Fig Oatmeal with Mint.  It was just a hint of mint, I don't think that the flavor meshed well with the earthiness of the figs and steel cut oats.

We had two dishes with dinner.  Tempeh Sloppy Joes on a carrot role and Pasta and Bean Salad with tomatoes and basil.  These were great dishes.  Onions, peppers and tempeh simmered in a tomato sauce flavored with cider vinegar, mustard and garlic powder.  The pasta salad included cannelloni beans, onions, tomatoes, basil, and scallions in a balsamic vinaigrette.

I snacked during the day on pistachios and a slice of bread with peanut butter. I also froze some Miso Soup and Wild Rice Soup so that I would have something if couldn't cook for a day.

Groceries

My meals for the day were all leftovers.  I had cereal with strawberries and cashews and vanilla rice milk for breakfast.  I was finally able to take a picture that was not blurry. The cereal was called Wheat Waffles, which is the Whole Foods version of Wheat Chex. I needed a fast breakfast because I needed to be at the dealership at 8:00 in Timonium to have the new gas pedal assembly installed.  When they open the parts box, parts were missing.  So we will try again on Wednesday.  Uggh.

Lunch and dinner involved leftovers of the Cauliflower and Potato Curry, Jamaican Stir Fry, and Tofu Curry.
I went to Whole Foods to buy the groceries for the next 2 weeks.  The bill was at 237.00 which is more than I have been spending.  I was out of a lot of staples like yeast, maple syrup, soy sauce, sesame oil, olive oil, and hoison sauce.  Hopefully the next trip will be cheaper.  The picture is 2 weeks of groceries, not including staples I have on hand like rice, raisins, vinegars, and nut milk. The Center for Science in the Public Interest estimates that a healthy diet can be achieved at $2.50 a day per  adult. https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10151425104340406&set=a.10150119529535406.322571.240937060405&type=1&theater We are at $8.50 a day.  Whole Foods organics add to the cost and dried beans would also lower the bill, but that still seems a little low to me.  Yet I am staying away from the foods subsidized by the government for Big Ag.

To get ready for next week, I have roasted garlic and red bell peppers like I have done each grocery day.  There is nothing like having fresh roasted garlic on hand to smish into whole grain bread with some olive oil.  That is the best dessert ever.  I also made some chickpea veggie burgers.  My goal is to eliminate as many premade foods as possible.  The burgers are ready to be grilled later.  I also made some Carrot Rolls. These are yeast rolls the size of hamburger buns.  They are made with white flour, pureed carrots and bourbon.  The bourbon adds a nice kick to the buns.  Oh yes, we taste tested those buns.  I did cheat a little.  The buns called for butter.  The vegan standard is Earth Balance which I have used in the past.  It acts exactly like butter in recipes.  However, I still have 5 sticks of butter from the Christmas holiday cooking.  I used 6 tablespoons of real butter.  My frugal nature that says 'don't waste anything' took over.  Considering how much butter I still have, it will last a while. When I use it all, Earth Balance will take over.

More leftovers

Although I am clearing out the fridge before grocery shopping tomorrow, I did make a fresh breakfast. I did a variation of an Indian  dish called Sheera.  I used farina (cream of wheat), apples and raisins cooked in almond milk.  It makes a very thick  porridge and is very filling.

Lunch was all about the leftovers.  We finished yesterdays pasta and I had some beets with the sesame dressing for flavor.  Dinner was Collards with Almonds, Carrot Halwa, and Cauliflower and Potato Curry over brown rice.  All were repeats so I did not take a picture.  We had a very nice alborino to pair with the meal.

I am really happy about the way most foods are being used between grocery trips every 2 weeks.  I have not had to throw anything out because it went bad.  But I think I need to freeze a few leftovers in case I have one of those super busy days that will not allow for me to cook.  I don't have my old go to of a grilled cheese                                           sandwich anymore and I am trying to eliminate commercially prepared food.  I am even making my own veggie burgers next week to go with my homemade bread. I just do not want to get caught with a nothing to eat night.

Emptying the fridge

So the next few days are going to about using the leftovers  in the fridge. Breakfast was a fruit salad using an apple and my last banana with the fruit compote I made last week from strawberries and peaches.  I  added a piece of peasant bread with apple butter.

Lunch was a pasta dish of the remainder of a box of spaghetti with toppings of onion, grape tomatoes, broccoli, zucchini, chickpeas and garlic.  A sauce was made with tomato paste, water, red wine, and spices. Again most of this emptied out the fridge, although I had leftover pasta.  I can see the steam from the pasta in the picture.

Dinner was some of the leftover Sweet Potato Lentil Chili with a fresh batch of Kale and Chard Chips.  In the evening when we had the munchies we paired some Elijah Craig 20 year old bourbon with some peasant bread spread with orange infused olive oil and roasted garlic and toasted in the oven.  It was so good, we had seconds.  Neither Tommy nor I felt the least  bit deprived tonight.

Can't think of a title

Today is a slow Friday.  We finally got a couple of inches of snow that the dogs loved.  River runs and jumps and sprints in it.  But she got to see the other side of snow, frozen paw pads on our last walk of the night.  I had to carry her for a block while rubbing her paw pad to melt the ice.  Today's food choices were mainly repeats.  Breakfast was cereal with a banana and almond milk.  I needed something quick before going to the gym.  For lunch I made a Amy's Veggie Burger.  I spread one piece of peasant bread with plum sauce and the other with minced sundried tomato.  The toppings were caramelized onions, cucumber, alfalfa sprouts, carrot, and roasted red pepper.

Dinner was mainly leftovers.  I had the take home from the Prime Rib of sweet potato, artichokes and asparagus, plus the Collards with Almonds.  My fresh dish was a Carrot Halwa with a cashew paste, raisins and almonds.

We split a nice bottle of Cava with the meal.  Many ethical vegans are weary of beer and wine because the fining agents can be gelatin, isinglass (fish bladder), bone marrow or casein. Since I am making this change for potential health reasons, I am not worried about that.  I find it doubtful that any IGF-1 (insulin like growth factor) makes it into the final product. However, if you want to which alcohols are truly vegan check out www.barnivore.com .

Snow Day

Well, it wasn't really that much snow.  It was enough to make the dogs go a little crazy and jump around and play.  I wish I could tape it because they are so cute in the snow.  If we actually get several inches on Friday, they will love it.

Breakfast was the last of my Apricot Oatmeal and I made some Gingered Cantaloupe.  The melon was mixed with some powered ginger and crystallized ginger with a little honey to cut the spiciness.

Lunch was a clean out the fridge salad.  The last of my salad greens with some beets, broccoli, asparagus, cherry tomatoes, alfalfa sprouts, chickpeas, carrot, croutons made from the peasant bread and dressed with the ginger sesame vinaigrette.

For dinner we  finished off the Cuban Black Bean Soup and I made some Collard and Chard Chips.  I have used chard for chips quite a few times, but this was the first time for collard greens.  They did not crisp well.  While still crunchy, they were bitter with an unpleasant taste.  You could tell the difference between the collards and the chard even though they looked the same.  Going forward, collards will not be crisped.

While embarking on this vegan transition, I have not had this burst of energy that some claim to get from the lifestyle.  Maybe this is because I did not eat at fast food establishments or make processed foods a normal part of my diet before hand.   For me, the change was not that drastic.  Just cut out meat, cheese and eggs.  Other that cheese, dairy was already out because of my lactose intolerance and cheese was beginning to bother me.

I feel that I have done well in keeping my nutritional needs in check.  I take B12 because I have pernicious anemia.  I could eat a 100% meat diet and not get the vitamin because of my stomach's inability to digest the vitamin.  I use a sublingal B12 that is absorbed under the tongue in the same way nitroglycerin pills are for heart patients.  I also take a calcium supplement, though I don't know if that is necessary because kale and collards are full of calcium.   Protein only needs to be 10% of your daily caloric intake and I have been between 12 - 18%.  This study http://www.nap.edu/openbook.php?record_id=10490&page=589  talks about the protein needs and that the 35% most people get is way too much.  Otherwise, a varied diet provides all the vitamins and minerals that you need.