6 Week - Day 15

My Food:

Breakfast: fried potatoes with mushrooms, spinach, and broccoli, cup of fruit (melons and grapes)

Lunch: green apple, decaf black coffee, handful of chex mix

Dinner: spinach with pecans and mandarin oranges, large bowl of Three Bean Lentil Soup, handful of popcorn, frozen cherries with cocoa powder for dessert, tea

*Pretty*

Exercise: none

My Thoughts:

We went out for breakfast this morning with our oldest. I ordered my best from the menu. It was good, even if it was loaded with oil.  Because I started the day with starch, I was trying to be really careful to avoid them the rest of the day. But, as usual, if I start with starch, I battle the craving all day.

And, because we took the day to go out for some fun, it sure did feel like we should be snacking along the way. My son offered me some of his Chex Mix and I didn't resist. Sigh.  My oldest made a big bowl of popcorn for dinner and I grabbed some to munch.  Sigh. 

BUT, even though I'm going CRAZY, I am NOT eating the "cardboard pizza" that my boys are enjoying tonight.  I am determined to not give in. 

I'm feeling fat and frumpy and like all my work is for nothing today. My clothes aren't feeling loose, I'm not feeling springy, I'm just feeling ick today. 

I have a strong suspicion that has to do with not eating well the last two days.  My energy is low because I'm not getting in the foods that are what I call "alive".  I need to get back to eating enough of the nutrition that I know gives me what I need to feel great. 

Looking Ahead:

Tomorrow is my little guy's birthday.  We bought some special fruits so we could enjoy a treat while the rest of the family has cake tomorrow.  Maybe I'm feeling a little emotional about that too. 

I am looking forward to my breakfast salad in the morning.  I need a good start like that again.

6 Week - Day 14

My Food:

Breakfast: nothing

Mid-morning: half-caf coffee, scoop of reheated Shepherd's Pie

Lunch: nothing

Dinner: Pizza Salad (I think that's what I want to call it) - garbanzo bean crust topped with crushed tomatoes, roasted chickpeas, mushrooms, broccoli, sunflower seeds, and an amazing buffalo sauce. Baked and then topped with a head of romaine and more buffalo sauce. Incredibly good!

 

Here, let me push some of the lettuce to the side for you so you can see the "pizza" underneath. SO tasty. :)

Exercise: None unless grocery shopping counts. Yeah, didn't think so.

My Thoughts:

Today was icky. Hard and icky. I was tired and grumpy all day. I was lazy and just wanted to go back to bed from the start. I barely ate, which I'm sure didn't help much.

The dinner I came up with was good, though. Our family went to a bonfire tonight so I knew I needed a good meal to fill up on to keep us from the hot dogs and s'mores and donuts at the event. I came up with the pizza idea and the buffalo sauce put it over the top.  David loved it too. I need to work on the crust, but we were both excited to have a grain-free meal that was so tasty.

I also packed a bag of grapes for us so we could enjoy something sweet.  David was so happy with me as he was able to put back the donut he was almost going to eat when he saw me holding the grapes. That sorta made my night. ;)

The scale is down about another pound from last week. That's good, really it is. But I'm left confused because it's the same number I saw on Sunday morning. I thought, for sure, I'd see a lower number come Friday.  Oh, well.  I need to keep going and remember it's about the journey, not the scale.

I do notice I have less belly bloat this week. That makes me happy.

I'm also doing some research these days on digestion and stools. I know that's a little TMI, but it can tell you a lot about your health. And, whenever I'm eating well, I notice big changes in my digestion, all for the better.  An article that made me laugh but also has me thinking and eager to dig for some real science to see if her thoughts are accurate is posted here titled, "Fart, or Be Fat".  Catchy, huh? :)

With what I'm reading there and with what I'm observing here, I've started increasing my water intake.  Seems that the high fiber diet needs to be met with enough water to keep things just right.

6 Week - Day 13

My Food:

Breakfast: Chocolate smoothie (almond milk, frozen kale-berry-cherry mix, ground flax, cocoa powder) full blender

Lunch: romaine head topped with carrots, cauliflower, roasted chickpeas, diced green apple, and stone ground mustard, apple slices with peanut butter

Dinner: Ranch beans, mushrooms with broccoli, applesauce cornbread (recipe on my recipe tab), frozen mixed fruit for dessert

Exercise: Walk downtown for karate tonight

My thoughts:

So, I started the day with something different for breakfast. I slept in late and it was pouring rain so going to out to pick kale (or, rather, coercing a child to do it) wasn't what I wanted to do. That meant I was going in for smoothies. I made up one blender for the children with orange juice, frozen fruit and kale mix and walnuts.  I made another for myself using the ingredients above. I knew it had to be chocolate. Yesterday was national chocolate day and I did NOTHING to celebrate. The nerve! So, today started right with two big mason jars of chocolate nutrition. :)

 

Dinner I followed the menu plan, dressed up some pintos that were in the fridge for Ranch Beans, sautéed some mushrooms with onion and garlic powder and then added in a couple of bags of frozen broccoli.  We had cornbread in the freezer to go with it. 

 

I packed our dinner again tonight so David and I could eat together while the boys did their karate workout downtown.  I'm really liking this new thing. Way better than ordering take-out from the places downtown since there's nothing there I could eat that wouldn't be off plan for me.

 

We came home tonight and my oldest had made chocolate date balls WITH PEANUT BUTTER!! I was already hunkering for date balls and then had to resist THAT. But, I did it. I quickly grabbed my cup of tea and scooted to my room for the evening.  Tomorrow is weigh-in day and completes my second week. I don't want to lose my reward. :)

 

Looking Ahead:

 

Tomorrow I'll get groceries and work on my kitchen work. I'm hoping to get at least half of it done tomorrow so I can take my two oldest girlies out for a day of shopping or some kind of fun on Saturday. I'm ready for a break from the kitchen.

 

 



6 Week - Day 12

My Food:

Breakfast: Breakfast salad in the van, green tea

Lunch: Taco style lentils and rice over a head of romaine, a few carrot sticks, celery, and a few apple slices with cookie dough hummus. (we leave out the chocolate chips in our hummus)

Green tea for snack time and for the ride home.

Dinner: Leftover night! I had reheated roasted veggies and a half a bean burger, gala apple for dessert

My Thoughts:

Not a lot to say tonight. I had a great day visiting with my very dear friend. Super happy about my food choices and that we were able to provide a meal for them. I came home really tired, though, from the two hour round trip.

My night was exhausting at rehearsal trying to keep up with all the children and get my own self where I need to be on top of it all back stage.  Really tired. I should count all that as exercise but I can't. So, no exercise today.

I'm seeing the numbers on the scale continue to go down. It's in small increments, but it's still the right direction. I'm not reporting any numbers until Friday, though.

Looking Ahead:

It's pouring rain tonight. I'm sort of hoping for a rainy day tomorrow. My house is a mess and needs cleaning.  I could go for a day of quiet reading too. And we need to get school done tomorrow. SOOOO.....

I have no idea what order life needs to happen but tomorrow is another day and I'm looking forward to making it another one with great choices.  I'm pretty sure we have soup on the menu for tomorrow night. That will be perfect. :)

Week 6 - Day 11

My Food:

Breakfast: Breakfast salad

Lunch: Head of romaine, pintos with hot sauce, an orange

Dinner: mushroom-veggie-bean burger with stone ground mustard, roasted veggies on a bed of spinach topped with a orange-pom sauce I made, oven fries

Dinner for two! Date night take out (as in, take it out from the house ;) )

Dessert: frozen cherries with cocoa powder, decaf coffee

Exercise: walk around town with my girlies after lunch, walk downtown and back this evening with my guys

My thoughts:

Today was good. Extra exercise with my girlies on a lovely day. I was happy I made that choice.

I also survived the pizza restaurant after karate with my boys.  David and I took them out for dinner to hang out a bit. I packed our dinner and we ate it while they had their workout, so we just hung out and talked with them while they ate at the restaurant.  That was a really good plan.

I am SO excited that I am learning to sit and enjoy their company without feeling like I have to be eating food with them.  And the greasy smells from the food made me really happy I wasn't having any anyways.  That was a real victory for me. :)

Looking Ahead:

Tomorrow we go visit with friends. We are bringing along our ol' standby, Taco Lentils with Rice, veggies, fruit, and cookie dough hummus to serve for lunch.  I love when I can be a blessing with good food. :)  Can't wait to see them and I hope we can be a bigger blessing by doing some work with them while we are there. 

Week 6 - Day 10

My Food:

Breakfast: Breakfast salad

Lunch: Taco salad (head of romaine with our taco topping), salsa, and about 4 low-salt tortilla chips

Snack: handful of popcorn popped in coconut oil (grrrr....)

Dinner:  Full plate of dinner salad (romaine, carrots, cucumber, raisins, sunflower seeds) topped with our cashew Italian dressing, Lentil and Vegetable Shepherd's Pie

Note: Salad Bar courtesy of this cute kitchen crew!

My Exercise:

 

Walk downtown with the fam

My Thoughts: 

Today felt a little sloggy.  (that's slow-groggy, if you care) I was up with the baby a lot last night and I'm just sort of drained from being over-tired.  That left me feeling really snacky this afternoon. I caved and helped myself to the popcorn the girls were eating. It was soooo good. Too good.  I ate one handful and put the rest right back because I knew I was about to binge on it.  So, even though I'm not happy I gave in to the snacking, I guess I am happy I was able to think quick and put it back and avoid that binge.

The dinner I made tonight was REALLY good. Well, I made it on Saturday so all I had to do was heat it up tonight. The mashed potatoes were the best I've ever made.  I had a good sized helping, but a lot of what was on my plate was veggies and lentils. 



That's good Monday Night comfort food, right there, folks!

So satisfying. I'll type up the recipe below, as I did alter the original shepherd's pie recipe I used quite a bit. 

Looking Ahead:

Tonight my husband encouraged us all to go for a walk after dinner. That was good, even though I wanted to be lazy and curl up in front of the fire.  Tomorrow we will be walking to karate with our boys. The next night we will walk to rehearsal, Thursday we'll walk to karate again. That leaves Friday and Saturday to find some other form of *exercise* for the day, as we also walk downtown on Sunday for rehearsal.

I guess it's not really *exercise* since it's just a casual, short walk, but it's more than I have been doing so I'm going to start counting it. I'm hopeful it will increase soon, but it's good to at least look at the positive things I'm doing right now.
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The Veggie Shepherd's Pie
(this made 2 9x13 pans, adjust to your needs)

6 medium carrots, diced
3-4 large stalks of celery, diced
1 onion, diced
1/2 - 1 package mushrooms, diced
1 cup of fresh or frozen greens, diced (kale, spinach, chard, collards)
1-2 cups frozen corn (or mixed veggies, peas, green beans, any kind of veggies you like, really)
10-12 medium sized potatoes, washed, roughly chopped (I leave the skins on)
1.5 cups vegetable broth
1 cup dry lentils (or 2-3 cups of cooked lentils. I used some leftover cooked lentils from the fridge for the recipe tonight and it turned out great. Budget-friendly way to use up leftovers and feed the fam)
1 15oz can of cannellini beans, drained, pureed
1/2 - 1 cup almond milk
1-2 TBS minced garlic

Cook dry lentils for about 25 minutes (or according to package instructions)

Boil the potatoes for 20 minutes or until soft. Add the pureed beans, garlic, and almond milk.  Whip with hand-held mixer until creamy, adding milk as needed.

Bring vegetable stock to a boil in a large sauce pan. Chop all veggies and simmer in vegetable broth for 15 minutes until soft. The broth should be absorbed by the vegetables by this time. Add salt and pepper according to taste.

Combine all the vegetables and lentils.  Spoon them into the bottom of 2 9x12 pans. Top with whipped potatoes, equally in each pan.

From here you can cover with foil and store in the fridge until ready to heat and serve. Bake at 350 degrees for about 20-30 minutes or until hot and potatoes begin to crisp and brown. 

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Shepherd's Pie is a dish that I hadn't even heard of until I met my New England born husband. He had to teach me how to make it when we first were married, all those years ago.  I was THRILLED when he LOVED my veggie version of his all-time favorite comfort food.  He was skipped the ketchup that he normally would have topped it with since he's working the 6-week plan with me. 

The children, however, were happy to add it to this new rendition of an old family favorite.



6 Week - Day 9

My Food:

Breakfast: Breakfast salad

Lunch: Big salad from the grocery store salad bar (all veggies with a tiny bit of ranch dressing, some berries), chickpea chips

Pre-rehearsal dinner: granny smith apple

Dinner: leftover chowder, bowl of pintos with Franks hot sauce, bowl of frozen mixed fruit

Water and green tea all day. No coffee on Sunday...wha?????

My Thoughts:

Today was a series of decisions to be made.  Years ago Sunday was a "free" day where I'd allow myself to deviate from my diet, whatever it was, for one day. It's always felt like a day I should be treating myself and allowing for indulgences.  So, I often go into Sunday feeling like I'm entitled to that.

Yet, I don't want to think like that. Sunday isn't about me. It's not a break from life, it's a time to refresh and renew.  A treat isn't an awful thing, but indulging isn't a good practice, either.

Today I felt like I was dealing with little battles all the day long. I had to make choices about my salad and dressing. I had to face decisions about adding snacks or treats to my lunch. I had to choose to not eat the food the children were having. I had to stand in front of that fridge trying to decide what I was going to eat because I hadn't made a plan for meals today.  All these choices. All these ways I could undo my efforts. All these opportunities to strengthen good habits. 

For the most part, I did well. I had that drink in my hand at the grocery store and then turned around and put it back on the shelf. I did buy those chips to enjoy with my salad, being careful about ingredients. Yet, the fat was high, the oil taste was so gross, so I was able to put them away before I made too much of a piggy of myself.  I really think I'm ready to give up on the chips for awhile. Those were really greasy.  Blech.

I have to say, I was really motivated to stay on course after stepping on the scale this morning. I'm down almost another pound! Wow!!

Looking Ahead:

Tomorrow we start a new week with partially going back to school after a break. I've got to make sure I've got my plan in action because that helps me stay focused.  Thinking about my progress so far is so encouraging. Knowing I've already done some significant good in such a short time is hugely exciting and makes me so eager to keep on keepin' on!

6 Week - Day 8

My Food:

Breakfast: Breakfast salad and green tea, made by my lovelies. <3

Lunch: a few carrot chips, I was busy in the kitchen so I really just munched on raw carrots while I worked

Dinner: a head of romaine topped with a delicious portabella veggie bean burger I made today, spicy mustard, a side of cooked carrots with a orange-pom-raisin sauce I made. I had some leftover broccoli and green beans on my plate but they weren't very tasty so I didn't finish those. I also enjoyed two bowls of a delicious Vegan Clam Chowder that I made today as well. (though I'm not sure why it's called "clam" chowder. It tastes like regular veggie chowder to me.)

 

 

Dessert: Frozen orange sections dusted with cocoa powder

 

My Thoughts:

 

Busy Kitchen Day today!  We got a lot done and I was FAMISHED by the time dinner came around. I didn't eat lunch so I was ready to fill up.  The veggie burgers were really good. I am going to keep playing with grilling them on the non-stick pans from now on. Though, it's much more time consuming than baking in the oven.

 

I used TVP in the burgers, thinking it would give them a nice texture.  After asking around, though, I see my suspicion was correct and that TVP isn't a great choice for optimal nutrition.  I'm going to try using real tofu next week in my burgers, if I can find it organic.

 

The Vegan Clam Chowder was a hit with everyone tonight. Very creamy and comforting.  

 

I have this new obsession forming with dessert. I've got this notion to freeze various fruits and see how they turn out. Tonight it's frozen orange slices dusted with cocoa powder. Honestly, the cocoa powder isn't necessary. The oranges are divine all on their own. :) 

 

 

Looking Ahead:

 

Tomorrow is Sunday, our day of worship. I didn't get anything pre-made for meals, so we'll be enjoying leftovers.  I'm finding that I'm hungry for salads more and more, the more I eat them. This morning my 11yo made pancakes and made a special heart shaped one for me. She pleaded with me to eat it, and I couldn't resist. However, after one bite I knew I couldn't finish it. It was too dry and tasteless to me. I really am enjoying the juicy, flavorful, life-taste that comes from the fruits and veggies. Really. :) 



6 Week - Day 7

My Food:

Breakfast: Breakfast salad, green tea

Lunch: head of romaine with carrots, broccoli, cauliflower, raisins, sliced almonds, and topped with spicy mustard (leftover from yesterday's packed lunch), 1/4 pb&j

Dinner: Taco salad (head of romaine topped with leftover chili lentils from last night, I added corn to stretch the lentils), half a piece of cantaloupe

Dessert: frozen cherries dusted with cocoa powder, a few handfuls of popcorn

My Thoughts:

WAHOO!!!!!  Not only did I complete the first week strong, but I broke into a new decade today!! I've been trying to move into this decade FOREVER. In fact, I figured out that it was back in February that I was talking about having gotten into this decade. Yep. It's been a long year of nothing happening with the scale.

BUT, I'm on my way. This was a fantastic week. I'm motivated and finding it not difficult to enjoy my meals and stick to the plan. I'm seeing all the ways I've sabotaged myself this past year. I see how the life stressors and my coping skills have really done me in.  There are these moments where I'm just shocked at how my brain works. When dealing with a heated confrontation I suddenly have these flash-cravings for a soda or chips or some kind of junk food. What?? I'm sitting there in high stress mode and all I can think of is downing a Dr. Pepper. What kind of crazy is that?? Clearly, I have the need for dealing with these wrong behaviors and learning to rightly deal with the hard things that come in life.

I'm really excited about the scale moving. I don't know how much I lost this past week since I didn't weigh in when I started. But, I have been thinking my jeans were feeling looser this week and then laughed at myself for imagining it. I'm glad to know that even though I probably am imagining it, I am getting closer to loose fitting clothes. Yay!

I also did some shopping today and bought myself rewards for a week well done. I have a brand new giant baking sheet. I'll be using that for all those yummy roasted veggies that I want to experiment with this week.  I also bought a couple new flippers to use with the non-stick skillet. I want to try some new recipes that use non-stick surfaces to see if I'll like using it for more than pancakes. I'm looking forward to hashbrowns, veggies, and some new bean burgers.

Looking Ahead:

I'm eager to start a new week!  Tomorrow is the first day of week 2.  I'll hopefully get some food done in the kitchen. I got my groceries tonight. I'm planning to make a vegan clam chowder for David, as he loves chowder.  I know that staying away from the grains is really helping me. I need to keep that up as the week progresses. I'm so hopeful that the scale will keep moving so I can be firmly planted into this decade and start moving into the next.  

I'm going back to this visual to remind myself what I'm aiming for each day. I already see that I have been enjoying dried fruit when that should be limited on the 6 week plan. Bummer. ;)

6 Week - Day 6

My Food:

Breakfast: Breakfast salad

Lunch: two plates of salad, one with low fat Italian dressing, one with no dressing, at pizza hut buffet; 2 bites of pizza crust (I *almost* made it out the door with NO pizza.)

Dinner: Roasted Butternut Squash pasta, Chili Lentils, Asian coleslaw, broccoli, kiwi & pineapple chunks, 2 chocolate date balls and black decaf for dessert

Evening treat: berry, cherry, kale, pom juice smoothie

My Thoughts:

Today was good. I made it through taking the kids to pizza hut buffet with NO pizza on my plate. I also skipped the heavy dressings that I normally like from that place. I don't love the salad bar there. Very little worth putting on my plate. But, I filled up on veggies and fruit and left happy that I had a nice time out with my whole family.  (and cringed a little seeing my boys pile their plates so high)

I was really happy with how my dinner turned out. We had company come for the meal and I tried a new recipe with the pasta. It was very good, even though the little girls didn't care for it.  I have yet to find a recipe that allows me to get them to eat squash. 

I haven't made my Asian coleslaw in a long time. It's so good, I need to remember to pull out that recipe more often.

I took a photo of the leftovers that were hanging around waiting for the boys to eat when they got home from karate tonight.

Looking Ahead:

Tomorrow we are home. I have a lot of desk work to do, but I'd like to try that vegan clam chowder and some of those desserts I've been printing off this week. 

So much to cook, so little time.

6 Week - Day 5

My Food:

Breakfast: Breakfast salad with frozen cherries in place of strawberries (yum!)

Lunch: Green Tea and a peanut butter oatmeal cookie

Dinner: Chilis' Carribean salad topped with a black bean burger, side of steamed broccoli and ear of corn on the cob, chips and salsa as appetizer (grrrr!)

My thoughts:

Today wasn't fantastic but I'm still happy with my choices.  I hate a very late breakfast so I wasn't hungry for lunch.  I wasn't going to have a cookie, but I just couldn't resist my sweet girly's hard work. She tried a new recipe, adjusted it to her preferences, and they turned out great! 

 

We went out for dinner and I was hungry! I knew I needed a big salad but am never too excited about grocery store salad bar. We decided to try the vegetarian options offered at Chilis.  They now allow you to sub a black bean burger or black beans for meat on their dishes.  This is pretty nice, even though I'm sure the burgers are processed to some degree.

What messed me up was that I didn't have my Ordering Mojo going on.  I forgot to order the salad dressing on the side and ask for the corn to be plain, no salt or butter. 

The other thing was the chips and salsa David ordered on a whim. Sooooo hard to resist chips when your tummy is growling. But, I did stop myself and stop the mindless munching after several chips.  That was tough!!

Looking Ahead:

I need to have a packed lunch for tomorrow. Hopefully that will be a filling spinach salad or something like it. It will depend on how much time I have to prep it though.

Editing to add: I'm sharing a bowl of grapes with my guy before bed. :)

6 Week - Day 4

My Food:

Breakfast: Restaurant fried potatoes with mushrooms, spinach, and broccoli, cup of fruit, black decaf

Lunch: Spinach salad with pecans, roasted chickpeas, mandarin oranges, Granny Smith apple

Dinner: Breakfast salad, large bowl of reheated taco soup

My Thoughts:

Another great day! Okay, I admit that the potatoes for breakfast didn't follow the 6 week plan fully, as they were cooked in oil and highly salted. But, I enjoyed my morning out with my guy and I made a fantastic choice given the menu. 

I also did really well the rest of the day focusing on greens, fruits, veggies, and legumes for my meals given I started the day with heavy starch.  Usually that derails me, but I was aware and fought the fight well.  I will say I did struggle and fight a lot of cravings for bread, especially when lunch came around and I was super hungry. I was really thankful I could pull together a fast salad to calm my hunger anxiety. 

I didn't get in enough water today.  I need to keep working on that. I am, however, seeing some changes in my digestion, getting back to normal again.  Sorry if that's TMI, but it's a real part of my progress and a sign that I'm back on the right track. :)

Looking Ahead:

We were out most of the day today so I didn't really get any kitchen work done. I want to try a couple of new recipes still this week, so I will hopefully get to that tomorrow.  Also hoping for a little more time outside to enjoy the fall air and colors. 

A friend asked me to help her daughter work on a menu plan for the next few weeks. She has some health issues and needs to restrict her diet in such a way that plant based eating could be a real help to her. I'm going to have fun working on building her packet of information, research, recipes, and encouragement as she works hard to help her body fight the Lyme disease that is wearing her down.  I'm praying that she will find great benefit from feasting on the foods that God has created for us to thrive on.

6 Week - Day 3

My Food:

Breakfast: Cabbage "hash" with mushrooms on a bed of baby spinach and topped with about a 1/2 cup or so of black beans cooked with mushrooms, onion, and greens.  I had about 1 cup of fruit salad and green tea with it.

Lunch: Breakfast salad

Dinner: Large dinner salad (plate of romaine topped with roasted chickpeas, cauliflower, raisins, and a few pecans with our Italian dressing; full plate of sautéed broccoli and green beans with cannellini bean balls topped with home made spaghetti sauce. 

Drank more cups of green tea than I can count all day today. So refreshing and kept me warm. :)

My Thoughts:

What a fab day! I ate so well and I felt so full with every meal.  I was excited to have something new to try for breakfast. I need to work at adjusting the seasonings a bit, but it was a good start.  I altered the recipe found here by skipping the oil and using veg broth in place of white wine.  I also had to use lime juice in place of lemons and I used cabbage in place of Brussels sprouts. I added onion powder and also a few mushrooms.  So, it was a decent stretch of the recipe, but, like I said, a good start.  I want to try again tomorrow with using less lime juice and playing with the seasonings some more.

 

My 11yo daughter was ambitious and built a lovely brunch for us this morning.  She heated up buckwheat blueberry pancakes from the freezer, g-bombed some black beans, made baked hash browns from scratch, an a fruit salad with oats.  It all looked and smelled amazing. It was very hard to resist the hash browns, which are a personal favorite of mine.  I had a couple of bites of pancake but otherwise filled up on my cabbage bowl and was quite satisfied. Still, I'm super proud of my girly and all she's learning and doing to help serve healthy meals to her family.

Drinking that green tea was awesome.  I was so happy to have something hot and comforting in my hands that I knew was so good for me.  It made every sip that much more enjoyable.  It also kept me hydrated which I've been lacking lately.  Hey, waddya know? I just realized I haven't dealt with a headache all day. Nice!

I got in a short walk to the library and back today. I do need to figure out how to start getting exercise into my day too. For now, I'm going to be thankful for the fresh air and not start getting all guilty about that. 

Dinner was great. The family all enjoyed the meal. The children had their bean balls and sauce over whole wheat spaghetti noodles with the cooked veggies on the side.  I loaded up my plate so much, I felt so.very.stuffed by the end of my meal.  I didn't have any fruit for dessert like I had planned. Too full and now too tired to bother.  But I am enjoying my fancy apricot green tea that I bought this summer at a lovely tea shop while visiting my mom in Wisconsin.  It's nice to have a way to treat myself after a day well done. :)

Looking Ahead:

I'll be working on that cabbage hash recipe some more tomorrow.  I've got a very full day so I'm not sure about how much else will get done in the kitchen.  I do know that it's Tuesday which means a pot of lentils will be simmering for lunch. Yum.

6 Week - Day Two

My food:

Breakfast: 1 Granny Smith apple, 1 bowl of veggie rice (brown rice with peas/carrot/corn/green bean mix added) flavored with Bragg's.

Lunch: Breakfast salad

Dinner: Buffalo Chickpea dip (about 1 cup) with 2.5-3 cups of raw broccoli, a handful of raw carrots, one head of romaine leaves, 2 ears of corn on the cob

Later: Decaf coffee with a flavored creamer, 1 ear of corn

My Thoughts:

Today was okay. I was definitely grain/starch heavy with all that corn.  We were blessed with several dozen ears that needed to be cooked right away so we've been making use of that. I decided to have the corn in place of fruit as an evening dessert/snack since we ate an early dinner before rehearsal tonight.

And then there's rehearsal. I always want a coffee treat while we are down town. Something to perk me up for the stage. But, the creamer isn't needed and, really, I'm running around so much, I barely enjoy it.  So, tonight was my last coffee treat for rehearsal. I need to keep my bladder empty during the show anyways. ;)

Looking Ahead:

I've been marking and pinning some recipes to try this week.  I'm on the hut for something new for breakfast that will warm me up on these cold mornings.  In fact, my eleven year old is planning a big brunch for tomorrow since we are on a break from school this week.  I'll be glad to have just the two meals for the day tomorrow.

I'm also planning to make the move back to hot tea during the week and save my coffee drinking for co op mornings and the weekend.  I'm thinking back to the positive habits I built while losing weight before my pregnancy and I'm trying to get back to them again.

Eat This, Not That: "Nice" Cream Cake

Everybody loves ice cream cake, right? I'm always convinced that it's the crunchy crust and topping that makes the cake for me. 

Well, since changing to a WFPB (whole food, plant-based) diet, we've come to love making "Nice Cream" in place of regular ice cream.  I first found this simple recipe to try.  After that we have let our imaginations soar as we try different flavors, textures, and add-ins.  It's a lot of fun to see what we can create with real, nutritious, guilt-free foods. 

I've made several "Nice" Cream Cakes over the years. They've all been well received.  I've used recipes to guide me, like this one.  But, I think I'm to the place where I can sort of "wing it" and come up with something pretty enjoyable.  That's what I did for my daughter's recent birthday party.  I am excited to share that it was a delicious success!

I know this will be a little annoying to some of you, but I didn't record the exactness of my recipe. I'll try to share it with you here, but just remember that you may need to adjust or play with the amounts to get the cake to where you would like it to be. 

Chocolate Vanilla, Blueberry Nice Cream Cake

Crust:
About 1/2 bag of pecans (1-2 cups or so)
About 1/2 bag of walnuts (1-2 cups or so)
15-20 medjool dates, pitted
1-2 tablespoons cocoa powder (I prefer dark chocolate)
splash of vanilla (1-2 tsp)

Blend in your food processor with the S blade until crumbly. Press the majority of this mixture into a large spring pan. Cover the bottom fully.  Reserve 1/2 - 1 cup or so of the mixture to sprinkle on the top of the cake.

Filling:
About 1 gallon sized Ziploc of sliced, frozen bananas.
2-3 tsp vanilla
About 1 cup frozen blueberries

Add about 2/3 of the bananas and vanilla to the food processor and blend with S blade until it transforms to the consistency of soft serve ice cream. Be patient, this will take a while. *add a bit of water or non-dairy milk if needed

Pour over the crust in the pan, spread evenly. Place in freezer to chill while you work on the next layer. (I didn't do this step and wish I had)

Add remaining bananas and blueberries to the food processor. Blend with S blade again using the same technique as above until it reaches desired consistency.  Pour this over the first layer and top with remaining crust mixture in whatever creative design you'd like.  Cover pan with foil and return to freezer to chill for at least a couple of hours. 

Just before serving, remove the sides of your spring pan and top with berries to add a little extra flair.

 

Eat This,Not That: Gnocchi with Mushrooms and Pumpkin Sauce

I've decided to start a new series on the blog. I wish I had more time in my days to be here writing, recording, and learning more about food, nutrition, and health. This season has me busy with schooling, choring, and directing this small army of ours so my time is highly limited. 

Frankly, I'm struggling to just find the time and energy to prepare the foods we should be eating, never mind blogging about it.  Today is a rest day, though, so I'm going to rest and refresh by putting some words on the screen so I can sit back and look at how lovely it is to see something I've done...you know, stay done.

Oh, yes. The new series.  Along with starting the 6 week plan afresh, I want to work on recording my efforts to tweak and "nutrify" recipes.  I'm not promising gourmet results, but I can share what I'm learning and thoughts on how it was received in our home.  I'm completely open to your suggestions as well.  I'm learning that the more time I spend in the kitchen, the less I really know about real cooking. 

This past month we celebrated our oldest child's 18th birthday. *wince*  This child is my total "foodie" child.  I knew the food had to be strictly plant-based and still tasty for the guests that were coming that weren't used to eating plant based cuisine. 

I chose, among many other dishes, to try a new sauce recipe to serve with gnocchi. (she and I happen to LOVE gnocchi)

I used this recipe for inspiration and then tweaked it as follows:

Ingredients
          3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided *I used about half of the oil called for. Next time I will omit the oil completely and saute with vegetable broth.

• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh sage *I used ground sage but I would love to have fresh to try with this next time.
• 1 16-ounce package shelf-stable gnocchi
• 1/2 cup sliced shallots *I used yellow cooking onion for this because it's what I keep on hand. Again, when time and budget allow, I'd like to go with using shallots to see how it tastes different.
• 8 ounces white mushrooms, sliced
• 2 tablespoons dry sherry *SUBBED unsweetened pomegranate juice
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground pepper
• 1 cup canned pumpkin puree *SUBBED pumpkin that I thawed from the freezer
• 1/2 cup half-and-half *SUBBED this with 1/2 cup of raw cashews blended with 1 cup of almond milk.  Next time I will decrease the cashew to 1/4 cup and likely add a bit of water or more almond milk.

 

Preparation

1. Heat 2 tablespoons oil and sage in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat until the sage begins to sizzle. Add gnocchi and cook, stirring often, until plumped and starting to brown, about 5 minutes. Transfer to a bowl and cover to keep warm. *I followed this, decreasing the oil. Next time I will omit the oil and cook in water or veg broth and hope that it doesn't stick in the pan.
2. Heat a few tablespoons of vegetable broth in a pan. Add onions and cook, stirring, for 1 minute. Add mushrooms; cook, stirring occasionally, until the mushrooms start to brown, 3 to 4 minutes. Add pom juice, salt and pepper and cook until the liquid has evaporated, about 1 minute. Stir in pumpkin and cashew-milk; cook, stirring, until the sauce begins to bubble. Serve over the gnocchi.

This is a creamy comfort food, for sure.  I expected it to taste sweeter than it did, given the pumpkin base. I'm glad it wasn't sweet. I prefer a savory flavor to my comfort food. It also thickened up while sitting, so that's why I'm planning to decrease the nuts and increase the liquid the next time around.

I'm looking forward to enjoying this again on a cold, cozy day.  If you work on this recipe and find a way to alter the seasonings, texture, or anything else, please let me know. I'm always eager to learn how to do better in my kitchen endeavors. :)

(The gnocchi is above and to the right of my cashew-ricotta lasagna)

6-Week Plan, New Day One

David and I are starting fresh with the 6-Week plan.  Today was Day One.

Breakfast:  Breakfast salad, black decaf

Lunch, head of romaine and sliced carrots topped with taco lentils and brown rice, Frank's hot sauce

Black coffee on my afternoon drive to pick up children

Dinner: Taco soup (two bowls), one ear of corn on the cob

Dessert: frozen cherries dusted with dark chocolate cocoa powder and a cup of black decaf coffee

I'm already seeing that I'm drinking way more coffee than I should be these days. I'm not getting in near enough water.  But, I had a good eating day.  I was able to resist the dinner rolls at dinner. That's a big deal.  And I didn't do any snacking this afternoon.

I'm feeling icky today. Not sure if it's the virus that's been going through the fam or if it's all the junk food we ate while partying with the fam last night. 

Day One was a good day.  :)

Also, I updated the Taco Soup recipe on my tab above.  I love this recipe because it's a very easy, simple, fast recipe to make. And that's extremely helpful on those days when you are tired, sickly, and just wishing you didn't have to be in the kitchen.  Bonus that the kids all liked it. 

Taco Soup

1 pound fresh mushrooms, chopped bite sized
3-4 leaves of fresh greens (Swiss chard, spinach, kale, collard greens)
1 onion, chopped or 2 handfuls dried onion
1 bag frozen corn
3-4 cups cooked black beans
2 cans Rotel tomatoes OR 2 can no-salt-added diced tomatoes AND 7-14 oz canned green chiles (lower salt if you do it the second way)
1 28 oz can no-salt added diced tomatoes
1 28 oz can tomato sauce OR crushed tomatoes
16 oz water (or thereabouts)
4 tsp onion powder
2 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp oregano
juice squeezed from half a lime

Water sautee onions and chard stems if using fresh. Add all ingredients to the pot. Heat on medium low, simmer on low for an hour or more.