crack the plates

a fledgling food diary.

NOTE: entries are arranged with most recent first and oldest last.

Wednesday 16 May 2012

• blueberry-almond smoothie
• 1/2 cup freshly-cooked chickpeas with sea salt
• gym! 65 minutes at 13 resistance, 4.97 miles, 750 calories.
• a

Tuesday 15 May 2012

• ginger-mango smoothie
• 2 tsp tahini on a spoon (forget peanut butter, i’m nuts for tahini…)
• 1/3 cup cooked quinoa drizzled with a little tahini and sprinkled with salt
• 1/3 cup cooked quinoa with 3/4 cup thai red coconut curry with tofu on top
• a tiny raw brownie
• gym! 65 minutes, 4.87 miles, 725 calories. 
• post-gym post-farmer’s market snack: raw macadamia nuts
• dinner salad: romaine tossed with ginger-sesame dressing, quinoa, and roasted (cooled) beets.
• an entire bag (one serving) of raw zucchini strips

Monday 14 May 2012

• strawberry-raspberry walnut smoothie
• large spinach salad with shaved carrots, cashews, tahini-miso-cashew dressing, avocado, probably some other stuff, too
• slightly over a serving of kale chips
• very small raw choc brownie
• giant spinach salad with all of the above plus raw shaved beets, kale chip shards, pine nuts, peptias, sesame seeds, tomatoes, dehydrated tomato chips
• slightly larger (but still small) raw choc brownie
• gym! 60 minutes on the elliptical at 13 resistance, 4.48 miles, 663 calories. 

Sunday 13 May 2012

• did not do raw again because the day was rather cold
• pineapple-almond smoothie
• 1.5 cups yesterday’s lunch soup
• 1 small raw frosted brownie
• half of a veggie platter with injera at Desta (my first meal out in 2 weeks!)
• another raw frosted brownie

Saturday 12 May 2012

• apple-spinach smoothie
• cold day! 2 bowls of golden tempeh soup (carrots, celery, onions, fresh herbs from mom’s garden)
• strawberry almond smoothie
• 1/2 cup last night’s tomato thing
• giant gorgeous salad with homemade dressing, pepitas, pine nuts, cashews, avocado, sunflower sprouts and shaved carrot
• gym! 63 minutes on the elliptical at 13 resistance, 4.65 miles, 684 calories. 

Friday 11 May 2012

• blueberry smoothie: cup blueberries, water, ice, coconut oil, cinnamon, matcha, walnuts, moringa
• pineapple kale smoothie: pineapple, kale, water, ice, flax meal, lotsa fresh shaved ginger, turmeric, strawberries for sweetness, stevia
• raw tomato bisque with nutritional east
• dinner: spinach salad with quinoa, homemade tomato sauce with fresh spring squash
• gym! 55 min, 4.06 mile, 600 calories. 13 resistance on my usual machine. 

Thursday 10 May 2012

• strawberry walnut smoothie again
• pineapple smoothie with flax meal, stevia, and 1 tsp of spirulina. turned it a gorgeous emerald color. despite the healthy teaspoon of spirulina, the taste wasn’t funky.
• lunch: little scoops of leftovers in a big bowl: quinoa, chili from … whoah, sunday!, and a spoonful of yesterday’s whitebean thing.
• biked to the post office to deliver mother’s day cards!
• biked to the farmer’s market! picked up broccoli, french radishes (for nate), two pieces of summer squash, a wild floral salad mix, and… maybe something else. had a snack of seasoned sauteed mushrooms on a tiny baguette round. (Strike 2 against my three strikes this month… gluten!)
• an ounce of nuts and a date
• delicious raw soup dinner, recipe from Joshua Ploeg’s So Raw it’s downright filthy - the “broccoli uncheese soup”. I was worried about this one as I was making it, but it was soooooooo good. You blend all this crazy stuff together and then pour it over chopped raw broccoli. seriously, BEST. I wouldn’t eat raw broccoli any other way.
• a date, because the soup was super spicy (from lotsa raw garlic, raw onion, red pepper flakes, and mustard powder)
• late workout, half hard, half easy: 50 minutes at 13 resistance, 3.73 miles, 553 calories. 25 minutes at 10 resistance, 1.78 miles, 257 calories. Total: 75 minutes, 5.51 miles, 810 calories. I honestly wouldn’t have gone so long, but I was watching a geneaology program on PBS about Martha Stewart, Margaret Cho, and Sanjay Gupta. It was really fascinating! You can watch it here.

Wednesday 9 May 2012

• chocolate banana almondmilkshake
• strawberry walnut smoothie
• cup of botched avocado soup from yesterday blended with tomato and more herbs and spices. much better today. topped with black pepper and nutritional yeast.
• workout! 55 minutes on the elliptical at 13 resistance, 4.13 miles, 614 calories.
• post workout, 2 oz raw nuts and 2 dates
• dinner: quinoa under spinach-white bean sauce with a handful of chopped tomato
• evening bike ride :)

Tuesday 8 May 2012

• banana smoothie: cup frozen banana, 1/4 cup walnuts, 1/4 tsp cinnamon, water, ice, matcha
• pineapple smoothie: 1.5 cups frozen pineapple, tbsp ground flax, water, stevia, tsp spirulina. Surprisingly, really tasty!
• workout! 60 minutes at 13 resistance while watching Top Chef. 4.48 miles, 670 calories.
• 2 ounces of mixed nuts (my blend) and two dates
• half a bowl of raw avocado soup. Liked it the last time I made it, but wasn’t feeling it today. :-( Wonder why?
• bowl of quinoa, black bean, spinach, onion stir-fry. simple and tasty. seasoned very simply. lotsa nutritional yeast.

Monday 7 May 2012

• One of the smoothies I liked from the 3-day, again: the gingery pineapple green. Lotsa fresh ginger, kale, cup of pineapple, water, turmeric, stevia.
• mango-ginger smoothie. ridiculously tasty.
• workout! 50 minutes on the elliptical at 13 resistance. 3.69 miles, 548 calories.
• raw tomato bisque
• spinach-sprout salad with tahini miso
• mediterranean quinoa over spinach sprout salad
• small bowl last night’s chili leftovers
• 2 dates and a handful of hazelnuts

Sunday 6 May 2012

• green tea from my sweetie
• “pina colada”: pineapple, homemade almond milk, coconut oil, vanilla, water, matcha
• apple-green: apple, spinach, matcha, water. Not so tasty. Made 1.5 glasses, shared with Nate (who liked it!)
• spicy avocado soup: so tasty. avocado blended with tbsp red miso, juice of half a lime, 1/8 tsp dry rosemary needles, pinch chipotle, cup water, 1 tsp coconut oil, topped with nutritional yeast and black pepper. Nate hated it. :(
• Long bike ride: 4.2 miles. Hot hot hot!
• Breaking the fast: 2 cups of mixed veggie, grain, and seed chili with a dollop of cashew cream on top. Also had about 1/2 cup chickpeas sprinkled with sea salt, lemon juice, and a bit of tahini. For dessert, two dates and a handful of hazelnuts and macadamias.

Saturday 5 May 2012

• strawberry shake: strawberries, almonds, coconut oil, vanilla, stevia, ice, water, matcha.
• bike ride! off to the post office to deliver letters and bills for mailing. a short ride, though – just 2.4 miles.
• famished for my apple green shake: apples, spinach, matcha.
• lunch was spinach blended with cucumber, avocado, lemon juice, miso, ginger, and curry powder. not bad!
• two cups of tasty green tea - anhui emerald seed.
• dinner: tomato bisque again. I was on track to make another recipe, but I liked the tomato bisque so much that I just made it. Plus, I didn’t really want to eat a cup of pulverized celery. Blame me?
• a few sips of decaf earl grey. I was really looking forward to it, but the almond milk made it taste funky. :(
• a light vega shake made with one half of one scoop in water and a little bit of almond milk.

Friday 4 May 2012

• modified juice fast day. It’s not technically a juice fast because I’m drinking green smoothies. The difference between juice and smoothies is simple: juice extracts juice, while smoothies retain all the fiber of the blended fruits and vegetables. I prefer smoothies. So, should I say “smoothie fast”? Juice fast has name recognition. :)
• a couple of glasses of ice water with lemon, green tea from my sweetie
• a blackberry shake: frozen blackberries, soaked almonds, coconut oil, cinnamon, ice, filtered water, matcha powder, 1/2 tsp moringa powder, and stevia
• a pineapple kale shake: frozen pineapple, kale, 2 tsp fresh ginger, water, pinch of cayenne, scant 1/8 tsp turmeric, a big fat strawberry, 1 tbsp flaxmeal and stevia
• workout! 35 minutes on the elliptical. 2.61 miles, 397 calories, 13 resistance on my usual machine.
• a bok choi “soup”: one whole head of baby bok choi, cleaned, leaves separated from stalks (to blend at separate times); half a cucumber, 1/2 an avocado, tsp fresh ginger, fresh lemon juice, lotsa barley miso, couple pinches cayenne, scant 1/8 tsp turmeric. this one was a weird one.
• vega shake made with 1 scoop vega, 1/2 cup almond milk, a little ice, water, stevia.
• really tasty “tomato bisque” soup made with avocado, tomato, spices.

Thursday 3 May 2012

• cuppa green tea made by sweetie (like Wednesday & Tuesday :))
• 1.5 cups of fresh strawberries
• vega shake made just like yesterday, only doubled the recipe to share with Nate.
• leftover lunch: basically everything I ate last night for dinner, only with added sprouts and bell peppers
• workout! 50 minutes on the elliptical. 3.74 miles, 584 calories, 13 resistance on my usual machine.
• post-workout snack of an ounce of mixed nuts and a medjool date (my fave)
• mid-afternoon blackberry smoothie snack: blackberries, soaked almonds, water, ice, cinnamon, matcha powder, a little stevia, coconut oil
• glass of water with one tablespoon powdered moringa. pretty terrible tasting.
• more exercise! biked down the road to the EAV farmer’s market. bought some stuff. munched on a handful of raw greens, a tiny piece of mushroom (cooked in olive oil), and a tiny half-tablespoon sample of a raw dessert. Meanwhile, Nate totally ate a vegan doughnut… and I totally resisted! biking home slightly uphill was a bit of a bother, but I made it.
• dinner at elizabeth’s! brown rice with mixed veggie fajita filling; a handful of grapes

Wednesday 2 May 2012

• cup of green tea
• about 1.5 cups of chopped strawberries
• lots of water like yesterday, some with cucumber, some with cucumber and lemon, some plain
• vega shake (1 full scoop) made with water, 1/2 cup almond milk, a little stevia
• piles of spinach with cubed marinated tofu, peanut-lime dressing, shaved carrots, sweet bell peppers, smoky raw cashews, and a dollop of homemade raw cashew cheese
• workout! 35 minutes on the elliptical. 2.62 miles, 407 calories, 13 resistance on my usual machine.
• post-workout snack of a banana and about an ounce of mixed mostly raw nuts (my blend) w/ a date
• a teaspoon of peanut butter while make tonight’s peanut sauce
• a couple bites of curried bananas while making tonight’s curried bananas
• dinner: handful of spinach, scoop of brown rice, topped with spoonful of marinated tofu and poured peanut sauce over. garnished with fresh chopped tomato, cucumber, and cilantro. Had curried bananas on the side.
• used one of my cheats for the month and had a piece of the cake Elizabeth and Nova brought over. It was delicious – a spiced rum cake with pecans. soon after I ate it, though, my nose got really stuffy and I just started to feel congested, like at the onset of a cold. Gross! I’m pretty sure my body interpreted the sugar as a threat and got to work! Efficient and weird.

Tuesday 1 May 2012

• early morning
• mei hua tea
• a cup of strawberries
• lots of water with cucumber
• late morning
• vega shake (1 full scoop) made with water, 1/2 cup almond milk, a little stevia
• .5 ounce of roasted macadamia nuts
• iced water with a squeeze of fresh lemon and the leftover cucumber rounds. benefits of lemon water. things to watch out for when drinking lemon water. i have mine over ice and always drink with a straw to protect my teeth.
• lunch
• giant spinach salad with shaved carrots, chopped orange bell pepper, sprinkle of raw cashew pieces, and homemade dressing (peanut butter, lime juice, shoyu, sriracha, onion, water)
• a banana
• early afternoon (2pm-ish)
• 2 ounces mostly-raw mixed nuts (no peanuts), 2 medjool dates
• late afternoon (4pm)
• starting to feel hungry and tired! Made a shake of 1 cup berries (almost all blueberries, sprinkle of raspberries), water, ice, 1/4 cup soaked almonds, 1 tbsp coconut oil, 1/2 tsp cinnamon, 1/2 tsp matcha powder. Feel normal again. (Recipe from Ani Phyo)
• also had a teaspoon of salted tahini. yum.
• evening (6pm)
• .25 ounce raw cashews while making cashew cheese. couldn’t resist.
• dinner: giant spinach salad topped with a scoop of brown rice. Brown rice topped with cooked black bean mixture: black beans, fresh onion, fresh garlic, spices, tomato paste, cilantro, chives; let it cook down for a while. Just before serving, mixed in shaved raw carrot and chopped raw bell pepper. Topped the bean mixture with homemade raw cashew cheese.

MAY 2012

Thursday 12 April 2012

• Fasting for a doctor’s appt, so no breakfast.
• Lunch with Nate at Blossom Tree downtown. Ridiculously cheap and filling. Three giant tofu tacos with sweet potatoes and dumplings as sides. Sad news: the self-described “pescaterian” cashier said that the kimchi contains fish, but the dumplings are vegan. WEIRLDY: the menu says the kimchi is vegan and the dumplings have no notation. Very strange. She checked with the kitchen, though. :-( And we raised enough of a stink (sweetly) that I felt confident in what we ordered.
• Squirrel bonbon. Late afternoon snack.

Wednesday 11 April 2012

• A small piece of Farmer’s Market sourdough plain. OMG.
• An small handful of nuts (0.5 ounce) while the oatmeal cooked. I soaked the oatmeal ahead of time and it ended up making a giant bowl of goop. I ate half the bowl instead of the usual full.
• Another ounce of nuts while teaching myself Python. :-) I’m almost done with everything I need to do before next Wednesday’s meet-up! I have done some of the exercises four or five times, even though they’re simple. I want to make sure I have a solid foundation. And as Nate has taught me, nuts are the snack of champions!
• Lunch! A small piece of sourdough folded over with some hummus tucked inside and a ton of arugula. Also made a big pot of crowder peas and had a big bowl of those.
• Gym!
• Dinner with Vic: 2 bowls of soup and one small hummus arugula sandwich. Dessert: banana, strawberry, some nuts, plump dates, 2 chocolate squirrel bonbons.

Tuesday 10 April 2012

• Vega shake made with 1 serving vega, two cups ice water, 1 cup unsweetened soymilk, stevia.
• 1 ounce (a full handful – I weighed them on my digital scale to see what 1 ounce looks like!) mixed nuts – macadamia, hazelnut, walnuts, and pecans.
• Lunch! 1 cup of yesterday’s chili/stew; another ounce of nuts, some tucked into three dates (what a treat!). Half of a piece of pita with about two teaspoons of tahini and some sea salt.
• Gym! 91 minutes on the elliptical. First 35 at 14 resistance, the rest at 13. 6.84 miles and 1070 calories.
• Post work-out smoothie: 3/4 cup raspberries, half a banana, and a whole apple blended in 1.5 cups of filtered water and a splash of soymilk. A little stevia, of course. Tasted … really … pink! Had another date, this time a ridiculously plump medjool.
• I was all set to make sandwiches for dinner, but then Nate came home and was like, So Ba! So we went to So Ba and ate all the fried tofu and spring rolls. Usually we just have a plate each tofu and 2 spring rolls, but tonight we were unusually hungry and had a plate each of tofu, two spring rolls, and then split 2 more spring rolls (1 each) and another plate of tofu. Hungry bunnies!
• Went home and watched RuPaul’s drag race. I had a a chocolate-covered corn cake.

Monday 9 April 2012

• Oatmeal and iced green tea
• general update: I’ve been having a hard time keeping up with the log/getting to the gym. Looking back, it seems to have started when my bestie Jenny came in from out of town and I got off schedule. She was here Wednesday 21 Mar – Saturday 24 Mar. I worked out on Wednesday and Saturday but not on Thursday or Friday, and up til that point I’d pretty much worked out every single day. After she left, I was sad, so I made it to the gym 4 days in a row, had a break, and then had another long workout the day after that (Thurs Mar 29). But then! But then! My sweet Nate went away to Arizona Sun 1 April (8am) – Weds 4 April (8PM) and I was sad and didn’t eat very well, as my pathetic food log of those days attests. So… there have been some interruptions. (Aside from all the other stuff I’ve had going on in my life!) I want to get back in the swing of things, but the only way to do that is it to just start doing it! And so.
• Lunch: giant bowl of chili. Recipe and pictures scheduled to be posted tomorrow (10 April). 2 regular chocolate squares and a baby square.
• Gym! 90 minutes on the elliptical; 35 at 14 resistance, the rest at 13. 6.74 miles, 1,050 calories.
• 2 ounces of soymilk, 1 snakpak of chipotle SeaSnax (20 calories for the whole thing). Spicy!
• Two ounces of mixed nuts.
• A small bowl of chili for dinner.
• 4 dates and another little handful of nuts.
• Shared a bag of cobra corn while watching Willow with my sweet Nate.

Sunday 8 April 2012

• Oatmeal
• yesterday’s tempeh every veggie curry leftovers. BEST EVER.
• light Easter dinner at my Aunt Mary’s house in cartersville. bbq tofu sandwich: two pieces of smothered baked tofu in bread, a couple spoonfuls of Laurel and John’s vegan pasta salad
• Late second dinner from Green Sprout – shared an order of sesame tofu with broccoli and white rice with mister nate. Had a tofutti cutie for dessert.

Saturday 7 April 2012

• tofu scramble
• lunch at Takorea with Luminous Vegans and Former Fish Taco Fanatic
• Afternoon tea with Jacquie
• dinner: tempeh every veggie curry
• Short workout right before the gym closed: 24 minutes, 1.81 mile, 283 calories, 14 resistance.

Friday 6 April 2012

• Museum day with Jessica and the kids! Breakfast was either a smoothie or oatmeal.
• Picnic at the High Museum. Veggies with hummus, pita chips, part of an apple, a Jacquie cookie.
• I guess this counts for activity? Took MARTA, walked around the High, walked the Puppetry Arts museum… on our feet from 10:30 am til 3:30pm with a 30 min break for a picnic lunch…
• dinner…

Thursday 5 April 2012

• Trying something new: soups, smoothies, and salads. Trying to make almost all of my meals one of these things. Started kind of yesterday with a smoothie for breakfast and then soup for lunch, but didn’t follow through with dinner. Whatever, it’s all a process.
• Severely overslept, so went straight to lunch: a bowl of soup.
• Gym: 35 minutes at 14 resistance on the elliptical. 2.66 miles, 418 calories.
• Late late lunch: giant spinach salad with miso-tahini dressing (just miso mixed with tahini, a little water, lemon juice, salt and black pepper), pan-fried tempeh tossed in nutritional yeast, Heidi Ho organics feta.
• who knows what I had for dinner.

Wednesday 4 April 2012

• Breakfast: 32 ounces (2 glasses) of green smoothie. Apple, banana, strawberries, spinach, amla powder, water, ice, maybe a little soymilk.
• Did a lot of work around the house/outside. Monday and Tuesday I spent getting the porch organized, cleaned; washing the chairs, etc. Made a giant pot of no-chicken noodle soup and had two big bowls.
• Snack: some crackers with tofu misozuke.
• Picked Nate up from the airport. Went to So Ba and ate a plate of salt and pepper tofu. Nothing else, still full from lunch. Came home where he presented me with all kinds of sweets from Scottsdale vegan restaurants. Two bites of a coffee cake, three bites of a cookie, a bite of a cupcake, two bites of a chocolate peanut butter bar. SUGAR!
• 1/3 bag Cobra Corn while catching up on RuPaul’s Drag Race

Tuesday 3 April 2012

• Ok, so. I resisted the urge to continue feeding myself like a five year old. Go me? Oh Nate, I can’t wait to see you tomorrow. /sigh
• For breakfast I drank about 4 ounces of a leftover smoothie.
• For lunch I boiled 2 ounces of pasta and made a homemade sauce to go over it. Tomatoes, onion, three giant cloves of garlic, lotsa spinach, other good-tasting things.
• I had the same thing for dinner.
• In between lunch and dinner, I had a snack of 2 chocolate covered corn crisps and six leek & onion crackers with some of the best tofu misozuke yet. Cheers, Oanh! This batch is perfect.
• Really late gym: just 20 minutes, HARD. The woman next to me was annoying the hell out of me, or I would have gone longer.

Monday 2 April 2012

• True story: I eat pathetically when Nate is not around. I didn’t know this about myself til yesterday/today. He’s been at a conference in Arizona since yesterday morning, and I have basically been feeding myself like a seven year old might. Behold (yesterday and today):
• A giant bowl of chocolate rice crispies for breakfast.
• A package of toasted seaweed (five sheets).
• Snacks Jacquie left for me: a few tablespoons of hummus, two handfuls of tortilla chips, two cookies, the equivalent of several carrots and a whole red bell pepper.
• A frozen tamale.
• Another bowl of rice crispies (smaller). AKA, dinner. SIGH.

Sunday 1 April 2012

• Breakfast smoothie: spinach, apple, banana, strawberries, water, ice, stevia, a little soymilk.
• Cabbage with noodles leftovers. Not much.
• 4 pieces of chocolate covered rice and corn cakes.
• a frozen tamale.
• Iced coffee.
• Three jacquie cookies.

• see Saturday 31 March 2012

Thursday 29 March 2012

• 16 ounces of smoothie: banana, strawberry, water, soymilk, stevia, spinach.
• Stoneware bowl of last night’s veggie curry leftovers with just a handful of rice.
• Four sheets of roasted seaweed.
• What happens in the afternoon? I lose my mind for snacks. 6 leek & onion crackers with tofu misozuke; 3/4 bag of Cobra Corn, a giant bowl of rice crispies, a nougatissimo. This is a problem.
• A few small pieces of browned tempeh while making nate’s dinner
• Workout while nate hosted D&D: 90 minutes on the elliptical at level 13, 6.7 miles, 1041 calories. 20 minutes on the stationary bike at level 10/20, 3.4 miles, 145 calories. 
• sad little dinner: a bowl of rice crispies, a small banana. Whatever!!

Wednesday 28 March 2012

• Tried to keep breakfast light since I’d be meeting my mom and grandma for lunch. I made a Vega shake with a scoop of Vega, water, ice, stevia, and a little soymilk.
• A cup of earl grey with soymilk and stevia.
• Lunch at Olive Garden: two bowls of minestrone soup (200 calories), a plain bread stick (none of the cheesy/buttery/oil topping), and two plates of undressed salad with sprinkles of oil and vinegar.
• Afternoon thrifting. Found a platypus for Nate at the first thrift store and a bunch of early reader books for an adult literacy program a Friend is helping at the second.
• Home! Vegan snack attack! 2 bowls of rice crispies. I swear to god, as long as there are rice krispies in the house I have to eat them. What’s the deal, crispies? You’re just some rice, sugar, and a bunch of synthetic vitamins! Why do I love you?!
• Two Russian “squirrel” bonbons.
• Four pieces of sushi, the only sushi I like, the Caterpillar roll with avocado and vegan cream cheese.
• Dinner: a giant curry made with all kinds of organic vegetables I picked up in the closeout corner at Sevananda. Green beans, potatoes, carrots, zucchini and yellow squash, eggplant. Red onion for sweetness. Pretty dang good! Over rice.
• A Tofutti cutie.

Tuesday 27 March 2012

• Shared a green smoothie with Nate: apple, banana, four big strawberries, several handfuls of spinach, ice, water, a splash of soymilk.
• 1.5 bowls of rice crispies with soymilk
• 1 cup of last night’s amazing leftover sauce
• A depressing afternoon. DEPRESSING!!!!!!!!! TERRIBLE! AWFUL!
• Snacks: leek and onion crackers with tofu misozuke. Two nougatissimo. 1.5 peanut butter truffles. And iced coffee.
• Gym: Felt like crap so I went to the gym. Common story. 25 minutes at 14 resistance, 1.86 miles, 287 calories. 65 minutes at 13 resistance, 4.89 miles, 764 calories. Totals: 90 minutes, 6.75 miles, 1051 calories. True story: watching Ellen helps.
• 1 ounce maple-glazed pecans and cranberries snack; 1 .35 ounce chocolate square.
• Dinner at So Ba, on the last of our Christmas gift certificate from Kari & Zak! Salt and pepper tofu, vegetable rice paper spring rolls.
• Later snacks: made cupcakes for lunch with my mom and grandma tomorrow, ate 1.5 of them. During RuPaul’s Drag Race, I ate (on accident!) an entire bag of Cobra Corn!!

Monday 26 March 2012

• A large iced coffee (coffee + soymilk +stevia + a little water + ice)
• Two bowls of Rice Crispies (2 cups) with soymilk
• A very small portion of leftover cabbage and noodles (less than a cup)
• Workout! 35 minutes at 12 resistance, 2.56 miles, 392 calories, not on my usual machine. 35 minutes at 14 resistance on my usual machine, 2.73 miles, 437 calories, INTENSE! 20 minutes at 14 resistance, 1.56 miles, 249 calories – also pretty intense! Final 15 minute cool-down, 1.1 miles, 171 calories. Totals! 105 minutes, 7.95 miles, 1249 calories.
• Giant organic spinach salad with about a tablespoon of homemade meyer lemon vinaigrette, 2 ounces of shaved hazelnut -based cheese, a handful of unsalted raw cashews, and a generous sprinklin’ of fresh black pepper and sea salt.
• a tablespoon of unsalted raw cashews
• An 88% dark chocolate square
• Dinner: two ounces (yep, a normal serving!) of linguine fini covered with a homemade tomato sauce of onion, garlic, cherry tomatoes, sweet bell peppers, Uptons Naturals Italian seitan, and wilted spinach. A little shaved hazelnut cheese over the top. So yum yum. Had one big plate and two Nougatissimo for dessert.
• Most of a bag of Cobra Corn. Nate says 75%, I’m thinking closer to 80. We were supposed to share but he was fussing with the computer and I just kept snacking! :(

Sunday 25 March 2012

• Tall glass of green smoothie: banana, apple, water, a little soymilk, stevia, spinach. All organic ingredients.
• Small bowl of oatmeal, since it’s a little chilly in Georgia today: oats, chia seeds, cayenne, sea salt, water, hemp seeds. All organic ingredients.
• Lunch: giant delicious perfect sandwich. Organic bread, Daiya cheese, chipotle aioli, Upton’s Naturals seitan bacon, organic spinach, avocado slices. Approximate calorie count, since I might make this one again: 200 (bread) + 40 (three small pieces, or about 1/6, of an avocado) + 90 (Daiya serving) + 30 (chipotle aioli made with nayonnaise and chipotle powder) + 100 (seitan) + 100 (oil for frying) = 560 … not bad!
• Half an ounce of cashews.
• The last piece of toasted bread with a schmear of earth balance.
• Workout! 85 minutes on the elliptical at 13 resistance. Slightly easier than usual the first 35 minutes, the usual for the last 50. Totals: 978 calories, 6.31 miles. (1: 35min, 2.55 miles, 389 calories; 2: 35min, 2.62 miles, 409 calories; 3: 15 minutes, 1.14 miles, 180 calories.)
• PizzaRia at Sauced: shared two pizzas: the more traditional pizza margherita and the super amazing sweet potato – spiced pecan pizza with crispy collard chiffonade. HOLY HECK that last one was phenomenal. Usually Nate and I get two pizzas (they’re not giant, about four pieces each) and split em, but the sweet potato was so good we ordered it for dessert, too. THREE PIZZAS.
• Dessert at home: a cup of chocolate ice cream sprinkled with walnuts and sweet and sara marshmallows.
• Snack while watching Strangers With Candy: a serving of Tias.

Saturday 24 March 2012

• Bowl of grits with Heidi Ho Organics hazelnut-based cheese, Daiya, nutritional yeast, lots of black pepper and salt.
• Breakfast sandwich at Dulce Vegan: biscuit, housemade vegan “egg”, house tempeh bacon, chipotle aioli.
• A TINY piece of Nate’s crazy new raw chocolate. TINY. (and not very tasty, but he loves it!) A macadamia cream, a yuzu cream, and half a rosemary sea salt caramel. Half a cupcake.
• Half a bag of Cobra Corn shared with my sweetie
• Gym! So great! 90 minutes on the elliptical at 13 resistance. 6.79 miles, 1062 calories.
• A handful of walnuts and cashews while cooking dinner post-workout. Two bowls of caraway cabbage with noodles. A giant velvety caramelly medjool date for dessert. Two Russian “squirrel” bonbons.
• Vegan Snack Attack while watching Strangers With Candy: shared a bag of Cobra Corn with Nate, a few handfuls of wonton chips, and 1.5 servings of vegan doritos (Tias by Kettle Chips)

Friday 23 March 2012

• No breakfast
• Lunch at Dua with Nate, Jenny, and Zack: seared lemongrass tofu bowl with noodles, salad, and peanut sauce
• Shared a slice of Sevananda key lime pie with Jenny. Thanks Jenny! :)
• A little bit of cashew cheese with a couple of crackers
• Two chocolate-hazelnut russian truffles
• Dinner with Jenny at Burnt Fork: the smoked tofu plate with french fries and kale. YUM!!!!!!

Thursday 22 March 2012

• 8 ounces of green smoothie: spinach, apple, banana, orange, raspberries
• A very small bowl of the daily oatmeal: oats, cayenne, chia seeds, hemp seeds, maple syrup, sea salt
• Harmony Vegetarian for lunch with Jenny: spring roll, teensy cup of wonton soup (2 wontons) in a light broth with spinach and carrots, “chicken” and seared string beans, two curry pockets, white rice.
• A bite of a cupcake while making them; a bite of icing.
• Two chocolate-hazelnut russian truffles
• Dinner at Jacquie’s house! Two hard shell tacos, one soft. Buttery lettuce wraps filled with tomatoes, salsa, and guacamole. DELICIOUS! A cupcake. A few sips of a margarita.

Wednesday 21 March 2012

• Vega shake – vega powder, water, ice, stevia, soymilk.
• Lunch with Jenny at Soul Vegetarian westside – 4 slices of jerk tofu, macaroni and cheese, greens, a piece of cornbread, and a few bites of sweet potatoes
• Gym! 65 minutes at 12 resistance. stats updated later.
• One hour walk with Jenny at Oakland Cemetery. 
• A bite of Dr. Cow and a bite of Heidi Ho.
• Dinner of a bowl of cheesy grits and a bowl of crowder peas.
• 8 ounces of a chocolate milkshake with crushed vegan butterfinger candy (homemade dessert), one nougatissimo, and two bites of a tofutti cutie.
• Half a bag of Cobra Corn with Nate

Tuesday 20 March 2012

• Two bowls of rice crispie cereal with soymilk.
• An iced coffee
• A green smoothie
• A Vega shake
• Did like SIX HOURS OF HOUSEWORK. INSANE.
• So Ba dinner: salt and pepper tofu, two spring rolls, a small serving of noodles in peanut sauce with vegetables.

Monday 19 March 2012

• One scoop of Vega in a cup of water, cup of soymilk, ice, stevia.
• Lunch smoothie: apple, banana, orange, spinach blended with soymilk, water, ice and stevia.
• 2 cups of no-chicken noodle soup
• 1/2 cup bhindi masala with 1/2 cup rice
• 1 ounce cashew cheese with crackers
• A peanut butter truffle and a vegan cream egg, three nougatissimo. Not all at the same time. :)
• Iced coffee, big Vega shake.
• Gym: 20 minutes at 14 resistance, 1.5 miles, 235 calories.

Sunday 18 March 2012

• Green smoothie of apple, banana, raspberries, lots of spinach, a little soymilk, water, ice, stevia.
• Went to Meeting, went to gym. Had an iced coffee before working out. (Instant coffee, soymilk, ice, stevia.)
• Gym! 85 minutes on the elliptical; first 15 at 12 resistance (warm-up), next 70 at 14 resistance. Total of 6.42 miles and 1,005 calories.
• Came home, had delicious perfect lunch of soup and sandwiches. Bowl of last night’s leftover soup. Sandwich: two pieces of white-wheat bread toasted in the oven with broiled Daiya, french Dijon mustard, barbeque tempeh, and spinach.
• Three lagusta truffles: a yuzu cream, a macadamia cream, and a raspberry de pizan.
• Rooibos with stevia and soymilk.
• A chocolate square and a glass of iced soymilk. Iced milk! I’m a weirdo.
• Dinner: small portion of chana masala over basmati rice.
• Ounce of cashew cheese with a few crackers.

Saturday 17 March 2012

• Vega shake for breakfast: one scoop chocolate in 1 cup soymilk, 1 cup water, stevia, ice.
• While making cupcakes: a handful of walnuts, a carrot, a cupcake with cream cheese frosting (always gotta have a tester!!)
• Bea’s birthday party: six pita squares with hummus, olives, and one dipped in vegan queso (I know, I know), one of Gayle’s cakey chocolate cookies, a handful of tortilla chips, a couple dipped in guacamole. Really didn’t eat too much – didn’t even have a birthday cupcake!
• Green smoothie of apple, banana, strawberries, spinach, water, a little soymilk, ice, stevia.
• A bowl of vegan cheesy crackers.
• Half a block of tofu misozuke with wheat crackers while gossiping about the future of the internet with Nate.
• A piece of Nougatissimo and two chocolate squares.
• Two giant bowls of no-chicken noodle soup made with a ton of carrots, celery, onions, soy curls, shoyu, nutritional yeast, herbs. Totally overate. It was SO GOOD.
• A peanut butter truffle and a mint tofutti cutie!
• Also at some point I went to the gym: 60 minutes on the elliptical at 14 resistance, 712 calories, 4.53 miles. 20 minutes on the bike at level 10/20, 3.55 miles, 155 calories.

Friday 16 March 2012

• Celebrate-birthdays-with-my-bestie Day
• Vega shake for breakfast: one scoop chocolate in 1 cup soymilk, 1 cup water, stevia, ice.
• 90 minutes of gentle yoga at Jai Shanti with Jessica. Meditation for the last 20 minutes. Some of it was really hard for me!! 
• Bountiful farmer’s market lunch: one plate: giant giant salad of organic greens, scoop of hummus, teensy scoop of baba, walnuts, pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, almonds, LOTS of shaved raw beets and shaved raw carrots, basmati rice with pine nuts and asparagus, roasted winter squash, half a piece of french bread, water to drink.
• Quick 20 minutes at the gym: level 14 on the elliptical, 1.55 miles, 247 calories. While gossiping! With this, **I became the Mayor of my gym on Foursquare. 15 days in a row! Awesome.**
• Iced coffees at home: fresh-ground-and-brewed coffee, soymilk, stevia, ICE!
• two little fair-trade chocolate candies.
• Perfectly scrumptious dinner at Burnt Fork: the smoked tofu plate, two pieces of house bread (one with earth balance schmear), kale and pecans in potlikker, and FRENCH FRIES!! First french fries I’ve had in March! I LOVE FRIES.

Thursday 15 March 2012

• One scoop of chocolate Vega in 1 cup soymilk, 1 cup water, stevia, ice.
• Black tea with soymilk and stevia.
• Gym! 35 minutes on the elliptical at 14 resistance. Sweaty, sweaty, sweaty. 2.67 miles, 419 calories.
• Ravenous for lunch: 3/4 cup cooked amaranth, bowl of last night’s leftover simple lentil soup. Chocolate easter egg.
• Bag of Cobra Corn, all by myself, while reading The New Yorker on the couch.
• Dinner: small portion of chana masala (slightly under one cup – nothing like yesterday’s) over basmati rice.
• Second workout! 70 minutes on the elliptical at 14 resistance. So sweaty, OMG. 5.33 miles, 838 calories. Cool down on the stationary bike while watching Harry Potter: 20 minutes, level 10 (of 20), 154 calories, 3.45 miles. Daily totals on the elliptical. not including 20min on bike: 8 miles! 1257 calories! Awesome! 
• Recovery shake of half of one Vega scoop in a cup of soymilk and as much water as I needed to dissolve it. :)

Wednesday 14 March 2012

• One scoop of chocolate Vega in 1 cup soymilk, 1 cup water, stevia, ice.
• Lunch with Mel: a big pile of creamy chana masala atop a big pile of basmati rice.
• For dessert: one yuzu cream, one bite of heathen toffee, half of a rosemary caramel.
• A chocolate vegan easter egg!
• Gym! 5 minutes on the elliptical at 12 resistance, 70 minutes at 14 resistance. 5.59 miles, 866 calories.
• Dinner with Aubrey and Jared: small portion of leftover chana, bowl of simple spiced lentil soup, small portion of bhindi masala, basmati rice. For dessert, a very small piece of leftover birthday cake, another chocolate egg, a small glass of unsweetened soymilk.

Tuesday 13 March 2012

• One scoop of chocolate Vega in 1 cup of soymilk, water, stevia, ice.
• Lunch with Sarah: mashed potatoes, barbeque tempeh, mixed greens with homemade dressing.
• Snack? A bag of Cobra Corn and a bowl of chocolate krispie cereal.
• Chocolate attack: three DesiderioChocs nougatissimo, one chocolate pb truffle.
• A little coffee-flavored soymilk before my workout. Feeling draggy. Draggin’.
• Gym! 10 minutes to warm up – .69 miles, 100 calories, 12 resistance, easy. 70 minutes at level 14, 5.29 miles, 828 calories. While watching exciting new (to me) show, Face Off (SyFy channel).
• Late dinner! More of the same that I had for lunch. Mashed potatoes. bbq tempeh, mixed greens & herbs with dressing. Less than half of a cupcake and one chocolate pb truffle for dessert.

Monday 12 March 2012

• One scoop of chocolate Vega in 1 cup of soymilk, water, stevia, and ice.
• A small bowl (about a cup) of slow-cooked crowder peas. 3/4 of a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Half an ounce of Dr. Cow cashew cheese with four multigrain crackers.
• Small bowl of cereal before my workout. Half a cup of coffee-flavored soymilk (AKA weak coffee with lots of soymilk).
• Gym! 24 minutes at 12 resistance, 1.7 miles, 252 calories. 70 minutes at 13 resistance, 5.3 miles, 834 calories. Daily totals: 94 minutes, 7 miles, 1086 calories.
• Dinner of a giant mixed greens and herbs salad with homemade dressing, a small piece of mom’s cornbread, and a big bowl of creamy crowder peas. For dessert, half a rosemary caramel, a small piece of toffee, and half a birthday cupcake.

Sunday 11 March 2012

• Not my birthday, but I got to have birthday leftovers of John’s World Famous fluffy light vegan pancakes! Nate and I shared a big plate of three of them with maple syrup.
• Two glasses of chocolate Vega mixed with 1 cup soymilk (between the two), water, and stevia.
• A handful of nuts – mixed hazelnuts and almonds. A bite of a cookie.
• A tall glass of chia fresca – chia seeds gelled in water with juice of half a lemon and stevia.
• Workout! A short one. 36 minutes, 2.61 miles, 397 calories. At 12 resistance.
• AMAZING BIRTHDAY DINNER AT SAUCED! The pizza! OMG! Two slices of the seitan-kale pizza, four slices of the oyster mushroom-truffle-arugula. A few bites of the perfect beet salad. Winter fruits for dessert. PERFECT DINNER. For dessert, a small piece of leftover birthday cake. :)
• A bag of Cobra Corn while watching Strangers with Candy with my sweet.

Saturday 10 March 2012

• My birthday!!!!!!
• Nate surprised me with a birthday breakfast of four pieces of ultra-(nearly-teeth-cracking)crispy Uptons Naturals bacon and a big portion of tofu scrambled with lotsa spice and yellow pepper.
• For lunch I made well over a lb of sweet/sour/sour kale served with creamy Georgia grits. Nate and I shared an entire wheel of Dr. Cow cheese and a medium-sized piece of cake.
• Big workout! 35 minutes at 14 resistance, 2.66 miles, 419 calories. 30 minutes at 13 resistance, 2.22 miles, 344 calories. 5 minutes on the treadmill, .23 miles, 53 calories, 8 incline, 2.8 speed. 15 minutes back on the elliptical at 14 resistance, 1.11 miles, 173 calories. 8 minutes on the stationary bike while watching Les Mis, level 9/20, 62 calories, 1.6miles.
• A half a cup of soup at Dulce Vegan while waiting for my party. :) A 12 oz cup of halfcalf that was half soymilk.
• Birthday party! Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs theme. Half of a giant pancake with maple syrup, a few bites of mashed potatoes with gravy, a Dulce Vegan cupcake, four squares of Jacquie’s amazing BBQ tofu & tempeh pizza, half a cookie, lots of water.

Friday 9 March 2012

• Day before my birthday! Tomorrow is my birthday! Nate took the day off of work, hooray! Made a smoothie for first breakfast – (all organic) giant apple, banana, orange, romaine, four soaked dates blended with ice, water, a little bit of soymilk, and some stevia. SO YUMMY! Definitely a keeper of a recipe.
• Went out to pick up my birthday cake at Southern Sweets (my mom’s insistence). Afterward, a trip to Dulce Vegan for second breakfast! I chose the small shortbread cookie dipped partway in chocolate and then crushed pistachios. Nate chose the lavender scone with chocolate chips and shared two bites with me. Both were amazing! I ordered a giant breakfast sandwich – all housemade except for the Daiya – biscuit, egg, sausage – all vegan, of course! So giant I had to split it and eat it open-face, one side with the egg/cheese and the other side with sausage and mustard (my favorite brekkie-sand combo). Good lord that was a lot of food.
• Bowl of rice crispies, a GoMacro bar, and lots of afternoon runnin’ around.
• Super-quick workout: 15minutes, 1.24miles, 203 calories at 14 resistance. Intervals of 30-second “power blasts” – as fast as I could go – every other minute. Really got the heart-rate up!
• Birthday dinner at my parents’ house: giant bowl of vegetable soup, a pizza-sized slice of mom’s famous cornbread, a bowl of from-dry all-day-slow-cooked cranberry beans, and a medium-sized piece of cake for dessert.

Thursday 8 March 2012

• Celebrated take-the-cats-to-the-vet-nate-works-from-home-day by making his favorite breakfast (and mine, for the fourth day in a row) – cheesy grits! See 5 March entry for the recipe.
• Lunch of last night’s leftover tomato soup. Dessert: 2/3 of a rosemary sea salt caramel and a raspberry de pizan. Two leek & onion crackers, six or so seed crackers, a few slivers of Dr. Cow cheese.
• Early afternoon indulgence: one tiny macadamia cream, one regular-sized macadamia cream, one yuzu cream.
• Lotsa running around, grocery gathering and suchlike.
• Afternoon snack attack with my sweetie: 1/2 bag Cobra Corn, an Uptons Naturals tamale, a few crackers dipped in hummus, and a tiny bite of Lagusta’s heathen toffee.
• Workout: 35 minutes on the elliptical at level 14, 2.6 miles, 403 calories. 55 minutes at 13 resistance, 630 calories, 4.08 miles. Total: 90 minutes, 6.68 miles, 1033 calories. 
• The most ridiculous (and possibly shameful) post-workout meal ever: (but I promised Nate, and I keep my promises!) warmed organic yellow corn chips topped with steamy creamy Food for Lovers queso and Upton’s Naturals chipotle seitan. AKA, everything from a bag or jar. AKA, product placement dinner. AKA, nachos. What the hell!
• Dessert: three dates, 6 ounces of soymilk, and half a rosemary sea salt caramel.

Wednesday 7 March 2012

• Scoop of Vega chocolate mixed in 6 oz soymilk and 12 ounces of water. Sounds kinda gross but it’s actually not – and more importantly, it’s really filling!
• Workout: I went to the gym early but ended up having a short workout. 60 minutes at 13 resistance, 4.46 miles, 692 calories.
• So hungry after workout! Blended an apple, banana, orange, stevia, ice, handfuls of romaine, water and drank 2 16 oz glasses. Banished an audibly-growling belly.
• AND THEN THE POSTMAN ARRIVED!!!!!!!! WITH MY LAGUSTA’S LUSCIOUS CHOCOLATE! I kinda sorta thought twice about chasing my smoothie with a lot of sugar, but what the hell. I had a tiny english cream egg (seriously, it’s the size of my thumb! and I didn’t even see the precious yolk because I ate the whole thing at once!), the smallest piece of heathen toffee in the box, and a gorgeous macadamia cream. Everything was perfectly delicious as always, but that macadamia cream was breathtaking – one of the best chocolates I’ve ever had! So excited to have more later…
• A surprise in the mail: Vietnamese chili paste and tofu misozuke by Rau Om! So delicious I had to immediately write and mail a four-paragraph thank-you note. I tried the insanely hot chili paste dabbed on misozuke, which had been smeared on leek & onion crackers. Three total. What a divine snack!
• A bowl of yesterday’s recipe grits… last day. :)
• Half a rosemary sea salt caramel while writing letters. I had forgotten how swooningly sweet they are!
• Same Vega set-up as earlier, only with less soymilk – like 4oz.
• Another workout! 53 minutes at 13 resistance, 3.97 miles, 617 calories. Today’s totals: 113 minutes at 13 resistance, 8.43 miles, 1309 calories.
• Dinner: a big bowl of ultra-garlicky tomato chickpea soup topped with a handful of Daiya on top. Several slices of Dr. Cow cashew cheese. About 2.5 servings (8) leek & onion crackers. Two of those crackers spread with tofu misozuke and dotted with the chili sauce. Dessert: another tiny cream egg, half a very small piece of heathen toffee, half of a rosemary caramel, the other half of my rosemary caramel from earlier, and half of a raspberry de pizan. (Half half half b/c it’s fun to share with Nate.)
• Day three and final.

Tuesday 6 March 2012

• Same breakfast as yesterday: 1/3 cup Georgia-grown… for the same reason. Iron!
• Healthy snack: half an ounce of Dr. Cow cheese, half serving of mary’s gone crackers, palmful of cashews. Iron!
• Big bowl of last night’s leftover caldo verde. Iron!
• Gym: 35 minutes at 13 resistance, 402 calories, 2.6 miles. 17 minutes at 13 resistance, 1.23 miles, 188 calories. 
• Hmm, discovered why I didn’t get a pimple this month (see yesterday’s log): because I got the WORST cramps of my life today and yesterday! I was in so much pain I thought I was going to vomit. Happened at the gym after the first half of my workout. I got off the elliptical, sat down in one of the comfy chairs in the lobby, and tried to ride it out. But after a few minutes of absolutely wrenching pain – imagine if someone attached a balloon whisk to a drill, thrust it into your abdomen and pressed go – I drove home in agony. 20 minutes of debilitating pain followed by a bowl of rice krispies with soymilk, two chocolate squares, and and entire bag of Cobra Corn. Yep. Snacks saved me. I love snacks.
• A small bowl of organic chocolate rice krispies with soymilk.
• Second workout, the one where I didn’t collapse from abdominal pain: first 12 minutes not on my usual machine, .83 miles, 125 cal, 12 resistance. 35 minutes on my usual, 14 resistance, 2.61 miles, 407 calories. 25 minutes, 1.87mi, 13 resistance, 290 calories. Totals for the DAY: 124 minutes, 9.14 miles, 1412 calories.
• Crispy greasy dinner of deep-fried Japanese-style salt and pepper tofu with onions and jalepenos (Dau Hu Rang Muoi) and two giant rice paper spring rolls stuffed with lettuce, vegetables, and tofu. At one of old favorites, So Ba.
• Day two.

Monday 5 March 2012

• 1/3 cup Georgia-grown stone-ground grits cooked in a cup of water with 1/3 cup unsweetened soymilk, 1/4 cup Daiya, 3 tablespoons of nutritional yeast, tons of black pepper, and salt. Grits are very high in iron (20% DV per quarter-cup serving) and I started my period today, so there.
• A bowl of Rice Krispies with soymilk. I swear, I am going to eat these crazy krispies til the box is gone. Fortified cereals are also high in iron.
• A cup of coffee-flavored soymilk sweetened with a tablespoon of agave nectar since I am out of stevia :( :( :(
• Two slivers of Dr. Cow with four Mary’s gone crackers, two leek&onion crackers. A disgusting chocolate square.
• The daily smoothie: apple, banana, orange, romaine, half cup raspberries, ice, water.
• Big workout: 3 minute warm-up (.23 mile, 36 cal, 14 resistance). 35 minutes at 14 resistance, 2.63 miles, 410 calories. 35 minutes at 13 resistance, 2.63 miles, 410 calories. 20 minutes at 13 resistance, 1.51 miles, 236 calories. Total: 7 miles even, 93 minutes, 1092 calories. 35 mins/14 resistance/2.63 miles/410 calories; 35min/13 res/2.63mi/410 cal; 20min/13 res/1.51 mi/263 cal.
• Recovery drink: a scoop of chocolate Vega blended with ice, about 1.5 cups of unsweetened soymilk, and water. Vega is  kind of a miracle worker. I drank it because I had a long workout (I always take in some kind of liquid/gentle nutrition after workouts that exceed 75 mins), but I also happened to have really terrible menstrual cramps. Drinking the Vega shake calmed me and completely obliterated the cramps. Wow! Interesting to note that this is the first period I’ve had in a long time without a pimple. I have totally clear skin except for once a month, when I get one big period pimple somewhere. This month, no pimple! :) Maybe it’s an early birthday present… :)
• Dinner: two bowls of caldo verde with fluffy red kale, yukon golds, sweet onion, soy curls, and lotsa spice. Shared a bag of Cobra Corn with Nate (he had a cravin’, I was happy to oblige.) Two chocolate squares (not disgusting) later.
• Day one!

Sunday 4 March 2012

• Green smoothie: banana, apple, romaine, ice, water, stevia.
• Small light lunch after Meeting: some quinoa, berries, brown rice with kale, kale, broccoli, that sort of thing. Small. Light.
• Workout: kinda lazy and sluggish. Almost nobody in the gym or on the ellipticals but this one person who was on the one that I always use! I did 35 minutes not on my usual and then 35 on my usual. The first 20 minutes I went 1.37 miles at 11 resistance for 198 calories. The second 15 minutes I went 1.01 miles on an easy resistance for 141 calories. Finally, I went 35 minutes on my usual machine at 13 resistance for 2.58 miles and 397 calories. Total: 70 minutes, 4.96 miles, 736 calories.
• Late lunch at Dulce Vegan: split sandwiches with Nate. Half of a chipotle BLT and half of a pesto tofu. Half of a house croissant, too!
• Vegan sweet attack! 1 Caramella coconut milk caramel, 1 nougatissimo, 1 peanut butter crunch truffle.
• half an ounce of Dr. Cow cheese with three crackers
• half a bag of Cobra Corn with nate
• 1.5 bowls of last night’s soup
• CRAZY CRAVINGS. Of course, I started my period around 10pm. I have had period cravings my entire life. I might not crave the rest of the month, but on that first day I want chocolate like I want water. I hate sounding like such a freakin’ stereotype, but it’s just the way it is. I will eat all of the chocolate things in my house if I have to.  (see “Vegan sweet attack!” above.) I’m SO RELIEVED that my birthday order of Lagusta’s Luscious will be here soon. OMG.

Saturday 3 March 2012

• bowl of rice krispies with soymilk. (Little under two cups of Krispies)
• Half a cup of coffee-flavored soymilk :) (AKA, what I occasionally drink instead of coffee)
• Early morning workout! Got to the gym around 8:45 because today is a busy-bee day. Shiitake workshop from 12-5 and then heading up to Marietta to pick up my Cosmo’s birthday order. The gym’s hours are 8-7 on Saturday and Sunday, so if I didn’t go early, I wouldn’t be able to go at all. 85 minutes on the elliptical at 13 resistance, 6.38 miles, 996 calories.
• Daily smoothie of a whole orange blended with an apple, banana, romaine, stevia, ice, and water. Shared with Nate.
• Daily oatmeal.
• Half of a GOMACRO raw vegan macrobiotic bar, partway through the shiitake workshop.
• Half of a cup of earl grey with soymilk.
• Vegan afternoon snack attack! A bag of Cobra Corn, part of a chocolate easter egg, a Caramella caramel, half of a wheel of Dr. Cow tree nut cheese (1 oz/1 serving) with four leek&onion crackers.
• Two bowls of vegetable-noodle soup, half of a chocolate easter egg.

Friday 2 March 2012

• Double cup of ginger tea … recovery from a wild night of eatin’.
• Slept right through breakfast… for lunch, had a giant arugula-spinach salad with last night’s creamy dressing, cashews, and a piece of tempeh bacon, crumbled. Small plate of rosemary potatoes.
• Earl grey with soymilk and stevia.
• Two dates, a bowl of Mary’s Gone Crackers, some with tofu misozuke.
• Dinner: another giant – I mean giant! – spinach/arugula salad with dressing, cashews, and several pieces of tempeh bacon. A bowl of Nate’s amaranth porridge.
• 3/4 of a cupcake – ate the other 1/4 last night. :)
• Late workout : 35 mins at 13 resistance 2.65 miles, 416 calories; 22 mins at 12 res 1.46 miles, 255 calories. 4.11 miles, 57 minutes, 671 calories.

Thursday 1 March 2012

• Daily smoothie made with 1/2 cup blueberries, frozen banana, lots of ice, water, four or five mandarin oranges, a little bit of spinach. A small bowl of oatmeal.
• Cup of golden spring black tea with soymilk and stevia.
• Another extremely busy day! Didn’t want to take time to cook (I’d be doing *plenty* of that later), so I just had a bowl of cereal for lunch and my Spoon leftovers.
• Chocolate vegan egg mid-afternoon. Also, probably some tea.
• work work work work work work work for a pretty pretty butterfly brunch party! On my dinner plate: arugula salad with creamy dressing and tempeh bacon, rosemary roasted potatoes and onions, homemade sausage, tofu scramble with peppers and onions, biscuits and gravy. Mimosa. Iced water. Dessert: a “blueberry pancakes” cupcake – blueberry cupcake with super-light whipped maple frosting.

Wednesday 29 February 2012

• The time has come… sigh. Daily smoothie made with 1/2 cup bluberries, frozen banana, whole orange, water, a cup of spinach, some ice. Less than half of a bowl of oatmeal – see post for details.
• Worked all morning! Had a large coffee-flavored iced soymilk to power through the day. :) Around 3pm sat down to a moroccan-spiced chickpea scramble. A spur of the moment recipe that started with an onion in my cast-iron skillet, sun-dried tomatoes, sweet cashew-cream carrots, raisins, cashews, lotsa cumin, thyme, sea salt, lemon juice, nutritional yeast, cayenne pepper… had a big plate and got super full, even though I was really hungry when I sat down.
• A vegan creme egg as a treat!
• Very, VERY busy, active day. Got LOTS of stuff done. It was quite like yesterday, only I accomplished even more. Ridiculous. I was actually surprised I was able to work out so hard at the gym – I thought it’d be 15 minutes and I’d be done. But I went 51.5 minutes on the elliptical at 13 resistance, going 3.88 miles for 608 calories.
• Dinner at Spoon with my sweetie – our first meal out in a week and a half! (Since Sat the 18th.) I had the pad thai glass noodle with extra veggies and shared fried tofu with nate as an appetizer. It was the first time I had to take part of my meal home. Celebrated our three year and three month anniversary. :)
• A vegan creme egg as dessert!

Tuesday 28 February 2012

• Daily oatmeal, daily smoothie (smoothie lacked an apple, so it was just spinach blended with a banana, water, and stevia)
• Lunch of a bowl of last night’s leftover soup, six leek&onion crackers with tofu misozuke!
• Two nougatissimo candies
• Gym! 80 minutes on the elliptical at 13 resistance, 5.98 miles, 929 calories. Plus five minutes of unrecorded cool-down.
• Post work-out snack of a bowl of last night’s leftover soup
• While cooking, a small bowl of want’em wonton chips (A cravin’!)
• Dinner: creamy caraway cabbage and noodles
• A chocolate caramel and a nougatissimo
• a bag of cobra corn and four chocolate mint candies while watching RuPaul’s Drag Race/playing video games

Monday 27 February 2012

• A cup of Nate’s savory amaranth porridge for breakfast.
• Green smoothie: spinach, apple, banana, stevia, water, ice.
• Wasn’t feeling up to cooking, so for lunch I just had a big bowl of rice krispies with soymilk.
• 2 ounces of dry-roasted chickpeas
• About a half cup (as in four ounces) of  sweet soymilky coffee. It takes me about four days to drink a full cup of coffee these days! :-)
• epic workout while watching Tabatha Takes Over: 95 minutes at 13 resistance, 7.1 miles, 1,105 calories.
• Post-work-out recovery: a scoop of chocolate Vega in soymilk.
• Shared a bag of Cobra Corn with my mister nate while the soup was making!
• Dinner: two giant bowls of no-chicken noodle soup. Sooooo good. Sooooo good.
• Two chocolate mint candies.
• A mug of rooibos with soymilk and stevia.

Sunday 26 February 2012

• No proper breakfast (smoothie, oatmeal) because we slept in til nearly lunchtime. Cup of english breakfast tea with stevia and soymilk doesn’t count.
• Brunch of leftover stew (finally! THE LAST!), half a piece of pita bread with a dab of earth balance, and sweet potato souffle.
• an ounce of dry-roasted chickpeas and another cup of english breakfast tea.
• Delicious early dinner at my Aunt Mary’s grand house in Cartersville. For the vegans (we’ve swelled to four in the Lowe family, now!) she made a pan of roasted vegetables, including asparagus, black beans and rice, and a giant salad. I contributed a homemade tahini-miso-cashew salad dressing (Isa’s recipe from Appetite for Reduction), that everyone loved! I had one big plate of food (scoop of beans, scoop of roasted veggies, giant salad), and then a second smaller plate. So full!
• Once home (8:15ish), I nearly swallowed whole my last vegan cadbury egg and chased it with two DesiderioChocs nougats. A cup of rooibos with soymilk and stevia.

Saturday 25 February 2012

• Out-of-town visit to my bestie Jessica day! For breakfast I had the regular green smoothie and oatmeal. For lunch we had sweet and spicy stir-fried tofu, garlic-steamed spinach, seared carrots in savory agave-cinnamon-sea salt-cayenne glaze, and white rice (Jess & the kids virtuously had organic long-grain brown). Strawberries for dessert!
• Late afternoon snack of Jessica’s organic popcorn with earth balance, cinnamon sugar, and salt.
• Several cups of Yogi tea – Moon Cycle and St. John’s Wort.
• Once home, I was ravenous! Gobbled a couple handfuls each of dry-roasted chickpeas and kale chips and two medjool dates. Also ate most of a bag of Cobra Corn while Nate’s amaranth pudding dinner was cooking. (Yeah, I could’ve grabbed a banana or apple, but with a craving for salt and spice, I reached for Cobra Corn. Whatever!)
• Nate’s new amaranth pudding was amazing! Loosely based on a recipe from Brendan Braizer, it was simple and filling. Amaranth simmered in unsalted veg stock with onion, garlic, 1/2 tsp toasted sesame oil, lotsa shoyu and nutritional yeast, cayenne and tons of black pepper.
• After dinner we played video games and ate vegan creme eggs. I also had a a DesiderioChocs gourmellow.

Friday 24 February 2012

• The daily smoothie – spinach, apple, banana, ice, one scoop Vega powder.
• Daily oatmeal.
• Big arugula spinach salad with last night’s Caesar dressing and cashews.
• Another vegan creme egg! Some handfuls of kale chips. Three Sjaak’s candies. VEGAN SNACK ATTACK!
• exercise: elliptical for 55 minutes at 12 resistance, total of 4.00 miles and 607 calories.
• Dinner: more leftover stroganoff (hooray for tripling recipes), more chickpea and kale soup (same!), and a GIANT piece of farmer’s market pita bread with probably too much earth balance (I was craving carbs and fat like a crazy lady), salt, and a dab of tahini. Another creme egg, cuz yanno, we gotta eat ‘em up. :-)

Thursday 23 February 2012

• The daily oatmeal
• The daily smoothie – spinach, apple, banana, raspberries and… ICE! Finally! It’s so warm here!
• A cup of triple mushroom stroganoff.
• Half a bag of Cobra Corn (1 serving) shared with mr. nate :)
• a VEGAN CADBURY CREME EGG by Queenbalch on etsy… OMG… one of the most amazingly delicious things EVER!!!!!!!!!!!!! So much better than I remember! GO BUY SOME. …and a gulp of soymilk, cuz dang that thing was rich and sugary!
• A handful of dry-roasted seasoned chickpeas.
• gym gym gym, gym gym gym gym: 70 minutes on the elliptical at 13 resistance for a total of 820 calories and 5.26 miles. 10 more minutes for .75 miles, 12 resistance, 115 calories. Total: 80 minutes, 935 calories, 6.01 miles.
• Dinnertime with Vic: I hope he makes a post about it, because it was pretty delicious. Giant mostly arugula salad with Isa’s Caesar Chavez dressing (tahini, miso, cashews, capers, etc), vegan bacon, and cashews; tofu scramble with sun-dried tomatoes, shaved carrot, orange bell pepper; blueberry pancakes with maple syrup. Yep, blueberry pancakes! I had one pancake and two bites of another because I got full on that epic salad. (I intentionally gave myself the biggest one. :)) a DesiderioChoc caramel for dessert and a bite of a cookie. YUM! Note: Nate was a most excellent help with prep (he chopped onion, pepper, minced garlic, shaved carrot, and more!) and I did the whole she-bang in pyjamas.

Wednesday 22 February 2012

• Two glasses of a giant green smoothie: lots of (all organic) packed spinach blended with banana, apple, and stevia.
• The daily oatmeal: (all organic) Kansas oats brewed in water with chia seeds, hemp seeds, maple syrup, sea salt, and cayenne.
• A cup of english breakfast tea with stevia and soymilk.
• Lunch: a cup of triple mushroom & seitan stroganoff. The last of last night’s Want’ems – I had a thirst to finish the bag so I wouldn’t be plagued by them. a 1/4 serving of a granola-candied nut snack.
• Long work-out: 70 minutes on the elliptical at level 13, 5.28 miles, 827 calories; 10 minutes at level 12 (I think? It might have been 13?) .74 miles, 115 calories. Total: 80 minutes, 6.02 miles, 942 calories.
• The power of working out: like SO MANY OTHER TIMES, I really didn’t want to go to the gym, but when I left I felt 100000000000x better. Let this be a testament, a testimony!
• Split a bag of Cobra Corn – my new favorite thing – with my sweetie. (150 calories total)
• Happy healthy dinner of $5 Lunacy Black Market mushroom soup and a big spinach salad topped with sweet citrus-cashew creme shredded carrot salad, raisins, and cashews.
• A cup of Kava stress relief tea with stevia and soymilk

Tuesday 21 February 2012

• Second day of meal delivery cooking. Today: seitan porcini stew, triple mushroom stroganoff, and raw citrus-cashew salad. That means tasting every one of these, often more than a bite, to correct seasonings. Also: lunch. A bowl of the porcini stew for lunch and dinner. The recipe on its own made just enough for meal deliveries, but I bought extra ingredients and doubled it so we could eat it, too.
• But first, breakfast: in anticipation of tasting rich food, I went with a simple breakfast – not the usual oatmeal and smoothie. I had a chocolate vega shake made with 1 scoop in a cup of plain soymilk.
• While cutting the rice crispie treats into shapes, I definitely snuck a few of the spare pieces.
• Lunch: simple salad of mixed greens with a light dressing, cashews, and shaved carrots. Light kale & chickpea soup.
• Two Nougatissimo. Half of a Sjaak’s truffle.
• Made deliveries, went to the gym for a quick workout: 35 minutes on the elliptical to The Big Bang Theory (good for a few chuckles, I try to keep it light), 2.45 miles, 363 calories, 10 resistance. Not on my usual machine.
• Late evening: Before Christmas I bought myself a groupon to Abe’s Market and I just redeemed it last week for a bunch of salty snacks. Part of the order arrived yesterday, including Wantems, these wonton-reminiscent chips made of rice, wheat, and potato. Because of the extreme thinness and crispness, they felt lighter going down, but after overindulging, I realised that there was basically little difference between eating these guys and eating a bag of potato chips. They were still salty, oily, and nutritionally deficient. But  you know what, they were a special snack, and I was watching RuPaul’s Drag Race, and so long as I don’t eat these sorts of things often, I’ll be alright. There are way more important and meaningful things to do than beating myself up over something (anything) I ate.

Monday 20 February 2012

• Green smoothie and the daily oatmeal (see below for contents)
• Chocolate vega shake made with 1.5 scoops in plain soymilk
• couple ounces of dry-roasted unsalted pecans
• Several spoonfuls of this week’s salad dressing to adjust seasonings
• A big spinach salad with a sprinkle each of pecans and cashews, shaved carrots, and Susan’s Hidden Cashew Ranch Dressing.
• A handful of freshly-cooked chickpeas with a sprinkle of salt, a spritz of lemon juice, and a drizzle of tahini: one of my favorite treats!

Sunday 19 February 2012

• Delicious green smoothie: lots of packed spinach, an apple, a banana, a little stevia, and an acai smoothie pack. All organic.
• The daily oatmeal: (all organic) Kansas oats brewed in water with chia seeds, hemp seeds, maple syrup, sea salt, and cayenne.
• Earl grey with stevia and soymilk.
• Shared a giant bowl of popcorn with my sweetie. Organic popcorn popped on the stovetop with a tablespoon of oil; toppings: shoyu, nutritional yeast, cayenne, black pepper.
• Pre-work-out smoothie: lots of spinach blended with apple, banana, raspberries, blueberries, water, silken Japanese tofu.
• Gym: 60 minutes on the elliptical. First 30 at 13 resistance, second 30 at 12. 4.55 total miles, 715 calories.
• Tofu scramble with onion, red bell pepper, lotsa spice, nutritional yeast, meyer lemon, grated carrots. The VWaV-ish recipe, served over basmati rice.
• NOTE: no sweets today, no sugary snacks, no marshmallows, no chocolate candy, no candy. NONE! (What does this mean?!)

Saturday 18 February 2012

• Daily oatmeal
• A cup of very weak coffee, aka, stevia-sweetened coffee-flavored soymilk :-)
• Light lunch at the farmer’s market with bestie Jessica and her dear friend Laura. A bed of organic greens with raw shredded beets, raw shredded carrots, two pieces of baked maple-glazed winter squash, five cubes of Tso’s tofu, steamed carrots, steamed broccoli, curried cauliflower, two strawberries, a spoonful of baba ganoush, spoonfuls of sunflower and pumpkin seeds. You know, something like that.
• Once home, discovered that Nate had made a totally delicious red beans bourguignon over rice. I thought I would have a small portion but it was so delicious I ended up eating a normal-sized one!
• A crispy rice square and a 1″ rice krispie heart.
• Only slightly embarrassed to admit all the post-V-day candy indulgences of this afternoon: four Nougatissimo, a Mixing Bowl Bakery heart cookie, three Sjaak’s candies. I also snacked on a box of NYNaturals kale chips while basically doing nothing online. What can I say, it was a lazy, rainy Saturday afternoon.
• Nate & I started to feel restless and wanted to go to the gym, but the gym CLOSES AT 7PM on Saturdays. So we decided to run in place and around the house for 15 minutes, acting like crazyfools and doing all kinds of insane Lovecraftian dancing and hollering. It was definitely more fun than the elliptical, and got my heart rate up faster, too. Hooray for living in a bigger place and not above a downstairs neighbor! Downside: only 15 minutes, as opposed to my usual 70.
• Definitely embarrassed to admit that we had thai takeout for a second night in a row. Sloth collided with … more sloth and we decided to play video games and eat noodles. I guess you need that every once in a while. PS:FUCK MEGAMAN.

Friday 17 February 2012

• Daily oatmeal, daily smoothie
• A cup of weak coffee with soymilk and stevia – basically, sweet coffee-flavored soymilk.
• A cup of soup; a cup of leftover veggie stew: lunch. A piece of chocolate crisp-rice candy. The rest of yesterday’s oatmeal cookie sandwich.
• A piece of chocolate at Jacquie’s house.
• Workout: 70 minutes on the elliptical, 5.21 miles, 807 calories. 13 resistance on the first 35, 12 on the second.
• Take-out dinner from Spoon. The usual pad thai glass noodle with vegetables and tofu. Spicy and unusually greasy and sweet tonight. Three pieces of DesiderioChocs nougat and the other have of a DC caramel.
• Shared a box of NYNaturals Vegan Cheese flavor Kale Chips with my sweetie while watching Hackers.

Thursday 16 February 2012

• Daily oatmeal!!
• Lunch with my momma: stew leftover from V-day night, only added roasted vegetables.
• A leftover V-day cupcake. A marshmallow. Two bites of an oatmeal cookie sandwich. A small rice krispie heart. A cup of weak coffee with soymilk and stevia.
• GYM!!! Got on that elliptical. 52 minutes, 3.90 miles, 605 calories, 12 resistance.
• A bowl of rice krispies.
• Dinner at Jacquie’s: Four pieces of tofu with apricot bbq sauce, thinly-sliced seasoned potatoes (more barbeque sauce), some peas, sauteed mushrooms, a chocolate cupcake with chocolate frosting.

Wednesday 15 February 2012

• So hard to get out of bed. No appetite for breakfast. No desire to do anything but sleep!
• But I pulled myself up and out and made oatmeal and a smoothie. The usuals. I also had a futile cup of earl grey with soymilk and stevia.
• Another cup of earl grey with soymilk and stevia.
• Lunch: some leftover cashew mac’n'cheeze from last night’s dinner and a little bitty bowl of leftover soup.
• Two marshmallows, two little marshmallow hearts, and one of Jenny’s oreo truffles. Can we say sweet tooth?
• Got back in the bed. Researched Sharon Needles. Watched Sharon Needles videos. Ooohed and aaahed over her gorgeousness. Yawned a lot and tried to work up some nerve/will to go the gym. Plagued by that feeling (that doesn’t happen often) where sleep feels like the most delicious thing in the world – you know how when you were in school and you knew it was a school day and the bus would be there in so many minutes but ALL YOU WANTED TO DO was sleep? That feeling.
• And then I got over myself and went to the gym and would you know it, I felt loads better afterwards? I’m sad to say that the number one thing that tempted me/made me finally do it was the prospect of watching Patti Stanger for an hour and a half. AND I DID. Elliptical for 90 minutes, 6.67 miles, 1030 calories, all at 12 resistance. Note: I was definitely able to “go harder” today because of yesterday’s rest. Yay rest days!
• 8 oz of a recovery drink – Vega powder mixed in water with a little soymilk.
• Dinner: a little more mac ‘n cheeze and a hearty bowl of last night’s seitan stew.
• Holy sweet tooth: another (the last!) Oreo bonbon, two DesiderioChocs nougat, a sweet and sara marshmallow, small rice krispie heart, a bite of cupcake. HA!
• Bowl of rice cripsies.

Tuesday 14 February 2012

WTF, today is Valentine’s day and I celebrated it, so hell no I ain’t loggin’ all my eats n’ sweets. I’ll tell you this: I had a sensible breakfast of oatmeal and a well-rounded dinner, too. But all that in between? That’s between me & my belly. Yum! And I did not go to the gym.

Monday 13 February 2012

• Daily oatmeal
• Daily smoothie: spinach blended in water with apple, banana, a cup of rasberries, and a little stevia.
• Thrown together creamy noodle lunch: 2 oz tagliatelle, 1/2 cup chickpeas, a few handfuls of fresh spinach, four cloves garlic, flour, unsweetened soymilk, lots of nutritional yeast, black pepper, sea salt.
• A bite of an obsessive confection disorder rose caramel with soymilk
• Two cups of oolong.
• Gym: 70 minutes, first at 12 resistance, second at 11. Total of 5.17 miles and 798 calories.
• five, count em, five tortilla chips. also: five leek & onion crackers with tofu misozuke.
• two bowls of delicious crazy soup (see below).
• more of my solid chocolate heart, only this time with a schmear of peanut butter.

Sunday 12 February 2012

• Ran out of oatmeal! Horribleness! Took advantage of this bit of bad luck by making grits, an uncommon treat, prepared mostly with water but also a touch of unsweetened soymilk for creaminess, sea salt, nutritional yeast, and LOTS of cracked black pepper. Also, a handful of reconstituted soy curls for chewiness.
• Daily smoothie: out of bananas! improvisation! 1/4 block of Japanese silken tofu blended with an apple, peaches, blueberries, hemp seeds, rooibos, and a little stevia. Oh, and water of course.
• Lunch: leftovers of last night’s crazy soup. Dessert: a truffle and part of one side of a solid chocolate heart.
• 2 cups of tea: one earl grey, one darjeeling; both with soymilk and stevia.
• Went to the gym: 45 minutes, 3.37 miles, 12 resistance, 522 calories.
• Sauced for dinner! amazing! Three courses: simple (perfect) salad with cubed beets and pickled radish, homemade pizza with a tasteful sprinkle of Daiya, deep-fried house seitan, fresh basil, and arrabiata sauce; seasonal fruit (pomegranate, citrus, diced apple) to finish. PERFECT!
• Half a bag of kale crisps.

Saturday 11 February 2012

• Daily oatmeal: (all organic) Kansas oats, maple syrup, chia seeds, hemp seeds, cayenne, sea salt.
• Daily smoothie: (all organic) spinach, banana, apple, peach, rooibos, flax seeds, amla powder.
• Lunch: vegetable pilaf with korma on top.
• A chocolate square. Half of an Eli’s Earth Bar.
• WORKOUT: dang, son. 80 minutes. First 35 minutes: 12 resistance, 400 calories, 2.58 miles. Second 35: 11 resistance, 395 calories, 2.57 miles. Last ten minutes: 10 resistance, 108 calories, .71 mile. Totals: 80 minutes, 903 calories, 5.86 miles.
• Recovery smoothie! unsweetened soymilk blended with chia seeds, a 2-in knob of ginger (to help with inflammation; Nate did weights workout in addition to cardio), 8 ounces of blueberries (also a potent anti-inflammatory).
• 2.5 bowls of the amazing crazy soup: onions, celery, carrots, shoyu, nutritional yeast, Butler Soy Curls (GAH. SO YUM), freshly-milled black pepper, celery seed, red pepper flakes, mustard seeds, cayenne, kale, noodles. I ate til I couldn’t eat any more, and my pounding headache went away.
• four vanilla sweet and sara vegan marshmallows, a chocolate mint candy, a cup of herbal peach tea with stevia
• shared a bowl of nachos with food for lovers queso with nate while watching Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs

Friday 10 February 2012

• Daily oatmeal
• Earl grey with soymilk & stevia
• Dinner plate lunch: four roasted sweet potato rounds, a cup of sweet potato stew, and some vegetable-rich rice pilaf
• Double rooibos with stevia and soymilk
• Very weak instant coffee with stevia and soymilk
• Dinner! At our old favorite, Burnt Fork BBQ – hadn’t sat down there since before Christmas. I got the usual smoked tofu plate with sides of kale&pecans, housemade bread, and french fries. The french fries are awesome because they’re organic and locally-sourced. You can taste the difference! I also had a spring roll with dipping sauce as an appetizer.
• Two chocolate mint candies.

Thursday 9 February 2012

• Daily oatmeal and daily smoothie
• Earl grey with soymilk
• GIANT Salad with my mom and grandmother in Cartersville: huge bowl of young field greens, balsamic-marinated portabella, chickpeas, sliced avocado, housemade pickles, shredded carrots and zucchini, about a tablespoon of balsamic vinaigrette
• Once home, I am SO HUNGRY. I have: a little over a cup of sweet potato stew over rice. Half of a cookie. Six crackers with tofu misozuke. A Sjaak’s “hearts of cherry” candy.
• GYM: 40 minutes, 9 resistance, 415 calories, 2.8 miles. Quickie!
• Dinner at Vic’s: scrumptious tempeh with roasted vegetables and nutritional yeast; Vic’s famous popcorn (hint: LOTS of Earth Balance) and a banana.
• Once home, the mistake of two chocolate mint candies. Oh well.

Wednesday 8 February 2012

• Daily oatmeal
• Daily smoothie: (all organic) spinach, banana, apple, soymilk, water, stevia, and amla powder.
• Sweet potato lentil stew over rice
• two cookies and some soymilk!
• 1/4 cup of coffee with soymilk.
• Gym! elliptical, 70 minutes, 5.11 miles, 12 resistance on the first 35, 11 on the second; 783 calories.
• Dinner: eggplant and black-eyed pea curry over rice. Didn’t finish it. Two cookies and a glass of soymilk.
• NOTES: I DID NOT SNACK TODAY. AND I’M NOT HUNGRY. HOW?!
• Day three and final.

Tuesday 7 February 2012

• Two and a half chocolate snickerdoodle cookies! What a way to start the day!
• A bowl of the daily oatmeal. (no smoothie today – blender was otherwise occupied.)
• A little bit of this week’s salad dressing to test/correct seasonings. This one was a pain.
• A mug of earl grey with soymilk and stevia.
• Lunch: a small bowl of the insanely rich cashew veggie korma with a piece of pita bread.
• A bite of an apple and a few caramelized sweet potato rounds.
• Several handfuls of tortilla chip crumbs.
• Went to the gym! elliptical at 11 resistance, 70 minutes, 5.12 miles, 783 calories.
• Post work-out yums: four crackers with tofu misozuke, about a half-cup of quinoa, a cup of rice with a cup of korma (aka, proper dinner), a big cup of soymilk with four cookies.
• Day two.

Monday 6 February 2012

• Daily oatmeal
• Daily smoothie
• Big bowl of eggplant-black-eyed pea curry. One of the meal delivery main courses this week. Instead of hoping for leftovers, I intentionally made a TON ( 6 cups) more than needed for orders so that Nate and I could have it for quick meals this week.
• Two handfuls of dry-roasted no-salt cashews.
• A hard candy and a chocolate square.
• Ugh, first day of the monthly meanie – you know what I mean. (What, not up for the personal stuff? Stop reading my food log! :-))
• dinner: two big bowls of the red lentil thai chili. Mmmmmm.
• Three chocolate snickerdoodle cookies.
• Sjaak’s hearts of cherry.

Sunday 5 February 2012

• Daily oatmeal: (organic) kansas oats cooked in filtered water, with chia seeds, hemp seeds, a little cayenne, maple syrup, and sea salt.
• Daily smoothie: (organic) spinach blended in filtered water with an apple, banana, peaches, raspberries, soymilk and a little stevia.
• A bowl of freshly-cooked (from dry) organic chickpeas with the juice of half a meyer lemon, sea salt, and a dollop of organic tahini. There is seriously nothing in the world like freshly cooked chickpeas.
• a tiny piece of chocolate-covered toffee.
• six tortilla chips while the gumbo was heating up. SNACKER!
• a medium bowl of my friend Gayle’s amazing gumbo over basmati rice
• the last piece of not-corn.
• took a nice walk outside, round the block; followed by another 65 minute walk at Oakland Cemetery.
• Home kinda late from Oakland, Whole Foods, Sevananda; snacked on Food for Lovers queso & chips with Nate.
• Made chana masala for the meal delivery hoping for leftovers, didn’t yield much, but had a small bowl with 1.5 pieces of pita and hummus.
• A serving (4) of those chocolate mint candies which haven’t made an appearance in weeks.
• A chocolate square.
• Thoughts on recently: I have been snacking so much! Two reasons: 1) I think I’ve been hungrier since I started working out. Having a small bite of something soothes til the next big meal. 2) The stuff is in the house! Food for Lovers, kale chips, cookies, chocolate candies, marshmallows, tortilla chips… this is the best evidence for not keeping snacks stocked if you’re trying to avoid them! I will try to be mindful of my existing stock before considering adding to it.

Saturday 4 February 2012

• Another snacky Saturday!
• Daily oatmeal only WITHOUT hempseeds because we ran out! I didn’t enjoy it as much.
• Daily smoothie, only without apples because we ran out! I didn’t enjoy it as much.
• Lunch: super-quick weird tom yum coconut curry thing with onion, korean bok choi, and chickpeas. Served over a little basmati rice.
• Handfuls of Obsessive Confection Disorder not-corn.
• Two bites of an Obsessive Confection Disorder rice krispie heart.
• Work-out time: first: 35 min, 2.51 mi, 380 cal, 11 res; second: 15 min, 1.07 mi, 161 cal, 10 resistance
• A piece of pita bread with garlic hummus and baba ganoush.
• A small handful of cashews.
• A handful of chips with Food for Lovers queso.
• Very late dinner at Harmony Vegetarian: I went light with a bowl of triple mushroom soup (black mushrooms, straw mushrooms, button mushrooms) in a delicate broth with snowpeas. Four small steamed dumplings. A few bites of Nate’s trumpet mushroom dish. An orange slice.
• Most of the rest of the rice krispie heart. One bite left!
• Two misshapen sweet & sara vanilla marshmallows.

Friday 3 February 2012

• Daily oatmeal
• Daily smoothie, made with (organic) spinach, banana, apple, peaches, blueberries, amla powder, and stevia.
• The smallest possible serving of cabbage and noodles… basically a handful.
• Lightly pan-fried tofu over spinach with some tahini dressing.
• An Obsessive Confection Disorder Caramel and two little pieces of caramel not-corn! AMAZING!
• A cup of soymilk to accompany that caramel.
• Workout: elliptical, 70 minutes, 9 resistance, 4.78 miles, 688 calories.
• Dinner: delicious amazing tom yum curry thing of red pepper, Korean bok choy, seared tofu, caramelized red onion, coconut cream, amazingness. Ate way too much!

Thursday 2 February 2012

• My sweetie’s first work-from-home day! I love having him here. I’ve done a remarkably good job at not annoying/interrupting him, too. It’s a beautiful day in Georgia.
• Daily smoothie and daily oatmeal: still out of spinach for smoothie, so it looked just like yesterday’s only with an organic heirloom Arkansas Black apple and 3/4 teaspoon of amla powder.
• A handful of tortilla chips with about a tablespoon of Food for Lovers vegan queso (basically I was grabbing a bite of the snack I made for Nate!)
• Lunch: a bowl of Nate’s favorite caraway cabbage with noodles.
• A cookie!
• Worked it out at the gym: tried a different elliptical that might have been calibrated incorrectly. It says I was doing a level 11 (I’ve worked my way up to 9, usually) and that, as a result, I burned a fair number more calories? I dunno. Weird. Anyway, stats: 70 minutes, 775 calories, 11 resistance, 5.08 miles.
• Fabulous dinner co-op at Sarah & Carol’s: bean stew with two perfect little corn cakes, dried apricot and walnut salad with homemade herb vinaigrette, peach cobbler with organic Georgia-grown and home-canned peaches for dessert! I also had a second of the bean stew, only instead of in a bowl, I had a spoonful over spinach. Yum!
• Another handful of tortilla chips. Three crackers with tofu misozuke.

Wednesday 1 February 2012

• Daily oatmeal: oats, chia, hemp seeds, cayenne, maple syrup, sea salt.
• Daily smoothie: out of spinach! Instead of sitting in the floor and crying I made a pretty pretty pink smoothie out of a big organic apple, banana, a cup of raspberries, peaches, a little soymilk, stevia, water & ice. Yum!
• Hummus and a bowl of tortilla chips
• Two and a half vegan marshmallows
• 3/4 of a cookie
• Dinner: pad thai glass noodle with extra peanuts, tofu, and vegetables – hot!
• Another cookie
• I went to the gym, hooray: 61 minutes, 9 resistance!, 4.26 miles, 622 calories.

Tuesday 31 January 2012

• Second day of CrackthePlates cooking. Today, the black-eyed peas with mustard greens (two small spoonfuls to correct smokiness/creaminess); a small bowl of the smothered mushrooms and cabbage with hempseed tofu for lunch (just enough leftover!); a few spoonfuls of the absolutely incredible salad dressing; a teaspoon of tahini for fun (and because it is delicious); two bites of carrots to correct for sweetness/gingery flavor. Better than yesterday.
• Some hummus with tortilla chips.
• Breakfast: the daily smoothie (packed spinach blended with water), banana, apple, peaches, raspberries; and the daily oatmeal (oats cooked in water and chia seeds; cayenne, maple syrup, hemp seeds, sea salt.)
• A pathetic little snack of the last of the chocolate rice krispies with soymilk.
• Half a cup of coffee with soymilk and stevia.
• Part of another Eli’s Earth candy bar.
• Even amid a crazy day, I made it to the gym! 40 minutes on the elliptical, a mere 2.7 miles, 384 calories, at 8 resistance. Not amazing but not terrible, either. I’m just glad I went.
• Dinner: a big bowl of no-chicken noodle soup and 3.25 cookies.

Monday 30 January 2012

• So, today is the first day of Crack the Plates in the new year. Orders this week were scant – probably a good thing, considering I’m both 1) in a totally new kitchen and 2) weeks out of practice. (Should have reminded myself during yesterday afternoon’s cryfest freak-out.) In fact, I had three orders of the three meal plan, which means I had to make three sides, three entrees, a salad dressing, a dessert, and a soup. Today I made and tasted the soup, a no-chicken noodle (which was also dinner); the coconut quinoa (a few spoonfuls); the mashed potatoes (more than a few spoonfuls, to correct for seasonings and wonder why the onions did caramelize the way they should have); the barbeque sauce; the soy curls in the barbeque sauce; the chocolate chip cookies (one from each batch, meaning four, sigh).
• I also had the usual oatmeal and smoothie for breakfast.
• Also at least one chocolate square and part of an Eli’s Earth Bar.

Sunday 29 January 2012

• Daily oatmeal with chia & hemp seeds, cayenne, maple syrup, sea salt. SO YUMMY.
• Daily smoothie with acai, banana, apple, a full cup of raspberries, a tablespoon of help seeds, packed spinach blended with water. All organic of course!
• A few handfuls of those ridiculously crispy crunchy eco-planet crackers.
• morning was very productive, finally got the living room unpacked and so much stuff put away. Readied the kitchen in preparation for Cracktheplates starting up again…
• … … … spent the afternoon crying, very upset, exceedingly depressed … … …
• Workout: squeezed in right before the gym closed, 20 minutes, 220 calories, can’t remember the mileage! 8 resistance. Forced myself to work out because I felt so truly horrible.
• Takeout dinner from Spoon. The usual pad thai glass noodle with tofu and vegetables.

Saturday 28 January 2012

• We were hungry, but our cats were hungrier: we had to run out of the door without breakfast to get cat food for our baby girls. We unhappily discovered that the only place in town that sells it, Whole Foods, has raised the price of 5 lbs of cat food to $21.99. Amazon.com has it on the subscribe and save program for $15.66/bag, but I hate relying on amazon so much. Oh well. Guess they win.
• At Whole Foods a nice lady was demo-ing hummus. I don’t usually buy hummus (I make it) but it was pretty tasty and made without oil. We tried a few crackers with hummus.
• Once home we plowed through another box of New York Naturals Kale Chips, this time the spicy miso flavor. I loved the “vegan cheese” variety, but this one had kind of an “off” dairy-type flavor despite containing no animal products. I still enjoyed them, but it was weird at first. Nate and I mostly split the box.
• Lunchtime breakfast of the daily oatmeal, usual recipe + 3 tablespoons of delicious yummy organic hemp seeds! I bought hemp seeds for the first time last night and I’m really into them! They gave such a lovely light nutty flavor to the oatmeal. Definitely revising the recipe to include these.
• Daily smoothie of packed organic spinach blended with water, a large organic apple, organic banana, 3/4 cup each organic raspberries and blueberries, a tablespoon of hemp seeds, and some stevia.
• Little snack of greek crackers with hummus, baba, and tofu misozuke.
• Trip to Cosmo’s Vegan in Marietta resulted in an even more snacky Saturday: eco-planet crackers, Dr. Cow cashew cheese (original), more kale crisps. A chocolate cherry heart.
• For dinner I made a vegan chicken-noodle-style-soup with Soy Curls. Three bowls!
• A very small bowl of vanilla ice cream with chocolate-mint drizzle.
• Had the option of going to the gym but chose not to because I was so very tired I yawned twice in every sentence.

Friday 27 January 2012

• daily oatmeal, only I fucked it all up and forgot to add my chia seeds. The chia seeds are so important to the texture. I struggled through the bowl.
• daily smoothie, only today made with spinach blended in water, an apple, a banana, a handful of blueberries, chia seeds since I forgot them in the oatmeal, and AMLA POWDER! I’d say more about this new addition, but I’m probably going to do a blog post about it soon.
• some leek & onion crackers with my favorite treat, kombu-aged tofu misozuke
• I went to the gym and exercised on the elliptical: 75 minutes, 700 calories, 5 miles, 8 resistance.
• Got home and scarfed leftovers from yesterday’s lunch around 5pm – about a cup and a half of the steam-fried red curry – while talking to my beloved mom on the phone.
• Shared a container of New York Naturals raw kale chips, vegan cheese flavor, with my sweetie.
• 8:15-9pm: made a late dinner of hemp-crusted tofu smothered in mushroom gravy over rice. Really delicious, so delicious I just typed up the recipe. Hope to post it soon. I just kind of came up with on the fly, but I’m certain Bryant Terry and Ann Gentry inspired it. When you read enough cookbooks enough times folks’ good ideas just get lodged in there.
• two cups of kava stress relief tea with a little soymilk and stevia.

Thursday 26 January 2012

• the daily oatmeal
• the daily smoothie, only made today with spinach, apple, banana, and a Sambazon Acai smoothie pack. It was pretty good!
• emperor’s pu-ehr with soymilk and stevia. Tastes decent but smells like ass.
• this unreasonably and unexpectedly delicious thing: steam-fried red curry with onions, garlic, bell pepper, tempeh, potato, and spinach
• whatever: 70 minutes on the elliptical, 8 resistance, 4.78miles, 690 calories.
• an apple
• a cup of unsweetened soymilk
• We had a friend over and Nate made dinner! A veggie curry over rice. Very decadent – much more so than my little lunch. :-)
• The friend insisted upon cookies, so I made cookies! The recipe made 19 in two batches. Of the first batch I had one tester (to make sure it wasn’t poisoned, of course), and two after-dinner cookies. But then I was afraid I burned the second batch, so I had one to be sure. It was perfect. Yes, this is how I explain eating four cookies.

Wednesday 25 January 2012

• a cup of rice with homemade barbeque sauce – kinda weird but quick!
• a bowl of organic stoneground grits made with water, a little unsweet soymilk, salt, fresh pepper, nutritional yeast, chia seeds, and a sprinkle of (yucky-tasting) Daiya
• a cup of earl grey with soymilk
• a cup of rooibos with soymilk
• an endangered species chocolate square (which contains a surprising 50 calories each??) – Glad I held myself to one (I usually have a serving, which is four).
• a bowl of the infamous chocolate rice krispies (see last Wednesday)
• weird creamy noodle dish thing: onions, lots of garlic, sweet bell pepper, pressed tofu, nutritional yeast, so many herbs, handfuls of spinach; added two cups of vegetable stock and a handful of noodles, simmered; made everything creamy with a roux. tasted really decadent but didn’t actually have a lot of fat – a little over two tablespoons, I guess.
• two cupcakes
• I dragged myself to the gym: 50 minutes, 8 resistance, 3.42 miles, 500 calories.
• two cups of sleepytime tea.

Tuesday 24 January 2012

• daily oatmeal
• daily smoothie, only with KALE instead of spinach, and blueberries, peaches, apple, banana, stevia. Ok, maybe this kale was just particularly bitter, but damn it was bitter! Nate loves bitter flavor and said he wouldn’t have noticed if I hadn’t mentioned it, but I hated it! I could only drink 12 oz of my 16. Eep! I have never had this problem with kale in smoothies before… wonder what happened?
• earl grey with soymilk.
• leftovers from yesterday’s kidney bean lunch with some rice. not much but did the job.
• a cupcake
• hey, um, exercise: 70 minutes on the elliptical, 8 resistance, 700 calories, 4.83 miles.
• famished! a little rice with the last of the bbq tofu. more of a snack than a meal.
• weekly spoon noodle bowl: pad thai glass noodle, hot: glass noodles with tofu and lots of fresh varied vegetables in a super hot vegan sauce.
• a few spoonfuls of organic chocolate hazelnut butter
• part of a cupcake, shared with nate
• several cups of sleepytime tea

Monday 23 January 2012

• daily oatmeal
• daily smoothie
• (organic) kidney beans stir-fried with onion, garlic, cilantro, spinach, spices; over rice
• coffee? – wimped out again! could only finish half.
• some dried apple slices
• dinner: smothered bbq-baked tofu with potato salad. tried to be careful with the oil on the tofu and in the bbq sauce. only used 1 tbsp + 1 tsp of oil in the baked tofu; 1 tbsp of oil in the bbq sauce. not too bad! definitely overindulged at dinner but served everything on the smallest plates we have so we could pace ourselves. ate less this way.
• made full-fat chocolate cupcakes made in celebration of nate who 1) is a Dragon (today is the first day of Chinese New Year, year of the Water Dragon!) AND 2) gave a super-huge presentation at work today and wowed everyone with his genius. Seriously, an hour and a half talk, 60 people, all awesome. Making his special request of bbq tofu didn’t seem enough in honor of such accomplishments, so I chased it with cupcakes. We stayed up too late watching the second season of Bored to Death.

sunday 22 January 2012

• daily smoothie: (organic) spinach, apple, banana, water, peaches, raspberries, blueberries, stevia.
• daily oats: (organic) oats, chia seeds, water, sea salt, maple syrup, cayenne.
• coffee? dancing goats with soymilk and stevia. (drank half the cup. Wimp!)
• workout: 70 minutes on the elliptical, 4.8miles, 700 calories, 8 resistance (up one in resistance from yesterday)
• super-fast pressed tofu stir-fry, much like yesterday’s, served on basmati rice. Generous with the cilantro.
• rooibos with soymilk
• 2 chocolate mint candies
• a little rice with spinach and soup poured over.
• some dried apple slices.

saturday 21 January 2012

• daily oatmeal with nate
• smoothie: (organic) spinach blended with water, a bit of soymilk, a banana, most of a small apple, peaches, raspberries, blueberries, stevia.
• earl grey with soymilk
• tofu stir-fry: pressed tofu with (organic) red onions, garlic, mustard seeds, red pepper flakes, chipotle, tumeric, cumin, sweet yellow bell peppers, kale, nutritional yeast, fresh-squeezed lemon juice. Basmati rice.
• six chocolate mint candies
• a chocolate-chip cookie
• warming everything soup: pressed tofu stir-fried in a little oil with salt, pepper, nutritional yeast; added to a base of celery and onion, carrots, marjoram, thyme, quinoa, chia seeds, rotelle pata, turmeric, herby vegetable broth… that sorta thing. Three bowls over the course of three hours!Nataleigh joined us.
• ew, exercise: 1 hour, 4 miles, 7 resistance, 550 – 600 calories.

friday 20 January 2012

• daily oatmeal: (organic) oats, chia seeds, maple syrup, cayenne, sea salt.
• smoothie: (organic) spinach blended with water, a bit of soymilk because I didn’t have a BANANA, most of a small apple (the non-rotten parts), peaches, raspberries, stevia.
• lunch at spoon west side with my lovely Auntie, her son, and her son’s future wife. pad thai with all kinds of vegetables and a sprinklin’ of tofu.
• scant portion of pretty curry (yesterday) and rice.
• 2 chocolate mint candies
• the equivalent of a whole block of kombu-aged tofu misozuke with fancy crackers, while watching bored to death.

Thursday 19 January 2012

• the usual oatmeal: organic oats, cayenne, maple syrup, chia, sea salt.
• green smoothie: packed spinach, apple, overripe banana, chia, peaches, raspberries. (organic)
• earl grey with soymilk.
• pretty curry: (organic) carrots, yukon golds, kale, red onion, pressed tofu in a sweet/limey/spicy red curry coconut sauce. Pretty low-fat, too (aside from happy healthy coconut) – only used a tablespoon of organic canola oil in the entire pan, which made 4-5 large servings. Basmati rice.
• two chocolate-chip cookies
• more pretty curry, before heading to a friend’s house where I knew there would be (temptation station, all aboard!) PIZZA FOR ME TO EATZA. Much smaller portion than lunch.
• Two small-medium slices of Mellow Mushroom vegan pizza with basil and roasted red peppers.
• hey, I exercised! 1 hour on the elliptical with resistance, somewhere between 550 – 600 calories, around 4 miles.
• random fact: I don’t drink beer (ever, at all) because I just don’t like it. One time I went to the Brickstore in Decatur and had about four ounces of some seriously tasty stuff, but I only liked it because it tasted vinegary and not beery at all.

wednesday 18 January 2012

• a bowl of CHOCOLATE ORGANIC RICE KRISPIES NO I AM NOT PROUD but i am also not judging myself (very much). with soymilk
• midday: a bowl of organic stone-ground grits with nutritional yeast, a splash of unsweetened soymilk, and a 1/4 cup of daiya. lots and lots of fresh black pepper. sea salt.
• so many chocolate mint candies I started to get jittery. Like, 7. (A serving is 4.)
• Dinner at spoon, a local thai place: pad thai glass noodle, hot: glass noodles with tofu and lots of fresh varied vegetables in a super hot vegan sauce. fried tofu with beansprouts and sweet sauce as appetizer, shared with mr. nate.
• Observations about today: where are the damned vegetables? Days like this don’t happen often but when they do I feel like crap. Vegetables (less so, fruits – working on it) are a happy daily part of my life that make me feel good. But I definitely have those days where I just don’t think about eating and end up eating a lot of sweet carbs. This is why it is important for me to have a veggie smoothie in the morning. Blend up that packed spinach with several different kinds of fruit and it’s a miracle-maker. Yesterday I dropped the ball… and I was feeling sad about it… so sad that… I managed to drag myself to the gym for the first time in months! I logged 50 minutes on the elliptical with resistance – right at 500 calories, somewhere between 3.5 – 4 miles. Not bad! I am glad I turned a less than healthy day around not by continuing to eat sweet carbs but by doing something nice for myself which also helped off-set the scrumptious noodly thai dinner. :-)

tuesday

• oatmeal for breakfast: the usual recipe.
• lunch: tofu spinach paneer-type lunch thing. Cups and cups of spinach steam-cooked with garlic and shallots, added crumbled tofu, seasoned with curry powder, nutritional yeast, lemon juice, cayenne, and so on. Basmati rice. It was okay.
• Tuesday night special dinner: two fresh spring rolls with veggies and tofu; salt & pepper tofu with lots of jalepenos. So Ba. God I love fried food so much.

monday 16 January 2012

Nate off work for MLK “holiday”, made excellent breakfast of green smoothies (packed spinach, raspberries, bananas, apples, a little stevia, yum) and oatmeal. He worked really hard unpacking a bunch of our stuff so I made a special decadent soup: a kind of loaded baked potato made with organic shallots, LOTS of fresh organic garlic, organic yukon golds, organic celery, organic carrots, celery seed, mustard seeds, cayenne, red pepper flakes, tabasco, tofu blended into unsweetened soymilk, nutritional yeast, daiya, liquid smoke, fresh parsley, and probably a couple of other things too. It was great. I usually have two bowls of soup but I just had one because I had to do so much tasting to correct the seasonings and make it “just right” that when I sat down with Nate I wasn’t even really hungry. For dinner we had more soup, some spelt toast, and Gardein wings because Nate is on a mission to try every vegan “wing” product there is. :-) We played Arkham Horror for the second night in a row (Sunday was kind of a bust) and we WON!! We beat Shub-Niggurath when the terror track was at 9 and monster surges were routine and both of us were low on strength. Okay, that last bit of nerdity was probably too much, but whatever.

NOTE TO SELF: it is so much easier to keep a food log when you actually update it every day, instead of updating a few times a week, struggling to remember! Sigh. I wrote “fledgling” above, didn’t I? FLEDGLING!

sunday: did not log. Forgot. Can’t remember shit. Oh wait, I had Dough Bakery for breakfast – an overly decadent “breakfast calzone” filled with all the bad (Delicious) things vegans eat. IMPORTANT THING: I spent the first hour and a half of the day watching this video - Sugar: The Bitter Truth – about how sugar is poison. It was probably spurred by my sugar overload yesterday. I learned a lot but some of the chemistry was a bit hard to follow. Short version: high-fructose corn syrup is ruining everyone and everything, but we probably shouldn’t be getting much sugar from non-whole foods sources anyway. UNLESS we work out every day, because working out has a number of benefits including: 1) increasing our own feel-good/self-healing chemicals (lowers anxiety, releases endorphins, serotonin, dopamine contributing to positive self-image) 2) helps the metabolic system run more efficiently (so it can process the bad stuff more quickly and with less fall-out). Everyone should watch this video if they can find an hour and a half. Perhaps you already have.

Saturday 14 January 2012

• Green smoothie: packed organic spinach, water, a teensy bit of agave, stevia, 1 tbsp beet powder,an apple, a couple of handfuls of blueberries, ice, two bananas. This made a blender-ful. Nate and I both had glasses and then put away another 8 or so ounces each for later.
• Daily oats: cayenne, maple, chia seeds, sea salt, prepared with water.
• Earl grey with soymilk and stevia.
• a cup of Candy Cane Lane herbal tea
• two medium bowls of weird everything soup: carrots, potatoes, spinach, quinoa, nutritional yeast, yellow split peas, chia seeds, onions, garlic…
• a SMALL piece of  surprise fudge that arrived today in the mail from my bestie Jenny in Chicago!
• a cookie! two chocolate mints! two nougatissimo! (CRAZY SUGAR OVERLOAD.)
• a cup of plain soymilk

Friday 13 January 2012

An unfinished last Thursday and weeklong gap deserves an explanation. Last Tuesday Nate & I found out that we were losing the apartment we’d lived in since December 2010. The landlord was not current on his mortgage (to put it gently) and the bank would be taking the house away on 7 Feb. At first we thought it had already been taken, since public notice mentioned the auction being 3 Jan. But it was rescheduled. In the meanwhile, we were faced with the very real prospect of the water being shut off at any moment. It was hard as hell, but ultimately we decided that we’d rather move on our terms than someone else’s (the bank’s, the water co’s). We started packing Saturday morning with the help of  friends Jacquie, Christin, her husband Ross, and Jeffrey. Sat 7 Jan we packed most of the apartment’s little stuff, taking it over to the new place piecemeal. Sun 8 Jan Nate’s office friends made a heroic effort moving all of the furniture in the rain. We spent Sunday night at the new place, a house (a house!!) owned by friends in East Atlanta. We’re going to be signing a six-months lease soon. Peace, finally.

Surprisingly, I haven’t been doing much comfort eating (the first two days of the crisis I was barely able to eat, I was so sick with worry) but I definitely haven’t been logging. During the move I practiced horrible self-care, working hours upon hours on maybe a bowl of cereal. There has been way-more-than-usual eating out, perhaps the only upside (if you can call it that? if you have the money?) of moving. As my bank statement attests:

• Sunday, 8 January: Harmony Vegetarian. Tofu-spinach soup and crispy mock beef with orange peel.
• Monday, 9 January: La Fonda Latina. Giant spinach salad with vinaigrette, warm black beans, and chopped jalepenos. Requisite chips and salsa,
• Tuesday, 10 January: pizza. Though I think this was just an old charge from the weekend’s moving eats. I’m sure I ate cold pizza on Monday and Tuesday. Sure. Also, So Ba – salt and pepper tofu.
• Wednesday, 11 January: Spoon East Side. Pad thai glass noodle with tons of mixed vegetable and fried tofu. Spicy.
• Thursday, 12 January: Spoon East Side once more, frantically shovelled into my mouth over craigslist (we thought we were going to have to move again, but it worked out).
• There was also some Sevananda deli takeaway food in there.

Yikes. Eating out is not one of my favorite things to do because as a cook I am 1) mindful of food cost and know I can make everything at home for way, way, way less 2) talented enough to cook all of the above at home. But when you’re sad and stressed and worried and probably not feeding yourself well anyway, parting with cash for someone else’s work seems so worth it.

Today things are feeling stable, so I’m back to journalling. Let’s do it!

• an organic apple
• a bowl of organic oats with scant 1/8 tsp cayenne, 2 tbsp maple syrup, 1 tbsp chia seeds, 1/4 tsp sea salt.
• 16oz stevia-sweetened oolong
• two pieces of Rudi’s spelt toast with organic tahini and sea salt on one and tofu misozuke on the other. a Queenly snack.
• another piece of Rudi’s bread with tofu misozuke. SO GOOD.
• a cup of chocolate soymilk
• a cup of earl grey with stevia and soymilk
• family-style Chinese vegan food at Harmony Vegetarian with friends: a little of this, a little of that: spinach & tofu soup, trumpet mushrooms with green beans, bean curd skin roll with peppers, tofu in spicy sauce, orange “beef” with broccoli
• two cookies. One terrible, another somewhat less so. Lesson learned: do not buy packaged chocolate-chip cookies ever.

Note: I did not have a lunch. I had a great breakfast and a yummy treat dinner, but no lunch – three pieces of bread with spreads and drinks does not count as a lunch! Today I will have a lunch.

Thursday 5 January 2012

• banana
• darjeeling with soymilk and stevia
• …

Wednesday 4 January 2012

• same breakfast as yesterday: oats with cayenne, maple syrup, chia; golden raisins instead of currants
• same lunch as yesterday’s dinner: crazy soup. three pieces of sourdough. fat. yum.
• same dinner as lunch. finished the soup. one more sourdough.
• six ounces of green smoothie: packed spinach, raspberries, banana, molasses, stevia.
• a Tofutti cutie, mint chocolate
• a chocolate cookie from a vegan friend.

Tuesday 3 January 2012

• organic minimally-processed Kansas oats made with filtered water; a tablespoon of organic currants, two tbsp organic maple syrup, 1/8tsp organic cayenne, 1/4tsp salt, 1 tbsp black chia seeds
• 16oz water with 1/4tsp cayenne, maple syrup, and apple cider vinegar blended in
• a handful of pecans
• part of a mostly-organic whole foods bar
• two cups of oolong (one caffeinated); half a cup of chai with soymilk
• half a cup of free organic coffee with soymilk
• packed organic spinach blended with water, organic raspberries, organic bananas, organic molasses, and stevia
• crazy soup: (all organic) lots of carrots, four tiny potatoes, 2 celery stalks, a large onion, three large garlic cloves, couple handfuls of kale, steamed tempeh, 1/3 cup quinoa, 1/4 cup nutritional yeast, a bunch of black chia seeds (like, several tablespoons), cayenne, red pepper flakes, vegetable broth, a little shoyu… this made a huge pot; I had a big bowl with a piece of sourdough with a teensy spread of fat.
• big cup of extra-extra-strong chamomile

10 Responses to “what I ate”

1. a says:

   January 3, 2012 at 6:20 pm

   mmm looks yummy and healthy! yay!
2. lagusta says:

   January 3, 2012 at 6:42 pm

   “dang you’re looking good!” But really! You do!

   I wish I had the attention to detail to do this. Maybe someday. Thanks for inspiring!
3. a says:

   January 12, 2012 at 7:26 pm

   where’d you go?
4. Christin says:

   January 13, 2012 at 1:36 pm

   I ultra-love that owl embroidery. Is that a piece you own? I don’t think I’ve seen it in your house before, but it’s DARLING.

   I’m really glad you’re not house-hunting anymore. Phew! :-)
5. adriennefriend says:

   January 13, 2012 at 3:44 pm

   heya Christin! It is NOT one that I own personally, but the “Nobody’s perfect” with two owls upright and one upside down is a common motif from the seventies, I’ve noticed. I have another piece like it but out of similar materials, and I’ve seen tons others. Are you into owls? I might have some I can part with for such a special friend. :-) Same goes for Jacquie… she’s a big owl fan!
6. adriennefriend says:

   January 13, 2012 at 3:45 pm

   I have returned!!
7. Nathaniel says:

   January 20, 2012 at 7:02 pm

   I’m glad your log survived the move. mine didn’t, nor my workout routine (humble though it was). you are certainly inspiring me to pick up where I left off :)
8. Nathaniel K Smith says:

   February 2, 2012 at 12:41 pm

   con: running out of spinach is sad
   pro: pink smoothie is adorable
9. Nathaniel Smith says:

   February 6, 2012 at 3:20 pm

   so excited for the eggplant and black eye pea curry!!!!!
10. Nathaniel K Smith says:

    February 11, 2012 at 9:44 pm

    soup, beautiful soup!