Breakfast
A Peanut Butter Cookie Luna Bar and a Fuji Apple.

Lunch
A PB&J on multigrain bread, fresh pineapple, red grapes, and two clementines.

Snack
1 fudge-mint cookie.

Dinner
Leftover Greek-Style Green Beans and some roasted potatoes.

Snack
1 chocolate macadamia nut cookie.
Another fudge-mint cookie.
Some mini tortilla chips.

Man, I seriously need to get back on the fruit-as-snack train. I though I was ready to have junk in the house again, but apparently I'm not. And even if I was, whose brilliant idea was it to have approximately 8 dozen cookies in the house at once? Oh right, that'd be me. I'm such a dumbass sometimes, I swear.

Posted by Amanda at 8:38 AM | Permalink | Comments

Breakfast
Oatmeal with soymilk, a small mashed banana, a few toasted pecans, flax, and maple syrup.

Lunch
Tempeh and mashed sweet potato sandwich with lettuce on multigrain bread, red grapes, fresh pineapple, and baby carrots.

Snack
A fudge-mint cookie. My god these things are delicious.
Clementine.
Macadamia nuts, chocolate chips, cookie dough, and then a baked cookie fresh out of the oven. OH GOD. MAKE IT STOP.

Dinner
Greek-Style Green Beans and roasted butternut squash.

Snack
Another Chocolate Macadamia Nut cookie. I think I've consumed about 40 grams of fat in macadamia nuts alone. Bad. So bad. But also so delicious.

Posted by Amanda at 1:07 AM | Permalink | Comments

So to make up for tonight's cookie dough indulgence, I made a very virtuous dinner, at least by my standards. No grains or pasta or potatoes. And I'm a certified carbaholic, so that's an accomplishment. No, tonight it was all veggies, all the time. I had green beans and tomatoes lying around from my trip to market on Friday, and some cubed butternut squash (still raw) leftover from Friday's risotto-making. There was only one thing left to do.

Greek-Style Green Beans

1/2 pound green beans, prepped and washed
1 ripe plum tomato, chopped
1-3 cloves of garlic, minced
1 tsp to 1 Tbsp olive oil

Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat; add garlic and brown just a smidge. Add the green beans and tomatoes, stir, then turn the heat down to low and cook, covered, for 30-40 minutes. Season with salt and pepper, and enjoy.

Serves 1.

Original recipe is from Crescent Dragonwagon's Passionate Vegetarian, but I've modified it to suit my tastes.

(Adjust amounts as you see fit - I don't love tomatoes, but I do love garlic, so I only use one tomato but use all 3 cloves of garlic. I usually make this with just a teaspoon of oil, and cook it for as long as it takes for the green beans and tomatoes to really carmelized. Seriously, it's amazing.)


All shiny and new and just going into the pan.


Greek-Style Green Beans and roasted butternut squash. Delicious.

Posted by Amanda at 10:22 PM | Permalink | Comments

First things first: if you are dieting or watching what you eat in any way, do not make these cookies. I repeat, DO NOT MAKE THESE COOKIES. You will regret it.

For the record, I don't usually like chocolate chip cookies. But chocolate macadamia nut is the boy's favorite, and tomorrow is his birthday - so, chocolate macadamia nut it is. I pulled out Vegan with a Vengeance (aka the best cookbook ever) and modified the Chocolate Chip Cookies to suit my needs. Which basically means that I cut the recipe in half (because 36 cookies / 2 people = a very bad situation) and threw in about a cup of chopped macadamia nuts. I only put in 3/4 cup originally, but it soon became apparent that if the rest didn't go into the cookies they were going to go into my mouth.

The result? 22 delicious, buttery (well, margariney) cookies. There would probably have been 24 if I'd managed to keep my hands out of the dough. And therein lies the problem with these little beauties. I don't much like cookie dough, as a rule. Even vegan cookie dough, which, being egg-free, is practically begging to be eaten. I mean, listen for a second. Do you hear that? It's asking for it.

But this cookie dough... oh my. Add in the chocolate and macadamia nuts and really, how could I resist? So I ate a bit. And then a bit more. And then I ate an actual cookie, all warm and gooey from the oven. And then I drooled all over myself and had to take a shower.


I short, these cookies are the shit, and Isa is my hero. However, my hips curse her name. They're just so touchy that way.

Posted by Amanda at 8:03 PM | Permalink | Comments

In homage to Vegan Lunch Box, I thought it would be fun to post my own. I only have class three days a week this semester, but they're long days - roughly 9-6 straight through with a break for lunch at 12 or 1. I usually take my lunch, both to save money and to provide some variety. My options when eating out for lunch are a) burritos, b)french fries, c) spaghetti, or d) a Subway sub. Nothing terribly exciting, and not really worth the money when I can bring something healthier and tastier of my own.




This is my box. It's not as swanky as Shmoo's, but it gets the job done. It's a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles lunchbox circa 1989. At that time, I was 6.


A closer look at what's inside. Red grapes and fresh pineapple chunks in the tupperware, and baby carrots in a ziploc. Neither of these things are actually Tupperware or Ziploc brand, though. My brand-name container money goes to art supplies and food instead.


And finally, here's what's in the foil. A tempeh and mashed sweet potato sandwich with lettuce on multigrain bread. This was SO GOOD. I've long been a fan of putting mashed potatoes in my sandwiches, so last night when I baked sweet potatoes I threw an extra in. Mashed it up (skins and all) with salt, pepper, paprika, garam masala, and some chipotle hot sauce, and then put it to good use this morning. There's still a good bit left, which is great because it means I can take another one of these sandwiches tomorrow.

Posted by Amanda at 5:49 PM | Permalink | Comments

I started in on Operation: Stop Being Such A Fatty (Oh, And Eat Healthier Too) two weeks ago yesterday. Thus far I've lost 4 pounds. I'm trying not to get obsessive about weighing myself, or about anything really - I've been down that sort of road before, and eventually it just gets to be too much work and I eat half a cake to relieve the pressure. Because cakes are wonderful stress-busters, didn't you know? I also have to keep in mind that this isn't just about losing weight. It's about eating healthfully and feeding my body what it needs rather than just what I want.

A neat way to look at weight stuff is in sticks of butter. Four sticks equals a pound, so I am now 16 sticks of butter lighter. And whereas 4 pounds doesn't seem like that much, 16 sticks is a damn lot of butter.

Anyway, I just thought I'd post a little progress report.

Posted by Amanda at 8:19 AM | Permalink | Comments

Breakfast
Banana-date smoothie with flax and a slice of multigrain bread with natural peanut butter.

Lunch
An Iced Cinnamon Raisin Luna bar, 1 oz. of almonds, and a bowl of fruit (fresh pineapple, cantaloupe, strawberries, and red grapes). I had to pack something to take to work with me and didn't have any leftovers in the fridge.

Snack
A Banana Oat Bundle and a clementine.

Dinner
Baked sweet potato with fresh pineapple and a tiny bit of lite coconut milk and maple syrup. Inspired by Fatfree Vegan Kitchen.

Snack
A fudge-mint cookies, a peanut butter-fudge cookie, and a fudge-covered graham cracker. It's a cookie-palooza! I worked out the calories, though, and even with the cookies my day was reasonable. I can't make this a 3-cookie habit, though. One is fine, but three is a delicious spiral of danger.

Posted by Amanda at 11:04 AM | Permalink | Comments

Breakfast
Cinnamon Life with soymilk and a clementine. I was running late, so cereal had to do.

Lunch
Leftover Butternut Squash Risotto and fruit (cantaloupe, red grapes, and strawberries). I have to say, that was some damn fine risotto.

Snack
A Fuji apple, a Banana Oat Bundle, and 1 oz. of almonds.

Dinner
Tempeh Sandwich (tempeh bacon and lettuce on multigrain bread), baby carrots, and fruit (same as above).

Snack
2 fudge-covered graham crackers. Drool.

Posted by Amanda at 8:32 AM | Permalink | Comments

Breakfast
Banana-date smoothie (soymilk, a frozen banana, 3 dried dates, some ground flax, and a little vanilla extract), 2 Banana Oat Bundles, and a clementine.

The smoothie is wonderful - I've never used dates this way before. I'm really loving those little guys. The Banana Oat Bundles are kind of dry now, but that's not surprising since they're now 5 days old.

Snack
Fuji apple.

Lunch
2 samosas from the local Indian food store. Yes, they were fried. But they don't sell them often and they're so good. At least they're not the huge restaurant kind - these are flat, and a bit smaller.

Snack
Chocolate Pecan Pie Luna Bar and 1/2 oz. macadamia nuts. The Luna bar was disappointing compared to the last one I had (Caramel Nut Brownie), but at least it had some vitamins in it and stuff. I bought a little jar of macadamia nuts (holy mother of expensive!) to make my boyfriend chocolate chip macadamia nut cookies for his birthday ('cause they're his favorite). Next Thursday. I cannot eat them, because I don't want to buy another jar... but dear god those things are good.

Dinner
Butternut Squash Risotto from The Vegetarian Meat and Potatoes Cookbook. The recipe calls for some white wine, but since I don't do wine I just used a little more vegetable stock. I also used half red and half yellow peppers to make up the 1/2 cup. It came out wonderfully - delicious and creamy. It's a lovely color as well. The recipe said it would make 4-6 servings; we got 4 out of it since it was our entire dinner (and each of our lunches at work tomorrow).


Snack
1/2 oz. almonds. I need to watch it here - nuts are a weakness of mine.
2 fudge-covered graham crackers.

Good News: I found VEGAN fudge-covered graham crackers. Fudge! Graham crackers! Man these are good. They're not marketed as vegan, of course, but they are. And for that I am thankful.

Bad News: The cinnamon graham sticks that I've been eating are not, in fact, vegan. I checked the ingredients again tonight, just to be sure... and lo and behold, they have honey in them. I don't know how I missed that the first few times I looked.

My eating today was not as good as it could have been. The samosas were fine, but then there was the Luna bar. And the macadamia nuts, and the almonds, and the fudge-covered graham crackers. These things are all fine, really - just maybe not all in one day. I think it's more a matter of me starting to feel less in control than anything. So I'm going to work on that some more. Still, this is the best "bad food day" I've had in a long time. What I used to call a bad food day involved half a dozen cookies and french fries for two meals.

Posted by Amanda at 10:46 AM | Permalink | Comments

Breakfast
Cinnamon Life with soymilk. I woke up late, so there was no time for oatmeal.

Lunch
Almond butter and jelly sandwich on multigrain bread and a big bowl of fruit (fresh pineapple, cataloupe, red grapes, strawberries, and clementine segments).

Snack
Banana Oat Bundle.

Dinner
Leftover Molasses Baked Beans and brown basmati rice, with some corn thrown in because I freakin' love corn.

Snack
Cornbread with a tiny bit of Earth Balance and maple syrup.
Fuji apple.
Fresh pineapple.

Yeah, today was pretty much a carb fiesta, with the cereal and the bread and the rice and then more bread. It's really unusual for me to eat this many carby foods in a day anymore. I don't have any problem with carbs - actually I love them quite a lot - but I find that I eat less of them these days for whatever reason.

Posted by Amanda at 12:02 AM | Permalink | Comments

Breakfast
A Fuji apple and two Banana Oat Bundles.

Snack/Lunch
A slice of multigrain bread with some natural peanut butter.
3/4 c. Cinnamon Life. Yum.
A clementine.
Another Banana Oat Bundle. Yes, another. This is why I haven't made cookies yet; I'm still weak in the face of baked goods. At least if I eat three of these it's not all sugar and fat.

Dinner
Molasses Baked Beans from Vive le Vegan! and The PPK's Vegan Cornbread.

Snack
Another piece of cornbread with a tiny smear of Earth Balance.

Okay, I'm going to be straight with you here: the beans got off to a rocky start. First I had the girliest of kitchen problems, which is just... so annoying. I couldn't get the blackstrap molasses open. It was like the Incredible Hulk capped that shit. Completely ridiculous. And then after I did finally get it open, I took a whiff. Wow. Blackstrap molasses is not the best smell ever. But they smelled better after a while in the oven, and in the end they weren't bad. I wasn't crazy about them, though. I don't know why. I think I'm used to sweeter baked beans.

The cornbread was pretty good. I made a few changes: I used 1/2 whole wheat flour, and brought the oil down to 1/4 c. When Isa says this isn't a sweet cornbread, she isn't kidding. My usual recipe is much, much sweeter. This was good, but I have to say I like the sweet stuff better. That's kind of a trend with me. I love fruit way more than vegetables, for example, and my favorite vegetables are the more mild ones. It's funny, because I've been eating almost no sugary stuff for a while now and not really missing it, but tonight it seemed like everything just needed to be sweeter. I can abstain from sweets, but eating less-sweet versions of "regular" food is really difficult for me.

Posted by Amanda at 11:31 PM | Permalink | Comments

People always seem to have a comment or two when they find out I'm vegan. Usually it's something asinine like "You're going to die!" or "That's ridiculous." Which, thanks for your concern, but my health is just fine and I think your very existence is ridiculous, so STFU. More open-minded people tend to tell me that they think it's cool, or that they admire my will-power. Leaving aside for a moment the fact that it doesn't take any will-power at all for me to NOT consume rotting dead flesh or the pus-filled milk of another species, I definitely like these comments better. But they also confuse me.

Hostility I understand. We fear the unfamiliar, and in today's society nothing goes against the grain more than veganism. It also seems extreme when compared to the standard American diet that most of us were raised on. I suspect that there's some measure of guilt involved as well. Most people, if they knew what really goes on in slaughterhouses and on factory farms, wouldn't be okay with it. They would be appalled, and rightfully so. But denial is not just a river in Egypt, especially when it comes to the suffering of animals - and vegans are a reminder of what they're choosing to ignore, whether we actually say anything or not.

So yeah, I understand a little hostility. What I don't get is the approval. I mean, I appreciate that they think my veganism is great. But if that's the case then why aren't they vegan as well? Last night a friend told me that he could be vegan if only he could afford it. I hear this a lot. I guess the common view is that eating vegan is expensive. I'm not sure how much meat costs since I've never purchased any, but I have a hard time believing that it's cheaper than beans, grains, and produce. And if it is then it's only due to government subsidy. Sure, processed soy products and meat analogues are kind of pricey, but aren't the omni versions of that stuff expensive as well? They shouldn't make up the bulk of your diet anyway.

We have a lovely farmer's market in town that's open year-round. That's where I get most of my produce. I go once a week and never spend more than $20, and what I buy keeps the both of us in fruits and veggies until the next trip. There's an Indian grocery a few minutes away that has super cheap dry beans, rice, and spices. I can get brown basmati rice there for about $1.25 a pound; it's twice that at the local health food store. A warehouse market nearby has canned beans and nearly everything else quite a bit cheaper than the regular grocery store. Soymilk is about $2.50 for a half gallon; that lasts us a week. I buy tempeh once a week or so ($2.50), and a block of vegan cheese maybe every three weeks ($5.00). I do buy a lot of fresh fruit, but I choose to spend the money there because it keeps me eating healthfully. I could cut out some things (like the vegan cheese) and spend less, sure. But even with the extras our grocery budget is very reasonable. And I cook a lot. A LOT.

Even when I have to buy something especially for a recipe, like I did today, it all works out pretty cheaply in the end. I'm making Molasses Baked Beans for dinner tonight. I had to buy blackstrap molasses and a pound of dry navy beans to make this happen. The total cost for these things was $4.68 ($3.89 for the molasses, $.79 for the beans). The baked bean recipe makes 6-8 servings; I predict we'll get 8 because beans are extremely filling and I'm making cornbread to go along with this. $4.68 for 8 servings of food = $.58 per serving. Not bad at all, and that's not even taking into consideration the fact that I'll have nearly a whole bottle of blackstrap molasses leftover to use in other things.

Clearly eating vegan is no more expensive than eating an omnivorous diet, and has the potential to be substantially cheaper if you play it right. So why does everyone think vegans go broke just feeding themselves?

Posted by Amanda at 2:28 PM | Permalink | Comments

Breakfast
Oatmeal made with soymilk, raisins, a few toasted pecans, flax, and maple syrup.

Lunch
Big bowl of fruit (fresh pineapple, catanloupe, strawberries, red grapes, and clementine segments), 3 dried dates stuffed with a little natural peanut butter, and a Banana Oat Bundle.

Snack
Another Banana Oat Bundle (I really like these) and some baby carrots.

Dinner
About 2/3 of a Jerk Black Bean Burger with curly fries. The jerk burger was really gross... I couldn't finish it. Uck. Never again.

Snack
A clementine and 16 cinnamon graham sticks.

Posted by Amanda at 8:24 AM | Permalink | Comments

Breakfast
Oatmeal made with soymilk, flax, maple syrup, and a banana.

Lunch
Tempeh wrap (tempeh bacon, yellow peppers, carrots, and lettuce in a flour tortilla) and a big bowl of fruit (fresh pineapple, red grapes, clementine segments, and strawberries). Yum, especially the fruit and especially the pineapple. If I had three wishes one of them would be for a neverending supply of fresh pineapple.

Snack
16 cinnamon graham sticks.

Dinner
A little leftover Red Lentil Dhal and a piece of naan bread.

Snack
1 Banana Oat Bundle (from Vive le Vegan!). These are really yummy - not too sweet, with a nice banana flavor. I think next time I'll add some raisins or chopped nuts for crunch. I worked out the nutritional info for these, and with a yield of 14 (which is what I got; the recipe states 12-15) each bundle has 100 calories, 3.8 grams of fat, 1.6 grams of fiber, and 1.6 grams of protein.

Posted by Amanda at 9:16 AM | Permalink | Comments

Breakfast
Oatmeal made with soymilk, raisins, a few toasted pecans, maple syrup, and flax.

Snack
2 dried dates.

Lunch
Mini pizza - Vegan Gourmet mozzarella and spaghetti sauce on a piece of naan bread. This isn't the most nutritious thing, I'll admit, but calorie-wise it's fairly inoffensive. 200ish, I think. Plus it's really tasty.
Also, a clementine.

Dinner/Snack
Fuji apple with 1 Tbsp natural peanut butter.
A few (maybe six?) homemade baked whole wheat pita chips. I didn't like them much.
Baby carrots.
Clementine.
16 cinnamon graham sticks.
Another clementine.

I wasn't really hungry, so I just kind of grazed through dinner. Which is a bad habit, I realize... but at least now I'm grazing on healthier stuff. Before there were usually chips involved. Chips of the potato variety. Greasy. Salty. Crispy. Delicious. So I'll take munching on apples and carrots and oranges and some graham cracker sticks and call it a shining victory for which I deserve a medal.

Posted by Amanda at 4:04 PM | Permalink | Comments

Breakfast
Captain Crunch with soymilk. I was just craving some Captain, so there you go. I tried to measure out what the box calls one serving (3/4 c)... but let me just say right now that 3/4 c of cereal is pretty much no cereal at all. Unless it's Grape Nuts of something small and compact. I rounded up to a cupish serving and called it a morning. It was alright. Not as delicious as I was expecting. Verdict: From now on I'll be ignoring The Captain.

Snack/Lunch
Fuji apple with 1 tablespoon of natural peanut butter, a few baby carrots, and a clementine. I had to head to work (ugh), so I wanted to have a snack since I won't be eating again until whenever I get my break.

Dinner
Leftover Red Lentil Dhal, baby carrots, and a piece of naan bread.

Snack
Banana "Ice Cream": a frozen banana whizzed in the food processor with about a tablespoon of light coconut milk. So good. I wish this stuff froze well so I could keep it on hand, but I hear it doesn't. Bummer.
16 Cinnamon Graham Sticks.

Posted by Amanda at 10:18 AM | Permalink | Comments

Brunch
Banana Bliss Pancakes from Dreena Burton's Vive le Vegan! - check out her blog - with maple syrup. The recipe made less than the specified yield - I got 4 of what I consider medium-sized pancakes - but they were really thick, to the point where I could have eaten just one and been full. I actually wish I had, because I feel like I'm going to burst. Oof. No picture, because by the time I remembered to do that I had already eaten half of my stack and my boyfriend's was in no better shape.

Snack
Clementine
Sugar snap peas with lemon juice, salt, and a little organic sugar.
2 dried dates to wash that nastiness out of my mouth.

Sorry, but carrots and occasionally peppers aside, I am just not a fan of raw veggies. Uck. I ate most of them, though. So no one can say I didn't try, dammit.

Dinner
The PPK's Red Lentil Dhal, with some fresh spinach thrown in because I needed to use it up before it went south. This stuff... oh. It's so good. The lime juice is just perfect. One change I do make, though, is to reduce the oil from 3 Tablespoons to 1.




Snack
16 Cinnamon Graham Sticks.
Clementine.

Posted by Amanda at 9:26 PM | Permalink | Comments

Doesn't it though? I'm lucky enough to have a very large indoor market just a few blocks away that's open 3 days a week year-round. I live in what I suppose is smallish city, but drive a few miles and you're in farm country. It's very rural, and as a result you can't drive anywhere in the summer without passing 3 or 4 produce stands along the way. It's lovely to be able to eat so much that's locally grown, and it's a fair bit cheaper as well, which is always nice.

This afternoon I walked down and bought a few things - 2 boxes of strawberries, a box of clementines, 2 yellow peppers, a box of russet potatoes, and a bag of baby carrots. Of course the strawberries aren't locally grown this time of year, but they're very good and pretty cheap for strawberries in January. I always feel so virtuous when I leave with bags and bags of produce. And I guess I should, really. Being vegan has got to be wicked good karma.

I can't wait until summer, when the market is overflowing with berries and melons that were just picked days ago and traveled less than 15 miles to get here. Mmm, melons. God I love melons.

Yeah, there's really no point to this post but to espouse my love of the farmer's market. But isn't that enough?

Posted by Amanda at 3:04 PM | Permalink | Comments

Manicotti, which I hated but my non-vegan boyfriend raved about.


Tempeh Wrap. Simple. Delicious.


My cat investigating the situation.


Aloo Matar from Madhur Jaffrey's World Vegetarian and some naan in the background. So good.

Posted by Amanda at 1:04 AM | Permalink | Comments

Again, no breakfast - I feel like crap with a capital C, and I slept through both my first class and my first meal.

Lunch
Oatmeal made with soymilk, raisins, flax, and maple syrup. Soft. Inoffensive to my currently touchy stomach.

Snack
Clementine.
Apple with 1 Tbsp natural peanut butter.
3 dried dates.

Dinner
A bit of leftover Aloo Matar.

Snack
16 Cinnamon Graham Sticks - yum. I love these.
Strawberries sprinkled with 1/2 tsp. organic sugar.

Posted by Amanda at 12:27 PM | Permalink | Comments

No breakfast - I woke up kind of late and just wasn't very hungry.

Lunch
Tempeh Wrap (marinated tempeh, carrots, diced onion, red peppers, a handful of spinach, and garlic sauteed in 1/2 teaspoon of olive oil and wrapped in a flour tortilla), a few strawberries, and a clementine. Yum. And wow, am I stuffed. I need to find someplace to buy whole wheat tortillas, or maybe try my hand at making them. That could be fun.

Snack
Caramel Nut Brownie Luna Bar - better for me than a candy bar, but almost as delicious. 4 grams of fiber, 9 grams of protein, 35% of my daily calcium needs plus a whole bunch of other goodness in one tasty little package.

I also had a Fuji apple with some natural peanut butter on it when I got home. I've always just bought the Jif extra-crunchy kind, but since my goal is to eat better I thought I should try the natural kind. I picked up some Crazy Richard's chunky peanut butter at the store - no salt, no sugar, no hydrogenated anything, just peanuts. Stirring the oil in was a pain in the ass, but it was good. I'll probably make the switch.

Dinner
Aloo Mattar (Crumbled Potatoes and Peas) from Madhur Jaffrey's World Vegetarian with a piece of naan bread. Simple and delicious. The recipe calls for 3 Tablespoons of oil but I always use less than 1 and it still comes out perfectly.

Pictures to come for both lunch and dinner, sometime tomorrow probably.

Posted by Amanda at 1:11 PM | Permalink | Comments

Despite feeling a bit like roadkill today (angry, throbbing uterus + headache =/= a good time), some good things happened. I need to start focusing more on the positive things in life, because I'm very much a pessimist and it's too easy for me to get bogged down in a sea of negativity. So some good things that happened today:

Food-wise, I had a major milestone: no snacks. Not a one. And I'm normally a heavy grazer, snacking on things here and there throughout the day. But not today! Being at school all day helped, I'm sure, as I was out of the house and occupied from 9-6. But with my track record, the fact that I only had a single piece of sugar-free gum outside of my three meals today was just amazing.

Also, after Burger Night I had a brief feeling that I'd failed, so what the hell, why not go hog wild? But I didn't. Because I? Am on a roll here. Hells yes.

Posted by Amanda at 12:38 AM | Permalink | Comments

Breakfast
Banana-Pecan Oatmeal made with soymilk, plus one tablespoon each maple syrup and ground flax seed. Yep, same breakfast as yesterday. It was just as filling and delicious today. This one's becoming a staple.

Lunch
Fruit salad (strawberries, clementine segments, red grapes, and pineapple tidbits), about 2 cups worth. I'm still not feeling great, so this was plenty for me after a hearty breakfast. Plus, fruit just sits better with me when I'm not feeling well.

Dinner
Tuesday means Burger Night at the Lancaster Dispending Co. (The DipCo, for future reference), and tonight I had a black bean burger topped with grilled onions and some delicious curly fries on the side. Not health food by a long shot, but the burger itself can't be TOO bad, and fries once a week won't kill me. Especially since I have, in the past, been known to consume fries 3, 4, even 5 times a week, sometimes as a meal. And fries, though delicious, are not a meal. So I have no problem with Burger Nights.

Posted by Amanda at 6:33 PM | Permalink | Comments

Breakfast
Banana-pecan oatmeal made with soymilk (oatmeal, soymilk, spices, a few chopped pecans, a chopped banana, a tablespoon of maple syrup, and a tablespoon of ground flax seed). Extremely tasty and also extremely filling. I could hardly finish the bowl. I don't know if I'll even want lunch.

Snack
Clementine

And here's where my day went sour. I've had a headache for the last few days. A bad one. Today it was the worst, though. Everytime I stood up it felt like my brain was rattling around on a bed of needles. I was cold and tired and felt like crap. I spent most of the afternoon laid out on the couch watching Buffy, and went to bed for a few hours. I feel a little better now, but still not good. The plus side was that I wasn't hungry, so I didn't eat anything for the bulk of the day.

Dinner
Dinner was technically manicotti (made with tofu "ricotta") with garlic bread, but I didn't like the "ricotta" at all so I basically just ate two pasta tubes and a piece of bread. I don't know why I keep trying to like tofu ricotta. I never liked real ricotta, so I'm not sure why I thought a tofu-based substitute would be any different.

Snack
Fruit bowl (strawberries, grapes, clementine segments, pineapple tidbits). Simple. Delicious.

Posted by Amanda at 10:38 AM | Permalink | Comments

I'm going to be posting my daily menus, because it helps me to see everything listed out that way.

Breakfast
Captain Crunch with soymilk. Sugary and not so filling, but it was there.

Lunch
Fruit bowl (banana, strawberries, pineapple tidbits, clementine segments). So good. I love fruit.

Snack
Another clementine before work.

Dinner
Mini pizza (spaghetti sauce and some Vegan Gourmet mozzarella on a piece of naan bread). I was planning a more elaborate dinner, but I felt like crap after work so I just went for something small and easy.

Snack
A banana with a little chocolate syrup on top, and then a clementine.

Today was low on veggies but high on fruit; that's kind of my MO. I could live on fruit, but for the most part veggies are kind of a take it or leave it thing. Bad, I know. I'm making it a goal to try to eat more vegetables. But fruit is never a bad thing, so I give myself free reign to eat as much of it as I want. Especially since it kind of replaces junk food for me. It's sweet and delicious but healthy. That's my kind of food.

Posted by Amanda at 10:59 PM | Permalink | Comments