Vegan Chili

Dinner

My first shift at work since I've been back flew right by and I zipped home to whip up some dinner. I started with a salad of baby greens, cucumber, tomato, avocado, and home made oil and vinegar dressing with a few squirts of chili garlic Cholula (it's so good, you should try it if you can).

I concocted a vegan chili using

• 2 cans of stewed tomatoes
• 1 can of tomato paste
• 1 white onion diced and sauteed
• about 1/2 cup vegan "Soyrizo"
• 1 can kidney beans
• chipoltle chili powder, regular chili powder, black pepper, and garlic powder

Served with "Food Should Taste Good" Multigrain chips on the side.
And now I am stuffed! I still have ridiculous amounts of reading and a kitchen to organize so I am going to get cracking till I just can't any more.

I hope you had a relaxing Sunday evening and I will see you in the morning.

Night!

C Words

Lunch

Poor planning lead me to buy lunch on campus today but it's ok because it was money well spent. I got a super loaded salad from Romaine's. They have an everything-you-could-want salad bar as you can see by my random pickings

• curry lentils
• hummus
• tabouli
• beets
• cucumbers
• roasted veggies
• baby corn
• kidney beans
• peas
• onions
• two green olives

all on romaine and baby greens. And a free breadstick which I ate about half of.

Snack

After a voice lesson, coaching, and a practice sesh I came home and snacked on some C words: carrots, celery, and chips with guac, hummus, and salsa.

For a little something sweet I chopped up an apple, sprinkled it with cinnamon and dipped it in peanut butter. I also had a can of green tea.

I'm really avoiding doing the ridiculous amount of laundry I have to do but I know I will be thanking myself later if I get it done while there is still some sunlight. Ugh.

BTW, Tina just posted about a Tofu Press...uh, can you say: wish list!! I want one so bad!

This post has inspired my ideas for dinner so it is safe to say tofu will probably be getting involved.

Now I am off to deal with the Kilimanjaro laundry pile. Wish me luck!

Much Needed Post Recital Relaxation

Breakfast

Morning after the recital I met my parents bright and early for breakfast at the hotel again. I learned my lesson this time and ordered more than just the oatmeal. I started with a mug of herbal tea, a glass of water, and a bowl of oats topped with raisin bran cereal and banana.

Obviously I had to add some peanut butter!
I had a small portion of hash browns with salt, pepper, and hot sauce.
And a slice of whole wheat toast, half with peanut butter
and the other half with marmalade. I love marmalade!

Lunch

I said bye to my parents and went right back to bed. For lunch I made a simple salad of leftover rice and kidney beans, cucumbers, tomatoes, and onion. And a berry smoothie on the side.
Savannah and I decided that we earned ourselves a lazy bum day and decided to just relax! We went to Java Jones for a some soy hazelnut lattes.

Then we walked to the beach. It was so beautiful out!

A mini photo shoot is standard.

We came home and had some of the amazing oatmeal walnut chocolate chip cookies that I made.

Dinner

After choir I came home and attempted to make a stir fry peanut sauce veggie thing and it was pretty much a failure. They can't all be winners!
It was made up for in full by some soy milk and cookie!

Well let's be honest, a cookie...or two!

Feelin Good!

Breakfast

Finally we're at today! Last night I prepared a version of overnight oats that is more like yogurt oats. I probably should invest in a container of nut milk but I'm a little nervous that having milk around may become an invitation to eat cereal... I haven't had any cereal since my cleanse/raw diet and I am scared! Yes, I am scared of cereal and granola! I love them so much that sometimes I can't say no! I need to get my confidence and will power and self discipline and have a pow-wow with my granola loving self and get over it! hahaha In the mix:

• 1/3 cup soy yogurt
• 1/3 cup rolled oats
• 1 tsp. chia seeds

I let all that sit in the fridge over night and in the morning I topped it with

• 1/2 banana, sliced small
• three strawberries, sliced small
• mixed berries
• 1 Tbsp. almond butter
• 1/2 Tbsp. of Kelsey's raw flaxseed coconut banana pancake mix

Mixed it all up and viola!

The oats had absorbed the yogurt and were soft and mixture was thick and yummy. I think the chia seeds really make a difference. I also had a mug of peppermint tea and my Cleanse tablet and Women's One a Day.
Lunch

After section and a productive practice sesh, I came home and made a killer lunch. In my salad I had:

• 1 cup chopped cabbage
• 1 tsp. vinegar
• three small tomatoes
• 3/4 cup snow peas
• 1 cup cooked beets
• rice from last night mixed with kidney beans
• two salad tossers, I mean carrot sticks!
• 1 Tbsp. Tahini Dressing

I chopped the cabbage and poured the vinegar over the top to let it marinate a little while I prepared everything else. I thought this might help soften the cabbage and cut down on the amount of the dressing I needed to use. It was delish!
I also had a Fuji with a Tbsp. of almond butter. I left it in the spoon for better scooping action!
Later I had another seriously juicy orange. These babies are a mess but sooo sweet!

Snack

I whipped this post out in record time and now I am going to allow myself to veg out a little and enjoy this chocolatey Z bar. Remember these? Yeah, it's been a while!
I've already done all my dishes, packed my dinner for my four hour work shift at 6, practiced my entire program, and blogged up to the present! Small accomplishments but I'm feelin' good! See ya later :)

Ants on a Log Brings me Back

Monday morning I got up early to finish that Ethics paper I so wonderfully put off till the last minute. Sometimes I actually work better under a deadline. (That doesn't mean I like it!) I perked up with this mug of peppermint tea.

Breakfast

For breakfast I had a beautiful bowl of fruit and yogurt. Fresh fruit is so pretty!

• 1/2 cup soy yogurt
• 1 slice banana bread
• mixed berries
• 1 Tbsp. of Kelsey's raw flaxseed coconut banana pancake mix

I also made sure to take my Cleanse tablets and a Women's One a Day.
This morning was my dress rehearsal for my recital. All that really means is that I get the chance to sing in the room that I will be performing in but it's exciting because the sound is totally different in there. It felt really good to be in that space and I am getting super excited about my recital. I decided to treat myself to something warm to drink: tea latte! I asked them to use mostly water and some steamed soy. I went with mint tea, my classic favorite.

Lunch

After classes I came home and made a crazy salad for lunch.

• chopped cabbage
• snow peas
• tomatoes
• cucumber
• yellow onion
• 2 Tbsp. Tahini Salad dressing

The carrot sticks served double as snacks and salad tossers! Like my yellow carrot from the farmer's market?
I also had ants on a log! I had been craving some ants on a log for a while now and I finally got 'em. It just brings me back!
Later I ate this juicy orange. There is so much juice in these, they just fill me up!
I bought too many lemons when I was on my cleanse so I decided to make strawberry lemonade something.
I ended up putting everything in the blender and eventually transferring it to the ice cream maker to make Strawberry Lemonade Sorbet! The mix included

• 2 cups lemon juice
• 1 1/2 cup frozen strawberries
• 10 Tbsp. Agave
• 4 dates

It came out pretty tangy and I probably should have cut the lemon juice with water but it's whatever!

Snack

On our way out to choir I smeared a slice of banana bread with almond butter. Ok seriously, this snack was dangerously good. And I mean dangerous! This is the kind of thing I could get addicted to so I better just be careful!

Dinner

After choir I was in the mood to cook. I came up with quite the feast if I do say so myself! On top we have Kabocha Squash with Roasted Beets, garlic and onions. The lower left is rice cooked in left over Raw Creamy Portabello Bisque topped with marinated portabello. And on the lower left is Tina's recipe for Roasted Broccoli. Doesn't this sound like a menu at a restaurant!?
The roasted broccoli recipe does call for sugar which I was wary of but I wanted to taste what Tina had been raving about and also what I will be aiming to replicate without using refined sugar. I altered the amount of oil from 2 Tbsp. to 1 and the sugar from 1/8 cup to 3 tsp.
Warning!!! If beets are not cooked completely they will be very bitter. I'm embarrassed to say but I didn't cook my beets enough. I should've known and just boiled them to finish them off but I was hungry and stubborn. I tried to doctor it a bit with some mustard. Next time will be better!

Dessert

For dessert I had a serving of the Strawberry Lemonade Sorbet, half of a raw cashew coconut cookie bar, and some fresh berries.
Look at that yellow raspberry! So tasty.
Being back on cooked food is good but I am still feeling the effects of the raw diet and I like it. What would I do without my veggies!?!?!

Recap on Going Raw

Recap on Going Raw

The raw food diet is officially over and I feel great! (By the way, I am writing this two days behind so forgive the mix up of tenses!) I really enjoyed the raw diet and I think Kelsey and I did a particularly good job at preparing actual meals rather than copping out and just having a bunch of raw produce. Props to those of you out there who are raw every day; it takes so much preparation and creativity. I enjoyed cooking and preparing food but I disliked how few options there were when I went out to eat. I hope to incorporate some of the things I learned and ate on the raw diet into my normal eating but I enjoy cooked foods too! After doing the intense Urban Revitalizer Cleanse and then going raw for a week, I am really noticing some physical and mental changes:

• I feel in control of portion control! The stringent cleanse and the caloric density of the raw food forced me to portion out and prioritize my food. I am motivated to adopt this mindset in my regular diet because I know I can do it.
• I am at a more comfortable weight and it feels totally maintainable.
• I am more motivated to maintain the good I've done by exercising compared to the way I felt before the cleanse.
• There are foods I can live without! For instance, I've gone two weeks without eating a slice of bread or a spoonful of granola, two of my normal vices. It feels good to be free of them and I know that when I have them they will be treats to savor.
• I am so much more wary of added, refined oils and sugar. My eyes were opened to the density of oils and I am doing my best from here on out to avoid going over board when cooking. If I can help it, I'd rather consume sugar in more natural forms like dates, agave, maple, and honey. Also, I really like salty intense flavors and I used to put lots of salt on everything! Now, I am training my taste buds to be happy with less.
• Along with trying to cut back on salt, I am also back on track with drinking more water!
  
• I learned that if I write down or even just mentally plan what's coming up for my next meal rather than eating whatever I find in the kitchen, it helps me keep my head on straight when I get hungry.

So many good things came out of this experience, the list could go on and on but I will keep it to those most important changes. Please feel free to ask me any questions at all about the cleanse, going raw, the changes, what I'm up to now, or anything else! I'm here!

One of my favorite readers comment on my last post:

muffin said...

What's next?

April 27, 2010 7:08 AM

Well, I'll tell you! I'm back on cooked foods but with a few twists. Hopefully you will start to notice

• smaller, more fruit oriented breakfasts
• more veggie packed lunches
• more whole grains as opposed to flour
• less oil in my cooking
• more attention to calories and portion size
• more exercise
• and as always, delicious food!

Help keep me on track with my new goals and let me know what you're doing to stay healthy! It's not easy to do it alone and I really am interested in what works for you!

Everyone Notice: I now have a Recipe tab that actually has recipes! I also added a Contact tab in case, for some reason, you are unable to comment directly on the blog or want to communicate a personal message.

Breakfast

Finally, on to Sunday's breakfast! My first day being back on regular food I was delighted to discover that my soy yogurt was still good and so was the banana bread! I came up with this mess:

• 1/2 cup vanilla soy yogurt
• 2 Tbsp. of Kelsey's flaxseed coconut banana raw pancake mix
• 1 small banana
• 1 small slice of banana bread, in small pieces
• 1 Tbsp. pumpkin seeds

I also had some peppermint tea. The rawness couldn't have ended at a better time. My throat was starting to feel funny and I really needed that mug of hot tea. I also took my Cleanse tablets and my Women's One a Day.

Before the matinee showing of the opera I headed to the laundromat to take care of some much needed laundry. Luckily for me, the smaller farmer's market was going on right across the street. Restock time!

Snack

I couldn't believe it but I forgot my camera. Otherwise I would have documented the whole thing. Sorry! At least my iPhone takes decent pictures. I bought this almond butter (I couldn't resist) and I was dying to have some.

While I waited on my laundry to finish I chopped up one of the organic Fujis I bought and enjoyed it with my almond butter. The apples are so sweet! You really can tell a difference when they're organic and an even bigger difference when they're not commercially produced. These are a bit smaller and not as 'beautiful' but man do they make up for it in flavor.

I also bought oranges at the market and later backstage I enjoyed a big juicy one! I hate eating oranges that are dried out and flavorless. This one was opposite on both counts.

I also snacked on this trail mix since I didn't really have time for a substantial lunch. I grabbed these on my way out before rushing to my 2 o'clock call. There's three servings in one package so I poured it all out on a napkin and started with what I thought was one serving.
In between acts I tried to get a little work done on my paper. I refueled with this Cinamon Roll Lärabar.
There's just something about cinnamon that I love! It's definitely one of my favorite flavors.
Serving number two of the Cashew, Almond, Raisin trail mix.
After the show there was a cast party at The Elephant Bar. There was an assortment of food: chips and salsa, shrimp spring rolls, creamy spinach dip, fried shrimp, chicken, and cheesey garlic bread.
Naturally I stuck to the veggies and salsa :)
A few people ordered Mai Tais and gave me their decorative pineapple. yum!
I ate the cherry too haha.
I wasn't feeling well and made my appearance at the party brief. I think I have a sinus infection or something. Maybe a combination of allergies? Who knows. As long as I am better by this Sunday for my recital!

Dinner

I came home and got to work making a plate of Claire food! I have been on a real beet kick lately. They're so flavorful. This completely made up concoction included:

• approx 1 cup snow peas
• 1 beet, skinned boiled and chopped
• 1/4 cup red bell pepper, diced
• 1 tsp. garlic
• 1/2 Tbsp. olive oil
• 1/2 Tbsp. nama shoyu

My salad included

• 1 1/2 cup chopped red cabbage
• 3 small tomatoes
• 1/4 cup sliced cucumber
• Tahini Dressing that I made a while ago

A whooooole lota veggies!

Dessert

For dessert I enjoyed a slice of banana bread that I heated in the microwave (which I haven't used in two weeks haha) and some fresh strawberries.

It was an exhausting weekend! I am planning on going to bed super early every night this week and doing everything I can to make myself healthy again. I'll be all caught up soon I promise!