Mom Inspired Lunch

Lunch

My Mom has never liked cooking in the crazy, obsessive way that my Dad and I do. Getting creative in the kitchen just isn't her thing. Regardless, she always made sure there was food on the table for my brother and me. Growing up, we learned that Mom has her staples and we counted on the fact that she could always whip one up the same every time. (Some of my all time favs were her scrambled eggs, no sardine caesar salad, and chocolate chip cookies!) Though she doesn't give herself the credit, as far as I'm concerned many of those dishes could've had most people fooled into thinking she was a culinary whiz. When I came home for lunch this afternoon I looked at my bag of salad, I looked at my tupperware of strawberries, and I got an instant craving for my mom's Strawberry Spinach Salad. I did my best to replicate it in a Claire kind of way and what I came up with was:

• large handful baby mixed greens
• 4-5 sliced strawberries
• approx. 1/4 cup sliced cucumber

Dressing, 1 serving

• 1/2 Tbsp. olive oil
• 1 Tbsp. apple cider vinegar, unfiltered
• 1/2 Tbsp. agave
• generous amount of fresh ground black pepper, or just to taste
• small shake of paprika

I whisked it all together, topped my salad, and viola! Mom's is a little sweeter and she uses only spinach but it was enough to hit the spot for my craving. I think Mom would still like this version!

To go with my salad I arranged a po po platter of veggies with 2 Tbsp. of both eggplant hummus and roasted tomato salsa.
So many veggies for lunch! I was sooo full after all that fiber.
Eventually, though, I got into one of those modes where all my brain says is, "I have to have something sweet". There was no arguing. It was just a matter of what to choose so that I would be satisfied into sweet-tooth monster remission. I decided to go with the last slice of my banana bread topped with 1/3 cup vanilla soy yogurt and a shake of cinnamon. Hit the spot! I'm going to miss that banana bread though :(
Now I really want to make a dent in the study guide for my midterm for Baroque music history. My parents are coming on Saturday afternoon, Savannah's recital is on Saturday evening, my recital is on Sunday evening, my parents fly out Monday afternoon, and the midterm is on Tuesday! See why I want to study ahead of time? Yeah, it would just be better for everyone. I'm not going to drive myself crazy though, I'm going to break it up like I would a workout. If I finish the list of terms then the reward will be: the first episode of season 2 of Six Feet Under!

Hittin' the books. Till 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!

Murder Mystery Madness!!

The banana bread came out pretty good! I ended up having to cook it for 1 hr 10 minutes when the recipe only said 30 min and it still came out doughy on the inside! Also, I feel pretty silly but I forgot to add the 1 tsp. of baking soda. Think it made a difference?

Even though it is still veeery moist on the inside, it is delicious! Since it's vegan I have no worry at all when something doesn't come out perfectly cooked. No salmonella for me!
This stuff is addicting and it was very hard to help myself from eating slice after slice!

Lunch

After my voice lesson I came home for a light lunch. Left over chili, piece of toast, and garlic hummus.
I also drank some green tea with ginger ale.
After lunch Amanda and I went to vons and did some serious shopping for the Murder Mystery Party!

Dinner

We started with the classic appetizer of chips, guacamole, salsa, and 7 layer bean dip.

We also served chicken empanadas. I was told these were pretty tasty!
Action shot! Kelsey doctored the guac with some fresh lime juice and cilantro.
The poor women in mourning! All of Kelsey a.k.a. Helena's 13 sons were shot to death and all of my a.k.a Dee Adela's 3 husbands died mysteriously!
Even the margaritas were suspicious!!
I stuck with Manhattan's. I'd never had one before and they are now a new favorite of mine! They were fairly strong though...
Ever been to Chevy's? You know that delicious, sweet corn stuff that comes with the fajitas? I was determined to make it and I'm proud to say, it was a success! It's called Sweet Corn Tomalito.

Here's my plate. Plenty of veggies, black beans, spanish rice, tomalito, and I only used one of the corn tortillas. I also used plenty of salsa, guacamole, and even vegan sour cream.
Number 2! There was no way I could finish this one. In fact I only got a few sips in. I was feeling it and the game was getting intense!
Dessert

Even though we were so full, after the game ended we had dessert. The murderer was Barbie a.k.a Elvira! I never saw it coming!

For dessert we had both regular and vegan vanilla ice cream, fresh strawberries and blackberries,
and Mexican Wedding Cookies! We sprinkled the berries with a little sugar so they had a bit of a sauce. I used gluten free flour for every thing so there'd be no worries for Kelsey. I actually think that the gluten free flour made these cookies even more melt in your mouth. They literally disintegrated in your mouth and they were sooo good!
I had a little of everything :)
The party was really a hit. I know I had a blast and it was nice to just enjoy the company of my friends!

Breakfast

For breakfast this morning I had some vanilla soy yogurt with the left over berries and some slices of banana bread.
I'm not really looking forward to dealing with the wreckage left from the party but I know it won't take long once I get started. Let's just say Law and Order CI is a little distracting :)

Hope you're all having a good Sunday!