All Packed Up!

Snack

I did all the tricks you're supposed to do before eating again: got busy packing, drank a bunch of water, gave it some time... but no dice. I decided to have ants on a log! Perfect little snack.

Dinner

I had a chef to chef consult with the head hancho, AKA big poppa! My dad made roasted potatoes the other night for my family and my mom just had to tell me about it since I've been on a roasting kick. And yup, you guessed it, then I had to make them! I decided to turn it into a vegan version of the classic dinner: Meat and Potatoes. He gave me the play by play and here it is!

• 1-1 1/2 potatoes per person
• salt
• pepper
• rosemary
• fresh garlic
• olive oil

1. Preheat oven to 425F.
2. 1/8th the potatoes or, in Dad's words, like large home fries.
3. Put potatoes in a bowl and mix with all the spices to taste. Don't forget to chop up the rosemary!
4. Smash a few cloves of garlic (don't be shy! this is where the flavor comes from) and mix that all in. Or, if you have minced garlic like me use 1/2 tsp or more per potato.
5. Drizzle with olive oil (or spray with Pam like I did to cut down on oil used) until each chunk is shiny.
6. Cover a lipped baking tray with tin foil and spray or grease the foil. Pile the taters onto the try and pop 'em in the oven.
7. Every potato cooks differently but should be between 25-40 minutes. You will need to stir them at ten minute intervals with a spatula so you can do what I did and just set the timer for ten minutes each time. I ended up cooking my batch for 30 min.

I also wanted to give this new, exciting looking flavored tofu a try. I cut the block in half and fried it in a pan with a little Pam. The last ten minutes of roasting the potatoes I added one white onion to the tray. When the taters were done I added them to the tofu pan with a little balsamic vinegar.

I heated up the rest of the leftover roasted broccoli and cauliflower too. Man, that's one loaded plate! I can't believe I finished it all. It was the perfect dinner though, no leftovers and I wasn't uncomfortably full afterwards. Unfortunately the flavored tofu was not as flavorful on its own as I had hoped. Maybe I didn't drain it properly? I guess I will just have to continue adding my own spices.

Workout

A few hours after dinner I decided to do Level 2 of the Jillian DVD and let's just say I was right in my anticipation about level 2. Definitely more intense!! Not impossible but I was breathing harder, sweating more, and shaky after! It's going to take some adjusting but I'm hoping by the end of ten days at this level it will start to get a little better. Wooo doggy it was hard!

Dessert

After a shower I had a nail painting sesh while watching Pushing Daisies. I enjoyed the last of the Fruity Pudding with a serving of cinnamon puffins. It's really hard not to go back for seconds but I have to just keep thinking: swimsuit by the pool at the hotel, crazy wedding food, fitting into that purple dress, meeting the other family who could potentially have members (boys*cough cough* ) my age, 108 degree weather... All my reasons for wanting to feel good this weekend and why I should not have a second bowl of pointless-eating cereal. Besides, I gotta go to bed! My booty's gotta be on the road by 9:45 tomorrow. Mamma's orders.

I've already prepared a bowl of overnight oats that is just waiting to be stirred and eaten. I'm packed except for the last minute additions like the curling iron I already know I will need to use on this mop tomorrow morning. So all I have to do now is gooo toooo beeeed!

Night!

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!?!?!