englandsword

Today was more than half raw. Not too shabby. Breakfast: 1 very small baked potato Lunch: Spinach salad w/ marinated mushrooms and balsamic onions Snack: Mashed banana w/ cinnamon and oats Dinner: Broccoli and mushroom stir-fry, carrot puree My breakfast potato was flavored with garlic and onion seasoning and nutritional yeast. I bought this garlic and onion powder a few days ago and it's really tasty. And the ingredients aren't too freaky, either. I was pretty weirded out by the ingredient labels on lots of the spice mixes at Ralph's. I settled on this one because it seemed tasty and wasn't full of chemical crap. I've talked about nutritional yeast before in my B12 post, but I didn't show a picture. My Whole Foods used to only carry it in tubs in the vitamins and protein powder section, so I bought this tub. Now the bulk section carries nooch, though, so I can refill from there. I had regretted buying things from the Whole Foods olive bar when I found out...

So! It's been a few days since I blogged, mostly because I've been a very boring eater. Brussels sprouts, potatoes mashed with kale, and broccoli/mushroom/okra stir-fries. You get the picture. Here's something I made the other day: It's a kelp noodle stir-fry! So, what are kelp noodles and why are they so great? Well, I'm glad you asked. Kelp noodles are just made out of kelp, so they're a whole plant food and they're raw. They're a good raw and low-calorie version of pasta - they are ridiculously low in calories, like 7 calories a cup or something. But the weird thing is that they have a strange crunchy texture that can be rather off-putting. The way to get rid of this texture and make soft noodles is to soak the noodles in something acidy. I tried this before with lemon water, but I hate it when my food tastes like lemons. So this time I tried something different - I put them in a jar with tomato sauce and let the sauce soften up the noodles....

So, today I worked out twice, cleaned my bathroom, wrote a letter to my friend in Tonga (she's in the Peace Corps), and came up with two recipes that I will be nice enough to share with you. Breakfast: Small sweet potato Lunch: 1 c. brussels sprouts, 1/2 cup black beans, 1 zucchini of pasta w/ my new Everything Kale Pesto Snack: 1 c. brussels sprouts Dinner: Sizzlin' Skillet Salad Dessert: 1 small sweet potato I thought I invented kale pesto, but I googled it and it turns out it already exists. But not in the delicious form that I have created it. My pesto has lots of flavors in it, which is why I dubbed it "everything" pesto. There's the pesto in an old (clean) garlic jar. I'm obviously not very disciplined about getting the labels off. So here's how you make it: In a food processor, grind up: 2 cups kale, de-stemmed and ripped up 1 cup basil 5 pcs. sun-dried tomatoes a couple slices red bell pepper 4 tbsp nutritional yeast 1 tsp mustard 2 tsp garlic ...

Today's food intake was a little weird, mostly because I just wanted to eat brussels sprouts. Breakfast: approx. 1.5 cups brussels sprouts, .25 cups black beans Lunch: 1 cup brussels sprouts, exactly the same salad I had for dinner last night (spinach, black beans, pineapple, red pepper) Dinner: 1 cup brussels sprouts, .25 cups black beans, 1 small sweet potato w/ nutritional yeast So all those brussels sprouts from yesterday's photo are gone. I had a pretty busy day - I woke up at 7 (I went to bed at 10:30 last night) and started my day off with a workout while watching an episode of Jillian Michaels' new show, Losing It with Jillian. I've never watched The Biggest Loser, but I'd heard good things about Losing It. I watched the pilot episode, and it really did seem like she made an impact on that family's life and helped them turn their health around. For my workout I did leg lifts, squats, and that kind of thing, jumping jacks, some yoga moves, and weights...

Yesterday for dinner I made this great salad: There was a bed of spinach, topped with sliced red bell pepper, canned pineapple, black beans, and Rawmesan. It sounds like a strange combo, but it was really delicious. I also like to put so many tasty things on my salad that I don't need to use dressing. Here's my recipe for 30-second awesome beans: 1 can black beans Garlic Barbecue sauce Rinse your beans really well in a colander, so that they're clean. Put into your Tupperware (I used a repurposed glass jar) and add in some crushed garlic and barbecue sauce. Mix it up really well. That's it! It's so delicious and really good for topping your salads and making them more filling. In addition to my salad, I had some of these: I love brussels sprouts! I didn't use any oil, and seasoned them with Chinese Five Spice powder and Garam Masala. Then I stuck them in the oven for half an hour on 450. I often do the last ten minutes on 500 but for some reason I did...

I'm back from Florida! I got to see my family, including my brother, who I hadn't seen since I moved in January. And we celebrated my grandpa's 70th birthday! There actually are some other vegans in my family - my grandpa's girlfriend's daughter and her husband and son are all vegan, and my aunt is a vegetarian. So I wasn't all alone in finding meatless dishes and we actually had some pretty good food! On day 1 we made homemade veggie burgers for lunch. Here's a picture of my plate with a homemade veggie burger, a couple chips covered in salsa, and a little homemade guac. The burgers were made out of chopped veggies, sunflower seeds, chickpea flour for thickening, and chickpeas, plus some other things. They were good! For dinner one of the vegans made a veggie casserole, which was really an assortment of chopped veggies, covered in vegan broccoli soup and baked. It was good, and I wanted to take a picture but I couldn't find my phone. My grandpa...

Last night I had Chipotle for dinner again: And today for lunch, we went to Qdoba: So let's compare the two. As everyone but the owners of these two restaurants will admit, they are very similar. But which one is more awesome, i.e. vegan-friendly? On the Chipotle side: 1) They gave me more lettuce. I still had to ask for extra, but just check out that picture -- there's a lot of lettuce. At Qdoba, I asked for extra lettuce and I still only got about a half a cup. Very super lame. 2) Their guacamole is tastier. That's what my stepmom said, and I agree. 3) Their ingredients taste a little fresher all-around. 4) This is a big one -- Chipotle is introducing Gardein vegan meats at many of their locations in big cities, including LA, and my local Chipotle on Ventura Blvd. I have yet to try said Gardein, but it sounds pretty cool. Check out quarrygirl.com for more infos. On the Qdoba side: 1) Their pinto beans are vegan. This is a big strike against Chipotle, which has...

So I went to the Salina River Festival this weekend. It was really hot, humid, and full of junk food. I didn't even try and find anything to eat there - I'd rather just bring my own food and not stress out. So I pretty much lived off of Luna bars and apples during the day and then on Friday night Dad took me to get a salad at the Dillons salad bar. Dillons is the same as Kroger or Ralphs depending on what part of the country you live in. My Ralphs is not very vegan friendly, so I was surprised to see that the Salina Dillons has a great salad bar with plenty of vegan-friendly items. I took a picture of one especially crazy-looking art piece at the River Festival to share with you all. Today I ate: Breakfast: 2 bananas mashed w/ oats Lunch and Dinner: Brown rice, black beans, artichokes, spinach, and broccoli I cooked up a small box of brown pecan rice - about four cups - and after it was done cooking I mixed in half a bag of raw broccoli, half a can of artichoke hearts, and...

Most people think that there's something in the "food groups" of meat and dairy that cannot be found in plant foods. Often they're not sure what it is, but they're pretty sure you'll whither away without it. And it's probably protein. Well, I'll get to protein later. For now, I want to talk about B12. And I'll urge you to do your own homework - that's how I got my information. I just read a lot from many different sources because I want to be as informed about my diet as possible. I always tell people that there's nothing in meat and dairy that you can't find in plants, because everything starts in plants anyways. Where do you think fish get those Omega 3's or cows get their calcium? That's right, from the plants they eat. B12 is the one exception. But the thing is, it's not the fault of veganism, it doesn't show that veganism is inherently flawed, and meat-eaters aren't necessarily safe. I'll tell you ...

Breakfast: Brussels sprouts, 3 sweet potato fries Lunch: Oatmeal Dinner: Mu Shu Vegetables (about half, no pancakes) I love Mu Shu Vegetables. Before I went vegan, I loved Mu Shu Pork - I ate it on my birthday and whenever it was available at Chinese restaurants, and I wondered how I would ever replace it. And then I got Mu Shu Vegetables, and realized that it was the same lovely experience! Just remember to order it without eggs or you will get a nasty surprise. Mu Shu Vegetables are mostly cabbage, mushrooms, carrots, bamboo shoots, and green onions in a light sauce, served with pancakes (more like thin tortillas) and plum sauce. Mu Shu Vegetables are one of the least oily dishes at Chinese restaurants and if you forego the pancakes, you can get the calories even lower. And if you've never eaten a bowl full of cabbage, let me tell you - it is very filling. Now, that brings me to the topic of Chinese food in America vs. Chinese food in China. As you might imagine, American...

We had pretty standard dinners growing up -- pasta night, and umm... pasta night... and do-it-yourself night, but the most special was always breakfast for dinner night. What?! Breakfast for dinner? But there are rules about these things! Now that I've lived in China, I find American breakfast foods kind of funny. We're so particular about what we eat for breakfast - usually something carby, sugary, and devoid of nutrition, though for some reason, eggs and bacon are also acceptable to many. In China you pretty much eat for breakfast what you might eat for any other meal -- rice, vegetables, etc. There's a porridge called zhou (also called congee), but you can eat that for dinner, too, and it comes in sweet and savory varieties. So today, without really planning it, I switched my breakfast and dinner foods. Breakfast: 1/2 can Amy's Tuscan Bean and Rice Soup Lunch: 1 baked potato, 1/2 cup brussels sprouts Dinner: 1 cup brussels sprouts, 2/3 sweet potato (cut into f...

Breakfast: Oatmeal w/ blueberries, almond milk, and cinnamon 10 Cherries Lunch: Nectarine 1/2 can Amy's Tuscan Bean and Rice soup -- I talked about this before and erroneously called it Spanish Bean and Rice. It's a good and quite hearty soup. Dinner: Chipotle Burrito Bol with black beans (no rice), fajita veggies, pico de gallo, a little corn salsa, and lots of lettuce. For some reason, whenever I ask for lots of lettuce at Chipotle they always give me exactly the same amount of lettuce as normal. So then I always have to ask again, and sometimes two more times until they will actually give me a satisfactory amount of lettuce. Why is this? Lettuce is certainly one of the cheapest ingredients they serve! I want lettuce!

A cold front blew in so it was only about 85 degrees today. Brr! Today I ate: Black beans and quinoa Some grapes Broccoli with hummus 1/2 can no salt added Mushroom and Barley soup 1 banana We went to a Mexican restaurant for dinner but they said they couldn't make me any oil-free vegetables so I just drank water and ate when I got home. If I had really wanted to eat something I could have found something, but it wasn't worth it to me. Unfortunately, eating in restaurants is often more stressful than it's worth when trying to eat healthily and watch caloric intake. But my parents were cool and didn't make me feel like a weirdo or not eating with them. I know I've hung out with people before who can't stand if you go to a restaurant and don't eat. Tomorrow I'm on babysitting duty watching my little brother while my stepmom's at work. I'm excited because I looove him!

Today I ate: Black beans and quinoa Some grapes and cherries 1 Amy's Bistro burger A couple bites of rice Broccoli Spinach and strawberry salad 1/2 banana I also was looking through the pictures on my phone and realized I had one from a couple weeks ago that I forgot to post. When I was feeling really sick and not really craving vegetables, I bought a bag of frozen Rice Biryani from Trader Joe's with rice, veggies, and spices. A very simple and healthy ingredient list. Here's the picture:

It was almost 100 degrees in Lawrence, Kansas today! I have to admit, though, I love hot weather. I would rather be sweltering than chilly. Today's eats: Oatmeal w/ blueberries Quinoa w/ black beans 1/2 can Amy's Garden Vegetable soup Spinach salad Green beans 1 small red potato 1 Amy's Bistro Burger 1/2 banana About 10 grapes 'Twas good!

Oatmeal with blueberries Spinach and green beans with hummus 3 small red potatoes 1/2 can No Salt Added Mushroom and Barley soup 1 Amy's Bistro Burger 1 banana The no salt added soup was a little bland/icky so (I'm sorry!) I added a little tamari to make it taste better. A little garlic powder and kaboom! It was tasty. The Amy's Bistro Burger was a first for me and I have to say, I really like it. The first ingredient is mushrooms, and it has a nice mushroomy taste. Besides that it has brown rice, many vegetables, and tofu, and that's it. No isolated soy protein or anything crazy, and it's gluten-free. I recommend it!

Food Diary: Oatmeal with blueberries and a banana a few rice crackers and broccoli florets w/ hummus 1/2 can Amy's Spanish Red Rice and Beans soup 1 small red potato Green beans and broccoli 2 bananas mashed w/ oats and cinnamon

Oatmeal with blueberries and cinnamon Spinach salad with cherry tomatoes, craisins, walnuts, and mustard 1/2 can Amy's Spanish Red Beans and Rice soup Asparagus 2 small red potatoes, baked, with garlic powder and seasoned salt 2 bananas mashed with cinnamon