Day 21-22

Tuesday was fairly standard as far as food goes. Had a muffin for breakfast, banana a little later, and an Amy's bean burrito for lunch. For dinner we tried some Chick'n burgers. We made sweet potato fries in the toaster oven and I threw together a salad of spinach, avocado, tomato, and cucumber with balsamic vinaigrette. Everything was good, especially the Chick'n burgers. They have me convinced that fake chicken is much better than fake beef.

Home made salad

Wednesday was a hungry day for me. I had a muffin for breakfast, then for lunch I had a black bean burger and wheat thins with Thai coconut curry hummus. I ended up having two cups of coffee late in the work day because I was fighting sleep and a headache. I've been using coconut milk creamer and it's a fair substitute.

We were out shopping for new running shoes, so we went to a local place called Good Eats for dinner. I ended up having a Spicy Thai Vegetable Soup and a Greek Salad (minus the feta). Hubby cheated and had a shrimp po-boy, but he's been good up till now so I didn't fight him on it. The girls at the counter were friendly and answered all my questions about the soup ingredients. I asked about dairy and she told me there was none in the soup. It was very creamy, and it definitely had a hint of coconut milk.

Greek Salad from Good Eats

Day 20

On Monday we tried juicing.

Two servings of Green Juice

I couldn't finish mine. I drank about 80% before my gag reflex took over. The juice is spinach, kale, celery, green apples, cucumber, and ginger. I found a different recipe (different ratios, plus lemon) that I want to try next time. This one was a big no. I wish I could find a good one without celery because I don't like celery at all, and it's overwhelming in any juice. That wasn't really the problem with this one though. This one just tasted like grass clippings. Yuck.

I had a muffin later on, and my co-worker brought me a soy mocha from Starbucks.

I found a new kind of Amy's burritos that I like, and that was my lunch. I also had a vegan cupcake (!!) since I brought them to work to share.

For dinner we had Chick'n Stir Fry. I bought 2 bags of stir fry veggies (peppers, onions, baby corn, water chestnuts, broccoli, snap peas, carrots, mushrooms) and a bag of Chick'n Teriyaki strips and dumped it all in the skillet for a few minutes. I added a little soy sauce and the teriyaki sauce that came with the chick'n. It definitely passed the taste test. I really liked the fake chicken strips.

Days 17-19

We had Moe's for dinner Friday night. We were going to go to Genghis Grill, but we ended up going to Moe's with friends instead.

Saturday we made burritos at home for lunch (white bean and avocado), and had black bean burgers with lettuce, tomato, and avocado for dinner.

I managed to make the blueberry muffins last night and they came out really well. Our oven cooks fast, so I may have actually pulled them out a minute too soon because I was scared they would burn. My only complaint is they need about 1/4th cup more sugar, but otherwise the texture and everything is great. Here's the link to the recipe I used. She has lots of helpful notes!
http://www.egglesscooking.com/2009/03/02/vegan-blueberry-muffins/

Blueberry Muffins!

Today I had a blueberry muffin for breakfast and a peanut butter and jelly soft taco for lunch. That's a throwback to my favorite Mexican restaurant and favorite menu item as a kid.

For dinner we made pizza! The crust was from the refrigerated section, and we added pizza sauce, red onion, red bell pepper, sliced mushrooms, and black olives. It was very good. Maybe next time we can make calzones!

Pizza before it went in the oven.

I also made vegan cupcakes today! They came out perfect, I'd say. Just plain vanilla with vanilla frosting, though the frosting was surprisingly difficult to work with. I guess when you are used to working with buttercream or cream cheese frosting, there is going to be a little adjustment period.

Here's the recipe I used: http://whippedbaking.com/2012/04/11/very-vanilla-vegan-cupcakes/

Very Vanilla Vegan Cupcakes (before frosting!)

I'm taking those to work tomorrow, so I'll see how everyone else feels about the dairy-free, egg-free baking!

I must say that I feel a lot better after spending a good chunk of time in the kitchen this weekend. I miss having a big kitchen, but I really do love cooking and baking.

One last thing, we made juice tonight for tomorrow's breakfast! We've dabbled with juicing before, but I think it's important with this vegan lifestyle to make sure we're getting a full range of vitamins and such. You're supposed to juice and drink it right away, but not being a morning person makes that about as likely as me going to the moon. I figure 12 hour old juice is better than no juice at all. So, tomorrow I'll be drinking my first dose of Mean Green (from "Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead"). Wish me luck...

Day 15-16

I apologize for falling off the blogger cliff this week. I don't know what's gotten into me. I can't remember if I had breakfast this morning, so recapping all my meals for the past two days just isn't going to happen.

I think we had Moe's for dinner on Wednesday.

Yesterday I had a blueberry scone and a banana for breakfast, oatmeal for lunch, another banana as a snack, and a cheesesteak sandwich with no steak and no cheese from the bowling alley cafe (it's right next door to my work) for dinner since I was working late. Those sandwiches are amazing, btw. It goes to show that you really can find vegan food just about anywhere. Most restaurants have the ingredients, you just have to find someone willing to put them together for you.

I've been avoiding my kitchen lately because it depresses me. I have weeks where all I can think about is my giant kitchen in my house in California, with brand new appliances that I picked out, and more counter space than I knew what to do with. Then I look at my tiny galley kitchen in our rental and I get depressed and have no desire to cook. It's a phase and it will pass and honestly, my hands are itching to get in there and bake or make a stir-fry or something.

I'm promising myself that I'll get in there this weekend and make those blueberry muffins before my fresh blueberries go bad. And I want vegan cupcakes. The idea just intrigues me, even though they'll be bad for my waistline.

Day 14?

I think I can see progress!

I had oatmeal for breakfast, and a blueberry "scone" a little later at work. They had some organic blueberry scones next to the cans of biscuits at the commissary this weekend, and they just so happened to be dairy and egg free. I baked them last night, but they are pretty much blueberry biscuits. Seriously, they taste like Grands biscuits that just happen to have blueberries in them. But they're still good, so whatevs.

I actually had a breakfast burrito for lunch. Amy's makes a potato, tofu, black bean, and salsa burrito and it's pretty good. I ate the last regular bean burrito for lunch yesterday, so it was slim pickin's for lunch today.

For dinner we made the vegan "cheese" pizza, but I didn't like it. I would rather have the cheese-less pizza next time. The highlight of dinner was the breadsticks though! I used half a can of breadstick dough (also next to the biscuits), and I didn't separate the breadsticks. I put them in a pan and brushed on some olive oil. Then I sprinkled them with sea salt and oregano and baked them in the toaster oven according to the package directions. They really couldn't have turned out more perfect. I'm only sad that now I'll have to make them with every Italian meal for the rest of my life... hahaha

Perfect Breadsticks!

Even the bottom was pretty

Days 10-13

Agh! Sorry I've been a blog slacker! I'd say we were in a bit of a food rut this weekend, which didn't inspire me to write much. =/

Friday we went to the local health foods store and found lots of vegan goodies. I wish I could find them at a regular grocery store so they wouldn't be so expensive, but I guess it's better than nothing! I found vegenaise and "better than sour cream" and a vegan "cheese" pizza, among other things. My favorite find was the organic dog food in a huge bag for only $7.50. It's Castor and Pollux Organix Dry Dog Food, and it got the top rating of 5 stars on dogfoodadvisor.com. I still can't believe some of my friends are paying $30+ per bag for "good" dog food, and I got this stuff cheaper than the Iams I had been buying. The pieces are small enough for my 5lb Pom, and my cat seems to really like it (shaking my head, she loves dog food and won't leave it alone!).

We ate a lot of junk food over the weekend, including oreos and vegan burritos. We did sneak in one Moe's run, and a trip to the sushi place that we ordered take out from last week. I got to try agedashi tofu, and I liked it!

We had black bean burgers and sweet potato tots for dinner last night, and I'm hoping that puts an end to our junk food craze for the week. I bought the ingredients for more home made bean burritos, so that's probably what we're having tonight. I need to get another list of recipes going and make a big grocery trip in the next day or so, but hubby has finals this week and won't be much help so I don't know if that will get done.

Oh! And I bought the ingredients to make blueberry muffins. That may be what I do tonight to keep myself entertained.

Day 9

Agh! Sorry I'm late! I have a different work schedule on Thursdays, and that always throws off the whole rest of my day.

Breakfast yesterday was maple and brown sugar oatmeal again. I got a few recipes for blueberry muffins to try out though, so hopefully I can make those over the weekend. Hubby really liked the idea of muffins and has asked me repeatedly to make more.

For lunch I had veggie soup again, with leftover cornbread. I'm tired of it now, so I brought something else for lunch today.

We tried out some frozen veggie burgers for dinner. I found 2 vegan kinds in the freezer section at the commissary, so we both had one of each. One was Amy's and I don't remember the brand of the others. Amy's were plain veggie burgers, but the others were my favorite. They were black bean chipotle, but not too spicy. Oh, so good.

An interesting note to share, since most of my friends aren't vegan. I found out yesterday that honey isn't considered vegan by the "purists". It is considered an "animal product" by many! Hubby said this was going too far, that no way would he give up honey mustard, and I kind of agree with him. Maybe I need to do some more research, but I don't feel like bees are being extorted for their honey. I'm very fond of honey and beeswax, too. I use fresh beeswax from a local beekeeper to make solid lotion bars, and I love that I can use such a natural product instead of one loaded with chemicals. I keep reading that being vegan isn't about being perfect or being a "purist", it's about lessening your impact and voting with your wallet. Based on those principles, I see no reason to avoid bee products.