Tuesday, November 8, 2011

WP Days 17-23

I have some catching up to do - again! So what has been new in the last week? I've kept a lot of my eating habits the same from the first 2 weeks but I started to incorporate some foods back in.  One night for dinner we had an egg scramble with sun-dried tomatoes, fresh tomatoes, mushrooms, garlic and a sprinkle of parmesan paired with gluten-free toast. I have had some gluten though and it seems that my belly has responded ok. I think everything in moderation is the key. If I have the choice, I try to stick to a vegan, gluten-free diet but I will not rule out some foods entirely (as long as I'm sticking to a mainly vegetarian diet).

Last Thursday, I decided to bring my love, um i mean, coffee back into my life. I would need a lobotomy to think that I could live without coffee. It's just so good and moving forward I will try to have some "tea days" mixed in to find some balance between the two. Again, its all about moderation.

We've been making a lot of soups lately which are so comforting in the cooler temperatures (and helps us keep the thermostat set lower than I normally would be inclined to have it at). Last night, my honey made a simple and delicious Leek and Potato soup. I'll resist any urge to write something about an irishman making a potato soup and just give ya the rundown of what he did. :-)

Ingredients:

- 4 medium golden potatoes - scrubbed clean and diced into quarter inch pieces (you can remove skins if you want, but he left them on)
- 1 small onion
- 2 leeks, white and light green parts - diced and thoroughly cleaned to remove any grit between layers
- 1 box of veggie stock (4 cups) - low sodium!
- 2 cups water
- salt, pepper, and herbs to taste (he used dried parsley)
- Olive oil (1-2 tbps)

Steps:
1. Heat oil in a soup pot and sautee onions and leeks until soft and translucent. Season with S&P
2. Add in potatoes and mix to combine. Season with herbs of choice.
3. Add in stock and water. Cover and allow to come up to a boil.
4. Cook until potatoes are fork tender. We kept it chunky, but if you want (and you removed the skins on the potatoes) you can blend for a thicker, creamy soup.

I have 5 days left on "the plan" and I really want to buckle down for the remaining time. Going to focus on staying GF and vegan for the rest of the time and eating as clean as I can. I feel so much better from when I started this plan 23 days ago and it has given me a GREAT jumpstart for the rest of my life. I've lost some weight, have more energy, and just feel less sluggish and gross! I think I'm on to something...

There may be some wedding dress shopping in my near future. :)

Tuesday, November 1, 2011

WP Days 13, 14, 15 & 16 - Updates!

Woah sorry about that - the days have just gotten away from me! I guess I will give you the abreviated version of what's been going on & what I've been eating.

Over the weekend, we trekked through the uber wet, quarter-sized snowflakes and wind to get to Brooklyn and NJ to look at wedding venues. All of our meals on Saturday were out and half on Sunday.  Saturday I had some green smoothie, banana, vegetarian pot pie and an italian appetizer plate for two that I split with my honey. It was not vegan, or gluten-free. And I will just leave it at that. haha.

Sunday I was not feeling well at all. I was super nauseous when I woke up and hoped it would go away as we travelled back to the Bean. But unfortunately it just kept getting worse. By nighttime I was able to slurp down some soup - lots of veggies, white beans, and veggie broth. We made some muffins too for the week and I had one of those too as a late night snack, once my appetite came back.

Muffin recipe:
Carrot Cake Muffins per NY Times article

Again, not vegan or gluten-free, but the ingredient list is pretty simplistic and generally good for you (as far as muffins go). They are a little dry. I would incorporate some unsweetened applesauce or something into the mix to give them more moisture. But baker, I am not.

Monday: I had a muffin, minestrone soup from a local store, banana, some nuts, Sun Chips (oy, I'm slippin), and some leftover soup. It was Halloween and I will admit I had a piece of chocolate (Hershey's with Almonds).

Tuesday: Muffin (maybe having baked goods around me is not a good idea, mental note), salad with spinach, chickpeas, carrots, peppers, broccoli, peas, raw sunflower seeds and orange-glazed tofu, Bora Bora bar, dinner TBD.

I feel awesome today. Today is a good day. :)

Keep smilin'.