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. :)