Vegans Eat This, Not That!

Yes, I totally ripped that off from a super popular book. It is a very simple diet changing premise, and comes in very handy when switching a typical recipe into a healthy & delicious Vegan meal!

Milk for baking and drinking = Silk Pure Almond Milk or Almond Breeze or SO Delicious Coconut Milk

Milk in cooking = Organic Soy Milk

Butter = Earth Balance

1 Egg in baking recipe = 1/2 banana, pureed

Slice of cheese or Cream Cheese= spread of Tofutti Cream Cheese

Ground Beef or Chorizo = Soyrizo, Trader Joe's is gluten free!

Burgers = Morningstar Farms Vegan Grillers

Sausage = Morningstar Farms Sausage Patties (have a small amount of egg, booooo)

Ribs = Morningstar Farms Veggie Riblets (these are so good, I had to include them!)

Ice Cream Desserts = Rice Dreams Mint Cookie Sandwich, Tofutti Cuties, sorbet, SO Delicious yogurt or ice cream (made from coconut milk!)

Finally, a day late and a dollar short, my meal plan yesterday:

Breakfast: Bowl of Trader Joe's quick cooking steel cut oats topped with ground flaxseed, cinnamon and sliced bananas.

Snack: Protein Shake & Trail Mix

Lunch: Almond Butter & Jelly on sprouted grain bread, side of broccoli

Snack: 1 leftover birthday cupcake with sliced green apples, then Wine Tasting with crackers (don't judge me!)

Dinner: Sweet Potato and Lentil Chili with homemade vegan cornbread

Dessert: Wine

Today I am behaving because tonight is my birthday party and I need to fit into a teeny tiny dress, so instead of allowing some eggs or cheese I have instead stuck to an extra day of my strictly Vegan diet, and I feel great!

Breakfast: 2 homemade vegan oatmeal cookies

Lunch: Simple Salad with organic vinaigrette, okay, and a tiny bag of BAKED Doritos!

Snack: Trail Mix and 1 vegan cookie

Dinner: at Hugos for my birthday!

Snack: chocolate covered apples at MBar while we watch a Burlesque Show!

Why am I still sitting here? I need to bust out the sequins and red lipstick!

A Very Un-Fabulous Day

I know I promised to post my own "Eat This, Not That," and that you all have been waiting with baited breathe throughout the day for my little post, but today is just not the day. Today was one of THOSE days. So today you see the not-very-fabulous-running mommy's diet when I snap and need carbs. A lot of them. I am going to place the food in chronological order, along with its excuse.

Wake up to find the kids' lamp fell and shattered all over the carpet in their now pitch black room. The kids are still asleep from being up late for my birthday dinner the evening before, and all 3 of us need showers. It's also my volunteer day at Mica's class...

Breakfast: apple and 1 slice of cold leftover vegan pizza in the van while driving to Mica's school, an hour late.

Snack: Spent chasing 4 year olds and heaving them all across the monkey bars once they realized Mica's Mommy is a sucker.

Got home and received a text from my Dad that he lost a piece of JT's broken glasses (long, unimportant story.) JT is blind without glasses, need to get to Sears for a replacement, but no time to get there and back before JT gets out of school. In the meantime the dog bites Mica, and as I am punishing him Mica has an "accident."

Lunch: The rest of the cold vegan pizza, carrots, strawberries, a bag of trail mix, a half a pot of coffee, and the crusts off Mica's PB&J.

Get JT and get to Sears, no they don't have the frames, it would take a week to get them. Need to go to Lenscrafters.... forgot the prescription at home. Home... Lenscrafters... wait for my Dad who graciously covered the glasses since he lost the piece from the other glasses. 5pm, headed home to make dinner (planning Moroccan Couscous) and realize the kids' room is still pitch black. Swing by Kmart for a lamp... get stalked by weird little man who I finally turn and stare directly at, he then asks me if I speak Spanish and scampers away when I growl NO (in Spanish.) See a Lil Ceasars in the Kmart and grab a pizza for the kids, I'll finish off the Chana Masala.

Get to the car, JT spills the entire pizza on the passenger seat of my van. I snap and start yelling at him only to realize he burned himself, and I have to totally apologize and help him clean up. Saved most the pizza, get home, serve the kids and...

Dinner: Half a slice of pizza with (most) the cheese and ALL the pepperoni peeled off. The crust of 2 other slices. A large glass of white wine.

Dinner #2: Now if you'll excuse me I am about to finish off that Chana Masala with a Smart Bagel smeared with Tofutti cream cheese.

Dessert: Another glass of white wine with some dark chocolate while I watch Greys Anatomy and pass out!

The Rules

Naughty Foods: Carcass, duh. Milk, eggs, and cheese. Unnatural processed foods made mostly out of chemicals.

Anytime Foods: Greens (ex:kale, collards, parsley etc) Veggies, fruits, whole grains, beans, nuts & legumes.

Sometimes Foods: Vegetarian replacement foods, like veggie burgers and soyrizo. Foods with dairy byproducts like whey, casein, or egg as an ingredient.

Weekend Foods: The only weekend rule is no meat, enjoy, but remember everything in moderation!

Breakfast: Whole grain and protein

Snack: Protein Shake and fruit

Lunch: Whole Grain, protein, & veggie

Snack: Protein Shake and nuts

Dinner: Whole grain, protein & veggie

Dessert: glass of red wine and a vegan dessert treat!

Do your best and be proud of yourself for the steps you take. Nobody is perfect, and having a couple of slices of pizza doesn't erase all the nutritious food eaten throughout the week. Be realistic, sometimes you get invited to parties or restaurants where there are no perfect options. Make the best decision you can, then enjoy it!

Don't count calories, eat mindfully, chew thoroughly, stay active and eat only healthy foods.

Wednesday

Breakfast: 1/2 smart bagel topped with tofutti cream cheese and a Morningstar farm sausage patty. 4 strawberries.

Snack: Protein Shake & Banana

Lunch: Leftover Chana Masala and Naan (it was a big pot!)

Snack: Protein Shake and Trail Mix

Dinner: Birthday Dinner at my parents' house! Having zPizza's Berkeley pizza, a vegan creation I have been wanting to try

Dessert: Cupcakes! JT won cupcakes at a raffle and insisted on giving them to me for my birthday. They definitely contain dairy, but my Pookie gave them to me and I plan on eating one!

Tomorrow will be my own personal version of "Eat this, Not that!"

What do Vegans eat?

It has been almost 3 years since I read Skinny Bitch, and then announced to my family I was no longer going to eat meat. They all smiled at me patronizingly, assuming this would no doubt be another fad I was into for a few weeks before moving on to the next shiny idea. Unfortunately for them, specifically my husband, that was only the beginning. As I absorbed more information on the cruel treatment of factory farm animals, the antibiotics, steroids and hormones we absorb from the meat, and the history of vegetarianism in general, I only strengthened my resolve. After devouring Slaughterhouse by Gail Eisnitz, there was no turning back.

Recently I started allowing eggs and fish into my diet in moderation, and I have always clung to my cheese addiction without an ounce of guilt. Then I read Alicia Silverstone's The Kind Diet and realized what I have been missing out on. Why bother to limit my diet if I am not going to reap the benefits? By continuing to eat animal products I was still poisoning myself and slowing down my digestive track. If I want to truly live clean, I can't do it with a daily dose of dairy. By the time I turned the last page, I knew it was time to recommit myself.

Thanks to Facebook most of my friends and family are already aware of my newfound commitment, and most of them ask the same questions. They ask what I eat, and they ask how I do it. This week I am going to share everything I eat to give a realistic picture of a vegan diet. I will share my Rules tomorrow, they are also a great weight maintenance plan when paired with running (of course!)

Monday

Breakfast: 1 slice homemade vegan banana bread, 1/2 green apple dipped in natural peanut butter

After Work Out Snack: Trail mix and Protein Shake

Lunch: leftover quinoa with cherry tomatoes and fresh basil

Snack: Protein Shake

Dinner: Eggplant Chana Masala, brown rice, brussel sprouts, Naan

Tuesday

Breakfast: Trader Joe's quick cooking Steel Cut Oats topped with ground flax seed, sliced bananas & cinnamon

Snack: Trail Mix

Lunch: leftover Chana Masala and Naan

Dinner: Dine out at Chilis, Spicy Black Bean Burger topped with lettuce, pickle, tomato, grilled onion & ketchup with steamed veggies on the side! (who says Vegans don't eat!??)