Day 17

The menu for the day is:

Breakfast:
Berries and Rosemary Oatmeal (recipe)
Roasted, chopped sweet potatoes drizzled with maple syrup

Lunch:
Chipotle Black Bean Burger (recipe)
Chips and hummus

Dinner:
Jamaican Stir-Fry (recipe)
Bananas in Berry Artesia (recipe)

I'm feeling a little nervous about that stir-fry. We'll see how it goes!

Day 15

The menu for the first day of week three is:

Breakfast:
Peppery Raspberry Pancakes (recipe)
Watermelon and Supergreens Breakfast Smoothie (recipe)

Lunch:
Black Bean Chipotle Burger (recipe)

Dinner:
Green salad with Creamy Chipotle Dressing (recipe)
Israeli Couscous with Carrots, Peas, and Red Wine Vinegar (recipe)
Portobello Fajitas (recipe)
Mango Lime Sorbet (recipe)

Yesterday I was busy enough that I didn't have time to make my fajitas or sorbet, so I am rearranging the meal plan so that is on for tonight instead of the couscous (which doesn't really sounds all that appetizing). Last night at my friend Jessica's house we ate warm bread with herb oil, a mixed green salad, a cold black bean and cilantro salad, and some vegan oreo ice cream. What a feast it was! I am really surprised by how good the soy ice cream was--tasted about the same as a quart of regular old Breyers would. Not quite Bruster's quality, but hey, I can dig it.

Stay tuned for some more delicious, hearty recipes later this afternoon!

Day 14

This is my last day in week two of the 21-Day Weight Loss Kickstart, and I've got a really good feeling about my weigh in tomorrow morning. First though, to get through some delicious meals today.

Breakfast:
Breakfast Burrito
Dan Dan Mian (recipe)
Banana

Lunch:
Portobello Fajitas (recipe)

Dinner:
???
Mango Lime Sorbet (recipe)

You're right, I can't just eat sorbet for dinner (though that does sound rather delightful). My new vegan friend, Jessica, has invited me over to her house and is cooking for us! I've no idea what we'll be having, but I'm sure it will be wonderful and I'll take pictures and get the recipe if it is super yummy. So excited!

Day 11

This week is getting really hectic, really fast. I'm afraid that the menu today isn't going to happen. First, I wasn't able to find ingredients for breakfast. Second, I won't be back home until the evening so I'll have to pack lunch or grab something out. And third, I am attending a barbecue tonight for dinner as a member of the Wildlife Society.

Tomorrow is going to be similarly crazy. I won't be home for lunch, and then after class I'll be heading right over to the Pink Party hosted by Victoria's Secret and the Gym Class Heroes concert.

So please excuse me for a little while if I don't have any posts or pictures up.

Thanks for sticking with me!

Day 10

The menu for the day is:

Breakfast:
Chickpeas
Cinnamon Raisin Oatmeal
Banana

Lunch:
Artichoke Heart and Tomato Salad (recipe)
Black Bean Chipotle Burger (recipe)
Dan Dan Mian (recipe)
Fresh grapes

Dinner:
Red Curry Chickpea and Sweet Potato Soup (recipe)
Brown rice
Spinach salad with cherry tomatoes

I have never had just plain chickpeas before, and eating one fresh out of the can wasn't really that appetizing first thing upon waking. I opted for the banana instead. Off to the store to buy curry for dinner!

Day 9

Here's what's on the menu for day nine of the 21-Day Weight Loss Kickstart:

Breakfast:
Green Apple Blueberry Oatmeal
Lemon soy yogurt with blueberries

Lunch:
French Onion Sourdough Soup (recipe)
Balsamic Zucchini Sandwich (recipe)
Banana slices

Dinner:
Garden salad
Black refried beans with salsa
Blue corn tortillas
Quinoa Verde (recipe)
Sliced melon
Dan Dan Mian (recipe)?

It's kind of another crazy one. I couldn't find any soy yogurt, so that is out of the picture for breakfast. I didn't love the Green Apple Oatmeal last time, so I'm going to try it with blueberries this time. For lunch I may skip out on the soup--the recipe looks a bit dodgy. Dinner just seems like an unappetizing mess to me, not to mention that I just made quinoa with salsa verde in it yesterday. Why on earth would I make a nearly identical recipe again? I'll pass.

There is a recipe in the book called Dan Dan Mian, a Szechuan noodle dish that I was thinking of making instead, but I am having a hard time finding some of the ingredients. I'm going to head over to an ethnic market after class tomorrow and see if I can find what I need there. Let's some Asian-inspired flavors up in here!

Day 8

The menu for today is:

Breakfast:
Ginger Banana Breakfast Smoothie (recipe)
Toast with jam

Lunch:
Pita Pizza (recipe)

Dinner:
Curried Tomato Lentil Soup (recipe)
Steamed asparagus, broccoli, and cauliflower
Crusty whole-grain bread
Mali Chips (recipe)
Fresh strawberries

I find this meal plan to be a little odd. Lunch is so bare and dinner has five different items. We might have to a bit of juggling around here.

Stay tuned for a weight loss progress report first thing in the morning!

Day 7

Today marks one week that I have been following a completely vegan diet as well as Dr. Neal Barnard's book, 21-Day Weight Loss Kickstart. While not over yet, I can say that this week has had its ups and downs, but has been overall an incredibly positive experience in my life. For the past week I have eaten better than I have in my whole life--and I don't just mean better as in healthy. Better as in more food, more often, and more delicious. This is one diet you definitely won't feel deprived and hungry on. And what's more is that last night at Gobblerfest and the Spirit Rally I could barely keep my pants on me because they were so loose! The poor people sitting in the grass behind me had to stare at my backside all night due to the fact that I do not own a belt. As Carla said, "I wish I had your problems..."

The menu for day seven is:

Breakfast:
Pancakes with maple syrup
Fresh raspberries

Lunch:
Quinoa and Red Bean Salad (recipe)
Hummus and pita bread

Dinner:
Sauteed spinach with fresh lemon juice
Penne al Forno (recipe)
Linguine with Seared Oyster Mushrooms (recipe)
Mixed greens with balsamic vinegar
Baked Cardamom Pears (recipe)

The Asian buffet last night, Hokkaido, turned out to be very good, and had lots of vegan options. I chowed down on sauteed mushrooms, steamed bok choy, vegetable lo mein, rice noodles, and some fried rice (with no egg, yay!). Because of this, I didn't get to cook the lovely menu from last night. So tonight I am going to make a few substitutions. There is no way that I am going to let those mushrooms go to waste, whereas the Penne al Forno ingredients are nonperishable.

Check it out this evening!

Day 6

The menu for today is:

Breakfast:
Pancakes with sliced strawberries
Caribbean Passion Breakfast Smoothie (recipe)

Lunch:
The Perfect Portobello Burger (recipe)
Sweet Potato Fries (recipe)

Dinner:
French Onion Sourdough Soup (recipe)
Linguine with Seared Oyster Mushrooms (recipe)
Baked Cardamom Pears (recipe)

I am especially excited for today because I absolutely adore mushrooms, and here they are featured in two separate recipes! Crossing my fingers that today is a good day.

Day 4

Here is the menu for day four of the 21-Day Weight Loss Kick Off:

Breakfast:
Mango Spice Breakfast Smoothie (recipe)
Oatmeal with blueberries

Lunch:
Hummus and Sun-Dried Tomato Wrap (recipe)
Low-fat baked tortilla chips
Fresh apple

Dinner:
Quick Black Bean Chili (recipe)
Rice Topped with Tomatillo Sauce (recipe)
Warmed corn tortillas

I will probably be making quite a few changes today. I was so bogged down with homework deadlines last night that I didn't have any time to cook and just ended up eating my leftover Rustic Tomato Soup. This morning, instead of the smoothie I am going to make the Bananas in Berry Artesia recipe (which is basically the same ingredients in a different form). The tiny food processor we have isn't cutting it, so I'm going to have to go out and find a blender.

Today's going to be a busy one, so forgive me if I don't post until this evening.

Day 3

The menu for today is:

Breakfast:
Citrus and Sage Oatmeal (recipe)
Multigrain Toast
Orange Slices

Lunch:
Balsamic Zucchini Sandwich (recipe)
Artichoke Heart and Tomato Salad (recipe)

Dinner:
Red Beans and Rice with Collard Greens (recipe)
Bananas in Berries Artesia (recipe)

I am very, very excited about this last recipe, the Berry Artesia. Supposedly it is a dessert from New Orleans. If you know me at all, then you know I am all about dessert!

I do have some self control though. Carla was so sweet yesterday and brought home a cookie cake for us all. I'm sure it had milk, eggs, and butter galor. Alas, I could not partake. I told Carla that I'd have to appreciate it with my heart, not my stomach.

Sweet, beautiful cookie cake...

So yes, I am very excited to have a vegan dessert. I have watched the show Cupcake Wars a few times, and there is a girl that won twice with completely vegan recipes, and that is over top of normal recipes with butter and the works. I may have to look into how she makes those. It's making me hungry just thinking about it...

Carla, Darren, and Helen hanging out enjoying the cookie cake.

Day 2

Day 1 had its ups and downs. On to day two!

Here is the menu for the day:

Breakfast
Costa Rican Rice and Beans (Gallo Pinto) (recipe)
Sliced pineapple and mango
Pumpernickle toast with orange jam

Lunch
BST (Bacon, Sprout, and Tomato Sandwich) (recipe)
Sweet Potato Fries (recipe)

Dinner
Rustic Tomato Soup (recipe)
Salad of mixed greens with Roasted Red Pepper Vinaigrette (recipe)
Slice of toasted sourdough bread

Another of the things that I really enjoy about the 21-Day Weight Loss Kickstart book is that there are daily readings. Today Dr. Barnard talked a little about the lack of meat and asked how I was feeling. Today I am supposed to have increased energy and improved digestion. Negative on both fronts. The energy thing might be my fault--I didn't go to bed till almost midnight last night and then had my alarm set for 4 am. I felt so miserable when I got up and started working on homework that I pretty much said, "Screw this," and went back to bed, missing my Organic Chem and Economics classes. It is 11am now, and I've just finished breakfast, but I still feel like I'd give anything to go back to bed (I won't, of course). As for digestion, that's always been a big problem for me. I have IBS, and just about anything can trigger it. Even my vegan breakfast this morning didn't settle so well. But it is only day two after all, so we'll just have to wait and see.

Dinner

This is dinner for day one. Talk about a three course meal--this was a huge amount of food! I made a Balsamic Pear Salad, Caldo Verde, and Fettuccine with Asparagus, Peas, & Lemon.

Day One Dinner

I almost didn't make everything that the book had listed, but decided to stick to the plan as closely as possible. Whereas my earlier meals were fairly simply, I basically destroyed the kitchen while making all this. Flipping through the upcoming menus, I notice that everything is quite a bit simpler than this, and it makes me wonder if they tried to be impressive on the very first day and took it a little over the top. Either way, I'm glad there are no more "feasts" in my immediate future.

Admittedly, I didn't really like any of theses three dishes. I started off making the Caldo Verde, which I believe is supposed to be a Portuguese version of Zuppa Toscana. This is not what it turned out like...

Looks pretty good so far...

I think a lot of the reason for this was human error. The recipe said to blend the potatoes to get a puree. All I had was Carla's little food processor, and the bottom came unscrewed while I was blending. All of the boiling hot liquid pour out (all over my book). So after this point, it wasn't really soup anymore. It was more like mushed onion and potato baby food. Yuck.

Caldo Verde

The recipe called for half a bunch of kale, which I think ended up being a little too much. Also, it called for soy chorizo or another vegetable-based sausage. The only kind I could find in Krogers that was vegan was a brand called Gimme Lean, which was basically chunky refried beans in a chub. Following the instructions carefully (and against my better judgement), I just plopped some of that in at the end and tried to break it up with the spoon. Bad idea. I would make this again, but with some serious alterations. I would have sauteed the onions and garlic first, used vegetable stock, diced the kale finer, made sure there was a lot more liquid, and IF I decided to use the veggie sausage again, I would cook it and crumble it in a separate pan first. This recipe was edible, but just barely.

Next was the fettuccine. This one sounded promising to me, though I was confused about what I was supposed to dress the noodles with. As it turns out, nothing. Also a bad (and very sticky) idea.

Fettuccine with Asparagus, Peas, & Lemon

The asparagus was to be tossed in a garlic lemon sauce before grilling, but once they were on the grill that sauce evaporated and the asparagus got very dry. The pasta also had a bunch of chopped parsley in it. The only variety of parsley I could find at Krogers looked very odd to me, but it was that or nothing so I bought it. It was a flat-leaf variety, and it turned out to be bitter and spicy and overly aromatic. It pretty much ruined whatever goodness would have been in the dish to begin with. The noodles were sticky and flavorless so I squeezed the juice of one lemon over them, which was actually quite nice. I ended up eating these with my fingers and picking bits of parsley off of the noodles and my tongue as I went along. Less than an awesome experience, to say the least. If I were to make this again I would have steamed the asparagus and peas in the oven in aluminum foil with the garlic lemon mixture. I would have poured the entire packet on top of the freshly drained noodles, and then used some normal parsley to top it off. This recipe has potential, but it needs some major changes.

Lastly but not least (well, actually yes, least) is the salad. It is comprised of arugula, Bartlett pear, radish, and a red wine vinegar reduction.

 

Balsamic Pear Salad

 

I really like fruit on my salads so I thought for sure this one would be a winner. I was wrong. Have you ever had raw arugula? It is awful. It was so bitter that it actually induced an involuntary gag reflex when it got to the back of my throat. There was only one brand at the store, which looked less than stellar, so maybe the quality was the problem. Either way, I took only one bite before pushing it away. I ended up picking the pears and radishes off the top and eating those. The dressing was lovely though, I must say. The recipe called for balsamic vinegar, but all I had was red wine vinegar. I put some in a pan and let it reduce until it was a little thicker, and then drizzled that over the salad. I will definitely be using the vinaigrette recipe again.

 

 

Three strikes, your out. It was a little disappointing, especially after all the effort it took to cook it, but it is okay really. Dr. Barnard says that if you don't get the occasional dud then you are not experimenting enough. We'll just chalk this up to a valuable culinary learning experience.

Day 1

Blacksburg has a lovely farmers' market Saturday mornings and Wednesday evenings, and I fortunate enough to be able to go this morning and start my shopping for the week. I've got to go to Krogers still to get my dry ingredients and a few out-of-season fruits that were on the meal plan. I'm not quite sure how this is going to work out financially yet, but I'll keep you posted about that as well.

I spent $33 at the market this morning (minus the two dollars in the tip jar of a wonderfully talented guitarist) and walked away with a bunch of herbs, several onions, some rather pricey garlic, a watermelon, and bunch of other green produce. Oh, and a 40 ounce $8 package of organic, home-made sundried tomatoes. These should last a while, and I would consider them more of a treat to use in special recipes.

Here is tomorrow's menu:


Breakfast
Mango Lime Pancakes with maple syrup (recipe)
Fresh Strawberries

Lunch
Blue Corn Chip Salad (recipe)
Sliced watermelon drizzled with lime juice

Dinner
Fettuccine with Grilled Asparagus, Peas, and Lemon (recipe)
Caldo Verde (recipe)
Pears in Balsamic Glaze (recipe)


I am buying for meals throughout Wednesday, and the cool thing is that since I am cooking small portions I can use half of an ingredient I buy for a recipe later in the week. I wish the book would have provided a shopping list as well, but it isn't a big deal to figure it out on my own. Except for the beans... Every single day I think I am eating beans, which isn't bad--I'm just not used to it. In four days I am scheduled to eat 72 ounces of beans, which is roughly half a gallon or two pounds of cooked beans. Holy crap!

I am going to prep a little tonight and a lot tomorrow in order to get things started for the week. Get ready for lots and lots of photos.