Vegan MoFo Day 29: Back to My Routine: A Study in Beige

On top of all of the meal prep-work, another time-consuming thing about the CSD cleanse was that there was a lot of chewing; meals tended not to be things I could consume in front of the computer.  While that's not necessarily a bad thing, sometimes I don't want each and every meal to be a ceremony.  So, with that said, yesterday I harkened back to my regular, daily, efficient, eating routine to see how it would go.

For breakfast: pumpkin flax granola cereal with (vanilla) soy milk.  As soon as I poured everything into the bowl I thought, "beige".  But, it was good, simple, and I only needed a little to fill me up.

For lunch: peanuts and raisins.  More simplicity and efficiency, not to mention the original sweet and salty combination of my youth.  Do peanuts count as beige food?

For dinner: leftovers!  So easy to simply reheat: Angel hair with homemade marinara and cheesy garlic bread.  Outstanding!  But also lots of beige carbs.  A simple swap could include a recreation of John's avocado bruschetta in place of the cheesy goodness and/or zucchini spaghetti, but let's face it: nothing beats an Italian feast.  It's just good to remember it's not meant for every day.

The overall theme?  Beige, beige, BEIGE!  A month ago I wouldn't have thought twice about this day's menu, but now- where are my veggies?  Raw cauliflower, asparagus, radish- anything would have been appreciated and I'm sure would have assuaged how desperately thirsty I was all day.  Perhaps the old routine requires a bit of tweaking.

Vegan MoFo Day 26: The Cleanse is Over; Bring on the Grub!

Woot! Woot! That's the sound of the police good-ies. Woot! Woot! That's the sound of the beast (me eating)!

At about 10:00pm on the last night of the cleanse I decided I needed to at least smell chocolate, so I unwrapped one of the Earth balls I'd been saving.  Imagine my furor when I realized I'd bought milk chocolate by accident.  Here I was expecting those deep, dark, spheres of days gone by and instead: milk.  I bellowed, "I BOUGHT MILK CHOCOLATE BALLS!" to no one in particular, and then pouted.

By midnight I was ready to call this cleanse a (21) day(s) and I went to grab my peanut chews.  Unfortunately, I'd forgotten where I'd hidden them.  After a few panicked minutes of searching I found them and dug in.  Eew; was this what I'd been waiting for?  No; yuck!  They didn't taste at all like I'd remembered; so, rather than continue eating something I didn't particularly want, I abandoned them.  I had been looking so forward to enjoying them and instead of satisfying my long overdue sweets craving, all they did was leave a bad taste in my mouth- literally.  Had I lost my taste for sweets? I decided to go to bed and consider the thought in the morning; it was too mind-boggling.

I knew that even I wouldn't feel like candy first thing in the morning, but I expected to be giddy at the prospect of eating whatever I wanted.  Instead, I woke up full.  Full?  From a bowl of soup & 1/5 of a peanut chew?  Who had I become?

I also woke up unusually early and well rested, so I just started the day with some orange juice.  It was sweet, good, and...filling.  Really?  Really.

An hour passed and I still wasn't really hungry, but I knew I had to eat something before I headed off into commute-land.  Believe it or not, I was stumped; the limitless choices seemed unnavigable.  Oatmeal?  Awfully heavy when compared to cucumbers.  Buttered toast with a mountain of cinnamon sugar?  VM was probably right- not exactly appropriate for the first post-cleanse morning.  So, my breakfast wound up being a toasted bialy half with cream cheese and black raspberry jelly. 

Delicious, but heavy.  I usually dig the dough out of my bagels, but I was so out of practice that I forgot.  So, halfway through my nosh I was stuffed. 

For lunch I bought, washed, chopped, prepared, and packed NOTHING!  It's pretty slim pickins around where I work, but I left myself open to get salt and vinegar potato chips whatever I wanted.  And what do you know?  I wanted kale salad.  Who am I?  With none in tow, I decided to splurge and go to Starbucks.  Well hello, tall-soy-decaf-cinnamon-dolce-extra-hot-no-whip-no-foam-latte; so nice to see you again.

Ultra creamy and rich; it took me 40 full minutes to savor this beverage.  I guess it's true what they say, that you appreciate things more when you don't have them often.  But I was beyond full from the veritable cup of soy milk for the rest of the day.

Dinner!  VM halfheartedly offered to make me ceremonial spaghetti (she really doesn't like to cook) now that the "madness" was over, but I asked her to hold off; I had another meal in mind.

That's right, it was time to break out the Lula's pumpkin ice cream I'd been saving (admit it, a part of you thought I'd eaten already).  And what better to do with it than to replicate the happy ending sundaes of my Friendly's youth? 

Thank you for labeling, Mia!

Did I forget to mention that I'd also stockpiled a pint of chocolate chocolate chip?

So good!  Now this is something to enjoy.  Smooth, chippy, chocolate chip and perfectly creamy, autumnal pumpkin goodness; thank you, Lula's Sweet Apothecary; that really hit the spot!

Did anyone catch it?  In lieu of whipped cream, I used my Sweet and Sara marshmallow bat-wings for the clown hair!  I know: culinary genius.

To recap, the first day post-cleanse didn't go exactly as planned.  Instead of blindly gorging on everything I could get my hands on, I found myself thinking thoughtfully and carefully about what I wanted to eat, and didn't waste any chewing on things that I couldn't truly enjoy.  So maybe there is something to this cleanse idea after all, even for me.

So sad!

I admit it, the idea of clean food really appeals to me and I could stand to eat raw more regularly.  It's the feasibility of maintaining it as a constant lifestyle that makes it so repellant to me.  Making your own dressing every time you want a salad is tiresome!  Oh yeah, I also love snacks.  But a cleanse isn't intended to be a lifestyle; there is a happy medium and I will try to find it.  To be continued...

Vegan MoFo Day 25: The Last Day of the Cleanse!

So, the last day of the cleanse was yesterday.  I admit that I was completely over it and ready to move on, not putting much effort into my eats.  I had crisp, cool celery and zucchini for breakfast.  With the thermometer holding steady at 43 degrees, I would have much preferred something warm, like oatmeal, or at least something room temperature.  Let's be honest, Starbucks wouldn't have hurt.

With the previous night's dinner I'd finished what was left of my produce; per usual, this led to an inability to pack a lunch.  I decided to head over to Whole Foods, but nothing I wanted was cleanse-appropriate.  I wound up splurging on deydrated, raw, kale chips.

In spite of the tendency towards crumbs rather than large pieces, I like Brad's the best (no pointy stems).

I hadn't tried this flavor before, but one bite and I decided it's my new favorite variety.  It's just like my previous fave, the cheese, but this one has the added bonus of delicious, jalapeno heat.

I wouldn't say "nasty" hot, but, rather, "appropriately" hot

While I was there, in anticipation of my post-cleanse munching, I cleaned them out of Almond Bites.  No, really; I did.  The cashier was asking me if they were good (no doubt prompted by my bounty) and I talked them up so much that she said she was going to buy them.  Then I had to break the news to her that I'd bought all they had.  Don't judge me; it's every man for themselves when it comes to Almond Bites.

For dinner, leftovers of the fantastic fennel and yellow split pea soup, which was even better a day later.

Are you snoring yet?  Because...

Ladies and Gentleman, that officially concludes my 21 day cleanse!  It's been a long, hard road...for you as well as for me; thanks for putting up with it!

Please stay tuned, as MoFo still has six days to go and I have a lot of eats to make up for; let's see how I fare, shall we?

Vegan MoFo Day 24: Hourslong Soup

VM & OD went to a dinner recently and came back raving about a soup that they'd enjoyed.  They were armed with a recipe, but it was shoddy at best.  Vague ingredient listing, insufficient instruction, and missing steps: even the sentence structure was wrong!  But I figured it was a good weekend project for VM & I while I was still in the throes of healthy cooking mode, so I decoded it and we came up with this.

Fennel and Yellow Split Pea Soup
serves 10

4 1/2 cups dried yellow split peas, rinsed
4 tbsp butter
2 bulbs fennel, diced
2 onion, diced
8 stalks celery, diced
12 small carrots, diced
4 cloves garlic
salt and pepper
1 tsp turmeric
14 cups vegetable stock
2 cups water
4 medium potatoes, peeled and diced

Directions:
Place peas in a ginormous pot where they take up from 1/4 to under 1/2 of the room, then fill up to the 3/4 line with water and a sprinkle of salt.  Bring to a boil, lower the heat slightly to prevent boiling over, and let cook for 30 minutes.  Stir occasionally, being aware that the peas will significantly expand.  When finished, drain, rinse, and set aside.

In any even more gigantoid pot, melt butter over medium-low heat.  Cook fennel, onion, celery, and carrots with garlic and salt and pepper, stirring occasionally, for 10 minutes.

Add the turmeric, stock, water, potatoes, and peas; mix well.  Bring to a boil and then simmer, covered, for 2 hours.

Once cooled (this will take hours), use a food processor to puree in batches until smooth. 

Before:

After:

I realize we made a most significant batch, but we're both of the mind that if we're going to go through all the trouble, we may as well wind up with enough to freeze for a couple of meals.  If you choose to cook this quantity, know that the prep time is 2 hours, with more than two hands pitching in.  Granted we're far from culinary professionals, but eegads that's a long time.  I want to stress that the result was DIVINE, but there's no denying Amy's,- gotta love 'em. 

To accompany, a salad of romaine, tomato, red onion, and avocado with sun-dried tomato-walnut dressing (AFR p. 50), subbing lime juice for vinegar.

No lunch today, but for breakfast I had sliced banana with the LAST of my almond butter.  How fitting.

I know, I'm still having issues with the orientation of my pics.  Even though I correct it after uploading, it still appears out of whack.  Who cares?  Tomorrow is the last day of the cleanse!  Maybe I should fast completely in order to make room for the feast that awaits me?

Vegan MoFo Day 23: Nearing the End of the Cleanse AND the Reno

Are you there Universe?  It's me, Abby Bean.  IS THIS OVER YET!?!?!?!

Do you know what happens when you have the bright idea to place an order from Food Fight while your cleansing and in anticipation of it being over?  A 35 item order.  I know, let's not talk about it (I can't wait!).

Ok, so yesterday's eats were pretty boring since whatever time I wasn't at Home Depot or Lowe's, I was preparing the next day's dinner.  It's going to (hopefully) be good! 

Another banana smoothie with almond butter, almond milk, cinnamon and agave for breakfast.  6 ice cubes fills the cup & my belly for the day.

I had a few Brazil nuts mid day.

And for dinner: leftover sunflower seed pate served with raw cauliflower, cucumbers (!), zucchini, celery, and watermelon radish.  A word about watermelon radish...it doesn't taste like radish!  It's tongue-burning bitterness does not lend itself to a crudite.  To the rabbits who inherited my bounty, I apologize.

To make up for this snooze of a post, a glimpse at my house finally getting some finishing touches after 8 months of reno...

new to the house

original to the house (after considerable TLC)

If I'd had any idea what was really going to be in store for me when this project started, I would have been considerably more frightened.  Now that everything is really coming together, it's startling to recall how far it has all come.  I'm referring to the house, of course.  As for the cleanse...it was a pain.  I won't dwell.  Give me some sugar!  The mere thought of my peanut butter chocolate chip cookies already en route is making it easier to reach the finish line.

Vegan MoFo Day 22: Five Second Rule

Yesterday I was walking to my office when I came across this Twizzler snack pack on the ground.  The first thought to cross my mind was, "it is still wrapped."  As you can see, I have descended to a deep, dark place.

Besides that I've noticed something odd- throughout this cleanse I have become increasingly less thirsty.  I am a huge water drinker, averaging about 120 ounces a day.  However, in the last few weeks my water intake has severely declined.  Could this be a result of consuming less salt or eating more veggies?  I don't know, but why am I lugging these bottles around if I'm not going to drink them?

anyone have any idea why portrait photos are uploading landscape?

On another note, I do believe it's possible that I've dropped some poundage.  I haven't really been paying attention, but today my pants seemed just a tad too long and I could have used a belt.  Of course I should note that my shoes are pinching, so maybe the bulk just relocated to my feet.  Can feet be fat?

Breakfast was cucumber a banana smoothie with almond butter, almond milk, cinnamon, and agave.  Sue me; I was on a high from my new iPhone, ain't no cukes gonna bring me down.  Oh no.  I've got to keep on movin', oooooh.  I added cukes to my lunch salad instead.

So, lunch: more of my romaine, cauliflower, carrot salad...with cucumber.  While I like the taste, romaine remains infinitely inferior to green curly kale, if only for it's inability to stay crisp overnight once dressed.

Dinner was an admitted mishmosh of clearing out the fridge again.

For starters, I made a sunflower seed pate to go with the leftover cauliflower.

I started with this recipe, but wound up doing this:

Sunflower Seed Pate
serves 2 (it's rich)

1 cup sunflower seeds (I used roasted/salted)
1 clove garlic
1 tbsp Tamari
1 tbsp tahini
1/2 tbsp oregano
1 tbsp lemon juice
1 tbsp water

Whir it all up in the Magic Bullet and let it sit in the fridge for a while.  If you don't have that kind of indeterminate period of time before dinner, place in the freezer for 5 minutes.  Really.

There were also string beans sauteed with Bragg's, hemp oil, garlic, and red pepper flakes.  Although I didn't roast, I was inspired by these roasted string beans over on Andrea's Easy Vegan Cooking, one of my favorite blogs.

In case you're wondering where the beans came in, I've been trying to clean out the contents of my freezer in preparation of moving.  Since all of my delicious, frozen goodies are off limits, the only thing I could really conquer was the string beans.  Is it Tuesday yet!?

Vegan MoFo Day 21: Kale (and a Leibster Nomination)

I surprised people yesterday when I bad-mouthed my kale.  Don't get me wrong; I still love it & I'm not at all sick of it- even after eating it for lunch for almost this entire cleanse.  But that purple kale was super skunky.  After salad spinning and preparing two bunches for lunches (haha) the rest of the week, I had to chuck most of it- I just couldn't do it.  It was vile, VILE I tell you!

To prove that I hold no grudge against kale, behold "fun with kale" (inspired by MVG).

If you can't guess who it is, here's a hint: we're from the same patch!  Seriously guys, the lack of sugar is making me delirious.

Ok, back to the drill.

Breakfast was more cucumber.  It's the easiest thing I can think of to eat green in the morning because I can't bring myself to prepare any more than lunch and dinner, but boy am I sick of cucumbers.  I may never consume one again.  Okay, maybe I'll make an exception for kicky cucumber lemonade.

Lunch was a new salad (see, I really did dispatch with the kale fail): romaine, cauliflower, and carrots

dressed with sweet dijon vinaigrette (CSD p. 209).

Dinner was leftover deconstructed taco from yesterday; it was just as good and, thanks to the lime juice, the avo didn't oxidize.

You may recall that I was once nominated for a Most Versatile Blogger Award.  More recently, Kimberly from Robotic Whimsy Blog nominated me for a Leibster Award.  She tells me that the purpose of the award is to bring attention to blogs with less than 200 followers.  I'm very grateful for the shout-out, but have you noticed that I'm only ever nominated for awards with no actual winners or, more importantly, prizes?  A lifetime supply of something wouldn't hurt!  I kid.  (Daiya, if you're listening, I'm not really kidding).

Mucho gratitude to Robotic Whimsy.  Now, to pay it forward, here are 5 blogs you may not have heard of, but you should definitely check out.

1. Food Feud chronicles eats far healthier than are generally in my repertoire, but she makes them look so good!  Fret not, there are healthy splurges as well; I'm still fawning over her cinnamon walnut fig waffles.

2. bite me (I'm vegan) has gads of food porn and non-convoluted recipes.  Caramel coffee cake?  "Cheesy" Potatoes and Broccoli?  Yes and yes.

3. Veganthropology, for starters, has an awesome name.  Product and restaurant reviews, recipes, and more; check out her entry into the Daiya contest; she should have won!

4. Yum Veggie Burger is a vegan-friendly, vegetarian blog chronicling...veggie burgers!  Ali has yet to meet a burger she couldn't conquer and she reviews with extraordinary detail and panache.  Oh yeah, we also agree that Sunshine Burgers are the bomb.

5. Finally, Fork and Beans.  I found this blog through MoFo because the name caught my eye. Imagine my surprise to find that she was dedicating a good portion of her MoFo to making candy!!

Must buy chocolate making equipment...

Vegan MoFo Day 20: Deconstructed Taco

Let's work our way backwards through yesterday's eats, shall we?  I was going to make yet another a salad (zzz) for dinner until a friend told me he was making red curry.  Red curry.  Red curry!?!?  I couldn't take that lying down.  I figured my favorite Thai restaurant wasn't exactly cleanse-friendly, but I thought that just maybe I could swing a Chipotle meal?  Hmm, I'd have to do the salad, no rice.  But then wouldn't I be missing the point?  On second thought, I decided that maybe I could try something similar at home.  Thoughts of my peanut avocado unroll brought me to this.

Why yes, that is a Mexican-inspired salad within an avocado half boat; how nice of you to notice! 

Sometimes you feel like a taco.  Sometimes you can't.
serves 2

1 avocado, halved (slice the bottoms so they're flat)
1 avocado, cubed
1 can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 can corn, rinsed and drained
1 tomato, diced
1/2 medium red onion, diced
2 small jalapenos, minced
1/4 cup lime juice
sea salt to taste

mix all ingredients and serve in and around halved avo

my last 2 Topsy Turvy jalapenos of the year- good & hot

While I did miss the tortilla, this was one of my favorite meals of the cleanse besides my zucchini spaghetti.  It looked good, smelled good, was good.  Success!  (I would like extra credit for resisting the urge to make a side of cornbread.)

For lunch there was the purple kale salad with cucumbers and green goddess dressing I'd made the night before.  Yep, more cucumbers.  I can barely stand it!  Moreover, is there such a thing as skunk kale?  Because this is the second batch of purple that has been less than stellar and kinda weedy.  If I can't enjoy my kale salad, what do I have left!?

Do you know what the problem with eating cucumbers for breakfast is?  You become grossly full...of cucumber.  It might take 2 cucumbers to make just 1/4 cup of juice, but it takes eating only one, large one to be nauseatingly full of it.  Cuke, that is.

In case anyone is keeping track, today I found myself thinking of Mighty O donuts, thanks to this post.  I have extremely fond memories of my Don King from Portland and began planning a trip straight to the source- Seattle, around mid-afternoon.

Also, it should be illegal for people to toast bread at work; that aroma is intoxicating.  That is all.