Two-Week Vegan Challenge {Day I}

See yeterday’s introduction to the Vegan Challenge

Tuesday

Breakfast – 10:00 am

Oatmeal with fresh bananas and a glass of OJ. When I finished eating, I felt very satisfied. Yum. Who knew veganism includes foods I already love to eat.

Lunch – 2:00 PM

Kneaders Veggie Avocado Sandwich (no cheese or mayo/sauce), unsweetened applesauce, and a handful of almonds.

I have a lot of fresh avocados at the house, so I was going to make an avocado/tomato sandwich similar to the ones I survived off of when I lived in California. I was looking at the ingredients in the only bread I have–lo and behold, it was sweetened with honey! I packed myself an avocado anyway, as well as a cup of unsweetened applesauce and a serving of plain almonds. I knew it wasn’t going to be enough to hold me over all day, so I decided to see what vegan options I could get at fast food places.

Kneaders, which is a bakery and cafe that runs along what I call the Mormon Belt (Idaho, Utah, and Arizona), has a veggie sandwich that I thought I’d try out. It was just under $5 for a 1/2 sandwich. I have to admit, I thought it looked underwhelming and like it was going to be incredibly unsatisfying, especially since I couldn’t get it with cheese or their “Kneaders Sauce,” which she was nice enough to inform me contains mayo.

I was pleasantly surprised to find that it was filling and delicious! The whole lunch was super nutritious and I didn’t feel it lacked anything.

Dinner – 7:30 pm

At around 4 pm, I felt like I had no energy and was exhausted. At 7, when I left work, I was completely worn out. I definitely don’t usually get this way. There are a few different possible reasons, but I made sure to get a big dose of protein for dinner just in case. I didn’t get home until really late, so I decided to forego a big dinner. Instead, I made a bean burrito with rice. I don’t know if it was because my body was craving protein or what, but it tasted better than the average bean burrito.

It was around this time I realized I can’t eat chocolate…or take my usual vitamins! I went to take my women’s health vitamin this morning, but there were way too many animal byproducts (gummy vitamins), so I had to settle with a calcium/magnesium/zinc vitamin pill instead.

daily nutrition report

I’m keeping track of the food I eat. It’s on a very helpful website that tells me how good for me each food item is.

I’ve used this site before, and a normal day for me has an average B+ rating, with a calorie distribution of:

• 32.7% fat
• 14.8 % protein
• 50.7% carbs, and
• 1.8% other (like vitamins).

Based on generic USDA values, I generally have too little fiber (15g out of 25g), calcium (.56g / 1g), potassium (1.4g / 4.7g), and iron (9.8g / 18g).

Today’s report gives an A rating for the day, with a calorie distribution of:

• 27.2% fat
• 9.9% protein
• 61.7% carbs, and
• 1.3% other.

Based on the USDA values, I didn’t get enough Vitamin A, potassium (1.9g / 4.7g), or iron (11g / 18g).

Conclusion

I didn’t have time for the gym tonight, but I feel too tired to go anyway. It’s only 8pm, so I’m not sure if that’s the diet talking or other factors; however, I did get “in the green” with all my nutrients for the USDA recommended values. That’s a success. Tomorrow, I’m going to pack higher protein snacks to eat between meals, because when I got hungry, all I could think about were some nice, juicy chicken nuggets.

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Hawaiian Chicken with Rice

This recipe was really easy. Sorry the photo looks so saturated. The purpley/blue is just a reflection from the window. Those parts are actually just black. Didn’t feel like fixing it! But back to the recipe: it’s really easy. ALSO, for like once ever, I made it myself without a recipe to start off of from Pinterest! *takes a bow*

Ingredients:

• some chicken
• soy sauce (should be 1:1 ratio to water)
• water
• garlic powder
• brown sugar
• diced onion
• pineapple wedges
• sesame seeds
• coconut oil
• rice

That’s what I used.

Most detailed recipe ever.

I didn’t really measure anything out, especially since I was just making one portion. Then, I just let the chicken marinate in the soy sauce & water, garlic powder, brown sugar and onions for a bit, then dumped it all in a frying pan on low for about 10 minutes on each side. In a bigger pan, I took the leftover white rice from Chinese takeout yesterday and warmed it up/fried it with about a half-teaspoon of coconut oil. I added some of the marinade mixture from the pan with the chicken, but not a lot. Then I sprinkled in some sesame seeds. After the marinade reduced a little and the chicken was almost done, I added the pineapple wedges, continued to cook on low for the remainder of the time, then turned up the heat and seared both sides of the chicken. I took all the chicken and rice off the heat, then let the soy-sauce marinade cook a little more ’til it was pretty much caramelized, then drizzled it on top of the chicken. Et voila!

P.S., it was SOOO yummy. Mmm mmm mmm.

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So many words. Thanks for reading if you did! Keep up-to-date on my new postings by following me on Twitter. You can also contact me through my website here, email me at brittany@lacelollipops.com, or send me a message to my Facebook (show your support and send me a like!) Check out my Pinterest, too! Thank you all so much!

Quinoa Fried Rice

I found this idea from here, but she didn’t really list a recipe. It’s just the order in which she added the ingredients. The following is my adaptation! Everyone loved it and ate it right up. I’m sad I didn’t get more. I will definitely be making this again. Also, this was my first time having Quinoa. It’s pretty good! I’m not sure if it was just the way I cooked it, but I love the nutty/toasty flavor it has!

1 cup Quinoa

1 cup peas

1 cup corn

1 cup broccoli

1/2 cup diced onions

1/2 cup diced or shredded carrots

3 tablespoons soy sauce

1 tablespoon canola oil

1 teaspoon finely chopped garlic

1 teaspoon red pepper flakes

2 eggs, cooked omelet style and diced

1. First things first, prepare the Quinoa according to package instructions in a pot. While the water is boiling, prepare the vegetables.
2. When the Quinoa is prepared, move it to a bowl. Set aside.
3. In the same pot on medium heat, cook the onions and garlic with the oil for about 3 minutes.
4. Add the broccoli, carrots, corn, peas and any other vegetables in intervals of how much they need heat. For example, if you use raw broccoli, but you microwaved some frozen peas, the broccoli will need more time since the peas would already be warm & cooked.
5. Add the Quinoa, eggs, red pepper and soy sauce
6. Stir it all together.
7. Serve with chopsticks to look cooler (but also forks, because this stuff is tiny and near impossible to eat with just chopsticks).

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Keep up-to-date on my new postings by following me on Twitter. You can also contact me through my website here, email me at brittany@lacelollipops.com, or send me a message to my Facebook (show your support and send me a like!) Check out my Pinterest, too! Thank you all so much!

Cheddar Potato Soup (Vegetarian or Not)

Recipe works best in a slow-cooker.

3-4 fist-sized potatoes, washed and cubed. (I’d advise leaving the skin on)

2 diced celery stalks

1 cup shredded cheddar

1, 15-oz can of corn, undrained

1 diced onion (I used about 2/3rds of an onion)

1, 12-oz can of cream of chicken soup (or cream of mushroom for vegetarians, it tastes so good both ways)

Salt & Pepper to taste

2 cups of water

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Shove it all in the crackpot. Put it on high for 8 hours.

It’s so easy.

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Keep up-to-date on my new postings by following me on Twitter. You can also contact me through my website here, email me at brittany@lacelollipops.com, or send me a message to my Facebook (show your support and send me a like!) Check out my Pinterest, too! Thank you and be good!

Twice Baked Cheddar Broccoli Potatoes

Ingredients

6 medium to small potatoes
1 1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1/4 cup milk
1 cup finely chopped broccoli florets
Salt & pepper to taste
**Sour cream & butter for topping**

Instructions

Bake the potatoes at 400 degrees F for 50 minutes
Slice in half, long ways
Carefully scoop out the middle and put the skins on a baking sheet
Put the potato meat into a bowl
Mix other ingredients, really mash ’em up well
Spoon back into skins
Bake at 400 degrees F for 15 more minutes
Serve with sour cream and butter

YUM – am I right? It was a great recipe, turned out pretty yummy! I have to say I probably won’t do it again very often, because you could just bake the potatoes and serve with the broccoli and cheese separately–and that would save like 20 minutes. But it is great for presentation!

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Keep up-to-date on my new postings by following me on Twitter. You can also contact me through my website here, email me at brittany@lacelollipops.com, or send me a message to my Facebook (show your support and send me a like!) Check out my Pinterest, too! Thank you and be good!