Sprint 2 the Table

Appetites and Adventures

Vegan Goat Cheese Stuffed Oven-Roasted Tomatoes

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Playing favorites isn’t fair.

No one ever said life was fair.

Everything I made for my vegan French book club dinner was good (I was kind of shocked)…. but we all have favorites, even if you won’t admit it.  This is mine.

These vegan Goat Cheese Stuffed Oven-Roasted Tomatoes could probably get by on their looks alone.  That isn’t why they were my favorite.  I’m not that shallow.

They were my favorite because of the cheese.

Inspired by this recipe from Alain Coumont, founder of Le Pain Quotidien cafés in France, I decided to take his concept and make it vegan.  (Coincidentally, Le Pain Quotidien offers many vegan dishes.)

Everyone has some sort of vegan “cheese” they use in recipes.  Often it’s cashew-based.  Sometimes with nooch or any array of vegan products.  It never really tastes like cheese.

With the exception of this tofu-based cheese.  Tofu makes a GREAT sub for creamy cheeses like ricotta and goat cheese.  (It made a helluva ricotta in this Eggplant Rollitini.)

This particular vegan version of tofu-cheese is a goat cheese.  I swear to you – you would NEVER miss the real thing.  The book club didn’t balk at all!

Goat cheese has a tanginess that was captured well with the lemon juice in this tofu creation.  The miso lends a salty-sweetness to it, which helps bring out the cheesy side of the nutritional yeast.

Fantastic taste aside, the other plus to this recipe is that it’s easy… yet it looks impressive.  There is a decent list of ingredients for the cheese, but you simply toss it all in the food processor.  I love a one-bowl recipe!

Just be careful not to cut through the tomatoes when you scoop out the middles!

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Vegan Goat Cheese Stuffed Oven-Roasted Tomatoes

  • 12 small-ish tomatoes
  • 1 16 oz. pkg firm tofu, pressed
  • 2 T extra virgin olive oil
  • 1.5 T yellow miso
  • 1/4 C nutritional yeast
  • 1/4 C freshly-squeezed lemon juice (~1.5 lemons)
  • 1/4 C yellow onion, chopped
  • 2 garlic cloves, minced
  • 1/2 tsp dried oregano powder
  • 3-4 T finely chopped basil
  • Salt and pepper, to taste

Pre-heat the oven to 425.

Slice off the top 1/2 inch of each tomato and reserve the tops. Carefully scoop out the tomato cores and seeds. If necessary, cut a very thin sliver off of the bottom of each tomato to help them stand up straight. Arrange the tomatoes in a 9-by-13-inch glass or ceramic baking dish.

Crumble pressed tofu into the bowl of a food processor.  Add remaining ingredients for “cheese,” except the basil. Process until smooth.  Add basil and pulse briefly to combine.

Spoon the “cheese” mixture into the tomatoes, filling them just to the brim. Cover with the tomato tops and drizzle lightly with additional olive oil.

Bake the tomatoes for 30-35 minutes, until beginning to brown in spots and the cheese is hot. Let stand for at least 15 minutes. Serve warm. (They’re also good leftover!)

Notes:

  • I do not have a tofu press.  Instead I drained the tofu, cut it in half horizontally, and wrapped it in paper towels.  Then I stacked a load of cookbooks on top and let it press for 10-15 mins.
  • The cheese mixture can be made up to 2 days in advance.  In fact, they are better on day 2 once the flavors fully marry.  If you do this, do not add basil until just before you bake.

***

Tomorrow is Eggplant Bruschetta!  Next week is the Salade Niçoise with Tempeh “Tuna”… then you’ll have a fully vegan-ized French-themed party spread! 🙂

What’s your favorite “veggi-tized” recipe?  Or is there one you’d like to see made vegan/vegetarian?

What other dishes would you use a vegan goat cheese for?  I’m making another batch this weekend!

Provençal Tomato Spread + WIAW

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Is it just me…

or are more people are going plant-based?

I started reading restaurant menus (because that’s what I do for fun) to see who has veg-friendly offerings and it has really impressed me that most restaurants offer some sort of vegetarian/vegan dish that is more than pasta drowning in oily stir-fried vegetables.

It warms my plant-based, cleansing heart.

Jenn has also warmed my heart by hosting this month’s What I Ate Wednesday (WIAW) in the theme of  vegetable.

Breakfast:

I post a lot of smoothies… most of them are really good despite their color.  In case you ever questioned my honesty/sanity/taste-buds, I must admit to you that this smoothie was not great.

Blueberries do not go with avocado.  The.  End.

On happier note, I did get confirmation that my Valentine’s Roasted Beet and Orange Smoothie was indeed good.  Check out this pic from reader Ashley, who tweeted: “The verdict is in… yummy!”

Thanks to Ashley for the feedback a lovely pic!

Lunch:

Monday night’s french-themed book club left me with some leftovers (thank god because I woke up LATE).

See that pretty stuffed tomato?  I promise to share the recipe with you tomorrow.  It was really friggin’ good… and deserving of it’s very own post. 🙂

I ate that atop a leftover eggplant-seitan stir-fry and some lentils.

Snacks:

Kombucha!  Whole Foods was out of my favorite Buchi Fire, but they were having a sale on GT’s.  I was sad to see this bottom of this bottle.

Snack time was a bag full of veggies with a simple, herb-y Provençal dip left over from the par-tay.  I loved the colors in this dish, and the briny saltiness from the capers and sun-dried tomatoes were perfect paired with crisp veggies for dipping.  (Recipe at the bottom of this post)

How cute is the reusable baggie?  My mom got it for me… it’s from Snack Taxi, but I think she got it at The Container Store.  I’m going green left and right!

Dinner:

I felt like I needed more raw food in my life after a heavier lunch, so dinner was a colorful salad.  A massive, colorful salad.  This was not served on a tiny salad plate:

In my ensalada:

  • Arugula
  • Broccoli and radish sprouts
  • Shredded brussels (raw)
  • Grapefruit
  • Beets
  • French green beans
  • Cucumber
  • Red onion
  • Tempeh croutons 
  • Lemon-thyme vinaigrette
  • Sprinkle of cardamom, salt, and pepper

If you haven’t eaten beets with grapefruit before, you should do so immediately.  I’m not talking those sour grapefruits – get the vibrant pink sweet ‘fruits that are in season right now.  #Nom 

Dessert:

This Sweet Potato Pie Chia Pudding I posted earlier this month made an appearance.  I added a pinch of cardamom to the mix last night, which was fabulous.  However…

I didn’t take a picture because I was too pissed at myself for doing this:

Another one bites the dust…

At least I’d just had a relaxing Hour of Happiness after work so the string of words that came outta my mouth weren’t as bad as they could have been. 😉

Diffusion de Tomate Provençal (Provençal Tomato Spread)

Modified from this recipe by Kathleen Flynn

  • 1 tsp olive oil
  • 1 medium red bell pepper, finely chopped
  • 1 medium yellow onion, finely chopped
  • 5 cloves of garlic, pressed or finely chopped
  • 2 tomatoes, seeded and chopped
  • 1/2 cup sun-dried tomatoes, rehydrated and chopped
  • 15 Nicoise olives (or Kalamata), chopped
  • 2 tsp capers, chopped
  • 2 T rosemary
  • 1/2 -1 tsp red pepper flakes
  • 1/2 tsp white wine vinegar
  • Freshly ground black pepper
  • 1 C fresh basil, chiffonade (cut into thin strips)

Warm olive oil over medium heat in a small pan.  Add bell pepper and onions, and sauté until soft.  Add garlic and cook a minute more until fragrant.  Add chopped tomatoes, sun-dried tomatoes, olives, capers, rosemary, red pepper flakes, and vinegar and cook over low heat for another 7-8 mins.  Remove from heat.

When cool, add basil.  Add pepper to taste.

Note: This can be made up to 2 days in advance.  If making in advance, do not add basil until just before serving.  Taste again and adjust spices as they settle.

This is delicious with crackers, veggie sticks, or even atop grilled tofu or chicken.

Serves 8-10 as an appetizer/dip.

***

The floor is still sticky from that spill.  I swear I’ll clean it up before the next dinner at my house tonight.

Can anyone relate.. any recent mishaps?

Do you find that the world is becoming more vegetarian and/or vegan-friendly?

Butternut Squash Chia Pudding

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Book Club dinners when you’re on a cleanse are hard.

They’re even harder when you’re hosting and therefore responsible for food.  The icing on the cake is that the theme is French (to go with this month’s book selection).  Who ever heard of French vegan food?!

This may have had me sweating a bit.

So I said to myself:  Man up.  You can do this thing.  I think. 

Predictably, I’m got a late start today so the details will have to come later, but it went really well!  Like, 100x better than I expected.

The menu included:

  • Provençal Spread and Veggies
  • Salade Niçoise with Tempeh “Tuna”
  • Oven-Roasted Tomatoes Stuffed with (vegan!) Goat Cheese
  • Roasted Eggplant Bruschetta

I warned everyone ahead of time that it would be a clean dinner… and they subsequently brought meats, desserts, and wine. 🙂

French wine Dessert was the saddest thing for me to miss.  There are so many possibilities for making French desserts that would have been fun to create.  There will be many other dessert opportunities in my life though.  And bottles of French wine.

In order to feel a little less left out, I created my own dessert to enjoy.  And you know what… I can honestly say it was satisfying.  (But I did swoon a little over homemade banana pudding.)

 

Chia pudding has long been a breakfast favorite.  As of last night, it’s been upgraded to dessert.

No this isn’t chocolate cake.  But it is good.

Made like a traditional chia pudding (chia + liquid + congeal in the fridge), the twist here is the sweet squash and a quick blend at the end.

The cocoa-flavored stevia did give it notes of chocolate-y goodness.  I also loved the classic pie flavors the vanilla, cinnamon, and nutmeg lent the dish.

A spin mix in the Magic Bullet at the end smoothed out the chia to make this like the pudding you grew up eating,  (Thanks to Kasey @ Power Cakes for the idea!)

Yes, you can have your pudding even if you don’t eat your meat.

 

Butternut Squash Chia Pudding

  • 1/2 butternut squash, roasted
  • 3/4 C unsweetened coconut milk
  • 1 T chia seeds
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 1/4 tsp cinnamon
  • 1/8 tsp nutmeg
  • 7-8 drops cocoa stevia
  • Shake of salt

In a small bowl, mash up butternut squash until it becomes a puree (some small pieces are ok).  Stir in remaining ingredients.  Cover and refrigerate for at least 30 mins (or overnight for breakfast).  The chia will absorb most of the liquid.

Place mix in a blender (I used my Magic Bullet) and blend until smooth (about 20 seconds).  Remove, place in bowl, and enjoy!

Note: This would make a great post-workout snack!  Just add a scoop of protein powder and increase the amount of liquid you mix in.

Unfamiliar with the benefits of chia?  Click here for my post on why they rock!

***

I cannot wait to share the rest of the meal with you all!

For those with diet restrictions, do you ever feel left out in food-centric social settings?  How do you navigate?

Has anyone ever been to France?  I’m thinking that may be this year’s big trip…

Sesame Root Veggie Fries

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I can be really lame.

Saturday night I put the French station on Pandora and curled up in my PJs to finish my book for tonight’s book club,  The Sharper the Knife, The Less You Cry.  It’s my turn to host this week and I terrified everyone with promises of cleansing food.  A flurry of emails volunteering meat, desserts, and wine followed.  Whatever – I think my food is good!  😉

Anyhow… Saturday while reading I snacked on lavar and kombucha… and it was one of the most glorious nights ever.  Cheers to fermented tea, PJs, and being lame.

Here’s what I thought of the book:

The Sharper Your Knife, the Less You Cry: Love, Laughter, and Tears at the World's Most Famous Cooking SchoolThe Sharper Your Knife, the Less You Cry: Love, Laughter, and Tears at the World’s Most Famous Cooking School by Kathleen Flinn

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This was a fun, easy read. The book is well-written; it isn’t going to be a classic, but if you love food you’ll enjoy it. It is an eye-opener for anyone who’s dreamed of going to Le Cordon Bleu. I don’t know that I could stomach some of the butchering they were required to do! The best part is that she includes recipes for some of her favorite dishes.

View all my reviews

That pretty much sums up my weekend.  I worked out with 2 friends on Saturday morning (2 separate workouts – I was gassed!).  The second work out was followed up with this Butternut-Cherry Bomb protein shake… I made one for my “normal” eating workout buddy too and she loved it despite its color!!!  It kind of made my day.

Other than that it was an anti-social, errand-running weekend.  Perfectly punctuated with fries.  Surprise, I got a little too excited over dinner.

These baked Sesame Root Veggie Fries were better than the real thing to me!  Disclaimer: I don’t actually like white potatoes.

The seasoning I came up with is one I’ll be repeating in other dishes – the sweet coconut oil combined with the nutty sesame seeds, a little cayenne heat, and a touch of cinnamon made my taste buds jump for joy.  It was like some Thai-fry-fusion gloriousness.

Served with a side of dijon-spiked lentils.

I loved the parsnips.  They were the most french fry-like of the mix, and their milder taste lets the seasoning shine.

The beets didn’t wow me.  They weren’t bad, but their flavor overpowered the rub.

You know it’s good when the decision about which piece to save for the last bite is a tough one.  The sweet potato ended up being the last bite – that added sweetness from the potato made it seem almost like dessert.

Recipe at bottom of post.

This week was killer for weights.  I’m still “meh” on the cardio… I attempted to run again on Friday and had to give it up after 1.25 miles due to the pain.  Saturday I was able to tag along with a friend to a spin class.  It was awesome! Such a different workout for me.  A different workout that meant I was so sore Sunday I didn’t do my final BodyRock fit test.  That’s going to happen over a lunch workout today – I can’t wait to see the progress, and to start the February challenge!

I also checked out a new workout in this month’s Food & Wine.  This is a routine I could get into.  Who’s with me? 🙂

Workout Recap (2/13 – 2/19)

Sesame Root Veggie Fries

Inspired by YumUniverse

  • 1 medium beet
  • 1 sweet potato
  • 1 parsnip
  • 2 tsp sesame seeds
  • 1/2 – 1/4 tsp cayenne
  • 1/4 tsp cinnamon
  • 2 tsp liquid coconut oil
  • S+P, to taste

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.

Place sesame seeds, cayenne, and cinnamon into a small food processor (I use my Magic Bullet) and blend until seeds are broken into tiny pieces (~20 secs).

Slice veggies into thin slices and spread evenly across a foil-lined baking sheet.  Pour melted coconut oil over the veggies, sprinkle seed mixture over it, and toss until evenly combined.

Bake for 30-45 mins, tossing once halfway through.

Enjoy!

***

Sunday I was honored to make the FoodBuzz Top 9 for my Butternut Thyme Hummus.  Thanks for the Buzz, friends! 🙂

What was the highlight of your weekend?

Is anyone else in a book club?  What is the last book you read?

Butternut Squash-Cherry Bomb +WIAW

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We’re half way there… whoaaaa, livin’ on a prayer…

Last Wednesday I shared with you all that 2 friends and I began the Standard Process Cleanse.  Which means this is another super-clean What I Ate Wednesday (WIAW).  And by Wednesday, I mean Tuesday. 🙂

10 days in to the cleanse (half way – woot!), I can honestly say that I haven’t been hungry one time.  Veggies are really filling!  Admittedly, eating and plant-based diet with no processed foods or breads is more time consuming.  The key is to be sure you are prepared.

For instance, on Sunday I roasted beets, butternut squash, and spaghetti squash.  Easy fixin’s for smoothies, salads, and “pastas.”

Don’t forget to check out Jenn’s blog to see what everyone else at this Wednesday during this veggie-centric month!

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Breakfast:

Ice cream isn’t legal, but that didn’t stop me from a Neapolitan smoothie.

It didn’t stay so pretty after it was fully mixed… but these things happen when you mix green, red, and orange.

Trust me, it tasted better than it looks here:

Butternut Squash-Cherry Bomb Smoothie

  • 1 C spinach
  • 1/2 C butternut squash, roasted
  • 1/2 C black cherries
  • 1/2 C unsweetened vanilla coconut milk (a la So Delicious)
  • 1 scoop vanilla protein powder
  • 5-6 drops vanilla stevia
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 1/4 tsp cinnamon
  • 1/8 tsp guar gum (optional)
  • Shake of allspice
  • Shake of salt

Looks bad, taste good. 🙂

Lunch:

The deliciousness below is brought to you by a new (to me) blog: The Vegetable Centric Kitchen.

Rande makes some delicious-looking, vegetarian dishes.  This is her Zucchini Pasta with Lemon Tahini Sauce and Roasted Crimini Mushrooms.

Since I don’t have a spiralizer, I used the nifty orange tool picture below to peel my zucchini.  I’m not sure what it’s called other than a peeler with razor teeth, but thanks to OXO from gift from the FoodBuzz Festival!

My tweaks:

  • Used a mix of crimini, oyster, and shiitake mushrooms
  • Sautéed my mushrooms and onions in coconut oil
  • Edited the sauce: 2 T tahini, 1/2 lemon juiced, 1 garlic clove (pressed), heaping 1/4 tsp sriracha, S+P, and a bit of water to thin it out.

I’ll be making this on the regular – especially that sauce.  It’s going to be making an appearance as a sauce for broccolini tomorrow night!  Thanks, Rande!

Snacks:

More veggies! (Try to hide your surprise.)

This dip was ah-mazing with my celery and flax cracker (flax seeds are cleanse-legal!).  Recipe to come! 🙂

 

Pre-dinner snack was another shake – this time with avocado!  Nothing earth-shattering in this one…banana, avocado, protein powder, almond extract, cinnamon, vanilla stevia, water, and ice.  You’ve seen it all before… I’m scared my shakes are going to bore you! 🙂

Dinner:

I mentioned yesterday that I had some super-cool Valentine’s Day plans cleanse dinner with by best friend!  And her baby boy.  And her mom.  These are some of my favorite people in the world, so it was actually a really nice way to spend Valentine’s Day.

This un-photogenic brown soup was my contribution.  It’s a Sweet Potato-Pineapple-Eggplant Curry soup served over wild rice.  I’d had it pinned to try for a while, but it was just ok.  I’d try again to tweak it to my liking… but honestly it was so time-consuming I don’t think it’s worth it.  That takes A LOT for me to say.

More delicious was the raw French green bean salad Mallory made.  She tossed them with olive oil, lots of lemon, dill, and a few other herbs.  It was fantastically light and the dill was wonderful.

Note to self: use dill more often!

Lastly, I received the nicest surprise – Mallory’s mom brought us both flowers!  I was the lucky Valentine’s recipient of a gorgeous bouquet of white tulips.

Overall, it was a nice V-Day.  Even if it was chocolate-free.

***

I’m driving to AL for a client meeting with my boss.  It’s my first one to lead in this role… nervous!!!

What was the best Valentine’s treat/dish you had yesterday?

Do you prep food for week on Sundays?

Drinking My Valentine

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No candy hearts here.

 This Valentine’s Day marks the first one I’ve ever celebrated candy-free.  It doesn’t seem like a big deal… maybe it’s because Valentine’s Day is a a Tuesday and I’m spending the entire day holed up in a conference room with my boss prepping for a meeting tomorrow?  Or it could be because I’ve been single for 2 years.

In lieu of silly things like candy and flowers, I’m drinking my holiday spirit…. and for once it doesn’t involve red wine.  Today I bring you the best new smoothie I’ve made lately: Roasted Beet and Orange.

You know you make a lot of green smoothies when you get excited that the beets overpowered the spinach to make a red smoothie.

I have never liked beets.  The dirt flavor was off-putting and I didn’t like how they stain everything they touch (I also never ate chicken wings because they are too messy… and the bone grosses me out).

Recently, I discovered how delicious they are with citrus – orange and grapefruit in particular.  When we started the cleanse, I decided to take the plunge and roast them myself.  This has only made me fall completely in love with them!  Just in time for Valentine’s Day.

Freshly roasted, the flavor turns more earthy than straight-up dirt.  I find that the sweetness in these beets came forward more as well.

Source: tasteinspired.wordpress.com

After using the first beet in last week’s red cabbage lentil salad, I started on beet #2.  It’s fairly common to see beets listed in juices, why not smoothies?

This post-workout, protein-loaded breakfast smoothie turned out better than I’d hoped!  The orange flavor was quite prevalent, and the almond extract was an amazing compliment.  Both of these are what I credit for hiding the beet “funk” I was sensitive to.

In case you were wondering, beet sunflower pesto* also eliminates the funk.  🙂

*That post also explains why you should buy ’em even if you don’t like ’em. 

Oh yeah…

Happy Valentine’s Day!!!

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Roasted Beet and Orange Smoothie

  • 1 C spinach
  • 1/3 C beet, roasted
  • 1/2 a medium orange
  • 1scoop vanilla protein powder
  • 1 cap full of almond extract
  • 1/4 tsp cinnamon
  • 1/8 tsp guar gum (optional)
  • 7-8 vanilla stevia drops
  • 1/2 C unsweetened coconut milk
  • Water and ice, to taste
  • Ground flax seed, to top

Put it all in the blender/Magic Bullet and let the magic happen!

***

I’m seriously thinking of taking up online dating.

Do you feel like it’s V-Day today?  Or just another Tuesday?

What is your favorite Valentine’s candy/chocolate/treat?  I love those Reese’s hearts.

High 5 for Monday

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So many new things to talk about!

 

This weekend has been the most low key I’ve had in a while, but it was much needed.  I hit the ultimate level of productivity: not only did I wash the sheets, but I also washed the mattress cover and flipped the mattress.  Be honest: when was the last time you washed you mattress cover?

 

As much as I know you all are riveted by my cleaning accomplishments, here are 5 other announcements that might be more interesting to you (I know my mattress is riveting).

 

1. I am excited to announce that I am a Recipe Guru @ Around the Plate.

You can just call me “Guru” if you wish. 😉

There’s a new button on my side bar for easy access to the site.  If you click on it, go to “thePlate Community” tab and click on Recipe Gurus.  I’m the second from the bottom.

I am excited about the chance to share fun food ideas with more people… and the added motivation to keep it clean. 🙂

 

2. My Recipage is live!

This is really exciting because it will be MUCH easier to search recipes, ingredients, etc on Sprint 2 the Table.  I’m done with Breakfasts and Mains.  All new recipes will be added on Recipage from now on.  Check it out on the top menu bar!

It’s a slow process, but I thought I’d go ahead and unveil it… which will force me to speed it up. 😉

 

 

3. The Blend Retreat is May 4-6th in Boulder, CO.

 

Blend was named from the combo of two things: Blogger + Friend = Blend!  It’s designed to be “relaxed, laid back retreat for healthy living, food and fitness bloggers across North America!!  Instead of focusing on seminars and speakers, the focus will be on FELLOWSHIP and having a weekend away to get to know one another in real life!”

I’m going and you should too!  Tickets are just $75 and there are some great sponsors and activities planned (dinners, hikes, bootcamp class, etc).  Seriously – for this price I was shocked to see how much is included.  Click here for the schedule and here for the list of attendees.

 

4. The dinner with my cleanse buddies was a win.

 

We had so much fun.  One friend brought a delicious avocado-red pepper soup and the other brought an awesome fruit blend covered in cinnamon for dessert.

I brought back another old cleanse recipe – Mamma’s Italian Stir-Fry.  It was just as good the second time around!  This is a great recipe for using what you have.  I used portobello mushrooms rather than shiitake, used 1 huge eggplant, added a red pepper, and tossed in some apple cider vinegar and ground oregano.

 

We ate dinner (sans wine for the first time ever), enjoyed fruit for dessert out of martini glasses, talked about the random smoothies we’ve been making (no one likes what blueberries do texture-wise when blended), and then enjoyed a rousing game of Clue.  Old school and awesome.  Until I lost.

 

5. I ate some ugli.

Ugli fruit, that is.  Have you guys ever seen these?  They are indeed ugly on the outside, but taste like an orange-y grapefruit.  Not quite as sweet as an orange, but it lacked the bitterness of a grapefruit.  I loved it as part of my breakfast!

 

According to Wikipedia, the Ugli fruit was discovered growing in the wild and is a hybrid of a grapefruit, orange, and tangerine.

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This week was a good one for weights… a little lacking on cardio.  I get to try running again on Wednesday and I think my body know that and is subsequently rebelling against the elliptical.  I hate that thing!

Most exciting is my BodyRock progress.  This week’s first video included a progress check – we were to re-do the fit test from Day 1.  I honestly didn’t think I’d improve that much.  For 50 seconds you do as many of each exercise below, take 10 seconds of rest, and then move on to the the next.

 

Apparently I wasn’t feeling the burpees (I was really sore… also, I hate them), but I was really blown away at the improvement in tuck jumps!  All of this without buying any of their equipment.  It can be done with free weights and a bench (or couch).

I can’t wait to see what the final 2 weeks of the BodyRock 30 Day Challenge brings!

 

Workout Recap (2/6 – 2/12)

***

Added benefit of the cleanse: I spent about $350 less this week than I normally do.  Holy cost savings.

What did you do this weekend?

Did it suddenly become arctic where you live?  I actually saw snow flurries!

 

Clean(se) Eating + WIAW

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My friends and I went crazy.

Monday we kicked off a cleanse.

21 days of veggies, fruits, and protein shakes.  We also get a serving of lentils or wild rice per day, and on day 11 we can add 1 (4 oz) serving of deep sea fish or chicken (I’ll be adding tempeh). Yep – I’m bringing back the Standard Process Cleanse and taking my friends down with me.

We have been exchanging smoothie pics (mine are the greenest – bwhahaha!), sending desperate emails inspired by caffeine-withdraw… MMSing refrigerator pics…

Mallory’s fridge, post-WF trip

We are also planning cleansing group dinners.  Friday is group dinner #1 and game night.  In lieu of wine, I suggested we make grape smoothies.  If we ferment the grapes ourselves, is it cleanse-approved?

Needless to say, this is going to be the cleanest What I Ate Wednesday I’ve posted in a loooong while. 🙂

AND Jenn read my mind because she’s encouraging everyone to post a veggie-centric WIAW.  Check out Jenn’s blog to see what everyone else at this Wednesday!

Breakfast:

Breakfast is the hardest meal.  There’s not a lot of traditional breakfast food that are “approved” other than smoothies and fruit bowls.  Smoothie it is.

This morning was my all-time favorite smoothie: Liquid Sweet Potato Pie.

I do really like protein smoothies, and often eat them for breakfast post-workout… but some days you just want a warm bowl of oatmeal!

Lunch:

I revived an old cleanse favorite from when mom and I did this in 2010.  This is probably my favorite soup ever: Butternut Squash-Apple Soup.

My only tweak was to use fresh basil instead the rosemary… then I added some dried rosemary too ’cause I love it.

Lunch part 2 was a GIANT salad.  I tend to bring these to work to be eaten directly from the plastic container when I have about half of the greens left.

In my salad:

  • Arugula
  • Raw asparagus (julienned)
  • Leftover roasted zucchini
  • Celery
  • Broccoli sprouts
  • Nutritional yeast
  • Lemon juice + EVOO

Snacks:

Midday veggie break with dip – as much as it may look like a turd, that’s eggplant dip.  Veggies dipped in veggies, FTW.

Post-dinner snack dessert was a protein banana softserv.

In my serv:

  • Frozen banana
  • 1 scoop protein powder
  • 1/4 tsp vanilla
  • 1/4 tsp cinnamon
  • 5-6 drops vanilla stevia
  • ~1/3 C unsweetened vanilla coconut milk
  • With berries on top

Dinner:

Last night Heather came over for dinner.  She was nice enough to loan me her bike for a bit while my knee heals, and I offered dinner (and wine… which I now can’t have) in return.  Luckily Heather is vegan, so my menu options weren’t terribly weird to her.

Cabbage with lentils, beets, spinach, and eggplant “bacon.”  To be honest, I could eat like this all the time.  

Recipe to come!

In lieu of wine, I sipped on fresh kombucha from a growler of Buchi Fire from Whole Foods’ tap.

Stellar customer service story – they were having trouble with the tap at my local Whole Foods.  I waited a solid 10 minutes and the bottle would only fill a little over half way.  The awesome guy working the tap got a manager, who COMPED the contents of the growler.  That right – I got it for FREE… plus 2 regular-sized bottles of Buchi Fire to equal a full growler.

I joke and refer to Whole Foods as Whole Paycheck a lot, but they really do offer quality products and a fantastic customer experience.

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Don’t forget to enter to “Be My Veggie Valentine” and win 1 of 3 boxes of heart-shaped veggie cookies from Cookie Underground!  Click here to enter.

I’m seeing a lot of juice cleanses lately – have you done one?

What is your favorite “clean” food?

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