What I Ate Wednesday #40

 

Hi Everyone!  I’m so happy to be back this week. I was too caught up in the holiday and our business to get my timely WIAW done. So,  I combined pictures from last week and this week to share some of my favorite eats of the week.

My breakfast obsession of Avocado toast has not stopped.  I have eaten this heavenly pair for breakfast nearly two weeks straight! See, I told you I am obsessed.  To me, being vegan, I can replace eggs with tofu scramble easily, but I have yet to be satisfied with a “dippy” type egg replacement. That is, until, I discovered avocado toast. Who knew spreading warm ripe avocado on lightly toasted bread with a sprinkle of salt and pepper would taste like egg yolks. If I close my eyes it tastes like a poached egg on toast, amazing! I am a huge fan.  I cannot eat enough.  And my skin is proof.  I swear my face has been dewy and youthfully glowing. I just know it is my daily dose of avocado. 

My favorite lunch of the week was the veggie grinder on a seeded Italian roll.  This monster sandwich was shared by Andy and me.  It consisted of an assortment of Italian inspired veggies. 

The base of the sandwiched was one of our bakery’s seeded Italian rolls, followed by a generous spread of roasted pepper and sundried tomato vegan mayo.  Atop the spread went thick crunchy slices of breaded eggplant with some vegan mozzarella melted on top.  The juicy red and orange roasted peppers were next, then a generous pile of garlicky sautéed baby spinach, grilled caramelized red onions were then topped by browned mushrooms.  I quickly warmed black kamala olives and some artichoke hearts for the salty bite on top. This is a sandwich my Grandmother would love.  I snuck a couple of hot Italian peppers on my side!

Another lunch that I really enjoyed this week was open faced mini cocktail rye sandwiches.  Mya loves rye bread, how could I say no when she asked me for a loaf of cocktail rye at the market?  I couldn’t. That being said, she also came home with a loaf of pumpernickel. She was so cute, she said, “mommy, when I was looking at the bread and reading the packages, people kept staring at me”.  Probably because not many nine year olds are reading the labels, let alone shopping for rye bread!

She immediately wanted mini sandwiches when we arrived home.  Again, here I go with the avocado!  We made a sort of blt, without the “T” and used an “A” instead.  Tempeh bacon, avocado, lettuce and onion, but sadly, all out of tomatoes.

These little babies were quite good and surprisingly filling.

As for dinner, there is a new veggie burger in town, and it is rivaling  to be my new favorite.

Introducing, the Gardein Chipotle Black Bean Burger.  A 1/4 pound of heaven. And guess what?  I found it a BJ’s.  It was a box of 12 burgers for about $12.00.  These babies are huge and are only 220 calories of Mexican style goodness. Of course I topped mine with avocado, onion, lettuce, tomato and some dill relish along with some Dayia cheese and secret sauce, all on a super soft and crunchy multi-grain and seed bun. YUM!

When a vegan burger looks and tastes like this, how could you ever miss meat?  I could eat this every day of the week. 

Burger heaven…served with a baked potato on the side. Super carb night…must do extra time on the elliptical tomorrow!

We spent some time this week decorating the house, I love when the tree is up, it makes me so happy and relaxed.

I have had non stop Christmas music playing through the house, I am sure I am driving Andy crazy already. Sadly the only thing we did not get done this week was my b-day date for Twilight.  Maybe it will have to wait for the DVD.  We really enjoyed having Mya home for the week.  I wish when I went to school we had a whole week off  before Thanksgiving.  It is a great way to start the holiday season.

The dogs lounged around…

While the cat scoped out the Christmas tree ornaments…

I will end on my favorite dessert of the week.

Mock “Mounds” bar. A healthy version of the coconut chocolate covered confection.  I used a combo of shredded coconut, hemp seeds, vanilla protein powder, a little agave nectar and coconut oil in the food processor.  I pulsed until it was sticky.  I then pressed it into a glass dish and popped it in the freezer while I made a chocolate topping. Melted semi-sweet grain sweetened chips worked well.

A sweet ending to any meal.  I chopped these into bite size treats to have anytime.  I always need just a small bite of something sweet after a meal, don’t you?

Thanks for stopping by, I look forward to my next meals to share.  Have a great WIAW!