What I Ate Wednesday #61

 

Hello, and welcome to What I Ate Wednesday #61.  Thanks for stopping by.  Mid April makes me so happy.  Finally past taxes and the weather is getting better.  It was quite a busy week for me. I spent it spring cleaning and rearranging rooms.  You know, spring forward, out with the old and in with the new.  Meals were almost secondary to the changes I worked on this week. Being gluten free for the past five weeks has stifled my creativity in the kitchen.  People always think that being vegan is hard, but vegan is easy compared to gluten free!  If we were further into spring/summer, I think it would be easier because fresh fruit and veggies would be more abundant and easier to make simple meals.  But, alas, I did make it through another week. 

The fifth going on six week gluten free experience has resulted in, ZERO headaches and clear skin.  I have not had any miraculous weight loss and I still feel bloated sometimes, but my skin and occasional headaches seem to benefit the most.  Please bear in mind, I am not allergic to gluten or intolerant, I did this originally to support Andy in an elimination diet to see how gluten effects him, and also as a cleanse to see if and how it would effect me. Since I read it can take up to six weeks to notice a difference without gluten, I plan on sticking it out another week.  I do believe that I will implement a reduced gluten diet if I return to eating it at all.

Breakfast:

I am sharing two breakfasts.  The first is my attempt at gluten free strawberry pancakes.  I blended two types of protein powder with oats, coconut milk, a dash of arrow root and baking powder, and some fresh strawberries and lemon juice.

They were not fluffy or pancake-y, but they were tasty. They took forever to cook.  I tried to flip the first four too soon and ended up with one big blob.  The next four I waited longer and added a bit of coconut oil to the pan.  Although tasty, I recommend using a real recipe!  They did keep me full until lunch.

The other breakfast I enjoyed this week was gluten free bread toasted and smeared with a thick layer of avocado, then topped my tofu eggs with just a touch of Daiya cheese on top.

Lunch:

Corn tortillas have been a staple in my meals while being gluten free. This meal was tortillas toasted on stove, smashed avocado, hummus, black bean and corn salsa, shredded romaine, tomatoes, and onions. 

Two for 250 calories!  That leaves plenty of calories for an after dinner nutrient rich shake!

Dinner:

One dinner I ate twice this week was a bun-less veggie burger loaded with the works.

I also made a big pot of garden vegetable soup.  Tons of fresh veggies, beans, cabbage and tomatoes were the base of this soup.  It is quite filling and only 180 calories per bowl.  Which means a slice of avocado toast on the side is absolutely acceptable!

Since I did not subject Mya and Andy to the gluten free dinners, I will share one of their dinners as well.  While I had the soup, they had some vegan Mandarin chicken and broccoli over jasmine rice with some veggie eggrolls on the side.

Desserts were not on the menu this week, but much soul searching was. A friend of mine who is also a coach, De Yarrison, of Essential Shift, had a workshop I attended called “Life By Design”.  During the three hour workshop, my focus became clear. I know I need to complete my eBook and turn it into into a workshop as well.  I was able to finally get the title and cover art from my head onto my computer,  that was a huge break through for me.  For all of you locals on my list, when De gives this workshop again, I will be sure to let you know.

It put me right on track.  I came home, spent three days reorganizing my office and making myself a new writing space, and now, the ideas and writing has been an unstoppable flow. 

Thanks to De and all the lovely ladies I met at the workshop. I will be posting my book cover soon along with all the fun details! 

Thanks again for stopping by. I look forward to telling all more of the exciting details of the book each week! 

Have a great Wednesday!

XOXO

What I Ate Wednesday #60

 

 

Welcome to What I Ate Wednesday #60! I am happy, I am in week four gluten free, and I am still nutrition tracking with my app daily.  I feel really good, and I am so excited about my progress.

 

A few people have inquired about which app I use for food tracking.  I prefer My Net Diary to all the others I have tried.  I recommend it to all my clients.  When you begin to track every bite you eat, you gain a whole new perspective of calories and nutrition.  I am on a plan until May 29 that puts me at just under 1400 calories a day.  My goal in addition to calorie tracking is the ability to nutrient track.  This helps me make the best meal choices based on nutrition, not calories.  For example, I may choose to use water in a smoothie instead of coconut milk and substitute those calories for extra flax or chia seeds in my shake.  I try to make sure I hit all my nutrient markers daily.  This app makes that easy.  I can also see if I had too much or not enough of something.  I find it very helpful, I also find it helpful if you eat a lot of the same meals, as I do, you begin to remember how many calories and nutrients are in that meal.  I provided a link to the site and app for the phone, just click on the logo if you want to check it out. 

 

Breakfast:

 

 

Some days it has been a shake, but this week, tofu eggs have been more popular on my plate.  This morning, it was sweet potato, shitake mushrooms, onions, peppers, and kale sautéed in 1 tbsp. coconut oil and seasoned with Braggs, and 3 oz. poached tofu.

 

 

 

 

Lots of lemon lime water between meals.

 

 

 

Snacks:

Between breakfast and lunch, I had the chance to try my new meal replacement protein, Raw Meal.  I have always wanted to try it, but, I did not want to spend $45.00 and not like it.  Luckily, Whole Foods was sampling it and there were $8.00 in coupons.  I really like it, superior nutrition for raw vegan gluten free protein.

 

 

 

Thanks Whole Foods! Now, I feel really good about my daily protein.  Mya just loves our trips to Whole Foods, it’s girl time.  My mom, me and Mya, and a few Monster High Dolls! Do you think Mya is her mother’s daughter? She has them pretend shopping at whole foods! Yes, they are gift card bags…don't ask…

 

I made my Raw Meal shake using only one scoop with a small piece of banana, 1/2 cup frozen blueberries, 1 tbsp. raw cashews, water, cinnamon, and vanilla extract to make a super thick fiber rich shake. The brown rice protein does tend to be a bit gritty, but with the meal replacement version and the berries, you really don’t notice.  I love that it is low sugar and high fiber.

 

 

Lunch:

 

Corn tortillas topped with avocado, super spice hummus, tomatoes, onions, peppers, romaine, olives, sweet peppers, and black bean corn salsa.

 

 

 

 

Only 267 calories for two!

 

Dinner:

 

 

I was determined to get in that extra serving of veggies for the day.  I decided on Agave Dijon Tofu, over a bed of red quinoa with sautéed garlic spinach, green beans, and grilled eggplant & zucchini. 

 

 

The weather was so nice, we ate dinner outside on the deck. I love dining AL 'fresco! The quinoa is Mya’s favorite. She always cleans her plate.

 

 

I used hi-protein tofu for this dish.  It is not my favorite tofu texture, but it worked well for this dish.

 

 

 

 

 

 

My totals for the day were:

 

 

My exercise consisted of my daily 45 minutes on the elliptical at 5:30am, then strength training 1/2 hour mid morning, and then around 7pm Mya had to go to school for practice, so we decided to run there.  Well, more like jog/walk/jog.  Funny, all the cardio I do does not prepare me for outdoor real running.  Now I am determined to get in better running jogging shape!

 

I hope you all had a good Wednesday, and I hope you are all enjoying the gorgeous weather we finally are having in the North East.  Prince is glad not to be in the house all day, he is loving the outdoors. Proudly carrying around a newly trim tree!

 

 

Eat an extra serving of veggies for me!

 

Have a great Wednesday!

XOXO,

 

 

 

What I Ate Wednesday #59

    Welcome to What I Ate Wednesday #59!

I made it through another week being gluten free! I must say, there is definitely a truth to the idea that when you decrease or eliminate something from your diet, your body adjusts.  After the first few days of figuring out what a gluten free vegan eats, I really had no gluten/bread type cravings.  All I have wanted is salads, shakes, soy yogurt, and fruit. This is the third week for me, and I feel some benefits including much clearer skin, no headaches, less bloating, and overall I would say a little more energy.  I plan on continuing my experiment. I read it can take up to six weeks to get all the gluten out of your system.  I am anxious to see how I feel then. Andy and Mya are not participating in my challenge, but, I did include their meals as well. So here are the WIAW meals for one day.

 

Breakfast: Gluten Free & Vegan Tofu Eggs

For my version of tofu eggs, I always poach the tofu in salted boiling water for five minutes.  It gives the tofu a real “eggy” texture. Seasoned with sea salt and pepper, these really taste like egg whites.

I cooked some peppers, shitake mushrooms, onions and kale in a little coconut oil for the base of my breakfast.

On top of my veggies sits the tofu egg thinly coated with melted Daiya Jack cheese, topped with salsa, diced buttery avocado, and onion.

Lunch: Gluten Free Vegan Lentil Meatballs, homemade potato salad, and ratatouille.

 

Kiddies lunch: PB&J on wheat shaped like a bunny, bunny crackers, mandarin oranges and leftover cake.

Snack: Organic Blueberries

Dinner: Salad, Gluten Free Vegan Sonoma Burger, and a few tater tots.

Mya and Andy have veggie burgers on wheat buns, tater tots, baked  beans and salad.

After dinner, I got in a round of cardio before getting back to work.  I have switched up from elliptical twice a day to elliptical in the morning and stationary bike in the evening.  I still get my weight and cross training in after morning cardio.  I hope the change will make a noticeable difference in my legs.  I thought they wouldn’t be sore the day after the switch considering how much I work my legs already, but, no, I was wrong, my hamstrings were super sore for two days!

Around 8:30pm, if I’m still hungry and need some more protein, I make a shake with some cashews and almonds, water, ice, hemp protein, vanilla extract, cinnamon, and a handful of berries. I try and keep it under 200 calories, high protein and high fiber.

Other than a few cups of coffee with coconut creamer, this has been a typical gluten free vegan day for me. I hope to keep going and really see how the changes effect me. 

Have a great Wednesday, thanks for stopping by.

XOXO,

LiveJournal Tags: Gluten free,vegan,vegetarian