What I Ate Wednesday #56

 

Welcome to another WIAW, thanks for dropping in! So many meals, I could not pick which to share, so I decided to share them all!

My Wednesday post usually just consists of breakfast, lunch, and dinner from all of Monday or Tuesday meals, but this week, I couldn’t pick just one day to share, so there are a few simple bonus meals in here.

 

My morning started out with my standard 4:00am wake up call, then indulging in my steaming cup of coffee before descending downstairs for a forty five minute cardio elliptical session. My ipad was packed with newly borrowed books from my local library's eBook collection.  I was shocked to see the entire vampire series I had been reading and paying for on Amazon, right there for free download with my library card. How thrifty and convenient!

After my cardio but before my weight session, breakfast was necessary. As per usual, breakfast starts out with a superfoods shake and a slice of sprouted whole grain toast slathered in ripe avocado with a sprinkle of pink salt and fresh cracked  pepper.

After my weight session was complete, I got Mya up, she ate breakfast, then an hour of getting her off to school commenced.  As soon as I returned home, I began making a recipe for lunch.  I wanted to try making a combined version of my chickpea “tuna” and TVP “tuna” to see how they would pair together.

The combo was perfect, I even added some water chestnuts for extra crunch.  There is no specific recipe, I just cooked and cooled TVP (textured vegetable protein), rinsed, drained and mashed chickpeas, and added some reduced fat Vegenaise  to the bowl. Then, I dressed it with the same things I would add to tuna, some dill pickle, sweet pickle relish, celery, onion, sea salt, pepper, dried dill, a splash of lemon juice, and for fishy brine flavor, some kelp and dulse flakes with capers.

I like to make it early so it has time to sit in the fridge and take on all its flavors.  I made a big bowl so it would last for a few meals and can easily be packed in Mya’s lunch too.

I did some office work before serving this delicious “tuna” lunch.  When the time came, I spread this on some lightly toasted sprouted bread with some smashed avocado, spring mix, onion and sprouts. The crunchy water chestnuts were a great addition.

Who doesn’t need a bite of chocolate after a meal. I know I do.  I was craving black bean brownies, but I wanted something that did not require baking. Fudge, healthy black bean fudge was what I was searching for. I scoured vegan sites and managed to find several ideas I could combine with my own.  Easy fudgy bites that literally took minutes to make.

Sorry, I forgot to get the agave in the picture!

I did not really measure the ingredients, I went by taste and texture. I combined one can of rinsed and drained beans, coconut oil, raw cacao, vanilla, cinnamon, and agave nectar in the blender.  Mixed all until smooth and thick like brownie batter. I poured the mixture into a parchment lined 8x8 casserole dish. Then I sprinkled dairy free chocolate chips, shredded coconut and walnuts on top.

Popped it in freezer two hours, then cut into blissful bites.

I will definitely be making these again, and again. Perfect end of meal bite of something sweet and chocolate.  Beans are totally undetectable. The indulgence is totally guilt free!

Okay, just one more fudgy pic, I promise.

Around two o’clock, I began thinking about assembling a lasagna for an early dinner.  I know I have lots of office work to get done in the next few days, so leftover lasagna will come in handy for quick lunches.

First, I made my favorite cashew tofu ricotta. Then put in the the fridge while I prepped my veggies for the lasagna filling. I like to par cook the mushroom, zucchini and spinach so my lasagna does not get watery.

Here’s how my lasagna is assembled:

1)Spread sauce at the bottom of casserole dish, then a layer of oven ready wheat noodles.

2) Spread 1/2 tofu cashew ricotta on top of noodles.

3) Layer cooked zucchini and then mushrooms.

4) Another layer of noodles, then rest of ricotta mixture.

5) Break up a few defrosted vegan meatballs. Spread on top of ricotta.

6) A layer of sautéed spinach and garlic over the meatballs.

7) Another layer of noodles, topped with more sauce.

8) Bake at 400 degrees 35 minutes, covered.

9)Remove from oven, shred vegan mozzarella on top. Place in oven another 20 min. uncovered until cheese is melted.

10) Let stand 10 minutes to cool before slicing in 12 to 16 pieces.

Devour. Then look forward to leftovers!

So that is What I Ate in one day.  But, I also wanted to share two bonus meals from the weekend. Before I get to those, I also wanted to take time this week to give a quick thank you to all of the lovely ladies who attended my nutrition talk at the Women’s Resource Council lunch sponsored by the Montgomery County Chamber of Commerce. You all made me feel so welcome and I really enjoyed getting a chance to share my coaching programs with you.

It was so much fun to be the speaker and enjoy a fabulous healthy lunch with you ladies. I am excited at how many of you signed up for my blog and are ready to take me up on my free health history session. I hope to see you all again soon!

Here is a clip about hidden sugar from my talk:

Now onto the bonus meals…

Burger Night: A Veggie Burger meal to die live for!

This was Mya’s Sunday night request for dinner. Vegan burgers were the star of the meal, they were topped with Dayia cheddar, on a bed of shredded romaine, with onions and dill pickles all on a fresh from the bakery potato bun.  Andy and Mya had the potato bun (I tasted Mya’s) I had mine on a 100 calorie whole wheat flat.  Small oven baked red potatoes that were super creamy on the inside and slightly crisp on the outside, along with baked beans, and a few baked organic onion rings were perfect on the side to complete this meal.

That burger meal was so good, I had to share. The last meal featured was our pizza lunch.

Pizza Lunch:

Whole Foods,100% whole wheat tortillas were our “crust”. We topped some with sauce and “Teese” vegan mozzarella, some no sauce, mine had spinach onions, and mushrooms, and Mya’s vegan pepperoni.  I don’t buy stuff like vegan pepperoni often, so it was a tasty treat on Mya and Andy’s pizza.

That’s all folks!  So happy I could share so many meal options this week.  Stop by again next Wednesday to see what’s new and Sinfully Nutritious for you to try!

Have a great day!