I can complain about the expensive salad bar at Whole Paycheck, and $10 is a lot. but the truth is that I didn't need to eat dinner after chowing down on that fine piece of work, complete with multiple sources of protein. I don't think that's unhealthy, do you?
Breakfast:
Soy Latte
Organic Banana
Snack:
Cashews
Lunch:
Salad, including Tofu, Edamame, Giganta Beans, Pumpkin Seeds, Corn, Artichoke Hearts, Celery, Tomato, and Oil & Vinegar
Snack:
Cashews
Fritos
So, while I was out late last week a BlogHer volunteer brought in vegan cupcakes to the office...thinking I'd be there to receive them. My co-workers very kindly left me one...which, despite being several days old, was still tasty. Thanks Gwendomama!
Sunday was a red letter day because the S.O. suggested going to Garden Fresh all on his own. Now, there's a reason for this. He saw that I was deeply ensconced on the living room couch, laptop on lap, working away, and he figured he didn't have much hope of getting me off that couch unless he proposed going somewhere I love.
Elaine has a great, practical guide for those who fear being veg*n is too expensive. I do hear this argument a lot, not from people who are actually trying to be veg*n, but usually from people making a socio-economic argument for the sake of it :)
Here it is: 15 Ways to be Vegan on the Cheap
Thanks Elaine!
I made my first salad in what feels like weeks! yes, a kindly reader asked me via direct message whether I might not feel better if I ate more fresh fruits and vegetables. The answer is certainly yes, and I simply allow my busy and stressful life to lead me toward the fast and less healthy vegan solutions. But last night I did get inspired to cook (trying a new recipe out of Vegan Planet) and to make a salad. The Friday delivery of my Organic Express box also contributed to this inspiration.
During the day I went to my mom's house, where my entire family gathered for a belated birthday celebration for me :) My mom even cooked with tofu!
Breakfast:
Sourdough Bread with Organic Peanut Butter and Organic Jam
Lunch:
Cucumber Salad
Spinach/Tofu Burrito
Vegan Chocolate Cake with Strawberry/Rhubarb Topping
Dinner:
Salad with Organic Greens, Organic Carrots, Organic Celery, Organic Snap Peas and Organic Wasabi Dressing
Hoisin-Garlic-Soaked Baby Bok Choy and Seitan from the Vegan Planet cookbook
Organic Brown Rice
Vegan Chocolate Cake
So, how was the recipe? I think it depends on how much you like Hoisin Sauce. Because the dish is really very simple, and it is all about the Hoisin flavor. Hoisin is kind of tangy...not as sweet as sweet and sour sauce, not as savory as soy sauce. And perhaps my American tastebuds are more used ot your typical BBQ sauce. I liked the idea of sauteing the seitan instead of soaking and simmering it in some sauce, and the steamed Baby Bok Choy was great. But I honestly was wondering whether a better sauce for that combo might be a satay sauce or a nutritional yeast sauce or just a tamari-based sauce.
Having learned my lesson from the day before...where one bowl of cereal did not carry me through to lunch very well...I ordered room service, because I had another long day ahead of me. Driving, meeting, speaking. Worked much better.
Breakfast:
Oatmeal with Dried Cranberries and Raisins and brown Sugar
Coffee
Fresh Grapefruit Juice
Lunch (Ristorante Umbria in SF):
Sourdough Bread
Diet Coke
Vegetable Panini (no cheese, and asked to make sure the bread would be brushed with olive oil, not butter.)
Dinner (Home again, what a relief):
Organic Russet Potato w/Soy Margarine and Tofutti "Sour Cream"
Ear of Corn
SmartDogs
Soy Dream Vanilla "Ice Cream" with Hershey's Lite Chocolate Sauce
I write this monthly column about being a vegan for a local alternative weekly, and I confess sometimes I'm searching for my inspiration up until the very last minute. I maintain this column, despite the fact that I'm really too busy and shouldn't, because the Metro has a pretty broad circulation, and I hope I can influence just a few people./
I got my inspiration for this month's coming column on Thursday night after a quite successful dinner out at a distinctly non-veg restaurant in Santa Rosa. I was in town to speak at a conference, and when to the restaurant in the bar area of the hotel...usually not a promising prospect.
Now, they had a full menu, so that already was a step up, but also the experience reminded me that there are a couple of trustworthy substitutions one can ask a kitchen to make that really won't get their panties in a twist and will make your meal reliably vegan. The first is finding out if they have sourdough bread. Sourdough bread is reliably vegan. Substituting it into any sandwich on the menu is a good first step. (Also, if the the menu is particularly vegan-unfriendly, you might find yourself having that bread-and-water meal, but that hardly ever happens!) The second is olive oil and garlic. Every restaurant has olive oil and garlic. And almost any pasta dish you see can be tossed in olive oil and garlic instead of some rich, creamy, decidedly non-veg sauce. Works like a charm.
So, that's a sneak preview of this coming month's column...because you're special :)
I did have one little eating mishap during the day, in that I only ate a bowl of cereal for breakfast and sometime around 11:45AM, right before I started a meeting with a SF Chron reporter I started to have that shaky, low-blood-sugar, I-need-to-eat-soon feeling. Bad planning on a busy day. Luckily I was near the new Bloomingdales in the City, which has a food court underneath.
Breakfast:
Organic "Corn Flakes" Cereal and Rice Milk
Lunch:
Veggie Burger with Avocado and Tomato
French Fries
Diet Coke
Dinner (Le Brasserie in Santa Rosa):
Diet Coke
Sourdough Bread
Roasted Beet Salad (With no cheese...I'm so glad beets are in season.)
Pasta with Mushrooms tossed in Olive Oil and Garlic
Or at least try one day out of the week, m'kay?
Breakfast:
Soy Latte
Vegan Scone (Seriously, Starbucks is my best friend since they've added this scone to their offerings...must. stop. wallet. bled. dry.)
Lunch:
Organic Brown Rice
Organic Avocado
Cashews
Dinner:
Organic Russet Potato with Soy Margarine, Tofutti Sour Cream, 2 Smart dogs and Nutritional Yeast
Vegan Cherry Pie
From eating crappy, that is.
Breakfast:
Peanut Pops Cereal with Rice Milk
Organic Orange
Snack:
Vegan Donut Holes
Cashews
Lunch:
Diet Coke
Chips
Bean, Rice, Guacamole Burrito
Dinner (Check out the awesome healthy well-balanced goodness):
Chips and guacamole
French Fries
Vegan Cherry Pie with Vanilla Soy Dream "ice cream"
Sometimes I only realize my eating foibles when I come here to write these posts. Like this week I had a terrible stomach for as couple of days. And when I went to this day in my notebook to write down what I at, it all became clear.
Check my dinner menu.
Breakfast:
Organic Orange
Peanut Pops Cereal with Rice Milk
Lunch:
Riblets
Edamame
Soy Pudding
Dinner:
Chips, Salsa, Corn Salsa and Bean Dip (Could this have been the culprit?)
Sourdough Bread and Soy Margarine
