Day of the Dead

Not only is today Día de Muertos, it is also World Vegan Day. A day to honor the dead, and I guess also the fact that there are no dead animals on my dinner plate! 

Today also marks Day One of my improved fitness plan.  Nothing new really, still following Weight Watchers, using the Simply Filling plan, just need to get serious about planning/tracking/exercise and quit messing around. 

I'll be menu planning, but for now will be doing this on Saturday instead of Monday the way I once did. This is because I'll be basing my recipes on what's in my weekly produce delivery, and I get the notice of what's coming on Friday night. 

Without further ado, here's the plan for the coming week, in no particular order:

• Slow Cooker Pot au Feu
• Black Bean, Bok Choy, Miso Soup  
• Broccoli Potato Soup
• Butternut Mac and Cheese 

I'm headed out to do a little shopping, have an afternoon beach walk planned. Hope your weekend is off to a great start!


Michele~

I'm Baaack!

Whew, can't believe I've been gone so long but it's been a crazy busy month of cleaning, packing, and all of the other "junk" that comes along with moving. We still have a few more details to tend to, and one more trailer-load of "stuff" to bring up from the old house, but for all intents and purposes: we are moved!

I won't bore you with details, but if you're interested in what I've been cooking/eating/doing, you can check out my Instagram pics.

The good news: I have lost a few pounds. I guess the extra exercise helped compensate for the many take-out meals. The bad news: So much restaurant food has been costly and makes me feel sluggish and bloated, no matter what the scale says. So in an effort to get back on track, I'm resuming my Monday Menu Planning.

This week I'll be focusing on my slow cooker, using recipes from Robin Robertson's Fresh from the Vegan Slow Cooker.  

In no particular order, because I haven't yet decided which meals will be served on which days, here's what I'll be dishing up:

• Lasagna Primavera
• North African Chickpea Soup
• Red Bean Gumbo
• Slow & Spicy Sloppy Joes
• Southwestern Stuffed Bell Peppers

I'm really looking forward to having an entire week at home, no traveling, can't remember the last time that happened!

Thanks to those of you who are still reading here..grin..I know I haven't been the most reliable blogger.

Have a great day,

Michele~

Monday Menu Planning: Week of February 10th

Since we ate out a couple of times, I didn't get to make all of last week's recipes, so I'm rolling them over to this week, along with a couple of new dishes to try.

• Black Bean Chipotle Burgers
• Vegetable Paella 
• Costa Rican Potatoes and Beans 
• Potato Soup
• Yam Chickpea Spinach Curry

Off to do laundry, have a beauty-full day!

Michele~

Monday Menu Planning: Week of February 3rd

Good morning, how's everybody feeling today? I'm sure some of you are still smiling about last night's football game, others are likely crying in their coffee cups.  Me? I was in bed by 9 pm, didn't know (or cared) who won until Chip came to bed and reported the results.

In order to insert more structure and discipline into my routine, I'm going back to weekly menu planning. I will also be logging faithfully into my food journal. Both of these habits have been very helpful in the past so I need to stop being lazy and just do the stuff that works!

This week's menu features mainly recipes from PCRM's 21-Day Vegan Kickstart, which, if you read my other blog, you'll remember that I joined in last summer. If you're new to the plant-based way of eating, or simply need a bit more structure in your diet, I highly recommend this program. There are also a few from The Get Healthy, Go Vegan Cookbook by Dr. Neal Barnard and Robyn Webb.  (I'm still crushing on Dr. B., by the way) *wink*

So, without further ado, below is the plan for this week. I've provided links to the recipes (when available) but will also be posting them along with pics and reviews.

• Curried Tomato Lentil Soup
• Black Bean and Corn Salad with Lime
• Brown Rice, Chickpea and Vegetable Soup
• Pretty Stuffed Peppers
• Tacos with Chipotle and Tomato Salsa
• Vegetable Paella
• Italian White Bean, Kale & Potato Stew
• Black Bean Chipotle Burgers

Have a great day!

Michele~

Well, here we are at the end of Week One. I've been following my program about 80% of the time, had a couple of PMS-related Oreo episodes and a glass too many of vino at a certain happy hour, but otherwise I've been doing pretty well.  I guess the scale agrees because I am down 1.8 pounds! Not bad, but I know I can do better. 

I've been thinking back to the last time I lost weight, when I was following Jenny, and pondering what it was about that program that worked so well for me.  Well, duh, it was a no-brainer: Go to meeting. Weigh-in. Buy food. Eat food. Repeat.  I had little to think about, I just heated up the meals, ate the food, and the weight came off.  Though I certainly don't want to go back to that way of eating, and honestly I missed my own cooking, I can't beat the convenience.  So, how to implement that into the way I live & eat now?

I started out by planning my weekly menu, as I've been doing, preparing my meals as usual.  Then, after dinner, I portion out the leftovers into individual containers and label them.  These become lunches for the next couple of days. If there's more left over than I can safely store in the fridge, or if I'm tired of a particular meal (that rarely happens, I don't mind repetition), I freeze those portions instead.  Same thing with breakfast, have a few containers of Tofu Scramble stacked in there.  I also have a big tub of Vegetable Soup to accompany meals or even as a mid-day snack.  Speaking of snacks, I took a cucumber & a head of broccoli,chopped & divided them up into little ziploc bags and labeled each one with the contents and weight so that logging into Sparkpeople would be a breeze.  These went into a handy-dandy Snaptight container (on sale this week at Publix, if you're in my neck of the woods), so easy to grab & go!




Lastly, I mixed up a batch of hummus and divided it into tiny tubs.  Now, when the snack attack hits, I can open my fridge, grab a bag of veggies and a pot of hummus, I'm good to go! You can see there's also a big bin of crunchy apples there, and a fruit bowl of bananas sits on the counter, nearby, perfectly portable health food.  I also have some cooked chickpeas and pink beans in there, easy to toss onto a salad or into a soup for added protein.





Also this week, I baked several sweet potatoes in the oven, used two of them for the Sweet Potato Beginnings breakfasts..



the other I mixed in with my Spicy Vegetarian Chili. So delicious, filled with fiber and nutrients. Dr. McDougall would be proud.




So, that just about wraps up Week One.  I have a simple pasta dish on the menu for tonight, will share that tomorrow so hope to see you then!

Have a beauty-full day,

Michele~

Planning My Thanksgiving Hearth: Day Two

Here's another veggie-friendly side dish that will be adorning my Thanksgiving table.  Once again, Kali will be preparing this one for us.  I'm really looking forward to the flavor combination in this recipe - the sweetness of the cranberries combined with the savory onion, balsamic vinegar & parsley - delicious!

Photo courtesy of Southern Living

  Balsamic Root Vegetables

For a delicious twist, top with a sprinkling of cooked and crumbled bacon just before serving.

Yield: Makes 6 to 8 servings
Total: 4 Hours, 25 Minutes

Recipe Time: Total: 4 Hours, 25 Minutes

 Ingredients

• 1 1/2 pounds sweet potatoes 
• 1 pound parsnips
• 1 pound carrots 
• 2 large red onions, coarsely chopped
• 3/4 cup sweetened dried cranberries 
• 1 tablespoon light brown sugar 
• 3 tablespoons olive oil 
• 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
• 1 teaspoon salt 
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper 
• 1/3 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

Preparation

• 1. Peel first 3 ingredients, and cut into 1 1/2-inch pieces. Combine parsnips, carrots, onions, and cranberries in a lightly greased 6-qt. slow cooker; layer sweet potatoes over top.
• 2. Whisk together sugar and next 4 ingredients in a small bowl; pour over vegetable mixture. (Do not stir.)
• 3. Cover and cook on HIGH 4 to 5 hours or until vegetables are tender. Toss with parsley just before serving.

For those of you "counting," here's the nutrition information from my Mastercook program:

er Serving (excluding unknown items): 252 Calories; 7g Fat (25.6% calories from fat); 4g Protein; 45g Carbohydrate; 9g Dietary Fiber; 0mg Cholesterol; 400mg Sodium. PointsPlus Value: 4

Have a Beauty-Full Day,