Andrea
For my first Meatless Monday, I must
admit I wasn’t feeling too worried. While not a vegan or even a vegetarian, I’m
not the most carnivorous person either. Don’t get me wrong, I really enjoy
eating meat sometimes – I love a good burger, but some days I don’t eat any
meat and it’s not a conscious decision. However, this time, I will have to be
conscious about making sure to not eat meat on Mondays. For this first Monday,
for breakfast I made oatmeal and added approximately a tablespoon of peanut
butter, some flaxseeds, a sprinkling of brown sugar, and cut up a banana on
top. I rounded out the meal with a small glass of orange juice. A little later
in the morning I had some coffee with French vanilla dairy creamer and some
Splenda. This was not a departure for me in the slightest – I typically don’t
have a meat-laden breakfast anyway, with sausages, ham or bacon, etc. Next, for
lunch I typically have to pack food for while I’m at school, and luckily, the
room I’m in for a few hours has a fridge so I can bring items that need
refrigeration. Today, I packed some low fat cottage cheese, baby carrots,
roasted red pepper hummus, and an apple. Again, not much of a departure for me
in what I may eat on any given day. Since I am at school all day on Mondays, I
also need to pack some kind of snack and either pack or buy dinner. For a snack
I packed some trail mix with almonds, raisins, and cashews, as well as a clementine,
and for dinner I decided to buy salad from Edgy Veggies in the Union. My
favorite is the Autumn Harvest, which has carrots, sunflower seeds, dried
cranberries, apple chips, turkey and apple cider vinaigrette dressing. Round it
out with a breadstick, and I have my favorite salad to dine on as my dinner.
After getting home from my zumba class around 8:45 p.m., I normally try to
replenish with a healthy snack, such as some cut up fruit for a mini fruit
salad, but in today’s case, I nixed the fruit and chose some raisin bran cereal
mixed with plain cheerios and some almond milk. Overall, I didn’t have any problem
adhering to the Meatless Monday schedule; I didn’t find myself missing or
craving meat at all. In the coming Mondays I hope to challenge myself a bit
more, by buying some of the foods Sowmya suggested in her email. I would like
to eat more foods I don’t typically eat, or have never eaten before.
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ReplyDeleteHi Andrea,
ReplyDeleteI had some similar experiences as you did with Meatless Monday. I like you eat meat but also don't mind going without. I saw that you usually pack your lunch and sometimes dinner when your on campus all day. That must take a lot of self control and great time management skills. I try to do that on occasion when I am going to be stuck on campus for a long time. However, I am not as consistent as I wish to be, mostly because of lack of time. I am very jealous that you are able to keep your meals in a fridge for some of the day, that must make it much more enjoyable to pack your lunch because you can include refrigerated foods. I really liked what you chose for breakfast, adding peanut butter to oatmeal sounds like a wonderful idea. I'm going to have to try that out! The Harvest salad you mentioned from Edgy Veggie sounded amazing, I haven't tried that one yet and didn't even know it was an option until I saw you mention it. Next time I'm stuck on campus and looking for a healthy meal I will have to try that. I am very curious as to what you include in your fruit salad especially during the winter months when fruit variety decreases and price increases. But, I love the idea, my mom normally makes fruit salad during the summer but I haven't made it myself yet at school. I thought all of your meals looked very healthy and delicious and really enjoyed reading about your Meatless Monday experience.
Thank you,
Mazie Feenstra-Swensen