Week 3 Andrea

Andrea

Meatless Mondays Week 3 

3/24/14

            To begin, I have to say that I thoroughly enjoyed my third Meatless Monday. Before I get into this week’s meals however, during spring break I did dine out more than usual due to the extra time I had, and because of some of the activities I participated in. I believe most, if not all places I ate at, had plant-based options. However, I didn’t always choose those plant-based sources. I worked at the home and garden show, Plantasia for most of the week and the one day I chose to eat lunch there, I got a roast beef sandwich. The show was so busy, I needed something quick and relatively easy to eat on the fly, while still working. The other days I packed fruits and vegetables, and either cottage cheese or yogurt. I also ate out at Chipotle one night with my mom and I saw the tofu option that Cass tried in a previous week, however, I decided against trying it at that time. I will definitely be ordering it in the future, though.

            As for today’s assignment, I had a really successful meatless day. I began my morning with orange juice, and oatmeal with a spoonful of peanut butter, a teaspoon of flaxseeds, a splash of unsweetened almond milk, and half of a sliced banana on top. For lunch, I cooked a spicy chipotle black bean burger on the stove top and topped it off with some spring mix and salsa. On the side, I had some hummus that I made on Sunday, and ate it with two pieces of whole wheat pita and some baby carrots. The hummus was the same recipe that we made the previous week in class, minus the tahini because I couldn’t find any in Wegman’s. I saw tahini butter in the organic section, but didn’t think that was the same thing. It was still delicious without it! For a little sweetness, I had a low-fat frozen fudge pop afterwards. Before heading to school, I packed an apple to help stave off hunger before I was able to head home for a later dinner. I was able to have a homemade dinner by preparing some of the ingredients the night before and finishing it off when I got home tonight. I decided to make the quinoa tabbouleh that we also had the week before spring break in class. I loved it so much, I needed to try it on my own. I went shopping for ingredients Sunday and then chopped the cucumbers, tomatoes, parsley and mint and stored them separately in the fridge so I could throw everything together quickly the next day. It all came together really well, pretty close to how I remember it tasting in class! I rounded out the night with a cup of Ghirardelli hot chocolate made with unsweetened almond milk.

            Buying the ingredients for the tabbouleh and hummus wouldn’t have been very expensive, except for the quinoa I bought at Wegman’s. I got about a cup in the organic bulk section and it was almost five dollars. I even asked an associate and he said that was the only place in the store to find the quinoa. In the future, I’d hopefully like to find cheaper quinoa at a different store. Since I live at home, both my parents tried the hummus and quinoa tabbouleh and they both enjoyed it! My dad was a little reluctant to try the hummus, he’s not as adventurous of an eater as I am, but he seems to be coming around.