Week 5 IIana

Ilana

Meatless Monday week 5 (4/8/14)

            This past weekend was very hectic. I had work and a ton of studying, which left me with little time to prepare for meatless Monday. I was unable to go shopping at Trader Joe’s and did not even think about what I was going to do until Monday morning. I woke up Monday morning and had my usual Chocolate Chex cereal with milk. I tried to eat a little bit of pineapple with it but I seem to have a problem when it comes to drinking milk and eating fruit at the same time. I tend to get a little nauseous and I am not sure exactly why. The cereal surprisingly held me over to lunchtime.

I had just enough time to stop in at Chipotle before work to grab a Sofritas burrito. In the burrito, besides the Sofritas, I had lettuce, cheese, and some salsa. The Sofritas were once again very filling and delicious. After work, I rushed back over to campus and bought a salad from Edgy Veggie before heading to the library. I got my usual Edgy Veggie salad with spinach, romaine, cucumbers, tomatoes, fresh mozzarella, dried cranberries, tortilla strips, and apple cider vinaigrette. This time I also tried egg whites in my salad for some extra protein. I am not the biggest fan of eggs but this edition was not as bad as I thought it would be.

            This week’s meatless Monday was not my typical meatless Monday. I usually have time to go shopping and prepare prior to Monday. Unfortunately, this weekend I had no time but I still managed to stay away from meat without having to cook at home. I hope that next week I have more time on Sunday so I can incorporate more vegetables and a new type of plant protein. Week 5 turned out to be not so bad!

Week 5 Ally

Ally Abrams

Meatless Monday 4/7/14

This Meatless Monday was fine since I didn’t eat meat, but I wasn’t able to go as far with it as I wanted to. I had lots of friends in town over the weekend, so we didn’t grocery shop at all over the weekend. Because of that, we had to eat dinner out on Monday night. During the day, I had a bagel with peanut butter and one of my boyfriend’s smoothies. I also had several clementines throughout the day and unfortunately didn’t have a full lunch because I had to cut my lunch break short since the PT office was super busy! For dinner, we went out to The Cheesecake Factory. We rarely go out to dinner, but had a veggie burger, which was DELICIOUS. I recommend it to any one, I was very impressed with it. It was made of brown rice and lots of other veggies. I also had a salad on the side.

We grocery shopped after dinner at CF and we became members at the Co-op, which is pretty exciting!

I do feel guilty for not putting as much effort in for this Monday, but I will redeem myself next week, especially since I’ll be doing more shopping at the co-op. I’m sure you guys understand the difficulty with planning if you aren’t able to grocery shop ahead of time!

With my purchase from Lexington, I made two large waffles. Unfortunately they didn’t come out very well – I think I needed to add another egg or something because they completely stuck to the waffle maker :(

Week 5 Quentin

Quentin

Meatless Monday Week 5

4/7/14

            This week for meatless Monday I did something that I had not done for the first four weeks of meatless Monday. My girlfriend was also here on Monday so it only seems right that I blame her for what happened that night.  Lets start in the morning when we made breakfast and lunch together. It is always nice having someone else to cook or even prepare simpler meals with and it makes the whole experience more enjoyable and go by faster, which is exactly what you need when you are starving.  This week we also had to go shopping on Saturday so we made sure to get ingredients we would need for meals on Monday.  But what we did end up going out to eat dinner Monday night anyway. That was nice because neither of us were really feeling like cooking at all that night and some nights it is just nice to go out.  So here is the breakdown of how my meals went:

Breakfast: Apple cinnamon oatmeal with a side of strawberries and blueberries

Lunch: Egg Salad sandwiches on whole grain white bread

Snacks: Home made pretzels and red delicious apples

Dinner: We went to Applebee’s and I got the 4-cheese mac & cheese with honey pepper chicken tenders. I did not eat the bacon though that came with it.

            So there you go, I finally did it. I ate meat on meatless Monday.  Like I said before I have to blame it on my girlfriend because she was the one who chose Applebee’s.  And there is absolutely nothing good at Applebee’s that doesn’t have meat in it. (Keep in mind I don’t like any kind of leafy salad) But the 4-cheese mac & cheese with honey pepper chicken tenders only had 3 small chicken tenders on it so I kept in mind to not get anything that was meat driven. And I did not eat the bacon so I guess I was eating meat but trying to keep it to the minimum.

            For the meals that I did go meatless on this week my breakfast was the most affected from what I usually do. This is the first time in a couple years that I had eaten oatmeal and I have never been one to eat fruit with there breakfast much. I will continue to try and eat more fruits with my breakfast because fruit is one of my favorite foods and it is very good for you. If I can take anything from this week it is that even on days you try to go meatless sometimes it is almost impossible if you are accustomed to eating meat. I had never really looked at how much meat is in the meals on menus. I really did try and find something I would like that did not have meat in it and it was impossible, I mean almost everything has meat in it. We are just so accustomed to meat that it is hard to get away from and avoid. Anyway, this week was my first failure but I won’t give up on trying because of it. I might even try going meatless another day this week to make up for it, we’ll see. 

Week 5 Sophia

Sophia

4/8/2014

            This week I did not have to do another grocery trip because the one I took last week was much bigger than usual.  I already had plenty of supplies and veggies to participate.  This week was about the same level of difficulty as last week.  I find that the more I try Meatless Mondays the more routine it becomes. 

            For breakfast this week I ate a bowl of Honey Bunches of Oats cereal with skim milk and had it with my usual cup of coffee.  It was very filling and held me over until lunch.  For lunch I wanted to get more servings of fruits and veggies in so I made a salad.  I made it with organic lettuce, diced avocado, diced pear, walnuts, dried cranberries, and a citrus dressing.  It was very good, and I love avocado in salads.  I got hungry for a snack later in the afternoon so I sliced an organic cucumber and ate it dunked in ranch dressing.  I love cucumbers so I buy them often.  These meals didn’t really affect anyone around me because none of my roommates were home at the time.  For dinner I made a pizza to share with my boyfriend.  It was a white pizza made with garlic, olive oil, fresh mozzarella slices, sliced tomato, chunked broccoli, and basil.  I love white pizzas, and this one was very good.  The size we made was perfect for two servings. 

            I was very happy this week that I didn’t spend any extra money for my groceries.  It is becoming much easier to throw together recipes that are meatless without having to think about it too much.  I find that the more I make dishes it gives me ideas for new meals, and I can often switch out certain ingredients for something new.  Eating meatless on Mondays has made me want to eat more meatless meals throughout the week.  I also made an effort on my most recent grocery trip to purchase less meat.  I know I do not need it as often as I usually make it, and when I eat more vegetables I have more energy.  My meals this week were good, and I think I will still try to go meatless on certain days when this project is over.  

Week 5 Becca

Rebecca

So it is now the fifth week of Meatless Monday.  Today, my schedule was quite off, and thus, so were my meals.  My parents happen to be remodeling their kitchen. My boyfriend and I decided to spend Saturday night at their house to help them with the demolition.  Well, as it turns out, Saturday night turned into Sunday night as well.  When I woke up Monday morning, there weren’t exactly a lot of options for breakfast (as they no longer have a sink or stove). My dad made me an enormous cup of coffee.  That was going to have to suffice until I could make it home.  I had a 12:30 class which I made it into Buffalo for, only to find out that the class was canceled. With an hour and a half extra inserted into my day, I felt like I had all the time in the world to prepare food. I decided to go to Wegmans and purchase something to prepare.  I thought it might be a nice idea to make my parents dinner at my house (since other than grilling, they can’t prepare anything on their own). I prepared a nice macaroni salad which contained onions, green pepper, raddish, and mayo.  It came out pretty delicious. I also bought them a package of cheddar worst sausage (which I was not planning on consuming, just for clarification).  I was done preparing the salad by 2:00, just in time for my mom to come pick up her meal—but also just in time for my own lunch.  I had a big bowl of the macaroni salad that I had prepared. It was super delicious, as it has been quite some time since I had home-made mac salad.  I was planning on preparing couscous for dinner, but it didn’t work out. When my boyfriend arrived home from my parent’s house, he was all worn out. He told me all he wanted to do was go out to eat.  After such a long day, I didn’t want to torture him with gross vegetarian options. I wanted to reward him with whatever he was craving (I was so grateful for him assisting my parents).  I told him we could go wherever he wanted to eat.  He really wanted to go to the Buffalo Roadhouse. Going to Roadhouse on a meatless Monday was certainly challenging (Their flat iron steaks are to die for).  But, I successfully did it.  If you haven’t ever gone to Roadhouse, they start you off with a big bucket of shelled peanuts (a great source of protein).  After that, they give you a basket of warm dinner rolls with butter.  Roadhouse is pretty famous for their chicken wing dip, and my boyfriend ordered some.  It is served with delectable pita chips. I didn’t have any of the chicken wing dip, but I did make the steal on a few pita chips, because I love pita. For my main course, I ordered a bowl of broccoli cheddar soup (which was the soup of the day) and a Caesar side salad.  I also ordered myself a baked potato, because I am just in love with their baked potatoes (perfectly baked and topped with butter and sour cream).  Basically, I had a steak dinner minus the steak! Honestly, I was so full after all that food, that I didn’t even miss the meat. I have to admit, that eating vegetarian at a meat-based restaurant was challenging. But, I am proof that it can be done.  Eating out is always expensive, but you would think that cutting out a steak would severely decrease the price of a meal. I found this to be untrue. I had to order many small sides instead of a single combination meal. In the end, it cost about the same for me and my boyfriend to eat (except he had both steak and chicken wing dip and I ate vegetarian). I found this to be peculiar. I know that I did not eat the healthiest on this meatless Monday, but I am still proud that I was able to remain Meatless at all. I hope that next week, I can do some home cooking. As a vegetarian, I feel like it is easier to eat more nutritiously at home than when you eat out.

  

Week 5 Cass

Cass week 5

This week for Meatless Monday I started the day off with an omelet. I took the advice someone gave me last week and used the leftover green onion and cilantro in it as well as a little bit of regular onion and cheese mixed in. It was very delicious and a good use of the left over ingredients from my tabbouleh last week. For lunch, I just ate a quick orange and cliff car. For dinner, I was at work (Tim Horton’s) and did not have time to prepare anything unfortunately. I ate a yogurt parfait and a vegetable soup that we had that day. This past Monday was hard to eat for since I had been so busy all weekend with starting final projects and working 16 hours, I didn’t have time to go to Wegman’s and create a new meal. I tried my best to follow the Meatless Monday project even at work but these next few weeks are just crunch time for projects and tests so it is going to be a bit harder to find good planning and cooking time. However, I did make something new with the ingredients I got from the Lexington co-op; from the bulk section I got the powder hummus mix. I was curious to see how it came out since it was powder. I followed the instructions and tried mixing it as best as I could since I do not have a good blending machine at my apartment. I added in some of the green onion, cilantro, and minced garlic leftovers I had to give it some extra flavor.  After leaving it in the fridge like the instructions said, I took it out and noticed that it was not the normal hummus texture. It was thick but not like normal hummus you would buy at the store. I am not sure if this is because it was from powder or because I did not mix it enough. It tasted great though! It did not taste any different than store bought hummus, I enjoyed it with some whole grain pita bread.

            

This week was a bit more difficult for me since I was so busy the weekend before and forgot to plan out a meal. There was no price differences in my shopping trip mainly because I did not have time to shop and I still need to find time to go this week. My cooking never interferes with what my roommates do because we each cook our own food. I don’t really see going meatless yesterday affecting any of the other days of the week for me. Like always, the meal that was affected most was dinner. During the day I have no problem just eating an orange or yogurt for lunch so I try to fill up the most at dinner time. 

Week 5 Kara

Kara

Meatless Monday #5

4-7-14

I can say that this Monday was one of my most successful Meatless Mondays by far. This time, I had absolutely no tests and finally had time to prepare and cook my meals. This past weekend I was in Syracuse so I drove home today and kind of ate breakfast/lunch in a rush. In the morning I had organic strawberries, a bowl of cereal consisting of granola, almonds, and raisins with almond milk, and a glass of orange juice. On the drive back I snacked on a Clementine and some green tea. I wasn’t very hungry for lunch and only ate a small cup of low-fat cottage cheese with sunflower seeds and a banana. I ended up working out and afterwards made myself a mini vanilla protein shake before dinner. My dinner this time was my most complex, yet tastiest combination of food. I searched for a recipe online that involved the Israeli Couscous we received at the Lexington Co-op. The recipe was actually from a vegetarian website and was called “Moroccan Couscous with Chickpeas and Peppers.” I first diced up sweet potato, zucchini, and red pepper and continued to sauté them with minced garlic, olive oil and ground pepper. After those were semi-tender, I added organic chickpeas, soy nuts (recipe called for pine nuts but wanted to try these instead), ginger, cinnamon, and a little bit of water. I let all these ingredients simmer in a sauce pan while I cooked the couscous on the side. When everything was cooked, I served the vegetables and beans over the couscous and enjoyed! I must say it didn’t take as much time as I had planned (~30 minutes), and the ingredients were fairly cheap. I thoroughly enjoyed the couscous and will definitely have to make it again! Everything made me so full, even without any meat consumption. My dinner was most complex considering the different foods and spices involved, however, it wasn’t a pain to make and I still had some left over that I can eat for lunch tomorrow. I also had left over zucchini and sweet potatoes that I can cook up some other night this week so it doesn’t go to waste. This didn’t really affect any other day of the week, but like I said before it gives me more of a refreshed feeling. My roommates apparently have never heard of couscous and refused to try it after I tried to convince them several times. Sometimes it’s hard to have people try new things but that’s the point in experimenting with your food. Overall, I 100% did better than last week and I can see a complete difference from week 1 of Meatless Monday until today.

Week 5 Brad

Brad                                                                                        Meatless Monday Wk 5

4/8/14

This Monday was exceptionally difficult for me to prepare anything nice to eat because I spent half of the day traveling home from a weekend trip.  Without time to prepare food and gather groceries to make food with the time I did have it was nearly impossible to have a gourmet meal to make for myself.  Many of the other students in this class seem to be pretty inclined in the kitchen but I however am not and tend to not be very creative when it comes to food choices or preparation either.

            That being said I started of my day in a bagel shop called Uncommon Grounds in Albany, New York.  If you haven’t been there and are around Albany I highly recommend it.  I got myself a poppy seed bagel with a vegetable cream cheese spread because I was trying to keep our assignment in mind.  Normally I would go straight for a bacon, egg, and cheese bagel.  I also grabbed a Greek yogurt, banana, V8 juice, and blueberry muffin for the road.  After 4 and a half hours and half my day gone I got home in time to make lunch and go to work.  For lunch I just made two PB&J sandwiches with strawberry jam and Wegman’s organic peanut butter because they are quick to make.  After I got out of work and class it was nearly 10pm and I was not about to make a nice dinner either so I threw together I microwaved bag of frozen broccoli and some brown rice, and macaroni and cheese that I found in the fridge.  It certainly wasn’t my best of Mondays but it was however still meatless!

-Brad

Week 5 Mazie

Mazie

Meatless Monday 5

                Today I cooked more than I usually do during the week, but it was well worth it.  I used the Israeli Couscous that I got at Lexington Food CO-OP last week for the base of my main dinner meal.  My dinner was based off a recipe called Company Couscous I found online.  It included couscous, garlic, red bell pepper, olive oil, green onion, and parmesan cheese.  I added a sliced up jalapeño pepper, and some extra red bell pepper and parmesan cheese to the recipe as well.  To make my meal I cooked the couscous and sautéed the peppers, olive oil, green onion and garlic.  To top it all off I mixed it all together topped it with fresh parmesan cheese and a dash of balsamic vinaigrette and baked it for 20 minutes.  I was very happy with how it turned out ( I think my roommates were too!) and I definitely plan to make it again.  Here’s a picture of it below!

                For my other meals today I had plain Greek yogurt with craisins mixed in and two Clementine’s and maple oatmeal for breakfast. And then for lunch I had some pretzel crisps with hummus and a salad of mixed greens, garbanzo beans, Gouda cheese, pepper and Italian dressing.  And my snacks through the day were Clementine’s and strawberries.  Overall, today it wasn’t difficult to not eat meat all day, and my dinner was so good that I didn’t miss meat at all.  I think that I may have spent a little more money today initially because I went out and bought the ingredients for the recipe but I think it will equal out because now I have left over veggies and garlic that I will use throughout the week.  Also, today unlike most of my Meatless Monday’s affected others because I shared my meal I made with two of my roommates.  Today, I learned that it is very rewarding to put more effort into cooking meals and that although there isn’t always time to cook complicated meals it’s worth it when I do have the time.  I can’t wait until next Monday to try another recipe!

Week 5 Andrea

Andrea

Meatless Mondays Week 5 4/7/14

            This Meatless Monday was not quite as successful as I had planned due to lack of time. My weekend was exceptionally busy, especially Sunday when I try to get to the grocery store to pick up any items I might need for the next day. Needless to say, I did not make it to the grocery store, nor did I have much time at all on Monday to prepare meals. After an early morning run, I had oatmeal with flaxseeds, peanut butter, sliced bananas and a little bit of Splenda for sweetness. I made a quick smoothie to take to school with me to have in-between running lab sessions. I was able to store it in a refrigerator until I got the chance to have it; I made it with vanilla protein powder, frozen strawberries, spinach, plain almond milk, and some more flaxseeds. I also packed some chopped walnuts that I had lying around in my kitchen cupboard and a clementine for snacks. When I got home from school at night I had some cottage cheese and a salad with sliced strawberries and apples, feta cheese, chickpeas leftover from Sowmya’s hummus that I made, leftover chopped parsley, and a drizzle of balsamic vinegar and olive oil. I would have tried to make something more creative with the chickpeas but I had homework and projects to get to ASAP. I finished off the night with my mug of decaf Refresh Mint Tazo tea.

            I’d have to say my dinner was the most affected meal, considering I wasn’t able to devote much time to preparing a more complete meal. Going meatless on Monday didn’t really affect other days of the week, especially since I didn’t even make it to a grocery store or devote much time to meal planning. I think what I might need to do for next week is to be extra prepared by meal planning/shopping by the early weekend, that way I’m not caught up in the rush of school or work. I’ll try to aim to have my meals semi-prepared by Friday or Saturday with a clear plan of the kind of time I’ll need to cook on Monday. It’s just unfortunate that Mondays are one of my busiest days, but I’m going to keep trying to make this work! 

  

Week 5 Tim

Tim

Meatless Monday Week 5

4/7/14

           This Monday was our final week of Meatless Mondays; I can't believe how fast it went!  I wanted to make sure that I got this week right and was totally prepared and planned ahead.  However, I had already gone to the store to shop last week so Sunday when I had a ton of homework and things to get done I did not feel like going to the supermarket.  Luckily, I only had two classes in the morning so I planned on going to the store after.  Before my classes, I had my usual fruit smoothie and a bowl of Special K cereal.    

            After returning from class I checked my email and saw Sowmya's recipes.  When I saw the Eggless Egg Salad it looked great and sounded like a perfect lunch.  I went to Wegmans right away and bought the ingredients except for the scallions because I don't really like them.  The meal was so simple to make, it took me less than 10 minutes to prepare.  Once I mixed the tofu I added the additional ingrediants and ate it between two slices of whole wheat bread.  I had some celery as well.  I really liked the meal and it cost me less than $10 because all I had to buy was the tofu, which I had just recently tried thanks to our Meatless Mondays. 

            Since I already bought tofu earlier I figured I might as well try the other recipe Sowmya recommended in the email for dinner.  I already had all the ingredients except the avocado so I decided to go without it.  This was another easy meal to prepare and didn't take longer than 15-20 minutes to prepare.  I enjoyed this recipe as well and am very surprised still, about how much I actually like tofu when I was always afraid to try it because of the texture. 

            Going meatless on Mondays has been a great experience and I feel that I have learned something useful or new every week.  I used to be so opposed to not eating meat and always thought I "needed" it to feel full or complete the meal but my mind has been changed about this.  It has not impacted my other days of the week or anything in a negative way.  If anything, it has positively impacted me because now sometimes I reach for meat alternatives instead of meat, which I never have done before.  

Sowmya's Okra lunch

My lunch today is a very simple and traditional Indian meal that I'm used to having. I made Chapatis (Rotis...similar to pita) from whole wheat flour and cooked a veg side that is one of my favorites to have with Chapati. I cooked okra and potatoes in onions,tomatoes, sesame seeds, cilantro and spices. It was a really good meal and very easy to put together!

-SG

Week 4 Sowmya

This week's meatless Monday dinner was so much fun! I made the recipe which I forwarded to all of you. I made Portabella Mushroom Burger and Maeyann's Kale Salad. For the burger, instead of just having the mushroom in the burger, I baked a slice of tofu which I marinated in soy sauce and miso paste. I also caramelized some sliced onions with salt and pepper. I first layered the burger bun with the baked portabella, then tofu, then onions, hot sauce and topped it off with spinach and avocado.  Each burger cost me less than $4 to make at home and it was delicious! I served this with a side of Maryann's Kale salad.

Week 4 Jan

Jan

Monday 3/31

I had a very busy weekend with family in town. Normally I try to shop and do some cooking on Sundays, but did not get to it this week.

For breakfast, I had my usual whole wheat toast with margarine, and a little cashew butter. One cup orange juice and one cup water (o.j. is too sweet straight), one cup soy milk. 1 3/4 cups coffee. For lunch, I threw together a quick whole wheat pita stuffed with baby spinach, baked tofu (Brand: Wildwood), something expensive but new.  Also added a little ranch dressing which was leftover from family get together last month (date still good!). The tofu-spinach sandwich oddly tasted little like a tuna sandwich. Sometimes if I’m really short on time I just bring the sandwich ingredients and assemble it at work. Decided to add some spicy beans (“uncanny refried black beans” are the name, found in the hummus section) to the second half of the pita. Also had a handful of walnuts and an orange.

Snack: apple (organic, pink lady)

Dinner: I cooked some mixed veggies (frozen), cooked jasmine rice in water + remaining vegetable water. 

I sautéed onions and garlic, and added mixed veggies and garbanzo beans. I had this over rice with a few black bean tortilla chips. Later I had dark chocolate, a little cashew butter, and soy milk.

I relied a lot on some convenience foods (tofu, spicy beans) that would be better made by myself—classic trade-off of time and money, and this weekend time was in shortest supply. The extra money spent was still probably less than eating out.

Week 4 Cass

Cass

           Week 4

For breakfast I ate my usual meal: yogurt with strawberries, blackberries, and granola as well as a piece of toast with some peanut butter and unsalted almonds and an orange. For a snack before lunch I ate a cliff bar. At lunch time I had a little bit of stir fry that I had left over from the other night. It was broccoli, corn, and onions in brown rice. For dinner, I decided to try and make the quinoa tabbouleh that we made at South Lake. I went to Wegman’s and was able to buy all the ingredients for relatively cheap prices. The most expensive ingredient was the quinoa which was like $3. The one ingredient I left out was mint and I accidentally got cilantro instead of parsley. In the end, the dish came out pretty good! The cilantro was a bit different but not bad tasting at all. It was my favorite of the dishes we learned to cook and I would definitely make it again at home. The bowl I made was pretty large so I was able to eat the left overs for lunch today and as a snack. Honestly, I liked the left overs a little better than when it was fresh. The only issue I had is that now I have a lot of the green onion and cilantro left over that I probably won’t be able to use before it goes bad.

            Like usual, only dinner was affected the most because that is normally when I eat meat and my cooking did not affect any of my roommates. In fact, one of them tried the tabbouleh and liked it. Going meatless did not affect any of my other days other than the fact I had leftovers which carried into today and the next few days.  I didn’t spend that much more money on this meal because everything was pretty cheap and in the $1 and $2 range. I used the recipe from class on this meal as a resource. I think next week I may try the stuffed zucchini or hummus. While preparing this meal I was thinking about other similar meals I could make with quinoa in the future. I have never had it before that cooking class and really enjoyed it as a substitute for brown rice. 

Week 4 Robert

Robert

This week for meatless Monday yet again I almost messed up. Thankfully I read the email again and realized that I had to stop myself for one day from eating meat. So for breakfast has usual I had three eggs with peppers and spinach in it along with some Colby jack cheese. For a little extra flavor I put some Franks Red hot on it. This Monday was especially busy for me because I had a test in my night class and two other classes to go to. Because of my busy schedule I did not have a huge lunch like I usually do. I just had a handful of peanuts and a couple clementine’s. After lunch I began to study again and cram as much as possible before my test. With having a night class and having a test in the class it is hard to eat a good nutritious dinner. However I managed to make a calzone with all veggies and cheese in it, it was absolutely delicious! I think I gave zonies a run for their money! In the calzone I put peppers, onions, mushrooms, a little bit of salsa, banana peppers, spinach, and more tomatoes. While the calzone was in the oven cooking I studied some more. For a side dish I had some left over breadsticks from the pizza we had the night before, they were not the greatest leftover. All in all I believe that I had a pretty good Monday with the stress of a test and classes. This upcoming Monday I will make sure that I am much more prepared for Monday and try my best not to get caught off guard like I have the past two Sundays. 

Week 4 Mazie

Mazie

Meatless Monday 4

            Since, it is our fourth Meatless Monday I have officially gotten into the swing of things.  Whenever, Monday roles around I immediately think to not eat meat at any meals.  I suppose it has become a habit by now, a good one though.  So this week when I woke up I ate a breakfast consisting of an apple, some pineapple, a Clementine, and a little bit of Chobani plain Greek yogurt.  I felt pretty full after this for a while and ate lunch at around 2:30.  For lunch I had two slices of Kashi Mediterranean pizza, this pizzas are not very big so this was actually about half of the pizza.  They are however very good and nutritious they have red peppers, spinach, onions, Feta and mozzarella cheese on top.  I know this wasn’t very creative but I have been swamped with school work this week so I had to choose nutritious foods that were pretty quick.  Along with the pizza I also had some more pineapple.  Then for dinner I had a salad consisting of the organic spring mix, Gouda cheese, fresh parmesan cheese, carrots, and a Sweet Vidalia Onion dressing.  As a side I had a sweet potato and another Clementine.  And as a snack after my night class I had some non-GMO blue corn chips and organic Wegmans salsa.  I don’t think my meals had too much of an effect on others throughout the day.  I did eat with others but we had our own meals and if anything I probably encouraged them to eat some of my vegetarian choices.  Which I suppose is a very good thing, maybe I’ll spread the idea of Meatless Monday to people I share meals with!  I don’t think that my meals were any more expensive than what I normally spend on food in a day.  Monday may have actually been cheaper because I usually make more of an effort to cook all my meals for myself and to eat at home because it gives me more opportunity to make a nutritious meal.  Overall, I think that Meatless Monday’s are becoming a routine, and I hope to keep it up after the project is over.  

Week 4 IIana

Ilana       

Meatless Monday week 4 (3/31/14)

            This week for meatless Monday I started the day with a bowl of chocolate Chex cereal with fat free milk. Then I ate some pineapple and a clif bar for snack. For lunch, I went to edgy veggies and got a salad. My salad was made of spinach, fresh mozzarella, cucumbers, cherry tomatoes, tortilla strips, dried cranberries, and apple cider vinaigrette. It was delicious and a great way to get different vegetables into my day. A few weeks ago, I ate Pad Se Ew at Saigon Bangkok. For dinner this week, I decided to experiment with tofu and make my own version of Pad Se Ew. I found a recipe online that was simple and had great reviews. The dish was made of tofu, rice noodles, soy sauce, broccolini, fried egg, and brown sugar. I think I might have cooked the rice noodles wrong because they were extra sticky, but other than that, I enjoyed making and eating this dish. The recipe made four servings so I shared with my roommate and boyfriend. 

They both enjoyed the dish as well. For dessert, I treated myself to Yotality, a frozen yogurt shop.

            Sunday night, I prepared for this week’s meatless Monday. I went to Trader Joe’s, which has become my new favorite store. I am still surprised at how little I spend each week there. This was my first time making Tofu. I found it just as easy as making chicken. I am glad that I experimented with a new type of protein. I plan on making more Tofu dishes in the future after I do some research on other possible dishes. Week 4 has been a success!

Week 4 Tim

Tim

Meatless Monday Week 4

3/31/14

            Yesterday was our fourth week of Meatless Mondays.  It was also the start of two 7-week classes that I now have on Mondays.  I'm taking swimming conditioning and aerobic conditioning.  These are two high intensity athletics classes that I have in a row.  I knew I had to eat a clean, healthy meal to help my body feel good and perform well for the classes.  So for breakfast, I made a fruit smoothie consisting of orange juice, banana-strawberry greek yogurt and a cup of mixed frozen fruit, which I got from Wegmans.  I also had a large bowl of Special K cereal with milk.  I went to class and I felt good through out both.  They were my only two classes on Monday but when I got home I was tired and wanted to eat right away. 

            Conveniently, when I returned to my villa my roommate asked me if I wanted to get Chipotle for lunch.  As usual, I can't turn down the invitation to eat there but I also wanted to try the tofu, so I said, "Lets go!’  I got a burrito with a wheat shell, brown rice, tomatoes, pinto beans, lettuce and tofu.  The tofu was surprisingly good, it was my first time ever trying it and it was a meal that didn't require preparation after two tiring workouts. 

            Since I had the rest of the day off, I decided to go to Wegmans and buy something because I wanted to try something different other than what I had lying around my apartment and scrapping something together.  I was in the frozen food aisle when some veggie burgers caught my eye.  I cooked them on my George Foreman grill and ate them between two slices of wheat bread and they were surprisingly good!  I ended up eating two so I did not even eat again the rest of the night.   

            Overall, I feel I'm improving each Monday and going meatless generally makes me feel healthier and more alert due to cleaner low fat options.  I'm still learning about different meals but I enjoy trying different things each week.  I think the whole project is a great idea because without this class there’s almost a guarantee that I would not trying alternative vegetarian options!

           

Week 4 Sophia

Sophia

Meatless Monday Week Four

4/1/14

            This week I went on a big grocery trip so I had a lot to choose from for my meals.  My trip cost a little more than usual because I needed a wide variety of things, but the produce was not overly expensive.  I tried to think of the Clean Fifteen while shopping and tried to buy organic for any of my thinly skinned vegetables.  I bought my tomatoes, peppers, and potatoes organic.  The days without meat have become more routine now, and I think it is making me eat less meat during the week.  I also find that the meals made mainly with vegetables are easier to prepare.  Going meatless has not affected those around me much.  My boyfriend enjoys the meals when I try them, and my best friend is already vegetarian so it actually makes it easier for us to eat together.

            For breakfast I ate coconut flavored Greek yogurt with slivered almonds and tiny chunks of dark chocolate.  I love these flavors together, and I had this with a cup of coffee.  For lunch I was able to cook at home so I made a veggie quesadilla.  I filled corn tortillas with cheddar cheese, diced tomato, black beans, sliced avocado, and a little taco seasoning. I added some sour cream on top.  I took the tip from class to reduce the sodium in my canned black beans by rinsing them well.  This was a very good and filling meal.  I had a banana for a snack a couple hours later.  For dinner I made a veggie stir-fry.  I got this idea from the Chop, Fry, Boil article we read for class.  I cooked it with broccoli, cauliflower, and sliced red pepper in vegetable oil and garlic.  I loved the combination of these vegetables together.  I finished it with sesame seeds, soy sauce, some rice wine vinegar, and a little bit of sesame oil.  I ate it with brown rice, and it was a very good meal.  I think this week I tried meals that I usually wouldn’t make, and I was surprised by how easy they were.  I’ve been finding ideas from websites as well.  Each week gets easier.

Week 4 Ally (She is 21 yrs and over)

Ally

Meatless Monday #4

March 31, 2014

            My MM  #4 went well. We actually spent way less than we typically do on our grocery shop this week because we had so much stocked up already. We usually spend $100 each, but this week we only spent around $46 each!

            I was planning on going for Vegan Monday for the remainder of this project, but as far as today, a patient of mine brought me a chai latte with non-fat milk to his appointment and I drank it in efforts not to be rude! So that ruined the day’s veganism with dairy. Oh, well. As far as the rest of the day, I had black coffee and two rice cakes with peanut butter for breakfast. Around 10:30 am I had a clementine and some cashews. Later, for a light lunch I had some brown rice and steamed veggies with some olive oil, garlic, salt and pepper. I also had another clementine, a granny smith apple, and green tea. Throughout the whole day I was munching on handfuls of cashews and sipping green tea.

For dinner, my boyfriend and I once again took a recipe from the Meatless book! This time we made Lemon-Asparagus risotto. It was Arborio rice, lemon juice and zest, onion, olive oil, vegetable stock, asparagus, peas, and parsley. We left out the parmesan cheese to get rid of the dairy part of it. Even without the cheese it came out deliciously creamy in typical risotto style. It was also very filling and satisfying. Again, it was DELICIOUS, but by the end of my bowl I was slightly sick of the lemon flavor.  We will probably make it again in the future, but alter the amount of lemon that we added.

            My goal for next time is to try something new for breakfast. I almost always have the same thing, and maybe there’s something out there that would be more nutritious for me that would wake me up even more. My boyfriend likes to make smoothies in the morning. He freezes sandwich bags with all the ingredients already in it so that he can just dump it in the blender with almond milk and ice and head to work. I’d like to do this, but the texture of a smoothie is tough for me at such early morning hours. Maybe I can push through it and adjust myself to enjoy it! He uses spinach, pineapple, avocado, blueberries, chia seeds, MCT oil, cinnamon, and honey. I’ll try it next week and let you guys know how I feel about it!

Week 4 Quentin

Quentin

Meatless Monday Week 4

3/31/14

            For this weeks meatless Monday I tried a new recipe that I would have never really thought was appetizing or something I would enjoy.  I have started to realize that I need to retry a lot of different foods that I may not even have enjoyed a year or two ago, since my taste buds have blossomed into liking more varieties, better, and healthier foods. This week my food breakdown went as so.

Breakfast: Pancakes with butter and maple syrup

Lunch: Minestrone soup

Snacks: Pita chips with a variety of hummus types.  These included cilantro jalapeno hummus, garlic hummus, roasted red pepper hummus, and classic hummus.  Also ate some mandarin oranges as usual.

Dinner: Roasted red pepper and spinach calzones, which also had onion and garlic in it with extra virgin olive oil; and a side of chunky corn chowder that I made again like I did in a previous week.

            This weeks meatless Monday was my best yet.  I had new variety and also reused an old recipe from before.  My meals also affected someone else this week.  My girlfriend came up this week and we made the dinner together. She made the roasted red pepper and spinach calzones and I made the chunky corn chowder.  We also went shopping together and the worst thing that we bought for junk food was stuff to make cheesecake for this week.  But other than that we bought nothing but healthy foods.  It was a little more expensive shopping this week but was also easier because two of us were paying and not just one like it is when I am during usual weeks when she is not here. Meatless Monday was a huge success this week and with only two more to go I might actually accomplish going meatless every week for these six weeks.  After that it all might just go up in smoke. 

Week 4 Kara

Kara

Meatless Monday #4

3-31-14

Today was the most hectic Monday so far which I thought impacted my eating schedule significantly. I had two tests, one at 1 p.m. and one at 7 p.m, giving me little time to study for each. On Sunday I had to work an 8 hour shift which gave me no time to prep my food for the next day (I usually do prepping Sunday nights if needed), and had to immediately start studying once I got out of work. I started off my morning with a vanilla protein shake mixed with almond milk, one banana, frozen strawberries/blueberries, and flax seeds. I brought my lunch with me since I stayed on campus all day (from 1 p.m.-9 p.m.). I went to the library right after my first test and ate a cup of low-fat cottage cheese with almonds and used multigrain crackers to dip in. For a little snack in between I also ate an apple and peanut butter that I brought with me. Considering that I wasn’t at home, I unfortunately had to eat on campus and bought a salad from Edgy Veggie. It consisted of mixed peppers, cucumbers, feta cheese, avocado, lite red balsamic dressing, and added extra eggs to my salad to add to my count for protein. My snack afterwards I ate a small vanilla Greek yogurt, grapes, and green pea snack chips. I recommend everyone to try them; they’re from Trader Joes and taste like Cheetos!

I was upset I couldn’t make any new recipes, especially Sowmya’s Green pea avocado radish sandwiches—that looked phenomenal! It was very inconvenient that I had two tests throughout the day and had to work an 8 hour shift the night before.  I spent more than usual, only because the $7 that I spent on the salad could’ve bought multiple ingredients that would’ve made me a few meals for the week.  This Monday won’t really impact other days of the week, but now I will have free time to buy ingredients, prep my food, and make sufficient meals. No meal was affected drastically since I either brought or bought my food, and my breakfast was a simple mix and go. This was definitely an off day for me considering all my obstacles that got in the way. However, I know the next few weeks I will not have any issues and I am planning my meals to be adequate.

Week 4 Brad

Brad                                                                           

Meatless Monday Wk. 4      

4/1/14

            For my meatless Monday this week my goal was to change what I ate at every meal and try something that I haven’t had before through our meatless Mondays.  That being said I wasn’t looking to try anything crazy just mix up my diet a little bit more.  I started of my day with a bowl of oatmeal that I mixed strawberries and bananas into which I thoroughly enjoyed and highly recommend.  I liked it so much that I think in the future I’ll have it quite a bit except ill be mixing in different fruits as they come in and out of season.  The nice part about this week not having to work on Monday which provided me with a lot more time to make the food that I wanted.  It allowed me to try to make a meal that I had on spring break at a restaurant, which I wrote in last week’s blog.  I made stir fry burritos instead of tacos but it was simple and something that I would definitely make again.  Using beans, corn, sliced bell peppers, rice, and some onion, I created the stir-fry with some olive oil.  After put the contents of the stir-fry in the burrito wraps I added some salsa and sour cream to add some extra flavors.  This stir-fry using all the vegetables I had could have made enough food to have for a family’s meal.  For dinner I again tried to make something that I hadn’t before.  I have always loved chicken parmesan so I decided to look up a simple way to make eggplant parmesan and made that along with a simple romaine lettuce salad with some tomatoes and shredded cheese thrown on top.  I would’ve never thought just a few weeks ago that I would be trying meals like I had today.

Week 4 Becca

Rebecca

Okay, so today was rough.  As I have already alluded to in prior blogs, I have Lupus. This past Thursday my doctor changed ALL of my medicines and I have been having a really rough time with it.  In addition, when they did lab work, they found that I have an infection and also put me on antibiotics. That’s a total of four new chemicals entering into my body. My body freaked out.  Since Thursday, I have been battling a fever, nausea, sleeplessness, and itchiness. 

That being said, this week’s Meatless Monday was exceptionally challenging for me. First off, I didn’t even get out of bed until 12:30. The time for breakfast had long past by the time I got myself out of bed, dressed, and ready to prepare food.  As I mentioned, due to the recent change in medicines, many foods have been severely upsetting my stomach.  I have really been trying to keep a low profile in regards to food.  I figure eating something is better than eating nothing at all (I basically couldn’t eat a real meal all weekend, so while my meal selections today may not be the most nutritious, they were a great improvement compared to days prior). For lunch I had a sizeable bowl of white rice. It really filled me up.  It was just the meal I needed. I seemed to handle it well. Dinner was not as successful as I hoped it would be, but I did make a conscious effort.  For dinner, I searched Pinterest for recipe ideas (at the suggestion of fellow classmate). I found a recipe that I thought I could stomach—Creamy Spinach Spaghetti.  The recipe called for 3 garlic cloves, an onion, a bag of spinach, 1 cup ricotta cheese, 1 cup milk, and spaghetti noodles.  All in all, the recipe was a bust.  I followed all the directions, but my final product ended up looking nothing like the picture.  Still, I attempted to consume the food. The sauce was so bland. I couldn’t take it.  I even tried adding some mozzarella cheese on top to give it an additional kick. Still, it tasted like a plate of nothingness.  I was so disappointed. I do not recommend anyone to try this recipe. It looked appetizing but tasted like garbage. As a side, I decided that I was going to buy organic asparagus, since I noticed Wegmans had it in stock (it must be in season again).  Now, my whole life, my mom has boiled asparagus.  However, my boyfriend convinced me that he loves it oven roasted.  I told him that I had never made it that way before, and asked him to look up a recipe.  He looked on the internet and found one recipe that said to drizzle in olive oil, and place in the oven at 425 degrees for 12 to 15 minutes. I timed it out so that the pasta and asparagus were finished at the same time.  Even after the disappointingness of the pasta, I was still excited about my asparagus. After all, it had been almost a year since the last time I consumed asparagus.  That is, until, I bit into it.  The asparagus was so mushy and stringy.  It was a texture I just couldn’t handle—not crisp at all. I had to spit it out.  I suggested that we look up another recipe online to make sure we did cooked it long enough.  Another recipe I found said 425 degrees for 25 minutes.  So, we put the asparagus back in the oven. I figured maybe the additional ten minutes would help to crisp the vegetable.  Nope. They just burned. I was beyond frustrated.  I had spent 13 dollars at Wegmans for a horrible dinner.  The only thing I actually enjoyed from dinner was my beverage.  I bought V8 Fusion juice, peach mango flavored.  The juice is infused with 8 different vegetables.  It was super delicious.  After dinner, I was admittedly still hungry. I was so over the day.  All I wanted to do was treat myself.  I convinced my boyfriend to take me to dairy queen for an ice cream snack. I know it was definitely not the healthiest option, but at that point, I didn’t care. It was delicious.

I was successful in going another week meatless, but it was definitely a struggle.  I have decided that using Pinterest for recipes.  I am going to stick to sites where recipes are rated.  I think that is my best bet for the future. This ensures that the recipes I intend on making actually end up working. 

Week 4 Andrea

Andrea

Meatless Mondays Week 4 3/31/14

            For my fourth Meatless Monday, unfortunately my schedule went back to normal, meaning I have less free time or time at home during the day. I still tried to do my best in adhering to a completely meatless day, while still trying to be creative. For breakfast I had a small glass of organic cherry juice that my dad has been drinking, and I made 2 scrambled eggs with diced green and red peppers and a little bit of cheddar cheese. I topped it off with some black pepper and salsa, and served it over a slice of wheat toast. Since I leave for school before lunchtime, I made a smoothie with a banana, ¾ of a cup of organic unsweetened almond milk, a scoop of vanilla protein powder, about a teaspoon of flaxseeds and cocoa powder, and a tablespoon of peanut butter to drink on the way to school. It’s a recipe I’ve made before and it’s delicious and filling! For a snack I packed baby carrots and the leftover hummus I made last week. When I got home around 7 p.m., I was starving so I snacked on some cashews and raisins while I whipped up a quick side salad of field greens, chickpeas, mandarin oranges, craisins, grapes and feta cheese with a reduced calorie/fat sesame ginger dressing that I bought at Aldi’s. I love Thai/Chinese flavors so the dressing provides those tastes and flavors that I enjoy so much. The main course of stuffed shells with tomato sauce was actually made by my mom. With all the parsley I had leftover from last week’s quinoa salad, I chopped and sprinkled some of that on top of my portion. Afterwards, I had my favorite cup of Tazo mint tea and a slice of cherry pie for my dad’s birthday which was made with reduced sugar filling – still so delicious!

            I’d say my dinner was most affected because my parents were having a meal that my dad requested for his birthday, but luckily it didn’t have any meat in it, so that worked out well! Even if the main course did have meat, it wouldn’t affect either of my parents because they know that I am following an assignment. Again, like past weeks, going meatless on Monday didn’t really impact other days of the week, especially since I actually had all of the ingredients that I used for my meals. For next week’s dinner I hope to find another interesting recipe to make ahead of time so I can come home at night and be able to eat almost right away (since I’m usually pretty hungry at this point).