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!
Ally, it's great that youre trying something new with your attempt to go vegan for the day. I have never considered this for myself before and maybe I will one day. It sounds difficult to exclude dairy, but I'm sure there are a lot of delicious vegan dishes. It sounds like you incorporated a lot of fruits into your day. I've been trying to buy more fruits and include them in my diet too. It's great that you saved so much money on your groceries this week. I had to stock up on everything so I had to spend more than usual. Your lunch sounded very healthy and good. I also love your choice of cashews as a snack. Nuts are a great option to snack on, and I've been doing the same with almonds and pistachios. I drink green tea as well like you were in the afternoon. It has such great health benefits, and I try to switch to tea instead of coffee when the morning is over. Your dinner looked really good! I wanted to get the meatless cookbook too because it looked like it had so many good recipes. Asparagus is so good so I would probably try a recipe like this too. It's great that you are setting challenges for yourself and trying new things. Going vegan this week and trying new breakfasts for your next challenge shows that you're really making an effort. Your boyfriends smoothies also sound very good. I personally love smoothies but I usually keep it simpler with bananas and berries. I think it is worth a try because they can be very tasty. Good job this week!
ReplyDeleteSophia
Ally,
ReplyDeleteThe dish you made from the Meatless book looked amazing! After reading your post, its something I would definitely want to make myself. I want to use the Meatless book to make a meal because it seems like several people have been really satisfied with their meals from the book. I saw that you wanted to try something different for breakfast and that your boyfriend likes to make smoothies. I've also gotten into the same routine as him, making smoothies every morning. They make me feel great and are a good start to the day. The best part is that you can make and add anything you want. There's no right or wrong way and you can pack lots of vitamins, minerals and nutrients into a quick drink. I personally use orange juice to get some vitamin C and raise my blood sugar plus fruit. I'll usually add a banana, frozen strawberries, blueberries and raspberries. Then I will also typically add a scoop of whey protein or sometimes I will use Greek yogurts instead depending on what taste I want on that day. I don't even prepare mine ahead of time however I can still make one, clean the blender and drink it in under 10 minutes so I definitely recommend you give smoothies a chance. You'll figure out what you like in yours and eventually end up with your own favorite smoothie recipe.
-Tim
Great job Ally! Enjoy challenging yourself by trying new things. It's amazing that you will always find a new produce/ingredient that you have never had before even if you feel you may have tried everything. Congrats on the money savings! Going vegan/vegetarian does not have to be expensive. Good luck for the coming weeks!
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