Wednesday's Weigh-In, Week 5

I've lost 1 pound since last week and, although I'm not fully focused on my weight, I've got to say, I'm happy to see the scale tip in the right direction- even if it is only 1 pound down. This means that since I've begun, I've lost 4 pounds and am 24 pounds away from my goal weight. I'm pretty well on track this week so far as my menu plan goes and since I have a plan, I should be doing great by the end of the week. I'm trying to incorporate flax seed more into our diet here and I have done so successfully so far, adding it to smoothies and oatmeal and today I'm going to try adding a little to my vegan whole wheat bread. I'm exercising regularly, even after being sick last week and over the weekend, and I am seeing my body change a lot from that. I'm doing the Jillian Michaels 30-day Shred and I love it! It's only a 20 minute workout every day, but it's great and after only a couple of weeks of doing it I'm seeing results. I have to return it to the library next week, so we'll see what I end up doing next.

My biggest concern right now is continuing this experiment while on vacation. I'm going to be taking two trips soon, one next weekend and another the following week. We're going to be traveling quite a long distance for one of those trips, which usually means we opt for less healthy food just for the convenience. We'll also be staying with family and I'm always concerned about being a bad house guest- making too many requests outside the hosts' normal routine/diet. I'm sure I'll be fine though, hopefully my husband will keep my in check a little while we're away. I'm planning to make some granola and other snack foods to have on hand while we travel, so that should help somewhat. I'll have to come up with some Veganstein travel tips and post them once I can get it figured out.

Monday Menu Week 4

Ugh! Last week was bad. I started off the week super busy- catching up with stuff after my husband was sick the previous week. Then, I got sick along with my 4 year-old. It was brutal on my experiment here. My husband took good care of me and our children while I was sick, but, since he was in charge of meals, there wasn't a whole lot of Veganstein going on. I was feeling a little better by Saturday, although even today I'm not 100% back, but by then my diet was already all out of whack. Luckily, I made a meal plan and did some grocery shopping that should get us through the next couple of weeks, so we'll just call last week a loss and start this week off much better. Okay? In addition to being busy and sick, I didn't get on the computer much because my hubby has been swamped at work and has been working from home during his regular hours as well as after hours, so I wasn't great at keeping record of my meals last week. Here's what I've got, forgive me for my laziness this past week in keeping track.
Monday
Breakfast- Plain Everything Bagel
Lunch- Black Bean and Corn Burrito
Dinner- NVM
Tuesday
Breakfast- Plain Everything Bagel
Lunch- Sweet Potato Minestrone Soup
Dinner- Vegan Stir Fry and Rice
Wednesday
Breakfast- 1/2 banana and a handful of raspberries
Lunch- I stalk celery with peanut butter, 1 piece of vegan dill rye toast
Dinner- Couscous with Vegetables
Thursday
Breakfast- Nothing
Lunch-Peanut Butter and Strawberry Preserves on toast
Dinner-NVM
Friday
Breakfast- Strawberry Preserves on toast
Lunch- (can't remember, probably toast again)
Dinner-NVM
Saturday
Breakfast- Nothing
Lunch- Black Bean and Corn Burrito
Dinner- Vegetable and Chickpea Stir Fry with Brown Rice
Sunday
Breakfast- Slow Cooker Oatmeal
Lunch- Peanut Butter and Strawberry Preserves on toast
Dinner- NVM (Yes, I know I exceeded my goal, but it was a delicious meal with family, totally worth it)

I'm finding that I'm not sure what to do with myself when it comes to meals with family or friends. We're new to our community, so I don't want to be the weirdo "vegan", especially since my diet is not truly vegan and I don't categorize myself as a vegan. Plus, when I go to see family the food is always so delicious, I'd hate to miss out on something I love just because of this experiment. I do cut back a lot, though, and that is something I'm proud of. I think, too, I'm just more attracted to the fruits and vegetables made available wherever I eat rather than heading straight for the meatiest, cheesiest food available and eating that in excess- so that should count for something. I certainly feel better when I eat healthier and I'm beginning to feel when my dietary choices are not as good as they generally are and I think that's great. I think it means that this experiment is making me more aware of how different foods effect me, my health, my mood, and my overall opinion of myself and that is such a valuable tool that I can use to make better choices for myself and my family in the future.

Wednesday's Weigh-In Week 4

It's week 4 of Veganstein and I'm feeling really excellent about how things are going. I have been, however, a little lazy about cooking though, so I need to snap myself out of that. I have not lost any weight, but I can tell by the way my clothes fit that my body is changing. I'm feeling strong and energetic. My monthly grocery budget is not liking this experiment though, as it has nearly doubled our grocery bill, so I'm going to have to find out how to eat plant-based while being thrifty, and fast. It may be just because there aren't a lot of options where I live to shop around for deals because I'm in a small town, but I hope I can get back to my normal grocery budget. I'm really looking forward to the harvest of different fruits and vegetables coming up soon and seeing what we can do with that. My guess is that pumpkins, squash, and apples will accompany many a meal in the coming months- yum! Meanwhile, I find my 4 year-old talking to a lot to his friends about food and exercise. He and his friends, while I was teaching preschool, talked all during one snack time about what kind of milk they each drink- cow's milk, almond milk, coconut milk (Noah's favorite). It was cute. I've also overheard Noah talking to his friends about how we shouldn't eat a lot of meat, but we can eat lots of fruits and vegetables to be healthy and strong- he's learning! It's so nice to have these conversations as a family and to see that my son is thinking about his body and how to take care of it.

Week 3 Monday Menu

Here's what I ate last week. I have to say last week went much better than the previous week. I found it much easier to stick to my experiment. I started up again with my exercise routine Thursday morning and that always helps me make better dietary decisions. The Sweet Potato Minestrone was so delicious! The Vegan Korma was tasty and very filling. I don't yet have a concrete plan for this week's menu, but I'm going to experiment a little more with tofu.
Week 3
Monday
Breakfast- Vegan Bread, plain
Lunch- Vegan Bread with Peanut Butter and Raspberry Preserves
Dinner- Sweet Potato Minestrone Soup
Tuesday
Breakfast- Apples & Cinnamon Oatmeal
Lunch- Black Bean and Brown Rice Burrito
Dinner- NVM
Wednesday
Breakfast- Bowl of Fruit (Green Grapes, Pineapple chunks, Banana slices)
Lunch- Sweet Potato Minestrone Soup
Dinner- Spaghetti
Snack- Dinner
Thursday
Breakfast- Plain Everything Bagel
Lunch- Miso Soup and Whole Wheat Crackers
Snack- Popcorn
Dinner- Vegan Korma
Friday
Breakfast- Cheerios with Almond Milk
Snack- a small glass of Almond milk
Lunch- Sweet Potato Minestrone Soup and crackers
Dinner- Black Bean and Corn Enchiladas
Saturday
Breakfast- Plain Everything Bagel and Almond milk
Lunch-NVM
Dinner- Black Bean and Corn Enchiladas
Sunday
Breakfast- Plain Everything Bagel
Lunch- Black Bean and Corn Burrito
Dinner- NVM

Wednesday's Weigh-In Week 3

Once again, I haven't lost or gained any weight, that's okay though. I haven't been feeling very healthy lately, though, and I know it is because I haven't been as consistent with my workouts this week- darn! Tomorrow I am starting back up with doing it in the mornings, regardless of how I feel. I've been feeling lethargic and I wonder if it's because of my diet. I have noticed that I don't sleep well the nights after my NVMs partially because my mind just won't shut off and also because my stomach is usually pretty upset. I wonder if there's a connection to my mind racing and eating meat and dairy- do they help with brain activity? I'm going to have to research that. The stomach aches, I think, are primarily caused by my eating cheese (especially if it's in a considerable amount)- darn again! I really like the taste of cheese, but I'm not liking what it does to my stomach after I eat it. I'm also beginning to see where/when I make bad decisions with my family's diet, it's when we're busy, which, lately, has been a lot. Even when I plan ahead, one little kink in the plan makes me wish I could just run to the nearest grocery store and pick up a frozen pizza, but I haven't because of this diet. Last night, however, I was thawing a vegan meal I had made a while back for my husband and I to eat after the kids went to bed so we could have a little dinner & movie at home date, but it didn't thaw enough and I really didn't have a back up plan, so he ran and picked us up some food which was tasty, but did not make me feel good afterward. Things like that just bother me, I don't like it when I plan to do something healthy, and end up really botching it. Today is a new day, right? Thank goodness for that! Needless to say, this past week hasn't been the easiest for me, and it's only 3 weeks in, but I'm still motivated to keep this up and see how it goes more long-term. Wish me luck.

Benefits of the Foods We Eat: Sweet Potatoes

I'm not doing as much research during this experiment as I hoped I would be. Most of my "free" time is spent finding recipes to try, but I've found myself wondering what makes the foods I eat healthy. So, I thought I could at least spend a few minutes every now and then reading about different foods and posting my findings here.

Maybe it's because I just had that delicious sweet potato minestrone last night and I have sweet potatoes on my mind, or maybe it's just because I love sweet potatoes, but that's what I'm going to start with. I've always heard sweet potatoes referred to as a super food, so I figured that meant it was good for me, but I now can say I know why. Here's what I've learned about sweet potatoes.

Sweet Potatoes are abundant in vitamin A (with one medium sweet potato containing more than your daily requirement. Vitamin A helps to boost your immune system, brings health to your vision by "feeding" your retinas, helps with the reproduction that goes on within your body and in your skin (helping you have smooth skin), it also helps you to fight infection and can help protect against certain types of cancer and disease. A deficiency in vitamin a is believed to be an accomplice to smoking in causing Emphysema.

Sweet potatoes also contain vitamin c, which we all know helps to strengthen our immune system. Did you also know it's known to help improve skin health and may prevent some wrinkling?

Sweet potatoes have manganese which is also great for the immune system and can help improve energy. Manganese can strengthen your bones, collagen, and ligaments- so it's good for athletes, and aids in nerve function. It can also help nursing mothers with production of breast milk and (for adults' eyes only) is good for sexual health as well.

Sweet potatoes are also high in fiber which is great for regulating the digestive system. Here's where I came across the one and only warning about eating sweet potatoes. If you have health problems related to your gallbladder or kidneys, you should speak with your health care provider about how much or if sweet potatoes should be included in your diet because they contain a small amount of oxalates which can cause kidney damage if the body cannot process it efficiently.

Vitamin B also joins the list of vitamins contained in sweet potatoes. Vitamin b, I've learned, is a vitamin we need to continually replenish because our bodies cannot store it. It's good for so many things too, such as fetal development in pregnant women, metabolizing fats, and keeping your skin, hair, and eyes healthy.

Sweet potatoes also contain iron. I'll be honest, I didn't expect that. I guess I've always just associated iron with meat. Iron helps your body to transport oxygen and, once again, helps you to have healthy skin, hair, and nails.

Wow! I love sweet potatoes even more now knowing that they do so much for me while also being so delicious. Thank you sweet potatoes!

Recipe: Sweet Potato Minestrone Soup

Minestrone soup is my favorite cool weather food. Yesterday it was rainy, windy, and cool all day, so I decided to make something tasty to compliment the weather. I had sweet potatoes on hand and searched on Allrecipes.com for recipes that have sweet potatoes in them and came across one for Sweet Potato Minestrone, yum! Of course I made a few changes, so here's the recipe I made that my family and I absolutely loved.

*I didn't this time around, but you can also add a 16 oz. package of cooked mini shells pasta to this soup

Sweet Potato Minestrone Soup
1 Tbs. vegetable oil
1 large onion, chopped
3 large stalks celery, chopped
1-2 Tbs. oregano (or to taste)
1 tsp. crushed red pepper
salt and pepper to taste
2 (15 oz) cans diced tomatoes (use Italian-style for flavor, or plain if you prefer)- do not drain
1 (15 oz) can white kidney beans, drained and rinsed
1 (32 oz) box of vegetable broth, or 4-5 cups
2 Tbs. apple cider vinegar
2 medium sweet potatoes, peeled and diced in a food processor
2 large carrots, peeled and sliced thin
1 can of cut green beans
5 cloves garlic, minced

Heat the oil in a large soup pot over medium-high heat. Saute onion, celery, oregano, red pepper, salt, and pepper until vegetables are tender, about 5 minutes.  Stir in tomatoes, beans, broth, vinegar, sweet potatoes, carrots, green beans, and garlic. Bring to a boil; reduce heat to low and simmer, stirring occasionally, until vegetables are tender, about 30 minutes. If adding pasta, add cooked pasta 5 minutes before serving.

Monday Menu Week #2

Here's what I ate last week.

Week 2

Monday
Breakfast- Apples & Cinnamon Oatmeal
Lunch- Pasta Salad
Dinner- NVM
Tuesday
Breakfast- Raisin Bran with Almond Milk
Lunch- Toast with Raspberry Preserves
Dinner- Black Beans with Brown Rice and Veggies
Wednesday
Breakfast- Oatmeal and Pineapple slices
Lunch- Whole Wheat Crackers with Raspberry Preserves and Green Salad
Dinner- Couscous with Tomatoes and Green Onions
Thursday
Breakfast- Vegan Bread with Raspberry Preserves
Lunch- Black Beans with Brown Rice and Veggies
Dinner- Alphabet Soup with Lentils, Veggies, and Tofu
Friday
Breakfast-Vegan Bread with Raspberry Preserves
Lunch-NONE
Dinner- DATE NIGHT NVM
Saturday
Breakfast- Vegan Bread with Raspberry Preserves
Lunch- Black Beans with Brown Rice and Veggies
Dinner- NONE
Sunday
Breakfast- Vegan Bread with Raspberry Preserves
Lunch- Black Beans with Brown Rice and Veggies
Dinner-NVM

I wasn't feeling well for some of the week. We all loved the couscous, and the alphabet soup with the tofu was a fun little experiment that went really well.

Recipe: Whole Wheat Vegan Bread

This is the simplest whole wheat bread recipe I have ever made and, after making it a couple of times, I have to say it is the tastiest I've ever made too. The original recipe, which you can see here, called for 1/2 cup of molasses, but even with mild flavor molasses, it was too much for me, it also used too much white flour for my liking. Below, I have the recipe with my tweaks.

Whole Wheat Vegan Bread
2 1/2 cups warm water
2 tablespoons active yeast
1 Tbs. mild flavor molasses
3 cups whole wheat flour
a little less than 1/2 cup agave nectar
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup nondairy milk
1 teaspoon salt
1 to 2 cups each unbleached white flour and whole wheat flour (this is in addition to the 3 cups listed above)

In a large bowl, combine warm water, yeast, and molasses, stir until well mixed. Add 3 cups whole wheat flour and stir until it begins to form a dough. Cover mixture and let rise in a dry place for 20 minutes- up to 1 day.

Once it has had time to rise, add agave nectar, vegetable oil, milk, and salt, stir until combined.

Begin adding remaining flour 1/2 cup at a time, alternating between whole wheat and white flour. After adding the first 2 cups of flour, it should be difficult to stir using a spoon, so place it on a lightly floured surface and kneed in the remaining dough- do not add in excess of 4 cups of flour. Dough should be soft and slightly sticky.

Split dough as desired. This recipe can make 2 loaves or 48 dinner rolls. Place split dough in greased pans or on greased baking sheets. Cover and let rise 1 1/2 to 2 hours.

For loaves, bake at 350 for 35-40 minutes. Cool in bread pans on a wire wrack for 10 minutes, then remove the bread from the pan and cool another 15-20 minutes before slicing to serve or store.

For dinner rolls, bake at 375 for 20 minutes. Cool for about five minutes before serving so it has time to soften.

*I froze the dinner rolls and thawed them to serve at a later time and they were still soft and delicious, we just heated them up in the microwave.

Wednesday's Weigh-In

The second week of Veganstein started on Monday. I had a cheeseburger at our Labor Day BBQ and, although it was delicious, my stomach was not a fan. It's amazing how quickly a person's body can adapt to dietary changes. I'm finding it difficult this week to stick to my experiment, I don't know if it's because I crammed last weeks NVMs into two days and then started this week off with another NVM or if it's for some other reason. Toward the end of the week last week, I was having trouble sleeping. Then, over the weekend, my husband started feeling sick and has kept me up the last few nights, so I'm feeling a bit sluggish. I know that when I'm tired and lazy feeling, I often eat more than I would normally, so that could be why Veganstein is more of a challenge this week. Either way, I've been sticking with it and have kept up with my exercises each day. It feels good to exercise and stick to a goal especially when I really don't want to, it makes me feel like I have better control over every aspect in my life. Of course it doesn't really change how much control I have in everything, it just makes me feel stronger and more capable of handling things. I think good health can do that. Have you ever overheard people talk about a mutual friend who is struggling with various things in his/her life and one of them says, "Well, at least she has her health"? That was always such a weird thing to me, but I think I'm beginning to understand that expression. As my husband has been working toward leading a healthier life, I've observed him playing with our kids more, helping around the house more, and facing challenges at work with less frustration. For myself, I feel as though I've developed more patience and energy to handle day-to-day things as I've began focusing on my own health and trying to improve it. There are a lot of things we can't control; people around us will make foolish decisions that upset us, financial problems will come, etc., but one thing we can control is how we take care of our bodies. True, we may take excellent care of our bodies and still become ill or get injured, but if our bodies are strong, so is our will, and if our will is strong, we can push through any challenge before us with both strength and grace- even if the outcome is different than we would hope. If all we have is our health, we still have hope, and some times that's all we need to carry on. Now that I'm realizing this, that good health will benefit me in every aspect of my life, I don't think I can ever go back to how I was before, not super unhealthy, but not really doing anything to be healthy. I'm glad for that.

I haven't lost or gained any weight since last week. I'm seeing more definition in my muscles though, which I like. I now understand a little better why gyms have so many mirrors in them, I love seeing my leg muscles working when I exercise.

Recipe: Vegan Enough For Me Banana Bread

Here's a recipe I made for Vegan Banana Bread. If you want it to be truly vegan, use raw sugar instead of white sugar. I love banana bread and this is one of the best recipes I've made. You could add another banana to give it more banana flavor if you want.

2 ripe bananas, mashed

1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce

1/2 cup Splenda

1/2 cup sugar (or omit Splenda and just do 1 cup of sugar)

1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. cinnamon

1 1/2 tsp. baking soda

1 1/4 cup whole wheat flour

1/2 - 3/4 cup pecans diced, or crushed (use some in with mix and sprinkle remaining on top before baking)

Bread, bake 350 for 50 min, then 325 15 minutes longer

Muffins bake 350 for 20-30 min

Monday Menu Week 1

Last week was the first full week of Veganstein. I think it went well, although all of my Non Vegan Meals (NVMs) got clumped together at the end of the week because of a birthday party and other things. Today is Labor Day, so it looks like I'm starting off the week with a NVM since we're going to be having a BBQ later on in the day. That's okay though, because even when I had my NVMs last week, I found myself making healthier choices; a second helping of salad instead of another hot dog, brown rice with my grilled chicken instead of putting it on a bun, etc. I think my overall attitude is that I'm working hard to be healthier every day, why ruin it with bad choices while sitting down for one meal? Here's what I ate last week:

Week 1

Monday

Breakfast- Maple & Brown Sugar Oatmeal, with glass of vanilla almond milk

Lunch- Brown Rice with Marinara sauce

Snack- Vegan dinner roll with Peanut butter and a pear

Dinner- Lentil and Veggies (I added more spices to this, I love lentils, but with lots of seasoning) with a vegan dinner roll

Tuesday

Breakfast- Cinnamon Roll Oatmeal

Snack- a glass of vanilla almond milk, pretzels

Lunch- PB&J on vegan rolls, grapes

Dinner- Black Bean Burgers with Green Beans

Wednesday

Breakfast- 1/2 banana and Maple & Brown Sugar Oatmeal

Lunch- Brown Rice with Lentils and Veggies

Snack- Almond Milk, Pretzels

Dinner- Curried Tofu (I found this recipe to be a little too bland, I added onion salt to the tofu before the other ingredients. Next time I think I'll add diced red peppers and onion to it for more flavor. Also, we ate this with brown rice and we chopped our own carrots.)

Thursday

Breakfast- Cinnamon Raisin Oatmeal Toasters and a pear with a glass of vanilla almond milk

Lunch- Black Bean Burger with a banana

Dinner- Whole Wheat Spaghetti with Marinara sauce and green beans

Friday

Breakfast- Cinnamon Raisin Oatmeal Toasters

Lunch- Black Bean Burger with grapes

Dinner- NVM

Saturday

Breakfast- Cinnamon Raisin Oatmeal Toasters

Lunch- NVM (Birthday Party, but the cupcakes were vegan and delicious!)

Dinner- NVM

Sunday

No Breakfast or Lunch for Fasting

Dinner- Leftovers- Lentils with Brown Rice, Pasta Salad, Green Salad, and Sweet Potato French Fries

Family Night Snack- Vegan Whole Wheat Banana Bread

 

I came across some surprises with our meals last week. First, my baby loves tofu! He is generally a good eater, but he ate the curried tofu meal we had Wednesday up like it was candy. The second surprise I had was just how filling these meals were, especially the dinners, I could hardly eat what I had always thought to be a full serving, and I didn't wake up starving as I usually do. I made a big pot of brown rice for this week and tonight I'll be making some black beans, so those will be great to have on hand throughout the week. Week 2 starts today!