Monday's Menu

This is going by pretty quickly. Here's a list of my meals from last week:
Monday
Breakfast- Spinach, Fruit, Flax Seed, and Almond Milk Smoothie
Lunch- Lentil and Brown Rice Burrito
Dinner- Whole Wheat Spaghetti with Marinara
Tuesday
Breakfast-Slow Cooker Oatmeal
Lunch- Leftover Spaghetti, Dill Rye Toast
Dinner- NVM
Wednesday
Breakfast- 1/2 Banana
Lunch- Lentil Soup and Sauerkraut
Dinner- NVM
Thursday
Breakfast- Spinach, Fruit, and Almond Milk Smoothie
Lunch- Smoothie
Dinner- Lentil Soup and Tortilla Chips
Friday
Breakfast- Spinach, Fruit, and Almond Milk Smoothie
Lunch- Salad and Vegan Whole Wheat Bread
Dinner- Chickpea Noodle Soup
Saturday
Breakfast- a plum
Lunch- Potatoes, Rice, and Vegetables
Dinner- Pasta Salad and Green Salad
Sunday
Breakfast- Spinach, Fruit, Carrots, Almond Milk, and Flax Seed Smoothie
Lunch- Peanut Butter and Strawberry Preserves on Vegan Whole Wheat Bread, and Smoothie
Dinner- Chickpea Noodle Soup
I've been feeling great! My skin is breaking out a lot though and I have to wonder if it's at all related to this diet. I usually don't have acne or skin problems, but I have had some issues for the past month or so. Of course, it could also be due to the weather changes. The chickpea noodle soup I made this week was super yummy, I just followed a recipe for chicken noodle soup and substituted the chicken broth with vegetable stock and the chicken with chickpeas, delicious! Is it just more or are most vegan meals soups? I'm fine with that, except that 75% of the year where I live it is just not soup weather, thank goodness it's beginning to be cooler now.

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.

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

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.

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!

I Said Fridays, but I Meant Mondays

I know I said in the introduction that I'd be posting my weekly menu on Fridays, but after thinking about it, I believe it makes more sense to do it on Mondays, that way you'll get a full week's menu (Monday-Sunday) from the previous week. Have a great weekend!