Buckwheat waffles and Cantaloupe Juice

I started my day with 2 buckwheat waffles with bananas and ground walnuts, drizzled with agave nectar. This breakfast was amazing. I licked the plate clean to make sure I got every last bite ;)

The wildberry buckwheat waffles are gluten-free from LifeStream. They were very good, but I miss the fiber from whole wheat waffles. These waffles only have 1 g of fiber. That's one thing I've found about gluten-free foods. They don't have a lot of fiber in them. I guess if you eat plenty of other whole foods you don't need to worry about it. 

Last night, my mom made juice from an overripe cantaloupe. You just blend the cantaloupe (seeds included!), add a little water to reach desired consistency, and add sugar if desired. It's a wonderfully refreshing drink in the summertime. 

I'm going to get started on preparing dinner for tonight so that I don't have to rush to put some together before work. Then I have to go to the tailor and my parent's office. I'm not sure if I'll be able to post in between, otherwise I'll be back tonight. Have a great day!!

Super Charged Cookies & Spicy Dinner

Something I love about June in Minnesota is that the sun is just beginning to set at 9 pm. It throws me off schedule because I never realize how late it is. The late sunset tricks my mind! But I love it. 

I decided to bake more Super Charge Me! cookies after lunch. It seems my family liked my no added sugar, gluten-free modified version. They are all gone and I ate maybe 2! The batch I made today is even better. Note, these are not gluten-free (used spelt flour), and they do contain added sugar (maple syrup and molasses). 

Modifications:

-Dates instead of raisins

-Orange Zest

-Mini semisweet choc chips

-Molasses instead of oil

I calculated each nutrient packed cookie at about 150 calories. Instead of a dessert type cookie, I like to think of these cookies as snacks. 

My workout felt extra tough today. I felt stronger today lifting weights, but I also felt out of breath more often than usual. I was ready to go home after an hour long strength session, but I forced myself to run for half an hour. I have to keep reminding myself that I have 1.5 more weeks to push myself running-wise. After my race I can choose to take a break!

Post workout Super Charge Me! cookie and an orange. The orange zest in the cookie left me craving a fresh juicy orange. Sadly, this orange was rather dry and bland. 

My friend (and fellow bridesmaid) came to pick me up at 7 to get our dresses altered for the wedding. I realized I needed to eat beforehand, or I would feel sick. I needed something super quick though. I forgot I had another serving of Trader Joe's Lentil Rice Biryani in the fridge. I heated it up and added extra brown rice for more volume. I really like this. I think when I reviewed it last week, I said I wouldn't go out of my way to buy it. Actually, I think I will buy this again to have on hand for  a quick meal. It's quite spicy though. I love spicy food, but beware this is hot!

Unfortunately the tailor closes at 6. My friend was rather disappointed since she works downtown Minneapolis and doesn't even get home until after 6. I'm going to go in tomorrow morning and talk to the lady. We're getting nervous since the wedding is only 2.5 weeks away!

I'm off to relax and start unwinding for the night. Looks like tomorrow will be another busy day. I have to help my parents out at their office after the tailor. They are having an event this weekend, and need help with some errands and planning related things. Then I have to work tomorrow night at Sati. Somewhere in there I have to fit in a long run as well. 

Overstuffed!

I feel like I accomplished a ton of things before lunch. I donated clothes, returned a few items, inquired about a possible job, worked on my resume, bought a new cookbook, and finally made lunch. Whew!

My brother gave me a gift card to Barnes & Nobles for Christmas. I was so excited when I got it but surprisingly I hadn't used it. Borders is closer to my house so I usually stop there. Anyways, it was a tough choice to pick out just one book. But thanks to my generous little brother, I bought Veganomicon. I can't wait to try some of the recipes! Any suggestions as to which ones I should try first??

I was starving by the time I got home so I threw together a quick lunch. Lunch consisted of a salad and taco. 

For the salad I had spinach, mixed greens, carrots, red cabbage, and quinoa bean pilaf tossed with extra lemon herb vinaigrette. Thank goodness, the quinoa bean pilaf made a ton of leftovers. After this lunch, I have about one more serving left!

 On the side, Dr. Praeger's tex mex veggie burger taco with chipotle salsa. 

I think I went overboard with my lunch. I am completely stuffed and have to meet with my trainer in an hour and a half! 

Hot Breakfast, Iced Water

The sun is shining this morning, which always puts me in a great mood. Unfortunately, the sunshine isn't going to last all day so I better take advantage of it now. 

I woke up early enough today that it was still a cool 58 degrees. Plus, with the AC on I wanted a hot breakfast. I made oatbran with half a banana, cinnamon, and unsweetened vanilla almond milk. After it cooked, I added 2 chopped dates, sliced almonds, and a little bit of coconut. Great breakfast, I'm stuffed! 

As soon as I was done eating I needed iced water to cool me down. On the agenda today is a busy day of running a few errands, studying, meeting my trainer at 3, running, and getting my bridesmaid dress altered! It's a good thing I was up earlier than usual to fit everything in! Have a lovely day!

More Leftovers

Dinner tonight was more leftovers! I had no problem eating these leftovers because it is one of my favorite meals.  I reheated last night's broccoli cashew teriyaki tofu stir-fry and served it over brown rice. It was just as good as last night!

I am in the mood for some of TJ's Mango-Vanilla soy ice cream. I'm pretty satisfied from dinner, so I'm trying not to give in to temptation! Instead I'll make some tea to warm up. My mom turned the AC on and I'm freezing! I think tonight will be in a early night. I'm in the mood to curl up in bed with a good book. Have a good night!

Look at the cool pink sky we had tonight. 

Where'd the day go?

Hey guys, sorry for the late post! I can't believe it's almost dinner time. I tried to post this morning before work, but I ran out of time. I woke up this morning to glorious sunshine and comfortable 61 degrees. Perfect running weather if you ask me. I had half of a banana before my run. Lately, I've had trouble getting into a good running pace. It's been frustrating since my race is less than 2 weeks away. Today I felt great, which made me very happy. I would've kept running but I had to come home and get ready for work. 

I was too warm for a hot breakfast, so I decided on cold oatmeal. Before jumping in the shower, I combined half a cup of oats, cinnamon, half a cup of soy milk, and the other half of my banana, and stuck it in the fridge. When I was done getting ready (about 30 mins later), I took the mixture out of the fridge and topped it with blueberries, raspberries, sliced almonds, and little more soy. This combination turned out delicious! 

I packed leftover quinoa bean pilaf, raw cauliflower and baby carrots, and a peach for work. (I'm sorry for the horrible picture, I was in a rush!) The quinoa was even better served cold because the lemon herb vinaigrette was more pronounced. 

I had the peach as a snack about half an hour ago because the pilaf is super filling! Does anyone have tips for cutting a peach? Lately my peaches won't separate from the pit so I end up with a mushy mess. While at work, I had an iced decaf soy latte. 

I don't know how well this cleanse is going to work now that I'm working at Sati again. As assistant manager, I have to help make decisions about new recipes. That means I taste test crepes and drinks. I just have small samples, so I think it will all work out as long as I stay on track outside of work!

Weekend Highlights

Hey y'all. Sorry I didn't have time to post at all this weekend. I was out of the house a lot and I worked most of the day today. I'm tired and plan on getting up early tomorrow for a long run so I'm just going to post highlights. 

Quick update on the cleanse: I have to admit I went a little of the cleanse at times this weekend. However, my stomach has been bothering me again so it has convinced me to get back on track with cleanse friendly food. I really did feel great this week, when I stuck to the cleanse guidelines. 

Weekend Highlights

Saturday breakfast was Kashi Heart to Heart, Peanut butter Panda Puffs, banana, and blueberries with unsweetened vanilla almond milk. Delicious! 

I set out to run 9 miles yesterday in the late morning. It was uncomfortably hot and humid so I only did 4.5. I think I'm going to have to wake up early to get my long runs done now that it's getting so hot! Whenever I run outdoors, I crave smoothies. I dreamed up a tropical concoction yesterday, quite fitting with the tropics-like humidity we were experiencing. This post work-out smoothie was made with strawberry banana soy yogurt, frozen mango chunks and lite coconut milk. Perfect way to cool down from the steamy heat. 

Tonight for dinner I made one of my favorite recipes from Eat, Drink, & Be Vegan,  Broccoli Cashew Teriyaki Tofu Stir-fry, served over brown rice. The tofu was extra crispy today, just the way I like it. 

Friday afternoon, I baked a batch of Super-Charge Me! cookies from ED&BV, with modifications. I used gluten-free pancake and waffle mix in place of the spelt flour, apple sauce instead of oil, and agave nectar instead of maple syrup. These wholesome treats taste are packed with rolled oats, unsweetened coconut, raisins, carob chips, almond butter. They are a bit on the dry side and not very sweet- but they satisfy my cookie craving. 

I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend and is starting the new week well rested! 

New Recipe + New Obsession

I thought about making a quick salad for lunch- but that's boring. I came up with a quick and easy recipe for Quinoa Bean Pilaf. I tossed the cooked quinoa with beans and veggies, in a lemony herb dressing. 

Although this was good, I think it will taste even better later once all of the flavors have marinated in the fridge. I can't wait for leftovers! I decided to have dessert after my lunch because of the strong dressing flavor in my mouth. My new obsession is mango-vanilla soy ice cream from Trader Joe's. Holy yum-o!! Yes, it has added sugar, but I didn't have soy yogurt today so it evens out. Plus, it keeps me motivated ;)

I actually went back for more after I finished this. Now I'm torn between continuing to study or going to the gym. My body says run, my head says study, my eyes say nap. Sadly, caffeine could easily give me motivation for the first two things.  The lack of caffeine is hard. Today is the first day I don't have a withdrawal headache, yet I don't feel quite alert. Feeling lethargic is a result of caffeine withdrawal, but I hope it goes away soon!

Wishin' for Sunshine

Two tomato plants, sweet basil, and a pretty flower.

I am so fed up with this gross weather! Today marks day 5 without sunshine, and looking at the forecast, it's not going to get any better. We have had such a long winter/spring this year. May was the 4th month in a row cooler than average. I love hot weather so you can see why I always dream about moving somewhere else! Besides, this weather makes me sleepy so I don't get as much done during the day. 

Unlike most of you who have switched to warm weather breakfasts, I'm sticking to my oats. I had my current favorite combination: apple, cinnamon, raisins, and walnuts. There is so much texture in this combo, I think it's why I like it so much. 

For dinner last night, I threw together a quick pasta dish using brown rice spaghetti. I combined the pasta with leftover grilled vegetable from a couple of nights ago and little bit of all natural tomato basil sauce. This was really good, but a bit sticky from the starch. I made two servings, and had about half of this pot. I also had a little bit of salad. 

As far as the cleanse goes, I've been feeling great. After I eat, I get the full feeling, but my stomach isn't bloated or uncomfortable. To be honest, no gluten is very hard! So many things contain gluten. This cleanse is opening my eyes to be grateful that I don't have a gluten sensitivity. I've also been craving dessert after dinner, so I might try to find a recipe for a cookie that is gluten-free, vegan, and use agave nectar as the sweetener. 

Rollin Thunder

A thunderstorm's a brewin! The sky is a very dark shade of grey and I can hear the distant roll of thunder. I love summer thunderstorms! It's a good thing I got my run in this morning. 

My post-run snack was another smoothie. Today's smoothie was made with vanilla soy yogurt, frozen mango chunks, and a few frozen misc fruits (1/4 banana, 1/3 orange, berries). I ate it with a spoon so that it would last longer. 

An hour and half later I made a gigantic salad! This salad really did have every color of vegetables imaginable.

Green: 5 lettuce mix

Red: roma tomato

Orange: carrots, sweet potato

White: cauliflower

Purple: cabbage

Black: black beans

Alright, I guess I'm missing yellow and brown ;) I used Homemade Italian dressing. 

I'm starting to get hungry for a snack, but I'm not sure what I'm in the mood for. I'm sipping orange spice rooibos tea while I decide. 

**Edit: I decided I needed carbs for a snack so I made oatmeal with cinnamon and raisins. I should've made half a serving though, because I wasn't hungry for dinner 3.5 hours later!

Banana Cream Pancakes

Who knew being on a cleanse could taste so delicious! I am having fun looking up recipes that fit into the no added sugar, vegan, gluten-free category. I wanted a change from oats so I took out my trusty copy of Eat, Drink & Be Vegan. The first recipe I saw was Banana Cream Pancakes. I checked the ingredient list, and surprise, it fits! These pancakes are made with spelt flour, light coconut milk, and pureed bananas to make an incredibly creamy, light pancake. I halved the recipe and made 3 huge pancakes. However, I only ate two. I topped these delicious pancakes with agave nectar (allowed on the cleanse) and unsweetened coconut and had some raspberries on the side. The raspberries are amazing right now!

The third pancake is looking a little lonely...I might end up eating it. Have a happy Thursday!

**EDIT: Well, in my excitement I forgot that although spelt is wheat-free, it is NOT gluten-free. So my breakfast wasn't gluten-free after all :(

Success

I had a busy afternoon today! I met with my trainer at 2 and had an hour long, hard workout. Let's just say he likes to see me work. Since the weather has been crappy, I decided to run indoors on the treadmill afterwards. The first ten minutes were painful but then my legs loosened up. I didn't want to overdo it so I only ran 3.5 miles.  In between strength training and running, I had half of the JOCOLAT bar. Yum! I think I may like this bar more than the Clif nectar cacao one. I didn't even think to take a picture, because I ate it so quickly! After my run I had the other half. 

I was pretty hungry when I got home so I needed something quick. I tried the lentil rice biryani from Trader Joe's. You just heat it up in the pouch for 90 seconds and let it sit for another 60. 

A serving is half of the pouch. The biryani is a mixture of rice, lentils, chickpeas, potatoes, and spices. It was actually kind of spicy. I wouldn't go out of my way to buy this again, but it wasn't bad. It actually fits into my cleanse so I was happy about that. I obviously want to eat a fresh as possible, but I need to be realistic and have back-ups.

My mom and I spent over an hour at the grocery store. We were that low in food at my house. We bought a ton of produce and other items, but these are the specific foods I bought for my cleanse. Unsweetened vanilla almond milk, buckwheat waffles, and soy yogurt. I know the yogurt has added sugar, but I cannot find plain soy yogurt at my local grocery stores. It is nearly impossible to find products without any added sugar. Like I said above, I need to be realistic and have "go-to" items. As long as I limit my overall intake of added sugar, I'm not going to worry about a little bit of added sugar. I figure I'm already doing my body favor by avoiding gluten, dairy, animal products, alcohol, and caffeine. 

I've been craving sweet potatoes and black beans lately, so for dinner tonight I had sweet potato and black bean tostadas. For the sweet potato/black bean mixture, I used the same recipe as before. The only difference is that I added a little cumin to the mix this time. Instead of tacos, I had tostadas because the corn tortillas got too crispy to fold. I prefer the tacos, but this was still a delicious meal. I spread the tortillas with a layer of chipotle salsa. My mouth was on fire, but in a good way! My side salad was very colorful: green (romaine & spinach), red (tomatoes), purple (cabbage), orange (carrots). 

I'm happy to report that day one was a success :)

Trader Joe's

I went to Trader Joe's this morning for a lot of "specialty" items. When my mom gets off work, we're going to the grocery store for everything else. I thought it might be helpful for all those planning to do or interested in the cleanse, to see what I bought. 

Produce: Asian stir fry vegetables, shredded red cabbage, shredded carrots, lemons, asparagus, bell peppers, raspberries, blueberries, and extra firm tofu.

Pantry: brown rice pasta (spaghetti & fusilli), lentil rice biryani, black beans, refried pinto beans, red kidney beans, white kidney beans, roasted red peppers, vegan black bean soup, vegan split pea soup, light coconut milk, canned tomatoes, and ground cumin. 

Misc: peanut butter panda puffs (gluten free), gluten free waffle & pancake mix, raw almonds, raw cashews, walnuts, orange spice rooibos tea, unsweetened soy milk, agave nectar, black bean & corn enchiladas (gluten & dairy free), and mango-vanilla soy ice cream. 

I love having a stocked kitchen. It makes me excited to cook!

I'm meeting my trainer at 2 so I had a light snack to fuel my workout. A smoothie made with blueberry soy yogurt, banana, and a few mixed berries. It was the perfect consistency today, no chunks! 

Day One!

So it's officially the first day of the cleanse. I'm excited to start this challenge but I need to run to the grocery store because we don't have anything at home! To succeed in this cleanse, I'm going to have to be super prepared and have my meals planned. 

For breakfast I had oatmeal with half a banana, peanut butter, and 2 chopped dates. It was extra peanut buttery today, but I don't mind. I also had ginger tea on the side. 

Plans for today are grocery store, workout, and study. Have a great day!