Day Three: Part One

Picture every minor annoyance and exacerbate it by a windchill of -17 degrees. That is my day: waking up to an inefficient heating system that has my apartment at 60 degrees, cat puke on the tear-out of snack ideas from Real Simple (I'll spare you the picture), dressing in four layers (literally), a coffee machine that doesn't feel like working, tire pressure alerts upon arriving to work, all of the things that happen at work, having to park a mile away from the doctor's office because of inefficient parking lots, temper tantrums that result in expensive things breaking, coming home to an inefficient heating system that has my apartment at 59 degrees...you get the picture. I guess I won't be taking my shoes or two jackets off any time soon. I'm too cold to even go in the bathroom to pee (or to go anywhere else to pee, unless it's Tahiti). My laptop keyboard is freezing. And to top this all off, today (post-lunch) I was huuuuungry. I'm still hungry. I can't stop thinking about tacos. And pizza. OMG, give me cheese. Then I'm like, oh yeah, this is what getting dressed feels like: 

Nope, not wearing that

Okay, now I'm guiltily looking at pictures of cheese online like it's porn. I am turning into that guy from Portlandia (in more ways than one; can we discuss brunch now?). I was going to have leftovers for dinner, but I think I need to cook something to get my mind off of...well, food. At least I'll get to stand near a hot stove. Maybe I'll even get to take off one of my jackets!

Day One

Well, it's the end of day one. I ate everything I planned, which was 48 calories over my daily budget and a TON of carbs. Like, 274 g. Is that even possible? All of the recipes I used are from 21 Day Vegan Kickstart and I'm using their nutrition facts. Ummm...well, here's how it added up: 

Breakfast: Green Apple Oatmeal

This was easy, and I made enough for another day, too. I just made oatmeal with a cup of oats and threw in a diced green apple while they cooked. Sprinkled some cinnamon on top and done. It was, you know, oatmeal.

Per serving:

Calories: 202
Fat: 2.8 g
Saturated Fat: 0.5 g
Cholesterol: 0 mg
Protein: 5.6 g
Carbohydrates: 40.2 g
Sugar: 9.9 g
Fiber: 6.4 g
Sodium: 13 mg


Lunch: Balsamic Zucchini Sandwich and Shorba Addis

Go Ninja, go Ninja, go!

I was iffy about this one because it involves a lot of things I don't like, namely, zucchini and roasted red peppers. However, I was excited to use my new Ninja (and to see if it actually worked) so I made the roasted red pepper spread first. All I did was puree half of a roasted red pepper and a half cup of rinsed cannellini beans. I spread this on a Trader Joe's Middle Eastern flat bread and topped that with 4 basil leaves. On top of that, I put strips of zucchini that I sauteed in two sliced garlic cloves and 1/2 tablespoon of balsamic vinegar. I'm happy to say that it turned out pretty awesome. 

Per Serving:

Calories: 274
Fat: 2.5 g
Sat Fat: .5 g
Cholesterol: 0 mg
Protein: 16 g
Carbs: 50.1 g
Sugar: 15.8 g
Fiber: 11.3 g

I actually made the shorba addis (curried lentil tomato soup) ahead of time and reheated it to have with the open face sandwich. This is a really thick and hearty soup that's more like a stew, and the recipe makes 3 servings. 

1/2 yellow onion, diced

1 small carrot, diced
1 teaspoon freshly grated ginger
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon curry powder (berbere is preferable)
1 teaspoon fenugreek seeds
2 1/2 cups vegetable broth
1/4 cup tomato paste
1/4 cup brown or green lentils
1 Yukon Gold potato, diced
1/4 cup whole wheat orzo pasta

Over medium-high heat, sauté the onion until it is brown. Reduce the heat to medium. Add the carrot, ginger, garlic, curry powder, and fenugreek, sautéing them for about 1 minute. Add the veggie broth and tomato paste, stirring until the tomato paste is thoroughly combined with the broth. Bring the soup to a simmer. Add the lentils and stir. Once the soup comes back to a simmer, cover the pot and reduce the heat to low. Cook the soup for 20 minutes. Add the potato and orzo; cook the soup, covered, for 5 more minutes.

Note: I could not find fenugreek seeds anywhere. Instead, I used a drizzle of pure maple syrup. 

This was amazing and flavorful. The entire meal was super filling, and afterwards I happily laid down for a food coma and episode of Portlandia aptly named "Cat Nap," because I soon fell asleep. 

Per Serving:

Calories: 202
Fat: 1 g
Saturated Fat: 1 g
Calories from Fat: 4   
Cholesterol: 0 mg
Protein: 8.5 g
Carbohydrates: 42.3 g
Sugar: 7.7 g
Fiber: 7.1 g
Sodium: 157 mg

Snack Time: Oatmeal Banana Bites

This is something that I will definitely make again, with improvements. I mixed a cup of rolled oats, a cup of brown rice flour, a teaspoon of baking powder, a grind of sea salt, 1/2 a teaspoon of cinnamon, and a pinch of nutmeg. Then, I pureed two bananas and added that, along with 2 tablespoons of low sugar craisins. The batter looked pretty dry so I added a splash of almond milk. It turns out I forgot to add the teaspoon of vanilla extract...I think a little more banana would have helped, too. 

I rolled 8 balls out of the batter and baked them on 350 for 15 minutes. 

They're a pretty good size; big enough for a decent breakfast, I think. I'm glad I added the craisins and hopefully next time these don't come out as dry. 

114 calories
2 g fat
0.3 g saturated fat
12% calories from fat
0 mg cholesterol
3 g protein
22 g carbohydrate
4 g sugar
3 g fiber
136 mg sodium

                                                                              Dinner was actually a colossal disappointment, and unfortunately, I'm stuck with leftovers for lunch tomorrow. The Sunday doldrums are kicking in and I'm probably going to go to bed soon before I get hungry again. I'll share my sad fettuccine story tomorrow.