Menu May 9, 2014

Brunch
Clean out the fridge salad! Iceberg lettuce (the saddest of all the lettuces), rice, black beans, buffalo cauliflower, broccoli, yellow pepper, green onions, red onions, avocado and salsa.

Snack
Pineapple, peach, banana and blueberry smoothie with flax seed and soy milk. More lemony lentils with radish.

Running errands snack
A stale Luna Nutz over Chocolate bar. Staleness was sad. 


Dinner
 Broccoli, yellow pepper, onions, garlic, sun-dried tomatoes and garbanzo beans stirfried with coconut oil, hoison sauce, soy sauce and just a bit of rice that was left. Nowhere near as good as the manperson's stir-frys. And a Stella Artois.

Menu May 8, 2014

Otherwise known as thank dog I took photos because I couldn't remember what I ate just 24 hours ago....

Breakfast
In keeping with the 'normal people eat salads for breakfast' ruse, kale salad with red onions, garbanzo beans and lemon-tahini dressing. Basically, I like to start the day out with stank breath.

Also had a pineapple, banana and raspberry smoothie with chia seeds and soy milk.


Lunch
Buffalo cauliflower salad take two. I'm trying to find a good vegan ranch that's not full of processed ingredients and thus far good isn't really happening. THIS is the BEST ever vegan ranch and fools die-hard omnivore ranch fans but alas, full of ingredients I'm currently avoiding.  So anyway, the search continues. At least this one looks prettier?

Snack 
More lemony lentil salad. Note to self - next time make half a recipe.

Also had a bite of an Apricot-Chocolate Brüks Bar that a coworker shared. (note, label on the one she had didn't list honey). OMG delicious. OMG so not something I can buy because I could tell I would have NO self control over it. It was like a groumet clif bar.

Dinner
The man person makes the best stir-frys. I'm pretty sure he has rainbow dust on hand as his secret ingredient. I'm not exactly sure what all he used but at least the following: coconut oil, broccoli, orange pepper, garlic, ginger, corn, soy sauce, hoison sauce and siracha. I had a bit of white rice under it and a few Corona Lights. Excuse the worse than normal picture quality. I was HUNGRY. And yes, that's a chip in my plate.

Menu May 7, 2014

Breakfast
Feeling pretty uninspired today in the food department. So, leftover smokey kale, black eyed peas and onions in tomato sauce. Ahhhh leftovers, saving me from having to think!

Snack/Lunch/Snack
Today was just..... odd. Tons of running around in the office so just grabbing food when I was hungry and had a minute. I had the following during my (15 hour) workday.

Strawberry, mango, banana, flax seed and soy milk smoothie.
Salad - mixed greens, sunflower seeds, carrots, celery, onions, peppers, Woodstock Dressing
Lemony lentil leftovers over baby kale
Trader Joe's Organic Split Pea Soup

Oh, split pea soup. Kinda tasty. Really ugly.

Menu May 6, 2014

Breakfast
Leftover bell pepper nachos, of course.

Snack
Strawberry, mango and banana smoothie with chia seeds and soy milk.

Lunch
Due to work and and personal obligations both lunch and dinner are at restaurants today. First up is Luna's Living Kitchen.  Luna's has been able to cross over the vegan/raw lines and appeal to omnivores, foodies and even your grandma. Their food is consistently delicious and it's gorgeous to boot. My favorite is their Classic Veggie Burger but everything is wonderful. I knew I'd have bread for dinner so I opted for the Pad Thai. I didn't take a photo because I didn't want my coworker to think I was completley nuts but it looks mostly like this:

Photo Snagged from Luna's Facebook Page

Spiraled zucchini and carrots, raw almond butter sauce, purple cabbage, microgreens, house-made hot sauce, some other stuff I'm probably forgetting and basically just a big plate of yum.


Snack
Kale, pinto beans and onion in tomato sauce.

Dinner
Dinner was at a much less vegan friendly place than than lunch. Greek Isles is a popular restaurant and I see tons of opportunity for more veg friendly fare but alas, we're not there yet. I opted for the Hummus with Pita and the Greek Salad no cheese. Hummus was ok. Salad was blah and I ended up having too many pieces of white bread because I was starving. 

Meny May 5, 2014

Breakfast
Smoky black-eyed peas, kale and onions in tomato sauce. Pineapple, banana, strawberry, blueberry, flax seed smoothie. Forgot to take a photo but there are leftovers!

Snack
Lentil salad from yesterday with baby kale.


Lunch

Leftover pizza from Saturday's dinner and a basic side salad with Annie's Woodstock Dressing. Love that stuff.


Dinner
Since it is Cinco de Mayo (a totally Americanized holiday) and I never need an excuse to have Mexican food I thought hmm, what can I do besides yet another Mex-style salad which are a mainstay in my diet. Mini Pepper Nachos! Let's be real here, this ain't the same as a plate full of corn chips, boca ground, daiya and vegan gourmet sour cream but it IS delicious.

Mini peppers halved and scooped, jalapeno cashew based cheese sauce, soy curls* with cumin, paprika, oregano, granulated garlic and red pepper flakes, black beans, jalapenos, green onions, shredded iceberg lettuce, salsa and guacamole. Freaking good.

*I don't think I would buy soy curls again. They're highly processed and I've just never really loved them. I've had this bag at least 2 years. This is the best way yet as it gave some crunch to the dish since I all but burnt them!

Menu May 4, 2014

Breakfast 

Normal people totally eat salads for breakfast. Mixed greens, small sweet potato, kidney beans, onions, bell pepper, yellow squash, grilled tomatoes, avocado, salsa and hot sauce.
Hmm, that picture makes the bowl look small. I guarantee you that was not the case.


Snack 
Banana, Strawberry, Blueberry, Pineapple, Flax Seed, Almond and Soy Milk Smoothie


Lunch 

Baby Kale with  Lemony Lentil and Chickpea Salad with Radish and Herbs

Dinner
Leftover carrots and green pasta primavera.

Menu May 3, 2014

Breakfast 

I was up before the roosters to volunteer at Girls on the Run Charlotte's Spring 5k. I knew it would be a busy morning so I had a quick peach, strawberry and banana smoothie with almond milk and chia seeds on the drive there and tossed an apple, celery and some hummus in my bag. Ate those when I had a chance.

Lunch 

Another day, another taco salad. Mixed greens, refried pintos, sauteed peppers, onions, shrooms and yellow squash, avocado, pepitas, homemade salsa.

Dinner

Photo from Quarrygirl.com

Photo from theeffervescentvegan.com

We had a gift card to California Pizza Kitchen. I've never been but in checking out the menu was surprised to see it's pretty vegan friendly. Now, I'm not generally a fan of chain restaurants. The food, at most, is normally uninspired, bland to accommodate a lot of different tastes and overpriced. BUT, I do like to support restaurants from local mom n pops to national chains that make life easy for a vegan.

I couldn't find the exact list of ingredients anywhere so I'm sure it doesn't strictly fit into the Eat to Live lifestyle but I figured I could make something work. I started with the asparagus and arugula salad, no cheese, and then the California Veggie pizza, no cheese, on whole wheat crust with spicy marinara. So many sun-dried tomatoes, they're so damn good. Had all the salad (kinda teeny) and about 3/4 of the pizza. We didn't love the food and agreed there are much better pizza options in our area but it would be a solid option for a no-brainer meal when traveling. Not pictured - tall boy Stella Artois.