Hey there, my precious pickles!
Yesterday started out as it always does lately….with a gigantical smoothie.
We’ve been making Freezer Smoothie Packs in the big ziploc baggies to make our smoothie prep easier. Into each bag went about 3/4 cup frozen pineapple, 1/2 cup frozen Wild Blueberries, 1 cup organic frozen cauliflower florets, 1/2 cup organic frozen cherries, and 3/4 cup frozen spinach (mostly all from Costco). In the morning, I add 2 cups unsweetened vanilla almond milk, a big ripe banana, a huge handful of power greens or de-stemmed collard greens, 1/2 an avocado (or organic peanut butter), and a sprinkle of cinnamon, turmeric, and black pepper. Round one and two shown above!
Side note: I gave up caffeine for a little while so I’ve been doing herbal tea in the morning with almond milk. What I really crave is the hot beverage itself and the flavor of coffee, not the pick-me-up of the caffeine. Nonetheless, I felt like I “needed” coffee every single day and I didn’t like feeling dependent on it. I also still have to run to the bathroom several times when I drink coffee, which isn’t ideal.
I’m obsessed with Numi teas, which are all organic and have no “natural flavors.” The rooibos with a splash of almond milk is perfection, and it even looks a little like coffee!
I had terrible headaches the first few days (hello, withdrawal) but now I feel great! We’re going to the Harbour Island, Bahamas next week so I plan to drink some coffee again there. I love coffee but don’t want to feel dependent on it, or any food/drink for that matter.
When the boyf and I first started living together, we would pretty much make our own food. He would eat the random no-bakes and muffins and treats I’d make, but as far as the bulk of our meals, we pretty much did our own thing since he’s a meat eater.
All of that has changed for the better. Now I make us a huge batch of smoothie (around 5-6 cups) that we share in the morning. He takes organic eggs and steel cut oats with cinnamon to work, too. For lunch, he brings organic chicken and sweet potatoes with an apple, carrots, hummus, and some kind of bar or no-bake bites. I make dinner, and it’s always plant-based. He willingly eats it every night. “Can we have bean balls for dinner?!”
It usually surprises people when I tell them he eats vegan every night. But why? He’s always plenty full (he does eat a lot) and as long as the food tastes good and is healthy, he trusts me and doesn’t care if there’s no meat. Hallelujah!
I got a hankering for eggs mid-morning so I whipped up a couple while I did computer work. The difference in flavor between conventional and organic eggs is insane to me. The yoke is so much brighter and they taste ten times better. We get the big 18-packs at Costco, which helps offset the higher cost.
Lunch was Kale and Quinoa + Curried Chickpea Salad that I grabbed at Alchemy. Always being at a restaurant has its perks!!
Snacks included baby carrots with hummus, a big organic sliced apple with cinnamon, and a homemade Easy Vegan Protein Bar. These are SO good and I can’t wait to share the recipe with you! The pictures are fugly but hopefully I’ll get over that so you can have them in you life.
Dinner was this insanely delish Chipotle Chili with Sweet Potatoes and Brussels Sprouts a la Isa Chandra served atop a couple pieces of Vegan Cornbread and our usual salad (side note: last night we changed it up with organic leaf lettuce, roasted almonds, chopped apple, and avocado with honey dijon vinaigrette and it was BOMB).
For the cornbread, I used a mix of white spelt flour and whole wheat pastry flour and added sliced jalapeños plus a handful of organic corn kernels to the batter. I highly recommend! Of note, I only baked mine for about 25-27 minutes rather than the 35 minutes the recipe calls for.
Dessert was these Black Bean Brownies that I can’t get enough of warmed in the microwave with a tall glass of chilly almond milk.
Hope your day is filled with chocolate and butterflies!!
I cook mostly vegetarian and it always surprises people that my husband will eat tofu and all my meatfree creations… we’ve been living together 7 years and he’s never complained or not eaten something (so I’d say your boyfriend is a keeper!!)
Love it. so much! 🙂
I’ve been trying to get my fiance to eat less meat for years – he’s better than he used to be but still has the mentality that it’s not a “meal” if there is no meat. He’ll devour my black bean lasagna (made with black beans and tofu ricotta) and lentil marinara spaghetti but it’s not something he would ever seek out willingly. And now that he knows I try to sneak in healthy alternatives, he’ll question what I’ve made before even trying it. Work in progress…
Two things….I love that the 2 salads you grabbed from Alchemy are the 2 that I make frequent,y from your blog…..and I feel truly blessed that my family always eats my vegetarian/vegan food without complaint. They love my cooking!!
I can totally relate to living with a meat eater. Up until this point, My foodie-carnivore husband has been open to any vegetarian/vegan so long as there is a meat dish on the side…we recently watched the documentary “At the Fork” and I can see his viewpoints have changed ever-so-slightly since then. I made your vegan meatball sub on Meatless Monday and he actually asked if they were made with meat! And I quote, “it kind of upsets me that I can’t tell if this has meat or not… but this is REALLY good” and he then proceeded to eat two subs. Score!!!!!! Thank you for the great recipes!!
Yes that makes me so happy! Glad you both enjoyed it. Stumping the meat eaters is my fave 😉
Before my we were married, my husband’s diet consisted of meat, cheese, and potatoes. He is usually super suspicious of new meals with a “that sounds gross” or “does that have meat?” comment, but generally gives it a try. He usually likes what I feed him and has found numerous things that he loves that he would have never even given a thought before me. I don’t think he would ever go meat-free for multiple meals, but he has probably increased his veggie intake by three-fold.
something caught my eye in your post today….did you day 1 cup of cauliflower florettes in your smoothie????….i’m a big green smoothie drinker, but have not had flavor success with adding cruciferous veggies to my smoothie–I can tolerate adding to my juices though…
before i put some cauliflower in my next smoothie, did you find your ratio to mask the cruciferous taste?
thanks a bunch! thanks a bunch of cauliflower florettes ; )
eva
I find that as long as the cauliflower is steamed before freezing that the other ingredients in your smoothie blend with the flavor deliciously! Adding a date for sweeties would always work as well and pro tip: PB in a smoothie with cauliflower is AMAZE.
Yes–you don’t taste them at all. I get the big bag of organic rainbow frozen cauliflower florets at Costco. We also do tons of frozen spinach. Zucchini is another one you won’t taste at all. As long as there’s banana and/or pineapple, it really masks it 🙂 If you’re making a smoothie for one, start with a few florets. Go up from there!
i just landed on your blog and found what i Ate Wednesday. i read some of your posts. i like what you eat but i have a question why Wednesday ?
I think it has a ring to it! And showing a super normal day in the middle of the week is a lot more true to what I eat daily than on the weekends when we all have extra plans and food outings that may not be normal for everyone.
Thats’s Great Alexis !!
That’s awesome that you guys found some middle ground with your food. As long as it tastes delicious, no one will miss the meat anyway!
Couldn’t agree more!
I am obsessed with the Numi chai rooibos!
John’s a meat eater too and it can be a struggle. Even though he takes meat every day for lunch, he still likes to have meat for most dinners so I find I eat a lot more meat than I would if I was living alone. I put down my foot and insist on 1-2 meatless dinners a week though – and since I do the cooking he doesn’t have a choice haha.
Lol love it!
Looks delicious!! I am mostly coffee free as well. But I agree, I miss the hot beverage, I drink a lot of tea too!! So good!!
Does that smoothie taste good? I hope it does.