30 Days A Vegan: Week 1

Day 1:

• Breakfast: Avocado Toast on Grain Bread and coffee with Califia Farms Almond Milk Creamer – If you’re looking for a non-dairy, low-fat, and/or low-calorie all natural creamer, I HIGHLY recommend this brand. I’ve had all 3 flavors, and they’re delicious. I started using them months ago, so this isn’t a vegan thing, it’s a delicous coffee thing.
• Lunch: Pasta with Asparagus, Sun-dried Tomatoes, and Pesto, and Roast Sweet Potatoes, Mushrooms, and Broccolini – I realized after the fact that I inadvertently strayed from full vegan here, as the pesto contains Parmesan cheese. #RookieMistake
• Dinner: Since it was #PizzaFriday, we ordered from Domino’s. I had a thin crust pizza with double mushroom, black olives, diced tomatoes, green pepper, and onions, and no cheese, and a mixed green salad with simple vinaigrette. – I know, I know, pizza without cheese? Is that really pizza? Call it a veggie flatbread if it makes you feel better, but it was delicious, and I didn’t miss the cheese at all. Seriously.
• Snacks: Marcoa almonds while waiting for our pizza. Oh, and cocktails. Is it Friday night without a cocktail?
• Thoughts: This was a rather easy day, and set me up for a good start. What I knew before this, and is even more evident now, is that this type of diet (definition a, b, or c, not d) will require more planning and prep than I’ve had to do previously. Really, not a bad thing at all, but something to take into consideration.

Day 2:

• Breakfast: Coffee with Almond Milk Creamer
• Lunch: Zucchini Grillini, no cheese, and Organic Vegetable Soup from Jason’s Deli – This was our first trip to a Jason’s, and we’re already excited to go back. The menu looked awesome, the salad bar was STOCKED with some great options and healthy grain salads to top your greens, and they have free ice cream. That’s right, FREE ICE CREAM. Of course, I couldn’t have any, but what a cool option available for young and old alike as an incentive to finish their meal.
• Dinner: Portobello Tacos with Vegan Jalapeno Sauce – I’ve “warned” Jim we’d probably be enjoying a lot of Mexican food, as the easiest way to enjoy any vegetable is to wrap it in a tortilla and top with salsa. These were delicious, and my first experiment with cashew based sauces. Great flavor, but I wish I would have had time to soak the cashews longer, our errands that day took longer than expected, and added another jalapeno for kick.
• Snacks: Chips, Salsa, and Guacamole and Spicy Grapefruit Margaritas – Tequila is vegan, right?
• Thoughts: Again, I’m pretty early into this experiment, so it wasn’t too tough, but I did find myself wanting a cookie from the jar in the kitchen and ice cream during lunch, but it wasn’t too difficult to tell myself no. I also stocked up at Trader Joe’s on some staples for future meals, as well as some treats such as Honey Roasted Almond slices for salads and snacking, as well their Frozen Coconut Dessert With Chocolate, which basically just tasted like delicious chocolate ice cream with a faint hint of coconut. Highly recommend it to anyone and everyone.

Day 3:

• Breakfast: Leftover Portobello Tacos with Jalapeno Sauce and Coffee with Almond Milk Creamer
• Lunch: Leftover pizza from Friday and veggie sandwich from Saturday
• Dinner: Snack plate of veggies, hummus, and pita chips
• Snacks: Prosecco 🙂
• Thoughts: Anything is doable when it’s enjoyed with bubbles!

Day 4:

• Breakfast: Peanut Butter & Jelly Chia Pudding, Avocado Toast, and Coffee
• Lunch: Snack plate of veggies, hummus, and pita chips
• Dinner: Sautéed mushroom, asparagus, and onions with jalapeños, corn, and kale over quinoa topped with jalapeño cashew sauce
• Snacks: Republic of Tea’s Coconut Cocoa Tea with Coconut Milk
• Thoughts: The struggle was real today. I was on my own with the kids for dinner, and I had the idea to go to Culver’s to get take-out. I could have a veggie burger and sweet potato fries, right? Wrong! The veggie burgers contained cheese. Luckily I had looked it up before getting into line. My alternate dinner was good, but I was really hoping for some sweet potato fries. In other news, that PB&J Chia Pudding was AMAZING. Seriously, so, so good. And easy too. I think it took me all of 10 minutes to mix it up into 5 servings for some quick weekday breakfasts. Can’t wait to try other flavor combinations. <runs off to google some more chia pudding recipes before bed>

Day 5:

• Breakfast: Caramel Latte with Coconut Milk & Fruit Cup from Starbucks
• Lunch: Panera’s Mediterranean Quinoa Salad with almonds
• Dinner:  Out with a Friend for Mexican: DIEZ VECES MÁS LOCO VEGETARIANO: Zucchini, red peppers, green peppers, carrots, tomato, red onion, mushrooms, broccoli, with Rice and Beans … and chips, salsa, and table-side guacamole. Obviously.
• Snacks: n/a … which lead to the massive amounts of chips and salsa consumed at dinner

Day 6:

• Breakfast: PB&J Chia Seed Pudding and Coffee with Almond Milk Creamer
• Lunch: Mediterranean Salad from Potbelly with no chicken or cheese
• Dinner: Vegetable Sushi Rolls with Sesame Miso Kale Salad
• Snacks: Popcorn and Rosé
• Thoughts: Real talk. This evening I sniffed the cookie jar like I was part vacuum, but I resisted a bite of the delicious smelling butter and egg filled baked goods.

Day 7:

• Breakfast: Trader Joe’s Frozen Steelcut Oatmeal with bananas, cinnamon, and brown sugar and Coffee with Almond Milk Creamer
• Lunch: Leftover Veggie Fajitas with Sweet Potato Chips, Guacamole, and Salsa
• Dinner: Veggie Sub on Wheat from Subway and a Riverwest Stein from Lakefront Brewery
• Snacks: n/a
• Thoughts: Thus ends week 1. Overall, there were difficult parts, but it was easier than I expected. That being said, it was an odd week for our family, without as many family dinners as we usually have, i.e. 6 or 7 rather than 2. Next week should be more of a challenge, as we’re back to the usual routine, and my goal in all of this is to share as little resemblance as possible with a short order cook. Basically, I want my meals to parallel those of the rest of the family, with as few changes as possible to make mine vegan.

 

Now, onto week 2!