Meal Plan Monday with a Kris Carr Influence

I took a much needed internet break for a while, but here I am again with a week's worth of meals and a grocery list.  

Breakfast:

I've been reading Crazy Sexy Diet, and I want to try starting my day with green juice instead of protein smoothies on some days this week.  Apparently, greens help alkalize your body and contain massive amounts of chlorophyll, which is super fab for you.  I'm thinking of trying this smoothie in addition to some recipes from Kris Carr:

• Chocolate Vegan Protein Powder (I like Biochem)
• Chocolate Green SuperFoods
• Kale
• Frozen Banana
• Almond Milk
• Maybe some almonds 

      I've also come to love this juice combination:

• some kale
• half an organic cucumber, with the skin
• 2 green apples
• a peeled lemon
• ginger root

I found this deep blue sea smoothie recipe that I'm dying to try as well.

Lunch:

Kris Carr and many other health experts recommend a lot of raw food in the diet because of the enzyme content, among other things.  Your body has to work less at digesting food which frees up energy for other crucial things.  She recommends an 80/20 or 60/40 goal ratio of raw to cooked.  I've been going close to 100% raw for lunch with salads for months now, so I'll continue that.  I like an organic salad made up of mixed greens, romaine, chickpeas, cucumbers, carrots, avocados, walnuts, and berries or chopped apples.  I like to sprinkle my salads with nutritional yeast and cayenne pepper.  My dressing of choice lately has been olive oil and balsamic or sesame oil and apple cider vinegar.

Dinner:

I'm thinking Buddha Bowls.  Grains, greens, and beans with a yummy dressing.  I bought one of those Amy's frozen vegan pizzas on sale recently, which I like to cover with vegan cheese like Follow Your Heart Monterrey Jack or Daiya Mozzarella shreds (not very raw, but whatev!).  I found this lentil walnut loaf recipe that I want to try.  It's also been cold recently, so I think some soup would be perfect this week.

Here the shopping list:

•  almond milk
•  organic, raw almonds
•  bananas
•  organic mixed greens
•  organic romaine
•  organic kale
•  avocado
• organic, raw walnuts
• organic cucumbers
• organic celery
• organic broccoli
• organic green apples
• lemon
• ginger root
• organic cauliflower
• organic spinach
• organic red onions
• organic scallions
• garlic
• mushrooms

I'll probably get some of the produce today, some a few days from now.  I think it's better than way because the veggies are fresher.  In addition to that:

• lentils
• millet
• quinoa
• black beans
• tofu
• tempeh
• chickpeas
• vegan cheese
• spirulina
• Amazing Grass Chocolate Green SuperFood

I like my sweets and desserts,  so I'll most likely pick up a dark chocolate bar or two for a little after dinner treat.  I'd like to try Vanilla Chia Tapioca Pudding from Crazy Sexy Diet too.

Clean Program, Week 2

Week Two is over, and I officially have seven days left on the Clean Program.  Today, I feel well rested, strong, and healthy.  I feel good! 

This week was a really busy one for me.  I got home late, I stayed up late, I woke up late, I barely had enough time to get dressed in time for my commute let alone make a smoothie.  I found myself randomly getting a strong urge for some coffee while at work, but other than that, it was pretty smooth sailing.
 

I skipped the breakfast smoothie on Day 11.  I made up for it on Day 12 with a frozen organic raspberry, cocoa, almond milk smoothie with hemp powder and chia seeds.  On most other days this week, the base of my breakfast smoothie was coconut milk, almond milk, hemp powder, chia seeds, and ground flaxseeds.  I added frozen organic fruit like peaches and blueberries.  They are super filling!  I found that I like cold, thick drinks in the winter.  I am so surprised by that!  There's snow on the ground, yet I like my cold smoothie.   Here's a particularly thick version, in a coffee mug.

For most of the week, lunch was not exciting since I have to cook it the night before and bring it to work, and I haven't had the time to do this important Clean meal any justice.  I tried to make a lovely millet and artichoke risotto from the Clean website that was supposed to be nurtured with frequent stirring but ended up being rushed.  The result was pretty blah.  I repeated the quinoa, lentil, spinach mixture from last week.  One definite winner this week was this meal made of balsamic glazed portabella mushrooms from Vegan With a Vengeance and saffron brown rice from Veganomicon. 

This weekend I made crabless cakes, a Clean recipe from their website.  It was made up of cashews, coconut flakes, celery, carrots, onion, sea salt, pepper, and kelp powder.  It was suggested to serve it with mustard and sauerkraut, but I would have preferred it with Vegenaise.  I'll probably make it again after the detox.

I eventually had time to heat up the artichoke millet risotto with more veggie broth, and it came out so much better.  Here it is with some kale and crabless cakes.

In addition to organic honeycrisp apples, hummus and carrots, raw cashews, and raw almonds, I made kale chips to snack on.  They are so amazing!  I'll post the recipe I used later this week.

Dinner during week 2 was either white bean and roasted garlic soup from my last Clean post or some green juice.  Here's spinach, celery, green apple, ginger, and lemon juice.

An exciting update on my allergies is when I got my allergy shots, the injection site didn't swell up like crazy like it normally does.  Weird, huh?  It will be interesting to see if this continues.  Does this mean that coffee and gluten make me more sensitive to allergens?  I hope not!  After week 3, I'm supposed to incorporate the foods I wasn't supposed to eat gradually into my diet and see how I react.  I'll have to think about what food on the Clean "no" list will make an appearance first.  Soy? Gluten?  Coffee?  Nightshades like potatoes?  Bananas?  I'll keep you posted!

St. Kilda and Lord of the Fries

While staying in Melbourne, we took a day trip to St. Kilda, a suburb just south of the city.  We walked around and headed to the breakwater to look for fairy penguins.  Camera poised and ready, we carefully climbed wet rocks on the lookout for these tiny birds...unfortunately, we didn't see any.  Overall, it was a quiet kind of day.  It reminded me of November at the Jersey Shore, most of the rides and games are closed, few people walking around, and just one or two restaurants open.  St. Kilda sort of had a less seedy Coney Island kind of vibe. 

 

The quiet streets had some fun little shops and some of the houses had Victorian architecture.  The slanted boardwalk surprised me, this was my first time seeing a boardwalk that wasn't raised off the sand. Kind of weird, but cool.

It was the middle of Australian winter with temps in the low 50's F.  The beach was empty, but I could see why this would be a popular destination in the hot summer months.  I don't have food pictures, but we did eat at Soul Mama, a vegetarian buffet-style restaurant with beach views.

After walking around for a while, the cold sea breeze started to get a bite to it.  We walked into the building that housed the St. Kilda Sea Baths, a spa, and Soul Mama.  The place was expansive with a nice lounge area, really fancy restrooms, and a fireplace going.  It kind of had a high end beach restaurant/ski lodge effect, and it was most welcome!  Hunting for fairy penguins works up an appetite, and it gets cold in southern Victoria! 

We settled in and after figuring out that we wanted the option of rice and four selections from the buffet (we had three choices: soup and salad, rice and four choices, and a bigger one that I can't remember), we ate.  Overall, I was happy with Soul Mama.  Some of the selections were a little plain, but their menu does change seasonally and you can definitely taste the freshness of the veggies.   As always, we couldn't turn down a vegan chocolate cake, so we topped off our meal with that and headed back to Melbourne on the tram.

Earlier in the day, after finding enough change to cover the journey and before making our way to the tram, breakfast was in order.  Since Lord of the Fries was right across from the train station, we decided on some vegan fast food.

You would never know that this place was vegetarian if you didn't come up close and read their sign that says, "100% veg".  It was always packed with students and business people.

While their delicious fries are in the name, their other specialty is vegan nuggets and veggie burgers. On this particular day, I decided on the breaded and fried soy protein that is their chicken nuggets.

You had a choice of sauce, and I went with the "Aussie": they call it tomato sauce and vinegar, I call it ketchup.  The "American" sauce is barbeque, and I definitely had that on another occasion.  Sometimes you just have to go for the quick and easy food.  Lord of the Fries was a really fun and economical treat for a couple of traveling vegans!

Blizzard at the Jersey Shore

On Christmas, I went to the beach for a quiet moment and snapped a few photos.  Little did I know that in about 24 hours, an epic blizzard would hit, and the entire Jersey Shore would be blanketed in more than 2 feet of snow!

The total amount of snow in my town is officially 30 inches.  It's crazy!  I couldn't open my back door so I climbed out a window to get to a shovel.  The most shallow snow was over my knees, making it really hard to walk.  Needless to say, the shoveling didn't get done.  Snow drifts were intensely high, completely covering cars!  Streets are completely impassable, plows are getting stuck and are being diverted to emergency situations.  Thank goodness I went food shopping on Christmas Eve day!  We've been watching TV, reading, drinking hot drinks, and eating yummy food.  Here's an organic TLT (tofu, lettuce, and tomato) with avocado on toasted whole wheat bread.

I want this snow to melt!  Here's a cool time lapse video someone recorded near here. 

December 2010 Blizzard Timelapse from Michael Black on Vimeo.

Kale Chickpea Soup

I rarely make my own recipes.  I substitute and change around all sorts of things from my favorite cookbooks, but start from scratch?  Almost never (and salad doesn't count). 

I love soup for lunch in the cold months.  I had a craving for kale and chickpeas, so I put a bunch of stuff together in a pot and surprised myself by making this delicious, flavor filled and healthy soup.  

Here's what I used:

-2 stalks of celery

-1 onion

-half a green bell pepper

-olive oil

-2 cloves garlic

-2 cups vegetable stock

-1 vegan boullion cube

-1 large can organic chickpeas

-a bunch of kale, chopped

-3 carrots, chopped

-1/2 head of cauliflower, chopped

-1 tsp thyme

Here's I did:

1.  Saute diced onion, green peppers, and celery in olive oil in a pot until onions start to get a tad transulescent.  

2.  Add 2 chopped cloves of garlic and stir with a wooden spoon until the garlic gets fragrant and smells awesome.  Stir in the thyme.

3.  Add two cups of vegetable stock and stir.

4.  Add four cups of water and one vegan boullion cube (crumble the cube as you add it).  Stir and bring to a boil.

5. Add carrot and cauliflower and simmer for about 5-10 minutes.

6.  Add chickpeas and kale and simmer for 5 minutes or so.

I heated this up for lunch throughout the week, so good!  I especially liked it with a healthy dash of Sriracha hot sauce.  I will definitely make this again, and I'll try to invent new soup recipes since this one was such a success! Yay for soup making!

Vegan Melbourne-Yummy Soy Lattes, Buddha Food, and Records

When we were in Melbourne, we'd wake up, take the bus into the CBD (Central Business District), and begin our quest for caffeine.  Brother Baba Budan is located at 359 Little Bourke Street.  Starting the day with one of Brother Baba Budan's lattes was always a treat.  Though we had a LOT of great coffee in Australia, this place was the best.  The cafe is small, often crowded, but well worth the effort.  The lattes were strong and whipped up with BonSoy, the best, creamiest, most delicious soy milk offered in Australia's best coffee shops.  We looked forward to seeing the designs made in the froth, this leafy one was one of my faves. 

After getting caffeinated, we were ready for record shopping.  One of the best places to do that in Australia is Missing Link, conveniently located near the best lattes at 405 Bourke Street.  When we needed a juice fix after, we'd head to Tropicana Juice Bar at 213 Elizabeth Street.  When we needed lunch in the CBD, we liked to go to a little Buddhist art gallery.

The Fo Guang Yuan Art Gallery can be found at 141 Queen Street.  We walked by it at least twice because there really wasn't any sign indicating that it served food.  When we finally did walk in searching for food, I felt silly because I'd obviously walked into a super zen, Buddhist art gallery.  My hunger kept my feet moving, and I'm glad I did because tucked in the back was a tea room/vegetarian restaurant. 

The waitress was always very good about pointing out the vegan options on the menu.  These light and fluffy dumplings did not disappoint.

Crispy soy-something (their name totally escapes me) were a crunchy and filling protein source.

This dish included fresh bok choy, bean sprouts, noodles, tofu, and some veggie/soy mince mixture.  Their food left me feeling warm, full, and ready for our next adventure.

Vegan Woodstock

I spent some time in the Catskill Mountains in New York last summer. The lush, wet, green forest surrounded our quaint bed and breakfast. The road to the house was twisty and green by day and pitch black at night. One of the the best parts of our trip was when it was blocked by a humungous black bear. It barely cared at all that we were there and seemed completely unthreatened by the Jeep we were in. After casually sauntering off, it disappeared into the shadows of the trees. The field adjacent to the house was frequently visited by deer, our room was shabby chic, and the pace was relaxed. This bed and breakfast didn't cater to vegans or vegetarians, but a local restaurant did.

The Garden Cafe is located on the main drag in Woodstock, pretty much right in the center of the action (which includes a bookstore, some hippy clothing stores that I walked past, and a small flea market). Downtown Woodstock is pretty tame. Some kids hung out in the little green area in front of the Garden Cafe, and some random old hippies roamed the evergreen surrounded street.

The lentil soup was satisfying, and the quesadillas were fun. The vegan cheese was stringy and drippy in a good way, and the vegan sour cream was a nice addition to the guac and salsa.

Being the avocado lover that I am, I couldn't resist it as a topping for my southwest black bean and roasted sweet potato burger. Good, healthy food that leaves you happy.

Of course, no vegan trip to the Woodstock area would be complete without a visit to the Woodstock Farm Animal Sanctuary. The Woodstock Farm Animal Sanctuary is home to many cute and happy rescued farm animals.

My favorites were the goats. They were so cute!

The pigs were huge, sleepy, and happy.

The cows were big and serious. I guess being rescued from a veal crate can do that to a cow. My heart broke when I saw an empty veal crate on display on the farm. It's full on disgusting to think that people would force a baby cow into a tiny little crate to starve and later eat it. Elvis the Cow's story started that way, but ended happily. Overall, this was a really positive place. They offer guided tours and you can feed some of the animals. Bring shoes that can get muddy if you ever decide to visit.

A long weekend in Austin...

I recently spent some time in my favorite Texas city, Austin. While I could go to the Whole Foods breakfast taco bar every day, I also sampled the delicious food at Bouldin Creek, Hoboken Pie, and Mother's Cafe. Bouldin Creek Coffeehouse is one of my favorite places to eat in Austin. It's casual and easy with zero pretension. Check out my freakin' fabulous iced coffee (two shots of espresso with chocolate over ice):

I love the little ice chips. My homemade blueberry corn oven cake drizzled with agave and served with tofu scramble and fresh fruit was ridiculous. I'm drooling with the memory!

The Predictable Breakfast is a never-fail combination of tofu scramble, toast, and hash browns. I've eaten at Bouldin a bunch of times, and it never disappoints.

There is a hot dog stand near some of the bars in downtown Austin that serves vegan dogs (I believe they're tofurkey sausages). It is open really late and is a gift from the gods when you really need to eat and it's late. Hoboken Pie is located right down the street, and worth the trek for vegan pizza. Of course, I had to check this place out since I am from Jersey! They didn't have individual slices, but I was able to share a pie. Good stuff.

Mother's Cafe also never dissapoints. This time, I had the Bueno Burger (seeds, grains, tofu, and veggies) with vegan cheese and guacamole.

The Sloppy Joe's were enhanced by some vegan cheese.

Desserts are a must at Mother's Cafe. Check out their dessert menu:

We settled for the almond mocha torte and the blueberry pie.

Vegans eat well in Austin!

Vegan Key West

Key West, affectionately called The Conch Republic, is a warm and easy place that is quite vegan and eco-friendly. Surrounded by turquoise water and snaky mangroves, the streets of Key West are lined with Victorian architecture, art galleries, quirky shops, rowdy bars, and mellow restaurants. We had a reservation for a sunset kayak tour, and after checking into our hotel in the old part of town we had just enough time to walk down the warm, Victorian-lined streets to The Cafe, a delicious vegetarian restaurant at 509 Southard Street. After traveling for a few hours in the car through slow Keys traffic (there is only one road that connects the Keys), I couldn't wait to relax with a delicious vegan meal. Appetizers included spring rolls with sweet chili sauce and Un-wing Dings, which was fried BBQ tofu with a side of a tahini dressing (it normally comes with un-vegan blue cheese dressing, but our waitress subbed it with the vegan tahini).

The main course consisted of a coconut tofu dish with roasted red peppers and bok choy. It was smoky, creamy, and super filling. Good thing we had a fridge and a microwave in the room we were staying in!

One thing I really wanted to try while in the Keys was vegan Key Lime Pie, and it was here that I got my chance. Tangy, sweet, and creamy, the filling and raspberry sauce contrasted nicely with the crunch of the graham cracker crust. Stuffed and satiated, we soon had to head back to our hotel, where our ride from Blue Planet Kayak Tours was waiting. We headed to a dock on a bay, and hopped into a kayak along with the rest of the tour. We paddled our way through mangroves while the sun set, spotting all sorts of creatures along the way. We saw a GIANT, red hermit crab with eerie green eyes that made it's home in a huge conch shell, southern sting rays, three different kinds of sea stars, a sea hare, sea cucumbers, and whelks.
As the sun fell into the horizon, and the water went from clear to black, we put on headlamps (flashlights that you put on your head!), and continued to paddle through the mangroves, which started to take on a spooky appearance. The grand finale of the kayak tour was on the way back to the dock, when the sky and water were completely black, and our paddles stirred up some bioluminescent plankton that sparkled through the water like twinkling stars. The sound of the paddles through the water was only punctuated by occasional laughter when our kayaks got stuck in the flat, shallow bay and the occasional splash of an unidentified fish jumping out of the water. It was an unforgettable experience.

Akumal, Mexico: The Place of the Turtles

Akumal is a short ride from Playa del Carmen, but it's like a different world. The word "Akumal" means "The Place of the Turtles" in Maya. While Playa del Carmen is a lively city on the beach, Akumal is like a sleepy little village. Both have shops, bars, and restaurants, but Akumal's draw is the laid back beach and not the night life. Home to a sea turtle sanctuary, we saw no less than SIX sea turtles, three adults and three cute little juveniles when we were snorkeling there. When I go back to the Riviera Maya, I'll definitely spend more time at Akumal.

To get there from Playa, we walked to a street with some collectivos. We managed to find one that was going south. The collectivo is basically a mini van that goes up and down the highway, stopping at various destinations, depending on where the passengers want to go. It's sort of like a cab and a bus combined, and it was way cheaper than renting a car or getting a private taxi. The collectivo was packed filled with people before we left Playa, and just when I thought we were dropping people off, more people got on. It was squishy and weird but definitely interesting, sort of fun, and cheap. When we finally got to Akumal, the collectivo dropped us off on the highway, and we had to walk to the beach. At first, it was a little confusing because there was so much construction going on. We had to go over a walking bridge, dodge some construction debris, then find this freshly cemented path:Eventually, the path turned green and shady. We stocked up on water and snacks at a little grocery store that had this wooden mermaid hanging in front of it. I love mermaids!

I had a blast shopping at MexicArte, a folk art shop filled with jewelry, ornaments, and art crafted by local artisans. The beach was calm and relaxing.

We picked a shady spot near a palm tree, rented some snorkel equipment right on the beach at Akumal Dive Shop, then swam with a barracuda, some needlefish, French grunts, a bunch of other fish, and sea turtles. What a lovely end to a great trip!

There were quite a few vegan options at the Akumal restaurants, all within walking distance of the beach. The beach bar had veggie burgers, and two more restaurants had veggie options. We settled on the Turtle Bay Cafe.

I had the lentil burger. It was deliciously smothered with beets, carrots, lettuce, hummus and mustard. Yum! All that and a deliciously refreshing limeade for about six US dollars.

I'll definitely go back to Akumal again! Now, I'm off to the Florida Keys. I'll be diving in Key Largo and taking a sunset kayak tour in Key West. More on that soon!