So Vegetarian February has officially begun. I actually haven’t had any kind of meat/fish since January 12th. I’m not going to call myself a vegetarian until February is over because the original challenge was for the entire month of February. Though, I think it’s safe to say that I’m planning to remain a vegetarian long after February is over. Is anybody else doing Vegetarian February? Jeff is doing it with me for support. I’m completely fine with him eating meat. Like I said in my original post, I’m not trying to force my opinions on anyone else. Nor will I just expect restaurants to accommodate me because I’m a vegetarian. This is a choice I’ve made for myself and nobody has to agree or treat me any differently because of it.
Anyway, I have a million things to do today so lets get this show on the road!
Jeff and I made another trip to the co-op on Sunday. I could seriously live there. We spent $35 this time. Here’s what we got:
From Left
- Annie’s Deluxe Mac & Cheese
- Tomato Soup (for Jeff)
- Black Beans
- Refried Beans
- 4 pounds of WW Flour (for $4- love bulk bins!)
- Tea
- Apple Cinnamon Cereal Bars
- 1 grapefruit
- 2 oranges
- Grapes
- So Delicious French Vanilla Coconut Milk Creamer (love this!)
- Annie’s BBQ sauce
- 2 bags of Stacy’s Pita Chips
We are considering becoming members of the co-op. We’d have to work there 3 or 4 hours a week to get a discount but I think it’s worth it.
The only other thing worth mentioning for Sunday is the Refried Bean Quesadillas Jeff made for dinner.
Mine contained Refried Beans (duh), Yellow Pepper, Onion, Tomato, and Shredded Cheddar. It was so good! We had salad on the side.
Yesterday morning began with yoga and banana oatmeal- two of my favorite things.
Oats with made with 1 cup unsweetened vanilla almond breeze, 1 banana, 1/2 cup quick oats, cinnamon, flax, unsweetened shredded coconut with more cinnamon and coconut and PB on top. Wonderful!
I knew I was going to be at school for a long time (10-5:00), so I packed lunch.
Doesn’t that almost look like a burger? Kind of? It was yellow pepper, cucumbers, tomato, spinach, and hummus on an Arnold Select WW Sandwich thin. Yum! I also packed grapes, pita chips, and a Stretch Island Raspberry Fruit Leather for snacks.
When I got home at 5:30, I had half of an unpictured Arnold Sandwich Thin slathered with PB. Then Jeff and I got to work on dinner.
We made the recipe on the back of the box for “Mama’s Sloppy Joes.“ After we clear out pantry of boxed mixes, I don’t think we’re going to be buying any for a while. I’m kind of sick of the ingredient list being so long (even on ‘all natural’ mixes) and the sodium content being so high. We’re going to start buying more grains and beans from the bulk bins at the co-op. I could have easily made the recipe above with beans instead of a processed mix. Plus it’s a lot cheaper to stay away from boxed items. We’re still going to buy Annie’s Mac & Cheese because it’s amazing and the ingredient list is simple.
This is what dinner looked like last night:
I ate the salad sans dressing and it tasted wonderful. I like just tasting greens sometimes.
More importantly, dessert looked like this:
We made the other half of the Immaculate Baking Company cookie dough.
I didn’t burn them this time and they were delicious!
On the agenda for today:
- Finish Reading Chapters in Feature & Magazine Writing Book
- Read Paper
- Eat breakfast
- Gym (I want to runnnnn)
- Go somewhere and observe for a 1/2 hour and then write a story about it (yes,that’s actually my assignment)
- Write secret story (This will be revealed on the blog next week)
- Class from 4-8:30 tonight
- Sleep forever!!!!!!
Question:
Do you ever rely on boxed mixes for dinner? Or frozen meals?
I REALLLLY want to try Sunshine Burgers. The ingredient list is amazing!
Have a great Tuesday blogfaces. <3
I keep forgetting to try coconut on my oatmeal! Everyone says such good things about it… hmm….
Best of luck with your program. Please let us know what you think of Sunshine Burgers. Check out our FB page for links to other bloggers who have come up with some cool ways to use Sunshine Burgers.
Cole Jones
General Manager
Sunshine Burger
Hi darling!
Sometimes I have frozen meals when I’m extremely busy so that I make sure I get all my exchanges in.
I’ve been a vegetarian for almost a year and a half and I have to say, many vegetarian meals require a lot of random ingredients to make up for substance– but I wouldn’t have it any other way
Have a terrific Tuesday,
bec xo
I’m doing vegetarian February. (Actually, I’ve been doing vegetarian January, December, and November, too!) I went vegan last year after viewing Earthlings. I agree with you about the box mixes. There’s a simple and yummy recipe for black bean Sloppy Joes here: http://www.fatfree.com/recipes/sandwiches/black-bean-sloppy-joes
I love So Delicious Coconut Milk Creamer, too! You didn’t say what you did with it. I use the French Vanilla flavor to make the most heavenly chai tea. Have you tried their coconut milk beverages and ice cream? To die for!
I just went to your Foodbuzz page, and noticed you’re on twitter. So Delicious is giving away a free iPod Touch. Here’s the link, in case you want to enter: http://bit.ly/8Y5Ekn (Thought you might want to know about it.)
Weeks when I’m really busy I rely heavily on canned soups and frozen Kashi/Amy’s things for lunch, but for dinner try make something even if it takes away time from homework.
My parents, however, are a different story! They don’t know what to eat nights I don’t cook so my dad ends up going to get Chineese or a roticcery chicken at 8:00 when he realizes I’m serious about not making dinner, haha.
When I have time I’m a “food from scratch” junkie, (well, more of an everything-from-scratch junkie)… I love the satisfaction of eating a dinner where I made the pasta with flour, the sauce with tomatoes and herbs, and the bread with real yeast. Haha everyone makes fun of me and says I just make everything as complicated as possible- I have to agree!
oh my goodness I just adore veggies sloppy joes!! i could eat that all the time
mm your chocolate chip cookies look great!
No, I am not doing Veggie Feb. or any month for that matter. It’s just not my thang’, I would rather give up sugar than good quality meat. That said, I love that you are doing some exploration into a meat-free diet, before you make any final decisions.
I do keep a few boxed items (mainly Annie’s M&C) around. In regards to frozen foods, I do keep those around, both ones I purchase and ones I make. I always keep frozen veggies around because they are quick to whip up and affordable.
Sunshine Burgers: get your hands on the falafel variety, they are tasty. I think the Garden Herb flavor is horrible, IMHO. Their products are better if you take the time to cook them in the oven, vs. the microwave… well worth the extra 20 minutes.
Yep, sometimes I like some Annie’s mac and cheese for dinner, or a simple soup and grilled cheese
Sunshine Burgers are amazing but are super expensive considering there are only THREE burgers in each package!! Talk about a waste of packaging…
I loved your co-op when I was there on Saturday. I got to try carob for the first time and found my new crack.
Awesome food blog! Are you a member of the co-op?
Hey girlie! hows it going?? your meals are looking SLAMMIN!! those sloppy joes look fantastic!! great job on the vegggie month! it seems that you are doing so well! i am sure you are discovering all sorts of yummy foods along the way too
have you ever made chickpea burgers?: i have heard they are awesmoe!