VeganMoFo Day 27! Burgers & Sauteed Asparagus!

Sad to say, but this is the last day for VeganMoFo (Vegan Month of Food). Despite missing a few days due to sickness, I think I had a pretty good run. :-) And, what better way to go out than with veggie burgers!!! I love Dr. Praeger's California Veggie Burgers. It almost feels like you can taste the veggies inside. I layered this bad boy with lettuce, tomatoes, red onion, avocado, and daiya vegan cheese. I paired it with sauteed asparagus, mushrooms, and shallots. Yum!

VeganMoFo Day 26! Kale Chips!

I love this kale chip recipe because it's as close to the Alive and Radiant kale chips brand that I can get to without breaking the bank. Kale chips are such an amazing snack and are so much healthier for you than regular chips. 

Recipe:
1 1/2 cup of soaked cashews
1/4 red bell pepper
1 whole lemon squeezed
1/2 cup nutritional yeast
3-4 tbs of water
Pepper
Salt


Blend until creamy and then pour over you rinsed and cut up pieces of kale. Dehydrate for about 10-14 hours (depending on your dehydrator)

Here's the video: 



For the batch below I cut the recipe in half, because I didn't have as much kale as I usually do.

VeganMoFo Day 25! Beyond Meat with Brown Rice & Beans!

Today is Day 1 of getting back on track with my fitness routine. I'm so glad to be done with that stupid cold that held me back for that week and a half and threw my whole workout schedule off. There's nothing worse than having to start all over again when you just started an intense program. Trust me, I went through this when I was in the midst of the wildly popular Insanity program. But, I know I can do this so I'm pressing forward and giving Jamie Eason's LiveFit Trainer program, my full effort. Here's what I ate today to keep my body fueled:

Tofu scramble & Coffee for breakfast.

Perfect Fit Protein & Chocolate Zico post workout.

Soaked almonds, strawberries, and bananas with peanut butter  for snack.

Yay! So happy I snatched this up! It's a big bag of Beyond Meat. The Whole Foods close to my church sold this to me, which was great because the last Whole Foods I went to would only sell it to me through their marinated Beyond Meat salad. 

Beyond Meat Chick'n Salad with mixed greens, kale, spinach, carrots, tomatoes, red onions, avocado, raw zucchini, chia seeds, hemp seeds and topped with squeezed lemon, apple cider vinegar, and a little maple syrup. 

Raw bites for afternoon snack. 

Dinner was layered with brown rice, beyond meat, red beans, avocado,  and salsa with a side of steamed broccoli. 

VeganMoFo Day 24! Z-Pizza & Some Good Wine!

Tonight we had some good wine from BevMo and a yummy pizza and salad from Z Pizza. We ordered the Berkeley Vegan Pizza, which is the only vegan pizza they have, but it's quite good so I don't complain. I love a salad with avocado so I was more than happy to gobble it up. I also added some kale to mine and scooped off the olives and placed them on my husband's pizza slices, since I can stand olives and he seems to love them. I grabbed a bottle of Riesling from BevMo and couldn't bother to wait for it to chill so I just dropped in some ice cubes and had some with dinner. Stuffed and ready for bed! :-)

VeganMoFo Day 23! Yummy Cupcakes!

Who love cupcakes??? I do! I do! If you haven't checked out my previous post about Yummy Cupcakes, you should click the link...right...now! First Yummy Cupcakes Post

Yummy Cupcakes usually has about 2 to 3 vegan selections everyday. I wish they were a full vegan cupcake bakery, because they have such interesting and yummy sounding flavors. Unfortunately, they've been slacking my favorite flavor, Peanut Butter Chocolate, so I haven't been hitting them up as often. But, I guess in some ways that's a good thing for my waistline.lol Anyways, they had it today, so I had to make a quick pit stop and snatch up some goodies. Check them out! :-)

My favorite one! Vegan Peanut Butter and Chocolate Cupcake.

Vegan Vanilla, Peanut Butter Chocolate, and Oreo Chocolate Cupcakes. 

VeganMoFo Day 22! Beyond Meat!

Have you tried Beyond Meat yet? I've been waiting and waiting for the stuff to finally hit Southern California and it finally has. Woo Hoo! Beyond Meat is a great new meat substitute. And for those of you that are into products like Gardein, you're going to love this. Now, meat substitutes aren't for everyone but for transitioning vegans this will be great for when you feel like you're missing out. Serve this to some of your curious friends and I bet that you could fool most of them with Beyond Meat. Not only is Beyond Meat vegan, but it's also full of protein (19 grams per serving), no saturated fat (like real meat), no cholesterol, and gluten free! Check out their site and see if they're in your area. :-)

I had my Beyond Meat Sesame Chick'n Salad with some brown rice. 

Afternoon Snack!

Just a little afternoon snack for today:

Apples sprinkled with cinnamon and a nice blob of peanut butter. :-)

VeganMoFo Day 21! Vegan Protein & Protein Shaker!

Yay! I got my protein shaker in the mail and they sent me some great samples. I ordered last week before I got sick and now I'm so excited to be able to start using it after I get back to the gym on the regular. I've used it once so far and it mixes great! The mixing ball inside gets all the protein all nice and mixed up with no chunks of protein leftover. I was pleasantly surprised at the free samples I got. I love Sun Warrior Protein. It was definitely a staple in my house before I switched over to Tone It Up's organic protein. I'm really excited to try the Vega One and Plant Fusion shakes and protein because I've heard so much about them. Next week, it's on! Back to working out and building some plant power muscles! :-)

VeganMoFo Day 20! Amy's Vegan Pizza!

There's nothing better than a hot cheesy pizza with extra sauce. Since Domino's hasn't stepped up its game yet with getting into the vegan pizza game and I don't live close by to receive delivery from my fave vegan pizza shops, it's always nice to know that you can find great frozen pizza from your local Whole Foods. I've tried Tofurky Pizza, but I have to admit that Amy's Vegan Pizza has them beat. It has just the right amount of daiya cheese, plenty of sauce, and yummy crust. Mmm...pizza. This was definitely the perfect treat. :-)

I added a little parsley on top. 

VeganMoFo Day 19! Sickly Vegan!

Soup! That's what I've been eating everyday since last Wednesday. Yes, this vegan has been sick the past few days peeps. It started Sunday night with my hubby getting a sore throat. Monday, he was full on sick mode and I swooped in to take care of him and tried my best to maintain my own health since I was starting a new fitness program. Unfortunately, Tuesday night, the sore throat crept up and on Wednesday, I was knocked completely out by the sick bug. So, after only two days of a workout program, I had to quit...for now. Man, it's been awful!lol I hate not working out. I mean, as much as I hate working out, I love how my body feels when I'm in shape. So, all I was left with from my two days of hard core weight training was a cold and sore bones...awful. But, nothing makes you feel better than a hot bowl of soup. I've been eating mostly canned vegetable soup but Saturday, I dragged my coughing body to Lotus Vegan to get some of their delicious Veggie Soup.Yum! I made sure I got two large containers to hold me both Saturday and Sunday. I am feeling much better today so I can't to start eating other foods again...lol...and get back to weight training. :-)

Lotus Vegan Vegetable Soup

VeganMoFo Day 18! Jackfruit & Chickpea Mini Loaves!

Along with the new workout program I've started they also have some great recipes that you can veganize. One of the recipes is a turkey meatloaf muffin. Since this program is focused on clean eating I knew I didn't want to use a processed meat substitute but I couldn't figure out what I could use instead...then it clicked...Jackfruit! Great meat substitute without all the crazy chemicals and processing. Since jackfruit doesn't have a lot of protein I decided combine it with some chickpea patties I had in the freezer. Here is the link to the original recipe: http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/video-jamie-eason-turkey-meatloaf-muffins.htm. Besides replacing the meat I pretty much followed the recipe exactly, except I used refrigerated mustard instead of dry,  no celery, and chili powder instead of chipotle pepper. I didn't know if they would be too dry so I added a tiny little bit of a sweet and spicy sauce that I had on hand. The results were better than I expected. I might add a little more sauce next time but these are a great little meal to take on the go.

VeganMoFo Day 17! Farm Fresh CSA!

So much for posting everyday!lol I've been sick for the past couple of days so unfortunately I just didn't have the energy to get together my veganmofo posts. I'm feeling better now so it's time to get back in the groove. I love Wednesdays! Well, every other Wednesdays that is, because that's when I get my Farm Fresh to You CSA box delivered. There's nothing like getting local and organic fresh fruit and veggies dropped off at your doorstep. Take a look at what I got this week:

If you have any ideas for recipes that I could whip up with this box of goodies, please let me know! :-)

VeganMoFo Day 16! Prepping food for the week!

I've recently started a new workout program and to stay on top of my eating I've prepped some meals for the week. I've also chopped a lot of my veggies so that they're ready to steam, bake, or use fresh in a salad. Preparing your meals in advanced is not always the easiest thing to do but if you set aside one day then you can knock out most of the tedious work and allow yourself to be stress free for the week. :-)

Got my leafy greens all ready to go. A mix of lettuce, fresh herbs, kale, and spinach. 

Crock-pot Chili for the week. 

Jackfruit & Chickpea mini loaves. Recipe coming soon. 

Chopped tomatoes and onions. 

Chopped broccoli, zucchini, and brussels sprouts. I also chopped some cucumber and added it to my water this morning. 

VeganMoFo Day 15! Vegan Mac & Cheese Showdown!

Friday night I made the huge mistake of going to Halloween Horror Nights at Universal Studios in Hollywood. As if being chased and terrified by Zombies, Leather Face, and CLOWNS (nothing scarier than a clown) wasn't bad enough, towards the end of the night I waited in the longest line EVER only to go through a 3 minute fright maze. By that time I was too exhausted to even enjoy being scared. But, in all actuality, I did have a really good time. And since scary movies just don't scare me like they used, Horror Nights was just what I needed to remind me to be thankful that the only zombie apocalypse I have to deal with is The Walking Dead on Sunday Nights.

Saturday, I dragged my extremely tired butt to LA's Best Mac & Cheese Showdown hosted by my friend Antoanet from ChicaVegan.com. I am so glad that I didn't let my desire to sleep hold me back from this amazing event. Five awesome restaurants came together to compete for the honor of having the best vegan mac and cheese in town and they delivered some of the most unbelievable dishes I've ever had. These were hands down some of the best Mac & Cheese dishes I've ever had in my life! The hubby and I left with full bellies and happy faces. Amanda's Bakery stopped by as well to deliver some of my favorite treats. I guess it's good that her shop isn't close to me cuz I'd be one chubby vegan...happy...but chubby. We left before they announced who won but I found out later that the Judge's choice was Hugos Restaurant and the People's choice was Suncafe Organic Restaurant. I did have a favorite but I'm not going to spill. I'm just going to let you enjoy these pics I took and hope you don't drool on your keyboard. :-)