Thursday, February 7, 2013

February Food Challenge - Week 1

by Rachel


I was a little nervous going into this first week. I didn't have a meal plan set up on Day 1, and I didn't want to get too complex with the recipes.

I looked at the meal plan from YumUniverse, the meal plan from the Health Starts Here, and also took a look at the meal plan from Thrive (Brendan Brazier's book). I ended up cobbling together a list of breakfasts and dinners, and assumed that all lunches would be leftover dinners (I usually make more than enough for dinner, precisely so I have lunch the next day). Then I wrote all the ingredients into my shopping list and it felt really good to have it all home and put away, ready for the week!

Since we are already plant-based, this week wasn't that much of a problem. The gluten-free piece of this wasn't too hard to incorporate, especially with all the great recipes available online!

I think the highlight of the week was YumUniverse's Creamy Ranch Dressing - I made it twice, because we loved it, and Paul was putting it on everything!

The *meh* of the week was buckwheat almond chocolate coconut bars. I modified the recipe by using buckwheat instead of quinoa, and I added coconut, but I don't think that was the problem. I liked the bars, but Paul did not like the texture of it. I'm not sure if I could describe it accurately, but let's say it was more baked oatmeal than cake. In any case, I have a lot of frozen bars for quick snacks!



I had to post a picture of this as well - it was my farmer's market find of the week! Beautiful - I have no idea what it is, but the seller said it was related to kale?

Week 1 Food Journal (Rachel) - February 1-7

Day 1
Breakfast -Smoothie - banana, mixed berries, water - add protein powder and chia seeds
Snack 1 - Oatmeal - oats, chia seeds, almonds, walnuts, cardamom, fruit (applesauce/raspberry, blue/rasp/banana)
Lunch - Soup - veggie rice soup (based off about.com Barley Veg Soup)
Snack 2 - Banana
Dinner - Tacos - black beans/corn, soyrizo, lettuce, guac (avo/bell pepper/onion), tomatillo, onion, tapatio, corn tortillas

Day 2
Breakfast - Smoothie - banana, blackberries, water, kale - add protein powder, chia seeds, hemp seeds
Snack 1 - Oatmeal - oats, cashews, raisins, maple syrup
Lunch (snacky on hike) - apple, sweet potato chips, coconut chips
Snack 2 - 2T cashews, coffee w/ soymilk, oskri apricot almond bar
Dinner - YU Jamaican Jerk Wrap (northern beans)
Day 3
Breakfast - buckwheat almond chocolate coconut bars (based off WF Cocoa Almond Baked Breakfast), banana, coffee w/ coconut milk
Snack 1 (fuel on trail run) - 4 dates stuffed w/ walnut halves, Org. Choc Agave Energy Gel
Lunch - mixed greens, leftover jamaican jerk mixture, leftover ranch dressing (YUM!), tea w/ coconut milk
Snack 2 - cucumbers, tomato, carrots, bell pepper w/ black bean dip (beans, lime juice, salt, cumin, garlic powder, onion powder)

Day 4
Breakfast - smoothie - banana, strawberries, dates, ground flaxseed, kale - add protein powder
Snack 1 - oatmeal - oats, pepitas, raisins, raspberries, applesauce
Lunch - leftover baked potato, chili, mixed veg (carrots, corn, greenbeans, edamame)
Snack 2 - corn tortilla chips w/ salsa
Dinner - Tacos/Taco Salad - corn chips/tortillas, pinto beans w/ buckwheat, homemade guac (YUM!), lettuce, tomato, salsa, and OhSheGlows nacho cheeze sauce

Day 5
Breakfast - oatmeal - oats, cashews, chia, hemp seed, TJ's Superfruit Spread, Blueberries, Banana
Snack 1 - buckwheat almond choc coconut bars
Lunch - leftover Taco Salad (YUM!)
Snack 2 - buckwheat almond choc coconut bars
Dinner - Rice pasta, beets, beet greens, red kidney beans, apple (based off YU Dinosaur Kale and Cannellini Beans); leftover baked potato w/ cheez sauce&salsa
Day 6
Breakfast - smoothie - banana, mixed berries, water, flaxseed, chia, spinach - add protein powder
Snack 1 - tea w/ soymlk
Lunch - leftovers - chili, topped with buckwheat potato kale jerk mixture, frozen mixed veg and lettuce
Snack 2 - apple and grapefruit
Dinner - YU Ginormous Salad with Creamy Ranch Dressing (WOW YUM!) - red lettuce, spinach, cucumber, zucchini, bell pepper, onion, carrot, celery

Day 7
Breakfast - smoothie - banana, mixed berries, water, kale, hemp seeds - add protein powder
Snack 1 - oskri pecans bar 
Lunch - leftovers - buckwheat potato kale jerk mix, frozen mixed veg, salsa
Snack 2 - big apple, 2 blood oranges
Dinner - soup - onion, carrot, celery, cauliflower, zucchini, bell pepper, chard, kale, quinoa (based off Kahakai Kitchen Creamy Cauliflower Soup)
See you all next week!

2 comments:

  1. What a great post, and your photos are gorgeous. I just love how colorful this way of life is ;) Keep up the great work!

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    1. Thanks Heather! Yes I'm continually amazed at how colorful our dinners are!

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