Weighty Kaity

Breakfast
Kashi Autumn Wheat cereal w. soymilk

Lunch
SUPER DELICIOUS salad (romaine, cucumber, onion, bell pepper, lite rasp. vinaigrette, garlic pepper crispy onions)
wrap (tofurky slices, cucumber, onion, vegenaise, garlic hummus, spicy mustard)


I've been on the run a lot, and I've been eating a lot of meals at Panera. I've gotten addicted to their mediterranean veggie sandwich, with no feta and no tomato - so it's peppadew peppers, cucumber, onion, lettuce, and cilantro hummus on tomato basil bread (oh man). I also love their garden veggie soup in a sourdough bread bowl. So I've been spending WAY too much money there but it's just heavenly when I have to eat on the run.

When I'm at home, I'm not quite as healthy. I tend to over-snack or eat ... an embarrassing amount of cereal in one sitting. If I stick to cereals like Kashi, I'm less likely to eat a LOT of it but still feel satisfied. Cereals like Cheerios, Corn Flakes, and Rice Krispies get me back into old habits that just make me feel bad.

But holy crap my lunch today was so good. SO GOOD. Unfortunately I'm now out of tofurky. Need to get more. I've been trying to avoid going to the store, but I have a definite list of things I want now : watermelon, bell peppers, tofurky, amy's soup. I think that's all I need.

It's been 10 months (WHAT??) since making the choice to go vegan, and while I've shifted between vegan and pescetarian, while I've occasionally consumed dairy products in desserts and baked goods, I've really drastically changed the way that I eat----and for the better. Am I always good? No. Am I always vegan? No. But I'm healthy and I'm happy.

Starting June 1, my girlfriend and I are moving into a new apartment, and we've vowed to take care of one another health-wise and really get off to a good start. Over the last year I've done a lot of experimenting as to what I like, what I don't like, or stuff that I like but won't prepare, etc. Because I'll be living in a new place and dealing with a drastically reduced budget, I've decided to make a list of the things that I need to have stocked in my kitchen in order to be happy and healthy. These are things that I eat regularly, things I can grab in a pinch, things I can cook with without getting all fancy----things I won't let go to waste because I forget it's there or bought it for something special and don't use it.

After a lot of experimenting, it largely boils down to this:

Pantry
Bob's Red Mill "Vegi" soup mix
Amy's lentil vegetable canned soup
brown rice pasta
rice
canned tomatoes
canned green beans
sweet potatoes
red onions
garlic
extra virgin olive oil
sea salt
black pepper
spices: cumin, allspice, paprika, cinnamon, celery salt, Borsari
crispy onions salad topping
spinach wraps and/or whole grain bread (I haven't had bible bread in a -while- :(!)
Kashi Autumn Wheat cereal

Fridge
romaine lettuce
cucumbers
bell peppers
seedless red grapes
Empire apples
watermelon
Earth Balance soy butter
Silk light plain
Silk light chocolate
Annie's lite raspberry vinaigrette
Annie's vegan worcestershire sauce
Tofurky deli slices
Vegenaise
Tribe hummus
spicy mustard


Recently, I've been having a problem with snacking, where I eat chips and other snacks just because they're in the cupboard and I can eat them easily. I'm not satisfied by them, but they just ... kill a craving, I guess. I don't like doing that, so now that I'm conscious of it I'm going to try and stop. I've prepped some salads and am keeping them in the fridge to take out for lunches, and I have all my sandwich veggies sliced and ready to go. Part of the difficulty is always preparation, and being too lazy to cook. I LOVE to cook, I LOVE to work in the kitchen, but there are a lot of times when I just don't feel like it. So if I prep things in advance while I DO feel like it, I can reap the benefits later.

That's it right now. I haven't been updating a lot. I haven't updated regularly in a long time. I feel like I've made some permanent changes in my eating habits and this journal helped me get there----but I can't be dependent on it. I can't obsess. Now, I'm not always perfect, but that's okay. I'm working on not feeling guilty for slip-ups or willful indulgences. I learn from them, or I enjoy them and move forward. Life's too short to not enjoy some cake from time to time.

• Silk Live! soy yogurt (peach, raspberry)
• Earth Balance Soy Garden vegan butter
• Follow Your Heart Vegenaise
• Rice Dream (original)
• Food For Life Ezekiel 4:9 sprouted grain bread
• Soy Delicious non-dairy frozen dessert (chocolate peanut butter)
• Spectrum organic coconut oil
• Full Circle Organic 100% whole wheat rotini
• pine nuts
• cashews
• Nature's Path Optimum Slim organic cereal
• Annie's Natural Goddess Dressing
• Terra chips (original)
• Newman's Own Newman-Os (hint of mint)
• green grapes
• zucchini
• watermelon
• native strawberries
• broccoli
• yellow squash
• pineapple
• romaine hearts
• butter lettuce
• blueberries
• English cucumber
• kale
• hot house yellow peppers

FROM MEMORY, FOLKS!

• Silk Live! soy yogurt (peach)
• Dannon Light & Fit (lemon, strawberry)
• Wallaby organic "Australian-style" yogurt (peach)
• Greek yogurt (peach)
• Silk (plain, vanilla)
• Brummel & Brown yogurty buttery spread
• native strawberries
• organic blackberries
• fresh pineapple
• fresh seedless watermelon
• Newman's Own honey flax bran flakes cereal
• Newman's Own mild chunky salsa
• Baked Tostitos Scoops
• 2 Lean Cuisine macaroni and beef frozen meals
• Thomas 100% whole wheat bagels
• natural peach-vanilla preserves