Friday, February 14, 2014

Day 12: An E2 Valentine's Day

Wow oh wow, it's Day 12! 

Well, like my coworker/fellow E2er/friend, Tara, said, it DOES get easier each day. Truly it does. I will admit, I still miss cheese, but I honestly don't really miss meat. I'm noticing that I can appreciate the flavors of the ingredients I'm using without covering them up with added salt, sugar and oil. That's one thing I'm really going to take away from this 28 Day Challenge.

Oh, by the way, Happy Valentine's Day! Are you fellow E2ers sticking to the challenge, or taking a break for some treats today? Don't worry, you'll get no judgement from me. I actually caved and had a sip of free hot chocolate at work today. It was made with almond milk and I could only handle a sip. It was really really chocolatey. I'm not sure if that's because it was THAT chocolately or because my taste buds may have shifted, but I had to dump the other few sips I poured for myself out. So, there, I admit it. I cheated. A little. And, you know what? It's ok.

So, if you couldn't already guess, I had more Raisin Bran for breakfast. Then for a snack, I had a banana with almond butter...yum!!

Lunch time was another enchilada with some garlicky kale salad on the side. I ate a few dried goji berries for "dessert."

I was feeling kinda bummed out this Valentine's Day. It's hard ringing out customers who are all buying steak and lobster and roses for their sweethearts while I planned a menu for one. But, goodness gracious, it's just one day! And I have plenty of people who love me, even if they're not my Valentine. So, even though I'd typically use feeling sad on Valentine's Day as an excuse to pig out on take-out and pie, I stuck to my goal (well, you know, besides that sip of hot chocolate), and that made me extremely proud.

And guess what? I DID get flowers! Roses! My twin, Jen, called the store and ordered a bouquet in a nice vase for me! I felt really great! 

                     Thanks Jen!!!!

Then, I met my friend, Amanda, for coffee in downtown Franklin at my fav place, The Frothy Monkey. Since Rip doesn't want us having coffee during the challenge, I enjoyed a kombucha on tap! Yum!!! We had a great conversation, and that mixed with the roses from my sister totally lifted me out of my "Valentine's Schmalentine's" funk. :)

For supper, I made a few old and a few new things. I started with some E2 approved onion rings!! My phone keeps running out of photo storage, so I didn't get a photo of the onion rings....but I'll try tomorrow once I delete some photos! And I'll go into the details of how to make them then!

Next, I enjoyed my favorite Heather Jean's Hot Baked Tofu and baked sweet potato chips (this time the chips were topped with nutritional yeast!) I also enjoyed some asparagus that I blanched and sautéed in a little white wine and minced shallots and a sliced and sautéed portabella mushroom cap (also sautéed in white wine and shallots.)

Yum! I used to think I needed salt and butter to make asparagus and mushrooms taste good, but I don't! The white wine added great flavor and I seasoned it with some fresh cracked pepper and a few drops of liquid aminos. It really was so so delicious!

 

I made another batch of Brownie Batter Pudding and will eat that soon! And, sorry to dissapoint, but I need to work on my photo storage before being able to take another photo, so I'll have to just skip tonight's progress photo and catch up tomorrow. 

Today I felt: Pleased with the asparagus and mushrooms, surprised by my flowers and proud of only one small Valentine's Day cheat! 

Thanks for reading all! Happy Valentine's Day! If you're single, don't ya worry. You are still loved! 

4 comments:

  1. Good for you, love reading your progress blogs, don't tell anyone else but you are my favorite blogger on this challenge!

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  2. Very inspiring!!!! I've really been struggling with my weight lately as well. I know sharing what you eat with other people and being accountable are very powerful tools. That's really the heart of a lot of programs(Weight Watchers) and it's what you doing in a grand manner with this blog and on facebook. I need to do something. I got on the stick with Weight Watchers and lost 35 lbs to get to 185 when I got married in 2005 .Now I'm up to an all time high of 250, 30 of which has been in the last year. I'm still kind of at the excuse phase, but a cardiologist just put me on blood pressure medication for the first time, and I HAVE GOT TO DO SOMETHING!! Reading your blog and watching how brave you are sharing your day's food are very inspiring and maybe I'm ready. Thank you very much.

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    1. Yay Steve! It seems difficult at first, but I'm getting more used to eating this way. Of course I am not perfect and am shooting for eating mostly healthy throughout the week with like 2 cheat meals. Also, cooking for myself instead of going out for food really has helped me. I was eating way too many unnecessary calories with chips, cookies and soda add ons. Good luck to you, you totally got this!

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