Funny thing is, I'm not the only one dreaming of off-limits food. My friend from Whole Foods dreamt she was eating that steak we were sampling out yesterday and ALSO realized halfway through that she couldn't eat it. How funny is that?!
I've been trying to find a variety of yummy breakfast options, and since I got up late, I had a small breakfast in preparation for lunch, which would be a couple hours later. I smeared some natural and no oil or salt added peanut butter on an Engine 2 Original Flavor Crispbread and topped it with raisins. So good, quick and easy!
For lunch, I reheated a bowl of my mushroom stroganoff...but think it would have heated up better separately. It was a little dry. :(
Working at Whole Foods is kiiiinda torture during this challenge. Pizza, chicken fried tofu and cupcakes are constantly coming through my line, making me nearly obsess over them. But, I have to remember, I'm only 6 days in. Nobody said it'd be a piece of cake (pun totally intended) hehe!
The great thing about Whole Foods is we have Health Starts Here (HSH) healthy eating options that don't have any oil, salt or sugar. And you can get 1 scoop of 4 HSH selections for only $4! So, I snacked on Cilantro Lime Quinoa Salad, Garlicky Kale Salad, Kale Pad Thai Salad and Dill Vegetable Salad. It was enough for my snack and dinner time.
After work, however, I was hungry again so I decided to get creative. I had leftover butternut squash, black beans and quinoa from the other day, so I puréed it in my blender. I added a little water, raw red onion, cilantro and lime juice. Then I formed it into a patty and heated it up in the frying pan.
I, then, sautéed a big portabella cap in another pan, deglazing it with a little red wine. I did the same with some sliced red onion. I stacked the black bean burger on the mushroom with a slice of raw tomato, greens and the onion. Rip said in the Engine 2 book that we can eat Muir Glen Organic Ketchup so I topped the burger with that! Woo hoo!
Burger Time!
I dug into the burger and it was pretty good! Not like AMAZING, but pretty good for something I just threw together. I think I'd add some more spice to the burger next time (maybe garlic or chili powder) and perhaps I'd bake it so it wouldn't stick to the pan. But all in all, it was pretty good!
I've gotten a lot of wonderful comments on my blog and thank you all for reading and writing! I've had folks call me "motivating" and "inspiring" and it's pretty darn awesome to be called that! So thank you!! :) And thanks for the popcorn tips! Spraying it with a little vegetable broth would help the nutritional yeast stick. And popping it in a microwave with toppings in a brown paper bag sounds good too. I just don't have a microwave so need to rely on my stove...but I'm sure the other readers can use that tip!! Oh, and yes, at our meeting, Rip said one glass of red wine a night is ok. I bought a bottle that night! Hehe!
I'm still hoping to see more results on my progress photos but think part of that may be because I've been eating kind of grain-heavy. That's why I ate the burger on a mushroom and not a bun. I'll just be mindful of my carb intake over the next 22 days.
Today I felt: Creative with my homemade black bean burger, Silly for dreaming of eating fried chicken and happy that I've made it 6 days plant-strong!!
Thanks for reading! If you're doing the Challenge, we've only got 22 days left! Wooooo! Plant strong!
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