90 Day Vegetarian Adventure Day 33 – How To Stay On the Eating Well Wagon

Let’s face it, this Vegetarian Adventure is not easy.  Living in the US means there are lots of quick, unhealthy choices everywhere you go, even in your own freezer.  So how do you stay on the Eating Well  Wagon? . . . Great cookbooks, planning meals, shopping for fresh ingredients, and COOKING.

Case in point, last night my husband was out-of-town,  the rest of the family was tired from a busy week.  I had planned to fix veggie fajitas and realized too late that the last shopping trip was disorganized and did not include pinto beans.  So, it’s pouring rain and my 9-month granddaughter is sleeping.  It’s not a good time to run to the store for just one item.  I made a healthy green salad, however, threw chicken nuggets into the oven, thinking that I wouldn’t eat them.  Just for the rest of the family, right?  Wrong, when I am tired and hungry, I’m weak.  I actually ate chicken nuggets, blech, I don’t even like them and they are definitely not part of the Adventure.

Staying on the wagon begins with great cookbooks.  See the book recommendations here.  Dr. Dean Ornish is one of my favorite authors along with Laurel’s Kitchen.  A great way to try out a cook book before you buy it is to check it out of the library.  You have three weeks to try the recipes.

Planning meals and shopping your plan not only keeps you eating healthy but also saves gas, time and money.  Keep healthy choices on hand and have a list available for whenever you run out of something.  Buying food for a family means stocking choices that aren’t necessarily part of your own eating plan, hence the chicken nuggets. However, if you make sure your own choices are in the freezer it’s easier to make food for everyone.

Then, cook your plan.  Prepare what you can in the morning, for example, put the beans on to cook, or place ingredients in a slow cooker.  Or you can prepare some of the ingredients the night before and refrigerate them.  It’s so helpful to have dinner partially ready in the evening when you are tired.  Following these guidelines helps me to continue to eat in a healthy way, staying on the Eating Well Wagon.

Do you have tips for staying on the Wagon?  Please leave your comments!

Advertisement

Banana Orange Smoothie Recipe

Ingredients: 1 pear, 1 orange, 1 lemon, 1 organic carrot, 1 banana, 1 scoop All Plant Protein Powder.
Juice all of the above except for the banana and the protein powder.
Pour juice into blender, add banana and protein powder and blend until smooth.

90 Day Vegetarian Adventure – Day 30 I Love King Arthur

Flour that is, I love King Arthur brand Whole Wheat Unbleached Pastry Flour.  It has a delicious nutty flavor and the texture makes the best pizza dough and bread that I’ve ever eaten.  Since I make my own bread I’ve tried lots of different flours including a special hard red wheat bread flour from Minnesota.  King Arthur beats them all.  It tends to be a little pricey but it is well worth it.  So, keep up the good work King Arthur, you are greatly appreciated by this particular baker.

90 Day Vegetarian Adventure Day 25 The Reasons

In reading and commenting on other Vegan and Vegetarian blogs I’ve noticed that a lot of vegetarians are what I would call aggressively mellow.  They have chosen to eat a certain way and love the results but seem to always have their armor on, defending their choices.  If my reasons are strong enough for me and I’m not offending God, who cares what others think or eat?   I don’t view eating well as a crusade, rather it is a personal choice based on past experience and study.

The past experiences have to do with always planting a vegetable garden in the spring and eating from it the rest of the year.  Fresh food from the garden to table has a flavor that cannot be duplicated in the 2 to 3 weeks that it takes to ship the food from somewhere else.  Plus, after 2 weeks at least half of the vitamin C is gone.

The study has to do with the book of Genesis in the Bible.  I’ve always been fascinated with our Creator and His methods.  The original design places us in a garden, tending it , living in it and eating the produce from it.  Nutritionists are finding that our bodies are designed to heal themselves when the right nutrients are in place.

So, your reasons for being a vegetarian are yours alone.  Relax, and take off your armor.  Enjoy your gardens and farmer’s markets.  In my view vegetables and fruits are a major miracle.  You don’t have to defend yourself or insist that others agree with you.  And you certainly don’t have to worry about what other people think.

90 Day Vegetarian Adventure Day 20 New Recipe

Just posting a new juicing recipe.  Combine an apple, celery and cucumber in your juicer.  With apples coming into season, incorporate them into juices, meals and snacks.  The orchards nearby have an amazing variety of apples that ripen in turn all the way to Thanksgiving.  Develop your own new recipes and send them to me.

90 Day Vegetarian Adventure Day 19 Just So You Know

Just so you know, I’ve been in an earthquake, moved my youngest to college and am now watching a hurricane outside my window.  Quite the eventful week and vegan eating has taken a backseat.

Just so you know,  over the last 6 days I’ve eaten a taco with beef, a chicken breast, milk duds and iced tea with caffeine.  The taste of the beef was very strong and gamey, the chicken breast was rather bland, the milk duds and ice tea gave me migraine headaches complete with a visual aura.

Just so you know, I’m not a perfect, always eat the best choice vegan. However, the goal is when I fall off the healthy eating wagon, I get back on as soon as possible.  I am committed to the 90 Day Vegan Adventure and will be posting daily new recipes, challenges and victories along the way.

90 Day Vegetarian Adventure Day 13 – Passing the test

Yesterday was a major test of the vegan eating plan.  My extended family met at the Utica Picnic and had a family style fried chicken and ham dinner.  The Utica Picnic is a yearly fundraiser for the local church.  It takes place in a wooded area that has hosted this picnic for decades.  The locals come out in droves and the church members serve lots of home cooking, family style and al a carte.  From hot beef sandwiches and full fat ice cream to fresh garden vegetables and country ham it is a major test of willpower.

This year I made it about spending time with family, and not about the food.  Avoiding the meats, rolls, and cake left lots of room for fresh garden tomatoes, potato salad, pepper slaw, peaches, apple sauce, green beans, homemade beet and cucumber pickles.  The food was delicious but not necessary for a great time.

So, I passed the test and really enjoyed seeing my family.  No one asked why I wasn’t eating meat or gave me a hard time, though my brother did offer me a piece of vanilla cake with peanut butter frosting.  I wasn’t even tempted.

90 Day Vegetarian Adventure Day 10 Retro-Eating

When planning the evening meal I think about what my grandparents ate during the summer.  They raised families during the depression and lived on small farms with chickens, pigs, vegetable gardens, and a variety of fruit trees.  New potatoes cooked in their jackets, freshly picked corn on the cob and ripe tomatoes were standard fare this time of year.  This evening we had black-eyed peas, corn and collard greens from the garden.  The flavors are complementary and I feel deeply satisfied when I’m finished.  This is retro-eating at it’s finest.

90 Day Vegetarian Adventure Day 9 Struggling

At the beginning of the week I had my blood work drawn and had a conference with my Doctor about my knees and cholesterol.  The LDL number is high enough to treat with  medication.  My knees are slightly arthritic and the left knee has a bone fragment that is floating.  Even though surgery is in the near future, a lower weight would help all of these conditions.  So, the 90 Day Vegan Adventure isn’t only about a new eating habit, it’s also about weight loss.  The catch-22 is exercising with a bum knee.  Yoga has worked for flexibility and strength but I need an inexpensive form of aerobic exercise that doesn’t cause knee pain.  Recommendations are welcome.

90 Day Vegetarian Adventure Day 5 Reformer

Ever since the juice fast I feel like I’m on the outside of the American food experience looking in, realizing how very unhealthy the typical US diet is and how oblivious everyone is to what they are putting into their bodies and the effect it has on wellness.

I also feel like someone who has quit smoking and is on a crusade to reform everyone they know who smokes.  So, I promise to record my own experiences and not to get up on the soap box preaching reform to all of you who don’t give a darn.   But I just have to say one thing.  It is difficult to order an entrée in an American restaurant that is not meat-based and slathered in cheese.