Broccoli for Breakfast?!

Broccoli for breakfast! I ate broccoli for breakfast. A whole bunch. And when I say a whole bunch, I mean a whole bunch … a 1 lb. bunch of broccoli … for breakfast. That’s a first for me. I steamed it and drizzled some thai peanut sauce over it. By the time I got to the last couple of bites I was second guessing my decision, but I got through it. And I tell you, my two blueberry muffins tasted so much better afterward. Good thing I ate the broccoli first, ‘cause there’s no way I would have gotten to it after the muffins.

So, you may be wondering what prompted this particular breakfast this morning. Or, maybe not … maybe broccoli, or other veggies, are the norm for you when breaking your fast. Not me … I’m an oatmeal and fruit kinda gal. Anyway … I watched a Facebook live with Chef AJ and she mentioned how she eats 2 lbs. of green veggies every day, before other foods, and in addition to other veggies that she has with meals. And, regarding calorie density and satiety, it makes perfect sense to me to fill up on veggies before going to the more calorie dense foods like fruit and starches. And, as I already said, there wasn’t any way I would have chosen to eat broccoli after my blueberry muffins. Certainly not at breakfast, probably not at any meal. Once I’ve had something slightly sweet, that signals the end of it for me. Unless, however, I am not satisfied, fullness wise (satiety). And then ... I will go back, and back, and back to the sweet stuff.

I wasn’t clear if she eats the 2 lbs. all at once before breakfast, or splits it up through the day. I only had 1 lb. of broccoli (thank goodness!) so I just had that before breakfast. At lunch time I had only 10 oz. of broccoflower left, so I air fried that and ate it with some more thai peanut sauce. I actually wasn’t hungry for my entrée after that (kale and chickpea curry) and didn’t even eat it until about 2:30 p.m. I did notice today that I wasn’t snacking at my desk in the afternoon, nor did I come home at 4 p.m. feeling like I had to have another snack before dinner.

She (Chef AJ) also talked about the food addiction aspect, which really, I haven’t found addressed elsewhere. Not in the McDougall program, not at Forks over Knives. I am definitely going to do more research on her ultimate weight loss program. I do believe I am a food addict. Even eating plant based, and forgoing so many foods that I used to eat, I can still overeat, and have been doing so recently, on nuts, dried fruit, avocados. There’s something about sweet and fat (and salt) together that does something in my brain that is hard to turn off.

So that’s why I ate broccoli for breakfast this morning. And why I may do it again …probably will do it again. Veggies for breakfast. Makes sense to me. What about you? Do you veggie for breakfast?

Chopped in my kitchen

I don’t really plan out my meals before I prep for them. I know that probably seems silly to some, but I know the foods I enjoy and eat often, so I just prep those foods knowing that I will be able to incorporate them into some awesome meals and snacks during the week. That said, as it gets toward the end of the week, putting together a whole food, plant based, no oil meal for me can look like a round of Chopped. But I do enjoy a good episode of Chopped … on the tube and in my kitchen.

I showed you my fridge after meal prep on Monday. Yesterday (Saturday) there were some things I really needed to use up. I still had some mushrooms leftover from my Vegan Gyro, some roasted onions and peppers, some baked (actually steamed in the micro) whole red potatoes, some steamed broccoli, some plain brown rice, some assorted raw veggies, some hummus, a couple zucchini muffins and some brussel sprout and cranberry salad, which I had actually put together Friday night using the rest of the shaved brussel sprouts. I threw the hummus in the freezer in half cup servings. I had made it to go with the gyro and, at the time, I knew I was making too much for just me. Good thing it freezes well. The raw veggies I knew would be gone soon, as I primarily use them as vehicles to deliver tzatziki to my mouth. Which, by the way, was gone Thursday, so I made another batch. Love that stuff! (If you use the link for the recipe, omit the oil. It's not needed.)

I decided I’d use the potatoes, peppers and onions and mushrooms to make hash for breakfast. I was going to do it on the stove top, but then had the idea to use the oven … less hands-on time needed while I took care of a few chores. I cubed the potatoes and put them in a large bowl with the

Ready for the oven...

mushrooms and peppers and onions. Then, over the top of all, I sprinkled some garlic powder, chili powder, onion powder, paprika and 1 tablespoon of oat flour. I imagine any other flour would work as well, it’s just what I had handy. Then I tossed it all together to coat all the veggies and spread it out on a cookie sheet, on top of parchment paper. Twenty minutes @ 425 degrees, stirring once half way through, then 5 minutes under the broiler to get them a little more brown and another experiment was a success! It may be that they would have browned more on their own if I had let them go longer, but I was getting hungry.

Lunch time took care of the brussel sprout salad and zuchinni muffins, and for dinner, I made fried rice using, of course, the brown rice, the broccoli, some of the raw veggies and some tofu that have been marinating since last night. All in all … I think I did pretty darn good this week. {Patting myself on the back.} Here’s a look at some of the plant based dishes I enjoyed through the week thanks to my plant based prepping:

Vegan Gyro with tzatziki and hummus

Pizza with  FOK spinach/artichoke dip and roasted onions and peppers

Veggie soup, kale and apple salad, sweet potato toast with FOK spinach/artichoke dip.

Air fried broccoflower with thai peanut sauce
I used PB2 instead of peanut butter in this recipe.

Burrito bowl.

Pineapple dessert: zucchini muffin topped with fresh pineapple
and dressed with coconut cream sauce
(soymilk, coconut extract and a little guar gum to thicken)

Veggie soup, kale and apple salad,
sweet potato toast with FOK spinach/artichoke dip

Veggie soup and gyro

Brussel sprout salad and zucchini muffin

Oven hash, sweet potato toast and pineapple

"Fried" brown rice with tofu and veggies

Rice bowl with air fried tofu and veggies, steamed veggies
and brown rice, topped with thai peanut sauce

I'll  hit The 99 Cent Store today to see what they have in the way of produce, then maybe Sprouts or Trader Joe's and tomorrow (I now have Mondays off) … I’ll start the prep work all over again … and again … and again.

Plant Based Planning

I wish my life was this organized! Did some food prep today (had the day off!) to ensure a successful plant based week. Black beans in the pressure cooker, brown rice in the rice cooker … they really cooked themselves. A pot of Italian vegetable soup and some steamed broccoli was a quick fix on the stove top. The hummus and tzatziki went super fast in the Vitamix. Roasted some bell peppers and baked zuchinni muffins in the oven. Cleaned, cut, diced and sliced a myriad of veggies and made a couple new recipes: Forks over Knives spinach artichoke dip and Vegan Gyros from Brand New Vegan. Not seen here are also some steamed whole red potatoes that are in my crisper drawer. I always keep some on hand for quick air fried potato wedges. Washing and cutting vegetables probably took the most time. Nope. Scratch that … clean up took the most time! But I am set for a successful few days.

So breakfasts this week will pretty much be my grab and go single serve oatmeal along with some type of grab and go fruit. During the week I usually eat breakfast at the office, at my desk.  Snacks will probably be zucchini muffins and raw veggies with a dip ... either tzatziki, hummus or the spinach artichoke. Or my newest, favorite snack airfried broccoli with a peanut dipping sauce.  For lunches and/or dinners I see many possibilities ... pizza, cheesy broccoli pasta casserole, burrito bowls, another gyro (have leftovers) or wrap, broccoli cheese potato, potato hash with roasted onions and peppers, maybe a pasta salad, soup and salad. I even have an idea for dessert involving zuchinni muffins and pineapple

Eating My Feelings

I think it’s time to whip up a batch of soft, creamy, garlicy smashed potatoes. With a side of corn … pure, plant based comfort food. I’ve been doing some emotional eating the past couple days. And I’d rather do the smashed potato route than continue to reach for the nuts and dried fruit (and, if I’m totally honest, vegan dark chocolate chips) that I’ve been indulging in. And yet … should I really be reaching for food if it’s comfort I am seeking? That’s my old way of dealing with things … something I still, and may always, struggle with. It’s just easier to shove something in my mouth than deal with the actual situation. That would take evaluation and introspection and dealing with feelings. Things could get messy. Smashed potatoes, on the other hand, are so much easier and way less messy … right?!

So here's my garlic smashes potatoes. I was out of corn, so a side of
green beans with air fried tofu and toasted slivered almonds filled in nicely.

A Peek In My Fridge

This is what my refrigerator looks like this week … well … at least the top couple shelves that are entirely mine. The rest I share with a husband, two dogs and five cats who do not eat whole food plant based. I try to prep food on the weekend to cut down on cooking time during the week. I love to cook, but sometimes don’t have the time on a weeknight so having some items ready to go really helps.

Usually I will have a row of single serve soup, but didn’t get around to making a pot this week. I did make a chickpea, spinach curry that you see on the far right (single serve entrees). Next to that is a row of beans, portioned in 1 cup mason jars and the rest is labeled as well. This week it’s mayacoba beans. Some weeks it’s black beans, or pinto beans. Tzatziki (left) has been my go to dip this past week or so. This is probably my third batch in the last 10 days. I sometimes switch out the dip for spinach dip or hummus.  

The kale and apple salad is also my third batch in the same amount of time. When I find something I like, I tend to repeat. I don’t need a lot of variety during the week. What you see here is usually what I have, with the addition of a soup … usually a creamy cauliflower or minestrone. Something heavy on the veggies. I’ve been doing salads more this week than soup. The amazing cauliflower taco meat is something I do, maybe every other week. When I make it I usually make a double batch and keep some in the freezer. Even though it’s called taco meat, it has many more uses. The muffins (bananna and oat) are a staple for breakfasts and snacks. Not pictured, on a lower shelf,  are a couple recent favorites that I’ve made twice in the past week or so, an amazing all purpose vegan cheese sauce and chia seed strawberry jam. The cheese sauce goes great on pasta, potatoes, toast, nachos, taco salad … and more!  I've tried to include all recipe links above. 

So … with these items on hand I’ve been able to put together some fast meals and snacks this week …

Taco salad.

Steamed red potato, broccoli and asparagus with cheesy sauce.

Cheese toast

Spinach, chickpea curry over brown rice.

Kale apple salad with soup.

Green smoothie and PBJ

Tzatziki with lavash crackers.

Wrap with salad greens, tofu bacon and avocado.

Spinach chickpea curry over quinoa with kale apple salad.

Nachos

Burrito bowl.

What's in your fridge?!

The Pink Bakery Box

As I sat at my desk this morning a trio of women came into the church to do some work. They brought with them a square pink box filled with assorted donuts. Well ...  I didn’t actually look in the box, but I assumed that it was a bakery box and inside were donuts of assorted flavors. Maybe some puffy glazed donuts, some chocolate glazed cake donuts with sprinkles, maybe a maple glazed bar, or a chocolate bar with custard, a maple glazed old fashioned, or, my favorite, an apple fritter! (Geez … why did I just go there?!) Anyway, one of the women confirmed my suspicions when she popped her head in the office and asked if I was eating donuts.  I replied, “No thank you.” She said, “OK” and retreated. I immediately felt as though my response was less than it could have been … should have been.

So, I tracked her down (upstairs) and told her I would like to change my answer about the donuts to, “Thank you, but no thank you.” And I let her know that I did appreciate her asking me. She responded that my answer had been fine. I’m glad it was for her, but it wasn’t for me. I realized that there had been no graciousness in my response. No gratitude and acknowledgement of her generosity in the offering. It was generous and it was thoughtful, even if I didn’t appreciate the food item enough to want to partake in it … even though I now view such  processed foods as garbage and (almost) evil (too much?!). Certainly a detriment to anyone’s health who would ingest them. However, there was a time, not all that long ago, when I would have said yes and gladly scarfed down two or three … in a single sitting. And then gone back for more when no one was looking.

I really did appreciate her offering me the donuts … giving me the choice. Because the flip side of that, and something I encounter all too often with “well-intentioned” folks who know I am eating a certain way and don’t understand (aka the “food police”),  are comments like: “You don’t want these, you’re vegan.” Or, “You can’t have these… you’re on a diet.” That’s the one I dislike most. First of all, it’s not a “diet,” it's a way of eating. Second, I can have anything I want … my choice as a consenting, consuming adult. And honestly, I didn’t want those donuts. I still don’t after having envisioned them and written about them in varying flavors and types. They didn’t get under my skin as they once would have. That’s what whole food plant based eating will do for you.

I’m down 52 pounds. Off one diabetes medication. On a lowered dose of meds for blood pressure. Off prescription NSAID’s for five days now and not in as much pain as I would have thought. Off cholesterol meds and no longer “craving” donuts or other unwholesome, processed (junk) foods. And … I can feel my xiphisternum. Yeah … I went there. Two weeks ago I didn’t even know I had a xphisternum (or xiphoid process). That’s the little bumpy place where your lower sternum meets your ribs. I thought I had found a tumor or growth but no … just my xiphoid process coming to the surface as the fat melts away. I also have these little indentations in my neck and décolletage area, around my clavicle, that I haven’t seen in years. Yup, that's what a whole food plant based no oil (WFPBNO) way of eating will do for you!

Salad for breakfast???

Definitely not the usual breakfast at my desk this morning.

It’s not a pretty picture, I know, but sometimes food is just fuel. It’s awesome when it’s more than that … delicious, beautiful, attractively plated, appropriate for the time of day you are ingesting it, etc., but sometimes you are running late for work and forgot to make overnight oats the night before. So you run to your freezer and find you are out of zucchini oatmeal muffins as well. Then what do you do?! You grab whatever you have, knowing it will be OK because anything you grab is going to be healthy since you cleaned out your refrigerator and cupboards of all junk foods months ago when you began this whole food plant based way of eating. And, if you were me this morning, this is what you had: kale and apple salad and some steamed baby Yukon gold potatoes … not normally what I would consider for breakfast, but what the heck.

I’ve never had kale for breakfast. Now, I know some people have green smoothies for breakfast that incorporate kale, but I’m really not a smoothie person. I prefer to chew my food. It wasn’t difficult to wrap my head around apples, cranberries and slivered almonds in a sweet lemon vinaigrette for the morning, but kale? Well … let’s just say it was along for the ride because of the super duper health benefits. And it didn’t disappoint. Pretty yummy! And, with the potatoes, kept me full until now ... lunch time. I just may plan on salad for breakfast tomorrow. What’s your weirdest breakfast?