Jackfruit!!

Jackfruit is a vegetarian's best friend! If you aren't familiar with it, it's a large fruit with a prickly outside but you can buy it canned from Asian grocery stores (like 99 Ranch) which is much easier to cook with. Now the awesome thing about jackfruit is it will taste like whatever you marinate it in and it has the consistency of pork. It gets soft and shreds just like pork so it's perfect to make carnitas with. It's also perfect for the crockpot which is always nice to come home to. But what do you do when you leave the house early in the morning and don't get home until about 12 hours later? Mike had the brilliant idea to use a christmas tree timer! It worked perfectly and we came home to delicious jackfruit just waiting to be placed into warmed tortillas and topped with cilantro, avocado, and lime.

Day 11
Breakfast:
oatmeal, homemade almond butter

Snack:
baby carrots

Lunch:
veggie burrito bowl from Chipotle

Snack:
Pineapple Coconut Raw Energy Ball
banana

Dinner:
jackfruit tacos

Exercise:
CrossFit

Today was hard

Okay, things have been going surprisingly well up til today. I really didn't have too many temptations so it was easy to stick to my plan. Today, however, I was faced with Porto's! For those that don't know, Porto's is an amazing Cuban bakery that sells treats made by angels. Seriously, so good! I knew they would be selling it at the office today for a fundraiser but it didn't help prepare me for walking past the boxes multiple times. What also didn't help was I really didn't prepare my snacks very well. Normally I can distract myself with my own treats but I ran out of the good stuff and only had the pineapple coconut balls which aren't even close to good enough to take my mind off delicious baked goods.

I'm not sure how much it was a factor, but it definitely crossed my mind that if I indulged I would have to document it for the 3 people that read my blog to see (hi Mommy!). Either way I did not succumb! It was tough but when I left the office today I felt good about my decision and did not feel deprived in any way. I've got a long weekend of difficult decisions ahead of me so it was really important to me to stick to my game plan this week.

Day 10
Breakfast:
Oatmeal, homemade almond butter

Snack:
Baby carrots

Lunch:
Spinach salad

Snack:
Pineapple Coconut Raw Energy Ball
Apple
Banana
Almonds

Dinner:
Quinoa and Brown Rice Bowl with Vegetables and Tahini

Exercise:
Rest day

Restaurant food at home

I love when you can make your favorite restaurant dishes at home! Mike did an awesome job finding a recipe for a delicious Cafe Gratitude bowl which is good news because it's too far to visit on a regular basis. If something is really good you can usually find someone who as at least attempted to recreate it. I wish I was one of those people who can recreate a recipe just from tasting it. Like, "hmm, I taste a 1/4 teaspoon of smoked paprika." Instead, when I eat out I'm like, "hmm, mmmmm." Because of this I am a fairly strict recipe follower for fear of screwing things up. The only time I deviate is if I'm lazy (really, do you have to measure 1 teaspoon of salt?) or if I'm out of something, like the bean sprouts. I keep thinking that I'll become more creative over time and be able to just put together my own recipe but so far nothing. I'll keep you posted.

Day 9

Breakfast:

Oatmeal, homemade almond butter

Snack:

Cranberry Walnut Granola

Lunch:

Roasted Buddha Bowl

Snack:

Cranberry Walnut Granola

Baby carrots

Pineapple Coconut Raw Energy Ball
Apple

Dinner:
Quinoa and Brown Rice Bowl with Vegetables and Tahini

Exercise:
Crossfit

Recipe Reviews

I realized that I haven't commented on my snack recipes yet. First of all, the Cranberry Walnut Granola. I didn't include the honey which may explain why it doesn't stick together at all but I'm okay with it because it tastes delicious! It's pretty messy but totally worth it! It actually tastes kind of buttery and it's pretty filling.

Secondly, the Pineapple Coconut Raw Energy Ball. I thought I would be clever and puff my own quinoa since it seemed fairly simple. It actually was really simple, however I need to work on my technique a bit. I applied the old popcorn rule and planned to wait until the "pops" were a few seconds apart, however in that time it got pretty toasty and ended up tasting slightly burnt. I think I will try it again but I will spring for the pre-made puffed quinoa. The burnt taste was overpowering and the balls taste pretty savory. Not the worst thing, I mean I've been eating them regularly, but I just think they can taste a lot better. So far the Key Lime Energy Coconut Bites are my favorite snack. I plan to make them again ASAP because they are so delicious and really easy to make.

Day 8

Breakfast:

Oatmeal, homemade almond butter

Snack:

Cranberry Walnut Granola

Lunch:

Yam and broccoli w/ olive oil, salt, pepper, and fresh thyme (chopped up everything into bite sized pieces and baked for about 25 minutes at 350)

Snack:

Cranberry Walnut Granola

Pineapple Coconut Raw Energy Ball

Dinner:

Roasted Buddha Bowl

Exercise:
yoga

Week 1 done

First week is done and it really wasn't very hard. Granted it wasn't 100% sugar free but the few times I had added sugar were not because I was craving it. Today I shared a dessert with my friend Heather because Native Foods makes the most amazing peanut butter parfait and I wanted her to try it. Normally I would have gotten my own (and I have!) but sharing was a great option and we didn't even finish it!

The weekdays are so much easier due to routine and meal planning but the weekends are hard. This coming weekend I'll be out of town so it's really going to up the ante on eating right. Finding vegan options is hard enough away from home but adding the twist of no added sugar will make it even tougher. I'm hoping I'll get some good suggestions this week for recipes that travel well and don't need to be refrigerated in addition to being vegan and free of added sugar!

Day 7
Breakfast:
oatmeal, homemade almond butter

Lunch:
Ensalada Azteca Salad
Peanut Butter Parfait

Snack:
Pineapple Coconut Raw Energy Ball
Cranberry Walnut Granola

Dinner:
Roasted Buddha Bowl

Exercise:
rest day

Cheat Day

Today was Vegan Beer Fest so I knew it would be a major cheat day. I went in with the goal of tasting the vegan Cheesy Mac & "Rib" from The Grilled Cheese Truck (which never offers vegan options) and the vegan "cronut" (croissant donut hybrid that is currently all the rage thanks to Dominique Ansel) from Real Food Daily. I am happy to say I accomplished both goals but sadly the cronut was not all that I had hoped for.

I'm not really a beer drinker, I went to the festival more for the food, but I did taste a delicious pineapple cider from Ace Cider that will be in Whole Foods next month! So after half the grilled cheese, most of the cronut, and a few servings of cider I was stuffed! I had a few bites of some other things but really that was the bulk of what I ate. I briefly entertained the idea of getting a vegan baked treat for the road on our way out but decided against it and I'm glad I did.

I did not set out to allow myself cheat days but sometimes they are necessary and shouldn't mean blowing the whole day just because of one event. With that in mind I tried to reel it in later in the evening when I found myself not having eaten dinner (seriously I was so full) and out with girlfriends at a restaurant that wasn't exactly vegan friendly or sugar free. Tomorrow should be back on track!

Day 6

Breakfast:

Chia seed pudding

Snack:

Pineapple Coconut Raw Energy Ball

Cranberry Walnut Granola

Lunch:
vegan Cheesy Mac & "Rib" grilled cheese
vegan "cronut"

Snack:

Pineapple Coconut Raw Energy Ball

Cranberry Walnut Granola

Dinner:
Roasted Carrot and Citrus Salad
Hand Cut Frites

Exercise:
5 mile run (part trail, part street)
Yoga

Ho Hum

Today was pretty unremarkable. I accidentally ate the sugar added almond butter instead of my homemade one. Old habits die hard, but there really isn't very much left and hopefully someone else will eat it (hint hint) before I make that mistake again. Other than that I spent all night making snacks for tomorrow so my meals and commentary are pretty lackluster. It's going to be a jam packed day though so I'm going to get to bed like I should have done at least an hour ago.

Day 5
Breakfast:
oatmeal, almond butter, half banana

Snack:
Key Lime Coconut Energy Bite

Lunch:
Layered Ratatouille and polenta

Snack:
Key Lime Coconut Energy Bite
Apple
Almonds

Dinner:
Layered Ratatouille and polenta

Exercise:
Hot Yoga