Stuff I Ate

I've got a BUNCH of random meal pics to share tonight, so let's get started! Perhaps my favorite thing I've eaten lately was the Vegan Steakhouse Burger from Imagine Vegan Cafe! It's a new menu item — two veggie burger patties, veggie bacon, onion rings, and BBQ sauce. But y'all, two patties seems a little insane to me, so I ordered it with just one patty and a side of seasoned collard greens for good measure. DELICIOUS!

As I waited on my burger, owner Kristie came out of the kitchen to hand me a free bowl of their soup of the week! She wanted my opinion on this Greens & Potato Chowder. I told her it was delicious and had my seal of approval.

Another treat from Imagine! I dropped by on Saturday for a Vegan Soft Serve Cone. I LOVE that I have constant access to vegan soft serve now. I'm a lucky girl.

Here's another burger — one that was way healthier. I made this Hilary's Eat Well Veggie Burger at home. Topped with Daiya vegan cheddar, Sabra sea salt & black pepper hummus spread, lettuce, and tomato. Enjoyed with a side of potato-carrot soup leftover from last week. The Hilary's patties are loaded with greens, whole grains, and other veggies.

I got two new tattoos on Saturday — a women's liberation symbol on my left forearm and a 26.2 marathon tattoo on my right foot. My appointment fell right around dinner time, so I picked up some Raw Hummus Toast from the Raw Girls food truck to snack on during the tattoo process. Real talk though — the foot tattoo was so painful that I couldn't eat while it was happening. But I ate a fair amount of this before the process began, and I finished the rest when I got home. Sprouted hummus, sriracha, mustard, pickles, and raw sundried tomato "bread." It's one of my favorite menu items from the Raw Girls.

I had a meeting at Midtown Crossing Grill last week around dinner time, so I ordered my namesake sandwich, the Bianca Banh Mi — tofu banh mi with hummus and pickled veggies, salad with wasabi vinaigrette on the side.

For lunch today, I met my friend Susan at Pho Binh, home of the best tofu in town. They have a small lunch buffet that's mostly all tofu. I usually pile my plate high with lemongrass tofu, green bean tofu, curry tofu, and white rice. But today, I attempted to make a salad to help me not eat too much fried tofu. Sadly, Pho Binh is not known for their salad bar. It's a combo of strange things like olives, lettuce, pickles, jalapenos, and maraschino cherries. I did the best I could. Cabbage-tomato soup on the side.

Some random breakfasts — a V Raw B Energized Peanut Butter Protein Bar and Banana after a run.

A B Free (what's with all the companies just using the letter "B" instead of spelling it out?? "Be" is just two letters, y'all!) Gluten-Free Bagel with Vegan Chive & Garlic Cream Cheese.

A FitQuick Pizza Protein Waffle stuffed with Daiya mozzarella, spinach, and kalamata olives and topped with marinara. I recently re-upped my FitQuick stash. My, how I missed my pizza waffles!

A Valentine's-inspired breakfast of Love Grown Chocolate & Strawberry Hearts Cereal (made with beans) and cashew milk! I made some quick Tempeh Bacon in the air fryer, and I'll share that recipe soon. Needs some work. Texture was great, but my quick marinade/baste wasn't as flavorful as I'd hoped. Also had a banana on the side.

Here's a Fresh Greens Juice I picked up from Juice Bar earlier this week — celery, kale, spinach, cucumber, parsley, and lemon.

One morning last week, I suddenly got an urge to make energy balls. Strange since it was a work day, and I was already running behind. But I wanted them for morning snacks at my desk, so I googled and found this recipe from the Healthy Maven for No-Bake Oatmeal Protein Energy Balls. I subbed Vega One for the whey powder (hence the green color) and maple syrup for the honey. They also have oats, peanut butter, chia seeds, and raisins. Yummy snacks.

And finally — BBQ Tofu Nachos!! I had leftover tortillas, cashew queso, and pico from the BBQ Nachos from The Superfun Times Vegan Holiday Cookbook that I made for the Super Bowl. But I didn't have any extra BBQ lentils, so I just crumbled some frozen (and thawed) tofu and mixed it with some Trader Joe's Sriracha Roasted Garlic BBQ Sauce. Instant BBQ Tofu Nachos! With air-fried corn tortilla chips!

As you can see, I'm doing okay with my efforts to find balance post-cleanse. I'm definitely eating some indulgent stuff (looking at you, onion ring burger and fried tofu), but I'm balancing that with green juice, raw cracker breads, veggies, and air-fried versions of otherwise fatty things.