Engine 2 Food Journal, Day 2

For the past week and a few days, I've been eating oil-free, low-salt, and low-sugar meals on the Engine 2 plan (first the Seven-Day Rescue version and now regular Engine 2). I love how I feel eating this way!

When I did the 7-Day Rescue last week, I focused on only whole plant foods and made everything from scratch (except my oat milk and some Engine 2 hummus). But this week, I'm working in a few more packaged products, like this Engine 2 Triple Berry Walnut Cereal that I had for breakfast yesterday.

I'd had this cereal before, and I knew I loved it! It had shredded wheat, rolled oats, and grape nuts, plus walnuts and freeze-dried berries. It's very filling (especially when you have two servings like I did!), and the naturally sweetened Pacific oat milk makes it taste like dessert for breakfast. I added fresh blueberries and strawberries (those were from my front yard garden!).

Morning snack was the last of the homemade Oil-Free Hummus I'd made during the 7-day plan, with baby carrots and bell pepper slices.

Lunch was another fun Engine 2 product! I had the Tempeh Ranchero Squarito Burrito and a salad with Rip's Favorite Ranch from The Engine 2 Cookbook.

That burrito was awesome! It has a ancient grain wrap, and it's folded into a square. It was stuffed with a Southwestern-flavored tempeh mix. It was pretty small though so the hearty salad with sweet potato was needed to fill out the meal.

That ranch was made with cashews, fresh herbs (from my garden), and plenty of garlic and onion powder. It wasn't as creamy as most cashew ranches I've had because it had more liquid. But still really tasty. It turned green when I added the herbs to my Vitamix.

In the afternoon, I had another slice of oil-free Badass Banana Bread from The Engine 2 Cookbook, which I baked on Saturday and have enjoyed every day since.

Dinner was really tasty. I had Teriyaki Tofu Bowl from The Engine 2 Cookbook. Tofu is marinated in low-sodium shoyu, sesame seeds, maple, and ginger, and then it's baked in the oven. Served over steamed broccoli and brown rice.

Typically, I would have drowned that dish in extra soy sauce, but my tastebuds have adapted to less salt, and it didn't need a thing. I'm actually finding that sriracha provides all the salt I need.

By the way, the new Engine 2 Cookbook will be my go-to for the next couple weeks. So consider this post and the next few an extended review post. It's a beautiful, full-color cookbook of Engine 2-approved recipes, and unlike Rip Esselstyn's other books, there's not a lot of space devoted to the program's specifics. It's a great resource for someone who is already versed in the Engine 2 and just needs some great recipes!

After dinner, I had a Crosstown Memphis CDC meeting at our neighborhood bar/pizza joint, Midtown Crossing. It was $2 pint night, so I couldn't resist. I planned on just having one beer (a locally brewed Crosstown Brewing Co. Traffic IPA), but one of our board members, Kelvin, is a self-professed "beer-pusher," and he purchased a second round for the table. How could I say no?!