Some Meals I Didn't Eat at Home

Y'all. I went straight off the whole foods rails last week. Like just FELL. RIGHT. OFF. Sure, I still had a few healthy meals at home. But for the most part, I gave into every craving for sweets and oil and ate out more times than I typically do.

And that's okay! Sometimes, you need to treat yourself, and I think it was time. Our cafe at Crosstown Arts was KILLING IT with desserts and specials last week, so I ended up eating quite a bit at work. And I treated myself to a decadent meal at Imagine Vegan Cafe last Tuesday.

That Imagine meal — the Vegan Memphis platter — comes with seitan BBQ, seasoned fries, and baked beans. It's one of my favorite things to order, but I so rarely eat fries.

Once a week, I eat lunch in our cafe at Crosstown Arts (where I work in communications). The menu is pretty whole foods-y, but a few things are a little more decadent. Like the Chicken Fried Tofu Over Grits and Greens. It's my favorite menu item (and it's all whole foods!), but since it's fried, I try to limit this to a monthly treat.

Our head baker at the cafe — Ali —was rolling out all kinds of amazing things last week. I mean, she's always on her game, but her specials last week were all calling my name. One day, she made Meyer Lemon & Cashew Cream Cheese Hand Pies. I'm a sucker for anything lemon-y. I did split this with a co-worker, so I feel pretty great about that. I always feel best when I share a dessert.

The next day, I came in and saw she'd made VEGAN CRONUTS!!!!! These were Pineapple Coconut Croissant Doughnuts, and holy hell, they were SO GOOD. Just look at those layers. I'd never eaten a cronut, so I pretty much had to order this. Had to. And no, I did not share.

And then on Friday, Ali made Vegan Sausage & Cheese Biscuits with her homemade bean-based sausage, vegan American cheese, and handcrafted buttermilk biscuits. This brought me right back to my McDonald's days (but so much better!). In college, I lived off McDonald's sausage, egg, and cheese biscuits (without the sausage — I was vegetarian then but not yet vegan).

So yea, that was a delicious week. But I am trying to reign that in this week. I feel better when I'm limiting sugar and eating less white bread and fried foods. No regrets though!