Things I Ate on 80/20 Plants This Week

It's the fourth week of 80/20 Plants — a WFPB program I'm following to help me strike a balance of 80% whole foods and 20% treats. The first week focused on breakfasts, the second on snacks, and in weeks three and four, we're working to get lunches into the whole food, plant-based realm. So this means that most days, I'm eating WFPB until dinner.

Breakfasts for me are typically smoothies with fruit, nuts, flax, and spinach (sometimes I add protein powder if it's after a strength workout) or some kind of oats. On Monday, I made Savory Noochy Oats with turmeric, spinach, walnuts, sesame seeds, and leftover peanut butter-coated tempeh. I'd made the tempeh from the No Meat Athlete Cookbook last week and had some left. Perfect protein-packed breakfast.

This morning, I had an old fave that I'd forgotten about — Warm Steel Cut Oats with Banana Nice Cream! The combo of warm and cold is heavenly. I mixed flax and maple into the oats, and the banana nice cream also had peaches blended in. The bowl is drizzled with tahini before serving.

As for snacks, I've been enjoying some homemade Sharp Cheddar Cashew Cheese (a recipe from 80/20 Plants) and homemade oil-free hummus with whole wheat crackers or raw veggies.

Lunches this week have mostly been Loaded Sweet Potatoes with Everything Sauce. The sauce is an 80/20 Plants recipe that has a tofu base seasoned with nooch and chipotle powder. It's creamy and delicious. This potato is topped with black beans, spinach, and roasted broccoli.

I had a work meeting over lunch yesterday, and we met at Elemento (a pizza place at Crosstown Concourse). I love their cheese-less neapolitan pizza, but I wanted to keep with my WFPB lunch goals, so I ordered a Build Your Own Salad instead. All the toppings fell to the bottom, but this had white beans, roasted red peppers, almonds, olives, dried cranberries, and roasted tomato vinaigrette. They serve it with a some flatbread made from their pizza crust, so you still get a little hint of pizza.

Dinners have been fairly whole, but I'm throwing in a little plant meat and vegan cheese for my 20%! On Monday night, Paul and I made Vegan Chili Cheese Fries. I air-fried potatoes for the fries and topped with a vegan beef chili (with Beyond Beef) I'd had frozen and Daiya cheese.

Last night, I had a Dr. Praeger's Sweet Heat Beet Veggie Burger. These are Praeger's plant protein burgers with added pea protein (19 grams!), and they're really good. Very beet-y. Served with air-fried fries, topped with scallions and everything sauce.

I love this balanced approach to eating! I've tried WFPB programs before, and I always feel my best when I'm eating this way. But having the freedom to base 20% of my day on treats makes this way of eating more manageable for the long term.