Shroom Tacos, Pickle Scones, & Salad!

Last Friday, we celebrated my friend Susan's birthday at Cameo, a cute little cocktail bar with a few vegan items. I opted for the Maitake Tinga Tacos (hold the sour cream), which had maitake mushrooms, pico, and peppers. They were really tasty, though quite small. I wasn't expecting street tacos for the price ($15), and I did have to eat more food when I got home though. In Cameo's defense, it is listed as a snack, so there's that. 

What better to drink with tacos than a margarita? Cameo makes a very solid marg.

On Saturday morning, I picked up this Dill Pickle Scone from the LuLu's booth at the CY Farmers Market. They made their own pickles and then added them to scones. SO GOOD! I could have eaten three or four of these. Are you sensing a theme here? Clearly, I have a healthy appetite.

And finally, here's a Beet, Fennel, and Orange Salad from Raw Girls that I picked up for a work lunch on Monday. This is the one Raw Girls dish I'd never ordered because it's got an arugula base, and I'm not crazy about arugula. And I also didn't think I liked fennel until recently when I had some in a salad and realized I actually love fennel. So that realization led me to be brave enough to try this. And you know what? It was good! I think arugula is easier to eat when you have the right salad dressing, and this did. It was a creamy pecan dressing that was perfect!

Last Fiber Fueled 4-Week Meal Round-up!

Last week was the last one on my Fiber Fueled 4-week meal plan! I started the plan in early August with Paul, in the hopes that he could finally clean up his diet and eat some damn fiber. But Paul fell off in the first week. Unfortunately, healthy eating just isn't his thing. But I stuck with it because I love Dr. Will B's recipes, and even though I don't have an issue getting enough fiber, I was curious to try his plan. 

The plan is built to slowly work in higher-FODMAP foods (like garlic, onions, bananas, etc.) so that in the first week, you have very little FODMAPs. And by then, you're eating a normal, whole food, plant-based diet. I sometimes have gas and bloating, so I wanted to see if that was caused by FODMAPs. And based on this plan, it's not! So that's good. Now I know the issue is something else (and honestly, it seems more exacerbated by raw cruciferous veggies, so I suspect that's my issue). 

Anyway, enough about gas! Here are some things I ate last week on the meal plan. On Sunday, I made the Gluten-Free Pancakes with oat flour and blueberries. A great start to my day!

I made these Sesame Noodle Meal Prep bowls for lunches, and they were so handy! They're made with soba noodles, tofu, carrots, cucumber, edamame, and a tasty tahini sauce. Plus, lots of seeds!

The Sunflower No-Tuna Spread also made great lunches when spread on some homemade sourdough bread (and topped with broccoli sprouts, which I've been growing at home).

Last Saturday (the night before a 5-mile race), I had the Chickpea Meatballs and Spaghetti. These balls were made with chickpeas, walnuts, and Italian herbs. They're very good, and the recipe makes a lot.

And finally, I ended my meal plan with Tofu Saag with spinach, coconut milk, and lots of Indian spices! This was from the Fiber Fueled plan, but starting this week, I'm taking a deep dive in Indian cooking (because I've got a new cookbook to review). So this saag was a great intro into the week! 

Thai Rainbow Bowl, Kimchi Rice, and Gumbo!

I'm in the home stretch with my Fiber Fueled four-week meal plan. Only a few more days! But since I've been really chill about eating things not on the plan, it hasn't felt hard at all. Here are a few things I've eaten lately.

This Thai Rainbow Bowl was beautiful and delicious! It has a base of brown rice and was topped with tofu, raw veggies (cucumbers, carrots, bell peppers, and red cabbage) and a tasty peanut sauce that I could drink.

The Kimchi Fried Rice was also a winner. Brown rice is sauteed with tofu, kimchi, bok choy, and shiitake mushrooms. I just love kimchi. All fermented foods really! I'm all about that salty tanginess.

Last night, I made Gumbo from the book, using okra from my neighbor's garden. This wasn't made with a traditional roux, but it did involve stirring flour into the veggies before adding broth so it still had that gumbo-like flavor. In fact, the spices (lots of thyme!) were spot-on for gumbo. I made a bunch of this so I'll be eating it for days. 

Breakfast Tacos, Buffalo Salad, and Sad Wraps

This morning, I made the Spicy Breakfast Tacos from Fiber Fueled, and they were awesome! There's tofu that's been cooked in homemade taco sauce, smashed black beans, cherry tomato salsa, avocado, and I added some cumin-scented kraut that I made (even though the recipe doesn't call for kraut). I wish I had enough left for another day! But I don't. Lots of tacos on this Fiber Fueled plan. Reminds me of the time I did the Taco Cleanse!

Several days last week, I had the Buffalo Chickpea Salad from Fiber Fueled for lunch. This was sooo good! It has chickpeas that are sauteed in homemade buffalo sauce and then served over greens that have been tossed with a sweet pumpkin dressing. Topped with tomato and avocado, plus some bonus peppers from my garden and Kelly's croutons (because they're everything). Sourdough on the side!

And finally, here's a sad meal that I just had to share. On Saturday, I went to board retreat for a nonprofit board that I'm on. Lunch was provided, and while I'm glad there was a vegan option for me (the only vegan on the board), check out these sad Veggie Wraps. The insides were stuffed with lettuce, carrots, tomatoes, and peppers. The tomatoes and peppers were marinated in some kind of vinaigrette, but it was pretty bland. They served the wraps with non-vegan ranch, so maybe they intended additional flavor to come from that. But you know, dairy. I wish they'd included some kind of protein source; seasoned chickpeas would have been an easy and obvious option. Oh well. Luckily, there were also BBQ chips, and they were full of flavor! 

Stir-fry with Sexy Mushrooms! Plus, Tacos and Chili!

Still doing Fiber Fueled, and I'm loving all the recipes. Last week, I made the Backpocket Stir-fry, which was served over quinoa. I thought that was a fun alternative to rice. 

It called for oyster mushrooms, so I picked some up from the farmers market. Just look at these!! So much prettier than what you can buy in a store.

Here's another taco recipe from the book. I made lentil and walnut tacos early last week, and then on Friday, I made Tempeh Tacos. I used the same cilantro sauce from the lentil tacos on these as well.

And this week, I made some Butternut Squash & Quinoa Chili. This was not your typical bean chili. In fact, it had no beans. Just lots of veggies (including roasted butternut squash) and quinoa as the protein source. 

Fiber Fueled Breakfasts!

Here are a few breakfasts I've been eating on the Fiber Fueled 4-week plan from Dr. Will B.'s first book, Fiber Fueled. I'm in week three now and loving ALL the recipes. The Tofu Scramble Bowl was a fave. It's a traditional scramble served over steamed kale and roasted sweet potatoes. 

He recommends having this with a Citrus Mint Salad on the side. This has grapefruit, orange, lime, maple, and fresh mint from my garden. I really struggle with segmenting citrus. Anyone else? It's so messy, and I never get it right.

Here's a week two breakfast of Simple Overnight Oats topped with blueberries and maple. You can never go wrong with overnight oats. I saw a tweet the other day where someone said "overnight oats are gruel." But they are wrong. Dead wrong.

There's a new scramble this week — Puttanesca Scramble. It's similar to last week's version, but this one has capers and black olives. I'll eat ANYTHING with black olives (so long as it's vegan, obvs). Giant slice of sourdough on the side (made with Dr. B's recipe from his new Fiber Fueled Cookbook).

And here's a breakfast that wasn't on the Fiber Fueled plan. I picked up this Breakfast Pocket from LuLu's at the CY Farmers Market on Saturday. It has smoked tofu and smoked pepitas (and maybe also mushrooms?).

Cuban Platter, Miso Noodles, and Pumpkin Everything!

We had a house guest on Saturday night, and we took him out for brunch at the Liquor Store on Broad (not an actual liquor store but a diner in an old liquor store) before he left town. I'm still doing the Fiber Fueled 4-week plan from Dr. Will B's book. But I'm not being super strict about it. So eating out is fine! And I opted for the healthiest thing — the Cuban Platter! This has black beans, rice, sauteed veggies, and fried plantains, and I ordered a scoop of avocado as well. This has long been my favorite thing at the Liquor Store, and it's been awhile since I've ordered it. 

Here's a tasty plate of Miso Mushroom Noodles from The Fiber Fueled 4 weeks that I had for dinner on Saturday. The noodles are buckwheat soba, and they have a miso sauce. Plus, shiitake mushrooms, carrots, snow peas, edamame, red cabbage, and tofu. So good! Especially with a carafe of sake on the side.

It's not exactly pumpkin season yet, but there are a few pumpkin recipes in Fiber Fueled, so I made them. One was a Pumpkin Pie Smoothie made with pumpkin puree, banana, maple, and — the best part — canned coconut milk. I added protein powder as well because it was for post-run. I'm realizing now that this looks like cheese dip. 

And here's some Pumpkin Hummus from the book, with my homemade Sourdough Cheese-its (those are from Dr. B's second book, The Fiber Fueled Cookbook, and they're now a staple in our house!). 

Lentil Tacos, Red Curry, and Muhammara Snax

Okay, it's now day 10 of the Fiber Fueled 4 weeks (from Dr. Will B's Fiber Fueled book), and Paul has officially fallen off the wagon and has no desire to get back on. He's back to living on cheese pizza and lasagna and chips, and that's his choice. He just really doesn't like vegetables, and that's on him. That said, I'm carrying on! Even though I already ate a ton of fiber and probably didn't need a fiber-fueled refresh, I am loving these recipes! And I'm not being super-strict or anything, so I can still have plant meat or vegan cheese if I want.

Here are a few meals from the book I've enjoyed lately. This Red Lentil Curry with my homemade sourdough was so tasty. It's definitely more of a fall/winter dish, but I can eat this way all year.

On Tuesday, I made the Lentil-Walnut Tacos, which I had on whole wheat tortillas with cilantro sauce from the book. Really yummy! I rarely make sauces like this, and I don't know why. It really takes food to the next level. I also added my homemade kraut because it's seasoned with cumin, which goes well with tacos.

On Wednesday, I had the same taco filling in a baked sweet potato, topped with lots of lettuce, tomato, olives, and cilantro sauce. 

And here's a quick pre-workout snack. I had some of the Muhammara Dip (made with roasted red peppers and walnuts) from the book on sourdough with Roasted Roots (also from the book, with roasted potatoes, parsnips, and radishes). 

Mushroom Risotto, Pancakes, and Bibimbap!

I'm on day 9 of the Fiber Fueled 4 weeks but rather than recap the day's eats, I'll just share a few images of things I've been eating (because day to day, there are a lot of leftovers). Last Friday night, I made Mushroom Risotto from the book. This was my first time making risotto in the traditional way (rather than a cheat version, which is what I usually do), and it took FOREVER. But it was super-tasty, and Paul liked this one. I had sauteed Swiss chard on the side.

Backing up to earlier in the day on Friday: I spent the day at Crosstown Arts training my replacement for the job I left back in February, so that meant I needed to grab a quick lunch inside Crosstown Concourse. Global Cafe has a new Korean menu, so I got their Tofu Bibimbap with no egg, and it was delicious!

On Sunday, we had Sourdough Pancakes from the Fiber Fueled Cookbook (not on the Fiber Fueled 4 weeks plan). I had some frozen pancakes that were left over from a few weeks ago, and though there is a recipe for pancakes in the 4 weeks, it was easier to reheat these. I made a chia blueberry compote for mine, and Paul covered his liberally in Earth Balance and syrup. Of course.

Fiber Fueled Breakfast and Noodles!

We're on day 8 of the Fiber Fueled 4 weeks, from the meal plan in Dr. Will B's first book, Fiber Fueled. It's going great for me, but Paul is still eating cheese pizza, chips, and other foods not on the plan. That said, he's also eating some of the meals from the plan. I'm just going to have to be okay with his progress. You can lead the horse to water, right?

One day last week, I had this Superfood Smoothie Bowl from the book with a base of banana, strawberry kiwi, hemp seed, and peanut butter and topped with almond butter, fresh berries, and more hemp seeds. I loved all that nut butter!

Here's another week day breakfast from last week — Chia Coconut Pineapple Pudding with dates, lots of chia seeds, and chopped pineapple and mango. Light and refreshing on a hot morning!

And here's a really delicious meal (my fave so far!) of Nourishing Tomato Noodle Soup made with rice noodles and tofu in a tomato-ginger broth. A really tasty spin on traditional ramen. I would have never thought to make a broth like this with tomatoes, but it was perfection. 

Potluck Fun!

Paul and I are on day four of the Fiber Fueled 4 Weeks, and it's going great for me. Paul is still snacking on non-vegan junk, but he's working in the healthier meals so "progress, not perfection," right? Yesterday, we ate leftovers from the prior three days, so I wanted to back-track today and share some food pics from a recent birthday potluck at my friend Jenny's house.

First of all, I'm thrilled that potlucks are back! Now if we can just get buffets back (specifically, my favorite tofu buffet at Pho Binh, which has been gone since the pandemic started). For this party, I made Vegetable Ceviche from the Fiber Fueled Cookbook (not the same as the book we're using for our current meal plan; that's the original Fiber Fueled book, but same author).

This secret ingredient in the ceviche is hominy! I LOVE hominy and always forget about it. So it was fun to use both golden and white hominy in this tasty salad, which was awesome served with tortilla chips.

Here's my savory plate. My friend Caitlin brought flatbread with za'atar (SO GOOD), and someone else brought a tasty Indian-spiced eggplant dish. Plus, there was guac!

Amy brought the BEST vegan peach tart. I don't know what all was in this, but it was fantastic. That crust was everything!

Lammas Feast!

Okay, I know I JUST posted about starting a meal plan for August yesterday, and we are sticking to it as much as we can. But Aug. 2 is the pagan celebration of Lammas (or Lughnasadh), so I made a little feast from the Sabbats Almanac last night. But it was still very whole foods-y! The Sabbats Almanac isn't vegan, and for most sabbats, I have to veganize the recipes. But for this one, the recipes were mostly vegan! That's because Lammas is a celebration of the harvest, and summer produce is everywhere.

I made Grateful Grain Burgers with black beans, quinoa, brown rice, carrots, and coconut butter (an interesting twist!), and they were awesome. The recipe called for buckwheat and wheat berries as well, but I could find neither in the Sprouts bulk bins. And I didn't want to buy whole bags of those because the recipe only called for a small amount. I topped mine with Tofutti American slices (a blast from the past, thanks to some free samples from my pal Gerry at Tofutti!), tomato, onion, and lentil sprouts.

The Fiber Fueled 4 Weeks plan Paul and I are doing for August is low-FODMAP because it's designed to help people with gut issues (like Paul has). So week one on that plan is onion- and garlic-free, but I'm not trying to stick to low-FODMAP since I don't have gut issues, so raw onions for me, baby!

On the side, I made the Summer Veggie Medley with zucchini, squash, bell pepper, and lemon. This also called for honey, but I just left that out and didn't sub anything because sweet veggies sounded weird. I also sauteed some fresh chard from my neighbor Dennis, who gifted me some from his garden yesterday.

Dessert (also from the Sabbats Almanac book) was Grilled Peaches, which I served with Cocowhip. The peaches were marinated in lemon, maple, and ginger, and they were AMAZING.

And finally, you've gotta have beer on Lammas! Because grains! I enjoyed this Beale Street Brewing Co. Hush Mane Peach Lemonade Ale because it's very summer-y.

Fiber Fueled 4 Weeks!

Y'all know I love Dr. Will B and his new Fiber Fueled Cookbook. But before I read that (a few months ago), I read the original Fiber Fueled book (last year). I actually got the book because Paul was having serious GI issues, and I was hoping to learn how to fix before it got too bad. Unfortunately, that didn't happen, and Paul had surgery last year for perforated diverticulitis. But I knew, once he was well, we'd eventually try the Fiber Fueled four-week meal plan. We finally decided to do it for the month of August.

We started the plan yesterday. I'm not following it as is, but rather writing my own plan using Dr. Will B's recipes (and adding in a few other whole food, plant-based snacks). I'm also going to be having some meals in restaurants along the way, not being super strict. And Paul can't seem to give up dairy, so he'll still have some cheese and ranch dressing.

Day one started with Super Seedy Porridge with oats, hemp, chia, almond butter, vanilla, maple, and berries.

Plus, some Lemon-Ginger Tea after breakfast! Dr. Will B is big on digestive teas.

My morning snack wasn't on the plan, but I had some Miyoko's Smoked Farmhouse Cheddar with Apples. I bought some Miyoko's cheese about a week ago and need to finish it up!

Lunch was The Daily Salad with broccoli sprouts, chickpeas, carrots, cucumbers, tomatoes, tofu, pickled beets, and (not on the plan) Kelly's croutons (cause they are life). I also had some homemade sourdough on the side. Dr. B is all about the sourdough!

Before hitting the gym, I had two Coconut Oat Balls with peanut butter and dark chocolate. These were FIRE!

And dinner was Curry Tofu Bok Choy with brown rice. This was a tasty Thai-style coconut curry, and I could literally drink the sauce. Glad I have leftovers!

I'll be posting our meals throughout the week, but I also have some older food images that need to be posted. So I'll intersperse those in as well! Looking forward to these next four weeks!