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!).