Meal 5 (Hallelujah 7:30 couldn't come fast enough!)- Chocolate mint shake...weird that the tofu was so filling at first, yet I got hungry soon after eating it. Yay for Myoplex!
Meal 4 (5:15 pm)- Teriyaki, ginger & garlic tofu + 1/2 bag Steamfresh broccoli, snap peas, carrots & water chestnuts.....having a hard time looking at this picture...needs improvement for sure...the flavor wasn't bad, but definitely think I need to stick to extra firm for stir fry....had a hard time stomaching the texture of this meal...a pretty laughable first attempt at a tofu dinner, but I ate it anyways! As of now, I'd rather eat whole soybeans any day over this tofu!
I was shocked when I took this out of the box! THIS is what tofu unseasoned looks like? Yikes!
Meal 2 (10:45 am)- 3/4 cup egg whites w/spinach,mushrooms,onions,red& green peppers + 1/4 cup (dry measured) oatmeal w/ 1/4 cup fresh blueberries
Meal 1 (7:45 am)- EAS Muscle Armor + Whey Protein Isolate + 1 packet Cream of Wheat w/stevia & cinnamon + multivitamin & 2 glucosamine/MSM
Pre-Workout (6 am)- EAS Catapult
2:15 pm- 1 Tofutti pop....Look closely, because this is the last time you'll see this! Was so excited about these 30 calorie dairy free treats until I looked at the box more closely after I ate one...realized they contain aspartame...and apart from that they taste too good to eat just one... I can see them being a trigger food for me to want more than one. These are getting the boot!
Meal 3 (2 pm)- Huge organic salad: spring mix, red onions, tomatoes, red & green peppers, shredded carrots + heaping 1/2 cup edamame + 1 tbsp. Newman's Own light vinagrette & extra red wine vinegar + 1 snack size Cabot 50% light all natural cheddar cheese
Meal 2 (10:45 am)- 3/4 cup egg whites w/spinach,mushrooms,onions,red& green peppers + 1/4 cup (dry measured) oatmeal w/ 1/4 cup fresh blueberries
Meal 1 (7:45 am)- EAS Muscle Armor + Whey Protein Isolate + 1 packet Cream of Wheat w/stevia & cinnamon + multivitamin & 2 glucosamine/MSM
Pre-Workout (6 am)- EAS Catapult
So it turns out that being vegetarian opens you up to this whole new rhealm of social interaction. I stopped by the grocery store on the hunt for La Tortilla Factory tortillas today and of course got sidetracked by all of the beautiful produce. Before I knew it, my cart was sporting every color of the rainbow. I just LOVE a colorful shopping cart! They also had a big selection of vegetarian foods, so I felt obligated to also stock up on some new stuff to try out. I found some Silken Lite tofu that I'm eager to try. The entire box has 120 calories, 20 g of protein, only 4 carbs, and 2 g of fat...SCORE!..probably the closest nutrition content to chicken that I'll ever find in the veggie world. Now I just need to learn how to prepare it correctly so that it's edible!
Unfortunately, I feel I have totally lost any kitchen confidence I might have had previously...completely out of my comfort zone here. I spent some time floundering around in the produce area, before pretty much just giving up on figuring out what I'd pair with the tofu and headed to the frozen section to explore what else they had. I've been hearing about toffuti pops forever now, and I still never tried them, so I had to pick up a box of those and some Ezekiel bread. A lady in the same isle starts sparking up a conversation with me saying how they are out of "abc" but they'll be getting more "abc" AND "xyz" next week just in case that's what I was looking for. She seemed extremely excited about being in the vegetarian food isle, which I thought was rather humorous. "Ummmm....you're speaking Chinese to me right now I'm afraid. It's only my 3rd day being vegetarian." I had no clue the types of foods she was talking about, but she seemed very much into it. She went on to tell me about a great new Vegan product that was fabulous. "I'm not going completely Vegan, but just starting with cutting out the meat. It's a pretty big step for me, and I'm still learning about all of this," I said. "Well that's a good start," she says in her perfect little mom like voice. When I run into people like her, it always reminds me of my mom, and it kind of made me feel all warm and fuzzy inside.
I had to restrain myself from buying any Rice Dream organic ice cream (which I happen to enjoy A LOT, but it's not in my eating plan right now) and headed to the check out lane. As I was unloading my cart, a father and son walked up behind me. "You must be vegetarian," the father says. "Well I guess I am for all of 3 days now, but I'm trying it out to see how I like it." The man goes on to tell me how his daughter is vegetarian...and just loves it...and won't have anything to do with anything that isn't vegetarian. The more and more I talk to people about being vegetarian, the more I'm convinced that there is really something great about this whole experience that has yet to be discovered, so I'm looking forward to discovering whatever it is that makes people so nuts about being vegetarian.
As I scooted towards the area to pay, the lady bagging my groceries then remarks, "Well someone like veggies!" ha ha! I had to laugh...this shopping trip was turning into being quite the social event. Never before have I gotten so many random comments from strangers remarking on my purchases during a 10 minute trip to the grocery store. It's like there is a whole hidden social world attached to being a vegetarian that I never knew about! I don't know why, but it reminded me of that really old Saturday Night Live skit where Eddie Murphy dresses up like a white person to spy on the other white people on the bus...classic! It's like I am an undercover meatatarian learning about the vegetarian underworld or something. Hmmmm....makes me wonder what kind of things go on in vegetarian restaurants where EVERYONE is vegetarian?! I might have to put that trip on my "to do" list next! ;)
Unfortunately, I feel I have totally lost any kitchen confidence I might have had previously...completely out of my comfort zone here. I spent some time floundering around in the produce area, before pretty much just giving up on figuring out what I'd pair with the tofu and headed to the frozen section to explore what else they had. I've been hearing about toffuti pops forever now, and I still never tried them, so I had to pick up a box of those and some Ezekiel bread. A lady in the same isle starts sparking up a conversation with me saying how they are out of "abc" but they'll be getting more "abc" AND "xyz" next week just in case that's what I was looking for. She seemed extremely excited about being in the vegetarian food isle, which I thought was rather humorous. "Ummmm....you're speaking Chinese to me right now I'm afraid. It's only my 3rd day being vegetarian." I had no clue the types of foods she was talking about, but she seemed very much into it. She went on to tell me about a great new Vegan product that was fabulous. "I'm not going completely Vegan, but just starting with cutting out the meat. It's a pretty big step for me, and I'm still learning about all of this," I said. "Well that's a good start," she says in her perfect little mom like voice. When I run into people like her, it always reminds me of my mom, and it kind of made me feel all warm and fuzzy inside.
I had to restrain myself from buying any Rice Dream organic ice cream (which I happen to enjoy A LOT, but it's not in my eating plan right now) and headed to the check out lane. As I was unloading my cart, a father and son walked up behind me. "You must be vegetarian," the father says. "Well I guess I am for all of 3 days now, but I'm trying it out to see how I like it." The man goes on to tell me how his daughter is vegetarian...and just loves it...and won't have anything to do with anything that isn't vegetarian. The more and more I talk to people about being vegetarian, the more I'm convinced that there is really something great about this whole experience that has yet to be discovered, so I'm looking forward to discovering whatever it is that makes people so nuts about being vegetarian.
As I scooted towards the area to pay, the lady bagging my groceries then remarks, "Well someone like veggies!" ha ha! I had to laugh...this shopping trip was turning into being quite the social event. Never before have I gotten so many random comments from strangers remarking on my purchases during a 10 minute trip to the grocery store. It's like there is a whole hidden social world attached to being a vegetarian that I never knew about! I don't know why, but it reminded me of that really old Saturday Night Live skit where Eddie Murphy dresses up like a white person to spy on the other white people on the bus...classic! It's like I am an undercover meatatarian learning about the vegetarian underworld or something. Hmmmm....makes me wonder what kind of things go on in vegetarian restaurants where EVERYONE is vegetarian?! I might have to put that trip on my "to do" list next! ;)
Posts
That salad looks FANTASTIC. If you can find low fat Sargento cheese they actually have more grams of protein that the Cabot. I buy both but love them both for variety.
ReplyDeleteI LOVED the stories at the store. It's so true - vegan/vegetarian is the total hype now and tons of people are jumping on board for different reasons. It isn't just about save the animals which I think is cool.
You should check some books out at the library (it's free and they have a ton) for ideas on how to cook tofu and other vegetarian ideas. If you like the cookbook, you can always buy it, but, it's nice to check them out for FREE and copy whatever recipes you may want to keep or try :)
Just a suggestion.
Danica
That is exactly what I was thinking as I was fumbling in the kitchen...I NEED A COOKBOOK. Someone save me! ha ha!
ReplyDeleteTry a search for seitan (vegetarian "meat"), it's made with wheat, but contains a good amount of protein. How did the heavy leg day go?
ReplyDeleteThe only type of tofu I sorta liked was the extra firm. Anything softer (unless fried) was just plain nasty to me. I liked your idea of spicing it up over veggies though. I agree Edamame Anyday......Ohhhh, which brings me to one of my favorite recipes I got out of vegetarain times (another mag with great recipes!).
ReplyDeletehttp://danicasdaily.com/index.php?s=vegetable+gyoza
It's delish and I imagine you could have less "gyoza" for less carbs. Or even better - use tofu, maybe?