Monday, February 14, 2011

Vegan Day 1

H 
appy Valentine's Day!



My vegan-for-a-week challenge is off to a great start.

 

Breakfast was a bowl of oatmeal made with: 1/2 cup quick oats, 1/2 cup chocolate Almond Breeze, 1/2 cup vanilla Almond Breeze, 5 strawberries, 1 tsp natural PB, 1 tsp semi-sweet chocolate chips.

This kept me full until lunch, when I enjoyed Angela's Holiday Soup for the Soul, and an orange.


The soup is full of veggies, quinoa, black beans, spices and veggie broth.

For dinner I made this:

 

It was SO good!

Brown Rice with Tofu and Mushrooms

1 1/2 cups brown rice (I used long grain organic)
2 3/4 cups water
1.5 cups crimini mushrooms (sauteed)
1 T minced fresh ginger
4 cloves minced garlic
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
1/2 package extra firm tofu - diced
1 cup chopped fresh spinach
5 green onions (chopped)
2.5 T soy sauce
1.5 T rice vinegar
1.5 tsp sesame oil

Mix the first 6 ingredients in a medium saucepan and bring to a boil.  Remove to a second burner, cover, and simmer on low for approx. 45 minutes (until rice is basically done).

When rice is almost done, toss in tofu and spinach.  Stir and cover for about 5 minutes off of heat.

Mix the soy sauce, vinegar, and oil, and stir into rice.  Serve immediately, garnishing with green onion.


I snacked on an apple with cinnamon, and 5 Mary's Crackers while watching The Bachelor.

What would be the hardest thing for you to give up if you went vegan for a week (or for any length of time)?  If you already eat a vegan diet, was it difficult for you to give up any food in particular?

13 comments:

Anonymous said...

Anything with strawberries looks appetizing to me! Can't wait til they actually start tasting like strawberries again. :) Strawberries and tomatoes just aren't the same in the winter, are they?

Unknown said...

Happy Valentines ! :)

Anonymous said...

I love the way you decorated the bowl with strawberries...appetizing to the eye as well as the stomach.

DessertForTwo said...

I'm so excited to see your vegan meals! Keep 'em comin'! We might try the vegan challenge too!

Have you tried to freeze tofu, then defrost before cooking? I find it makes the tofu 'meatier.' Try it :)

sophia said...

I still don't understand why you're going vegan for a week...how is that fun? Really befuddling! hahaha! But to be honest, your brown rice looks REALLY good!

I totally wouldn't be able to give up cheese, and yogurt, and seafood, and it sucks to have to read the labels all the time.

Anonymous said...

I would say my diet is 95% vegan now... I'm just having such a hard time giving up the things that just have a little animal products... like I LOVE to bake but the only vegan baking chips you can find here are semi-sweet chocolate. BORING. I tell myself that the amount of dairy in 10 white chocolate chips in one cookie is not a big deal... I don't know if I'll ever be 100% but I'm okay that right now.

BTW - "Feels Like Home" was my one of my favorite songs in the ENTIRE WOLRD when I was living with my ex and it was our song... now it's a little tainted, but still absolutely beautiful! A perfect wedding song!

Simply Life said...

all your meals look great!

Anonymous said...

The meals look fantastic! I think the hardest thing for me to give up would be chocolate, dairy and chicken.

Kacy said...

It would definitely be cheese and ice cream. I had a vegan dinner last night, but then had ice cream for dessert ;)

Madeline - Greens and Jeans said...

I think cheese would be the hardest thing for me to give up. I don't really drink milk or eat much yogurt, but I do LOVE cheese!

Yelena said...

Your tofu dish looks fabulous. In my vegan week, the only thing I really missed was eggs and some goat cheese. Although 2 days after I finished it, I ate some grass fed beef and I only eat beef once or twice a year, so maybe I felt severely deprived without knowing it.

It was also hard to be out sometimes or make different arrangements for myself when others were enjoying everything else.

I'm looking forward to seing all your fabulous meals!

shameless bliss said...

That oatmeal looks divine!!!

cook tofu said...

Vrey nice, tofu with mushrooms, mmmm. Thanks for posting recipe I will add it on my todo list :)