Dashing through December

Mihani

Not perfect...

B - oatmeal with blueberries, chia seeds, turmeric and cinnamon with a splash of almond milk
L - Trader Joe's vegan tikka masala
D - hummus and veggie wrap and some blue corn chips

Ate some pretzels at work today and having some wine tonight too.

Work is very stressful and I am not taking the strong stand that I am ETL no matter what. Will do better tomorrow!

AustinRuadhain

Hello, ETLers!
I am so glad this community is here! It's great to be reminded that perfection is not required. We just keep working to do our best! @Mihani , your food plan looks great. Hang in there!

I just got back from an all day family event yesterday. Since I eat this not-the-usual way, I was put in charge of cooking lunch for all, which was kind of fun. I made a huge salad for everyone (me included), and then baked a piece of trout for those who wouldn't feel like they had been fed without a "protein" helping. It was a big gorgeous salad, and people seemed to like it.

I got a couple of ETL-friendly cookbooks as gifts, and am looking forward to trying some new recipes! Those are Oh She Glows Every Day, and Bravo! (the cookbook from the True North kitchen). I looks like I may have friends over for New Year's Day brunch, and that will be a great chance to try a few new things.

I am on track for a good ETL day today:
B: smoothie made with blueberries, spinach, coffee and flax seed meal
L: huge salad plus a few walnuts and apple slices (having those now)
D will be beans and greens

Mihani

Austin, cool presents! I haven't heard of the Bravo! cookbook. Let us know what you think of it. I've cut back on buying cookbooks lately. I have both OSG cookbooks. The first one is probably my favorite cookbook ever, love every recipe I've tried, and I've made most of them other than the smoothies and desserts. I wasn't as impressed with the second one, although the recipes I have tried have been good. It just doesn't make me go OMG I have to make that right now. The Golden French Lentil Stew from OSG Every Day is very good and I recommend it. I have made it several times.

Stopped at the store and got lots of lettuce so I'll be prepping for salads. I am thinking of talking to my boss about leaving an hour early on Wednesdays so I can do a second grocery run and prep night. As long as I have a ready to go "salad bar" in my fridge I am happy and stick to ETL, but with work killing me lately I haven't been doing as well at keeping up with my preps. I think if I prep on Saturday and Wednesday I'll do much better. I also plan to do a soup marathon next weekend and freeze in serving size containers to keep me a month or so. I've been looking up Instant Pot recipes too, and have a few to try. That thing still scares me. If you grew up in the 60's and 70's with mom using the old-fashioned pressure cooker and yelling at the kids to "stay away it might explode" you get paranoid! LOL I also need to get back to my simple greens and beans dinners. I love a big skillet full of greens, beans, onions and mushrooms.

I was in the office most of today and will be all day tomorrow, Monday and Tuesday. Yes, I know Tuesday is a holiday. It's just crazy right now and I'm so far behind on things I have no choice.

Did better today:

B - sprouted grain toast with avocado, tomato and arugula (yum!)
L - big ol' salad (red and green leaf, radishes, onion, sunflower seeds, bragg's/spicy mustard dressing)
D - sauteed kale, onions and mushrooms with "cheesy" chickpeas

I am going to do full-on 6 week plan starting January 1st to get myself back to basics. Anyone in with me?

AustinRuadhain

Hey Mihani! I am with you on the all-in plan! And I just had a dinner of greens (steamed spinach with a little turmeric), black beans, and microwaved mushrooms (sprinkled with Mrs Dash Southwest Chipotle)!
I'll let you know how the Bravo cookbook works out!
If it makes you feel any better about the instant pot, I have used a pressure cooker without incident for years. At a big overnight party at a ranch in early December, the cooks had about 8 people bring their instant pots and used them for multiple meals, with no problem. I know that won't help with echoes of mom in your ears, but share it just in case. Also, I thought you might smile at the mental picture of a fleet of them on one table!
I hope the work schedule eases up soon!

Mihani

I know they are a lot safer now, Austin. I just have to face the fear! lol The ranch weekend sounds like fun.

Did some prep last night and going to do more tonight. I plan to be 100% ETL today and most of tomorrow, but there will be dinner and 1 or 2 glasses of wine tomorrow for NYE.

Plan for today:
B - green smoothie with blueberries and chia seeds
L - BIG salad and an apple
D - leftovers from last night's dinner and a pear

Carla_wfpb

A fleet of IPs at a party! That's fun! I'm looking forward to your review of the recipes in the Bravo! cookbook, Austin.

I admit, I didn't linger too long around the instant pot when I was cooking with it at first! Totally comfortable with it now.

I made a lentil curry with it last night that turned out pretty good over some brown basmati rice. https://www.wellplated.com/instant-pot-lentil-curry/ We're so used to the IP now that when we realized we were out of rice, we used the IP for that and then made the curry in there right after, rather than using the stove top for anything.

I will be on plan starting tomorrow, Mihani. Not 100% ETL, but 100% whole food plant based. I'll try to get back into a daily check-in routine. Tomorrow's dinner will be tofu sausage & cannellini croquettes with orange-maple glazed carrots and a "very merry" salad. I'm going to go for blueberry oatmeal or my green smoothies for breakfast, and a big *kitten* salad every day for lunch with beans.

I haven't been working on any of my art projects lately. The holidays distracted me long enough that I've lost my momentum. I am taking an excellent dyeing class, so that should get me back into the swing of things. Random pics of dyed sheep locks will likely be interspersed in the feed for the next few months!

b- coffee, pumpkin muffin
l - salad and bits of whatever we're batching
d - leftover curry & rice
snacks - oranges & probably another muffin! they have to go

Mihani

Hi Carla! Are those CFDG recipes? I have been making the Tahini dressing more often lately. I have adjusted it to fit my tastes perfectly (less dates more lemon and some ground pepper) ... can't get enough of it now.

Today will be on plan other than dinner which my brother is making and I don't know what it will be. Definitely vegan (I don't compromise on that ever) but likely not totally ETL complaint. I plan to work most of the day tomorrow, but will make time to do some more cooking/prepping. I want to try something in the IP, not sure yet what I'm going to make.

Carla_wfpb

Yep, I'm back on the Clean Food Dirty Girl train, Mihani! We got our batching done for the week yesterday but the kitchen is still a mess. We decided to start on plan today even though it is NYE since we are staying in tonight. I was obsessed with that Tahini Crack dressing but haven't made it in ages. I'm sure now that we are back to batching every week it will become a staple once again. Are things going to slow down for you at work a bit in January?

We left Ruby at a kennel for 2 days over Christmas while we were in Canada, and when we picked her up she wasn't feeling well. She ended up throwing up 3 or 4 times during the day, and at some point started limping badly. The pads on her front left foot look pretty raw but it is too tender for us to get close. We had to wait until today for an appointment because of the holidays. I'm sure they will have to knock her out just to see what is going on. Poor Rubes, she is looking pretty woebegone.

We need a new title for January. Time flies!

b - coffee, green smoothie
l - salad, dirty girl dressing, black bean burger
s - baby oranges
d - croquettes, Merry salad, orange glazed carrots

Mihani

Oh no, poor Ruby! That girl has the worst luck sometimes. I wonder if she got a thorn or something in her paw. We had a dog that got a HUGE thorn and she licked her foot raw before we could get her to the vet and they discovered the thorn.

I was thinking we'd do Nutritarian New Year again for January. I'll get it started tomorrow if nobody else wants to.

I got out pretty early, my boss kind of kicked me out. It was a rough day. I should have stayed and got more work done, but I am going to take advantage of the time to finish my prepping and cooking so I have NO excuses starting tomorrow!