Hi all. I am back home for 8 days. It was a stressful trip. I got on the scales last night (don't know why after traveling) and I was up 7 lbs....and then this morning I weighed in and was only 2 lbs up.

Mihani - I understand the stress eating. Hugs. I will commit too for next 7 days except for my coffee. I did find a delicious almond vanilla creamer. Hocus Pocus I need coffee to focus. hahahaha.

Lots of stress eating of carbs (crackers, chips and pretzels), ice cream and wine. My oldest sister has horrible unhealthy eating habits mixed with anorexia. She has always controlled her weight this way. Yep, she stopped eating during all this. Skipping breakfast, eating nuts for lunch, chocolate and crackers for snacks and then small boring salad at dinner with lots of wine. The only thing that saved me was this small hospital had the most beautiful clean salad bar with beans, beets, spinach, fresh cut veggies, etc etc and a wonderful balsamic vinegar I could put on. Then the hot foods always included unbuttered roasted vegetable mix of red peppers, mushrooms, onion, broccoli and cauliflower.Added balsamic vinegar to that too. I actually would get two servings and take one home. Hahaha, I will miss the hospital cafeteria food! It looked better than a Whole Foods salad bar and much cheaper.

Meanwhile Mr. Brooks has been vegetarian while I was gone (I am sure it has nothing to do with his upcoming Pt test hahaha but he looked great).

Yesterday we had to take little Charlie Bear up to Texas A&M for tests and CXR. It was an amazing place...kinda like the Mayo Clinic for animals. So far everything came up normal including the CXR which was a relief. He is only 2 and has severe exercise intolerance here in Texas compared to my older dogs. European West Highland Terriers have a genetic disease called Westie Lung disease and it usually starts at an older age but now we have a baseline CXR to compare as he gets older.

Going to store to get mushrooms for balsamic roasted mushrooms. Do you slice mushrooms or roast them whole? Plus going to make a black bean soup this afternoon with added vegetables. Going to thinly chop up kale, spinach, cilantro and green onions to sprinkle on top....know it sounds weird but I enjoy the cilantro and it kinda takes over the taste of the greens.

I love the food chart pictured for this month! Going to do what I can until after xmas and then start training for next years Triathlons.

Cheers!

Mihani - I am so sorry about your kitty. They are so sweet.
Well, too much cleaning and dog walking...did not get to the store but will tomorrow. Made veggie black bean burgers with brussel sprouts and green beans. They found the damm peppermint chocolate trader joes cookies Brooks bought. sigh.

Hiya mizmichele, what all do you have in your veggie garden? I've never tried the premium version of MFP but I pretty much quit using anything about it other than this group. I don't track or check my newsfeed. Let us know what you think of it.

I think I mentioned a while back I ordered a bunch of PlantPure entrees which were developed by Dr. Caldwell's son so are ETL compliant although a little heavier on starches. Most of the vegan doctors encourage a lot more starches than Dr. F though. I got a good deal on them, and most of them have been pretty tasty. I still have quite a few left, but I don't think I will order again. For the money I'd be so much better off cooking and freezing my own entrees. I'll admit it has been convenient having them with being so busy the past few weeks.

I'm going to the store today to restock my salad and roasting veggies and will get them prepped this weekend. Meeting family for dinner but the place is vegan friendly and I'll limit myself to one glass of wine. I'm thinking of doing bowls the coming week for dinners. I enjoy them and they are so easy to throw together. I just need to figure out a couple sauces. Probably make one BBQ and one tahini based.

I like the idea of the cucumber/kiwi dressing, Austin. Sounds nice and light with some sweetness. I'm finding most of the dressings I try out kind of meh... I don't know if it is the recipes or just me. I really like a mix of a little braggs or balsamic and some dijon or spicy brown mustard on salads lately. Or some homemade hummus and a little balsamic. I was out to dinner this past weekend and got a double order of the plain steamed veggies from the sides, everyone was laughing when I asked for dijon to put on my veggies, but I love it lol. The lentil stew looks really good. I am planning on making some soups this weekend. With the cold weather I'm craving things that are hearty and warm.

I am not totally grooving on salads this week with it getting so cold. I think I'm going to get some steamer bags of broccoli and dump them on my salads for lunches so I get the warm/cold thing, or take some beans separately to heat up and throw in there warm.

I never thought of cooking mushrooms in the microwave Austin... thanks for that!

Was out again tonight and had 2 drinks and some appetizers. Hummus and veggies so not too bad but the hummus would obviously have oil at a restaurant, and a couple spring rolls. I really need to get back on track here. I do fine mostly but I am not in loss mode the past few weeks, just maintaining a weight I'm not happy with.

Hi Karrie! Have missed you. How goes the cabin rebuild? When you get on track you are totally glued to the tracks so I have no doubt you'll make your goal, but be careful eating so light. Make sure you are getting enough healthy fats and food. Yay for Orlando!

Doing better the past few days here. I'm sure Thanksgiving will involve some indulgences (wine and vegan stuffing and such) but it won't be so bad. I will get totally back to 6 week plan starting Friday and keep that up until Christmas Eve other than two parties coming up in December where I'm sure I will indulge in wine.

At least there's some progress Karrie. I couldn't survive without my OSG cookbook! I'm actually thinking of buying a new one because some of the pages are falling out of it now and it is splattered and stained LOL. So sorry about the treadmill. Hope it's an easy repair.

I have decided to make a big batch of balsamic mushrooms for my Thanksgiving dinner contribution. I am hooked on them and I know my family will like them.

I know several people in this group are Canadian so you already had your Thanksgiving, but interested in what everyone finds most tempting or worth blowing it for a day. I admit the starchy carb festival is kind of heavenly. I love the potatoes and dressing. My family is kind enough to do separate batches vegan for me. Back when I ate meat the turkey was never the star of the show to me.

We have some really good vegan restaurants around here Michele, and I'm glad to see even regular restaurants are offering more items that are vegan other than salad. I don't go out to eat often (every 2 to 3 months maybe) so it's a treat night for me when I do. Hope you were able to get some sleep last night.

I am so ready to get back on track today. I feel sluggish from wine and bread and potatoes, but it was all good and a fun time with family. We aren't technically open today but I'm going to the office for a few hours to work on some things, then I'll stop at the store to get lettuce since I had to throw out the two packages of romaine I just bought. Why are these warnings always the romaine???

My plan for the next couple weeks is to really get down to basics again. Breakfasts will be fruit with chia seeds, a couple walnuts and a sprinkle of oats, or a green smoothie with chia seeds. My usual big ol' salad at lunch. Dinners will be soup or a simple beans/greens/veggies plate. I plan to spend the rest of the day after I get home from the office prepping and cooking. I've been really lazy about these things lately. I just lost my enthusiasm for cooking and prepping, but it's the single most important thing if I want to stay on track.

The cauli/brussels mash sounds yummy Austin! Can you share the recipe? Ugh lots of driving yesterday for you! Sorry you lost your romaine too. It is my easy go-to lettuce and I hate being afraid of the stuff now.

Made a big haul at the grocery. Two heads each of green and red leaf which I will get all cleaned and prepped. I really want to try to get in a small salad at dinner in addition to my big salad lunch. When I added salads to dinner for a while I lost more weight. Have carrots, radishes and beets to run through the food processor and grape tomatoes for my raw veggie additions. Also got broccoli, cauliflower, asparagus and mushrooms to cook that I can have with greens or add to salads. Going to make a pot of red lentil kale soup and the cabbage and kale casserole. Also the eat your greens detox soup from OSG cookbook. I haven't tried that one yet, but the OSG soup recipes are always winners (just leave out the oil and added salt) and it sounds great for ETL with kale, mushrooms and broccoli included in it. Doesn't look like it's on the OSG website but found it here: https://www.epicurious.com/recipes/member/views/eat-your-greens-detox-soup-52697481 I might add a can of kidney beans.

I would say all that should get me well into next week!

That sounds really good Austin, I'll give that a try soon. I didn't get the soups and casserole made last night as I was at the office later than anticipated.

Today's plan, brought work home so no office. Finish prepping and do laundry. Visit a friend for a little bit this afternoon, then back home to work some more. Suppose I better get busy since I want to be done cooking and at my desk by noon.

Oh, I made the Clean Food Dirty Girl T-Crack Dressing that Carla recommended. The first time I made it I thought it was too sweet, but I cut the dates back to 3 and added more lemon and now I'm totally hooked! I ate a veggie sandwich last night (lettuce, cucumber, tomato piled high on sprouted grain toast) and used the dressing like mayo and it was awesome. https://cleanfooddirtygirl.com/lifes-guarantees-plant-based-lemon-tahini-dressing/#wprm-recipe-container-38009