Good morning, friends!

@magic71755 - I hope you and Lulu are having a lovely day!

What YouTubers are you watching this week?

I am planning a sweet nutritarian cookie or two for the New Year's Brunch, and your note reminded me to go look at YouTube. I found this Nutritarian Holiday Cookie video as inspiration/reminder of what I can do. Baking today, I hope!

@Mihani - Corgi memes! 🤎 Yes! I love Corgi faces! It doesn't work for me to own one at this point in life, since they are working dogs, but I sure love looking at their adorable faces!
I hope you are not working too hard today!
I felt very lucky to find persimmons in the Asian grocery. The persimmon I picked up is so rich and tasty that I quartered it, and am eating it just a couple of bites at a time. Oh, and our bird is loving persimmon, too!

(not our bird, but super cute cuddly conure!) (I could not find a cute conure-eating-fruit gif; maybe I need to make one)

A yum to napa cabbage in salads. I keep steaming it, but need to remember to just throw some in to the big salad. I love cabbage, and I especially love napa!

@FoodBodyChanges - I hope all is going well for you today, and that your last big family meal was delish! To me, by the way, 80% on-plan is nothing to sniff at, especially when you are new to the game. Baby steps totally get you there!

I had a good ETL day yesterday:
B - small helpings of almond butter and goji berries; huge green smoothie (spinach, cauliflower, blueberries, plus cinnamon, ginger, turmeric and a bit of garlic powder)
L - steamed mushrooms, black beans, steamed turnip greens topped with some fire roasted tomatoes, steamed zucchini with grape tomatoes and pickled raw onion, steamed acorn squash topped with some diced apple
S - apple slices and a couple of brazil nuts*
D - steamed napa cabbage, huge salad (kale, romaine, roma tomato, water cress, red bell pepper), homemade green goddess dressing** , steamed acorn squash topped with some diced apple
* I picked up Brazil nuts at the store when I saw some on sale. I added Brazil nuts to my nuts rotation after being inspired by a Dr Greger video on the possible value of brazil nuts. He's talking about a small study, but no reason not to include Brazil nuts on the menu occasionally, just in case, while we wait to see if that study can be replicated.

** I am super happy with the version of green goddess dressing I make, and it counts as more raw veggies on the salad. I have a little immersion blender, and I whip together veggies (cucumber, parsley, and green onion), a small amount of avocado, some cashew milk for creaminess, and flavorings (nutritional yeast, onion powder, garlic powder and some dijon mustard (I know the dijon has sodium in it, so you might skip this; I have a decades-long passion for dijon). I make plenty, and my huge salad is tasty and easy to eat (I find undressed leafy greens challenging).

AustinRuadhain wrote: »

FoodBodyChanges wrote: »

Anybody have a good bean-based breakfast porridge for the instant pot?

Interesting question! @magic71755 may have some ideas.

When you say breakfast porridge -- what makes it a breakfast thing for you? Are you looking for something sweet? So maybe something with black beans and butternut squash or sweet potatoes?

This recipe on my need-to-try list might interest you: Vegan Instant Pot Split Pea Soup with Sweet Potatoes and Navy Beans

I can also get really happy about great pinto beans any time of day, and here in Texas, savory pintos are a breakfast of champions. ThisSavoryVegan has my favorite pinto recipe - Mexican Pinto Beans.

One more thought, @FoodBodyChanges , if you are looking for breakfast options. While looking for something else, I came across this idea for a cauliflower-based breakfast that looks like it will have a pretty traditional American taste and texture to it. If I were making this, I'd be using blueberries instead of bananas and adding flax meal or almond butter, so as to get in some berries and seeds (Dr F's G-BOMBs!).

Cauliflower "Cream of Wheat" Breakfast Bowl

Happy breakfast-option hunting!

Ok, folks, in 2020 I'm gonna double down & go a year without cola or fast food. I have the "book knowledge" on why to do it, I just need to actually do it! And I really did lose weight & feel better when I followed Dr F's plan in the past. So it's time to get out of my own way & just do it.

Happy New Year! I did my usual dinner and movie with one of my brothers at his place. We had pizza, which isn't too bad although I did have vegan cheese on mine so that was an indulgence. And I had one glass of wine. That's the end of the holiday indulgences for me. January's focus is healthy all day every day!

I am taking tomorrow out of the office to do some housekeeping and cooking, and going to line up some videos to stream as I plan to treadmill every day in January. Even if it is only for 20 or 30 minutes, I need to get some exercise, and I am going to continue my yoga. I need to start focusing on more core exercises as well. It helps with my occasional back pain to keep my core strong, and I sit so much working.

You all sound like you're doing great and have some fantastic goals! I am looking forward to the new year with you. I think I'll start the new thread for January now while I'm thinking about it.