WIAW: Going Meatless
Happy What I ate Wednesday! Big thanks to Peas and Crayons for starting this whole trend! Check out Jenn’s blog to learn more about WIAW and to make some of her delicious veggie-filled recipes!
Curious as to what I have been eating as of late??
Lots of vegan food! Yum.
A couple of weeks ago I stopped eating animal products. While I know that a vegan diet is not for everyone, right now I have eaten a vegan diet for a little over 2 weeks & am feeling fabulous! Everyone has their own idea of what it means to be healthy and I am experimenting and finding what works for me. I’m sure (know) people will have opinions on the vegan lifestyle but I am going to continue to listen to my body and live a life that makes me feel happy, energized, and nourished. If that means eating more vegan foods/ journeying into veganism then so be it. If it means continuing to eat meat, dairy, etc. then that’s cool too.
Anywho, enough of my little rant. I thought I would share Monday’s full day of eats (for #meatlessmonday of course) with you all for WIAW. I love What I ate Wednesday because it allows me to get more ideas of other healthy foods to try from other bloggers. It is interesting to see what type of food combos other people come up with & what their favorite healthy food products are!
So Monday was my first day after finishing working (hollaaaa) so I actually had a full day of eats at home! Yay! I like to be able to have more time to make delicious foods and not feel rushed to pack my food and run out the door in the morning. For breakfast I decided to have a green smoothie. I have been working on getting more greens/ veggies in my diet this summer and I have been quite successful.
Clearly not the most appetizing looking smoothie but it was delicious!
For my smoothie I used 1 scoop of Sunwarrior Vanilla Warrior Blend protein powder, 2 frozen bananas, 1/2 cup pineapple, 1 cup unsweetened almond milk, 4 big handfuls of kale, a bit of ice, and lots of cinnamon. When I first made the smoothie I only used one banana but then after blended everything up, it was still a bit gritty and had a little too much of a kale taste so I decided to toss in another banana. This made a ginormous smoothie so I split it in 2 and saved half for later. I love to add cinnamon to my smoothies that I use banana in because it gives it such a good flavor.
For lunch I could not decide what to have. I often have difficulty choosing what to eat for lunch- not sure why. So when you can’t decide what to eat, you just have a little bit of everything! So I had watermelon (how juicy does this watermelon look????- it was SO good), pineapple, carrots, celery, and hummus. Gotta make sure I get my nutrients in by eating the rainbow 🙂
Party in a bowl!
For dinner I had my Mexican Qunioa Salad but just made it without using honey in the dressing. I originally used honey to dilute the strong lime flavor, but decided that it didn’t even need it! Check out the delicious, vegan recipe here: Mexican Quinoa Salad. I actually made this recipe the night before for my Mom because she wanted to have it for her work week lunches (#bestdaughteraward).
Side note: did you know that Quinoa is a complete protein? There are 20 total essential amino acids that the body needs. There are nine essential amino acids that the body cannot produce on its own. Don’t fret! Quinoa has all 9 of these essential amino acids in relatively equal amounts. While the human body does not need every single essential amino acid in each bite of food, or even in each meal, it does need an adequate amount each day.
Other vegan sources of complete proteins: buckwheat, hemp, chia, soy, myco protein Quorn, rice and beans, ezekiel bread, and seitan (last two not gluten free).
What are your favorite fruits/vegetables to add to smoothies?? Do you ever participate in Meatless Monday?? Let me know your favorite vegan foods below!
