Vegan Restaurant Dining and 25th Birthday

For those of you who know me personally, your probably new to hearing the fact that I (along with my boyfriend) am vegan. I was a vegetarian for a while, way back when, then went back to meat, then went back to being a vegetarian. What started out as going vegan for health reasons turned into also doing it for ethical and sustainability reasons. 

I don't normally like to spout off that I am vegan due to the reaction I have gotten already. It is either, "Where do you get your protein?" or "Don't you miss _____ (insert food here)?" or "I bet you just wanna eat this burger!" Another major reason I don't usually tell people what I eat, is because some people think I can't understand them or can't counsel them or that I think differently about them since I choose not to eat animal products. The fact is, I can counsel (yes, even though you eat differently than I do), I can understand, and no I don't think differently about you. I know there are some people that may act differently as a vegan, but I am not one of them. I'm planning on writing a post later on how I switched to vegetarian then a vegan diet, health benefits, my own personal benefits, and my responses to the ridiculous questions I get. Just getting that out of the way :) 

So, moving on... Yesterday was my 25th birthday. Happy Birthday to me! Adam (my boyfriend) and I went out to eat to Blue Sage Vegetarian Grille in Southampton, PA. I would highly, highly recommend it! The food was amazing, staff was really nice, and the portion sizes were huge! They have all the vegan items on the menu starred (*), which makes it easy. There are also vegetarian dishes that can be made vegan. They do have a non-vegan, non-vegetarian dishes as well. I would suggest trying some of the other stuff though, you would be pleasantly surprised! 

We got a ton of food, mainly because we wanted to try it all! We got the Taco Verduras and Luna Buns for appetizers. The Taco Verduras was blue corn griddle cakes with pumpkin seed crusted tofu, piquillo pepper remoulade, mashed avocado, and pickled red onions. They were absolutely delicious. The combo worked so well together. I really want to make tofu this way! 

The Luna Buns were steamed mini Chinese buns with roasted cremini bacon in a sweet-spicy hoisin glaze with pickled cabbage, cucumber, and pea leaves. Adam really liked those. I though they were a little sweet and I also wasn't a fan of the bun texture. I also got the Ginger Scallion Miso Bowl made with leeks, pumpkin, cauliflower, and white miso. Amazing! 

My main course was the Fresco: a salad with polenta croutons, roasted red peppers, hummus, pistachios, and oven dried cherry tomatoes. I went the no cheese route and got the maple mustard vinaigrette on the side. Again, awesome. I barely ate any of it because I was already full from everything else. That will be my lunch for work tomorrow :)

Adam got the Pan Bagna, which was a baguette with chickpea fritters, tomatoes, shallots, and pea leaves and a sherry vinegar oil. It also came with a side salad (really big!). Adam wasn't crazy about the chickpea texture. I thought it was good, but a little too mushy for my likings. 

 

Of course, there is always room for dessert on your birthday :) We shared a hazelnut torte (vegan) with a chocolate cream and brûléed bananas. Super rich and creamy. I don't think I would have been able to eat it on my own! 

Have you ever tried a vegan/vegetarian restaurant? What did you think??

Dietitian Eats: Dinner Edition

So, today was a bit crazy at work. Let me tell you how absolutely grateful I am to have an intern (and a pretty awesome one at that)! Not only do I have an extra set of hands for events; but, I can also bounce ideas off of her. I also really like teaching someone things I learned. It is pretty cool to be on the opposite side after being an intern myself :)

Instead of giving you a rundown of my eats for the day, I decided to focus on dinner. Mainly because I made something pretty awesome from leftovers and also because I forgot to take pictures of all my other meals...Whoops :)

I didn't get in until late tonight, so I was debating on a quick shake or actually making something. I decided I wanted something hot. Let me preface this with earlier in the week, I had cooked off a bunch of brown rice and leftover faro. Made it easy to throw in my lunches. So, I started off with 2 veggie burgers. I get these ones from Aldi's. I like these for the limited number of ingredients and the fact that I know what all of them are. Each patty has 3g of fiber and 5g of protein. Made with carrots, peas, oats, zucchini, edamame, corn, and string beans mainly.

So, I sautéed my veggie burgers in some olive oil, garlic, minced onion, and oregano. I threw in some hemp seeds for a little more fiber and protein. One the veggie burgers were pretty much cooked, I broke them apart and added my rice. I also splashed on some Bragg's Liquid Aminos (soy sauce alternative). Bragg's is a vegetable protein made from certified non-GMO soybeans. No preservatives, no alcohol, and gluten-free. I've been in a mood for artichokes lately, so I added a few canned artichokes (marinated in just olive oil and spices). Lastly, I threw in some fresh leftover spinach I had. I left that all cook together for about 5 minutes...and presto dinner!

I'm a huge fan of one dish meals; less clean-up plus I like mixing everything together for the best flavors anyways. I tend to do similar types of cooking for dinner. This only took maybe 10-15 minutes? It could have been shorter, but I was doing homework and forgot to put a lid on to trap the steam. If you do something similar, you can always throw in your favorite veggie (instead of the spinach) or use some shredded potatoes instead of the rice.

What did you make for dinner tonight?

Dietitian Eats: WIAW (8/19/15)

It's that time again! Another "What I Ate Wednesday" post!

Breakfast
I started off my day with a fruit and protein shake. Basically, that consisted of 1 cup of unsweetened almond milk, 1/2 cup frozen mixed fruit, 1-2 tablespoons of hemp seed protein powder, 1 scoop Vega 1 protein powder. If you didn't already know from my other posts, I am lactose intolerant, so no milk for me!

My counseling appointment at work came earlier so I had lunch right after (instead of a snack then lunch).

Lunch
Quinoa veggie burgers (I was totally not a fan of these), whole grain couscous, stewed tomatoes (from my garden), and watermelon. Usually, I have more greens; however, last night I didn't get home until 8pm and didn't feel like cooking, so I just threw in the leftovers. Normally, I go with Dr. Praeger's or Boca Burgers; however, I tried this new brand in the store and let's just say I regret telling the company to send coupons for me to sample it out.

Snack
I bounced around to another supermarket for a Diabetes tabling event, so I grabbed a snack before going over. This was a Chocolate Chip Cliff Bar-Z. Again, a leftover from an in-store demo! I had hummus and wheat thins; however, I didn't really have time to sit and eat like I thought.

Dinner-ish
So, after job #1 I was going to job #2. Figured I would be good with eating my hummus but it got hot in the car. I ended up making a salad at the salad bar. Consisted of: baby spinach, radishes, carrots, mushrooms, broccoli, croutons, sunflower seeds, and light caesar dressing. Normally, I would add some chickpeas; however, they were not out today. Meh.

Dinner-ish
After about 2 hours, I was getting hungry so I made another shake. Being lazy today in terms of cooking! This time I made the smoothie with RAW protein powder, which I just got, plus my fruit and almond milk. I have to be honest, this is probably my favorite plant-based protein powder. It didn't any weird tastes or textures. Definitely a fan.

Snack
I was feeling something crunchy, so I had a few rice thin crackers. Love these for a "light" treat.

Some days, I like to use the MyFitnessPal app just to see where I measure up nutritionally. I averaged around 1800 calories, 95g protein, 210g carbohydrates, 50g fiber, 75g fat (17 PUFA, 11 MUFA, 14 SFA), 1450mg sodium, 3200mg potassium, 419% of my DV for vitamin A, 234% of my DV for vitamin C, 170% of my DV for calcium, and 133% of my DV for iron. Not too shabby I must say!

What did you eat today? Have you ever tried a plant-based protein powder?