Happy Summer!

So I decided that it was time to lose the rest of baby weight and get back to my blog now that my daughter is big and healthy and all that fun stuff. Although, I am a little concerned that she is actively trying to kill herself daily or be a stunt woman in Hollywood with her crazy attempts to leap off things and roll towards tile floors. I may need to invest in a baby inflatable sumo suit. Do they even have those? I digress. I looked up about a million “vegan” food plans including but not limited to Beyonce’s and ones claiming to be vegan friendly but were really just vegetarian. Most were overly costly, made me add my own fresh veggies (umm isn’t that the bulk of the meal?), and didn’t ship to where I live since none are in Boston. I needed something like Weight Watchers for vegans without the meetings unless they include a Mommy and Me Yoga class after work hours, then I would be in but that doesn’t exist. Maybe just… Easy, accessible, and I can bring it to work? Well I did get somewhere eventually. I found Dr. McDougall’s Right Foods and ordered a bunch of stuff after looking at the prices and options and rolling over in my mind a dozen times if I was really ready to deal with this, I would have to give up my morning bagels eventually I guess.  @RightFoods have what seems to be a million options of foods and for $65 (roughly and I paid like $20 for fast shipping because I wanted it sooner than like 10 days or whatever), I bought 12 packages of breakfast oatmeals and I think 14 lunch meals. That being said it’s like $5 a day for breakfast and lunch. Probably closer to $2.50 a meal which I think is like a dollar or two less than a weight watcher meal and I got two for $5 and they weren’t even on sale 🙂 . So I am a happy camper in my wallet. Now it is time to eat this stuff. Will I be hungry? Will it be bland? Gross? Funny smelling? I am basically fat right now in my opinion (and probably the opinion of my doctor, scale, and BMI too but not my husband because he wants to sleep in the house not the shed tonight) and before my darling babes I was a runner, yogi, and surfer so I know I need fuel for exercise not just weight loss. I need to be not hungry after I eat my meal or I will fail at this and eat more than just an orange or two, I will eat that bagel and then I will have had two breakfasts which is worse than before. So let’s see how Day 1 went this weekend in my test. Have you had experience with any vegan meal plans? Tell me about them in the comments!

Breakfast: Organic Apple Flax Whole Grain Oatmeal (NOTE: it is Gluten Free too!)

First, I put the whole sugar packet thing in it which is optional but in my opinion, it is not optional. I found it didn’t even feel very sweet with it in it. I do have a sweet tooth so this is probably saying its a little sweet but it was still tasty and I enjoyed it. The fill line could’ve been a little lower or maybe I should’ve microwaved it a bit instead of just adding hot water. Not sure but it was a little watery. However, that was no matter because about 3/4 the way through I was full and I mean like “wow there is still more in there? I am not sure I can finish” – full. But I finished it and I was full all morning, maybe a tiny overfull but in a good healthy way. Gefore I would eat a big multigrain bagel with earth balance and still be starved and it was wayyy more calories and fat. The meal itself was very hearty. You definitely get apples and flax and oatmeal. I mean you can see the chunks of everything and it’s great. You feel like you made it and chopped it yourself not like a traditional oatmeal packet of barely there freeze dried apples that are sponge-y. So kudos to them on this. It was a success over all.

Lunch: Asian Organic Noodles in Thai Peanut flavor

Okay let me preface this by saying I kinda knew I may get disappointed on this one. I am obsessed with satay peanut sauces and think that thai peanut should be always a little dense and creamy like a touch of peanut butter is added. I even contemplated getting out PB for a teaspoon of it just in case. But I didn’t. I restrained myself because the point is too cut calories not increase them! Moving on, I was actually not that disappointed at all. It definitely was more spicy than it was peanut-y but it was good and it was actually a bit creamy. The only issues I ran into were (1) at first I didn’t believe there were enough noodles. It looked meager. This was not the case, (2) the cooking time was off for me. It said 50% power for 2 minutes. I actually needed 4 minutes. So I was a little annoyed going back to the microwave after letting it sit each time. I added 1 minute and then waited two to settle and then had to do that again. I had to keep separating the hard noodles and stir them around a bit and I worried it was going to be a bust and it took forever it seemed. Which made the cook time ten minutes instead of like 4. Not world ending but make sure to keep an eye on the time for yourself, watery just add a minute and worry about setting it to cool only when most of the water is gone. The noodles did fluff up and it was a good peanut noodle meal. I ate it with  chop sticks to take me longer (plus I inherited them from my great grandmother who lived in Okinawa so its fun too) and I really actually enjoyed the meal. So yea I would eat that one again. (Below: look at the sides of the container see the creaminess? That made me happy.)

In the end, double success on Day One. Or as my Chinese food menu may say Double Happiness :).

Stay Tuned for Day Two including:

Breakfast: Maple Oatmeal

Lunch: Curry Almond Brown and Wild Rice Salad.

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Food is Love.

The Hippie Gypsy