Vegetarian for a month-Week 4

This weekend marks the end to our vegetarian for a month trial. Ultimately, like I've stated in other posts, we feel really good, but there were other factors involved in the 30 days as well-increased workouts, consuming less alcohol, and making better choices overall. I plan to weigh myself at the gym today to see if there has been any difference there, but I anticipate more change in inches-which I did not take at the beginning. I can see better definition in parts of my body which makes me happy even if it's not reflected on the scale.

Final week of recipes:

Monday: Broccoli, baby potato, and gruyere tarts in a saltine crust. Really, really good. Mom, Kelli and Kerri- it was surprisingly similar in taste to chicken divan (and I was shocked by liking it.) I added baby bella mushrooms for an extra bit of fiber though next time I'll probably make in a puff pastry crust, as the saltine cracker one did not set. It did not call to be cooked first is probably why, so it was quite crumbly.

Tuesday: Peri peri grilled halloumi with portobello and chili jam. I had the intentions of making this but what came out was its third cousin twice removed. First of all, apparently halloumi cheese is only available via Amazon.com which might as well have been the Amazon because I am not ordering cheese for one meal from the internet. Essentially all this turned out to be was grilled portobellas in a pita with leftover gruyere slices, alfredo sauce and shredded carrots and something green I can't recall. It was the epic FAIL MEAL this month.

Wednesday: Out to dinner with Zina and Andrew to Roman Cucina, had the special-mushroom stuffed ravioli with peas.

Thursday: Homemade white pizza. In my world, you can't go wrong with pizza. I topped with alfredo sauce, mushrooms, bell peppers and basil.

Friday: Spicy shrimp stir fry with Japanese soba noodles. (No link because I made it up). Cook soba noodles as directed. Stir fry vegetables (squash, asparagus, bok choy, red cabbage, sugar snap peas) with soy sauce, pinch of red pepper flakes, and few teaspoons of hoisin sauce. Meanwhile, marinate as much shrimp as you want in one cup soy sauce, tablespoon hoisin sauce, and tablespoon siracha sauce. When soba noodles are done, rinse, and add to stir fry, then add in shrimp marinade to heat shrimp through. Voila, spicy shrimp stir fry with Japanese soba noodles. Fancy.

Saturday: Luau! Welcomed chicken back into my life and it was quite good.

I still have two meals left, vegetarian tacos with goat cheese and quinoa with mushrooms, goat cheese and sweet potatoes that I'll use this week.

Thus ends our venture to vegetarianism. In going grocery shopping today I feel oddly timid about buying meat again, so perhaps the change will be a 50/50 split of meat/veg meals as opposed to 90/10.

Vegetarian for a month-Week 3

Well we've made it to week three, and I still hold true to the fact it has not been hard. Though, I did stray into old habits (accidentally) at a work lunch going through the buffet line. I picked up a piece of chicken, and upon sitting down and taking a bite my current brain instead of my 25-days ago brain, and actually thought "this is foreign, what am I eating?" To which I was horrified I'd slipped up. Oh well, it was one bite. It was hotel chicken anyway.

This week's recipes were by far my favorite-I definitely would recommend to all.

Sunday: Spaghetti and spinach balls. Scott said this could be on the regular rotation. What does that say?
Monday: Vietnamese summer rolls with mango and sweet chili dipping sauce, and asparagus. So tasty and easy!
Tuesday: Black eyed pea cakes with chipotle mayonnaise and salad. I could not locate black eyed peas so I used black beans. Still good.
Wednesday: Mango blueberry quinoa salad with lemon basil dressing. This may be better suited as a lunch entree as its rather light, but after having the stomach flu for two days it was perfect.
Thursday: Portobello mushroom and zucchini rellanos with ranchero sauce. Again, so good! Very hearty, will definitely make again.
Friday: Spinach and taleggio quesadillas and salad. I had four of these-Friday dinner and Saturday lunch. Used brie instead of taleggio.
Saturday: Went out to dinner, and we both had an entree featuring mahi mahi, as we left fish as part of the diet.

Vegetarian for a month-Week 2

Week two and I am proud to say I remained a vegetarian diet through the OC Fair and Medieval Times. (Scott indulged at the fair, but this is our experiment so he can do as he likes.) The fair was the first time I genuinely missed meat with all of the turkey legs walking past me. Don't let me fool you into thinking I ate well though-cheese on a stick? I definitely didn't feel great the next day.

Monday: Goat cheese tart and salad (really good, will make again)

Tuesday: Lentil fritter pitas with red cabbage slaw (good, but I did not know you had to cook the lentils before using them. So these little patties were rather tough. Good workout for the teeth.)

Wednesday: Stuffed portobellos and caprese salad

Thursday: Fair

Friday: Medieval Times

Saturday: Cheesy penne and haricot verts (I upped the veggie factor on the penne, since that version is rather indulgent. I added spinach, arugula, and mushrooms to bulk up the iron and fiber. I also omitted the bacon from the haricot verts.)

All in all this continues to go well. Still feeling well, still working out 4-5 days per week with running/walking, Zumba, Piyo and yoga.

Vegetarian for a month-Week 1

Well the title pretty much sums this up-we've gone vegetarian for the month. In the grand scheme of things, it's a small amount of time to do a bit of an experiment-see how our bodies feel without the meat combined with an increased fitness routine.

This also presented an opportunity for a meal planning perspective change. No longer could I sit down and come up with 7 days of chicken/beef/pork/fish/veggie combination-this would be an entire shift in grocery shopping.

So we're officially a week in-and for anyone up for a food challenge or simply Googling around like myself for recipes, here's a glimpse of the past week.

Tuesday 7/26: Eggplant parmigiana and salad

Wednesday 7/27: Portobello burgers with garlic aioli and asparagus

Thursday 7/28: Grilled eggplant and sweet pepper sandwiches and salad

Friday 7/29: Sesame soba noodle salad

Saturday: 7/30: never ate dinner, went to LA Rising, had Cheerios at 1:15 a.m. upon getting home.

Sunday: 7/31: Veggie burger patties (purchased), corn on the cob, black bean salad

The important thing (for me) to remember is not to consume only cheese and bread and replacing the missing protein with other options, like legumes. Breakfast is usually an over-easy egg on toast, cereal, or Greek yogurt. Lunch last week were veggie sandwiches and plenty of leftovers. So far, we both feel great. Energy levels are good, and frankly I'm sleeping better-though the increased exercise could factor in as well.

Next week there will be no eggplant.