28-day Challenge: Complete!

Yay!  Congratulations to all my teammates.  We made it 28 days and I have not heard anyone say one bad thing about how they feel or the food we have been eating.  Great job everyone!!!

Now that the 28 days are over, I cannot imagine going back to eating a non plant-based diet.  I feel great, have plenty of energy, have been sleeping so soundly, and have lost 5 pounds.  I also do not miss that overly full feeling that often follows a rich fatty meal.  You all know what I'm talking about--that greasy, bloated, uncomfortable feeling.  Well, I can safely say that having not felt that way in 28 days makes me even more sure that I will not go back to it :)  The saying is true:  you do not know what you have until it is gone, and in this case, that's a very good thing to have gone!

While I cannot promise to stay 100% plant-based for 100% of the remainder of my life, I do intend to do it 90-95% of the time.  I have to allow some leeway for occasionally eating out at a restaurant, or simply giving in to that pumpkin pie at Thanksgiving that only my mom knows how to make.

I love that I have now learned how to flavor foods with no added fats and very little added salt and sugar.  Whenever I eat out at a restaurant things taste so over-the-top salty!  I also had a bite of birthday cake recently which tasted like pure sugar and almost made my mouth hurt.  Haha.  I will take dates, applesauce oatmeal cookies, and banana nice cream any day over that!  (To be fair, I have always had more of a salty tooth than a sweet tooth. But if you have a sweet tooth, you are in luck!  I know these treats will satisfy you because they do just fine for my accountabili-buddy, Stacey).

That's another thing.  Dates.  I have always "hated" them.  And by that, I mean I ate one once when I was a kid and I did not like it so I always thought to this day that I did not like dates.  Well, I tried one recently and discovered a new favorite (healthy) treat!  Sooo good and you only need one or two to satisfy that sweet tooth.  Thanks to Stacey for opening my eyes to medjool dates.  I also found that I like figs, both fresh and dried, which I also thought I'd never say.  This new diet has allowed me to try new things and I have actually added more variety to my diet.  Not less.  So don't be fooled by the fact that meat and dairy were removed from the diet; that does not mean meal options become limited.

So hey, what does one do when reaching a goal?  Why, celebrate!  Tonight's meal is courtesy of Caitlin, the Healthy Eating Specialist at the Whole Foods in Metairie.  She has fearlessly led our group of Engine 2-ers through the 28-day challenge and treated us to a fabulous plant-strong dinner.  It was vegan chili made with kidney and pinto beans, onions, spices, and bulgur wheat, vegan cashew cream (sub for sour cream), and a fresh salad of bell peppers, cucumbers, and fat free balsamic vinaigrette. Check it out:

And that may or may not be a glass of wine to go with it....

Who says you cannot have delicious, fun desserts?  Bring on the 256th way to use dates that I have now learned:  caramel covered lady apples!

Lady apples are cute little baby apples that we stuck on skewers, dipped in the caramel sauce, and rolled in slivered almonds.  The sauce was made of dates, cinnamon, maple syrup, and a little water (recipe also called for coconut oil, but you can eliminate it). They were so good and fun to eat.  I think kids would love this!

Here is farewell to the 28-day challenge but have no fear, readers.  All 10 of you.  I am still going to keep this up and continue to share my healthy journey.  Come join me!

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Oh yeah, I forgot to share my delicious vegan tofu scramble from Surrey's Uptown that I had for Sunday morning brunch.  Be jealous.  It tasted even better than it looks:

I am going to hazard a guess and say that biscuit is probably not vegan.  But hey.  I opted for the potatoes instead of the grits (which are smothered in butter and cream and more butter) so I get points for that, right?

And behold the best hangover cure ever.  In a new flavor, which is now my favorite!  Lavender.  This will be a shock to my friend, Caroline, I know.

Peace!