Day 4 was threatening to be a challenge because I was crazy busy at work trying to wrap things up before a long weekend (read: no time for lunch), and then I had an evening flight (read: no time for an actual dinner). I ended up eating a tangerine and some nut mix from a stand at the airport. Terrible, I know, but it was at least a raw nut and dried fruit mix from a "natural" stand, not the pre-packaged crap that costs $10. Yes, I'm trying to justify it.
Day 5 started with a huge homemade brunch, which included homemade whole grain and flax seed waffles courtesy of my lovely hostess friend. HOWEVER--they did contain eggs. Womp womp. I made the decision to eat them (hold the butter and whipped cream; extra fruit!) and promised no more cheating for the rest of the day. We then went on a long hike up a mountain by Boulder, which was amazing! Here's the view from the Royal Arches:
Then we went into Boulder and ate at an amazing local organic restaurant, Salt. It was so tasty and vegan friendly! I got the seasonal vegetable tasting, which included a kale and butternut squash salad, apple and beet salad, roasted cauliflower with mint, roasted potatoes, black quinoa salad, and panzanella (tomato and crouton mix). Pardon the dark pictures....I'm stuck in 1995 with a blackberry.
By the way, I hate beets. Absolutely positively without a doubt hate beets. I have tried more times than I can count to eat them. Roasted, raw, juiced, boiled, pickled. You name it, I hate it. I am distressed about it because I know how healthy they are for you! But I look like a 5-year old, plugging my nose just to get them down. Bleh.
Oh, and we also got the most amazing roasted brussels sprouts (sans parmiggiano). We ordered some as a snack at the bar, then I ordered another round at the table. They were that.good. I ate them before I could snap a photo. So here's just another one of my luscious vegetable sampler.
Day 6 started with brunch at Steuben's. Amazing! They make their own veggie burger, so it was not a dry, chewy piece of cardboard which is what is most often associated with the sandwich. Confession time #2: I ate some cheese fries. Don't judge me! You would have eaten them, too. :) Anyway, Steuben's was super fun and the mimosas hit the spot. They also serve Moscow Mules in their proper copper mugs and have the Fortune Teller Miracle Fish as kids' toys! (Please tell me you remember these.) It kept curling up, telling us all we are in love and passionate. Hmmm....
Dinner that night was at City O' City, which is a totally vegetarian restaurant. Best food of the trip, right here. Healthy, full of flavor, and not skimping on the portions, let me tell you. We had some vegan mac n' cheese with broccoli to start, and a side order of bbq tofu. Delish. For dinner I had an udon noodle bowl (sub tofu for egg) which was so good I wanted to just pick up the bowl and slurp the broth. I almost did. The server was so sweet and hooked us up with three vegan desserts, too: coconut cream tart, a spot-on version of a Samoa cookie, and pumpkin cake with cream cheese icing. I'm set on sweet treats for the month!
Day 7 began with, yes, you guessed it. Brunch. Homemade brunch #2 of 2 included open-faced bagel sandwiches with oil-free tofu scramble (tofu, onions, red bell pepper, garlic, turmeric, black pepper), fresh tomatoes, sliced avocado, and sriracha for funsies. I also made a big fruit salad with fresh pineapple, strawberries, raspberries, and bananas. I'm pretty sure I could eat fruit for the rest of my life and be happy. Please ignore the scrambled eggs, cheese-topped bagels, and the cinnamon rolls in the picture--not my contribution. I won't lie, though. I did eat some of that cinnamon roll....
Refreshing fruit salad:
Not the prettiest assembled plate, but quite possibly the tastiest!
And finally, to Day 8, today. I am back home in New Orleans and I woke up to a bare fridge so I had few options for planning ahead for today's meals. Breakfast was simply a California Lavash wrap with peanut butter. Lunch was out with co-workers at Lebanon's Cafe: hummus and pita, salad with lemon juice dressing (no feta! if you know me, that is borderline unbelievable), and vegan musaki soup. The second meeting of our Engine 2 28-day challenge group met this evening and I am now more inspired to cook this week. What shall I make? Lentil soup, tempeh sloppy joes, veggie lasagna? Something more exciting than the Rip's Big Bowl and half a mango that I had tonight when I got home after the group meeting....!
Big props to my co-blogger friend (she'll be posting, I promise). She made it through the whole first week with no cheating! Rockstar!
(I promise my posts won't normally be so long. If you are actually reading this and you made it this far--thanks!)
Denver sounds Amaze-Balls! I have been really bad this weekend. So, reading about your healthy food is helping to amp me up for a non-cheating week. Lentil taco salad tomorrow. Yummo!
ReplyDelete