Breakfast: Smoothie with frozen strawberries, frozen bananas, hemp seeds, almonds, vanilla, and vanilla almond milk.

Refreshing.

Lunch: Brown rice, steamed kale, chickpeas and Mmm sauce.

Only my favorite lunch ever. I haven’t made Mmm sauce in so long. I’ve missed it!

Snack of apple and peanut butter.

For my workout, I did another Hiit workout from DailyHiit.com, and then I went to an evening vinyasa yoga class.

Got started on dinner when I returned home.

More recipes from Appetite for Reduction. Thanks to Danny for running out to get me some almond milk for the onion rings! I only had vanilla almond milk, and I didn’t think those flavors would pair very well.

We had Chipotle Lentil Burgers with Onion Rings. Check out the cookbook for the recipes!

We topped our burgers with dijon mustard, eggless mayo, and mixed greens.

I mixed up some adobo sauce (leftover from the burgers) with the ketchup for some spicy dipping sauce. Mmm!

Have a good weekend! As usual, I’ll be working the early shift. Boo!

This smoothie had mixed berries, frozen bananas, an acai packet, cocoa powder, hemp seed protein powder and a little agave nectar.

After breakfast, I went for a 4 mile run around the neighborhood and then did this hiit workout from dailyhiit.com (from the creators of Bodyrock). Whew, it has been awhile since I’ve done high intensity workouts, and this one definitely got my heart rate up!

For lunch, I finished off the last of the ‘Better Than Tuna Salad’ which I had on a sandwich with avocado and spinach.

Pre-yoga snack of apple and peanut butter.

I went to a 75 minute vinyasa yoga class. It was a great class with a nice flow and lots of vinyasas.

For dinner, I cooked up some recipes from Appetite For Reduction by Isa Chandra Moskowitz. We had Black Beans in a Mole Sauce with Ginger Mashed Sweet Potatoes and Apples.

The smokiness of the mole sauce paired perfectly with the sweetness of the potatoes and apples. Great dinner!

Breakfasts

Toast with almond butter and banana

Oatmeal with almond milk, raisins and slivered almonds

Berry Smoothie: Mixed berries, almond milk, banana, flax seed, almond butter

Green Smoothie: Almond milk, OJ, frozen banana, frozen pineapple and mango, spinach, and hemp seed protein powder (new purchase)

Lunches

Wrap with ‘Better Than Tuna Salad’ (recipe from The Vegan Table) and romaine in a brown rice tortilla. I had this twice.

Wrap with avocado, hummus and romaine. I had this twice, too.

Dinners

This is where I dropped the ball on the pics. I only managed to get a pic of one dinner.

A stir fry of brown rice, snap peas, edamame, baby bok choy, and sauteed tofu topped with a store bought peanut sauce. This was good.

Other unpictured dinners included veggie burgers with Alexia Waffle Fries, the Soylent Green Bowl from Laughing Planet, and some white bean and kale soup from Whole Foods.

All caught up! Back tomorrow with Day #16!

A little behind in my postings, so let’s catch up. Day #11 started early with granola and coffee at 5:30am.

Granola topped with almond milk, bananas, raisins, and slivered almonds.

Coffee on the side.

I woke up late (dang you snooze button!), and all I had time to pack for lunch was an almond butter and jelly sandwich.

After I returned home from work, I grabbed a snack of raisins and cashews, and then headed to a vinyasa yoga class at my studio. I’m always surprised how many people show up for the Saturday evening class. It was packed!

After yoga and a shower, Danny and I headed out to dinner. I let Danny pick this time and he chose Bollywood Theater.

This restaurant is on Alberta and has been recommended by quite a few people. There was a line all the way to the door to order which was a good sign. I really don’t mind waiting if it means the food is going to be good! We ordered at the register and then grabbed a table in the corner.

I ordered the Bhel Puri.

We started with beers. The good stuff from Portland, so much better than the PBR I had at the bowling alley a few days ago.

My dish was like nothing I’ve ever had before. I thought the flavors and textures went really well together, even the puffed rice which provided a nice crunchy component. For a little extra sustenance, I ordered some lentil dal on the side which came pureed and was excellent. Just the right amount of food for me.

I was planning to go out for a drink afterward, but found myself back home and in bed soon after dinner. These early morning shifts are tiring!

Breakfast was a bowl of granola (Nature’s Path Pumpkin Flax Granola) with sliced bananas and almond milk.

The Unsweetened Vanilla Almond Breeze is hands down my favorite non-dairy milk.

After breakfast, I spent some time organizing our apartment. Since we are going to be moving apartments soon, I want to have everything organized and ready to go!

Lunch was a repeat from Day #9.

Pinto beans heated in a saucepan with some water, kale and spices. Served with tortilla chips on the side for dipping.

These Food Should Taste Good Olive Tortilla Chips are pretty good.

Frank was bored by my repeat lunch.

But my snack had him interested – Rudi’s Multigrain with Flax English Muffin with almond butter.

Later in the afternoon, as I was running some errands, my car started to make some funny noises and one of the warning lights on the dashboard came on. The noises just got worse, and by the time we realized that I wouldn’t be able to drive the car to work over the next 3 days, all the rental car places in our area were closed. Our mechanic is also closed till Monday as well. We ended up having to take the Max (light rail) all the way to the airport to pick up a rental car.

For my yoga of the day, I just did a 20 minute session from YogaDownload.com. I was too busy figuring out the car situation to make it into class the studio.

But before we left for the airport, we stopped into Porque No for dinner. This restaurant is about a 5 minute walk from our apartment and has awesome Mexican food. There is a line outside the door almost always for dinner and lunch. The food is so good, most people don’t mind the wait.

Once we put in our ordered, we settled in at a table with some drinks (a margarita for me) and our appetizer was delivered within a few minutes. You can’t go to a Mexican place without getting chips, salsa and guacamole, right?

For my entree, I had Bryan’s Bowl with seasonal veggies (chard, potatoes, and asparagus). The bowl comes with beans, rice, salsa and tortillas on the side. I asked for no dairy, and they were happy to accomodate. So good!

Afterwards, we made our trek up to the airport to pick up our rental car. The irony is we ended up with a convertible which is useless here in Portland.  Go figure!

The weekend for everyone else means back to work for me. Have a good weekend!

On to Day #9 of the Vegan Yogi Challenge…

When I saw waffles on the breakfast menu suggestion for the day, I got pretty excited. Huge waffle fans up in here. I picked up some Nature’s Path Organic Maple Cinnamon Waffles on my last grocery run. Baked in the oven for a few minutes and breakfast was ready (we don’t have a toaster).

Topped with banana slices and a teensy bit of maple syrup. Great breakfast!

For lunch, I heated up half a can of pinto beans in a saucepan with water, cumin, chili powder and about a cup of chopped kale. I let it simmer for about 15 minutes until the water thickened into a sauce.

Served with some tortilla chips on the side. This was like healthy nachos! Love me some kale! Probably going to eat this on Day #10, too.

Filled with my greens and beans, I drove up to Forest Park for a 5 mile run. My run was quite speedy (for me) at an average pace of about 9 minutes per mile. I really need to run up there more often. It’s so peaceful running on the trail away from the cars and the crowds.

I returned home, walked the dogs, and had myself a snack of dried cranberries and cashews. Getting sick of this picture yet?

Dinner was a throwback to the 90′s…

English Muffin Pizzas

Even without the cheese, I enjoyed these immensely. Danny called them ‘serious bagel bites’. We topped some english muffins with pizza sauce, onions, bell peppers, garlic, olives, and toasted pine nuts and baked them for about 10 minutes.

For full recipe ingredients and instructions, click here.

Salad on the side – romaine with Annie’s Organic Balsamic Vinaigrette.

In the evening, we headed to a bowling alley and watched Danny’s work win the league championship. They received a giant trophy complete with ‘The Dude’ topper and a pony keg.

I used an extra firm tofu for this recipe, and the tofu ended up being pretty dry. Next time, I’m going to go with a firm tofu so it will be more ‘eggy’.

Served with coffee of course.

In the morning, I did some chores around the house and then met up with Danny for lunch.

We are looking at apartments (we are planning on moving soon) in the Northwest area so we decided to pop into an old standby, Laughing Planet. They have tons of vegan options to choose from, and I love their soups which rotate regularly.

It was pouring outside so we arrived a little damp.

Nothing these Portlanders can’t handle. (The beard keeps him warm)

I ordered the veggie chili and a side Caesar salad (no cheese). They have a lovely vegan Caesar dressing that I can’t get enough of. After lunch, I came home and took the dogs on a 45 minute walk. The clouds parted and the sun ended up coming out which was nice.

I had a snack of a toasted english muffin (Rudi’s Multigrain with Flax) topped with almond butter.

At 5:30, I walked up to my yoga studio for a 75 minute hot hatha class. It was one of those days where I just needed yoga to get out of my head for a little while.

After yoga, I came up and put together a stew for dinner. The recipe is called Lentil Mushroom and Barley Stew (recipe included in The 30 Day Vegan Challenge).

I was not expecting much from this stew, but it ended up having great flavor. It was very hearty and ‘meaty’, if you will. I ended up going back for seconds.

As always, I ended the night with some reading.

Till tomorrow!

I cooked up a half cup of quinoa and added some raisins, cinnamon, maple syrup, almond milk, banana slices, and slivered almonds.

It was pretty good, but I think I prefer oatmeal.

After breakfast, I headed out for a run. I completed 6 miles at an average pace of 9:48 per mile. I believe this is a PDR for 2013. Last year, I was running half marathons and training for a full when I was sidelined by a knee injury. It feels good to be able to run 6 miles pain free! I’m pretty sure yoga has been a huge factor in keeping my joints healthy this time around.

When I came home, I showered and threw together a quick lunch of PB&J with apple slices.

Simple and quick.

After lunch, I went with a friend to her hair appointment so I could hold her little newborn while she got her hair done. I basically got to hold a sleeping baby for two hours, and it was awesome!

When I got back home, I walked the pups and had a quick snack of cashews and cranberries before heading off to a 75 minute power vinyasa class. The class was great except for some chatty girls who were next to me. No talking in yoga! It was a little bit distracting, but I enjoyed the class nonetheless.

Dinner took a little while to prepare. We had Creamy Leek Polenta (recipe included in The 30 Day Vegan Challenge) topped with roasted brussel sprouts, sauteed mushrooms, and Maple Mustard Tempeh (recipe from Clean Food).

I really enjoyed this dish, especially the tempeh and brussel sprouts which are some of my favorite foods.

I ended the night with some puppy snuggling and reading in bed.

Monday is my last day of work till I start my 3 days on Saturday again so I was ready to get the day over with.

For breakfast, I had a coconut milk yogurt bowl with raisin bran cereal, slivered almonds, and flax seed. I wasn’t a fan of this yogurt. The texture was off, not creamy like cow’s milk yogurt. Perhaps it was just the brand (So Delicious).

I packed myself a BLT sandwich to take with me to work for lunch. I made a Tempeh Bacon recipe (included in The 30 Day Vegan Challenge). I marinated the tempeh the day before and fried them up in a pan in the morning. I also used some Earth Balance eggless mayo on my BLT. This was a good lunch!

Snack after work – Apples with almond butter.

For my yoga class of the day, I went to a power vinyasa class that was heated (all the classes are heated at my yoga studio except for yin yoga). The flow was slower and we held some difficult poses for longer than we usually do in vinyasa. It was challenging! Whew! I noticed when we hold poses longer, my mind tends to wander more easily instead of staying in the moment. The challenge of this class was staying focused. This is good practice for life, right?

Ready for dinner when I returned home.

On the menu – Veggie Burgers, Baked Fries, and Salad. Danny started the french fries while I was in class.

He sliced up a russet potato, tossed them with olive oil and salt, and got them baking at 450 degrees. We let them go for about 30 minutes.

We used our favorite veggie burgers that we buy at Whole Foods. They are Hilary’s Eat Well brand. The founder of the company actually opened a restaurant called Local Burger in Lawrence, Kansas prior to selling the veggie burgers in stores. I grew up in Kansas City, and Danny and I actually went and ate at this restaurant in Lawrence a few years back. The veggies burgers were awesome, and I was so excited to see them selling them in stores in Portland. I’m pretty sure they sell them nationally. Try them!

I used a BBQ sauce on my burger and as a fry dipper. The BBQ sauce was also from Kansas that a friend here gave to us since our supply from Christmas ran out (Oklahoma Joe’s)). It was spicy!

We also had a simple salad on the side – mixed greens dressed with Annie’s Balsamic Vinaigrette. Yummy dinner!

Breakfast eaten at 5:30am before work – Whole grain bread, almond butter, and banana. Coffee on the side.

I packed up this barley and chickpea salad for lunch. I added chopped carrot, sliced olives, tomatoes, basil, and garlic with a dressing of white balsamic vinegar, lemon juice, olive oil and S&P. Scarfed down on my lunch break!

Afternoon snack of cashews and cranberries. Sweet and salty! Afterwards, I went to the yoga studio for a yin yoga class. It was soooooooo relaxing! I almost fell asleep numerous times.

On the menu for dinner – Simple Bean Burritos (recipe included on The 30 Day Vegan Challenge).

Our burritos included black beans (heated with some spices), brown rice, tomatoes, romaine lettuce, homemade guacamole (mashed avocado with lime and salt), cilantro, and limes.

Mmm…these were good!

The Vegan Yogi Challenge continues tomorrow!