Breakfast at Panera

Finding good wholesome breakfast on the go can be difficult, but it doesn’t have to be. While on an early morning outing, my fam and i decide to get some breakfast so we decide to grab some Panera Bread. This was my first time actually going to Panera bread during breakfast so i knew that this was going to be very interesting.  Way before i even became vegetarian, i  had a bad gag reflex to eggs. The smell of it , the taste of it, boiled, scrambled, poached, it didn’t matter i  just couldn’t eat eggs.  So my breakfast options growing up has always been limited, so when i got to Panera Bread i knew my only option was going to be a bagel. But once at the counter, I was please to see that on the menu was steel cut oatmeal.  I’m not gonna lie the oatmeal was a bit pricey but compared to what you find at you local drive thru. This oatmeal was out of this world, real ingredients,  fresh fruits and pecans and also vegan friendly too. I paired it with a wheat bagel and black coffee and had the most nutritious and delicious breakfast i had in a while.   If you’re an oatmeal fan and haven’t tried Panera’s  oatmeal you don’t know what you’re missing.  What your favorite Panera bread item?

The Daniel Fast

Hey y’all, Its day 6 of my spiritual fast and i finally got the hang of things.  Being that this is my first fast i did a lot of research on how to go about doing one. After much thought and research I decided to go along with the Daniel fast which primarily is a vegan diet with more restrictions . At first i thought this would be somewhat smooth since I’ve  been practicing a vegetarian/wholefoods lifestyle for a little less than a year. But these past 3 days have been  tough  but i know at the end of this fast it would be so worth it. I decided to do the fast from 6am to 6pm being that the Daniel fast is typically done for 21 days and I’m doing it for 40. After 6 pm i  eat whatever i want but still try to keep it close to the guidelines of the Daniel Fast.

I’ve came up with a plan that is working for me but as the weeks go i might tweak a few things.

For breakfast I make a big batch of green smoothies that makes about two 160z mason jar fulls with all the vegetable and fruits i want.

To make them hearty as possible i add one Hass Avocado, spoonful of flax-seeds and Chia seeds and Matcha green tea leaves. ( the actual leaves not the powder). I drink a 16oz full jar for breakfast with a banana  and one mid morning with raw walnuts and dried cranberries. Yes these item have a high fiber/high fat content, But don’t be fooled I’m still hungry by noon.

By 12:30 I have a banana, with a salad either a garden salad or  a mixture of any raw /steamed or lightly seasoned vegetable  at hand at the salad bar. I haven’t incorporated  grains yet but i plan to do so in the next couple days.

Garden Salad Lunch

 

So what are the actual specific for a Daniel fast you say? Based on the Book of Daniel  fruits  and vegetable, no meats or wine. But if you want to go into specifics here is a run down on what to can eat and what you should avoid.

Foods to include during the Daniel Fast

All fruits. These can be fresh, frozen, dried, juiced or canned.
All vegetables. These can be fresh, frozen, dried, juiced or canned.
All whole grains, including but not limited to whole wheat, brown rice, millet, quinoa, oats, barley, grits and whole wheat pasta
All nuts and seeds, including but not limited to sunflower seeds, cashews, peanuts, sesame. Also nut butters including peanut butter.
All legumes. These can be canned or dried. Legumes include but are not limited to dried beans, pinto beans, split peas, lentils, black eyed peas, kidney beans, black beans, cannellini beans, white beans.
All quality oils including but not limited to olive, canola, grape seed, peanut, and sesame.
Beverages: spring water, distilled water or other pure waters.

Foods to avoid on the Daniel Fast

All meat and animal products including but not limited to beef, lamb, pork, poultry, and fish.
All dairy products including but not limited to milk, cheese, cream, butter, and eggs.
All sweeteners including but not limited to sugar, raw sugar, honey, syrups, molasses, and cane juice.
All leavened bread including Ezekiel Bread (it contains yeast and honey) and baked goods.
All refined and processed foods products including but not limited to artificial flavorings, food additives, chemicals, white rice, white flour, and foods that contain artificial preservatives.
All deep fried foods including but not limited to potato chips, French fries, corn chips.
All solid fats including shortening, margarine, lard and foods high in fat.
Beverages including but not limited to coffee, tea, herbal teas, carbonated beverages, energy drinks, and alcohol.
When you shop for food remember to READ THE LABELS to make sure the only ingredients in packaged foods are suitable for the Daniel Fast. You will want to be especially aware of chemicals, dairy products and sweeteners – all of which are not allowed on the Daniel Fast.

Though there is a lot of restrictions, this fast is more than just limiting food but getting closer to GOD.  We do this by prayer and reading the Bible and not just reading it but applying it to our everyday lives. I know that this 40 days is going to be tough, but enlightening , enriching and life changing, but i’m soready for it ! 🙂

Lunch at the Grocery Store

Lunch can sometimes be cumbersome, but I’ve made a strict plan to stay away from drive thrus as much as possible. For the number one reason being that there’s not much options for vegetarian, And as far as fish options they pretty much taste like cardboard. So that basically leaves me with the grocery stores for lunch, like Whole foods, Target and Publix. Though it would be great to always eat at  Whole foods for lunch daily , it does a number on my pockets so i usually alternate from the three. This day was Target’s day, i love going to Target because they have the Starbucks in there. No i don’t go to Starbucks for coffee or lattes , i go there for their hot  green tea. As  crazy as it sounds, Starbucks is the only place that offers hot green  in any food chain restaurant . Any-who,  this particular day i nix the green tea and scooped up a “Lunchable” type snack box at Target and added a Greek yogurt for extra protein and had it with my personal afternoon green smoothie. All of this ended up costing me less than 5 bucks, which i thought  was pretty sweet. If you haven’t tried shopping at a grocery store for lunch, i pretty much suggest that you do. Every week there’s practically a sale going on so you can pretty much get great deals compared to going to a fast food chain. Breaking out 6 bucks for a fast food combo when you can get so much more nutritious food at a  grocery store just make no sense!

My ode to Caesar (salad)

You ever had one of those days where you just wanted a salad, but not just the ordinary salad? I’m not gonna lie, I rather drink a green smoothie with kale, spinach and collard greens than actually sit there and  eat the actual leaf itself. Knowing me once the dressing hits the salad its no longer healthy, i like my salad drenched in dressing . My favorite salad is the infamous Caesar salad, always has and always will be. But seeing that lately its been  listed as one of the worst salad you can eat I’m slowly backing away from it. So i decided to try this new salad at Publix called Harvest Salad. This pretty much had everything but the kitchen sink in it. This particular salad had lettuce, apples, blue cheese, carrot slaw , candied walnuts, sunflower seeds , cherries and a vinaigrette for dressing.It was a new twist to the usual salads at the grocery store but the vinaigrette was too acidic to my liking. All i could think of while eating this salad was how great it  would be with some Caesar dressing. At that point i realized i hadn’t taken the breakup with Caesar to well. So i wrote a poem to which i call: My ode to Caesar .

My dear Caesar, you’ve truly been good to me. I enjoyed the time we had together . The days, the night we share are memorable bliss. I hope one day , we can meet again and reminisce. Till that day, you’ll forever be in my heart. You’re truly missed .

Road Trippin’

So Labor day weekend, my family and i decided to head on down to Key West to do some sightseeing and some good old family bonding. I can truly say that God has blessed me with a great family, I’m truly grateful and thankful for all of them.  They know how to put a smile on my face like no one else can, i love them!! 🙂

Since I love them so much, that morning instead of the usual portion i make everyday, i decided to make green smoothies for the whole family.  This particular smoothie was with Kale, Romaine Lettuce, Ginger, Pineapple and Starfruit. It was a great picker up for the 4hr drive ahead of us with no need for coffee. We packed up our hurricane snacks from Tropical Storm Isaac from earlier that week and headed out the door.

We arrived at  Duval Street around mid day and did some sightseeing and took pictures. We worked up an appetite and decided to grab lunch , at  a restaurant called Red Fish Blue Fish.I was really in the mood for fish tacos but they didn’t have it so i went with a Shrimp Po’ Boy. I’ve only had a Po’Boy once in my life so i couldn’t base it on anything i ever had before, but you can never go wrong when it comes to fried shrimp. It was a nice little place and their food was good. But the flying pigeon in the restaurant really through me off, wasn’t sure if it was part of the act or the poor pigeon didn’t realized it was indoors before hitting the ceiling fan. Either way, i felt bad for the couple that was sitting under the ceiling fan, lol…. All in all , Key west was interesting  but Road Tripping with the family is always fun no matter where we going. :).

 

Road Trip Essentials

Bittersweet Conclusion

Over the weekend i went to my sister in law baby shower,where i was the photographer of the night.   This has been the first time that i was at a social gathering  where it was surrounded by food since my transition, and boy was it tough. Even though i was the photographer there was still time for me to sit back and relax with my fam and eat. At first i was worried that i would not find much to eat that were meat free, but they had that covered.  For the first time in my life, i headed to that infamous vegetable tray that no one ever goes to, as well as the fruit and cheese tray. But then the host of the party muttered 3 words that changed the night for me: “Homemade Crab Ragoon”. Yep, these 3 words had me go in overdrive, here comes the sweet Cuban pastries, and fried seasoned dough  …. To say the least, i was full before the main courses  was actually ready, which made me  free to take pics of the event all night long. Once the cake was rolled out  i couldn’t take another bite, my body was still  working on the appetizers. Poor thing hadn’t had this much work to do in months . So i came to the conclusion that night, more fruits and veggies and less fried carb goodness. All in all It was a bittersweet conclusion to a fun filled night!

Almond Fig Bar/Nuggets Balls

I rarely  make recipes out of cookbooks, but this weekend i decided to change that. I’m not much of a cook, but I’m definitely a baker hands down. So when i saw this recipe only ask for 2 ingredients , and you could mix it up to whatever you had on  hand, i decided  to try it. So i went on a head and did the almond fig nutribar  found in the Nutribullet Recipe book . I added a handful of raw almonds and dried figs in my NutriBullet, and in about 15 seconds everything was crushed and mix in together.  In the book it said to shape it  and wrap it up in plastic wrap, somehow mines ain’t held its shape though.  Mines ended up looking like the little snacks i feed my pet rabbit but it has the consistency and taste of a  larabar bar.  I give myself a B+ for effort lol.

Documentaries that changed my whole perspective

I don’t know about you but, summer days just makes me want to lounge around the house and watch movies all day. Forget the beach, give me an air conditioned room and unlimted movies and ill be good for days lol…This past weekend i was in the mood for one of those air condition and movies days, so i hopped on netflix and decided to watch for the second time Food inc. I’ll be the first to tell you, I’m definitely not a fan of documentaries but this movie is an eyeopener  This movie will have you second think about  your next fast food run ,let alone scared to eat. But once seeing this and a couple other food documentaries that i will list below, you’re whole perspective  on food period ,will soon change.

1) Food Inc. 

2) Forks overs Knives

3) Food Matters

4) Fat Sick and nearly Dead

  

 

Image Source : delish.com, en.wikipedia.org, imdb.com ,jacklalannepowerjuicerreview.com

Thought of the day: Alkalizing the body

As Promised, let’s talk about Alkalizing the body. Alkalizing the body is actually a key step to promoting overall health .Eating alkaline-rich foods helps to cleanse the body by flushing out acidic wastes caused by poor diet, environmental toxins, stress, drugs and other destructive substances. Incorporating  salads and green smoothies daily is a great way to alkalizing your body. Leafy greens are said to be the best and high alkaline forming foods,but there are others foods that contain them as well. Check the list below:

Vegetables
Asparagus
Broccoli
Cabbage Lettuce, Fresh
Cauliflower
Cayenne Pepper
Celery
Chives
Cucumber
Dandelion
Garlic
Lettuce
Onion
Peas, Fresh
Red Cabbage
Spinach
Zucchini

Root Vegetables
Beet
Carrot
Potatoes
Red Radish
Turnip

Fruits
Avocado
Fresh Lemon
Limes
Tomato

Nuts
Almonds
Brazil Nuts

Party in a glass

Since purchasing the NutriBullet, I’ve been having a smoothie or a “NutriBlast” once a day. Depending on how i feel on any given day , i might have two.  The other night was one of those any given days. I threw in a couple frozen bananas, strawberries and kiwis that i pre-cut earlier in the week with a handful of spinach and raw almonds. For texture and creaminess I added uncooked organic oats, hemp protein and almond milk.  I’ve done  this recipe for breakfast twice this week, and my family think its a hit!  The color might be off putting but it’s a party in a glass. Fruits, Leafy greens, Grains and Nuts, and Dairy. What more can you ask for?