3-Day Food Recap (and “Forbidden Food” #1!)

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But first of all, thank you SO much for your support on the Forbidden Foods Challenge! I’m so impressed with everyone who’s already brought their “forbidden food” into the house and enjoyed it in moderation. If you’re interested in joining the challenge, see here for details—remember, you can join any time this week and a random participant will receive a special package!

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I’ve been sitting on these pictures for days so I think I need to just put ‘em up!

A random pic of my kitchen window, plants, mirror (reflecting the clutter on top of my fridge), and spice rack:

Saturday b’fast (pineapple straight from the can . . . classy, I know; coffee w/ soymilk; the last! of my Swiss Crunch cereal with soymilk—Sonny helped me out with the last couple servings ):

Lunch was 3 scookies (the last of them—had to finish them! hehe) with impromptu tomato/bean soup to use the absolute last veggie I had in the house, pantry/freezer included!! I heated up 1 can fire-roasted tomatoes on the stove with salt, pepper, and adobo seasoning; blended with immersion blender; and added 1/2 c. leftover lentils/spinach/mushrooms:

Post-soup I saw a horrible movie (Return to Witch Mountain) with the girl I mentor and her twin sister—actually FELL ASLEEP which I never do in a theater!!!

Snack was the last of a jar of peanut butter (which happens to be a favorite snack of Sarah’s as well!) and a few prunes:

And dinner was Indian takeout!!!! Chana palak (a chick pea/spinach dish) with some basmati rice, dahl, ALL the complimentary chutneys!!, and a little piece of nan (with chocolate for dessert, of course!):This is our dinner set-up . . . kitchen stools, sitting on the bed, in front of the TV! Oh, the joys of living in a tiny NYC apt . . .

(That being said, I’d gladly take a smaller apt. and order Indian takeout all the time with the extra $!!)

As for exercise, I took all the obligatory dog walks, which probably totaled 5 miles of walking.

Sunday started with some pineapple and homemade banana/chocolate-chip muffins! (I used Veganomicon’s lower-fat banana bread recipe, but subbed in whole-wheat flour for all-purpose flour and 1 tbsp. melted Earth Balance + 1 extra mashed banana for 1/2 c.  oil, since I’m all out of oil):

SO GOOD straight out of the oven with melty pb on top I had 2 muffins with 2 tbsp. pb for breakfast (+ lottts of coffee) and it was the PERFECT Sunday splurge! After eating we took Arthur up to the park, let him off the leash, and ran around in one of the fields—it was fun Lunch was leftover Indian (same pic because it was identical, although I did have a little more of the chick pea dish just because it was SO delicious!! I need to try to recreate this!):

I helped Sonny clean out his recording studio space during the afternoon, and on the way home we split a White Chocolate Macadamia Nut clif bar + lemon-lime seltzer. We both agreed that it was a delicious snack—I love sweet things + lime for some reason (especially chocolate-chip cookies!) Pics courtesy of Google:

We went grocery shopping to remedy the fruit/vegetable shortage and I came home to a wonderful FRESH dinner—strawberries (on sale 2 for $3!!), baby carrots, and a wrap with spicy hummus, fresh baby spinach, parsley (my all-time favorite fresh, summery sandwich/wrap filling! try it!), a little chopped tofu, and 1/4 an avocado:

And then it was time for LONG overdue Sundaes on Sunday!!

His’n'hers (er, her’s’n'his!). Vanilla bean soy ice cream with peanut butter puffins, a drizzle of chocolate syrup, cashew butter (me) + pb (him). SO GOOD. We ate these while watching The Queen . . . but I fell asleep (again!) halfway through so I couldn’t tell you how it is!

Monday ended up being a rather fruit-laden day! It started with 1/2 c. Udi’s vanilla granola (SO GOOD—also from last night’s shopping trip) with soymilk and a big bowl of strawberries and pineapple:

Lunch was identical to last night’s dinner, except the wrap did not include parsley:

I went to a DELICIOUS 1-hour hatha yoga class during lunch—I’ve missed it the past couple weeks!! (These at-work yoga classes were a Christmas present from my mom, so I consider them “free” to me ). When I came back, I indulged in some of the goodies in the work kitchen (sorry about the awful pics; I only had my cameraphone at work!)—~2 c. of AMAZING fruit salad chock full of melon, strawberries, grapes, and pineapple, + 1/2 a fresh cinnamon raisin bagel and 12 almonds (which I keep at work). I had 7 more almonds right before I left work because I was suddenly super-hungry (no pic):

This was a rather large afternoon snack, but SO yummy and worth it. And here’s where we enter Forbidden Food territory. I’ve always been a bit wary of most processed carbs (partially due to the fact that many of my family members have diabetes or follow low-carb diets and constantly talk about “carb addiction”), and it took me awhile to get to the point where I could enjoy them without guilt, but after eating this bagel 1/2, my mind started going: Better not eat any carbs for the rest of the day! This was WAY too much for a mid-day snack! Blah blah blah . . . The bagel was so good that I think it was worth the stress, but I wish I could get to the point where I realize that IT IS OKAY to enjoy processed carbs—in moderation! I’m proud of myself for not going back for the rest of the bagel, even though my tastebuds really wanted it—I waited 10 minutes, listened to my full stomach, and stayed at my desk.

Part of the reason the bagel (and tonight’s dessert, soon to be revealed) stressed me out was because I felt like I ate “so badly” this weekend. Looking back on the pics, it looks like a pretty normal weekend of food, but in my head, I kept grouping all the “bad” food together: white rice, ice cream, sugary cereal, white bread, muffins (even though they were homemade, whole-wheat, and low-fat!), etc. etc. I definitely felt ready for fresh food when the weekend was over, but enjoying fun food (like free bagels!) in moderation is NOT going to make me gain 10 lbs. overnight!!! Taking pics. of my food helps me remember this

Anyway, I went to the food co-op after work to restock fruit, veggies, and bulk items, and had a DELICIOUS, super-fresh (and processed-carb free) dinner—baby spinch tossed in ~1 tsp. miso mayo, topped with tofu, olives, 1/4 avocado, and a diced mango (slightly sour and crunchy, just the way I like mangoes!) + a couple tbsps of basmati rice + chutney left over from my Indian food this weekend:

I LOVE this salad combo!!! The slight sweetness of the fruit + the saltiness of the miso and olives + the cool, neutral taste of the tofu + tender spinach . . . ahhh I could eat this every day

However, after dinner my sweet tooth kicked in BIG time (I notice this happens when I don’t eat enough whole grains!). And this is where my “forbidden food” comes in. I meant to make the forbidden real-deal chocolate-chip cookies tonight, but my trip to the co-op was a bit rushed (the after-work crowd was in full swing and I wanted to get in and out asap!) and while I remembered to get canola oil for the cookies, I completely forgot about the chocolate chips!  And even though I’d planned to bake cookies tonight, a little voice in the back of my head kept saying you shouldn’t have dessert; you’ve had too much sweet food tonight; your afternoon snack was too big; don’t eat anything! This little voice was NOT intuition (my body told me to have a little something!), so I ultimately ignored it and had a little something—~1/4 c. leftover soy ice cream  and ~1/4 of a whole-wheat chocolate-chip banana muffin from yesterday:

Now after THIS my stomach told me it was full but my brain was screaming for MORE! I appeased my brain with this dried pineapple ring:

then took the dog for a walk, changed into pajamas, and hit the hay early!! I realized that fatigue was playing a role in my sweet cravings, and hopefully, by getting 9 hours of sleep(!!), I won’t have to deal with it again today!

So, all in all, I’d say my first day of enjoying “forbidden foods” was a valuable one. I enjoyed processed carbohydrates and dealt with the ensuing stress without over-exercising or under-eating at the next meal. And I recognized the difference between brain-hunger and body-hunger, and did my best to appease them both without doing too much caloric damage. Take that, forbidden foods!!

I’ll be back tomorrow with a chocolate-chip cookie recap—I WILL make them tonight! Remember to share your experiences with forbidden foods by commenting on this post or linking to it!