1.3
Vegetarianism Day 3
Though technically it's already the third day of this particular challenge, I'll start at the beginning.
The plan was simple. I'd create magnificent Buddha bowls full of such colors and flavors to bring even the most anti-vegetarian cowboy to tears of euphoric joy with one bit.
Monday night I was determined to get everything prepared enough to keep me motivated. I shredded cabbage, I chopped spinach, sliced thin ovals of carrots, drained cans of corn and chickpeas (ok maybe that’s not the best visual of a warrior chef in action), I boiled some French green lentils... the Buddha bowl of my future was getting more and more interesting with every ingredient I could yank out of the pantry and fridge. Then, because my friend left me a tree sized piece of ginger root, I needed to devise ways to incorporate it into my coming change in diet.
Eureka! (That’s the sound of the light bulb turning on, by the way) I’d pull out my trusty juicer!! I had beets, apples, carrots, ginger, and a whole 40 pound box of delicious oranges. Juice in the morning, Buddha bowl for lunch - that would account for 80% of my waking hours. Easy. So the vegetables were put into all sorts of Tupperware and stored in the fridge. Buddha Bowls - check.
Then began the mission of preparing juice ingredients. The beets were weighed and measured... the apples too. The carrots were pre-chopped into 2 inch pieces and the ginger scraped and portioned. Once everything was ready, out came the little pint sized mason jars. Every ingredient for each day was put into its own mason jar ready to be juiced in the coming mornings. I was armed and ready to conquer. How could I fail?
Day one rolls around. I’m doing GREAT. Got up early, made my juice in the morning, assembled my Buddha bowl for lunch, left for work feeling like I was going to accomplish things. I even made my bed! Boom! Gold star.
The Morning Rise juice (that's what I've decided to call that beautiful concoction and no, I didn't make it up. I'm definitely not that smart.) goes down easy. Coffee chaser follows. Buddha bowl comes out a little earlier than anticipated but then again it was chorizo burrito day at the office cafeteria and I exerted some major energy turning that down. The bowl is pretty.... bland? No. Uninspiring? Yes. The carrot ginger dressing was delicious but you can only do so much to dress up what is essentially a bowl of rabbit food. But rabbit food or not, that bowl was intended to tide me over until I got home and had some yummy..... I never got to the dinner part of planning my vegetarian meals. No matter.
An expected side affect of these bowls... I fully anticipated that the sheer increase in raw fiber intake would give my stomach pause... and create some rumblings. My gastro-buddies did not disappoint. Is that the sound of a cow giving birth in the distant field? No. It’s my stomach trying to process so much raw cellulose after cruising through life for the last few month processing already processed foods. It’s the sound of a resistance led by a troop of lazy micro-villi and then finally the gears of a tired and atrophied system trying to get up and running with no preparation. #troof.
Where was I? Right. Day one and I've made it through the workday. My office co-workers want to meet up for a little shindig at a winery downtown. Great! As soon as I sit down, I'm handed a bacon wrapped date. It's perfect: a nice thin piece of bacon delicately clinging to the waist of a plump date lovingly stuffed with a velvety scoop of goat cheese... I popped that sucker into my mouth without a second thought. Would you believe me if I told you that I didn't do it out of greed and want of that delicacy? I honestly didn't even register that the bacon is actually meat and I would need to turn that offer down. I haven't needed to turn down an offer of a tasty morsel in..... ever! Day one fail two feet away from the finish line. Twenty minutes after savoring that bite, it registers that I've just ruined my day of self-restraint and I'm conscious for the rest of the evening. But the disappointment lingers.
Day two isn't very different. The Morning Rise is still a lovely way to begin the morning. The Buddha bowl is forgotten in the fridge as the office has Christmas related activities and a potluck. Of the Taco Salad bar offerings and little smokies and a spinach artichoke dip.... I only got dip. Not even realizing how little of the dip I actually consumed - because it was 90% cream cheese, boursin, parmesan, and half & half... all of which is a big no-no for this lactose intolerant girl - I was starving by the end of the day. So when I got home and my favorite boo-thang in the world says he'll take me out on a sushi date... I put my shoes back and and happily took his arm out to the car. Day two fail.
And that’s where I started day three. Oh for two.
It has to get better right??
Though technically it's already the third day of this particular challenge, I'll start at the beginning.
The plan was simple. I'd create magnificent Buddha bowls full of such colors and flavors to bring even the most anti-vegetarian cowboy to tears of euphoric joy with one bit.
Monday night I was determined to get everything prepared enough to keep me motivated. I shredded cabbage, I chopped spinach, sliced thin ovals of carrots, drained cans of corn and chickpeas (ok maybe that’s not the best visual of a warrior chef in action), I boiled some French green lentils... the Buddha bowl of my future was getting more and more interesting with every ingredient I could yank out of the pantry and fridge. Then, because my friend left me a tree sized piece of ginger root, I needed to devise ways to incorporate it into my coming change in diet.
Eureka! (That’s the sound of the light bulb turning on, by the way) I’d pull out my trusty juicer!! I had beets, apples, carrots, ginger, and a whole 40 pound box of delicious oranges. Juice in the morning, Buddha bowl for lunch - that would account for 80% of my waking hours. Easy. So the vegetables were put into all sorts of Tupperware and stored in the fridge. Buddha Bowls - check.
Then began the mission of preparing juice ingredients. The beets were weighed and measured... the apples too. The carrots were pre-chopped into 2 inch pieces and the ginger scraped and portioned. Once everything was ready, out came the little pint sized mason jars. Every ingredient for each day was put into its own mason jar ready to be juiced in the coming mornings. I was armed and ready to conquer. How could I fail?
Day one rolls around. I’m doing GREAT. Got up early, made my juice in the morning, assembled my Buddha bowl for lunch, left for work feeling like I was going to accomplish things. I even made my bed! Boom! Gold star.
The Morning Rise juice (that's what I've decided to call that beautiful concoction and no, I didn't make it up. I'm definitely not that smart.) goes down easy. Coffee chaser follows. Buddha bowl comes out a little earlier than anticipated but then again it was chorizo burrito day at the office cafeteria and I exerted some major energy turning that down. The bowl is pretty.... bland? No. Uninspiring? Yes. The carrot ginger dressing was delicious but you can only do so much to dress up what is essentially a bowl of rabbit food. But rabbit food or not, that bowl was intended to tide me over until I got home and had some yummy..... I never got to the dinner part of planning my vegetarian meals. No matter.
An expected side affect of these bowls... I fully anticipated that the sheer increase in raw fiber intake would give my stomach pause... and create some rumblings. My gastro-buddies did not disappoint. Is that the sound of a cow giving birth in the distant field? No. It’s my stomach trying to process so much raw cellulose after cruising through life for the last few month processing already processed foods. It’s the sound of a resistance led by a troop of lazy micro-villi and then finally the gears of a tired and atrophied system trying to get up and running with no preparation. #troof.
Where was I? Right. Day one and I've made it through the workday. My office co-workers want to meet up for a little shindig at a winery downtown. Great! As soon as I sit down, I'm handed a bacon wrapped date. It's perfect: a nice thin piece of bacon delicately clinging to the waist of a plump date lovingly stuffed with a velvety scoop of goat cheese... I popped that sucker into my mouth without a second thought. Would you believe me if I told you that I didn't do it out of greed and want of that delicacy? I honestly didn't even register that the bacon is actually meat and I would need to turn that offer down. I haven't needed to turn down an offer of a tasty morsel in..... ever! Day one fail two feet away from the finish line. Twenty minutes after savoring that bite, it registers that I've just ruined my day of self-restraint and I'm conscious for the rest of the evening. But the disappointment lingers.
Day two isn't very different. The Morning Rise is still a lovely way to begin the morning. The Buddha bowl is forgotten in the fridge as the office has Christmas related activities and a potluck. Of the Taco Salad bar offerings and little smokies and a spinach artichoke dip.... I only got dip. Not even realizing how little of the dip I actually consumed - because it was 90% cream cheese, boursin, parmesan, and half & half... all of which is a big no-no for this lactose intolerant girl - I was starving by the end of the day. So when I got home and my favorite boo-thang in the world says he'll take me out on a sushi date... I put my shoes back and and happily took his arm out to the car. Day two fail.
And that’s where I started day three. Oh for two.
It has to get better right??
Comments
Post a Comment