I think my body realized yesterday I was doing something different. It was protesting off and on all day. I had a pain in my right side most of the morning but then just periodically the rest of the day. Finally managed to get out but was wiped out. Amy reminded me that it's usually the second week that the body figures out something new is happening and it doesn't like it. This is usually when things start getting tough but surprisingly it doesn't make me want to go out and eat a burger.  I don't have any desire to "cheat" yet. We ended up just grabbing subway again. I see a lot of it in my future. I will be traveling Sunday, I think, and am trying to find my options  of eating on the road. Cracker Barrel is definitely out. I've looked up websites and one will say something is vegan and other will say it isn't. It's very frustrating but just came to the conclusion that I am going to go with the website that looks like it did the most research before putting it online. I am not going to fall up and cry my eyes out if I happen to accidentally eat something I shouldn't. That would be a sight on the side of the road, wouldn't it? Anyway, I am just going to make the best choices I can with the info I have and go with it. I am traveling because my Dad is probably having a valve replacement on Monday and the hospital has a subway downstairs so I'm sure I will have a few meals there next week. I think just being around the hospital will give me the motivation I need to stay with this. My Dad has gone through a lot with his heart and I just don't want to go through what he has if I can help it. Keep him in your prayers this week.

Today was try a new recipe or two day...new twist on soup and salad for dinner. I made a lentil soup but some how didn't realize that a cup of lentils will not make a tremendous amount of soup. I know next time to double or triple. And to go with it I made a Thai tofu salad. Harry loved it but I do not love tofu enough yet to love it. Other than that I had leftovers all day with a little watermelon and have been munching on blackberries all afternoon. Just washed a bunch up and went by and grabbed a few every time I passed them. I was craving pizza so I made a vegan one quick and it was not as satisfying because I was too lazy to cut up veggies to put on it. That somehow sums up my day...lazy.  I think it sums up this blog entry too. Anyone wanting either recipe give me a yell and I'll type them up tomorrow. I don't think I have the energy tonight. So before I bore you to sleep I am heading off to bed.

I seem to have forgotten to blog last night...must have been that I piled up on the bed and took a nap. Yesterday was a pretty boring eating day. Instead of trying new recipes I decided to clean out my pantry and take stock of what I had and throw away a few things out of date and got rid of some stuff nobody would eat. Now today I am ready to cook. Had a good meal last night of beans, potatoes and mac & tomato juice!! Now I crave beans, all the time. A friend reminded me "you are what you put in your body." At this rate I will be an old fart!! Yesterday for lunch I had a can of veg. chili, ick, it was just bitter. I think I can definitely do home made better than that. Think I will wait for cooler weather though. I do really think I could have macaroni and tomato juice everyday. I just cook up elbow mac. and drain then add a can of tomato sauce. It is so simple but just so good. I use the mac that has lots of fiber so it's giving me some good stuff. Just add the tomato sauce to suit you taste for how much pasta you have. Well I am going to try to post again tonight to get back on track. See ya in a few hours!

Did not quite get my blog accomplished last night. Fighting off a little virus last night. Poor hubby worked all day, came home and mowed the yard( and actually at this point I was out weeding the many gardens), and ended up finishing dinner for me because I was just out of it. I did manage to get some spaghetti down. Pretty much had oatmeal and leftover enchiladas so not a very exciting recipe day. I just ate the last of the 4 cupcakes, thank goodness!!! Now I can get back to healthier eating. I just feel dirty after I eat one it's so rich. Sometimes a good dirty and sometimes a bad dirty. Wonder what today will bring....I feel like trying a new recipe!

Veggie Enchiladas

Oops forgot to put it at bottom.

3 peppers, can be green red orange or yellow or combo cut in strips
1 med sweet onion cut in strips
salt, cumin, chili powder to your taste, I always use more cumin than chili powder
canola oil to saute veggies in
1 can enchilada sauce
vegan cheese, mozz and cheddar, I use Daiya(I think that's the way it's spelled)
1/3 package silken tofu
Portabello mushroom if desired, sauted with veggies or I just sauted them in a different skillet and added to a
1/2 of enchiladas----Harry's half
6-8 flour tortillas

Saute peppers and onions in canola oil with the spices until crisp tender.
Spread about a TBSP of enchilada sauce on each tortilla then add a thin strip of tofu and sprinkle a little of both kinds of cheese over it then add the veggies on top of that and roll them up and place in a 8x11 baking dish that has a little sauce spread on bottom==continue and divide mixture into rest of the tortillas....once all are in pan pour remaining sauce over the top of the enchiladas then and leftover veggies I just poured on top and sprinkled with a little more cheese. Cook at 350 for about 30 min.

The combo of the silken tofu with the vegan cheese on top of it took the form of the cream cheese---when you bite into it you can't tell that it isn't cream cheese. And a word of warning a little vegan cheese goes a looooong way. Too much will just about choke you. And this would be great not vegan just sub real cheese and a little cream cheese instead of the tofu and fake cheese on inside.

One Week

I made it one week, yes!!! And I just made killer enchiladas! The best I have ever tasted, not to brag, just happy that when I have a recipe floating around in my mind and it comes out tasting just the way I wanted it to I am a HAPPY girl! I used to make a recipe that my bestie Lisa made and loved them but no ground beef and no cream cheese anymore so when Harry said he wanted Mexican food I immediately thought of these and then my mind turned to how to get them vegan and how to get that cream cheese taste. So I will put the recipe at the bottom and apologize because I didn't count anything so hopefully you can follow it without too many problems if you want to make them. Kind of just snacked around today til dinner. Had a 6" veggie sub again, some fake Tso chicken, some black quinoa slaw, and some club crackers. Oh and a cupcake, they came in a 4 pack so I have to make them last because we won't be going back to Cleveland for a few weeks.
Today is Nate's bday and he didn't want a cake and instead wanted chocolate chip cookies. He's a bit of a health nut and doesn't care for cake but cookies are another thing. So I made some big cookies and luckily I have a chocolate chip cookie left over from the store yesterday so when the craving hits tonight and it will because I see the cookies every time I walk in the kitchen, I will have one to fall back on.
Overall it has been a very successful week full of pleasant surprises. Biggest surprise is that I absolutely love eating this way!! Will I want other things someday, sure, I am positive I will have moments of cravings but I think this is the plan for me.

Day 6

I feel like I have went off the deep end and have cheated so bad. I haven't! Everything I have ate today has been vegan but years and years of dieting and feelings of the immense guilt that goes with it rears it ugly head over and over again. I ate a cookie and a cupcake both V but they tasted so good that I had feelings of guilt. I think that a lot of what I are today was just rich tasting so in my diet abused mind it had to be bad. We ran to whole foods for a few things that I needed to stock up on and ordered the veggie vegan pizza before we started shopping. It was good but too much feese(fake cheese). I think next time we will order it with just half the cheese. Had my version of blt for breakfast. In a way so glad whole foods is a little piece away because they make the best food. Peanut butter cookie was the best I have ever had, anytime and the cupcake I couldn't even really finish it was so rich. We went by the deli counter and they had vegan dishes. Stacie they did not have the sesame tofu, I asked. But we got a little of the General Tso's chicken, it was soooo good. I cut a piece off and it looked like chicken. I was greatly impressed and will ask next time what fake chicken they used, I need to know!!! Kids really would not know the difference if you did not tell them.
When I stepped on scales this morning I had officially lost 4 lbs since Monday, yeah!! See in my mind just now I thought "well that is till I ate the cupcake and cookie". I just need to tell that voice to shut the heck up, huh? Except I didn't say heck, hehe. The funny part was I wasn't even really craving sugar. I think it was that I hadn't eaten enough before going in store and just the abundance of vegan foods all ready made and ready to eat just was too much for me. One day I will learn my lessons, hopefully!!