LivingVegetarian&LovingFOOD

I salivate a lot. I get wound up by the thought of white truffles. Cheese. ALL cheese. Avocado. CREAM. Artisan bread. Real butter. Sautéing. With garlic. And Onions. Gnocchi. Ravioli. Pesto. Can I say GARLIC again? OMG risotto. J'adore CURRY. Robust. Tangy. Spicy curry. Hummus. Tzatziki. Olives. RIPE tomatoes. Pine nuts. On and on and on and on. And on. Food excites me. Food motivates me. Do you know how many times I've bought plane tickets to eat certain foods in the country they came from? A LOT. No joke.

All that said. Yes, I live vegetarian for the most part. I will eat shrimp from time to time. I am a little sucker for Toojay's tuna on rye. And tonight I was absolutely DYING for white truffle, vanilla bean, lobster risotto whilst watching Iron Chef. So yeah, occasionally seafood. But in an average week, I devour nothing with a heartbeat.

And I thought I'd start sharing the kinds of things I do enjoy gobbling up in an average week in case you might be interested in partaking of less flesh. There are all kinds of reasons to eliminate meat from one's diet. Ethical. Environmental. Overall health. For me it's a bit of each. And the longer I live this way the better I feel. And I feel the need to stress, I DO NOT feel like I'm suffering from the sacrifice. My only weakness, and it's a dumb one, is Chic-fil-a. So I'm not doing too badly.

FUEL. The body needs it. How people go without meals baffles me. On the days I work out, a late afternoon snack is DIRE. I'll burn out without one. What fuels me? I'll give you an idea of my daily food intake. And know. I never eat for plain sustenance. I savor. I anticipate. I enjoy. Life is too short to not revel in delighting your taste buds. I feel quite healthy & thought others might be interested in my daily diet. I would also LOVE creative suggestions. Healthy alternatives. Delicious ideas from you.

So I rise & shine. First thing I put into this 33-year old body is a huge glass of agua. I relish it.

Up next? Spicy hot chai tea. Packed with cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, ginger, even pepper w/vanilla soy milk. Black tea gives me the oomph I need to get going, spices delight and creaminess satiates.

Then? A bowl of cereal. If you know me you know I love Cheerios. Usually Berry Burst or Multi Grain. With vanilla soy milk.

Lunch- Usually a bowl of soup. A salad. A sandwich. Often supplimented with Sun chips. Mmmm. If I'm lucky, falafel. A burrito.

Late afternoon snack: a Trail Mix Kashi bar (crunchy almonds, raisins, cranberries, sunflower seeds) OR A Handful of Everything
(from Target), packed with dried fruits, nuts, dark chocolate chips. AND a cup of green tea. Definitely, the perfect workout kick!

This brings me to dinner. And right now I'm talking week night dinner. This means Monday thru Thursday nights. The name of the game, about 85% of the time is SALAD. I tend to pack all those servings of veggies the powers that be say we need into one big, healthy meal.

And let me be the first to say it. This can get bloody boring. I throw my hands up in the air from time to time. But in the end, I appreciate the challenge. I like to try and make Tim's eyes light up. It's hard. He's a Euro foodie AND a tad reluctant to fully embrace my meatless, turbo garden-packed dinners.

Blogs to come will feature tales of the way in which I try and shake things up on 'school nights', the way in which I truly do enjoy a fulfilling life of FOOD SANS CARNE. Grocery lists to stock your fridge with things that will make your taste buds & over all health happy... stay tuned.

love,
sunlovey

PHOTOS: Target's A Handful of Everything power snack. Vegetarian tostadas @home. A healthy & decadent vegetarian snack prepared for friends one evening (assorted crostini including goat cheese & pesto AND tomato & blue cheese crostini ).
A typical 'school night' salad of crispy romaine, black olives, gorgonzola cheese, chopped tomato & CHICK PEAS aka garbanzo beans.