Woman in Real Life

Usually I just eat my vegan food and mind my own business. If people have questions about a plant-based diet, I'm happy to answer them. I can even take a joke or two directed at my diet. But I have been reading some of the debate surrounding the new Beyond Meat Burger at A&W (a nation-wide fast food restaurant here in Canada) and I thought I'd weigh in with my opinions. First off, A&W is not the first fast food chain in Canada to offer a plant-based burger. I have been enjoying Harvey's delicious veggie burger for many years now. (In fact, A&W also has another vegetarian burger. I guess all the hype is because of the Beyond Meat partnership.) But I'm always happy for more vegan options. And I'm also fine with eating fast food from a chain restaurant that also serves meat, because we don't all live in Toronto or Vancouver downtown, with vegan restaurants all around us. My parents, for example, live in a town with no Harvey's. They have a McDonald's of course, but I can't get a thing to eat there. They also have A&W, so hooray. I think that, if we support the vegan options, we'll find more of them available in the long run.

Yes it's kind of odd that A&W launched the plant-based burger through vegan Instagram/YouTube celebs - odd because the burger comes dressed with mayonnaise (which contains egg) and apparently an "Uncle" sauce that also isn't vegan. It would certainly make my life easier if they just made the whole package vegan. I went to A&W to sample the Beyond Meat Burger this past week and the guy seemed confused when I asked for no mayo and no sauce. He told me that would mean no ketchup or mustard either - and we can't have that, now can we? So I'm still not sure what the "Uncle" sauce is or whether I need to avoid it.

I'm not a fan of fad diets at all. I believe in a healthy, whole foods diet and moderate exercise for more sustainable wellness. Recently, though, I picked this book off my shelf (I have a lot of books that I haven't read): The Lean: A Revolutionary (and Simple!) 30-Day Plan for Healthy, Lasting Weight Loss. It's by Kathy Freston, author of Veganist: Lose Weight, Get Healthy, Change the World and Quantum Wellness: A Practical Guide to Health and Happiness.

I decided to browse through The Lean and I am actually finding it really inspiring. The book calls upon you to make one change each day (maintaining the previous days' changes too) for 30 days. It's a plant-based routine that asks you to cut out dairy, meat and eggs. Seeing as I'm already vegan I was able to easily skip past a lot of the suggestions. The remaining changes are really not a "diet" per se. It's more a sustainable way of eating healthy that so far has me starting the day with a high-fibre breakfast (like the breakfast quinoa, above, made from a recipe in the back of The Lean), eating at least one apple each day, having a handful of nuts for a morning snack, adding two tablespoons of ground flax to my food and drinking lots of water.

Basically it's about getting plenty of fibre and crowding the less healthy choices out with better choices. I'll tell you more about it as I go on, or you can also follow along in my Instagram stories. In case you're wondering, the reason I'm doing it is to tackle my "muffin top," which I earned from having my second child over 13 years ago. But I want to be clear that this is my choice and if you are content with your muffin top, more power to you!

Can you believe that we're almost mid-way through June? "I wonder what it would be like to live in a world where it was always June," wrote L.M. Montgomery. And, for many years, this great Canadian author lived not too far from where I'm sitting, so I feel I know exactly what she's talking about. June has so many gifts - blossoms, sunshine, strawberries - and it's our duty to enjoy them while they last.

I try my best to enjoy berries as often as possible while they are in season. For the day of vegan eats I'm sharing today, I started the day with a smoothie of frozen banana, peach slices, pineapple, strawberries, orange juice and soy milk. I didn't add any "superfoods" such as chia seeds because I find they can be tricky on my digestion.

I'm not one of those people who buys 10 pounds of bananas and four watermelons each week (and good for you if you are). But I do like the occasional plate of fruit in the morning. It makes for the perfect light meal when you're not quite hungry yet. And nothing says summer like crisp, fresh, juicy watermelon wedges! I had this little fruit plate, above, after cutting up watermelon for the kids to take to school this morning.

It's officially nice cream season! If you don't know what nice cream is, I'll tell you. It's basically just blended up frozen fruit, usually with banana. The banana makes it creamy. If you're skeptical, you should give it a try. My kids love it. (I could tell you that I love it but we all know kids are more picky, so their endorsement speaks volumes.) Start with this Strawberry Maple Nice Cream and then move onto this Peanut Butter Chocolate Banana Nice Cream. I was cleaning out my freezer this weekend and realized we have an abundance of frozen fruit, so I made a big batch of strawberry/banana/cherry nice cream (above) for the family. If it feels a little too virtuous for dessert, go ahead and add the chocolate chips.

This mason jar full of orange-hued juice is starting to look familiar, huh? The good news is I'm keeping up with my (almost)daily juicing. The bad news is my What I Ate Wednesday posts are getting a bit repetitive. This week's day of vegan eats starts with the usual juice - a blend of carrots, apple, orange and celery.

I'm on a real juicing kick of late. For the past week or so, I've left my juicer out on the counter and I make a tasty blend of fruit and vegetable juice to start my day each morning. I generally put in carrots, celery, apples, an orange and a chunk of cucumber. I've been able to continue the practice largely because I'm committed to cleaning the juicer right away after making my juice.

In the past, I've tended to give up juicing after a couple of days because of the inconvenience of cleaning the machine. But it's really not so bad if you do it relatively quickly. At least give it a quick rinse and you can clean it more thoroughly later. I feel like, since spring is finally here, it's a good time for a rebirth of sorts, ie. getting lots of fresh nutrients into this just-out-of-hibernation body. Exercise wouldn't hurt either. But that's for another day...

Spring is here in earnest now, with some warm days, some rainy days and lots of worms making their appearances on the driveway. Perhaps that wasn't a good transition into noodles? What I meant to say is it's a transitional time with regard to food. You have those cool and rainy days when a bowl of soup is much appreciated. And those warmer days when you just want to throw a veggie burger on the grill. For just about every darn day, noodle and rice bowls work. Change up the toppings and sauces depending on your cravings and what you have in the fridge and pantry. Above, we had udon noodles with peanut sauce, sauteed mushrooms, broccoli, carrots, tofu and sesame seeds.

I don't have any exciting new meal ideas to offer this week. I'm afraid it's just been one of those weeks. We are eating a lot of the same old same old. If you follow me on Instagram, you might know that both of my kids injured their ankles in the past week. My dancer is in a boot for several weeks while my basketball player is limping through his days. It means a bit (okay maybe a lot) more of me waiting on them (hand and foot) and a few more appointments and drives to and fro. Which leaves little inspiration for crafting new and exciting meals and recipes. But we have been eating. That's an achievement, right? As I didn't do a What I Ate Wednesday post last week, I'm starting this post with Easter, above. Well that's our Easter breakfast anyway. After the egg hunt, we enjoyed blueberry pancakes, vegan sausage and a fruit salad. The kids also had loads of chocolate.

It's What I Ate Wednesday once again. Sometimes I hear people (on TV and in life) make fun of others who share photographs of their food on their blogs and social media. And I get it. It's not the most thought-provoking content. But food is important. It nourishes and sustains us, and it gives us pleasure too.

As a plant-based eater, I guess a lot of the reason I share photos of my food is to show people just how easy vegan food can be to prepare. For those who are new to a vegan or vegetarian diet, the change can be daunting. It's really quite simple though and it's only a matter of developing a solid routine, but it can take time. That's why I'm here to show that even the lazy cook (that's me) can eat a well-rounded, plant-based diet with minimal effort. I'm certainly not perfect - I would benefit from more fruits and veggies in my diet on many days - but I've got a few years (two decades) of vegetarian eating under my belt.

Last week was March Break for my kids so I took the week off from work. I didn't do any freelance writing or updates here on the blog. I barely even took any photos of my food. Well I did, but I used my phone...and I took the pics quickly, because food. My daughter and I travelled a bit to visit family and we ate lots of delicious restaurant meals.

Because I didn't do a What I Ate Wednesday post last week, I am sharing some highlights from the last two weeks. My many restaurant meals started with an amazing vegan spread at Vegan Danish Bakery (above). I met Lisa, The Viet Vegan, to have a chat and sample vegan goodies. We split two sandwiches - the Danish pâté sandwich and a vegan tuna sandwich. They were both very tasty. I also had blueberry cheesecake and a decaf soy latte. I definitely feel the need to go back there soon.

We are blissfully snow-free here at the moment. Let's hope it lasts! The kids are on spring break next week and I'm hoping for little to no snow and "warm," sunny days. Cross your fingers. Foodwise, we'll be in need of lots of snacks next week. My daughter has always been a grazer. She basically eats about every 20 minutes. We're either going to have to do a good shop at Costco or bake up a bunch of treats. (I prefer the latter, but we shall see.)

In terms of meals this past week, we've kept it pretty simple (as usual). This rice dish, above, is a perfect example of what I tend to eat when I have no leftover meals for lunch. I did have leftover cooked rice and roasted asparagus, so I turned it into a stir-fry, with the addition of frozen mixed veggies, baby spinach, Bragg's liquid soy seasoning and nutritional yeast. It's a tasty lunch that cooks up in about five minutes.

Happy Wednesday lovely people! Be prepared for some deliciousness ahead. I don't mean to sound braggy, but - in looking back at food highlights from the past week - I spotted several meals that I recall being extremely tasty. And I think I'm just really hungry right now. I'll write this up as fast as I can because I want to get to eatin'!

One bit of deliciousness this week were these Gardein mandarin orange crispy chick'n nuggets, above. I have to say the photo is making my mouth water right now. On that particular day there were no leftovers available for lunch, but fortunately I had a packet of this yummy vegan chicken in the freezer. I served it with rice and roasted asparagus. The nice thing is asparagus roasts in about as much time as it takes to bake the chick'n and toss it with the orange sauce!

As I said in this post about starting a vegan diet, I recommend approaching the change to a more plant-based diet with the mindset that you are enriching your eating experience. In fact, I really don't like the word "diet," associated as it has been with deprivation and calorie counting. I'm using diet here as "the kinds of food that a person, animal, or community habitually eats." Think about any change towards more healthful eating patterns as "adding on" rather than limiting what you eat.

Even if you currently eat a plant-based, whole foods diet, you can fall into a rut, eating the same meals and snacks regularly. And even vegans sometimes don't eat enough vegetables. To increase my intake of fruits, vegetables and other health-promoting foods, my recent strategy has been to buy loads of them and build my meals around them. I peruse the local flyers before I go to the grocery store, looking for deals on strawberries, watermelon and broccoli so I can price match at my chosen store. (I know, there's an app for that, but I love me some paper.)

Happy Valentine's Day friends! Whether you are celebrating solo, as a pair, in a group or not marking Valentine's Day at all, I hope you treat yourself well today. Do something you enjoy doing and give yourself a little treat. Because it's What I Ate Wednesday, I'm thinking it should be food. Preferably chocolate. But you do you (as they say).

Scones are always a nice choice too. Like this vegan raisin scone, above, that I enjoyed with a nice cup of decaf green tea in my husband's Jimi Hendrix mug. Because sometimes I get bored with my usual mugs. You too?

If you hang out with me on Instagram, you know that I'm pretending it's spring. Even though today is a snow day and the kids are home from school. Shhh... I mention this because a spring breakfast calls for something different from a winter breakfast. Like a smoothie bowl. (Which is not to say I've given up on oatmeal.) This particular smoothie bowl is made from frozen mixed berries, a fresh banana, soy milk, ground flax and peanut butter. Of course, the toppings are the best part. On this day, my smoothie bowl toppings were banana slices, strawberries, blueberries and granola.

As I said in this post about our last book club meeting, the book club that I enjoy with my sister-in-law Connie and our friend Sarah is mainly about food and conversation. It's just great, girls-only fun and time to catch up on each other's recent activities. We eat a vegan brunch and all of our goodies are made with spelt flour.

As I was preparing the photos for this What I Ate Wednesday post, I realized that all my meals look pretty darn healthy. But this is just a look at highlights from the week, and I certainly don't photograph everything. Had I been photographing my food from Friday night through to Sunday, there would have been a few more (delicious) snack items, like a vegan chocolate caramel bar, organic jelly beans and a couple of vegan peanut butter cups.

The kids wanted to go out to some shops on Friday night, so we stopped at the health food store to load up on snacks while we were out. It's easier for me to find vegan snacks there, although the kids would have been happy to go to a convenience store or the like. All of this is just to say that I believe in balance. My strategy (if you want to call it that) is to have healthy main meals and enjoy a few treats in between now and then. Actually I prefer homemade treats best of all, but sometimes I don't get around to making them. One healthy snack we do love is hummus, above. I made some this week to enjoy on a fresh baguette with tomato slices. I use this hummus recipe from Oh She Glows.

As I write this post, the sun is shining through the trees in my front yard. I feel such joy when I see even weak rays of sun shining on six inches of snow. If you've never lived in a climate with a long, snowy winter and a lack of sunshine, I'm not sure you can understand how downright depressing it can be. This winter has been especially cold and it makes it all the more tempting to just curl up with a blanket and hibernate. Not always possible, of course, and not only that, it's not the most healthy approach. We humans need exercise and sunshine to flourish.

We bought a spinning bike and an elliptical trainer from a gym that was downsizing in December. I have used the elliptical exactly twice. (I won't use the bike because that type of position bothers my cranky old neck.) The first time I used the elliptical, my head immediately started to hurt. My headache lasted three days. (A sign of how out of shape I am?). The second time I started off more slowly and it went a lot better. My sister-in-law and I are planning more walks outside when the temperature gets closer to zero too.