stomach issues + easy meal ideas

On August 19, 2018 By VictoriaIn What I Ate TodayLeave a comment

First of all, I just want to say I started a YouTube channel! Check out my videos and let me know what you think: ParanoidNoAndroid (I wanted to keep this name since I will be posting a lot more than just vegan videos!)

I’ve been having stomach pains and problems for the past month. My appetite changes drastically from day to day. One day food makes me nauseous and the next I’ll be ravenous. I haven’t been cooking much and I’ve been eating a lot of rice and avocado/vegetable rolls and bean burritos. My meals have been white/beige, and very basic.

Here’s what I ate today, trying to get lots of veggies and fruits back in my diet.

Breakfast: Oatmeal with blueberries, chia seeds, peanut butter, and cinnamon.

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Lunch: DJ pre-made a bunch of sandwiches and made one for me for work today. The one I had was loaded with spinach, tomatoes, pickles, avocado, and a Hilary’s vegan sausage patty. I didn’t take a picture since I was eating it in the break room at work where there is really bad lighting, but here’s one I had the next day at home (no Hilary’s sausage, but I added some Vegan Egg by Follow Your Heart and Daiya cheddar shreds):

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Dinner: DJ made dinner for when I got home from work. ♡ He made a vegan taco pasta salad with a little bit of Vegenaise, hummus, and taco seasoning and mixed that with pasta, spinach, sun-dried tomatoes, and red onion. I topped my bowl with even more sun-dried tomatoes and crushed red pepper. It was SO delicious that I may even make a recipe post next time we make it, but that’s the gist of the recipe.

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That’s everything I ate today! It’s definitely more colorful than what I’ve been eating lately. I’ve noticed I mostly crave a lot of carbs and fats when I’m not feeling well, which is why I tend to eat a lot of pasta, rice and avocado. Don’t forget to check out my YouTube channel and leave your thoughts in the comments!

what I eat in a day when I’m sick // vegan

On July 6, 2018 By VictoriaIn What I Ate Today1 Comment

Today I woke up feeling really sick with a fever. I wanted to make some delicious meals that were packed with nutrients to help me feel better. I also wanted to spend more time in the kitchen since I don’t feel like I’ve made a proper meal in a long time. For the past few weeks my meals have been quick and easy, but today I wanted to treat myself with some recipes that would fuel me and make me feel better.

We went grocery shopping this morning to pick up a few things to cook today, plus a kombucha hoping it would help my stomach.

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When we got back home I wanted to have a savory breakfast. I made some protein pancakes based off this recipe. They weren’t the prettiest, but they were really filling and full of protein. Plus they were gluten-free, which I think helps my body when I’m sick and achy with flareups.

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While we were picking up groceries from Sprouts we found some vegan ravioli, which I had to try. I haven’t had ravioli in so long, plus we’ve tried products from LightLife before and have never been disappointed. These are the vegan sausage ravioli and they were so delicious! This was definitely a treat for today.

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For dinner I wanted to make a quick and easy soup. I modified this recipe by using low fat coconut milk, green lentils instead of red (we couldn’t find red lentils while we were out), lots of curry powder, black pepper, garlic powder, and spinach. I highly recommend trying this recipe out, it turned out really good and it’s easy to customize to your taste. I decided halfway through cooking I wanted a spicy curry and it was still really good, but you could make it into a soup or make it thick like mine was. I also added lots of ginger so it had some extra zest.

That’s everything I ate today while I was home sick. Let me know what you guys like to eat when you’re sick and what your favorite comfort foods are in the comments.

what I eat in a day // healthy and quick vegan meals

On May 9, 2018 By VictoriaIn What I Ate TodayLeave a comment

I wanted to make a quick What I Eat in a Day post and a quick update since I haven’t written anything here in almost a month. Last month I wanted to eat out less and eat a whole food plant-based diet (meaning no more vegan ice cream and takeout food for a week or two). I couldn’t believe how much better I felt almost instantly from not only not eating junk food, but also eating a larger volume of food. My rheumatoid flareups were few, and I also tried cutting out gluten to see if that would help (it seemed to help a bit!). The last week of the month I was lazy with my meals, so now I’m getting back on track and eating healthy again. Here’s what I eat in a day on a work day.

I didn’t feel like any breakfast food for breakfast so I made a bunch of food we had in our freezer.

This was lots of veggies (spinach, carrots, green beans, peas, and corn), purple hull peas, and Gardein Porkless Bites without the sauce. I mixed some hummus and sriracha together and topped it with that and sesame seeds. This was super easy and nutritious to have before work.

Also for a quick snack before work I had two dates and a tablespoon of peanut butter.

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For lunch I ate some leftover gnocchi with spinach, diced tomatoes, and soyrizo. This was a quick and easy meal we had a few nights ago for dinner: We sautéed some yellow onions with soyrizo, then added to the pan a can of diced tomatoes. After the gnocchi boiled we added that to the pan with some spinach and nutritional yeast and dinner was done!

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It was hard to make this look pretty in the Tupperware, but it was way more delicious than it looked.

Finally for dinner I made a grilled cheese sandwich. I didn’t get home from work until 10pm, so I wanted something really quick and easy to make. I added some daiya mozzarella style shreds, pepperjack style shreds, and a couple pieces of Tofurky deli slices to some rye and pumpernickel bread and let the oven do all the work.

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On work days I try to get lots of protein and carbs in my diet since I’m on my feet for a few hours at a time and eating a ton of veggies helps to keep my energy and motivation up, even on bad days when I have flareups. Let me know what your go-to easy and healthy meals are in the comments, or on my instagram (healthy_ghost)!

what I eat in a day // quick and easy vegan meals

On April 13, 2018 By VictoriaIn What I Ate TodayLeave a comment

The bush outside our apartment is blooming.

For a late breakfast/lunch I toasted two mini bagels and topped them with sliced tomatoes, avocado, and some leftover chickpea salad I made a few days ago:

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In the chickpea salad I mashed a can of chickpeas and added some diced red onion, carrots, hummus, garlic powder, paprika, cayenne pepper, black pepper, nutritional yeast, dill, thyme, and a splash of lemon juice.

For a snack before dinner we ate some carrots with hummus and half a grilled cheese.

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We went grocery shopping earlier and bought So Delicious’ new shredded cheese since it was the first time we saw it at Sprouts. We like it A LOT more than the Daiya shreds and we highly recommend trying them out (I also dipped my half in the leftover hummus).

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For dinner we made homemade mac and cheese with carrots and potatoes. We don’t have a recipe for this one just yet, but we will soon! We threw a bunch of ingredients in our blender to make this, including onions, cashew milk, soaked cashews, a bit of mustard, lime juice, nutritional yeast, and tons of spices (and of course boiled potatoes and carrots). For spices we used black pepper, cayenne pepper, garlic powder, turmeric, and paprika. We tossed the cream sauce in gluten-free pasta and beyond meat grilled chick’n strips.

That’s all I ate today. I haven’t eaten out all month and have only been eating a whole food plant-based diet (almost no vegan junk food!) and I have been feeling a lot better, with very few flare-ups the past two weeks. I hope this gave you some ideas and inspiration for some easy vegan meals.

A Week of Vegan Dinners

On April 2, 2018 By VictoriaIn Creamy, cheesy, pasta recipes, Recipes, What I Ate TodayLeave a comment

I wanted to show some examples of simple vegan dinners, so here’s what a week of dinners looks like for us.

Monday:

We were out late and wanted to grab something out to eat, but decided against it to make something healthy at home. We stopped by Kroger and picked up some veggies and bread to make sandwiches. We also finally tried the Tofurky roasted chick’n, which was really good. I put that on a piece of pumpernickel rye bread with red onions, dill pickles, mustard, black pepper, paprika, carrots, and spinach.

Tuesday:

Gluten-free spaghetti with a cauliflower alfredo sauce and Gardein meatless meatballs.

I made the sauce before I went into work and left it in the fridge so I could reheat it with the meatballs and pasta when I got home. Here’s what I used to make it:

4 cups of cauliflower
1/2-3/4 cup cashew milk (depends on how thick or thin you want it to be)
2tbsp garlic hummus (I used the Sabra brand)
1tbsp yellow mustard
1tbsp lemon or lime juice
For the spices:
- Dried basil
- Nutritional yeast
- Black pepper
- Paprika
- A pinch of cayenne pepper
- Garlic powder

I don’t measure the spices, but I put a generous amount of each in. I also don’t add in salt most of the time when I cook, but add it in if you want.

When I got home from work I put the sauce in a saucepan, let it simmer, and then tossed in the Gardein meatless meatballs to let them heat up while the pasta boiled.

I’ve been experimenting with my diet by adding in more gluten-free foods, and it has definitely been helping my digestion. Here’s the finished product with gluten-free pasta:

Wednesday:

Leftover pasta with sautéed spinach and shredded carrots. We didn’t have any fettuccine sauce from yesterday leftover, so I made a hummus sauce with 2 tbsp garlic hummus and a splash or sriracha, and mixed it together with a bit of water.

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Thursday:

Vegan tacos for dinner! We had some friends over for dinner and made some tacos.

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DJ and I made Spanish rice, lentils, and potatoes to fill the tacos with. For toppings, we had quite a few options: spinach, iceberg lettuce, tomatoes, red onions, carrots, beans, cilantro, pumpkin seeds, and walnuts. We’re hoping to perfect our vegan Spanish rice, so hopefully we will post a recipe for that soon.

I also made some cookies for dessert. You can find the recipe here.

Friday:

We ate junk food all day and I ended up taking a nap before dinner so I wanted something light and nutritious for dinner. I made a salad with spinach, lettuce, carrots, red onions, diced tomatoes, pumpkin seeds, walnuts, and dried cranberries (pretty much all the leftovers from the night before). I mixed a tablespoon of hummus with a little water to make a quick dressing.

Saturday:

I was craving sushi this night so I made it the lazy way when I got home from work. I had spinach, rice, avocado, sesame seeds, and paprika on one plate, and two sheets of nori on the other. I divided and ripped each sheet of nori into four pieces and made sushi burritos/ tacos while I ate. This is a super yummy and simple meal to make when you don’t want to put in the effort of rolling sushi.

Sunday:

We went to my parent’s house for Easter dinner and they made us grilled veggies, baked sweet potatoes, and Gardein black bean burgers. I had my Gardein burger on a bagel slim with chao cheese, pickles, mushrooms, mustard, and ketchup. We sprinkled smoked paprika, black pepper, and crushed red pepper on the veggies.

That’s what a week of easy vegan dinners looks like for us. Hopefully this gave you some new ideas and inspiration for dinners and lunches that are quick, easy, and delicious.

what I ate today // rheumatoid flare-up #2

On March 25, 2018May 31, 2019 By VictoriaIn What I Ate TodayLeave a comment

Today is a day of eating trying to be healthy but not having the energy to make anything crazy.

Breakfast: Smoothie

1 1/2 large bananas
2 handfuls of spinach
1 cup cashew milk
1/2 cup of water
lots of cinnamon

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My main tip for super creamy and smooth smoothies is to blend the spinach with the milk and water before adding the bananas or anything else you want to add. This prevents chunks of spinach and makes the smoothie nice and creamy.

Snack before work:

Rice bowl with spinach, avocado sauce, and two sheets of nori on the side. I would usually use an avocado and not a store-bought sauce but the avocado I had went bad.

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Lunch:

More rice with lots of veggies (broccoli, peppers, spinach, mushrooms, and onions) topped with sesame seeds with a peanut butter and sriracha sauce.

We went grocery shopping when I got off worked and picked up some food for dinner. I snacked on some black bean Harvest Snaps on the car ride home.

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Dinner:

We didn’t get home until 10:30pm so we just picked up some frozen meals for dinner. I tried the Morning Star soba noodle veggie bowl, which honestly wasn’t that great. We tried their vegan ribs the other day and those were pretty good though.

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And that’s everything I ate that day. It got lazy towards the end, but all-in-all was alright for how bad I felt. I like having smoothies and rice bowls with lots of veggies on these kinds of days because they make my body feel better.

Vegan travel log // Austin, TX

On March 20, 2018March 20, 2018 By VictoriaIn Travel Log, Vegan pizza, What I Ate TodayLeave a comment

We took a small road trip to Austin, TX last month and tried out a bunch of vegan places while we were there.

First off, on our car ride there we snacked on some dried mango, which we always say is like vegan jerky. We also picked up some Taco Bell, which I didn’t photograph. My go-to taco bell order is a bean burrito fresco style, or the triple layer nachos fresco style and with guacamole.

On our first morning there we went to a place called El Chilito, which is not vegan but they had a ton of vegan options. I ordered a burrito and put black beans, rice, avocado, and potatoes in it:

For dinner we went to Mother’s Cafe and Garden. They’re a vegetarian place with lots of vegan options. I ate the vegan tofu enchiladas, and although they didn’t photograph well they were so good. We’ve eaten here a few times over the years and have never had a bad meal.

That night we went out to a bar and I got hungry again. I looked up vegan places nearby and was shocked to see Arlo’s, a vegan food truck that served burgers. We decided to walk there and try it out. If you are craving a vegan burger patty that tastes like a delicious, fast food beef patty, this is the place to go. We didn’t think it was vegan when we took our first bite. This was taken at 1 in the morning, so it’s not the best quality photo:

The next morning for breakfast we ate at Capital City Bakery, an all-vegan bakery. There’s nothing better than vegan baked goods in my opinion (except for vegan mac and cheese, maybe). We each got a pop tart and an oatmeal cookie sandwich.

For dinner we had a vegan feast. We went to Conan’s Pizza and brought home their vegan deep dish pizza topped with Daiya cheese, spinach, and tomatoes and ate while we watched movies. This is some of the best pizza I’ve ever had, including non-vegan (to be honest, the best pizzas I’ve eaten have been vegan). It’s not a vegan restaurant, but their dough is vegan and they have Daiya!

On our final morning in Austin we went back to Capital City Bakery. We read online they had vegan kolaches but they were out when we went the day before and we had to try them. It was definitely worth the wait:

For lunch we went to Bouldin Creek, Cafe. They are a vegetarian cafe with vegan options as well. I ordered the El Tipico which had scrambled tofu, herbed potato hash cake, tomatoes, lettuce, salsa, beans, and flour tortillas.

Arlo’s was so good the first time we ate it, we had to make it our last stop before we drove back home. They were out of fries, so they asked if mac and cheese would be okay instead (of course it was) and this time instead of just the classic burger I added vegan bacon too it too.

I posted all of these photos on my Instagram while we were there, so check it out if you want to see more vegan junk food (and sometimes healthy meals too!).

We’re so lucky to have some vegan restaurants near us at home, but we were definitely overwhelmed and spoiled being surrounded by so many vegan places in Austin. We didn’t have enough time to go everywhere we wanted to, so we’ll definitely go back soon (especially for the vegan deep dish pizza and burgers).

what we ate today // vegan birthday

On March 16, 2018 By VictoriaIn Vegan baking, What I Ate TodayLeave a comment

DJ’s birthday was this past Sunday and I wanted to treat him to a day full of delicious vegan food.

We both ate an everything bagel with treenut cheese for breakfast (we use the Treeline brand and we buy it at our local Kroger). I recommend adding nutritional yeast too, but we didn’t have any at the house we were staying at.

I had to go into work for a few hours, so I had some avocado and more nut cheese on two mini bagels for lunch (this was all we had at the house and I didn’t want to buy lunch, I wouldn’t normally eat bagels for two meals of the day). I topped the avocado with garlic powder, black pepper, and cayenne pepper.

Once I got off from work we went to Spiral Diner in Denton, TX for dinner. Their Blue Plate Special for this month is the Beyond Burger with different variations. I got the Ghost Burger, which is topped with cream cheese, spinach, fried onions, and Moore Jam’s pineapple-ghost pepper jam and DJ got the Double Melt which had grilled cheese for bread and a milkshake.

This was our first time trying the Beyond Burger, and I was surprised at how realistic the patty looked. It was really good too! I loved the combination of cream cheese and jam with the burger. It was nice going out with friends and getting burgers and milkshakes; something we haven’t done in over a year.

For his birthday cake I baked him a strawberry cake and dyed the inside blue. This is the recipe I used. It was quick and easy to make and had a strong strawberry flavor which is exactly what he wanted.

And here’s the frosting I used:

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This is definitely not a healthy day of eating, but this isn’t how we eat everyday. We had a fun, food-filled day with lots of yummy vegan treats. Let me know what foods you guys like to treat yourself with on special days in the comments below!

what I ate this weekend // vegan junk food

On March 13, 2018March 16, 2018 By VictoriaIn What I Ate TodayLeave a comment

3.8.18

Today was a lazy day off from work hanging out at home. We were in the Plano, TX area this weekend so we got to try out a few new vegan places.

I wasn’t hungry until later in the day so I skipped breakfast and had lunch around 12. I bought a cheap packet of ramen at Kroger because honestly I thought it looked cool and I was craving some miso soup. It only took 4 minutes to heat up the rice noddles and the miso packet on the stove. Rice noddles are one of my favorite kinds of noodles, so I loved this.

We went grocery shopping a few hours later so I snacked on some Dill Pickle Lays chips in the car on our way home.

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We really wanted some Chinese food for dinner so we looked up vegan options nearby. We decided to try out Jeff’s Vegan in Frisco, TX. We both got Thai teas to drink since that was a favorite of ours to get before we were vegan. I ordered the Chow Mein and DJ got the Spicy Love which was a beef substitute with rice and veggies. We also had spring rolls and potstickers on the side.

The fake beef was really realistic which was weird to eat, but it was delicious. I highly recommend trying it out if you’re nearby. It was similar to Loving Hut, which is also close to us and we also highly recommend.

3.9.18

Today was another lazy day. We got up late and had a quick snack before breakfast: peanut butter on toast. I added a bit of cayenne pepper to mine.

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We went grocery shopping before we went out for breakfast and I picked up some wasabi seaweed chips and a blueberry kombucha to snack on in the car.

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Then we got kolaches for breakfast. There’s a vegan bakeshop near the house we were staying at in Plano called Reverie Bakeshop, so we decided to treat ourselves and go there. We ordered pizza kolaches, potato fritters, and chocolate cheesecake for dessert.

Finally for dinner we ate some frozen meals from Trader Joe’s. I pick one of these up nearly every time we shop at Trader Joe’s because they’re really delicious and are perfect for when I get off work late. Every time I get one I want to start making jackfruit a staple food in my life, so I may start experimenting with more jackfruit recipes soon.

That’s all I ate this weekend. We are lucky to have so many vegan restaurants and grocery stores that carry a lot of vegan products nearby. It has made our vegan journey simple and effortless, and hopefully it shows that nearly anything can be veganized.