Oh my goodness, this day has been one of those days. Our heater broke again late last night, even though it was just repaired last week. We called the company that repaired it in the first place, and after many phone calls, and cold hours, they won’t have the part until Wednesday.
This is going to be a long weekend…. And long week… And long month. Come on 2018, behave better!
Just yesterday it was sixty degrees, and today we woke up to fifty-two degree weather, but don’t let Kansas fool you, snow and ice is on the way. By 9:00 a.m. the temperature was already down to forty, by lunch we were in the thirties, and it’ll be twenty degrees any minute.
The kids are excited though, since snow and ice is on the way, school was let out at 12:30 p.m.today. I hope the weather won’t be too bad, but the kids are already thinking “four day weekend”.
I’m getting the house ready. I’ve got cabinets open, faucets dripping, and enough groceries to last us well into next week. Maybe all of the prepping will drive away the wintry mess heading our way.
I thought it would be fun to share my day-to-day participating in Veganuary. I hope to be successful throughout the entire month, and learn a few new skills along the way too.
Ugh…
I’m keeping a running post of how my day-to-day goes as I venture into Veganuary. I think I’ll be posting it on Monday’s. I’m also going to share some photos of what I’m eating. So far the Veganuary challenge is going really well. The first few days were a little tricky, but now it is smooth sailing.
Quinoa Tacos have become one of my favorite. We eat a lot of Mexican food in our house, and this way I can make regular tacos for the family, and something vegan for me.
For dinner I made, Vegan Baked Beans,and a Baked Sweet Potato with “I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter” It’s VEGAN!!! Possible my favorite vegan-butter spread so far. James said he liked the vegan baked beans, but the kids didn’t care for them at all. I had plenty of leftovers for a second meal for me.
Within the first three days, I was still a little hungry between meals. So I started packing my plate with more fruits and veggies.
I found some pretty Avocados on sale for 5/ $5 at the store, and they made the best side for quinoa tacos. They also make a great snack whenever I’m super hungry.
I’ve been looking for vegan ready to go foods. One thing I miss is the convenience of grab-and-go meals. It seems like so far all I am doing is cooking, cooking, cooking. Sometimes I don’t feel like cooking a meal for myself after I’ve made a meal for my family.
Luckily there is canned vegetarian veggie soup that I added a few more veggies to, and some quinoa for good measure. This made a fast lunch for when I didn’t feel like cooking.
Another of my favorites is Yves Kale and Quinoa bites. You just throw them in the oven, and they are ready in no time.
They make an amazing main dish,
and they are tasty sauced up on top of a mountain of pasta.
I’ve been using the crock pot whenever I can. It is a great way to have food ready to go in the fridge, and stored for future meals in the freezer.
Vegan Chili is a favorite of mine to make in the crock pot. It freezes well, and it is very versatile dish.
Lastly, my favorite dish so far… Homemade Vegan Taco Salad
I baked a flour tortilla shell in the oven to make a little bowl. It wasn’t the prettiest, but it was absolutely delicious. I made a layer of vegan refried beans in the base of the bowl, added a layer of homemade vegan Mexican Rice, then a good helping of shredded lettuce. Finally, I topped it off with some chunked avocados that I marinated in a bit of homemade salsa and lime juice. It was amazingly delicious, and I seriously ate every bite.
I’m almost a week into the challenge, and I’m feeling better. We’ll see what next week brings. The kids will be back to school, so I hope I can get the house tidied up a bit, and get back in the kitchen making vegan dishes.