Veg Week (1) Wrap UP

So Veg Week has ended.  Well, as you can tell from the post title, veg week #1 has ended.  Yup, we're doing a Veg Week #2.  So that should tell you how it went.  But in the interest of actually writing I'll give you more details.

So half way through the week, I'd made quinoa burgers, pasta and enchiladas.  We rounded out the week with  Twice Baked Spaghetti Squash (found here) on Thursday and Crock Pot Black Bean and Tomatillo Soup (found here) on Friday.  The Spaghetti squash was AMAZING!  I love spaghetti squash and often use it in place of spaghetti.  Mr. Cob thinks its a bit slimy, so the twice-bakedness of the recipe helped dry it out and he even declared the recipe a keeper!  The soup had mixed reviews.  I loved it.  Mr. Cob, not so much.  I knew his thoughts as soon as I spotted him pouring some of Lukas's goldfish in the soup in an effort to ramp up the flavor.  He thought it tasted just like tomatoes.  We probably will not be having the soup again.  But hey, not every recipe will be a winner.

Saturday night Mr. Cob made corned beef and cabbage for St. Patty's Day, but I stuck with the cabbage and some leftover soup to keep my vegetarian week going.  Sunday night we cleaned out the remaining leftovers from the week, so no cooking needed.

I did dine out twice this week, once for lunch and once for brunch on Sunday.  For lunch, I ordered a sandwich with brie, apple, arugula and cranberry relish (delicious!) and sweet potato fries at the Elis Hotel's Terrace Restaruant in downtown Atlanta.  And for Sunday brunch at Vickery's I had black bean cakes served over balsamic sauteed spinach, pico de gallo and goat cheese - it was amazing and I had enough leftover for lunch the next day.  At both restaurants there were plenty of vegetarian options to choose from so I didn't feel limited in what I could eat.  Now I know not every restaurant is vegetarian friendly but luckily these two were.  (I was wondering what a non-meat-eater would order at say Fox Brothers BBQ???  That is where the flexitarian thing would come in handy...)

For lunch, aside from Friday's outing to Terrace, I ate leftovers from the previous night's dinner, which made the veggie eating during lunch easy.  And then there was breakfast.  I'm not a big meat eater at breakfast anyway so this wasn't much of a change from my usual eating.  Most days I either made scrambled eggs with pesto or a smoothie - two easy meals when you're short on time in the morning.  One day I did just have a banana (I was running really late).  Over the weekend when I have more time I like to cook breakfast and this weekend was no exception.  I made egg puffs on Saturday and pancakes on Sunday- both with a secret veggie ingredient that I'll write more about on Tuesday's Toddler Tips post.

Overall, I felt energetic and healthy during the week.  I didn't miss the meat and when Mr. Cob asked me if we were doing week #2 of vegginess, I said yes right away.  I don't think I'll ever commit to full on vegetarianism 100% of the time, but I do think I'll cook more meatless meals than I previously was cooking.  I like the fact that most days I was eating anywhere from 7-10 different fruits and vegetables, which is different from my norm.  Sticking to a vegetarian diet for just a week definitely made me go outside the box as far as trying new recipes and food.

And I'd be lying if I didn't say one of the reasons I'm encouraged to keep at it, is that on Sunday morning (my weigh in day), I was pleasantly surprised at the 3.2 pounds lost over the week.  This may have been because I was diligently tracking my points on Weight Watchers this week, but I do think the veggies helped and every day I felt full and was within my point allotment for the day.  I realize this is a vain reason to keep on my no-meat streak, but at least it's a healthy change/way to lose some weight.

I'll continue to share the good veggie recipes I find and let you know how long this vegetarian journey continues. This week's menu includes Eggplant Parmesean Rollitinis, Zucchini & Corn Taco Seasoned Quinoa Salad, Chickpea Cakes with a cucumber, avocado, tomato salad and fancy grilled cheese with a side of "the best broccoli of your life"!

In other news, I'm back to coffee.  A toddler waking up for the day at 5:15am will do that.