{weekly recap/diary}

Dishes I've made this week {that I can remember off the top of my head HA!}:

• tuna with avocado
• spaghetti squash 'pasta'
• quinoa porridge
• 'scrambled' spaghetti squash {haven't blogged about this yet}
• Black bean brownies {also, haven't blogged about this yet}
• 'fried' quinoa {think 'fried rice'}

I didn't 'officially' start this meatless thing until 3 days ago...but I technically started on Monday so I can say it's been at least 5 days now and I'm doing well! I've been surprised at how easy it is to prepare the foods I've been having...but not only has it been easy - I've LOVED them as well! I thought it would be hard to give up meat {and maybe it helps that I still have tuna in my diet?}...but I don't miss it like I thought I would. Not yet, anyways. :)  I'm also surprised at how cheap it has been for me. There are some items that I'd like to buy that are way expensive {almond butter - $9 for a small little jar?! crazy talk!}...but for some items, it's not expensive at all...actually, it's way cheap!  Take the quinoa, for example. The bag I bought has approximately 3 cups in it. Each cup {I tend to cook one cup at a time} makes enough for 5 breakfast porridges {depending on portion size, of course}. The bag costs $4. So...$4 for 15 meals? I say you can't beat that! And the same with the spaghetti squash. It was $1.99 a pound and cost around $6 total. I thought that was a ridiculous price until I realized that sucker gave me enough spaghetti squash to last about 6 meals...so that equals out to about $1 per meal {not counting in the additions like tomatoes and such}. So giving up meat might actually be good for my wallet as well! I never considered that to be an option.

My sister stopped at McDonald's while I was in the car and ordered two sandwiches {and yet, she's the skinny one! I hate her! LOL}. I actually have been avoiding McDonald's since watching youtube videos about mechanically separated meats {I'm sure I'll go back to eating McD's eventually...but for now, ugh}. Rabbit trail. Anyways, being in the enclosed car and smelling those burgers...man, they DID smell good! I actually rolled the window down to get rid of some of the smell and that helped me avoid caving. :) {That and picturing the youtube videos!} I also had a hard time not caving and eating an Oatmeal Cream Pie. I was tearing one up for the girl I nanny for and it just felt {tearing with my hands} so gooey and soft and smelled so ridiculously, insanely delicious...I just wanted to take a small bite! ...BUT I RESISTED! GO ME! I googled some recipes for homemade ones and might give that  a try. I don't actually NEED them...but I figure making a batch and having some on hand might help me in times like this when I'm afraid I'm going to cave. {it will be okay to eat one if it's homemade and doesn't have all the preservatives/chemicals in it!}

I have felt GREAT this whole week! I can't say for a fact that it's because of the change in my diet...maybe it's just a coincidental fluke...but I have felt better. And I just feel healthier/lighter as well. A lot of my meals have been more 'light' and with fewer calories. I've noticed that my complexion has been a lot better this week and my nails are growing like weeds. Again, I can't say for a fact that it's related to my diet...but these are changes I've observed.

I used to spend an hour to two hours {sometimes} at the gym. I've actually cut this time in half this week because I'm consuming way fewer calories. Tuna has something like 70 calories in it and the spaghetti squash has something like 40 calories per cup! {something like that...I wrote the number down in my blog about it}. So I figure, since I'm consuming way fewer calories, I don't need to work out as much. It has been nice to get a little bit of extra time in my day!

Tomorrow is family lunch day and I've been pondering how those are going to work {family lunch every Sunday}...since the main course of Sunday meals usually consists of meat. I have the leftover spaghetti squash from tonight so I'll probably end up taking that tomorrow and eating my own food while they eat meatloaf {what my mom said she was planning on fixing].

So that's my diary for the week. this girl is getting in bed now...