My Vegan Monday

Like many things in life this past year, going vegan on Mondays has become victim to my more lackadaisical side (after a lifetime of being ferociously Type A, who knew I even had a lackadaisical side?). Oh well. That’s what 5am wake-up calls and the commuting-working-mom lifestyle thing does.

All that is to say I had a cheese panini, turkey chili, and milk chocolate malt balls today. (But no red meat for over 15 years!)

Elsewhere in life, we’re cooking. Parker turns 1 (seriously!) on Thursday! It’s crazy. Crazier still, she has started walking. She has 7-8 teeth, a wicked appetite and endless curiosity.

Early autumn has been filled with activity and local travels. We were up in Maine for a family reunion that included ample eating, drinking, bocce, cliff walks and making music videos, and we head to Connecticut this weekend for a cousin’s wedding. Luckily, Parker is proving to be a champion traveler. The car knocks her right out and sometimes she even goes right down in her Pack and Play.

I cooked this past weekend: made ratatouille, pesto and chocolate chip cookies. We’ve also, along with the rest of the world, tried Blue Apron. Good for convenience; decent meals, but nothing has blown my mind yet.

We’ve been so lucky with weather, having Indian Summer right through September. I know we’re lucky but I still get bummed when I think of every day for the next six months being colder and darker than the previous.

Have been watching Chef’s Table on Netflix – fascinating characters and stories. I’m also reading Danny Meyer’s Setting the Table, after taking nearly four months to finish Rebecca Solnit’s scarily brilliant The Faraway Nearby.

Oh, I’ve even discovered some new music as of late: Jamie xx, King and Catfish and the Bottlemen.

So life is good. For Milo, it’s more of a mixed bag…

My Vegan Mondays

It's a rarity, I admit. These days, these Mondays, that I consciously, mindfully remember about and practice Vegan Mondays. No excuses. I just don't have the wherewithal I used to. But when I do remember, and when I can accommodate it, I do do it. Just you see...

Morning
Coffee (cough) with half and half - my one dairy concession for the day; on auto pilot, and without choice
Oatmeal
Banana

Afternoon
Veggie sushi
Dark chocolate

Evening
Couple glasses of wine (my one night out for the week)
This tasty veg recipe (I didn't add the parm)

And every day I snack on this delicious peanut. Who, for her part, is always putting something in her mouth...

My Vegan Mondays

I did it! For the first time in about six months, I pulled off a Vegan Monday.

It was very intentional. It’s been on my mind for awhile. That and getting back to the gym. The gym will come. For now, I’ll savor the triumph of a day without meat and dairy.

Morning

Coffee with almond milk (and I have to say, after six months of using cream in my coffee, the almond milk combo no longer tastes so good, nor does regular milk. I’m ruined.)

Avocado toast

Afternoon

Arugula salad with walnuts and veg

Cliff Bar

Kind Bar

Scharffenberger dark chocolate

Evening

Crackers and hummus

I’m back in the swing of work (though it still stresses me out). Getting out for dates with friends again (I went to a performance tonight with a friend; thus the cracker dinner). Andrew and I have even gotten out, just the two of us, a handful of times and we’re starting to travel with Parker. I’m finally about halfway through the book that I started right before Parker was born and has since sat on my nightstand untouched. They’re all small things that make me feel good and “normal" again.

And meanwhile, there’s this little one…

My Vegan Mondays

They’re coming back. Soon. Really.

When Parker was born, all semblance of days and diet went out the window. For nearly five months now, I’ve been eating like a truck driver. It’s been blissful and shameful and, at the end of the day, entirely unsustainable.

But hey, other than when you’re breastfeeding, when else are you told to consume an extra 500 calories a day? But knowing that in the coming months Parker herself will move onto solids, I need to return to a more reasonable diet.

No more quarter-pound cookies.

Or double orders at the diner.

No more boxes of chocolate. Demolished in a day. Or big, doughy doughnuts…

 

…lots and lots of doughnuts.

With my impressive diet, Parker has been plumping out quite nicely. She’s suddenly about the heft of a six-month-old, one week shy of her fifth-month birthday. 

I think I’m going to trade in the cookies and cakes so I can nibble on her legs and belly.

#peoplesclimatemarch

The UN General Assembly is in town this week and, happily, one of the primary topics of conversation is climate control.

I gave up red meat for environmental reasons. It was after reading Michael Pollan’s New York Times Magazine piece, the one that became the masterpiece known as The Omnivore’s Dilemma, that I decided to give it up. The short explanation that got me is this: it takes eight pounds of grain to produce a pound of beef (or four pounds of grain to produce a pound of pork, and 2.5 pounds for a pound of chicken). It’s just not sustainable. A veggie and grain-based diet is healthier for us, and better for the planet. So that was my concession; my simple act for the greater good. The environment is a huge concern for me, and that’s what I’ve chosen to do, among other things, over the years.

One of the things that I do less and less is attend rallies and protests. So when I heard about the People’s Climate March in NYC, I knew I wanted to go.

There were 310,000 thousand people in the streets of New York City. There were some big-name celebs and politicians there (Leonardo DiCaprio, Al Gore and others), but mostly I saw were families, students and international folks. 

I petered out after a short distance, but I was happy to be there to support my cause.

There was great energy, fantastic messages, and we can't lose sight of what's important in this world.

Morning

Coffee with almond milk (when I say coffee, I'm talking about 5-6 sips, but I still love the morning ritual)

Green juice (added spinach to the normal line up of kale, celery, apple, lemon juice and frozen banana)

Avocado toast

Afternoon

Salad wrap

Dark chocolate

Evening

A couple individually-wrapped Chuckles candies. Remember those? Not exactly high-caliber food, but my pharmacy run this evening included Epsom Salts, Preparation H and Tums—I figured I deserved a little spontaneous candy boost.

Eggplant parm, made by my wonderful husband (sans mozzarella)

My Vegan Mondays

Morning
Coffee with almond milk
Overnight oats with blueberries

Afternoon
An avocado wrap
Raspberries
A Kind bar

Evening
Some cherry tomatoes
Amazingly fast, easy, cheap soba noodles with peas and peanuts

I'm trying to pump up my iron, protein and calcium intakes for the bébé. I've been eating a lot of oats, almond butter, dried fruit and such. Trying to ween myself a bit from the sweets, but man is that hard.

Speaking of sweet stuff, if you haven't seen the documentary Fed Up yet, you should. Our country's poor health woes, especially kids', is staggering. Did you know that 80% of the items in a grocery store have had sugar added to them? Eighty percent. Four out of five things you buy at the store have added sugar.

Similarly distressing, the school system has moved so far away from cooks actually making lunch to corporate-sponsored cafeterias. In fact, 80% of school cafeterias have their food sponsored from a particular corporation. Which means they just heat up the pizza, burger and fries, and that's it. And 50% of schools have fast food served! What is that?!

At the risk of sounding like an old man, I remember there were two or three designated mornings where we could buy doughnuts in high school. And there was one soda machine, located near the gym, that was unlocked only after school. In other words, sweets and treats were special. They weren't part of the everyday diet. If you're a 15-year-old in a cafeteria, why wouldn't you choose a big ole fountain soda to wash down your fried lunch? Something's gotta give, America!

My Vegan Mondays

Happy summer!

Morning

Coffee with almond milk

Half a granny smith apple

Oats with almond butter

Quinoa with almond butter (An experiment of sorts. Not bad. Not necessarily a winner, but not bad.)

Afternoon

An orange

Chips and Andrew’s stellar gauc at a Memorial Day picnic

Kale, peaches, hemp milk and some other weird combo of stuff in a smoothie, post-facial, at Great Jones Spa

Evening

Andrew’s stellar avocado soup *

Usually if I’m traveling or it’s a holiday, if it’s any sort of atypical Monday, I flat-out forget to do Vegan Monday. Today I remembered, and my appetite was unusually light so it was easy. And full of stuff I don’t normally eat on Mondays because, for better or worse, Vegan Monday can get rote: I know what to bring to work for breakfast, I know where to go in the neighborhood for lunch, and by evening, I have my mental plan for what to eat. It was nice to have a holiday and Vegan day all in one.

* But herein lies the rub: As we were eating dinner, I asked Andrew what the ingredients of the soup—which he made for a Fourth of July picnic two years ago and I loved—were. Avocado, cilantro, lime, red chili, red onion… he’s reciting the list and then, about four bites in, oh yeah, Greek yogurt. So here I thought I was doing so well, being so mindful and Vegan Monday was dashed!

Nevertheless, it was a totally satisfying cap-off to a long, leisurely weekend. Andrew and I took a walk along Brooklyn’s rapidly changing waterfront and had brunch with friends in DUMBO. We took the train up to Cold Spring and hiked through the woods. We cooked and baked. Got in lots of reading. Cleaned the apartment. Cuddled with Milo. And I had a trip to the spa. And one of my favorite things about holiday Mondays: the workweek is over, and another weekend here, before you know it.

Have a good week, mes amis!

Listen... do you want to know a secret?

Here it is, I have a little news: I am 19 weeks pregnant.

Yes, really!

The past few months have been like walking around with a big secret… made even more confusing as I’ve, thankfully, had an easy pregnancy so far and often don’t feel—I even forget—that I am pregnant. But at the same time, because of my age, I’m at an “at-risk” lady, needing to pay special attention to how things are developing. So I’ve been guarding the news and biding my time. But now that we’ve cleared a bunch of genetic tests, now that my belly is beginning to pop (egads), and as I continue to share details here like what I eat, I feel compelled to share it all.

I’m taking a pretty low-key approach to the pregnancy, which coincides with my OB’s style. That is, I’m still exercising and working; I have a little wine from time to time; I Velib'd in Paris and danced at my friend’s wedding. In other words, I’m pretty much living how I did before getting pregnant. If my doctor tells me to cut out sugar because gestational diabetes is a threat, or that I need to eat meat to get more iron, I will. But for now, all is well. Despite my predilection for sweets, I’m a healthy eater. I’m being low-key, but not ignorant. That includes being vegan one day a week.

  

So there you have it! Crazy, n’est-ce pas? It was a little over five years ago that I went to Paris. Three years ago that I came home to New York. Two and a half years ago that I met Andrew. And now here I am: engaged, living in Brooklyn, pregnant. I said it in my book and I’ll say it again: You just never know where life is going to take you.

My Vegan Monday

Happy spring, mes amis! 

Morning
Coffee with almond milk
Overnight oats with blueberries and banana
Fuji apple

Afternoon
Salad wrap from Great Jones Spa (a take-away from the cafe; sadly wasn't getting my shoulders kneaded all day)
Almonds
Some chips and gauc at the agency (Happy Cinco de Mayo)

Evening
Spring veggie barley risotto, which has parmesan in it. So I failed at Vegan Monday. But I'm still excited about and devoted to the cause.

Hello, April

Another wrinkle in time. A game of leapfrog through the weeks. My life lately has been a little of this:

And a little of this:

And, joy of all joys, a girls weekend in Miami with my four soul sisters.

So I'm not complaining.

I've been pretty good about Vegan Mondays but managed to get a nasty cold that knocked me out during my mom and stepdad's visit. Fortunately, I had Girls, True Detective and The Art of Fielding to entertain me during convalescence.

What I'd really like to do is motivate to share before and after pictures of our apartment, which Milo is clearly enjoying.

But first, there is wedding planning. June 14th, y'all! It's just around the corner.

So bear with me at my middle-aged snail's pace. There will be apartment voyeurism, a trip to Paris and other revelatory snapshots and quotidian thoughts in the weeks ahead. Hip, hip, April!

My Vegan Mondays

Morning

Coffee with almond milk

Oatmeal

Some almonds

Afternoon

Veggie burger and a side of greens

A few dark chocolate squares

Red grapes

Evening

I tried my hand at Egyptian red lentil soup - not bad

This all sounds lovely and vegan, and it was. Except I also made chocolate chip cookies. The non-vegan kind. What can I say? I needed comfort and craved warm cookies.

But what’s interesting is that I improvised on a few of the ingredients—used spelt flour instead of all-purpose flour, and threw in some oats for kicks—and then had to improvise on a couple others. I discovered my lovely fiancé used up all the vanilla extract so I busted out some almond extract that I had bought in Paris. And during my increasingly frantic search for the vanilla, I knocked over an entire jar of dried oregano and some spilled into the batter. So as I gobbled up about a dozen of the cookies, both warm and comforting, occasionally I came across one with a savory, herbal flavor. It wasn’t bad. And the almond added an interesting dimension. And the different flour and oats made the consistency unlike any other time I’ve baked Nestle Tollhouse cookies. It was fun. A good experiment. Enjoyed while reading a few pages of The Yonahlossee Riding Campfor Girls. It wasn’t as good as the classic recipe, but I’m inspired to start deviating from recipes a little more often. We all should.

My Vegan Mondays

Errancy! Craziness! I'm not much of a blogger these days. But I'm still trying to maintain my Vegan Mondays. And even though I don't document my sweet feats the way I used to, I'm still indulging in regular treats. Last week, for example, I had a Chocolate Cloud cookie from Baked, I finally sampled Jeni's ice cream and my new favorite thing is our neighborhood ice cream shop, Ample Hills (holy cow). But in a remarkable show of willpower and consciousness, I have given up gummies and other corn syrup items masquerading as food. God, do I miss them.

Morning
Coffee with almond milk
Fruit salad 
Almonds

Afternoon
Salad with brussels sprouts and butternut squash
Apple
Banana
Yogi tea - my new favorite

Evening
Farro salad with roasted broccoli and almonds
Crackers and hummus
A binge of Hershey chocolate squares

A funny thing happened to my brain this Vegan Monday

It just farted out. I had oatmeal for breakfast and opted for almond milk in my coffee, not half & half. I mindfully avoided meat and dairy at Whole Foods’ salad bar today and snacked on almonds in the afternoon. But when it came to preparing dinner, it was like I didn’t speak English.

I had bought some prepared butternut squash soup at Whole Foods for dinner and read the ingredients list as I heated it up. It included cream but it just didn’t even register. Nor did the word “vegan” even enter my radar as I was frying up sage to garnish the soup… in butter. Scary how dementia seems to strike no matter what the age. Just as well. Andrew made chocolate-peppermint cookies that are calling my name.

My Vegan Monday

Morning
Coffee with soy milk (are women supposed to stay away from soy? or consume more of it? anyone?)
Green juice (kale, apple, cucumber, flax seeds, lemon juice, frozen banana)

Afternoon
Salad

Evening
Moscow Mule
Chickpea and lentil soup
Carrots and hummus
Chocolate

Life has funny rhythms. It used to be that I'd bang out two blog posts a day. Now days, if not weeks, go by and i can't get my *@!# together. 

It used to be that I woke up Monday mornings, ready and hungry for veganism. Now, half the time I forget it's Monday. And/or I forget to pass on the dairy.

That said, I'm still devoted to my Vegan Mondays, a personal spin on Meatless Mondays. Especially when I read about VB6 or hear that Graham Hill, the founder of Treehugger is a "Weekday Veg." 

There are all kinds of small steps we can take to create a more balanced and healthier nation and, my god, how nice is it that there's something so relatively low effort that we can do regularly to make a difference?

I don't have time to write and blog the way I used to. But I'm still devoted to being connected to you guys, still devoted to eating more sustainably, still hopeful and excited about all the things to come, both from within and out in this great big world. Thanks for sticking with me!

My Vegan Mondays

I've been working on an article about ice cream sundaes and dining on lots of cheese and wine lately. It was due time for a wee break from dairy.
 
Morning
Coffee and soy milk
Oatmeal

Afternoon
Whole Foods salad bar
The first cherries of the season

Evening
Farro with roasted asparagus and sundried tomatoes
Chocolate
Tea

My Vegan Mondays

I've been reading so many great food articles and books lately, feeling so excited about the momentum of the food movement and all the stellar minds that guide our stomachs. 

There was a must-read article in New York magazine last week—Adam Platt in conversation with the so impressively cool and modest Michael Pollan (can't wait to read his new book, Cooked).

The article made many similar points that are in Peter Kaminsky's Culinary Intelligence, another must-read for anyone who loves and values food, not only where it comes from but how to make it a satisfying yet sustainable habit forever after. The title may be didactic, but Kaminsky is a great story-teller and it's super enjoyable.

My friend Ann Mah wrote about DC's healthy fast food scene for the New York Times, a theme to which the Times also devoted its magazine's cover story a few weeks back. That piece was written by Mark Bittman, who just announced he's starting a new column called The Flexitarian, named for his philosophy of being a mindful, moderate eater of all things. I was floored to hear that he eats vegan for the first two meals of the day, and then eats whatever—within reason, of course, being a flexitarian himself—for dinner. And excited to know he has a book coming out devoted to this eating pattern/philosophy, titled VB6 (Vegan Before 6).
 
And there's a quick and fun read about home cooks by Gabrielle Hamilton in this month's Bon Appetit, which she wrote in preparation for her new cookbook (woot woot!). 

Morning
Coffee with soy milk
Cheerios and granola with almond milk

Afternoon
Salad with avocado, white beans, roasted tomato and pumpkin seeds (thank you, Amy's Bread)
A big, juicy mutsu apple

Evening 
Lentil soup 

Is anyone else feeling as obsessed about food as I am??