I wake at 5am, and eventually make my way to the kitchen in a groggy daze to put together my food for today. I should have done it last night, but was very tired and went to bed early. After all, I was going to eat the same thing as yesterday and the day before…right? Right! Or, so I thought.

I reached in the fridge for my tofu and mushrooms only to discover I was out. No tofu for you! Oh no! What would I eat? I didn’t want to grab something carby as a replacement because I feel that the increase in protein has helped my hunger levels and urges to snack. I was at the point of giving up, and I needed to leave the house in about 3 min. I felt defeated. One last time, I looked in the freezer (after at least 3 previously failed attempts at finding something….maybe my subconscious was trying to tell me something).

Peeking out from behind some bags of frozen fruit, I saw a mostly used bag of Boca Crumbles left over from something I made for QB. Ah ha! Maybe I can do something with that! But what? I have no time to really cook anything. I glance over at the pantry shelves, and my eyes stop on the can of lime cilantro rotel. Hum. Idea!!!

With my time almost gone, I dump what is left of the crumbles into a tupperware container, then dump all the rotel can in, stir, and cover. Time to go. It’s either good or not. If not, I can probably take a break and run to the store.

Well, here I am. Eating my impromptu creation. It’s actually pretty good. No, it’s more than pretty good. Heck, I think I would make it again on purpose. I was afraid it would be bland….nope. Funky flavor? Nope. It’s very enjoyable, AND it’s low cal. Ha! Win!

Boca Rotel

(Serves 1)

115g Boca Crumbles
1 can Lime Cilantro Rotel

Put crumbles in bowl, add can of Rotel (with liquid), stir, heat, and eat. Only ~172 calories for the whole thing, and it’s pretty filling too! Yum!

I have another unopened bag in the freezer, so I think I will make this again for tomorrow. Yes, I am enjoying it that much. :-) Tofu, you will just have to wait. Ha.

It’s times like these when having all sorts of things in your kitchen come in handy. Had I more time I probably would have fancied it up, but I really only had about 3 minutes. While you could add other veggies or seasonings to it, it really isn’t necessary.

Yesterday evening, I tried to veganize QB’s gluten free pumpkin muffins. They turned out pretty good, but they are too moist. I’m going to have to acclimate myself to the idiosyncrasies of egg-less baking again. The recipe was already strange, so making a “normal” egg substitution didn’t quite work the way it might in a more traditional recipe needing substitutions.

QB and I have also been invited to the neighbor’s Thanksgiving dinner. I’m off work this year, so we will be attending. I plan on bringing several vegan dishes so I won’t look like I’m not eating. They know we do “weird diets” (that’s how they see it), so they probably won’t be too phased by me not eating certain things, but they may think I should “cheat” for Thanksgiving…so….uh…I need backups.  So far I plan on veganizing my Mom’s stuffing recipe that I love, and the pumpkin muffins  (assuming I can perfect the recipe by then)-but I want to bring one more thing…..

Food for November 12th 2010.

————————————-
2 Brazil Nuts (50)
2T Organic Peanut Butter (190)
Carrot + Kale + Ginger Juice (137)
Seasoned Scrambled Tofu (225)
Thai Yellow Curry & Vegetables (250)
Peach & Pumpkin Chia Pudding (234)
Hempilicious Berry Sorbet (330)
* 120g Unsweetened Vanilla Almond Milk
* 240g Unsweetened Vanilla Hemp Milk
* 240g Strawberries, Frozen
* 120g Blueberries, Frozen
* 15g Hemp Protein Powder
* 5.5g Flax Oil
* Stevia

===========================================
Nutrition Summary for November 12, 2010
Report generated by CRON-o-Meter v0.9.7
===========================================

General (90%)
===========================================
Energy               |  1413.9 kcal   106%
Protein              |    61.5 g      108%
Carbs                |   164.2 g       84%
Fiber              |    47.8 g      191%
Starch             |     6.5 g       43%
Sugars             |    65.3 g      131%
Fat                  |    63.8 g      136%

Vitamins (100%)
===========================================
Vitamin A            | 87805.5 IU    1756%
Lutein+Zeaxanthin  | 35341.8 µg     707%
Folate               |   509.4 µg     283%
B1 (Thiamine)        |     2.5 mg     232%
B2 (Riboflavin)      |     2.9 mg     226%
B3 (Niacin)          |    27.4 mg     183%
B5 (Pantothenic Acid)|    17.0 mg     341%
B6 (Pyridoxine)      |     3.2 mg     202%
B12 (Cyanocobalamin) |    52.9 µg    2643%
Vitamin C            |   442.1 mg     737%
Vitamin D            |  3711.5 IU    1856%
Vitamin E            |    21.1 mg     176%
Vitamin K            |   822.9 µg     914%

Minerals (100%)
===========================================
Calcium              |  1860.7 mg     186%
Copper               |     2.3 mg     113%
Iron                 |    14.7 mg      98%
Magnesium            |   718.1 mg     224%
Manganese            |     5.3 mg     132%
Phosphorus           |  1214.6 mg     174%
Potassium            |  3774.7 mg     108%
Selenium             |   187.0 µg     340%
Sodium               |  1422.0 mg     284%
Zinc                 |    13.8 mg     115%

Amino Acids (100%)
===========================================
CYS                  |     0.7 g      319%
ILE                  |     2.5 g      215%
LEU                  |     3.9 g      175%
LYS                  |     2.9 g      169%
MET                  |     0.8 g      128%
PHE                  |     2.5 g      262%
THR                  |     2.7 g      321%
TRP                  |     0.8 g      336%
TYR                  |     1.8 g      385%
VAL                  |     2.7 g      160%

Lipids (71%)
===========================================
Saturated            |    14.6 g       73%
Monounsaturated      |    13.9 g       56%
Polyunsaturated      |    26.7 g      107%
Omega-3            |     8.4 g      760%
Omega-6            |    13.0 g      118%
Cholesterol          |     0.0 mg       0%