So, I haven’t posted since Tuesday night, but between the 100th day of school (a celebration to rival Mardi Gras if you’re a primary elementary teacher) and our Spanish language poetry recital, the end of the week was hectic.  To say the least.

Hectic days mean meals that, while both gluten-free and vegan (at least I’m following through with the eating, if not the blogging), are rather thrown together.  Veggie-burger sandwiches on gluten-free bread with all the fixins, squeezing a couple more meals out of those leftover lentils and quinoa, or last night’s late-night feast (I never skip meals, but wasn’t hungry for dinner at dinnertime yesterday) of toast with avocado, tomato, shallot, a little balsamic vinegar, and salt and pepper; it’s all been pretty spur-of-the moment.

Tonight was another Sicilian-style-collard-greens-(seen here)-over-brown-rice-pasta night.  It just seems to be a good way to set the eating tone for the week, for me.  I’ve got some coconut milk to add to my morning Americano (soy just wasn’t doing it for me, and I’m going to try coconut milk until I can transition back down the caffeine chain to tea.  One major eating change at a time, tyvm.), leftovers for tomorrow’s lunch, and a vegan chili recipe ready for my two potlucks this week.  I’ll let you know how it turns out, but I have high hopes!  (My one worry is the spice element:  I’m going to prep the chili at school in my Crock Pot, so I’m pre-mixing the spices; always worrisome when you’re the kind of person who spices as she goes.)

Yay for another week on the journey!

Jessica

I knew that the sub options would be out, since their bread (while yummy-looking) was off-limits.  Of the salads, the only vegan option was the Tahini Salad.  A complaint:  when I asked the girl at the counter if the Tahini Salad was vegan, she looked at me sullenly and said, “Uh, all the ingredients are listed on the board.  There’s nothing in the salad that’s not on the board.”  In all of my teacherly glory, I had the urge to respond, “I was asking a yes-or-no question, not requesting a lesson in menu reading comprehension.”  Needless to say, I refrained.  I ordered the salad, checked out their potato chips as a side (not vegan, so I didn’t get them) and occupied myself pouring waters for the rest of my lunch group (another teacher came with me, as well as a department administrator and another district employee we ran into).

The salad arrived, prettily plated, an explosion of color from the cilantro to the kalamata olives to the cherry tomatoes to the purple-and-white cabbage.  I poured the dressing over the top and dug in.

I don’t think I looked up or heard a word anyone said until I had scooped up every single last sunflower seed.  It was that good.  The dressing had the perfect kick and smooth nuttiness that just unified every last veggie in the salad.  I mean, I can’t think of a time when I ever ate cabbage willingly, and I found myself spearing the last few crinkles up after all the other veggies had been devoured.  Soooo amazing!

I never ever get over into the part of town where this place is, but I’d order that salad again in a second, sullen counter girl notwithstanding (and the rest of the staff was really nice, asking if the music was too loud, etc.).

Urban Greens is located at 3rd and G Streets downtown.

Dinner was leftover red quinoa and lentils, with caramelized onions over the top, a squirt of red wine vinegar, and more avo and tomato on the side.  And, because my cousins were having some, a small dish of applesauce!  (Actually a really great accompaniment to the spiciness of the lentils.)

Ah!  I almost forgot breakfast!  With my drive shortened considerably, I stopped by the Middle Way Café for coffee and one of their wheat- and gluten-free vegan baked goods.  I ate the blueberry muffin with my coffee while I read for 30 minutes (in the morning!  What a luxury!) in their cozy, colorful space and saved the choco-banana muffin, half for after school, have for tomorrow’s breakfast.  I can eat in the car as I would have my now-prohibited raz danish, and not feel like crap afterwards!  Win-win!

Sleep now.  Must get lots of rest for tomorrow’s in-class celebration of the 100th day of school!

Yours on the journey,

Jessica

Hit up the Tudor Kaladi Brothers for an iced Americano (for school, I get it iced–gotta drink it quick when it’s medicinal) with soy milk, and for some reason, A DANISH.

A gluten-free danish, you might ask?  Nope.  A VEGAN danish, for the love of St. PETA?  Well, I’m pretty sure there was no cheese in it, but it was most definitely NOT vegan.

It was a spontaneous decision, the last vestiges of my omni, junk-food-craving brain rebelling against my conscience, my consciousness, my commitment.

I have felt sick for the rest of my day.  Only after eating dinner (red quinoa, lentil stew, avocado, and tomato) and drinking a bathtubful of water do I feel remotely normal.  I’m trying to decide if it was my inner gluten-free vegan wanting to prove how crappy eating like that makes me feel, or if I failed some kind of gustatorily existential test.  Hmph.

While you ponder that, look over my on-the-fly lentil recipe.  I wanted it thick, to eat with my red quinoa (a new find, it kicks regular quinoa boo-tay) and spicy, hence using up the last of my harissa.  (Note:  I looked over Deborah Madison’s recipe, but then did my own thing.)

Ingredients:

enough olive oil to lightly coat the bottom of your pot (gotta love those exact measurements!)

half an onion, diced

about ten baby carrots, diced (I use what I’ve got!)

2 cloves garlic

2 Tbsp roasted tomato harissa

1 bay leaf

1 c brown lentils, picked over

salt and pepper to taste

red wine vinegar

Saute onion and carrot in the oil until soft, then add garlic and harissa (big plume of fragrant, spicy steam coming up!  Yum!) and the bay leaf.  Then the lentils, which I let sit for just a minute before I add enough water to cover them.  My lentil-to-water-ratio is never consistent, so I just kind of watch them and if they’re too opaque-looking, I add a bit more til I get the texture I want.  A little salt and a good dose of pepper, and you’re all done!

Anyhow, it really felt like the quinoa and lentils, with some avocado and tomato on the side drizzled with balsamic dressing, gave me a fresh start on the right path.

I’m going to another school site to observe tomorrow, and I’m going to make an effort to hit up the Middle Way Café in the morning for a gluten-free vegan morning treat; something to wean me off those Kaladi danish until I feel like I can withstand the temptation of the raspberry-flavored pain.

Yours, imperfectly, on the journey,

Jessica

I know we had a late lunch, because we missed Middle Way Café’s brunch cutoff, which is an entirely-too-early one o’clock.  This is madness!  My other favorite brunch spots stop their brunch menu at 4pm (Bear Tooth Grill), 3pm (Spenard Roadhouse), and all frickin’ day (Snow City Café).  I was incredibly bummed to miss out on my favorite vegan huevos rancheros, or better named, tofu rancheros.  (Cue weeping in the background.)

I had to make do with an Americano with some soymilk and their combo plate:   a green salad and a cup of one of the soups of the day.  I went for the Southwestern White Bean with Quinoa, which is both WGF (wheat- and gluten-free) and vegan, and very tasty (after the addition of a little hot sauce to the mix).  Did the salad with some lemon tahini action, and was surprised at how the salad experience changed with a different dressing (I am a fan of balsamic vin, but I find theirs a little to acidic).

It weren’t no vegan tofus rancheros, amigo, but it wasn’t anything to sniff at, either.

Dinner was a bit thrown-together, with some pinto beans (toast cumin seeds and a bay leaf, add a little oil and some minced garlic, then a can of rinsed beans–still damp–and a tablespoonish of water, until I could mash them around a bit) and homemade guac (avo, tomato, red onion, lime, salt) with caramelized sweet onion (I hope you can tell I hate onions!) and Tofutti vegan sour cream.  A little of my favorite salsa, and mix until it is one mashed-up bowl of yummy.  I crumble chips in it, and even my carnivorous uncle was loving it!  My boyfriend (also carnivorous, but supportive) was sad he missed out, but chowed on some chips dipped in my Tofutti sour cream while I made him something else.

Bummer is no leftovers from lunch, but I’ll make do with an apple and some almond butter and jelly sandwiches on that Arnel’s Originals bread (not vegan, but a Hanukkah gift I’m going to eat until I run out).

That’s all for tonight.  Oh, I did indulge in half a can (pronounced “haffacan”) of Coke in the afternoon.  I got used to using Coke as that little shot of caffeine to get me over the hump after my students came back from lunch, but I’m going to try to replace that with a little black tea this week.  Wish me luck!

Have a great week, everyone!

Yours on the journey,

Jessica

A caveat:  my fantabulous Grandma gifted me with several loaves of gluten-free, but egg-containing Arnel’s Originals bread.  Soooo good, but not vegan.  I will be using this bread until I finish it, and then seeking out some gluten-free vegan breads that don’t taste like crud.

I’m not sure that anyone will read this, but it’s a way for me to track and hold myself accountable for reflecting on how I cook, what I cook, and how it makes me feel.

If you are reading this, I hope you enjoy.  Please comment and let me know if you have any ideas, questions, or concerns.

Yours on the journey,

Jessica