All-In 2016: #24DC Day One

I spent all of last week looking forward to today.  I'm not joking.  Early in the week I hunted down cleanse-friendly (and, not-so-coincidentally, vegan) recipes for lunch and dinner, and I rediscovered my favorite non-shake breakfast: overnight oatmeal from Oh She Glows (recipe/pics will come when I actually make it).  I sorted out the supplements by phase and organized everything on top of the microwave, and wrote out my grocery list.  I plotted out the next month of workouts (alternating lifting and cardio), and printed everything to put on a clipboard I carry around with me constantly.

Then I got sick.  Not like Swine Flu sick (that's a story for a later time, if you ever want to hear about That Time Tim Almost Died From the Flu), but sick enough that I left work early and spent most of the weekend overdosing on Tylenol Severe Cold and puffing on Albuterol while binge-watching Top Gear on Netflix.  By Sunday the combination of cabin fever and feeling-sorry-for-myself-ism urged me to at least head to the grocery store and feign a sense of preparedness.

The end result of my Day One, after my haphazard preparations over the weekend: totally nailed it...somehow.

Breakfast:
In the past I've always used Advocare's Meal Replacement Shakes during the cleanse.  I've liked every flavor I've tried so far, and it's a crazy easy way to start off the day with carbs and protein and healthy stuff.

That said, here's what I ate on Day One:

I was wondering if I should caption this, or let the audience wonder.  Did he sneeze on a bagel? Is peanut butter not photogenic?  Relax, relax.  It's a 100 calorie container of guacamole spread out on a 100 calorie multigrain sandwich thin.  Lacking a bit in the protein department, but a good way to pick up some "good" fats and complex carbs without breaking the calorie bank.  In hindsight I would've added an egg or two for a protein boost.

Lunch:

It wouldn't be an All-In blog without a recipe, right?

Mexicali Couscous!

Software:

1 small onion, diced

2 tsp taco seasoning

1/2 cup dry couscous

3/4 cup salsa verde (or whatever salsa you have around)

3/4 c vegetable broth

3/4 c black beans, drained and rinsed

1/2 cup corn (thawed)

Code:

1. Saute onion in a bit of vegetable broth until translucent
2. Add taco seasoning and stir to coat
3. Add couscous and mix in well with the onion/seasoning, cook for about 1 minute
4. Add salsa, broth, beans, and corn, stirring well
5. Cover and reduce heat to low
6. Cook until the liquid has absorbed (took mine about 15 minutes)

Serves Two! I had mine with (surprise) guacamole and a side of broccoli.

Snacks:

While I don't typically trust fruit bars, given the tendency to pile on unnecessary sugar or preservatives, I totally dig Trader Joe's fruit bars, since the ingredients on the label match, verbatim, the name of the bar.  Below you'll see my afternoon pick-me-up: a clementine with 1 oz of raw cashews.  I don't eat fruit with any meal, really, so you'll probably see a lot of fruit-heavy snacks on here.

Dinner:

Happy Herbivore's specialty is to create comfort food with the absence of meat, dairy, and added oil.  I actually bought her first book based on a vegan egg salad I ran across, made, and decided it actually tastes better than the real deal.  Rarely does she miss the mark, and tonight is no exception.  I like these sorts of meals for dinner because I don't mind spending 30 minutes preparing something tasty, and despite the decadence of having TWO dipping sauces and "french fries", this meal clocks in at just over 400 calories, with 26g of protein and just 5g of fat.

Buffalo Bomber Fries!

Software:

1 large potato, cut into fries

2 celery ribs, diced

1/4 c Frank's hot sauce

1/2 c almond milk

2 1/2 tbsp nutritional yeast

1 1/2 tbsp flour

1 tsp onion powder, divided

1/2 tsp garlic powder, divided

1/4 tsp cumin

1/4 tsp paprika

1/4 tsp chili powder

3 oz vegan sour cream

1/2 tsp dried dill

Code:

1. Preheat oven to 425
2. Soak fries in water for 5-10 minutes
3. Drain, shake excess water off, and arrange in a single layer on parchment-lined cookie sheet
4. Bake for 10 minutes, flip each fry over, and bake for another 10 minutes.
5. While fries are baking, saute celery in 1/4 water or veg broth until tender
6. Add hot sauce, stir, and reduce heat to low until sauce reduces slightly
7. Whisk almond milk, nutritional yeast, flour, half the onion powder, half the garlic powder, cumin, paprika, and chili powder in a saucepan over medium heat.
8. Bring to a boil, stirring often, then set aside when thick (like a dip consistency)
9. Combine sour cream with remaining spices, store in fridge until fries are done.
10. When fries are ready, take out and put them in a mixing bowl.  Pour in the hot sauce mixture and toss to coat.
11. Serve with "queso" and ranch dip.

Serves One!  You can make the queso and ranch dip ahead of time, but the twenty minutes of baking usually gives me plenty of time to put the rest together.

Note: While I'm never one to advocate adding oil to ANYTHING, I think maybe some spray oil to coat the potatoes would add a lot to this dish.  The potatoes came out crispy but missing that charred layer of deliciousness.

Dessert:

Brown rice rice cakes are boring.  Brown rice rice cakes are slightly less boring with a few tablespoons of reconstituted PB2.

The Final Score:

• Calories: 1632
• Carbs: 269g
• Fat: 39g
• Protein: 68g
• Sodium: 560mg
• Sugar: 62g
• Water: 120oz
• Steps: 8529

All in all, a good start.  Looking forward to knocking out this cold and heading back to the gym sometime this week, though.