A Complete Daily Dozen

As I've said several times, my health focus for 2024 is to eat more vegetables. I've been really interested in Dr. David Greger's research and I *love* his books: "How Not To Die", "How Not To Diet", and now I'm listening to the audiobook of "How Not To Age". If I was a faster reader, I'd love to read them and take notes--but they are *very* long books. "How Not To Age" is over 24 hours on audiobook! They are fascinating, though, and loaded with research.

Dr. Greger has a list called the "Daily Dozen", which is a list of the ideal things to include in your diet each day. I love that he says it's an aspirational list and not to overthink it. (You know I'm a total overthinker.) I use it as a guide to push me in the right direction, but I don't expect to check off the entire list every day. Also, the list is meant to be the minimum intake. It doesn't mean that you shouldn't eat beyond what's on the list.

(The app is free and there aren't any ads or subscriptions or anything. Dr. Greger's work is non-profit because he doesn't have a hidden agenda--just a desire to learn and share facts from tons of research.)

On Saturday, I was so ready to get out of the house. Jerry and I went to Ann Arbor for Salvation Army, Trader Joe's, and Whole Foods. We don't have TJ's or WF near us, so it's kind of an event to go, hahaha. We bought the produce we'd need for the week as well as some odd and hard-to-find or unique ingredients.

Yesterday, I realized that I got in the whole Daily Dozen! I took pictures (sometimes I post pictures of memorable food in a private Instagram account) so I thought I'd share the day's eats on this post. First, here is the checklist (when you tap on each item in the app, it gives more specific info). I didn't log this into a calorie counting app, but a quick guesstimate for the day is about 1600 calories.

Breakfast was rolled oats (uncooked, because they just sounded better that way), blueberries, banana, flaxseed, chia seeds, hemp seeds, and soy milk. I usually eat Grape Nuts instead of oats, but since the oats are healthier, I'm going to try to have them more often. [As far as the list, this counted as whole grains, berries, another fruit, and flaxseed]

My latest obsession has been cucumbers with hummus--I cannot get enough! This counted as an "other" vegetable and two servings of beans.

Jerry bought me a few Asian pears that he'd found and this was the last one. Usually I eat fruit like apples and pears with the skin, but Asian pears have a tougher skin so I peel them. This counted as an "other" fruit.

Dinner was SO good! Ethiopian Collard Greens & Beans, from the "How Not To Diet" cookbook, served over red quinoa. Jerry and I both loved this. On the Daily Dozen, this checked off beans, whole grains, cruciferous vegetables, one "other" vegetable, and a ton of spices. I also had a small salad with it, which counted for my leafy greens.

These are all the spices that were in the dish above.

In the evening, I still needed one more fruit and nuts. Usually I have pistachios and an apple, but I was kind of full from dinner, so I had a few dates with almond butter.

My B12 supplement

I got in lots of water (recommended is six 12-oz glasses and I definitely reached that). This is the tumbler that Ava, Eli's girlfriend, gave me for Christmas. It makes me feel good <3

As far as exercise, I didn't count minutes (because that would be overthinking for me)--I just did my run in the morning and went for a walk later.

I really like the Daily Dozen app; it definitely helps me to think about my choices before I eat. And I've loved adding more vegetables where I can. Jerry has been enjoying it, too. He started a HIIT (high-intensity interval training) class yesterday. He loves HIIT and likes the structure of going to a class rather than doing it on his own. When he got home, he said that it was extremely humbling and it made him really want to be healthier, especially with his diet. Having him on board helps a lot!

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Two Weeks of Whole Foods

I'm still struggling with things to write about. I've been wanting to put together a post of the dinners Jerry and I have been eating lately but I was hoping to wait until I have more photos. I'm starting to forget what some of these recipes even were, so I'll just go ahead and post them.

The main goal (for our two-week challenge) was to eat more vegetables, but it kind of turned into eating mainly whole foods. Both of us really loved doing this! It was interesting to see how much better we felt--physically and mentally--when eating foods our bodies like. And that was only two weeks!

I made most of the recipes from the How Not To Die and How Not To Diet cookbooks. I don't think there were any that we didn't like; both of those cookbooks have been awesome. Keep in mind that I am not-even-a-little-bit-good at food photography, so my pictures aren't exactly appealing, hahaha. There were actually a few that I'm not even going to post because it will make people never want to try things like black lentils and black bean soup!

Anyway, here are some of the ways we got more vegetables in...

Sweet Potato Waffles (I discovered that I use far less syrup if I put it in a little ramekin and dip the waffles as I eat rather than pouring it on top; I only used half of what is pictured)

I didn't mean to include this, but I definitely ate all of these Asian pears before they went bad! Haha. 

Sweet Potato Taco Bowl (brown rice, sweet potatoes, corn, black beans, seasoning)

Millet "Risotto" with mushrooms, spinach, and white beans (we didn't like this dish only because we didn't like the flavor of the millet itself; this would be good with a different grain)

I forget what this was called--I think it was some sort of stew--but it had barley, mushrooms, peppers, onions, carrots, and chickpeas.

Lentil & Quinoa Chili

I actually forget what this was, but it reminded me of a broccoli/cheese/rice casserole. It was good!

Sweet Potato Shawarma Bowl (quinoa with seasoned sweet potatoes and cauliflower; topped with lettuce, onions, cucumbers, and a homemade tahini dressing.

Stew with butternut squash, red beans, corn, tomatoes, peppers, and onions. There is quinoa under there, too ;)

This was kind of our "junk food" dinner--tofu in a sriracha marinade and baked, along with baby potatoes with "chili cheese" seasoning. 

Again, I forget what this was called. But it had sweet potatoes, cauliflower, peas, peppers, and raisins (it sounded odd to me with the raisins, which is why I picked it from the book). I don't remember what grain was under there, but it was probably brown rice. This was really good!

Well, that was the start of Jerry's and my year of being grown-ups and eating our veggies. I had really hoped that this challenge would help Jerry to like vegetables more, and he discovered that he does like sweet potatoes, mushrooms, and cauliflower (when prepared certain ways). He even admitted the cucumber in the shawarma bowls actually worked well. He has never liked cucumbers because he said that they overpower everything else and all you can taste is cucumber. I happen to love them. I think I'll make some hummus today and have cucumbers and hummus for a snack--that sounds delicious.

Now, I'm going to write up a meal plan for the week. I used to hate meal planning, but this vegetable challenge kind of made me excited to meal plan again. I'm going to try kale again this week--it's been YEARS since I tried it--and I'm hoping I'll like it better this time around. When cooking with greens, I usually go for spinach or collard greens. Yesterday, Jerry and I decided to do another two weeks of eating (mostly) whole foods. We both felt gross from eating poorly after eating really well for two weeks.

Anyway, if you have a favorite recipe that uses lots of vegetables, please share!

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Recent Eats

I've been kind of at a loss as to what to post recently, since I quit doing 75 Hard. I always take pictures of my food when I try new recipes just in case I decide to write about it, so I have a ton of food photos on my phone. I always like to see what other people are eating (is that weird?!) so I figured I'd just post them all here.

I do want to mention that the color of some of these makes the food look far less than appetizing--but it's just the lighting in my house. When it's dark outside and there is no natural light, my food looks very oddly-colored!

Homemade pizza with vegan cheese, green peppers, and olives

Herb-crusted tofu cutlets with zucchini and summer squash with tahini sauce

Vegan Pot Pie Casserole (I wrote a review of this)

Tried out an "egg" salad recipe (made with tofu)--tasted good, but wasn't crazy about the texture. I may try it with silken tofu instead.

Sweet & Sour Tofu with rice (vegan "take out" food is my FAVORITE)

Dinner at Chili Mustard Onions, a vegan restaurant in Detroit. Some sort of pita wrap (too much cumin for my taste) and loaded fries (so so good!)

Dessert from Chili Mustard Onions--an oatmeal cream pie from a local vegan bakery

Breaded lemon pepper tofu cutlets and asparagus

Pasta e Fagioli

Garlic Cream Gnocchi

Spicy Peanut Noodle Bowls

Roasted tri-color potatoes with garlic

Banana Bread (I wrote the review here)

Tofu with some sort of Asian sauce (I make a ton of different ones and I can't keep them straight!) with rice and broccoli

Vegan Chicken(less) Stew

Noah girlfriend brought me this cookie from a bakery in Ann Arbor--it was SO good!

BBQ Pineapple Chickpeas over couscous (recipe book)

Pizza with vegan cheese, mushrooms, and banana peppers

Hakka Noodles (I wrote a review of this recipe)

Trying to eat healthier snacks! I had peppers and cucumbers with hummus for a few days

Mulligatawny Soup (from a recipe book)

Creamy Pasta Soup

Blueberries were on sale, so I bought a bunch of them--so good!

Yes these look gross! This was an attempt at tofu "jerky". It was surprisingly good!

Herb Butter Tofu (cookbook recipe) with broccoli and quinoa (it's hidden in there). This actually reminded me a lot of fish; I ended up making tartar sauce for the leftovers, hahaha. 

"Carrot Cake" oatmeal, when I was craving a hot breakfast. It was okay, but I don't think I'd make it again.

Screw making my own jerky--this stuff is AWESOME! Butler Foods sent me this sample when I ordered soy curls. Even my dad liked it!

Italian "meat"balls, made with TVP. These were delicious! I ate them with spaghetti (below).

"Meat"balls with spaghetti and vegan parmesan. The meatballs held together well on the outside, but once cutting into them, the inside didn't stay together like I expected. Definitely worth making them again, though--I'll just add a little more binder.

Seitan "turkey"--my first attempt at seitan--vegan mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, and cranberry sauce

Tofu Parmesan with a new recipe for vegan mozzarella. The tofu was fantastic, but the mozzarella was made with coconut milk and it didn't go well together. I like the cashew cheese much better!

My first time using soy curls! A make-up-as-you-go-along Asian sauce with peppers and pineapple, served over rice. This reminded me a lot of something you would get at Panda Express--junk food take-out is so good!

Pizza with vegan cheese (this was the same mozzarella I used on the tofu parmesan--I wasn't crazy about the pizza because of the cheese, unfortunately. But I made up for it in olives, haha. Black olives are so addicting!

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