Two Vegan recipes great for lunch or dinner!

Vegan Italian Pasta

• 1/4 lb tomato (chopped up)
• 1/2 tsp olive oil
• 1/8 tsp garlic powder
• sea salt
• 2 mushrooms (chopped)
• 1/8 cup water
• 1 tsp fresh minced garlic 
• 1/2 vegan italian sausage
• 1 serving vegan pasta

1. Set a pot of water to boil for your pasta, add it once boiling and cook according to instructions.
2. in a saucepan, sautée the tomato with the olive oil, onion powder, sea salt, garlic, and mushrooms. 
3. when that gets mushy, add the water. 
4. in another saucepan brown the sausage in super light oil.

This pasta was amazing. I seriously loved it more than any other pasta I've ever made in my life. It was sooooooo good.

How I ate vegan at IHOP

On my mother in law's last day here we ate IHOP for brunch and it was my first day going vegan. I honestly could have just said "fuck it" and ate that strawberry crepe I was craving, but I decided to stick with what I started and skimmed the entire menu until I put a few things together. I settled on avocado toast, (no butter on the toast) the side of potatoes, and an unsweetened tea that I added sugar substitute to. It cost around $6 and I didn't even eat the entire thing because I got full! 

I just wanted to make this little post to show that eating vegan can be challenging when you go to places that don't cater to your diet, but it can be done!

Food the last few days.. I forgot to record some of my meals, sorry guys!

Grapefruit + vegan crackers + Garlic hummus

My soon to be before pictures.

Hi guys! So today I was contemplating on posting some photos and measurements I took on March 5th! I decided that I should, since I am already seeing a RAPID difference in my weight. I know I will regret not posting this information now, in even just one month from the 5th! I may not post my actual before photos, (out of complete embarrassment) but- I will post something. I guess we will find out by the end of this post!

First, here is my weigh in and measurement results! This alone is completely embarrassing, but- I have since then already gone down to 181 lbs... so yay me! I will update the measurements on the 1st of every month from here on out!

I decided to just take a lot of measurements so that each month I can really see what a difference I have done! I hate these numbers right now, but they're changing and so am I. I have some rather big goals that I want to pursue, and if I really want it I need to drop around 30 more pounds. I know it is possible, and as of this morning 3-20-2017 I weigh 181. That is an 8 lb weight loss so far! In about 15 days! 

I have begun my journey to veganism with the exception so far of fish and greek yogurt. I haven't given in to the greek yogurt portion yet, so hopefully I can keep it up. (I love that stuff so much!)

So before I post these next photos, I just want everyone to know that since October I have gained around 17 lbs. I was eating junk and not working out AT ALL due to living conditions/ depression. This sucks, and totally set me back in my weightloss from Summer 2016, but it isn't the end of the world.

Food Log Day 10

Today was an errands and deep clean the entire first floor kind of day..

Food Log Day 9

We went to the zoo this day. I sort of skipped lunch, because the zoo didn't have the best options for me. 

I forgot to snap a photo of BREAKFAST, but it was a re-run of some similar tacos from last week.

Food Log Day 8

My mother in law brought 2 bags of apples with her for me, and I decided to use some!

Food Log day 7

This post isn't going to be as long as you'd think, because I forgot to take pictures of A LOT of the meals I cooked or ate out.. My mother in law has been here since Sunday, (Day 7) and I just have been super busy hanging out with her and the kids. 

Let's get started!

DAY 7

BREAKFAST: Sweet Potato Hash

I am so upset, I made the most delicious Sweet Potato hash and I forgot to take my photo!!!!! Everyone loved it so much that they were upset that there wasn't second portions!! It had: 

2 sweet potatoes

onions

mushrooms

peppers

scrambled eggs

cinnamon

After breakfast we decided to head to the Audubon Aquarium and explore NOLA.

We ate lunch at SEED, it was amazing!!

Food Logs Day 5 & 6

These past 2 days have kind of gone by SO fast for me. I was pretty much lucky to remember to eat, I've been really busy. My mother in law is coming into town and staying with us tonight/tomorrow for a few days, so I've been trying to unbox the last of the stuff thats been lingering, and clean up! 

Well, anyways, try not to judge how badly the food choices were, and the poor pictures. :P

Food Log Day 4

Yesterday was not so great, so today I am working a little harder to get creative. I am about to use the last of any veggies I really have, so lets see how far I can get....

My washer stopped working the other day, so the next (this day) I had maintenance workers kind of in my kitchen/ entrance while I was cooking this. I can tell they were drooling because they kept whispering about it. Every time this week that they've been here fixing things I am in the kitchen cooking, so I bet they think all I do is cook!!! :P

Food Log Day 3

BREAKFAST: 

It Works Greens in OJ

I forgot that I had this little jar of Greens and decided to start this up. Greens help your body to Alkalize, Balance, and detox. If you're ever wanting to try It Works products, I am still a distributor, you can check out my website: www.chelseagon.itworks.com 

I have been doing this for a couple days and can't lie, I really feel like I'm flushing my system out. 

Anyways, I am not only drinking that for brekky, I am EATING!

Food Log Day 2

Funny thing this morning, Oliver wanted french fries for breakfast, so I made shredded hash browns for him. Now, this is something I could've ate also but I decided not to have such a high calorie brekky and opted for an experimental option!

All of these are vegan except the breakfast because of the egg :-)

My food log - day 1

I am starting to watch what I eat again guys! This time around I'm not really counting calories a whole lot, but more focusing on what I eat. I am still a vegetarian, so this time around all I am doing is cutting out breads, pastas, dairy (I'm keep greek yogurt in the mix though), and I am allowing myself to enjoy eggs, though only 1 a day if I eat them. Also, I am only drinking water and one glass (8oz) of Orange Juice a day. I'm taking vitamins and some other things as well.

Anyway, I used to use My Fitness Pal to log my food, but honestly that was not enjoyable, nor something that held my attention. So, instead, I am photo logging my meals and anything I consume a day, so that I have actual accountability. I didn't want to post them to my instagram, so I will just do one daily post sharing my meals.

Another thing, I am not trying to create a cook book or recipes, but I will include a little bit about each meal. If you have any questions on brands of things, shoot me an email! I don't mind answering questions!!

Our first Ferry boat into the french quarter.

On Sunday we took a day off from unpacking and hanging out at the house and decided to catch the ferry (that happens to be only a few blocks from our neighborhood), to explore! I was really excited to be able to take the kids into the city without worrying about parking!

We started at the Algiers ferry stop, waited on a ramp that was for strollers/ bikes/ wheelchairs and cars. I believe the first boat that morning ran at 10:30. It was right on time which meant our wait was only about 5 minutes. Once it got there it was pretty quick loading. We bought an all day pass that was $7 and would include the trolly and buses. We weren't sure exactly how long or where we'd end up so it seemed like the right choice, but we honestly could've just used cash and paid the $2 each way to save a few bucks because we didn't use the other 2 transportation options in the end.

The boat ride itself took around 5 minutes, it was SO fast.

This specific post is REALLY long and has a lot of photos. To continue, please click on the "read more".