E2: 28 Day Challenge - Day 1

On the Menu:

Breakfast: Big Bowl (basically a big bowl of mixed grain cereals & a little flax seed with lots of fruit mixed in)
Lunch: Stuffed Pita w/ Hummus
Dinner: Spinach Salad and Gnocchi with Red Sauce

What we actually ate:
Breakfast: Simple Cereal (whole grain cereal with sliced bananas & almond milk)

Lunch: Stuffed Pita with Hummus - Whole wheat pitas stuffed with hummus spread, heirloom greens, cucumbers, red bell pepper, shredded carrots, alfalfa sprouts.

Snacks: The kids munched on some leftover things we're trying to get rid of, some Pirate Booty, chips, and I think they each had a piece of Halloween candy. But they also chose to make "Ants on a Log", celery with peanut butter & raisins, without me needing to encourage them.

Dinner: Graham & I decided to have an impromptu dinner date. This took a little bit of time and research to find a vegan option. We needed to take the kids over to my mother-in-laws in the mid-cities area and we are unfamiliar with the eating establishments there. Google to the rescue! We ended up at Rio Mambo on 121. I got the De La Casa salad which is mixed iceberg and romaine lettuce, corn tortilla strips, fresh avocado, cucumbers, and roasted poblano peppers with their mexican vinaigrette. I had to ask for no cheese (& tomatoes) and this salad was YUM! The dressing had a kick but the flavor was great and didn't make me miss ranch. Graham ordered the spinach vegetarian enchiladas which were also AMAZING. Roasted veggies piled on top with a side of rice and black beans which we were assured had no meat in them. The only draw back was that after he took a few bites he realized there was cheese in the filling with the spinach :( It didn't mention this on the menu but next time we'll know to ask for no cheese as well. With some chips, salsa, and guac this was all in all a very tasty & filling meal. The kiddos ate burritos & soft tacos from Rosa's - yes, obviously not vegan or vegetarian but planning something for them to eat last minute without wanting Graham's mom to have to make something proved a little difficult so I conceded and I won't beat myself up about it. We'll have the pasta and sauce for lunch tomorrow.

My thoughts: The kids were VERY hesitant at lunch time. Kenzie has said in the past that she doesn't like hummus which is weird because she's my good eater. She loves any kind of vegetable and will at least try almost anything. They all started looking for other options. I made Izzie & Si a PB & J. Once I started getting out all of the veggies for the pitas all 4 of the kids migrated to the kitchen, hovered, and begin to snack on the veggies almost as fast as we were chopping them. They all ended up eating pitas and loving them. Chelsea even said "Being vegan is not that bad". :) I also discovered that they like raisins. Breakfast this morning was really filling and I wasn't hungry at all until lunch.

Weight Check: I weighed myself this morning just so I could kind of keep track. I'll do it again next weekend and see if there is any difference. I asked Graham to do the same. We took the kids to ride bikes for about an hour so we were able to get some good exercise. I'm hoping the changes in our diet may help with Chelsea's weight and Silas's milk issues.

So far, so good.