Good Times

Last night, I had a few friends over and I was nervous. Eating an all plant-based diet has been very rewarding to me, but I recognize it can be outside of the norm for people (hey, I was there a few weeks ago with thinking I couldn't live my life without cheese.) I decided to make Engine 2 Sweet Potato Lasagna which might have been a stretch for my friends, but they knew what they were getting and are good sports, so they were in!  It was cool that they were supportive and brought a big bowl of grapes and blueberries for a dessert. To add a little flair to the dinner, I added some blood orange and lemon slices to a pitcher of water and squeezed half of each fruit in for flavor and color. A romaine, radish, carrot, tomato, avocado and green onion salad rounded out the meal with some Whole Foods oil-free tangerine vinagrette. My friends each has veggies they don't like (though I now am searing into my brain after 20 asks over the years, that one DOES like mushrooms.), but they liked the lasagna and meal. I enjoyed the conversation (and even the clean up wasn't so miserable (these veggies must be magical because I usually despise cleaning the kitchen or maybe it was because my fiance helped alot.))

Engine 2 Sweet Potato Lasagna is chock-full of vegetables (sweet potatoes, spinach, broccoli, carrots, mushrooms, onions and tomatoes), uses whole wheat lasagna noodles and tofu and has no added oil or salt. I substituted vegan parmesan for the ground cashews called for in the recipe, and added a teaspoon of Bragg's liquid amino acid (a salt substitute kind of like soy sauce) and a little cooking wine and water to deglaze the pan I used to make the vegetables.

P.S. I've started using My Fitness Pal's app for android to track what I eat and do for exercise each day. It's great for seeing how you are doing with nutrition and pretty easy to use and it's free. So far, what I've learned is on the Engine 2 challenge I eat whatever I want within challenge guidelines, but somehow still end up at or under the recommended calories to lose weight and hit most of my nutrients spot on (except iron, so more beans, spinach and raisins.)