I'm Exposing Myself! (My Shopping Cart, Anyway)

Don't you love sneaking a peek at other people's shopping carts? I do. I feel like seeing the foods a person is bringing home gives me a little taste of his life. Especially if there's an obvious trend, like all low-sodium products, all ready-to-eat foods, all organic or, let's be honest, all just plain junk (we've all seen them and I've been guilty of having a shopping cart that starts to look like this if I'm baking and purchasing goodies for a major holiday).

When we tell people we are following a vegan diet for six weeks, after their initial reaction, one of the first questions is: "So then, what do you eat?" In response to that question, I thought I'd give you all a sneak peek into our shopping cart, to see what foods we've bought in the past week or so and what we've made with those foods.

This list is the no-holds-barred, honest to goodness, compilation of what we purchased during the past 10 days. To the best of my knowledge there are no additions or subtractions. This isn't a list of what you should or shouldn't be eating. It is just our best attempt, in week one, of experimenting with a well-balanced vegan diet. Here goes...



What We Bought

Apples
Clementines
Blood Oranges
Bananas
Strawberries
Melon (unidentified) 
Lemons
Limes
Avocados
Tomatoes (cherry & plum)
Red Peppers
Eggplant
Zucchini
Carrots
Portabello Mushrooms
Cauliflower
Arugula 
Fresh Thyme
Boxed Salad
Yellow Onion
Scallions
Shallots
Garlic
Ginger
Jalapeno
Yukon Potatoes
Baby Fingerling Potatoes
Capers
Vegetable Stock, low sodium, organic
Bread Crumbs, nothing added (could have/should have made them myself with stale bread)
"Vegan Terrine" (we just had to know what it was all about)
Coconut Oil (bought it, for the first time, for baking but don't necessarily love it)
Sliced Almonds
Dark Chocolate Chips (actually not vegan - - haven't jumped that hurdle yet)
Multigrain Tortilla Chips
Jarred Organic Salsa (with a very short ingredient list)
"Skinny Pop" brand popcorn
Fresh Baked Raisin Walnut Bread (no dairy in the ingredients)
Canned Chickpeas
Canned Tomatoes
Almond Milk
Seltzer Water 
White Wine
Soy-based Sorbetto (my treat for Oscar night before I realized no, they are not live streaming the actual awards show itself, argh)

What We Made*
*Recipes taken from Isa Chandra Moskowitz's Appetite for Reduction vegan cookbook

Melitzanosalata (eggplant dip), hummus & homemade whole wheat grill bread (pita)
Banana Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Pancakes topped with fresh berries from Monique Volz of Ambitious Kitchen
Roasted Herbed Potatoes with side salad (as lunch entree)
Homemade Vegetable Fried Rice
*Chickpea Picatta (with lemon, shallots, thyme & wine) and Caulipots (mashed potato & cauliflower) served over arugula
Vegan Chocolate Cupcakes from LoveAndLemons.com (using 1/2 whole wheat, 1/2 all-purpose flour)
Martha Stewarts' Roasted Cauliflower with Herbed Bread Crumbs
"Bangin' Salad" (greens, cherry tomatoes, melon, roasted red pepper, lemon, garlic & EVOO)
Guacamole served with chips & salsa, Chocolate Covered Strawberries (for an evening with friends) 
*Moroccan Chickpeas & Zucchini with tomato & carrots, served over Bulgar wheat, topped with avocado

We also ate out for a few meals. At our favorite traditional Chinese restaurant we ordered a dish of eggplant and tofu in a garlicky sauce and ate it with rice and a giant pile of sauteed snow pea leaves. We also made first-time visits to sister vegan restaurants in Manhattan: At Blossom we tried seitan (wheat gluten) for the first time. The pan-seared "cutlets" were served in a delicious port wine and mushroom sauce. And at Café Blossom my husband loved his soy bacon cheeseburger and I enjoyed my vegetable lasagna, although so far I'm not a huge fan of vegan cheeses - - I'd rather have the real thing or just go without.

To see more of what I'm eating on my vegan adventure, follow me on Instagram, Facebook or Twitter and for recipes, check out my Pinterest page!

Cheers,
Diane

Image credit: Lydia Perez DeJesus

Don't you love sneaking a peek at other people's shopping carts? I do. I feel like seeing the foods a person is bringing home gives me a little taste of his life. Especially if there's an obvious trend, like all low-sodium products, all ready-to-eat foods, all organic or, let's be honest, all just plain junk (we've all seen them and I've been guilty of having a shopping cart that starts to look like this if I'm baking and purchasing goodies for a major holiday).

When we tell people we are following a vegan diet for six weeks, after their initial reaction, one of the first questions is: "So then, what do you eat?" In response to that question, I thought I'd give you all a sneak peek into our shopping cart, to see what foods we've bought in the past week or so and what we've made with those foods.

This list is the no-holds-barred, honest to goodness, compilation of what we purchased during the past 10 days. To the best of my knowledge there are no additions or subtractions. This isn't a list of what you should or shouldn't be eating. It is just our best attempt, in week one, of experimenting with a well-balanced vegan diet. Here goes...



What We Bought

Apples
Clementines
Blood Oranges
Bananas
Strawberries
Melon (unidentified) 
Lemons
Limes
Avocados
Tomatoes (cherry & plum)
Red Peppers
Eggplant
Zucchini
Carrots
Portabello Mushrooms
Cauliflower
Arugula 
Fresh Thyme
Boxed Salad
Yellow Onion
Scallions
Shallots
Garlic
Ginger
Jalapeno
Yukon Potatoes
Baby Fingerling Potatoes
Capers
Vegetable Stock, low sodium, organic
Bread Crumbs, nothing added (could have/should have made them myself with stale bread)
"Vegan Terrine" (we just had to know what it was all about)
Coconut Oil (bought it, for the first time, for baking but don't necessarily love it)
Sliced Almonds
Dark Chocolate Chips (actually not vegan - - haven't jumped that hurdle yet)
Multigrain Tortilla Chips
Jarred Organic Salsa (with a very short ingredient list)
"Skinny Pop" brand popcorn
Fresh Baked Raisin Walnut Bread (no dairy in the ingredients)
Canned Chickpeas
Canned Tomatoes
Almond Milk
Seltzer Water 
White Wine
Soy-based Sorbetto (my treat for Oscar night before I realized no, they are not live streaming the actual awards show itself, argh)

What We Made*
*Recipes taken from Isa Chandra Moskowitz's Appetite for Reduction vegan cookbook

Melitzanosalata (eggplant dip), hummus & homemade whole wheat grill bread (pita)
Banana Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Pancakes topped with fresh berries from Monique Volz of Ambitious Kitchen
Roasted Herbed Potatoes with side salad (as lunch entree)
Homemade Vegetable Fried Rice
*Chickpea Picatta (with lemon, shallots, thyme & wine) and Caulipots (mashed potato & cauliflower) served over arugula
Vegan Chocolate Cupcakes from LoveAndLemons.com (using 1/2 whole wheat, 1/2 all-purpose flour)
Martha Stewarts' Roasted Cauliflower with Herbed Bread Crumbs
"Bangin' Salad" (greens, cherry tomatoes, melon, roasted red pepper, lemon, garlic & EVOO)
Guacamole served with chips & salsa, Chocolate Covered Strawberries (for an evening with friends) 
*Moroccan Chickpeas & Zucchini with tomato & carrots, served over Bulgar wheat, topped with avocado

We also ate out for a few meals. At our favorite traditional Chinese restaurant we ordered a dish of eggplant and tofu in a garlicky sauce and ate it with rice and a giant pile of sauteed snow pea leaves. We also made first-time visits to sister vegan restaurants in Manhattan: At Blossom we tried seitan (wheat gluten) for the first time. The pan-seared "cutlets" were served in a delicious port wine and mushroom sauce. And at Café Blossom my husband loved his soy bacon cheeseburger and I enjoyed my vegetable lasagna, although so far I'm not a huge fan of vegan cheeses - - I'd rather have the real thing or just go without.

To see more of what I'm eating on my vegan adventure, follow me on Instagram, Facebook or Twitter and for recipes, check out my Pinterest page!

Cheers,
Diane

Image credit: Lydia Perez DeJesus