First Day After My Vegan Sugar Detox

I may have gone overboard in introducing normal foods to my diet on the first day after the vegan sugar detox. I figured since it was a celebratory day, it was OK to indulge. Yes, it is a slippery slope, and once you stray, it's way too easy to go downhill. But I really don't want to lose the benefits I got from the detox. Plus, eating out twice today was almost equivalent to a week's worth of groceries. That alone should motivate me to continue cooking meals as opposed to dining out frequently.

First Meal After Vegan Sugar Detox: Brunch at Bottega Louie

I met up with my former coworkers for brunch at Bottega Louie in downtown LA. First, let me say that this had become my favorite restaurant in recent years primarily because of its lavish displays of colorful confections, decadent pastries, towering gift boxes and most of all .... their French macarons. So to come here as a new vegan was an intense test of willpower and restraint. Everything, of course, had dairy and eggs, which meant they were off limits. It was like putting a recovering alcoholic 3-weeks sober in the middle of a bar surrounded by the world's top-shelf liquor with a no-drinking policy. You get the idea. 

Image by Phil Dokas via Flickr

Image by Phil Dokas via Flickr

Luckily I had done some research before going and found another vegan's experience at Bottega Louie on quarrygirl's vegan forum. Someone had ordered a marinara pizza--so basically a cheese-less pizza. So I Googled to see if pizza dough has eggs, and I read that real pizza dough doesn't. When I asked the server at Bottega Louie about this, he kindly checked with the kitchen staff and confirmed they didn't use eggs in their pizza dough. So I ordered the Napoli pizza (red onions, mushrooms, olives and tomato sauce) without cheese.

After taking my first bite out of the cheese-less Napoli pizza, I concluded that the measure of a quality restaurant is if their pizza tastes amazing without cheese--no easy feat. Bottega Louie had passed my tastebud's test with flying colors. 

Then came the dessert: beignets with raspberry sauce. Again, a challenging but necessary training for willpower for a new vegan. I glanced at the soft, pillowy, doughy goodness in front of me as my friends dug in. I just made sure not to stare at it too long and distract myself by people watching. I felt pretty accomplished after getting through that meal at what was once my favorite restaurant--and perhaps, still is ... just from a distance. 

Breakfast for Dinner at LA Vegan

One of the things my boyfriend and I had been craving throughout the detox was the pancakes at LA Vegan. For a primarily Thai food restaurant, they serve ah-mazing breakfast food: light, golden pancakes (that taste just as good reheated the next day), tofu scramble (infused with curry for that scrambled egg look) topped with dairy-free cheese and a side of soy bacon strips. Oh, and before that, we ordered another favorite of ours: soy chicken sate with peanut sauce. It's  hands down the best appetizer there. It looks and tastes just like chicken ... without the guilt.

I wish I had taken pictures of my meal but I was too eager to eat it. I did get a bit lightheaded, probably because I shocked my body with too much sugar. Luckily the lightheadedness went away about half an hour after dinner. The food made it worth it!

Vegan 21-Day Sugar Detox: Day 21

Day 21 of the vegan sugar detox came and went without any pomp and circumstance. It's not that I wasn't excited about it, it's just that it happened to be a Saturday and I was too busy to really give my last day a grand finale. I would've liked to have ended it with some fancy sugar-free, vegan meal.

Here are the positive changes I experienced on the vegan sugar detox: 

I'm sure I'll experience more positive changes as I continue on my vegan journey, which I will happily share here. 

Without further ado, here were the last meals I had on the final day of the vegan sugar detox:

Brunch: Avocado Tomato Salad

Avocado tomato salad with lemon juice

Avocado tomato salad with lemon juice

This is something I made the other night. I had avocados that I needed to use before they became overripe. 

Ingredients:

  • 4 avocados
  • 1 organic tomato, diced
  • juice of 3-4 lemons
  • Himalayan salt and pepper to taste
  • Garlic powder to taste
  • Dried thyme to taste

First, cut up all the lemons and remove the seeds. Cut the avocados into cubes. Immediately squeeze the lemon juice all over the avocados, mixing it to ensure the lemon juice coats the avocados (to prevent them from turning brown). Add the tomatoes and seasonings, and mix well. Place in the refrigerator to chill before serving.

Snack: Diane Sanfilippo's Grain-Free Banola (Raw)

Dinner: Vegetable Coconut Milk Curry

Coconut milk curry with vegetables

Coconut milk curry with vegetables

This turned out a little oilier than the night it was first cooked. It may be that I put a little too much coconut oil when cooking the quinoa. It was still very delicious though! 

Vegan 21-Day Sugar Detox: Day 20

Day 20 on the vegan sugar detox didn't feel that different from the days leading up to it. What I did feel was excitement about being so close to the finish line. And yet, it was also bittersweet knowing that it was coming to an end and feeling like this was the pinnacle of eating healthy in terms of not eating sugar--the culprit of many ailments. Even though I'll still be sticking with my vegan diet after this, there's nothing quite like constantly seeing and feeling the positive effects that abstaining from sugar has on your body. (I know I've said this many times, but you really do wake up feeling lighter and lighter, even if the weighing scale doesn't always reflect it.)

Breakfast: Diane Sanfilippo's Grain-Free Banola (Raw)

Diane Sanfilippo's  Grain-Free Banola (raw version)

Diane Sanfilippo's  Grain-Free Banola (raw version)

Lunch: Vegetable Coconut Milk Curry

Vegetable coconut milk curry

Vegetable coconut milk curry

Snack: Green Banana and Almond Butter with Cinnamon and Pumpkin Pie Spice

Green banana drizzled with almond butter and sprinkled with cinnamon and pumpkin pie spice

Green banana drizzled with almond butter and sprinkled with cinnamon and pumpkin pie spice

Dinner: Marinara with White Beans and Asparagus

Marinara with white beans and asparagus served over quinoa

Marinara with white beans and asparagus served over quinoa

My boyfriend and I were too tired to cook yet again, especially on a Friday night when the temptation to eat out is just too great. But of course we couldn't break the streak after getting this far on the detox. So we decided to cook a really simple meal: pre-made marinara sauce with asparagus and canned white beans over quinoa. I was actually surprised that this dish surprised me: the white beans actually tasted like a creamy cheese when mixed with marinara. Now I'm wondering if the white beans could be used as a cheese substitute for other dishes, or used to make a vegan creamy alfredo sauce. Hmm...

Ingredients:

Pour the marinara into a pot and simmer on low heat. Put the chopped asparagus in next, then add seasonings to taste. Add the white kidney beans last, just long enough to heat them up. Once the asparagus has softened, remove from heat and serve over quinoa.

Vegan 21-Day Sugar Detox: Day 19

One of the changes I’ve been noticing during this sugar detox is that my dreams are more vivid and I can remember them when I wake up now. Before the detox, I felt like I didn’t have dreams anymore because I couldn’t recall any of them. Who knew that sugar could really have that affect? It probably means I’m getting better sleep quality and actually reaching the REM stage.

Breakfast: Diane Sanfilippo’s Grain-Free Banola (Raw)

As I was making this last time, I thought it tasted great raw. So I made another batch last night without baking it. The flavors, especially the vanilla extract and cinnamon, are more prominent. I think the only thing that would make it taste even better is adding more bananas so that the portions are more like 4 parts banana, 2 parts nuts and seeds. That would make it taste more like pudding with banola. Or another version could be baked banola sprinkled in a separate banana mixture as the pudding. Either way, you can’t really go wrong--it makes for an amazingly sweet-ish sugar-free treat!

Ingredients for this raw version of banola:

  • 2 green bananas
  • 1 cup raw cashews
  • 1 cup sliced almonds
  • ½ cup seeds (equal parts raw pumpkin, sesame and sunflower seeds)
  • ½ cup almond meal
  • 2 tsp pure vanilla extract
  • 2 tsp cinnamon

Use a food processor to partially ground the 2 cups of cashews and almond slices into small chunks. Pour the ground nuts into a large mixing bowl and add the seeds and almond meal. *Note: If you don't have almond meal, simply use the food processor to pulverize the almonds into almond meal consistency. 

Put the bananas, vanilla and cinnamon into the food processor and blend until all the ingredients are pureed into a smooth, creamy consistency. Pour the puree into the bowl of nuts, and stir until the nut mix is completely coated. Store in the refrigerator until ready to serve. Easy peasy.

Lunch: Spiralized Zucchini Pad Thai

Pad Thai using spiralized zucchini as noodles

Pad Thai using spiralized zucchini as noodles

Appetizer: Fried Japanese Sweet Potatoes

Dinner: Vegetable Coconut Milk Curry

Vegetable coconut milk curry

Vegetable coconut milk curry

Vegan 21-Day Sugar Detox: Day 18

I accidentally fell asleep super early last night before posting about my Day 18 on the sugar detox. I'm really amazed how much my body has adapted to not eating as much. You may have noticed that I've been posting fewer snacks because I don't feel the need to graze all day, unlike the first week on the detox. Now I can go a full night not eating anything until breakfast, which was just an apple yesterday. 

Breakfast: Green Apple and Almond Butter with Cinnamon

I feel like it's been a while since I've had this, but really, it's only been just a few days. Oh how I've missed it!

Green apple and almond butter sprinkled with cinnamon

Green apple and almond butter sprinkled with cinnamon

Lunch: "Not Your Momma's Black Eyed Peas" Part 2

It took me 3 hours to eat this because I ate lunch at my desk at work. It always takes me forever to eat whenever I do that--at least it helps with the digestion!

Dinner: Spiralized Zucchini Pad Thai

Pad Thai using spiralized zucchini as noodles

Pad Thai using spiralized zucchini as noodles

I haven't made this dish since the previous detox, which was back in March. If you love peanut-butterlike sauces and Thai food, then you'll enjoy this one. 

Ingredients:

Using a wok, sauté minced garlic in about 2 tbsp coconut oil until the garlic is a very light golden brown. Add the tofu and sauté for about 1-2 minutes. While sautéing the tofu, generously drizzle it with coconut aminos. Place the cooked tofu in a bowl and set aside for later. Heat the remaining coconut oil in the wok on light-medium heat. Once it gets to a smoking point, add the spiralized zucchini and keep stirring to ensure that it's cooked evenly. After about a minute of cooking the zucchini, add the almond butter and seasonings. Keep tossing the zucchini until it's evenly coated with almond butter and the almond butter has melted. Taste and add more seasonings and coconut aminos to your liking. Just before turning off the stove, add the tofu to absorb some of the almond butter sauce. Remove from heat and sprinkle the dish with shredded carrots. You can cook the carrots, but I like it raw--just like how it's served with Pad Thai at Thai restaurants. 

About coconut aminos: 

Coconut aminos is a great and healthy alternative to soy sauce. Made from coconut tree sap, it's gluten-free, soy-free, mineral-rich and contains 17 naturally occurring amino acids. For those watching their sodium intake, coconut aminos has 73% less sodium (about 270 mg per tablespoon) than soy sauce. You can find it at health food stores like Rainbow Acres and Whole Foods.

Vegan 21-Day Sugar Detox: Day 17

With just 4 days away from the end of my vegan sugar detox, I'm starting to feel the drudgery of cooking. I would say that that has probably been the biggest challenge on this detox--not being able to order takeout after a long and exhausting day. The temptation to just grab food at Veggie Grill is greater than the temptation of desserts, savory snacks and Starbucks hand-crafted lattes.

This usually results in late dinners because I don't like to jump right into the kitchen when I get home from work. But since I'm never completely stuffed, I don't feel so bad about eating late at night.

Breakfast: Diane Sanfilippo's Grain-Free Banola (Vegan Version)

Next time I go grocery shopping, I'm going to load up on bananas so I can double up on the ingredients for this recipe. I was so sad when I got down to the last bite. The 7-8 small servings the recipe yields just isn't enough.

Lunch: Diane Sanfilippo's Roasted Cauliflower Soup (Vegan Version)

As always, I ate this with quinoa to make the soup more filling. Either I'm just used to being hungry or this soup really kept me full up until dinner at around 10:30 PM. 

Dinner: "Not Your Momma's Black Eyed Peas" Part 2

Tonight's meal was more of a mix of whatever I had left in my refrigerator and pantry. 

Ingredients:

  • 3 celery stocks, chopped
  • 1 red bell pepper, diced
  • 2 1/4 cups of black eyed peas
  • Himalayan salt and pepper to taste
  • Paprika to taste
  • Onion powder to taste
  • 5 cloves of garlic, minced

Fill a pot with black eyed peas and cover with water. Boil for 2-3 minutes. Remove from heat and let it sit for 60-90 minutes. Drain and refill using 3 cups of water per 1 cup of black eyed peas (about 6 3/4 cups for this recipe). Bring to another boil, then partially cover, lower heat, and let it simmer for 60 minutes.

Add the garlic, vegetables and seasonings. Stir in pot until warm. Serve over quinoa and top off with a dollop of guacamole.