Meatless Monday Nights At Our House

We are trying something new around here. We are taking the #MeatlessMondayNight challenge from Silk and sidelining meat during Monday night football games this season!

I absolutely love fruits and vegetables (you have probably noticed that I eat 43 salads a week) and we are looking to adopt more of a plant-based diet. I wanted to try this challenge out because the more veggies and plant-based foods that I eat, the better I feel. And the better I feel, the better I run. I have some really big long-term running goals up ahead of me and I want to experiment around with how a plant-based diet can help me to get those goals.

We are starting small and making a change one day a week by preparing a meal together that is meatless!

Well, I prepare the meal and Brooke goes to town on sampling all of the ingredients.

 My favorite meatless meal ever has to be these sweet potato NACHOS!!!

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To make—> slice up two sweet potatoes and put some olive oil and garlic salt on them and bake them for 40 minutes at 425 degrees.  Top with black beans, corn, dairy free cheddar cheese and put them back in the oven for 5 minutes.  Add some tomatoes and avocado.  ***I love to also add roasted red peppers to this:)

Dessert prep for our Meatless Monday Night started earlier on in the day. I started by freezing fresh peaches and bananas! I do not know what I am going to do when peach season ends.

For each serving:

1 cup Silk Almond Milk (we do the unsweetened one) + 1 frozen peach + 1/2 frozen banana + 1/2 cup Silk dairy-free yogurt . That is it.

My mom had the first bowl and loved it.

Whenever I top my smoothie with granola I put it in a bowl so that I can perfect my smoothie to granola ratio with a spoon.

Join in with me with the Silk #MeatlessMondayNight challenge this football season! I know that plant-based foods help me to get the nutrients and energy I need to hit the paces I want so the more the merrier in my opinion:)  You can find a lot more delicious recipes HERE!!!!

What are some of your FAVORITE MEATLESS MEALS?!?!

This conversation is sponsored by Silk. The opinions and text are all mine.

 



 


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47 comments

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Awesome that you are trying to adopt a plant based diet! I did this earlier in the year and saw immediate positive results! However, after a few months, I found myself very tired/unmotivated due to improper fueling. So, my tip is to make sure you are substituting protein and all those other important nutrients properly! I’m sure you know this and will be, but just wanted to mention because I want to see you succeed :)

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We do a LOT of meatless meals because I’m vegetarian and my husband is not. But I still do a lot of the cooking. One of our favorite meals is when I make a spicy black bean soup. Black beans, corn, veggie broth, crushed tomatoes, and southwestern spices, and you’ve got yourself a very cheap (and easy) meal!

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I bought peaches last night at the grocery store because all your posting has made me CRAVE them lately. We also bought a whole bag of sweet potatoes. I feel like you’d approve of our grocery list.

I’m also currently reading Scott Jurek’s Eat & Run and find the meatless diet to be an interesting one. Not sure if it’s something I want/could do full-time but every once in a while it’s nice :)

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That lasagna sounds amazing! I love to make zoodles, and also portobella mushroom stacks. They’re so good!

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That’s great! Unfortunately my boyfriend would be hard to get on board with this! We had egg sandwiches one night for dinner (it was a lazy day) and he didn’t have bacon on his and boasted that he had a meatless dinner….I was like ehhhh….haha that lasagna looks so good!

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when i cook for myself, i end up doing a lot of meatless meals… mostly because i’m scared of cooking meat! i’m always positive it’ll be undercooked or something. but when my boyfriend cooks- meat for days! luckily he’s also super into health and wellness, so there are plenty of days we don’t have meat and instead have some sort of super flavorful veggie meal.

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We have been doing meatless Monday all of 2015! I think it is such a great ide to help reduce our impact on the ozone (reducing gases from reducing our reliance on animals). We started with eggs, beans, and toast, then pasta with marinara sauce, moved on to tomato or vegetable soup and grilled cheese sandwiches, and have also made black bean enchiladas and also Cuban black bean soup with rice. I haven’t made veggie lasagna since we left the states…I’ll have to make my spinach lasagna soon (inspired by your post)!

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I LOVE putting my smoothie in a bowl and then topping with granola…it’s like dessert!! :)

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Lasagna is such a great meatless meal! I’m also a huge fan of baked ziti with garden veggies mixed in. Both freeze great and can be made ahead of time, which works great for a busy schedule. You also can’t go wrong with omelets/breakfast for dinner!

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i love black bean burger! so tasty and delicious!!

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I think that is an awesome idea. I personally could go without meat for several nights a week, but my husband would probably have a heart attack so I better not do that ;)

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Janae! I do NOT approve of your lasagna recipe with cottage cheese. I insist you use proper ricotta cheese (fat free if necessary). :)

It looks delicious aside. Good job on Meatless Monday.

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My boyfriend is a vegetarian, so I’ve got a ton of favorite meatless meals. One is miso soup with udon noodles. I also like to make a meatless one-pot pasta. Easy is always better as far as I’m concerned. And then just a basic stir fry with tofu and vegetables over rice.

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Do you find it hard to get in enough protein when not eating meat?

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My favorite meatless meal is zucchini crabcakes with Angie’s Dad’s Slaw and mashed sweet potatoes. You can find the recipe on the web for the faux crabcakes made with shredded zucchini.
Angie’s Dad’s Slaw-
Combine -1 Med to Small head cabbage shredded,1 onion diced, 1 cup grated Carrot, 2 stalks celery chopped. Sprinkle with 1/2 c to 1 c sugar (I err on side of less). In small saucepan Combine 1 c. champagne vinegar (or any Vinegar you prefer), 3/4 c olive oil (again oil can be what is preferred), 1 tbsp salt, 1 tbsp dry mustard, black pepper to taste. Bring to boil. Pour hot over coleslaw mixture and mix well.

Now that it is pumpkin spice season…it is time for Pumpkin Pie Smoothies…thank you for the great idea to add granola and eat out of a bowl!

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I’ve been a vegetarian for 7 years so all of my news are meatless! I LOVE this post!!

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We are big fans of Meatless Mondays. I am a slow cooker fiend, so this recipe for chickpeas in curry and coconut milk is a favorite. My teenage boys love it too. The jalepenos make it spicy so those could be left out for those who like a milder meal.

http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/chickpeas-curried-coconut-broth

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Yum, that lasagna looks great!

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I love that Brooke “helps” you cook! And your lasagna looks deelish. We love our meatless meals: roasted red bell pepper and smashed avocado sandwiches; veggie kabobs over rice with a spicy yogurt sauce; sweet potato tacos; and pretty much any recipe by Heidi Swanson (her site – 101 cookbooks).

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I’m vegan so I obviously have a ton of favorite meals! There is a recipe for Skinny Vegan Lasagna on the Hummus Sapien website which is absolutely to die for! It’s full of protein as there is tofu in it . I swear all my omnivore friends LOVE it and my kids want it weekly! On a related note my recovery got SO much better when I went vegan – I trained for a 70.3 half ironman (at age 45) and didn’t miss a single workout in 18 weeks or have a single injury.

I love silk products! I have their vanilla and chocolate almond milk in my fridge right now :)

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That is awesome Janea!! :D I am a plant based(vegan) athlete and LOVE it!! I use Happy Herbivore meal plans, you should check it out. You and Brooke would probably love the meals! Plus, oil, gluten, dairy, and meat free. Low fat but high carbs is the meal plan I use.
http://www.happyherbivore.com

Just in case you’re curious. ;)

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I love Happy Herbivore!!!

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Eek! I think I’d rather eat lean meat than those simple carbs and cheese! :0

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I’m sorry, I just stopped reading anything after “cottage cheese” was included as a lasagna ingredient.

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I often have meatless dishes – especially if cooking for myself (quick and easy!). But my vegetable lasagne is a favourite with the family – my tip – roast all your vegies first then mix them with the sauces to layer – you’ll get a much richer flavour.

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I know for a fact I eat more meat beause my hubby “needs” it at all his meals ;) I think I could probably make 50% of my diet meatless … perhaps I should start out with one night a week like this! Hubs can go grab wings with his friends or something :) :)

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I’m a plantbased runner and just thought I’d mention that if you choose to go plantbased or vegan or vegetarian completely start taking B12 daily, iron, calcium, magnesium and vitamin D supplements (aids in calcium absorbtion) or you’ll end up with stress fractures. (Especially if you are over 30, female and running.) You can be deficient in these despite eating well because running (sweating) causes us to lose a lot of minerals. I are clean for two years and ate all the Superfoods and all the greens and still came up short.

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Thank you so so much Nicky for this advice. Super helpful to any female runners reading!

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Thanks for this advice. I have been thinking about taking a multi vitamin for awhile but this convinced me. Didn’t know that about losing minerals through sweat.

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Congrats on heading towards the plant-based diet! I keep trying to cut out meat and dairy, but it’s been super hard. One day I’m determined to commit for good. Starting with one day a week is a great idea! :)

My roommate recently started making chickpea ratatouille in the oven and loves it!

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I am vegetarian so all of my meals are meatless :) my absolute favorite is stuffed peppers made with rice, beans, tomato sauce and veggie “crumbles” made by Boca! My meat-loving boyfriend even approves of them so I know I’m not crazy to love them ;)

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Okay, can you come cook for us:) That sounds delicious!

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The Boca chili is really good too! I use to make it – now I use the Beyond Meat crumbles too but still the recipe on the Boca site!

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Your lasagna looks delish, and going plant based is an excellent idea, the more veggies the better! They are LOADED with vitamins and minerals and so many marathoners and ultra runners eat this way! My daughter is vegetarian and I was for about 10 years. I ate lots of veggies, fruit, grains and cheese. I came up short on my protein and iron needs though so I had to go back to eating a diet with meat.

meatless meal — Veggie pizza with tons of veggies and lots of cheese!

Your mom is so cute, my mom also wears pearl necklaces on any random shirt just like that…it’s adorable!

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Any kind of pasta is great for meatless meals. And breakfast for dinner is also great for that. But I love meat so while I do try to make one or two meatless meals a week. I still eat a lot of meat

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I love meatless mondays! That veggie lasagna looks delicious!

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I went plant-based overnight, and while it was hard to know what to eat at first, it’s so easy now and I feel great! Looks like your meatless Monday meal was quite a hit too:)

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I definitely notice that what I eat effects the way I feel when I run. Foods with lots of fat make me feel awful (I’m looking at you pizza!) but plants, especially rice and beans give me great energy

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Very interesting! I too have been toying with the idea of leading a more plant-based lifestyle, and starting slow with this challenge might just be the ticket.

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Way to go on figuring out a diet plan that works for you! I love meat too much to ever cut it out. But, I’ve gone paleo and love it!

Since training for my marathon, I have found on my long runs I’m running out of steam. I don’t do dairy, soy, peanuts, or artificial sweeteners. So, that eliminates quite a few things I could eat while running.

Any ideas or suggestions?

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Cottage cheese in lasagna is the best! So yummy. Check out skinnytaste for her pesto recipe. So yummy with whole wheat linguine and a huge helping of roasted veggies. Also: thugkitchen.com. You can ignore the bad words (although they crack me up). Great recipes. Mostly easy. Lots of protein. Many people overestimate the amount of protein they need, but I agree with the comments above that you have to meet your protein needs or you will feel icky (and really hungry!)

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One of my favorite meatless Monday meals- butternut squash (or sweet potato) and black bean enchiladas. Yummm!

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Meatless Mondays yeah! I’m vegan so it’s meatless everyday. But I feel like burritos might be a good meatless Monday event- there’s so much you can put in them! Rice, beans, cheese, sautéed veg, avocado, salsa, sour cream, hummus, all kinds of sauces,

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I’m vegan and it’s way easier than most people think- in fact every vegan I know said at one point, “I could never go vegan!” so the comments above are funny to me. A few blogs I love with great recipes:
– Minimalist Baker: http://minimalistbaker.com/
– Oh She Glows: http://ohsheglows.com/
– The PPK: http://www.theppk.com/
– Keepin’ It Kind: http://keepinitkind.com/

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I’m make your lasagna tonight! :) Thanks for the recipe!

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I love veggie lasagna, too! I tip to add some more veggies, is chop up a bunch of spinach and mix it in with the cottage cheese! We add it even to our meat lasagna!

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I love meatless mondays – it’s great to see people sharing recipes and continuing to add plant-based meals to their cooking repertoire!

I’ve been on a whole foods, plant-based diet for about two years after watching Forks Over Knives, and I’m so happy with it. It’s awesome to think of the positive impact on your health and the environment you can have with each meatless meal. It even helps with world hunger, since livestock consumes so much of the world’s grain supply. So yay for meatless mondays, and may they become meatless other days, too!

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