I will warn you this post might turn out to be just like my day: very long, delicious, full of British humor, and ending with a winning recipe. Just a warning.
Last night, after blogging, I felt like I needed more nuts in my life.
Tierra Farm's Organic Maple Glazed Mixed Nuts
In the box they sent me a while back, Tierra Farm included these maple glazed nuts. Maple and nuts? Two of my favorite things! I knew just how to try them out.
Pumpkin Oatmeal With Butter Toffee Peanut Butter And Maple Glazed Nuts
Delicious! These nuts were very good; they weren’t huge on the maple flavor but deliciously rich and satisfying. Note: They didn’t come in tiny pieces like that. I was actually impressed that they came all whole, and with a good selection. I just crushed them up to make them more oatmeal friendly, and threw in some sweet peanut butter. This did a great job at getting me sleepy and in the mood for bed.
Unfortunately, all this week I’ve been waking up around 4am, and I’m not sure why. Originally, it was always to go to the bathroom. Since reducing the amounts of liquids I have before bed, however, I’m still waking up, but not needing to go to the bathroom. Suggestions on how to “fix” this? I’d like to imagine(or use this as an excuse) that this is why I did not feel like working out this morning. Didn’t Kelly Clarkson once say something like “Some months I feel like working out, and some months I just feel like eating ding-dongs”? Well, if that’s the case, then I’m saying some months I feel like running, and some months I feel like watching I Love Lucy, because that’s what I did for the first hour of my day as I sipped down 2 cups of coffee. After showering from that “workout”, I had a seasonal breakfast.
Nog Greek Yogurt
Pumpkin Oatmeal With Walnut Butter And Pumpkin Cream Cheese, Drizzled With Maple Syrup
Very wintery and delicious. For the yogurt I used 1/4 cup Nog and a little bit of my Xanthan gum! I’ve had a problem with Nog yogurt being too thin for my preference but the gum really thickened it up. I wouldn’t say, however, that it’s flavorless. It’ll be interesting to see if now I can pick out its flavor in other products, too. The oatmeal with Artisana walnut butter and cream cheese was just beautiful; I swear I’m going to eat the rest of that cream cheese before it grows mold again… again.
Like the title says, this was a very domestic day. I had the house to myself and plenty on my to-do list to finish. Would you believe I haven’t downloaded music in months. These were the few songs I’ve heard on the radio recently that I had to have.
Recently Added
That gave me the chance to charge my iPod, Nintendo DS, and cell phone. While I was doing that, I was also looking online for a good vegan meatloaf recipe. In true Evan-fashion, I couldn’t find one that fit my wants perfectly or I had all the ingredients for, so I took a little of each and made my own. I’ll admit–making my own recipe for something that I’ve never even had before felt a little silly, but I had high hopes for this.
Lentils And Trader Joe's Brown Rice Mix
The “meat” of the loaf I decided was brown rice and lentils, which are two of my mom’s favorite vegan foods(and probably the only two). Instead of plain brown rice, I used a Trader Joe’s mix that has some seeds in it, as well. In another bowl, I worked with all the dry and wet ingredients, and 60 minutes later had it actually looking like a “loaf”
Uncooked Vegan Meatloaf
Not only have I never had vegan meatloaf before, I don’t think I’ve ever had regular meatloaf before. How weird is that? But after seeing this on Anna’s blog, I knew I really wanted it to work out. Did I mention I had to dice an onion for this? I felt like Julia Child from Julie & Julia. After the pot of rice for the loaf came off the stove, I decided that’d be good for lunch, too, so I threw another serving on. Besides that, I did not feel like cooking. Naturally, I let Al Fresco do the work.
Al Fresco Roasted Garlic Chicken Sausages
Brown Rice Bowl With Broccoli, Garlic Chicken Sausages, And Soy Sauce
Let’s not point out the irony in shoving a vegan meatloaf in the refrigerator and pulling out chicken sausages to eat. Instead, let me just tell you how good these sausages were. In our Italian household, we’ve never been shy about adding garlic to dishes. It’s just one of those spices I cannot get enough of. Apparently, somebody at Al Fresco felt the same, because they just let these have the flavor like it was nobody’s business. It tasted so good with the soy sauce and rice(yes, there’s rice under there).
After lunch, I really wanted to get a good workout in. I came up with what I’m calling the “Count to 10″ cardio and fitness workout. All you need to do is know how to count to 10, and you can do it!
- Walk up and down a flight of stairs 10 times
- Do 10 push-ups
- Walk up and down a flight of stairs 10 times
- Do 10 sit-ups
- Repeat for 10 iterations
Isn’t that simple? But it’s also good in that it works you for a while, and works your legs, abs, and arms. Next time I do this, I’ll probably raise the sit-ups to 20 to fit my own fitness, but you can play around with it as you will. The whole thing took about 70 minutes, and halfway through I reached for some electrolytes.
Orange Bot Beverage
Just today, Bot Beverages sent m a pack of their lightly sweetened sport waters to sample and review. The timing for this really worked out perfectly, and orange sounded like a zesty flavor to start. The Orange Bot wasn’t incredibly flavorful, but it was definitely better than water for replenishing myself; and I’m ecstatic to see a company who believes you don’t need high sugar and artificial flavors and colors to have a good workout. I ended up drinking 1/2 the bottle and saving the rest for another time. After those electrolytes, for my post-workout eats I turned to some protein.
Chocolate Greek Yogurt With Orange Dark Chocolate Shavings
Really, I’ll look towards any excuse to eat chocolate. And because I was on an orange kick, I shaved on a square of the 1.4oz organic Endangered Species‘ dark chocolate with natural orange flavor. The orange wasn’t super pronounced(just like the Bot water), but it was a nice hint of flavor. And, as I’ve pointed out, I’m really saving the environment by eating chocolate 
During this, my mom came home and was delighted to see dinner mostly made. We threw the meatloaf in the oven at 5:30 so it’d be ready for dinner when my dad got home.
Ingredients:
- 3/4 cup dry lentils
- 1/2 cup dry brown rice
- 1/2 cup walnuts
- 1/4 cup whole wheat bread crumbs
- 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
- 1 1/2 teaspoons your favorite seasoning
- 1 carrot
- 1 large onion
- ½ cup tomato sauce
- 3 tablespoons soy sauce
- 2 tablespoons vinegar
- ¼ cup ketchup
- 2 tablespoons mustard
On the stove, cook completely your brown rice and lentils. While those are simmering, dice the onion and shave the carrot. In a food processor or mini chopper, finely crush the walnuts into crumbs. Combine all of those in a dish with the bread crumbs, salt, and seasoning. When the brown rice is ready, toss it in that bowl. In a separate bowl, mush the cooked lentils with a potato masher until a thick puree. Add to the rice mixture the ketchup, mustard, soy sauce, vinegar, and tomato sauce and mix. Lastly, add the lentil puree and fold until fully incorporated. Transfer this into a loaf pan. For best results, let the laof sit in the refrigerator for 2-5 hours before baking if time allows. When ready to cook, bake in an oven preheated to 325 degrees for 60 minutes, and let cool on counter covered for another 10 minutes before cutting into.
Since the loaf is so dense and nutritious, we didn’t cook too much alongside it. We simply roasted some brussels sprouts.
Vegan Meatloaf, Roasted Brussels Sprouts
Oh my God was this good! Right off the bat, with the ketchup and mustard and onions it reminded us all of a McDonalds hamburger. Except it was vegan–go figure! My mom also enjoyed that it was soy free(save some soy sauce). The loaf didn’t hold together as well as I hoped it would but that’s probably because we took it out a little early. I ended up eating probably twice as much as pictured, and it was sooo worth it even if it’s made me bloated like a balloon. For once I can say I’m truly excited to have leftovers!
After dinner, my parents decided they needed to go to the grocery store to pick up some things, and I opted to stay home to watch Dr. Who and do work like write 4 product reviews, a recipe, and this post. I must really like blogging if I turned down a trip to the grocery store for it 
Since then, they’ve came back with a McDonalds’ coffee for me, which has already “disappeared”, and I’m watching the new Biggest Loser! Now I just need to remember that, as delicious as this vegan meatloaf is, it’s not as easily digestable as chocolate or oatmeal at 9pm at night…
wow turned down grocery shop for blogging?!! haha you must REALLY like it!!
ahh yes kelly clarkson did say that!
vegan meatloaf looks FANTASTIC!
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I have that “wake up at 4am” thing often – I just embrace it and get my butt out of bed to workout. I hate wasting “awake hours” especially in the morning.
I would TOTALLY turn down grocery shopping for blogging.
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I don’t even know where to start with you. I clearly haven’t spent enough time on your blog because I had NO clue how funny you are. And never mind your delicious foods! I want to shove my whole head in your chocolate greek yogurt.
After checking out your music downloads, I have a suggestion for you–though it’s not really workout music. Nonetheless, I think you’ll like it since you named off some of my favorites. It’s called Come Home by One Republic and Sarah Bareilles. Let me know what you think!
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Evan Thomas Reply:
January 6th, 2010 at 5:46 pm
Thanks for the tip-off; I downloaded the song and it’s really good! Reminds me of The Fray who I love. But I couldn’t find one with Sara Bareilles, just One Republic
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I’m glad you’re saving the environment by eating
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i love that you sipped down 2 cups of coffee in your 1st hour. Day starts well when that happens!
Gluten 1/4 c breadcrumbs = sub out w/ 1/4 c almond flour. It will help bind it better anyway than bread.
Soy sub out the soy sauce with Bragg’s Liquid Aminos. Tastes better than soy, AND you get amino acids. Problem solved.
Since you asked how to GF and SF it, that’s what i would do
But really, it looks and sounds fabooosh!
And yes, get a blogger meetup going, you are totally right about it being a great way to make friends. I think Naomi lives out there plus I’m sure you know the ins and outs of who lives by you. In Phx there are not that many people who live here, but people seem to “pass thru” here. So that works.
HappyNite! oh and love your itunes dwnloads. I Swear, i could download tons…i normally do like 20-25 songs at a time and then months go by and i do nothing. It’s all or nothing for sure!
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great job with the loaf – it looks terrific!
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I love that loaf! I’m so impressed that you just threw it together a la Evan!
With all the mention of nuts in here, I’d love to see what kind of search terms you get
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I love that Hey Soul Sister song! Every time it comes on the radio I get a huge smile on my face.
I’m bookmarking the loaf – it looks impressive and if you say it’s delicious, I believe you
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i always have yogurt envy for your chocolatey concoctions! love the kelly clarkson quote, i have those months too. i’ve been having the 4 am problem too! well, mine is 4:30, but pretty darn close. if i figure out a magic solution i’ll be sure to let you know
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This is one of the best food blog I’ve ever read!
thanks!
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Vegan Meatloaf looks fantastic.. nice job!!
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Yum, that vegan meatloaf looks great and very economical, good job!
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Lovee me some lentil loaf! That looks like an awesome recipe too, not loaded with cheese like some can be. I might just have to try it when I can convince my family to want beans again (we have been overloading recently)…you have a great blog here though, one of the funniest I read, and with great recipes!
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I’ll have to give the Garlic Al Fresco’s a try! I’m never shy with garlic, so it sounds as if it’s right up my alley.
Great job on the vegan meatloaf. It looks great!
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Yum Chocolate! Just out of curiosity, how many calories do you eat in a day? It seems you eat very little at meals but just sort of snack throughout the day. I sort of do that too.
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Evan Thomas Reply:
January 6th, 2010 at 11:38 am
On an average day recently, I’ve probably been eating anywhere from 2000-2500. When I’m running more often like I probably will be in February that tends to increase to near 3000. I definitely prefer eating 5-6 equally sized meals throughout the day to the standard 3 square meals, although breakfast is always on the bigger side.
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Sounds like your “meat”loaf was a big hit! Yay!
Oy, sorry about the 4am thing…that’s not fun
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Wow you are creative – your mom doesn’t eat soy I take it? Nice day. I’ve made meatloaf with rice before but also included lean ground turkey in with it…oh well.
I’m doing a give-a-way on my site if you want to check it out and link it for your readers
– Greek yogurt!!!
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awesome looking “meat” loaf! and bad romance is a song i’ve been listening to, like, on repeat ha
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some ground flax would probably help it hold together… flax with water is an easy vegan egg replacer, binding things together
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Okay the vegan meatloaf looks amazing!! Did you try the Rice Nog over the holidays? It was SO good…so much better for my dairy senstitive tummy than regular egg nog!
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Thanks for this recipe, it sounds really good!
Love orange chocolate, I just realized that I forgot to pick up a milk chocolate orange for Christmas this year! Bah. Next year.
I really like your home workouts, so many people think they need a gym membership or expensive machines to get a good workout in.
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