My Unintentional (Intentional) Week as a Vegetarian

My colorful and festive fruit basket filled with a mango,
bananas, 6 grapefruits, and 3 avocados

Hello readers! This week has been quite the interesting one to me because I spent it being a vegetarian. If you have been following my blog, then you know that I purposely spent a week as a vegetarian at the request of a friend of mines so it wasn't my first try at it. Furthermore, I try my best to make every Monday a Meatless Monday so I'd say that I am open to different eating plans. Well, what started out a as a regular week for me quickly turned sour on Monday when I had a seemingly innocent slice of cheese pizza (I know, I know, I am supposed to be the poster child for eating clean but in my defense, I packed a baggie of a cup of raw spinach to accompany it). As the pizza was digesting, I noticed that my stomach felt terrible! I am talking about nausea and bloating at the same time. Needless to say, it was NOT the way I planned on spending that meeting on Monday. Hours later at home, I was still left with the new uncomfortable feeling in my stomach so I decided to drink water...didn't work. Then, I decided to blend some spinach, grapefruit, apples, and blackberries. I am not sure if it was the juice that "healed" me or time itself but that moment really got me thinking about implementing juices and shakes in my diet. Well, that idea didn't stick because I love EATING food too much!! Also, the thought of "cleansing" my system on just 800 calories of juice day didn't seem appealing to me so, I decided to only eat vegetables (cooked any way) and gluten free (which required a trip to the store to buy gluten free pasta at $2.12 a package) for a day or two. That night, I spent almost an hour in the kitchen prepping my meals for the next two days and ended up with almost a weeks worth of glorious meals!
(NOTE, I DID NOT CONTINUE MY USUAL STRENGTH TRAINING REGIMEN THIS WEEK)
Tuesday and Wednesday:
Breakfast: Scrambled eggs and a watermelon, melon, grape, ands pineapple fruit salad
Lunch: a brown rice and chickpea sautee with a side of steamed green beans with the recipe included below
Dinner: Same as lunch
Snacks - 1 spinach, grapefruit, apple, blackberry juice blend; 1/4 cup of raw almonds; dark chocolate

Pomegranate - 1.98 each @ Walmart
Coucous - 1.89 box @ Target
Cucumber - .58 each @Walmart
Pistachios - $4.98 a bag @ Walmart

At days end: I was not as hungry as I thought I would have been (considering the fact that I eat at least every hour on the hour)
Thursday: My lunch was a nice "southern" meal that consisted of two greens and mac n cheese. However, something came over me and I felt my creative juices flowing in the afternoon and decided to go Mediterranean and make couscous!
Breakfast: Good ol oatmeal!
Lunch: Seasoned pinto beans, sauteed spinach, organic macaroni and cheese, and steamed green beans
Dinner: Garlic seasoned couscous with avocado, drizzled with olive oil
Snacks: 1/4 cup almonds, cucumbers, pomegranates, pistachios

As for Friday and the rest of my weekend, I am not sure yet! Check back here soon to see if I finished out this week as a vegetarian or went back to eating meat!

Ingredients:
1/4 cup of cooked brown rice
1 cup of spinach
less than 1/4 cup of diced green bell peppers
1 cup of steamed green beans
1 can of chick (garbanzo) beans
(not pictured) less than 1/4 cup chopped onions
Black pepper
Reduced Sodium Seasoning Salt
Cooking directions:
Boil the brown rice ahead of time since it takes 45 minutes to cook.
Add tablespoon of canola oil to a skillet on medium high and sautee the onions and bell peppers until the onions are soft and transparent
Then, add in the spinach stir until all the leaves are slightly wilted (making sure to maintain color)
Lastly, add in the can of chick peas directly into the spinach mixture and allow to simmer for 5 minutes. At this stage, you can choose to season the chick pea mixture.
While the skillet is simmering, steam the green beans in a pot with a less water than vegetables...you don't want to boil them
Enjoy! 

-Eating Clean in College