Spa Week Day Dreaming

Went back to The Cupboard today, Denton's natural foods store.  Wow, I have really been underutilizing their salad bar!  It's so much better than Jason's Deli or Kroger, and the selections change daily.

One of my spa week goals is to eat fresh, mostly vegan food, only buy/prepare what I need, and waste no food.  I haven't come to vegan eating for moral reasons - it's just a bonus of trying to eat this way.  I am not vegan, but when I try to eat right, I find that it's my favorite framework for planning meals.  I also want to strictly document my food intake during spa week.  Many people eat vegan so they don't have to count calories, focusing more on their overall health instead of numbers.  I want to get an idea of what I'm getting, not just calories and fat, but vitamins, minerals, and protein as well.

Eating this way on a budget is TOTALLY doable, even more than eating meat, in my opinion.  Beans, grains, and veggies are the epitome of budget-friendly!  But I either buy too much and waste rotten veggies, or I spend too much on convenience foods, like this salad bar.  I have got to master preparing food for 1!  Leftovers are great, but don't always get eaten and result in refrigerator mayhem, so I think I should only have leftovers if I specifically plan on using them for another meal soon.  For example, I need to not cook up 5 zucchini assuming I will snack on them and use it all up.  Cook extra zucchini only if I have a specific plan for it.

I'm mostly writing this post to document some of the salad things I LOVE and want to have for spa week.  Often, I end up with lots of raw broccoli and cauliflower at the salad bar, things I know I SHOULD eat but don't necessarily want to (at least not without a ton of hummus).  Why not absolutely love my salads?  This salad has spinach, roasted zucchini, lentil salad, couscous salad, a few green olives, shredded carrots, mushrooms, hummus, and red wine vinegar.  It was killer!  I loved the zucchini - I wouldn't have thought of putting roasted zucchini on a salad.

Undetermined spa week rules: I haven't decided whether to stay off the internet, but I will definitely stay off Facebook and not watch TV/movies.  I haven't decided whether to let my boyfriend hang around that weekend.  I think I will as long as he will fully participate in spa week activities.  haha.  That will probably keep him away.  Aside from relaxing, exercising, and eating, my spa week inspiration (Debby - see her blog in my list on the right) spends time quilting.  I don't have a hobby like that and don't want to start one right now, but I think I'll clean.  I know that doesn't sound very spa-like, but my room is in shambles, and the result of time spent cleaning and organizing will be one of the most relaxing parts of spa week.

Spa week is 11 days away.  I can't wait!