What I Ate in a Day #3

 This was not my best day of food, but it represented a good effort on a struggle day, so I decided to take you along with me for the journey.

Breakfast was a microwave apple crisp with some almond milk yogurt. A friend had sent a recipe for something similar, but I found an easier recipe to try. I should have just tried the one I was sent, because this one, although easier, left something to be desired. I had a glass of soy milk with this so that I didn't just eat fat and carbs, but this was lower in protein overall than my 2021 breakfast goals. That's okay, because nobody has to be perfect.

For lunch, I put some Gardein crispy tenders in the toaster oven, steamed some broccoli, and used up the end of a jar of marinara sauce to make some of my leftover Annie's vegan macaroni and cheese into something more like Chef Boyardee. I also added a bit of Violife mozzarella to it to make it cheesier. It was good and soothing in that way that far-off flavor memories tend to be.

Dinner was a microwaved Amy's frozen black bean burrito with some Tofutti sour cream, sliced black olives, chopped tomato, and scallions. The toppings were partly for taste--Tofutti sour cream is usually good for perking up a microwaved frozen burrito--partly to add some calories to make it enough for a meal, and partly to make it look less like a sad frozen burrito. I think it worked pretty well for that! One could have had some Mexican rice and canned refried beans on the side if one had a bigger appetite than me and it would have looked even more respectable.

Not pictured, I think it only responsible to tell you I also took a multivitamin and an algae-based DHA supplement. I know that doctors say you can get what you need from food (so long as you get fortified sources of B12), but without the supplements I would not have hit my targets on this day (and even at that, this was not a great food day, and I do much better on the days I have more oomph). I am not the kind of doctor who could inform you about nutrition or anything else medical; I'm a historian. But I do think it's important to acknowledge that this vegan diet of mine gets help from supplements.

I also had, not pictured, a bit of dark chocolate and a graham cracker with some herbal tea. These are supplements of a different kind.

Before the pandemic, these struggle days would involve less effort, but I think both the need for a visual appeal to my food and the fact that convenience is hard to come by in this situation meant I had to try just a bit harder. And maybe I'll carry some of what I've learned about that into post-pandemic struggle days. Sure, there are TV dinners one can eat straight from their trays. Sometimes one can stop by the gas station for a cup of hummus and pretzels because packing a lunch was too hard. There are a host of ways to make an easy sandwich. When all else fails, one can have cereal for dinner (and I have--even this week!--when it is truly impossible to imagine doing anything else). But one can also try just a tiny bit harder and feel a bit better about life, too. When I find the reserves to take care of myself, that is its own reward. So here's to frozen burritos with pretty garnishes.