Category Archives: vegan quarantine

QUARANTINE WEIGHT LOSS


Happy Thursday to all. My quarantine started rocky in mid March when my allergies sent my health anxiety to new levels, coupled with a world pandemic. I had goals for the sequestered time, but all I did was worry and fear, and complain about my symptoms while watching Netflix with my hubby James. Ozark is really great btw, a world more messed up than the one we are living  through.

decided this week as I am starting to feel better to get off my but and start blogging about my new quarantine weight loss journey. As many of you know I had weight loss and fitness success, and a few years later gained half after some personal losses. I’ve tried time and time again to start over and I dropped the ball. That’s the beauty with dropping the ball, you can pick it up again and try harder. That’s where I am now.

in the last month I ate more pasta than usual, and I didn’t even attempt to count my points. Today is weigh in and I currently weigh 175 lbs. Today is day one, I’m up 3 lbs. I’m hoping my allergies have cleared up so I can focus on all my goals, fitness, weight loss, wellness and creative goals. I plan to start fresh with the WW app (Weight Watchers) because I plan to incorporate the 80/20 rule. It’s always worked for me in the past. 80% of the time I will be eating clean vegan with low salt, sugars, and oils and 20% or less of the time I will count in occasional small splurges like vegan cream cheese on my toast. The idea is to eat highly nutritious vegan food but also enjoy in life’s little indulgences, counting them in as part of my daily points. I believe Friday we are grocery shopping to stock up for the week. I’m cooking a lot more these days. 

Tonight I’m making Split Pea Soup for dinner. I’m going to bake some vegan treats to enjoy with coffee or tea. I will be posting more about what I eat in a day, my grocery haul and my quarantine fitness routine. All things I’m doing to try to find wellness, joy and fulfillment during these unprecedented times. I’m making a commitment to myself and accountability to anyone who is reading my words. I’ve fallen before but I keep getting back up, bruised backside and all. There is no failure, only the fear to begin again, so just pick up where you left off. With love and light Rose Bruno Bailey

I will leave you with a few quotes about failure and starting over fresh by some very important historical figures.

 

“I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.”
― Thomas A. Edison


“It is hard to fail, but it is worse never to have tried to succeed.”
― Theodore Roosevelt

“Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.”
― Winston S. Churchill

“Rock bottom became the solid foundation on which I rebuilt my life.” 

― J.K. Rowling

“It’s not how far you fall, but how high you bounce that counts.” 
― Zig Ziglar

 

 

THE BEST VEGAN LASAGNA

Vegan Lasagna is a holiday go to in our household, when we don’t want the traditional vegan roast with all the trimmings. It’s super easy to make and it will leave you with leftovers for days, which is a quarantine win win. My hubby James said this Vegan Lasagna was my best ever. I hope you enjoy this recipe as much as we did. Feel free to email me @rosebrunobailey.com with any questions. You can also find me on Instagram @rosebrunobailey and Facebook @mychangeforaten and @rosebrunobailey. Manga.


Ingredients and instructions for Vegan Bolognese Sauce

Two large cans crushed tomatoes. One can diced tomatoes. One large onion, diced. 10 cloves of garlic. ( we like a lot of garlic, you can use as much as you like). Two packages of lightlife grounds ( or gardein) dried basil, dried oregano, salt, pepper, extra virgin olive oil. Splash red wine( optional).  In a large pot add about 4 tbs olive oil and heat, add diced onions and sauté, half way through add garlic and season with salt, pepper, dried basil and dried oregano. I don’t measure, and I’m generous with the herbs.  Sauté and add two cans crushed tomatoes, one can diced tomatoes, and mix and add two containers vegan grounds. Stir well and again season with salt, pepper, oregano and basil. Add splash of red wine if desired. Cook on high for five minutes, stirring and turn flame to low and simmer uncovered for an hour and a half, stirring frequently. Let sauce sit for a bit before building lasagna. You can make this the night before. It’s a delicious rich red sauce you can use often. It’s our go to sauce for spaghetti.

Ingredients for Tofu Ricotta  

Two packages of firm tofu, drained. No need to press. 1/3 cup unsweetened plain soy milk, or a generous splash. Juice of one lemon. Salt, Pepper, Nutritional Yeast, Dried Basil, Dried parsley.  In a large bowl crumble two packets of firm tofu with a fork, breaking it down. Add juice of one lemon, splash of soy milk and mash and blend well until you get a ricotta cheese like consistency. Season with generous basil and parsley and nutritional yeast. Salt and pepper and keep mixing. It should look just like ricotta cheese.

Ingredients for Vegan Lasagna.
One pot of vegan Bolognese. ( see above), Vegan Ricotta (see above). Two packages of No cook Vegan Lasagna Noodles. ( look for no egg). Daiya Vegan Mozzarella cheese. Olive oil spray for pan. Tin foil.  I used a long deep lasagna pan and lined it with foil. Building Vegan Lasagna. Line your pan with Foil covering all sides, and spray with olive oil spray. Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. Add a generous later of vegan bolognese sauce to bottom of the pans. Start lining up no boil lasagna noodles, covering the whole bottom of pan. I broke pieces to keep the whole bottom of the pan covered in noodles. Start layering vegan ricotta on top of the noodles and spread evenly. Repeat sauce, noodles, vegan ricotta cheese over and over til you build a high lasagna. As you get to the top of the pan add a final layer of sauce and dust with nutritional yeast. Cover with foil and bake 35 minutes. Remove foil and add a generous layer of Daiya Mozzarella and bake an additional 10 minutes. Let sit 10 minutes or more before cutting. We love this, it’s easy and tastes very much like the Lasagna I grew up with. I think you will love it. I hope everyone is safe and I send prayers to everyone who needs it now. These are unprecedented times, a little vegan comfort food is soothing for the soul.
Happy Eating!! Love and Light,

Rose