Vegetarian for a Week Challenge – Day Four

We’re in the thick of it now. We’ve made it to day four of the vegetarian challenge and really no complaints. It hasn’t been nearly as difficult as I had anticipated, but I also don’t foresee a complete lifestyle change coming out of this.

Watch now as I recap our day four vegetarian meals, including a tip for stretching your economical and nutritional dollar.

Day Four Vegetarian Menu

Breakfast – Cheerios. Just another quick and simple bowl of cereal topped with skim milk.

Lunch – Black Bean and Mushroom Quesadillas. In the video I explain how you can easily use leftover vegetables to make a scrumptious quesadilla for lunch. From our Southwestern Salad I saved black beans and red peppers, combined those with sliced baby bellas (a petite portobello mushroom) and fresh spinach leaves. That is sauteed then folded into a dry whole wheat tortilla with just a little reduced-fat cheddar cheese. We had this with some fresh salsa and a sliced avocado.

Dinner – Quinoa Pasta with Creamy Pesto and Tomatoes. This is a recipe of Rocco DiSpirito’s that he prepared on Biggest Loser 6. The quinoa is a gluten-free linguine-style pasta. The flavor isn’t really distinguishable from traditional or wheat pasta, but ideal for those with a wheat allergy. The creamy pesto is what makes this dish and it had a really robust flavor. Click above for the recipe, but it includes fresh basil, pine nuts, Parmigianno-Regianno cheese, garlic and fat-free sour cream. That is blended in a food processor, then tossed with the pasta and roasted tomatoes. It was fantastic! Served with a salad of spring greens and balsamic vinaigrette.