Day 4: Vegans have more fun.

I did something I hate today. I went to Mother's Market. But it was SO worth it. This vegan cookie sandwich and vegan chocolate brownie were exactly what we needed today (even if they were $3.99 each!).

Breakfast: Chicken Sausage Omelette

eggs
chicken sausage
1 tomato, diced
1/4 of a yellow onion, finely chopped
a few sprigs of cilantro, finely chopped
1 avocado, sliced

Start by grilling the sausage in a pan. Trader Joe's makes some fantastic chicken sausage--the one I got was maple-flavored.  Once the sausage is cooked, remove it from the pan and add the onions, after 2-3 minutes, add the tomatoes and cilantro for another 1-2 minutes. Remove that from the pan, and add the eggs (already beaten). I like to do about 3 eggs per omelette. Here is a link to some great tips for making the perfect omelette.  Once it's all said and done, sprinkle the avocado on top.

Lunch: Taco Salad

Yes. This actually is a picture of my lunch. Some friends from Maine were in town, so we met them for lunch in downtown Huntington Beach. In my experience, Mexican food and Thai food are the easiest to eat on the Maker's Diet. I had a taco salad with lettuce, shredded beef, pico de gallo, onions, cilantro and avocado. I used salsa instead of dressing. It was delicious. I forgot to take a picture of it. Blame it on the cute baby.  If you're in this area and you haven't been to Stuffed, you need to go!

Dinner: Flank steak with spring salad and avocado

Flank steak:
Remove the steak from its packaging and let it come to room temp. Rub the steak with salt, pepper and crushed garlic (my favorite recipe also adds brown sugar to that rub....but that's not quite gonna make the cut on this diet). Grill in a pan on MedHi heat, turning about every 5 minutes or so.

Wanna know how to know when it's done? Check out this awesome article on how to know how well-cooked a steak is without using a thermometer. I swear by it. I just explained it to my husband as I was writing this up.....He's now convinced that God clearly wanted us to be successful grillers or he wouldn't have created our hands that way. Anyhow, once the steak is cooked to your level of done-ness, remove it from the pan and let it rest for about 10 minutes. Then slice it against the grain.

Salad:
I simply used a bag of spring mix from Trader Joe's and an avocado. I made the dressing. This is my favorite salad dressing and is quite simple to make. I got the recipe from a Food Network magazine a few years ago:

Whisk together:
2 Tbs apple cider vinegar
1 tsp mustard
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper

Then add:
1/4 cup olive oil



Right before dinner, I made the dreaded trip to Mother's Market to get some fun goodies. I got the cookie sandwich and the brownie, and I also picked up a few things we'll be experimenting with over the next few days. I also picked up an old favorite to cap the night off with.