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Sunday Cheat Meals

February 4, 2010

Reggie Wayne Sunday Cheat MealsThere’s never a day that passes when I don’t get several emails about my diet. So today I’m going to share with you some of the stuff I eat on a normal football Sunday. That’s my big cheat day and we start it off early with the ESPN pre-game show going on at 10am while we fire up the kitchen. During the fall, this day often starts even earlier with a trip to the farmers market. Even though it’s a cheat day we still like to keep some healthy, fresh produce on the menu.

Since I eat pretty clean throughout the week my goal on this day is to jam down as many junk food calories as possible. But even at that, I try not to get into too much deep fried, saturated fat, heart attack food.

Breakfast will often be something like blueberry buckwheat quinoa pancakes. Yup, all that in one cake. We smother that in maple syrup and top it with some more fresh blueberries. This will be followed up by a bowl of fresh fruit topped with shredded coconut.

Since pizza and football go so well together we always make a few pizzas throughout the day with crusts that we buy at Whole Foods and some home made or jarred, organic tomato sauce. On one of them we’ll throw an olive tapenade with some onions. On another we will put some fake ground beef and peppers and onions. Sometime’s we’ll get fake meatballs or sausage and put this on a pie as well. Depending on the day or mood we’re in we may or may not add soy cheese to the pies. Or some days we’ll mix and match. I don’t eat these fake meat or cheese products during the week at all and avoid all soy and wheat, in fact. But on cheat days all the rules get broken.

One of my favorite pizzas is the beet and sweet potato pizza. We bake the beets and diced sweet potatoes first, and then put them on top of the pizza before putting it in the oven. It’s incredible.

We almost always make homemade hummus and have a huge tray of vegetables to counterbalance the junk food. Along with the veggies I will also go through an entire bag of Lundberg rice chips. Sometimes two. And a sleeve of some type of vegan cookie. Oh, and a bag of dark chocolate covered almonds from Whole Foods. Honestly, I could get through the day just on those. Give me a sack of those and I’m a happy man.

Then we get to the four o’clock game…

Around half time of this game is when we are looking at “dinner.” This could be fake riblets, kale slaw, baked beans, rolls and a big salad. Another favorite is veggie burgers and dogs on fresh rolls with sautéed onions, sliced avocadoes, homemade fries and ketchup.

Dinner could also be eggplant parm with brown rice pasta like we had last Sunday, compliments of my good friend and master chef, Michael DeSanti. Mike makes an incredible assortment of vegetable based dishes that always make up a large part of Sunday’s menu. One of my favorite green dishes is sautéed rainbow chard.

Other times dinner will just be some kind of lentil stew with onions, celery, carrots, kale, garlic, spices and potatoes. If we don’t have potatoes we might just pour this over brown rice pasta.

On days we don’t want to put too much effort in to dinner we will just make fake sausage and peppers sandwiches. There’s also an assortment of quinoa and brown rice dishes we make as well that I will cover another time.

By the time the eight o’clock game rolls around we are getting ready for dessert (as if I hadn’t had enough already). I’ll always whack down a pint or two of Purely Decadent coconut milk ice cream. This will be accompanied by some home made cookies or brownies and a glass of almond milk.

Recently we made a raw chocolate pudding consisting of avocadoes, carob powder and maple syrup. Combine all the ingredients in the food processor, chill for about 10-15 minutes and then shovel it down. Really good stuff.

At that point of the night I’m done and will be lucky if I can keep my eyes open to see the fourth quarter. On Monday morning it’s back to clean eating for the next six days. And a much needed visit with the Prowler.

Please leave your comments below.

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Written by jasonferruggia · Filed Under Nutrition 

Comments

14 Responses to “Sunday Cheat Meals”

  1. DougNo Gravatar on February 4th, 2010 8:50 am

    No beer? That’s my downfall. Maybe I should switch to wine or scotch?

  2. BobNo Gravatar on February 4th, 2010 10:29 am

    Oh, man, I’m glad to hear you like that Purely Decadent coconut milk ice cream. That stuff is so good.

  3. DeanNo Gravatar on February 4th, 2010 1:36 pm

    WHAT ABOUT BEER? Or some goose on the rock with some blu cheese olives? :P

    You honestly have energy for training on Mon?
    I’d be up for some Prowler & that’s about it. A good 15 min. killer session would do just fine.

  4. MattNo Gravatar on February 4th, 2010 1:44 pm

    Jay, this post is just what I needed.
    Effin awesome Jay. As a vegan myself, it’s always helpful to get ideas/recipes from those that know. One of my biggest issues is being able to eat enough calories without getting full half way into a veggie based meal….since they seem to satiate me quickly. Any tips..or is it just force feeding! lol Plus, I am trying to move away from the fake meat stuff and soy and wheat, but then find it hard to know what to eat. Where do you get your ideas from? Trial and error? Specific cookbooks? Sounds like I need a friend like your master chef buddy!
    This post has given me some great ideas. Would love to see more posts like this one, more recipes, and also examples of your clean eating days. It seems like you have put on some good size again since your shoulder woes. How much more do you plan on putting on?
    Thanks for sharing…hope to read more soon! I could definitely use more info like this as my training is pretty solid…but it’s my eating that has always been the problem. Currently just under 170…once in my life I broke the 170 barrier, just can’t seem to get there again. 180 would be my goal…..
    Anyways…don’t get annoyed with all the emails about your diet lol. Keep sharing..I know I appreciate and need the help.
    M

  5. Chris N.No Gravatar on February 4th, 2010 2:22 pm

    Wow, great post. These vegan diets are definitely different. It’s interesting to see what you eat though. The coconut ice cream milk sounds awesome. I try to eat as much coconut as I can. As far as the “saturated fat, heart attack food”, that’s not true, for me at least. I eat as ~30% of my calories from natural healthy saturated fat and my cholesterol levels have improved dramatically. Great article in Men’s Health on the saturated fat myth:

    http://www.menshealth.com/men/nutrition/food-for-fitness/saturated-fat/article/a03ddd2eaab85110vgnvcm10000013281eac

    Thanks for all the training info you put there. It has changed my life.

  6. DylanNo Gravatar on February 5th, 2010 5:40 am

    Jay

    That’s a really useful post, thanks for the inspiration as usual. The muscle mags and websites are full of comments like “oh one day a week you can eat anything” but I never really believe them. Rolling off to KFC for the afternoon cannot be a good idea, ever. To hear about some real practical vegan meals instead is really helpful. Just one thing: avocado, carob powder and maple syrup?? Dude, really!?

  7. jasonferruggiaNo Gravatar on February 5th, 2010 6:11 am

    Doug,
    I have cut way down on my alcohol consumption over the last few years and am just not really that into it anymore.

    Bob,
    Purely Decadent is the best.

    Dean,
    I feel incredible on Monday, pumped full of glycogen and strong.

    Matt,
    Glad you liked it. I will definitely add more of these.

    Chris,
    I just meant deep fried crap when I said that.

    Dylan,
    I know it sounds gross but it’s amazing.

  8. ChrisNo Gravatar on February 5th, 2010 10:00 am

    Jay,

    Which vegan cheese do you find the best for making pizzas (meltiness, cheesiness, etc)?

    -Chris

  9. LyleNo Gravatar on February 5th, 2010 5:47 pm

    I am gluten free, what is your recipe on the pancakes?

  10. DaveNo Gravatar on February 6th, 2010 12:13 pm

    Maybe I missed it, where did you list the junk foods?

  11. Justin BosleyNo Gravatar on February 7th, 2010 2:18 pm

    I recognize some of these recipes from the Thrive diet. Those pizzas are amazing!

  12. RyanNo Gravatar on February 9th, 2010 12:57 am

    wow..clearly i’m going to the WRONG damn places for superbowl snacks…sounds like you pig out well, jay…

    you should put up recipes id love to try the blueberry quinoa pancakes…

    very good stuff!

  13. Michael DeSantiNo Gravatar on February 9th, 2010 1:18 pm

    Chris

    The cheese that we use at Jay’s for pizzas and meals requiring cheese is Daiya from Whole Foods. i may be off a touch on the spelling but it is actually carried by Whole Foods itself. it may not be in the “soy cheese” section but ask anyone at the deli counter and they should be able to get some in your hands. it melts, tastes great and it doesnt contain any soy, which is a plus as well. it is made from a root and the only allergen it contains are nuts. give it a try and let me know what you think about it.

    enjoy

    Michael

  14. RandyNo Gravatar on February 9th, 2010 8:46 pm

    6 days in ketosis, then Sunday cheat. This is what I do always. Sunday meal for me is dinner after church. This Sunday bought 2lbs ground sirloin. Browned and rinsed. Made it into burrito meat with seasonings and chopped onions and jalapenos. Bought package of whole wheat wraps-8 pack. Large bag of chips, 3 jars salsa. 2 cans refried beans. And a large baked potato with sour cream and salsa. Ate all this for dinner. Later came back and had my 1/2 gallon of Mackinaw Island Fudge ice cream. Went to bed and woke up 11 pounds heavier!! I always fast on Mondays and this Tuesday morning woke up 14 pounds lighter. Strong as a bull during Mondays workout. Ah, Sundays are a fun challenge.
    Randy

    http://randywoody.com

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