The other day Kim asked this question:

"I was wondering if you had tried any of the recipes from the E2L book that weren't soup oriented... I sometimes wonder how filling soup alone can be. Is there a reason why you tend towards a very "liquidy" E2L? Just curious. :)"

I went to post a comment to answer; but I ended up writing a book and thought it would make a half-way decent post, so here goes:

Two recipes that I have tried that aren't soups are the Mexican Lasagna/Enchilada Casserole and an Eggplant Lasagna (using eggplant instead of noodles) from Fat Free Vegan. They were both very good and I would make them again. Other non-soup dishes I have made are steamed veggies with some seasonings and a little bit of Braggs and also wraps with hummus and other veggies.

I realize that I usually make soups and haven’t tried too many non-soup dishes; I have found that I really like soup and it can be very filling. I like to make soups which include beans to get in my daily allotment of beans and make the soup more filling than it would be without the beans. Since I try my best to stay away from grains and starchy veggies soups are a good and easy way for me to get these things in.

Another reason that I have gravitated toward a "liquidy" ETL diet it for ease and simplicity. I'm not a morning person, so putting all of my frozen fruit and banana together on the weekends and making a quick smoothie to take to work with me on weekdays works very well. For me, soup is also easy to make ahead and freeze in individual containers to take to work for lunch. Since I’m the only person in my household who is ETLing, it’s more convenient for me to make one thing on the weekend and eat it throughout the week rather than cooking something every night.

In my early ETLing days I did try to eat all my food whole – whole fruits and big salads and huge bowls of steamed veggies. Over time I evolved into a system that I am very happy with (when temptation doesn’t get the better of me). I prefer to eat a “liquidy” ETL because it’s what works for me. The food still retains all of its nutrients and fiber but is just easier to ingest. I prefer not to take an hour and a half to eat breakfast – but that’s just me. I think that everyone has to figure out how to make the plan work for them. I’m in a place right now where I am very happy with the formula I’ve come up with but it took a while to get here.

I’ve never felt that I have the patience or time to cook a different meal every night… I guess that’s part of the reason that I used to have a vegetarian diet made up of a lot of frozen food and take out. Not healthy! Now I have a much healthier diet that is for the most part just as simple as it was before.

In other news - still trying to get back on track - it's tough but I am getting back into the right mindset. I had a few good days this week and a few not-so-good days too. I've made some good decisions and some not so good. Each day I am trying my best and each day will get better and better.