Days 8 -9

This week didn't start well, but my food is definitely going well. I haven't had any temptations since being home, and I even whipped up another batch of steel cut oats for breakfast. And last night? I made blueberry sour cream muffins using this recipe. I used Ener-G Egg Replacer and Toffuti Sour Supreme, and they turned out fantastic! Beautiful, moist and delicious.



So... it's kind of weird, but I feel like I'm not eating very healthy. Which is nuts because I'm definitely eating healthier than I have in a long time. But still, because I've been trying to to adjust to this new diet, I've made sure to have oodles of treats so I didn't feel deprived. S'mores, oatmeal cookie ice cream sammies, fried tater tots... And yet my body is craving more of the good stuff, so I think cutting down on the treats will naturally occur as I continue this journey. Wow I never thought I'd say that.

Also? I think I need to start working out again...

Days 5 -7

A few things...

In order to satisfy my cravings for salt and fat, I hit up Chick-Fil-A a couple days ago for their infamous waffle fries. About halfway in, I suddenly realized... I don't want this. It felt like my tongue was being covered in this film of grease that prevented me from tasting anything at all. (Does that make sense??) So, I stopped. And threw the rest away. That was a first.

I spent the weekend in Dallas with my parents, and my Mom made me bibimbap, which is essentially a bowl of rice and loads of Korean "side dishes" (aka banchan) all mixed together with gochujang. Typically some sort of meat is also mixed in, and the entire thing is topped with a delectable fried egg (I have, ahem had, a thing for fried eggs). Obviously mine was made sans meat and egg, but it was still delicious. And check out the colors! You really can't do better than that.

Before:

After:

Despite the deliciousness of the bibimbap, Saturday was tres difficult. Walking into a Korean bakery? Hard. Getting a free chocolate chip cookie at lunch and having to blindly hand it over to my Mom? Hard. Not being able to enjoy a cup of coffee at home b/c my parents didn't have any nondairy milk, and I don't take my coffee black? Hard. Oh and I still had the cheesies.

I realized just how vital home cooking is when you're eating vegan. You get sick of all the tasteless salads and plain baked potatoes, the only options at most meat-centric lunch spots. You want dessert, but you can't have any because you didn't bake them, and there's no Whole Foods anywhere near you, and your parents certainly don't have the ingredients necessary to whip up something.

Does this get easier? Being in the real world and being vegan?

Day 4: Heading North

Day 4 restored my faith in Austin restaurants. I had lunch plans with a friend at North, a "Modern Italian Restaurant" at The Domain - Austin's newest upscale luxury outdoor shopping mall (aka Dallas wannabe). Now, one might suspect that an Italian restaurant wouldn't be the best choice for a vegan, seeing as how most American-Italian dishes include copious amounts of cheese and cream. But I took a look at the menu beforehand and saw a couple of salad options that could easily be made sans cheese, and I figured it would be a better choice than California Pizza Kitchen.

But when I got to the restaurant, I found myself wanting something heartier and warmer than a salad. I wanted pasta. After scanning the menu, I semi-unapologetically (really trying to work on not apologizing for my requests, seeing as how there's no reason for me to be sorry) asked our waitress what pasta dishes could easily be made without dairy. She informed me that they actually have a dairy-free marked menu and brought it for me. Yay! I selected a yummy and fresh-sounding angel hair/tomato/basil concoction and ordered it sans ricotta. I also requested the addition of some greens (kale).

Not only did my lunch arrive in all its dairy-free glory, but the manager even came by twice to make sure that everything tasted good and met my expectations. Um, hello! TAKE NOTE, PAGGI HOUSE!!

And, for the record, my pasta was delicious. Fresh, warming and satisfying. I cannot begin to tell you how awesome it feels to know that I can dine at Italian restaurants and eat more than lettuce. :)

For dinner, I made bean burritos, and while they were good, next time I'm going to add more to them - like Mexican rice, lettuce, guac, etc. Anyone have a good Mexican rice recipe?

My friend Matt brought over his dinner that he picked up on the way - Wendy's. Now, I love Wendy's fries, but the bacon burger could not have been more unappetizing. All I could think of was the crap (literally, the fecal bacteria) swimming in that square piece of meat... yuck. He asked, like other friends have, whether I would be eating chicken and cheese again after the 21 days are up. Considering it was only Day 4, I hardly felt that I could adequately answer the question. But I did say this: I will never eat chicken again. His response? "I love my factory-farmed chicken."

Day 3: The Cheesies

Today started out well. I made a big batch of steel cut oats (see my genius "recipe" here) last night and put it in the fridge. This morning I spooned out a bowl, heated it in microwave, and added maple syrup, raisins and toasted walnuts. Quick, easy, and yum!

For lunch I came home (lucky, huh?) and made another Amy's veggie burger with all its accoutrements. This time I added my leftover guac on top, and it was extra delicious. I also wanted it to feel like more of a "naughty" meal so I fried up my tater tots in some grapeseed oil (not deep fry, just pan fry), and they were DELICIOUS. Way better than Sonic's tots. :P

Came home and plopped on the couch with Lola. Eventually my hunger came, and I reheated last night's tah dig and braised collard greens. And I ate them. And they were good... but they weren't enough. Suddenly I found myself wanting something more, something comforting and warm and gooey and... cheesy. I got hit by the cheesies (ya know... like the munchies?? ha!).

All I could think of was ooey gooey pizza, beautiful cheesy layers of lasagna, and even gross stuff like mozzarella sticks. I quickly walked into the kitchen to see what I had that could possibly satiate this craving (nondairy, of course). Nothing. Nothing sounded good, nothing looked good. I paced. I sweared. I asked Lola to talk me off the ledge. Seriously, I was this close to calling Pizza Hut...

And then I spotted a lone sweet potato. And so I baked it. And ate it with a dab of Earth Balance. (And a Mexican coke.) And I felt... better. Did I still want cheese? Yes. But I didn't eat any. And then I proceeded to listen to Colleen Patrick Goudreau's "Vegetarian Food for Thought" podcast on cow's milk. And I hopped on www.unhappycows.com and looked at these photos. And then I found the PETA Vegetarian Starter Kit (which you can download for free here), and just reading through it and being reminded of the realities/horrors of the dairy industry were enough. I don't want to be a part of that ever again.

So, I'm feeling better. I'm glad I didn't cave. But I still miss cheese.

Day 2: The Food

I think I'm going to try and blog about each day at the end of the day and have it post in the morning. Sound good? Good. :)

Okay so Day 2... I walked to the ginormous flagship Whole Foods from my office which I'd never done before! It's only about 1 mile away and yet the idea of walking seems absurd here in TX. Hate that mentality and am going to try and walk more while the weather is good.

Anyway, Whole Foods, as always, was a bit hard. The first thing I noticed/smelled/saw at the hot food bar was... King Ranch Casserole. Oh man, do you know what King Ranch Casserole is? It is heavenly. But so. not. vegan. It hurt a little to bypass the casserole and head for the salad bar, but I did it! In the end, I decided on a medley of brown rice, black beans, cilantro and lime tofu (surprisingly REALLY good), squash and steamed kale (oh and some jalapenos to spice it all up!). I thought it was going to be one of those "ugh i can't believe this is what i have to eat now that i'm vegan" meals, but it was... good. And satisfying! And I even tried to really chew my food like Alicia recommends doing in The Kind Diet. I think it made me feel fuller!

I also picked up a Sweet and Sara s'more for dessert, which was AH-MAZING. Dessert always helps. :)

For dinner I did successfully make tah dig as planned, although I must've been a bit too aggressive with the heat because the bottom layer of potatoes burned. Le sad. So it wasn't very pretty, but still delicious! I ate it with a huge side of braised collard greens. Yum!

That's all for today. I'm still going strong! Feeling good!! But still needing/wanting a ridiculous amount of sleep and getting sleepy during the day. Hmph. I wonder if that will ever go away?

Day 2 (of 21 Day Vegan Kickstart)

Yesterday was the first day of the 21 Day Vegan Kickstart, and although I've been eating mostly vegan for the past week and a half, I feel like I'm really in this now. It helps that many of you are joining me. :)

Day 1 went splendidly until dinner. Dinner was fine and vegan and all that, but I got un peu peeved at an Austin restaurant for telling me that risotto can't be made without cream. (You can read all about it here.) I was really, really craving risotto, and so that was a total bummer. Luckily I came home, took a hot bath and enjoyed a homemade pb cup and felt a lot better.

Tonight I'm planning to make Tah Dig, aka Persian potatoes and rice with mushroom confit and cilantro, a la Voracious Vegan. As soon as I saw this dish, I knew I had to make it. Crispy potatoes?? Yes, please! Doesn't it look yummy??


Ooh also - I got Vegan Brunch yesterday and should be receiving Becoming Vegan in the mail tomorrow. I promise I'm not trying to go vegan book crazy, but I think that some of these are essential to my well-being (and sanity) for the next 21 days. I want to make sure I'm getting all the vitamins and nutrients I need! I've been known to survive on french fries alone, after all...

Weekend Eats: Corn & Black Bean Quinoa Tacos, Chocolate PB Cups, Pad Thai & More!

These were super delicious. I was truly surprised that I didn't miss the cheese at all. The filling was yummy quinoa with black beans, corn, jalapeno, and lots of spices, topped with easy guac, chopped cilantro, and spicy salsa. My only complaint? I can't ever get my tortillas tasting as delicious as they do in the restaurants! Any tips? I heated mine in the oven this time and then tried them on a pan, but neither produced the warm, pliable, almost crispy but not slimy/rubbery texture that restaurants provide.

Alicia's chocolate peanut butter cups!! These are as amazing as everyone says! My only complaint is that the chocolate did not easily spread over the peanut butter because the peanut butter mixture was too hot so the chocolate just sank in. Next time I'll wait until the pb mix cools a bit. Either way, they were insanely delicious. 100x better than Reese's!

I made another green smoothie! Spinach, ground flax, peanut butter, soy milk, frozen strawberries & blueberries, and banana.

Vegan-style fast food! I made veggie burgers (used Amy's veggie burger, and I REALLY liked them) topped with organic ketchup, organic mustard, delicious bread & butter pickles, and crisp romaine and oven "fried" tater tots (from Whole Foods). SO GOOD. I'm going be making a lot of my veggie burgers at home now that I've learned that my favorite take-out veggie burger (from P Terry's) is made with cheese. I think I'm going to email the owner about that! It's an Austin chain. :)

Finally, I made pad thai with all kinds of yummy goodness: bok choy, tofu, lots of chopped peanuts, scallions, and cilantro. Unfortunately, it came out AWFUL. It looks good, right? But it was super dry, and the noodles were terrible! I don't think I soaked them long enough or correctly... I don't know. This recipe was loosely based on one my sister gave me ages ago. I managed to eat my plate, but removed all the noodles from the leftovers and plan to eat it with jasmine rice. Rice noodles, why do you hate me?

That's all, folks! I think this is the first weekend in a LONG time that I cooked every single meal. Wow! Also? I lost another pound. I feel awesome!!! Veganism ROCKS!