Day Two has come and gone. Nothing terribly noteworthy about today, except for a couple of conclusions. 1) Some vegan foods taste fantastic and 2) if I ever hope to cook nonvegan foods, I have to be okay with tasting whatever I've made to be sure it doesn't suck. Case in point: I brought dinner to a friend tonight who has just had a baby. I don't really follow recipes and as I mixed the sauce for her macaroni & cheese, I found myself freaking out a little, afraid it would taste off because I couldn't check it. I suddenly had this image of never being able to have others over for dinner because I'd be too afraid to "blindly" cook for them. My mind played over several scenarios and basically ended with myself dying alone in an apartment being eaten by dogs.
Just kidding.
But seriously. Cooking requires taste testing to make sure the dish becomes what you want it to be. How am I supposed to cook for my husband and kids and friends and family etc. if I'm not able to do something as crucial as a taste test?
Now, some may argue that this is cheating. But guess what! I get to make the rules of my veganism! And the rule I concluded on today is that tasting a bite is okay, swallowing the bite is not. I took two tastes of the sauce tonight and then promptly spit them out. I even rinsed my mouth for good measure. I feel a little like I cheated, but I'm hoping those are feelings that subside with time.
But the most exciting news of the day was finally making it to the store to pick up a couple of vegan-friendly foods to make life feel more normal. I was not disappointed! I bought some vanilla coconut milk (for my dear cereal), vegan butter (toast! toast! toast!), daiya mozzarella (pizzzzzzza), nutritional yeast (cheese flavoring? Highly suspicious), and some coconut ice cream.
Coconut milk was tasty. I'm going to start making my own though, since I don't like all of the extra crap they add to the milk. That's one thing I'm really noticing about vegan/vegetarian animal product substitutes. The majority of them are "fortified." Well, here's the deal. I don't like it. I don't want extra garbage added to my food, even if it is a vitamin. I prefer to get my vitamins either from an approved supplement or the food I eat. My general rule is that if it's not something I keep in my kitchen to cook with, I probably don't want to be eating it. I looked at several different types of hemp milk and the additives were really off-putting. Needless to say, I'll be making my own hemp and coconut milk from here on out, methinks. Anyway, back to the reviews.
So coconut milk=tasty. Vegan butter. YES. It's Earth Balance spread and it actually tastes better than margarine. It even looks like butter and spreads like it. It was quite enjoyable on my toast. Pleasantly surprising, I say.
Daiya cheese- haven't tasted it yet, but my hopes aren't high. It looks like Playdoh. Yeah.
Nutritional yeast flakes are an interesting thing. Everything I've read about vegan cooking seems to sing their tiny, flakey praises. But let me tell you, that crap tastes just like yeast. Brewer's yeast, to be exact. True story: when I was trying to increase my breast milk supply, I bought brewer's yeast to add to my food. One day, I thought to myself, why not just cut out the middle man and eat a spoonful of brewer's yeast? I'll just come right out and say that I did it, and it was one of the worst decisions of my life. That stuff sticks like glue to your mouth and teeth and it is impossible to get rid of it, even with brushing. The flavor.... ugh, the flavor! Just awful! And as I ate those nutritional yeast flakes, the terrible awfulness of the brewer's yeast incident threatened to overthrow me. So gross. But I will try using it in a recipe and see if it is still as repulsive then.
Coconut ice cream.... mmmm..... the one I got is chocolate and hazelnut and it's delicious. It's nice to know I can still have the occasional treat whilst avoiding meat and milk.
So there are some of my new discoveries. More word later on the daiya. Some things were great, others disgusting, but what I've really concluded throughout today's shopping experience is the answer to one of life's most interesting questions. The fact of it is yes, you can be a fat vegan. I hope to be one of those thinner vegans in a few years' time, but we shall see. I'm pretty attached to this ice cream, but my goal with this whole thing is to eat more produce. And ain't nobody ever get fat on produce.
Wednesday, September 18, 2013
Tuesday, September 17, 2013
Day One
Today... today was my first day as a vegan. And since I've failed to record my reasoning thus far for arriving at this decision, I'm trying to stave off future regret by documenting a bit of my journey of change.
I've been toying with the idea of becoming a vegetarian for a few years now. Between the ethical reasons, the environmental reasons, the health reasons, and the religious reasons, I've concluded that this is the right thing for me. I hadn't planned on being a vegan; I was content to still eat milk and eggs and whatever because I felt there was less cruelty involved with them, especially since I was buying organic/free-range/cage-free/grass-fed/whatever. But the more research I did, the more I allowed myself to acknowledge the things I'd suspected but not taken the time to confirm, the more I realized that, in order to feel peace with myself, I needed to go beyond vegetarian and do my best to live a vegan lifestyle. I know there's a lot of debate about what makes somebody a vegan, but the conclusion I've arrived at is that it's closed for debate. I'm still deciding what that term means to me, but with time, I'll figure it out exactly and do that which is comfortable for me.
But in the mean time, here I am. A Day One vegan. It's strange to feel both liberated and confined. I've pretty much always been passionate about cooking food and the experience of eating and to know that so many things are off-limits now is a weird thought. I guess it shouldn't be too weird; I'm Mormon. You'd think I'd be used to the idea of not being able to consume certain things. But for a girl who usually subsides on a bowl of cereal with milk and loves cheese as much as Disneyland, knowing those aren't things I'm likely to taste again is kind of bizarre.
But then I stop to consider the reasons why I'm doing this and I realize that even though I love the flavor of a medium rare steak and there's something ultimately satisfying about a glass of cold skim milk with a fresh chocolate chip cookie, there way that those delicious tastes are made available is not something I'm comfortable supporting and promoting. The truth of where those things come from makes them so much less appealing. I might miss them for a minute, but consideration given to the process of ascertaining them helps chase that longing away.
Regardless of the craving, I'm sure there's some vegetarian hack out there for me to satiate myself with, so I'm not too concerned. Though I should be straightforward in admitting that my main personal goal in this whole thing is to become healthier. I'm not looking for a bunch of weird "meat" products that have 60 ingredients I don't recognize, or cheese that has to entice people into believing "it melts." I'm a whole foods kind of girl. I don't want to become a starchatarian who doesn't eat meat but doesn't eat vegetables. No, thanks. My goal is to rid myself of the guilt that comes from animal-based products and reap the benefits that come from eating a plant-based diet. Because, let's face it, I'm not healthy. I weigh 220lbs at 5'5. I exercise occasionally, but not as vigorously as I used to. I am tired all of the time. My back and knees hurt. My feet hurt all of the time! I don't know what the deal is with it, but sometimes I'm afraid to take a step when I'm holding my baby for fear of falling. It's no bueno. I also have skin issues with random rashes and eczema. I'm positive that my cholesterol is high, though blood testing next week will confirm it. I also suspect I have some level of insulin resistance, based on a lot of research done after failing to breastfeed two children due to insufficient milk supply. More on that later. I'm also looking to kick a serious sugar addiction and eventually convert myself to being a strictly plant-based eater with a once-in-a-blue-moon treat. I want to be healthy. I want to feel good about my body and my choices. And I want to know that I'm helping create a better existence for myself and the rest of God's creatures.
I think it can be done. I hope it can be done. Because the wheel is in motion and I don't want it to stop. Today's eating wasn't the best it could've been, but it also could've been worse. To recap:
Weight: 220lbs approx. (must buy scale battery!)
Breakfast: steel cut oats w/ almonds, mixed berries, coconut, cinnamon, chia seeds, and hemp seeds.
Lunch: peanut butter & jelly sandwich w/ apple sauce
Dinner: pasta w/ vegetable marinara sauce, huge spinach salad with bell peppers, tomatoes, carrots, red onion, olives, cashews, and a balsamic vinegar dressing.
Snack: farro w/ vegetables
Lots of water
I know, I know. Too much grain. But it's a start and pretty much everything here was healthy, aside from the white bread I ate my sandwich on. But in terms of vegan requirements, not too shabby. Plus there's like seven servings of produce in there, so I'm going to declare it a decent day. Probably pretty similar to what we'll have tomorrow night.
Speaking of tomorrow, it's almost then. So I'm off to bed now. Another goal of mine is to get more sleep at night, though having an almost-8-month-old and an early-riser 3.5 year old helps nothing. But a girl can dream. And so shall I.
Till next time.
I've been toying with the idea of becoming a vegetarian for a few years now. Between the ethical reasons, the environmental reasons, the health reasons, and the religious reasons, I've concluded that this is the right thing for me. I hadn't planned on being a vegan; I was content to still eat milk and eggs and whatever because I felt there was less cruelty involved with them, especially since I was buying organic/free-range/cage-free/grass-fed/whatever. But the more research I did, the more I allowed myself to acknowledge the things I'd suspected but not taken the time to confirm, the more I realized that, in order to feel peace with myself, I needed to go beyond vegetarian and do my best to live a vegan lifestyle. I know there's a lot of debate about what makes somebody a vegan, but the conclusion I've arrived at is that it's closed for debate. I'm still deciding what that term means to me, but with time, I'll figure it out exactly and do that which is comfortable for me.
But in the mean time, here I am. A Day One vegan. It's strange to feel both liberated and confined. I've pretty much always been passionate about cooking food and the experience of eating and to know that so many things are off-limits now is a weird thought. I guess it shouldn't be too weird; I'm Mormon. You'd think I'd be used to the idea of not being able to consume certain things. But for a girl who usually subsides on a bowl of cereal with milk and loves cheese as much as Disneyland, knowing those aren't things I'm likely to taste again is kind of bizarre.
But then I stop to consider the reasons why I'm doing this and I realize that even though I love the flavor of a medium rare steak and there's something ultimately satisfying about a glass of cold skim milk with a fresh chocolate chip cookie, there way that those delicious tastes are made available is not something I'm comfortable supporting and promoting. The truth of where those things come from makes them so much less appealing. I might miss them for a minute, but consideration given to the process of ascertaining them helps chase that longing away.
Regardless of the craving, I'm sure there's some vegetarian hack out there for me to satiate myself with, so I'm not too concerned. Though I should be straightforward in admitting that my main personal goal in this whole thing is to become healthier. I'm not looking for a bunch of weird "meat" products that have 60 ingredients I don't recognize, or cheese that has to entice people into believing "it melts." I'm a whole foods kind of girl. I don't want to become a starchatarian who doesn't eat meat but doesn't eat vegetables. No, thanks. My goal is to rid myself of the guilt that comes from animal-based products and reap the benefits that come from eating a plant-based diet. Because, let's face it, I'm not healthy. I weigh 220lbs at 5'5. I exercise occasionally, but not as vigorously as I used to. I am tired all of the time. My back and knees hurt. My feet hurt all of the time! I don't know what the deal is with it, but sometimes I'm afraid to take a step when I'm holding my baby for fear of falling. It's no bueno. I also have skin issues with random rashes and eczema. I'm positive that my cholesterol is high, though blood testing next week will confirm it. I also suspect I have some level of insulin resistance, based on a lot of research done after failing to breastfeed two children due to insufficient milk supply. More on that later. I'm also looking to kick a serious sugar addiction and eventually convert myself to being a strictly plant-based eater with a once-in-a-blue-moon treat. I want to be healthy. I want to feel good about my body and my choices. And I want to know that I'm helping create a better existence for myself and the rest of God's creatures.
I think it can be done. I hope it can be done. Because the wheel is in motion and I don't want it to stop. Today's eating wasn't the best it could've been, but it also could've been worse. To recap:
Weight: 220lbs approx. (must buy scale battery!)
Breakfast: steel cut oats w/ almonds, mixed berries, coconut, cinnamon, chia seeds, and hemp seeds.
Lunch: peanut butter & jelly sandwich w/ apple sauce
Dinner: pasta w/ vegetable marinara sauce, huge spinach salad with bell peppers, tomatoes, carrots, red onion, olives, cashews, and a balsamic vinegar dressing.
Snack: farro w/ vegetables
Lots of water
I know, I know. Too much grain. But it's a start and pretty much everything here was healthy, aside from the white bread I ate my sandwich on. But in terms of vegan requirements, not too shabby. Plus there's like seven servings of produce in there, so I'm going to declare it a decent day. Probably pretty similar to what we'll have tomorrow night.
Speaking of tomorrow, it's almost then. So I'm off to bed now. Another goal of mine is to get more sleep at night, though having an almost-8-month-old and an early-riser 3.5 year old helps nothing. But a girl can dream. And so shall I.
Till next time.
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