Day 15: Vegan Stew

Today marks the end of day 15. That means we made it over 2 weeks! It's getting easier every day, especially when we find delicious recipes like this stew! The entire recipe can be found in "30 Minute Vegan"

Step 1: Get all the ingredients ready to go!

Step 2: Saute the garlic and onions with olive oil

Step 3: Throw in the veggies

Step 4: Make the thickener, using vegetable stock and spelt flour and add it to the pot.

Step 5: Make the dumpling batter using spelt four, soy or rice milk, baking powder, and salt

Step 6: Spoon 6 dumplings into the pot and let simmer for 15 minutes

And that's it! It's delicious. For dessert, we found these amazing vegan oreos.

And as with real oreos, dipping it in (soy) milk always makes it better!

First "Foodie" Blog

Zucchini and Onion Corn Cakes with diced potatoes

Step 1: Mix grated zucchini, onion, cornmeal, salt, rice milk, spelt flour, and parsley together

Step 2: flatten 1/3 cup of the mixture onto griddle until cooked through

Step 3: Serve with some salsa! I also had diced potatoes.

Finally, it's not a meal without dessert! This is a chocolate banana and peach smoothie. It's made using chocolate soy milk, cocoa powder, 1 banana, some frozen peaches, and orange juice. Delicious!

One Week Strong

Today is day 8. That means we made it through a whole week without giving up or cheating. Right now the main struggle is dealing with all the noise from others. "Ugh, you're still doing that?" "I don't get how you can't have meat." "What are you, some kind of PETA activist?" I'm tired of explaining how it was a choice to be disciplined and to choose something that is challenging. It's weird how much one week has made a difference. I feel better, less tired, and more focused. Yesterday I went with my family to McDonalds and I didn't even want anything. That's crazy. Usually I want so many things at McDonalds that I'm always sad when I leave that I didn't order something else. The menu looked gross to me. I will say that my cravings for a delicious chocolate shake have not subsided though. I'm going to have to figure out vegan recipe for that.

Breakthrough number 2: I got Ryan to cook something! Granted, he threw like 6 ingredients in a blender to make a salad dressing, but still baby steps. It was getting exhausting cooking every single day without help after 8 hours of working.

One last plug: THANKYOU to peasandthankyou.com. Best blog ever.

Day 2: Challenge

Day 2 had me even more excited to commit to this lifestyle. I ran into a few naysayers, which solidified in my mind that I am doing the right thing for me. Normally, I would be swayed by their arguments, but on this day I realized it's not about anyone else. I made this decision for myself and not to please anyone else.



The challenge came in the evening. I had to attend an awards ceremony for work. It was immediately following work, so I didn't have time to go home and make dinner. The dinner they served was turkey, chicken cordon bleu, a pre-dressed salad, steamed veggies, green beans, and a dinner roll. The dessert served was a cupcake and ice cream. By the way, the cupcakes were sitting in front of me the whole time. It took a lot not to just grab one and eat one.

So, basically I starved for a few hours. I asked for a salad that didn't have dressing already on it and they said they didn't have any. Luckily the veggies were not steamed with butter, so I did eat a little of that to tide me over. When I FINALLY got home, dinner was not waiting on me, so I simply ate some toast with bananas and chocolate almond butter. Then I spent the rest of the evening cooking Day 3's lunch, working out, watching Glee, and going to bed early.

So today's menu:
Breakfast: oatmeal
Lunch: Hummus wrap, almonds, and pineapple
Dinner: steamed veggies, toast with chocolate almond butter, banana
Snack: Vegan peanut bar

Day 1: Success!

Finished day 1 of veganism. I guess I don't really feel differently, but I feel proud of myself for not cheating, not even a little bit :)

Meals for the day:
Breakfast: Plain Oatmeal with cinnamon
Lunch: Vegan Stew (I made this the night before)
Dinner: Hummas Wraps with naan chips
Dessert: Toasted farm bread with chocolate almond butter and bananas

Why I decided to go Vegan

I would venture to guess that the majority of vegans decide to be vegans to "save the whales" or something. Or they are in PETA and will throw flour all over your Lady Gaga meat dress. Not that I am some kind of animal cruelty lover, but that is not why I decided to go vegan.

Actually, it had nothing to do with animals at all.

A few days ago, a story came on the news about Lent and fasting. My husband decided that he liked this idea of extreme discipline. He thought it might bring him closer to God and to feel that spiritual connection again. His attempt to fast the entire day only brought him to McDonald's at 1:00 in the afternoon. I tried explaining that Jesus' DNA is half diety, so there really is no way we can compete with him on a 40 day fast.

So this brings me to why we decided to be Vegan. Neither of us are particularly religious people, but I think having a spiritual connection and being spiritual is an essential part to feeling complete in the world. Since, we can't actually fast, we decided that being Vegan is the next best thing.

In addition to all the spiritual stuff, it has great health benefits. Both of us could stand to drop a few pounds. Veganism forces you to eat less all together and more healthful things when you do eat. Also, why not? It's not going to hurt us to make better choices and be disciplined when it comes to being healthy human beings.

So, goodbye McDonalds and Wendy's and Arby's, and well you get the point. Here's to a healthy life!