Veganism

My three week Vegan trial is over - and here is the result:

I'm not Vegan.

I have learned over the last several weeks what it means to be Vegan. It's so much more than a way to eat. Animal rights figure into every single decision. I admire the Vegans I have met - while I do believe in most of what they do, I don't necessarily agree with it all. It's a hard balance for me - growing up in a way that taught me reverence for every living being did not mean to not eat meat, but to raise the animal humanely and use every bit of it for something when killed for the family table. I did not like meat - and most of our dinners had names - it was a pretty easy jump for me to become Vegetarian almost as soon as I left my parent's home. What made me every stray, I really don't know - but I am very happy to be back to full-fledged Vegetarianism.

Here is the real result of my experiment - I have found enough information in the last three weeks to make me realize the health benefits of avoiding dairy and eggs. Honey is a gift from the bees to me and is very healthful. I make many of my herbal preparations with organic, local honey, and will continue to. I will still eat dairy and eggs on occasion, particularly when it appeases family members during holiday meals, etc. When I do, however, I will be sure the animals have been treated well. I am in the process of finding additional sources for small organic humane farm products.

Most of the Vegan options I have found, I will continue to use and like more than the dairy. These include Earth Balance butter replacement - Coconut or Soy milk replacement for half n half - Tofutti sour cream replacer - Tofutti cream cheese replacer - Coconut and Soy ice creams - Daiya cheese replacements. I am still experimenting with cheese replacements and will be posting a comparison soon.

I expect to eat this way at least 98% of the time, but I am not ready to call myself Vegan. Perhaps in the future, maybe even the near future, this will be true.

Peace,
michele

Going Vegan - Day 4 - I think I can

I feel really good - and I'm not really missing cheese :) Danny is really being very supportive. He got me a new book - The Vegan Table: 200 Unforgettable Recipes for Entertaining Every Guest at Every Occasion by Colleen Patrick-Goudreau and we are finding tons of yummy recipes. This book helped me get over my first fear - that my favorite staple food, pizza, would be off limits. She has several vegan pizza recipes in the book that inspire much more flavorful pies. I am starting to wonder why I ever liked the cheese-laden slices I was used to eating. There are also some good recipes for 'cheese' sauces, cheese block and tempeh bacon, which will come in handy when those tomatoes get ripe!

I also check VegWeb.com quite a bit. There are very inventive recipes here for just about anything you could crave - including vegan fried chicken - hmmm.

I've found that I have to eat a lot more to keep my blood sugar stable, but I'm eating mostly fruits and veggies. I've been so busy that I haven't experimented too much with different recipes. I'm really happy with what I've tried so far.

The only cheese issue I really am having is eating out. We are going out for dinner one day next week to our favorite restaurant, where I have several vegetarian favorites - but they all have cheese. I'm not sure what to order.

Peace,
michele

Goin Vegan - Day 2 - Messed up Already

Today went pretty good - I even slightly noticed I was feeling a little better - well, at least until the total mental breakdown (work related, not food).

For breakfast, Kashi Golden Goodness with soy milk and tea with soy creamer - this is pretty standard workday quick breakfast, so I won't repeat myself.

Lunch was a vegan Boca burger with leftover vegan cole slaw and a slice of Rice Vegan cheese. Don't believe what they tell you on the label - Rice Vegan does NOT melt. Okay, so I haven't yet found a way to make it melt.

Dinner was awesome - we picked the rest of the spring lettuce in the garden, an onion, and a cucumber we didn't realize was there (no, it wasn't huge). We also grabbed a few basil leaves and some chives and tossed these in with our green salad. We had leftover chick pea salad and a slice of homemade wheat bread with this.

So, where did I screw up? I normally make my own salad dressing. I was tired tonite (remember the breakdown?) and just drizzled some Newman's Own Family Italian on my salad, since that is what Danny was using. It wasn't until later that I realized there was romano cheese in the dressing. What? Yea, of course there is, but I hadn't thought of it until later.

It's okay - I better planned for tomorrow!