The Vegan Experiment - Week Four

Week four of the vegan experiment I, once again, did not create a meal plan. This is great news! It is coming very natural to us to be vegan. We can think up meals on the spot.
As of August 22 (today), Craig and I will be 30 days vegan and we've decided to continue. No end date. Over the past 4 weeks I have been asked a few common questions about our decision and about what we eat. I have compiled the questions and my answers to them in this blog. (Craig's answers are not reflected)

Why did you want to try the vegan diet?
As some of you know, I am not an animal lover. I don't go gaga for puppies, dogs, little pet rodents or highly territorial cats. I don't want to see them hurt but I don't have to have a pet zoo in my house either. I have compassion for animals but that is not my motivation to be vegan.
I needed a healthier lifestyle that was more ongoing than a diet. I've done many diets! Once you stop the diet you gain back the weight. Just the way in goes in the temple of a body I have. I felt a vegan lifestyle change would help with my hormone intake too. I do have a sketchy thyroid and it may be because of my food choices. The vegan food choices I have made I feel have helped decrease my hormone intake and may help create balance in my body.

How do you feel?
I feel fantastic! I am cooking again and that makes me happy. I am lighter (about 9 pounds) and less tired. I feel emotionally balanced too. I don't get overwhelmed as easy. My skin looks amazing and feels soft.
What I don't feel is hungry!

What do you miss the most?
I miss cheese and mayo. Mayo makes me moan....sounds bad but it's true. When I see my sub artist put mayo on my sandwich I mouth the words 'I love you' to him or her.
And cheese.....oh cheese how I miss you so much! The creamy, stringy yumminess! I may have to cheat with some cheese soon so I know how sick it will make me. Then I may not miss it so much.

Is your son eating a vegan diet too?
My son Ivan is a very picky eater and has a eating routine. He is not vegan with us.  He does not like to try new things and veggies are something we have to sneak into his meal. He drinks his veggies. As you can see by the picture below, Ivan doesn't not like new experiences with food. He is trying a piece a watermelon and took the tiniest bite ever. Doesn't like it. So we pick our battles and let him be a picky eater. As long as he licks the something new or takes a tiny bite......then that is it. I don't want eating to be a bad memory.

So far I have eaten so many wonderful things. I made this Dilly Stew with Rosemary Dumplings the other night and it is the yummiest comfort food EVER!!!

Dilly Stew with Rosemary Dumplings

Here is the recipe from Post Punk Kitchen:

For the stew:
3 tablespoons olive oil
1/4 cup all purpose flour
1 medium sized sweet onion (like Vidalia or Walla Walla), quartered and thinly sliced
1 teaspoon salt
3 cloves garlic, minced
6 cups vegetable broth, at room temperature
2 stalks celery, tops removed, sliced 1/4 inch thick
1 1/2 pounds potato, in 3/4 inch chunks (peel if they’re russets)
1 cup baby carrots (see note)
1 tablespoon fresh thyme
2 tablespoons chopped fresh dill
1/2 teaspoon sweet paprika
Fresh black pepper
1 15 oz can navy beans, rinsed and drained (about 1 1/2 cups)

For the dumplings:
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 tablespoons dried rosemary, finely chopped
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup unsweetened almond milk (or soy)
2 tablespoons olive oil

First we’re going to make a roux, but it has a little less fat than a traditional roux, which means it doesn’t get as goopy. If you’d like a more traditional roux, just add extra oil.

Preheat a large, heavy bottom pot over medium-low heat.

Add the oil and sprinkle in the flour. Use a wooden spatula to toss the flour in the oil, and stir pretty consistently for 3 to 4 minutes, until the flour is clumpy and toasty.

Add the onion and salt, and toss to coat the onions completely in the flour mixture. As the onions release moisture, they will coat more and more. Cook this way for 5 minutes, stirring often. Add garlic and stir for 30 more seconds or so.

Stream in the vegetable broth, whisking constantly to prevent clumping. Add the celery, potatoes, carrot, dill, thyme, paprika and black pepper, then turn the heat up and cover to bring to a boil. Keep a close eye and stir often, so that it doesn’t clump or boil over.

Once boiling, reduce the heat to a simmer and let cook uncovered for 20 to 25 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the stew is nicely thickened and the potatoes and carrots are tender.

In the meantime, prepare the dumplings.

Sift the flour, baking powder and salt together in a large mixing bowl. Mix in the rosemary. Make a well in the center and add the milk and olive oil. Use a wooden spoon to mix together until a wet dough forms.

When the stew is ready, mix in the beans and plop dough right on top of the stew in spoonfuls. You should get about 14 dumplings. Cover the pot tightly and cook for about 14 more minutes. The dumplings should be nice and firm. Use your ladle to dunk them into the stew to coat.

Ladle stew into bowls, topped with dumplings. And serve!

And for dessert, vegan peanut butter cups from The Kind Diet by Alicia Silverstone.

The Vegan Experiment - Week Two

Week one was at times very easy and other times was very painful. Both Craig and I were detoxing with symptoms like headaches, irritability, hard time sleeping and at the same time feeling tired. It reminded me a lot of when I quit smoking. By the end of the week we were feeling better. Don't get me wrong, we weren't felling sick 24 hours a day. There were just moments of these symptoms but when they were there it was intense.
This weeks menu was a bit intimidating because I had to plan for a camping trip this weekend. (I hope we get a site!) I scheduled in 2 snacks a day again but I found in week one that most times I didn't need to eat that much. I put them in again just in case.....getting hungry will be my downfall. I will drive far and wide to get comfort food!

The main meal is the Moroccan Couscous with Saffron. I found this recipe in Alicia Silverstone's The Kind Diet. An excellent book with many meal plans, recipes, info and great pictures. 

You may notice that I am eating lots of peanut butter. It's a comfort food for sure but the new Safeway line of products called Open Nature has a great peanut butter! There is only one ingredient: peanuts. Love it! So this week I decided to make a peanut butter, chocolate, oat muffin for our snacks. Looks filling and yummy. 

So far temptation to eat non vegan food has not plagued me. This morning when I walked into the Safeway they were baking cheese buns. The whole store smelled like melted cheese!!!! While it smelled really good I didn't feel tempted to eat them. I did linger in the bakery section to take the smell in. I feel this is a good sign. 

We did have some Gardein meatless burgers this weekend that were pretty good....I would eat them again. They were a bit dry but that just means I have to put more condiments on. I love condiments!!! More pickles would be good! Wish I could get my hands on the yummy vegan burger they have at Rebar in Victoria.

The Vegan Experiment - Prep

Usually I only meal plan for when we are going on a family trip or camping. But to be successful in our vegan experiment meal planning is a necessity. I posted a pic of our first week meal  plan in my last blog post, The Vegan Experiment - The Beginning. There are a few meal and supplies I will need to make ahead of time like: almond milk, cashew cream, banana coconut muffins, a hearty stew and pasta salad.



I have made nut milk in the past so that part is easy. A batch of almond milk for breakfast cereal and oatmeal. The almond milk is on the left. I had to purchase a new blender and decided to go with the Ninja that is available at crappy tire. It is a fabulous blender! I highly recommend it. On the right is the cashew cream for coffee and sometimes tea. Because the blender is so awesome I didn't have to strain the cashew cream. Thanks Maurie for the tip on the blender. Paid $80 for 1000w.

For lunches we are having quinoa, kale and bean stew. It is very hearty and tasty!

 

Banana & coconut muffins for snacks. I made them with whole wheat flour so they would be filling. This is the first time using an egg substitute. Just mixed a little ground flax seed with some water & it made a small bowl of sticky goop. And it is a great source of omega 3s!

I have been making my own sprouts for years. It is very easy and I don't have to worry about contaminated sprouts from the store. I put them in a mason jar with cheese cloth stretched over the lid. The first day they soak in water then for the following 3 days I rinse and drain the water in the morning and before bed. From start to finish about 4 days and yummy sprouts! 

As long as I have something to put in my mouth when I am hungry or just need a snack I should survive. The prep was not hard and there is so much info on the internet. I can look up anything! Anything! 

My Vegan Experiment - The Beginning

I am stuck in a world of comfort food and becoming dependant on having comfort food for every little let down or disappointment of the day. A container of peanut butter and chocolate ice cream feels really good when I just went through a session of mentally beating myself up. And we have to have chips and pop to watch Hell's Kitchen and Masterchef. Comfort junk food has become our norm and that's not good.

My biggest addiction is burgers and fries.

The crazy thing is that I love to cook. I love the prep time, getting everything ready to put together into a fabulous dish. I love meals that are full of colour and vibrant from many different types of veggies. I just don't have the drive or energy to do it when I have a house full of easy to eat comfort junk food around. It is a vicious circle.

Last year Craig, my husband, and I went on the 4 Hour Body diet. It was an intense change as we couldn't eat anything white, no fruit and had to eat every 4 hours. So no rice, bread, milk, cheese, sugar or yummy fruit. We lived on beans, meat and veggies for about eight months. We lost a lot of weight and fast! But as soon as we stop we gained it all back. Craig gained more than he lost and I gained most of it back less ten pounds. It was another fad diet telling us that it wasn't a fad diet. But if you need to loose weight fast it is a great way to go. I cannot look at another can of refried beans.....which is what I ate for lunch or dinner everyday. Refried beans with a piece of chicken or a small beef steak and a huge mound of peas.
A couple of months ago there was a huge release of the movie "Hungry for Change". It was all over Facebook and Twitter. I watched the movie online and ended up ordering it and the cookbook. It was great motivation and a big eye opening for me. The one thing that stuck in my head after watching it was that when people eat comfort junk food that they are always hungry. The body is searching for nutrients and healthy sustenance. It just rang true with my new lazy food lifestyle. I was always hungry and I wasn't getting any nourishment.
My body needs a restart! Craig's too. So we are going vegan for 30 days starting on Monday, July 23. I am all about extremes.
Craig and I are going to sign a 30 day vegan pledge through PETA. I have set the meal plan for the first week. Purposefully not adding any meat substitute for the first week for me as this will not go over well. Craig can handle tofu but I cannot. I probably won't add it into my meal plan for the whole 30 days if I can get away with it.

Week One Meal Plan

I will be preparing a few of the meals ahead of time so that I don't get overwhelmed once the detoxing from junk happens. I will be weak at the beginning and I am sure that second week is going to be a bitch! 

I am planning to keep this blog up to date with our adventure. I hope you enjoy it.