Tag Archives: food

Jan 28

Observations after a week of basically vegan

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Black bean brownies with peanut butter swirls. Weird but delish.

I feel lighter. Not in the sense that I’m losing weight, but in the sense that my gut–which has never given me problems, thankfully, feels even better (is that the right way to say it ?) than usual.

The closest example I can think of is that heavy feeling you have after eating something quite greasy, fish and chips for instance, and how it feels like a brick in your stomach. I feel the opposite of that. Make sense?

I think my stomach looks less bloated, too. I don’t expect this to be noticeable to anyone but me, but when I look at my profile in the mirror, I see a difference.

I’m becoming more thoughtful about eating because I have to (and I want to). I start thinking about what I’m making for dinner as I drive home. Typically I would plan on popping in a frozen cheese pizza because they are fast and good. Now I get home and snack on avocado and crackers to ease my hunger pangs, and then make spiced quinoa and zuchini.

Avocado. It has become my cheese replacement. Happily, it provides me with the same flavor satisfaction as cheese did. Maybe because it’s also high in fat?  I don’t know, but I plan to have our kitchen stocked with them all the time. And when they get really ripe, they can go in the refrigerator where they will stay in that state for a while.

I feel more creative in the kitchen; I feel more frustrated in the kitchen. It depends on my hunger. It’s hard to rethink my default modes (of grabbing cheese and snacking on it), but it’s also enlightening to see how automated my eating has been. I was quite proud of myself last night for making a vegan “cheese” sauce to pour over a bowl of broccoli and pasta. It tasted pretty okay–I had to diverge from the recipe a bit and deal with the ingredients we had on hand, so I think it will be tastier next time with all the proper ingredients.

It’s fun, however, finding alternatives to all the usual recipes. I’ve made brownies twice this week–once with black beans and once with bananas (plus cocoa/maple syrup/etc.) I brought the black bean brownies to a vegan dinner with friends, but didn’t tell them what they were made from until after they had all tried one. We all liked them, even if they didn’t taste precisely like dairy-based brownies; they were still good.

And thank goodness for culinary adventurous friends. The two people I spend the most time with (in addition to my husband) are the wonderful HK and MC. HK has been a vegetarian for a long time, and MC is not a vegetarian, but she likes interesting food. MC has probably cooked more vegan dishes than I have because she likes to cook and she likes to experiment. It helps so much to have friends who not only sympathize with your vegan efforts, but are willing to indulge them in their own cooking in order to have you over for dinner. And their cooking provides continual inspiration that vegan food can be delicious!

I have another lovely friend I will be seeing in Florida soon; she is moving toward vegetarianism for similar reasons I did. When I learned of a (sort of new) vegan restaurant down that way, I invited her immediately because I knew she’d be game to try it. And she is. So happy to have companions in this effort. 🙂

My next culinary experiment is making a supposedly delicious “cheese” sauce from potatoes and carrots…I don’t see how this will work, but that’s part of the fun.

Dec 29

To V or not to V.

  I’m toying with that idea again.

The one where I push my vegetarian efforts a step further and strive for that dreaded “v” word.

Vegan.

Have I mentioned lately the number of times when people ask if I’m vegetarian and I say “yes,” and then the say, “but you’re not planning to go vegan, ARE YOU?”

So bizarre. 

The stereotype is that vegans go around, eating their bowls of quinoa and blackbeans (YUM!), and heaping derision on anyone who still eats meat. My experience has been the opposite. 

How can you not eat meat? [pretty easy to do actually, especially these days.]

I could never live without bacon. [pretty sure you can, and maybe longer. But maybe not longer. Who knows how long any of us have?]

I’m often surprised by the fervor against veganism. 

I read an opinion piece recently about the language used in the animal rights movements, and why one should/should not invoke the language of slavery regarding discussions around animal rights. Fascinating article on its own, but I was struck by a comment:

“…she [will be] just as uncomfortable with [a] reference to animal rights when dead fish [are] on her plate…she must change or forever be uncomfortable.” 

Perhaps it’s discomfort that makes meateaters take the offensive on veganism? Those who have brought it up to me have been pretty passionate about their dislike for the lifestyle. “They’re self righteous.” “It’s not natural.” etc.

Unfortunately, I’m the least argumentative person when it comes to lifestyle choices. I wish I were a Truman Capote/Christopher Hitchens-styled blowhard who could dessimate your reasons for eating meat with a simple roll of my eyes, and a well-timed barb. But I have learned to accept that I will never make for a goods spokesperson–I’m slow with responses, I stumble over my words, and if I get too angry, I may start crying. Not good.

The one thing I can do is live my life in a way that represents what I think is best. My own little spot in the world. We all have one, happily, and I’m lucky enough to get to shape mine, as do most of the people I know. (So many don’t have that opportunity, often due to circumstances beyond their control.)

Living in the midwest, and making the seven hour drive between central Illinois and central Ohio on a regular basis, I spend a bit of time on the open highway, and I pass many cattle and pig trucks. They turn my stomach.

 [Once, many years ago, I was with a boyfriend in Ohio and we saw a pig truck. “They’re going to the football factory,” he said and I burst into tears. He felt terrible.]

So, yeah. Pig trucks. Cow trucks. Once it was a chicken truck and the feathers were flying everywhere. And I just can’t stand it. Factory farming and the corresponding pain/suffering of those animals, just to have meat at dinner. Troubling. 

But dairy farms/egg farms (both of which I still partake) are no better. Still much suffering. 

There lies the rub.

I’ve been thinking of buying only locally farmed eggs. (I have a information for a farming family that delivers eggs all year round.) I’ve been thinking of buying only organic milk from local farms.

But the question I have to decide is what do I want my life to look like? 

I’m a committed animal lover and vegetarian. I want to stop contributing to the horror show that is factory farming. 

Is it enough to buy from a farm I can visit locally, and where I can see how the animals are treated, even if the animals are destined for a similar fate but are treated humanely in the meantime? Or do I want to avoid participating (as much as possible) in any endeavor that requires killing/exploiting animals?

May 16

Dalai Lama

I drove to Indianapolis and stayed overnight so I could attend a talk by the Dalai Lama on Friday morning. I adore the Dalai Lama. Beyond the pop culture icon he’s become, he’s also very funny and doesn’t appear to take himself too seriously, which is unusual when you think of most well-known religious leaders. He supports the notion of secular ethics, and I appreciate this very much. He spent part of the time talking about secularism, and that people who follow a religious faith should not attach negative connotations to secularism. I like that he encourages the pursuit of knowledge and advancements in science and technology. I like that he dismisses the notion of magical powers. He said to the audience, “You should not come here thinking I have healing powers, because I don’t. A woman came to see me at one of my lectures because she thought I had healing powers. In 2008, I had surgery on my stomach. I was in hospital one week. That should scientifically prove that I don’t have any healing powers.” I like that he dismisses any notion of hero-worship or cult of personality that may develop around him. He said, “To those of you who came here expecting something magnificent, that is the wrong reason [to attend]. I have nothing to offer you.” He spent the next hour talking about compassion, technology, money, and happiness. I’ve decided whenever the Dalai Lama is within 5 hours of my location, I’m going to go see him. This was the second time I’ve seen him and it was definitely worth the drive.
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On another note, I’ve been cooking again. I’m trying to lose a few more pounds before I go to Italy (I leave in less than a month!). I’m using the Lose It program on my ipod touch, so I’m not sure I’ll get to my goal weight before it’s time to go, as I’m trying to lose only 1.5 lbs a week, but I’ve been having great success with the program and am quite happy after this morning’s weigh-in. Part of the whole lifestyle change is trying to eat better food (and less dairy). The experts always say that the best foods to eat are the ones you make yourself using fresh ingredients. I went to a website called Eating Well, and they have a 28-day vegetarian menu, categorized by how many calories you want to ingest a day. I went for the 1200 calorie menu, since I’m already trying to eat under 1390 calories a day on the Lose It program. The meals look great, but it would take a small fortune and an incredible amount of time to buy all the ingredients necessary for 28 days and to make three meals a day. So, instead I chose about 15 recipes I want to try, and then whittled that down to 6 recipes I want to try right away. I bought all the ingredients yesterday and last night I made veggie burger pitas. Let me tell you, they were fantastic! I’ve always wanted to make my own veggie burger because I know they are better than the frozen kind you buy at the store. Well, this is my dream recipe. It has all the ingredients I love and it wasn’t as hard to make as I thought it would be (I’d never toasted pine nuts before, or ever worked with bulgur). Even my husband, who is a meat-eater, but sympathetic to my vegetarian endeavors, said he could eat vegetarian meals like that everyday. Here’s the recipe, if you want to try it. It includes the nutritional breakdown too, which is quite helpful when you’re counting calories. This morning I baked Morning Glory muffins. They, too, were fantastic.