Veganism for Libby

Okay, so I love veganism. I never saw this coming. Nicole thinks that this is one of my obsessions, and that I'll get over it. It may be. But it doesn't feel like an obsession.

The hardest day so far was yesterday: Super Bowl Sunday. Jen and Wyndy hosted a party, and they had a slew of delicious food, with almost nothing for our vegan-ness. Queso, summer sausage, and what I love the absolute most: buffalo wings. It was....difficult. But I restrained! Definitely tempting, but I had to tell myself (numerous times) no. Oh, buffalo wings. I miss thee.

Honestly, though, I only missed them because I saw them. I'm not craving them. And after the party, when we were driving home, I didn't feel like I weighed 500 pounds (I kept with our hummus and bean dip), which I know I would have had I eaten everything I wanted.

Today, I made some fried plantains for lunch with a touch of salt. I don't know if Nicole has ever had them, so I'll make some for her as a snack one day. I also made an avocado, tomato, and kalamata olive salad with ground flaxseeds. So. Incredibly. Delicious.

For dinner, I'm making eggplant and couscous. Hopefully, Nicole likes it -- she has NOT enjoyed vegan month at all.

Bleh

I hate being Vegan. Today is the fourth day of this crap, and I am ready to slit my wrists. For those of you who don't know me let me express to you how much I LOVE Milk, always have and always will. I typically drink about two gallons of the stuff a week, ice cold skim milk....mmmmm. I haven't had any for FOUR DAYS!

I am sitting here trying to eat Rice Dream Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream, which tastes as good as I imagine my dogs biscuits to taste. I want to open my fridge and pour myself a glass of milk, but currently I can drink water, or Rice Milk. Neither of which I want.

My brothers friend who so graciously went with us to the store to tell us what to get, informed us that Oreo cookies are in fact a Vegan product. I think I did a happy dance right there in Vitamin cottage. It wasn't until I went home and thought about it and realized that I couldn't dip them into a glass of milk. WHAT THE FRIG IS THE POINT?!?!? Oreo's without milk? NO WAY!!!

I miss chocolate, pancakes, eggs, CHEESE, Sour Cream, and MILK more than anything.

I do realize that I am eating better, and this is forcing me to make healthier choices, which is great, but I just want my milk back. Is that too much to ask?

One other interesting thing that I found out about is that Red Dye #40 is made from beetle shells. Vegans apparently won't eat it because of that, and I personally think that anything made from beetle shells should not be consumed, as its disgusting.

That's all of now, good night!

Quinoa Salad

Tonight's dinner:

Quinoa Salad....Mmmm

Last night, I made homemade hummus, which was okay, but not spectacular. I'll try again after we eat all of the leftovers.

Freagin' Vegan

We have begun vegan month!

Vegetarian month went well, although I don't feel like I ate any healthier than normal. It wasn't hard to eliminate meat from my "diet," but now that vegan month has started, I can see how this month is going to be very...interesting.

Mind you: it's day one.

One of Nicole's brother's friends, Lilly, took us shopping last week to Vitamin Cottage to teach us the ways of the vegan. I was surprised by how many options there are out there for vegans...although let's be honest, is there any such thing as good fake cheese? (We shall find out) Buying just about everything in the store was less expensive than we thought...and we bought a lot of stuff.

Here are some things we learned:
1. Boca is vegan; Morning Star is not necessarily.
2. Sugar is not vegan -- unprocessed cane sugar is. (Apparently they use animal bone to grind the sugar and make it white? Is that correct?)
3. They make No Chicken Noodle soup. Wow.
4. We bought a slew of food, but no tofu. Weird.
5. Vitamin Cottage is NOT nearly as expensive as Whole Foods.

Anyway, it was an interesting trip.

Over the past few weeks, I was preparing myself for the lack of cow's milk, so I tried soy (tasted almond-y to me) and coconut milk (gag)...but the winner? Rice milk. Oh my heavens, it's so delicious. Goodbye, cow's milk!

Plus, I get to drink horchata....mmmm.

But yes, rice milk has won the day. I love it in my vegan cereal (seriously. Vegan cereal!), my coffee...it's amazing.

I want to see how much variety we really get this month. I'm kind of excited about it, actually.