30 Days!

It's been 30 days on my plan. I did it! I made it the whole month without eating meat or dairy.  Well okay, with the exception of cheating once :-)

I have relied alot on processed food this month.  The next month, I am going to concentrate on making things from scratch, more often.  I am looking forward to trying my hand at making seiten.  So yes, this means I am sticking with the plan!  I've discovered so many products and tons of recipes that it was relatively easy for me to stay on this plan for the entire 30 days. Everything you can think of with meat in it, there's an alternative vegan product for. Even chicken fingers and ice cream sandwiches!


Things I've Missed

Chocolate.  Milk Chocolate.  It was difficult dealing with a chocolate craving as I had nothing in the house and didn't really know where to find non-dairy chocolate.  That's when I cheated.  Then, I found the Rice Dream Chocolate Ice Cream.  YUMMY!  The weather is warming up so I'll probably be eating more Rice Dream.  I'm thinking once a week for my friday night treat. 

Milk. To a certain extent.  I made toast for breakfast one morning and really wanted a glass of milk to go with it.  It's hard not to pour a glass when you have it in the fridge but I did resist.  The craving passed quickly and I settled for a cup of coffee.  I've found myself thinking more than once that I would love to take a big ol swig of milk from the jug, though.  Then I remember the cows and realize that by not drinking milk, I am not buying as much milk anymore so I just might be helping a cow in the long run.  That makes it worthwhile.

Things I Haven't Missed

Meat.  Honestly, I haven't missed meat in the least!  I do confess to thinking it might be difficult to continue this lifestyle but it passed quickly.  That was in the beginning.  Now, the sight of meat makes me a little queasy.  Today, my son wanted to buy some fried chicken at Walmart.  So we stopped to get some, he got in the car and the second the smell hit me, my stomach turned.

When I was pregnant, I was vegetarian.  I couldn't stomach meat at all.  To make things worse, I worked in a sub shop where I was surrounded by meat and had to cook it daily.  I was queasy all the time and that's how I am now;  The thought of eating meat makes me ill.  I will cook it for my family, but don't make me eat it.

Things I Didn't Expect

The Cleanse.  I lost 7lbs the first week and then 1lb a week after that.  I'm certainly okay with a pound a week.  What I didn't expect was that I was going to explode from every pore in my body!  Holy Acne Batman!  Around the third week, I broke out all over my body.  What a sight that was!  Now, everything is finally beginning to clear up but it was kind of embarassing to go out into public with zits all over my face. Sheesh, I haven't been like that for ages!

Lets see...how to put this delicately...Doctor Oz's favourite subject; poop. I'm used to going once a day. Yup, that's about it..  I also had bouts of diarhea and constipation.  I never knew from one day to the next how my bowels were going to behave.  I was begnning to think I had a disease like irritable bowl syndrome and I was getting worried.  It was one of the reasons why I went vegan.  Now, I am pretty darn consistant.  I have that 'S' shape every single time, at least twice a day. The thing is, though,  the first week I was going ALL THE TIME.  Who needs a colonic when you have veggies!  I swear half the weight I lost in the first week came from my colon.  Doctor Oz would be proud :-D

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So, today begins another 30 day journey.  I'll learn more and eat more delicious foods!  I've lost 10lbs so far and hopefully I will continue this weightloss.  As it stands right now, I don't care if I lose alot of weight. I am feeling so good inside and out that I cannot justify any other way of life for the time being.  I hope you stick with me through the next 30 days as I think it's going to be an awesome journey.

Avocado Dip

This is my favourite snack!  It's so easy to make and filling that I love to have it at least once a week.  If you are not a fan of cilantro, leave it out. The dip tastes just as good without it.

AVOCADO DIP

1/2 avocado, seeded and mashed

1/2 med sized tomato, diced finely

2 tbsp chopped onion

1/2 tsp garlic powder

1 tbsp cilantro, chopped

1 tsp lime juice

-Mix all ingredients together and serve with whole wheat pita chips or corn tortilla chips.

-To make ww pita chips, cut pita into 8 slices and tear apart to make 16 total. Bake in toaster oven for 5 minutes on 350.  Watch carefully as your oven may bake faster.  Can also put on toast setting.

Eating More, Weighing Less

Three weeks and going strong!  I am growing very attached to this way of eating.  There are soooooooo many delicious foods available and I am discovering many more recipes that I cannot wait to try!  My blood sugar has pretty much stabalized.  I find that I do not have those ups and downs anymore during the day where I get shaky and all I want is sugar to get rid of the feeling.   Now, I am satisfied all day and even in the mornings when I wake, I am not ravenously hungry.  I actually lost 2 pounds this week and I think it's because my body has realized that it's going to be fed so there's no backlash anymore.  I am eating more than ever and losing weight...who knew?

Week 4 Menu Plan

Can you believe it? Week 4!  I've almost completed my 30 day journey!  Here's the menu for this week and I've been doing a little more research so there's a couple of changes.  I am very much looking forward to eating this week LOL

BREAKFAST


• Oatmeal with Agave Nectar, raisins and soy milk
• WW Toast PB & Strawberry Preserves
• Fruit Shake with Soy Powder
• Fruit Salad or other Fruit
• Zucchini or Carrot Muffins
• Vegan French Toast w/ Preserves

LUNCH

• Veggie Burger on WW with salad
• Creamy Potato and Spinach Soup
• Crostini with rice mozza cheese
• Toasted ‘BLT’
• Avocado Dip and WW Tortilla Chips
• Stuffed Potato w/ Caramelized Onions and Artichokes
• Leftovers

SUPPER

• ‘Beef’ Stew with Biscuits
• Veggie, Cheese-less Pizza
• Tofurkey with Mashed Potatoes and Mixed Veggies
• Shepherd’s Pie
• ‘Chicken’ Stir Fry, Veggies & Brown Rice
• ‘Chicken’ Nuggets, Sweet Potato Fries, Mixed Veggies
• Stuff Pasta Shells & Salad

SNACKS

• Fruit
• Veggies
• Leftovers
• Toast
• Oatmeal


BEVERAGES

• Decaf Coffee w/ Vanilla Soy Milk
• SF Iced Tea
• Herbal Tea
• Water
• Juice

Roasted Potato and Spinach Soup

This soup turns out so thick and creamy that your tastebuds will be screaming for more!

Olive Oil

3 Large Red Potatoes

1/2 cup Spinach Leaves

1/4 cup Chopped Onions

1/4 cup Vegatable Broth

2 cups Unsweetened Soy Milk

1 Clove Garlic, chopped

Cube potatoes, add to a skillet with just enough oil to cover bottom of pan.  Brown, then turn temp down to low setting and let sit for 10-15 minutes.

Remove potatoes from pan and set aside.

Add a little olive oil to pan and carmelize onions and garlic.  Once carmelized, add spinach leaves and sautee until limp and dark (about 1 minute).

Pour vegetable broth and soy milk into blender/food processor with potatoes, onions, garlic and spinach.

Blend or process on med speed (#5 setting on my blender) for 1-2 minutes.

Pour into bowls and serve.

Add salt if desired.

Enjoy!

Heading Into Week Three

Wow!  2 weeks on this plan already.  My blood sugar is down, my blood pressure is down, I'm sleeping great and have tons of energy during the day.  I haven't gained any weight but haven't lost any this past week.  That tells me that I need to eat more veggies.  I'm a little carb-heavy the past few days and have not really eaten a whole lot of veg.  That is going to change. 

Since I have so much energy these days, I have begun spring cleaning in the house.  I am also exercising regularly for at least 45 minutes a day. I mowed the back yard today...it's 3/4 of an acre back there and our riding lawn mower died so I used the push mower.  I did it all without feeling like I was going to die. There were days before this eating plan that I would never have mowed the lawn in one afternoon.  I'd also wake up every morning stiff and sore.  Even walking would hurt my feet.  Not anymore!  I just feel better all over. Inside and out. 

There have been a couple of things that I've had to get used to.  The first being that I stop eating 3hrs before bedtime.   I am full from a snack but there is still part of me that clings to the habit of eating every night.  I often think about food and wonder if I am really hungry or is it just my mind playing games.  Having a glass of water usually helps, though it does wake me up to pee later on.

The second is that I am learning some things take longer to cook than others. like brown rice.  It keeps in the fridge so I make extra for the week if there is more than one meal calling for rice.  I do the same for pasta so I can have leftovers for lunch the next day.

I am going to take a day sometime this week and do some baking.  I'd like to make some more muffins and biscuits.  They freeze well so I'll make enough for a couple of weeks.  I have a big freezer, so why not use it?

My goal for the week is to add more veg to my meals and see if that makes a dent in the scale.  I do remind myself that I am doing this for my health, it's working and the weight will come off.  It didn't get on my hips in a day...

Week 3 Menu

I'm a day late with the menu for week 3.  The snacks, lunches and breakfasts are basically the same because I really like the choices.  I might get bored with them sooner or later but for now, it's working for me.  Supper is a bit harder and I really didn't eat anything last night because my afternoon snack filled me up.  I had fruit for a bedtime snack and that was it.

BREAKFAST


• Oatmeal with Agave Nectar, raisins and soy milk
• WW Toast PB & Strawberry Preserves
• Fruit Shake with Soy Powder
• Fruit Salad or other Fruit
• Zucchini or Carrot Muffins

LUNCH

 Veggie Burger on WW with salad
• Salad with Veggie Chic Slices
• Tomato, Cucumber, and Basil Salad, Garlic bread topped with Earth Balance vegan buttery spread
• Leftovers
• Crostini with rice mozza cheese
• Avocado Dip and WW Tortilla Chips
• Stuffed Potato w/ Fried Onions and Artichokes

SUPPER

• Spaghetti, Caesar Salad & Homemade Biscuits
• Alfredo Style Fettuccini, French Bread & Salad
• Tofurkey with Mashed Potatoes and Mixed Veggies
• Shepherd’s Pie
• ‘Chicken’ Stir Fry, Veggies & Brown Rice
• ‘Chicken’ Nuggets, Sweet Potato Fries, Mixed Veggies
• Nothing Planned.



SNACKS

• Fruit
• Veggies
• Leftovers
 Toast
 Oatmeal



BEVERAGES

• Decaf Coffee w/ Soy Milk
• SF Iced Tea
• Herbal Tea
• Water

Vanilla Fruit Shake

With this warm weather lately, I'm craving fruit shakes in the afternoon and for breakfast.  Here is my favourite:  I use frozen fruit instead of ice to make it nice and creamy!

1 cup Vanilla Flavoured Soy, Rice or Hemp Milk
6 Frozen Strawberries
1/4 cup Frozen Blueberries
1 med sized Ripe Banana

Pulse in blender until thoroughly blended.  Pour into mug and enjoy!

Day 12

It's been 12 days since I became vegan.  Wow! Time flies.  It's been 2 weeks since I made the pledge online to begin this journey and I have to say that I am loving everything about it.  It's difficult and overwhelming at times but nothing compared to what I know our animals are going through.

I promised not to preach and I won't.  I want to make it clear as to why I am doing this.  It's for my health but I want to think that I am making a difference in the animal world as well.  It's one less cow, chicken, pig, duck, goose, turkey, etc, that has to suffer to feed me and that makes me feel good. 

That being said, I don't have much of a problem cooking for my family.  Since I started this 'health kick', my family has been eating less meat and alot more veggies.  I am cooking alot less meat as well so there are not many leftovers.  My youngest son has lost 5lbs and my oldest son is feeling better physically and also sleeping better at night. 

I am trying not to make meat such a priority in our meals.  It's not easy but it's doable.  I've grown up thinking that meat is the main ingredient in a dish.  It's really not, as someone pointed out to me.  I am now making it a point to work the meals around veggies and view meat as the side dish.  It's a nice change.

Thanks to some great advice, I am not leaning so hard on myself to perfect meals.  If they don't come out quite as planned, so what.  I'm eating it and it all tastes good to me.  I am sure that with practice, I'll be better at it. 

I've been reminding myself alot lately that in the past few months, I had already been trying to make meals healthier for my family.  I've added zucchini to hamburger helper, added whole wheat noodles to regular spaghetti noodles, made pasta sauce with shredded zucchini, carrots and brocolli stems, mixed sweet potatoes in with ground beef to make hamburgers.  My family hasn't complained once about my changes. In fact, Cayden said that it was the best hamburger he's ever eaten.  Who knew? 

I don't have any plans to make my family vegan but making meat a side instead of the main ingredient seems to be working for me.  They are becoming healthier and trying things that they've never tried before and actually liking it.  It's a good boost to my ego and though it's a bit more work, it gives me strength to keep doing what I am doing.

I Scream for Rice Dream

Rice Dream Ice Cream! TO. DIE. FOR.  I tried chocolate marble swirl and neopolitan.  Very rich and creamy, oh it was too good!  I didn't have too much, though but one serving was very satisfying!

Who needs cow's milk ice cream when there is Rice Dream?  It's indeed comparable to regular ice cream but so much better for you. Best of all, no harm comes to any cows while making this gorgeous stuff!  I am actually thinking about making my own ice dream with my ice cream maker.  That's on my To-Do List.  Rice Dream isn't cheap but it's along the same priceline as Ben & Jerry's, same serving size and most definately better tasting!

Yes, I am excited about this.  I am such a huge fan of ice cream and that bothered me to give it up, especially over the summer.  Now that I have found this (thank you Alicia Silverstone!), I can feel less guilty about indulging but I CAN indulge.  That's huge for me.  I highly recommend this product!

Overload

I'm feeling very overwhelmed today.  Make no mistake, I plan to keep going the full 30 days and at this point, I am considering making a permanent change.  The overwhelmed feeling is coming from information overload.  I asked some people for their favourite websites and boy did I get them!  I've spent half the day reading blogs and I started to think that I'd never be as accomplished as these vegans.

I have to remember that everyone starts at the beginning.  It's all I can do right now to make a menu and utilize convenience foods for my meals.  My goal is to be accomplished enough to be making meals from scratch.  For that, I need to be organized and prepared.

I am finding it...difficult...maybe that's the wrong word. Challenging.  That's a better word.  I am finding it challenging to make meals for my family and myself.  They are meat eaters. They eat dairy foods, too.  I don't find it bad to cook for them, just that I wish I could find a way to bring more vegan into their lives without tricking them.  I am finding it harder than I thought I would to be making two meals every night and I worry that once I start working, I won't have the time.  I find myself thinking that veganism isn't exactly a time-friendly lifestyle but then I snap out of it.  I have the time right now to learn and I intend to take advantage of that.

Learning...yes I certainly am learning.  I am learning that there is a vegan substitute for every single animal product on the planet.  Why eat animal products when there is so much available?  Cost? Perhaps.  I find that these products are a little more expensive than animal products but at the same time, I find that I am eating less because my stomach is full much quicker than before.  I feel completely satisfied after a meal and don't have to deal with sugary cravings anymore.

Convenience is expensive for vegans and non-vegans alike.  Cooking from scratch is the way to go if you want to save money.  I've done it while on an animal-based diet and I plan to learn how to do it while eating vegan.  It would be easy for me to give up at this point.  I could certainly cite a dozen reasons why I could give up and on the top of the list would be expense. 

The second reason would be that there is so much to learn and I don't want to be eating beans and rice for the rest of my life.  I have to remind myself that it took me years to learn how to cook from scratch.  My mother was a patient woman and by the time I was a teenager, I was cooking for the family.  I've spent my whole married life cooking for the family.  Cooking from scratch.  That's alot of time invested in one aspect of my life.  It's not going to be an overnight experience to learn how to cook vegan.

Learning something new is daunting.  It's also very interesting and feeds my curiosity.  I really haven't found anything I don't like, so far.  I am sure that there are going to be things I don't want to eat. In fact, I can list a couple of things right now; beets and turnips.  YUCK!!  Though in all fairness, I've never liked them.  I do enjoy trying new things and think of the Jamie Oliver idea to give children stickers for trying something new.  I'd like to brag about my venture by wearing a sticker, too.  SEE!  I tried something new and I liked it!  And I'd be proud of it.

So I am going to stop reading for today and concentrate on what I am going to have for dinner and snack tonight.  Easy enough. No information overload since I already have the menu set.  That's the key...organization.  To accomplish organization and preparedness, I need to rely on those who learned before me; breathe in their knowledge and lean on them for support when things get overwhelming.  I really can do this.