Just got back from pizza at our 2nd favorite pizza place.
We finally decided to give vegan pizza a try.
Our very favorite pizza place has better crust and sauce, but does not offer pineapple nor hot peppers on the ingredient list.
Turns out, if you're not going to get cheese on your pizza, sauce and crust are a big deal.
But on the plus side, our waitress didn't even look at us like we were on dope, when we asked if they'd make it without cheese. "I expect they'll make it however you want it!"
And they did. And it was not bad, especially washed down with a couple of Point Beer's summer beer, Nude Beach.
We've been having fun with it the last week, while embracing healthier versions of old habits.
meaning - we've been eating out a bit.
With mixed results.
Pizza was, when you break it down, a positive experience, which we'll repeat, albeit at our favorite
place next time. Maybe onions and peppers instead of mushrooms...
Our favorite place serves beer, too. Not Point beer, but... it's cheap and comes in icy mugs.
Yesterday was an local "asian-y" chain, Stir Crazy, after 3 hours of shopping and ridiculously hot temperatures in an outdoor mall.
One of those places where, in addition to a full menu, you can walk a bowl of noodles and vegetables and sauces up to a grill, and watch 'em cook it for you.
Talked vegan options with the waiter, who understood it right away. Spring rolls were brushed with an egg wash, so we couldn't get those. How about fried tofu wraps, the wraps being lettuce leaves? Yes, please.
And the Thai Tacos, no meat, lots of tofu? my god, they were awesome. A little lime and cilantro and spicy slaw on top....
"I'm not 100% sure that the one of the sauces passes the fish law for veganism, sir. there might be a tiny bit of seafood ingredient... Would you like me to check?
"Nope. We'll just call it good. "
(Note to self. what the hell is the fish law?)
Saturday lunch was at a well known mexican place in a town just south of here that has a couple of well known mexican places, if you can find them...
And it simply wasn't that good.
Iceberg lettuce, a single tomato slice and guacamole on a tostada... not very exciting. I have to assume that even if I wasn't vegan, the food would not have been very exciting. Completely lacking in spice, herb, seasoning, character...... can I have a plate of limes and another cup of salsa please? And another Bohemia? Nope, still kinda... meh.
Another great thing about going out, NOT to the mexican place I mention above, is that my daughter can enjoy her favorites, like a piece of cheese pizza, or chips and cheese, or grilled cheese (detect a pattern?), and everyone's happy.
Last night was grilling out. My first attempt at corn on the cob on the grill. It turned out great. Not a scrap left over. Veggie skewers, too, but they've been a grilling go-to 'round here for years....
It's getting easier and feeling more natural to do things like tell the waitstaff what's up, and what we need and what we can't eat, and enlist their assistance. three weeks in, we're also branching out more on cooking and baking and such.
Pancakes, banana bread, chocolate cookies... all winners.
Apparently there are chocolate chips that are made without milk. I'm a gonna find them and buy them and love them....
Wendy tried a BBQ recipe, and it's one of the best BBQ sauces I've ever tasted. Ditto a vegan mayo recipe. Not sure why they call it mayo, cuz it tastes absolutely nothing like it, but... it's yum.
Maybe next up I'll throw the bbq sauce recipe on here.
But not tonite, 'cuz Monsters Vs. Aliens is on, and a boy must prioritize.
Monday, July 16, 2012
Sunday, July 8, 2012
Another block of guac, please. And: Did you know egg rolls contain....eggs?
So, this whole "No animal products, cut back on sweeteners and processed food"...thing is now two weeks old.
And honestly, it's not been difficult or unpleasant.
I've dropped five lbs, I'm eating well, trying new recipes, cooking more, spending way less money on take out food I don't even really enjoy eating, haven't had a soda in over two weeks....
All good things. Yay, me!
whatev.
_______
There was a moment on July 4th, however, when we were out running errands and it was past lunch time and like a hundred g.d. degrees out, and I hadn't slept the night before and I just wanted lunch, dammit. Where ever was most convenient, some place that we didn't have to wonder if there'd be anything that my daughter would eat.
My daughter, who was also very vocal about the fact that she, too, was hungry.
So there's my deep dark secret. I almost chucked it out of laziness and irritability.
Not out of some deep craving for a Five Guys burger, or deep dish sausage pizza or random irish pub's beer battered fish and chips.
Nope.
Not me.
Irritability and laziness!
That's how I roll, baby.
And of course we persevered, in large part to my wife's cooler head, and the fact that we had frozen stuff in the car, and it was 100 g.d. degrees out, so we shouldn't dally on our way home...
And so we came home and ate veggie burritos and freshly mashed avocado and pineapple salsa, and equilibrium was re-gained.
Turns out, I'm an irritable rascal when I've not had anything to eat for too long. I'm like a living, breathing Snicker's commercial. I get all Joe Pesci.
Better than getting all Aretha Franklin, I s'pose..
_________
One of the obstacles we worried about when deciding to try this, was the idea that we'd end up having to eat... someplace that wasn't our home, eventually.
"Oh, we'll just NOT do that for the first few weeks, until we're settled" was our plan.
Promptly chucked out the window six days later, when we found ourselves at a balloon festival way past dinner time. Good lord, the food booths went on forever. Biggest italian sausage sandwich god ever made? Two places were offering that. burgers, hot dogs, pulled pork, chicken sandwiches, fish sandwiches, turkey legs.... Looks like I may be eating french fries for dinner....
Oh, wait. Veggie burritos. We'll take those, please, hold the cheese and the sour cream.
"Hold the what?"
The cheese, and the sour cream.
"Uh..ok..." and then we were given our burritos, and of course they had both of those items on them.
And we had to hand them back, and say "no, really. We don't want cheese and sour cream."
And we got the stink eye from the guy running the booth, as we were somehow inconveniencing HIM, by asking them to just leave off the goddam spoonful of melted cheese and of sour cream!!!
Two tries later, we had our burritos, and they were delicious, and we were happy little vegans-in-training.
I actually used the term with burrito boy, after the second screw up.
"We're vegans. we don't eat dairy."
And it hit me.
Holy crap, we're vegans...
Anyhow, yesterday was another potential hurdle. My sis and brother in laws annual gathering at his family's lake house. We were not in control of the food choices, so... what were we gonna do?
My sis is cool, and knows we're trying to avoid things, and we took apple and dill coleslaw and vegan brownies, and.... it was awesome. Hummus and blocks of frozen guacamole (defrosted...) and tortilla chips and pasta salad and fruit and veggies and... yay!
But the guac's running low, we we'll need to get another block of it out of the freezer....
We get back around dinner time, tired and not feeling like cooking at all, and it was time to play a trump card, one I've been holding since we started this.
Sushi.
Vegetable maki and ebby maki (cucumber rolls, basically). Lots and lots.
go nuts with the pickled ginger and wasabi...
We were in heaven.
What else should I order with that, hon?
Veggie egg rolls!!! yeah, veggie egg rolls. no meat! they're vegetarian.
Woot!
Didn't dawn on us immediately that the WORD "EGG" IS RIGHT IN THE DAMN NAME!!
Until we were halfway done with them.
It was like an invisible hand reached out and face palmed me.
"Oh, dear."
"What?"
"EGG roll."
"what about them?"
"EGG. Roll. EGG.."
"No! no way. there's no egg in this thing."
"Maybe in the crusty part?"
And we looked at a package of flat dough we have in the freezer, from when we made our own, and... yep.
There is, indeed, eggs in the dough of the outside of the egg roll.
After reading labels diligently on everything I've purchased from the store for the last couple of weeks, I didn't even blink at ordering something called...egg.
Guess we should avoid the egg drop soup..... It might have egg in it.
Ice cream... may need to question that, too.
Does your chicken soup have... never mind...
So, I've signed on for another two weeks at least. Fingers crossed that it remains this easy.
And that my reading comprehension skills improve...
And honestly, it's not been difficult or unpleasant.
I've dropped five lbs, I'm eating well, trying new recipes, cooking more, spending way less money on take out food I don't even really enjoy eating, haven't had a soda in over two weeks....
All good things. Yay, me!
whatev.
_______
There was a moment on July 4th, however, when we were out running errands and it was past lunch time and like a hundred g.d. degrees out, and I hadn't slept the night before and I just wanted lunch, dammit. Where ever was most convenient, some place that we didn't have to wonder if there'd be anything that my daughter would eat.
My daughter, who was also very vocal about the fact that she, too, was hungry.
So there's my deep dark secret. I almost chucked it out of laziness and irritability.
Not out of some deep craving for a Five Guys burger, or deep dish sausage pizza or random irish pub's beer battered fish and chips.
Nope.
Not me.
Irritability and laziness!
That's how I roll, baby.
And of course we persevered, in large part to my wife's cooler head, and the fact that we had frozen stuff in the car, and it was 100 g.d. degrees out, so we shouldn't dally on our way home...
And so we came home and ate veggie burritos and freshly mashed avocado and pineapple salsa, and equilibrium was re-gained.
Turns out, I'm an irritable rascal when I've not had anything to eat for too long. I'm like a living, breathing Snicker's commercial. I get all Joe Pesci.
Better than getting all Aretha Franklin, I s'pose..
_________
One of the obstacles we worried about when deciding to try this, was the idea that we'd end up having to eat... someplace that wasn't our home, eventually.
"Oh, we'll just NOT do that for the first few weeks, until we're settled" was our plan.
Promptly chucked out the window six days later, when we found ourselves at a balloon festival way past dinner time. Good lord, the food booths went on forever. Biggest italian sausage sandwich god ever made? Two places were offering that. burgers, hot dogs, pulled pork, chicken sandwiches, fish sandwiches, turkey legs.... Looks like I may be eating french fries for dinner....
Oh, wait. Veggie burritos. We'll take those, please, hold the cheese and the sour cream.
"Hold the what?"
The cheese, and the sour cream.
"Uh..ok..." and then we were given our burritos, and of course they had both of those items on them.
And we had to hand them back, and say "no, really. We don't want cheese and sour cream."
And we got the stink eye from the guy running the booth, as we were somehow inconveniencing HIM, by asking them to just leave off the goddam spoonful of melted cheese and of sour cream!!!
Two tries later, we had our burritos, and they were delicious, and we were happy little vegans-in-training.
I actually used the term with burrito boy, after the second screw up.
"We're vegans. we don't eat dairy."
And it hit me.
Holy crap, we're vegans...
Anyhow, yesterday was another potential hurdle. My sis and brother in laws annual gathering at his family's lake house. We were not in control of the food choices, so... what were we gonna do?
My sis is cool, and knows we're trying to avoid things, and we took apple and dill coleslaw and vegan brownies, and.... it was awesome. Hummus and blocks of frozen guacamole (defrosted...) and tortilla chips and pasta salad and fruit and veggies and... yay!
But the guac's running low, we we'll need to get another block of it out of the freezer....
We get back around dinner time, tired and not feeling like cooking at all, and it was time to play a trump card, one I've been holding since we started this.
Sushi.
Vegetable maki and ebby maki (cucumber rolls, basically). Lots and lots.
go nuts with the pickled ginger and wasabi...
We were in heaven.
What else should I order with that, hon?
Veggie egg rolls!!! yeah, veggie egg rolls. no meat! they're vegetarian.
Woot!
Didn't dawn on us immediately that the WORD "EGG" IS RIGHT IN THE DAMN NAME!!
Until we were halfway done with them.
It was like an invisible hand reached out and face palmed me.
"Oh, dear."
"What?"
"EGG roll."
"what about them?"
"EGG. Roll. EGG.."
"No! no way. there's no egg in this thing."
"Maybe in the crusty part?"
And we looked at a package of flat dough we have in the freezer, from when we made our own, and... yep.
There is, indeed, eggs in the dough of the outside of the egg roll.
After reading labels diligently on everything I've purchased from the store for the last couple of weeks, I didn't even blink at ordering something called...egg.
Guess we should avoid the egg drop soup..... It might have egg in it.
Ice cream... may need to question that, too.
Does your chicken soup have... never mind...
So, I've signed on for another two weeks at least. Fingers crossed that it remains this easy.
And that my reading comprehension skills improve...
Thursday, June 28, 2012
Banana Bread and leather...
"So", I was asked the other day.
"Does this mean you're not going to wear your leather jacket any more?"
The implication being that I might have decided to eschew all animal products, just because I'm trying not to eat them any longer.
Well, as a matter of fact, I'm not gonna wear it any more.
Because in a moment of desperation, of uncontrollable lusting for flesh... I ate it last night.
It was delicious.
But I'm a bit nervous about the chemicals used to process the hide...
I don't think it was organic.
If anyone needs a zipper for a leather coat, let me know. Once I wipe the saliva off of it, it should be good to go...
I'm joking, obviously.
Hell, people. It's only been a few days.
How sad would it be to already be freaking out because I haven't eaten meat, eggs, nor dairy for five whole days?
Wendy's laying next to me at the moment, and I can attest that she has not changed in appearance to look like a roasted chicken.
For anyone that did not visualize either a Bugs Bunny cartoon, or a Seinfeld episode after reading that - You Tube, people.
Penguin....is prak-tick-ally chicken......
Joking and rambling aside, the original question was not without validity. I know many folks tie it all together for themselves.
I just doubt that I will be one of those people.
This is an issue of living healthy, and of self-discipline for me.
In other words, though I am a big fan of them, any feelings of solidarity with the rest of god's creatures did not weigh heavily in my decision making process.
Certainly not heavily enough for me to chuck coats and shoes and belts that I already own, as some kind of misguided statement...
Had an awesome dinner tonite. Wendy cooked vegetables in a spicy marinade, and we had fajitas. Guacamole from scratch. And a tasty IPA from Trader Joe's. Their house brand, I think.
I'm a fan of their private label beers. Inexpensive, but generally tasty.
And as the wife and daughter finished, I was already pre-heating the oven for this:
To simplify all the usual wordy recipe instructions, I've summarized for you:
In a big bowl, smoosh the bananas like you mean it.
Add the rest of the items in the first section
add the flour, then the rest of the stuff.
Stir it real good, obviously.
dump it in a greased 9x5 loaf pan
it says cook it 45 -50 minutes, but both times I've made it so far, we were good right at 45.
My daughter likes this recipe, because no raw eggs means we don't worry about the odd fingerful of batter that might not make it into the loaf pan....
You end up with a moist, dense, heavy loaf of banana bread.
It's gonna be great with coffee in the morning...
"Does this mean you're not going to wear your leather jacket any more?"
The implication being that I might have decided to eschew all animal products, just because I'm trying not to eat them any longer.
Well, as a matter of fact, I'm not gonna wear it any more.
Because in a moment of desperation, of uncontrollable lusting for flesh... I ate it last night.
It was delicious.
But I'm a bit nervous about the chemicals used to process the hide...
I don't think it was organic.
If anyone needs a zipper for a leather coat, let me know. Once I wipe the saliva off of it, it should be good to go...
I'm joking, obviously.
Hell, people. It's only been a few days.
How sad would it be to already be freaking out because I haven't eaten meat, eggs, nor dairy for five whole days?
Wendy's laying next to me at the moment, and I can attest that she has not changed in appearance to look like a roasted chicken.
For anyone that did not visualize either a Bugs Bunny cartoon, or a Seinfeld episode after reading that - You Tube, people.
Penguin....is prak-tick-ally chicken......
Joking and rambling aside, the original question was not without validity. I know many folks tie it all together for themselves.
I just doubt that I will be one of those people.
This is an issue of living healthy, and of self-discipline for me.
In other words, though I am a big fan of them, any feelings of solidarity with the rest of god's creatures did not weigh heavily in my decision making process.
Certainly not heavily enough for me to chuck coats and shoes and belts that I already own, as some kind of misguided statement...
Had an awesome dinner tonite. Wendy cooked vegetables in a spicy marinade, and we had fajitas. Guacamole from scratch. And a tasty IPA from Trader Joe's. Their house brand, I think.
I'm a fan of their private label beers. Inexpensive, but generally tasty.
And as the wife and daughter finished, I was already pre-heating the oven for this:
Banana Bread
(Recipe courtesy of Veganomicon)
Pre Heat to 350 (Natch!)
2-3 bananas
1/4 apple sauce
1/4 cup canola oil
1/2 cup sugar
2 tablespoons molasses
2 cups all purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon salt
To simplify all the usual wordy recipe instructions, I've summarized for you:
In a big bowl, smoosh the bananas like you mean it.
Add the rest of the items in the first section
add the flour, then the rest of the stuff.
Stir it real good, obviously.
dump it in a greased 9x5 loaf pan
it says cook it 45 -50 minutes, but both times I've made it so far, we were good right at 45.
My daughter likes this recipe, because no raw eggs means we don't worry about the odd fingerful of batter that might not make it into the loaf pan....
You end up with a moist, dense, heavy loaf of banana bread.
It's gonna be great with coffee in the morning...
Sunday, June 24, 2012
Anyone need a jar of mayo?
Did you know that 2 x 1.5 does not equal 5?
I did.
Until I went to cook up several cups of brown rice a bit ago, and almost ruined it.
I'm sure it would have been fine, if I had used almost 2x as much water as I should have.
Right?
Perhaps if I had slept more....
As a last hurrah / late father's day event, we went out to breakfast this morning, at a place that has fantastic coffee, and specializes in what they refer to as "Southern Comfort Food".
IE: wonderful food that's terrible for you, and extremely UN vegan friendly.
The trip had an unexpected, but likely beneficial-to-our-goal side effect.
My daughter complained that it smelled "like pig", service was not great, I didn't like my breakfast, and it might have made my wife ill.
Kind of back-handed motivation where motivation was not expected.
We'll take it, of course.
Bummer about the mrs. not feeling well, however.
We might have to back eventually, however, just for their coffee.
From there, we did a vegan friendly run to Costco.
Nuts, beans, dried fruit, hummus - we're ready, baby!
Hoping to re-check out Veganomicon from the library this afternoon. So far, it's the best cook book we've come across. A number of others seem to rely on "vegan" versions of food items that you can no longer eat. Vegan cheese, vegan sour cream, vegan... mayo. No hurry to head down THAT path.
I learned a long time ago, when we started eating veggie burgers, that you'll be disappointed, terribly terribly disappointed, if you tuck into something that claims to be the vegetarian equivalent of something else. Veggie burgers are good enough, but only if you don't think of them as burgers...
Speaking of mayo.... anyone need a jar? We've got one that's not going to get used now. It's the real stuff, no worries.
So here I sit, unsatisfying breakfast roiling around inside me; rice on the stove, cooking at correct rice / water ratio; french rap playing on the iPod, courtesy of some random internet music channel my wife found.
Love me some french rap. For a middle aged white guy who likes to rap along to Kanye and De La Soul and Public Enemy in his car, even though he likely looks and sounds a fool by doing so... French rap is awesome, AND results in absolutely no effort in trying to rap along....
I was serious about the mayo. Call me. It's yours.
Buzzer's going off, rice is done, and... so am I.
More in a couple of days, along with a vegan banana bread recipe, most likely.
I've already tried IT, and... it's awesome!
I did.
Until I went to cook up several cups of brown rice a bit ago, and almost ruined it.
I'm sure it would have been fine, if I had used almost 2x as much water as I should have.
Right?
Perhaps if I had slept more....
As a last hurrah / late father's day event, we went out to breakfast this morning, at a place that has fantastic coffee, and specializes in what they refer to as "Southern Comfort Food".
IE: wonderful food that's terrible for you, and extremely UN vegan friendly.
The trip had an unexpected, but likely beneficial-to-our-goal side effect.
My daughter complained that it smelled "like pig", service was not great, I didn't like my breakfast, and it might have made my wife ill.
Kind of back-handed motivation where motivation was not expected.
We'll take it, of course.
Bummer about the mrs. not feeling well, however.
We might have to back eventually, however, just for their coffee.
From there, we did a vegan friendly run to Costco.
Nuts, beans, dried fruit, hummus - we're ready, baby!
Hoping to re-check out Veganomicon from the library this afternoon. So far, it's the best cook book we've come across. A number of others seem to rely on "vegan" versions of food items that you can no longer eat. Vegan cheese, vegan sour cream, vegan... mayo. No hurry to head down THAT path.
I learned a long time ago, when we started eating veggie burgers, that you'll be disappointed, terribly terribly disappointed, if you tuck into something that claims to be the vegetarian equivalent of something else. Veggie burgers are good enough, but only if you don't think of them as burgers...
Speaking of mayo.... anyone need a jar? We've got one that's not going to get used now. It's the real stuff, no worries.
So here I sit, unsatisfying breakfast roiling around inside me; rice on the stove, cooking at correct rice / water ratio; french rap playing on the iPod, courtesy of some random internet music channel my wife found.
Love me some french rap. For a middle aged white guy who likes to rap along to Kanye and De La Soul and Public Enemy in his car, even though he likely looks and sounds a fool by doing so... French rap is awesome, AND results in absolutely no effort in trying to rap along....
I was serious about the mayo. Call me. It's yours.
Buzzer's going off, rice is done, and... so am I.
More in a couple of days, along with a vegan banana bread recipe, most likely.
I've already tried IT, and... it's awesome!
Wednesday, June 20, 2012
And so it begins
What’s brought me to this point today?
I read Fast Food Nation, was profoundly moved by it, and…
changed nothing about my life.
And then I read In Defense of Food, and The Omnivore’s
Dilemma.
Fantastic books. Really well written. Pick up a copy today.
And I… changed nothing about my life.
My wife and I gave birth to my daughter, nearly five years
ago. My wife, a vegetarian, said she
wanted to raise our daughter as a vegetarian as well.
We did our homework, and I said “Sure, that makes perfect
sense, let’s do that.”
And don’t forget to buy my brats while you’re at the store…..
I witnessed, and continue to witness, what the results of doing
nothing to change your lifestyle when you really MUST, can be.
It's... not good.
And then I read The China Study.
And I
started to think that perhaps I should begin to consider the possibility of maybe
doing something to change my life. And I continued to think this, as I cracked
open an ice cold coca cola to wash down my burger….
And Then I read Slash's autobiography, and gave up heroin....
Nah, I just wanted to see if you were paying attention.
It was a pretty good autobiography, though. If you're a Guns and Roses fan, I recommend it highly.
And then my wife watched Forks Over Knives, while I was up
north fishing, and drinking beer, and being mindful of what I ate, but not TOO
mindful, and really pushed for me to watch it with her, after I got back.
And I did.
And - Dammit!
It motivated me.
It’s time.
Time to try, at least.
Time to make a real effort, without hedging or jinxing
myself, or starting out by thinking about why it's not going to work out.
Time to make sure I don’t end up like those that have gone
before me; that I do what I need to, because I need to, BEFORE I find out that
I really needed to a long time ago…
The Journey begins on 6/25/12.
There will be humour.
There will be recipes.
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