Perhaps for the past 6 months or so, I've been seriously contemplating vegan-style eating. And then, a sign, of sorts, arrived in my mailbox. My cute mid-western-would-never-turn-down-a-factory-farmed-porkchop mom saw Alicia Silversone on Oprah, figured I might be interested in her book (TRUE - have been wanting it!) and ordered it for me as a random little surprise.
About 2 hours into reading, I kind of knew that I had to at least spend more time considering my dairy intake. And by the end? Yeah, I decided to go for it.
I've been meat-free (minus an isolated incident here or there) for awhile without any pangs of sorrow, so why not at least try to drop the dairy? (I know what Gazelle will say: CHEESE is the reason! Haha!)
I'm only about two weeks in. And for the most part? No issues. There have been slip-ups, for instance - I had friends in town and was super jealous of their cheese consumption (house-made burrata) at a restaurant... so I joined in...but hey, this is a journey, and I'm sure I'll stumble.
The decision was made only a few days prior to a business trip to LA. Typically, business trips are a pitfall for me, food-wise. But you know what? Being committed to this has it's perks on the diet-front. For instance, if I pop into Starbucks for an afternoon iced soy latte, I can't exactly grab a dairy-laden cookie while I'm at it.
If only I'd make this decision years ago, when I lived in the vegan paradise known as Portland! (Or LA - I stumbled upon a vegan cafe that knocked my socks off called Native Foods)
And friends, do not be concerned: I vow not to become one of those self-righteous angry vegans either... there are so many of them trolling the message boards pointing out each others vegan sins,all of them trying to be crowned "most vegan human EVER". It's a real turnoff.
The Huz just warmed up some leftover chili and cornbread, so my stomach is calling me downstiars.
Now - I command you PDX ladies to send me your favorite recipes from your vegan week experiment!
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I was already shaking my head & pitying you before I even got to my shout-out. :)
ReplyDelete(Native Foods is awesome - LOVE IT!)
I will forward you the yummy (EASY) recipe I made during vegan week, and I'm sure the Ambitious One will do the same.
I read the Alicia Silverstone book, too and thought it was pretty interesting - not nearly as preachy as I would've thought.
Yeah - she was pretty gentle about her suggestions, right? I refuse to give up honey, (my father-in-law keeps bees as a hobby, and he adores his "girls") and I have tried a couple of her macrobiotic "superhero" recipes.... the 2 I tried? Flavorless ick.
ReplyDeleteHad to punch them up with a ton of spices before I'd eat them. I guess that defeats the purpose! But on the whole - thought it was a worthwhile read, with several great vegan recipes.
now you have me curious. i've read the two michael pollan and have been trying to eat less meat. amy and i did the vegan challenge for a week and it was great but i did miss cheese. i'm semi sad to know that you won't be eating your delicious ricotta strawberry tart again---that was delicious. here's to green smoothies with almond or soy milk =).
ReplyDeleteHaha, Alisa - I vow to veganize that strawberry ricotta tart! My first vegan peach pie kind of sucked... but I tried a different crust recipe and my last double crust creation was dreamy. Blake's parents raved about it (and we didn't even tell them it was butter-less.) Give me until next strawberry season though, okay? Baking definitely requires trial and error! ;)
ReplyDeleteOh, how I would miss the cheese. I think I've consumed enough for one lifetime though...
ReplyDeleteI've been wanting to check out the Kind Diet book, but know it's going to create all sorts of convictions. I'm sure I've whined about this before, but I live in the land of farmers. Vegan-friendly items are virtually impossible to come by w/o a 30+ minute trip. Looks like I have to move to Cali! :)