Day 3 - Franc

Once again we started off the day easy with a simple Vegan Breakfast - No problem.

For lunch I had some of Betty's brown rice dish, which I really enjoyed. The citrus of the lemon with the tang of the soy was a nice surprise. I was also pleasantly surprised how quickly she whipped it up - a real time saver!

In addition to the rice I was also excited to try my first Vegan sausage sandwich. As much as Betty is a connoisseur of the curd, I consider myself somewhat of an expert in tube shaped meat. I love Italian sausage, breakfast sausage, kielbasa, brats (beer and cheese are my favs), and also all the cured sausages you could think of. There-for when going Veg, I was very interested in trying a few types of Veg alternatives to see how they might compare. Today I tried the Tofurkey (Italian Flavor) and was pretty happy with the taste. I think the key to good sausage is simply having good spices inside and this one hit the mark pretty well. The only criticism I have is that the casing didn't quite have the crunch or pop that I'm use to. All in all it's a pretty good substitute and kept my sausage cravings at bay. I have another brand I'm going to try tomorrow at lunch, just to compare.


Franc


BONUS - RANDOM PICTURE OF CAPTAIN VEGETABLE!

~Betty day 3 Brown rice veggie salad bowl

Hello!! Lots going on today and we tried a BUNCH of new items that I want to discuss. First of all breezed right through breakfast with some fruit and bagels, this breakfast thing seems simple but I don’t want to come off as overconfident so I will report back on that in the future.

I had a meeting in the morning and had to run home and whip up lunch in about 20 minutes and so I came up with this quick and easy brown rice and veggie “salad” bowl. Turned out great and it was quick and easy. I basically took some brown rice that I had and added carrots, tomatoes, scallions, some balsamic vinaigrette and  the juice of half a lemon topped it with a nice sprinkle of cashews and voila! LUNCH!

We made our first trip to the natural foods store to stock up on some non-dairy staples that I’ve been wanting to try. We got all kinds of stuff. Even a little container of loaded mashed potatoes made vegan style! It was pretty cool to go to a place that had so many options for us. I wanted to taste everything but tried to get a little of this and a little of that, so we don’t get too crazy. I realize that just by eliminating meat and dairy there are still choices that aren’t necessarily healthy so I’m trying to learn as I go and take baby steps. Eliminating dairy for me is a big step so since I don’t eat much sugar normally I’m leaving that alone for now and will address white sugar some where down the road.

When we got home we were sampling  everything! Let me tell you Vegenaise is unbelievable, truly fabulous alternative that I should have been using my whole life. The dairy free sour cream seems fine and will be nice to use for dips and such when we have places and things to see and do. We even bought a non dairy “magic” bar to share just to see if we liked it. Fabulous! The Newmans-O's ROCKED! Now on to my first stumbling block…… We bought follow your heart cheddar. I consider myself and Franc somewhat of cheese connoisseurs’ we are always sampling cheeses from here and there, we have restaurants that we go to just to eat their cheeseboard and enjoy a glass of wine.

There are times when I consume a nice 5 year old cheddar that I reach true euphoria.

So I was very anxious to sample this cheese, the reviews I’ve read online say this is one of the best non-dairy cheeses you can find, first off the consistency was strange felt plastic like and slightly greasy, was strangely light and not at all cheese-ish in texture or feeling, but the taste, the taste was so odd and strange I am actually struggling to find words to describe this odd alien cheese substance. I actually had to spit it out. It was that bad L  Can anyone suggest a better cheese alternative that I could try? I am mourning the loss of cheese today.


Our faux grill cheese



On a slightly better note, Franc convinced me to give faux cheese a second chance and he made us a grilled cheese, I believe he was sensing I needed some comfort food at this point, he used earth balance butter, wheat bread, pseudo cheese and when it was all melty (the mock cheese does melt BTW) he put veganaise on his creation. I was extremely doubtful that I was going to be able to even stomach a bite of one of my former favorites but was pleasantly surprised by how good it was. The veganaise made it creamy and delish, I think it perfectly complemented the counterfeit cheese. We paired this with a nice salad a all was good at the house of Betty and Franc J
               xoxo,
               Betty


                                   

Day 2 Franc

All is going well. Breakfast seems to be easy by just eating cereal or oatmeal. These items are satisfying enough and quick enough, even for the busiest schedule. I'm a little concerned that I may start to miss bacon and eggs in the future. I really love egg sandwiches with cheese on bread or a bagel. I'm hoping that a trip to a local Vegan Friendly Super Market will lead to a decent egg substitute. I'll keep you posted on how that goes.

The dinner that Betty prepared was really tasty. As you can see from the picture below, it wasn't much to look at but the rice and chick peas really filled me up and was super tasty. Although this meal was really good, I'd imagine that those not accustomed to trying new styles of food would be put off by the less than fabulous look of the meal ;-)  I'm a lover of spicy food so I put a little Tabasco sauce on mine which really kicked up the heat and gave it some extra tang.

One other quick note... I really enjoy a glass of wine with dinner and have been happy that I didn't have to give that up for this new diet. At this point I really haven't begun to miss any meat or dairy items.

~Day 1~

1/1/11

Day 1 Betty ~ with a date like today’s doesn’t it seem appropriate to start anew? Today is the beginning of our new lifestyle. I have been looking forward to this for quite sometime, reading, planning and preparing for my plant based diet. I have been a vegetarian for almost a year so the idea of not eating meat doesn’t even bother me, but dairy??? I LOVE CHEESE!! Anyone that know me knows how much J I am however sincere in my desire to go dairy free. Everything that I have done has pointed me in this direction.

Today was an easy day a holiday:

Lunch/ Breakfast was some vegan cereal with soy milk and half a bagel tofutti and a banana easy peasy

Dinner :

Portabello mushrooms steaks a recipe I got from the Happy Herbivore website

Also baked potatoes with earth balance faux butter and steamed mix veg and vegan coleslaw (Since Franc makes fabulous regular coleslaw he  came up with this non-dairy version)

It was fabulous!!! Not missing out on anything here!! So far so good.

                                                          Day one was a success!

                                                                Betty

Ok, this is my first day going vegan. As a confirmed carnivore most of my friends and family think I am crazy for going down this path. Of course everyone thinks that I'm going "veg"  only to appease Betty, but the truth is, I'm really looking forward to challenging myself to see if I can avoid meat and dairy for 30 days. I'm also interested to see what effects going vegan will have on my body. I'm hoping that with eliminating dairy that perhaps my allergies will lighten up. Additionally I'm hoping that my waist line will also skinny up a bit after all the holiday over indulgence. Any way I'm very excited to try some new dishes, experience new flavors and to see if it's possible to keep my cravings satisfied. My concerns are that perhaps cooking vegan will be more difficult and time consuming and also whether I can actually go out to eat and maintain the vegan diet easily. Only time will tell but I'm excited to get started!


Day one was actually quite easy. Breakfast was tasty and quick to prepare. Everyone loves cereal and Bagels. The Tofuti spread is a pretty good substitute for cream cheese. Our dinner was very satisfying. I've enjoyed Portabellas many times and see why Vegans use these as a hearty substitute for steak - they are very rich in texture and filling. I personally made the coleslaw, and as a bonified "creamy" slaw lover, I was very happy with the version we created (see recipe below). Additionally the baked potato with substitute butter was great. It's amazing how much like real butter the Earth Balance substitute really was. So far, I think this Vegan thing will be pretty easy and the food is tasty and satisfying thus far.

Franc ;-)


Vegan Slaw Recipe

1 bag pre cut cole slaw mix

½ medium onion diced

½ cup extra light virgin olive oil

½ cup apple cider vinegar

2 cloves minced garlic

1 tsp. salt

1 tsp. pepper

2 tbs. sugar (to taste to cut sourness of vinegar)

Mix oil, vinegar, garlic, salt, pepper and sugar. Pour dressing over slaw mix and refrigerate. Enjoy!

Our plan from the beginning

Being meat and dairy free is the healthiest choice we can make physically, mentally, and spiritually.

We are anxious to see and feel all of the positive effects from eliminating meat and dairy from our diet. We both suffer from allergies and are hoping to lessen or eliminate their effects.

We are a 30 ish couple living in the Pittsburgh area and trying to make a healthy life choice for the long (or short) term.  

Betty~ has been a fish and dairy munching vegetarian for about a year

Franc~ has been a carnivore for most of his life.   

This blog is a documentation of our 30 days of going plant based diet.We have vowed to try this

whole-heartedly for 30 days. Our plan is to document our meals, recipes, stores and restaurants we go to and how we are feeling throughout this process. Good, bad, or otherwise this is our story…….

*Disclaimer- We are an average everyday couple making a whole hearted attempt to go meat and dairy free for a minimum of 30 days we are learning as we go so please feel free to offer suggestions, helpful tips, etc. 

                                                Wish us luck :-)
                                                   Betty and Franc