Day 21

Guess what guys? I went to Whole Foods again to get a few things for a recipe I'm making tonight which is to follow, and naturally bought a couple of extras. I got:

Daiya Mozzarella Style Shreds

Daiya Cheddar Style Shreds

Bragg's Nutritional Yeast

Amy's Gluten and Dairy-free Mac and Cheese (it was on sale and it's SO good)

Boca Chick'n Patties (I had a coupon!)

Organic Vegetarian Refried Pinto Beans

Tofurky Pepperoni Pizza Pockets

I am beyond excited to try these.

I've been craving chicken soup so I also picked up some vegan chicken boullion.

But that's not the point of this post. I decided to make vegan au gratin potatoes and sautéed kale as some side dishes for dinner!

Au Gratin Potatoes, what you need:

5 red potatoes, washed

1 cup Daiya Cheddar Style Slices

1/2 cup Daiya Mozzarella Style Slices

3 tbsp vegan butter

3 tbsp all purpose flower

2 cups nondairy milk (I used almond)

1 tbsp onion powder

Salt and pepper to taste

What you do:

Slice the red potatoes very thin and layer them in a greased baking pan. I used Smart Balance Light, also my vegan butter substitute.

Continue layering evenly until all of your potatoes are in the pan. Preheat your oven to 400 degrees.

Heat vegan butter in a saucepan. When it's melted, add in the flour and cook for one minute, continuously whisking. Once you've cooked some of the flour taste out of the roux, add in one cup of almond milk and whisk to incorporate. Add in your second cup and continue whisking until sauce thickens. Add in both cheeses and onion powder, remove from heat and stir until everything melts together. Your cheese sauce should look like this:

Season with salt and pepper and pour over your layered potatoes.

Bake at 400 degrees for 90 minutes, or until they are golden brown and crispy.

I also made a really easy (and delicious) kale that I found on a list of fit foods.

What you need:

1 bunch of washed, dried, de-stemmed and coarsely chopped kale

3 tbsp olive oil

2 garlic cloves, sliced thin

1/2 cup vegetable stock

Salt and pepper, to taste

1 tbsp red wine vinegar

What you do:

Heat garlic in olive oil until soft, but not golden.

Add in kale and vegetable stock, toss to coat.

Cover and let cook for 7 minutes.

Remove lid and cook until liquid dissipates, about 5 minutes.

Add in salt, pepper and red wine vinegar.

And, finally, dinner. I just baked a Boca chick'n patty according to package directions and topped it with Frank's wing sauce and had it with my vegan ranch dressing from my post on Sunday. The verdict? The potatoes were really, really good. My non-vegan boyfriend had seconds of both the kale and potatoes. The kale was delicious, retained it's texture but softened and was seasoned perfectly.

They say it takes 21 days to break a habit, and I gotta say, I didn't miss cheese a single time today!

Day Nineteen: That Time I Tried Again

So, a couple of weeks ago I tried out Tofupups and had a really negative experience. It was rubbery and gooey and weird and so, so wrong. I did my research and read some reviews, and picked up a pack of Lightlife Smart Dogs Jumbo; a vegan meatless hot dog. Today my mom asked how they were in comparison, so I cooked one up for dinner.

You know what? I've gotta say, the taste and texture are very similar to that of a regular hot dog. I am very pleasantly surprised by this one!

Day Sixteen: Vegan Ranch Dressing

Fueled by the hangover of the century and boredom, I took another tour through the vegweb recipe database. And guess what I found? That's right. VEGAN RANCH DRESSING. I knew I had to have it.

What you need:

1/2 cup vegan mayonnaise (Nasoya Nayonaise)

1/2 vegan sour cream (Tofutti brand)

1/2 cup non-dairy milk of your choice (I used almond)

3 tsp red wine vinegar

1 bunch fresh dill, chopped

2 tsp onion powder

2 tsp garlic powder

Salt and pepper, to taste

What you do:

Mix it up. Yes, I'm serious. It's that easy.

The verdict? It looks like ranch. It smells like ranch. It actually TASTES like ranch. I'm so excited to use this as a vegetable dip, salad dressing, in wraps and sandwiches and even with vegan pizza. Yum.

I also went grocery shopping. I was pleasantly surprised to find a huge variety of the things I've been making special trips to Whole Foods for at my local Stop and Shop. 

Noteable items:

Amy's Kitchen Gluten and Dairy-free Mac and Cheese

Tofutti Pizza Pizzaz

Lightlife Smart Dogs Jumbo

Tofurkey Honey Smoked 'Turkey'

Boca Original and Spicy chick'n patties

Nasoya Nayonaise

Tofutti Better Than Sour Cream

I'm excited. And, I spent about 40% LESS than I have previously spent grocery shopping as a dairy-loving carnivore. So, for all of you that think being vegan is too expensive, think again!

Day Fourteen: What's Jalapeño Poppin'!?

Back in 2007 when I ventured into the realm of veganism for the first time, I was obsessed with vegweb.com for recipes and ideas to create my own. I spent some time surfing the new and improved layout last night, and promptly decided that I needed some jalapeño poppers in my life, and STAT.

Here we go, kids! Here's the recipe to make your very own vegan jalapeño poppers.

What you need:

12 fresh jalapeño peppers

8 oz Tofutti Better Than Cream Cheese

1/8 cup baco's or soy-replacement bacon

All purpose flour

Vegan breadcrumbs

1 tablespoon onion powder

1 tablespoon garlic powder

Plain non-dairy milk of your choosing (soy, rice, almond)

First, I cut the tops off of the peppers, halved them and placed them on a baking sheet that I sprayed with cooking spray and broiled them plain for 10 minutes to reduce the amount of heat.

To

Next, I set up my dredging station with one bowl of flour, one bowl of soy milk, and a bowl of breadcrumbs mixed with the onion and garlic powders.

In a large mixing bowl, I mixed the baco's and room-temperature cream cheese to create the pepper filling and then stuffed them! 

You can see I started breading. Whoops! After the peppers are filled, dip them in plain flour, submerge in soy milk and roll through the breadcrumb mixture to coat. When those are done, pop the baking sheet in the freezer for ten or so minutes to firm the peppers. Remove them from the freezer, submerge in soy milk and roll in the breadcrumb mixture a second time. 

Dip each pepper in vegetable or canola oil (your preference), and pop them in a 400 degree oven, turning once, for 15 minutes. Place on a paper towel and allow them to cool off a bit.

The verdict? These are good. These are dangerously good.

Proud of me!

Day Eleven

Yesterday morning, Jordan and I had planned to go for brunch before he had to leave for work around 12:15. True to form, I woke up a little late and didn't leave much time to play the waiting game that is Saturday brunch in Providence. After being told it would be the standard 45 minute wait at Julian's, we turned and ran; vegan options or not. 

We headed down the street to The Grange, the sister restaurant to The Garden Grille in Pawtucket (remember the Mac and cheese?), which I have been to a few times but was never really impressed with. We walked in and sat right away. I asked a few questions, and we ordered. I got the fried oyster mushroom po'boy on a pretzel bun, hash browns with vegan dill sour cream, and a green juice made with kale, cucumber, apple and lemon.

I am so glad I did. Everything was delicious and I took half home to bring with me for dinner at work.

Fast-forward to this morning. I was hungry, a little cheese-deprived depressed, and decided to try out making a grilled "bacon" and "cheese" on a bagel. That counts as breakfast, right?

The "bacon" looked a little strange, but after I cooked it up in a pan with olive oil, it tasted surprisingly bacony. My mistake was adding "cheese". I got greedy. I should've stuck to a toasted bagel with a side of bacon.

I took a few bites before I realized I just was not into it. I ate a couple sweet potato fries and into the trash my valiant effort went. An apple with almond butter it is.

Day Eight, For Real

I've got to admit, I really did want a turkey club sandwich earlier. However, I had myself a nice toasted onion bagel with vegan cream cheese for breakfast. It put me off of my craving for a bit. I picked up a half dozen bagels at Bagel Gourmet yesterday and I'm so glad I did. BAGELS<3.

I haven't had many of my old meat-eating lifestyle cravings, to be honest. But sometimes I dream of this amazing turkey club sandwich from The Whiskey Republic when chef Jonathan Beres was the head of the kitchen. You guys, I'm talking basically butter-fried sourdough, freshly sliced turkey, Irish Cheddar, butter lettuce, beautiful tomatoes, and sweet potato French Fries. I almost cried this morning just thinking about it. I was weak, but I prevailed.

There's a certain week, when you're a female, that despite restriction and common sense, you want to eat all of the bad foods. For me, it's mozzarella sticks, turkey clubs, and 3 Muskateers bars. I settled today for a Boca Chick'n patty, which I then topped with a slice of Daiya Provolone (which, I've gotta say, tastes 700% better than it smells) with Frank's brand mild wing sauce. Later on, I finished off about half of a cup of some SoDelicious Coconut Milk Ice Cream. It was So. Delicious.

But then, I went to work. I work at two different restaurants, one which provokes me to eat all of the things moreso than the other. Without naming names, I've tasted and since thought of the Chicken Parmesan with Pink Vodka sauce. Holy God and Jesus and everything religious, I want it. But I won't eat it. There's literally not a single vegan item in job #2 unless you count the complimentary salad or bread. In the weeks before going completely vegan, I enjoyed the Cream of Mushroom and Cream of Broccoli soup and Egglant Parmesan with pink vodka sauce. Those days are over. 

Today I packed myself a few stalks of celery with peanut butter, and a small bag of cereal flakes; both of which were either half-eaten by ravenous co-workers or thrown out towards the end of shift cleaning. I'm just lucky my amazing boyfriend picked me up some French Fries on his way home so I could melt some vegan cheese on them and pretend it's all just been a dream.

And before you say anything, yes. It helped.

Day Eight

I want a turkey club sandwich.

Let's Taco 'Bout It! Day Six

I finally made my way to the doctor this afternoon and found out I've got strep throat. Boo. Sick day and amoxicillin meant I had plenty of time to think about what was going to be for dinner. I decided on tacos because everyone loves tacos, I like to fit as much "cheese" in as possible, and I had just restocked my freezer with some Boca Meatless Crumbles.

I sautéed a quarter of a yellow onion in a little bit of Earth Balance Organic vegan butter, and added about two cups of Boca Crumbles. I added a quarter cup of water and quarter cup of plain tomato sauce that I had mixed with half of a packet of taco-seasoning and simmered until it thickened, about ten minutes. I toasted up some taco shells (two, because I don't have much of an appetite) and topped them with shredded lettuce, mild taco sauce, diced tomato, a spoonful of Wholly Guacamole spicy guac, Daiya shredded pepperjack style "cheese" (tapioca-based and probably the most cheese-like vegan alternative), and sprinkled with cilantro.

The end result? Pretty. Damn. Good. The Boca Crumbles don't have too much flavor on their own, but with the onion and taco seasoning, I could've sworn I was eating meat. They have a very pleasant texture for a meat substitute, and I gotta say that I really enjoy the cheese shreds both cold and melted.

Day Five

I woke up feeling a bit better today and when my dad asked if Jordan and I wanted to go for an early dinner, I jumped at the chance and suggested we go to The Garden Grille in Pawtucket. A 100% vegetarian restaurant, with almost everything on the menu having the option to be made vegan, I figured it was a great spot for us to get together. Jordan was skeptical at first, until he saw the butternut squash quesadilla on the menu and he was sold. 

That, ladies and gentlemen, is gluten-free and dairy-free macaroni and cheese with broccoli, mushrooms, brown rice pasta, vegan cheese sauce and Daiya brand non-dairy/tapioca-based "cheese". OH MY GOD. It was rich, buttery, cheesy, and delicious. I've been coming to this place for seven years and I've always seen it on the menu and had been meaning to try it and I'm so glad I did. That little cup you see in the left corner is the Crazy Weech smoothie, which is chocolate soy milk, banana, and peanut butter. Milkshake swap much?

For dinner, I stopped by Whole Foods and picked up a thin crust pizza dough, Daiya pepperjack flavored shreds, and Lightlife pepperoni flavored seitan. Cooked it up with some veggies along side a bacon, fresh mozzarella, pepper, mushroom and onion pizza for my boyfriend and his mom. They not only enjoyed their pizza, but both tried and liked my vegan version! Yay!

Day Four

I've had a really busy week between two jobs, an impending illness which I happened to wake up with yesterday, and just life in general. However, when I made a commitment to being vegan for lent, I also made a commitment to this blog.

It's been a great few days in terms of food. I've had Pho Chay (vegetable pho with tofu and vegetable broth) TWICE, from Pho Horns in Pawtucket. I've had vegan (read: gelatin and animal broth-free) chow mein from Luke's in Warren, and I've tried out a few local coffee/breakfast places and some of the items from my last post.

We'll start with my favorite: Pho Chay. Crispy tofu, mushrooms, snap peas, baby corn, water chestnuts, carrots, celery, broccoli, zucchini and summer squash swimming in a delicious vegetable broth with vermicelli (rice noodles). I've eaten this twice in one week for a few reasons: 

1. YUM.

2. It's a serious comfort food for me.

3. This one bowl, the size of my head or larger, is $8 and I got two meals out of both of my trips to Pho Horns.

White Electric Coffee, I can't express how much I love you. You're in my neighborhood, you have some of the best bagels I've ever eaten, and offer Tofutti cream cheese and Earth Balance as toppings. AND you can add avocado. Holy moly, and not to mention they have some really killer soy lattes that save me a trip to Starbucks and make me feel like I'm contributing a bit to local shops.

I woke up to a nice surprise from my roommate yesterday. She made a green smoothie with spinach, kiwi, apples, avocado, bananas, and magic. It tasted like a little bit of green smoothie heaven.

I know, I know. I've mentioned my love for bagels a few times. This morning when I had somewhat of an appetite finally, I tested out a toasted everything bagel with one half Earth Balance, and one half Go Veggie chive and garlic cream cheese. I vote cream cheese, all the way. I could eat this every day.

SoDelicious Coconut Milk Fudge Bars Minis are just that: SO DELICIOUS. I've had two of the four in the box in just two days. I'll say that it's because of my sore throat, but let's be real. They taste like Caramel Delight Girl Scout cookies, or as some of my friends refer to them: Samoas. 

As of now, I'm working on feeling better and searching out a few vitamin supplements I can take to help balance out this pretty sudden shock to my diet.

Day One

After work today I decided I needed to hit Whole Foods and stock up on some better food options after the Tofupups incident last night. I promised my roommate I would never become one of those "freezer vegans", eating only pre-made, overly-processed, and meat replacement type foods.

Follow Your Heart Vegan Gourmet: This cashew-based "cheese" has been around for ages. I used to use it to melt over the top of my favorite vegan stuffed shell recipe. It actually melts! It doesn't taste exactly like cheese, but it's one of the better brands I've tried.

Earth Balance: Vegan butter, plain and simple! For cooking, for bread and bagels.

Go Veggie Chive and Garlic Cream Cheese: I really like bagels. It's just like cream cheese, but dairy free and way less salty.

Boca Chick'n Patties: These have been a staple in my diet for a long time, whether I'm eating meat or not. They're delicious! I eat them plain with hot sauce or cut them up and put them over a salad for some texture.

SoDelicious Coconut Milk Fudge Bars: These are new to me, but I am such a huge fan of the SoDelicious coconut milk chocolate "ice cream", I just had to have them.

Daiya Cheeze Lover's Pizza: Okay, now I'm looking like a junk-food junkie. I bought this to try out next time we have pizza at my boyfriend's house so I can get in on the fun. And let's face it dudes, sometimes you just need to eat pizza.

I'll update once I've tried the new-to-me stuff, and I'll break out my DSLR soon, I promise.

Five Hours In

I already regret this decision. I left work around 1:30, and after various stops (OLIVIA), made it home to find my roommate and her boyfriend had a drunk friend over, who she then decided to feed Southwest Chicken Taquitos. If you know me, you know that not eating those hurt me straight down to the soul.

Once they left, I decided to try out the pack of Tofupups that I'd bought in anticipation of my first day in more than seven years of being 100% vegan. "I'll eat a hotdog", I thought. "Tofu tastes great when imparted with the correct flavors", I thought. 

Boy, was I wrong. I pulled out this rubbery, kind of jaundiced looking piece of what-the-fuck ever and read the directions. "Pierce in a few places, drop in boiling water for two minutes, enjoy!"

I did not enjoy anything but a fake plasticy smoke flavor which was pretty displeasing to the point that I had to take a shot of gin to get it far away from my pallet. Not the most successful first vegan meal. However convenient, I DO NOT, and I repeat, DO NOT, recommend Tofupups. The most "yuck" points ever on the "Things I Will Never Eat Again Even On A Deserted Island" yuck scale.

So, day one, I go to bed hungry after staring longingly at the log of fresh mozzarella I bought for my boyfriend to make

his egg white breakfast English muffin sandwiches with. Gin it is.

The Beginning

I have to admit, two weeks ago to the day when I was standing in the kitchen at work and putting away a pizza with fried chicken and extra cheese talking about going vegan for Lent, I didn't have much faith in myself. I figured I'd toss the idea around a bit, sneak my way out of it, and continue on in the rut of bar food and takeout that I've been in for a while. My last attempt at living a healthy lifestyle ended pretty abruptly. It started with one day off from the gym here and there, to a few nights out drinking and eating. It turned into not having been to the gym in well over three months and eating anything and everything I could get my hands on, without a single thought about what I was actually putting into my body, or why.

And so spawned my Vegan for Lent idea; after that pizza two weeks ago, I quit eating meat, poultry, and seafood. All together. I figured it would be a smoother transition to veganism if I started out slow and still allowed myself eggs and dairy. And by dairy, I mean cheese. Pretty much strictly cheese. We have a love affair, it's a thing. I made it 13 days without so much as a taste of meat. I did fall off the wagon on Monday; it was my boyfriend's 26th birthday and I took him to Los Andes, a Peruvian and Bolivian restaurant, and had calamari and tilapia. Bad vegetarian. I paid for it, though. My stomach was very unhappy with me, and still is. So, here I am on my last day of being vegetarian before Lent, which starts tomorrow: March 5th.

I'll be posting recipes, food photos, and updates on how eating a plant-based diet affects my body and mind. I'm hoping this is just the cleanse I need to kickstart off to a healthy spring and summer!