I woke up with a sense of dread today, knowing what I was about to face for the next 31 days.
No milk.
I always have milk in the morning with my cereal. It's a lifetime tradition for me. Always cereal, and always with milk. Well, today was the reality check on whether or not I was serious about really doing this vegan thing. So unwillingly, I got out my box of high fiber Trader Joe's Organic O's, poured it into a bowl, and then doused it with Trader Joe's Organic Vanilla Soy Milk.
Soy milk. I can't believe I'm drinking soy milk. And how do you milk soy anyway? It just doesn't seem right. A few weeks ago, I finally switched over to organic milk, which was a struggle in itself due to the $6 price tag for just a gallon of the stuff. I was pretty proud of myself for finally switching, and I figured I'd never have to worry about the milk dilemma again.
How wrong I was. Now, staring at me from my bowl of cereal was this "faux" milk that I had to drink. On top of that, it came out of one of those Tetrapak cartons. I had to suffer all summer in Europe drinking warm milk out of a box. I didn't like it one bit. Ugh. Not milk in a box AGAIN. So, with reservations, I ate my cereal and soy milk... and to be honest, it really wasn't that bad. I think the vanilla flavor helps disguise the gag taste of regular soy milk. I envisioned soy milk as tasting like sour wash rags, so I was pleasantly surprised with the results this morning. Looks like I may make it through breakfast after all this month.
Since today was New Year's, most of the natural food stores in town were closed, so I was stuck eating whatever I could find around the house. I typically have a sandwich for lunch, but since that involves bread which uses eggs and milk, I was screwed. I couldn't eat my yogurt, either, which I always have for lunch. Dang. No sandwich. No yogurt. This wasn't looking good at all. And I was so hungry.
I finally found a banana and an orange and devoured them on the spot. I also scrounged around in the freezer and found two Gardenburger Meatless Breakfast Sausage patties. They're made from that TVP stuff... Texturized Vegetable Protein is what they call it. I envisioned a nice tasty Jimmy Dean sausage patty when I first bit into one of these hockey pucks, but it came out tasting more like chewing on that shredded rubber stuff you find below your feet at children's playgrounds. If you look on the Gardenburger box, it's happily emblazoned with the words "Eat Positive," "Heart Positive," and "Sizzlin' Soy"! But I have to say, I couldn't find anything remotely "sizzlin'" about this product, and my heart's positive that these things suck.
After such a disastrous lunch, I was sweating what I would do for dinner. But luckily, I realized that one of my food staples--spaghetti and tomato sauce--was in the clear vegan-wise. Oh, thank you Lord! I consumed my spaghetti meal with some broccoli covered in a vegan butter substitute. This "Natural Buttery Spread" by Earth Balance is pretty tasty stuff. I can't believe it's not butter! I also can't believe everything else it's not: "Non-Hydrogentated," "Non-GMO," "Trans Fat Free," "Lactose Free," "Gluten Free." With all the text they plaster over the tub, it's quite frankly the ugliest package I've ever seen. The only picture on it is Leonardo da Vinci's naked man doing jumping jacks, and that's the last thing I want to see when I buy food at the store. Where are those happy cow pictures when I need them?
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4 comments:
hedo bm. good job on your first day! the ms veggie sausage is the best you will find out there -- it's really yummy crumbled up in a corn tortilla with cheese (vegan for you) and a side of pinto beans.
found a yummy chocolate pudding recipe to try with your soft tofu. http://vegetariancuisine.suite101.com/article.cfm/vegan_chocolate_mousse
It's good having you back! I have some friends who made the conversion to veganism last year, and they struggled but found it ultimately rewarding. I've still not made that jump due to my relative lack of discipline and also my unwillingness to account for my dietary preferences from EVERYONE who asks why you're not eating meat (dairy isn't noticed as often, but is, ironically, really much harder to avoid--dairy is EVERYWHERE).
Making the switch as a "month experiment" will make for an interesting story to tell others, and most people will probably be amused rather than feeling self-conscious, if that matters at all to ya!
Also, you might go all Reverse Super-Size-Me with the detox diet Morgan Spurlock's fiance put him on after he nearly killed himself on a month's worth of McDonald's food. The book is The Great American Detox Diet by Alex Jamieson, in case you haven't heard of it. I imagine it's even more strict than a regular vegan diet in which you're bound to be resigning yourself to tons of french fries, potatoes and fried pickles. ;)
I should probably be measuring my weight every few days like Spurlock did to make sure I don't waste away to nothing. I've got the reverse problem... if I lose weight, I die!
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