Day 36 of vegan challenge.
Breakfast
Uncle Toby's Plus Omega 3 (from flax seeds not sea kittens!) with soy milk.
Lunch
The first part of my lunch happened at work where I had an apple Leda bar and a tub of peaches in mango puree.
I had another bit of lunch at home, four Wholemeal Salada sandwiches. Two had Kraft Whipped Peanut Butter, and two had Vegemite and Nuttelex.
Dinner
As discussed in this post, I was in a difficult situation and had to eat a non-vegan dinner. It was at a Greek restaurant and I had some fried zucchini balls (which had cheese in them), salad made with lettuce, capsicum, cucumber, and feta cheese, some chips, some Greek flat bread, and a slice of Toblerone mousse cake. As I suspected, I began to feel sick not long after eating the cheese and I was actually glad that, as a vegan, I wouldn't be eating it anymore! I used to love cheese but after so long without it, when I did eat it, I didn't actually enjoy it at all. I didn't really find the taste pleasant. I don't feel great this morning either. Eating all that dairy laden food, I'm really glad that I chose to go vegan :)
I have a bit of a difficult situation facing me. I am going out for dinner tonight with some old work colleagues. The dinner was organised months ago and I have not seen them for about the same time. When they booked the dinner, they were very concerned about making sure that my vegetarian dietary requirements could be met. Most places serve vegetarian food but these colleagues always worry that there won't be any food for me. They are very lovely and I really appreciated the effort they put in and the concern they showed. However, in the months since I have seen them, I have become vegan. At the present time it is quite unusual for a 'mainstream' restaurant to serve vegan food.
I really feel that I have to go, and I can't now turn around and say, "Oh I know you made such an effort to find somewhere that made vegetarian food, but I'm vegan now and there's nothing here I will eat". This leaves me with only one option. I must eat non-vegan food. I must eat dairy and eggs, thus supporting the very cruelty I want to cut out from my life.
This is a very difficult choice for me but I feel that I should support the effort that my colleagues put into having dinner with me. It does mean that my money will be funding the industries I no longer wish to support, and therefore feed the cycle of consume and demand, but at the same time I will be supporting people who have taken it upon themselves to learn so much about vegetarianism and accommodate their own views as a result.
So I guess this means that my vegan challenge will have to be suspended for one night so that I can support the gradually changing views of these old colleagues. I feel really bad but I know that at the same time I am doing good. I will therefore be extending my vegan challenge by an extra day (to Easter Monday), to make up for this day involving non-vegan eating.
I'm also a bit worried about how my body will react. Since going vegan, I have felt so much healthier and I have so much more energy. Over my years of being vegetarian, there were a few times when I accidentally ate something containing meat. On these occasions I got quite sick, and it wasn't psychological! Apparently it's quite a common occurrence, that the more people cut out meat and animal products, the better they feel, but the reverse is true if you go in the opposite direction. I believe that cutting out dairy has been a big factor in how healthy I feel today, so I'm worried how I will feel after eating a meal no doubt covered in cheese. I guess only time will tell!
Day 35 of vegan challenge.
Breakfast
Apricot jam and Nuttelex on toast with a glass of orange juice.
Lunch
It was shopping day and we had nothing in the house. I took some Freedom Foods Quick Oats (and a measuring cups to measure the water at work!), a tub of peaches in mango puree, a Leda Triple Berry bar, and a little Sweet William chocolate bar.
Dinner
My lovely mum shouted me dinner at the shopping centre. I had sweet and sour stir-fry made with rice vermicelli noodles, vegetables, and tofu.
Snacks
A little taste of the new Kraft Whipped Peanut Butter that my mum also bought me, isn't she nice! This peanut butter was really yummy but I don't really see a market for it. It kind of reminds me of the peanut butter used in confectionery, such as Reece's, but I don't see why you'd use it in everyday life instead of normal peanut butter. It says it's easier to spread but personally I've never found peanut butter difficult to spread. Anyway, I did like the whipped texture and it would be easier to use when making biscuits etc.
A spoonful of Sweet William Chocolate Spread. Mmmm...
Hello everyone! I do apologize for being so silent all week, everything has just been very hectic and crazy for me! I should be returning to daily blogging starting tomorrow but in the meantime, let's look at some of the gastronomic highlights of the past week.
Some homemade pizzas, with tomato paste and herbs, capsicum, pineapple, mushrooms, and baby spinach.
A vegie burger and chips from my local chicken and chip shop. They don't even use vegie patties so you don't have to worry about milk additives, they use a potato fritter instead. The only change I had to make to veganify it was to swap the mayonnaise for tomato sauce. I didn't want mayonnaise on my burger anyway! One thing to watch out for though for all vegans and vegetarians, always ask for plain salt. Chicken/fish and chip shops seem to be obsessed with chicken salt, most of which contain real chicken.
Some homemade minestrone soup, lovely and warming on a cold night!
Burritos made with an Old El Paso Burrito Kit. We used baked beans mixed with the spice sachet and a little water, rice, capsicum, corn, tomato, baby spinach, and the salsa that comes in the kit. Delicious.
We had plenty of ingredients left over from making the burritos so the next day I mixed them all up together and made a salad to take to work for lunch. I used the baby spinach, corn, capsicum, tomato, rice, and a tin of 4 bean mix, seasoned with olive oil and pepper. I also had an Aribar and a Leda bar.
My mum, in all her loveliness, made a delicious lemon drizzle cake (using egg replacer of course) and a whole lot of vegan chocolate mousse. The chocolate mousse mix is Orgran brand and our local health food shop stocks it. It was great and I ate heaps of it, and heaps of cake!
Day 29 of vegan challenge.
Breakfast
Nuttelex and Vegemite on crumpets with a glass of breakfast juice.
Lunch
Freedom Foods Quick Oats with brown sugar.
Dinner
Sweet and sour stir-fry using Coles Quick Stir-fry mix, Hakubaku Organic Udon Noodles (from Coles or Woolies), Ong's Sweet and Sour Sauce (from Coles).
Snacks
I was off sick from work with a gastro bug so I had the grapes I had packed for lunch earlier.
Also the Aribar I had packed for work.
I had a little Sweet William Chocolate while I was moping on the lounge feeling sorry for myself.
The Apple Leda bar that I had also packed for work.
Two pieces of buttered toast when I started feeling better that night.
A lovely cup of hot chocolate that Jeff made for me to make me feel better :) (using soy milk and Cadbury hot chocolate mix).
Day 28 of vegan challenge.
Very poor at the moment! This was pretty much a day of surviving on bare basics.
Breakfast
Two slices of fruit toast with Nuttelex.
Lunch
Baked beans.
Dinner
Heinz Tomato Soup with two pieces of toast with Nuttelex.
Day 27 of vegan challenge.
Breakfast
Uncle Toby's Plus Antioxidants with Sanitarium So Good Soy Milk.
Lunch
Four slices of fruit toast with Nuttelex.
Dinner
A vegan burrito from Burp, with an elderflower drink.
Snacks
Some Leda Choculence biscuits.
Some raw unsalted cashews.
Some lollies that Jeff won from a skill tester machine.
And finally, a glass of milk before bed. Mmm. Soy milk obviously.
Day 26 of vegan challenge.
Breakfast
Freedom Foods Quick Cook Oats with strawberry jam mixed in.
Lunch
Leftover pizza from last night. Made with store bought pizza base (look out for dairy in the ingredients though, eg whey), topped with tomato paste, Italian herbs, capsicum, mushroom, pineapple, and baby spinach. I now realise what that cheese was always hiding, how few veggies are actually on a pizza! I will be putting on more from now on! I also had an Aribar and a tub of peaches in mango puree.
Dinner
I had dinner at the in-laws' and I had two Fry's Chicken Style Patties (I think that's what they're called!), two Helga's Sandwich Thins with olive spread, oven chips, salad, and beetroot.
For dessert I had 2 bowls of freshly made fruit salad.
Snacks
A Go Max Go! Jokerz bar which I bought online from The Vegan Store. It's like a Snickers bar except cruelty free. I love Snickers, they are my favourite chocolate bars, but I stopped eating them when I was vegetarian because I found out that Mars tests on animals, conducting sickening "experiments" that are not at all necessary for food products (or any products!). Anyway, now I can enjoy Snickers bars again without funding animal torture. This Jokerz bar was delicious! Go Max Go! also make a whole range of other chocolate bars, even the Twilight bar which is a vegan Mars Bar. Check them out.
I also had 3 Wholemeal Saladas.
Day 25 of vegan challenge.
Breakfast
Tip Top Fruit Toast with Nuttelex.
Lunch
A strawberry jam sandwich on rye bread, an apple, some sultanas, raw unsalted cashews, an apple Leda bar, and four Sweet William chocolate bars.
Dinner
Homemade pizza (made with a store-bought pizza base), with capsicum, mushrooms, pineapple, and baby spinach.
For dessert I had... a dessert pizza! I topped this one with Sweet William Chocolate Spread. Sanitarium So Good Vanilla Ice-cream, Cottees, Chocolate Topping, and Sweet William Chocolate Bits.
The dessert pizza is a concept that was introduced to me by a restaurant a few years ago. Like all pizza, it's very versatile and you can put just about anything on there.
Some ideas for toppings include chocolate spread, chocolate, ice-cream, whipped cream, banana, strawberries, mixed berries, yoghurt, toffee, coconut, soft lollies, and ice-cream topping. I use a pre-made store-bought base.
1. Cook your base for around 5-10 minutes in a 200 degree oven, until it goes a bit hard on the top.
2. Pile on your toppings!
The pizza pictured below is one I made using Sweet William Chocolate Spread, Sanitarium So Good Ice-cream, Cottees Chocolate Topping, and Sweet William Chocolate Bits.
Happy eating! :)
Day 24 of vegan challenge.
Breakfast
Uncle Toby's Plus Antioxidants with soy milk and a glass of orange juice.
Lunch
Heinz tomato soup.
Dinner
Coles Organic Spaghetti with some sort of pasta sauce, Coles garlic bread, and a glass of wine.
Snacks
A Leda Choculence biscuit, or two.
Some Sanitarium So Good Vanilla Ice-cream with Cottees Chocolate Topping.
Two Arnott's Wholemeal Saladas.
Another bowl of Uncle Toby's Plus Antioxidants cereal with soy milk. Also, this, my friends, is a spilt milk cereal bowl from one of my favourite retailers, thinkgeek.com. I've always had them but they have never appeared on the blog because Jeff is a cereal addict and they're usually both dirty. These bowls will make any bowl of cereal better. Not to mention making the cereal-eater look cooler.
