Thursday, January 6, 2011

#27 - Eat Like a Vegan for a Week (Or, What was I thinking?) (Also, help!)


I'm not sure what was going through my head in September '09 when I thought this was a good thing to put on my list.  Maybe I thought it would be healthy? Maybe it was a "Walk in someone else's shoes" thing? I don't know, but considering that my main food groups are meat, cheese, bread, and coffee (Why yes, those are now food groups, by the way), this was a stupid idea.

Nevertheless, I'm determined to do it, no matter what. No matter how hungry I go all week! Even if... Even if it kills me!

Okay, NOT if it kills me.

Still, I'm going to do this starting Sunday, so I'm asking y'all for a little help. Do you guys know any good Vegan-friendly recipes? I mean, I know, I KNOW, SALAD. I've already got that and miso soup. But I'd like to eat something other than that and endless amounts of apples next week, so help me out here. I'm willing to try pretty much anything! And if you don't know any good recipes, please spread this around to others who might. Crowdsourcing my menu for the win!

Thanks guys. :)

6 comments:

  1. check out The Skinny Bitch: Ultimate Everyday Cookbook, it's completely Vegan and *amazing* food. here's a link to the Google book reader copy: http://bit.ly/eNWRqx (orange scones are super easy and amazing to eat all week!)

    Good luck on this! It's actually one of my goals this year to do the same thing, so I'm excited to see how your endeavors go.

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  2. and that was totally the wrong link... here's the longer version... http://books.google.com/books?id=BMdjgQUXPu8C&pg=PA75&lpg=PA75&dq=skinny+bitch+orange+scones&source=bl&ots=ReBBcvwy3Y&sig=qpDyL6EnaSmaevNXxz6zIicGGHY&hl=en&ei=uzgjTYn9JYKB8gachtTLDQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CBYQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q&f=false

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  3. MAN you are way more committed than me -- I tried to be a vegetarian once (which basically just meant I started to eat even MORE cheese) and I gave up within a few days. What can I say? I NEED MEAT.

    All the same, good luck! Let us know how it goes!

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  4. talk to this beautiful lady

    www(dot)cassagram(dot)com

    she just eats like this regularly :)

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  5. Being vegan is actually remarkably easy. Patrick and I are doing this thing where we're trying to cut out some meat and, without actually intending to, a lot of what we've been eating is vegan.

    Milk is easy - soymilk (especially the vanilla or chocolate flavored ones) is delicious. Almond milk is also pretty good but it can have an odd flavor to some.

    Basically EVERYTHING you usually eat meat for can be replaced with nonmeat versions. MorningStar is the brand that most grocery stores seem to carry (both WalMart and Kroger have a pretty good variety of their products). The "chicken nuggets" taste exactly like chicken nuggets and the "ground hamburger meat" is really good for just about anything except making hamburger helper (the consistency is just too weird for boiling; I tried). Morning Star also has a ton of little single entree items ranging from Chinese food to BBQ ribs, though we haven't tried many of those yet as they tend to be a bit more expensive.

    As a great meat replacement, there's also tofu. I know most people are like "ew, tofu" but it's honestly really versatile and the innate flavor/texture can be disguised very well if you hate it. Panda Express sells bottles of their sauces that are both delicious and strong enough to fully mask tofu's slight flavor.

    I haven't tried them yet but there are several varieties of vegan cheeses (same can be said for the other milk products like yogurt, sour cream, etc) and can usually be found in the store right next to the soymilk or tofu.

    The one major vegan thing I haven't found is a vegan version of eggs. While it definitely does exist, I think you have to visit a more health based grocery store like wholefoods or central market to find it.


    Let me know if you need any help during your vegan week. I've been debating for a while now if I want to go vegetarian/vegan fulltime and I've pretty much decided that it's possible which, considering what a picky eater I am, means I basically think it's possible for everyone - especially for a time period as short as a week.

    Good luck!

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  6. PS: Valorie, I totally gave you a silly little blog award over at my blog, so check it out if you'd like! :)

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Commenting? How lovely. Please try not to talk about dead cats.