Keep On Eatin' On

I'm now three weeks into my no-meat-no-dairy experiment.  The novelty is has mostly worn off, which is on the one hand kind of nice, since it means I'm coming to terms with the limitations of the diet, but on the other hand can signal a certain complacency which is not in keeping with my goal of learning more about veganism.  Fortunately, Kenji Lopez-Alt at Serious Eats just started a similar experiment.  His (decidedly more thorough) discussion, along with some vegan recipes, can be found here.

Ongoing observations:

- Navigating restaurants with these diet restrictions remains difficult and tests my flexibility.  I try not to be a spoilsport when going out with friends, but it's obvious that I need to be proactive about pushing vegan-friendly restaurants, and/or flexible about eating ahead of time, when making plans with friends.

- Even when I do find vegan options at restaurants, I often still leave less than satisfied with the value I'm getting.  At restaurants I generally try to order dishes that are difficult to make at home, or that involve specialized ingredients (often meat, which I cook relatively rarely myself).  Certainly there are vegan dishes which fit those requirements, but there are also plenty that don't.  $8.50 for a peanut butter sandwich seems a bit exorbitant  (Iota, in Arlington - which is curiously thin in veg options given its cultural niche).  On top of that, at many mid-level restaurants, the vegan option is just a regular option with certain elements removed (like the Federalist, where I requested my admittedly-delicious potato and leek tart sans goat cheese).  In both cases I ended up feeling like I'm paying the same amount for less.

- At-home cooking takes more thought/time while I have fewer protein sources at my disposal.  My go-to couscous/pasta/rice + poached/fried egg + whatever veggies we have in the fridge + parmesan/hot sauce is a no-go until February.  Avocado, hummus and beans fill the egg/cheese void, but not perfectly.  More seasoning helps too (I'm enamored of the combo of garlic powder & pimenton right now), and I've even found some actually vegan shredded cheese that doesn't make me barf.  But when I'm really hungry RIGHT NOW, I'm still resorting to PB&J (or, on a bad day, Tofutti Cuties) to tide me over after work while the beets roast or the beans soak. Not exactly top-notch nutrition.

Tonight I made a tasty casserole while grazing through my quick-pick vegan options (grapes, prunes, pb on a spoon).  It doesn't look like much but it turned out well and I'll likely revisit the recipe in the post-vegan future.  On the other hand, I've also picked out the first two recipes I'll be making in February: yum and double yum.

Vegan Bake**

Leftover rice
Fava beans, cooked until they're barely recognizable (ideally the day before. GEEZ beans require planning)
3 cloves garlic, minced
head of chard, sliced & lightly sauteed
pureed tomato (from this summer, by way of the freezer)
chopped dill
garlic, pimenton, salt, pepper
bread crumbs
Daiya vegan cheese (to sprinkle on top)

Layer to your liking, bake for 40 mins on 350, eat with your face.



*An exception: the menu at Zaytinya had a number of really, truly delicious, totally vegan small plates.  Although their pita inexplicably include dairy, they brought me cucumbers to dip in the rich hummus.

**Thanks to Bill Bryson, I now know who to thank/blame for precision measurements in recipes, a practice not popularized until 1845 by Eliza Acton and Isabella Beeton.  I am also much better acquainted with how to properly berate my servants.

Just Eat It

You'll be happy to know that I've made it all the way to day two of my minimal-animal-foods diet.  I'm shying away from calling it a vegan diet, because veganism is really more of a philosophy and I imagine true vegans would resent my using the term for a temporary project born largely out of curiosity.  Also I don't intend to stop eating honey, so, there's that.  I will refer to foods as vegan, since that's a more fact-based designation.

What I've learned so far:

- It's hard to eat out as a vegan, even in very hipster-friendly venues.  I had dinner with a vegetarian friend last night and had basically two menu options, one of which (the black bean soup) was basically just a can of beans put into a bowl with some seasoned salt in it.  Not that I'm complaining, black beans and seasoned salt are delicious - but it wasn't exactly worth the $5 hipster-bar-on-H-street premium I paid.  Fortunately my vegetarian friend was able to provide some guidance and sympathy, having had a decade and a half's worth of experience navigating not-so-veggie-friendly menus.  

- Apparently not all beer is vegan, owing to the use of animal byproducts like isinglass and gelatin during the brewing process, as well as lactose (e.g. milk stouts) and honey for flavor.  The beer I had last night, Summer Solstice Cerveza Crema by Anderson Valley Brewing Company, might even have had some lactose in it - which, to be fair, I probably should have figured out from its name.  Either way it was delicious, but dangerously like drinking alcoholic cream soda.  Will have to revisit later in the year.

- Most faux meats are not vegan, as they rely heavily on eggs as the first or second ingredient.  Some have cheese as well, as I learned on my Safeway visit today.  As a carnivore I actually enjoy Morningstar Farm's facon (faux bacon) but Smart Bacon is my only vegan "bacon-style strip" option this month.  I found some vegan faux chick nuggets, as well faux mayo and soy cheese, with a little bit of searching.  The rest of my purchases were produce.

When I got home from Safeway I made myself a modified vegan FLT with my spoils. 

The verdict(s):

- Nayonnaise is quite tasty and nearly identical to light mayonnaise nutrition-wise.

- Smart Bacon looks gross, smells gross, and doesn't bring much to the table flavor-wise

Doesn't exactly scream "EAT ME"

- The soy cheese I got actually isn't vegan, apparently: its second ingredient is casein, which is a milk protein used as a binder. It does taste suspiciously like "real" American cheese, which is to say not at all like cheese but still occasionally delicious.  I didn't realize this until I'd unwrapped one slice so we'll call that slip #2 of likely many.

- The best part of the sandwich, by far, was the avocado.  

Lesson learned: mother nature makes better vegan food than people do.  Shocking, I know.

NOT WRITE NOTES

Johnny Cash, putting your life goals in perspective since 1955. Via Gingerhaze.

Welp, it's nearly 2012.  Not sure where the time went, but happy to have had it.  While end-of-year introspection generally leaves me mulling over negatives (an unfortunate but inescapable habit), I have to admit that 2011 was a pretty good year.  If I had made resolutions, the list probably would have looked like this:

1. Get married.
2. Advance professionally.

Done and done.  We had a fun wedding, an amazing honeymoon, and an intimate courthouse ceremony.  I start on Tuesday in a new position at the same nonprofit where I've been working for a few years, and am crossing my fingers that I do a good job and serve the organization well.  Whatever fitness goals I had at the beginning of the year were more or less not met, so that will be a project for a new year. But on the other hand, I ate (and cooked) a lot of amazing food.  2011 was also the year of not one but TWO totally genuine surprise parties (birthday and wedding shower), and of a pretty lovely bachelorette party.  I did a bit of yoga, I read, I watched movies, I spent time with friends.  I acquired a few nice new possessions, and kept an impressive quantity of indoor plants alive.  I survived being a bride and a bridesmaid. I got drunk at a zoo.  I got drunk at a butterfly garden.  I saw family.  I saw  Carhenge.  I drove across the country.  I touched a dolphin, and saw a shark in the wild.  I snuggled my brother's dog.  I gave (and received) a fair number of high-fives.

2012 has me feeling similarly ambitious.  On the slate:

- Read Ulysses
- Read more in general
- Meditate more/take a meditation class
- Record my dreams more frequently
- Write in private journal more
- Blog more regularly, if not more frequently
- Move to a bigger place, preferably one we own, preferably with a yard
- Get a dog?
- Improve aerobic fitness
- Find & go to a new dentist
- Floss
- Drink more water
- Beat Portal 1 and 2

I'm also toying with a year-long project, or series of projects, to keep me engaged and/or trying new things.  The basic idea is to have a theme for each month and to pursue that theme, in whatever way is most appropriate, as consistently as possible, throughout the month.  My early ideas for this were based on different types of deprivation, which has its place for sure, but I'm trying to keep it flexible and also productive.  So far, possibilities include:

- Minimize and when possible eliminate animal-based foods for a month
- Forgo TV for a month
- Avoid online social networking for a month
- Crafting month
- Meditation month (perhaps my own 28-day meditation challenge)
- Journaling (or dream-journaling) every day for a month
- Running month?  (w/ help from the Couch to 5K app)
- Guitar month (note: this would require obtaining a guitar, as the bro has reclaimed his)
- Writing (of the non-journal variety) month

I'm going to start with no-animal-foods for January and see how that goes.  I think it will be really, really hard and involve a lot of peanut butter, hummus, and rice with beans.  Hopefully enough veggies to keep things moving as well.

The worry, of course, is that I am generally much better at making lists and devising projects than I am at following through on them.  E will hopefully help me with motivation, although he's been a pretty hard sell on the whole no-cheese thing so I'll be going that bit alone.  Other than that, I guess all I can do is keep moving and take it day by day.

Happy new year, all!


Annnnd GO.