Meatless Mondays

And Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays, Fridays...well, you get the idea.  Yup.  We decided to go vegan.

Left Brain and I watched a couple of documentaries in early May and it changed our lives.  The first one we saw was called "What the Health" and the second was "Forks Over Knives".


When they pointed out the health benefits and weight loss we looked at each other and could see we were both thinking the same thing.

I've always been uncomfortable with the way the big corporate farms treat the animals, so letting go of eating meat really appealed to me.

When you get into the harmful effects of raising so much beef and what it does to the planet as well as the horrible lives these animals live and how it ends...the idea of vegan living was more and more appealing.  Plus I'd be able to be kosher again.  Ding ding ding...we have a winner!

How hard could it be, right?  Well, let me tell you....it's hard.

We totally ignored the advice of easing into this in a four week span of time and jumped right in full force.  It's the way we roll.  Not wise, but that's us.

The new gold standard for what ever new recipe I'd try became "well, that wasn't horrible".  For every time that was uttered there were several more "I simply cannot eat that!"

Many attempted recipes trying to make friends with our new foods ended up being unceremoniously dumped in the trash.  That was hard because often I'd spent a considerable amount of time (and money) working to fix that meal.

Salads were the only thing that seemed to be tasty, but I don't want to see the rest of my life as one big never ending salad bar.

I'm embracing (or at least trying) to eat foods that I never would have dreamed of buying.  I had a thing against black beans before, but slowly they are becoming my friends.  Especially after learning you need to rinse them thoroughly before using them.  Chickpeas are another ...they seem to be in almost every sort of meal as well as a snack.

I'm learning (the hard and expensive way) which garden burgers are at least somewhat tasty and which are pure crap.

I've even attempted cooking tofu...that shows you how desperate I've gotten.  Haven't mastered that yet.

You'll lose weight! That was the rallying cry that really caught my attention.  I'm the only person on the planet eating a plant based diet and gaining weight.  I suppose that's because sugar is also a plant I seem to be eating more of that in a frenzied attempt to find something tasty.

We did find we enjoyed falafels in pita bread, that was a relief.

I figured we'd never eat out again, but I'm learning that many restaurants have a vegan option, something McDonald's still hasn't gotten on board with yet.

The thing I'm really missing is eggs.  Sometimes I just want some eggs and hashbrowns.  There is an egg replacement you can buy, but it's only good for baking. Perhaps it's time to consider ourselves ovo-lacto instead of strict vegans.  That allows the use of milk and dairy.  I could live with that much easier.

We may have to alter our plans.

Long Live the Queen of Green