In week three of my vegan diet I started getting a little looser with dinners. Mixed veggies over pasta, veggie burger, seaweed salads, and a trip out to a Mexican restaurant. This was the biggest challenge....going out to dinner. I looked at the menu ahead of time to try to plan ahead. They had veggie stuffed poblano peppers, veggies crepes with a salsa verde and salads. It was snowy and cold, so salad was out. I asked about the peppers, if the cheese could be left off the top. Our waiter informed me their was cheese inside too. OK, so then the crepes would be good - no cheese, but the waiter alerted me to the sour cream mixed into the filling, not just on top. He already hated me for not ordering a margarita, but instead chose a nice glass of red....so I decided not to push my luck. Politeness, and a lack of options chose the crepes for dinner. They were very good, but I left a lot of the sauce on the dish to avoid an over indulgance of sour cream. Since when does salsa verde have sour cream??
I have to say I felt lousy the next day....could it really be the sour cream? Was my breathing really affected by a touch of dairy? I am not sure....but Sunday morning was not a great day for feeling good. My girlfriend, whom we went to dinner with, was very supportive of my new dietary choices, but her husband's eye brow went up when the topic of vegan came up. It seemed a relief to him (a die hard meat eater, veggie avoider) that I chose vegan for health and not for philosophy....I guess that is the kind of vegan that is a nut, throwing paint on fur coats, and living in the woods eating nuts and berries. The health reason resulted in a good luck to ya - I couldn't do it. That's ok. The rest of the week was easy - sweet potato and lentil stew, sauteed kale and butternut, an eggplant, peppers and sun dried tomato mix was a favorite - even added a few capers. Miso and rice wine vinegar dressing, as well as dijon cider vinegar dressing was good, but switched to straight up fig balsamic last night. I discovered cherry pit powder for a huge dose of vitamin C, and sun dried peppers which are amazingly strong in flavor, and delicious! I have noticed my tolerance for wine is down - one glass and I feel it. My desire for meat is gone, ice cream doesn't appeal, and I actually really like almond and soy milk. I am starting to feel like I am eating a lot of the same flavors, so will try to mix things up this week. I have so many grains, beans and recipes to try. We are having a farro salad with eggplant this week, and next week I will try making Seitan and tofu filled ravioli. Can't wait! Oh yes....this is a diet, right? And I told you I wanted to lose a few pounds, lower my blood sugars. Well sugars are a bit lower overall, but my weight is holding solid. Nothing in 2 weeks. This will be my week though - I can feel it! I will measure everything, count every calorie and work out more. Or at least that is the plan. Hope your new year's resolutions to eat better are working for you. Anyone have any chocolate to share? Doh! |
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