Day Two: Also Not So Tough

Breakfast was a bowl of Ezechiel cereal, a fresh peach and almond milk. There was a recent ruling that forbids plant based beverages from calling the beverage "milk". So no more "soy milk" or "rice milk" or "almond milk". The theory being that one cannot milk a plant. (What about Milkweed? Eh?) No matter, I shall still refer to my almond beverage as almond MILK. I'm a rebel.

Lunch was the leftover Middle Eastern food from the picnic this weekend. I had Baba Ganoush, pit bread and Kousharie. Yes, there are variable spellings for that and I don't know which one is correct so I'm just picking one. Kousharie is an Egyptian dish consisting of lentils, pasta, and rice topped with fried onions and a tomato sauce. I have it on good authority that the "real" Egyptian way to eat it is to mix some hot sauce in w/ the tomato sauce and dig in. It IS rather good that way. Sadly, I forgot to bring the hot sauce so I had it plain. It was still quite good.

Dinner will be Orange Veggie Chili with Brown Rice and a salad.

My Orange Veggie Chili is one of those what do you have on hand/what do you like dishes. I used

1/2 onion , chopped

2 cloves garlic, chopped

olive oil

1 can of whole tomatoes (I chopped them up in the can)

1 carrot, diced

1 orange pepper, diced

1 BIG handful of cilantro, chopped (I like cilantro, use it if you like, or don't)

2 T cumin

2 T hot pepper jelly

2 cans Cannelloni beans

a bit of water

Yep, just saute the onion and garlic in the oil, add the peppers and cook them for a bit, then dump all the rest in and simmer till it's hot and the veggies are cooked to the consistency that you like. Serve with rice or corn bread. Great the second or third or fourth day as well.

Spice it up with hot peppers, etc. as you like.

I'm about to have a "midnight" snack after I post this. Toasted Ezekial bread with Almond Butter and All-Fruit Jam and tea. Yum.

Day 1: Not So Tough

I started the morning with my best recipe for oatmeal. The Kickstart plan suggested an Apple Oatmeal - a pretty basic recipe using apple juice as the sweetener and liquid. Maybe I'll try that at another time. For today I made this. You should try it, it's amazingly good and really doesn't take any longer than making "instant" oatmeal in a microwave. Ok, I admit that I do have all the ingredients at the ready so I can throw this together in seconds but it really doesn't take long at all to make.

My Best Oatmeal Recipe (1 serving)

4T oatmeal

8T water

1 Date (you can use a plain whole, pitted date, or one of those date rolls w/ the almond and coconut - that's what I prefer using)

6-8 dried tart cherries

1-2 tsp pine nuts

2 Brazil Nuts chopped

1 whole apple

Mix everything except the apple in a small pan (I "chop" the date and brazil nuts with kitchen shears right into the pot). Mix and cook on medium until the oatmeal reaches the consistency you like. Before eating, cut the apple into slices or chucks and serve on top of the oatmeal. I like the contrast of the tart, juicy, cold apple with the hot cereal.

I don't add salt but, of course, you can if you want to. Same goes for cinnamon.

***

After breakfast I went to the Kipona Festival in Harrisburg. I was really sweating this because I knew there would be dozens of food vendors there. (Read as, "lots of meat".) I did well, and had a Vegetarian Eggroll and Vegetable Lo Mein. I did splurge and take home a huge bag of Kettle Corn but, hey, that's vegan, right?

For dinner I grilled a veggie burger and ate out on the patio. It IS Labor Day, after all.

On the whole, day one was a success.

The Day Before

For years I've flirted heavily with vegetarianism, and actually did it several times for extended periods. Tomorrow, I'm going to start a 21 day vegan experiment. In all honesty, I'm not sure I can do it. Admittedly, that is a completely lame thing to say. It's not as though anyone is going to shove meat down my throat. I can choose to not eat meat, right?

Or will my desire for bacon prove to be too much for my willpower?

I have the recipes and supplies in place. This should be easy. Right?

I'll be following the plan presented by the 21 Day Vegan Kickstart. Find it here if you'd like to join me http://www.21daykickstart.org/