So long, farewell, auf weidersehen, good night

Ahhh, the last night of Vegan MoFo. I wish I had more profound musings to impart, but, sadly, no. My last day was the same as any other day, oatmeal for breakfast, Morning Star Farms lasagna, and a new soup, Thai Kitchen garlic and vegetable instant rice noodle soup. Not too bad. May have to try other varieties.

Tomorrow will be back to the omnivore way. Maybe. I am concerned about eating meat after being off for the last month. Will I have gastro-intestinal issues? I will probably start slow, with milk products (yea, yogurt and cheese!) And add in some egg beaters. My hubby joked about getting a big steak, but that WILL make me sick. And I never really agreed with the honey thing. They are about as free range as you get...and they have to make the honey. I try to buy local honey from a co-op, since it is beneficial to people with allergies. And the local economy. I love our local farmers market. The produce is better than the store most of the time, and you get to meet the people that grow it.

I had my blood draw this am, but no word yet on the levels.....maybe tomorrow. And this weekend I am making sugar cookies for an order...Books for a book club. I don't have a cutter, so I have to make a template and cut them out individually. And I will start the Christmas cookies, too. Can you hear the gears of my Kitchen Aide warming up for the baking season? Maybe Danielle can teach me to post pictures so everyone can see how/what I am doing....

So long and good night, Veganland. It has been an adventure!

Single mom blues

Usually my weekends are pretty easy with my hubby watching our daughter while I do some housework, or grocery shop. But said hubby is in Chicago until next Thursday. I swear I am counting the days til he gets home....

I am running out of ideas for food as the month of MoFo comes to a close. Will I continue the meatless diet, or go back to my carnivore ways. I think it will be a mix of both. I will try to have more meatless days, but I really do want meat sometimes. I am glad for the opportunity to make new recipes, but I am ready to go back. And have my blood drawn for my cholesterol levels! I have a family history of heart disease and stroke and I know that of the 3 things that go into that (1. Diet, 2. Exercise, 3. Genetics), there is only one I can't control. So try to do what I can for the other 2....

Today I decided to make the Egg-less Egg Salad from the 30 Minute Vegan. I just can't make anything bad out of this cookbook. I LOVE that! I have bought books before and got rid of them after 3-4 bad recipes. Anyhoo, I like this dish, but have no one to share it with. I makes quite a bit. I would add more mustard than it calls for, but that is my only whine. I ate it with celery, tortilla chips, and by itself. Yum!

I also ran out of yogurt and had to make an emergency run to the store for more! That and a Diet Coke. A girl's got to have her vices, ya know?!

I will update when I get my Lipid panel back. Until then....Good night, Veganland.

Non-turkey day...

Thanksgiving computer access was limited, so I will recap the holiday today. We got up and out of the house by 10am and headed to my hubby's family farm in Blum, TX. (pop. 400) I had packed all of the food I might want and then some....Dinner was planned for 6 pm and finding an oven open to cook my Gardin Turkey Roll was easier than I thought. I mean, cooking dinner for 35-40 people takes a lot of oven space. I asked my sister in law to let me have some of her salad before the addition of Feta Cheese. She puts dried cranberries and walnuts and then a french vinaigrette. Yummy! I lucked out and scored some rolls at the last minute when I ran by the store on the way out of town. I was sure that they would be sold out! Man, my "turkey roll" was awesome! And my Apple pie? Nomnomnom.....I took that bad boy home today! I just have to not eat it in one sitting. On the way home, we grabbed some Subway. Jeepers, Sunchips have a lot of salt, they make my lips dried out.

Alright, today is day 26. And as an omnivore, I have found being a vegan not that hard. But I really hate reading all the labels and having to pass on stuff because of 1 ingredient. It is starting to wear me down. I am actually counting the days til I can go back to eating milk products. Hands down, cheese is better when it is real. Sorry, but its true. And I never agreed with the honey thing. But I have added some new foods to my list of favorites that are vegan. And I will continue to eat more veggie than meat.

Tomorrow, I will make one of my favorite things, Egg-less Egg Salad, from The 30 Minute Vegan. I can hardly wait.....

Thanksgiving Eve

It may not be a holiday, but it should. All the prep work involved, the traveling, the fighting for the last potato/package of rolls/can of condensed soup, and of course, let's not forget about the obligatory stress that everyone feels.....Yeah, I am thinking that all holidays be spread out over 3 days as to recover from the BIG day. I am feeling more harried, since I am taking my own food as well as making things to take. And the packing for the 2 days we will be gone. And the cleaning that has to be done before we leave so the pet sitter doesn't think we are slobs....(we all do it! Don't judge..) I will not feel better until my hubby gets back from Chicago next Thursday. I will be a single mom until then. Sometimes my 5 year old and I butt heads....Okay, more than sometimes...

On a positive note, I made my Dutch Apple Pie vegan! I substituted Earth Balance butter, and made an egg wash for the bottom graham cracker crust with ground flax seeds and water. That was weird. It kind of got the consistency of boogers. I hope it works, cuz I love my Apple Pie!

Well, Happy Thanksgiving Day, Veganland. Remember, it is not about stuffing our faces until we want to puke, it is about giving thanks for what we have. I watched a documentary in History Channel about the first T-day. It helped me focus on the true meaning, and not about Black Friday and consumerism. Do some research, get in touch with our history. It will fascinate you....

Let's "Wrap" it Up!

Today I finally made a veggie wrap that I have been fantasizing about for days. I got some EVOO tortilla wraps from the Tortilla Company, put hummus, avocado, red pepper, green onion, cucumber, and sprouts on it. Yum, but I think I put too many sprouts on, cuz it kind of seemed like grass some times. All in all, a positive experience. I will need to practice the wrapping thing more, though. Or I put too many veggies on it. Naaaa, you can't have to many veggies!

For dinner I pulled out a Morning Star Farms microwave meal, Sesame Chik'n. Very good, actually. I hope that this is new line of food continues to expand, since they currently have 3 meals to choose from (at my grocery), and 1 has cheese in it. In the past, Morning Star's meat substitutes have been edible, but not spectacular. I definitely give a thumbs up to this line of food.

On a different note, after I made my pumpkin muffins yesterday, a college friend of mine wanted me to send some to him (he is in NY, I am in TX). I have sent baked goods in the past to him (not vegan), so I asked if he was into vegan food, and he said that he was vegan until before doing his last Ironman, but needed more calories so he added dairy and eggs. Wow! When I knew him it was a different story! Kind of cool.....

Bumpkin pumpkin.

Sorry about the title, but my daughter helped me name today's blog. I started out with a boring cup of cereal, and was getting my potato ready for the oven, when I thought I would throw my pie pumpkin in with it while it baked. I let it cool and scraped the insides out, knowing I would have to puree it before using it. I usually just freeze it for later uses, but today I wanted to make some baked goods. So off to the internet to find a recipe. I found several, but settled on one from Food.com. I think this was stolen from ppk.com according to the reviews.

• 1 3/4 cups flour
• 1 1/4 cups sugar
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1/2 teaspoon ginger
• 1/4 teaspoon allspice
• 1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1 cup pumpkin puree (fresh or from a can)
• 1 tablespoon soy yogurt
• 1/2 cup soymilk
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 2 tablespoons molasses

Change Measurements: US | Metric

Directions:

Prep Time: 10 mins

Total Time: 37 mins

1. Preheat oven to 400°F.
2. Grease muffin tins with vegetable shortening or spray on oil.
3. Sift together dry ingredients (flour through cloves).
4. In a separate bowl, whisk together wet ingredients (pumpkin through molasses).
5. Pour wet into dry and combine.
6. Fill muffin tins 2/3 of the way.
7. Bake for 27-30 minutes, till a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

This makes 6 large muffins, but I made 18 regular sized muffins. I did not have allspice, so I deleted it, as well as changing the molasses (did not have that either) to maple syrup. Then I baked for 15 minutes, and yummm!

Dinner was a variation of Tofu scramble from my only vegan cookbook, The 30 Minute Vegan. I used a few tiny jalapenos and some green pepper from my front porch. I also only had 12 ounces of tofu, instead of 16. With some red pepper, onion, garlic, nutritional yeast, soy sauce, and chili powder, I scrambled it up for dinner. Pretty good for not adding all the spices (that I don't like) and never making it before. I will definitely make this again!

Tomorrow will be another day closer to T-day, are you ready? I will attempt to veganize my famous Dutch Apple Pie! I just don't know how to coat the graham cracker pie crust so it won't fall apart later. The recipe calls for an egg wash....this calls for more research! Off to the internet, again.....

Hi ho, hi ho, its off to work I go.

Today I had to work all day, so I packed a lunch for myself. Last night I talked about making my own wraps, and saving myself a headache trying to locate vegan ones on the fly. Well, I just had to do that for lunch today. I used red pepper, cucumber, hummus, avocado, and some green onion as I was out of red onion. My tortillas were a little on the small side, but they worked well. Yummy! So on the way home, I picked up some bigger ones. I can't wait to use them. I will be able to put more veggies in it, and add sprouts.

The family went to the In-laws for dinner (steak), so I was on my own. I revisited grits, with unsweetened soymilk, for a much better result. Must always remember that original is not unsweetened. It makes for some interesting enchiladas.....but that is another story.

I want to make tofu scramble for breakfast, but it makes a lot, so I asked hubby if that was cool to make in the morning. He said that would be good if it had eggs in it. "Umm, it's TOFU scramble, not egg scramble..." So I guess its a no go, unless I can reheat the leftovers....

Sorry for the poor amount of info tonight. I had a boring food day. Tomorrow may be the same, with baked potatoes for lunch, and no plan for dinner, yet. We will see. Later, Veganland.

Back home

Well, back from my first trip away from home as a vegan. That was tough. I was under the impression that all big cities that had a Whole Foods would have a fine selection of goodies available. Not in the ready to eat variety, apparently....If I was looking for packaged goods, okay. But all I was looking for was a Tom's wrap. Oops. I forgot that it might be regional. But the veggie options were so small that I might have missed them if I hadn't asked for help. And when I ate it today, I swear it was supposed to have hummus in it....nope. And it was heavy on the green pepper, not a fave. But I got a yummy chocolate pudding and a Rice Milk Chocolate bar. Both excellent!

I was glad I brought my own dinner, since my mother and husband had spaghetti with meat sauce. I was offered Caesar salad, and when I said it was not vegan, I had to run down the ingredients to prove it. Apparently Anchovies are not animals....Hmmm. But at least I had enough to eat.

Being back in Austin makes me incredibly glad I don't live in an area that doesn't support the veggie/vegan lifestyle. It must be so hard to get products. And since I had a hard time finding a veggie wrap for lunch, it motivated me to make my own. I will be getting some veggie tortillas, and rolling like crazy. How hard can it be?

Dinner was pretty good. My family had a pizza, and I had a Morning Star lasagna with sausage like crumbles. I swear that is what the box says! I am not usually impressed by Morning Star, but as far as quick microwave meals, this was great. I have always loved the microwave meal, since I am a little bit on the lazy side. I hope they have more vegan meals than just the lasagna, as I am running by on the way to work tomorrow and need a lunch. We will see.....

Hit the road, Jack!

Ok, so I'm not Jack, but it is time to hit the road in the morning. I go to Ft. Worth every few weeks as a courier for my husbands company, and I get paid for driving up, staying with my mother, and coming home. Damn, life is rough....although spending time with my mother can be "interesting" sometimes. I did tell her about Vegan MoFo, and she seemed relatively supportive. So unlike her. I suggested once that if I was vegetarian, it might help with my cholesterol problems. "Why do you want to be so extreme?" Really? Cholesterol comes from animal products, so cutting them out may be beneficial. She didn't see it that way. My family is not know for liking change, for anyone. Once an opinion is formed, it doesn't usually change.

Enough about how dysfunctional my family is, on to my road trip. I did go and buy another cooler to transport my vegan fare. I did say I like to shop...I will bring as much food as I can, and I know that I can get fruit and salad at my mothers. I also have the address to a not so local Whole Foods, to get a Tom's Tabouleh for lunch on the drive home. And maybe a Rice Milk Chocolate Bar that was recommended (thanks, Candy Beans).

I would talk about my food for today, but I have nothing new....All leftovers. They save your life, but it can be dull after 3 days of the same lunch or dinner. I have to come up with something for this weekend.....Hmmmm, what do I want? We'll see.

Good night, Veganland.

The Ides of MoFo

Today (actually yesterday) is the midway point for Vegan MoFo. I am beginning to miss some things, like milk chocolate. I have some cravings for it, and I could make something chocolatey, but am not motivated to do so. And I really don't particularly like dark chocolate. Oh, well....

I managed to have lunch at my favorite Pho place, Kim Phung. Man, that place is a dive, but they can bang out some yummy food. I had ordered the tofu lomein, and was about to order the sweet and sour soup, when my girlfriends hubby pointed out it wasn't vegan. Why? Oops, pork. Damn. Had to skip it. I also picked up the turkey roll at Wheatsville today as I was starting to worry about the possibility of them selling out. Whew, got it!

Dinner was another yummy recipe from The 30 Minute Vegan. Pasta Florentine. Damn it makes a lot! 6 servings my hiney! I am going to freeze some, I sure hope it works. Anyway, I finally used the right soymilk. Usually I mess up and add sweetened soymilk, much to my families dismay. But not this time! Everything turned out excellent. Pasta, onion, spinich, basil from the front porch, nutritional yeast, soymilk, and vegan mozzerella (even though it was optional). Add a very crusty roll that I found at the local grocery store, and I was full! I may be ready to go to bed......night Veganland....

Road Trip!

I've found the transition to veganism pretty easy, but I live in a great city with a variety of options available. But I have to be out of town this week, and I hope that I can cope with being away from home. I guess this will just be a trial run for T-day....I have already located the nearest Whole Foods in the Ft. Worth area. It is not convenient, but it will have to do. I love to shop, so I am considering buying a cooler that will hold 2 days worth of food for me. Some hummus wraps, veggie burgers, and almond milk to start. Then there is "The big day".....Thanksgiving. Oh, boy. I am getting a Gardin Turkey Roll, and roasting some butternut squash to take to dinner with my husbands family. Luckily, no one will question me too much, as they are pretty accepting. I hope everything will go well......

Good night Veganland, tomorrow has Pasta Florentine on the menu.....

A day filled with food

Sorry for not posting yesterday, so today will be 2 days worth of posts.

Yesterday started out with a lovely canoe ride on Lady Bird Lake, or Town Lake (for all you Austinites that can't stop saying that). A little bit chilly on the water, but once you start paddling, it was great. My daughter tried to paddle too, but it just messed me up!

After we got to shore, my girlfriend Danielle and I went to Wheatsville Co-op to pick up lunch and plan that nights dinner. Whoo hoo, they were sampling all their T-day goodies, and I have to say I enjoyed them all, but the pumpkin pie and the cranberry sauce. I thought the pie was bitter (I am a pie snob), and I don't care for orange in my cranberries. Personal tastes.....We grabbed lunch there, too. They had the Tofurky turkey, stuffing, garlic mashed potatoes, kale and white beans. I skipped the stuffing, as I don't like cornbread based stuffing. Its a "grew up on Pepperige Farms stuffing" thing and nothing else will do. Sorry all you southern chefs.

Dinner was Pizza. Simple and yummy with criminis, black olives, and vegan mozzarella. The taste is good, but it is wet. Weird.....I also had bought the ingredients for an apple crisp, but changed my mind at the last minute and veganized (is that a word?) an old recipe we like to call "Apple Brown Betty". It is from Pampered Chef, and I think it is called "Mom's Apple Crisp", but once you get something in your head....Yumm! Finished off the night with some Soy Nog.

Today - Oatmeal with pumpkin pie spice....Wow! Excelent
Lunch - leftovers
Must have Soy Chai!

Dinner was Split pea soup. I actually made up this recipe after looking at others and seeing what I had.

• 1 TBSP Olive oil
• 2 carrots, chopped
• 1/2 red onion, chopped
• 3 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1 TSP salt, white pepper to taste
  
• 2 cups veggie broth
• 2 1/2 cup water (I would use all veggie broth, but did not have enough)
• 1 cup split peas
• 1/4 cup pearled barley

Saute onion, carrot, and garlic together til soft. Add broth/water and peas/barley. Simmer for 1 hour.

I wish I had celery, it would have been good to have. And I should have put some in the blender to make it smoother/ creamier. Still pretty good. All in all, a good food day. I have had some concerns about gaining weight. I am hungry all the time, and since I thought that since everything was vegan, I could eat what I wanted, when I wanted. I have control issues with my food ( I can't control myself!), so I need to go back to the Weight Watchers way of life (portion control) til the end of Vegan MoFo. Its all about moderation. And that is hard. But so is life. Get over it, Michelle!

Until tomorrow Veganland.

Lets talk about poop....

I had another leftover day, with the exception of a visit to a new store with a great variety of vegan goodies, but more on that later.

Poop. Lets have a little talk....I want to give a quick history of my intestinal troubles. Even as a little girl, I had problems with an "upset tummy". If a big test, or big event came up, so did the the tummy. Finally, after taking my board exams to get my Manicurist license, I had the mother of all episodes. It was like passing glass. I was sure that with all the pain, I should have had a baby to show for being so miserable. And it was coming out from both ends. After 3 hours with no change, I had the hubby take me to the ER. 2 bags of fluids and IV Phenegran later, I was sent home. Unconscious. For 2 days. At the follow up doctors appointment, she told me that I had IBS. Irritable Bowel Syndrome:

Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) refers to a disorder of the lower intestinal tract. It involves abdominal pain and abnormal bowel movements. Emotional stress often makes the symptoms worse.

Yeah, that just summed up my intestinal history. So now I am doing the vegan thing, and I have noticed that I am regular. Very. I think I am normal pooping person normal. Excellent! Maybe I will stick with this....

Now back to this rockin' new (to me) food store here in Austin: Wheatsville Co-op. They are small, but don't let that fool you, I has an amazing selection of sweet snacks, prepared foods, and refrigerated vegan product to make any vegan squeal like a little girl, or like me. I now have an option for T-day dinner, Gardin's Turkey Roll. I think that is what it is called. It has stuffing in the middle! Yea! I can hardly wait....but I can wait to tell my mother about this. That whole experience will definitely be another post....

I do believe my head will implode.....

I have been dealing with a headache for 3 days now. It is either the weather front coming in to Austin, all the biking/camping from the weekend, or stress. Take your pick. Any way, I wish to trade in my head for a model that won't inflict pain. Can I get that at Wal-mart? Or Target? And my day was very hectic, but sure didn't start that way.

I leisurely crawled out of bead @ 9:30am and had my cereal and got ready to meet my vegan friend Danielle for lunch and some girl time. I really wasn't in any mood to eat with the headache fog I was in, so I thought that a vegan restaurant near Danielle would be good. I am really glad that Austin has a large assortment of places that offer vegan choices on the menu, and Mother's is no exception. Actually, all of their dishes are either vegetarian or vegan, or veggie that can be made vegan. And their food quality is exceptional. I was not too hungry, so I went with an old standby, the Portabella Mushroom Sandwich, and added some guacamole. I swear that damn thing was bigger than my head! I could not finish it, but managed to choke down some chocolate peanut butter pie that I shared with Danielle for dessert. We hung out a little while and decided to window shop at the mall after I picked up my daughter at school. I think this is where my day went from good to exhausting. My little girl is a power house of energy, and keeping up with her in the mall was both physically and mentally challenging.

We headed home to have dinner, and it just got worse. Making a new dish, making something for my daughter to eat, and putting it on the table all at the same time can be difficult, if not almost impossible. I made Cashew Encrusted Tofu form The 30 Minute Vegan, and wanted to do another dish, but didn't have the ingredients, so I made some steamed broccoli instead. I also wanted to make a salad, but I only got as far as washing it and putting it in the salad spinner (the best thing ever!). I do think that this tofu dish would be better if I changed the tahini out with peanut butter. The tahini was almost too rich and I just don't think enjoyed it much. But when I make this again, I think peanut butter is the way to go.

I ran out of the house after dinner to have some alone time, and on the way home, I stared to jones for some kind of comfort food. What to have....Hmmm......Oh! I pass by (or can) a Starbucks...Mmmm, Soy Chai.....Perfect. I don't have the headache anymore, but I think I may still need more comfort food. What to have? Hmmmmmm.....

When life is busy, eat leftovers.....

I am infinitely glad that I make meals that allow for a day or two of leftovers. I know that I have said this before, but it is going to save my hiney in this vegan challenge. Having a family and work can put a strain on all good intentions unless you plan ahead. By thinking about the menu, and hitting the grocery store, you can eat healthy and avoid the drive thru. That is a pet peeve of mine, that parents think that the drive thru is valid meal choice because their kids have an over stuffed schedule. That is what leads to bad habits and poor food choices. Sorry to get off on a tangent....back to my day. I had a boring breakfast of mini wheats and soy milk, lunch was mock chicken salad sandwich and teddy grahams (accidentally vegan!), and dinner was my mexican tortilla soup from yesterday. I put some veggie cheese shreds in it, noting the "melts well" on the bag, but melting into a big blob of cheese in my soup really doesn't look appetizing. Tastes good, though....After dinner, my hubby decided to make a yummy smoothie. He threw a banana, some mixed berries, and apple juice in a blender, and viola! With a lovely purple color, I felt giddy with excitement at all the antioxidants I was getting. But the seeds......blech. I finally strained it, but the hubby gave me a hard time about not getting all the "fiber" from the seeds. Whatever.....It was sooo much better without all the little bits in it! Tomorrow, I plan to wow you with my adventure with Cashew encrusted tofu and some other side dish, as soon as I think of one!

Mmmmm, mock chicken salad.

Now that I am back from my trip, I can start to have a normal cooking schedule. I usually plan 3 different meals (with leftovers) for the week. I looked through a cookbook my vegan friend Danielle gave me for my birthday (Was she premeditating about getting me to join Vegan MoFo?), and chose the Mexican Tortilla Soup and parsley, rosemary, sage, and thyme biscuits, and Macadamia Encrusted tofu. All are available in "The 30 Minute Vegan" by Mark Reinfeld and Jennifer Murray. I ran by Whole Foods to grab some Miso soup, and while I was there I picked up some mock chicken salad. I had this a few weeks ago, and all I can say is yum! I swear it tastes like the real thing! And I grabbed a Tom's Tobouley Wrap for lunch and a small salad. I also need to get WF's Balsamic Dressing, it was amazing! Anyway....The soup is more like a chili, and I should put corn in too, but it is really good. The biscuits.....well I did not have spelt flour, so I used whole wheat flour. And the recipe says it will be sticky. Not really...it was dry, so I added some more soy yogurt. They looked like dried poop, but tasted good. I will get some spelt flour and remake them. As a bonus, I use some dried sage from my own planters! I hope that the tofu recipe works out just as good, but my hubby and I decided that cashews would be a better crust.....Mmmmm, cashews!

I am hungry again talking about all this food....so I am off to find a snack. Maybe some mock chicken salad?...Mmmmm

I'm back, Veganland!

Whew! What a hectic few days in Dallas. I will try to cover what you missed in my life in 1 post...Ready?

Crew Day - This is where all the volunteer crew get together and meet/greet, and general training. I felt very good about staying vegetarian with my regular breakfast, and a veggie sub from Subway. But all the crew wanted Mexican food for dinner, so I hoped they had something that would work. As it turned out, other crew members are veggie too, and directed me to some of the options. I chose the spinach enchiladas, and did not eat the beans in case they had lard in them.

Day 1 - Wake up call at 3:45 am....blech. I grabbed a banana and muffin to go, then headed to help with the opening ceremony traffic. As we headed out to our fist assignments of the day, I wondered what the snack options would be for the next 3 days. I always think of food. I was worried for nothing. The snacks were abundant and varied: lara bars, peaches, carrots, bagels and peanut butter, wheat thins (yea, accidentally vegan!), granola bars, and of course my favorite of all time, the peanut butter and jelly graham cracker sandwich! Since my 1st 3 Day, it is the best snack ever! They took it away last year, but I am thrilled to see it back on the menu! Lunch - hummus sandwich! But Komen changed the menu I had gotten use to after 5 years. No spaghetti....Veggie Catatori! I saw the chicken catatori, and I got the better deal! Num num!

Day 2 - Breakfast was eggs, cuz I need the protein for all the biking I do. Seasoned potatoes and veggie sausage. Just like the real thing...I just can't eat more than 1 pattie. Lunch was a let down. Apple and cheese sandwich. Really? With me working so hard, you give me a pathetic sandwichl like this? And the apple was sliced thin....but there were Sun Chips (accidentally again). But I had heard that dinner was steak...hmmm, what did that mean for me? I scored again! Stuffed Portabella mushrooms! Sweet....my favorite mushroom! And did I mention that the salad was pretty good, with a variety of greens and apple, onion, and croutons in it, not iceberg!

Day 3 - Breakfast was the same, but lunch.....Veggie burger! Yea....Then I was on my own. Dead tired, sore all over, and on the ass end of Dallas, my husband stopped at a group of convenience stores with fast food attached. He chose McD. I got a Power-aide Zero, and found a Luna bar and some Wheat Thins in my bag. I needed to eat as I had not eaten since lunch, but even as an omnivore, I never eat McD. It makes me sick....

So here I am back on the Vegan Wagon. And it is not so hard. Quick lunches are challenging as I love microwave meals. But today went good. I ended the day with Pacific Foods Butternut Squash soup with orzo. Mmmm, good.

Well, back to the laundry....

Thank goodness for leftovers!

Today was a very busy work day for me. I am a manicurist by day, and since I will be gone this weekend to Dallas, I was over booked. It was a good solid 10 hours of manicures, pedicures and acrylic fills. I am so tired. Luckily, I had leftover pasta from last night as I worked through some of lunch. But that is not all....I have to pack, pack for my daughter, who will be cared for til Friday by my vegan friend, Danielle. Then pull in my plants off the porch since it will be to cold for my peppers and herbs this weekend. Let's not forget about the cleaning of the house before I leave (cuz who wants to come home to a dirty house?), and make directions for the care of said daughter and the puppies. Oh, yeah....I made some homemade oreo cookies too. I had them frozen in the freezer, and just made the filling and put them together.They are not vegan, so I will post later about how yummy and better than the real thing they are! Maybe picture too...if I could figure out how.....

The reason I am going to Dallas is to participate as a crew member on the Breast Cancer 3 Day. For 3 days, 2500 women and men will walk 60 miles for a cure to Breast Cancer. I am on Route Safety, and I will ride my bicycle and help the walkers cross the street and their general safety. But because I will be camping at night and at the mercy of the caterers, I will be vegetarian for the next 4 days, and will not blog til Sunday night. I realize that no one will show up at my door demanding that I apologize for "falling off the wagon", since only my girlfriend reads and follows this blog....but I think that staying at least vegetarian for those days is still acceptable. As soon as I return, its back to the vegan life! Which I have found that it is not that hard, with the protein issue being the biggest concern. But more on that later......See you on the flip side, Veganland!

How do YOU roll?

Day 2....and it is going well. I have resisted some very yummy non-vegan treats, like most of the Halloween candy still sitting on the counter of the kitchen. It seems that I must "tell" my husband to take it to work, instead of him just knowing that it must be done. I was sure when we got married 10 years ago, that the ESP of married people would develop and we would act as one.....yeah, not so much. But I am totally digging the SO Delicious non-dairy gluten free ice cream mini sandwiches! they are great! I also found other websites that had an expanded "accidentally vegan" product list. I should learn how to post links and pictures like my vegan girlfriend, Danielle, at omnivore-nomore.blogspot.com. oh, well....such is life when you are computer illiterate. I can work the spell check pretty well ; )

I am making pasta with homemade pasta sauce for dinner with some crimini mushrooms I picked up this weekend at the local farmers market. But I also wanted some garlic bread, but was concerned about what bread to use. So I shot a text to Danielle (who is totally responsible for my being here.....) and asked what to make garlic bread with....her text back: Use vegan butter and garlic....AND? What about the bread?! Called her after my workout with my trainer and had to clarify my question. We had quite a giggle over that!

Back to the subject of my title... How do you roll? Maki roll, that is. I totally had a craving for some last night and Danielle was kind enough to meet me for lunch. I also go some Miso soup, which had me mesmerized by the patterns that it conjures up when you stir it! I want to get some for home and put some noodles and tofu in that bad boy.....nom nom!

I ended up rambling on, didn't I? See you tomorrow, Veganland!

Good 1st morning of Vegan MoFo!

Let's start this off by having a disclaimer.....I am not a morning person. So in all honesty, "good morning" is really not something I like to hear or say. Okay.....

Today is the first day of my trip to Veganland. I am an omnivore, and although I could give up most meat, I do like milk products, like cheese, butter, and cream. They work so well in my baking. And I can bake the crap out of some cookies. And I will....but I will not eat any this month. In fact, I am making some for the crew of the Breast Cancer 3 Day, which I am a part of....Go Route Safety!

Today was also my Weight Watchers meeting, where as a Lifetime member, I have to weigh in at the 1st of the month. Whew! thank goodness that is over for 30 more days. I swear it gives me stomach aches just stressing over maintaining my weight.

I had some almond butter and jelly for a quick snack before hitting the scales and took a banana to have later. But lunch was tricky. I LOVE grits, so it should be simple to sub stuff out....right? Sort of. Plain soy milk, veggie cheese shreds, and vegan butter in place of the regular stuff really didn't have the same taste. I may use nutritional yeast next time, I just forgot I had some. And the cheese was not very melty....I at least know what to have for dinner, Sloppy Joes. Made some last night for dinner, so its left-overs for me since I have to work late. I fed some to my daughter without telling her what I made it with and she ate it without any problems. But I was less than pleased with McCormick's seasoning packet. I will try to find the Manwich brand and see if that helps.

Well, on with the rest of my day.....