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....