For the past nine days, I have been adhering to a vegan diet as part of a "Pledge to be Veg" campaign by Compassionate Action for Animals. I've known about veganism for over a decade and support my friends who have chosen the lifestyle for its environmental and health benefits, but never saw it for me.
Vegan: Avoids the use of animal products (food, clothes, etc.)
How the "Pledge to be Veg" affected my food choices:
Day 1 - Vegan with Family
Morning: My parents came down for the weekend to visit a cranberry bog in Wisconsin, so we were on the road. Vegan options were somewhat limited at the gas station we stopped at for breakfast, but maple nuts and dried fruit worked and pumpkin spice latte with soymilk from starbucks helped. Impact: Challenging, but surmountable.
Lunch: On my mom's suggestion, we stopped at the Orange Moose Bar (part of a Best Western hotel) for lunch. To my surprise, they had a vegan item on the menu: Veggie Lover's Pasta. A ginormous plate of fettucini with mushrooms, tomatoes, onions and artichoke soaked in olive oil and garlic powder. I won't say it was great, but it would have been my choice vegan or not. Impact: None.
Dinner: We took my parents to Chipotle where you can get a mean vegan burrito (just omit the sour cream and cheese on the vegetarian and enjoy the guacamole and fajita veggies). Impact: Slightly healthier.
Reflection: My fiance has adopted a vegan diet for about 4 months, so my parents had been exposed to what it meant and have been supportive. You have choices about how much being a vegan plays in your interactions with others, and it was encouraging to know I was able to stick to a vegan diet without it impacting the eating out choices of others.
Day 3 - Vegan at Work
Morning: Typically, I stop by Groundswell Coffee for a chai with espresso and muffin or apple fritter for breakfast during the work week. Due to their roof collapsing, I had to seek sustenance elsewhere. A stop at Seward Cafe got me a chai with espresso (and soymilk) and a vegan berry and ginger zinger muffin. Tasty. Impact: none
Lunch: Heated up a kashi tuscan veggie bake that I had in my freezer from before the pledge with an apple I picked from the apple orchard with my parents. Impact: none
Dinner: Made a whole wheat pasta with mushrooms, green pepper, onion, garlic, tomato sauce and field roast italian sausage and topped with a little daiya mozzarella and got a slice of vegan pumpkin cheesecake with chocolate topping from Whole Foods. Impact: Tasty.
Reflection: Eating vegan increases the odds, but does not guarantee you are eating healthy. It may be easier to break myself of a junk food diet to more whole foods from a vegan diet because while the vegan daiya cheese will do as a substitute I don't crave it for itself (like I do cheese.)
Day 8 - Wait I thought it was a week-long pledge?!
Breakfast: Seward cafe is my favorite brunch restaurant (vegan or not). I decided to venture away from my obsession with the mariachi with tofu (not vegan with the white cheddar, vegan without) and go with something sweeter. I tried a vegan fluffy pancake and the righteous pancake (with millet, corn flours) and peach compote. Both were tasty, but please only buy one pancake as they're big and very filling. Impact: none
Lunch: My fiance is loving collard greens right now and cooked some up for lunch. I love nachos so I had gourmet vegan nachos with blue tortilla and flax seed chips, collard greens, black beans, daiya cheddar, salsa and tofutti better than sour cream. Impact: Seriously delicious.
Dinner: Ngon Bistro is one of my favorite restaurants and happens to also have a number of vegan options. I had the mock duck with lemongrass and veggies over broken rice and it was good. It wasn't as good as the bun with tofu (or pork). Impact: none.
Reflection: With both of us eating vegan, it's easier to share in food experiences (you can eat off the other's plate.)
One day to go on the "pledge to be veg" and the fiance has made the "vegan or not you'll like this stuff" tofu scramble he promised if I did the pledge. Time for me to reap my rewards.
No comments:
Post a Comment