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It feels weird saying I’ve gone vegan for this long. My goal in creating this blog was to document what you can expect when attempting to become vegan and I do wish I could say that the days fluttered by with out any cravings for something I couldn’t have, but it really was a challenge. Not because of the limited food options, but because of how easy it was to eat something my mom cooked for the family or something my dad brought home after work.

In the beginning, my face was a little pale, I felt dizzy, and didn’t feel as if I had enough energy to last me the whole day. My legs felt weak and I had some pain in my upper back and shoulders.  After five or six days, my body started to get used to the change: I felt my energy levels increase, though my legs still felt sore. After about thirteen days, I found out that my body wasn’t getting enough nutrients. I developed a cold, most likely from my diet, even though I was taking supplements. This is why I decided to start including animal products back into my diet.

The real truth is it wasn’t as hard as I thought it was going to be. I always thought that going vegan would be impossible! It just turns out that it is extremely difficult, but still, not impossible.

Day sixteen.

So, I was right. This morning I woke up with a cold. My nose is pretty much a useless passageway since it’s not doing its job at the moment.  And I have a killer sore throat. As long as it doesn’t get any worse, I’ll be fine. I found out that gargling warm salt water can relieve some of the swelling and I’ve been lots of water, tea, and orange juice (my favorite!). Unfortunately, I will not be vegan tomorrow. I will be allowing myself lean chicken, half a glass of milk, and honey. Chicken because I’m worried that the reason I’m getting sick is because of my change in diet, milk because I feel very weak and and my legs are sore, and honey to sooth my sore throat.

On a brighter note, today whipped up my sister’s favorite green bean dish which really hit the spot!

Day fifteen.

I’m starting to feel a bit under the weather: my sinuses are up to no good and I have a sore throat. I have a very important week ahead so I might not continue my diet for the rest of the week, I’m scared I’m not getting the nutrients I need everyday and that’s resulting in a cold. For the rest of the week I’ll be attempting to nurse myself back to health before it gets too bad. It took awhile for me to realize that our heath should come before everything else and we truly do need to weave that into our busy, everyday lives. So as to not waste that realization on empty promises to myself. This week will be dedicated to taking care of myself.

On the brighter side of things, today I had some more tofu with brussel sprouts. I added some brown rice on the side to fill me up because the tofu and sprouts weren’t doing their job… Then later I celebrated with fifteen pieces of celery.

Day fourteen.

We made it to day fourteen, ladies and gents. That means I’ve gone two whole weeks without milk, eggs, or meat. Gosh, how did I do that? There’s something about arranging words on a  screen that makes it sound so much harder…

Today, my friend came over so we had some sweet potatoes for lunch and we grilled up some veggie burgers. I love making people vegan for a day! It’s warm, comfy days with the barbecue going that I fall in love with California all over again.

And then there are the small things that make want to run for the hills. We were sitting by the window out looking the backyard when all of a sudden my friend yells “opossum!”  It was walking along the edge of the pool and is started to drink some water. As it was turning to leave we noticed two little rat-like creatures on it’s side. Turns out, those were her babies, hanging on for a ride! After the shock of the little creature roaming around, we had a nice little moment of awe.

Day thirteen.

Thirteen is my unofficial lucky number, so today I tried my best to have thirteen of everything. Thirteen slices of bananas in my oatmeal and thirteen pieces of celery. Though, it was a lot harder to have a thirteen-themed lunch: it probably isn’t the best idea to eat thirteen veggie burgers in one sitting. And gave up when it came to dinner time; thirteen beans were not going to fill me up.

What I did have was actually quite filling. This is probably my favorite thing to eat when I don’t have milliseconds. To make life easier, I’m going to call this a two bean salad.

Two-Bean Salad

(serving size: about 5)

1 can of Garbanzo beans (also called chick peas)

1 can of fava beans

1 medium tomato, diced

2 cloves of crushed garlic

1/2 cup of chopped parsley

1 lemon, juiced

2 tablespoons of olive oil

1 tablespoon of red wine vinegar (optional)

1 teaspoon of salt (can be reduced to half a teaspoon if desired)

1. Heat a pot of water until it starts to boil. Then add the beans. It should take about 25 minutes for them to cook.

We’re ready!

2. While you’re waiting, combine the tomato, crushed garlic, chopped parsley, lemon juice, olive oil, vinegar (if desired), and salt in a large bowl. My sister swears by the vinegar, while I lend to add a bit more tomato and lemon juice and less salt.

3. Strain the beans in your favorite colander then, mix it all together and share!

Day twelve.

The relationship between me and my microwave has become highly inappropriate. Every time I hit the power button, I feel the guilt and shame bubbling inside of me. Of course, that could just be my stomach. I usually use it in the morning to warm up the oatmeal I cooked the night before.

Now as the year gets closer to June, high school seniors like myself are drowning in work up to our eye balls. It’s only by means of group therapy sessions that we are able to cope and continue breathing.

I came home at 6:30 today after an extra class that I take after school and did not have the time to waste or the energy to spent to cook up a masterpiece. Even though I had a wonderful okra dish that I’ve been craving for a while. To compensate I put half a sweet potato in the microwave for 3 minutes then added some kale that I had made earlier on the side.

Not bad for a three minute dinner, right? Still, I shall wish for more hours in a day for the millionth time. And a pet ostrich.

Day eleven.

I’m very mad at the weather man today. He said that today would be 73°, but it’s only 65°! For me, that’s freezing!

Today, I discovered quinoa. Quinoa is a type of grain with a bunch of protein. I was reading through a food magazine (which is actually pretty dangerous work if it’s almost lunch time) and I found a recipes where they put quinoa in salad, oatmeal, stuffed peppers—the list is endless. I put some in my oatmeal today, and I have to say, it changed the texture and made it really fun to eat. At first they look like bird seeds when they’re in the store, but then you but them in some boiling water and then (as it absorbs water) they expand.

Unfortunately, I didn’t have quinoa for dinner. My mom boiled up some spinach and mixed it with some olive oil, caramelized onions, and some salt. Then I put some red pepper flakes to warm things up.

Yay, healthy dinner!

Any chocolate and peanut butter fans?

Has anyone gone a week with out chocolate? This is probably the longest we’ve been separated and I miss him… I mean it, it more everyday. Well I did until I made this:  Peanut Butter Chocolate Pillows by IsaChandra.

http://www.theppk.com/2009/03/peanut-butter-pillows/

This obviously isn’t my recipe, but I must warn you: these are to die for. Let’s just say she knew what she was doing when she decided to call this piece of heaven a “pillow” because it truly does taste like a cloud. The thing I like most about this is that there’s very little that could go wrong. Think about it: you have cocoa powder and peanut butter. There’s only one way that can end and that’s deliciously.

There’s nothing that makes me more excited than a new box of cocoa powder.

 

Peanut Butter Chocolate Pillows

by IsaChandra

(makes 24, mine made 23)

Chocolate Dough:

1/2 cup canola oil

1 cup sugar

1/4 cup pure maple syrup

3 tablespoons non-dairy milk

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1/3 cup unsweetened dutch processed cocoa powder

2 tablespoons black unsweetened cocoa or more dutch processed unsweetened cocoa powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

Peanut Butter Filling:

3/4 cup natural salted peanut butter, crunchy or creamy style

2/3 cup confectioner’s sugar

2 to 3 tablespoons soy creamer or non-dairy milk

1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

Chocolate Dough:

1. In a large bowl mix in the canola oil, sugar, maple syrup, non-dairy milk and vanilla extract. (I forgot to pick up some vanilla, so I my pillows went without it).
   

   Canola oil, sugar, maple syrup, and almond milk.

2. Sift in the remaining ingredients (flour, cocoa powder, black cocoa if using, baking soda and salt). I just used more regular cocoa powder (the Hershey’s kind).

It’s raining!

3. Mix the ingredients until they form a moist dough.

It should look a little something like this.

Peanut butter filling:

1. In another bowl add the Peanut butter, powdered sugar, soy milk, and vanilla extract (still no vanilla).

2. If the dough seems to dry after its been beaten together, then add a tablespoon of soy milk. If it’s to wet add some more powdered sugar. (I found out mine was a bit too dry after baking it).

Peanut butter dough.

1. Now it’s time for the fun part! Roll around a bit of the peanut butter dough to make a ball. Then flatten the chocolate dough into a skinny pancake.

2. Fold up the edges of the chocolate dough up an around the peanut butter center.

3. Then roll it around to make it a nice sphere. (I would flatten it a little afterwords, the peanut butter is less overpowering that way).

4. Place the pillows on a baking sheet lined with wax paper; one inch apart should do just fine. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Bake for ten minutes. Let the cookies sit for five minutes after taking them out of the oven before transferring them on a cooling rack.

Ladies and Gentlemen, our pillow.

Congratulations, you have just made vegan cookies.

Day ten.

For making it this far, I have decided to treat myself. Baking is a great passion of mine and I haven’t been able to make any dessert in about a year. My friend has been having a hard few weeks, so I decided to try and cheer her up! I wanted to bake her a little something. Something that would make her taste buds tickle and her lips quirk up in that smile I adore. What better way to do that then with chocolate and peanut butter?

Vegan cookies!

Now, she isn’t vegan, but how are you supposed to know if it tastes good if you can’t try it? The recipe made 23 cookies: I gave 10 to her and her family, 10 to my neighbors, and we shared the last 3 between the five of us.

This wasn’t my recipe , but if you want to see my post on this, click here:

Any chocolate and peanut butter fans?

On a second note, my dinner was much better today! I threw some brussel sprouts in a pan with a cup and a half of water and two tablespoons of soy sauce, half a teaspoon of crushed garlic, 1/4 a teaspoon of grated ginger.

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After they were done, I threw in some tofu and some more pepper. My mom even sauteed some mushrooms, onions, and red bell peppers for me. All that makes for one happy stomach!

Day nine.

“Today was another lovely Monday,” said no one ever! Although, today wasn’t the worst Monday I’ve been through. I had a peanut butter and banana sandwich. Though, I did wish I had some soy milk after. My dinner was quite interesting. And by interesting I mean ehh… It wasn’t the best dinner I’ve had, per se, but it was the kind of dish that you did actually eat instead of rolling the food around your plate in front of the cook and feeding it to your dog later. Mainly because we don’t have a dog. I didn’t have the time or energy to whip up some master piece today. So, I asked my mom to make me something.

It’s  bulgur, a grain similar to cracked wheat, mixed with some fava beans. Bulgur varies in sizes: generally the higher numbered ones are cooked. This is size three and is boiled and treated like rice; size one is used dry and adds texture  (like sesame seeds on burger buns) to dishes like tabbouleh. The salad is simply lettuce and tomatoes tossed in some olive oil, red wine vinegar, lemon juice, salt, and dried mint leaves that have been crushed. At least it isn’t cabbage soup, right?