Task: Eliminate cheese from your diet and your kitchen.
I didn't have much, just a few boxes of mac 'n cheese I'm going to donate to the food bank, and a little container of parmesan cheese that I used on my rare spaghetti night.
With the delicious melty-ness of Daiya, I don't think I'll miss cheese, though I might miss sharp chedar from time to time. Still, I'll just remind myself of the suffering cows go through for that cheddar to be made. That will curb the craving quickly enough.
And then I'll nom on Daiya cheddar shreds. :)
Monday, January 14, 2013
Friday, January 11, 2013
Day Eleven: Fruit and Veg Cleanse
Today is supposed to be the second of two all-fruit-and-veg-cleanse days. I must confess to a sense of utter rebellion on being told when to eat nothing but fruits and veggies, so it's likely I'll pick another day at random on my own and not feel the petulant "I don't wanna!" temper tantrum of a 5-year-old coming on at the thought.
I'm gonna admit: I'm gonna cheat today. I finally got paid, and I want to hit up my favorite local veg restaurant for the first time in close to two weeks. They have a phenomenal vegan sesame chik'n entree with coconut cilantro rice and a sublime kale salad. It's run by Seventh Day Adventists, so they're closed on Saturdays.
Sooo... yeah. I'm gonna cheat for lunch. (Sorry, Sarah!) I'm gonna nosh on Cuties oranges tonight, though. Bought a bag of them today to fill that fruit bowl with, and I have no problem eating 3 or 4 of them in a row.
Actually, I cheated at my mid-morning snack: pretzel crisps, hummus, and dark chocolate from Starbucks. (I gave the salted caramel piece of it to my friend.) But dark chocolate with pistachio or orange peel or ginger and peppercorn counts as veg, right?
I'm gonna admit: I'm gonna cheat today. I finally got paid, and I want to hit up my favorite local veg restaurant for the first time in close to two weeks. They have a phenomenal vegan sesame chik'n entree with coconut cilantro rice and a sublime kale salad. It's run by Seventh Day Adventists, so they're closed on Saturdays.
Sooo... yeah. I'm gonna cheat for lunch. (Sorry, Sarah!) I'm gonna nosh on Cuties oranges tonight, though. Bought a bag of them today to fill that fruit bowl with, and I have no problem eating 3 or 4 of them in a row.
Actually, I cheated at my mid-morning snack: pretzel crisps, hummus, and dark chocolate from Starbucks. (I gave the salted caramel piece of it to my friend.) But dark chocolate with pistachio or orange peel or ginger and peppercorn counts as veg, right?
Day Ten: Read "Diet for a New America"
Day Ten:
"Read 'Diet for a New America' by John Robbins."
Evidently this is one of the most popular and influential books in the vegan reading repetoire. I don't have a copy, but I'm going to be near the library, so I'll swing by there and see if they have one.
I *am* reading "Main Street Vegan" by Patricia Moran, though. I'm really enjoying it. Her style is not hoity-toity and she doesn't have that Vegan Police snotty attitude towards vegetarians that too many vegan authors do. She provides a lot of information, from nutrition to cosmetic and household cleaners that do animal testing, and a bit (but still shocking in cruelty)on animal farming and slaughter practices.
I find that the horror inflicted upon "food animals" unconscionable, and I can no longer see myself eating dairy or meat. As a Muslim, my faith urges me to compassion, and I am seeing more and more that there is no compassion in eating meat.
The things that "food animals" suffer would carry jail sentences for an individual who inflicted even a quarter of this upon a dog or cat, but because it's big companies, with government sanction, because, hey, these are "only" food animals... they get away with torture. All in the name of making a buck. It makes me feel ill. If more people would educate themselves on the meat and dairy industry, we wouldn't fall for the "Happy Cow" commercials that show cows grazing peacefully in an open field, one of them talking and eager to give over her milk for drinking, butter, and cheese.
Today's smoothie was a truly fabulous banana-blueberry-spinach-vanilla soymilk combo. I think it's my favorite flavor so far.
"Read 'Diet for a New America' by John Robbins."
Evidently this is one of the most popular and influential books in the vegan reading repetoire. I don't have a copy, but I'm going to be near the library, so I'll swing by there and see if they have one.
I *am* reading "Main Street Vegan" by Patricia Moran, though. I'm really enjoying it. Her style is not hoity-toity and she doesn't have that Vegan Police snotty attitude towards vegetarians that too many vegan authors do. She provides a lot of information, from nutrition to cosmetic and household cleaners that do animal testing, and a bit (but still shocking in cruelty)on animal farming and slaughter practices.
I find that the horror inflicted upon "food animals" unconscionable, and I can no longer see myself eating dairy or meat. As a Muslim, my faith urges me to compassion, and I am seeing more and more that there is no compassion in eating meat.
The things that "food animals" suffer would carry jail sentences for an individual who inflicted even a quarter of this upon a dog or cat, but because it's big companies, with government sanction, because, hey, these are "only" food animals... they get away with torture. All in the name of making a buck. It makes me feel ill. If more people would educate themselves on the meat and dairy industry, we wouldn't fall for the "Happy Cow" commercials that show cows grazing peacefully in an open field, one of them talking and eager to give over her milk for drinking, butter, and cheese.
Today's smoothie was a truly fabulous banana-blueberry-spinach-vanilla soymilk combo. I think it's my favorite flavor so far.
Day Nine: Salad
Day Nine's task:
"From now on, eat one large salad every day. Start by getting yourself a large bowl that you love, if you don't already have one. Then, make a new salad every day for the next 7 days. Discover salads as if for the first time, and make them different each day."
Well, I don't have a big bowl, but I do have a large plastic food container. I took it to work filled with spinach. I would've added other veggies, but I didn't have any other veggies. Took a little low-fat raspberry vinnaigrette to top it off, and a banana. I chowed down and still wasn't able to finish it. Think it'll be better when I can add some carrots and bell pepper or something to give it some crunch, but it was still good.
Smoothie of the day: strawberry-blueberry-banana-spinach-soymilk
"From now on, eat one large salad every day. Start by getting yourself a large bowl that you love, if you don't already have one. Then, make a new salad every day for the next 7 days. Discover salads as if for the first time, and make them different each day."
Well, I don't have a big bowl, but I do have a large plastic food container. I took it to work filled with spinach. I would've added other veggies, but I didn't have any other veggies. Took a little low-fat raspberry vinnaigrette to top it off, and a banana. I chowed down and still wasn't able to finish it. Think it'll be better when I can add some carrots and bell pepper or something to give it some crunch, but it was still good.
Smoothie of the day: strawberry-blueberry-banana-spinach-soymilk
Tuesday, January 8, 2013
Day Eight: Eliminate Poultry
Today's task: eliminate poultry.
No problem. I don't have any in the house, and I quit eating chicken a while back when Taco Bell changed their chicken from the old variety to the Cantina Bell stuff. It's gross on a quesadilla, so.... no chicken.
My smoothie today was a strawberry-banana-spinach-vanilla soymilk combo. Very yummy. :)
No problem. I don't have any in the house, and I quit eating chicken a while back when Taco Bell changed their chicken from the old variety to the Cantina Bell stuff. It's gross on a quesadilla, so.... no chicken.
My smoothie today was a strawberry-banana-spinach-vanilla soymilk combo. Very yummy. :)
Day Seven: Green Smoothies
Day Seven's task:
"Make a green smoothie for breakfast, lunch, or a snack today. Commit to having a green smoothie every day for the next seven days. It will become a habit you won't ever want to give up!"
Green smoothie... never had one. I went to HEB and got some frozen fruit (blueberries and strawberries) and a bag of ice - because, yeah, I'm that one person in the world who doesn't have an ice maker or even ice trays in her freezer.
I have a little blender that is actually made for smoothies - the blender container is measured in ounces and the lid has a slid-back tab so you can drink straight from the blender cup. Neat, huh?
Sarah did say that some blenders can't take blending frozen stuff, so I found a way around that: I put the fruit in plastic containers and leave them in the fridge for the next day. By the time I need to use it, it's cold but not frozen. Problem solved.
My smoothie of the day was a strawberry-blueberry-spinach combo. Yum. I'm going to put a bit less spinach in next time, though, because I could taste it.
"Make a green smoothie for breakfast, lunch, or a snack today. Commit to having a green smoothie every day for the next seven days. It will become a habit you won't ever want to give up!"
Green smoothie... never had one. I went to HEB and got some frozen fruit (blueberries and strawberries) and a bag of ice - because, yeah, I'm that one person in the world who doesn't have an ice maker or even ice trays in her freezer.
I have a little blender that is actually made for smoothies - the blender container is measured in ounces and the lid has a slid-back tab so you can drink straight from the blender cup. Neat, huh?
Sarah did say that some blenders can't take blending frozen stuff, so I found a way around that: I put the fruit in plastic containers and leave them in the fridge for the next day. By the time I need to use it, it's cold but not frozen. Problem solved.
My smoothie of the day was a strawberry-blueberry-spinach combo. Yum. I'm going to put a bit less spinach in next time, though, because I could taste it.
Sunday, January 6, 2013
A Teensy, Tiny Detour
Gonna take a brief detour from the "Vegan in 30 Days" project to update you guys on my progress in pursuing a minimalist lifestyle. If anyone is still reading or gives two hoots, let me know, okay?
Last night I ditched the box spring. That leaves me with just my lovely, cushy mattress on the floor. My cats like it. I like it.
I'm also cursing vaccum cleaners. Mine has been in the repair shop for about a month now - they haven't called me to let me know it's fixed (though it certainly should be by now), and I have no funds until Friday to pay for it, anyway. My apartment is in horrific need of a vaccuming. Also cursing (yet again) the fact that people think carpet is a good choice for rental flooring. It's all about the wood floors, people. Real or faux, doesn't matter. It will save a crapton of money in the long run.
This underemployment thing? I hope none of you are in a similar situation, because it, quite frankly, SUCKS. People call, wanting money, but I don't even have money for kitty litter. Forget paying credit card or phone bills or electric bills or phone bills. I'm selling off stuff right and left to pay for the basic necessities until I get another paycheck - and then the cycle will begin again, except I'll have less to sell off next month than this month.
I'm comtemplating standing at the intersection with a sign, like I see peole doing all the time. My sign would say "Army vet - Afghanistan 10-11. Not unemployed - badly UNDERemployed. Please help. 4 Cats to feed. Allah bless you."
Those people probably make more begging than I do working.
Last night I ditched the box spring. That leaves me with just my lovely, cushy mattress on the floor. My cats like it. I like it.
I'm also cursing vaccum cleaners. Mine has been in the repair shop for about a month now - they haven't called me to let me know it's fixed (though it certainly should be by now), and I have no funds until Friday to pay for it, anyway. My apartment is in horrific need of a vaccuming. Also cursing (yet again) the fact that people think carpet is a good choice for rental flooring. It's all about the wood floors, people. Real or faux, doesn't matter. It will save a crapton of money in the long run.
This underemployment thing? I hope none of you are in a similar situation, because it, quite frankly, SUCKS. People call, wanting money, but I don't even have money for kitty litter. Forget paying credit card or phone bills or electric bills or phone bills. I'm selling off stuff right and left to pay for the basic necessities until I get another paycheck - and then the cycle will begin again, except I'll have less to sell off next month than this month.
I'm comtemplating standing at the intersection with a sign, like I see peole doing all the time. My sign would say "Army vet - Afghanistan 10-11. Not unemployed - badly UNDERemployed. Please help. 4 Cats to feed. Allah bless you."
Those people probably make more begging than I do working.
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