Saturday, March 31, 2018

Veganuary in April

I like the idea of being vegan. Leaving as small a footprint as possible, loading up with healthy plant based meals and snacks, not having to think about the source of my food without getting a bit guilty. Yet, I don't believe I have the tenacity to keep it up. Not eating dairy and eggs would be the big hindrances to my meal planning. Still, for health and economy, I'm game for giving more effort to reducing the animal product based foods and increasing our plant based diet. 

Many people take this challenge on in January. These are often the same folks that also go dry in January. Whoa-no wine and no cheese curds? April seems like a good month to track my efforts and try new menu ideas. I was just lamenting on Sunday's post that I am eager for lighter fare that spring should promote. I already have some soups, navy bean and my pasta fagiole that are for the most part vegan, though sometimes I'm using chicken bouillon for the stock, but moving from soups, which seem so wintry to me, to other types of meals will be nice for my palate. 

I'm particularly excited to try a few curries using coconut milk. My daughter made a really delicious lentil Dal for us back in October. Admittedly, the lentils could have been cooked longer, but my petite eater DD2 had seconds. I'm betting DH will still not be a fan. Easier  to just have a piece of chicken, burger, or steak for him with a salad while we try new. Maybe we might find something he will enjoy. I didn't do that great on my March challenges, so many will carry over to April. this is a new one. If I find particualr success, I will share the results and where the recipe came from. 

17 comments:

  1. I have no problem of becoming vegan or vegetarian, but I am afraid. Protein of animal source is the best for our health (it also burns fat and helps in the weightloss process). So, I don't eat as much eggs and meat as I did in my younger days, but I won't give it up totally , out of fear for health issues.
    Anyway, I seldom eat vegan favorites such as nuts, avocado, plant based burgers/cheese etc.. as these are highly fattening (at least in my case).

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    1. People are all so varied, aren't we? I find the fats in nuts and avocado are the right fats for me, and help me keep my calorie count in check over all. Again, though as i said yesterday, I just have poor will power over time and do not keep up healthy eating.

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  2. I know flat out that I couldn't be a vegan. I also couldn't do a keto diet, as I love bread and sweets. I am healthy and fit, though, so obviously something I am doing is working. As to my footprint, I am careful in other ways. We don't shop for fun, combine errands, and recycle absolutely everything. With the exception of bleach, and a HCl acid based toilet cleanser, I use all natural cleaning products. (Have been searching for a pumice stone to replace the toilet cleanser.) A long time ago I decided to save wine for only the weekends, and I only seem to have it on Fridays. I really appreciate it much more now. I find that creative deprivations really increase my enjoyment of daily things! And, I DO love trying new recipes, so maybe I'll do a vegan meal once a week in the coming month. I'll let you know how it goes! I will tell you right off though, that avocados will never darken my doorway, and I did not have a good experience with a coconut milk based Asian meal--delicious, yes, but it made for a long night. It's not something I am willing to try again. In the interest of delicacy I will leave it there.

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    1. I'll have to research the coconut milk situation. I am prone to intestinal issues, but usually only at first and then if I keep on, (think beans) I seem to increase tolerance.

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  3. Hope you enjoy the vegan journey. Good tasting food is good tasting food and there are many delicious vegan recipes out there.

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    1. I backed Cooking on a Bootstrap through Kickstarter. While I am still waiting for my copy, Jack Monroe posts many on the web site that are vegan and look delicious. I have to watch the simple carbs though as well, but I love rice and pasta, both easy to include with vegan meals. .

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  4. I adore avocados so full of good stuff good fats etc and anything coconut is also good. I think cook and bake from scratch with decent ingredients and you can’t go wrong oh and no snacks just not needed.

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    1. when I eat a satisfying salad-loaded with veg,nuts, and seeds, I feel pretty good. If I have time to prep, or take time to prep, cooking this way could be much easier as well.

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  5. I've been vegetarian since I was 18 months old. Looking at our daily eating habits I'd say that most of our meals are vegan - it's only yogurt, the milk we have in our tea, the odd pizza or cheese sandwich and the eggs in our once a week cooked breakfast. I couldn't do fully vegan especially when travelling. Although Hindus in India follow a vegetarian diet vegan is a western concept and would involve us eating at over-priced foreign-run restaurants in tourist places - not our thing at all.
    Good luck with your meat-free adventures!

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    1. Vegetarian would not be that difficult for me, but strictly vegan, quite though. I just hope to increase both starting this month, not fully convert.

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  6. I don't think I could do a whole month of vegetarianism but we are having a semi-dry month before we go to Europe (prepping our livers for lots of wine there). I say mostly because our flood on Saturday caused a blip - that plus the fact that we were having dinner with friends. But at home with no socializing this month will be dry. Our pocket books will be fuller too since liquor costs so bloody much in Canada (basic basic bottle of wine $12, beer 6 pack $15, hard liquor 26 ounces $28). We did have a fantastic vegetarian meal the other night though, paneer curry cooked by our Indian friend. Paneer is Indian cheese and it can be fried. You might want to look into it this month as is a super fantastic replacement for chicken. I can't stand tofu but love paneer.

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    1. Ell, I'm sipping the remaining nearly two glasses of red after the Easter meal, and know a dry month is not in my cards. I'm not a huge drinker anyway, but I'm sure not going to let an open bottle go to waste.I love pander-particularly spinach paneer. I could make a meal out of it with naan bread and be satisfied.

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  7. I've been considering that too! So far we have eliminated all pork and beef products and have done for 19+ years. My issue is finding complete proteins that aren't meat. Lentils are great but they aren't a complete protein so we would have to include something else like dairy to a lentil meal. So when I make lentil soup I add a dollop of sour cream or yogurt after I heat up a bowl. I would miss fish and poultry if I stopped having them. So far we've managed not to get tired of chicken, turkey or fish which is amazing in itself. Good luck to you and yes, I would appreciate hearing about your successes!

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    1. The complete protein thing has always been a puzzle. I also don't like fake stuff, like fake cheese, or fake meat products and would rather just do without.

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  8. Good for you! Vegan living is quite healthful

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  9. Yum! Enjoy you food this month. At the moment I'm finding lots of inspiration from feasting at home.com, especially the sheet pan dishes, great for a lazy cook like me!

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  10. I am allergic to all mammal products--meat, milk, and cheese, so the choices are easy. I will always eat chicken and turkey and eggs. I can tolerate a bit of pork and a2milk. I do love vegetables, so eating lots of those is not a problem.

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