My sincerest apologies for my long-delayed update - I got caught up with exams, and then the summer came and went incredibly fast (of course), and between work and catching up with friends - things got a little hectic (and I also put on a little weight - more on that later). But I am officially saving myself 10 hours of commuting per week by now teleworking. I am still working while I attend classes at night, but that extra ten hours is a life saver. And in so doing, I've taken on a new challenge, but want to first give you the wrap up I owed you from months ago.
Last year, during the 46 calendar days leading up to Easter known was Lent, I went Vegan as a 46-day challenge to myself. I took it on kind of out of curiosity, as a chick who likes to eat and likes meat and cheese and eggs. I did it while I was training to achieve my PR at a half marathon and ten miler.
Overall, the only real tip I have for anyone who chooses to take on a similar Vegan Challenge, given to me from my most amazing crunchy granola friend, is to KEEP IT SIMPLE.
I'm being serious. Are you listening? Don't. get. fancy. Not if you are just trying to take on veganism as a meat/dairy eater for X-days. Of course, do what you must to have fun, and if that means complicated recipes, then by all means. But I'd also suggest keeping a storage of simplicity so you don't go hungry.
My birthday happened to take place over Lent/during my challenge, and I decided to host a boozey vegan brunch full of friends and vegan food. People either brought wine or something vegan. A lot of salads were contributed, as well as a vegan strawberry rhubarb pie! My parents also contributed to my name day with some noodles my mom made (amazing, recipe here), vegetarian spring rolls, and scallion pancakes (all animal free!). Myself - I didn't follow my own advice, and I got fancy. I made some kind of vegetable skewers, and I made a vegan sausage. The sausage was phenomenal. Where simplicity didn't happen, and thereby where things got weird... was my attempt at vegan quiche. It had kind of a weird crust and a filling of tofu and nutritional yeast that had trouble setting. It was not delicious. I recommend it to no one and actually told my guests not to try it. Moral of the story - KEEP IT SIMPLE.
Looking back, I began to get craving-whiny around Day 27. That's when I just wanted to eat things with meat and eggs and dairy... and was getting tired of being that girl at restaurants when I went out. Also, Lent, which is sold as 40 days... is actually 46 days. I learned this on about Day 38, when I was ready feed a man a bunch of bacon and then eat him. My take on turducken. (Disclaimer: I am not actually a cannibal - that was a joke).
My apologies, and gratitude for your patience, to those of you who sat through my suffering - which consisted mostly of me talking about the non-vegan food I planned to eat come Easter.
All whining aside - I really enjoyed my vegan challenge. I will never just become a vegan. Sorry - I don't have that in me. But I can see a vegan week here or there. At the very least, I understand HOW to eat like a vegan, and can apply that whenever I want to. I definitely think that my body just felt happier - when I made sure to stick to cooking foods (as opposed to frozen vegan items) - it felt less processed and less stuffed. While I couldn't do it forever, I do believe there are body-benefits to it, and now I can pocket that into my purse of eating skills.
I do think veganism is difficult in a lot of restaurants (and vending machines). I saw a bag of salt and vinegar potato kettle chips that "contained dairy." WHO KNEW. But I took it on as another facet to my challenge, that I tried to keep eating out with friends (saved certain meals, with tasting menus, for post-Easter though) to see how to do it. I already have a few restaurant reviews, regarding Austin, TX, and Matchbox DC (Capitol Hill). I'm going to finish this Vegan Challenge Wrap-up with a few more reviews, linked below:
Additionally, I tried to go to happy hour during my Spring Break, or catch some birthday celebrations after classes, which coincided with Veganism. My veganism, personally, led to a weakened tolerance for alcohol, so that was something to watch out for. When you are a person who loves meat and cheese and food - and you decide to go vegan - you should probably understand that you are going to sometimes end up feeling the effects of alcohol faster. Maybe it's if you're losing weight. But I'm going to say 70% of the "problem" is that you won't be able to also EAT at happy hour. At least... this was my experience. At some point, I went to a birthday celebration at Fado, in Chinatown/Gallery Place, and literally in order to be able to eat, I had to ask for a plate of the celery sticks they serve with their wings... but sans the wings. So my dinner was celery and beer. True story.
I also learned, with situations like Chinese takeout, how to phrase questions. I had to be very direct over the phone: "Are there eggs in this rice noodle dish? I WANT IT WITHOUT EGGS." A lot of nights when I had no food in my house, and wasn't sure what to do, became days I called to order Vegetable Taiwanese Style Fried Rice Noodles, WITHOUT EGGS. (The difference between Taiwanese Style and Singapore Style is that the latter has includes curry).
Also, for Asian take-out/delivery, veganized:
Caution, because I'd almost forgotten but was quickly reminded: Noodles for lo mein and chow mein have eggs in them. That is why they are yellow. You are safe with rice noodles that are disclosed as rice noodles, including pho (rice noodles) and chow fun (rice noodles).
NEXT TIME: New Challenge: 30 Days Paleo.
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