Veggie Thoughts

Lazy Vegan Soup

1 cup Vegetable Cocktail (yes I'm frugal and buy Safeway's Vegetable Cocktail. If you can afford it, buy V-8 Juice)

About 1 cup torn Kale

In a small, covered pot cook on medium high for five minutes, stirring after a few minutes if you remember. Pour into soup bowl, garnish as desired. Serves 1. You could probably double or triple this as needed. If you want to make it Vegetarian, add some cheese cubes.

I created this when I was having a picnic lunch on the front porch. The city was pruning trees. Kidlet didn’t want to miss out on the fun of watching big machines at work. I had an open face egg sandwich in honour of Meatless Monday but was still feeling hungry. I dashed inside, quickly tore up the kale, got the soup going and went back outside. When I heard the timer, I dashed inside, gave it a stir, poured it into a plastic bowl and sat down on the porch.

As I ate the soup, I found myself thinking They Say are wrong about anything Vegetarian being bland. My next thought was whether or not a single Vegan Male would be like his Meatitarian counterpart and just eat the soup right out of the pot. From there I found myself wondering what sort of stereotype Vegan males experience. For example, did they receive invitations to hockey games? Did Vegan and Vegetarian males get asked the same inane oral sex question their female counterparts would sometimes get asked? If a woman has a meatitarian husband who is into hockey, football and stock car, she’s married to a good ole boy and no one thinks anything of it. Given the stereotypes about sexual orientation and food, if a woman has a vegetarian or vegan husband, would people whisper in her ear that all those sports interests are over-compensating and she should be prepared for him “coming out”? My final thought was wouldn’t the world be a great place if it didn’t matter what you ate, what your sports interest were, all that mattered is whether or not you were a law abiding citizen who did the best you could with whatever abilities you were blessed with?

Vegan Day 7

My dad says there is a fine line between can't and won't. I know I would become frustrated when I saw something Vegan but was still off limits to me because it was made with the type of flour I am allergic to, or it had yeast in it. I think if I didn't have to look to see what type of flour something is made with, and whether or not it has yeast in it, I could probably live a vegan/vegetarian life. I have now tried it all, meatitarian, vegetarian, vegan. I've decided what is best for my current lifestyle is an eating lifestyle that allows flexibility.

My two guys were very much unaffected by my Vegan week. It did help that there was some leftover meat and a precooked meatloaf in the freezer, as well as only three nights the whole family home. As for my one indiscretion on the weekend, that's all on me. It would have been very easy to look at the pizza in the crew room, think "I'll make a Vegan variation of pizza toast for breakfast" and leave it be.

This was not about reducing carbs. I ate the way I usually do when I am on Phase 3 of Ann Louise Gittleman's The Fat Flush Eating Plan, which means 2-4 servings of carbs a day. Since I was going Vegan, I decided to count legumes as protein, not carbs. Peanut butter was moved off the bonus food list and added to the protein list. The heavy exercise days were Tuesday, which was Day 1 and Monday, which was Day 7. In the last week, I've lost two pounds, one inch off my hips and two inches off my belly.

My guide verse for Monday was Psalm 27:1 The Lord is my light and my salvation--whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life--of whom shall I be afraid?

Vegan Day 5 and 6

I veered off course once over the weekend. Given that it was once I don't feel like the whole week was an epic fail. Saturday was experimenting with tofu. I had a yummy tofu, lettuce and tomato sandwich with Dijon mustard instead of mayonnaise. Unfortunately Saturday night's attempt at heating up some rice and tofu in the microwave, topping it with some vegan chop suey from a thermos was not a taste bud thriller.

Sunday was another day with some tofu. I made Tofu Scramble from Ann Louise Gittleman's Fat Flush Plan Cookbook for brunch. The guys had a ham and cheese omelette. I discovered McCain's tater tots are Vegan. I had insisted that at least one meal during the week everyone was going to go Vegan. Since it was Sunday night dinner, however, I compromised and agreed to let the males go vegetarian. Big Lug and Kidlet enjoyed parmesan cheese on their pasta dish. There is now a note beside the Basil Tomato Sauce and Pasta recipe in my Pillsbury cookbook "next time try celery salt and pack fresh basil in measuring cup; no need to puree tomato sauce just small chunks". The Vegan Orange Cinnamon buns were very well received. I'm glad because one of my nieces is vegan. Now I have another desert I could make for her.

With no journaling over the weekend, I have no guide verse. I don't think it's coincidental that on Saturday I didn't take time to get a verse and veered off course. Given that Sunday's teaching time was in part about mission work, which reminded me that for some people going meatless isn't a choice, it's a fact of life; it was very easy to gracefully stay the course.

Vegan Day 4

I finally made it to Community Natural Foods. The staff there was very helpful and supportive. The only problem I had was trying to find something that was vegan, wheatless and yeastless. If you are a chocoholic, I heartily recommend their Chocolate Orange Brownie. It's in the raw foods section, its gluten free; it's a chocolaty orange burst of deliciousness with a hint of walnut. I also bought some Kale as an alternative to broccoli for calcium.
This time at work I ordered a side garden salad, no cheese and vinegar plus Bean and Mixed Pepper soup from home. I am definitely a person who needs to follow the food combining rules. I find that if I have no carbs, no dairy with my beans, I have no gassiness.

This going Vegan definitely isn't a drag. I've been doing things like normal, such as going swimming, working at a fast food restaurant, making lunch for my meatitarian husband. As with any eating lifestyle, it does require some thought and effort. As a believer in Nutritional Healing I'm no stranger to doing that sort of thing.

My verse for Friday was Job 8:21 He will yet fill your mouth with laughter and your lips with shouts of joy.

Vegan Day 3

Thursday was an easy going day. I wasn't too hungry and was definitely tired. That's not unusual when I've taken the late bus home from work. I saw Big Lug off to work, spent some time with Kidlet, caught a nap and ended up missing breakfast. I wanted something that was hot and I could sink my teeth into. I decided to make pan sautéed peppers, onion, mushroom, and diced tomato flavoured with basil and garlic to put between a couple slices of toast. I had planned to go shopping at Community Natural Foods by Chinook Station. I ended up vegging out at home and making do with things like broccoli for calcium and Bean Stew for supper. I also discovered when you're craving chocolate but aren't feeling too ambitious, mixing cocoa with peanut butter is a great alternative.

This morning when I made Big Lug his lunch, the chicken definitely smelled good. Thankfully it was frozen or I might have been tempted to have a bite. I am starting to understand why people who decided to go Vegan work at it progressively, starting out by eliminating red meat for a few weeks, followed by white meat and fish, hovering around Vegetarianism for a month or two before eliminating eggs and dairy.

The verse for Thursday was Psalm 98:4 Shout for joy to the Lord, burst into jubilant song with music.

Vegan Day 2

Due to working late, I decided to Wednesday's blog on Thursday morning. At work it didn't bother me being around meat. I felt very guilty, however, each time I goofed up a dairy order. As a long time user of Ann Louise Gittleman's Fat Flush Plan, I am no stranger to going dairy less for two weeks yet I was never bothered if I made the wrong milkshake or had to make a second attempt on an ice cream cone. For some reason as a Vegan it did bother me.
I made a smoothie using half a cup calcium enriched orange juice and half a cup of water, skipping the whey protein powder. Between Fat Flush and Canada Food Guide, I knew one serving of juice is half a cup. I enjoyed an absolutely yummy 13 Bean Soup for lunch. I had already experimented with a vegetarian version of it, leaving out the ham hock and using part water, part vegetable broth for the liquid to add extra flavour. I also had some steamed broccoli as one of my snacks. Work was easy. I've keyed in enough Southwest No Chckn, gone to the grill menu and click on "No Cheese" to know it would only take about 3-5 minutes to make a special salad. I topped it with Salsa, which was definitely a taste bud kick. That's not the entire menu of the day, just the key points.

My guide verse for the day was 1 Chronicles 16:29 Ascribe to the Lord the glory due His name. Bring an offering and come before Him; worship the Lord in the splendour of His holiness.

Vegan Day 1

I got a lucky break. Big Lug was taken out for lunch and decided to make his own supper. I didn't do the best job of making sure to get two servings of calcium rich food. I probably only got one, through some Saucy Rhubarb and the trace amounts in everything else I ate.

Overall it was a very fun day. I got in some exercise via swimming with a friend and her daughter. Kidlet didn't notice anything different during the day time. Mom still made Dad his lunch; Kidlet had his usual breakfast with yogurt, and cheese at lunch. I do have a note in my journal "It's 8 p.m., I'm HUNGRY!" 3 cups of popcorn with a tablespoon of flaxseed oil and some seat salt later, I'm cheerfully blogging. My protein was obtained by having 1/2 cup of pinto beans as part of a Mexican chunky soup (or is it casserole since it was thick enough to eat with a fork?) and two tablespoons of peanut butter.

I will plead guilty, I never noticed until tonight how many ads during a hockey game involve meat products. The verse that helped me get through the day was Psalm 16:11 "You have made known to me the path of life; You will fill me with joy in Your presence, with eternal pleasures at Your right hand. The verse that helped me get through the evening is 2 Samuel 22:31 As for God, His way is perfect; the word of the Lord is flawless. He is a shield for all who take refuge in Him.