day 10 – muffins and seagulls – by jen

despite the spontaneous rashes that break out on my skin within minutes of being with jess and bridgie’s cats, the ladies and i have all noticed our skin exhibiting a ‘vegan glow’.

i’ve dropped a couple of pounds, and have noticed since taking on this project that a lot of the food i cannot eat is stuff i’d really like to get rid of anyways.

the vegan muffin i had on the drive in the morning was…ok. dry and heavy, it could have likely knocked a seagull out of the sky if aimed properly. not that i would think to harm a bird in this month of harmlessness. i’m just saying.

bridgie said she’s going to make me some homemade muffins. bless her heart.

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day 9 – blissful ignorance – by jen

after yet another food-related conversation with a new friend at the aforementioned dinner party sunday night, i was inspired to take my green smoothie to the next level.
yesterday, i put an entire head of green leaf lettuce in a smoothie. my blender broke down only twice ($aving up for a vita mix), and the vega and blueberries i tossed in made it on the verge of enjoyable. i find these smoothies extremely satisfying right after yoga class.

my muffin craving continues. as lovely as ‘vegan-couver’ is for vegans and vegetarians, white rock is equally shitty. (that’s where i live). there is not a vegan muffin to be found, and that’s what i wanted yesterday more than anything. i’ll have to consult bridgie on a recipe and make some myself, because my muffin fix is in need of a…fix. ?

umm, why do hashbrowns want to taste like beef?! i was crestfallen to find suspicious animal-related ingredients in some packaged hashbrowns i was pretty excited to enjoy this morning. modified milk ingredients and butter aside, the third ingredient was ‘natural beef flavoring’.  i had to assume that ‘natural’ meant that there were actually traces of cow in said potatoes, so i sadly declined.

after the amount of ingredient reading required to engage in this project with true integrity, i’m not sure i’ll ever be able to eat the same way.
depending on your goals, when it comes to the content of your favorite foods (bridget and jess’ poutine incident comes to mind) i would have to say that ignorance truly is blissful. if you want to continue your love affair with your fave processed foods, don’t read the list.

if only what you didn’t know couldn’t hurt you.

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day 9-sorry baba, no syr (cheese) today-by bridget

one of the most difficult people to explain my newly adopted vegan lifestyle to is my little ukrainian baba.  it was confusing enough for her when i went vegetarian a couple of years ago.  she has worried about my slight frame since i was a little girl, and would surely prefer if i was about 100 pounds heavier.  so when she heard i wasn’t eating meat she exclaimed “but bridget, that’s not healthy!”.  now to refute this statement is moot.  i know nothing and she knows everything, and that is the foundation of our relationship.  she asked if she could make me a tuna sandwich, and i said no.  she asked if i could eat her meatball soup and pick out the meatballs, i said no.  slowly she began to understand and even made me some meat-free cabbage rolls at christmas time.  

i spoke to her on the phone today to discuss our weekly get-together and what we would have for dinner (noon meal).  she offered a cheesy noodle bake that she invented just for me and i had to pass.  “i’m not eating any dairy right now”.  “you’re so funny”, she chuckled.  so we decided on a comforting family favourite that happens to be vegan already (macaroni & tomato juice and a dollop of margarine).  baba created this delicacy to feed her five girls as a struggling, divorced ukrainian woman in the 60’s.  i know it sounds gross, but don’t knock it till you try it 🙂  like clockwork, she’ll serve up some jello for dessert which i will have to refuse for its gelatin content (cow marrow).  i have two days to figure out how to handle that one…bridget

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day 8-blender bender-by bridget

my vegan world was fairly uneventful today, except for an hour of kitchen appliance experimentation this afternoon.  i used my blender twice, and food processor once to create a smoothie, caesar dressing and a tapenade (that i kinda just made up myself-well i saw it on a menu last night and played around till it was yum).  the caesar dressing was out of a book called refresh, based on a vegan restaurant in Toronto.  the smoothie was 2 scoops of vega powder, blueberries (that i got such a great deal on-$1.69/pound!), banana and water.  i made the tapenade in the food processor, mixing canned artichokes, black olives, sun-dried tomatoes, and walnuts with a pinch of salt, cracked pepper and a titch of olive oil.  mmmmmm.  really tasty and kinda creamy from the artichokes.  sometimes my experiments work and sometimes they suck. the experience is always worth it though.  i encourage y’all to throw some shit in a blender or food processor and see what you come up with.

*i recommend starting in small quantities in case it goes awry.

bridget 🙂

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day 8 – fish, no longer my favourite dish – by jessica

actually it never was, but whatev.  thanks to that kitchen goddess who cooks sensually enough to convert a straight girl (aka Nigella Lawson – youtube that if you want to see what i mean) i found an incredibly easy and addictive pasta dish that i usually bust out when it’s my turn to cook or i’ve got dinner guests.  basically it’s just a mashup of linguine, crimini mushrooms, the juice and zest of a lemon, olive oil, fresh thyme, parsley, salt and pepper.  you don’t even have to cook the mushrooms. man, i could eat that stuff all day.  bridget made fun of me because after making this recipe at least 5 times now, i still follow the instructions.  i told her that not all of us can be as naturally gifted in the kitchen as she.

unrelated vegan tip: it’s best to monitor your garbanzo bean consumption, unless of course you enjoy excessive bloating and lower intestinal discomfort. ditto for lentils.

tootles… jessica

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day 7 – vegan bennies – by bridget & jessica

Hey y’all.  Not much to report for holiday Monday, other than we enjoyed some wicked vegan bennies at one of our favourite vegetarian and vegan friendly restaurants in Vancouver – Bandidas Taqueria.  Bonus for scoring the table in the front window with the rocking chairs… bridget and jessica

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day 7 – visions of celery sticks – by jen

i’m starting to think that perhaps i’ve had a relatively easy time with this vegan september because my lovely bf kevin has been out of town since the 2nd.

i picked him up from the airport today, and the first thing we settled upon, after the hugs and kisses, was that we were both starving.

sigh. we also made this lame agreement that, in the name of saving money, we would refrain from eating out at restaurants for september. balls.

he was craving mac and cheese, and i didn’t give a shit if i ate anything. temper temper. visions of celery sticks danced in my head. i wanted some goddam tom yun goong. a baguette with some goats cheese and a bottle of wine. finished with a cinnamon bun, extra butter.
i settled on amy’s chili, extra spicy, the regular sodium kind. ooo, how naughty.
came home to watch in irritation as he melted butter, added whipped cream and ridiculous amounts of cheese to make an amazing alfredo sauce (apparently nutmeg is the key ingredient. this i never knew) he combined the sauce with (bless his heart) organic rice pasta, and topped with.. yup, you guessed it, more cheese.

i was drawn to the oven like sleeping beauty to the spinning wheel. glazed eyes and everything. i watched the bubbling, crispy cheese with the occasional spurt of alfredo like a sick, perverted weirdo. ‘this is crap!’ i exclaimed. he continued to wrap the cheese and said calmly ‘you will not make me feel guilty about this’. fair enough.

today, i ran into almost everything that i love in dairy form. organic yogurt covered pretzels, an americano with organic cream and honey, the freshly baked scones at the coffee shop, chocolate, chocolate everywhere, free samples of brie on expensive crackers…the list could go on.

and yet, my friends, i remain, sincerely, vegan. guilty only of over-using commas.

phew.

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day 6 – i feel ill – by jessica

i have no idea if this has anything to do with my new dairy/fish/meat free diet, but last night, i was suddenly overcome with a feeling of lightheadedness.  i felt weak and my face turned pale.  jen drove me home and i went to bed, only to wake up sick in the middle of the night after tossing and turning and generally having a bad sleep.  i think it may have been food poisoning related, but the only thing i ate that was different than my counterparts (who were all feeling fine) was some raw veggies, fruit and nacho chips at our friend’s daughter’s birthday party.  could i be lacking iron? other nutrients?  my diet has been pretty varied and full of nutrient rich foods, and i have been taking vega supplements here and there… but i definitely don’t feel 100%.

after this weekend’s two bbq parties i attended, i realized that i will have to be prepared for my food choices to be put on the table for dissection, as was the case when we had to refuse a piece of the beautiful homemade birthday cake at our friend’s daughter’s first birthday party.  i heard comments like ‘you just don’t refuse a piece of cake at a birthday party’ and ‘why anyone would place such restrictions on themselves is beyond me’. to which i just smiled and nodded, not really wanting to derail the joyous festivities to get into a discussion on the many different reasons someone might have for placing such restrictions on themselves.  bridget and i wondered why people even cared what we were eating, as though it made some kind of difference to them.  if anything, there would be more cake for them to enjoy… jessica

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day 6-itchin’ and bitchin’-by bridget

yesterday was the first birthday of a dear friend’s little girl.  jess and i were in attendance at this memorable event, and knew beforehand that our newly acquired vegan diet may limit our participation in some way or another.  we were able to snack on the veggies and dip, chips, and of course, wine.  the problem with being vegan at social events where one is unable to eat most of the food is that your belly quickly fills with wine and has little to no buffer.  needless to say we were “elegantly wasted” by 4pm.  came up against some questions as to why we were vegan and comments as to how sad it was that we couldn’t have a bite of the decadent, score bits and pink fondant, homemade masterpiece birthday cake.  chit, chat, vegan this vegan that…

then we went over to the boyfriend jay’s house to make that pot ‘o pasta that jen was gushing about in her post last night (thanks pal!).  salad, miso-pesto beans and an asparagus & grapefruit delight accompanied.  and of course more conversion centered around being vegan…

by the end of the day i was EXHAUSTED with talking about food!  while of course i must enjoy this topic to some degree considering recent endeavors, but i also have a limit as to how i long i  am able to discuss it in a group setting, or otherwise.  it may be because my reasons for being vegan are not always about the food, it’s more, taking a stance on an industry that i disapprove of.  for myself, that is the relevance of this project, and heck, maybe that is what i will discuss.  i’m sure that some of you are growing tired of my eating habit updates.  approaching the seven day itch i suppose? having thoughts as to whether i can do this for the rest of my life? or even want to?   i guess what i am trying to say is, can’t we just BE vegan?  

i quit smoking two years ago, and had similar feelings around day seven as to whether this was worth it, and why can’t we just live long and smoke?  

i dedicate this post to the poor little skunk that was hit by a car in my hood.  my caring and compassionate boyfriend respectfully moved its body and placed him in a bush to rest peacefully. thank you jay…bridget

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day 6 – vegan groove – by jen

lying in bed with a belly full of some amazing, cruelty free cuisine after a lovely dinner party with good friends.

when i walked in the door of jay’s apartment (bridget’s man), the smell of garlic and fresh herbs was like a warm, hospitable hug. bridget made yet another AMAZING pasta dish with a homemade tomato sauce and wild rice noodles. there was no fake cheese, no weird meat-resembling matter, just a gourmet vegan dish rich in flavor, substance, and satisfaction.

i am starting to feel a groove. i was put in charge of slicing a lovely gourmet spanish cheese, and although it smelled delightful, it was simply not an option. i sampled a remarkable combination of asparagus and grapefruit slices drizzled in balsamic (shout out to Chad the Incredible), and jess tossed up her classic, all raw salad with homemade dressing in her usual tasty style.

All of us, vegan and non-vegan alike, found ourselves digging into the leftover pasta at the end of the night, it was THAT good. thank you bridget!

i’m a bit too full, but i feel great. my bikram class today was very strong, and very connected. looking forward to another double tomorrow, beginners and advanced.

my eyes are drooping. good night.

🙂 jenny

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