Vegan Clauss-Week 1 complete!

Vegan Clauss with Biba and Bridget @ Kisha Popo on Davie.

I really appreciate Bridget for inviting me for the “Vegan Experience” for a week. I love new challenges, and I always try to learn new things to grow as a person. I am sure that this diet which I have been doing will help me a lot with my future eating habits.I have been learning a lot with this diet as well as feeling good. I noticed that this diet made me eat less with much more balanced meals than before.

I decided to extend my diet with Briget from one week to a month, and I am excited to see the changes that I will go through until then. I cannot wait to know how much I will learn at the end of this experience.

Bridget, thank you so much for all the support in my “Vegan Experience” for a week and now for a month.

I Love you!!!

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Linda’s reflections-3 weeks vegan!

It’s 3 weeks and I’m still eating a vegan diet with only one serving of meat on November 6th. I did not enjoy it and went immediately back to a strictly vegan way of eating. Jackie and I have enjoyed finding and cooking many new recipes and are still doing well. Jackie is eating much less meat but is back to a few animal products.

I’m working on a special project at work that requires us to work 12 hour days. My employer is buying dinner for about 12 of us each evening. I had vegan pasta the first night, but have been bringing my own food since then so I don’t have to impose my restrictions on the rest of the group. As my colleagues look over my shoulder at my wonderful, fresh, crunchy spinach salads and quinoa with beans and corn stuffed in a whole grain pita they all remark on how good everything looks. I just tell them that a vegan diet does not have to be boring. I think they all had the impression that vegan food was lettuce and little else.

I still feel very good and don’t miss meat at all. My work group ordered in a massive amount of Chinese food the other evening and I was not enticed at all. Even though some of my old favourites were on the table (wonton soup and garlic ribs).

Thank you again to the Vegan Project for introducing me to a new way of living and all the support you have given me since.

Linda

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Day 7-The Last Day!

Vegan Diet Day Seven, Nov. 1, 2009

Breakfast: Lemon juice/water shooter, Tofu scramble with peppers, mushrooms, tomato and garlic.

Snack: Smoothie made with soya milk, peanut butter , banana and vegan infusion.

Lunch: Left over quinoa, beans, and corn in a whole wheat tortilla and a pear or apple for dessert.

Snack: Seeds and raisins.

Dinner: Chick Peas Romesco. This dish was fantastic both sweet and spicy. Lots of flavours and a real mouth party. Yum. The last of Bridget’s peanut butter cups for dessert.

Note: Our week long experiment has come to a conclusion, but the lessons we have learned will last us forever. We could not have done it without Bridget and the women of the Vegan Project. I’m not sure where we are going with all this, but I can say that my thoughts on food have been dramatically changed. I now feel my body working more efficiently, and have way more energy. I can honestly say that I have not missed animal products and as an added bonus have lost over 5 lbs.

Jackie views it as a wonderful experiment and looks forward to using a lot of the things she has learned in daily cooking and eating.

Again a huge thank you to the Vegan Project!

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Day 6 of the Vegan Diet!

Vegan Diet Day Six, October 31, 2009

Breakfast:  Lemon juice, granola & hemp milk, toast, coffee & silk.

Snack: Berry, banana and orange juice with vegan infusion smoothie.

Lunch: Jackie ate Indian food at the mall (dahl and curried cauliflower & potato with rice & naam bread). She even asked the server if the food had any dairy in it! I had leftover quinoa, beans and corn from last night in a whole wheat tortilla followed by a pear.

Snack: Seeds and raisins, vegan chocolate chips.

Dinner: Tofu and bok choy stir-fry with buckwheat soba noodles and sprouts, mushrooms and green pepper accompanied by miso broth. Bridget’s addictive peanut butter cups for dessert.

Note: Jackie and Bridget found some interesting data on line about depression and veganism. This may not be the right eating program for her. I am feeling great and now know what eating healthier can do for me. It’s not really a diet, but a lifestyle and I really am enjoying it. I think that while we may include some dairy and meats in our diet in the future we will always be more conscious of what we are eating.

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Day 5 of the Vegan Diet!

Vegan Diet Day Five, Oct. 30

Breakfast: Lemon juice. Toast & granola with hemp milk.

Lunch: Buddha’s  Feast  which was rice vermicelli with a vegetable spring roll, raw veggies, peanuts, sprouts and basil with soya and chili sauce.  Sorbetto for dessert.

Dinner: Quinoa with black beans, corn, salsa avocado, chili powder and tortilla chips on a bed of lettuce. Peanut butter cup for dessert, thanks to Bridget.

Snack: seeds and vegan chocolate chips.

Note: Jackie is feeling some anxiety in the mornings and we discussed with Bridget and think it could be hormones or a blood sugar thing. She will increase the amount of food she eats in the morning and see if it helps.

We had lunch at the Golden Garden (507 Main St. Vancouver) and we were impressed. Very clean and a nice vegetarian section on the menu.

Jackie and I have been talking about how we always thought we ate pretty healthy but we have discovered that what we have learned this week will set a new standard for us. We are truly enjoying the textures, flavours and variety of all the foods we have been experiencing in the past few days.

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Vegan Diet-Day 4!

Vegan Diet Day Four, Thursday, Oct. 29

We’re feeling really great!

Breakfast: Lemon juice shooter, course rye toast with peanut butter & jam. Coffee & silk.

Snack: ½ Tomato, olive & herb scone with earth balance spread.

Lunch: Leftover brown rice & French lentils topped with chopped, raw, crunchy veggies (snap peas, broccoli & red onion). A pear for dessert.

Smoothie: Another of our favorite coconut milk, pineapple, banana and vegan infusion.

Dinner: Leftover cauliflower soup (another really satisfying and tasty favorite) and a beautiful salad (loaded with veggies and soya beans) with homemade vegan ranch dressing made with nayonaise, lemon juice and spices, toasted corn bread with humus. We had the salad first and waited about an hour to eat the soup. Dessert: Soya yogurt with frozen berries.

Note: We are both feeling very good. Looking forward to incorporating more of what we are learning into our daily lives after the week-long experiment. What we know is not all there is. My sister and I were really in quite a rut as far as our eating habits and this is the perfect solution to that dilemma. We’ve learned so much and are opening ourselves to all the great vegan foods we’ve yet to try.  Snap peas are great for satisfying a sweet tooth. Lentils quash food cravings. Flavor can be enhanced with herbs & spices rather than animal fat. Smoothies don’t require cow’s milk. Some of you hard-core veg heads might think this is silly, but for two old, overweight, 50-something gals, we’re fascinated by all of this. We grew up in the meat & spuds 50s and 60s, and this is all new to us.

 

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Day 3 of the Vegan Diet!

Vegan Diet Day Three Wednesday, Oct. 28

Breakfast: Lemon juice/water shooter, granola with hemp milk and a tasty tomato, olive & herb, whole wheat scone, coffee & silk.

Mid morning: Coconut milk, pineapple, banana, vegan infusion smoothie…..delicious.

Lunch: Miso soup with buckwheat soba noodles, smoked tofu, spinach, bean sprouts,  mushrooms, green onions & nori. It was fantastic. Jackie (who NEVER has seconds) finished every drop.

Afternoon snack: snap peas

Dinner: French Lentils spiced with herbs, lemon zest, garlic and onions with Brown Rice and a crunchy salad. A very satisfying meal. Dessert: one of Bridget’s vegan peanut butter cups.

No evening snack, we were full.

Note: Both of us are feeling more energy, and are noticing many subtle changes in our bodies. Jackie finds herself to be more “alert”. Digestion is good…good and gassy. We went for a morning walk with the dog and I rode my stationary cycle for 20 minutes. I have mild eczema on my upper back and it’s gone. I’ve always suspected it was a reaction to dairy or eggs. Also realized I’ve been including fish oil with my vitamins and supplements. Nixed those. Overall  we feel GREAT!!

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Vegan Diet-Day 2

Vegan Diet Day Two Oct. 27

Again our day started with a shot of lemon juice. Breakfast was squirrelly toast with peanut butter and jam and coffee with silk.

We had a wonderful peanut butter and banana smoothie and despite the hideous colour of it (thanks to the vegan powder enhancer) it was great. Definitely a keeper.

Lunch was cauliflower soup (nicely spiced with the earthy flavours of cinnamon and nutmeg), a veggie sandwich with tomato, cucumber, pea shoots, avocado and homemade humus.

I had a snack of a carrot and a few snap peas in the afternoon.

Dinner was these Gardein (vegetable protein) patties stuffed with God knows what. Jackie didn’t mind hers, but I found mind horrible. This was something not recommended by the Vegan Project, it was something we picked up on our own while shopping for the week’s supplies. We also had brown rice with mushrooms and garlic, steamed asparagus and salad.

We were going to have a bottled oriental dressing on our salad, but our new awareness prompted us to read the label and we discovered it had egg product in it. Who would have thought animal products are hiding everywhere? Back to olive oil, balsamic & lemon juice. Dessert was soy yogurt and frozen berries. We had an evening snack of seeds and chocolate chips.

Note: The Gardein patties that I found so disgusting bother me not only for their gross taste, but on another level; I don’t think a person should pretend they eat meat when they don’t. These things were fashioned to look like chicken I suppose. To me it’s like pretending to drink alcohol or take drugs when you don’t … just to fit in.

Jackie (who is a smoker) is finding much less mucus production due to the omission of dairy. Both of us are experiencing increased efficiency in digestion.

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Vegan Diet Day One!

Vegan Diet Day One Oct. 26

We started our day with our shot of lemon juice, Bridget’s homemade granola with hemp milk, and coffee with silk. We had a mid-morning apple snack.

Bridget came over and we had a BIG salad loaded with veggies and topped with kidney beans and a slice of course rye toast.

Jackie and Bridget tweaked the meal plan for the week and prepared some of the foods in advance (humus, scones & cauliflower soup).

We had smoothies in the afternoon had small samples of the things they had been working on.

Dinner was a lovely whole wheat linguine dish with thyme, lemon and mushrooms. We had some steamed chard on the side and one of Bridget’s peanut butter cups for dessert. Later we snacked on seeds and vegan chocolate chips.

During Bridget’s visit we searched the internet for more recipes and talked about our excitement to be involved in such a positive thing for ourselves. We are pretty sure (at this point) that we will carry on beyond the one week experiment. But it is very early.

Both Jackie and I feel more energy while our digestive system deals with the massive amounts of fiber we are consuming.

We look forward to Day Two.

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day 29-blurring the meal lines-by bridget

it’s been a while since i’ve written, i know.  been pretty busy with the final touches of our website splash page and helping the boyfriend move.  contrary to my vegan counterparts, who have both felt that they’ve lost weight this past month, i feel that i’ve gained a couple pounds, or at least lost some muscle tone.  i attribute this to the lack of yoga in my schedule lately (no correlation, just sheer laziness) and a greater devotion to food and eating and consuming more than i normally do.  i have never had a huge connection to food and can often times take it, or leave it.  i’ve found that this month has brought more focus to what i ingest and i’ve had to be more mindful of my dietary requirements, thus consuming more calories (i think anyways. as jess mentioned, we don’t have a scale so this is all speculation).  i have pledged to myself to get back on the yoga train for october to nip this in the bud-though i’m sure the consensus among most would be that i could use a few extra pounds 😉  

ahh, now that that’s out of the way i wanted to share a bit of vegan wisdom that i have picked up along the way, the first being the title of this post…

1) blurring the meal lines-i struggled so much at first with the loss of eggs in the a.m. but never missed them any other time of day.  once i let go of the cultural aspects of dining, what to have and at what point in the day, a weight was lifted.  i began to have a protein, carb, and lotsa veggies whenever i sat down to eat and eventually breakfast transformed into simply the first meal of the day.  nothing more, and free of preconceived notions of what that meal should be.  samosas, soups and beans are some of my favourite morning nibbles now.

2)no cream – creamy-dairy has a an indescribable sumptuous texture, flavour and lasting memory.  how can a dairy loving vegan duplicate this blessed food group?  easy!  blend, blend, blend!  the food processor is a vegan’s third arm.  so many foods, once blended become ‘creamy’.  nuts, seeds, artichokes, avocado, a simple marinara put in the blender, tofu, just to name a few.

3) yay falafel!-i’d like to pay homage to that lovely little deep-fried chickpea nugget.  falafel is fantastic and has definitely contributed to my vegan success.  in fact, i’ve found middle eastern cuisine in general to be quite conducive to the vegan lifestyle.  try it and love it today 🙂

4) getting some help from supplements-now i don’t take pills, but i do lean on nutritional powder mixes, effervescent vitamin pouches and all natural electrolyte drinks for a boost in energy, vitamins minerals and essential nutrients.  some may poo-poo this and prefer to get all their essentials from food, and to them i raise my vitamin water and toast them and their efforts…i need a little help from my friends 😉

5) stay cool-what i mean by this is just that.  i have been blessed with incredible support from friends, co-workers and strangers and been able to engage in exciting and thought-provoking discussions regarding vegan food, the vegan lifestyle, animal rights and ethics.  i have also been met with ignorant f**** that for some reason or another take my eating choices personally and have an inability or  blatant disregard to examine where their food comes from, or at the very least, understand the vegan side of the fence.  i’ve remained cool, remembering to pick my battles.  i suspect that  as we become more aware as a society of the negative effects of the meat industry on the environment and our bodies, that some of them may have a change of heart.  and maybe one day they will look at a farm animal as an equal with it’s own intrinsic rights and not an object to be utilized.  i give credit of that last sentence to my cousin brooke, innately vegan, defending animal rights every day with a vengeance! xo

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