On Saturday morning I ate some vegan cinnamon raisin toast with Earth Balance before heading out to a florist appointment with my sister (for her wedding).
After our appointment we met our dad for lunch. I had some mixed vegetables with rice and a spring roll (there were not a lot of vegan options at the Thia restaurant we went to).
For dinner I made a miso noodle soup with mushrooms, tofu and green onions.
Vegan Miso Noodle Soup
8 cups water
1/2 cup miso paste
3 T soy sauce
sauteed sliced mushrooms (saute them ahead of time and set aside)
vermicelli noodles
Green onions
Bring the water to a boil. Remove some of the water and mix it with the miso paste (I use a blender to mix them fully). Add the miso water back to the pot. Add soy sauce and noodles (approx. 200 g). The soup is ready when the noodles are cooked.
Put some sauteed mushrooms, green onions, and finely diced tofu into the bottom of the bowls. Fill with the soup. The hot broth will heat up the tofu (I used extra firm).
Last night we went out to celebrate a friend's 30th birthday!
I drank red wine and a martini, and snacked on some vegetable tempura.
Today is day 7 of my vegan-for-a-week challenge.
The hubby made vegan pancakes for breakfast, and they were quite possibly the BEST pancakes I have ever had in my life. This will be the recipe that we use from now on when making pancakes from scratch.
BEST Vegan Pancakes
(Recipe very slightly adapted from Salt and Paprika)
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup all purpose flour
1 T baking powder
pinch of salt
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 T canola oil
1 cup unsweetened Almond Breeze
1 tsp vanilla extract
Mix dry ingredients together. In a separate bowl mix the wet ingredients.
Add wet to dry and stir (don't over mix).
Cook on a sprayed grill flipping when little bubbles appear on the surface.
I dipped mine in 100% pure maple syrup.
For lunch we had Amy's vegan pizza (with artichokes and mushrooms).
We have been invited to a dinner party this evening so our vegan week is officially over (one meal early).
Final Thoughts on Vegan Week
1) It was WAY easier than I expected it to be.
2) I didn't have any cravings during the week.
3) There are some foods that are surprisingly vegan! (Did you know that Oreos and Ritz crackers are vegan!!?? I didn't eat either of these, but it was interesting to find this out).
4) I didn't "cheat" at all on the vegan diet this week, and I didn't even miss cheese which really surprises me!
5) The hubby and I enjoyed this week, but it was just for a week ... we will now resume our usual eating habits which consist of a little of everything (but possibly more vegan choices in the future now that we have seen how good they can be).
Tonight we are going to a dinner party, and luckily tomorrow is a provincial holiday (Family Day) ... so the hubby and I both have the day off.
Could you go vegan for a week? Day? Forever? Would you want to? Why or why not?
The hubby and I liked the challenge of eating differently for a week, and might try something like this again some time ... maybe caveman for a week :-) Hehe.
21 comments:
I thought it was harder than I thought it would be. Ha! SO many unsuspecting products had dairy in them when I actually read the ingredients closely, it was nuts!
I am trying to incorporate more vegan eating into my life though. Essentially I'd like to eat vegan 75 - 80% of the time because I eat SO MUCH cleaner that way!
Your noodle soup looks great. You have so many good vegan recipes:)
Good job on giving this a try and not cheating at all!
We too eat a little bit of everything in our house. I have vegan cookbooks and do cook from them often.
I too am often surprised how many things are vegan. After spending a week with a vegan friend I realized that the vegan diet is not necessarily a healthy one! I learned that Fritos are also Vegan.
Excellent challenge. I've been following your progress this week. I went Vegan for three months and I found it tough to fit in with friends and relatives for dinners, etc.
Currently I've just cut beef and pork from my diet and who know where I'll go from there.
I've gone vegan for short periods of time and I eat a lot of vegan meals but I don't think I'll ever want to be 100% vegan.
nice job with the challenge!
I have a similar attitude to yours. I feel like I could go vegan if I wanted to, but I like my diet with variety. I eat many vegetarian and vegan meals, and often I will use a vegan recipe as the base for something else (the end product may still be vegan or not).
I view meat as a great source of iron and protein, but also a bit high in fat and cholesterol. So I make it a point that if there is going to be meat on my plate, that everything else on the plate is low in fat and cholesterol. Balancing is the key. :)
Way to go! I admire you for this... I have thought about going Vegan, but figured it would be hard as heck!
You did great! :)
Way to complete your vegan week. Those pancakes look so good. I think I will try them. I wont go vegan but I love a good vegan recipe ;)
thanks for sharing your journey
I think it's great that you guys gave this a shot. Sometimes it's fun to just mix things up a little bit!
I'm so glad to hear that your vegan week went well!!
I am on DAY 1 of my challenge and so far so good! Thanks for the pancake recipe I'm gonna try it this week!
Have a great week off class!!!!!!
I love this post and how positive your experience was! It's both motivating and inspiring! I'm so glad you bought the book and I bet you can't put it down, can you? I hope you'll tell me what you think of it when you're done...
Glad you enjoyed your vegan week! I think I could go vegan for a little while, but not forever!
Since I don't have any allergies to nuts and gluten, I think a vegan diet would not be difficult. I wouldn't do it on the long-term though since I do enjoy my fish and eggs.
I am glad it wasn't as hard as you thought, but I would miss my beloved cheese! :D
will deifinitely give this soup a go!
I am going to have to try those vegan pancakes! They look really yummy! I love your blog!!!
great job girl!! If I had more time to plan out my meals I think i would love this challenge! makes us eat different stuff. :)
Congratulations on your vegan week! I eat vegan alot throughout a week, but I haven't completely given up dairy or eggs. Like you, I don't find it incredibly hard to do ~ I just am not 'ready' to give up cheese specifically...oh, and my hubby is a devoted meat eater, so that makes it a little tough as well when I'm trying to cook for both of us. Somehow incorporating cheese and eggs helps us to meet in the middle.
That is a great tip particularly to those fresh to the blogosphere.
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