Our Vegan Adventure
So it’s Wednesday and we have a few days of "vegan living" under our belts.
So we promised that we’d offer some insight into a few days of how we’ve been holding up…
…it is funny how so many people have such an adverse reaction when even mentioning a vegan diet.
Are we planning to be vegans for the rest of our lives — not at this point, but we’ll never say never. We’ve had some great meals for dinner each night already, though, so this way of eating forces us to think outside the box a bit more than our normal pattern of eating.
Monday was Brazilian Baked Beans and Rice (recipe below) and a side salad.
Tuesday was zucchini pasta (shredded to look like spaghetti noodles) with homemade pesto and roasted cherry tomatoes.
And tonight will be a Taco Salad, with finely chopped portabello mushrooms as the "meat" — then avocado, grilled veggies, and homemade salsa.
Shouldn’t be much aversion there — the meals are fantastic!
What is more challenging is eating out. Or, even doubly challenging, is being out with one of our clients — The Dairy Council — where, well, their main product is a non vegan product and milk is surely aplenty during meal time. Couple that with the fact that we went out as a group to a fine steakhouse.
Vegetarian option for me, please!
That was last night.
And now since traveling all day, I’ve also made sure to plan ahead … even more than usual. I have plenty of raw nuts and some dried and fresh fruit for snacks throughout the day. I also brought some vegan protein powder in a shaker bottle (because whey protein is from dairy so that’s what I would use normally when there).
It’s all about planning …
…maybe this vegan thing isn’t so bad afterall.
Brazilian Baked Beans and Rice (Courtesy of How to Cook Everything Vegetarian)
2 TBS Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1 onion, chopped
2 TBS minced chile (we used jalapeno)
1 TBS minced
1 1/2 cups chopped ripe tomato
1 large ripe banana, peeled and cut into chunks
3 cups cooked or canned beans (we used black) with 1 cup of their cooking liquid
1 TBS fresh thyme
salt and pepper
Directions:
- Preheat oven to 350. Add oil in skillet over medium high heat. When hot, add the onion and cook, until softened, about 3 minutes. Add the chile and ginger and cook for 1 more minute.
- Transfer onion mixture, along with the tomato and banana, into a blender and puree.
- Combine the mixture in step 2 with the beans and thyme in ovenproof dish. Add 1 1/2 cups brown rice and 1 cup veggie stock or water. Taste and add salt and pepper, then cover until bubbling (about 40 minutes) and rice is tender.
August 18th, 2010 at 5:22 pm
Thanks for sharing your experience thus far. Even with the beans there doesn’t seem to be a whole lot of protein in the vegan dinners?? Plus it comes packaged with starch. Do you find that vegan eating results in a high carbohydrate intake compared to meat eating?
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Chris and Kara Mohr Reply:
August 18th, 2010 at 6:14 pm
I’m not as concerned about the protein — beans, rice, nuts, grains, etc all provide protein — but, I have found it difficult to get away from so many carbs. So you’re right. We just got a book today that will help us explore some other ideas, but as of now it’s been very starch heavy.
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