The Hunger Games: Day Four

As of this morning, I’ve embarked on the beginning of my fourth day of eating like a vegan. I’m not going to lie; it pretty much sucks, though not as much as I thought it was going to suck, so I guess that’s a big old WIN. I’m actually shocked I haven’t cheated yet, even yesterday when my darling sister tried to ply me with chicken liver mousse, brie cheese and Ritter bars. I held fast and firm. Nothing can shake my inner vegan warrior! NOTHING.

Xena was a total vegan face

On a hunger scale, I would say I’m at a steady 5 or 6 all day. That’s my biggest beef (zing!) about the vegan diet; I never feel satisfied or full. I’m not necessarily looking forward to my next plate of steaming veggies. I thought this would be a huge problem for me since most days I turn into the female version of the Incredible Hulk if my blood sugar dips below a certain level. I honestly feared for the safety of my sister and cats. However, I seem to have magically maintained my pleasant demeanor. I will say I have gotten pretty creative on my menu, and that has helped. Going into this week, I made a point of not being lazy and just eating pasta every day and so far I’ve succeeded. Here’s what I’ve had so far:

Day 1

Breakfast: granola with rice milk

Lunch: quinoa with beets and beet greens

Dinner: roasted portabello mushroom “steaks”, roasted potatoes, and green beans

Good looking mushrooms steaks!

Day 2

Breakfast: banana with peanut butter

Lunch: Burrito bowl from Boloco – vegan style (and they totally gipped me on the rice btw)

Dinner: Butternut Squash Soup and corn tortilla quesadilla with rice cheese, tomato, and basil.

A vegan burrito bowl from Boloco. Basically I paid $5.00 for a bowl of lettuce, three beans and a few grains of rice. All I can say is good thing I added the guac!


Day 3

Breakfast: banana with peanut butter

Lunch: butternut squash soup and a wrap with tomato, basil, and mustard

Dinner: roasted eggplant with broccoli polenta

I have to admit, this polenta was really blah without the milk or cheese. Damn you vegans!


In true list loving fashion, here are a few things I've learned about this "whole vegan thing".......

1. The soy lattes at Starbucks are surprisingly good. I don’t usually take sugar in my coffee so this was a bit on the sweet side for me. But by the time the foam melted into the coffee, it was sort of ….nice?

2. I didn’t have high hopes for my rice cheese. I should have guessed that a dairy substitute made with a grain would be, well, grainy. But the package said it was good at melting, and that definitely made it taste less like sticks. Hooray!

3. Season, Season, Season. Without butter and milk to add to things, I found that a little extra seasoning really goes a long way. I have been using veggie stock in the place of water when I cooked most of my grains, salt and peppering like it’s my job, and throwing random herbs into everything. Long live basil!

4. Vegan and Gluten free granola is the pits! As you can see from my menu recap, I bailed on the gluten free granola by Day 2. First of all, it tastes like cardboard coated with cranberry dust. Secondly, my affordable (cough, cough à $7.00) bag, would probably last me three servings! What a rip. I really think the market takes advantage of gluten free people. Just because we haven’t tasted granola in a few years does not mean we won’t realize that this stuff tastes like crap.

5. God bless tortilla chips, salsa, and guacamole. By the end of this wild ride, I think I’ll have to base my strict adherence to this diet on the fact that my almost daily ritual of bingeing on chips and salsa (or guac) and a cocktail while watching Jeopardy, remained intact! God truly loves me if he made booze and avocados vegan and gluten free.

So with only 4 full days to go, I can just about see the finish line of this Vegan Marathon. Look---a nice wedge of Brie cheese is waiting for me with it’s arms (do cheese have arms? Just go with it) open for a big hug.I still have to survive my work potluck (I'm making a vegan pumpkin risotto) and might do a grand finale at a vegan or vegetarian restaurant. Until then.....VEGAN ME.