Veganism through David's eyes

This was a conversation that we had earlier.

(TV was on-- people were eating spaghetti and meatballs)

DAVID: Mom, what are they eating?

ME: Spaghetti, David.

DAVID: Yeah, what's on the spaghetti?

ME: Meatballs.

DAVID: When will we eat meatballs?

ME: We don't eat meat, remember hun?

DAVID: Oh, yeah. But grandma and grandpa don't have any pets, so they eat meat still.


Okay, back-story-- when we first cut meat out at the first of the year, David was indifferent, but asked why. We explained to him that (most) meat comes from animals that were treated very, very badly during their lives, and that they weren't put on Earth for us to eat. David, looking quizzical, said "Warrior is an animal." And I said "Yes, that's right, hun. We love Warrior. Would we ever hurt him?" David said "No, of course not." So I asked him (yes, yes, it's a weird question, but it put it in perspective for a four year-old) "We wouldn't eat Warrior or any other pets, would we? Just because they're animals, they're not meant to be hurt or eaten." And he agreed wholeheartedly.

So, today, when he said that grandma and grandpa don't have pets, and that must be why they still eat meat, I laughed really hard. I love how little kids think of things! (For the record, I explained to him that eating it is a personal choice, and that he can make that choice when he's out of our house/paying for his own food/etc.)

Vegan baked spaghetti and very sick younglings

This was my first time using the Daiya mozz-style cheese, and it tastes pretty awesome. It doesn't brown up like dairy cheese, but we traded that for NO grease pools on top, which is fantastic. Who says vegans don't eat comfort food? (In case anyone is wondering, spaghetti got pushed to tonight since last night all my kids wanted to eat was a sleeve of saltines and I had to stay glued to Gwen with a bowl. More on that soon.)

This particular pasta has a ton of vegetables in them, and the dish itself has fresh mushrooms and spinach all throughout. I typically grate a carrot in this as well, but I just didn't have the time (or energy) tonight.

Now... I'm hoping that my kids liking it doesn't come back to bite me in the butt here in a little bit. Gwen is coughing so hard that she didn't keep ANYTHING down yesterday, and David almost did the same thing today. They both sound so terrible... And there isn't much that can be done about it.

At least there is good news on the weight-front. I wasn't sure if the "125 lbs" thing was just a fluke low for me or if I had actually met that weight and could maintain it. I'm glad to report that without changing my eating habits at all, I have maintained 125. This is huge for me since my biggest issue has always been maintenance.

That's it for today. Gwen is currently carrying a bowl around because she has gotten so used to throwing up into it, haha... this is my new reality for the next few days!

P.S. Slathering the soles of your feet with Vicks and then covering them with socks at night WORKS-- Gwen "rested" much better last night, almost entirely cough-free. Sooooo doing it again tonight.

Reaching goals and planning meals

So... I stepped on the scale this morning, and it read 125. I stepped on it three different times on three different tiles in the bathroom to make sure it wasn't off due to the floor or anything... nope. 125. I've been trying to reach this goal for a year now. I weighed 124 last March, but I wasn't eating healthy and it showed in my face/skin/etc. Since then, my weight fluctuated a great deal. I even saw it get back up to about 140 after July 4th... um, no thanks. So hitting 125 is FANTASTIC. From here, I'll be happy if I maintain or lose a little bit more. Either works. Losing more might be ideal, considering that once I start taking exercise seriously again, I will likely gain some muscle. Either way, I'm happy!

Now... I weighed 131 on average when I started to omit animal proteins. I have lost six lbs in one month in a HEALTHY way. Yay :D

Now for the "planning meals" part: I told Phil last night that we're going to start having the same meal plan every week until I A) learn a good routine with grad school/David's sports/etc. or B) have more time. Basically, forever, lol. This is what our meal plan looks like:

Monday: Spaghetti (loaded up with spinach, mushrooms, carrots, zucchini, etc.)
Tuesday: Enchilada night with dressed-up brown rice on the side
Wednesday: Pizza night (Daiya mozz, eggless/milkless crusts)
Thursday: Veggie burgers and a side-- tonight it's vegetarian baked beans
Friday: Soup night
Saturday: Leftover soup and sandwiches
Sunday: Stir-fry (sometimes with tofu) night

Breakfasts are always multigrain oatmeal with coconut milk, vegan granola bars, oat bran, dry cereal with soy/coconut milk, etc... Lunches typically consist of sandwiches/wraps, baked sweet potatoes, peas or broccoli, veggie dogs, etc...

We have a TON of variety with that meal plan, so that we won't get tired. Plus, it makes for a cheap grocery bill-- $61 today, and that's with buying a ton of produce and another tub of Earth Balance ($5+)! Losing weight and saving money-- ethical reasons aside, why WOULDN'T people want to eat this way!?

You're telling me that I still have to get up and feed the kids while I'm this sick?

Eh, I guess it's my parental responsibility to feed them, right? Even when I don't want to get up and do ANYTHING?

Heh. I'm joking.

Kind of.

Last night, I put together baked coconut and peach oatmeal and stuck it in the fridge, that way I could just pop it in the oven this morning. It wasn't vegan, as I still have yet to buy egg replacer and we are out of applesauce (the horror!), and I was too drugged out from this flu to remember that I could use chia seeds + water or flax meal + water as an egg replacer, so I just used the very last lonely (and not yet expired) egg that was in the fridge. Had I used one of the egg replacers, it would have been vegan.

I found the recipe here: http://fooddoodles.com/2012/09/18/coconut-peach-baked-oatmeal/

Instead of milk, I used vanilla soy milk (organic/non-GMO, of course). I cheated and use frozen, unsweetened peaches. I also used brown sugar instead of maple syrup (though I'm sure that syrup would've been great in this) and added a full tablespoon of cinnamon. I mixed everything together last night and refrigerated it, and before putting it in the oven this morning, topped it with sliced almonds for a little texture.

It tastes awesome. Both of the kids gobbled it up, which is good, considering that with the two of them still feel bad and I just started them out with a pretty high-protein breakfast.

I hit a huge milestone today!

And seriously, I mean HUGE.

I....

*drumroll*

.... have officially gone one ENTIRE month without eating fast food!

Okay, that might have seemed a little anti-climactic, but when is the last time YOU had fast food? I am not at all trying to be condescending with that. It is so hard not to give in to the temptation of quick and highly satisfying (to our taste buds and pleasure-centers) meal, especially on nights where David has sports (Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday). I have tried to go a month without it before, but it just doesn't work. Two weeks in I say "oh, well... I really don't have time to cook tonight..." or  "If I don't get something terrible, like a salad, it doesn't count, right?"

Well, considering that tomorrow makes one month since I last ate animal flesh, it has been really easy to stay away from fast food. It kind of grosses me out to think that the majority of meat that I even ingested before going this route was from fast food, since I only cooked it maybe a couple of times a week here in the house,  yet I had fast food a couple of times a week.... ew.

**Side note** I keep missing the "s" on my laptop and typing "fat food." Freudian slip, perhaps?

Anyway, I feel very accomplished. It is amazing how much money that can be saved once fast food is no longer an option. I feel awesome that we have done this (Phil hasn't eaten it, either) and that we're being healthier examples for our kids! Now I just need to think of fun meals/snacks to pack in a cooler for on our way down to Hilton Head when the tennis teams are stopped at fast food joints :)

I dare you to go one week without it, guys! The longer you can go, the less you crave it. I don't even get a thrill from looking at the restaurant signs anymore. It's so great for my body and my mind, and it can improve your body and mind, as well.

Also... my blood pressure is already lower from cutting out (95% of) the animal proteins and replacing it with  tons of greens/veggies, grains, and fruits. I still use a little half and half in my coffee... I have yet to find a suitable vegan replacement for it. Any tips? We've tried coconut creamer, soy creamer, almond milk... Nothing takes away the natural bitterness of coffee like half and half.

Okay, that's it for today. This flu is still lingering and I get tired from just typing. Isn't that sad??

Invasion of the body snatchers...

...would be nicer than this damn influenza that the kids and I are dealing with.

Yes, the evil flu has invaded our house, which resulted in David getting croup again. Of course, Gwen is a few days behind on the actual illness, as usual. I woke up next to a furnace last night at around 3 AM (we co-sleep), so I got up, gave her medicine (which I hate doing-- we aren't much of a medicationy [it's a word] family), let her drink as much water as she wanted, stripped her out of her fleece jammies and put her in a cotton outfit without socks. I made sure she was only covered with the sheet once we got back to bed, and when I felt her an hour later, she felt pleasantly "normal" for a sleeping baby. She was a little warm again this morning, and here and there she has a little bit of a bark in her cough, but I think that is because she's forcing out some coughs and not because she's developing croup.

I'm a little sad that David has had two illnesses in a row result in croup, since it means he has a pretty reactive airway. It makes it much harder for him to fight off illnesses that a typical kid could get through in a few days. I have had asthma my whole life and I know how much it interferes with immunity and the regular progression of the flu and colds, and it sucks. I will be asking his ped if she can refer us to an asthma specialist to get him checked out. Best to be proactive!

Anyway, we've been sick since Thursday. I'm getting a little grumpy that it is still hanging around, though I am not sure if mine is still kicking my butt because of my asthma or because this is the normal progression for this particular flu. I have been drinking copious amounts of this tea:

Oh. My. Word. Phil bought a couple boxes of this at Whole Foods (heaven on Earth) and I was really weary about trying it, since I'm not a fan of chamomile, but the "apple notes" that are described on the box really stand out in this tea. It tastes ridiculously good. We are going to have to go back and buy quite a few boxes. Yeah, I could just order them, but then I would be cheating myself out of a Whole Foods trip (and a very un-vegan Jeni's visit...). Heck no!

As far as dietary discussion goes, I finally finished my last bottle of hazelnut creamer, so that's a personal goal met. I have powdered hazelnut creamer (that is not vegan) that I am going to use less and less of each day until I am only using my sweetzfree and vanilla soy milk in my coffee. Baby steps, I suppose. I know I'm not the only one to have troubles with some of the more loved non-vegan parts of my diet. I'm open to any delicious ways to prepare a nice vegan cup of dressed-up coffee :)

That's it for today-- hopefully I will get back in to regularly blogging soon, if this flu ever leaves our house! Sheesh! I'm going to go drink more tea while dinner cooks.

Chia seed crackers

So, I finally got around to making the chia seed crackers (sugar-free, soy-free, gluten-free), and they are pretty good. If you like chia seeds, though, you already know that they can leave an "odd" sensation in your mouth, so I think next time I make these, I'm going to scale back on the amount OR try to spread them thinner. Since I haven't bought any silpat sheets yet (definitely need to do that) I just lightly sprayed a sheet pan and spread the mixture as much as I thought I could, though I'm sure I could have stretched it a little further.

Anyway, here is the recipe for them:

1/3 cup chia seeds
1/3 cup sunflower seeds
1/3 cup ___________ (I used almond slivers, actually!)
**scant 1/8 cup dried cranberries
1/4 cup agave
cinnamon, to taste
vanilla extract, to taste
2-4 T water, IF NEEDED

Grind the seeds/nuts/dried fruit up in a food processor to your textural liking. Add the agave, cinnamon, and vanilla, and pulse until mixed. The mixture should be thinner than cookie dough but thicker than pancake batter. If it's too thin, add a little water.

Spread it thin on a silpat or a lightly sprayed cookie sheet-- make it as thin as you can!

Bake at 300 for 30 minutes, or until golden brown. Take it out of the oven and let it set for a couple of minutes, and then slowly start to peel it off the tray with a cookie (or an equally thin) spatula. Flip it over. (Note: I had to cut it into fourths in order to flip it all over without it breaking!) Once it is flipped over, bake for another 20ish minutes, or until golden brown on the other side.

Once out of the oven, cut it with a pizza cutter into whatever size/shape pieces you want. They will set up really fast, so cut them ASAP!

** Okay, the cranberries were just an experiment, because I love the pecan cranberry crackers at the store, which aren't vegan, I don't think. They tasted really good, but I recommend hand-cutting them into tiny pieces before adding them to the mixture. My awesome Ninja blender couldn't even shred them!

They have more taste and texture than most gluten-free crackers, and they would be AWESOME dipped in peanut butter, though if you spread them thinner than I did, they might be a little more brittle. They passed the David test, which is the best part! But, like I said, anyone who likes chia seeds know that they sort of coat your mouth a little, so I recommend drinking some water afterward, though you should, anyway! These are deemed "energy" crackers because of the protein, vitamins, etc. and lack of processed sugars/glutens/etc. While reading about chia crackers, I saw someone comment "Yes, they look like bird food-- but have you ever seen a tired bird? Me neither!" Ha, clever :)

Tomorrow, I will try the savory version of these. The savory version has fresh grated onion and garlic in them, so they HAVE to be good! :)

Oh, I also made another batch of the bread earlier, and completely veganized it by using Earth Balance and agave. SO. GOOD.