Lets Talk Dirty Shall We..

Can we talk dirty? Come on I know you want to.

You know what I'm talking about...everyone is doing it.  Some do it more often then others. Others try not to do it at all, but then the urge is too strong.  Some do it at 37,000 feet, some people have to get help doing it.  Some people actually make porn movies doing it...
In some cultures they do it in different positions, but the experience is always the same.

You know what I'm talking about....going to the bathroom of course.  What did you think I was talking about? (perverts!)

We ask ourselves the age old question, "Does a bear shit in the woods?". Why do we ask this? Has no one ever seen a bear shit in the woods?  I don't really recommend that you sneak up on any bears, especially why they are shitting. Of course, this would be a good time to escape a bear, if you have already been captured.
I think I know why we ask this question... because based on the bears diet of sticks and berries and some fish, I doubt anyone would know what bear poop even looks like.  We'll, just ask a VEGAN!

You knew we had to get to the subject sooner or later..... 

Years back when I did my high protein-low carb diet with lots of veggies and salads, one of the foundamental supplenments I learned that one should take was some stool softener.  All that fiber really gets a girl into a "bind".  Maybe its all the cheese, maybe all the lettuce. or all that yummy dry chicken breast.  However, if you didn't drink the water, bathroom time was trouble and left you wishing you had eaten a McDonalds cheese burger to keep things moving.

Now, I knew going into the vegan way of life, that I might have to deal with some situations that left everyone in the room looking at the dog, however, I was also expecting to have to pull those ducolax pills out once more. How wrong I was!! 
Not only is the situation a loose matter these days, but sometimes its an urgent one as well.  Sneezing is not always my friend.
There is a reason I have always referred to Blueberries as "Scrubbing Bubbles".

Maybe I should consider a cleanse?? but dont fool yourself folks, all those sticks, seeds and berries do clean out the pipes, whether you want them to or not.  

I haven't yet sat down and compared any bathroom habits with another vegan, and I'm sure if I found one over the age of 50, they would be more then happen to provide me with many a tale...but for now, seeing that this post is already in the crapper... I think I'll leave the subject along for everyone to discover themselves.

Angry Birds, Pigs & Cows....

Its been another fun filled weekend of eating out and again, feeling deprived by the lack of choices there are for vegan in a normal restaurant.  Shame! Shame!

Its final !!! just no eating out!! Or time to hunt down one of these Vegan friendly restaurants.
I WILL admit it, so I can sleep at night... Saturday night I fell to pier pressure when faced with NOTHING on the PHO 99 menu that could be consider vegan or even vegitarian.  And, like all lovers of food, I caved and had my favorite dish... the spring rolls with vermicelli and salad.  Unfortunately because they are "pre-made" and made with pork, I didn't make the 21 days without meat.  (really, I'm crying inside). 
I was doing so well, especially when we were dragged for Fish and Chips with my father-in-law.  I wasn't able to keep the low fat part down, but did good with the vegan, as I stuck with the deep fried mushrooms and pickles w/ chips.
I have to say, after eating the spring rolls, the after affects where totally NOT worth the taste bud satisfaction.
I had stomach cramps and its a toss up whether or not the bad perfume at Save On gave me a headache or if I was getting one from the meat.  I was drinking gallons of water all night long, something I wasn't doing at all since becoming vegan AND I woke up with my face all puffy. !! Totally not worth it!! Now, if I had eaten a pulled pork sandwich, mmmaaayyyybbbeee it would have been worth it.


Sunday night we did Applebees... with all their tempty tasty cheesey, greasy treats, they had nothing on the menu that was particulary vegan or vegitarian, (with the exception of the 3 cheese penne) , however, Applebees was at least very accomodating to requested changes.   Since my low fat diet was out the window this weekend... I ended up with having their Philly burger, only, I subbed the pattie with a veggie patty, had all dairy and cheese product removed, leaving me with the saute veggies on a patty and bun.  A touch of their dejion mustard, some added tomatos for moisture, and I had a darn good burger. And if anyone who also ready my facebook status is reading this, yes, I scrapped the Shrimp Teriyaki   pasta for the burger.  Thats the down fall for the waitress taking too long to get to the table and taking our order. !
This item totally full filled my burger craving. 

I have come to the conclusion, that if you are going to be a vegan, for both the health of your body, the safety of small fuzzy animals and not so small and fuzzy animals everywhere, you can pretty much eat anywhere, with the exception of Pho 99... with a bit of menu twisting.
However, trying to maintain this type of diet for the mere health and diet reasons, just stay the hell out of the restaurants all together. My lazy cook habits are following me into this new way of life.  Time to get back to soup and mush.... which are quite tasty. 

But over all, I am down 7lbs in 20 days. Slow and steady.  I've decided that I am going to continue with type of eating, if only because I feel better and I am starting to see what the effects of eating meat has on the human body. Once I have all the data on that, I will be blogging, so that I can share the good news with all you meat eaters .  Yes, I'm evil ... I dont think I was this bad when I became a Non-smoker. 

If you would like to try a yummy breakfast idea, we had these this morning for our breakfast. Even Matt thinks they are yummy, and so super easy.  The best part is, because there is no dairy, this would actually be a great recipe for you campers. Less food to make sure stays cold,


Buckwheat Blueberry Pancakes : 

In small bowl combine: 

1/2 c buckwheat flour
1/2 c cornmeal
1/2 tsp baking powder  ( NOT soda)
1/4 tsp baking soda   ( NOT powder)
1/4 tsp salt

In larger bowl combine :

1 ripe banana ( mashed to hell)
2 TBS maple syrup
1 TBS vinegar
1 c soy / rice / almond milk
1 c blueberries  ( fresh or frozen )

Once you have mixed wet items ( excluding the blue berries ) in large bowl, mix im dry ingredents until all lumps are gone and you have a pourable better.  You might have to add a touch of fake milk to thin.  THEN add the blue berries  ( or any berry you want really ) . 
cook on your griddle same as you would any other pancake , top with more berries and / or maple syrup.

ENJOY !!!

dial 410-VEGAN ....

I thought I would post yet another nummy vegan dinner idea for anyone to give a try.  Actually, its not unlike something most of use eat all the time.  In fact, I looked up to see how much of this product do Americans eat in one day.
The answer:   If you laid pizza down on the ground, Americans eat more than 9 acres of pizza each day!
- and I'm convinced that this answer is WAY too low.  9 acres is not that much... maybe in One city.
And don't you high and mighty, better then the Americans,  Northern snow biting, Mountie lovers, think you are any different, except the answer would be :  4 Hectare !!

Thats alotta pizza pie !! ( in my best Dean Martin Italian voice ).
And what is worse, is there are numerous pizza chain restaurants that are ready to bring the fatty greasy, cheesy goodness to your door in 15 minutes... this is so guilt doesn't have time to creep in and ask you "what the hell are you doing?" .
I had my first pizza craving today, so unlike most people, instead of calling up my favorite pizza man, Papa Leos, I hit the grocery store and made my own!! 

Now, I could have gone the easy route and purchased some form of already pre-made, processed pizza crust, or pita bread or wrap thing of some sort... but I decided I was going to make my own pizza crust, Vegan style.
Despite the weird sort of gray color, it actually came out very tasty.
The nice thing about anything being a weird gray color is it helps to make you think twice about eating it, which in turn cuts down on your calorie consumption.   I think where I went wrong, is the recipe calls for raw buckwheat flour, where I just used the buckwheat flour that I had. It still works

Keeping to the Vegan way of life,  I of course topped my pizza with fresh veggies.  The boys of course went with dead unidentifiable animal meat product in a stick form,  they call pepperoni , topped with even more animal produced, calcium depleting , heart clogging cheese. (but I'm not bitter)

Some suggestions are , fresh spinach or basil , green, yellow, orange or red pepper, onions, garlic, mushrooms, brocolli.   - to make sure these are cooked through, you can roast them in the broiler once your pizza crust is done or cook ahead of time.   If you must, you can saute, but this just adds added fats and grease that you dont need.
A taster version of adding fat if you must, is to marinade the peppers in some balsamic vinaigrette the night before, the grill them on the bbq or broiler... mmmm... thanks to my friend Barbara , this is very tasty tip.

Here is the recipe:   This is also gluten & yeast free as well.

Buckwheat Pizza Crust :   Preheat Oven to 375 F

In a large mixing bowl, mix together these following dry ingredents :

2 1/4c  Raw Buckwheat flour
1/2 c    tapioca flour   - kind of seems like corn starch, look in the baking soda/pwd , sugar isle
1/2 tsp sea salt  ( get over it, I just used table salt for pete sake ! )
1/2 tsp baking SODA .. not powder :)
1/4 tsp garlic powder

In a separate bowl mix the following wet ingredient :  ( i just used a 2 cup measure cup for easy pouring )

1c warm water   - you can find this in your local sink
1/4 c extra virgin olive oil    - since i was low fat, I cut this down, since you have to use it to grease the pan
1 TBS  honey or agave nectar  - I went with honey since it was already in my cupboards
1 TBS  Apple cider vinegar

Pour the wet into the dry and whisk together well, until you see long dough strings formed. The dough will be thinner like cake batter. If it is too thick to whisk, add a tad more water.

Oil a pizza stone generously with olive oil ... ( I have my stone pampered chef bar pan... because yes, I'm pampered , so I cant comment on the use of a regular cookie sheet. ..but let me know will ya.)
You might want to oil your hands a bit as well, but scoop the dough onto the cookie sheet and spread it evenly to each corner.  (I'm sure spray PAM would work as well too.)

Once you have shaped out your dough, stick in the oven for 20 minutes or until top of crust is golden brown.

Then, you should know what to do... slap on that SAUCE of your choice, even organic bbq sauce, throw on your favorite veggies... I went with mushrooms, green and yellow peppers, lightly sauted onion w/ garlic and fresh spinach .

Topped with shredded soy cheese ... ( I use the daiya cheese from Save On foods , thanks to my good friend Chris )

Wa La !!!  when the moon hits your eye, like a big Vegan pie, thats amore!!

-Thats mine on the far left.
-Give any one brownie points if you can guess which one is Matts  :)











this is a pre-cooked photo... silly me was so hungry and this was so delicious, that I ate it before I thought to take an up dated photo... duh!

T.M.F.I .....

It appears that many of you have been patiently waiting and anxious to know how this new vegan way of life is effecting my weight over the almost 2 weeks... well, let me tell you.  (you asked for it if you continue on)

I started the challenge on January 2nd , after 5 days (Jan 6th) I was down 2 lbs...woot woot you say.  I was all aglow with my progress, despite the bitter under tone of "others" I know on various new years diets who have lost maybe a few more then me.  But HEY ! thats ok, its allllll water weight. 
I have resigned myself to NOT get on the scale more then once per week.  I did not want the results of the scale to effect what I ate or how much I ate.

So today I jumped on the all important machine.... and of course, I was UP 1.5 lbs... (frickity frack).
However, not shortly after my devastating blow, there was a knock at my mother nature door.  And for many of you who know me very well, realize that this unexpect visit, comes few and far between.  (and for those who dont know me well... you do now, whether or not you want to...but I did warn you a paragraph ago).

Yes, there she was, Aunt Flo... who I had not seen in quite sometime, was standing in my door way with ALL her luggage.  And well ladies... we allll know what happens when Aunt Flo shows up... husbands get kicked to the dog house, co-workers hide under their desks, and of course, alll the luggage adds up on the scale. 
So, I am not sweating buckets just yet. In fact, having only put 1.5 lbs back on, instead of 4 or 5, tells me that chances are , before she showed up ... I was down more weight.

But here is the important part... I FEEL SOOO MUCH BETTER !!!  I dont feel bloated, with or without help. Meal time doesn't turn into a Post Turkey Dinner Thanksgiving session with the pants 1/2 zipped and our hands tucked in under the waist band like we are Napolian, relaxing after a long day in the battle field.
Though after eating some meals, I feel quite full, I don't feel sick or feel the need to lay down and take nap. And the feeling of being full, is usually gone within 1/2 hour after eating.
I'm lighter in my steps, I'm finding going down stairs a bit more balanced, going up, well that sucks no matter what. ...hhhehehe. 
My clothes feel not so restricting, and despite trying not to do any added exercise for the first month, I'm finding it very difficult to sit still in the evening. 
So, unfortunately for now, we will all have to wait one more week to see the true efforts of all my work.  And lets hope that Flo is on the next Red Eye out of here.. (pun intended) .
Until then.... keep Vegan'ing !!

Out of my Kitchen Comfort Zone...part I

so today was my first official day eating out as a vegan, without going to a vegetarian  or vegan diet specific restaurant, and I have to admit, it was quite the ordeal.  You can only ask for them to do so much before they are ready to throw you out!! 

"Low Fat" Vegan  - FAIL!  short of just ordering a plain garden salad with NO dressing, maybe some salt and pepper, there was nothing on the menu. If I want salad, I'll go graze in some field somewhere, at least it would be free.

"Vegan"  - Questionable at best.  - Though there were a few items on the menu that did not indicate they had any meat, egg or dairy products in them, what went in during the prep process is unknown. This is where you are forced to ask questions to the point where the waitress doesn't have a damn clue and thinks you should just F' ing make it yourself.  However, there were a few promising items like Hummus w/ pita , fried zuccini sticks, greek salad minus the feta cheese, rice and potato.  You can see where the lack of Low Fat comes in.
I was disappointed in that I was hoping to fall back on the good old North American staple of spaghetti with plain tomato sauce , however, the fine diner I was eating at actually puts Parmesan Cheese  in their sauce.
I know... who wouldn't. At least it saves them from allowing piggies from wasting 1/2 the Parmesan shaker on top of their own dish. 

"Vegetarian" - Depending on whether or not you are a "Lacto Ovo Vegetarian" or just a "Lacto Vegetarian" makes all the difference.  Its definately easier if you are Lacto Ovo and dont have to worryy about if there is egg product in your meal, but if you are a Lacto Vegetarian, and only eat dairy, then you really have to question what ingredents are in the products they are cooking with.   But with any Lacto Ovo , skies the limit , as its easy to have your favorite dish removed of meat product ... but I'm amazed at how much CHEESE is used in the industry ... everyting has cheese on it.  The Veggie burgers, pastas, salads, sandwiches, appetizers, your baked potato, your veggies. 

I'm starting to wonder if it isn't Cheese that makes the world go Fat!
I think Asian cooking is one of the culinary cultures that doesn't use a whole lot of cheese product. Look how skinny they are.  hhhmmmm... and all Asian diet challenge next.??.. it has possibilities

If there are restaurants out there listening!!!  Get some Vegan Dishes will ya ! you are excluding a huge population that could be dinning at your tables instead of grazing the field across the street !!

Stay tune for part II..... as the weekend continues.

PS - incase you couldn't figure it out , Lacto Ovos eat NO animal flesh, but will eat Eggs and Dairy products... and Lacto's ( no ovo)  have figured out that eggs are just baby chickens and consider them "unborn flesh" , so they only will eat Dairy products.

Dear Costco... I love you !!!

ok, well I guess I better get bloggin... thats what I started this thing for.  Its been 10 days now as a Vegan... oh, sorry , Low Fat Vegan. Though realistically, I'm probably more closer to Vegan then the low fat part. But I'm trying.  I'm definately finding that to go "vegan" is not as much as a challange as going low fat.  Actually, the low fat part is starting to piss me off.  I think I'm getting cranky because I'm feeling deprived as if I was on a strict diet.

Going Vegan on its own, has its challanges and makes you stop and rethink what you are putting in your mouth. The advantage of being able to go vegan and able to lose weight, is that there was no calorie counting, no portion control, no points to look up in a book and then sit in a meeting with 20 other fat people talking about how you can eat more crap with less points if you stick to certain brands...etc.  You simple had to just "NOT" eat from certain food categories.  Easy peasy!
However, to go Low Fat Vegan is annoying, because now, instead of reading labels to make sure there is NO animal product in the ingredients , I'm finding myself calculating mathematical formulas I haven't done since 8th grade math, to see if the "fat" % is over 20% of the overall calorie count per portion serving , getting disappointed and throwing it back on the shelf.  Thats the sure sign of a "DIETER!!". 
So I'm finding myself asking... why the hell am I DOING THIS??!! I see the advantages of not eating meat, but I might as well just go "low fat" in the first place.  but again, thats just the cranky dieter in me getting annoyed.
My weight is definiately down, I'm doing my darn-dist  to stay low fat, but I admit, the sushi yam rolls from the other night were DAMN yummy after 2 days of soup and oatmeal!  You can wrap cat crap in seaweed and rice, dip it in some wasabi and soy sauce and have a feast.
I'm definitely feeling lighter in my steps ( not loafers , sorry girls ) ... and the thought of eating meat is actually starting to gross me out.  I have not missed it (too much, yah, right ... ).

*YES I CHEATED - I can't lie, I ate a piece of maple candy that had liquid egg whites!!! 


Now that I got that off my chest... If you are Not considering the low fat part of this "way of life" , Costco is the place to go!!  Vegan heaven in bulk... yes believe it girls!

Frozen berrys for those smoothies, your buckwheat pancakes, oatmeal and more.
They have these froze Ancient whole grain hot cereal cups in the freezer section, so now I can zap my breakfast at work.
They have a great selcetion of fresh salsas and I'm amazed at all the organic brands of foods they carry, like Kashi cereals .
I did buy a package of vegetable gyozas, that came in right at the 20% that were yummy with our thai coconut and veggie soup. I'm sure they are questionable , however, they were better then the veggie spring rolls I could have purchased.
They have this fabulous bag of Baked BBQ pop chips... but eat them is small doses :)
I also got an 8 pack of Vegan lentil and Vegan Veggie lentil soups for $9 .. thats just over a $1 /can for my lunches. (yes, more soup)
they even have all the Yves soy substitute products in bulk... yum yum yum !!
Just remember... those sample ladies are meat and fat pushing vampires... stay away!!

Who you calling a crockpot ?

ok, its been one week since my journey began, and as promised , this is a quick up date on some of the various delights I have enjoyed during this time.

Rice Milk - FAIL... but it came in handy for the very yummy buckwheat blueberry pancakes.
Almond Milk - WIN in my coffee. At least better then rice milk, however, if I wasn't concerned with the low fat portion of this challenge, I would most likely just switch to CoffeeMate and be done with it.
I also found when using this for my cereal, just a sprinkle of brown sugar helped to remove the cardboard after taste of both the cereal and the almond milk.
Facon Bacon -  FAIL !! as a side dish. The fact that I burned it didn't help, however, the dogs could not get enough of it.   To be fair , I did make a second attempt at using it ( unburnt ) on a BLT w/ avocado and found that hidden amongst the veggies, it added a smoky salt taste and give it some zing!
Quinoa -  WIN !  Instead of using rice for my veggie stir fry , I switched to the quinoa, which my family actually enjoyed better.  They found it less sticky and clumpy and didn't over power the flavor. 

We have also tried a few delicious recipes.  Besides the veggie stir fry, which most people can make, just eliminating the meat... we had for breakfast Buckwheat Blue Berry Pancakes - WIN .. amazingly enough, there was no hint of the fact that there is no milk or egg in these. Binding was used with ripe bananas and non-dairy milk... (rice milk) .
My revised Taco Soup was also a hit with the family, despite the tofu ground beef substitute.  And whats nice with this, is you can be free to add your own beans or veggies... its very Chili like !!  I'm sure there is a low fat vegan corn bread recipe to accompany it out there some where... but for now.. here you go :

 ______________________________________________________________

Slow Cooker Taco Soup

This is the original recipe... however, see notes at bottom, as I changed this up to add body and of course, made it Vegan.

Ingredients :

• 1 pound Ground Beef (sub w/-mex ground tufo)
• 1 Onion, chopped
• Red & Yellow peppers, chopped ( I added this item)
• 1 (16 ounces) can Chili Beans, with liquid (I've used lentils)
• 1 (15 ounces) can Kidney Beans with liquid
• 1 (16 ounces) can Black Beans with liquid
• 1 (15 ounces) can Whole Kernel Corn, with liquid (or frozen)
• 1 (8 ounces) can Tomato Sauce
• 2 cups Water
• 2 (14.5 ounces each) cans Peeled and Diced Tomatoes
• 1 (4 ounces) can diced Green Chile Peppers
• 1 (1.25 ounces) package Taco Seasoning Mix

Preparation:

1. In a medium skillet, cook the ground beef until browned over medium heat.
2. Drain, and set aside.
3. Place the ground beef, onion, chili beans, kidney beans, corn, tomato sauce, water, diced tomatoes, green chile peppers and taco seasoning mix in a slow cooker.
4. Mix to blend, and cook on Low setting for 8 hours.

Vegan - Use ground tofu substitute. If you can get the Yves mexican seasoned , that will work. You do NOT have to brown the tofu like you do the ground beef.

If using beef, I find cooking the onions with the the meat during the browning step, adds to the flavor.

- Now to make this more hardy, I had added the Red and Yellow peppers.. this is not original to the recipe. You could also use a green pepper if that's your taste.

the recipe calls for green chilli peppers. do not make the mistake of adding jalapeno's ... the flavor threw the whole thing off... i used crushed green peppers... or once I used canned chipotle, and skipped the green chilis.

Also, I have also used 2 cans of tomato's, and I actually use the whole tomato's and squish them with my hands... but the nice thing with this recipe is that its very flexible.

Out of the Fire and Into the Pot ......

....and so it begins, the dawn of time and man discovers fire.. with it , he learns to cook his food over an open fire, he grunts and life is good.  Until he invents the stove, so that his meals can be made comfortabley in the cave, only some how, the art of cooking is lost on man and his wife has to take over.....

One of the first things I have discovered with my new life style is that 70 grain brillo buns with hummus can get really boring, really fast.  Vegan chili is not going to keep anyone happy for long except the "Beano" corporation.  So I now have the new challenge of learning to cook all over again.

As it was 20 years ago, when my marriage was new, I was young, Tyler ate from a bottle and out of a jar, my only bewilderment at dinner time was, "do I make the Hamburger Helper or the Tuna Helper?" and even that depended on what the cost was of ground beef that week.

Like so many people here in North America, I turned to already pre-packaged, processed foods.
Rice-a-roni (the San Fransisco treat),  instant potatoes, mac & cheese, canned strews etc.  It was cheap and it was EASY.  (like a Surrey Girl on a Saturday night )
But has I grew up and became wiser and older, I slowly learned to take individual ingredients and turn them into meals.  Meat loaf, shepherds pie, frozen veggies etc.... and then as I got even older, wiser and fatter,  I came to realize, WAIT !! I need to take fresh healthy ingredents and turn them into healthy choices meals ... fresh soups, lean fish with veggies, grilled chicken with brown rice, and so on... it has taken me 2 decades to discover this and not just that, but actually learn to COOK these items. 
However, here I am, back to the very beginning... not having a clue how to cook dishes that dont require meat or dairy products... because , thats all I know.  What the heck is tempeh, quinoa, couscous.. who the hell comes up with these name??? If I can't pronounce them, how the hell am I going to cook them??
But the sad realization is,  unless I want to live on 70 grain brillo buns, hummus, raw veggies and canned beans, I don't have much choice, but to learn to cook all over again.

Or go out to eat.  But Wait !! eat out?? Preposterous!! That is so hard to do and find stuff you can eat.
Well my friend, welcome to Vancouver!! North America's answer to the dodge drafting hippies in a "some what" warm climate.  Where salmon saving, tree hugging, granola eating , yoga masters live amoung the common locals, protesting their healthy ways amongst the masses.  In other words, there is no shortage of vegitarian/vegan restaurants in the lower mainland.!!   but for cost and time sake...I think I better learn to cook.

So I find myself once again, turning back to the Pre-packaged Vegan products. And amazingly enough, there are tons out there.   
Taking my first serious visit to Planet Organic, I have walked into an amazement of sights and smells.  I'm first greeted by their deli section... which is full of vegan choices.. or gluten free, or just simply organic.  This is easy I'm thinking... but realistically , its 2 towns over and I can't run over there every time I want to eat. Despite this notion, I grab a small container of vegan potato salad and had it for lunch.AND its very yummy. However, I have been since advised by the "low fat vegan fairy" , that this item is most likely not Low Fat Vegan !! and therefore not worthy of the low fat vegan way of life.  Granted this is true, however, its lower in fat than the greasy cheese burger and fries I use to eat..so I'm not feeling to guilty just yet. But I AM thinking its a dish I must learn myself and make it low fat !!

Moving right along through the isles, this store is filled with multiple offerings of bulk grains and seasoning..I was so very over whelmed to the point that I didn't know what to buy except pre-packageed items, as I did in the days of my youth.  A few of the items purchased was a package of ...wait for it... here it comes... yes, the facon bacon!!! and not just any facon bacon, but maple flavored, facon bacon !! score. I think? I have not yet journeyed into this foreign food, so how it turns out, you will have to tune in next week.  Or gaggingly next month, as this stuff is good until April 2017.
I also picked up my plastic bag of "Nutritional Yeast". Though, I dont know how nutritional it actually is, but its the vegan version of powdered cheese... yes folks, I said the magic cheeeeessseee word.  All the delectable delights of a cheese sauce that tastes like I first ran it through a dirty sock..but none the less... cheese sauce. Or I may mix with my favorite air blown popcorn for extra yummy snack. *mmmmmm*
Next we grabbed our most required jar of apple butter to help tame the "dry like a desert" texture of my morning toast, as well as a carton of almond milk for my morning coffee. Mostly after the experimental failure of the rice milk.  I'm not sure how they milk a grain of rice, but from the taste and lack of texture, I'm not convinced they found the utters.

  But remember my friends, this is just the beginning of my travels. As I slowly look into more and more recipes, I know where to find my source for strange and exotic ingredients. And as I really learn my products, I will discover that they are 1/2 the price at Super Store.
I am at least grateful that I do have the "cooking" skills required to make this new journey into the strange and healthy, but a learning experience it will be.... just thank freaking god there are no exams at the end of the course.!!

And so it begins....

As I had noted already in my intro, this is a blog about my journey into the unknown of veganism .. which for many North Americans is this crazy cult that they want nothing to do with... not even the Vegetarians are sure they are ready to make that one final leap into the world of ANIMAL AND ANIMAL PRODUCT FREE ZONE.

The daunting thought of eating nothing but plants seems some how lame, boring and very dietish... but I was given the challenge of which I have accepted.

"LIFE BEGINS AT THE END OF OUR COMFORT ZONE" .... now the challenge begins and I wonder if I can make this type of diet, my new "zone".

During the last week of December, while indulging on some of my favorite dishes and beverages, like lasagna and eggnog lattes, I had advised my husband and my son of my decided transition into this new and exciting way of being. I announced, "I'm going vegan in the new year... you can eat what I make or you can walk to McDonald's" .. my son has now resigned himself a "vegan by default and protest".

Now, I do have to admit, I had a helping hand with a 21 day kick start website which allowed me to follow along and gave me daily menu items and suggestions to follow. After reviewing many of the days items and various menu options, I headed in my own direction, but staying within the guidelines of a low fat vegan diet. Falling back on this great resource for inspiration.

I have also added to my challenge besides diet. Since it was suggested , that by simply eating within these rules and eliminating any meat or animal product, plus refraining from processed grains and sugars, that, besides a healthier me, I should reap the benefits of weight loss. So for the next 30 days, I will not add any additional exercise to my regular routine, to see what the full effects are of the way of life.

I am now 3 days into my challenge and in the days to come , I hope to be able to post my findings and my feelings and have you come alone with me on this journey, has we discover , new foods, new recipes, maybe some new friends and if it works... a New Me !! and the journey begins..............................