And a wee bit more shopping

I think with this last trip I have enough to feel ready and get started on Sunday (1/1/2012).

 

After trips to 2 different Whole Foods, I still can't spot the Vegenaise.  I will continue to hit different Whole Foods and possibly other stores until I find it, but in the meantime I had to go with Spectrum's Light Canola Mayo. Not sure what it'll taste like, but it's vegan and will serve as a base for a homemade ranch-style salad dressing. We'll see how that goes. 

I love Kashi cereals, and in my homework I discovered that they have several vegan options. Sweetened with evaporated cane juice and containing no honey or any milk solids, etc, this Toasted Berry Crumble sounds pretty good. I think their Island Vanilla is also vegan, so I'll be getting that one as well. 

Mornings will never be the same without eggs, and I think that's one of the things I'll miss the most. But as far as baking cookies, pancakes, and other goodies, we'll see how Ener-G's Egg Replacer does. To go along with the baking plans, I had to go get some vegan cane sugar. I think I'm set for baking. Phew!

And last but not least, I wanted some vegan chocolate. I've read that anything in the 70% or above cacao range is pretty much vegan anyway. This one is actually labeled as such. Of course, I couldn't wait until Sunday to taste this one; I just had to try it tonight. It's a really strong, somewhat bitter chocolate flavor. But hey, it's chocolate. And after all, dark chocolate is considered "health" food these days, or so I hear. 

My evening found me cooking up the last vestiges of animal flesh in my freezer. I cooked up 3 drumsticks, 1 thigh (leftover from Christmas Eve dinner), and 3 chicken breasts. Just breaded in seasoned Panko and baked, with a spraying of olive oil. I also had about 1/2 - 1 lb ground beef which I just browned and sauced up, then mixed with white rice.  I think all I have left meat-wise is a bag of cold cuts which my dog will help me with tomorrow before midnight. :-)

Next I gotta get working on the remaining dairy in my fridge. I may be sticking leftovers in my garage freezer and figure out what to do with it all later. I don't think I'll be eating 9 eggs in 1 day, though, so an unsuspecting friend will be getting free eggs in the near future.

And so the "cleansing of the premises" has begun....

More shopping

Well, the veganization of my kitchen continues. This time it was a quick trip to Whole Foods for some essentials to get me started.

Had to get stick "butter" in case I had the urge to bake this weekend (who am I kidding, of course I'll have to bake something). Everything I've read so far points me to Earth Balance vegan "butter", so Earth Balance it was.

I live on yogurt, so I had to get some of that as well. I was pleased that Silk makes a soy yogurt, as I'm happy with their soy milk. I'm also happy to not have to say goodbye to my daily yogurt fruit smoothies!

Creamer was another 'must have', since I'm a true-blue, die-hard coffee person. The So Delicious line of "dairy-free yet dairy-like" products has so many other basics, this is just the beginning. I've read rave reviews about their ice cream made with coconut milk. Will have to try it!!

And last but not least, the baggie from the bulk section has nutritional yeast. I must admit I had NO earthly idea what to expect from this. I have read about a cheesiness and tanginess to it, and after my first ever taste of it I have to say I think I can live with it. The cheesy-ish flavor was more of an aftertaste for me.  The first note I got wasn't "cheesy". It was more of an "earthy, nutty" sort of flavor. I like the texture and the way it sort of melts in your mouth (I got the large flakes so it took a few seconds, I'm guessing longer than if I'd gotten the powder form). But I can see this topping my beloved green beans or asparagus, among other uses. Yum.

There's a lot of reading of ingredients lists that I'm having to do at this point, just to make sure things like honey, sugar, incarnations of whey milk solids, casein, etc aren't present. But of course, once I get my brands and items picked out it'll be just a quick reach for what I want.

I sure wish everything vegan had this symbol - it would make it way easier to select things!

It so helps to see this symbol on things!

Awesome, fun trip to Whole Foods.

Getting ready

Well, Christmas has come and gone and now it's the countdown to the New Year.  And with that, the countdown to the start of my vegan challenge on Jan. 1, 2012.

I'm actually getting really excited. With my love of cooking being as strong as it is, experimenting with vegan items I currently consume in new and different ways plus exploring a whole new line of vegan substitute items is really starting to get my creative juices flowing. And that's just it - something like this can only push you creatively, motivating you to try new things. And that's always a good thing.

And so this past weekend I ventured into the grocery store and made my first purchases on vegan substitutes.

First vegan substitute purchases!

I got vanilla and plain-flavored soy and almond milks. I have tried vanilla-flavored rice milk and really enjoyed it, though I found it a little on the thin, "runny" side. But I wouldn't mind it on cereal or just to drink plain; after all, I now use skim milk, which isn't known for being neither rich nor creamy.

I got vital wheat gluten, as I plan to make my own seitan. That should be fun and interesting.  I got TVP to try on chili and spaghetti sauce.  I got a tub of extra firm tofu for stir frys and such. I will really enjoy that one, as I was married to a Chinese man for almost 8 years and was exposed to just about every incarnation of tofu known to man during that time, including in China. I really enjoy it. Tempeh I'm not sure about, but I'll look up some recipes and try it. I'm nuts about trying new ingredients!

I've already used agave nectar in both plain and honey-flavored incarnations and enjoyed it. So I got some more of both, plus added maple-flavored agave as well (have you SEEN how much a bottle of pure maple syrup (Nirvana! Liquid Gold!) costs these days???)

I got the 'Smart Balance' buttery spread and noticed that not all their versions are vegan, so I have to watch which one to get. As for cheeses, I've heard so many good things about Daiya cheese that I figured my homemade margherita pizzas won't be complete without it - got mozzarella flavored for starters. We'll see how the American-flavored vegan sliced cheese goes on sandwiches and over veggie burgers.

Lastly, though not pictured here, I found that some of the cereals on Kashi's line are vegan, so I got the Toasted Berry Crumble. That should go well with one of my vanilla-flavored milks.

Still on the list are coconut and hemp milk, vegan coffee creamer, nutritional yeast, agar flakes/vegan "Jello", evaporated cane juice, vegan yogurt, some sort of vegan breakfast patty (I think Morning Star makes some), vegan multivitamin supplements... and any other interesting things I may run into along the way!!

The Experiment Begins

Like any properly designed experiment, there has to be a control group alongside the experimental group, or that which is being tested.

And so today my 'control' month began. This is the month where I will eat the way I've been eating, but will monitor myself. Data on weight, blood pressure, total cholesterol and blood glucose will be collected. I will also do some low/no-impact aerobic exercise 5 days/week in the form of either 45 min. on a recumbent bicycle or 30 min of aerobic exercise equivalent to a 2-mile walk.

Tempeh

A fermented soybean product similar to tofu, tempeh will have to be another meat substitute to try.  It's a whole soybean product which gives it a higher protein, fiber and vitamin content relative to tofu. It also is firmer than tofu. I imagine I'll be making recipes like this yummy-looking baked tempeh with veggies!!

Substitute cheeses

I'm doing some homework on various substitutes to try during my vegan month, and Daiya cheese will have to be on the list.

And what about vegan parmesan, sliced American and cheddar, as well as cream cheese? I will try to find these.

Nutritional yeast is also used frequently by vegans and vegetarians, often as a substitute for parmesan cheese. I wonder what it'll taste like over steamed veggies!!

Oprah

Just thought I'd post a link to the episode of the Oprah show that was my main motivation, the show that got me to seriously start thinking about doing a vegan challenge for myself:

The "Harpo Goes Vegan" show clips & articles.

Ellen D.

I have always been a huge fan of Ellen Degeneres. Her humor is unique and fantastic. Her social consciousness is inspiring. And she's vegan.

I figured certainly the Ellen show's website would have information about this, perhaps with a list of resources to get me started. Indeed, her website has a whole section on going vegan. This has been a great starting point, other than of course googling the word "vegan". I particularly found her FAQ section helpful.

As is always the case when you start surfing the internet, once you click on one site you start seeing links that broaden your search more and more. So with her sites as a starting point, I'm sure I'll discover more and more helpful sites and blogs for all things vegan diet. I'll be posting those here on my Resources widget.

Seitan

Just thought I'd quickly post on what will be one of my first vegan experiments: making seitan.

In starting my food research on vegan alternatives, I quickly learned about seitan. Called the "vegetarian meat", seitan is a dense wheat product made from vital wheat gluten. I have eaten a "mock beef" wheat product in Chinese cooking which now I'm wondering if it's basically the same thing. Probably is. Seitan can be cut in chunks, sliced as thinly or thickly as you want, cooked in stews, fried... from what I'm learning, you can pretty much treat this stuff like it's meat. And MOST importantly to this lover of making everything from scratch: you can make your own seitan from scratch.
 
I've found many recipes, so I can't wait to start experimenting with making it. Here's one at About.com. And here's one from The Vegetarian Resource Group.

I can't wait to try this "Country Fried Seitan" recipe from VegNews. This looks delicious in its own right.

The Plan

OK, so how am I going to do this.

I figure if this is going to be my 31-day Vegan Challenge experiment, then I ought to treat it as such.  A control, endpoints to measure, a hypothesis... the works. Since I'm in the science field, this shouldn't be too difficult to design. :-)

Why

I've been an addict to the rotisserie chickens you can get at grocery stores around dinnertime for a long time. I'm big on eggs and an absolute Greek yogurt addict as well. Recently I've taken a loving to making my own butter. And let's not get started on the virtues of bacon. Not to mention that I have a cake business on the side and worship all things baking more than any other cooking category.

So what am I doing planning to go not just vegetarian, but flat-out vegan, for 31 days?