The Accidental Vegan

That seems to be what I've become in the past two weeks. No meat, no dairy, no fat, no fun.

Frankly, it's a little boring. But I just remembered that I have a couple vegan cookbooks, so I'm going to give those a try. Low-fat + non-dairy + vegetarian = booooooring. So far, anyway. I've got some resources, however, so I'm going to make an effort in this second part of my experimental month, to make things a little more interesting.

I've slipped up a few times, given myself an ill-advised treat a few times. Examples:

• Made a smoothie with cow's milk for Terri, then forgot and drank a small glass of it myself
• Pieces of dark chocolate (not much milk; however, much fat)
• Hummus
• Olives

Granted, these are not large 'slips'. But I notice that about an hour after I eat them, my tummy hurts, is upset, does it's thing.

So, moving into the last two weeks of the month, I'm going to check out my vegan cookbooks. I don't mind using egg whites, so I can use those in baking. And I'll have to watch out for extra fat (can't just substitute Earth Balance for butter). But otherwise, I think I could learn a thing or two and maybe have a little more interesting meals. I've got tools. Hey, I know! I'll use them!

This weekend I'm going to make one of our favorites: pasta with asparagus and balsamic vinegar reduction sauce. And maybe some falafel, even though it's a little high in fat. It just seems like a burger kind of weekend, and falafel is sooo good on a nice squishy bun.

(I feel like such a fat-Nazi, but it really does seem to upset my tummy. What a drag.)

Today for lunch I had a very interesting nori roll. Brown rice, carrot, winter squash, some horseradish, rolled up in a nori roll. It was good, quite good. Raw carrot is a little risky, but so far, so good. So, I'm branching out.

God, I bore myself.