36-40 Day Old Vegan

Tomorrow I depart of Paris. I am going there on my way to a Monastery in the South of France. (http://taize.fr). This will be the hardest part of my vegan journey. And I will have no internet access, so I can't update my blog...

My first step was to request a Vegan meal on the flight.

The hardest thing will be explaining to French servers that I am vegan. Is veganism a big thing over there? We'll see how it goes. French bread it vegan most of the time. French fries too. :P I loaded my suitcase with Larabars, oreos and nuts. So I should be ok.

"Je suis le végétalien. Je ne mange pas de viande, ou de crémerie, ou d'oeufs ou de poisson." "MERCI"

35 Day Old Vegan

This morning I went to work (the same place that had those great small bagels) but they were all out of bagels. They only had challah bread (which is made with egg) and hamburger buns. So I toasted the buns and added some "butter." It was not too bad. Added a dash of cinnamon. It was good!

For lunch had a Fizze Soda, Pita Puffs (SO GOOD!) and fruit. It wasn't the best lunch, but I was on the run! The Pita Puffs had a little "V" on them (meaning Vegan). So that was a pleasant surprise!

For dinner I had ANOTHER french bread pizza. They are just too good. And I'm going out of town soon and wanted to use up all the Diaya Cheese and French bread before I left town.

Toffuti Cutie for dessert! YUM!

34 Day Old Vegan

This morning I got up and ran to work. I had some pita chips and lemonade for breakfast. Not really a breakfast of champions, but it's what I could grab while I got everything done at work.

I worked from 10-4, and before I knew it I realized I had missed lunch! So I went home and made my french bread pizza again... SO GOOD! I like to put garlic and oil on the bread before I add the tomato sauce and "cheese."

I had a soy ice cream sandwich for dessert.


AGAIN!!!

33 Day Old Vegan

This morning I was up at 6am. So I had all this time on my hands. I decided to make vegan pancakes. They were really simple, Flour, Sugar, Baking Soda, soy milk, salt and some vanilla. They were very good. I wish I had had some dark chocolate chips to put in them... Next time. I also had some mango. I love mango.


For lunch I had this great Pad Thai. By Thai Kitchen. It had the Peanut Thai flavor. It's totally vegan. Very delicious, and very easy to cook.

For dinner I had a craving for French Bread Pizza. I had all that shredded Diaya cheese so I bought some French Bread rolls and pasta sauce. I made my own French Bread Pizzas and baked them until the "cheese" was melted and the bread was crispy! They were almost as good as Stouffers.

I had an ice cream sandwich for dessert. Yum!

32 Day Old Vegan

This morning I had crescent rolls again. They are just so addictive! I had the last peanut butter cookie (from last week) also. Got my protein for the morning.

For lunch I had nachos. Made with my new obsession Diaya cheese! They were so good.

I had kettle corn popcorn as a snack. It's almost always vegan.

For dinner I had pasta with BBQ sauce (they were all out of tomato sauce, so I thought I'd try something new...not bad). I also had applesauce.

And for dessert, a mango popsicle. :)

31 Day Old Vegan

This morning I had left over crescent rolls with "butter." Delicious! I think I could live off those crescent rolls. Yum!

I had lunch at Disney (studios, not land) with my friend. I was too nervous (after the whole Universal fiasco) to ask about their vegan options. Also, it was the lunch rush. So i got a salad. The dressings all looked creamy, except for an olive oil and red pepper dressing. I grabbed a bag of pistachios and ate them throughout the day. I also had a lemonade, very refreshing on a hot day like today!

Dinner was a crazy toss up. I had big plate of roasted vegetables. Roasted in olive oil. They were greasy and crispy. Delicious! I went to a party at my friend's house (he and his boyfriend are Vegan for Lent too! They sort of inspired me to do this...them and Alicia Silverstone.) So they had loads of vegan snacks. Fruit and veggies and these delicious pita chips. I brought the birthday boy 2 Vegan Chocolate cupcakes from Real Food Daily. I, of course, had to get one for myself too. They were like hostess cupcakes. Filled with cream. YUM!

30 Day Old Vegan

This morning I had a wonderful treat! A woman for whom I work wanted me to buy her a muffin at Le Pain Quotidien. She said they had lots of vegan muffins, and I could get one for myself. I had the most delicious Vegan Carrot Cake Muffin. It was SO good. The only thing I hated was the raisins. My mom always made me carrot cake for my birthdays growing up, no raisins.

For lunch I had riblets again. They are just tooooo good to resist! I also had edamame, carrots and applesauce. Finally got some fruits and veggies in there. I had a mango Popsicle for dessert.

For dinner I had to get more crescent rolls. They are so good. I ran out of Soba noodles, so I had my chunky pasta sauce from last week heated up like a stew and ate it with my crescent rolls. I, of course, added loads of that Diaya cheese. SO GOOD!

I went to a movie and got Red Vines as a treat. Yum!

ONLY 10 DAYS TO GO!

29 Day Old Vegan

This morning I finally got to sleep in a bit! When I woke up it was practically lunch time, so I ate left over soba noodles and chunky Veggie pasta sauce. Yum!

I spent the rest of the day running around, so I had left over Vegan Shrimp Pad Thai for dinner. Later I had Veggie Fries (from Trader Joe's) as a snack. So delicious!

28 Day Old Vegan

I found my new breakfast obsession! Mini bagels with "butter." I had two for breakfast. (And another as a snack later on in the day!). Yum! Yum! For lunch I had more riblets! They are very good too! I also had a Mango Popsicle.

For dinner I had to stop by California Vegan for some delicious Vegan Pad Thai. I tried to get my friend Kerry to eat a "shrimp" but she hated it.

27 Day Old Vegan

Up bright and early. Had a tangerine for breakfast. Was starving by lunch. I had a Vegan Chicken Pot Pie. Amy's. It was SO good! Creamy and crunchy! Delicious. :)

I decided to do a little cooking for dinner. As well as some left overs. I have this Diaya Vegan Cheese. It is SO good! You can buy it shredded at Whole Foods. With left overs I made a crunchy corn taco with black beans and Diaya cheese. I baked it in the toaster. I also made this summer salad. Caramelized onions and pears. Then I added corn. Sauteed it all in Olive Oil. It was such a good dinner!

I made Peanut Butter Cookies. I had those for dessert. They were good, but they fell apart very easily.

26 Day Old Vegan

This morning I was up at the crack of dawn again. Had a Larabar and a cup of tea for breakfast. Breakfast is so hard as a Vegan. No eggs, bacon, pancakes, waffles...

For lunch I had left-over pasta. It was STILL delicious! And I had my tangerines. Love them!

I had these morning star farm Ribblets for dinner. And edamame. The riblets were SO good! Really they taste just like the real thing.

Toffuti Cutie for dessert. yum!

25 Day Old Vegan

This morning I was up early again. And again running around like crazy! I had a tangerine and a cup of tea for breakfast. Again, sweetened my tea with sugar (not honey).

For lunch I ate at Swingers. It has great Vegan and Meat options. I had a Veggie burger with vegan cheese and avocado. I think it was the best veggie burger I've had! Amazing!!! (with fries, of course)

For dinner I decided to cook (for friends). I fried chicken (but didn't eat it, obviously). I also got a load of veggies (asparagus, mushrooms, carrots, zucchini, squash, onions, garlic...) chopped it all up and sauteed it. Then I added Amy's Tomato sauce. It's vegan. So I had like a chunky veggie pasta sauce. I cooked up Buck Wheat Soba Noodles. It was so good. And I had plain crescent rolls! YUM!

For dessert I had mint-chocolate chip toffuit cutie. (Vegan, of course.)

It was a REALLY good food day!

24 Day Old Vegan

This morning I woke up bright and early at 6:45am. I was running around from that moment on. I grabbed a Larabar for breakfast. Still not sick of them.

For lunch I met a friend at the Universal Lot. They have a small Cafeteria. They are NOT VEGAN FRIENDLY!!! Besides the fact that they have no vegan choices on the menu. At one station I asked if the Veggie Burger had eggs in it (I've noticed that most veggie burgers are made with eggs, and that if you want a vegan veggie burger, you have to have a vegn veggie burger). The woman I asked was like "um, I don't know, I don't think so...um...no." I'm sorry, but I can't take that as a real answer. You can't say I don't know, then say no. So I opted not to have it. The next question I had was at the spaghetti station. I figured I could have pasta and marinara sauce. So I asked the chef if the pasta was made with egg. He said "all pasta is made with egg" and I said "some pasta does not" and he replied with "NO, all pasta is made with egg, you need egg to make the pasta. The only pasta that is not made with egg are Asian noodles." So I said, "ok, do you have Asian noodles." He said no. I asked one more time "do you have a list of ingredients for all your food? Can I see the ingredients for the pasta" and he again said "ALL PASTA IS MADE WITH EGG." So I had a crappy salad and a bag of Fritos for lunch. I just wanted to tell that Universal Chef that Disney has a list of all the ingredients in all their food. And they are willing to show them to all their patrons.

For dinner I was able to make my belly happy again. I was babysitting and I found a bag of Ramen Noodles (which I haven't eaten since college) and I thought 'if the Universal chef taught me anything it was that Asian noodles are vegan.' I looked at the ingredients, and sure enough the noodles were vegan. The spices (that you add) to the noodles was not vegan (or vegetarian) so I trashed the packet. But I found a Vegetable Bouillon in the cabinet and added it to the bowling water before the noodles. It was SO good! It tasted like the same old yummy Ramen Noodles I had in my college days.

For dessert I took this non-dairy chocolate syrup, melted it with peanut butter and added crispy brown rice cereal to the hot mixture. It was like a crunch bar with PB. SO GOOD!

23 Day Old Vegan

Today was an easy day. I had a Larabar in the car on the way to work. I took a kid to soccer class and afterward I had a gnu bar and a tangerine. I also had a million pistachios.

For lunch I was at someone's home, so I was limited in my choices. I had plain pasta with "butter" and salt. And I had another tangerine. It was good.

For dinner I wanted something delicious, so I ordered from California Vegan. I had "shrimp" and veggie tempura. And these tempura bananas and soy vanilla ice cream. It was so delicious!!!

22 Day Old Vegan

Today started off like a normal day. I had my fruit smoothie and Larabar for breakfast (an old favorite). Then I went to babysit. The mom asked me to take her son to the zoo.

For the first half of our zoo time I kept thinking what could I order for lunch. The choices were hot dogs, hamburgers, nachos etc. at every snack bar. I finally opted for french fries and an orange. Not quite well balances but it was vegan.

After I ate, I began to think not only did the zoo have many vegan choices, but the zoo (in general) is probably not a vegan's favorite place. So many animals trapped in small spaces. I just want to set them free so they can run! The saddest thing I witness was at the Giraffe area...

There were three giraffes hanging out, walking around, eating the high leaves of the trees. We passed them and went over to see the Gorillas. Later on we came back towards the giraffes and a small group of people had gathered. One man was taking pictures. I looked over and just to the side of the giraffe enclosure was a group of men trying to get a smaller giraffe in what looked like a horse trailer. A man, who volunteered at the zoo, told us they were taking her to a zoo in Santa Barbara. They had been trying for an hour to get the giraffe into the trailer. They were pushing and shoving this giraffe into the trailer. The Volunteer told us that the giraffe's father was at this zoo. I looked over, and on the edge of the enclosure, watching the giraffe be pushed into the trailer, was a male giraffe. I pointed at the male giraffe and asked if that was her father, he said yes. It was as if the father was watching in anguish as they took his daughter away from him, possibly forever. And the daughter was trying to avoid the trailer at all costs. I just felt all this sorrow pouring out of the male giraffe's eyes, and fear emanating from the female. It was so sad.

When I got home I cooked up some corn and rice in a bit of EVOO and garlic. Later I went to a roller rink and I, again, had french fries.

French Fries = A Vegan's Best Friend.




Don't know if this picture will show up, but the main giraffe is the dad, and you can see the silver trailer to the left and behind it is the daughter.

21 Day Old Vegan

I mixed it up a bit at breakfast. I had toast with "butter," and sprinkled it with cinnamon. It was delicious!

For lunch I had hummus on french bread with a splash of EVOO. I toasted the bread. It was so good! I had a clementine with it. YUM!

At dinner a friend of mine (whose home I was at)had saved me her left over Vegan wrap. It was delicious! Kale, rice, tofu, and other grilled veggies. It had some sort of vegan Tzatziki sauce in it. It was very good. Thanks Maggie!



This is not a picture of the wrap, but this is what it kind of looked like.

20 Day Old Vegan

I MADE IT HALF WAY! 20 of the 40 days are done!! I cannot believe it has been so easy! I have been so busy, so I'm upset I have not been able to cook more. Perhaps in the next 40 days I'll try to cook more meals from home...

For breakfast today I had a fruit smoothie and a Larabar (still not sick of it). I had left over Vegan Pizza for lunch. And I had triscuits as a snack. Garlic flavor. YUM!

I went out to eat with friends for dinner. I was glad when they picked a Mexican Restaurant. There are a lot of Vegan food options. We went to Pink Taco. I, of course, asked a million questions (the waitress was VERY helpful!). I had the guacamole and chips. A yummy Pink Lemonade. I ordered crispy corn tacos with grilled veggies plus a side of black beans. Surprisingly their rice is cooked in chicken broth. Good to know!

I was SO full when I got home! But it was all so yummy!

19 Day Old Vegan

This morning I had a quick cup of tea. I usually sweeten my tea with honey, but honey is not Vegan. So I used sugar for the first time in a long time. I also had a larabar. Yum! (and quick).

I had to stop at Real Food Daily for lunch. I got their Nachos with cashew cheese. So delicious I had them for dinner too. And as a special treat, Popsicles!

18 Day Old Vegan

Today was a long day. I woke up early to get to a park where I was throwing a baby shower for my friend. So I had a large fruit smoothie. I was munching on chips all morning (BBQ and Tortilla mostly). When lunch came I was, surprisingly, able to pass on the ribs, burgers, hot dogs, Potato Salad and Macaroni Salad and still get a full plate of food. Rice, fruit, chips, salsa etc. I ended up eating so much at the shower that by the time I got home in the evening, I wasn't hungry for dinner. :P





C Boost is great! All the Bolt House Farm Smoothies. They have very simple ingredients. And they are all so delicious!

17 Day Old Vegan

Had to get out the door quickly this morning. So I grabbed an applesauce. Then I had a glass of OJ. I had some Veggie Sticks (from Trader Joes) as a snack. I had left over Vegan Pizza from Pizza Fusion. I am not sure if I like the Vegan Pizza. I'm trying to let it grow on me.

Running around so much later that night when I went to meet my friends (at The Village Idiot Pub) I realized I hadn't eaten dinner. So in a noisy Pub I asked the waitress what was Vegan. She immediately said the French Fries and the "No Face." Which was basically a bowl of lentils and veggies (mushrooms, butternut squash etc...) It was good except it had the SPICIEST sauce. I could barely eat half of it.

YUM!

16 Day Old Vegan

Today was a good day. I had a fruit smoothie a Vegan breakfast bar. I was running around like crazy with a kid and I ended up eating 3 tangerines and some popcorn for lunch. :P It was kettle corn.

For dinner I got a Very Vegan Pizza from Pizza Fusion. It had mushrooms and Vegan Cheese. It was really good.

15 Day Old Vegan

Today I was running around like crazy! Totally forgot to have breakfast. I grabbed a glass of OJ at work. For lunch I had a Vegan Burger and a tangerine. Then I headed to Disneyland!

I love getting popcorn at Disneyland, but I knew it would have butter on it, so I bought some Cracker Jacks (vegan) and later enjoyed them at the park!

I was really worried about eating dinner because I didn't know who to ask about the food. And I figured all their food would be full of lard. I went to Pizza Planet (by Space Mountain) and asked about the ingredients. They very quickly got a manager who brought out Nutrition Fact Sheets and info about all their food. They assured me that the pasta had no egg or milk in it, and that the plain marinara sauce too was Vegan! I had a deliciously over priced vegan meal...at Disneyland!

This really is the Happiest Place On Earth!

14 Day Old Vegan

Today was a really boring day for a Vegan. I had a fruit smoothie and a piece of "buttered" toast (and by "buttered" I mean fake buttery spread).

I had left over "Shrimp" Pad Thai for lunch and dinner. Except at dinner I mixed it up with a side of rice and beans.

I had tangerines and fritos as an afternoon snack. yum!

13 Day Old Vegan

I slept in so late (after traveling), so my breakfast was just an applesauce. Totally natural, no sugar added. Very delicious! For lunch I had my vegan chicken fingers with edamame and brown rice. Of course with my Soy Vey Teriyaki sauce. YUM!

I had a snack of cold grapes, which were like mini-Popsicles. I love them when they're really cold or frozen. For dinner I went to a great place in LA called California Vegan. I had the shrimp pad thai. I will have to say, Vegan shrimp is almost better than real shrimp. I have no clue what it's made of. It's so good!

I had a berry Popsicle for dessert. YUM! Except now all that is left in the package is lime (yuck). Oh well.