What do you do with an epileptic lettuce?....

.....you make a seizure salad!

So with my new found motivation I decided to try to conquer....the salad. The green stuff. Let's face it - its what I hate. They're cold (mostly, definately so without meat involved), full of wet, stalky things that are either crunchy (gross) or limp (double gross). I find that salad appears to be considered a fashionable and female thing to do - magazines seem me to expect to "do lunch" with "the girls" with a caesar salad and a glass of pinot, discussing the latest Karen Millen line. Don't think that's quite me. I decided to try a variation on a BBC Good Food South Western Salad with beans, corn, avocado, tomatoes etc. In theory it looked quite pretty. On Monday, I waited so late to have my lunch I was so hungry I ate most of it, and it wasn't too bad, although it definately felt like a chore. Coming back to the same salad on Tuesday did not go down well - it made me feel physically sick and I couldn't eat it (just picked out the avocado and beans) and then ended up having a packet of crisps to drive away the hunger pangs. I think it was because I tried to go too full on with a food I don't really like. I think I need to try and have salad as a side dish to start off with, before going the whole hog.

Dinner on Monday night was much more successful - I used the dried soy mince I had purchased from Holland and Barratt in place of minced beef in a Burrito Kit. You basically get the tortillas, tomato/bean cooking sauce and salsa in a box and you add the filling and any extras like cheese. I was pleasantly surprised by this - we managed to have a completely vegan meal and get in some extra veggies such as rocket/spinach and slices of red pepper as well. Pushed the boat out with egg free mayo, jalapenos and some vegan cheese (totally not worth the calories, tastes like nothing). I was pleased that the soy mince was so cheap yet when you add it to water it bulks up loads so 150g dry yields about 550g wet meat equivalent. Its also low in calories - all the soy in my 3 pretty generous tortillas was only about 40g and about 140 calories so its very low in fat and high in protein. 

I was really craving meat today again, but a really filling jacket potato with cheese, beans and jalapenos for lunch at work really went some way to satisfying these cravings. For a snack tonight we had apple slices with cashew butter (when I worked at a USA summer camp some of the kids would literally only eat apples with peanut butter every single day, so I felt like I was doing this, but without the anaphylaxis!) It was pretty amazing so I think this will have to be my go to snack when I'm craving sweets and chocolates. It still might be quite high in sugars and fats but at least they're natural and its one more piece of fruit I'm having at the same time. 

The Last Supper....

So it's back to work proper tomorrow. Eurgh. Not looking forward to it. Wanted to have a tasty dinner to commiserate having to wake up at 6.40am each morning again. So tonights dinner looked like this......

Roasted Pepper stuffed with Granose Sunflower Seed, Lentil and Vegetable Mix, Sweet Potato Mash and Peas.

I am stuffed! (But might have room for that bit of fruit crumble that's left....)

The Outcry!

Well, I definately didn't expect so many comments when I linked this new blog to my facebook to tell people about my "Veg Pledge" challenge. It definately prompted debate/discussion/argument! There were people telling me they "gave it a week" (very supportive), those who couldn't believe that I even ate vegetables at all (childhood friends who still remember the awkward mealtimes when I refused to eat what their mother had cooked for me) and those who felt that vegetarianism was an unhealthy way of life, and indeed even those who felt I was "obsessed" by food or had an unhealthy body image. Thankfully, there seemed to be equal numbers of those quoting studies or sharing support for this change in diet. It's odd that there are still so many people who feel meat is intrinsic to a healthy diet, or that I will end up suffering from a severe Vitamin 12 deficiency which will render me unconscious. I am aware that you have to think more when you eat this way, to make sure you get a balanced diet. I may look into taking some Vitamin supplements if this becomes long term just in case. However soya milk has added Vitamin B12 due to this issue.

I can definately say that this time, it's less about weight (although keeping trim is always an added bonus) but more about eating healthily, being more informed and animal welfare. Indeed today I did my food shopping and felt a pang of quiet triumph as I skipped merrily past the shrink-wrapped packets of meat and headed for the pasta and beans aisle. I was also surprised at the cost of my shopping - it seemed a fair bit cheaper than when I usually buy meat, which can only be a good thing when you've recently required a mortgage for a house with an eye watering council tax bill (Band F in case you were wondering).

I'm currently having a break with a cup of soy milk tea and a crumpet with cashew butter (a very odd consistency - is peanut butter the same in that it sticks to the roof of your mouth instantly?). However, it should me a tasty protein snack. It's quite odd because I've always had a severe nut allergy (peanuts, hazelnuts, walnuts) but have recently discovered I can eat whole cashews without keeling over in anaphylaxis. Likewise for almonds. As they are still technically nuts, I've tended to avoid them as its easier when dealing with a nut allergy, however they are a good source of protein and since I'm also allergic to eggs (yep, I'm one of *those* people) it seems silly not to eat some from time to time. This cashew butter is really weird though - it kinda makes my throat feel a bit tight, but that might be because it's still clinging to the roof of my mouth and impairing my ability to swallow. What is with this stuff?!

I have decided to make a "south Western Style Salad" for lunch at work for a couple of days, so will see how that pans out. Dinner will be soy mince/bean stuffed Peppers with Dairy free cheese (an odd concept I know) and sweet potato chips. I stocked up on quite a few vege mains as well as frozen veg - tried out Holland and Barratt (egg free mayo!!!!) as well as the normal vegetarian ranges in Tesco. The granose ranges are really good and are currently 2 for £2 in Morrisons (or usually about £1.50 each in most other places). You add water to a soy/herb mix and create things like burgers and sausages and falafels which you then fry and can add sauce to or whatever. I think they're pretty good. It's also nice not having to fuss with defrosting meat or worrying about cross contamination or it going off (salmonella anyone?)

Saturday Night Dinner

So Saturday usually heralds going out for meals or ordering take out. This time we were just going to a friend's for games but didn't want to be tempted so I made dinner beforehand and then finished it off at our friends. I went for soy burgers (Granose brand) with rocket and sweet potato fries. Tasty but not feeling that full so would look at introducing more veg next time if I had more time to plan. However a very tasty pear and rhubarb crumble helped a bit. 

So what's this all about?

New Year's Resolutions. If you're anything like me, you think about all the ways you could be a better person, briefly entertain them whilst stuffing your face with Terry's Chocolate Orange whilst watching re-runs of Futurama, and then mockingly disregard them. There's no point, right?

However, I appear to have made the foray into the world of blogging (like keeping a diary it seems, although safer than having your younger brother find the tiny plastic key to your equally tiny diary where you poured your heart out as a pre-teen over the fact that you were never going to get together with Tommy the green power ranger). I feel I should use the opportunity to blog about something interesting and semi-meaningful.

A few things have happened recently (things I've seen, read or felt) that have led me to a place where I want to start a bit of an experiment, which may possibly lead to a much more permanent lifestyle change. In this instance, I am going to try to move to a vegetarian diet (whilst being vegan when I am able to: vegan being no animal derived products, so no dairy either). There are several reasons for this which I will go into, but I need to give a bit more background on me.

I love meat. Or loved. Not sure of the tense. Until fairly recently, I was probably as opposite to a vegetarian as you could get. I hated vegetables. Is it green? Gross. Leaves? Nu-uh. Stalks? Get lost. It was meat all the way. Double cheeseburgers, steaks, ribs, chicken, lamb, beef, turkey, hot dogs. Minced, fried, grilled, sunday roast, BBQ'd. I even ventured into more exotic meats such as sampling the delights of ostrich and buffalo (I drew the line at crocodile though). I hated salad (still do if I'm honest) and felt a strong sort of confusion and pity for those colleagues who would bring a soggy box of leaves to work for their lunch, whilst I tucked into a happy meal and a can of red bull. I've only started to eat mushrooms, tomatoes and peas in the last 6 years or so. I never really felt any real concern over this diet. I'd try and buy good quality meat when I could afford to and I reasoned that it was part of a "normal" diet.

So. The veges/vegans. We all know one or two. Those awkward people who get in the way of dinner plans because of their awkward preferences - they're looked down on more than people with allergies/intolerances (which includes myself) as its a *lifestyle choice*. Who would CHOOSE not to eat a juicy steak dripping in garlic butter? I know - I dated a vegan for about 2 years. I have vivid memories of soaking "soya chunks" in a bowl of water which smelled like dog food, and also being lectured on how eating honey is "bad for the bees". This was a particularly strict case mind you. For our anniversary, we went to a vegetarian restaurant where I tried to force down something called "jambalaya" when all I wanted was to stuff my face with roasted animal flesh covered in peppercorn sauce.

As I said, a few things have happened recently (things that I've seen, read or felt) that are making me want to move away from this lifestyle.

I've put on a bit of weight recently. Pretty sure quitting the gym after not going for about 4 months may have contributed to this. I also feel pretty sluggish and my middle section seems to feel "wrong" - I even started looking into the benefits of colonics after I read somewhere that the average american (I realise I'm not American) has something like 9lbs of undigested meat in their colon. Yuck.

I've tried lots of diets - slim fast, 5/2 fasting diet, protein only diet (ironically, ONLY eating meat), calorie controlled. They become unsustainable because its more about depriving yourself and having to spend loads of money on specific foods. What I feel will be better for me is not eating less overall, but eating better, and eating more of better things and less of bad things.

I have also started to be able to like vegetables a bit more - I've tried a few more things, got some vegetable cookbooks and being a bit braver when it comes to cooking. I used to try to cook a few vegetarian dishes each week but my boyfriend would look at me with sheer horror on his face when he realised there was no meat in it. It was considered sacrilege.

So when my boyfriend said he wanted to try to go vegan as a sort of "test" - I was really up for it. We tried it for about 2 weeks before Christmas, and it wasn't too painful. We ate a lot of tofu and soya based "fake meat" products, but it allowed me to test out things and see how to make them tasty and filling. This showed me that it could be done. Unfortunately Christmas plans with various families put an end to this (I still can't quite imagine a year without Turkey).

One thing that I have watched that has pushed me to wanting to do this more seriously is a documentary called "Vegucated" - which is available to watch free on netflix. It follows 3 Americans (a 27 year old male, a female college student and a 40 something year old mother of two) who made a pledge to become Vegan for 6 weeks. It goes through the health risks of eating meat and dairy, the impact of the mass and global farming industries on things like animal welfare and global warming, and then looks at the benefits of a vegetarian/vegan diet. I have to say, the animal welfare section reduced me to a blubbering mess. I didn't think I'd feel that affected - I was always able to look at farm animals and still feel comfortable eating a mixed grill afterwards in the restaurant. This was pretty awful though and made me feel a bit sick and pretty guilty. It was very surprising how even wording is misleading "organic" doesn't mean that the animals have high standards of care, it just means they are not exposed to chemicals. It was horrible to see some of the conditions and worrying that there is not alot of legislation governing animal welfare for food. Anyway, at the end of the programme, the 3 participants had significantly reduced their cholesterol levels, blood pressure had dropped and they lost between 2-10lbs each. Not too bad for just 6 weeks. And that was a fully vegan diet.

I've been probably 50% vegan recently - we already switched to Soya milk at home a few months ago. We hardly buy cheese anymore (as we basically end up gorging ourselves into a Brie-induced coma). I've definately been completely vegan for the past 3 days or so. I made chickpea and tomato paella with courgettes, courgette and lemon pasta with feta and rocket (vegetarian not vegan for this dish, but could easily omit the cheese), and today we had fried curried tofu with potato slices and beans (a sort of vegan fry up). Tonight, I wanted to be lazy so we went out for a curry. My usual would have been chicken korma/masala, keema rice and naan, and the boyfriend would have had a tandoori mixed grill. We instead shared sag paneer (cheese and spinach) with lentils, a rice and a roti. Still pretty calorific, but no meat in sight. This was instead of going out for a friends birthday to a restaurant where they service you all you can eat meat carved at your table from giant skewers. It's like an alternate reality.

My boyfriend and I have also just signed up to run the Birmingham Half Marathon in October, so are hoping that a healthier diet will be useful for this. As we start training to run later in the year, I will mix in some running blogs as well if I remember. I'm hoping to share some of the recipes that I use and track myself to see if there is any improvement. I know that I may not be able to always stick to the rules 100% (eg: offered coffee at a meeting where no soy milk is available). However, the general plan is to be 100% vegetarian at least, and be vegan where I can (probably at home). Also, my allergies may prove problematic (can't eat eggs but not an issue where veganism is concerned) but allergic to alot of nuts (which is an issue as alot of replacement meat foods are nut based for the protein).