Yesterday was day one of my journey into a plant-based diet. I’m not calling it vegan or vegetarian. That sounds too much like I joined a cult.
Expensive
We went to the new health food store near our house. I thought they’d have vegetables and such but it was just a bigger version of every other health food store I’d ever been in. You know, dried over priced, packaged, grains and sea weed. We bought some organic vinegars and soy sauces. I found my favorite pickles, Bubbies. They had Kosher Dills and bread and butter chips. We got both. I got a honey lemon-aid and Darlene got a regular. I did find black and white Quinoa and a couple of different rice mixtures, nothing special and it was 75 freak’n dollars. Looks like the transition to a complete organic diet is going to be delayed for a while.
Lunch
I had Red Quinoa for lunch seasoned with soy sauce and rice vinegar. I was satisfied then, I’m not so sure I can speak for another round today. I do drink a lot of water, which seems to help fill me up.
Dinner
I tried to be interesting for dinner. I fried egg plant slices in my newly acquired toasted sesame oil with sweet onions in rings and a clove or two of garlic. I arranged a nice bed of alfalfa sprouts on a plate covered with rocket arugula leaves as a nest for my eggplant. After pulling the eggplant from the skillet (possibly a little to late) I added the remainder of the Quinoa I had for lunch to the hot pan with the onions. I tossed those around a little and seasoned everything with tamari sauce and plated it. The meal was ok, but neither of us went for more and Darlene didn’t eat all of her onions. I finished the meal with a pot of hot tea. I was far from full, but not hungry either. I didn’t photograph the process or the final product because I was embarrassed.
Conclusion
I conclude that there must be better, more satisfying plant-based dishes out there and I intend to find them. If you have a special sauce or dressing for your greens, please let me know. I don’t want to sound like a whiner but I’m pissed that the system has screwed up everything, even eating, and that I have to forage for food that won’t poison me or clog my arteries. I’m in the first stage of grieving but I’ll get better. Hang in there with me, I’ll still be looking for interesting meat recipes, I’m just trying to correct for years of improper diet right now. – jughandle
5 comments
I am interested in hearing more stories/menus from your foraging missions to achieve a more plant based diet. Seriously, you come up with the most interesting things.
Thanks for the post. I never know if I’m off topic or not. I’m more than happy to share what I’ve found, I guess that’s why I’m doing this. All I can do is post what I know and have found out and hope for the best. PS – I fixed your mission.
I’m looking forward to hearing more about this too. Are you trying to quit meat cold turkey 🙂 or are you going to keep meat in a couple of dishes a week.
Some other random meal ideas…. butternut squash ravioli, black bean quesadillas, stuffed peppers or mushrooms. Greek salad, Southwestern salad (think taco ingredients like corn and black beans with salsa as the dressing). If you like oatmeal, this site has a variety of different recipes that sound good. http://www.katheats.com/kaths-tribute-to-oatmeal
And yesterday I picked up this magazine “Whole Living” in a waiting room and it had some great recipes in it. It turned out to be produced by Martha Stewart’s company. They have some great content on their website as well. http://www.wholeliving.com/
Heather, first of all thanks for reading the blog and commenting. Your comments are always very helpful. As far as quitting cold turkey, I must state for the record that I am a meat eater who is altering the amount of meat I eat. That said, I also have a somewhat addicting personality. Not that people are addicted to me, rather I tend to immerse myself completely in what ever I’m doing. I’m either in or I’m out. So, right now I’m “in” to the plant-based diet thing and I’m interested in how long I can go without meat. I haven’t yet (2 days) eaten dairy products, but I will, so I’m not a “vegan” but I’m going to lean in that direction. If anyone needs to put a label on me, I can be described as a meat eater on the wagon, or a person who needs to clean out his arteries. I don’t know that for a fact, but I’m just making an educated guess. Couldn’t hurt, and I might learn something in the process.
I love the oatmeal site, thanks. I am familiar with the Whole living site. They have great Quinoa recipes. Every little bit helps. I’m posting my recipe finds on my Pinterest page under various catagories. I’ll add the best recipes to Jughandle’s Farm site as fast as I can or you can look at them here – http://pinterest.com/jughandle/
Thanks again
[…] Incorporate heart-healthy foods into your diet that contain protective and preventive nutrients. A plant-based diet of fruits, vegetables, whole grains, legumes and soy products in their natural, unrefined […]