Vegan Challenge and this has nothing to do with Oprah

Over plates of roasted chicken and grilled steak topped with whipped pork fat, I announced to my dinner guest that I was going to go vegan for a week starting on Monday. Her response was not what I expected, "That's so cool! Were you inspired by Oprah?"Ummm....no.

So why am I doing it?

I just finished reading "On a Dollar a Day" which chronicles a couple's experiment to better understand food poverty facing thousands of Americans firsthand. Very eye opening and highly recommended. The couple is vegan which is a lifestyle I don't think I could ever adopt. While I don't eat a lot of meat, I love cheese and there is nothing more perfect than fresh eggs from Ava, ZsaZsa or ES. Just seems so restrictive and not very fun. But maybe I just don't understand veganism because I've never tried it, right? So I decided to try it out, just for one week.

I'm going vegan starting on Monday armed with some rocking recipes from Veganomicon (thank you, Kathy Lee!). I'll be posting recipes and reaction to this new temporary lifestyle.

If you are vegan and have recipes or tips and tricks to share, please don't be shy!