Maybe I do have willpower?

I did it! I ate out and I ate vegan. I have to say I wasn't the least bit tempted, even when my fellow diners told me they wouldn't tell on me. I passed up yummy chicken wings and stuck to my salad rolls and rice noodles in spicy, sweet sauce.

I've passed up several opportunities to partake of truly delicious looking food this past week, but for some reason turning them down has been easy. Perhaps I am getting more vitamins but I have zero cravings. Before this I would go to the candy bowl at least once a day and scavenge for snacks or leftovers.

Today is the last day of my official turn as a vegan, but I think I'm going to continue on...can't think of a good reason not to?

Vegan Day One

I made it thru day one (almost day 2) and I'm surprised how easy it was. It helped that I did a lot of research and planned out a menu and snacks. I even passed up a free Baja Fresh lunch.

I guess part of the ease is our diet tends to be plant based--Mike doesn't eat red meat and isn't a fan of cheese. For breakfast I had my usual muesli with cut up banana, but instead of regular mix I substituted in soy milk. Easy! However, I missed my luscious half and half in my coffee.

Luckily I made tempeh stirfy over the weekend and had that as leftovers along with some cashews and popcorn for an afternoon snack. I have to say, I love nuts so much, but I tend not to eat them since they are so high in fat and calories.

Deborah Madison is one of my favorite chef and her recipes are not only amazingly delicious but primarily vegetarian and easy to make vegan. For dinner I made a recipe that is destined to go in our rotation for a while: Buckwheat linguine with French lentils, carrots and chard (pictured above). Simply amazing. It's from her The Greens Cookbook.

Day one verdict: Completely satisfied and not missing dairy or meat AT ALL.

(And no weird digestive issues...yet.)

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!