Vegan Eating: Four days down, three to go

From the Archives

Originally published February 14, 2017

Last week I introduced the idea of a meal plan for this Vegan experiment I’m doing. Cannot emphasize enough that this is purely academic. I’ve also said before that I would need two weeks to get fully into the Vegan shopping, cooking, and eating routine in my home. The latter is no longer true. Thanks to some tips and support from colleagues eager to see me see this through, I’ve been eating only Vegan meals so far this week, and after tonight, I’ll have only three days left in the experiment. Read on to see how things are shaking out so far.

Sunday was easy. I filled up on oatmeal early in the day and finished off some rice for dinner. Keeping things simple was key on Day 1, since I hadn’t had an opportunity to go shopping over the weekend.

Monday was my first real test. I had oatmeal for lunch, and that held me over until I was able to do some shopping for two meals on Monday night. Even though I got home from shopping at 8 PM, I stayed up chopping and cooking for about an hour, settling down to a dinner of bean and vegetable chili served with vegan tortilla chips.

Tuesday was a little tough, too, though another after-work shopping trip helped. In the morning, I had oatmeal for breakfast, as I will likely do all week, choosing different fruits and nuts as toppings. Lunch was leftover chili and tortillas, and dinner was sweet potato and lentil soup, this time with tostones (fried plantains) and applesauce as sides.

Wednesday will see another variant of oatmeal for breakfast, leftover potato and lentil soup for lunch, and probably leftover chili and tortillas for dinner. It’s a tricky day; I don’t go home after work, as I have another commitment that will occupy me until about 10 PM. Since, I don’t want stay up late cooking after 10, a day of oatmeal and leftovers is acceptable.

Then it’s back to cooking on Thursday and Friday nights. The recipes I’m using are from a book, “Vegan: 100 Everyday Recipes”, on loan from my Vegan coworker who’s sure I’m going to be a convert once this experiment ends. Keeping my mind – and mouth – wide open as this week progresses. Meals so far have been yummy, and I might even institute a Vegan Week in my household so that once a year I can revisit this challenge. Thanks for reading. You know the deal: feel free to drop lines in the comments below. Ta ta for now.