In case you haven't guessed, my mind has been most decidedly elsewhere these last few weeks. Although I'm still veganizing life, and sticking to ETL with success, it has ceased to be my primary focus. My husband and I have decided, after much agonizing and soul-searching, to adopt a child. My new blog, unk család, will chronicle that journey. It will take me a few days to get it up and running, but feel free to stop by and leave your well-wishes.
Thursday, August 24, 2006
Monday, August 14, 2006
Well, today went more or less according to plan. Lunch ended up being out, as we were busy running errands on base. We ate at the "dining facility," more appropriately dubbed the "mess hall" or "chow hall," depending on your service. My choice, because it was the only place on base where I could get a salad bar. I had two bowls of salad (quite small by ETL standards) -- admittedly with iceberg lettuce and "lite" Italian dressing -- but I tried to make the most of it by adding lots of tomatoes, broccoli, cauliflower, and green pepper. Desert was a large orange. My husband surprised me with a cappuccino, and I wasn't about to hurt his feelings by sending it back. This evening I had some of the loaf mentioned earlier, roasted zucchini (not good at all, so I won't post my "recipe"), and a small portion of brown rice. And I've had a couple handfuls of almonds tonight. Not great, but not so far off base that I feel like throwing in the towel and starting fresh tomorrow.
The plan for tomorrow:
B -- yogurt/pear puree, as our pear trees are smothering us with fruit. This will be a staple for the near future.
L -- Cashew/bean loaf and a large salad w/ tahini dressing.
D -- Stir-fry vegs with a small portion of brown rice.
Also, tomorrow I vow to get in an elliptical workout. I promise. So help me Dr. Fuhrman.
The plan for tomorrow:
B -- yogurt/pear puree, as our pear trees are smothering us with fruit. This will be a staple for the near future.
L -- Cashew/bean loaf and a large salad w/ tahini dressing.
D -- Stir-fry vegs with a small portion of brown rice.
Also, tomorrow I vow to get in an elliptical workout. I promise. So help me Dr. Fuhrman.
I've got to cut out the baking and the experimentation!!! In trying to create enticing vegan meals for my husband and son, I've side-blinded my ETL habits. It's taken lots of pasta, breads, and foccaccia-type things to get my husband somewhat-amenable to this way of life. He still has meat when he's out, but I don't think he realizes that it's been weeks since he's had any at home.
Now that's good news; what's not good news is the backsliding I've done. Pasta and other starches are my weaknesses. Part of me wants to put off getting back on track -- our vacation is coming up in a little over two weeks, and I'm certain I'm going to have to resort to starches et al to make it through. I've already resigned myself to that, as there's no grocery store/farmer's market in the town we'll be staying, and I'll be without a vehicle for part of the time. I'll do fresh when I can, but eventually I'm going to have to resort to canned stuff and staples. So, anyway, there's a part of me that wants to indulge and say why bother until after vacation. There's another part of me, a bigger part, that wants to be under 150 by the time we step on that ferry.
So today is day one again. Not only have I been rather lax in ETL, but also in my blogging and planning my menus. Time to get back on track with that, too, I think. So, here's the plan for today:
B - 1 cup of tea with a splash of soy milk, a banana/pineapple smoothie made with soy milk
L - large green salad (romaine, tomatoes, sprouts) with chickpeas and tahini dressing
D - 1 portion of a cashew/bean loaf I made last week, lots of steamed veggies
I've switched to tea in the mornings because I just can't get into the soymilk-in-coffee thing. I'm also not really happy with the soy milk in the smoothie, as I think that's taking a lot of liberality with ETL. But I have to get it moving somehow. We're not all lucky enough to have a Vitamix! Also, in looking that over, I think it's a little bean-heavy, with either soy or beans at every meal. I'll probably leave them off the salad unless I'm ravenous.
Now that's good news; what's not good news is the backsliding I've done. Pasta and other starches are my weaknesses. Part of me wants to put off getting back on track -- our vacation is coming up in a little over two weeks, and I'm certain I'm going to have to resort to starches et al to make it through. I've already resigned myself to that, as there's no grocery store/farmer's market in the town we'll be staying, and I'll be without a vehicle for part of the time. I'll do fresh when I can, but eventually I'm going to have to resort to canned stuff and staples. So, anyway, there's a part of me that wants to indulge and say why bother until after vacation. There's another part of me, a bigger part, that wants to be under 150 by the time we step on that ferry.
So today is day one again. Not only have I been rather lax in ETL, but also in my blogging and planning my menus. Time to get back on track with that, too, I think. So, here's the plan for today:
B - 1 cup of tea with a splash of soy milk, a banana/pineapple smoothie made with soy milk
L - large green salad (romaine, tomatoes, sprouts) with chickpeas and tahini dressing
D - 1 portion of a cashew/bean loaf I made last week, lots of steamed veggies
I've switched to tea in the mornings because I just can't get into the soymilk-in-coffee thing. I'm also not really happy with the soy milk in the smoothie, as I think that's taking a lot of liberality with ETL. But I have to get it moving somehow. We're not all lucky enough to have a Vitamix! Also, in looking that over, I think it's a little bean-heavy, with either soy or beans at every meal. I'll probably leave them off the salad unless I'm ravenous.
Friday, August 04, 2006
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Oh, do you know the muffin man,
The muffin man, the muffin man,
Oh, do you know the muffin man,
That lives in Harmignies?
On our trip to the grocery store, we found piles upon piles of very ripe bananas marked WAY down. I'd have loved to hoard a bunch of them and freeze them for later use; however, our freezer is about as full as it can be. Still, never a family to pass up a good deal, we came home with a fair supply.
Hmmmm, what to do with all these bananas? A quick glimpse through my quick becoming a favorite cookbook, Better than Peanut Butter and Jelly, by Wendy Muldawer and Marty Mattare (must give credit where it's due!), and Liam and I had our afternoon planned. We made a double batch of Banana Muffins. The original recipe calls for:
1/2 cup oil
3/4 honey or maple syruuup
3 tablespoons unsweetened applesauce
1 tablespoon water
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 bananas
2 cups flour
dash of cinnamon
So, Liam, if we need two bananas for one batch, and we're making a DOUBLE batch, how many bananas do we need?
OK, so he didn't do the multiplication, but he did count them.
We opted for honey as a sweetener, but used slightly less than the amount called for, as our applesauce was pre-sweetened. Yes, I know, honey is not the vegan option on this "vegan option" recipe. But I prefer the taste, and Liam prefers the taste, and as I explain in the title of this blog, I'm not completely vegan. I'm VERY NEARLY VEGAN. The only other change we made was to use half all-purpose flour and half whole wheat.
It takes a real man to mash bananas THIS well.
A double batch made 4 dozen mini-muffins and a dozen regular. Here Liam demonstrates, with more skill than I expected to see, how to drop the batter by the spoonful into the muffin tins. After filling the tins, pop them in the oven at 350 (170-ish C) for 20-25 minutes for regular muffins, 13 minutes for the minis. While they are cooking, clean up your mess. I gave Liam a wet cloth, but he thought this method of cleaning the table would be more expedient:
Yes, the lad is LICKING the table. But it's all right. I cleaned it well before we got to work, and there are no eggs or other problem-foods in the mix. So don't get all het up about it.
The finished product. Liam LOVES them, as do we. My husband has no clue that it's "veg*n" baking. We've got plenty in the freezer, plenty for breakfast and/or snacks for the next few days, and plenty of bananas left to try the Banana Pancakes a few pages later. Come back soon!
The muffin man, the muffin man,
Oh, do you know the muffin man,
That lives in Harmignies?
On our trip to the grocery store, we found piles upon piles of very ripe bananas marked WAY down. I'd have loved to hoard a bunch of them and freeze them for later use; however, our freezer is about as full as it can be. Still, never a family to pass up a good deal, we came home with a fair supply.
Hmmmm, what to do with all these bananas? A quick glimpse through my quick becoming a favorite cookbook, Better than Peanut Butter and Jelly, by Wendy Muldawer and Marty Mattare (must give credit where it's due!), and Liam and I had our afternoon planned. We made a double batch of Banana Muffins. The original recipe calls for:
1/2 cup oil
3/4 honey or maple syruuup
3 tablespoons unsweetened applesauce
1 tablespoon water
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 bananas
2 cups flour
dash of cinnamon
So, Liam, if we need two bananas for one batch, and we're making a DOUBLE batch, how many bananas do we need?
OK, so he didn't do the multiplication, but he did count them.
We opted for honey as a sweetener, but used slightly less than the amount called for, as our applesauce was pre-sweetened. Yes, I know, honey is not the vegan option on this "vegan option" recipe. But I prefer the taste, and Liam prefers the taste, and as I explain in the title of this blog, I'm not completely vegan. I'm VERY NEARLY VEGAN. The only other change we made was to use half all-purpose flour and half whole wheat.
It takes a real man to mash bananas THIS well.
A double batch made 4 dozen mini-muffins and a dozen regular. Here Liam demonstrates, with more skill than I expected to see, how to drop the batter by the spoonful into the muffin tins. After filling the tins, pop them in the oven at 350 (170-ish C) for 20-25 minutes for regular muffins, 13 minutes for the minis. While they are cooking, clean up your mess. I gave Liam a wet cloth, but he thought this method of cleaning the table would be more expedient:
Yes, the lad is LICKING the table. But it's all right. I cleaned it well before we got to work, and there are no eggs or other problem-foods in the mix. So don't get all het up about it.
The finished product. Liam LOVES them, as do we. My husband has no clue that it's "veg*n" baking. We've got plenty in the freezer, plenty for breakfast and/or snacks for the next few days, and plenty of bananas left to try the Banana Pancakes a few pages later. Come back soon!
Some months ago, when I first decided to go whole-hearted vegetarian and to do my best to drag my family with me, I bought a few family-oriented cookbooks. One of them was Better than Peanut Butter and Jelly: Quick vegetarian meals your kids will love, by Wendy Muldawer and Marty Mattare. To be honest, at first I wasn't terribly impressed. I was expecting a COOKbook, not a menu suggestion book. There are recipes, quite good recipes I now find, but at the time I wasn't terribly impressed. There are a lot of meal ideas that seem so simple to me as to not necessitate a page in a book. For example, the page entitled "Veggie Burgers," where I expected to find a recipe for making my own veggie burgers, basically tells you how to prepare them. It gives ingredients of: veggie burgers, whole-grain buns, lettuce, tomato, etc.
However, before I get too deep into the book-bashing, I must admit I did not give it a fair shot. Until today, I had tried two real recipes from the book. One was the recipe for "Howlin Hummus," which is now my standard hummus recipe and which both I and my two year old love. My husband hates it, but that's another story entirely. I also tried one of the casserole dishes, and it got mixed reviews. Today, however, we have an all around winner, and I'm willing to give this book another shot. Over the next couple of weeks I'm going to be trying a variety of the recipes and plan to post the results and reviews here for posterity. At least the posterity of my three readers.
However, before I get too deep into the book-bashing, I must admit I did not give it a fair shot. Until today, I had tried two real recipes from the book. One was the recipe for "Howlin Hummus," which is now my standard hummus recipe and which both I and my two year old love. My husband hates it, but that's another story entirely. I also tried one of the casserole dishes, and it got mixed reviews. Today, however, we have an all around winner, and I'm willing to give this book another shot. Over the next couple of weeks I'm going to be trying a variety of the recipes and plan to post the results and reviews here for posterity. At least the posterity of my three readers.
Wednesday, August 02, 2006
I can't believe it's been nearly a week since my last post! Vegan eatin' continues to go well. I've lost a little more weight, now putting me at .1 pounds below my pre-pregnancy weight of last summer. I still have a way to go til I'm at an ideal weight, but I'll get there, slowly but surely.
Recently I've been pretty busy on the Veggin' Out boards. There are a lot of good conversations over there, and I like being part of a small, closely knit community like that. Here I sometimes feel like I'm talking to myself.
I'm going to out on a limb and declare Liam potty-trained. TA-DA-DA-DUM! He still wears a diaper to bed, although he hasn't wet one in over a month now. Still, I don't know if he'd wake up and come ask for the potty, if the urge did strike. He looks so cute in his Spiderman undies! I love having a little boy!
It's was a busy day yesterday (an old friend who just returned to Belgium came over to visit with her four kids), so supper was super-simple last night: beans on toast and a fresh tomato. Liam loves it and I don't have to do anything more involved than toast a couple pieces of bread.
Note the book at the top of the pic: that's Disease-Proof Your Child, which I just got in the mail from Amazon. Looking forward to getting started!
Recently I've been pretty busy on the Veggin' Out boards. There are a lot of good conversations over there, and I like being part of a small, closely knit community like that. Here I sometimes feel like I'm talking to myself.
I'm going to out on a limb and declare Liam potty-trained. TA-DA-DA-DUM! He still wears a diaper to bed, although he hasn't wet one in over a month now. Still, I don't know if he'd wake up and come ask for the potty, if the urge did strike. He looks so cute in his Spiderman undies! I love having a little boy!
It's was a busy day yesterday (an old friend who just returned to Belgium came over to visit with her four kids), so supper was super-simple last night: beans on toast and a fresh tomato. Liam loves it and I don't have to do anything more involved than toast a couple pieces of bread.
Note the book at the top of the pic: that's Disease-Proof Your Child, which I just got in the mail from Amazon. Looking forward to getting started!
