The week wrap up...

It's been roughly a week now of veganism....give or take a greasy lamb souvlaki after a night of drinking to celebrate my 32nd birthday. Needless to say whilst I vividly remember the gooey, sweet taste of lamb in my mouth at the time, the next day I didn't feel so great. Bloated, heavy and hungover...it proved to be a fairly difficult 24 hours after my meat experience.

Still in the throes of working all this out and being quite frightened by terms like tempeh, silken tofu and seitan (which I am pronouncing as satan? I'm guessing I'm only partially right on that one) I feel like I'm in carnivore and herbivore purgatory. Neither here nor there....knowing the world I once knew has been changed forever with new information I can no longer ignore.....but frightened by a world of being limited to 3 menu options at any given restaurant.

I have to admit though I've very rarely craved meat or dairy products....every now and then I've been presented with an animal option (calling it an animal option helps me to remember the poor little bleating and the big brown eyes my burgers once had) but it has been fairly easy to resist.

I think the issue is trying to work out what my new menu looks like exactly. I keep walking past the tofu aisle in fear.....knowing full well at some point....in the not so distant future....tofu and I will have to become friends for this to work out. I am hoping by the good graces of god we become friends and not foes.

Alas this weekend will be a test....as I have a Halloween BBQ and I almost shrieked in horror when I realised I'd essentially be given up that smokey charred meat flavour which I really love. Mushroom steaks anyone?

Vegetarian Lasagna

I'm guessing this is still sitting within the Vegetarian category as I used egg lasagne sheets

Ingredients
Lasagne sheets
Tomatoes - 1 canned 1 bottled
1 carrot
2 stalks celery
1 med. sweet potato
1 large eggplant
1 med. zuccini
1 cup of peas
2 large field mushrooms
1 bunch of silverbeet
1 onion
2 cloves garlic
150 g soy cheese
1 tbls olive oil

Method
1. Sautee diced onion and garlic in 1 tbls olive oil, add diced carrot and diced celery
2. Add can of tomatos diced and bottle of tomato puree and let to simmer for over an hour
3. Slice sweet potato, eggplant and zuccini and lay on a lightly greased tray and bake for 15 minutes till soft to touch
4. Lay a spoonful of sauce on the bottom of the baking dish, a layer of lasagne sheets, layer of roasted vegetables, chopped mushrooms, silverbeet, peas and grated cheese.
5. Repeat layers and then place in an oven on 180c for 45 minutes until lasagne is tender

Serve with a mixed green salad

Oats

As most I need something quick and easy for breakfast that will sustain me for a few hours while I'm in the office. I have two variations of oats for brekky in the morning.

Oats & Berries
A handful of oats
Frozen mixed Berries
Water

I originally would have heated this up in the microwave but I am also becoming mindful of cooking methods so I prepared this on the stove, takes a few minutes and it's nice, warm and gooey.

Oats & Soy yogurt
A handful of oats
3 tbls soy yogurt
1 tbls of LSA
1 tbls of pepitas

Mixed together in a bowl this was a great variation of the cooked oats which lends itself to summer time very well and I'm sure fruits fresh or dried can be a welcomed addition

The beginning

I'd never really considered becoming a vegetarian before...let alone a vegan as I knew as powerful as the arguments were I enjoyed the taste of meat too much to give it up. I then saw Alicia Silverstone on Oprah and it tweaked my interest a little further. Upon reading The Kind Diet I couldn't help but want to dip my toe in the vegan pool.

So I thought I'd keep a blog to track my progress, the recipes I develop, the changes physically and mentally and share the information I stumble across as I become more informed about the food I put into my body.