The first 5 days

This is day 5 of the vegan lifestyle change, and I must admit I'm feeling pretty good. I've already lost 1.5 lbs, I have a lot of energy and my stomach problems aren't as frequent as they were. I also have a healthier appetite and don't feel weighed down after meals.

Breakfast:
I've been eating multigrain hot cereal most mornings, with a splash of almond milk and fruit or honey. This breakfast is packed with protein and fiber, so it usually leaves me pretty full in the mornings.

I've also been experimenting with soy yogurts, as one of my favorite breakfasts is Greek yogurt with some soy cluster and flax seed cereal and chopped up fruit (usually blueberries or strawberries). So far I've tried three brands: The first I tried was the Trader Joe's cultured soy. I tried peach, strawberry and raspberry and didn't really like any of them.

Then I tried Stonyfield Organic O'Soy yogurt. I tried the vanilla (I generally prefer plain or vanilla yogurt anyway, unless it's Chobani fruit on the bottom with pomegranate seeds). I actually liked this one better than the TJs version, especially when doctored up with cereal and fruit. Mr. K tried the blueberry and found it to be too sweet for his tastes (this is why I avoid flavored yogurt and go with plain...)

After a trip to the "big" grocery store (we had a rental car, so we stocked up on everything we could ever need for about a month), I tried SO Delicious soy yogurt, vanilla flavor. It's sweetened with agave, which gives it a distinct taste, but I think this is probably my favorite so far. It's also quite good doctored up with the fruit and cereal.

Lunch:
I didn't have much time this week to cook vegan dinners at home, so there weren't many leftovers to bring as lunches to work. This provided a challenge, as the cafe in my building serves only 1 vegetarian soup per day, but they generally add cream or butter to the mix. They have salads, which are sizeable, so I've been having the mixed greens salad with sliced almonds, beets, green beans and sprouts. I end up eating the whole bowl (which a coworker says it about a full head of lettuce, I think she was trying to say I was eating too much, but I feel ok with my eating a whole salad when she's putting back a pork two ways with oil and butter and cheese sandwich on white bread), and it holds me over until I get home.

My favorite bakery in town (Flour) has a fantastic grilled tofu sandwich with olive red pepper tapenade and roasted vegetables. It is SO GOOD. Oh man. New favorite. They also make a great spicy hot cocoa with cayenne pepper, and they'll sub soy milk making it a chocolate-y vegan treat.

Dinners:
Mostly I've been eating either sandwiches and soups from the cafes as I run from one thing to the next, or eating pasta loaded with veggies and tofu (the other night I threw together whole wheat rotini, tomato sauce, seared kale and seared spinach with a generous chunk of tofu...a quick and tasty meal loaded with protein and iron).

I've also made "rice misch," a favorite and versatile dinner dish that Mr. K and I love. This one used the brown rice mix from Trader Joe's (brown rice, black barley and daikon radish seeds--packed with protein and fiber), some leftover MN wild rice and then some black beans. I cook it with veggie stock, add spices and let it cook until it's creamy and risotto like.

Eating out, or not at home:
This weekend I was invited to speak at a Rotary event. When setting up my registration, I noted that Mr. K and I are vegetarians, knowing that it would cause a lot of confusion to point out that we're actually eating vegan. While plates of salmon and london broil were brought to our table mates, Mr. K and I awaited what would eventually be a plate full of cheese-filled tortellini. I ate the vegetables and used a roll to sop up some of the sauce. I had a few tortellini, but left most of it on my plate, finishing dinner rather hungry. Desert was a chocolate mousse, and I must admit in my hunger I did take a few bites.

Then disaster struck when we got to the hotel room. The hotel staff had sent us a cheese and fruit plate because I was a VIP guest of the conference (!!!). A round of boursin cheese, butter and wheat crackers and a huge stem of grapes. Being still hungry from my lack of dinner, I devoured the grapes and half the cheese round. I then promptly lost it in the bathroom and barely slept all night due to what I imagine was a combination of nerves regarding my impending speech, and an upset stomach that was overloaded with cheese.

The next morning breakfast was a buffet, the options being scrambled eggs (nope), sausage patties (nope), assorted pastries (nope), cereal with milk (nope), fruit (I had a whole plate of melon) and potatoes, which I'm hoping were baked and didn't have any butter on them. This was a thoroughly unsatisfying breakfast and contained no good sources of complex carbs or protein. After the breakfast speaker, Mr. K and I went to Starbucks to relax, have a coffee (with soy milk) and some Kind granola bars, which are dairy free but do contain honey (so not vegan by some standards). This helped tide us over until lunch, which was a salad with roasted veggies (everyone else had chicken ceasar).

We then met some friends for dinner at a chinese place, which had plenty of vegan friendly options and great cocktails. I tried some buckwheat and green tea noodles with sauteed veggies and tofu--just what I needed!

So today I'm more in control of what we're eating, since I'll be cooking from home. I'm thinking we'll have this minus the cheese, with a big pot of chili for a late lunch. Enjoy!