VEGAN?!?!

So after years of not eating meat (except for fish) due to my strong beliefs in animal rights, I have finally taken the plunge into veganism.

I have never been one to preach my beliefs on others, or even delve into my reasoning for not eating meat (unless specifically asked to do so) because for me, it has always been a personal choice.

I am not necessarily trying to save the world, but I cannot stomach  the factory farming industry (pun wasn't initially intended, but yay for puns!)

I will, however, briefly touch on my philosophy here, to explain my current move into veganism.

I have always known the mistreatment of animals didn't stop at the slaughterhouse, it is just as bad for factory-farmed dairy cows and egg-laying hens.

However, I never felt I was able to "give up" one of my favorite foods: cheese.

Until recently, the idea of going full-fledged vegetarian had entered my mind... but then there was that little voice that said "but you can't live without cheeese!"

And over the past few months, that voice started growing smaller and smaller, until I realized I was ready to jump into a diet-lifestyle that fully reflected my strong disdain for large industry, factory farming practices.

And that's all I have to say about that.

Anywhoo - a change to a vegan diet isn't all that crazy drastic for me, having already cut meat out of my diet (and a good portion of non-cheese dairy) for quite some time.

But in the last month of transition (and close to three weeks of full-fledged non-dairy eating) I have definitely had to adjust.

Asking restaurants to leave the cheese, sour cream, butter etc... off of my veg-centered meals is no biggie. 

Cooking at home even more do-able.

But milk and eggs can sneak their way into even the most unsuspecting of items, which causes me to think twice and read the ingredients much more often than before.

And then there's the people that you "break the news to."

My two carnivorous, food-loving best friends literally cringed when I told them about my decision while on vacation in Charleston.

(They've since warmed up to the idea. One of them going as far as to say "I'm so glad you're a vegan who still eats!!!)

At my "last hurrah" fancy-pants-ed "cheese eating" party for my Aunt's 50th birthday earlier this month (literally like 20 varieties of delicious, gourmet cheeses... it was pretty good timing in my mind) much of my family - several former vegetarians - had a similar reaction.

"But whyyy?!" they wanted to know.

My boyfriend simply said "YOU not eat CHEESE?" and laughed at the idea when I first told him (that's how much I love cheese). 

He has since been very supportive, checking ingredients and eating vegan right along with me.

My brother didn't think twice at the idea, and even seemed to understand when I told him.
Until he asked me if I wanted a snack, and then got completely flabbergasted because: "You can't eat anything!"

Only one of my friends (who isn't a vegan themselves) immediately said "Go for it! You can do it!" without even a second of hesitation, or skepticism. (In all reality, she said it in a text message, so for all I know, she could have been rolling her eyes and scrunching her face all over the place, but I took it as sincere support and appreciate Taylor very much for it.)

But the purpose of this post (other than being a passive attempt to tell my mom about my new dietary restrictions...because her reaction will undoubtedly be a dramatic one)  is to show my brother, and the many other people I have come across in the past few short weeks of my vegan journey who say "Vegan?! What do you eat then?" that a vegan diet is a delicious one, with endless possibilities, room for invention, creativity and extremely satisfying meals that isn't all nuts and berries...

So, here are some of the highlights of my recent home-made vegan masterpieces:

This is one of the first fully vegan meals I made for myself, when I first started seriously thinking about going full force. It's a Reuben. The main difference from my would-be previous vegetarian version: vegan mozzarella, and a home-made vegan thousand island dressing. 

I used Tofurky, cooked up in a zesty meaty combination ( I think it was soy sauce, ketchup, and a dash of liquid smoke) grilled onions, red sauerkraut I picked up on a whim a few weeks prior, and a "thousand island" sauce made with soy-mayo, Catalina dressing, pickles and onions.

This meal is where I first patented the idea for a "Fat Girl Life-Alert." (You know the buttons they have for old people who fall and can't get up? Ya, I need one for food comas.)

This was test number two. Vegan mac and cheese (one of my true loves in life).

I wanted to know: is it doable?

Because I surely couldn't live without this tasty combination.

Well let me tell you, this recipe (an adaptation to my original, real cheese recipe, but with almond milk, vegan cheese, nutritional yeast, turmeric and I'm sure a lot of other seasonings... oh, and some broccoli) was I kid you not - better than than my original recipe by far. 

I am not just saying that. 

Drooling right now just thinking about this shiz.

Delish recipe numba three: a vegan taco salad.
Made with my home-made taco meat leftover from a "taco party" dinner the night before. (Ok, it was just me and Sean, not really a party per se, but we did break out the limes and the Modelo Especial.)  

It doesn't need much explaining, other than the fact that I used TVP for the meat, seasoned up crazy good Mexi-style, and let it simmer.

It was bomb. 

I brought the leftover-leftovers to friends' house that night as part of a Mexican bean/"cheese" dip that pleased the whole darn crowd of meat-eaters and vegetarians alike.
Success.

 Full-on "Italian Dinner" complete with a side ceasar salad (I scored an organic vegan ceasar dressing at GROCERY OUTLET for a DOLLAR!) toasted bread with vegan spread (I'm currently still working on a large tub of Smart Balance - also from Grocery Outlet.) And a hearty red sauce, made with blended olives, carrots, celery and onions, crumbled "Italian" baked WestSoy tofu, red wine, diced onions, and bunches-o-herbs n' spices.

Deliciouso! 

And finally, my latest creation (ate it for dinner last night and the night before) which I officially dub:

"The Fat Vegan Girl's Dream: fried chicken, bacon and cheese sammich!"

Ok, so I realize this isn't the most appealing food picture I've ever taken, but I had to share this.
(Full disclosure:  this photo  was actually taken mid-bite... at least I took the courtesy of cropping out my greasy vegan fingertips...)

But this thing was soooooo goood. Life Alert was on-hand for sure.

Brief rundown:

Chicken-fried tofu (I used WestSoy's "Asian" baked tofu this time, which I got for 99 cents AT GROCERY OUTLET at the same time I bought the Italian flavor. I think I'm going to go back and get more soon because they came in handy...)

I adapted my breaded-then-fried tofu recipe from No Face Plate, using flour, a non-egg wash (milk and a dash of olive oil did the trick), Shake-n-Bake, nutritional yeast and onion powder.

Fried it up in olive oil and placed it on toasted bread: one slice slathered with soy-mayo, hot-n-spicy stone ground mustard, onion, pickles and lettuce; the other slice: Tofutti cream cheese, Daiya cheddar cheese shreds and Bacos.

Excuse the language, but EFF YA.

So in conclusion, you can see there are tons of possibilities for us vegans to enjoy "normal,"  fattening, carb-laden, sodium-packed foods, just like the rest of America!

And all without contributing to needless animal suffering.

:)