Trial & Error | Going Vegan | Getting Started

With my inability to exercise and my natural ability to increase my waistline, I’ve had to take dramatic steps to manage my health and weight. After a few days of waffling, I ultimately decided to go vegan for one month. Actually, I wasn’t waffling. I had ordered an amazing Valdeon blue cheese from Murray’s in NYC and wanted to work my way through that as a farewell. It was worth it. Wow.

Yes, but this post isn’t about cheese! It’s about the opposite of cheese! It’s about going vegan! It’s about using exclamation points to convince myself that I can do this!

It started yesterday with a visit to Earthfare, which is a regional competitor to Whole Foods, and one which I prefer greatly. The white label options are amazing. The service is great. And the prices tend to be quite a bit more reasonable. For anyone in the Southeast with convenient acess to an Earthfare, I encourage you to visit. The meat, seafood, and poultry options are strong. And the beer and wine selection is very impressive. In this regard, it puts even the larger Whole Foods locations in NYC to shame.

Since I’m down an arm right now, I don’t have the ability to cook too many fancy things. I therefore focused on ingredients I can assemble with one hand (a salad for example) or toss into an appliance that will do the work for me (smoothies and shakes, I’m told, will be my bff).

What Did I Eat:

• Brussel Sprouts – Calm down and stop making that face. I actually made a large plate of these for some guests we had over last night and these were actually completely gone by the end of the night. It was a simple preparation (prune loose leaves, cut stems, cut in half, coat in olive oil, roast in an oven at 400 degrees for 15 minutes or so, flip, roast for another 5, remove and season with smoked salt and freshly ground pepper). Very tasty. Very.
• Cereal – I’m actually loving Almond Milk right now. Soy milk tastes like chalk. I had a Geometry teacher who somehow managed to get chalk on her cheek. I think she would really like soy milk.
• Olives & Vegan Crackers – I’ve realized that I’m going to need to get really creative for textures and bold flavors that I usually pull from creams, cheeses, and richer sauces. Olives handle that well (as do sun-dried tomatoes). Olives kicked-up after being marinated in fresh red chilis and olive oil? Even better.
• Steamed Veggies – I spent most of the day cooking for others (including continuing to perfect my baked crispy chicken wings) so I needed quick eats. The frozen veggies that can be steamed in the pouch are awesome. I spiked them with truffle salt and had a merry old time.
• Beer – Whatever. I’m not going vegan on this.

How Do I Feel:

• I’m 36 hours in and I feel lighter. I just feel a little bit better.
• I also found a great local restaurant, Luna’s Live Kitchen, which goes vegan/local/organic. I had one of their burgers for lunch today and am a pretty happy man. Spicy, tasty, using nuts and seeds to help provide texture and then kicking everything up with a spicy hummus. I will try to replicate this burger.

I’ll post frequently. So far, I think this is going to be easy to pull off. The hardest part will be eating out in groups at restaurants that will look at me like I’m crazy.

You know? Take a number.