When a person announces that they are going to quit eating meat, go vegetarian, the most common question is "where will you get your protein?". But when they announce that they are going to take it to the next level and become a vegan, the most common question seems to be "what can you eat?", almost as though after meat, cheese and eggs, there is nothing else. But it is closing in on one year ago since I made that decision and while there was a bit of a learning curve in the first few months, it has been an adventure in flavours, a grand experience in learning, a new understanding of what is really good for the human body and a discovery of what is happening to our world from the environmental standpoint.
So what did we have last night for supper? Let me start by saying that many of our meals are becoming more of a one dish experience with some sort of pickled vegetable beside or sliced fresh cucumbers or pepper slices. Last night I made a rice noodle stir fry, every vegetable (as well as pecans and pumpkin seeds), that was in the fridge was involved and a sauce that I made up myself. It is possible that someone, somewhere thought up the exact same sauce, but this isn't plagerism of a recipe because I've not seen it anywhere yet.
My sauce had the following in it:
3/4 cup water
1/2 cup coconut milk
1 tsp five spice powder
1/4 tsp cayenne powder
dash of salt
1 - 2 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp corn starch
1/8 cup pumpkin seeds (ground)
After the veggies were cooked (just barely) to perfection, I started working the pre-cooked and slightly cooled noodles in. The next step was to pour the sauce over the vegetable mixture and stirred it around til it had thickened slightly. And with that, dinner was served.
And while I don't make dessert every day, since becoming a vegan I've learned to make chocolate pudding with rice milk, coco powder, an avocado and half of a banana. I have a great recipe too for blueberry muffins that use no milk, and chocolate chip cookies that are butter free and are sooooo good! Another entree idea is a shredded potato wrap that is a meal in itself. Instead of being bound by the habit of preparing a meal based on and around some type of meat, I have learned to combine flavours, and use spices and a world of vegetable, grain and fruit flavours that prior to "V" Day, I rarely thought about. So back to the question of what do I eat, all the vegetables and fruits and grains and nuts and seeds and spices of the world.
Keep in mind that every food has a bit of protein in it. Protein is the building block of the body, be it the animal or the human body and without it, we would all launguish and die. But cows and horses get big on grass, and bears eat mostly vegetation. As a result, the need for the average human being to make some special effort to ensure their protein requirements is really not a big deal.
As for the health and environmental aspects, well that is another day I think. But for today, enjoy the sunshine if you are lucky enough to have it shining down on you, and if your not so blessed, make the effort to find something else to be grateful for.
Peace and love,
Debby
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