One Month Challenge: No Meat, No Dairy, No Problem, Week Four

By Katherine

This week I finally feel like I made some progress. I’m getting more used to not eating certain things and preparing easy vegan replacements. I know it seems pretty much like common sense but it has been endlessly helpful to have vegan-friendly snacks always on hand. Carrots and hummus have become a lifesaver and I keep a stash of almonds on me at all times. I even found a great brand on gelatin-free fruit snacks at Target because I’ve been having the worst craving for fruit snacks! Clearly these don’t make up a full meal but they have helped me avoid the caught-off-guard factor I struggled with.

I also found THE COOLEST restaurant by my home in Long Island. It’s an average family-owned pizzeria except they offer an entire vegan menu! I went there over the weekend and was able to go wild with all my Italian faves. I tried a little bit of everything – fried “calamari,” eggplant rollatini, lasagna, and — of course — a cannoli for dessert. And without a shadow of worry that I was going into non-vegan territory!

On top of that, I’ve been experimenting a lot more with vegan cooking. This weekend I made a bulgur wheat dish with curry and chickpeas. It actually came out great and my family ate it and enjoyed it. It also made for good leftovers to bring to work for lunch. I also made vegan brownies made with – prepare yourselves – prunes! I mushed them up in the blender (that’s the precise culinary term) and it somehow made up for the missing egg/butter consistency. And the brownies tasted good!

Basically, I think I am starting to get the hang of this whole thing. There hasn’t been any drastic weight change, but I do feel better and more energetic, as I have from the beginning. This is all making me want to keep going beyond just the month of November and now I’m starting to think I can pull it off for good. I guess we’ll see what Thanksgiving brings!