I think my biggest fear when I started this experiment was that I wasn’t going to like the taste of any of the food. I think there’s a definite stigma that vegan food just won’t taste as good as “normal” food. The night before I started this diet, I went out and got a big, greasy bacon cheeseburger from Five Guys. And I ate every bite of it like it was my last goddamn meal. Then, I went to my local Earth Fare(this place is new to Columbus and new in general…it’s very similar to Whole Foods) and stocked up on all kinds of vegan products because if I was going to do this thing, I was going to DO it. I’ve tried out quite a few things and I’d like to share my honest to science opinion about all of them. If you are curious, maybe you’ll be less apprehensive about trying a few of them after you read this. And some you should just stay far, far away from.
- Daiya Mozerella Style Shreds- this is basically vegan cheese. Now, by itself, this stuff tastes awful. I’m not going to sugar coat it. If you eat it out of the bag, it’s gross and you’ll gag and want to throw up. That being said…if you put it on a vegan pizza and let it melt and get gooey and melty, it’s delicious. It can’t be explained how it tastes so much better when it’s melted, but it does. It still doesn’t taste like cheese, but it is satisfying in a different way. You get the illusion of cheese without the calories and cholesterol(the Daiya cheese has only 90 calories and no cholesterol per 1/4 cup serving size). So far, I’ve used this multiple times on pizzas and bread and I also mixed it with some refried black beans, tortilla chips, tomatoes, avocados, lime juice, and green onions as kind of a Mexican bowl of awesome. I will use this again and I’d like to try some of the other styles they have(they make cheddar and pepper jack styles also). You can see more about the Daiya cheese here.
- Earth Balance Natural Buttery Spread- This is basically a butter substitute. It actually tastes really good to me. I went with the original spread and it’s a little firm and kind of hard to spread, but so is real butter when it’s not softened. I ate some of this last night on corn on the cob and it melted like real butter and tasted just as good. The thing about this stuff is it doesn’t have any less fat than butter really (9 grams of fat per tablespoon), but it’s made of plant based oils, so that’s overall better for you. I have no complaints about this at all really. You can find more about Earth Balance Spreads here.
- So Delicious Coconut Milk Hazelnut Creamer- When I decided to do this, I knew if I was going to give up milk, cheese, eggs, and meat, I couldn’t also give up coffee. That would just be way too much. But I don’t like black coffee, so this was a challenge. I did some research online and found this creamer that is made from coconut milk. At first, I wasn’t sure about it. I’m not a huge coconut fan and when you first taste it, it tastes a lot like coconut. But the more I drank, the more I liked it. It makes your coffee taste like a tropical treat. If you like coconut, you would love this stuff. You can find more about So Delicious products here.
- Yves Veggie Cuisine Meatless Pepperoni- Again, I bought these to make a vegan pizza. I really wasn’t a huge fan of these whether they were uncooked or cooked. The flavor was ok and if you are really serious about never eating meat, but miss eating meat, these were a pretty good option. But I didn’t like the texture. They were really chewy and not in a good way. The really good thing about these is the nutrition compared to real pepperonis. You can eat 6 pepperonis and it will only set you back 80 calories and 1 gram of fat. If you’d like to find out more(but I wouldn’t recommend it necessarily) you can do so here.
- Tofurkey Meatless Kielbasa Sausage- This one, I was TERRIFIED about. Really? Tofu sausage? Sounds gross. But I was pleasantly surprised. I made these on my George Forman grill(uh, yea, I still use this all the time) and the outside got that nice crispy texture you get on real sausages and the browned up really nicely. I put it on a vegan bun with some spicy brown mustard and ketchup and just dove right in. Now, these aren’t juicy like real meat sausages or brats and the texture is a little mealy. But they are every bit as tasty and satisfying. I think the reason is that a lot of the spices they use in real meat sausages are spices you can easily put into vegan foods and since tofu picks up whatever flavor you put it with, the end result is pretty identical to the original. When it comes to a comparison of nutrition, though, these aren’t much better for you than the real stuff. One sausage has 240 calories and 12 grams of fat. So this would be a sometimes vegan treat for me. If you want to see more Tofurky delights, you can do that here.
- Silk Pure Almond Milk(Original and Vanilla)- I grew up my whole life drinking skim milk. If you’re in the same boat, the Original flavor almond milk tastes just like skim milk to me. Really, not at all different. I really loved the Vanilla flavor, though. Over some Cheerios, it tastes like dessert for breakfast. I even made some chia seed pudding using the vanilla and it was really good. This was the easiest thing to substitute really because I don’t drink that much milk. But it might be different if I attempt some vegan baking and need milk. Not sure how that will work out. Silk has a whole line of products you can read about here.
- Dr. McDougall’s Pad Thai Vegan Soup- This was, so honestly, the worst of the worst. I hated this one so much I threw it away rather than finish it. It was that fucking gross. I was looking so forward to this too because pad thai is pretty much my favorite food. This just tasted like lime water with rehydrated mystery vegetables. There were no redeeming qualities. I bought another flavor(vegan ramen chicken flavor) that’s just sitting in my pantry and it might stay there because I’m afraid to try it. If you want to read more about Dr. McDougall’s, you can research that link on your own. I don’t want to even think about it.
So there you have it! Those are the products I’ve tried so far and I went to Earth Fare last night and got another batch of things to try, so I’ll report back on those later. Really, with just 2 exceptions that I didn’t personally care for, I have been loving all the food I’ve been eating and haven’t felt deprived at all. I would tell you if I was. If you have something you think I should try out or something you want to know more about, let me know! I’m up for any challenges for the next 2 weeks and if I do it, I’ll give you my honest opinion. Also, I was not getting paid to endorse any of the above products cause I’m not even close to being that fancy. But if anyone from McDougall’s joint wants to give me my money back…
I conquered an intimidating recipe tonight! Vegan summer spring rolls with a homemade spicy peanut dipping sauce. They didn’t look very pretty, but the taste made up for it!
Went to EarthFare and got all these vegan products to try. Look for a product review post soon!
Look how cute our sushi was for dinner! Akai Hana is our new favorite sushi in Columbus. So delicious!
I’m officially done with the first 2 weeks of my month-long vegan challenge. And you want to know something? It has been surprisingly easy and I don’t miss meat or eggs or milk all that much and when I am missing cheese(amazing, glorious, tasty, melty cheese), I have found a vegan cheese that is pretty satisfying. AND. Even more amazing, I’ve lost 6 pounds the past 2 weeks. No lie. And I have by no means been starving. I’ve been eating lots of bread, noodles, french fries, big loaded salads, nuts, and even an occasional Oreo(yea, Oreo’s are vegan). Nathan and I even went to a vegan BUFFET. I’ve felt lighter and feel like I have more energy. The only bad thing was I got sick last week with a pretty nasty cold and everyone was making fun of me saying it’s because I’m doing the vegan thing…I don’t think the two are related, but because of my cold, I haven’t run in about 10 days. So, even without exercising in that time, I’ve lost 6 pounds just by avoiding animal products. I’ve tried a lot of different products, a vegan restaurant, and read a book about veganism and I thought I’d share all that and tell you what I’ve liked, what I haven’t, and what I would do even when I go back to being at least a part-time meat-eater(because let’s be honest…I will have another bacon cheeseburger someday…it’s going to happen).
So first thing, I decided to read a book all about veganism and I went with one that seemed pretty friendly and lighthearted. I read The Kind Diet by Alicia Silverstone. Yea, the actress. I didn’t know she was a vegan and an animal rights activist, but her book was actually a really well researched and written overview of veganism. I liked the way she set the book up. First, she went over what are considered “nasty” foods. “Nasty” foods are things like meat, cheese, milk, eggs, and processed sugar. Those foods are things that aren’t the best for our bodies, but also not the best for the environment. She really drove the environment point home in a way I had never really thought about, but after reading her book, seemed pretty obvious. The animals we raise for food, especially cattle, take our resources that could be used for humans(did you know it takes about 445 gallons of water to produce 1 POUND of beef? 1 POUND. That’s a lot of water) and just puts a lot of strain on the environment that’s never been there before. The next section of the book was the “kind” foods. Basically, whole grains, plant-based proteins(beans, tofu, etc), vegetables, and natural sweeteners. She didn’t really mention fruits all that much, but that too. So once we have the food categories broken down, there are different levels of The Kind Diet. First, you can flirt with the diet. Flirting means you pretty much only eat “kind” foods, but you may fall off the wagon every once in a while. Or you may purposely follow the diet most days of the week, but have cheat days. Then, you have the vegan diet. You use no animal products and limit processed foods and sugars. Finally, you have the superhero diet. It’s vegan, but then you eliminate all processed foods and sugars and eat only locally grown, organic, seasonal foods. And the last 100 pages of the book are recipes for both the vegan and superhero levels(and a lot of them look really good). I think this book was a great introduction to the whole vegan lifestyle and for anyone interested in dabbling in it, this would be a great place to start.
So, the book was really good. My next venture was to try a vegan restaurant. My boyfriend Nathan, being as supportive and sweet as always, decided he would try it out with me. I read some reviews online and decided to try out a local vegetarian and vegan Indian restaurant called Banana Leaf. It’s located off Bethel Road in Columbus in a kind of janky looking strip mall. They have a vegan buffet. Not every night is entirely vegan on the buffet, but we just happened to pick an awesome night. They have a regular menu, but the buffet was about the same price as a lot of their entrees and we wanted to try a little bit of everything. For $14.99, you get your money’s worth and you don’t feel like you’re missing out one little bit because it was DELICIOUS. All of it. First thing, before you even get up to do the buffet, you get about 6 appetizers to try and each of them was very flavorful and used pronounced spices and textures. Then, the buffet has several entrees and side dishes, as well as desserts and mango drinks. We were stuffed by the end of it, but I literally tried a bit of everything. I want to go back another time and do it all over again. Even Nathan loved it and he’s the biggest meat/dairy eater I know(like, he’ll eat a meat pizza with cream cheese on it…really anything with cream cheese on it come to think of it). Also, the people working were just really nice and patient and explained everything to us so we knew what exactly we were eating. It was a little out of our comfort zone, so that was very helpful. So that experience was a real winner too.
Now, this post turned out a lot longer than I expected and I still have to go over all the products and recipes I’ve tried…and I think that will have to wait until tomorrow. Because I’m tired and still trying to get over my cold. I think I’ll leave you there and go slap some Vick’s Vapor Rub all over and read and try to get some sleep. Come back Tuesday for Part 2!
leaseonlife21 