Week 1 [Amber]

Week one.......nailed it! (<-- insert fist pump emoji here)

I can safely say I was neither starving nor diving head first into a vat of melted cheese. In fact, I feel pretty good. Don't get me wrong, this is in no way the easiest feat i've ever attempted. ohhh, no no no. The lunch room at work might function solely to torture me on a semi-regular basis, what with the danishes, chocolate and carmel corn that always seems to appear. 

But alas, I'm succeeding and it feels good. Am I ready to start preaching the wonders that is a vegan diet? Not quite. But I am starting to feel like the next three weeks won't end with me crying into a pint of Ben & Jerry's sobbing that I'm a vegan failure. 

The main thing I've learned thus far is how crucial planning and meal prep is to a successful diet. For more than a month before this challenge commenced I was scouring pinterest, blogs, and research articles daily for recipes and nutritional guidance. I HATE being hungry. I mean, if we're being honest with ourselves, who actually enjoys being hungry? But i don't just get hungry. If you looked up "hangry" in the dictionary, my resting bitch face would be inked right next to the words aggressive, hostile, and likely to rip peoples faces off. 

So you can see how important satisfying and filling food is to me. And as if "going vegan" wasn't enough of a challenge, I went into this month with the notion that I was going to try to limit my processed food intake and challenge myself to cook more. I've always really enjoyed cooking, but the idea of cooking without dairy and eggs was very daunting. And as you'll see below, through photographic evidence, i'm doing pretty okay in the kitchen. No, scratch that, i'm crushing it. 

The only downside to this week was when I went to Philly for a Flyers game. Not only did I panic that we wouldn't have enough time to stop at one of the vegan restaurants I'd researched for dinner, leaving me starving with no options at the arena, but also, its Philly! No cheesesteaks?! No Chickie's & Pete's crab fries with cheese sauce at the arena?! Are you trying to kill me!?! Who goes to Philly and doesn't get a cheesesteak? 

Not this girl. Not...this....girl.

Spoiler alert: I didn't get one. And of course we didn't have enough time to stop for dinner -- thank you Philly traffic, you're always such a treat. So of course, I had to scramble to find something to eat that wasn't focused around animal carcass. Luckly I'd perused the interwebs before we left for suggestions so I wasn't completely screwed; again my fear of hungry saved the day. Well, that and a bag full of pre-prepared vegan snacks for the car ride.

And now that I've rambled on for far too long, how about some food reviews?

1. Coconut Blueberry Breakfast Quinoa. Lacked sugar. and salt. and the creamy consistency I'd hoped for.

2. Quinoa Salad with Maple Roasted Sweet Potatoes, Dried Cranberries, Pepitas and Pistachios. A modified recipe that turned out really well. Filling, fairly quick and flavorful.

3. BBQ Cauliflower Salad. Not good. I don't know if I used the wrong type of silken tofu for the ranch but this was no substitute for Hidden Valley. Don't waste your time unless you've got a solid vegan ranch recipe in your repertoire. 

4. Dragon Noodles with Tofu. I've made this recipe for months now. Quick, cheap and delicious. Just remember to omit the egg and double the sauce so theres enough to cover the added tofu. 

5. Chipotle Bowl. Straight bangin! And makes a TON of food. Great for lunches for the week. Plus, its filling and cheap to make. I love me some Chipotle, but it can get $$$. 

Amber