Newly Vegan

So, being new to all this means that every day is about discovery. What I'm loving about being part of VeganMoFo — and just veganism on the Internet in general — is how everyone shares so damn much. Incredible recipes, pro tips, product finds, letters from corporations, cooking failures and successes, personal experiences eating out... You name it. They share it. There is no secret society of mean girls that I've discovered thus far and folks are, indeed, being as kind to me as they are to furry, four-legged creatures.

Leave it to me to get sick during a blog-a-thon about food. I've been eating a whole lot of nothing for about the last week. But it's all been vegan nothing, so that's OK. Luckily, I'd gone to the store just moments before my first sniffle. I bought some quick-fix things so my sweet, loving boyfriend was able to help whip me up some food when I was feeling like eating. Which brings me to this scary stuff: Gardein Chick'n Scallopini.

My motto lately is, "Don't make it too hard on yourself." I'm finding that there's a sort of balance that I have to strike in order to stay true. There's a certain amount of excitement I have for tasting new things and trying to cook with ingredients I'm not familiar with. But on days when I'm tired (which there have been an awful lot of since my surgery) or days when I'm busy, that excitement level wanes. When those times hit, it's important for me to stick with what I know.

Not everything that's vegan is super healthy, unprocessed and necessarily good for me. But when I get down to it and make comparisons, it's probably still better for me than the meat / dairy / egg alternatives.

Yesterday I decided to get out and about and do some shopping since my leg is feeling a little better. This turned out not to be the best idea I'd had all day, but I did at least get some yummy vegan eats at Chipotle. On their site, they say to vegans , "You should avoid our pinto beans (they are cooked with a small amount of bacon), meats (obviously), cheese, sour cream, and chipotle-honey vinaigrette."

Baking without eggs. I actually learned to do this pretty well before becoming vegan. You could say that my kid's egg allergy was the gateway drug to veganism for me. I thought, why not? I can do this. Did you taste the cookie that just came out of the oven, made by your own two hands? You can totally do this vegan thing. Because even if you can't think of a single thing to eat all day long, there'll always be cookies. Just smile politely and suffer through each bite of that quinoa whatever because back at home, there are cookies waiting for you.

Feeling lazy today. Have a migraine. My menses has attacked . Glad I made those cookies yesterday (will write about them tomorrow). I'm cold. It's supposed to get down to 39 tonight so that's not going to get better. So here's my easy way out today. Peanut butter jelly time. No, I mean VeganMoFo survey time. With a baseball bat. 1. Favorite non-dairy milk?

To celebrate, I'm going to, of course, make a sandwich. I may have mentioned it a time or two, but let me mention it again. I MISS BACON. Of all the meaty, dairy, eggy things that have been exiled from my life, bacon stands alone in the I'm craving department.

I guess you could say that I'm a seitan virgin. I've had it when dining out before and have purchased products that are made with it, but have never made it myself. It's steaming away right now and I'm a little nervous.

I've had some of these hanging around the house so thought I would make some up for lunch. Strangely, I've never even questioned this particular little package of red beans and rice before but now, upon closer scrutiny, I see that I shouldn't have even eaten these during my vegetarian days. Contains: Powdered beef broth and bacon fat.

Howdy and Welcome Y'all I can't remember the last time I was so fired up about something. I can't remember the last time one of my well-intentioned life experiments had such a profound and immediate impact, either. There's a saying here in Texas. And it goes like this: "I wasn't born in Texas, but I got here as fast as I could."