There's just enough chaos going on that at the end of the day I just can't muster the oomph to sit here and chat. Or edit photos. Which are two of my favorite ways to spend some time usually. Nice quiet time. My happy time. Just not lately.
I miss you happy personal time and internet friends...
Since you're here, let's chat!
I have recently become intrigued with Alicia Silverstone's book The Kind Diet. I haven't yet got my hands on a copy so I've been reading/stalking her site.
It's not that I'm super freaked about eating animals (although maybe there is enough reason to be, but you are yummy Mr. Roast Turkey and Mr. Chicken Leg. Did I mention Mr. Mittens makes a mean steak??). Anyhoo, I'm more drawn to the selfish byproducts of a plant based diet such as claims of Better Health! Clear Skin! More Energy! Weight Loss! And so on. And if it's better for the planet and those critters then I can feel virtuous at the same time!
But in all seriousness, stress makes me clench into a tightly wound ball and my digestive system takes a beating. I'm feeling like I need to make an effort to take care of myself. In a mind and body kind of way. So this sort of makes sense.
I'm still in the checking things out stage. I need to actually read The Kind Diet for starters. But I've picked up a couple of vegan cookbooks. To be fair, I really like reading cookbooks, but I'm much slower to actually use them!
How It All Vegan - Lots of fairly simple recipes. Pretty easy ingredients. Mostly tasty so far. Even the bread I made my husband liked (he is generally not a fan of my bread making attempts).
Get It Ripe - More serious approach. Lots of information, which I like. All around good nutrition and yummy looking recipes I could manage without much trouble.
What I like about vegan eating: I don't really think dairy products are very good for us. I have a lot of sinus problems and diary is notoriously bad for that.
I like trying new food and using ingredients in new ways (cashews and nuts for cremes for example). Fun and tasty. Did you know you can substitute ground flax seeds for eggs in baking? Cool.
I have no doubt that eating a lot more fruit and veggies would make us all healthier. And for the most part taste pretty yummy.
What I'm not crazy about:
Soy. I don't have any real problem with the taste/texture, I just don't think I should be feeding it to my kids. And it seems to be a real staple in a lot of vegan diets.
Beans. I like beans. But without eating soy am I left eating only beans for most of my protein? Do they sell Beano at Costco?
Meat and dairy taste good!
Inconvenient. Sad but true. It's just a lot more work. Not that it isn't totally valuable work, but it will take more planning and organization for me. Which is why I haven't gotten any further than this so far!
My thought is to give this a try on a trial basis and I'm going to wait a bit until I can focus more. Commit to a few weeks or a month to see if I see changes. But I am kind of excited.
If any of you have any thoughts or suggestions please feel free to comment. It seems like a lot of information to process. I'm trying to take it all in!
Would it be wrong to order some ginger beef as a farewell meal?!
And here's us trying out my new tripod...
9 comments:
Sprouts! Sprouts! Sprouts! I've been reading again about them and ready to make some more. I did some mung beans last week and some investigating on the net to realize why they will never look like the ones from the store so of course my kids will never eat them.. the ones in the store use lots of chemicals. Still I like the tiny little ones and the nutritional benefits are BIG time. For the broccoli sprouts it is way more than just eating broccoli. I want to try red clover and broccoli next.
Yummy on the whole vegan thing. I volunteer to help taste test your creations!
So weird...I was just watching Alicia on the Jimmy Fallon show and thinking a lot of the same things. I like the idea of "flirting" with veganism, as she likes to say. But we both know I couldn't part with my Montreal steak spice permanently... ;)
We do food combining, and so we eat a lot of beans to balance things. I know most food combining diets say avoid beans, but the one we follow says it is the equalizer. it is a protein and a carb, but doesn't react with the other. The hinted at gas issue disappears as your body adjusts to having beans regularly. another option is quinoa, which is a complete protein by itself, and if you cook it in a broth, very versatile and yummy.
Sorry can't help you much.I am a meat and potatoes girl through and through.But good luck!
I know what you mean. I'd like to change my diet too, but it's just so darn inconvenient! Why does healthy have to be so hard!? Good luck in your endeavors. I'm interested in different people's views on diet - not sure what I believe tho... Does chocolate and diet coke work as a substitution for eggs and milk?
Oh my friend...guess what I started reading today? The Kind Diet! I'll lend it to you as soon as we get together again...so lets make that soon. There are some recipes that I'm interested in.
I think I could be a super flirt...a tease per say. I'm half way there with no dairy or refined sugar anyway. I wouldn't do it to my boys...they love their steak and are so limited already.
The health, energy and skin benefits sound amazing though...and just what I need. Not to mention the weight loss factor.
I don't know about saving the world though. As an AB farm girl...I need some convincing!
Also, the beany gas issue? If you scoop off the foam or rinse until there is none...usually there is no side effec then. Wuhoo!
We've been eating roasted chickpeas as a snack with soy sauce (Braggs) and sea salt...yum! And tonight I'm going to try banana ice cream...frozen, pureed bananas with some flavoring...and this morning for breakfast we had a "chocolate" rice pudding that was today die for that fit right into our free eating regime. There are tonnes of options...it's just getting your head and family and pantry around it. Will you have a garden at your new "rural" home? That might be fun...maybe...maybe a lot of work too...
Let's get together this week if we can...I am totally rambling here!
I am flirting with the idea. I would love beautiful skin and who doesn't need more energy
Maybe next paycheck I whist splurge.
You might want to check out this lecture from a recent TED convention... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k7sKMj85hDw
I've been doing a Healthy Food Group once a week with some ladies at church where we try to find healthier recipes for our families, trying to concentrate mostly on vegetables. It's been fantastic.
I still love me a steak now and again, but it's been really nice to have such interesting vegetables as part of our meals now.
-Cousin Kristy
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