The Final Stretch

My last week of veganism was definitely the hardest. It was my spring break and my softball team traveled to Orlando, Florida for a softball tournament, but mostly just for team bonding in Disney World. Though it was an amazing trip, Disney unfortunately doesn't cater to vegans, so to my dismay, my final week was spent starving and living off of dried fruit and trail mix. I'm not saying that if you are vegan then you should stay away from Disney. I'm sure there are plenty of restaurants with many vegan options, but because I was with a large group and couldn't venture off in search of food to fit my diet, I was stuck with very few choices. I was in Florida from Monday to Friday, and so that meant I only had one more day as a vegan at home. Of course I enjoyed it eating guacamole and Whole Foods vegan cookies, but honestly I was counting down the hours until Easter Sunday. I woke up that morning to Andrew walking into my house with a huge bag from Sunrise Biscuit Kitchen. He bought six biscuits and we happily sat enjoying our first non vegan meal. I loved being vegan, and I can truly say that up until Disney, this vegan challenge wasn't that difficult for me, but taking that first bite of my egg and cheese biscuit made me realize just how good some non vegan foods are. That morning I enjoyed every single bite of both that biscuit and a cinnamon roll biscuit. Following the meal, I had to head off to work but was somewhat excited because for the first time in forty some days I would actually be able to eat the bakery goods while working. While there, I still made my normal soy latte because though I could have used regular milk, soy lattes will always be my favorite. This challenge was my best Lent yet. Becoming a vegan has become part of my life and though I enjoyed all the non vegan foods that I ate yesterday, I will probably still continue to choose many vegan options and take this diet into consideration well into the future.

Vegan at heart,
Maggie

Phood in Philadelphia

This past week for part of my spring break, I traveled to Philadelphia with my mom and brother. I did not expect this city to cater well to vegans being as their most famous food is cheesesteak. Watching my brother eat three cheesesteaks in three days made me really want to try one. I was able to find a place that served a meatless steak on the last day. I wasn't able to have cheese on mine and I think that might be why I did not enjoy it very much. Hopefully, I can go back to Philadelphia and try a real one.  

One night, we went to a restaurant near where we stayed called The Latest Dish. I had read reviews about this place and many people commented on their vegan burger. I decided to order it and I was very pleased. Instead of trying to mimic the flavor of meat, it went for its own taste of black beans mostly.

Philadelphia, being the fifth largest city in the United States, had many different options for all different kinds of people. There were cheese steak places on every corner but there were also restaurants with vegan options too if you looked close enough. I was also able to use online reviews to my advantage to see if restaurants were vegan friendly before going to them. I enjoyed my trip to Philadelphia and the food did not take away from this fun experience. 

Almost Easter,
Andrew Jessup

Philadelphia

Today I went to The Morning Glory diner in Philadelphia. The menu did not have many vegan options but they did offer a tofu scrambler which is like scrambled eggs but with tofu. It was very good but the aroma from the other non-vegan dishes at my table, made me miss eggs and bacon. I do not usually eat tofu but if I could prepare it like this I would eat it more often for sure. Eating out often in another city has been difficult but the challenge has been pretty fun.

From Philly with love,
Andrew Jessup

Dessert Guacamole

As mentioned previously, my sister, Hayley, is currently following a strict paleo diet, and so many of our conversations revolve around the weird foods we eat. We were both in the mood for something sweet tonight, and since both our diets limit many dessert foods, we decided to make something. We decided on sweet potato biscuits. I work at Cafe Carolina and the biscuits there are Hayley's favorite, so we attempted to recreate them. Here is a picture:

This recipe wasn't originally vegan or paleo, but we figured we could alter the ingredients to make them fit the requirements. Let's just say that probably wasn't the best idea. Instead of flour we figured we could use almond or coconut flour, but since we didn't have any at my house, we used ground flaxseed (biggest mistake). We then substituted hazelnut milk for regular milk, vegan butter for regular butter, and instead of regular sugar (this is when we split the recipe in two, we used vegan sugar for mine, and honey for Hayley's). Though Hayley thought they weren't that bad, I couldn't even swallow mine. The taste and smell was unbearable for me, and I can honestly say that I'm not exaggerating. Flaxseed was definitely not a good idea; I think almond flour would have made them a lot better. I would be interested to alter the recipe and try again later, but unfortunately these biscuits were a complete fail.

On a higher note, while these biscuits were baking, we made a vegan/paleo chocolate mousse and dipped mango into it.

Now, this recipe calls for an open mind. It is simply one avocado mashed up, with 2 Tbsp. dark cocoa, 2 Tbsp. light brown sugar, and a tsp. of hazelnut milk. When mixed really well, it looks and tastes exactly like a chocolate mousse. I absolutely loved it! Even people who don't necessarily enjoy avocados will like this because the cocoa overpowers the whole dish. Most all fruit will taste good with this (like strawberries and bananas), but I recommend mango. This is definitely going to become a regular dessert at my house.

What a miraculous discovery,
Maggie

Curryblossom

Tonight Eleanor and I went to Curryblossom Cafe. I had never been before, or even heard of it, but Eleanor was excited to bring me because she noticed how many vegan options were offered.  Indian food is one of my favorites, so it was tough to make a decision, especially because usually the vegan dishes are limited to only one or two. To my delight there were so many various dishes to choose from. Eventually I decided on the Chole, which is a chickpea curry served over basmati rice. I also got uttapam bread, which isn't normally vegan, but on request could be made so. This bread was delicious! It was like a pancake with onions and cilantro mixed into the batter. There were also sauces on the side which were extremely interesting and different. I have no idea the ingredients in them, but two out of the four were really good with the bread. I would be interested in learning how to make this pancake because it doesn't seem too complex to make, and even if it is, I wouldn't mind because it was that good. The chole was spicy but also very tasty. Overall, this was a very successful dining experience. I definitely want to go back soon with Andrew because I'm sure he'll enjoy all of the vegan options just as much as I did.

 -Maggie

A House Divided

There are so many different ways of eating, and learning about all of them and how they relate interests me greatly. This past week my family and I have been relating my vegan diet to my sister's new paleolithic diet. The two are extremely different considering the majority of the foods she consumes are meats and animal based products such as eggs, while mine is strictly animal free. The paleo diet only allows the consumption of pre-agricultural foods, therefore, everything must be gluten free and dairy free. Hayley can only eat meat, eggs, fruits, vegetables, and unsalted nuts (peanuts are excluded from the nut group since they are considered legumes, which are agriculturally grown). Soy is also not allowed. I get all of my protein as a vegan through peanut butter, beans, and soy, and all of those foods are ruled out as a paleo. Hayley's way of eating now is rubbing off on my brother (unfortunately eating massive amounts of meat appeals to him more than my vegan way of living off plants), and so recently I've been trying some of his foods. Since dairy and soy are off limits, I've begun to try almond milk. Though it is not my favorite, it's interesting to know about all the various dairy alternatives. On one vegan website that I read, oat milk is extremely popular and preferred over all the other milk alternatives. I am interested to see how that compares to soy and almond milk. Anyway, when I got home tonight my sister and brother were excited to show me a paleo dessert that they created. They were even more excited because it was also vegan, so I was able to try it.

These paleo/vegan ball things are chunks of banana, covered in almond butter, and rolled in chopped walnuts, golden raisins, and regular raisins. Then, they are refrigerated until they aren't as gooey.
For the past few days I've been trying out various almond butters and cashew butters with my brother, and though I still love just plain peanut butter, these almond butter banana balls are really good. I recommend trying them out!



My parents must think their kids are crazy,
Maggie

Muffin Success!

Yesterday morning I decided to make blueberry muffins. I had found what seemed to be a good recipe and was excited to try them out. Though my previous baking attempts were somewhat of fails, I was hoping for this time to be better, and thankfully it was. I made twelve, and they are already gone. Many friends got to try them and all seemed to enjoy them (or at least pretended to), so I was happy with the outcome. Here is a picture of how they turned out:

Recipe:
-3/4 c. whole wheat flour, 3/4 c. unbleached white
-3/4 c. granulated sugar
-1/2 tsp. sea salt
-2 tsp. baking powder
-1/3 c. vegetable oil or applesauce (I used vegetable oil)
-1 Flax Egg**
-1/3 c. soy milk (plus OJ for extra liquid)
-1 c. blueberries

Crumb Topping:
-1/4 c. sugar
-1/8 c. whole wheat flour
-1 Tbsp. vegan butter (I use Earth Balance)
-3/4 tsp. cinnamon

**Flax Eggs: Blend 1/3 c. ground flaxseeds with 1 c. water. The gooey mixture is equivalent to 6 eggs. 1 egg (required for this recipe) is about 3 Tbsp. of the mixture. Refrigerate the extra.

Directions: Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Combine flour, sugar, salt, baking powder. In a separate measuring cup pour vegetable oil, flaxseed egg, and milk. Add wet ingredients to dry and mix well. If batter is thick, add OJ or more soy milk until it becomes pourable, but not too runny. Fold in berries. Grease muffin pan or use paper liners and distribute batter evenly. For crumb topping, mix all ingredients, and get out all butter lumps, then evenly distribute over batter. Bake 15-20 minutes.
(Recipe from vegancoach.com)

These are definitely worth trying, and I hope you enjoy!
Maggie

Blueberry Muffins

Today, I was lucky enough to be able to enjoy two blueberry muffins. While similar, both muffins had distinct characteristics which separated them. I ate the first blueberry muffin of the day at lunch and the second one after dinner.

The first blueberry muffin I ate was made by Maggie earlier in the day. She had woken up early that morning (though not as early as she would have liked, she noted) to make these muffins. She said she enjoyed baking them and hopefully she will share some pictures of the process on her next post. But I have to say the pleasure was all mine. I was extremely impressed (not to imply that I had been expecting mediocrity) by the taste and the texture. The muffin was soft and moist but stayed together throughout the eating process. The speed at which I ate the muffin and my unwillingness to share with anyone is a testament to the quality of this blueberry muffin.

The second muffin was purchased by my mother at Whole Foods. I often hear of Whole Food's great selection of vegan baked goods but this was my first personal encounter. This version of the vegan blueberry muffin was larger and more dense than Maggie's version. The taste was not as sweet and the blueberries were more of the focus in this one. I was not happy at the amount of muffin that stuck to the wrapper after I had unwrapped it. But I did enjoy this hearty muffin.

I enjoyed eating both muffins and would happily eat both again. I believe that the Whole Food's version is better suited as a breakfast food and Maggie's version is more of a dessert food. The density and starchy flavor of the Whole Food's version make this more of a meal item. The rich sweet flavor of Maggie's version makes me think of this as more of a dessert item because I think I would feel bad eating this every day because of how good its taste. I would say that Maggie's version of a vegan blueberry muffin was the winner because of its overall superior eating experience.

Andrew Jessup

B12 Conscious

All week I've had vitamin B12 on my mind. On Wednesday, I took a mental health morning and happily got in some much needed sleep. I woke up to a text from one of my sister's friend, explaining all the reasons why I should take vitamin B12. She went on to tell me how without the consumption of any animal products our bodies aren't able to get enough of it. B12 is needed for blood formation, and a lack of it in the body can lead to anemia and decreased immune responses. I thought this text was especially ironic considering I had taken the morning off due to fatigue.  The person who sent me this even offered to buy me the vitamin herself, just so I would take it. Due to her major concern, I did some research on it and it is true that vegetarians, especially vegans have a hard time getting this vitamin. The reason is because B12 comes from the soil. When animals eat grass or or other plants directly from the soil, the humans who eat those animals or products from them, are also getting the vitamin. Even our ancestors who lived off of plant-based diets, took their food directly from the ground and probably didn't wash it as thoroughly as we do today, so they probably still ate a good amount of soil and directly took in this vitamin. Many vegan websites recommend taking vitamin B12 supplements. Other ways to get this vitamin is in B12 fortified foods and drinks such as soy milk, and also in nutritional yeast.
After all this research I've been blaming much of my tiredness and emotional reactions to this lack of B12, and in reality, yes, a B12 deficiency can be harmful, but much of life is mental. I went on a run yesterday and though I didn't go as far as some of my other runs, I was just as tired if not more, and the first thing that I did was blame myself for not getting enough of this vitamin. I don't want to start blaming my weaknesses on a lack of this vitamin. It is very important though so I'm probably going to start getting B12 fortified soy milk, but as of right now, I'm still deciding on whether I should take the supplement. I'm glad my sister's friend made me aware of this even though it's somewhat getting to my head. I don't want to be a naive vegan, actually have something go wrong, or become unhealthy from this way of eating, so I'm glad to now know about B12.

Learning something new everyday,
Maggie

Chow Down

In my endless pursuit of knowledge, I went to the local library to try and find some interesting books about the vegan lifestyle or on nutrition in general. While searching the catalogue of the library, I discovered that the most popular books about nutrition and veganism were mostly checked out. This took me by surprise, but I've come to conclude that this must be a good thing as it shows that people are interested in this subject and therefore their health. I was able to find one book that was available titled, “Vegan Freak: Being Vegan in a Non-Vegan World.” A few chapters into this book, I have not found it as interesting as “Skinny Bitch” was, but I think I will continue to read it.

After looking through the books at the library, I went to the movie section. I was hoping to find any kind of movie that I hadn't seen yet, but I happened across a documentary called “Chow Down.” I just finished this movie, literally minutes ago, and I felt compelled to write about it. Besides the typical health film stuff about the government and statistics, what made this movie especially interesting to me was how it went inside the lives of people who were dealing with chronic diseases. These people were going to attempt to reverse the effects of their illnesses by changing their nutritional habits. The movie has many interviews with doctors from around the country who all mainly agree that: “The majority of common chronic killing diseases are food-borne illnesses which need never occur.” (-Caldwell B. Esselstyn, Jr. M.D.). The concept of food and poor nutrition being the source of so many deaths in this country to me was amazing. The likelihood of heart disease, the number one killer, and cancer, the number two killer of people in America, can be drastically reduced by proper nutrition.

Anyone who is not fully convinced of the importance of nutrition or anyone who needs motivation to start eating properly should, without a doubt, watch this documentary.

Eat like your life depends on it,

Andrew Jessup

Day 23

We're already over half way through our vegan challenge and I'm excited to say that I've really been enjoying my vegan diet. I've gotten to the point where it's not hard at all and becoming more natural everyday. Though occasionally I miss many of the desserts and sweet foods that I love, I've learned that eating fruit is a good cure to my sugary, non vegan cravings. One of my favorite desserts is a bowl of strawberries, blueberries, and bananas. Another food that is sweet and vegan are graham crackers. Those seem to make do when fruit just doesn't cut it. I hate to say it, but I've been becoming a little lazy with experimenting with different vegan foods. I pretty much stick to the same handful of safe foods around my house (peanut butter being a staple ingredient to my diet), but earlier this week I went to Whole Foods for lunch with a friend and was pleasantly surprised with all of the vegan options. I knew that Whole Foods catered much of their food to vegetarians, but to my convenience, many of their vegetarian options are also vegan. It helps that all of their hot/cold food dishes include a list of ingredients for each item. I got a salad with different types of tofu on top, and I saw a vegan hummus pizza that I'll be sure to try later or try to make myself. Whole Foods definitely motivated me to try to experiment more because it can get a little boring eating the same types of food at home. Inspired from the previous day, I decided to be a little more adventurous, so this morning for the delayed opening, Eleanor and I ate some vegan pancakes. They looked exactly like normal pancakes and were made almost the exact same way, but instead of normal milk, we used soy milk. Eleanor really enjoyed them, but I didn't think they were sweet enough. I'll probably just add sugar to the batter next time because the original recipe didn't call for any. I'm really excited for the second half of veganism!

Whole Foods is definitely my inspiration,
Maggie

Blood Drive

One of the main criticisms I have received during my time as a vegan has to do with how I will maintain iron levels in my blood. This was especially important this past Friday because I wanted to donate blood during my school's blood drive. In order to give blood, my finger was pricked and my blood was tested for iron to ensure I had sufficent amounts. The test showed that I had healthy levels of iron in my blood. So, this will no longer be a concern for me as I continue my vegan adventure.

Today, I read a very interesting article in The New York Times about fake meat and its effects on the environment and the food industry. To me, it was fascinating and his experiences with fake meats I found very similar to mine. I have posted the link at the bottom of this post and I hope you all will check it out.

Iron-y,
Andrew Jessup

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/11/opinion/sunday/finally-fake-chicken-worth-eating.html?_r=1&ref=todayspaper

Road Trip

Hayley and I woke up early this morning and set out on a day trip to Charlotte, Winston Salem, and Greensboro.  This weekend is the end of Hayley's spring break and after a full week of her working multiple hours at her job, we decided that the best way to end her vacation would be to go shopping. Anyway, we stopped at Whole Foods before heading out, and I couldn't resist passing up a vegan cookie, so I picked out a coconut nut one to go along with my soy latte.  My favorite lattes are at Cafe Carolina because the soy milk is unflavored. Starbucks and Caribou both have vanilla flavored soy milk, and in my opinion the flavored kinds just don't taste as well in coffee. I was pleasantly surprised when I saw that the soy milk used at Whole Foods is unflavored because I thought the only time I could indulge with a latte would be at work.  Though I still like Cafe Carolina's lattes better (all soy milks have different flavors), this one was still very good.  So, we eventually made it to Charlotte and got so carried away with shopping that we didn't really think about eating. It wasn't until a lot later when we were heading to Winston Salem that we noticed we were starving. After some walking in downtown we came upon a cute restaurant called, 6th and Vine. This is a picture of what I got:

This is the Asian salad, which is arugula with tomatoes, cucumbers, carrots, mushrooms, and a seaweed salad on top. I also added some grilled tofu. It came with a dressing, and even though Hayley said it was really good, it looked creamy, so I didn't take a chance with it.  Plus, the seaweed salad on top added enough flavor without the need for any kind of dressing. This salad was a normal meal for me except for the seaweed. I'm pretty sure I never would have thought to add seaweed to a salad, but it was surprisingly good. Before this meal, I thought seaweed was only eaten with sushi, so that being said, it was definitely a risk for me to try.


Overall, our road trip was successful, both with the shopping and the restaurant choice.

Who knew green slime could taste so good,
Maggie

One of the 2.5%

Today, Andrew told me a very interesting statistic. Apparently in the United States, 2.5% of the population is vegan and 5% are vegetarian. We both thought that these numbers were high, but then again, I don't know that much about veganism in other states, so I did some research. Portland, Oregon is a well known location for vegans.  Following Portland is Los Angeles, New York, and Chicago. 2.5% still seemed pretty high, so we looked at how that percent relates to our school.  If 2.5% was an accurate statistic, then 40 students at our high school would be following a vegan diet, and I just don't think that's correct.  Still, it's interesting to know about other vegans throughout the country, and I'm sure there are more concentrated numbers in various locations.  Having Andrew tell me this today made me want to know more about veganism throughout the world. If I find anything of interest, then I'll definitely post links!
Anyway, my own vegan diet has been going really well.  I can't really say that I've eaten many interesting dishes, but I had a vegan chili the other night which was pretty good. Then today, I had a doctor's appointment and before going back to school my mom and I stopped by Whole Foods to get breakfast.  I love the vegan cookies there, but since it was morning, I wasn't ready to eat one of those.  Luckily, in the bakery section they had vegan blueberry muffins, so I decided to try one.  All of the items in the bakery case show the ingredients used in each item, and for both the vegan cookies and this muffin that I ate, applesauce is a prominant ingredient used. I'm pretty sure the applesauce takes the place of the eggs and makes the dough bind together and be less crumbly.  Maybe next time I make cookies I'll try applesauce, considering my previous ones didn't bind together very well at all.

Applesauce may be the key,
Maggie

14 going on 40

Tomorrow will begin the third week of veganism for me and I am happy to say that it has gone well. I have had almost no difficulty resisting temptation and I have been able to keep my energy up, which were essentially the only two things I was concerned about. In order to stave off boredom, I have tried to eat a variety of different foods and this has worked well so far.

Being a vegan has made me much more aware of how food is made. A few nights ago, I found myself looking up restaurant menus online and calling the restaurants themselves in order to get more information on their food. I have never really done this in the past, as I can always find something suitable to my taste. Now that I am vegan, I usually like to familiarize myself with menu's before arriving.

In the past, I have been skeptical of any vegetarian meat options but recently I decided I would like to try a veggie burger. At 501 Diner, there is an option for a black bean veggie burger and I thought that this would be a good place for my first experience.

The burger usually comes on a non-vegan bun but I was able to substitute the bun for some vegan whole wheat toast.

I thought this burger was very good. Instead of meat imitation, like the soy chicken, this black bean burger had its own distinct taste. Though the black bean burger did not taste like meat, it was still delightful in its own right. This was a good first experience with veggie burgers and I look forward to trying other renditions of this dish and sharing the results with you all.

During these two weeks, I have tried to immerse myself in the vegan culture. One fun way that Ive done this is by following twitter accounts that have a vegan perspective. I've followed vegan magazine editors, doctors, nutritionists, vegan athletes, and the official twitter account of PETA. These people have shared articles about the environmental effects of a vegan diet and also many, many recipes. Lots of these articles are fascinating and all of them are at least informative. I will try to set up a way that I can share some of my favorite articles with you all.

Sorry for the delay between my posts, I promise I will begin to post more often. Thanks for reading!

Vegan for 14,

Andrew Jessup

All You Have To Do Is Ask

This weekend hasn't been too eventful concerning my vegan diet.  For dinner last night I ate a salad with guacamole and dried fruit (yes, that sounds strange, but guacamole is my favorite food and I love dried fruit, so the combination was very tasty). I decided that dinner tonight should be a bit more interesting.  Hayley, Eleanor, and I decided to go out, and we were torn between Saffron or Carrburritos. We eventually decided on Saffron because it was new and different.  Plus, one of our friends who is vegetarian works there and is always saying how good the food is. As we were gazing over the menu, I was becoming a little concerned because I wasn't familiar with many of the foods.  Most everything contained the ingredient paneer, which is a type of Indian cheese.  The waiter was extrememly friendly, and though I felt that I was being annoying, I had to ask whether certain dishes contained milk. Being the good waiter that he was, he brought me a sheet of paper with a list of vegan dishes, lactose free dishes, and gluten free dishes. Even though most of the dishes aren't normally vegan, the cooks can alter certain ones, so I picked the Tawa Subz dish and had the spiced onion sauce, which he told me contained milk, made vegan. The dish, though spicy, was delicious. It was mixed vegetables cooked with different spices. I'm not sure how they altered the sauce so that there was no dairy, but it looked like there was some sort of sauce on it, so maybe they used coconut milk.  I trust the waiter though so if he said it was vegan, then I believe him. So far everything has been going really well. I love trying new dishes and being so aware of everything that I eat. It definitely hasn't been as hard as I thought, but having to ask so many questions in unfamiliar restaurants can get somewhat annoying (for both the waiter and the people that I go with). I also want to note that my energy levels haven't decreased at all since becoming vegan. I've been able to keep up with my running and can't tell any difference between my pre-vegan diet and now. I'm excited for next week and new food experiences!

Maggie

Definitely Not Destined to Be a Baker

Usually I enjoy baking. I'm fairly decent at it because I typically follow recipes so the product most of the time turns out how it's supposed to. My first attempt at baking something vegan was that seven grain bread, and since that didn't turn out the greatest (I still don't know what happened), I decided to try again.  Today I had friends coming over to work on an English project so I thought it would be an opportune time to bake some vegan cookies. I found what seemed like a good recipe for classic chocolate chip cookies. They weren't made with anything strange like tofu or egg replacer, it was just a simple cookie recipe where the butter was just replaced with a vegan version.  Anyway, I used semi sweet chocolate chips, and my brother and I thought it would be better if we added some peanut butter too. When we finished, we tried the dough and it was quite tasty. This is the picture:

So the taste was fine, but the texture was extremely off.  They were crumbly and didn't hold together very well.  The strange texture seemed to take away from the taste, so I wasn't too happy with the outcome.  Though my friends seemed to enjoy them, I'll probably try a different recipe for next time.  Maybe it was because of the peanut butter, but other than that we followed the recipe exactly so I don't really know what happened. By the end of this vegan challenge I'll hopefully master baking things, but as of right now it's fun to experiment.

Third times the charm,
Maggie

An Unexpected Outcome

My last post explained how I was making my first ever vegan bread.  It was a seven grain, 2 lb. loaf and it took about four and a half hours to bake.  Originally I was trying to wait up so that I could take it out right when it finished, but the bread machine directions said that once it is done, it can stay in the bread machine for however long necessary.  So of course, I fell asleep on the couch and when I woke up in the middle of the night, I went straight up to bed and didn't think once about the bread.  When I went downstairs this morning, this is what it looked like:

I'm not really sure what the final product was supposed to look like, but this loaf was half the size of the usual breads my family bakes, yet it weighed the full two pounds. The thing was like a square brick.  Anyway, after sawing through it and taking a bite, I was a little happier because the taste wasn't too bad, it was just extremely dense.  I still had some for lunch and dinner, and Andrew even tried it and I think liked it somewhat. It's not the best plain, but it's pretty good with peanut butter or other toppings. If and when I decide to make another bread, I think I'll try a new recipe, just to see how they compare.

The struggles of baking,
Maggie

Facing National Pancake Day

Today was a very special day considering that it was national pancake day.  Since sophomore year I have enjoyed taking the fifteen minute car ride with my friends to IHOP where we happily sit and devour our short stack of free buttermilk pancakes.  They are so delicious and filling, which made waking up this morning that much more of a disappointment, knowing I couldn't participate in the tradition this year. Though I couldn't eat the pancakes on this very special holiday, I still went with my best friend, Eleanor, to the IHOP at lunch. I guess it worked out because one of our other friends couldn't go, so I just took my free pancakes back for her. All in all, this national pancake day was successful.  Even though we got lost going back to school and ended up being late to fifth, it was definitely worth it. Seeing those pancakes didn't make me wish for them as much as made me want to make my own vegan versions. I was strongly considering making some for my dinner tonight, but instead, I had a grilled portabella mushroom.  I figured since my family was grilling for dinner, it would be out of place if I was eating pancakes. Maybe I'll do those another night, but the mushroom was delicious. Portabellas are extremely "meaty".  My brother, Grant, tried it, and he was really surprised how closely it resembled his pork chop that he was eating at that moment.
Officially, we have now made it one week as being vegan.  I have a slight confession though. I was in the grocery store with Eleanor before we went into IHOP because I was hungry and didn't have a lunch, and we were trying to decide what granola we thought looked the best.  I was looking at the ingredients of basically every single one of them when I realized that honey was a consistent ingredient used in most all of them.  Then, I looked at the granola that is my favorite and is currently what I've been eating since becoming vegan, and unfortunately I overlooked the honey ingredient in it. There is much debate about whether or not honey should be vegan, but technically it is still an animal product since bees make it.  I feel bad, but oh well there's not much I can do about it now. I think I'm going to start making my own homemade granola, or test out new brands with no honey. I'm hoping the new one will taste just as good as the old. Speaking of making homemade vegan foods, tonight was the first night I baked something.  I made a loaf of seven grain bread, and it's still baking now, but I'm excited to see how it turns out. The recipe called for a tablespoon of honey, but I just substitued brown sugar for it. It takes forever to bake, so we'll see how it tastes tomorrow! I love learning something new everyday, and though I couldn't eat my free pancakes or learned that I'll have to give up my favorite granola, I'm still so happy that I'm doing this.

One week down and excited for the rest,
Maggie

Temptations Everywhere

I work at Cafe Carolina and Bakery in Meadowmont, and today I worked from 8-6. I was completely surrounded by cupcakes, brownies, gooey butter cakes (my favorite, even though they are so bad for you), muffins, cookies, etc. So yes, it was ten straight hours of torture.  Thankfully, I stayed busy and didn't really have a chance to think about all the delicious non-vegan foods around me, but it was still harder than the previous days.  It was definitely strange for me to resist taking random bites out of various baked goods, but I liked the challenge. Plus, I got more work done which is good because if you ask anyone that I work with they will tell you I work at a slug's pace.  My one guilty pleasure at the Cafe is a soy latte. Even before this vegan diet I always made a latte with soy milk, so I'm glad I can continue to have this drink.  I'm excited to see how work continues to treat me, and I'm hoping that the temptations go away or at least ease up.

My sister, Hayley, picked me up from work because she borrowed my car for the weekend, and on the way home she told me about her afternoon with my mom which I thought I would share. So, my mom is extremely supportive of me being vegan, and Hayley was telling me how she was excited to make a dinner that the whole family would like, and have it also vegan for me. She decided to make a big pot of hominy which is a puffed corn.  Hominy tastes starchy so it's a very filling dish. Anyway, Hayley was explaining how they were going to make one batch with vegetable stock, celery, and carrots, which I would eat, and then for the rest of the family, they would just add sausage.  Basically everything was cooked and my mom was extremely satisfied when she took a taste and stated that it "tasted too buttery".  Apparently, she turned around panicked, looked at Hayley, and said something not very characteristic of my mom. Hayley, confused, didn't know how to react until my mom explained how vegans can' eat butter and this huge pot of "vegan" hominy had so much butter in it. When Hayley and I got home, I saw the big buttery pot, and then on the other burner I saw a small skillet of hominy that Hayley said my mom cooked separately for me.  This story not only made me laugh, but it made realize how easy it is to cook a meal and accidentally forget about using non-animal products. 
I wanted to thank you, Mom, for a wonderful hominy dinner, and all the hard work that you put into it. I know you easily could have lied and pretended that there was actually no butter in it, and honestly I probably wouldn't have ever known, but it means a lot that you didn't.

Successful weekend,
Maggie

Soy Good

Yesterday night was my first time dining out while being vegan. With Maggie, I went to a Vietnamese restaurant named Lime and Basil. This was an interesting experience as I had to navigate the menu according to my vegan diet. I had to automatically rule out a lot of items on the menu but I was still left with lots of options to choose from. After much deliberation, I ordered the Soy Chicken Stir Fry and Maggie ordered the Vegetable Curry. I had never had any fake meats before and I thought that this would be a good time to try it. When my food came to the table, I was hesitant to eat the soy chicken because of how closely it resembled real chicken. After Maggie's brother Grant tasted it and reassured me of its "fakeness", I was able to start eating. This is a picture of my dish (half-eaten):

The taste of the soy chicken was nearly identical to the taste of real chicken which was relieving because of the stories I had heard in the past regarding vegetarian meat products. The texture of the chicken was the only way to differentiate it from real chicken. But this texture difference, in my opinion, made the soy chicken taste better than real chicken. Grant, an avid meat eater, agreed with this statement and I encourage everyone to try this soy chicken and judge for themself. The rice and vegetables that accompanied it were also very good. 

Here is a picture of Maggie's Vegetable Curry:

Her dish contained tofu which I was able to try. This was my first time eating tofu and I liked it. The spongy texture was different than I expected but I enjoyed it. I think that the surrounding ingredients of the tofu were what gave it its flavor and I can not say for sure that I would enjoy eating tofu plain or without any marination. 

This morning, my Dad prepared vegan french toast.

The batter was prepared using bananas, soy milk, and vegan margarine. I really enjoyed this and I would like to prepare this and similar things to this in the future. My siblings also tried it and liked it as well.

So far, being vegan for me has been relatively easy and very fun. Besides the occasional food commercial, I have been able to avoid any cravings of non vegan food. I hope that these cravings will die out as I get further along into these forty days. I've enjoyed the new foods that I have been able to try and look forward to all the accompanying experiences of this journey. 

Thanks for reading,

Andrew Jessup

Feeling Good

It is finally the weekend and I'm excited to experiment with many new vegan recipes. Hopefully if any turn out really well I'll post the recipes! Being vegan for three and a half days has already changed how I feel.  Earlier this year I was vegan for one and half weeks and it made me so tired and sluggish. I don't exactly know why this time I feel so much more energized, but I was able to run 8.3 miles this morning and felt so good doing it.  I'm pretty sure I have more energy because I'm eating a variety of foods.  Before when I tried to be vegan, every single day, I ate oatmeal for breakfast, nuts, fruits, and carrots for lunch, and a salad for dinner. Realistically that just doesn't cut it.  Most everything I ate had no substance at all, so therefore, I had no energy.  This week I think I've eaten something different for almost every single meal.  I've eaten a variety of foods and also have incorporated a lot of protein into my diet as well, for example, last night I ate a delicious tofu curry dish.  I definitely already feel healthier and I'm going to try and continue eating a wide variety of foods, both for energy purposes and just so I don't get bored.

Hopefully this feeling continues,
Maggie

Baby Steps

The second day is now complete and I'm happy to say that this vegan diet is still going really well. Even though only two days have passed, it has definitely been a challenge. We had a delayed opening today and for many of these days in the past I have enjoyed a big, delicious breakfast with some friends. Even though being vegan doesn't prevent these same sort of breakfasts from happening, it just makes it difficult to come up with something that myself and everyone else can all enjoy.  That being said, Sunrise Biscuit Kitchen was definitely out of the question, and since I decided to sleep in, I happily just ate some oatmeal.  Though today's delayed opening was spent much more layed back, maybe for the next one I can indulge a little and attempt to make vegan pancakes or waffles.  I might have to test out recipes before serving any to my friends, considering just yesterday someone from school informed me that the Trader Joe's vegan waffle mix "tasted like butt."  Hopefully I can find a recipe where the waffles taste a little bit better than that.
The rest of the day went well. I went out to dinner with my sister and friend, Eleanor, and we went to Mediterranean Deli on Franklin Street. Looking over the menu it seemed like there were many vegan options, but I took the safer route and got the fattoush salad. When we got our food I started to doubt a lot of what I thought was vegan. I had no idea how these people made the tahini dressing which was white and looked like milk, and I didn't know what the ingredients were in pita bread.  It is a good thing that both Hayley and Eleanor have iPhones because I was able to look up how to make both of the questionable foods, and luckily both were vegan.  Tahini dressing is made from a sesame paste which coincidentally looks just like milk, and pita is simply made with yeast, flour, salt, and sugar. All of it was delicious and it was very filling. It's going to take me awhile to get familiar with all the foods that are safe to eat, and recognize those that can potentially have animal products in them, but I guess that's part of the challenge.
I'm hoping this is of some interest, and like what Andrew said before, feel free to comment or offer suggestions.

Excited for tomorrow!
Maggie

Reflections of Day 1

As Day 2 begins, I reflect on the first day of my vegan diet. All went well and I did not find myself craving animal products or feeling tired. I was able to avoid hunger and even ran for a while as part of my half marathon training. As mentioned previously, prom and the half marathon are on the same day which is just very unfortunate. There will be other half marathons and I will continue my training and writing about any effects on it because of my diet.

Last night for dinner, I enjoyed a thai sweet potato soup. This soup had a distinct sweet potato taste which, in retrospect, I should have expected and it was pretty filling. I think I will try to routinely incorporate soup into my diet as it is easy to prepare and good for various meals. In the past, I have found soup not to be so filling, but this was different. I thought that the full feeling I felt after eating the soup would be something that I would not easily achieve during this diet, but I have found it easier to come by than imagined. This diet will force me to try new things, something which I may have been hesitant to do in the past. I look forward to sharing my food experiences in the future.

Health is wealth,

Andrew Jessup

Please feel free to comment with ideas for posts, complaints, or anything you wish to share.

Day 1 and Starting Off Strong

So, today is Day 1 of our vegan challenge and it went really well (for me at least, Andrew might have had a different experience).  I was on a field trip with my English Lit class which lasted the entire school day, so I was thankfully distracted from thinking about my vegan diet as I tried to understand the three hours of the Shakespearean play, Henry V. It is now night and I'm surprisingly full and satisfied from the day. I don't want to speak for all people, but many individuals who I've talked to about being vegan always state how I'm going to starve and never be able to eat.  Thankfully, that is not the case. As long as you aren't super picky, finding vegan foods isn't as hard as everyone may think.  Hopefully this mentality lasts throughout these forty days and I don't actually starve, but after today I am able to say that I will definitely be able to find satisfying foods to eat.

 Today, I encountered a slight problem which doesn't regard veganism. Andrew and I had a realization. April 14 is the date of our half marathon which we've been training for, but our senior prom is that day. Even though I've been to many dances throughout my high school experience, it's senior prom. This dance may be lame or it may be super fun, but if we don't go, we'll never know. That being said,  running can wait. Though Andrew and I won't be participating in this race, I am going to continue to run so I'll continue posting how this vegan diet is affecting my runs. Can't wait for Day 2!!

Staying Strong,
Maggie

To Top It Off?

Not like this vegan challenge isn't enough, Andrew and I are training for a half marathon that will take place on April 14 in Chesapeake, Virginia.  My sister, Hayley, who is a sophomore at UNC Chapel Hill, along with some of her friends, convinced me to do this half marathon with them, and then I was able to convince Andrew.  I honestly can't say how being vegan will affect our training, but I'm guessing it isn't going to be a piece of cake (haha).  I can't directly say how energy levels are affected by not consuming meat since I haven't eaten any in awhile, but both Hayley and Andrew have noticed significant energy losses after not consuming meat even for a few days. So, being vegan might be a tad more noticeable.
I can't speak for Andrew, but I am prepared for the suffering that may (will most likely) occur during these runs. Along with documenting our struggles and achievements as being vegan for these forty days, Andrew and I are also going to note how avoiding all animal products will affect our ability to train for this half marathon and exercise in general.

Wish us Luck,
Maggie

The Last Day Before the First

Today, Fat Tuesday, has been both exciting and scary, knowing that starting tomorrow I will be giving up many of my favorite foods. I am embarking on this Lent adventure of veganism with one of my best friends, Andrew Jessup. Though I have been a vegetarian for five years, I have a strong weakness to most all other animal products (especially cheese and yogurt) so I am expecting this to be a great challenge. That being said, I can't wait to see how these forty days affect me.
I can't wait to begin tomorrow but who wants to hear about how I celebrated my last meal of freedom?  Just a few minutes ago I finished off a bowl of Starbucks caramel macchiato and Edy's thin mint ice cream. Yes, I'm going to miss it, but I'm willing to take the risk of leaving these foods behind.
In less than three hours I am going to begin one of the most mentally challenging experiences of my life.

-Maggie

Inspiration

I can not credit a single source for the inspiration for this undertaking but instead there have been various sources from which I gathered the encouragement and confidence for this enterprise. Through all the Netflix food documentaries I have watched and various internet sites and blogs I have visited, none have been as influential as my reading of the book "Skinny Bitch" by Rory Freedman and Kim Barnouin. This brash and sometimes vulgar book goes into detail about the inner workings of the meat and dairy industries and the governments part in it all. This book preaches veganism as a way to achieve physical health as mentioned in the title of the book, but it also teaches the way the body reacts to food and the potential benefits of a vegan diet. After reading this book a little over a week ago, I was instantly sure that I wanted to try being vegan for Lent.

I would be lying if I wrote about inspiration for this cause without mentioning Maggie Booterbaugh. Maggie has been a vegetarian for as long as I have known her and (hopefully) she will join me on this blog as she also is avoiding the consumption of animal products for the next forty days.

Health and Wealth,
Andrew Jessup

Fat Tuesday

Today is the end of my life as I have known it. I say this because for my entire life I have consumed animal products with little thought about what I was consuming or where it came from. Tomorrow, Ash Wednesday, February 22, in an attempt to better my health and awareness, I will embark on a journey of health and wellness in which I will (attempt to?) eliminate all animal products from my diet for 40 days. I expect this to be an adventure in which I discover the effects of the consumption of animal products on myself and on the world around me  I hope you find this blog interesting and amusing. Thanks for reading and stay posted.

Yours in health,
Andrew Jessup