Saturday, May 7, 2011

Day 5-7

Day 5: Ancient Grains Stuffed Peppers
http://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/recipes/2880

This dish was beautiful! BUT the flavor was pretty bland. Of course I couldn't find the arame seaweed it calls for so I left it out which probably left out a bunch of the flavor. I was reading over the reviews afterwards and some of the reviews had some good suggestions for adding flavor, so next time I think I'll try adding some soy sauce and maybe some mushrooms.

Day 6: SUSHI!

Okay, so that isn't vegan... but part of my "deal" with myself was that I didn't have to eat vegan if we went out. And last night we went out to Crystal Fish in Pacific Grove and had some delicious sushi! Almost as good as our favorite sushi place in Hawaii, Sansei. And I may or may not have had a little Coldstone afterwards... :-P

Day 7: Lentil Soup with Ancient Grains from TJ's

Since it is the weekend, today I had my vegan meal for lunch so that I can enjoy some grilled lamb and parmesan risotto for dinner with friends tonight:) I picked up this delicious vegan lentil soup from Trader Joe's this week and it did not disappoint! Soooo yummy! But then again, you can never go wrong with Trader Joe's. I must learn to cook this stuff!!!

Motivation #3:
I read this book, The Omnivore's Dilemma by Michael Pollan, about a year ago (I can already see my husband's eye's rolling as I mention this book AGAIN). I apologize to those of you who have ever gotten on the topic of food with me and have been subjected to my raving about this book! BUT, it is a must read! I truly believe it should be required reading for any American. Pollan basically follows our food from the farm to the table and it was so enlightening to learn about the American food system and the ethical/moral/nutritional dilemma's that are raised regarding how we eat. Pollan doesn't suggest how we should respond to the knowledge he presents about our food system but I have already made some changes to my diet as a result of the things I learned in that book such as only drinking organic milk and buying "natural" chicken, etc. The book does not advocate a vegan diet by any means, but my response to what I've read is that I should be aiming to eat more whole, organic, local, and sustainable foods and the vegan lifestyle lends itself naturally to that. It has been a slow process, but now that we live in an area where whole, organic, local, sustainable foods are readily available, I am able to move closer to that goal.

I am currently reading Pollan's next book, In Defense of Food, which is a follow-up to The Omnivore's Dilemma, and so far it is fascinating. The theme of the book is "Eat food. Not too much. Mostly Plants."

4 comments:

Sarah Katherine said...

Glad you're having fun trying vegan food! It really is a challenge. There are so many foods (and vitamins!) I didn't realize had animal products in them until now and have really learned to read labels. It helps you become so much more aware of what's going into you.
I also feel like I'm much more creative as a vegan than an omnivore..."Hmm, don't feel like thinking of anything. Pizza/Hamburger Helper it is!" Have fun! I like reading your updates. You should really read Veganist too- lot of great information and it talks about "shifting" toward veganist eating rather than straightup becoming vegan. :)

The Fromilles said...

Thanks for the comment/encouragement Sarah! Veganist is on my reading list after you mentioned it awhile ago. I totally agree with you on the forced creativity thing... it is kind of exhausting though! Wish we lived closer so we could cook together!!!

Katie said...

Would recommend Kingsolver's book _Animal, Vegetable, Miracle_. You will love it! Enjoying your blog!

The Fromilles said...

I'll check it out Katie, thanks!