My Foray into Veganism: What, Why, and When
The #1 must have every day: coffee.. and my Axel F station on Pandora
you want productive, I want the caffeine and techno/dubstep
I’m trying to stick to (and start) a good blog schedule. It’s not easy for my procrastination-loving self but consider this POST ZERO.. or one.. dun dun duuuuuun. I thought we would start at the beginning, the questions which seem to be prevalent to those non meat eating individuals, and throw some awesome recipes with links your way. Those burning questions your inner voice is asking: yes, I have enough protein - every 3 months I have my blood work checked d/t cancer check ups; No, I don’t miss dairy - Ben and Jerry’s has phenomenal non-dairy options at our local Fareway and Hyvee; yes, I do supplement vitamins - b12 specifically.
First off, for those who don’t know my backstory: I’m Kelli, co owner of Cedar Shake Farm and substitute teacher in southwest Iowa, and up until last year (fall ish), I was a meat and dairy loving (or tolerating at least) fool. I tried being vegan once when I was in elementary school. It lasted a whopping three days, because in my house, cheeseburgers were supreme. I’ve never been a huge dairy aficionado, and honestly, I could still care less about milk and cheese, even in plant-based forms. Ice cream, however, is another story, but I digress.
I started my venture into veganism last fall, when I was having some lymph node issues ( Lily and Larry, affectionately, were larger than normal and weren’t deflating. I also ended up with a tumor on my thyroid named Tina- I was going through a Bob’s Burgers binge). Clint and I watched What the Health on Netflix, and there was a portion where a woman cured her thyroid cancer through natural means and by going vegan. I thought to myself, hey, what do I have to lose. I can always eat a burger or eggs if I decide it’s not for me. (PSA: I do not think going vegan will cure cancer. There’s a reason chemo and radiation were invented and they have been improved upon for years.) December was my first true start into vegan things. I cut out the dairy, the eggs, and avoided meat when possible (it’s Iowa, and my extended family loves meat). I did more research and added a B12 supplement to my regime, as well as switched to a vegan omega 3. Multivitamins were already a part of my intake, so no changes there.
Fast forward to late March, and I had a lymph node removed (see you later Lily you son of a hamster). Turns out Lily was malignant, and Larry as well. There were some tumors near my heart, but everything was above the diaphragm, so Stage 2. Yay( if you can be excited about having cancer at 29). I started chemo on April 4 (if you follow me on Insta, you know this date is coming up and I am not looking forward to the PTSD-inducing butterflies that will occur). Bear with me, the recipes are coming. Scroll down to the pictures if this is becoming monotonous, I won’t judge.
After chemo, I quickly realized an all vegan diet was not going to work. For three days after each chemo on Thursday, I felt like I had the worst hangover of my life (what a way to live every other weekend). Bullshite I tell you. Reminiscing back to the college days, pizza rolls always seemed to help with hangovers. I figured it would work again. Spoiler alert, it did.
I finished my last chemo in late July, and boom, back to vegan all the time. I was incredibly fortunate the drugs didn’t mess me up more.
Positives (?!?!?) of chemo:
no hair to shave/saving money on haircuts and dye jobs, no acne, and constant anxiety that you’ll sunburn or contract an infection because you play in the dirt literally every day
Ok, now we’re to the good part. I started looking up recipes, and trying more out. Guess what, I have been more adventurous with my cooking and baking now, being vegan, than I ever was when I ate meat. Indian, Thai, Chinese, American, no cuisine is off limits, Pinterest is awesome, Insta: Veganricha, Itdoesnttastelikechicken, Plantifullybased, Thug Kitchen’s cook books, Forks over Knives, there are so many awesome vegan chefs and recipe creators out there.
First recipe. On Monday, I made a banh mi pizza. For those who aren’t familiar with a banh mi, it’s a Vietnamese sandwich, typically made with beef, spicy mayo, and vegetables. Clint heard what I was making (it does use tofu, which Clint is still iffy about) and pickled veggies, and turned up his nose.
I found an awesome 30 minute pizza crust, recipe credit: vegan richa.
recipe URL http://www.veganricha.com/2016/08/easy-veggie-vegan-pizza.html
Seriously, super easy, chewy delicious crust. The banh mi pizza recipe credit: my darling vegan.
THIS. HOLY COW. quick pickled veggies, a mayo (Veganaise- our local Hyvee has it in the salad section), and tofu. I honestly believe Clint and I could’ve ‘eaten the entire pizza and then some. Mr tofu hater loved it, although he was mad at himself for liking it as much as he did because “I shouldn’t like this combination.” The medley of flavors hit all the right buttons, sour, creamy, umami. It was immediately bookmarked and I’m pretty sure I’ll make it again in a couple weeks. Don’t knock it before you try it. I find that if you freeze the tofu first, the texture changes and holds up better.
Second recipe. When Clint is gone to drill for the weekend, I either try a new recipe that he may not like or survive on leftovers. When I arrive home, I immediately go into weekend survival mode: athletic shorts, and sweatshirt, and fuzzy socks. Leaving the house is something only done in extremely dire circumstances, so basically Friday through Sunday I am a hermit until forced otherwise. It’s an interesting predicament of wills. Friday, I told myself I was going to try this new to me recipe. so NOT TODAY LAZINESS! Seitan happens to be on par with tofu for Clint, so this was the perfect time to try it. Seitan is made with vital wheat gluten, so if you have a gluten allergy, this is not the meat substitute for you. My apologies. On Friday’s menu: Mongolian Beef seitan from Plantifully based with broccoli and rice. It looked awesome on Pinterest, and I love a good Chinese recipe that doesn’t involve me leaving my house for take out. Priorities you know. I made the thing and it was delicious, and I’m making it again when Clint is home. Seriously, this Mongolian beef seitan is that good. Pictures posted for proof. Smells not included. If you lick the computer screen, that’s on you.
recipe URL plantifullybasedblog.com/2019/01/10/vegan-mongolian-beef/
And there we have it folks. Blog post numero uno o cero, whichever. More to come (most likely Sunday because procrastinator to the max). Now I’m going to enjoy the 70s, both the temperature and the wind speeds. I kid I kid….. kind of.