Goodbye Chipotle...for now.

This month Nicki and I have given up going out to eat.  It seems we have been steadily going out to eat more frequently these days, so I think it comes at a good time.  Also, it will be nice to try out some new foods we haven't had before now that we will be cooking every night.

If I get rambunctious, maybe I'll update with some new foods we like.  If you have any suggestions on something good to eat, let me know.

Vegans: not just for the animals

I know, July was a long time ago...but I had a lot of stuff going on, so the blogging had to take a back seat.

Nicki and I decided to go vegan for the month.  I didn't think it would be too difficult, but my wife loves her some cheese.  For the sake of the monthly resolution we decided to be a bit strict, which meant no meat, eggs, dairy, or honey.  For the most part we ate how we normally ate, with a few changes.  We ate our pizza without cheese, which wasn't really any less delicious.  I ate a lot more nuts in July to try to keep up on the protein.  A lot of people I talked to were worried about us getting enough calcium because we weren't eating dairy, but a lot of green leafy foods contain calcium, so we made sure to put Kale in a lot of our meals.  I also like to snack on Kombu (seaweed) which has a lot of minerals and calcium.  

There are a lot of reasons why veganism is a good thing.  For one, its healthy for us.  It has been shown that a vegan diet can reverse artherosclerosis (hardening of the arteries), reduce type-2 diabetes, reduce heart disease, lower blood pressure, ad lower cholesterol.  

It also is healthier for the planet.  As I have blogged about before, factory farming is a nasty business.  By decreasing our reliance on meat based foods we can conserve up to 70% of clean water which is used to sustain factory farming techniques.  Much of the amazon rainforest is being cleared annually to support grazing animals.  Also, its estimated that 760 tons of grain (half of the worlds grain supply) is used to feed animals so we can eat them.  Some say that transitioning to a plant based diet would also reduce pollution from untreated animal waste.

The most inconvenient part about this month was being limited on where we could go out to eat.  You would be surprised what foods contain animal products. Most italian dressing uses anchovies in their ingredients, anything with gelatin is animal based...no gummy bears, marshmallows, jello, ect.  Alot of whole wheat bread uses honey as an ingredient.  Needless to say, we had to do a bit of research before going out to eat.  

Chipotle is not only delicious, but vegan friendly.  Qdoba is also vegan friendly, but not as delicious as Chipotle.  Panera is really nice.  They have a book that lists all of their ingredients used in each dish.  The vegan options include black bean soup (the bread bowl is also vegan), the mediterranean veggie sandwich is vegan if you hold the cheese, as is the greek salad without feta.  Most of the breads are vegan at Panera as well, except for the whole wheat (honey).

We went to Red Robin for dinner and our service was by the far the best of the month.  A manager came over to our table and talked through the menu with us, letting us know how things were cooked, and what to avoid.  Red Robin has a pretty good vegan boca burger.  Their buns were vegan, and their french fries are fried seperately from the other meat items on the menu so there isn't any cross animal-age getting into the fries.

We tried out a few meat/ cheese alternatives with mixed reviews.  I had some soy cheese on a pizza which I thought tasted pretty close to real cheese, but it had a harder texture.  Daiya cheese has a nice creamy texture like cheese, but I personally don't like the taste of it.  Nicki lost 9 pounds just by changing her diet, not too shabby without exercising. 

All in all it was a good month.  Towards the end of the month, I had to travel back home which made eating vegan quite hard.  I feel lucky we have a good selection of fruit/vegetables/meat substitutes, but back in my parents small town it was very hard to find the foods we were used to eating.  We managed during the month of July.  After the month was over, I was all about staying vegan.  Unfortunately, I had to stay with my parents for a few weeks in august with my father being ill.  With the lack of variety at the local grocery store, the lack of refrigerator room (due to all 3 of my siblings staying home to take care of dad), and the stress of it all, the vegan lifestyle went to the wayside.

In the last week I had made a point to eat all the foods I missed while being vegan:  Sushi, soft shelled tacos from the Italian Villa (a favorite of my dads), italian chicken casserole, and a LOT of cheese.  Now its all out of my system and as of right now....I'm vegan again.

I care about how animals are treated, I think a lot of the meat industry is disgusting/political, but the main reason I am choosing to go vegan is the health benefits.  I'm not too distraught over eating honey, or buying things like cameras, cars, clothes that aren't vegan.  But I will think about it more.  I just lost my dad to diabetes and heart disease.  If I care about what I eat now, hopefully my son will have a chance to hang out with me longer than I got to with my dad.