Hmm... Vegan Might Be Tempting
Mar. 23rd, 2009 10:19 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
perzephone
Saw this on 101 Cookbooks Jamaican Veggie Patties. These sound so good, especially if I took the corn out of the mix (not a big corn fan).
I think if anything could ever tempt me into vegetarianism again, this book might be it: Vegan Soul Kitchen by Bryant Terry.
I actually tried going vegetarian for about a year. I've also tried the Atkins diet before. I've found that I am at my most healthy, at least digestive-wise, when I eat a balanced diet. Anyone who has ever dined at my house knows I serve meat, a starch & a vegetable or two for dinner. When Rob got diagnosed w/the diabetes, we just cut the starch out & added an extra veggie. Contrary to popular belief it's not all red meat in my kitchen. Granted, we do eat a lot of beef, especially lately, because chicken has been goddamned expensive. I think dark meat is disgusting, so we only eat the breasts... and wings, but I've got to lay off the buffalo wings because of the sodium. Any poultry right now is expensive - even turkey. Right now in my freezer I've got some flank steak, some lamb shoulders, a coupla pork chops & some chicken breast (it was on sale at Fresh n' Easy & I had to fight someone for that last package...). There'd be some seafood up in there too, but we ate the last of the shrimp & salmon last week. It says a lot when crab legs, shrimp & salmon in a land-locked state are cheaper by the pound than chicken. Of course, it means we get to eat more seafood :P
Anyway, because this book got me thinking... my year of being a vegetarian, non-ovo, non-lacto, non-pesci vegetarian was extremely painful. Giving up dairy & eggs is not a big sacrifice for me because I'm easily grossed out by the thought of eating chicken miscarriages & something that comes out of an udder (yes, as a matter of fact I was bottle-fed). While I was on my vegetarian kick, which was mainly to try & bring down my blood pressure w/out medication - I didn't lose weight & my b.p. didn't come down. What happened was a year of diarrhea, gas & bloating (not to mention constantly feeling like I was starving). My ulcer flared back up. My hair started falling out, my nails splintered. No one could stand to be near me for long because of the gas, and I could barely stand to be around myself. Beano did not help, probiotics didn't help, acidophilus didn't help, bromelain & papain didn't help. All the vegetarians I talked to told me various lines of bullshit like, "Oh, once you're cleansed of all the toxins, that will stop" and "you have to retrain your body to accept real nutrition". Yeah... with a year of diarrhea I was lucky I had an intestine, let alone anything toxic left in my system. After being told I was anemic & malnourished, I added protein back into my diet... within a week or two - no more stomach problems. Some people just can't take a 100% fiber diet.
When it came out, I tried the Atkins thing. No carbs, whatsoever. Just meats & fats. For one, it was hideously boring and ridiculously expensive. Meat, meat, meat. For two, my cholesterol levels soared beyond belief. And the pain was unbearable. I can't even describe the pain. It felt like a flaming ulcer had enveloped my entire stomach. Once again lines of bullshit, these from the Atkins groupies, I was told that once I was cured of my addiction to carbs my stomach would stop hurting. I think the first time I went 6 weeks... the second time couldn't even make it to 3 weeks. Yes, I lost weight but it was mainly because I was in too much pain to eat. And constantly hungry. Like starving, slavering, willing to kill for half a fucking french fry.
Tonight for dinner, I made some chicken breasts, mashed potatoes & peas. All low-sodium. Marinated the chicken breasts in a crushed red pepper vinaigrette & they were so moist & tender. Mashed the yellow potatoes with a little unsalted butter & sour cream for the tartness, peas is peas. That baking chicken smelled sooooo good. It was nommy. Tomorrow I get to take a mixed rocket salad to work w/leftover chicken breast & a cilantro Caesar dressing. I am definitely one to promote the omnivoran lifestyle. Eat a variety of foods, eat well, eat often, make it a joy to sit down at your own table.
I think if anything could ever tempt me into vegetarianism again, this book might be it: Vegan Soul Kitchen by Bryant Terry.
I actually tried going vegetarian for about a year. I've also tried the Atkins diet before. I've found that I am at my most healthy, at least digestive-wise, when I eat a balanced diet. Anyone who has ever dined at my house knows I serve meat, a starch & a vegetable or two for dinner. When Rob got diagnosed w/the diabetes, we just cut the starch out & added an extra veggie. Contrary to popular belief it's not all red meat in my kitchen. Granted, we do eat a lot of beef, especially lately, because chicken has been goddamned expensive. I think dark meat is disgusting, so we only eat the breasts... and wings, but I've got to lay off the buffalo wings because of the sodium. Any poultry right now is expensive - even turkey. Right now in my freezer I've got some flank steak, some lamb shoulders, a coupla pork chops & some chicken breast (it was on sale at Fresh n' Easy & I had to fight someone for that last package...). There'd be some seafood up in there too, but we ate the last of the shrimp & salmon last week. It says a lot when crab legs, shrimp & salmon in a land-locked state are cheaper by the pound than chicken. Of course, it means we get to eat more seafood :P
Anyway, because this book got me thinking... my year of being a vegetarian, non-ovo, non-lacto, non-pesci vegetarian was extremely painful. Giving up dairy & eggs is not a big sacrifice for me because I'm easily grossed out by the thought of eating chicken miscarriages & something that comes out of an udder (yes, as a matter of fact I was bottle-fed). While I was on my vegetarian kick, which was mainly to try & bring down my blood pressure w/out medication - I didn't lose weight & my b.p. didn't come down. What happened was a year of diarrhea, gas & bloating (not to mention constantly feeling like I was starving). My ulcer flared back up. My hair started falling out, my nails splintered. No one could stand to be near me for long because of the gas, and I could barely stand to be around myself. Beano did not help, probiotics didn't help, acidophilus didn't help, bromelain & papain didn't help. All the vegetarians I talked to told me various lines of bullshit like, "Oh, once you're cleansed of all the toxins, that will stop" and "you have to retrain your body to accept real nutrition". Yeah... with a year of diarrhea I was lucky I had an intestine, let alone anything toxic left in my system. After being told I was anemic & malnourished, I added protein back into my diet... within a week or two - no more stomach problems. Some people just can't take a 100% fiber diet.
When it came out, I tried the Atkins thing. No carbs, whatsoever. Just meats & fats. For one, it was hideously boring and ridiculously expensive. Meat, meat, meat. For two, my cholesterol levels soared beyond belief. And the pain was unbearable. I can't even describe the pain. It felt like a flaming ulcer had enveloped my entire stomach. Once again lines of bullshit, these from the Atkins groupies, I was told that once I was cured of my addiction to carbs my stomach would stop hurting. I think the first time I went 6 weeks... the second time couldn't even make it to 3 weeks. Yes, I lost weight but it was mainly because I was in too much pain to eat. And constantly hungry. Like starving, slavering, willing to kill for half a fucking french fry.
Tonight for dinner, I made some chicken breasts, mashed potatoes & peas. All low-sodium. Marinated the chicken breasts in a crushed red pepper vinaigrette & they were so moist & tender. Mashed the yellow potatoes with a little unsalted butter & sour cream for the tartness, peas is peas. That baking chicken smelled sooooo good. It was nommy. Tomorrow I get to take a mixed rocket salad to work w/leftover chicken breast & a cilantro Caesar dressing. I am definitely one to promote the omnivoran lifestyle. Eat a variety of foods, eat well, eat often, make it a joy to sit down at your own table.
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no subject
Date: 2009-03-24 06:36 am (UTC)YAAAAAAAAAAAY! Me too!!! Let's celebrate being omnivorians!
*celebrates*
Celebrate teh Foodz!
Date: 2009-03-24 02:13 pm (UTC)I'm really looking forward to my lunch today - I've even got organic, no-sugar-added blueberry-raspberry juice to go w/it :D