Jimmy John's?!?! No!

You know when your body is craving greasy food? Perhaps after a long night of imbibing? While those nights are now numbered (although I do pour a very hefty glass of wine), I find that the recovery process is much more excruciating than it used to be. Oh thirties…you are just around the corner and I can hear you coming.

In college, Pizza Shuttle was key. My roomie and I would meet in the living room, get out a phone and a checkbook (we used checks to pay rent, utilities, and support our pizza habit), and place the order without having to say more than three words to each other. It was like clockwork; thirty minutes later, the “two-fer” was our magic elixir.

Pizza Shuttle. Lawrence, KS.

Post-vegan, I settled for McDonald’s french fries to set me straight. Let’s be honest, if you want french fries, Mickey D’s is the place to go. They are perfectly crisp with the correct ratio of crunchy outer shell to soft mushy inside. And saltiness? Nailed it. Life was good until I got some terrible news. The fries I had been consuming were not vegetarian! Gasp! They are coated in some kind of meat seasoning. Immediately, dreams were shattered and they were off the list of approved foods.

I hate to say it, but it happened again. I recently became obsessed with Jimmy John’s veggie sandwich (minus the cheese & mayo). As I have mentioned before, I have a tendency to get hooked on things and take them to the extreme. In the past 2 weeks, I have consumed this sandwich an estimated 7-10 times (plus or minus 3). I received a very unfortunate email from Jimmy John’s this afternoon. Now my only option is the “Unwich” – lettuce wrapped in lettuce. What a travesty.  

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4 Month Check-In

From Cafe Gratitude

Time for a check-in. What started as a 30 day challenge has morphed into a new and extremely satisfying lifestyle. After three months, I began to hit a confident stride. I could easily keep myself from starving, get the nutrients I needed, and put together vegan meals without having to follow recipes or meal plans I got online. I stopped focusing so much on the fact that I was VEGAN (omg), and began simply living as such. When you focus on every breath you take, it is harder to breathe for some reason - same goes for being vegan. Once I stopped obsessing about it, it became easy and a part of me. Now four months in, I feel like I could (and might) do this forever.  

Not to say there aren't days when it is extremely frustrating. Why can't there be more vegan options? Why do I have to ask this waitress a million questions about what is in the food? Why doesn't Target carry tofu or almond milk? Why is Chipotle the only vegan friendly, reasonably priced, quick place to eat? Why can't I get rid of these pesky fruit flies for good (more to come on this later)?!? Luckily, these occurrences are dwarfed by the positivity I have seen and felt from this lifestyle change. I truly do feel that I have gained more than I have given up. 

Cafe Gratitude Dessert

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No feta needed

I'll admit it, I have a problem. I go from having extreme interest in something to having zero interest at all, without any warning. I’m sure there’s a clinical diagnosis, but at this point I will accept the fact that I’m strange and move on.

Much to Mom’s chagrin, she was all too familiar with this trend when I was growing up. I used to beg her for the latest and greatest arts and crafts kits. I pleaded and assured her I was seriously dedicated this time around. I had a long list of craft kits which included a jewelry bead maker, pot holder maker, and intricate ocean scene cross-stich kit. Each time, I committed myself to the craft and worked tirelessly – staying up late every night for about a week. Then, I was done. Never to see the craft completed to fruition.

This fluctuation in interests did not just occur with arts and crafts, it was anything. Books. One summer after fourth grade, I read 87 Babysitters Club books then stopped cold turkey. Television. I watched seven seasons of the show 24 and stopped three episodes short of the series finale. Food. I excessively consumed each one of these foods at a point in time: asparagus, fried eggs, scrambled eggs, rotisserie chicken, hummus, fried rice, quesadillas, and Panera’s Greek salad.

It had been a long time since my last Greek salad binge, and it was starting to sound good again. But how would I be able to eat a Greek salad without the best part – feta cheese? Lo and behold, I found a vegan-friendly substitute. One set of ingredients, two options – salad or wrap.

Combine: 1 package of firm tofu (cubed), the juice from 1 lemon, 1 tsp dried basil, and 1 tsp dried parsley in a bowl and set aside. 

Gather the rest of your ingredients: greens, chopped tomato, chopped onion, chopped cucumber, kalamata olives, quartered artichoke hearts (I use the ones that are not in oil), dressing of your choice (light Italian for me), hummus (if making a wrap). 

Assemble salad (G style).

Assemble wrap (J style).

Old habits die hard

Today was one of the first really nice days we have had in a long time. The weather was sunny, and I was out cruising around. I started to get thirsty and headed straight to Starbucks drive-thru for a refreshing beverage and a celebratory treat for all I had accomplished today. I completed my order, paid for my drink, and as I was pulling away realized what I had done. 

Coffee with rich mocha-flavored sauce blended with milk and ice. Topped with sweetened whipped cream.

Definitely not vegan.

And for the record, I did not drink it.

Pizza Love Part II

Today's pizza incident turned out to be the most tempting thus far. Rather than an empty pizza box in the trash can, I had to sit through a working team lunch catered by Minsky's.

My heart was crying on the inside as the delivery man dropped off at least six different kinds of pizza. I managed to pillage through the garden salad and make it work, removing all hard-boiled egg and crouton remnants. Lettuce, carrot shreds, cucumber, broccoli, and Italian dressing, yippee! And honestly, I don't really like salad.

Getting through lunch today did give me a bit of a boost (here's some motivation for ya). I realized that I CAN do this, I don't have to give into temptation, it's not as hard as I thought it would be, and it IS getting easier as time goes on. I'm also holding onto the hope that one day I'll completely forget what real cheese tastes like. Although it would be incredibly sad, it would make this process much easier.

A Pizza Kind of Love

Saw this as I walked out of the office today (the grease on the bottom means it's really good).

I wonder if there will ever come a day when a Minsky's box doesn't stir up cravings for Italian sausage and black olive pizza dipped in peppercorn ranch...

If I died tomorrow, vegan or not, I would want that to be my last meal. Period.

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Vegan Meltdown

Week one went off without a hitch!

OK, that was a complete lie. There were several minor incidents and meltdowns. I was craving chocolate, cookies, and cheese in a serious way. At one point I even tweeted that I would would settle for...."a stick of butter for the love of christo!!!!" I know, a little dramatic. But let's also recall what my body was accustomed to consuming during my prior week's binge. Right. My bad. 

In addition to having severe cravings, there were a few occasions where Jason and I (I should also mention that he is taking the vegan challenge with me) had no idea what to eat. We went to pick up lunch on Saturday and just sat in the car for about 15 minutes trying to figure out where to go. We ended up at Chipotle; I think it will be our trusted standby. We really need to work on getting a few more dishes into the rotation.  

When the cravings finally got to be too much, we went on a late night search for vegan ice cream. How can a grocery store not have any? What about all the lactose intolerant people in the world? Price Chopper did not deliver. We did, however, find these little gems. Vegan friendly and a warning on the back that reads - excessive consumption may cause a laxative effect. So there's that.