Diet and Thanksgiving (again)

The semester so far is not as bad as I thought it would be. I'm actually doing pretty well in school, I'm excelling in all my assignments and tests considering that I am a pretty lazy procastinator. I think if I want to continue to do well in school I will have to start bring my meals so I can stay on campus all day. I will have to incorporate more into my diet than what I have been doing, even if it means buying more expensive foods. I didn't know that I love food and I love to eat until I became vegan five yrs ago. The way I've been going about this could be better. Instead of cutting out gluten and soy completely, it would be better idea to cut back to once a week.

I am not going to eat out anymore. Why eat out when I can learn how to make the food I want? The internet is right in front of me. If I wanted to have vietnamese, I can have vietnamese by going online and finding recipes. The same can be said for Indian, Thai, Mexican and other foods. If I'm not going to eat bread everyday, I'm going to have to eat beans, rice and salad during the weekdays and other foods on the weekends. Or I can bake a gluten-free, soy free bread to eat on the weekdays. It's  not going to be easy cutting back on soy and wheat. I want to try to see if it would work for me.

 I love wheat foods and I also love soy. It's hard to believe what is good for you if there is contracting information about soy and gluten. Not to mention that people in Asian countries have been eating these foods for centuries, even as condiments. Cutting back is going to be so hard, it feels like the day I decided to not eat anymore, except this time I'm giving up even more foods. It can't any worse than eating meats filled with hormones and antibiotics and other chemicals.

In my honest opinion, Americans do not really know what is good for them, because major corporations and a dogma called tradition dictate our morals. Industries buy information or bribe researchers to keep people in the dark about everything. It's hard to even find a dietician that understands why people are vegan. The last dietician I went to used a three hundred pound vegan as an excuse for why a vegan lifestyle is bad. She did not consider that the woman could have lied about being vegan, or that she could have started a vegan diet. I can honestly say that I never met a fat vegan before unless they were just starting off as vegan.  I don't know what to believe anymore.

The best I can do is homemade from scratch. Since I am getting a blender and a slow cooker, I can say that I will not need to buy canned beans anymore. The only thing I'll buy that is canned now would be pineapples, coconut milk/creme, and occassionally pumpkin and sweet potatoes. Since I have a juicer at home, I can buy fresh pineapples and put them through a juicer and food processor. When I make cakes I can use fresh ingredients. I think making everything from scratch seems like a better idea than giving up gluten and soy products. Everytime I read the ingredients on packages, it seems as though everything has a chemical that I reminds me of highschool chem class in it.

Ideal Weekday Menu For School And/Or Work:

Breakfast:

-Oatmeal with fresh or dried fruit, flaxseed and nuts
Soy or Nutmilk

-Toasted Pita filled with peanut, almond or cashew butter
Fresh juice or Fresh brewed tea and Fresh Fruit

-Vegan protein smoothie made with frozen fruit and agave nectar,
and for extra needed calories some toast or a vegan cheese
sandwich can eaten with it.

-Bean patty (made to taste like a breakfast sausage, recipe coming soon)
in a vegan english muffin or toasted in a wheat bun (like a panini or cubano),
Fruit and some tea

-Vegan scone, vegan yogurt topped with fruit
 and nuts, tea or water
Lunch

-Pita sandwich filled with hummus and/or felafels and salad,
mash potatoes (in moderation), or baked sweet potatoes and
a fresh fruit and green tea or black tea for drink

-Veggie burger on whole wheat vegan bun, baked french fries,
salad, with some fruit  and tea or water for drink

-Vegetarian soup with a small tofu sandwich, fruit or juice/tea

-"Meatball" chef salad, toasted pita or whole wheat bun toasted,
fruit, and tea or water

-Vegan Sloppy Joe's w/ salad and alfafa stuffed in a fresh pita bread,
baked potato or baked fries with fruit and tea (my favorite)

-Tofu sandwich (baked or fried, I like tempura tofu), mash potatoes
salad, fruit and tea, juice or water

-Spring rolls, tea

Dinner

-Vegan spaghetti either with whole-wheat, egg free pasta or spaghetti squash,
made with marinara sauce vegetables and tofu, tempeh or seital for protein,
chef salad, toasted pita with olive oil and garlic, fruit and tea

-Whole wheat burritos filled with spanish rice, any kind of beans or seitan,
lettuce, tomato, spinach, avocado and salsa; tea or healthy drink

-Thai styled curried stir-fry rice with tofu and Asian vegetables, peas and broccoli;
two spring rolls or a salad; dessert and tea or healthy drink or water

-Kale, Rice and Lentil Soup (posted), toasted pita bread or pita sandwich,
healthy drink or tea

-Potato and Spinach Dish, salad, dessert and tea or healthy drink

This should be a pretty easy menu to follow, especially for those starting off with a vegetarian diet. I try to incorporate as many food groups as possible. It's really difficult to when dairy has its own food group and dairy products come from animals. The best I can do is replace the dairy products with nutmilks and vegan yogurts.

This a bit off base, but one of the reasons why I do not want children is because I'm a vegan. Americans eat the SAD or the standard American diet. It consists of heavy meats, sugars, starches and fats. I would not want to feed my possible child that diet. If I had a choice between him or her eating a bad vegan diet and the standard American diet, I'd choose the former. However, if the day comes that I would have a little one and a social worker knocks on the door wanting to know what I feed him or her, I'd give them the food menu above. If there are vegans out there that plan on having children, you should not be discourage from having kids, but if anyone asks about what your children eat, just tell them they eat a balanced diet like any non-vegan child.

Thanksgiving

If I stayed here for the holidays and lived in a house, or a more forgiving apartment, I'd have a cosmopolitan-styled potluck or dinner party with veganized foods from all over the world for Thanksgiving and Christmas.  For Thanksgiving, I'm going home to visit my family and fortunately my grandmother will be out of town. She does not celebrate the holidays due to her religion, but she always finds a way to scrutinize my food choices. I don't know what will happen when I visit for Thanksgiving. I just hope to see my friend and have a good time with my mom, because the next visit with them will probably be Spring Break, because I'm going to school during winter break. If I end up cooking, it's going to be a vegan Thanksgiving. I'm not cooking meat for anyone. Or I'll just contribute a few dishes. My family is very American. We are very black, so we are going to have a very black American thanksgiving consist of meats. A vegetarian, let alone vegan thanksgiving will everyone. I think most traditional dishes can be pulled off except for the turkey. Meat is not the easiest to veganize if one cannot master the seitan. For most dishes that call for chicken I want to use my own variation of this recipe , except it will go in different recipes. I also want to incorporate more raw vegan food recipes. The holidays are that time of the year when people complain about their waistlines after over indulgence. In another post I'll post a similar menu as the one above except it will be for parties, holidays and other festivities.