Day One

I guess I should start with the yucky part. Starting weight: 147.4 It's been fluctuating between that and 150 for way longer than I'd like to think. And I'm 5'2" so that's not good. If I was brave I'd give you a snapshot of my cellulite and jiggles but I want you to keep reading so I won't scare you away just yet. Anyway, day one of veganism was not bad at all. I did all my grocery shopping and meal planning yesterday and was pleasantly surprised to find that many items I already buy are actually vegan! I had to make a couple substitutions of course but not nearly as many as I had expected. Luckily, the Mr. has been surprisingly encouraging about this experiment and was quite patient while I skimmed the ingredient list of every item that made its way into my cart. 

I suppose you're wondering... "What did you eat?" 

Mmmm:

Breakfast was 1/2 cup Kashi 7 Whole Grain Nuggets (basically the same thing as Grape Nuts but with a variety of grains and none of the crap), cooked on the stove for a few minutes with some vanilla soy milk until it got soft. Throw in a spoonful of agave, some sliced almonds and half a banana and you, my friend, have a meal that will hold you over for hours!

Lunch was a Boca Vegan Burger cooked on the stove then chopped up and tossed into mixed greens and topped with Annie's Goddess dressing. So good! I've never been a fan of veggie burgers but this one actually tasted great. And okay, I snuck a couple of the Mr.'s fries from his lunch. But I made sure they were cooked in canola oil that had not been used for anything else!

Dinner was delightful and a new one for me. I was a little nervous mostly because it contains tofu and my previous ventures with tofu have not turned out so hot.

I call it Mama's Vegan Tofu Slop. *Just kidding. How about:

       Tofu and Veggies in Peanut Sauce

Take 2 packages Extra-Firm Tofu, slice open the pack and drain the liquid. Those suckers are like sponges so you're going to have to get as much liquid out as you can or you will have a very smokey kitchen. Here's a trick I learned. First slice your tofu into quarters lengthwise then slice again into about 8 sections the other way. Then get a cookie sheet and layer it with clean dishtowels or if you must, paper towels. Put each little piece of tofu on the towel and top with another towel first, then another cookie sheet. Then put something on top to weigh it down like some cans or a pie weight. Whatever you have around. Let it sit in your fridge like that for a couple of hours if you have the time or at least 20-30 minutes. 

Once you're ready to get cookin', heat a large skillet with about 3 Tbsp Canola Oil at about medium heat. Lay each piece of tofu down in the skillet (try to do this before the oil is too hot so you don't get splashed and burned) and let it cook for a while, until it starts to turn gold on one side. Try to leave it alone for the most part while you get your veggies ready but flip a couple of pieces periodically to check on their progress. When it starts to look like this: 

it's time to flip it all over.

While your tofu is browning up slice or dice a red bell pepper, about a half pound of mushrooms, 3 carrots and two onions and sauté in 2 Tbsp Olive Oil until the veggies are soft and the tofu is ready for them. Once the tofu is golden on both sides, add a can of Light Coconut Milk and a couple big spoonfuls of peanut butter and stir until PB is mixed in thoroughly. Next, add in the veggies with your tofu and season with a little salt and pepper if you'd like. 

In the same pan you used to cook the veggies add a tiny splash of olive oil and sauté head of Bok Choy that has been sliced. (Use the leaves and stem.) Once it's hot and wilted, add it to the tofu-veggie concoction and mix it up. Right after you do that, pour about 1/4 cup of water into the veggie skillet to deglaze the pan then add that water to the tofu mix. Peel and mince some fresh ginger and mix it that in as well. You don't need much, just break off a chunk about the size of two garlic cloves. Stir until it's nice and bubbly and you're done! 

***This is delish served on top of brown rice and sprinkled with fresh cilantro, lime juice, Sriracha hot sauce and if you have them, chopped peanuts. 

Enjoy!

Just so you know:

I HATE mushrooms. Can't stand them. And Mr. hates tofu. So I compromised by adding both so we could pick out what we didn't like and everyone was happy. Definitely a "do-over."