Pumpkin Spice Cake

Things have been going pretty well. I have found some soups I really like, so my lunches have been taken care of. A few more recipes I want to try. I will be making one this weekend, it's a Tex-Mex rice, looks good. I'm hopeful! I have decided instead of trying to replace meat I will just eat what I like. I have no desire to try fake meats or season mushrooms to taste like meat (I tried that with A1 and it was gross). Now I just cook things I know I like, nothing too fancy, but I'm starting to enjoy my decisions and my food so I know I'm doing something right. Tonight I will be making a Pumpkin Spice cake for my birthday tomorrow. It's so easy, you take a box of Duncan Hines Spice Cake mix and add 1 can of pumpkin, mix and bake according to box. YUMMY!!

Disappointment

Another disappointing dinner. So I decided to do a simple recipe, not even a recipe more like a tip, I marinated mushrooms in A1 steak sauce all day and cooked them, also had onion potatoes which I love. I thought this would be soo good. I love A1 steak sauce and always have but nope they didn't taste good at all =( . I either gave up meats too soon or I don't know what. My husband and daughter had burger and brat patties and to be honest they didn't look good, I had no thought to even try one. So to me that's good but I'm honestly not finding a replacement for the meat that used to be in my diet. I really don't want to go backwards, I don't want to eat meat again, but UGH I've been hungry and disappointed all weekend. I also tried a vegan cheese today, I give it maybe a C. If I was starving to death and it was the only food in the house I would eat it but I can't say much else =( .

Let's see the rest of this week's meal plan is:
Monday - I'm trying beans, rice, salsa and lettuce and maybe some shredded cheese. Everyone else is having chicken and rice.
Tuesday - Homemade Pizzas
Wednesday - Salad
Thursday - Pasta and garlic bread
Friday - No idea yet.

I think I'm at the point that I can say I'm done with meat and eggs, milk (except in coffee?), and butter. The rest is going to be eaten sparingly. I think I also found more buns in town that may be vegan, however there are so many ingredients that I have no idea how to say let alone what they are, it's hard to tell. I'll have to research it more.

I'm really disappointed in myself, I thought I would have liked everything I tried so far but that hasn't been the case at all =(

Any tips would be great.

Thanks for reading!

Cheese rant

I made vegan chili last night, it was good, my husband really liked it. I am not used to most of the ingredients so it tasted unlike anything I ever had before, very spicy. I've also come to the conclusion that chili, soups, stews are not a dinner for me. It would be fine for a lunch but knowing there's no other meal coming until breakfast is unacceptable to me lol. Definitely not filling! Here's the link to the recipe I worked off of. I used it more as a guide.

I also realized a couple other things yesterday. I am not ready nor may I ever be ready to give up cheese. The idea of giving up some of my favorite foods in the world has become increasingly depressing to me and I don't want to feel this way. I have also found that soy milk in my coffee tastes gross so I haven't had a nice cup of coffee in a while. I haven't decided how I will handle this yet. I don't drink coffee every day or even every week so it's not that bad but you know every once in a while a nice cup of coffee is like gold so we'll have to see. Because of these things I may always be just "mostly vegan". I'm still working on processing that and deciding if that will be ok for me. For now it is, time will tell if that will change or not. I know I have to try different vegan cheeses and I will but just not right now. I've given up so much already in such a short time that I just need to be ok with the decisions I'm making. Maybe later I'll find really great vegan Ricotta, mozzarella, parmesan, sharp cheddar, and swiss cheeses but until then I've decided I'm not giving them up. lol sorry for the cheese rant but I feel better now =)  Any brands to try or cheese recipes are Greatly appreciated!!

Thanks for reading!

Subway

My husband and I went grocery shopping today, bought several different things to try. I will be making a vegan chili this weekend and also a different mushroom, onion potato dish. I can truthfully say I've bought more mystery food today than ever before. It's exciting and scary at the same time because if I don't like something I don't really have much of a replacement meal. I meal plan and really do just buy what we will need for the week. When we were done grocery shopping we decided to go to Subway and get supper. I parked the car and in the window was a poster for their newest sub, a bbq chicken sandwich and it looked so good that I thought 'am I really ready for this?' I don't know if I am. I did get a footlong veggie sub and it did taste good but wasn't as filling as I would have liked. But then again I think every time we've gone to Subway we leave still hungry lol so...

1st Dinner

This is my 1st official vegan dinner. I cooked some steak cut mushrooms in an onion soup mix with garlic and onions. Added some mashed potatoes with onion gravy. YUM. I loved it and my husband liked it too. I enjoyed it more than I thought I would and it was more fulling than I would have thought too so that was great. Definitely making this again and again. Next time I may add some broccoli.

Going grocery shopping tomorrow with my big new foods list so that's exciting and something I haven't talked about, I have lost 16 pounds in the last month from dieting and doing a workout challenge with some friends. So this is a great time for me to make this lifestyle change. I am very excited and as always advice, tips, recipes are greatly appreciated. 

Thanks for reading!

Progress

Some progress was made today. I went shopping for vegan butter and soy milk, my 1st two official purchases to start my journey off. 

 

I also found some vegan buns which was exciting. Again, I live in a very small town so this was exciting lol. I also received confirmation today that a local bakery does a vegan rye bread which I might try later on. 

I've spent some time reading "how to" cook beans, cook lentils, etc. which has been very helpful since I know nothing. I also spent some time in the bean aisle today but honestly it was overwhelming. I have no idea which kind to buy or try first. Any advice on this would be Greatly appreciated!

Thanks for reading!

And more research

I have read and learned so much today. I'm really looking forward to this weekend, I'll be making my 1st new dish. Vegetarian Chili, found the recipe on Allrecipes. It will also be the 1st time eating beans so I Really hope I like it. I'm altering it just a touch because I don't want to add fake meat. I'm also assuming that it is actually vegan..? 

I have also found out our Health Food Store sells vegan cheese and a local bakery makes a vegan bread, I hope, still waiting to hear back on that one. So things are coming together and I'm starting to get even more excited. I watched a couple vlogs on veganism and other people's journeys which were both helpful and informational. In the next 5 days I will be shopping and adding new foods to my diet in preparation of giving up meat, eggs, butter, and milk entirely. Cheese is going to take me a bit longer. I love cheese and really want to find a vegan replacement that I like or can make myself. That and chocolate will be the hardest to give up, the rest should be easy. I have given up eggs already and I barely ever use butter or even milk for that matter. Meat grosses me out lol so that will be really easy to quit. I just need to have some meal ideas in place and recipes to try and I should be fine. I ordered some new containers today to store beans and rice in. Sorry I'm just babbling on, but it's my way of getting ready =) 

Thanks for reading!