Point: http://www.bizarro.com/vegan/vegan_cartoon13.htm
Counterpoint: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bacon
Friday, March 25, 2011
Friday, March 4, 2011
Vegan Reflections
So, guess what I found out today?
Mike Tyson is a vegan!
Me?
Not so much.
Yup, Vegan Week was a disastrous failure. I made it all the way through Wednesday night at about 9:45PM. Coming back home from indoor soccer, I passed by The Donut Man and, remembering my friend Caroline's frequent stops at The Donut Man after rock-climbing, I HAD to have a glazed donut. While they didn't have glazed (I went for a jelly donut instead), Vegan Week was officially over.
And I'm not so sure this was a bad thing. I found out that, while it is really nice and beneficial to eat less animal-derived products, I think I'd prefer to do this on a once-in-a-while basis only. I like meat. A lot. But I think the thing I really missed most was dairy. Not being able to have milk or yogurt really put a hamper on my diet, and I'm really enjoying being able to eat (and drink) it again.
So, to conclude, here's to bacon. I missed you.
Mike Tyson is a vegan!
Me?
Not so much.
Yup, Vegan Week was a disastrous failure. I made it all the way through Wednesday night at about 9:45PM. Coming back home from indoor soccer, I passed by The Donut Man and, remembering my friend Caroline's frequent stops at The Donut Man after rock-climbing, I HAD to have a glazed donut. While they didn't have glazed (I went for a jelly donut instead), Vegan Week was officially over.
And I'm not so sure this was a bad thing. I found out that, while it is really nice and beneficial to eat less animal-derived products, I think I'd prefer to do this on a once-in-a-while basis only. I like meat. A lot. But I think the thing I really missed most was dairy. Not being able to have milk or yogurt really put a hamper on my diet, and I'm really enjoying being able to eat (and drink) it again.
So, to conclude, here's to bacon. I missed you.
Wednesday, March 2, 2011
Vegan Week: Day Two
OK, so I made it all the way through my second day of veganism (and yes, it was only a half day, because I had been looking forward to dinner with my Dad for a while and didn't want to let a lack of dairy and meat spoil it)!
The one thing that's really hit me so far is how you can be a vegan and still eat unhealthily! I always associated vegans with a super-healthy, tons-of-vegetables diet, but it turns out that a lot of what you can eat as a vegan is super processed. In fact, if you want to eat vegan and still follow Michael Pollan (Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants.), it's really difficult.
First of all, all of the meat- and dairy-replacement products go away (bye bye rice milk, soy milk, tofurkey, etc.). Then think of the choices that you make in order to avoid processed foods in a normal diet (i.e. butter instead of margarine), and they're all out too. Then, you put all of this in the context of Val, where a huge percent of the food is already processed, and things like bread are gone too. Suddenly, you're living in a world where things like french fries and coke are OK, but butter isn't? I've been doing my best to avoid the processed food and still be vegan, but it's been difficult to do for even two days and makes me really impressed by anyone who does this for real. Mostly, I've been sticking to the salad bar and the basket of fruit, supplementing with peanut butter as needed, but it doesn't really fill you up. I don't think I've ever been this hungry for this long.
On the other hand, this type of diet does make you feel really good. Yes, I'm hungry, but I'm also really energetic in the afternoons now (and I'm most definitely a napper) and I generally feel much more awake. It's not like I ever really felt "weighed down" by my food, but that is most definitely not the case now.
To sum it all up, day two is over and I am really in awe of vegans.
The one thing that's really hit me so far is how you can be a vegan and still eat unhealthily! I always associated vegans with a super-healthy, tons-of-vegetables diet, but it turns out that a lot of what you can eat as a vegan is super processed. In fact, if you want to eat vegan and still follow Michael Pollan (Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants.), it's really difficult.
First of all, all of the meat- and dairy-replacement products go away (bye bye rice milk, soy milk, tofurkey, etc.). Then think of the choices that you make in order to avoid processed foods in a normal diet (i.e. butter instead of margarine), and they're all out too. Then, you put all of this in the context of Val, where a huge percent of the food is already processed, and things like bread are gone too. Suddenly, you're living in a world where things like french fries and coke are OK, but butter isn't? I've been doing my best to avoid the processed food and still be vegan, but it's been difficult to do for even two days and makes me really impressed by anyone who does this for real. Mostly, I've been sticking to the salad bar and the basket of fruit, supplementing with peanut butter as needed, but it doesn't really fill you up. I don't think I've ever been this hungry for this long.
On the other hand, this type of diet does make you feel really good. Yes, I'm hungry, but I'm also really energetic in the afternoons now (and I'm most definitely a napper) and I generally feel much more awake. It's not like I ever really felt "weighed down" by my food, but that is most definitely not the case now.
To sum it all up, day two is over and I am really in awe of vegans.
Monday, February 28, 2011
Vegan Week: Day One
So, this week I'm going to conduct an experiment. I've always admired vegetarians and vegans for their willpower to voluntarily give up what is so delicious (read: bacon), but I started to wonder if I could do that too... So, here is my first experiment in eating: Vegan Week!
This week (from today, Monday, February 28th through Sunday, March 6th - excluding Tuesday night, when my dad is taking me out to dinner), I am going vegan, saying goodbye to everything I love about food (milk, butter, beef, ice cream, yogurt, eggs, chicken, honey, and BACON) to see if I can really do this.
So far, it seems to be going OK - breakfast consisted of bananas and peanut butter, without the glass of milk I usually have, but I didn't miss eggs or dairy too much. Granted, a part of this is because Val's breakfast selection is quite poor, but I'll call it a win.
Lunch was also easy. Passing up the greasy, fried Chicken Parmesan, I made a huge mixed green salad with cucumbers, chickpeas, and red peppers, topping it with some microwaved spinach, cherry tomatoes, and mushrooms and drizzling it with olive oil and lemon. Not too shabby.
So far, I'm not missing much of my usual diet. I'm sure that will change when I smell the burgers and chicken quarters that are for dinner tonight, but so far so good!
Update: I survived dinner, but just barely. I was thinking about a garden burger, but they honestly looked too awful to even try, so I went with the garbanzo bean casserole (some sort of odd amalgamation of chickpeas, garbanzo beans, and carrots with a lot of seasoning), some steamed brown rice, and some sautéed zucchini, peppers, onions, and carrots. Add a little soy sauce and voilà! Not too horrible. Dessert was a peach and the day is done. All in all, not as bad as I thought it would be. My overwhelming impression right now is one of hunger. Granted, I probably didn't consume as many carbs as I should have, but I was hungry about 3 1/2 hours after lunch, which never happens... Maybe this feeling will go away as my body becomes adjusted?
This week (from today, Monday, February 28th through Sunday, March 6th - excluding Tuesday night, when my dad is taking me out to dinner), I am going vegan, saying goodbye to everything I love about food (milk, butter, beef, ice cream, yogurt, eggs, chicken, honey, and BACON) to see if I can really do this.
So far, it seems to be going OK - breakfast consisted of bananas and peanut butter, without the glass of milk I usually have, but I didn't miss eggs or dairy too much. Granted, a part of this is because Val's breakfast selection is quite poor, but I'll call it a win.
Lunch was also easy. Passing up the greasy, fried Chicken Parmesan, I made a huge mixed green salad with cucumbers, chickpeas, and red peppers, topping it with some microwaved spinach, cherry tomatoes, and mushrooms and drizzling it with olive oil and lemon. Not too shabby.
So far, I'm not missing much of my usual diet. I'm sure that will change when I smell the burgers and chicken quarters that are for dinner tonight, but so far so good!
Update: I survived dinner, but just barely. I was thinking about a garden burger, but they honestly looked too awful to even try, so I went with the garbanzo bean casserole (some sort of odd amalgamation of chickpeas, garbanzo beans, and carrots with a lot of seasoning), some steamed brown rice, and some sautéed zucchini, peppers, onions, and carrots. Add a little soy sauce and voilà! Not too horrible. Dessert was a peach and the day is done. All in all, not as bad as I thought it would be. My overwhelming impression right now is one of hunger. Granted, I probably didn't consume as many carbs as I should have, but I was hungry about 3 1/2 hours after lunch, which never happens... Maybe this feeling will go away as my body becomes adjusted?
Friday, February 18, 2011
James Beard Award Semifinalists Announced
Congratulations to Chef Eric Gabrynowicz of Restaurant North on his being named a semifinalist for the James Beard Rising Star Chef Award!
Check out the full list of semifinalists here:
http://www.jamesbeard.org/blog/index.php/2011/02/awards-watch-2011-restaurant-and-chef-awards-semifinalists/
Check out the full list of semifinalists here:
http://www.jamesbeard.org/blog/index.php/2011/02/awards-watch-2011-restaurant-and-chef-awards-semifinalists/
Coming Up Next...
Coming up after I finish the thesis chapter that is currently dominating my life? An homage to the burger at the Route 9 Diner in Amherst, MA. Thank you for making thesis writing that much more agreeable...
Friday, February 11, 2011
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