I've been keeping a secret

I guess it's time to let out a secret I've been keeping for a while. (Calm down mom and dad, I'm not pregnant.) In August, I made the move to veganism as a way to lower my cholesterol. The last time I had it checked, I was at 237. I have a family history of heart disease that I'm trying my best to avoid. I'm hoping that through eating a plant based diet, I can lower my cholesterol. My goal? A crazy 130. I'm giving myself a year and I'll see how I do.

How have I done with the diet so far? Surprisingly well. In case you don't know, vegans eat no animal meats or by products (no cheese, milk, eggs, butter, etc.). Most people have a hard time giving up cheese but that's never been my weakness. If you've read my blog for any length of time you know that my weakness is ice cream. I haven't found a vegan substitute yet that is even close to as good as the real thing but I'm still looking. There have been a few times when I've consciously decided to eat meat or animal products. A scoop of vanilla pepper ice cream in Bellingham that was so worth it, when Dode brought home crab from work, and when we ate at the Space Needle. I'd researched the menu ahead of time and there wasn't one vegan choice so I decided to go for it.

I've tried a lot of different recipes at home and most of the time they work out. One fail? I made a pot of chili that was supposed to feed 6-8 (from a vegan fireman's cookbook). I ate it lunch and dinner for a week, that's 14 servings. I was so sick of it by the time I had my last bowl that I was gagging it down but I didn't want to throw the food away. I also haven't perfected the tofu scramble.  Dode actually prefers the vegan cheesecake I make with silken tofu to the real deal.

The produce co-op has really helped me eat lots of produce without blowing the budget. I think 90% of my diet comes from those baskets with the rest make up of grains and beans.  I'm trying to be conscious to be a veg-an, not a carb-an (east tons of breads, cookies, etc with a smattering of fruits and vegetables).

Will it work?  My mom says "No", but I'm stubborn so I'm giving it a try.  All those fruits and vegetables can't hurt!

There are some kitchen items that make being a vegan much easier.  Some I already had and some I needed to invest in.  In no order of preference.

1.  High Power Blender- Gets used at least twice each day.  Smoothies, sauces, grinding flax and oats.  It cleans up much easier than the food processor.

2.  Food Processor-  Some things don't work well in a blender.  Thick sauces are make silky smooth in the food processor.

3. Metal Steamer Basket- (Miriam calls it a UFO) Tempeh out of the package is bitter.  Steamed 20 minutes before going in a  recipe makes it mild.

4.  Tofu Press-  Gives the tofu a firmer texture for when I want to saute it.

5.  Electric Pressure Cooker- I eat A LOT of beans and rice.  The pressure cooker can cook kidney beans in less than 30 minutes and it's so much cheaper than buying can after can.  Brown rice also cooks in just 30 minutes.

6.  Mango cutter, pineapple cutter- When you're getting lots of fresh fruit, you need a way to quickly get it into a form that can be eaten.  These products work perfectly for getting mangoes and pineapples out of their skins and onto my plate!

7.  Juicer-  Sometimes I end up with too much of something from the co-op when people don't take everything when they pick up.  Last weekend I had over 10 pounds of carrots and 12 cucumbers.  Carrots + cucumber + a small piece of ginger= tasty juice.

8.  extra fridge and freezer-  When you get all the produce you're going to eat for the next two weeks on one day, you need a place to put it while you use it up.  We're at the half way point in the cycle right now so the extra fridge is starting to empty out.  Next Saturday, I'll be jamming things in to every available square inch of it!