so lately i have decided to cut out all animal byproducts a few times a week. so basically every third day (sometimes less) i am vegan. i get asked what i eat if i don't eat meat, and on the days i am vegan, dairy. i think if people really thought about it, they have gone an entire day without eating meat and nothing bad happened to them. take this hypothetical menu...breakfast: cereal and a banana, lunch: grilled cheese and tomato soup, dinner: pasta with plain sauce. granted, i usually add more fruits and vegetables into my meals, but it is totally possible to get the nutrition you need without eating meat. i actually feel as though i get more than those who do. i have to pay closer attention to what i am eating to make sure i am getting what i need, so i notice if i haven't had the recommended amount of fruits and vegetables. i end up avoiding fast food because of their limited options for vegetarians, and i feel as though that is a beneficial thing. so here is what i ate on a vegan day...

(yes, this picture was taken a few days back when i made this the first time. i wasn't going to retake pictures for continuity sake just because the penguins have been packed up. you might not have even noticed if i didn't mention it.) for breakfast, i made a smoothie out of silken tofu, rice milk, apple juice and frozen fruit. i (barely) sweetened it with agave since the fruit and apple juice already gave it a sweet flavor. i also added ground flax seeds to add some iron to it.


for lunch, i had a veggie noodle stew. i used canned diced tomatoes for the base and added some onion, sliced bell peppers and mushrooms. i added some rice milk to make it more like a soup and less like a pasta sauce, and some hot chili sauce for some heat. i cooked the bowties to al dente and added them into the stew. i toasted some bread to balance the spiciness and complimented it with vegan margarine and some ground cumin.







dinner was the favorite of the day. i made spicy orange glazed tofu and vegetables over brown rice. i started by heating the orange juice in a wok. to it i added teriyaki sauce and hot chili sauce. i let it thicken while i chopped the vegetables (zucchini, mushrooms, and onion) i then added those and some frozen red, green, and yellow bell peppers (thank you, trader joe's, for making my life easier). the night before i cubed firm tofu and put it in a bag with orange juice to marinate. i didn't want the tofu to fall apart when i put it in with the rest of the ingredients, so i "browned" it to a burnt orange (i added some fresh cracked pepper while cooking it). i prepared the brown rice while the sauce thickened a little more. it was so good that i think we might have it once a week or at least every other week.

i'm pretty sure most meat eaters could eat these meals without noticing that anything is "missing". the tofu had such a nice texture and flavor, that i think someone might eat a few pieces of it before questioning what it is. all in all, i feel a lot healthier while i am eating vegan and it usually continues into the next day. i'm not going to go all peta on people and tell them what they should and should not eat, but i will say that this is the right choice for me.