First Day of Veganhood

My first day of veganhood was not meant to be raw, but I can see that eating a raw vegan diet will be very difficult in the beginning as I figure out how to handle grains and legumes. I'm not sure I'll achieve 100% raw veganhood, but that's ok with me as long as most of my diet consists of fresh, whole, unprocessed foods. I still look forward to a VitaMix and dehydrator to make a raw vegan diet more interesting and easier to achieve.

Yesterday morning I made my hempseed and fruit smoothie. I used the immersion blender (the only blender I own right now) to blend hemp with some orange juice. When it looked creamy enough I added the banana and mango. The taste was... all right, really. But the texture was not pleasant. I guess an immersion blender is not the right tool for emulsifying hemp seed, but I can see the potential for using hemp as a smoothie protein so I'm not totally giving up. I used 4 tbsp of hemp, but I might use more next time, or I might end my day with a second hemp smoothie. Lots of fat in hemp seed, but it's the good kind.

My plan for the day was to have almonds and beans but my day did not proceed as planned. First, I have a friend visiting so we were out until early Saturday morning. I was so sleepy that after my smoothie and some studying for my class, I ended up sleeping again, and missing lunch. I had a dinner planned with a group of friends, but with business to take care of my friend and I decided to eat at Chipotle so that I would get a healthy meal before dinner (in case the restaurant didn't have anything I could eat). At Chipotle I had the vegetarian burrito bowl with only the black beans, grilled bell peppers & onion, corn and tomato salsas, lettuce, and gauacamole. It sounds like a huge meal but it wasn't that large due to the absence of rice. I liked this meal so much that I will definitely work harder at creating a tasty black bean dish. Coincidentally, "Around Harlem" left me a comment with a recipe for black beans (we must be on the same wavelength):

"I don't have a name for this, it's something that I just threw together and it tastes good. The quick easy version is to take a can of black beans, corn and salsa and mix together. You have a really tasty side dish.The healthiest version would be to make your own beans, use fresh tomatoes, onion, garlic, jalapano, corn and cilantro. The ingredient that makes the dish extra special is to add chili powder."

Thank you for the recipe, and for the two others added to the comments to yesterday's post. I would love to collect more ideas from anyone who eats legumes and whole grains- those are the most challenging aspect of eating a vegan diet, not to mention a raw vegan diet.

My dinner was at an Italian restaurant that had a surprisingly tiny salad section: Caesar Salad or a "dinner salad" (nothing but lettuce and a couple of cherry tomatoes). I decided to have the penne and greens, which was escarole cooked in olive oil and garlic, and penne pasta. I drank Pellegrino and ate half the dinner, stopping when I was satisfied. Later in the evening my friend and I went dancing, so that helped me satisfy my exercise requirements. I tried not to think of it as burning calories but it's hard not to wonder if I worked off anything. I do know that as of Sunday morning I am down another pound and feeling healthy.

No More Dairy!

This is the weekend that I try eating an all vegan, mostly-raw diet- no animal products at all! No protein powder, since the ones I've found come from animals or soy (I rarely eat soy). No more yogurt or cottage cheese. No beloved sushi. I bought my foods using McDougall's list as my guide. He is not a raw foodist; he advocates a plant & carbohydrate-based diet. Some of the foods on his list I'll have no problem eating raw, but others I will very gladly cook. My experience last year with soaked grains left much to be desired.

At Whole Foods I found cooked millet at the salad bar. On the shelves of Whole Foods and Trader Joe's I found seeds: pepitos, shelled hemp and ground flax. The flax is probably not raw, but the other two are. Also, a box of quinoa. Being 100% raw with these foods will be a challenge if I can't find a pleasant way to prepare whole grains, but I'm not terribly worried about this; I'm more concerned with getting all my nutritional needs met through whole foods that are as unprocessed as possible before I get to them.

Other foods I bought include: lentils, pinto beans, mango, bananas, kiwifruit, tomatoes, garlic, scallions, cilantro, avocados, Ezekiel sprouted bread, spinach leaves, yams and limes. These will join the couscous, sunflower seeds, almonds, kidney beans, and black beans already in the house. Another trip to the store and I'll have additional vegetables and fruits to round out my menu.

My challenge will be to see how creative I can be with foods I normally don't eat. I have no real experience with millet or quinoa, and my experience with beans often included smoked ham or, at the very least, sazon seasoning (which I cannot find down here!). I should be cutting back on the salt and spices anyway, because it's good to enjoy nature's foods plain. I'm a little worried about the beans because I know they will be bland. I will definitely need to look up recipes to make this stuff interesting and varied.

I made a test menu for tomorrow to see what the nutritional profile would be. In the morning I have a smoothie with the main ingredients being banana, mango and hemp seeds- simple, and apparently the hemp seeds will make it very creamy. For lunch I have a salad with all sorts of seeds and grains. I have 1.5 ounces of almonds as a snack. For dinner I've got lentils and broccoli, and will probably make a little salsa or salad. The profile looks like this: 48 grams of fiber (I'll probably get sick from that!), about 65 grams of protein, 188 carbs, 76 grams of healthy fat (7 gms saturated), all for 1,595 calories. I think this is decent for a first pass.

If anyone has ideas for dealing with the grains and legumes, I'd appreciate both vegan and raw recipes!!