a day in the life...for my niece

One of my nieces asked me to post a sample menu for one day in this plant based diet i'm on.....i don't like calling it vegan, because a true vegan is against killing or harming any animals, not just for food, but for clothing, shoes, belts, purses, wallets, car interiors...you get the picture. I'm not there yet...probably never will be. Maybe if I started when i was 10 or something...but, um, 59 may be a little late for that drastic of a life style change. Lets keep it at the just eating healthy level for now.  Actually, I've always been semi against animal cruelty. Semi....not fully. I have thrown my share of cats in swimming pools....don't hate me. Cats can, and will, walk on water...... But I remember when I was a little kid in Ashland, PA, my dad and I used to go on hikes. In the fall, late fall, when all the leaves were down, I remember I helped him build a little shelter out of branches and downed trees. He said we were building it for the animals, so they could have a place to stay when it snows....I'll never forget that. The other thing I remember from being a kid is Reidlers farm. Our neighbors, Paul and Betty Reidler, had a farm a few miles outside of town. In the summer, sometimes we would drive out there and have a picnic, cookout, swim in their FREEZING cold pool, and then walk out in the fields with a bucket of corn. The deer would see us with the bucket, and slowly, shyly, walk up to us and actually eat corn out of our hands....it was an amazing experience. In my teenage years, all my buddies hunted...I just could never do that...couldn't kill one. The only time I'd be able to kill one is if I was hungry....other than that, I'll just go to the store and get food. Anyway, thats some of the early memories of how I viewed wildlife, Maybe thats why I still love to hike to this day....especially if I can catch a glimpse of a deer or anything else in its natural home....

Anyways...So, for my niece, a sample of a daily plant based diet.....

• Breakfast.....typically, I don't eat breakfast, if I do, it's on the weekends when I have a little more relax time in the morning. Usually just a cup of fresh ground coffee. I actually have a hand coffee bean grinder that I bought on Amazon a while ago. I put that in a French press, and have the frickin greatest cup of coffee ever....one while shaving, then another for the 10 mile drive to work. But on the weekends, when I do eat breakfast, I eat a bowl of oatmeal. Steel cut oats with some fruit on top, usually blueberries or strawberries, with some honey or agave syrup on it, and I also add some soy milk. Vanilla flavored. Has a lot of protein in it. 

I just so happen to have a nice pic I took a few months ago of my oatmeal and blueberries....with honey, honey....ha ha. Maybe I can get into the food photography business...

• Then for lunch, I take leftovers from last nights dinner. If not, then I either go to the company cafeteria and get a salad, not a very big one, with oil and vinegar, and all the legumes I can put on it for protein. A side of fruit salad usually, and if the soup is vegetarian, I'll get a small bowl of that. If I go work out at lunch, there is a place right beside the gym that has vegetarian crepes...the Greek one is awesome.  All organic ingredients, super fresh. It's called 3rd Wave Crepes in Lyndhurst, NJ.....stop by if you are ever in that area.
• For the famous afternoon snack, I walk to the vending machine and stare at it....stare at the goddam chips and crackers I used to eat...stare at the food from the factories....I swear to God they put some chemicals in that shit that makes it addictive and craved.....so I stare at it....and then claim victory for not putting money in the machine.....pat myself on the back, go back to the lab and grab a handful of almonds and a glass of water....usually a few handfuls of almonds...again, a lot of protein packed in those little suckers. That usually gets me to supper.
• Then I leave work, head to the grocery store. Pick up what I'm gonna make that night. I usually have something in mind. Usually look up a recipe on one of the thousand vegan/vegetarian sites and one will catch my eye. For instance, tonight I made vegan enchiladas....I thought they were good. Basically consisted of steamed potatoes, beans, ( I used black beans cause i love them), onion, green pepper, garlic, mushrooms, vegetable stock, green chili peppers from the can, and a bunch of spices (cumin, chili pepper, sage, salt and pepper), and then wheat tortillas with enchilada sauce from the jar.....pretty tasty. 

So, that's pretty much a day's worth of food intake for me...

The thing is....I think you have to like/love to cook to be successful at the diet change....I think it would be hard for me to stay on track if I had to eat out at a vegan/vegetarian place every day/night. Me, I love the whole process...I love researching the menu, picking out the food, bringing it home and slicing and dicing and cooking....I love that. And once I got to the point where I could actually make some complex dishes that were vegan, then I really started feeling satisfied with it...now I'm into the 4th month....I'll have some cheese every now and then, we had a GREAT cheese fondue a few weeks ago...it was awesome...bought some great cheeses from Murrays cheese shop in the West Village....then I had some fish at my birthday dinner with friends at Lure restaurant in SOHO; so I don't deprive myself entirely....but, for the most part, I simply eat a plant based diet. Never felt better in my life.......and I'm hopin my body thanks me and can be better equipped to fight off disease....that's the goal...

Peace

PS....I'll try to compile a list of links to sites that I've found with good recipes....next post...