The last few days have been MUCH easier. I don't know if it's because I've finally found recipes that I enjoy, that I'm now incorporating several types of vegan diets instead of just the raw, or that my husband cooks some of the meals (normally he cooks most meals). He loves to cook, I hate it.
Maybe it's because I've been feeling really good this last week. I'm down four pounds - consistently - from January 1. I do not drop weight quickly, so this has made me feel pretty good!
Or maybe it's because the end is near. I'm planning on staying vegan Mondays through Thursdays (or, at least, mostly vegan). I'm not going to obsess about trace milk products in my food, but I'm not going to eat food that contain significant amounts of animal byproducts. However, I'm wildly excited about going to my favorite restaurant, Ballydoyle, on Saturday with a big group of friends that I haven't seen in a while. I'm already drooling over the thought of Irish chips with bleu cheese dip, steak boxty, and bread pudding.
I have yet to try making my own nutrition bars, mostly because I'm not at a point in my training where they're necessary. But, maybe that will be a good project for this very, very cold weekend that is coming up.
I am going to be careful and not scarf down a ton of non-vegan food, though. I hadn't had bread in two weeks when I ate about a half loaf of it last Saturday (it was essentially my whole dinner, so don't judge!) and I felt the effects of it for over a day. Nothing gross, I just felt very sluggish, and that bread really just sat in my stomach like a lump of dough. So if bread will do that to me, I'm a bit nervous about how I'll feel after eating dairy and meat again.
Thursday nights are now California roll nights, so Matt will be rolling those up when he gets home. Yum! However, I want to share my new favorite recipe: sauteed houby (mushrooms, to all of you non-Czechs out there).
Sauteed Mushrooms
2 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp A-1 or Worchestershire sauce
1 pint sliced mushrooms
1. Put the olive oil and A-1 in a cast-iron skillet; heat and stir with a metal spatula until A-1 is bubbling.2. Pour in the mushrooms, coat in mixture. Stir frequently. When mushrooms seem well-coated, cover the skillet. Continue to stir every minute or so.
3. The mushrooms will start to reduce and the mixture will become very liquid. When this happens, cover for another 3-5 minutes to soften up the mushrooms.
4. When there is little liquid left, uncover and reduce heat slightly. This will severely reduce the amount of liquid. If it seems like the A-1 is burning, you're doing it correctly. Scrape the bottom of the skillet with the spatula to get all that goodness mixed in!
5. When the majority of the liquid is gone, remove the mushrooms from heat. Sprinkle with some salt before transferring to the plate!
The trick is to make sure that the mushrooms are cooking in the reduced A-1 sauce. That's really where they get their awesome flavor! While these mushrooms are GREAT on their own, they also make a fantastic topping for mashed potatoes. You can also sautee some onion before you add in the mushrooms!
Namarie!
MMmm, houby recipe! Connor loves mushrooms even more than I do, so I'll be making these soon.
ReplyDeleteCongrats on making it 21 days as a vegan. That must have been very hard. Is it difficult to find spice mixes without milk powder in it? I have a bean soup that I've put on my blog, but I'm sure the ranch dressing powder and taco powder both contain milk. It tastes just like chili and would be perfect to eat while watching the Bears game.(that's when we'll be eating it)
Also, check out the Joy of Cooking's Vegan Orange Cake recipe. It's my go-to recipe when I have company over and want to serve something coffee-cake like. Great for dessert or breakfast. I bet you have all of the ingredients already in your pantry!!