Progress Report:
We are doing very well!

It is amazing how well we are doing, actually! I didn't expect to dive right in when the Man did because I don't have to do it at all. Veganism was begun to deal with his heart health, not mine. Not to mention, we had a lot of stuff in the cupboard that was NOT on his prescribed diet but which I could eat so I started cleaning out all those foods from the fridge and the pantry. 

But I was tasting and smelling the food I was making  him to make it as savory as possible since he was denied both salt and fat, both of which enrich taste and texture of food. In addition, I hated making two different meals--one for him and one for me. Also, I found out I LIKED what I was making for him. So I started eating what he was eating except that I sprinkle a little salt...okay, a lot of salt...on my portion, once it's on my plate. 

What to do?! I decided to try going along with his program and just doing a few additions to mine. That has worked well. At one point, I wanted to become a vegetarian for ethical reasons--animal welfare, the health of the planet, and as a political statement about the huge amount of the world's resources we residents of the US of A are consuming--so it was not a new or sudden endeavor. I had a lot of vegetarian cookbooks left from that first attempt at eating more responsibly and there is only a little further change to go vegan. I had to change from cow's milk to almond or hemp milk in my tea and a vegan butter substitute for my toast.

Now I am realizing how much more satisfied I am after a vegan meal than I have ever been eating a heavily meat-, seafood- or fowl-based feast. We had stopped eating red meat several years ago and I have never liked seafood that much except for shrimp and lobster. Eating lobster always bothered me a lot so I seldom did that anyway. I am very happy to make this change now, especially since The Man is feeling so much better since beginning the regimen. We both find the vegan meals very satisfying. We also seem to have much better dispositions and are less irritable than we have been in the past. Most pleasant!

I've talked about making substitutions for fat and dairy products, including eggs, in a previous post. Now I will talk about what our typical meals for a day include. We have decided that "beans and greens" make a wonderful breakfast. We add to that some steel-cut organic oatmeal and the day is started with a nice protein hit without resorting to animal products of any kind! We also feel peppy and full. Not bad, eh? 

So far, water has been the liquid of choice in place of vegetable bouillon cubes called for in recipes. I do plan to start making vegetable broth from veggie scraps left over from preparing them for inclusion in our meals to use as a better nutritional choice. If The Man were not to cut out salt, I would probably would use those commercial vegetable bouillon cubes. However, since they are usually laden with salt and fat, both verboten to The Man and not really a good thing for me either, considering their effect on weight, blood pressure, etc., I have chosen this less convenient but better way.  Young active people of course should definitely include vegetable oils in their diets for energy--and growth in the case of children. But we more "chronologically enhanced" folks DON'T need them nearly as much or even at all if  we are eating a wide variety of other vegetable foods because nearly all vegetables have some oil in them.

What I have found, however, is that vegan food benefits immensely from amped up amounts and varieties of herbs and spices. I have always liked onions and garlic but now I often double the amounts called for in recipes. I have started using asafetida in small to moderate amounts (usually about 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon in my dishes serving the two of us) and find that it doesn't assert its own taste so much as it underscores the onion and garlic. May I say, as delicately as possible, that it also serves to put a damper on the more, um, embarrassing effects of a diet which includes numerous varieties of legumes in larger quantities? At least, this information was offered in a Wikipedia article on that particular flavoring agent, which is widely used in the cookery of India. In early days in America, even today in more rural areas as it was through my own youth, it was used as a medicine, almost a magic charm, to ward off sickness, especially respiratory illnesses and other contagious diseases, when a small amount in a little cloth pouch was worn around the neck.

However, to me now, it has a delicious aroma and complements savory dishes most marvelously when used in small amounts.

Both The Man and I love spicy dishes so I use a lot of red pepper flakes. I especially like to add fresh chillies to everything--within reason of course! I think they are delicious and are very good for health reasons too. Chili--meatless of course as some people swear it is supposed to be if it is to be authentic--is a favorite dish of ours and is very tasty even without oil and salt if enough spices are added.

I will be putting up recipes soon, or at least links to them. However, in the meantime, use any recipe you like and experiment with the substitutions I have mentioned so fare in the blog, or better still, figure out some of your own.  

Also, should you have any questions or comments, please submit them. If I can't answer them--a distinct possibility, since I am finding my way myself--I will do some research to see what I can find. Anyone who has ideas, information or questions is encouraged to share them with us as well. 

I will be taking three vegan cooking classes at our local food co-op this month--including a seeming oxymoron: a vegetarian seder!--so stand by for some reports on them!

Tah!