PeaceBang
The manic mind of the minister -- Auntie Mame Meets Cotton Mather. Blogging about Unitarian Universalism, UU Christian spiritual practice, occasional cultural and political ravings, and the inner life of ministry. PeaceBang is the alter ego of a small town pastor serving an historic New England Unitarian Universalist congregation.
Veggie Vicki, Month One
October 6, 2008 on 7:09 am | In Them's Eats! |I became a liberal vegetarian (as opposed to an orthodox vegetarian!) a month and four days ago and it’s been a fairly easy transition. I’ve had some fish (haddock at a restaurant and canned tuna a couple of times), and free-range, organic chicken from Whole Food twice (from their hot bar). My commitment was to eat vegetarian except when I felt I absolutely couldn’t do without meat, in which case I would only consume animals that had been farmed and “harvested” (ie, slaughtered) humanely.
Some surprises: I LOVE tofu and snack on baked squares of it (no one told me before that you have to thoroughly blot dry tofu — not just drain it — before cooking it, which makes a world of difference), and I don’t eat as many eggs as I expected to. I find that it’s fairly easy to cook up a batch of legumes or a tasty gratin of some sort and eat it for days. In a pinch there’s always soup, grilled cheese, and a host of other tasty options. I cook with nuts a lot more now than ever before, and I can’t believe how delicious pine nuts are in just about anything. I’m also very fond of the raw peanuts I get from the Asian market. It sounds corny, but food really does seem to taste better.
I still love the smell of meat cooking but I just don’t want to eat it. Weird. When a guy friend was considerate enough to pick the pork out of the lo mein we got at Chinese take-out for me recently, I thought I’d say, “Oooh, you didn’t have to,” but the fact is, I would have actually picked it out myself. In the past when I was trying to eat vegetarian I would not have bothered.
I still have some digestive issues but a doctor has helped me trace all that back to a trip to Guatemala two years ago during which I became incredibly ill with food poisoning. It took me months to fully recover and I guess the point is, I never did. Apparently my villi were hit so hard that I’ll be susceptible to digestive upsets for a very long time — maybe always — unless I follow a really mild diet and I’m sorry, but me give up hot sauce, coffee, acidic fruits and veggies and fried foods forever? Not happenin!
The doc says that my lactose intolerance is a direct result of that illness in Guatemala — it’s not at all uncommon for a GI crisis like that to bring on lactose intolerance in adults. So that’s a bit of a bummer, but I have discovered this absolutely delicious product, which helps take some of the sting away:
Aiieee, mami, this is so good! The trouble is, you’ll want to snarf down the entire container right away. It may be non-dairy but it sure isn’t low in calories!
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Hi,
Came here from the wonderful ‘Monkey Mind’ blog, and just wanted to say ‘thank you’ on behalf of all the sentient lives you have saved from cruel treatment and violent slaughter.
Well done, thank you, and keep going!
Marcus [Thanks, Marcus. I’m not convinced that I’ve saved even one sentient life from cruel treatment and violent slaughter but I guess being part of a community of veggies does add up. - PB]
Comment by Marcus — October 6, 2008 #
Haagen Dasz chocolate sorbet is good, too. And dairy-free.
A tasty baked tofu treat: cut them in “fingers” and don’t blot, but roll in cornmeal. Bake. Eat with hot pepper jelly.
My recipe for Easy Greek Casserole:
1-1.5 cups cooked brown rice or other whole grain (quinoa is good)
1 T olive oil
1 small onion
1 bulb garlic, chopped, or one tablespoon minced garlic from a jar
1 bag baby spinach
herbs
1 pint grape tomatoes, sliced in half, or one can diced tomatoes
1/4 to 1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese
1/2 block firm tofu, drained & pressed
sliced black olives (optional)
Cook rice or other grain. Preheat oven to 375. Heat olive oil in skillet and add onion and garlic. Wash the spinach and squeeze dry. When the onion has become limp and tractable, add the spinach and whatever herbs you like (I use dill, oregano, basil, black pepper; there’s enough salt in the feta so’s you don’t need any of that). While that cooks, spray the pan with non-stick spray (it’s okay if you forget) and spread the rice or other grain evenly across the bottom. When the spinach mixture is just barely cooked, put that on top. Put the tomatoes on top of that, cover in foil, and bake for about 20 minutes.
Squeeze the tofu between your fingers and into a bowl. Add feta cheese. Mix together until it’s all just crumbly white stuff. Remove the casserole and add the feta cheese & tofu topping. Add sliced olives on top, and bake uncovered until topping browns, about 15 more minutes.
[This sounds super yumby! I’m going to make a mock duck- sweet potato - green pepper- tofu -chickpeas- brown rice casserole this afternoon! - PB]
Comment by Miss Conduct — October 6, 2008 #
Cold Stone Creamery ice cream grosses me out, but there Raspberry Sorbet is awesome.
CC
[I don’t know why the phrase “Cold Stone Creamery ice cream grosses me out” so funny, but I do. I mean, the idea of ice cream grossing anyone out is funny. Why? Too sweet? What grosses ME out about CSC is how they train the employees to sing this humiliating little song whenever you drop a tip in the jar. - PB]
Comment by Chalicechick — October 6, 2008 #
I can’t believe it’s already been a month! Meanwhile, I’m still eating the same old food I always have, and running the same old resolutions through my head, and…well, you get the picture. Meanwhile, you have become an inspiration to me. And I still need to take you to our great new vegetarian restaurant on Congress Street, the Green Elephant. Talk to you soon! [GEEZ Tim, I mean, GET ON IT ALREADY! Because you haven’t had anything ELSE big going on in your life recently or anything, no particular challenges or anything, and of course it’s so easy for you to shop for your own food and prepare it! From a wheelchair and stuff! Without a kitchen! ::::noogie, noogie::::: I’m thinking about you and Miss Parker all the time, and will definitely take you up on the Green Elephant invitation — that sounds great! Maybe you could talk them into being your personal chef/food provider as a kind of community mitzvah. - PB]
Comment by The Eclectic Cleric — October 6, 2008 #
Have you tried eating or drinking probiotic foods? I don’t mean Activia, but the real stuff you can usually only find at Whole Foods. Kefir is a really delicious yogurt-like smoothie that is delicious on granola with berries. They also have probiotic-heavy juice called Good Belly that is really tasty. Really worth trying for just about any digestive issue. Hope something works for you! [I haven’t tried any of the brands you’ve mentioned, but I did try a probiotic tea that had me spewing and gagging, so I really appreciate the recommendations! I’ve been wanting to try probiotics. It just makes so much sense that it might really work. Cheers, PB]
Comment by Danielle — October 6, 2008 #
I totally agree with Danielle here, Kefir IS delicious on granola, or berries or both. If you like yogurt that hasn’t been totally inundated with sweeteners- then this is the stuff for you. I love it.
Also try the chewable acidipholus- I used to have my son chew those up when on antibiotics for his ears. The antbx tended to make his tummy “rumbly” and not in a good way and it worked great. I take it too- perfectly palatable.
Comment by beth — October 6, 2008 #
You have me craving tofu now.
Comment by A.Lin — October 6, 2008 #
To me Cold Stone Creamery Ice Cream is just plain too rich. It feels like eating chocolate-flavored butter.
I love other kinds of ice cream and I don’t know why that’s the only brand that icks me out.
But yeah, give me the sorbet any day of the week. Raspberry, with graham cracker peices.
And the singing sucks, too.
CC
Comment by Chalicechick — October 7, 2008 #