Life as a 95% veg-head

Almost two months after the last post and about six weeks into the plant parade and I would say we're about 95% vegilicious. It's been an adventure.

Having already gone through the cheese and meat withdrawal helped big time. Introducing soy into our lives in a big way while we discover how to veganize recipes or just try what's out there has made me uncomfortable. The jury's still out on the lovely green bean's love affair with breast cancer but most docs seem to think the stuff in its purest/fermented form has health benefits (tempeh, miso, tofu, edamame) and to steer clear of the processed stuff that mimics meat or sneaks into other packaged foods. After six weeks of experimentation, I think we're done with the schmeat and cheeze products, but it had to be done.

Four foods that have saved me

Despite the growing knowledge that soy is a frenemy, with great experimentation has also come great rewards. These little suckers have made the experience worth it:

• Field roast sausages - no soy, only veg and grains and perfect for a Sunday morning fry-up
• Coconut milk - we have been feasting on the flesh of the coconut for awhile now, but I have a renewed appreciation for the good fat of coconut oil for high-heat cooking, coconut manna for frosting, and coconut milk for whipped cream, smoothies and ice cream
• Beans - chock full of antioxidants, fibre and vitamins, we're trying our damndest to get these into our diet several times a week
• Mushrooms - they give good bite when you're looking for something meaty and they boost your immunity in a big way, especially if you buy the non-button variety

Four habits/situations that have saved me

I could not have gone this far without a few rock-hard things in my life:

• Juicing - I still do it every weekday for breakfast and still spend an hour every Sunday afternoon washing and bagging for the week. I couldn't live without it and it gets the green stuff into my blood at least once a day.
• Meal planning - I have a shiteload of cookbooks now and I spend an hour every Saturday poring over them and planning every dinner for the week. My girls like about 5% of what I cook, but they get variety and they'll eventually appreciate all this, right? Ballz.
• Living where we do - our local grocery store has everything, the best veg shop in the city is less than 10 mins away and there's a veg lunch place next door to my work. Opportunities to be good abound.
• Ma famiglia - Pete and the girls have been soldiers. They're interested in the weekly menus, they try stuff and they're on board this crazy train with me no matter where we stop.

I've been less hardcore about gluten and various sugars during this experimental phase. I didn't want to scare my squirrelly self away. I've also been relaxed about eating out. There is egg pasta, the occasional parmesan lovefest and a titch of chicken, especially with the last month of psychotic travelling for work. But 95% of the time, I'm trying to be conscious of what I eat and our kitchen (save a chicken wing or two in the freezer) is vegan. I'm pretty proud of that. There's still more experimentation to do, especially with grains. At our last Whole Foods trip in Vancouver, we stocked up on things like farro and spelt berries and I haven't broken those babies out yet.

I'm still not sure where we'll end on the veg continuum, but I like figuring this shizz out. If I'm fighting off  reocurrence along the way, then blammo.