Vegan week 1.
This is my recap to my first week as being vegan. To start, this is not my first round at this lifestyle. I attempted to eat whole foods in undergrad, in a dorm, with no appliances. Let's just say that didn't begin or end well. I lasted about a week and a half and then gave up. This time however, I'm out of undergrad and grad school. I've been a "big girl" for 2 years now, and I'm finally able to support myself financially and emotionally. So this is where my vegan life begins.
My decision to go vegan was last Tuesday, so it was just over a week today. My novio, Mai, and I were on holiday break and typically spending every minute binging Netflix and all of its contents. As we were scrolling after enduring Black Mirror season 2 it dawned on me that one of my students recommended I watch a documentary about health she saw on Netflix. Seeing that we didn't know what else to watch, we searched the video called What the Health.
Now before people argue about it's content and accuracy, I have been on the fence about this lifestyle for a few years, so there wasn't much persuasion in me to not go vegan. After we finished screening the video I looked at Mai and said I'm going vegan tomorrow. He naturally refuted with "just wait until the new year" bullcrap, but I had made up my mind. I knew this was what I've needed to push me over the green hill. And much to my surprise Mai said he'd go vegan with me. If you knew my novio... This would sound absurd and you'd probably die from laughter. BUT he has stuck to his word and I love him for it.
OKAY sounds boring up to this point but I'm writing this to keep myself accountable for the weeks ahead. I know this is a hard choice to make in the Midwest. I don't live near a large city and most of my surrounding area is made up of corn and cows. Being vegan and Mexican is just the cherry on top of it all. My familia is die hard chicharones, carne asada, fresca con crema.. you name all the meat or dairy and my family has it. So anyway let me tell you about the first grocery haul Mai and I took.
Buying the essentials
Finding the best deals
Feeling accomplished
First thing Mai and I had to do was bulk up on the essentials. What I mean is all of those condiments you open the door of your fridge to grab... the mayo, ranch, parmesan cheese, barbeque sauce. Those essentials. We knew consuming whole foods in the middle of winter would be expensive but we didn't consider needing new condiments and milk and ice cream and "fake meat" and spices. We were fairly lost at our Fresh Thyme and we grabbed all of the things on out grocery list there. So this first week cost us a pretty $100+ just on what seemed like not a lot of food.
Alright so this is the next day after our Fresh Thyme extravaganza and we realize we have a lot of groceries but don't have any meals. OMG here is the 24 year old brain. So the second step we took was to actually get out the newspaper and search for the deals at our supermarkets. This is not something I thought I would ever do at 24 years old, but I definitely don't make a ton of money at my jobs. Okay so Mai and I realize most of the things we need to cook are at Wal-Mart. We add a list together on our phones and adventure out to buy groceries, again.
After all of shopping and planning, it's finally time to start cooking. I'm not a huge cook, but I realize my days of just grabbing chick fil A sandwich are over. So here was our week plan
1. Breakfasts
Cinnamon apple oat muffins
Avocado toast
Cinnamon toast crunch
Sweet potato hash with salsa
The Lux Cafe veggie skillet
2. Lunches
Bean tauqiots
Broccoli sesame seed noodles with sriracha
Quinoa and tofu taco salad
Crab cakes vegan style
Flattop Grill
3. Dinners
Veggie pot pie
New Paradigm Black Bean & quinoa burger
Mexican rice
Camella's Italian Bistro
Overall this week has been difficult but already so rewarding. I have no idea if I've lost any weight because I don't really care about the scale. I do care that I've never felt better. I went to the gym at 6 am this morning and am still not tired. I miss the easy coffee run because I love cream in my cafe but I am feeling more alive for sure! I'll update this weekly and see how I feel 6 months from now. 🌱