Carnie Turned Veggie

Day 4 -- Good Feeling by Travis

Wow, so completed my 4th day yesterday on my meatless experiment. Not going to sugar coat the first few days. I'd compare it with weening oneself off crack...(whatever that must feel like). Just for example, my sister had made a steak and the scent lingered in the apartment hours later. Ordinarily, I'd complain and say use the damn vent. But it was different this time, I smelled it like a canine. I immediately craved chicken, although she made steak. So side note intro aside, one of the biggest challenges with this whole scenario is peer pressure... No force feeding of chicken or anything like that! (Although, I probably wouldn't mind food injections of chicken Picatta). But, mainly meaning talking to friends about my decision to do this and being that annoying, picky eater in the bunch. Five days ago, I would have killed myself if I heard "Are there any meat bi-products in this? Or, I can't eat this. It has things that I can't pronounce on the ingredient list. But, if you take a healthy attitude when discussing it with peers and realize that you aren't going to be perfect, you'll be fine with giving up meat and focusing on organic foods. Don't kill yourself if you drunkenly eat a whole bag of Chex Mix. Our food industry makes it almost impossible to avoid such foods that are so overly produced.

Ok, the soap box is on the back burner for now. Anyway, I woke up yesterday without that empty stomach feeling, like if I swallowed something you could hear it hit the bottom of my stomach. Those veggie experts were not kidding. It's crucial that you get protein in your diet. (I am soaking beans as you read!) It can be tempting to go about this the wrong way, but you should really do your homework before suddenly discontinuing meat in your diet. For example, my friend discussed that many often become pastatarians. Or I remember a friend in school who was on the grilled cheese diet. Remember, you need a variety of food in your diet. Eat plenty of servings of fresh ingredients accompanied with protein and fat i.e. peanut butter, tofu, beans, etc. Check out this good read on info of how to be a veggie pro by Vesanto Melina.

Fun Recipe, but not huge on protein. Accompany with baked fries if you'd like.

Meatless Steak and Cheese (Yup, it's an oxymoron)
Servings: One

Half Green Pepper
Handful of mushrooms
1/4 cup of onions (probably not this much. Do whatever you can handle)
Cabot Garlic and Herb Cheese cut into thin cubes (enough for one layer of bread)
2 Slices of Whole Wheat Bread
Seasoned Mayo (Add some lemon juice, capers, and red pepper flakes and mix)
Cooking Spray or olive oil if you enjoy taste


Preparation:
Heat pan on medium. Meanwhile, cut up all of the veggies. Spray medium sized pan with cooking spray or use a little olive oil. Once pan is hot enough, toss the veggies and sautee until lightly browned.

Place cheese chunks on bread. Once veggies are cooked enough to your liking, place in a bowl. Spray pan and put heat on low. Place the slice of bread with the cheese on the bread. Carefully add the bowl of veggies to cheese bread. Spread your mayo concoction on remaining slice and top off the sandwich on the pan. (Just whatever mayo brand you like and mix in garlic powder, capers, and red pepper flakes). Also makes for good dipping sauce for fries.

Finally, once cheese is melted; flip and think you can figure it out from here.

Will take a pic next time!


Day 2 Diet --
Omelet with cheese, peppers, onions, and mushrooms (cage free eggs)
Sundried Tomato Pesto with broccoli (Great Giada recipe. Added broccoli.)
1 Kiwi

Day 3 Diet --
Omelet with beans, cheese, peppers, onions and god knows what else (no meat, though)
Meatless Steak and Cheese with fries (Works with peppers, onions, and mushrooms. See recipe above.)
Veggie Pad Thai with Tofu and other types of veggies
Veggie Spring rolls (fried, eeks!)

Day 4 Diet --
Nutrigrain Bar (processed)
Leftover Veggie Pad Thai
Saltines/Smartfood Popcorn (Random trip to convenience store)
Veggie Works Pizza and Mozzarella Sticks (ugh, unhealthy...but a drunk dinner)
ChexMix (processed)