Tuesday, January 4, 2011

Day 4- Changing the things I can, accepting the things I can't...

Today I had my first craving for my old habits. This was likely due to my leaving the house and being bombarded by about 500 restaurants and all the smells they tend to waft around them. Suddenly I wanted meat. I wanted meat and cheese and fatty, food coma inducing goodness. It's been relatively easy to go vegan at home. I rarely need to use butter for anything and can't figure out the last time I really used it. I haven't had a glass of milk in years due the fact that I'm almost lactose intolerant (I can have some cheese on things) so it wasn't like I was missing out on that. The lasagna I made the first day has lasted us through now as well, so it's not much of an issue inside the house (Greg is trying to go vegetarian with me in a gesture of solidarity and Jack, well, the kid would probably eat nothing but french fries (his main vice), "skettis" and apples if we let him, he JUST screamed at me for his third carrot in the last 15 minutes).
This is what I thought of when I deemed this a "challenge". I can't just go out and pick something up. I have to take everything into consideration. Is that cooked with butter/beef broth/milk/eggs/honey? Does it have any of that stuff in it? If I want anything I now have to look it up to find out more information about it.
Along with the recent more thorough label checking, I've started reading some of the books Colleen let me borrow. As expected this one is tickling my fancy. I'm such a comfort food fiend so I'm excited to try out some of the recipes.

So far, I feel good. Well, save for one thing but it's kind of an side effect of a good thing- I'm beat today! Why? My energy level has increased a lot. I think a large part of it is due to the more regular exercise. As a result I've been buzzing off of this increased energy until the early a.m. Something I haven't done since Amanda B.C. (Before Child) and something that I probably shouldn't do in Amanda A.C. (After...you get this I assume?) since said child wakes up everyday no later than 7. So I'm tired from being unable to get tired the night before. Not too shabby though.

Tonight I'm tucking into a long hot bath, some mango sorbetto and "An Education". And Friday I'll be making my first video appearance here.

As I mentioned in the comments section yesterday, here's Jack with a mustache tattoo-

This particular style is called "The Gunslinger" and we have quite a few more to ham it up with.

I also wanted to say "thank you" to everybody who has been so positive and offered up encouraging comments. It makes this much easier and worth it. So thank you, thank you, thank you!

6 comments:

Charlotte said...

Well- I sure hope you share some of these bomb vegan recipes you're cooking up! While I am not vegan I do enjoy many vegan meals here and there & it would be fun to see what you're making! Best of luck to you & your challenges. Very interested in how month 3 goes!!!

Charlotte said...

P.S... I know you have some cookbooks already, but my friend Amie posted this recipe and if you like tortilla soup, this is delicious. just thought i'd share...

http://www.abbeycatchat.com/2010/02/vegan-tortilla-soup-with-surprising.html

Chelsea said...

Jacks stash makes me smile.

Amanda said...

Ooooh, thanks for the recipe Charlotte! I LOOOOVE tortilla soup. I'm lucky to live in Tucson where epic tortilla soup is easy to come by, but not very many vegan restaurants (but the few we do have here are amazing!). So I'll likely enjoy making this, it'll taste like home.

And Chelsea, there are plenty more to come! My friend Colleen got us a pack of temporary mustache tattoos and we're having a ball over here!

Molly Page said...

Did you love An Education???

Amanda said...

I did! I thought everybody performed well and the costuming was perfection! I immediately wanted to back-comb my hair into a 60's up-do and go thrifting. I love Peter Sarsgaard.