Here I am, about 3 weeks into my plant-based diet adventure.
Whilst I’ve seen an amazing range of foods vegans and plant-based dieters cook and bake, right now it feels like it’s only lentils, beans and chickpeas. I clearly need to expand my repertoire.
Today I spent HOURS in the kitchen, luckily it’s Sunday! I made (a version of) Jamie Oliver’s 7 Veg Sauce (I used 5 veggies & halved the recipe) to freeze and put in the fridge for the week. I had some with whole meal pasta for my dinner – it was ooookay. I’d kinda hoped it was going to be nicer. Joke’s on me though as I (literally) just threw it all in the pot, added a few spices and DIDN’T taste it. That won’t happen again!
I also started jotting down recipes in my plant-based recipe journal and planned some meals for the week. I’m still finding that a tad challenging. I’ve bought so many new kitchen staples but I also seem to lack one or two main ingredients for a lot of dishes, sigh. I’m sure I will get there and that it will get easier! I also had an interesting kale based salad today which, in all honesty, really wasn’t great at all.
So the moral of the story is that some days the food I make is really not very nice, and that’s okay. But I’m hanging in there! I know it takes time, this is a huge change and I’m still learning so much on a daily basis. Which brings me to another point – I generally spend a lot of time (too much) on social media but this seems to have increased ten-fold since starting this journey. I’m constantly looking things up or reading new posts in plant-based or vegan groups.
Reflecting on this new lifestyle, I can honestly say I’ve never cooked this much in my life. I’m also not the biggest fan of cooking, however I feel that if I can come up with some great-tasting dishes this will likely change. At this stage it’s most definitely a work in progress situation.
A few highlights to share though starting with my peanut butter slice:
I made this for a work BBQ I went to on Friday. I wanted to make sure there was a dessert I could eat as I love desserts! It turned out quite well and I’ve frozen a few pieces in order to not eat it all this weekend lol.
I also went out for a meal & movies with two lovely friends of mine (to celebrate our amazingness and our birthdays!). We went to The Screening Room in Masterton who have a vegan menu which is quite cool! The main meal was okay, but the dessert was OUT OF THIS WORLD AMAZING.
See for yourself:
Who knew you could make pavlova out of chickpeas canning liquid? They taste utterly delicious. The coconut cream was beautiful as was the berry coulis. I would have happily eaten this dessert again! Probably the best dish I’ve had since starting this plant-based adventure.
The work BBQ was interesting too. It’s curious being on the receiving end of people’s judgement and misinformation pertaining to anything plant-based. People are cool with vegetarians yet when you mention eating a vegan diet, people don’t get it. I’m totally fine with that! However I do appreciate an open and curious mind versus a closed and disregarding one.
It is a humbling experience and a welcome reminder to myself to be open-minded and less judgmental in my daily life. I guess judging people and situations is how I make sense of the world, yet it’s also important to realise that my interpretations are just that. An interpretation of a moment in time which only shows me a part of the bigger picture only…
Well, it is Sunday evening and I am feeling rather ready to relax with my Kindle.
Happy Sunday everyone!
Auf Wiedersehen,
Carly