No Compromising (Well Almost)

Rob and I celebrated our ninth anniversary this week by making reservations at the Irregardless Cafe in Raleigh. It was one of the only local restaurants that would allow us a special night out without compromising our vegan diet. We were both excited to try it out - Rob for the famed appetizer, Vegan Sex, and I was looking forward to a good meal and live music. (There's plenty for the meat-eating crowd as well.)

I'll have to admit that as a teaching assistant in several remedial English classes in college, the name of the restaurant had put me off in the past, but after being there, I can't believe we waited so long to try it. Owner and chef, Arthur Gordon, claims he chose the name because after all of the years of having it circled in red on his college papers, he could officially use the word however he liked. We met Chef Gordon while he made his rounds through the dining room, and I must say I liked his spirit. He's a trendsetter, and a pretty funny guy.

So what did we eat? Rob indulged in the Vegan Sex appetizer, a stacked salad with layers of avocado, oranges, tabouli, sweet potato and jezebel sauce, aptly named by Gordon because it was heaven on a plate. Yes, I got to try it too, and I'd do it (I mean order it) again. We also shared the Mediterranean plate, consisting of hummus, tabouli and butter bean pate with toasted pita bread. Yum.

For dinner, I had acorn squash cassolette, which had so many components, it would take paragraphs to list it all. Suffice it to say that it was delicious, filled with wonderful roasted vegetables (some of which I normally would not have chosen myself), and beautifully presented in half an acorn squash over a plate of beans and beets. It was the largest fully vegan meal I have ever eaten and I was stuffed! Rob had the vegetable dish that most closely resembles steak, portobellos over polenta. He loved it, and hardly left any for me to taste.

For dessert, Rob went with the vegan fruit crisp, but I conceded defeat and had (non-vegan) sorbet, since I'm not a fan of cherry desserts. Hey, it was a celebration, and how much dairy could they have possibly packed into that little trio of bites? Anyway, I particularly enjoyed the raspberry black pepper. It was sweet with a nice kick and quite unique.

After the indulgence of this meal, and paired with my PMS, I have no weight loss to report this week, but I'm expecting a bigger number next week as a result. Hopefully, our last official week of veganism will be a fitting end to this project. Now, I just have to get through Zach's birthday weekend.

Finding Our Way

After navigating the vegan waters for two weeks now, a new goal has emerged - to find a balance. Relaxing the strict rules of the nutritarian diet did help us keep our sanity, but not everything that is vegan can be considered healthy. Since health and weight loss are still a high priority, I'll need to go easy on the veggie cheese for a while.

I was able to find some organic, vegan convenience foods, but I need to remind myself to use them sparingly, and rely more on fresh vegetables for the bulk of my dietary needs. Even so, one of my freezer staples will always be Amy's frozen foods. All Amy's products are vegetarian, made only with recognizable ingredients that a child can pronounce. Look here for a list of all Amy's brand vegan products. I got hooked with the rice and bean burritos, but my new favorite is the Indian samosa wrap. Quick and delicious.

I also made some progress on the vegan lattes. Starbucks syrups are vegan, making any flavored soy latte allowable during this vegan experiment. After no caffeine for over a week, however, I don't recommend starting with a venti. I was up all night after drinking one at lunchtime. I'm still looking for a vegan coffee creamer alternative for home use (preferably in an Almond Joy flavor). Coffee Mate and International Delight creamers, though labeled non-dairy, do include sodium caseinate, a milk protein, on the list of ingredients, so they're not vegan. 

Rob and I did find a couple of options for eating out. We had a great lunch at Evos in Chapel Hill, NC. Unfortunately, it's one of only four current franchise locations and is a bit far to travel for a “burger,” but the restaurant is making great strides in sustainability through it's use of wind energy, Energy Star appliances, CFL lighting, recycled building materials and biodegradable packaging. It offers both vegan and conventional menu items using organic ingredients and airbaking instead of frying. It's definitely worth supporting, and it tastes good, too. 

Mellow Mushroom makes a mean pizza with Daiya vegan cheese. Build your own. There are tons of choices. We piled on the veggies and added some pesto tofu. It was filling and (almost) guilt-free. Thai food is always an option too. I was ordering tofu thai dishes before we decided to try eating vegan, so at least some things have remained the same.

And then there's the question of dessert. Before yesterday, we hadn't tried any dessert recipes, sticking to the plan to eat healthy. But, is life without dessert really worth living? VegWeb.com provided a recipe idea for this week's dessert craving, and so we broke out the ice cream machine. Zach's vote was for chocolate, so this is what I came up with:

1 can coconut milk (I used lite, despite the warnings not to, and it came out fine)

1 ½ c. Silk chocolate soy milk

½ c. raw sugar

¼ c. Dr. Fuhrman's cocoa powder

I combined the ingredients with an immersion blender and refrigerated the mixture for a few hours. Then, I poured the mixture into the ice cream machine and blended it for 20 minutes. We ate some right away and it tasted good, although I probably could have used even less sugar since the soy milk was flavored. The rest is in the freezer to solidify. I will certainly experiment more with vegan ice cream when the craving arises again. Next time maybe coconut.  

So, after completing week two of the vegan challenge, I am down another 2.5 pounds for a total of nine pounds. Considering how much pizza I had this week and the introduction of dessert, 2.5 pounds seems miraculous. I'll take it. I seem to be finding my way after all.