Textured Soy Protein and ME!

Wow, life has been busy since my last post. I have discovered some wonderful things since I last wrote. One of them is a blog with wonderful recipes, and you can find that one at VeganDad Journal. He has a lot of nifty stuff on there, especially an easy recipe for vegan mayo. Why spend tons of money on a jar when it's so simple to make it at home. I am working hard to be a frugal vegan!

Something else I stumbled upon whilst looking for more interesting things to make and eat is Textured Soy Protein. I am not sure if it's similar to Textured Vegetable Protein, but this stuff ROCKS! I found this stuff at an Indian Grocery in an obscure part of town (as well as a stash of FourLoco for sale!) while looking for a spice mix for vegetable biryani, so I didn't have to buy and store tons of spices. Of course, it looks like I will have to do it anyways because the spice mix was a little too spicy for my wife... Initially, it reminded me of kibble, and I have to admit I was a little put off by that fact. It is now referred to as adding "human kibble" to a recipe in the house.

 I brought it home and while I was soaking the rice for the biryani, I decided to try it out, so I pulled a cup of "kibble" out of the bag, and reconstituted it with two cups of water. I was amazed at how it looked after soaking for 20 minutes. They actually looked  like cut up pieces of chicken. I threw them into the pan and sauteed them with the spices before adding the rice to cook them a little, then finished up with the rice. When the dish was finished I pulled one out and took a bite. They tasted like chicken, they had the texture of chicken, and they looked like chicken! It was an amazing and eye-opening experience, but do you want to know the best part? It didn't cost nearly as much as chicken would! The whole bag was $1.99! Since it's dried, and probably shelf stable until the end of time, I think I will go stock up on the stuff!

Also, something that I hope is vegan, but I am never 100 percent sure of these things being new to it and all, is Oreo cookies. I love those things, and thought I was going to loose them forever, until I read the back of the package. So... If they are not vegan, don't mention it to me, just let me enjoy my blissful ignorance. :D

Recipe Time!

Here is something I came up with yesterday. It's a little variation on a hummus recipe, and it was freaking delicious:

Spicy Black Bean Hummus

1-Can of black beans (low sodium), retaining the juice in a bowl
2 tbsp Sesame Tahini
2 tbsp Olive oil
1 tbsp minced garlic, or more to taste
3 tbsp lemon juice, or more or less depending on taste
(These are estimates, I don't measure spices)
1 tsp Cayenne pepper
1 tbsp Cumin
1 tbsp Granulated Garlic
1 tbsp Chili Powder
1 tbsp Paprika

Basically, just throw it all together in a food processer except for the retained black bean juice. Process on high for 3-5 minutes, and close to the end, drizzle the retained juice in until you see the consistancy you want. I find doing this helps to make it creamy.

Six Days In...

Well, I am six days into my vegan journey, I am noticing a few things. First off, I am quick to be irritated and  I am hungry all the time. On a more positive note, I am sleeping better and have more energy than I previously did.  I think I can learn to live with the irritation. I just hope my family will be able to.

I also discovered a Tofu breakfast scramble. My 5 year old son swears they taste like eggs, even though he knows they aren't. It's freaking incredible. I don't know how I have survived 39 years without it.

The Journey Begins

Do you know what I just realized? I hate oatmeal. I hate the look of it, the texture and the taste. I still eat it though, even though I would much prefer bacon and eggs with a side of toast. Why do I put myself through this torture you might wonder? Well, I made a decision to go vegan on the first of January. That's right. No meat, fish, chicken, pork, dairy or anything that has to do with an animal product and my stomach. I decided to go cold turkey and skip the whole, "slide into it slowly by becoming a vegetarian first" deal. I decided I needed to either go "all in" or leave the table.

Why would I put myself through this, you may ask? Well, I am doing it for health reasons, not because I want to save a baby cow or something. Thanks to being a proud member of the "McDonald's Generation", I have a whole host of ailments ravaging my body. I would have probably kept happily on eating that crap also, if not for a documentary I stumbled upon while watching Netflix one day. It was called, "The Beautiful Truth" and the things they were talking about in there just seemed to make sense. They weren't just talking about slowing down things like cancer and heart disease through a vegan diet, they were talking about reversing it.

So fast forward to 11:30 or so on New Years Eve. I am parked in the Checker's Drive Thru ordering a Baconzilla burger with fries. I figured I would give meat the send off that it deserved, and anyone who knows me knows that I am a huge bacon fan. I wonder, as I eat the burger, what I was going to eat the next day. I had been doing a little research prior to making the decision, and making my family eat the research. I had dabbled with Seitan recipes, and some tofu stuff. I didn't however, know what I was going to have for breakfast....

So here I am, eating oatmeal on January 4th... Four days into my being vegan. Just so you know, I have plenty of options, but since at the time I didn't research "breakfast foods", oatmeal was on the top of the list. It's in the pantry, so I have to eat it or it's just wasted money. I would kill for a bagel right now with some tofu cream cheese, but I ate them all already. Well, truthfully, the family helped a little. You see, when I made the decision, they decided to make the decision with me, and they are all trying to follow with me. My wife is failing miserably, but she is making the attempt, which I love her for. My daughter is holding in there. She got funny looks in school cafeteria when she said she went vegan and asked what they had for her... Their reply was, "You're 14, why would you need to go vegan?". My son, who is 5, just knows he likes seitan because it's really tender meat, and he likes broccoli and carrots. He is the unknowing follower.

So if you have ever been curious about being vegan and what it takes, or just looking for something different for dinner, keep reading the future posts, because everything will be there in its raw, vegan form.