So… someone sent me a link to this recipe today:

VEGAN TURKEY THAT LOOKS LIKE TURKEY (or Flounder)

It looks pretty good! For a vegan Turkey.

I wrestle with that – only because as I get further into my Vegan-o-licious life… I find I want meat substitutes less frequently. And I think that’s a good thing. Because generally, when you’re eating MOST of the sub’s, you’re eating processed stuff. Sure, it’s Vegan, so it’s better than a box-o-brownies with a shelf life longer than military MREs… but still.

Whole foods… has kind of a nice ring to it (and I mean the food, not necessarily the store, though I do like the store… when I’m flush with cash).

One of the recipes on this site… the Rustic Cabbage Soup… is all veggies, and beans, and, well, soup. AND – you can make it in like 40 minutes or less – and it tastes like you’ve been cooking it all day.

But then there’s the Chick’n and Dumplings. It’s amazing, and a family favorite, but I wonder. Does it HELP things by using the fake chick’n? Or would chick PEAS be just as yummy? And more whole-food-y.

BY the WAY… on the Chick’n and Dumplings… I totally cut the prep time (and, more importantly, the CLEAN UP time by … like… a lot.

How? I’m sure you’re begging to know?

Well.. the recipe calls for rolling out the dough on a floured surface (not a weeknight joy)… and then cutting and dumping in the soup.

So… I kneaded in the bowl… and pinched off… and put it in the soup. Fantastic! Brilliant! I am SO impressed!!

I can assure you we’ll make more of THAT meal now that I’ve taken the EASE level up a lot.

But I digress.

I’m curious… what are your feelings about eating meat substitutes? Do you have any? Feelings, that is? About it, I mean?

Me? I’m not going to cut them out entirely… but I definitely don’t have them at every meal, either. Well, not at most meals. Okay, at quite a few… but I watch it.

I do eat a lot of whole foods… but still do opt for the ease, the convenience, and – dare I say – the comfort… of a good substitue meat.

But Morningstar Farms still sucks for putting eggs and milk BACK in their previously Vegan stuff.

Who knew it would be so easy to eat Vegan .. cook Vegan… love being Vegan.

If you’ve read any of my other postings, you already know that
A: I haven’t eaten beef or pork since 1996
B: I went Vegetarian for health and compassion issues in 2007
C: I went Vegan for more health and compassion reasons this year, in June, 2009

A few things happened to drive me there. First, the quantity of information out there on where meat comes from, how it’s handled, how it’s processed, and the risks to health along the way were huge. There’s the “meat makes us sick” angle… , too.

But for me, there was another factor. I’ve had Cholesterol issues for a couple of years, even being a strict vegetarian. It’s one of the reasons I went from fish & chicken to “real” vegetarian.

My total Cholesterol was about 280… tri’s were even higher. My “good” cholesterol was lowish, around 40.

AND… my blood pressure was putting me at risk of needing to go on medication. I was about 145 / 95 on the high end… 138/90 on a good day.

I wasn’t happy with the numbers. Clearly, they lead to bad things down the road. We all know that.

So – enter “The China Study” It’s a truly amazing book – filled with hard core data and research performed over decades. And, as much as I’m against animal testing, the fact that some of this scientist’s research was done using animals (and also thousands of people)… somehow gives it different credibility. He’s not some “animal lover” trying to bend the data to support his cause… he’s a true scientist who himself, though not an animal rights advocate directly, has gone vegan and is encouraging all in his “world” to do the same… for some very compelling reasons.

I’ve been Vegan (eating) now since late June. That includes a couple of trips to Europe, a few in the US (traveling is always a bit tougher)… and a LOT of new recipes at home. Goodbye milk, eggs, cheese, eggs, dairy, eggs, and cheese. Okay, a few repeats there… but it was kind of a big deal.

I don’t miss it. At all. Except MAYBE once in a while I would like cheese cheese. While there are some great Vegan cheeses on the market… they don’t taste just like cheese… don’t melt just like cheese. But they’re close. AND, they don’t have fat like cheese, cholesterol like cheese, and require milking of an unwilling cow for cheese (I said Dr. Campbell wasn’t an animal guy, I am).

And here’s my numbers update.

I had my bloodwork done just before going Vegan, and again last week.

Now … my cholesterol is 191 (total). Bad is 110, good is 46. Tri’s are 182. So … serious improvement in just two months, and I’m expecting more improvement.

AND – bonus – my blood pressure is now 120/80 and standing heart rate is 64.

Cha!

That’s pretty solid improvement… pretty solid growth. I’m very excited, pleased, happy, and thankful.

So in my less-than-three-months eating Vegan… people often look at me cross ways when they find out what I don’t eat. They ask me if I eat “twigs and leaves” (I don’t). I post some of my favorite recipes on this site… you can see it’s not twigs and leaves. MAYBE twigs and berries. No, not really.

As I think about it, the ONLY thing I REALLY miss… is convenience. It’s so much easier, especially in the US, to eat badly, quickly, cheaply, and heartlessly. If you want to eat WELL, it takes a bit more time, and sometimes a bit more money.

A cheeseburger at McDonald’s, costing a DOLLAR, has 300 calories (that’s just the SMALL burger…) with 12 g of fat over 6 grams saturated AND .5 G TRANS FAT!. Add t that 40 mg of cholesterol. 750 mg of Sodium!?!

And that’s one of the BEST things on the menu at McDonalds. Look at the numbers on a Big Mac. 576 calories… 32 g fat, 12 g saturated fat, 2.8 polyunsaturated fat, and 14.1 monounsaturated fat. Still about 750 mg. sodium.

An apple? Like a $1.50… a much better snack, but a harder sell to kids… and most grownups. Even as they beep beep beep backing up in their cart at Wal Mart, many don’t see the relationship between food and disease, overall health, and quality of life.

Like I said, it’s about convenience for me. It’s easier to eat crap that makes us sick and kills us… it takes a little effort to eat well. Even if some things cost a bit more. Overall, it’s less expensive to eat vegan than it is to be an omnivore…even with great organic produce.

But I’ve never been one for cheap.

I’ll take my numbers, anytime.