Back in March, I was gearing up for an entirely different kind of final hurrah. Lent was about to start, and I was consuming the last meals that would originate in a restaurant for 40 days. It seemed like an impossible proposition at the time, but it ended up flying by. While I don't eat in every night, I think I've broken my serial eating out habit, and I even find myself looking forward to cooking on occasion.
Having experienced moderate success with that project, I find myself considering a new one. Reading The China Study was an enlightening endeavor, and it has me strongly considering a switch to a whole new way of eating. One that doesn't involve any animal protein. Which is just a chicken way of saying, I think I might be going vegan (pun semi-intended).
It's interesting the reactions I've gotten to this potential change. People, especially my southern friends, are more attached to animal protein than I realized. Not eating meat, eggs, or dairy seems pretty incomprehensible to them (if their defensive reactions are any indication). My sister was horrified, and warned me that I'd look positively malnourished. And as someone who loves to bake (and, more recently, make ice cream), and to eat baked goods, I've had a lot of "well, guess I won't be eating any more of this" moments. But I think it's worth a try for a month. I can do anything for a month.
Anyways, I refuse to let the stuff I have go to waste, though, so I have some work to do on my protein-packed freezer. Anyone want to come over for ice cream? Or steak? Both?
Plus, I'm going to Vegas in less than a month, and that doesn't exactly strike me as the sort of place you can go expecting vegan meals to be readily available. So that's brought me to a new, "farewell to animal protein" type hurrah. Between now and mid October, I'm going to use up everything in my freezer, enjoy the gluttony inherent with Vegas, and start thinking about what exactly I can cook and consume once I get back.
I kicked things off last night with a giant steak. I wish I could say it had been an overwhelming success, given the imminent end of my meat-eating days, but it just wasn't. I failed to defrost anything in advance, so after some precautionary googling, I threw the frozen steak in the oven and hoped for the best. The best, sadly, did not emerge. It took forever, it didn't cook evenly, and therefore was just kind of blah. The olive oil, garlic, and rosemary potatoes, however, were amazing. (No, you aren't having dejavu, this same thing happened a couple weeks ago). Not exactly the best start, but there's only room for improvement, I guess.
Now I just need to add a few new, China Study-appropriate cookbooks to my Christmas wish list...
Having experienced moderate success with that project, I find myself considering a new one. Reading The China Study was an enlightening endeavor, and it has me strongly considering a switch to a whole new way of eating. One that doesn't involve any animal protein. Which is just a chicken way of saying, I think I might be going vegan (pun semi-intended).
It's interesting the reactions I've gotten to this potential change. People, especially my southern friends, are more attached to animal protein than I realized. Not eating meat, eggs, or dairy seems pretty incomprehensible to them (if their defensive reactions are any indication). My sister was horrified, and warned me that I'd look positively malnourished. And as someone who loves to bake (and, more recently, make ice cream), and to eat baked goods, I've had a lot of "well, guess I won't be eating any more of this" moments. But I think it's worth a try for a month. I can do anything for a month.
Anyways, I refuse to let the stuff I have go to waste, though, so I have some work to do on my protein-packed freezer. Anyone want to come over for ice cream? Or steak? Both?
Plus, I'm going to Vegas in less than a month, and that doesn't exactly strike me as the sort of place you can go expecting vegan meals to be readily available. So that's brought me to a new, "farewell to animal protein" type hurrah. Between now and mid October, I'm going to use up everything in my freezer, enjoy the gluttony inherent with Vegas, and start thinking about what exactly I can cook and consume once I get back.
I kicked things off last night with a giant steak. I wish I could say it had been an overwhelming success, given the imminent end of my meat-eating days, but it just wasn't. I failed to defrost anything in advance, so after some precautionary googling, I threw the frozen steak in the oven and hoped for the best. The best, sadly, did not emerge. It took forever, it didn't cook evenly, and therefore was just kind of blah. The olive oil, garlic, and rosemary potatoes, however, were amazing. (No, you aren't having dejavu, this same thing happened a couple weeks ago). Not exactly the best start, but there's only room for improvement, I guess.
Now I just need to add a few new, China Study-appropriate cookbooks to my Christmas wish list...
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