I've been Trying Veggie for 25 days

Today marks 25 days. No meat. Though there have been some non-veggie slip ups and I'm posting in an effort to remind myself NOT to break tomorrow! (I'll explain in the last paragraph.)

First, I hate to share this, but Jiffy corn muffin mix contains lard. I'm not sure what compelled me to read the list of ingredients (after I ate it!), but here they are (I added the bold)--and oh great that it might actually be hydrogenated lard!:

Pic from Jiffy @ http://www.jiffymix.com

 

 

INGREDIENTS: WHEAT FLOUR, DEGERMINATED YELLOW CORN MEAL, SUGAR, ANIMAL SHORTENING (CONTAINS ONE OR MORE OF THE FOLLOWING: LARD, HYDROGENATED LARD, PARTIALLY HYDROGENATED LARD), contains less than 2% of each of the following: BAKING SODA, SODIUM ACID PYROPHOSPHATE, SALT, MONOCALCIUM PHOSPHATE, NIACIN, REDUCED IRON, THIAMINE MONONITRATE, RIBOFLAVIN, FOLIC ACID.

Those little Jiffy boxes have always turned up tasty corn bread, so I'm sad to think I have to let them go (and of course I have some on hand still).  But little things like that popping up are a lot harder to avoid than preparing meals without meat or ordering dishes without meat.

Speaking of which, I reported back on eating out earlier, but I have to dedicate a special mention to two GREAT local restaurants that make Trying Veggie a real no-brainer: Veggie Grill and Yard House. (Side note, I hear Yard House will in the Fenway neighborhood soon.)

Veggie Grill is a vegan restaurant and was an early discovery when we moved to California and a place that we went to once a week--well before I even thought about Trying Veggie. The food is just plain great. We usually get the All-American Stack: grilled veggie-steak (Gardein), thousand island dressing, pickles, lettuce and tomato topped with crispy onion rings, another entree and the kids meal for our daughter--who loves it there (and asks to eat there quite regularly, actually). Overall, it's how vegetarian food should be. Good. NOT--good, for being vegetarian. Oh and they have a killer vegan carrot cake too!

Yard House is a yummy restaurant that happens to have a lot of fun beer on tap. Their food tastes great and is always a sure bet. What they do special is offer normal menu items with Gardein--providing a newly-vegetarian person like myself an amazing array of options that can satisfy any craving you may have (or void you may feel by not eating meat). Case in point--this week I had Béarnaise Sliders--four Gardein mini-burgers with classic béarnaise sauce and fried onions. It was such an awesome treat and I am so grateful to have such cool options made by the professionals.

I owe readers more recipes, and I assure you I will share them. I made stuffed crispy wontons that were awesome, a veggie lasagna, veggie chili... and will share it all. But I had to get a post up today in an effort to hold myself accountable to stay vegetarian.

I'm not sure how hard it will be or not be to do this weekend, but we're going to the OC Foodie Fest tomorrow. Since we've lived here, I've followed the moves of the food trucks in our area, but have yet to try food from any of them. After months of drooling over their menu items, I will be facing 50 of them head on tomorrow--and vow to try my hardest to avoid meat. Can I do it? I'll let you know soon!

Eating out while Trying Veggie

I like food, and enjoy cooking, but it's also fun to take a break and find inspiration in someone else's creations. While Trying Veggie, this has gone well, and not so well.

Our favorite Mexican spot, Jalapenos,  proved successful with both their veggie burrito and their bean and cheese burrito.

Another win was Cosi, where I got a small tomato basil soup and half a signature salad--with their warm delicious bread of course--for $7.

However, a fun, and well-reviewed gastropub, Crow Bar, failed miserably. With little options for me on the menu, I asked the waitress for help. She offered a grilled cheese option (that was not listed on the menu). Though not creative by any means, it sounded okay and was indeed veggie friendly. Well, there was barely any cheese on boring bread--and to boot, they charged $12 for it!

This weekend, I had the chance to enjoy a guilty splurge (made less guilty by the fact that it was done veggie)--In N Out Burger! My husband and daughter both got the veggie burger with cheese (cold) and I tried the grilled cheese, plus a side of fries for us to all share, of course. It was all quite good and it was fun to order from the "secret" menu. Plus, our whole order was about $6, haha.

Do you have a few favorite veggie dishes you eat out? Please share.

It's not all good.

Wondering how it's going? Well, since I started this endeavor I haven't eaten a piece of meat (even though I thought I'd be doing that for a little while longer)--but it's not easy. It took years to get where I was at, an experienced chef (of my own kitchen). All of a sudden I've changed the game dramatically and I'm faced with a learning curve of sorts.

Don't try this at home

No more firing up the grill and throwing something on at the last minute for dinner just a few minutes away. Becoming a vegetarian means I need to plan things out, find new ingredients, and figure out how the heck to work with them. Sometimes this goes well, but sometimes it doesn't. Case in point--two nights ago I cooked a meal I thought I'd be posting recipes for, but it was a bomb.

I served a homemade veggie burger that recycled those frozen mixed veggies I mentioned in an earlier post. It seemed like a great idea because I love veggie burgers that have good chunks of identifiable items--like a pea, corn kernel, cubed carrot and green bean. It was lack-luster at best.

It looked promising

For our grains, I made a modified version of this recipe, Wheat Berry Barley and Tomato Salad, which sounded awesome to me. But the vinegar overpowered the dish and overall it tasted like something was lacking. My daughter ate a PBJ for dinner that night and my husband took chicken for lunch the next day. The leftovers of both dishes are crowding my fridge and I wonder when I'll give in and pitch them.

Certainly I am not giving up though. Last night was a much better meal--"beefless" fajitas with slow cooker beans and guacamole. I love Mexican food and it's what I've always gravitated toward cooking, so it felt awesome to make and eat a meal that felt so familiar to me. I'll post my recipes soon, since this one worked. Also on the horizon--vegetable lasagna and pad thai with tofu. So stay tuned (and cross your fingers ;-)

Lentil burgers with carrot, onion and cilantro

Ingredients:

• 1/2 a med onion (~1/4 cup finely chopped onion)
• 1 med carrot (~1/4 cup grated carrots)
• 3 cups cooked lentils, pulsed to a mash in food processor (mashed)
• 2 tbsp fresh cilantro, chopped
• 3 tbsp tomato paste
• 3/4 cup bread crumbs
• 1 tbsp ground flax
• dash of chili powder
• pinch of cumin
• 1-2 tsp pinskey's shallot pepper
• salt to taste
• oil to saute veggies and patties

Preparation:

Put carrot and onion into food processor and pulse until finely chopped.  (No food processor?  Give your arm a good work out--finely chop the onion and grate the carrot.)

Saute onion and carrot in oil over med high heat until tender and caramelizing, about ten minutes. Add a splash of water or veggie stock to get up any golden bits.

Combine the onion carrot mixture with the rest of the ingredients (no oil).

Take large handfuls of the mixture at a time and form into patties.  Cook in a lightly oiled frying pan until nicely browned on both sides (and heated through) ~ten minutes.

Enjoy with your choice of toppings and bread!