Day 24

Wednesday, February 27th, aka Day 24.  Finished the first day of my last full week of vegan madness!

Coffee for breakfast, but I actually made a bowl of cereal with almond milk, too.  For lunch, a peanut butter sandwich on wheat (no jelly again). No snacks every few hours and probably not enough water for all you diet enthusiasts.  So, sue me.  I was starving by dinner.

With no one to cook for me, I was back to my normal bachelor lifestyle.  Quick and easy.  As already referenced by the bowl of cereal and a PB sandwich!  I pulled out some of the frozen vegan concoctions from my first visit to Whole Foods at the beginning of this journey.

Vegan Mac & Cheese- Can you believe it?
 Is the apple sauce made out of Daiya, too?!! 

Veggie burgers- I'm about veggie pattied out by now,
but these were in the freezer and easy to make

Finished product- veggie burger with vegan mac & cheese.
Probably some kid's nightmare.      

Amy's makes a ton of  organic, vegan, gluten/dairy/soy free stuff. www.amys.com The mac and cheese is made with rice pasta and "Daiya Cheeze". www.daiyafoods.com  What exactly is in Daiya?  Couldn't tell you.  I would say that this meal was OK.  Definitely not the Mac & Cheese at Community Q www.communityqbbq.com That stuff is phenomenally amazing!  And by the way, they have the best BBQ inside the perimeter.  But probably about as good as that cheese powder sauce in the cheap Kraft stuff.

Veggie burgers... I'm over them.  I fed most of the 2nd patty to my dog.  He seemed to like it.  But "a dog would eat a sh*t sandwich" as my Dad used to say.  Until tomorrow.

Day 23

Day 23 today.  After today, one week to go.  That's 7 days for those of you counting!

Busy day this Tuesday.  I went to BootCamp and surprisingly felt pretty good.  I managed to get through everything a little easier despite the time off from last week!  I came home and had the usual Vega protein shake and 3 cups of black coffee.  I hopped in the shower and had to get on the road to Greenville, SC today.  So, I was proud of myself for packing my lunch for once!  Mock Chicken salad sandwich on wheat, some carrot sticks and a water.  I also brought a single serving of the Vega stuff, but it got late and I never drank it.

Tonight, a very special gal cooked me dinner!  I didn't get home until almost 8PM, so it was very nice to have dinner waiting for me!

Leftover Tofurky Italian Sausages with peppers, mushrooms & onions

Roasted Broccoli and tomatoes- tasted great!  My new favorite

Of course, I opted for the sausage on a bun with peppers, onions! Decent.
 Definitely not the pop, taste, and grease of a regular sausage, but not bad.

For dessert- vegan chocolate pie from Sevananda!  It  tasted pretty good!
Kind of like a healthy chocolate mousse parfait.  All the ingredients are raw and organic.

I'm beat.  Long day.  One week to go!

Day 22

Salutations, Salad-Eaters!  Day 22!

I was running late this Monday morning and had a conference call before heading out. I wish I had a protein shake, but I drank at least 3 cups of coffee!  I decided to try this new "Mock" chicken salad from Sevananda in Little 5 Points. http://www.sevananda.coop/  I must have walked or drove by this place a million times on my way to some bar in Little 5 but never stepped foot inside!  Someone told me their vegan chicken salad was even better than Whole Foods.

"Mock" Chicken salad from Sevananda- Pretty Tasty!
 Has more of an onion taste than the Whole Foods version.
Both great alternatives and I could eat all the time.  

I decided to make another mock chicken sandwich as a snack at 3:30pm, too!  I love this stuff.  For dinner, I experienced pure tempeh for the first time.  

Tempeh- not as spongy as tofu!  It almost looks like rice krispy treats!

Finished product- Stir fry with brown rice, tempeh, onion,
peppers, mushrooms, bok choy- Very good!

The tempeh was marinated in soy sauce, rice vinegar, red pepper flakes, ginger and garlic.  Definitely, had more of a meat consistency than tofu.  I would say I probably liked it better.  Back to BootCamp tomorrow in the AM after my long sabbatical!  

Days 19, 20, 21

I hope everyone had a good weekend!  Who has the Oscar Buzz going on right now?  It's Sunday evening and here's a recap.

Friday-I met my buddy, Eric, and his neighbor, Kirk for a late lunch.  We met up at Lawrence's Cafe, that new Mediterranean restaurant in Decatur.  I had the falafel again.   Friday night I met up with some friends in East Atlanta to see a band at the Earl http://www.badearl.com/  We went to Midway Pub for dinner beforehand.  ww.themidwaypub.com  Midway is one of my favorite bars in EAV.

Hot Pretzel appetizer-wasn't sure about the sauces,
so opted for  plain yellow mustard

Veggie Burger- with tater tots.  Who doesn't like tater tots?
Except my buddy, Brian Parrish.  Who says and I quote
"Tater tots?!  I wouldn't throw a tater tot at a dog's ass."

Saturday was the Oakhurst Wine Crawl http://oakhurstgaorg.ipower.com/?p=958  My friends, the Dawsons, had people over after this annual event.  Sadly, I don't have any photos.  All I had was a protein shake for lunch.  Tasted a ton of wine, and since there weren't a ton of vegan options at the party... another falafel wrap from Lawrence's down the street!  I'm keeping that place in business!

Sunday Funday- Met my friends, the Wortmanns and their kids!  We went out for a late lunch in Little 5 Points @ Front Page News  http://frontpagenews.com/

Little fuzzy this Sunday- I forgot to take a pic, but this was the grilled portabello mushroom sandwich.
Hair of the dog- bloody mary in the background!

After lunch, we took the Wortmann girls over to Zestos. http://www.zestoatlanta.com/  Not too much to choose from as far as ice cream.  They had a slushie machine, but it was empty.  I guess they're getting rid of it.  The lady behind the counter encouraged me to e-mail the owners, get on the Zestos FaceBook page and lobby to keep it.  And write my congressman.  I guess they don't sell a lot of slushies anymore. 

The sad Slushie machine at Zestos in Little 5 Points -Apparently on it's way out 

My assistant, Hailey Wortmann, who says "I'm not ever going to be vegan!"

Cereal with bananas and almond milk for dinner

Less than 10 days to go!

Day 18

What's up, all of you humans at the top of the food chain?!  Day 18 and still at it.

I had to go to another conference today.  Good thing because it gave me an excuse to duck out of BootCamp early!  Don't worry, David of Pinnacle Fitness BootCamp, if you're reading this-I'll be there next week when I get back!  Although, it did look like I quit today, I'm sure.  We were being timed on this activity that had us do 3 series of reps of 3 exercises.  And we had to document our time in this folder he's keeping on us.  This also included the dreaded running outside.  I did it once and that was my cue to leave.  What's with timing myself and writing this crap down anyway?  I don't need to be the best at exercising!  I just need to get my fat ass there and try to finish!  

I had half a banana for energy before I left for BootCamp, then a protein shake and the usual cups of coffee on the road and at my conference.  I had the usual dilemna again at this thing.  What would be available that was total vegan?!  Luckily, it was another buffet.  The bad part-you should have seen the good stuff they had to choose from.  Not only cold cuts and salad, but 1 word-Tacos.  Who doesn't like a taco?  Here's what I got instead:

That's right... a salad!  Welcome to my world once again.

Dinner was nice and light- a bowl of cereal with almond milk and some fruit.  Another day down and tomorrow is the start of the weekend!

Day 17

Hello and Happy Hump Day, Health Nuts!  How's that for alliteration?  Eat your heart out, Goldberg, you hack!

Today was good.  I should've eaten something for breakfast, but was busy.  Drank some coffee, of course.  For lunch, I had the leftover pasta from Sunday night.  I managed to polish most of it off and gave the rest to my dog.   I had a granola bar late afternoon for a snack with some water.  People keep telling me to drink a lot of water.   I'm trying, but the last thing I saw, I was supposed to drink like 10 cups a day.  My back teeth would be floating and I'd never get anything done because I'd be peeing all the time!

For dinner, we checked out this place called Broadway Cafe in the Emory area. http://www.yelp.com/biz/broadway-cafe-atlanta   Decent spot and there is a ScoutMob for it.  I did some research on the information superhighway and discovered they are a vegetarian and kosher restaurant.

Vegan buffalo chicken wrap in whole wheat tortilla and sweet potato fries.
Leave it to me to get the most unhealthy choices on the menu at a vegetarian place!

Case in point: vegan beignets for dessert!  Fried goodness!

The wrap tasted pretty good and was hard to tell it wasn't chicken.  Sweet Potato fries are always good.  BootCamp tomorrow, so maybe the beignets weren't that bad of a choice!  OK, probably a bad idea, but they were pretty friggin' awesome.  Peace out, homeys.

Day 16

Officially, I am on the second half of my vegan journey.  Day 16, Playas!!

This was the start of my 2nd week of BootCamp.  I think the time off over the weekend took a little bit of a toll on me today!  But alas... I lived to fight another day...  At home, I drank the typical Vega protein shake afterwards.  Feeling a little sluggish, 3 cups of coffee, black.  Don't judge, you health freaks.  For lunch, Peanut butter sandwich sans the jelly and a granola bar.

For dinner, a very important person who Eric Goldberg knows made me dinner.

Acorn Squash, baked in the oven.  They call them acorns, but here they look like turtle shells!

Stuffed Acorn Squash (with mushroom, brown rice pilaf) and roasted  broccoli -very good!

  This was a great meal.  Acorn squash-never even heard of it, let alone ever eaten it, I think!  Skipped the butter and used peanut oil and obviously, no cheese. Also, added some dried cranberries.   Can I also say, I have become a huge fan of the roasted vegetable!  Broccoli, cauliflower, brussel sprouts... you name it.  This is an awesome way to get your vegetables and better for you than french fries.

Here are the recipes.  Knock yourself out!

http://www.veggiebelly.com/2012/11/acorn-squash-stuffed-with-brown-rice-mushroom-pilaf.html

http://www.amateurgourmet.com/2008/11/the_best_brocco.html

Day 15

Halfway through.  Boom.

Day 15 and I'm still vegan.  WTF?!  (Translates: "Why The Face"-Phil Dunphy)

Look out all you naysayers!  I can't believe how time flies.  I had a couple cups of coffee and a granola bar for breakfast.  I had some meetings today, so I was out and about.  Pressed for time, I needed to make a quick stop for lunch.  Continuing this experiment, I thought what about fast food?.  Being in sales, and especially when I was on the road all the time, you really have to be careful what you eat. I always try to avoid fast food, but sometimes that's your only option.  And in America, there are fast food chains on every corner!

McDonald's really seemed out of the question, but I found this link: http://dailyveganeats.tumblr.com/post/7551305799/eating-out-vegan-taco-bell   Taco Bell- Oh, what the hell?!  Definitely can get bean burritos without cheese, and surprisingly a lot healthier than most fast foods.  And does the meat at T-Bell really qualify as meat, anyway?  What would I really be missing?

New "Cantina Bell" Menu, meant to compete with the fast-casuals like Willy's, Chipotle, Moe's...
Veggie option & for $2 more you can get a soda and  side of chips w/ salsa or guacamole.

Veggie burrito, but without the creamy cilantro dressing (not sure what was in it,
 and a quick way to lose a bet on a technicality-Meaker!)
It was OK, but no Willy's!

For fast and cheap, you probably could jump into Taco Bell and save on many of the calories than a lot of the other fast food options.  As far as the new "Cantina Bell" menu, I paid $7 bucks for the veggie burrito and a side of chips and salsa w/ a drink.  I ended up getting water anyway.  For maybe $1 more, you could get the same thing at Willy's or Chipotle and it would be way better.   

For dinner, I had left over pasta from last night.  Halfway done, True Believers!!

Days 12, 13, & 14

I hope everyone out there in the blogoshere had a wonderful weekend!  It's Sunday evening and here's a recap for the weekend blog.

Friday- I survived my first week of BootCamp!  I go on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays.  Today was the toughest day, yet.  Not only was I stiff, but we went outside in the cold and ran.  I hate running.  In fact, I don't get how people enjoy this activity.  It sucks.  Up until today, the only time you would catch me running would be if someone was chasing me with a knife!  I gotta long way to go on the running thing!  I had my protein shake for breakfast and an Aleve when I got home!  For lunch:

Classic PB & J!  Can't beat it!

I met one of my good pals, Heath, out for Happy Hour at Taco Mac http://tacomac.com/ in the VA/Highlands.  I had a couple drinks while I watched him polish off a dozen buffalo wings.  

Bastard torturing me.  

For dinner, I went to Cafe Sunflower http://www.cafesunflower.com/ with my favorite social media expert, Laura Cobb.  Cafe Sunflower is a pretty famous total vegetarian restaurant in the ATL.  I went here only one time with my vegan friends, Russo and Karen.  This place rocks, though!  I was always very apprehensive about a total vegetarian place.  I would recommend anyone to at least try Cafe Sunflower- even the biggest meat eaters! 

Appetizer-Fried Avacado Tacos.  Money!

Eggplant Lasagana- 

Autumn Vegetable Curry

Saturday- Coffee and protein shake for breakfast.  Willy's burrito bowl for lunch.  This time I added tofu.  Not bad. For dinner, I met my buddy, Dawson, at a new Mediterranean place by his house- Lawrence's Cafe  http://www.lawrencescafe.com/  This place is very good!  Check them out!  The owner and staff are very friendly, too!  They moved from Buford Hwy to Decatur and like most Mediterranean restaurants have a lot vegan choices. 

Hummus and grape leaves

Falafel in pita sandwich and a Lebanese beer.  Pure Awesomeness.

Dawson was flying solo without his wife, Laura, and son, A-Dawg.  Laura told me to get him out of the house.  So, we ended up drinking a ton of beers over at my house with other buddies, Raw and Meaker!  Good and buzzed up, we didn't make it out to the bars and late night munchies kicked in.  Meaker and I polished off the rest of my chili and I made these tenders:

Vegan pseudo chicken tenders, From what I remember,
they seemed like chicken nuggets

Sunday- fighting a hangover and regretting all the calories I consumed last night!  Leftovers from Cafe Sunflower for lunch.  A cup of black coffee and then pasta with salad for dinner,

Whole wheat pasta, red sauce with Tofurkey Italian sausage,
onions, peppers, mushrooms

And that is what my life has become.  Tofurkey!  Who would have guessed.  Tasted fairly good, but definitely not as good as regular Italian sausage. Definitely.

Day 11

Happy Valentine's Day, all you lovebirds!   This was my 2nd time at BootCamp this morning.  A little stiff, but I made it through.  Back tomorrow!  When I got home I had Vega protein shake for breakfast.  No coffee today!  I can't remember the last time I didn't have any coffee in the morning.

At lunch I met some folks over at my friends, Cas and Wilson's house.  The president was in Decatur today for an event and the motorcade drove right by their house.  Wilson made an event out of it. We saw the motorcade as it flew by us.  Blink of an eye and that was pretty much it!  He grilled out and was considerate enough to buy some veggie burgers for me.

Veggie Patties, they were OK

But the rest of this stuff looked better.  Notice the 2 veggie burgers up top!  They just don't seem to fit in.

This evening... another bowl of chili, of course!  Still got this stuff coming out of my ears.  Who wants some?  I went to the GA Tech/Clemson game tonight with a few of my favorite Clemson fans.  I had some popcorn for a snack and a water.  Tomorrow's Friday-TGIF...

Day 10

Hello all you Lenten fools!  Last night was Fat Tuesday.  I was tempted to go out and drink some beers with my buddy, Healy, but I chose avoid the wet weather and stay somewhere warm.  Today is Ash Wednesday for all you Catholics.  If you need some tips on giving up meat for Lent, let me know.  I'm a little stiff today from BootCamp yesterday.  Tomorrow will be worse.  Why is the 2nd day after working out always worse?!

As far as the menu for today, protein shake for lunch and a bowl of leftover chili for dinner.  Nothing new.

A couple of other things to add.  Some people have been asking about any results and if I lost any weight.  I will say I feel pretty good.  For the first week, I lost approx 5 lbs., and that was basically just changing my diet.  Also, I changed my dog Shadow's brand of dog food.  So, now we're both on new programs!  My boy, Brad Dawson, gives their dogs Blue Buffalo http://bluebuffalo.com/ and lives by it. Mainly because it is truly all natural with no by-products, preservatives etc.  I always gave him Nutro (Natural Choice), which I always thought was pretty good.  This stuff is supposed to be even better.

My Biggest Fan and Blue Buffalo brand.  

I been mixing it with his old food to switch him over this week

Times have changed.  Hell, we used to give our dog Gaines Burgers when I was a little kid!  Anyone remember those?!  Shaped liked burger patties?!! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TYzEFf1K5m4  People love their dogs.

Day 9

I'm still not sure if my world has completely turned upside down with this chili thing!  It's hard to believe chili could be meatless...  To really throw me for a loop- I went to my first BootCamp fitness class this morning!  Believe it.  I only almost puked once.  Here's a plug for my boy, David Nash:
http://www.pinnaclefitnessbootcamp.com/

Some of my friends have been going to David for awhile now over in Decatur.  It's indoors in the winter and not all running.  They don't yell at you like Full Metal Jacket or anything, either.  Which would really help to motivate you early in the morning.  One thing my friends always say, it forces you to work out, rather than trying to get to the gym.  I have to confess-I also entered a "Biggest Loser Decatur Contest" through Pinnacle Fitness for $20 entry fee and then a discount to David's BootCamp for $40/month.  I am in the running to win $500 +  a $400 gift certificate to Certa Pro Painters on top of my vegan bet.  Nothing like a contest to get you motivated.  God forbid, I get off the couch on my own!

So, I survived the first day of BootCamp, downed a Vega protein shake for breakfast.  For lunch, I went to Lettuce Souprise You.  http://mylettucesoupriseyou.com/  Gotta be honest, a salad place was not on my radar before.  I think it's the first time I ever been to this joint.  OK, so that's not really hard to believe.

      Salad with balsamic, garbanzo beans on a pink plate.  Another very manly lunch!

I had leftover chili for dinner, of course.  And man, I'm going to be sore.  Over and out.

Day 8

So, I do have a ton of vegan chili!  I put it in the crock-pot last night and I'll be eating this stuff all friggin' week!  I had a smoothie for breakfast, black coffee to go, and then 2 bowls of chili for lunch and dinner.  It turned out pretty good, I gotta tell you!  I used those Boca crumbles and they really do have the consistency of ground beef.  For the average Joe, I bet you couldn't tell there wasn't any meat in there!  This is no joke.  I am shocked and amazed!  Check out these photos:
 

 My first bowl for lunch.  Not too shabby, a little on the spicy side!

Spoonful with Boca crumbles, looks like beef!

My chili never always comes out the same every time.  I kind of eye up the ingredients without measuring and throw it all in there.  I used both black & kidney beans, the Boca, onion, bell peppers, couple jalapenos, diced tomatoes, tomato paste, garlic, chili powder, cayenne pepper, cumin, coriander, brown sugar... I definitely can tell the difference with steak, ground beef, ground sausage. I think it's all the grease combined with the taste of the meat!  But this chili is definitely good and a lot healthier.  And many unsuspecting people would not even  know this was vegan!  Amazing.  I never thought I would say that!    

Days 6 & 7

Greetings all y'all meat-eaters!  It's Sunday evening and I'm combining both Saturday and Sunday for the weekend blog.  Yesterday, it was almost 60 degrees here in Atlanta and I went to my friends' house for a party in the afternoon.  I tried a smoothie with this stuff called Vega in it for lunch.  This stuff is super expensive and is supposed to have all the nutrients you need for a complete meal.  I mixed it with peanut butter, bananas, and almond milk.  Tasted like a chocolate shake and not too chalky!  Actually, very good.

Vega, plant-based meal replacement.  Notice the beer growler in the back!

After downing the smoothie, I took my dog for a long walk down to Piedmont Park.  On the way back, I stopped down the street at my friends, Bret & Aileen's house.  They were having a party for Bret's birthday.  Here is all that I had while there!

Kegger and cornhole

  

But, I did want to try these!  

Grilled buffalo wings, how I miss you.

So, that was pretty much my cue to go home and make dinner before going out later to meet my friends for beers.  I figured there weren't going to be a lot of options at the bar, and I had better get some solid food in my belly! I made dinner with my favorite ePhilanthropist, Laura Cobb. We had mixed vegetables over brown rice again and Laura made some really good potatoes on the side.  She's good like that!  Then, we met our friends out for my buddy, Dawson's birthday.  Today, I was a little hungover!  

I had leftovers from Saturday for lunch on Sunday.  For dinner, I finished off the mock chicken salad with a banana and a granola bar.  I decide to go to the grocery store and get ingredients to make chili.  I never made chili without meat!  This may just be sacrilegious. 

 Boca crumbles instead of meat!  It just doesn't seem right...

Simmering in the crock-pot overnight.  And I'll have vegetarian chili all week

This will be the true test.  Can vegetarian chili be almost as good as my normal chili?  Feel free to come over this week, I have a boatload!  

Day 5

Well, the work week is officially over and I am on Day 5 of total vegan.  TGIF.  I thought the tradeshow would be bad, but here comes the bigger challenge. The weekend!  Drinking beers and eating out are usually the norm for me.  And many beers could lead to many bad choices!

Today went smoothly enough.  I'm definitely running into challenges dining out of the house, though.  For the last day of the conference, I just had coffee and fruit at breakfast. There was a huge selection of breakfast items, but fruit was the only safe bet.  I guess maybe a bagel, but without cream cheese, obviously.  So, then what do you do?  Throw some jelly on it?!  Maybe if I was still in 3rd grade.

The show ended at noon and I met my boss for lunch at one of his favorite restaurants when he is in Atlanta, Houston's.  http://www.hillstone.com/#/restaurants/houstons/  I always liked the food at Houston's the times I've been there, but they definitely don't have a lot of pure vegan choices.  We sat at the bar and the bartender was very helpful.   But again, here I was, the dreaded "that guy" who has to have the difficult order!  After some lengthy explaining about the bet to both he and my boss, and a few chuckles when it came time to order, this is what I ended up with:

This is the veggie burger, but on wheat bread instead of the egg bun, hold the cheese and mayo.  

I also had a side salad with vinegar and oil.  Very manly.

I have to say, Houston's makes a pretty good veggie burger.  I bet it would have been even better on their buttery bun and smothered in cheese!  But what isn't tasty with melted cheese all over it?  So, my manager wished me luck in my new endeavor and we parted ways.  This evening I made another "Money" mock chicken salad sandwich (my new go to) and had a bowl of cereal with almond milk.  I'm laying low and making it a Netflix night, but tomorrow I'm meeting friends out for drinks.  Wish me luck!  

Day 4

Greetings, you carnivores!  I'm a 4 day vegan now.  I had to attend a conference/tradeshow today, so I was a little nervous.  I knew there wasn't going to be a lot of vegetarian choices, let alone vegan.  I was nervous about being "that guy" who has to be a pain in the ass and request the special lunch. While everyone else is gulping down chicken cordon bleu, I'm like the fat guy who says he's a vegan.

So, I down the typical smoothie for breakfast and head out the door for this thing.  They had Starbucks coffee with the breakfast set up, so that was pretty good.  The rest of it, besides the fruit was a no go.  Lunch was definitely not real vegan-friendly.  They had a buffet style set up, so I was off the hook with ordering a special meal at a sit down deal.  So, I had a salad with balsamic vinaigrette.  That was it.  For a true vegan, I now know this would be a typical challenge.

Dinner on the other hand, I think I rocked it!  Check this craziness out:

I looked at some of these frozen vegan concoctions I bought at Whole Foods and decided on the beef tips.  I sauteed mushrooms, onions, peppers, salt/pepper, some red wine, and garlic with this stuff and put it over brown rice.  This is the finished product:

Looks like Beef, right?!

So, you sit down and it looks like steak!   Then, you cut into it and take the first bite... it's not steak.  The texture is more like chicken.  After the initial shock, it turns out to be pretty tasty, though!  See you tomorrow.

Day 3

Everything started the same way... couple cups of coffee. Black, that's how I roll.  Mid-morning I had another smoothie (strawberries, blueberries, bananas, spinach, a little ice and almond milk).  The "Money Mock Chicken" salad sandwich for lunch!

I Googled the Whole Foods mock chicken salad because I figured it had to have a cult following.  This website below came up first.  The author, Judith, describes this stuff as "orgasmically tasty"!  Wow! Orgasmic?  That's pretty high praise.  I liked it, but I didn't cream my jeans or anything.  Needless to say, the recipe is here.  I'm making it for my next party and inviting every woman I know over.
http://www.driftclosely.com/?p=169

I met my old neighbor, Derek, for dinner at a good Thai place called Spoon http://spoonatlanta.com/   It's in Ormewood Park near East ATL and my old stomping grounds.  Ironically, Derek's wife,  Liz, used to invite me over for dinner all the time for vegetarian meals. I was always reluctant, but she made some good stuff.  Never heard of spaghetti squash until I met them. Spoon is known to be vegan-friendly.

Pad Thai glass noodles with veggies and tofu and a beer.  

And thank God beer is vegan or I'd have serious problems.

I could have got it without the tofu.  I guess tofu has the protein you may miss from meat, but it's just kinda spongy and just there.  This meal was fantastic, though.  So far, not doing too bad.  Bring on Day 4!  I'm nervous, though, because I have to attend a Tradeshow the next 2 days.  We'll see what happens!

Day 2

Day 2 has arrived and I'm learning a lot about this vegan thing.  I bought this single serving blender on Saturday and made a smoothie for breakfast.  This is the GE version vs. the Magic Bullet.  I paid $20 at the evil empire that is known as Wal-Mart.  I added strawberries, blueberries, some almond milk, spinach (you don't even taste this, Popeye), and ice.  Besides my 2 cups of black coffee, this was a great start to the day.  I never eat breakfast, so this was quick, easy, and tastes good.  Not milkshake good. But good.

As you can see, I just opened this thing!  Smoothies were not part of my world.

For lunch, I busted out this "mock" chicken salad from Whole foods on multi-grain bread for a sandwich.  OK, so this shit sets the bar pretty high for vegan alternatives!  Some people aren't crazy about chicken salad, but I'm a fan.  This stuff has the same consistency of chicken salad without the chicken, and tastes good.  I think this is not the norm, but I could eat this all the time. 

For a snack, I had some carrot sticks around 3PM.  I feel like a rabbit.  

For dinner, I went over to my friend Russo's place where the one and only Tina "T" Rains made vegan fajitas.  This is the first time I ever had fajitas without steak or chicken!  It was like scooping the peppers and onions in there and nothing else.  Tina added portabello mushrooms, which are very beefy.  I also was introduced to Daiya cheese and Tofutti sour cream.  I gotta tell ya, these companies have really tried to put out alternatives for vegans.  As our friend, Jessica, described Daiya,"it's not cheese, but it tastes pretty good."   That pretty much sums it up.  There is no substitute for the wonderfulness of cheese, but Daiya isn't bad.  The same with Tofutti- not as good as sour cream, but not bad.  Tina also made a tortilla soup that was very good.

I am almost ashamed to admit this, but when you load up a tortilla with everything but meat, include the vegan substitutes for dairy- you almost don't notice the difference. Almost.  I just typed that.

For dessert, my social media expert, Laura, brought over vegan cookies.  I would say that they were all OK, but the oatmeal raisin were the best.

Day 2 down. 28 more to go!