OYMST Day #31: WHEW! In Conclusion

In the past 48 hours I have had not one, but TWO or THREE opportunities to have a vegan dessert when I was not expecting it and have turned it down. Really? Like really! Today I considered making cookies, but decided to have apple slices and some pumpkin dip instead. Why did this miracle happen?

Operation Yank My Sweet Tooth. Has it in fact been yanked? Not really, but I have experienced a change that has altered my relationship with eating sweets. Prior to this experiment, I had been making a return to mindless eating, something that is not really good for me. I also have a family history of the diabeetus and I need to be careful. I really didn't think I'd be able to make it.

Then I decided to blog about it and reach out for support. I treasure dessert for what it really is: a beautiful end to a nice meal with friends, family, self, and as a special treat. Not something that I scarf before my 4 year old son sees me and asks if he can also have cookies for breakfast. You can only bullshit a kid for so long until he smells the turd of deceit. What kind of lesson would I be teaching him then?

I've reignited a love for fruit, something I can share with my kids since they adore fruit too. I've found that and some hot tea really does the trick. I feel better. It isn't so hard to get up in the morning. I can concentrate better at work, and I think people have noticed. I've discovered that there are different ways to have sweet treats without feeling deprived. Day 10 was really hard, but after day 15 or 16 it just didn't seem like such a big deal.

What will happen to me when I have dessert tomorrow? I have no idea. I'll keep the size small and will be eating with a bunch of people so I don't eat an entire Smolve pie by myself. I've always enjoyed cooking for people, but now I really treasure eating a meal with the people I cook for. Today I took my daughter out for Thai food at Bloomington's best ethnic restaurant: Siam House. This is a must if you are visiting our little city for whatever reason. The cozy lil' gem is located on 4th and Dunn St. During warm weather you can enjoy your meal outside. They have one of the best lunch buffets, $9. Get this: no fish in the vegetarian dishes. In fact, there are big labels on the dishes that say VEGAN. No guesswork-- I counted 5 things on the buffet! I had red curry w/tofu, soup, spring rolls w/ peanut sauce, a delicious savory salad, and fresh cool melon. I thanked the wait staff for taking the time to label everything. I got a container to go for my spouse and the waiter insisted on holding my daughter so I could tend to that task without any distraction. Is that service or what? You'd really be a fool to not hold her. She's super cute.

I haven't seen my tally for this month, but I'm pretty sure that I was able to raise $15 for the food bank on my hits alone--that's 105# of food! Thank you so much, beautiful readers. Stay tuned for fun stuff next month. I'll be cooking the $#!T out of 500 Vegan Recipes and The Complete Guide to Vegan Substitutions. You'd think I was married to Celine or Joni, but I'm not. I'm just really believe these books don't get enough cred.

OYMST Day #26: School is in session!

Back in the days of my early veganism, I made hummus with lima beans!

I started teaching a class on compassionate eating at church. Pretty cool, huh? That's the UU denomination for you. I'm pretty sure I'd be allowed to teach just about any subject so long as I could connect it to how the lesson brings people together. I was so psyched when my proposal was accepted! The class meets once per week for two hours for ten weeks. My angle was to teach and NOT preach my experience, strength, and hope eating a vegan diet. No expectations, just sharing good food and fun.

The weather was iffy, so I only had half the class in attendance. It was still a blast! We had introductions and part of the process was to finish the sentence, "When I hear the word vegan I think..." Here were the responses:

"Impossible."
"Fake Blood at PETA demonstrations."
"Underweight."
"Admirable."
"Cool."

What an array of responses! I talked to them about my vegan journey and why I do what I do. Then I launched into a discussion about hummus and schmears. You do NOT have to have the standard hummus as a dip. Live it up and try to make your own unique schmear! A good schmear or hummus is made from the following: a source of protein, fat, vegetable, salt, garlic, lemon juice (or some kind of acid), and spices. I regret not taking pictures of our awesome meal, but I'll let you know what was on the menu:

Black Bean Dip- 1 can of rinsed black beans, 1/2 cup of store bought salsa, 1/4 t cumin, 1/2 t ms. dash's Caribbean citrus, and some sea salt. Puree in a blender. Low fat! Serve with pita, fresh colored peppers, and avocado slices.

A heavily improvised muhamara- 1/2 c. bread crumbs, 1/2 c. olive oil, 1 garlic clove, 1 cap of AC vinegar, sea salt, 1/3 c. raw pumpkin seeds, red pepper flakes, black pepper, roasted yellow peppers and one roasted mirliton. Add contents to blender and add a little water. You want it to be the consistency of pate. Serve with cheesy quackers from 500 Vegan Recipes.

Buffalo Black Eye Pea Dip- Buffalo Dip from 500 Vegan Recipes + 1 can of rinsed black eye peas. Pulse in a food processor. You don't want this to be smooth--let it have some texture! Serve with cuke slices, celery sticks, or both. This was the belle of the ball.

Chocolate Pumpkin Pie Dip- My own creation! This was inspired by one of my readers, Sharine. I took 2 cups of canned pumpkin, 1/4 c. brown rice syrup, 3 chopped dates, 1/4 t vanilla, 2T soy or coconut coffee creamer, 3T water, 1/4 t nutmeg, 1/2 t cinnamon, and a shy T of cocoa powder. I served this with apple slices as a non-traditional dessert option. It went over so well!

Fig and Lentil Soup from 500 Vegan Recipes- If you can't already tell, this is my new favorite cookbook. Seriously people, this book doesn't get enough love. I own many vegan cookbooks, but not this one. I checked it out at the library and I'm now convinced this is the ONLY cookbook I need. Stay tuned for a full review-(and giveaway!) at a later date.

I brought in a few of my cookbooks, and I had a very informal Q&A session. I discussed where I get my protein, that milk can be made from anything-(that's next week's topic!), and that one could make an exciting dip from just about anything.

One student asked, "How can I make a dip low fat?"

Easy. Bypass the amount of oil. You want a little, but not the standard amount in recipes. You don't even really need the fat, but a little gives a big punch of flavor. Example: the "muhamara" had the most oil, and I cut 1/4 out of the recipe based on a bunch I reviewed. The buffalo dip used light mayo instead of full fat vegan mayo. The bean dip had zero oil added as well as the pumpkin pie dip. I explained one could roast or boil a vegetable-(their choice, try to go with one that is creamy when pureed) and cut it into the bean, lemon juice, garlic, and spice mixture to reduce the amount of oil or nut butter one would normally use. That approach enhances the texture, color, and flavor without a bunch of extra fat.

Their homework? Easy-invent your own creative bean schmear and tell me about it.

OYMST Day #25: 6 Days and counting

Man-oh-man, I'm so looking forward to ending this month. I'm going to make some S'molve Pie and/or cookies and pass out for a few days. I kid, really Operation Yank My Sweet Tooth has brought me closer to myself, namely my insatiable need to consume more sweets than vegetables, which isn't the ideal path for a vegan.

Some of the cravings have subsided. I have noticed that when I eat something even mildly sweetened, it is a little too much for me. I've come to appreciate dates on a whole new level. Dried figs are my new buddies. I cherish the flavor of a fresh orange or apple slice. This is important because as much as I declare myself a hard-core-vegan-foodie, there is something to be said about mindlessly noshing away. I personally found myself not appreciating the flavors of sweets so much as I thought I had to have them, like a smoker has to have a cigarette. For me, I want to avoid that.

What will happen post-project? I'll still eat sweets, but I'll look for new takes on old favorites. My tried and true loves will be eaten less often so I can really appreciate their flavors. I'll make more stuff with fruit.

Before the project, a fellow PPKer sent me this incredible care package loaded with chocolate. One of the gems in this package was made by The Tea Room (?) and was the best chocolate I've ever tasted with the exception of Enjoy Life's Boom-Choco-Boom dark bar. The chocolate fusion bar was super dark with fruity tones and a distinctive coffee flavor. I melted it and used it to coat cookies--divine!

Have you ever taken a break from something you enjoy because you were losing your respect for it? Tell me about it.