April, & Oreos are not a food group :)

My 4th month vegan whoo hoo ;) and all in all, things are going well. I have no problem fixing food for myself and finding things to make at home partly because our shops only carry and serve vegan food. It has been fun exploring new things and finding new favorites. I am still figuring out that I need to eat sooner in the day, so all my calories are not at 8pm when I am finally home from the shop, but that is a logistics issue, not a vegan issue.

Stack of Oreos

My 'funny' was that Joel, my fiancé was so kind in picking up Oreos for dessert treats for both of us that the initial 10 pounds I lost cutting out dairy, was quickly put back on. I joked that Oreos are not a food group and are not necessary for my diet, and he agreed not to have them become a staple in our kitchen, though it was a super kind gesture :) I hope nicer weather will encourage me to get out and walk off these added pounds I was so happy to have lost. My only snags have come when thinking about eating out - anywhere in Southern Minnesota. Mankato, Rochester and Winona are all very limiting when you are looking at vegan options, and you need to ask questions to be sure staff knows what vegan is. I have had to tell so many people that vegan means no faces - no dairy, meat, fish, or butter in anything, but DOES include gluten. I am still quite surprised that so many folks mix up gluten free and vegan - both customers in our shops and when eating out.

So we have been eating more at home, which is fine and cheaper, but sometimes you just want someone else to cook. This week we tried the Gardein Mandarin Orange Chik'n (which we cooked on the stove) over a loaded salad bowl - in my case that was lettuce, cashews, onion, oranges & blueberries and it was amazing! Definitely will be a quick meal go to in the future.