Collard Greens, not so bad, actually

I've been sick as a dog all week, so  the posting hasn't been going as well as I hoped.  The good news is that I somehow managed to lose 3.4 lbs last week.  This is one happy, happy girl.

Growing up in the south, I always thought that Collard Greens would be a food that I'd eventually have to face at my grandparents' house. After all, it appears to be a staple of the G.R.I.T.S. (girls raised in the south) diet.  Thankfully, my parents seemed to have the same aversion to the vegetable whose whole purpose seems to exist to stink up the house on New Years Day.  Therefore 3X years in, I was a complete Collard Greens virgin.

Then I went shopping.  Eager to try new things, I found myself agreeing to buy this imposing (and potentially stinky) vegetable with nary a clue about what I was going to do with it. The book offered a suggestion that I'd meant to try on New Year's Day (that would be the collard greens and black eyed peas soup).  That ultimately didn't happen due to a #beanfindingfail, but I was able to finally pull off the soup.

It was...interesting. The collards didn't stink up the house, exactly, but there was definite a need for hot sauce I wasn't anticipating.  Not that I don't mind hot sauce, but it's not exactly a go-to condiment for me.  In fact, the only two reasons I have hot sauces in the house are for scrambled eggs and buffalo chicken dip (both foods I can't eat anymore).

Plus, when you started considering that it was 8 points per serving, it seemed like a lot to go for a meal I wasn't completely in love with.

Still, I broke that hurdle.  The soup is out in the future, I think, but I'm glad I had the opportunity to try something that has terrified me since I was a child. Little victories, right?

On the other hand, I was eating vegan Indian all week.  Well, except for that night I slipped and had to (HAD TO) go for chicken noodle.  I need to find an alternative, but I was too far gone that night, and there was no way I was going to make decisions.

One of the recipes I did pull off was this one...at a mere 6 points per serving, it's a downright bargain (though, I guess the brown rice does negate some of it).  It was fantastic, and I definitely see myself making gads of this over and over again!!  It's on the "company list" too since it was so easy. :)

http://www.vegetariantimes.com/recipe/yukon-gold-and-baby-spinach-masala/

The best laid plans...

The first thing, the very first thing that happened last night when I walked into my sister's house was her handing me a tray of meatballs (ww friendly, of course) and going, "Here do something with these."

At least I didn't eat meat after midnight.  The second that ball dropped, and Jenny McCarthy started making out with random servicemen, I grabbed the hummus and salsa for good and held on tight.  Even when my friend's husband offered me meatball after meatball, I persevered like a crack addict who knows that the next hit will kill her.

Then I went to bed.

But the mushrooms were amazing and the hummus and salsa that my date brought were awesome.  It's not that I didn't ultimately have options, it's just...you know what, forget it.  That was last year's problem.

This morning, when I woke up  -- completely not hungover and laughing at the fact that #WaffleHouse trending on Twitter -- I resolved to set the day right. I was going to use the Bayberry burn-time today to go through the cookbook, and figure out what I wanted to do with the things I had on hand and making the list of the few little things that I might need to round it all out.

Since it's New Year's Day, I figured the Southern-Style Beans and Rice Soup (pg. 155, 8pp if 4 servings; 5 if 6) would be perfect.  There would be black eyed peas for the start of the year, and the collard greens would be mixed into the broth, and it would be a perfect way to ease into the taste of a vegetable that, despite my southern upbringing, completely intimidates me.

Long story short, though, I couldn't find any black eyed peas.  Though I usually pick them up during Christmas week, that didn't happen this year.  And, let's just say that finding them on New Year's Day itself is a damn near-impossible prospect.  Oh forget the "near" part, it's downright not happening.

Oh well, the collard greens will keep for another day.  It's just an eye-opener though because I'm finding that I really don't have a clue what to do when things go south.  In the past, if I couldn't find what I needed for the recipe I was planning, I'd look at the basket, think through the contents of my fridge, and shift gears accordingly.  Trouble is, in the past, there were no restrictions.  Now that there are, it's a bit like showing up for a softball game and being told that you're going to play regulation football on the field instead.

In Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, the first thing Alice encounters after she hits the rabbit hole is the DRINK ME bottle and the EAT ME cake.  Despite what happened to her after she followed the instructions, it would be nice to have signage like that, at least during these early days.

I know it'll get easier.  I hope that one day soon, I'll be standing at the grocers or the market, not seeing the ingredient I want and being able to adjust accordingly.  I just need to remind myself that not everything comes as easily as others.  Case in point: I'm a marathoner now, but I wasn't always.  When I first decided to take up running, I was thirty lbs overweight and slow as a drunk penguin.  It also took me three days to recover from a half.  I kept with it, though, and five years later, I think nothing of busting out a decently-paced half marathon distance after work and showing up at the office the next day.

But until I get to that point, I'll  be eternally grateful for marinara sauce, salads, and pre-mixed vegan Indian. :)

New Years Eve

Noted:  when one decides to go vegan in advance of a wedding, it's a good idea to advise the bride of this.  Otherwise, one might find themselves facing a New Year's Eve party with "WW Friendly" meatballs and turkey dip.

{Insert sound of screeching tires here}

The weird thing is, my sister knew I was with our crew's resident vegan yesterday.  In fact, she talked to him on the phone while we were in the wine aisle (clearly, we were not in Maryland at the time) of Trader Joe's.  Here's the thing:  he's one of my college besties, but we don't see each other but one guaranteed time a year.  Therefore, you would think that she would have thought something was up (especially since we were in a grocery store), but apparently, none of this translated into "Lindsay's going vegan."

Hence, all the "exciting" meat options at tonight's do.

I already know this is going to be a challenge.  After all, New Years means wine, and wine usually begets all that incredible cheese and grease to coat the stomach and "soak up the fun."  Still, I'm determined not to fail on the first day (well, second...I was a super-good girl yesterday and that even included going to the Redskins/Cowboys game). I'm combating this with the Trader Joes Bruschetta I bought yesterday (which is delicious) as well as the first recipe I'm tackling from the "textbook."

I'm going relatively easy for the first effort (mix and marinate!): the Lemon and Garlic Marinated Mushrooms on page 22.  Thanks to an apparent run on mushrooms at the Giant, and the fact that I was SO not going to drive all over Baltimore on New Year's Eve, I had to substitute Baby Bellas.  Despite this, each of the four servings is only 3 PointsPlus, so that's a definite win there.

Even better, the guy who's going to kiss me at midnight texted earlier to find out if tahini is vegan-friendly because he wanted to make sure he "brought something I could eat."  That's both sweet and appreciated.

I'm nervous about tonight.  Extremely nervous, as it turns out.  Still, I'm not going to let it take over my night. I'm determined to try my best.  To make good choices as long as good choices are in my control.  Once they are not, I will either go to bed (I'm staying over) or...you know what, there is no "Or" here. If I find myself out of control, I'm going to bed.  It's better that way.

Happy New Year!!

Why "vegan," why now?

What makes an otherwise normal, 30-something-year old woman whose preferred method of ordering a steak involves the words, "Just let it look at the oven in terror and bring it on out"* suddenly decide to start 2013 committed to a plant-based diet?

In a word: bridesmaid dress.

Okay, that's actually two words, but if you've been there, you get what I'm saying.  My little sister's getting married in February, and when I tried on the dress that I will ultimately wear to see her marry her intended, I simply wasn't happy with the number on the label.  It was a number I hadn't seen since my freshman year of college. It was a number that, quite frankly, I shouldn't be seeing after all my time with the Weight Watchers PointsPlus program (though, granted, I have been kind of half-assing that lately).

Obviously, a change is needed.  A change that involves a little more than the standard, "Actually get your butt in gear and follow the program" mantra.  I need a plan that will completely rejuvenate how I look at food, rather than telling me that the way I  look at food is mostly okay, I just need to tweak it a little.

I also need a plan that turns cheese into a "danger" food.  Because, man oh man, do I eat a lot of that.

That's when I started thinking about a friend of mine who went from meat-eater to vegan over the last two years.  As the guy who's cooked our pre-Thanksgiving turkey since we were in college, this obviously did cause some fear/consternation among the group.  True, someone else could conceivably take on those duties, but the man knows his way around a bird, and I don't know if it would quite be the same without him doing it.

But that's not the point right now.

This last Thanksgiving, we were, as usual, all giving each other a hard time about various and sundry things and, once again, the subject of veganism came up.  Finally, he snapped, "Yeah, well, I look and feel better than I ever have."

Shut us up reeeeeeaaaaaal quick.

I thought about that moment when I was standing in the dressing room, trying to squeeze into the size-that-will-not-be-named.   It was obvious that I needed to kick my diet into high gear and do something different, and there I was with a friend who'd clearly stated that his plant-based diet was key to his looking and feeling better than he'd ever felt before.  A friend I knew would be supportive and who wouldn't be a brat (mostly) about answering the myriad of (sometimes stupid) questions I might have for him.  

And, trust me, in the last two weeks there have been a lot of stupid questions.  (Sigh)

We went shopping yesterday, and I got a truly eye-opening look at the way he's lived for the last two years.  Following him around what is arguably the world's most incredible Whole Foods (Fair Lakes, VA), I honestly felt like Alice following the rabbit into Wonderland.  Was I overwhelmed?  A little.  After all, my usual experience with Whole Foods is their incredible cheese department (R.I.P.) and an occasional jaunt through the land of couscous as I picked out a spread for book club.  Yesterday was an education.  It even came with a "textbook" (more on that later).

Is this the change I need to get into the dress?  I hope so.  After all, it's New Year's Eve, and the wedding is in seven weeks.  The thing is, though, as I wandered Whole Foods yesterday, the end goal stopped being February 22.  It became February 23rd, and 24th, and...well, you get the picture.  I'm not saying that I'm going to stand here on December 31, 2013 and say that I was a perfect little vegan the entire year, but I am hopefully going to stand here and say that 2013 was the year I finally started looking and feeling better than I ever have before.

One meal at a time, one recipe at a time, one day at a time.

I'm just lucky I have the Mad Hatter on speed dial.

*From NBC's The Tenth Kingdom, Loved that movie!