Week 1: Vegan

As of today, I have been a vegan for one week. I have been trying really really hard, but I'm honestly not entirely sure that every single thing that I've had is 100% vegan. For example, I had a bento box at Shoyu Sushi House which had teryaki sauce in it. What's in teryaki sauce? Anything non-vegan? I don't know! But I was really good about asking about what their tempura batter is made out of: flour and corn starch. I ordered the vegetable tempura bento box.

I was really close to eating some dry roasted peanuts the other day, but thought I'd look at the ingredients...just in case! Good thing I did. I found out that gelatin is in these dry roasted peanuts. Who would thunk! And I wouldn't have known that gelatin wasn't vegan without finding this list last week:

• Casein – a class of milk proteins often found in items marked ‘non-dairy’
• Ghee – a common milk derivative
• Albumen – protein found in egg whites
• Cochineal/Carmine – a coloring agent made from ground up beetles
• Oleic acid – fat from sheep or cattle
• Rennin/Rennet – enzymes from a calf’s stomach
• Calcium Stearate – a mineral usually derived from hogs and cattle
• Gelatin – protein from animal bones, cartilage, tendons, and skin
• Glycerides (mono/di/tri) – glycerol from animal fats
• Stearic acid – animal fats and oils
• Lecithin – phospholipids often from animal tissues and eggs
• Pepsin – enzymes gathered from pigs stomachs

I recently gave up my smartphone (because it sucked) and decided to go back to the ol' flip phone until the iPhone 5 comes out this summer. I'm saving $40 each month, but I'm also giving up a lot of advantages that would have been useful during this beginning vegan phase. This specific list would have been useful when I went out to IHOP the other day. Don't worry, I got the fruit bowl and the garden salad with balsamic vinegarette, sans crutons.

Tonight, I will be grocery shopping at Whole Foods instead of the regular grocery store. I will be making the following this week:

1) Whole Wheat Lasagna with Italian "Sausage" and Peppers

2) Tempeh Enchiladas

3) Breakfast Burrito with Potatoes, Veggies, "Bacon" and Scrambled "Eggs"

Every one of these recipes can be found at this new blog that I discovered, Little House of Veggies.

Pictures to come!