OOPS! Read the label, Courtney!

Well, I said this was an adventure, this vegan thing. Adventures are never without their antagonists, and I suppose in this real-life story, hidden (or *ahem* unnoticed) items in food stuffs are mine.

The hubby and I were enjoying ourselves last night, trying his new beer he made, and attempting to stuff him so full that he could cheat the beginning of the "Biggest Loser" contest at his school (oh, it's not really cheating if you have a binging problem!... for one night...) among other things...

Yep, it's vegan! <3

And I decided to try my hand at a "mexican night" dinner. I LOVE me some tacos/burrito/taquitos/enchaladas/quesodillas/insert other awesome food here, and I decided to make a sort of taco bar with a cabbage slaw and salsa-rice. It smelled delicious, it looked amazing, it had maximum potential for getting Bryan sufficiently plumped up for his weigh in the next day, and it was vegan! ...or so we thought....

Taco Bar!

So we dive into the meal, enjoying it to the fullest, and I notice that the "beef" (which consists of Boca crumbles [vegan], cilantro [vegan], and taco seasoning [vegan?]) tastes a little... different. Now I'm sure you can guess (in some capacity) what happened.. so I won't draw it out. But I will tell you that going vegan (even for only 5 days so far!) does make your taste buds more active in a sense, more sensitive and able to detect flavors. This is a great thing when you're eating an apple (OMG they are delicious, did you know??? Seriously! I never knew!), but when you're eating a meat substitute compilation that happens to have some animal product in it, you can TASTE it.

I started suspecting that something wasn't quite right when I thought the "beef" tasted really "meat like" (which I commented on), and I noticed Bryan coughing all of a sudden. My throat felt different, and I began to mentally run through my cooking process. As I sat there, chewing and ticking off items in my mind that I knew were vegan, I came across the taco seasoning I used. This was a package deal we got at CostCo, and a darn good deal too, if I say so myself ($9 for this package!)

NOT vegan!!! :(

So, near the end of the meal, I got up and checked out the ingredients list...

And there it was, in BOLD no less, milk products in the form of whey solids. Ah HA! Mystery solved. This was why the taco meat tasted really "meaty," and why Bryan had a bit of a phlemy reaction...


ALRIGHT, my non-vegan friends- at this point you think I'm nuts, I'm sure. It's just a little bit of milk stuff you're thinking, right? Agreed. It's not enough to hurt an animal... or make a difference in your body... I barely used a teaspoon of the stuff... right?

Here's where I tell you my philosophy.

If you're going to do something, do it. I said I was going to avoid ALL animal products; for my health, and consequently the health (or lives) of millions of animals woldwide who are needlessly killed and tortured... and no, they don't have to be if we stopped eating them. Truth. Eating even this much goes against what I've set out to do here, and that is to avoid all milk, including all dairy, and eggs. Even the smallest bit ingested, as I learned last night, WILL cause a reaction in your body, and not a good one. Within 3 or 4 minutes of starting to eat, I noticed more mucous production in my throat. This means there was an increased reaction everywhere, my lungs, intestines, lungs, etc, etc. Why is this bad? Some scientists say it can cause fatigue, lung problems (asthma, allergies), malnutrition (coats your intestines... I could see that), and perhaps even contribute to the mutation of cells.. which could mean cancer. I really don't know that I believe ALL of that (particularly the cancer thing..), but who knows? And anyway, mucous in the throat feels yucky. *hack*

The bottom line is, after 5 days of eating vegan (except for this boo boo last night), I have more energy, I can taste things better, I've lost 3 pounds (YES!), and I'm not ingesting any hormones or antibiotics from my milk, cheese, or eggs like I was before. I know what the majority societal opinion of Veganism is; I used to think the same way about vegans until I became one.

But it's really not that hard to eat this way, and it's really not that weird. You just have to get your head outside the box and look at all the positive things that can come from this diet (and how many health problems it can eradicate)... I am loving this new diet; it's a transformation that's becoming a way of life and we are so happy we're doing it.

Please share your comments and reactions with me!

As always, happy eating!!

<3
Courtney

p.s.- I will post more recipes tonight!! I promise!