Miss Rhode Island: That’s a tough one. I would have to say April 25th. Because it’s not too hot, not too cold, all you need is a light jacket.
Vegan Thursdays
Where we sit around and eat foods such as: Girl-Scout Cookie Bites
Remember I told you the inspiration for Vegan Thursdays came from one of my omnivorous friends? Well, yesterday she had her first “all-vegan” day. So—without further ado—here’s Jessica, to tell about her first vegan Thursday:
Hi everyone, I’m Jessica, a real life friend of Katie’s. I’m not a vegan, or even a vegetarian, and I don’t have a blog. But I was inspired by Katie and by reading a few books about veganism, such as The Kind Diet and Skinny B*tch, to try and cut back on animal products because I hear from so many different sources that it’s much better for your health to limit your meat consumption, and I also feel so much better, physically, and less bloated, when I don’t eat so much dairy. Also, I’m an animal lover, with two dogs and a cat at home, who gets so upset when I hear about animal abuse, so it’s never sat well with me that I contribute to their suffering through paying for meat that is produced by the sick practice of factory farming. If you’ve ever watched the movie Meet your Meat, you know how horribly the animals we eat are treated. But I’ve grown up as a meat eater. It’s the only way of life I’ve known, so it’d be too hard for me to completely change my life all at one time. That’s why I decided on this New Year’s, to try and start slowly, having one vegan day per week. I know that may not sound like very much to some of you seasoned vegans, but to me even this little step is going to be tough, because like I said, I don’t have much practice with veganism. It’s going to be tough, but it’s also going to be fun. Yesterday was my first Vegan Thursday (the first day I’ve ever not eaten any animal products), and it was awesome! I didn’t miss or crave animal products once!
I think it really helped to have planned in advance. Plus Katie brought me over homemade Fudge Babies!
The only thing better than a yummy vegan dessert is having a wonderful friend to share it with. Just in case you’re interested, I sent my food log from yesterday to Katie so she could share it with everyone in case other people want to get some ideas. I know that for me it’s always helpful to see what others eat, because it gives me ideas of things I can incorporate into my own plan. And especially as someone who doesn’t know much about the vegan lifestyle, that’s really helpful!
Jessica’s Vegan Thursday Food Log:
Breakfast: I kept things simple at breakfast and just had peanut butter and jelly on toast. It helped to have an experienced vegan go shopping with me and show me how to tell which bread was vegan. I know I could’ve had cereal, but I have to admit that I’m kind of afraid of soymilk. Please don’t hate me!
Lunch: I wasn’t any more adventurous for lunch. When I got back from class, I was so hungry, so I had some potato chips. Yay, if chips are vegan, I can be a vegan :). Then I made myself a salad with Romaine, carrots, chopped bell peppers, grapes, and slivered almonds. I also had an Amy’s Mexican Tamale Pie that I’d picked up at the store. I really liked it!
Dinner: I don’t usually cook much, but since today was a special day, I wanted to make at least one real vegan recipe. And Fall’s Favorite Curry sounded so easy:
I made my Fall’s Favorite Curry with coconut milk, and I used veggies such as potatoes, green beans, carrots, and kale. It was my first time to try kale, and I really liked it. I felt healthy eating it, too. The curry was so good that I can’t even tell you! I had it over rice, and I had a glass of orange juice too. It hit the spot, especially on such a cold night.
And the fudge babies for dessert!
Jessica @ How Sweet It Is says
I really love just hanging out with my hubby/family some nights, having a good ‘ole time. It is priceless to me.
And your title + Rhode Island’s response made me LOL!
Lia says
Hey!
Long time reader, first time commenter. 😀
I became vegetarian about 2 months ago, it was pretty much over night just because I wanted to be more healthy and I thought I give this a try I could always switch back if I really couldn’t cope and I have to say, I haven’t craved meat once and the switch was so much easier than I thought!
Now being vegan is a totally different story.
Most of my eats are pretty much vegan (a lot of fruits, grains and veggies) but there are so many things which aren’t vegan but vegetarian and it’s quite hard sometimes to know what’s what.
Anywho, I took up the challenge and had this yesterday:
BF:
Oatmeal with peanut butter, cinnamon and golden syrup.
Lunch:
Selection of veggies, with salsa dip, half an apple and some melon.
Dinner:
Mixed salad, roasted butternut squash, a mini wholemeal pitta and a vegan sausage.
Snacks:
half a vegan protein bar, satsuma and puffed wheat with vanilla soy.
It was great, I had to look up some things online to find out if they were vegan (like golden syrup, I was out of agave) but that’s almost exactly the sort of food I’d have on a normal day anyway. 😀
I think I will continue the vegan thursdays, it’s fun!
Thanks for all the tips, wish there was a whole foods round here. 🙁
xxx
Whitney @ Lettuce Love says
My perfect night is laughing with friend and family while eating some really good food 🙂
Chocolate-Covered Katie says
Hey Lia!
Thanks so much for the fun comment! Your food log sounds delicious (But maybe I’m biased because it contains butternut squash!!).
I don’t know what golden syrup is, but it sounds to me like it would be vegan :).
Jessica says
It’s great that so many people are open to your idea, Katie! Maybe I can get Lucas on board. Hmm…
My perfect night would be watching Penn State win the college football National Championship with my husband, siblings, and friends all there too!
Katie says
Im glad your friend had a good Vegan THursday!!!
My idea of a perfect date is a good sushi dinner and a glass of merlot with my fiance!!!
Have a great weekend!!! xoxo
MaryZ says
I love Miss Congeniality…makes me laugh all the time.
Vegan Thursday went well until I hit the store on the way home from the gym and grabbed a sample of cheese on my way through the deli! Totally forgot! Any who…it was an all vegetarian day. Does that count? Next week I’ll be better prepared. Oh…I did get some yummy vegan chocolate:)
Mae @ OhhMay says
This challenge is so much fun because my parents are really realized meat isn’t the only option for dinner. There is so much more out there!
I remember when I was 11 hearing about veganism and thinking about how horrible it would be- you wouldn’t be able to eat anything! Today its hard to see from that perspective again once you know how many delicious things are completely animal-free.
By the way Miss Congeniality is awesome and “Perfect day” reminds me of Legally Blonde- ALSO AWESOME!!
lexi. says
my perfect night: curled up on the couch with tea, a blanket, my puppy, google reader, and a fruit/yogurt/cereal parfait!
Stef @ moretolifethanlettuce says
miss congeniality!! love that quote. mmm raw macaroons, hook it up
Erica says
Vegan Thursday is such a wonderful idea. I participated yesterday and just wrote about it on my blog!
Bianca- Vegan Crunk says
Sounds like your friend had an awesome vegan Thursday! And thank goddess some chips are vegan! I’d be lost without potato chips (even though I can’t have them right now!). Anyway, your friend is lucky to have you as an awesome vegan mentor.
cassidy says
wow! i’m so excited and impressed that one of your friends was inspired to take on one vegan day a week! i like to encourage my friends (ok, and pretty much everyone i meet…) to try just one vegan meal a day or even one a week! every little bit counts… but a whole day?! wonderful!
since i’m vegan always, i didn’t go too far out of my way for vegan thursday.. BUT i *did* go check out the brand new babycakes store that opened up in downtown LA and had a delicious vegan lemon cupcake! (super tasty but PRICEY!)
<3
lz says
Katie, your support and helpful information that you provide on this site is incredible! Congrats to your friend for completing her first Vegan Thursday! As for perfect days, yesterday was pretty good for me–I’m still on vacation, so it is quite relaxing! I spent my entire afternoon and evening at the yoga studio. It was fabulous!
theemptynutjar says
Nice post. Interesting. Lia and Katie, you both seem like nice gals 🙂
I am not vegan by any means ( I cannot lie: I eat animal products, yes I do)…but I do enjoy and often have without thought vegan dishes, snacks etc…whole grains + nut based things + veggies + yummy desserts, etc etc…if you don’t fear the carbs or the fat , then its easy enough!
It can be overwhelming visiting food blogs at times though…i see vegan, raw, high protein, no carb, etc etc…I really have to re-center myself and stick to my own guns and realize it can be an unhealthy obsession…everyone is so different and all food bloggers are different…no right or wrong…just individual paths to follow..have a nice day Lia and Katie!
JCD says
Golden syrup = best syrup ever! I think it’s a British/Commonwealth thing because most Americans don’t know about it. Roger’s Sugar makes some, as does Lyle’s.
My husband and I are both vegan so we indulged in our usual fare yesterday. One exception – we made Katie’s Butternut Squash Fries. They were delicious!
My favourite night out is going to a friend’s place, making supper (vegan, of course), playing games (board games mostly, but Nintendo 64 or Wii is fun too), talking, and laughing. So simple but so enjoyable.
Radioactivegan says
Hey, Katie and Jessica! Congrats to Jessica on her first vegan thursday. I pledged to make new vegan recipes on Thursdays, and last night I made a new tofu scramble (sadly, I only had Mori-Nu tofu, so the texture was fairly odd … never make that substitution again!). I hope to be a little more organized next Thursday so that i can take some photos and post over at my blog about it.
Good luck next week, Jessica!
Danielle says
It’s nice to hear from someone else’s perspective! I think a lot of people think that eating a vegan diet is *super boring* or *a lot of deprivation.* Not at all 🙂
My idea of the perfect night would be something low-key (I’m not a huge partier). Movie/food/friends = perfecttt
Jessica @ Fit & Clean says
I have a confession: I totally forgot about Vegan Thursday! I am going to make a huge effort not to forget this coming week. I was really looking forward to it too! Would love to try the butternut squash fries…they sound awesome!
Cindy says
My day was low gi and vegan combo. I really didn’t put much pressure on it because I didn’t want to spend the day drained from thinking about what I “can’t” have.
I began my day sipping a green smoothie (which after 10 oz I was stuffed)
I snacked on some baked garbanzo beans smothered in nutritional yeast (I have major cravings these days) very cheesy and yum.
For lunch I heated up my leftover lentil soup and added the rest of my banzo beans. VERY FILLING and warming.
snack was an apple and cinnamon (cinnamon helps even out blood sugars)
and dinner was shitake mushroom and avocado sushi
I did have a bite of 86% dark chocolate but just a nibble because I didn’t want to hit sweets but it did the trick, oh and a mug of chamomile tea.
This sort of day led me straight into my perfect evening…playing with my toddler, a bit of exercise Pilates and upper body exercies, some knitting time and laughing with my husband and teenager.
I also have my meals planned for the rest of the week and got my late in the week shopping done. I am all prepared for a fun and busy / productive weekend and THAT makes me happy.
Happy Friday (and I got your quote IMMEDIEATELY. as a matter of fact as soon as I read your title I was finishing the sentance in my head before I read it! I am a movie quote lunatic! love em)
xo
Diana (Soap & Chocolate) says
I participated in Vegan Thursday! Which is fun, considering I didn’t know we had this fun new tradition in blog-land. And also since I’m not vegan. But my participation kind of reflects my typical dietary habits–I actually eat mostly vegan these days without thinking about it much! I am more aware of the times that I’m eating something NON-vegan, mostly because I know I won’t feel as good afterward.
So on my unintentional Vegan Thursday, I enjoyed a breakfast of kamut puffs with hemp milk and almond butter and a smoothie; Sniffle Soup from ED&BV with toast and hummus (I have a cold!); and then I tested a Happy Herbivore chickpeas & dumplings recipe for her upcoming cookbook! Oh and don’t forget the coconut milk ice cream–homemade, too. 😀
Tracey says
Hi Katie,
This not really a Vegan Thursday comment (although most of my days are vegan:)). It was one of my cold weather tips for running (since i get alot of 5 degree days here)… “hot hands”. they are 1 time use hand warmers (not reusable though). i drop them in between my second glove layer and mittens= toasty hands!!! lmk if you need some!!!
Happy Friday!!!
Christina says
Aww so mad I missed vegan Thursday! I’ve been slacking on my blog reading lately 🙁 I’ll do it next week!
My perfect night is basically what I do every Friday night – make pizza with my parents and then head over to the bfs to lay around and watch movies. I wouldn’t change a thing!
Chrysta says
Awesome post! I really love the idea of Vegan Thursday! I participated and will be posting tonight. I love seeing everyone awesome creative recipes! Ssoo cool! I think overall this is such an amazing idea.
My idea of a perfect night depends on my mood, but I do love sitting down with a good movie, good eats and good company. Cant beat that!! Hope your having one amazing Friday so far. xoxo!
Katie says
Vegan Thursday was great! Other than the spiralized zucchini stir-fry I posted about, I also had a monster salad, some yellow split pea soup (homemade, of course) and TONS of peanut and almond butter. I’m not kidding, I think I ate about a cup altogether, but that didn’t have anything to do with vegan thursday… 😀
candice says
Everything is better when you have a friend there to share the experience with. 🙂 My idea of a perfect night is a night spent eating, laughing, chatting, and watching stupidly hilarious TV with my friends. Sleepovers are cool, too. 🙂
MarathonVal says
Haha, love the quote you started with!!! Made me smile 🙂
I’m already vegan, but I was proud of myself for (on Vegan Thursday) making my husband a vegan dish that he enjoyed! Baby steps, right?
Lorin says
I was watching miss congeniality last night!
psychoj1 says
Jessica sounds like a great friend!! And what a great story! She had a successful Vegan Thursday, love her dinner!
<3 jess
xoxo
Heather Eats Almond Butter says
Thanks for sharing Jessica. Sounds like a wonderful day of eats if you ask me. 🙂
I stayed vegan for breakfast and lunch. My eats involved kabocha, coconut butter, and chocolate. Do you approve Katie? I thought so. 😉
Jena says
Never had macaroons before!!
Averie (LoveVeggiesAndYoga) says
I “participated” in Vegan Thursday. As I do every Thurs 🙂
I LOVE how this is going to show more people that veganism is do-able, even if for just 1x/week. WAY TO GO KATIE!!!!!!
xoxo
Shelby says
I loooooooooooove that movie!!!
Amy says
My Vegan Thursday went so well I had a Vegan Friday today! What a great idea–thanks Katie and Jessica!
Gina G says
hey Katie! i’m sorry, but my dinner was not vegan =( i ate the whole day vegan though otherwise and next week i am going to make it a goal for it to be all vegan! =)
Trail says
I definitely agree with your friend that it helps to plan ahead! I think that’s the biggest thing I’m learning. I totally forgot about Vegan Thursdays yesterday when I packed my vegetarian lunch (that was covered in cheese… baby steps!). I’ll remember to plan ahead next week because it would definitely be easy for me to achieve if I did a little planning. Today was another example of planning ahead. We did a potluck at work and I didn’t plan for all the meat-filled foods. Next time, I can plan ahead.
erintakescontrol says
Perfect night – oh gosh. I can’t think that far ahead. Right now, I want to be able to take a bubble bath without hearing, “Mom, I have to go potty!”
BroccoliHut says
LOL Miss Congeniality was on last night actually…and I may or may not have been watching it while G Chatting with my boyfriend. It was a pretty stellar night…although maybe not my perfect night;)
Vegan Thursday was such a success that I had a Vegan Friday too!
Chocolate-Covered Katie says
Georgia,
I deleted it. It’s as if it never existed 😉
Meredith says
Great guest post! When I went vegan, I started with 1 out of 3 meals a day vegan, then increased to 2 out of 3, then 3 out of 3! 🙂 Baby steps!
Brooke says
I’m so glad your friend had a successful vegan thursday!!! 😀 It is inspiring to see non-veggies testing the vegan waters!
ps- I used to listen to that hoku song on repeat back when it came out! haha!
Bekah says
aahhh Miss Congeniality! love that movie. It was my childhood fave, like “memorize every single line” kind of movie. 🙂
Jennie says
My idea of a perfect evening…whenever my Hubby’s home!!! LOL – he’s in school for Radiology, so between classes and rotations, I hardly see him.
But seriously, a perfect evening? Hubby home, a cup of hot tea, chatting with my husband about our days while playing fetch with the cat!
Kara says
Congrats to your friend for completing a day of vegan eating! Hopefully she thought it wasn’t too bad. I know when I eat vegan, it’s a lot easier than I think or sometimes I do it without knowing!
Can’t wait to make some fudge babies soon!
Tanner says
My perfect date is the kind of date in Larabars, Homemade Larabars, and Fudge Babies! Yum 😛
Katie says
Hi Jessica! Nice to meet you! =)