I am still alive and going strong with my veganism. I am to a point where I feel very comfortable with my vegan diet and I am really enjoying it. I have even developed a very tasty soup recipe.

At this point in my journey I am starting to look more at the other products that I use on a daily basis. Not buying things like leather and wool have been easy, but now I want to start focusing more on things like personal hygiene products.

I just ordered the book Animal Ingredients A to Z which I am hoping will be a valuable resource.

I also started watching Earthlings yesterday but was only able to make it about 16 minutes into it before I had to turn it off. While it is going to be hard to watch, I believe that it is important for me to see it, so I will keep trying.

I went to a Chinese restaurant with one of my friends tonight and they had a vegetarian section of their menu which made me unbelievably happy! I think everything on it might have been vegan also which made me even happier. I’m not 100% sure because I’m still a little apprehensive about asking about all of the ingredients and possibly having to explain what vegan means.

I got tofu and broccoli with carrots and bamboo shoots, it was really good. I’m excited to go back and try some of the other things on the menu

Over the weekend I read Vegan Freak: Being Vegan in a Non-Vegan World by Bob Torres and Jenna Torres. It was a really good book and a quick read. I would definitely suggest it to anyone thinking about becoming vegan or new to veganism because it’s full of lots of useful information and references.

If you go to their website, they also have a podcast which I really enjoy listening to. They are two very encouraging and down to earth vegans who talk about every day issues that vegans face and just generally seem like really cool people.

After slightly more than two weeks after becoming veg*n, I went out to dinner for the first time. I was kind of disappointed when I looked up the menu’s for all of our normal places we go out to eat only to find out none of them really had any vegetarian options, let alone vegan ones. So I ended up getting chips and salsa, which was ok for tonight but definitely isn’t a long term solution. The only other option I saw on any of the menus was a plain salad which seemed to consist of lettuce, carrots, and tomatoes.

I will have to do some research, but as far as I know, there aren’t any vegetarian restaurants anywhere near where I live (college town in Iowa). Which is disappointing but I think that I should probably be able to find some restaurants that are at least more veg*n friendly. Unfortunately I think it is going to be much more difficult to find vegan options at restaurants than it will be to find lacto-ovo vegetarian (which seems to be what all restaurants around here refer to as simply ‘vegetarian’) options.

While it is kind of frustrating having a very limited selection to choose from at restaurants, I am still optimistic that I will find a veg*n friendly restaurant that I can go to with my friends.

As a final note, I would really like to thank everyone on here for all of your support and great ideas, I truly do appreciate them all!

I tried tofu for the first time yesterday, and as promised it didn’t really taste like anything. I added it to some stir-fry, which was ok. It just had a weird mushy texture, but no real taste. I got the firm kind, but I think the extra firm kind would have worked better (it’s also what the stir-fry package recommended). So I’m going to wait to pass my judgment on tofu until I try the extra firm kind and try it in some different recipes.

Other than that, there’s nothing really to ‘report’. I’ve really been enjoying the whole veg*n thing. As far as I know the only thing that I have consumed at all is honey and that’s very rarely and only because I am finishing off this loaf of bread. I am still working on the food timing thing so that I don’t get really hungry about an hour before lunch. I thought I was doing well towards the end of last week, but I found myself starving earlier today. I also still have a long list of other foods that I still want to try. But I guess I have the rest of my life to do that, so I’m not in a huge hurry.

Random side note: oatmeal + frozen blueberries + ground flax seed + pinch of cinnamon = best breakfast ever.

I had my first Boca Burger today and it was pretty good. The texture is different which I think is more of what I noticed instead of the taste. I’ll have to try some of the other boca-ish products to see how they compare.

On a completely unrelated note, I have a kitty purring and pushing on my tummy right now

I feel like all I do is eat all day but I’m still always hungry. I’m assuming this means that I’m not getting enough protein, which is entirely possible. So today I need to do more research on protein sources and pick up some soy milk and see if I can find some soy protein powder.

Other than the whole being hungry all the time thing, I am quite enjoying my new way of life. I really like the fact that I can look at a giant plate of food and know that nothing had to die for me to have it.

Today was my first trip to the grocery store since deciding to become veg*n and it wasn’t anywhere near as bad as I thought it was going to be. There weren’t too many surprises, however, I was disappointed when I picked up the bottle of ranch dressing and read the label and realized that I wouldn’t be purchasing it (it either had eggs or milk in it, I don’t remember which at this point).

Because of all the fresh produce I picked up, my total bill ended up being substantially higher than it used to be. But I think once I learn more about what I want and where has the lowest prices, it will get cheaper. I’m also hoping to hit up the farmers markets once they start next month which should also help a lot.

After the store I made my first stirfry ever which was amazing and totally vegan

I’ve just started my journey to becoming a veg*n (this is day three) and in an effort to not totally take over my personal blog with veg*n (vegetarian/vegan) info, I decided it would be a good idea to start this blog.

My goals of this blog are to talk about who I am, why I chose to be veg*n, the things that I am learning, etc.

So welcome my new friends, hopefully this will be a wonderful journey for all of us