I Went Vegan For A Whole Month!

If you have been reading my blogs you will remember that November is World Vegan Month.  So I wanted to challenge myself to eat only vegan for the month.

Today is December 1, and I wanted to share how my vegan experience went.  I am still alive and kicking.  It was a very successful month.  I can honestly tell you I truly enjoyed it.

I love cooking new things to try.  I see it as an adventure.  It is also fun to see how my husband will react to it.  I feel that my body did not really react to this Vegan Way but that is probably because I have been doing it on and off for a while.  I eat meat once in a while, so that was not a big deal, and I would only really eat eggs here and there and I’ve never been a milk drinker.  The cheese was a bit hard to give up especially since it is on everything.  I have not had pizza for a whole month, as a Jersey Girl, I had pizza pretty much every Friday night!  I did find a Natural Food Store near me, and they do have vegan pizza.  So if I really crave it, I can go try it.  Other than that everything was great!  Over the time that I have been part-time vegetarian, I have noticed that when I eat a lot of plant-based foods and I am stuffed, it is a different kind of stuffed feeling than when I would eat meat.  Eating plant-based when I am full, I feel ok. While eating meat I would feel a heaviness when I was full.  My stomach just felt uncomfortable.  My food was having a harder time digesting.

Thanksgiving was a bit of a challenge.  Smelling the turkey that my husband smoked at our house all day was rough.  I found myself drooling a bit but I resisted, and I was really excited about my Thanksgiving Vegan Experience.  I could not wait to share my vegan alternatives and try other vegan food.  Lucky for me there were two other vegans at dinner.  We had our own little section on the kitchen counter and we were not the only ones eating from it!

I made Creamy Vegan Mashed Potatoes and they tasted great.  Instead of using the ingredients with animals products, I substituted them with cashew milk blended with garlic and Earth Balance vegan butter.   I also made Vegan Green Bean Casserole using almond milk mixed with some flour to thicken it up a bit.  That also tasted much like the regular one.  For dessert, I made a Vegan Pumpkin Bread, which could also be eaten for breakfast.  If you follow me on Facebook and/or Pinterest you can see these pictures and recipes I used.

So, will I continue and stay vegan forever?  While still unsure, I feel like I will continue eating this way but not be so strict.  Reading labels was a huge eye-opener for me, which made me see why going vegan 100% is really hard.  I will not purposely go right for the egg or cheese, but if it is part of the ingredients list, I won’t turn it away.

I will continue to keep you updated on my journey.  Keep following my Facebook and Pinterest pages to see what we eat next.  I also want to hear your stories.  Are you vegan?  When and why did you start? Did you have a bad experience?  Do you love it?  What is your favorite dish to eat?  Leave your thoughts, experience, and stories in the comment section.  Thanks for being part of my vegan experience.

Here is a book that I discovered that is very helpful for beginning vegans. Check it out!