Our quick, easy, and light dinner from tonight: bagel pizzas with jimica chips and celery sticks. On occasion we use rice or soy cheese but I really prefer my pizza this way–simple, flavorful, and unadulterated so you can really taste the wonderful flavors from the vegetables. Pizzas are great for “mixed” families because those meat/dairy eaters can easily top their pizzas with cheese and meat if they prefer.
We used mini-bagels for the kids pizzas. I topped it off with a splash of basalmic vinaigrette for a slight tangy contrast to veggies and basil pizza sauce.
I bought strawberries for $1.25 a pound so decided to make good use of them and I made some strawberry cheesecake ice cream for dessert tonight. The chunks of strawberries and crushed graham crackers gave the ice cream texture and extra flavor.
In the next series of posts, I will explain how I did it, how I transitioned to a healthier way of eating and living. In doing so, I’ll give you some ideas, and an outline of sorts, to follow or if nothing else give you some ideas to help you in your journey to creating greater health and wellness in your life.
The transition from omnivore to vegan is a process. Many people go from omnivore to vegetarian to vegan over a period of years. Others do it overnight. How long or short your transition will be will be based on what your diet currently consists of. For example, if you already eat mostly whole foods (whole wheat and other whole grains, very little sugar, a lot of fresh vegetables, and fruits) your transition will be much easier. Sugar, oils, and other rich and refined foods particularly high-fat dairy products such as cheese and cream, white flour, and rich meats such as steak and hamburgers have an addictive quality which trains the taste buds to want and crave more. If you understand that these foods really are addictive (the more you eat the more you want, as opposed to whole plant foods which the more you eat, the less you want because the fiber and high level of nutrients fill you up and signal to your body that you are full and satisfied), you will be able to easier give up these harmful foods. It’s also important to emphasize here that what type of vegan diet you are adopting also matters a great deal. As I’ve mentioned before, there are dozens of takes on the vegan diet; some only leaving you only a fraction better off than the Standard American Diet (SAD) does while others are ideal for achieving optimal health.
There is so much to say about why refined and overly processed foods, which aren’t just limited to meat and dairy products, are toxic to our bodies. However, to explain this is not the purpose of this post. I’ll leave that mostly to the professionals, such as Dr. T. Colin Campbell (The China Study) and Dr. John McDougall. The purpose of the next few posts are to share with you my transition experience and how I did it.
Let me start off by saying that I am not a woman of superhuman self-control or will power. I have often heard from others after they hear about how I eat, “Oh, you have so much self-control. I could never do that.” On the contrary I love to eat, and have never been one to restrict portions. As I have mentioned previously, I have tried other diets and ways of eating and they never worked because I was never quite able to have that “self-control” that I needed.
Others mistakenly believe I must have no taste buds (which I sort of take offense to; I pride myself in my ability to discern taste and flavor) or that I must spend countless hours in the kitchen whipping up my vegan delicacies. All of these are false assumptions. More to come…
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