The Reluctant Vegan

Ack ~ I've been struggling for weeks trying to figure out what's still bothering me. For years I've eliminated white wheat, meat and dairy from my diet because of colitis. Lots of fibre was an important element in anything I ate. Since spring I also had to stop having gluten. No biggy really, once I figured out what the problem was. I love brown rice pasta. I do miss bread though. A lot of gluten-free alternatives available where I shop have improved over the years, but not the bread. It's icky.

The family still eats meat, and to keep them healthy, I buy locally grown natural, organic and free-range meats and poultry. There's also an elk farm nearby and they love the spicey elk pepperettes for snacks. I also use ground elk in chili and spaghetti sauce. (Spaghetti sauce... I remember that.) Elk has a lot less fat than beef, so it helps keep that bad cholesterol down. I can also get bison burgers at a farm not too far away. They can have gluten, so it's whole grain bread, rolls and pastas for them. But Butterfly is also dairy-free because of Leaky-gut Syndrome. She can have goat milk cheese though ~ in moderation. And being of more adventurous nature than the ol' man, she'll try different foods, so she'll have vegetarian meals regularly, making her meal options more varied and quite healthy.

But for months I've been dairy, meat, gluten-free.... vegan, except for eggs. A good source of protein, I'd have egg salad on a brown rice cake for breakfast, and a hard boiled egg in the evening. This was a stinky, but yummy, 70 calory snack that got me through the night, but also, having protein at these two points in the day helps balance out that blood sugar. Coming from a diabetic lineage, I keep an eye on my blood sugar and eat accordingly. Colitis and Celiac disease is plenty, thanks... don't need to be diabetic too.

But, back to the beginning, something has still been bothering me and despite the fact that I didn't want to lose eggs, it seems my body just doesn't want them. *sigh* And so I go kicking and screaming into the world of the full-fledged vegan. For the past two mornings I had that brown rice cake spread generously with sunflower seed butter, and I put some crabapple jelly on top just because I can. (Yes, it's homemade.) Breakfast is still good (she says grudgingly).

My lunch won't change much. No more potato and egg salad, but I'm about to go roast a red pepper for my red pepper humus (recipe here somewhere... even though I can't spell). I think while I'm at it, and to help keep the house warm, I'll just roast up a bulb of garlic too. :) Then I'm going to cook about 3/4 cup of brown rice macaroni and make pasta salad with large black olives and home grown tomatoes to go with a plate of raw veggies and humus. Must go out and pick some fresh basil and sweet marjoram for the pasta salad too. Ok, there's a bunch of stuff I can't have, but I'm in no danger of starving.

So yeah, I go only reluctantly into the life of a vegan, but if I'm tempted to feel sorry for myself, I just think about those people in parts of the world where the principal food is... say... maize. And what if they can't have maize? What if they don't have agriculture nearby that grows other healthy foods? And what if they don't have a big store nearby with a health food section chock full of food alternatives? And what if they couldn't afford them even if there was?

Feh... gotta go roast that red pepper. And the garlic! Warm the house and have yum!

If you feel bad for me and want to make me feel better, click on one of these links and get involved:
https://www.shopunicef.ca/ec/Portal.aspx?LN=EN

http://plancanada.ca/

I feel better now. :)