it takes cheesy to know cheesy

[tiedyedave]

I have a quart of kefir, a dozen eggs, and a block of cheddar in front of me that mark the ending of about three months of being vegan. I suspect that my digestive system will not be happy about the shift back, but hopefully it will only take a few days to get back to normal.

Why? I'm tired of thinking so much about what I'm going to eat. It's too stressful, and this is a point in my life at which I cannot devote enough time to it to make it work. I have a very weird appetite, so constraining it too much has caused problems. It had gotten to the point where I was occasionally very hungry, and almost always a little bit hungry, and some experiences over the past few days have really prompted me to acknowledge that I can't tolerate that feeling any more.

The really confusing thing here is that I haven't really missed the taste of any of the things I had stopped eating. The problem isn't vegan food, it's living in an aggressively nonvegan culture. I just miss being able to go into a restaurant or a cafe or a grocery store and quickly identify something, anything, that I can eat.

Okay, that's not quite true. I miss good pizza. Goodness gracious, I miss good pizza. As soon as I can verify that I can keep cheese down, I'm going to get some pizza.

Comments

[missdeekupps.livejournal.com]

I've been a vegetarian for 17 years. It has always been pretty easy and I don't feel much limitation in my diet. I cannot say that about being vegan. No occasional pizza, fettuccine alfredo or ice cream! That is just crazy! :o)

[yannaboo.livejournal.com]

Why the heck is pizza so good?

[chrisamaphone]

i don't actually like most pizza for some reason (at least, not the traditional red-sauce-and-cheese variety).

[denshi.livejournal.com]

Cheese + garlic + olive oil + tomatoes => AWESOME.

[foolmonkey.livejournal.com]

That equation needs heat on the left hand side.

[tiedyedave]

However, if the cheese in question is fresh mozzarella, and there are no other reagents, then heat is not required.

[styger.livejournal.com]

A lot of foods are required to label dairy content as allergy info, so I'd think you'd at least have a cheat sheet when reading labels at the grocery [not that it makes actually finding food you _can_ eat any easier]. Now that I have more food available to me I actually enjoy feeling very hungry, but I remember when that was a default state and it was definitely not fun. I hope the transition goes well!

[tiedyedave]

I definitely never had trouble at the grocery store, especially because I always went to Wheatsville, the hippie grocery store. However, restaurants are really tricky because they'll often use bread or something that might have dairy content and sometimes the waitstaff won't even be able to figure out whether that's the case or not.

Grains of Drink?

[azzil.livejournal.com]

Kefir sounds really interesting... Where can I find some?

Re: Grains of Drink?

[tiedyedave]

I haven't been looking for kefir grains to make kefir from scratch, but one can often find something resembling kefir in large grocery stores, especially health food stores, near where the yogurt lives.

Re: Grains of Drink?

[tiedyedave]

To clarify, I mean one can find kefir-the-drink in these places

[nickjong.livejournal.com]

I'm still hopeful that the culture will continue to evolve in favor of greater awareness of where food comes from. Some of the best news I've heard in the last year is that even many upscale restaurants are starting to look for more humane sources of meat. Sure, they're still eating meat, but it's progress. I figure you have to choose your battles.

[klari.livejournal.com]

I've found that humane meat like free range chicken honestly tastes better. I have found the tradeoff between cost and flavor to be a good one.

Congrats on being back to someone who will survive an apocalypse. Eat as little animal products as you want, but flexibility is part of why we humans can locust the planet the way we do. That said, go easy on the cheese and stuff, it might be tasy, but it is still fattening and can give you gas if you aren't careful.