Day the Third of the Vegetarian Experiment

This experiment is going very well. I thought I was going to have a hard time meeting my nutritional needs but that has not been the case. I am using My Fitness Pal to track my food and exercise, and I am paying close attention to the signals my body is giving me. My main problem is getting enough protein without falling back to using dairy and egg products. I am trying to avoid using as many animal products as possible. Maybe I need to investigate more soy options such as soy milk. I am trying out rice milk and so far am finding its taste and texture more palatable than that of soy.

Breakfast consisted of two servings of Marshmallow Mateys
and a cup of milk. I have to tell you, I love that cereal - it's the best elements of Luck Charms and Cocoa Puffs in one cereal. Not only that, but according to the ingredients list, it is vegetarian-friendly. It's probably even vegan-friendly, but please don't take my word for it - check it out yourself.

For lunch, Faythe and I grabbed a pizza from Papa Murphy's. I opted to get a Veggie DeLite with all of the cheese on Faythe's half and all of the veggies on my half. I didn't think she would respond well to the vegetables on the pizza, and I was right. She thought it looked disgusting, but she has opted to try it with me next time should we get another take and bake pizza. I found the taste to be good, although I have to admit I did miss the cheese a little bit. I've never had a non-dessert pizza without cheese, but I did enjoy it. Unfortunately, I haven't been able to find nutrition information for a veggie DeLite pizza without the cheese and with red sauce instead of white (garlic) sauce, so my calorie count is off. I'm realying on my body here to tell me its needs.

For dinner, we prepared some steamed fresh green beans along with chunked red potatoes skillet-fried in extra virgin olive oil, with some original Mrs Dash Original Blend
and Kosher salt. Delicious! Add to that a Morningstar Grillers original burger on Sara Lee 45 Calories & Delightful 100% Whole Wheat Bread with a Claussen dill pickle half, and I practically had a meal fit for a king or at least a lower prince.

I tried an interesting experiment. I found a recipe for a Vegan carob date brownie mix and decided to test it. The texture of the brownies was great - very enjoyable. However, I was unable to procure one of the ingredients - grain beverage powder? I think this is some kind of coffee substitute, but I'm not 100% sure about that. At any rate, I'm not sure if it was substituting actual coffee grinds for the coffee substitute -- I know, the recursion there may cause your mind to implode -- or if I am just bad at following directions, but I did not enjoy the taste of the brownies at all. It really reminded me of a scene from the movie Baby Mama
at the vegetarian restaurant. "What does the kelp pizza taste like?" "Oh, it's very nice, it's got a nice earthy, dirt flavor." That's exactly what these brownies tasted like. Blegh! The hyperlink has been removed to protect the innocent, because the taste of this horrible massacre was probably my own fault. The butchery of movie quotations is also my doing. I apologize for that.

I had to supplement my day's protein with another glass of moo milk, but I have to admit I feel better for it. I could tell I needed the protein and the milk was a good quick-fix. Tomorrow I may be experimenting with TVP (textured vegetable protein)
. What an unappealing product name. At least they're not trying to hide what it really is. Call a rose a rose, if you will. From my understanding, TVP is intended as a replacement for ground meat in your dishes.

I have another suggestion as well. Yogi Teas are delicious. We picked up a box of
Mayan Cocoa Spice tea at our local organic and health food store. I found the flavor to be very mellow with delightful undertones of cocoa. It was a great way to wind down the evening.

On that note, it's off to bed. It is time for me to set forth the intention to remember my dreams. I would eventually like to enjoy some lucid dreams, but I've got to be able to remember my normal dreams first!

Until next time, many blessings and may your heart be warm and full of joy.

Charles