Day 2 - Mango Fried Rice

Today I went to the grocery store to get ingredients for the week. I went to Trader Joes and Staff of Life. All I have to say is that being vegetarian is EXPENSIVE! Altogether my bill was $150 for a weeks worth of groceries. However, I can see why this happened and how it doesn't always have to be this way. I basically rushed to put together my meals by compiling recipes that friends had sent me. I printed out the recipes and then bought everything on the list. I didn't spend time shopping sales and I didn't really know how much some of these items cost because I'd never bought them before. I also bought a lot more ingredients than I usually do, most of which were vegetables and nuts. This is not to say that vegetables are expensive, what it really alludes to is that I've been a lazy chef. I basically put my meals together by having a meat, a grain, and a sometimes a vegetable (please don't get mad dad). These meals have a general flavor to them but they rely heavily on the meat to provide excitement. When cooking vegetarian, I've noticed that you use a lot of vegetables and create interesting flavor combinations.

After coming home late with all my ingredients, I quickly tried to put together the Mango Fried Rice dish which I found online at Post Punk Kitchen (a great website for vegetarian recipes and other things). However, this is not a quick prep dish! In fact I found it to be way more complicated than most things I put together--but again, lazy chef.

I also had to do a few substitutions of the beans, which I had forgotten, and other spicy ingredients since I can't really handle spicy food (read more details about changes I did here). Needless to say I'm sure it turned out slightly different from what the authors intended, but overall it was pretty good!

 

Moo Rating

I give this 3 Moos because although it was tasty and different, it was a lot of work to prepare. Perhaps my standards

will change as I continue to cook vegetarian.  

JM gave this dish 3 1/2 Moos. He thought it had very different flavors that he enjoyed. He was pretty full afterwards but not completely. Again, might just take some getting used to.

Day 1 - Eating Out

We were too chicken (no pun intended) / way unprepared to cook for the first day so we ended up eating out. I had lunch with some friends at Hoffman's in Santa Cruz. This was my first time looking at the menu as a vegetarian and WOW was it a different experience! I've never realized how much meat is a part of our regular cuisine or how limited menus truly are for vegetarians (and Hoffman's actually has vegetarian options, imagine all the places that don't).


Aside from my revaluation, it worked out great. I ended up getting their Vegetarian Sandwich which was delicious and so simple. It was hummus, tomato, cucumber, lettuce, and pepper jack cheese. Totally replicable.


For dinner my husband and I went to Cafe Gratitude, also in downtown Santa Cruz. This place was recommended as one of the best vegetarian/vegan joints in town and with my one day limited experience, I'd have to agree. Everything you order has an intention behind it so it has a great spiritual message, but they also combine healthy food and flavors together in a creative and tasty way. My husband had the I am fortified which consists of sauteed veggies, brown rice, and Thai-almond sauce. I had I am accepting (very fitting for this new diet I might add) and is made up of kale, seaweed bits or nori, avocado, cucumber, brown rice and sesame-ginger sauce. It tasted like a warm bowl of sushi. He liked his dish and I liked mine so it was a win-win. However, to be honest although our stomachs felt full of food, we still didn't feel quite satisfied. I think it was just getting used to not having that hearty, filling meat substanance we're so used to.

The Concept

This all started when my husband announced that he wanted to abstain from eating meat for a month. His purpose: spiritual reasons (hence the zen cow to the left!). He loves animals, I mean LOVES animals and after watching enough cute animal videos on youtube, his conscience won over his stomach and he decided to gives vegetarianism a try.

My perspective on all this? Support it! Coming from my Venezuelan, Latino husband, this is a big deal. Granted he's also a Martial Arts Sensei who teaches spiritual growth and development on a weekly basis, so this is considerably less of a grand leap. However, from my point of view as a liberal living in Santa Cruz, I'm all for this adventure.

SO, I happily began looking for recipes the day before our excursion, only to discover that unless it was soup or salad, almost every recipe was heavy on the cheese, bread, and pasta. I’m all for giving this a try, but I don’t want us to gain 10 lbs by the end of it. I firmly believe that there must be other alternatives! So go ahead and help prove me right by sending in your favorite healthy vegetarian dish and I will compile them here for others to benefit from as well!

What's your favorite vegetarian dish?

We're going vegetarian for a month from July 1st to July 31st! To find out why, read above.

Post your favorite vegetarian dish and I'll give it a try!