Quinoa, Chick'n and 4 Days til Vegan

It seems I haven't had a spare moment to sit down and write recently. It's been over a week since I announced I will be going vegan on April 1st for 30 days. I've been on a vegetarian diet for a week or so now and even tried out two vegan meals at restaurants that were phenomenal! But before I get into that, I want to address a question that many have asked when it comes to being vegetarian or vegan:

Where do you get your protein?

We seem to have it set in our minds that animal products are the only sources of protein available, but there are actually many ways for you to get protein. Just as a calorie is a calorie, a protein is a protein - your body can't tell which proteins have come from an animal source and which have come from a non-animal source. Vegans who eat varied diets containing vegetables, beans, grains, nuts, and seeds rarely have any difficulty getting enough protein as long as their diet contains enough energy (calories!) to maintain weight. Take a look:

I would guess that many of you are probably thinking, "OK...so to get my protein, I have to eat a bunch of beans and tofu. How is that a meal?!" That's what I used to think whenever I read about a vegan diet. I didn't understand how you could have complete meals that were satisfying. Then I changed my approach and asked myself, "What are some of my favorite foods and how can I make them vegan?" I've found so many recipes online that I cannot wait to try, like the ones below:

Black Bean-Quinoa Burgers

(These are so flavorful and filling, I have not craved meat burgers for weeks.)

Seven Layer Vegan Tacos

Vegan Eggplant Lasagna

Tell me those don't look delicious! I've also been testing out some meatless products from Gardein and MorningStar. Yesterday I had MorningStar's chick'n nuggets for lunch and O...M...G...I could not believe how tasty they were! Just 4 nuggets have 12 grams of protein.  They tasted just like regular chicken nuggets to me. Unfortunately...my vegan friend Stephanie just informed me that once I go vegan, I can't eat these anymore since there is dairy in them. Bummed about that! However, she promises there's a Boca version that is vegan and just as tasty.

I've also sampled Gardein's chicken strips - I had them in a whole wheat wrap with spinach, tomato and cheese, and they were fantastic. I truly feel that the types of tastes and textures I enjoy have changed over the past few months since incorporating more fresh, whole foods into my diet.

Last week, I had two vegan meals. The first was lunch with Stephanie at this restaurant in Oak Brook called Protein Bar. The main staple in most of the meals at Protein Bar is quinoa. If you're not familiar with quinoa (pronounced KEEN-wah, not kee-NO-wah as I thought for some time!), it is a seed that can be prepared like whole grains such as rice or barley. It also packs a lot of protein - just one cup of quinoa has as much protein as 4 eggs! Finally...it's delicious! I even enjoy the texture more than brown rice, it's smooth and not as grainy. Protein Bar has a great variety in their menu. In addition to meat dishes, they offer many vegetarian and vegan options. I ordered one of the bar-ritos - similar to a burrito, but they use quinoa in place of rice and a lo-cal whole wheat wrap in place of a tortilla. 

Vegan Original (grilled)

Marinated tofu, house-made seasoned black beans, organic quinoa, vegan cheese and cilantro

515 calories, 14 g fat, 1 g saturated fat, 1100 mg sodium, 78 g carbohydrates, 24 g fiber, 4 g sugar, 28 g protein

My meal was crazy delicious and crazy filling! A bit high in sodium if you check out the stats above, but I am not very concerned about my sodium intake. Check out the 24 grams of filling fiber and 28 grams of protein! If someone handed you this meal and didn't tell you it was vegan, I would bet that you would never know. The tofu was similar to the chicken I've had there in the past, and the whole wrap was very tasty. 

My second vegan meal was on Saturday night. My boyfriend Dan and I joined our friends Kate and Geoff at the Two Brothers Roundhouse in Aurora. I'm sure many of you have had a Two Brothers beer - Domain DuPage, Prairie Path, and Cane & Ebel are some of their popular beers found at Jewel, Target, Binny's, etc.  I've heard a lot of great things about Roundhouse, so we were excited to check it out. I tried two beers there on Saturday; Monarch Wit and Side Kick. Both were lighter ales with citrus tones. As I read through the dinner menu, I told myself that perhaps I would order meat since I ate vegetarian meals all week. But something interesting happened...

I didn't want meat. 

I thought about the grilled chicken...contemplated a burger...but a different dish caught my (and my boyfriend's) eye - vegan enchiladas. The description read: flour tortillas stuffed with chorizo seitan and soy cheddar cheese, ranchero sauce, lettuce and pico de gallo. Served with beans and rice.

Boyfriend and I both ordered the vegan enchiladas. Boyfriend and I fell in love with this meal.

As with the bar-rito I mentioned above, if someone gave you a plate of these enchiladas and didn't mention they were vegan, you would have never suspected a thing. The "chorizo" had a nice zing to it and the mix of flavors were fabulous. I had no idea it was soy cheese, either - it looked and tasted like regular cheese to me. As I look at the description above, I see a word I'm not familiar with - seitan. A quick Google search tells me:

Although it is made from wheat, seitan has little in common with flour or bread. Also called “wheat meat”, “wheat gluten” or simply “gluten”, seitan becomes surprisingly similar to the look and texture of meat when cooked, making it a popular meat substitute.

The more you know!

As we ate the enchiladas, Dan and I probably said, "I can't believe how good these are!" 20 or 30 times. I'm sure poor Geoff and Kate were thinking, "Please shut up!" I really have to give Dan a shout out for being such an amazing and supportive boyfriend. As I mentioned in my last post, Dan watched Vegucated with me to see what it was all about and to learn why I wanted to do this challenge. I didn't ask him to join me in the challenge, but I did ask him to be a taste tester for some of the foods I'll be cooking. Dan surprised me when he texted me this photo from the grocery store on Friday:

Is that MorningStar and Boca I see there?! It brought a big smile to my face to see him purchase some vegetarian items all on his own! He told me he's setting his own goal of going meatless 3 days out of each week during my challenge. What an awesome guy :)

I feel I've read enough and am well prepared to go vegan on Monday. While at Target yesterday, I noticed they were having a big sale on their Up & Up brand of vitamins and supplements. I picked up a women's multivitamin and a bottle of vitamin B12. Vitamin B12 is probably the most challenging nutrient to get if you're on a vegan diet, as this vitamin is only found in animal products. Besides taking a supplement, you amy be able to find products that have been fortified with added vitamins, including B12. Silk soy milk is one option. You can also get your B12 intake from nutritional yeast, a cheesy-flavored powder that you can sprinkle on to any dish you normally put cheese on. Just to be safe, I am going to take my vitamins daily.

Have some more questions about a vegan diet? I'll leave you with this handy infographic from PETA. It's a great way to educate yourself on the basics in less than a minute!

As always, comments and questions are welcomed!