This blog post was also featured on Vegansaurus as part of The Vegansaurus Diet!
My mom decided to try to eat vegan for a week while my dad was off visiting his family in Arizona. She didn’t end up doing it 100%, but maybe something like 90% which is still really awesome!
SO. What does a meat-loving omnivore eat when she tries out veganism for a week?
Breakfasts: 2 cups of coffee (black) every morning. Then, after exercising, oatmeal with chopped walnuts and a cup of OJ, or occasionally some peanut butter spread on toast.
Lunches: Usually leftovers from dinner, or a peanut butter sandwich–no jelly for this fruit-hater.
The Dinners:
Saturday, February 19th: I made spaghetti with “wheatballs” from Robin Robertson’s Vegan on the Cheap. Topped with Newman’s Own marinara sauce and rounded out with a side of steamed kale.
Sunday, February 20th: We went to the grocery store and picked up some rosemary artisan bread and veggies. I sliced and panfried onions, red bell peppers, zucchini, yellow squash, and eggplant and tossed it all with a dash of balsamic vinaigrette. Spread some homemade hummus on each slice of bread and put it all together while Mom made a side of oven-baked sweet potato fries with sea salt, black pepper, and red pepper flakes. mmm!
Monday, February 21st-Tuesday, February 22nd: I wasn’t home for dinner these days, so no pictures, but Mom made and ate cabbage and leek soup from 1,000 Vegetarian Recipes.
Wednesday, February 23rd: Puttanesca. This picture is deceiving, because there are really more veggies than that but it wasn’t mixed well and they all ended up at the bottom topped with the spaghetti! I would totally link you to the recipe for this meal that we can both always agree on (and is super easy to make) if only my mom could remember where she found it!
Thursday, February 24th: Again, I wasn’t home, but Mom had the rest of the leftover spaghetti & wheatballs. She just finished heating them up when our microwave of 28 years died!!
Friday, February 25th: Stir fry made with leftover veggies from Sunday’s sandwiches and seitan based off this recipe, served over quinoa and with a big salad.
My two biggest celebrations from this week are that I got my mom to try hummus (which she’s always said she didn’t like) and seitan (which she’s always been leery of) and both were successful! What does she have to say about the week? She found herself craving meat, doesn’t want to give it up for good, but is still trying to decrease her consumption of it. Overall, a huge leap forward from when I first went vegetarian 5 years ago!
Oprah’s doing it, my mom’s doing it… who’s next??
That is so awesome. Go, Mom. Maybe she can just do one whole day a week to start…
I can’t believe you got her to try seitan. My mom has been vegetarian for two years now and won’t go near it! If she really misses meat, you should hook her up with some Gardein & stuff; it bridges the gap.
Your mom is so cool! I really wish I could get my mom to do that.