I also fell ill with a horrific cold on Friday (day 11) which I thought would present a huge challenge to me - who doesn't want a chicken soup when they're under the weather? I did manage to get around this in quite a clever way, even if I do say so myself, and I'll come back to that shortly.
I do think that old habits die hard, as they say, and so when you've eaten meat your whole life it is going to take some conscious effort to change your go-to foods and habits. So what have I eaten this week? What have I found easy? What have I found challenging?
Humble beginnings
At the start of week 2 I still had some leftover black bean burgers from week one, and boy was I glad. I still think this is one of the best recipes from the new veg book by Jamie Oliver (already reviewed here) and so I wasn't really complaining that I had to finish the batch off.
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| Black bean burgers with Candied Jalapenos from The Preservation Society (gifted item) |
It's been a week of minimal spend on food, which is mainly because I've tried to use everything I have in the fridge and waste as little as possible. This meant that lunches have been a bit thrown together. I started the week with kidney bean and cheese quesadillas and leftover salsa from the black bean burgers. A simple and effective Mexican take on a sandwich in some ways. Mexican is my favourite cuisine so I'm always looking for excuses to eat it - not that I need much of an excuse.
Lentil bolognese came to my rescue on Wednesday. I was really in the mood for something warm, comforting, hearty and full of tomatoes. A spaghetti bolognese would have been right up my street that night, but I turned to lentils instead. I always have red and green lentils in the cupboard - they're so versatile, really good for you and I often turn to them in an emergency. Today was... close to an emergency?
You simply begin to cook the bolognese in the same way you would with meat - fry your onion, garlic etc. but instead of adding your mince, you simply add green lentils, tomatoes, water and let it simmer away until the lentils go soft. I'm aware this isn't a complete recipe but I'm reluctant to tell you how to make a bolognese since everyone has their own way of doing it and every family makes it differently. I guess I'm trying to say, do everything as you normally would, however you like it, just let it simmer until those lentils are soft and you're grand. They'll still have some bite and firmness to them which makes them a great mince substitute as you still get the feeling of different textures in your mouth.
Eating Out
Come Thursday, it was time to eat out. I'd been invited for a press preview of The Last Crumb, a new pub in Caversham, Reading (first impressions are coming soon!), and was looking forward to trying the food that was on offer. I don't want to steal the thunder from the review and first impressions I'm going to write about in the next week but I'll give you a little snippet of the night.
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| Press night at The Last Crumb |
The menu was full of burgers, pizzas and chicken wings with a few veggie options. I resisted the meat and ordered a vegetarian pizza and a side, and sat with my food. My housemate was with me (of course) and he had ordered some sticky BBQ chicken wings. The chicken wings did look good and housemate wasn't very well and so couldn't taste very much because of it.
It seemed a shame to me, on a press night, to leave them to someone who couldn't really taste them properly and so I asked if I could try one. "Sure!" he said and gestured towards them...
"wow wow wow you're veggie!" he said and blocked them from my hand. I'd forgotten again!
I was shocked at myself as I'd managed nearly two weeks, but just like the first week the habits were dying hard and simple forgetfulness nearly thwarted my efforts. I didn't try one though - I guess that's the main thing. I enjoyed my food, and there is more to be said on that in another post, but essentially I wasn't actually too bothered that I couldn't try the chicken wings in the end - progress!
Freshers' Flu
I had the day off on Friday and was looking forward to meandering around town, having my nails done and enjoying my favourite past time - eating food. However, by 11am on Friday morning I had a funny feeling in my throat and I knew immediately that I had a cold or flu on the way. Housemate has gone back to university for a few months with work and so I knew it was only a matter of time before I got the dreaded freshers' flu that he'd had earlier in the week. I was already dreading a weekend of not knowing what to eat and craving chicken soup, so I hatched a plan.
After wandering around Caversham, I dashed to Aldi and got everything I needed for a scruffy aubergine lasagne (yes from that Jamie Oliver - Veg again. Can you tell I'm trying to cook from it a lot at the moment?!). I knew I wouldn't want to cook when I was ill and that temptation for takeaways and comforting meaty meals might take over, so I cooked a huge batch of scruffy lasagne so that I had plenty of leftovers for the weekend.
Come Saturday I was in bed feeling very rough and I was so glad that I had nutritious, home cooked food that I could just reheat. No chicken soup or Chinese takeaways here! When I was out of lasagne I made hummus and carrot sandwiches, and luckily my (also partially veggie) friend offered to cook for me on Sunday night while I was still feeling a bit ropey.
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| Jamie Oliver's Scruffy Aubergine Lasagne |
When I'm queen of the world...
That brought me into a new week at work and another sad vegetarian option (eye roll in full force). My Monday meeting was out of the office and the lunch was pants. I truly empathise with vegetarians and the rubbish non-options offered at venues. I had a super sad tomato pasta with some equally sad salad, while everyone else had fish and chips... the sticky toffee pudding helped ease the pain but still! When I become queen of the world I will decree that tomato pasta, rubbish risotto and stuffed mushroom/peppers be banned off all vegetarian restaurant menus.
Ironically, I came home on Monday night and made a risotto... I feel like it's ok at home but I categorically do not want it in a restaurant when everyone else is having something interesting that's clearly had far more thought and effort put into it than I am. It also meant that I could make arancini with the leftovers, but that's for the Week 3 post :)
Top Tip
I think I've started to realise that I'd give one top tip to anyone who is venturing into vegetarianism, whether you are completely new to it, or whether like me, you've just taken a final leap and are giving it a good go. It's taken me longer than I'd like to admit to realise it, probably because I've never actually committed to this entirely before, or because I've never actually sat down to think about it properly.
Preparation is key! Be prepared!
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| My favourite veggie brunch |
That's the one thing I would say. Much like when I felt myself feeling a bit iffy and knew I was getting sick, I got out and got prepared. If I'm not prepared I am more likely to fail. I'm more likely to turn to the "easy" option which is meat or fish for your average lifetime carnivore. Not because it genuinely is easy, but because the thought process is easier.
I said earlier, old habits die hard, and so that hardest thing is breaking the habit and making your mind think differently. Instead of immediately turning to a chicken breast, you need it to immediately turn to something else, anything else except for meat.
I've turned to eggs a bit this week too - I made a delicious cheesy crepe with a runny fried egg on Sunday which is over on Instagram. I felt that I needed something rich while I wasn't feeling good and an egg really felt like the right option.
After all, I'm not going vegan...
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