Vegan Mofo: The End.

Well, lookit here! I managed 7 posts during Vegan Mofo! Kindly withhold your applause; it may not be an easy feat, but it is a manageable one.

All joking aside, may I be honest here? My job is kicking my ass. As in, I get home and either stare at the wall until bedtime or take a nap and want nothing to do with dinner. Making food seems impossible! In regards to lunch at work, I have reverted to the awesome roasted veggie burrito at Sandoval's (sub avocado for the cheese, aw yeah!) or the oatmeal at Elephant's Deli (my lunch is at like 8:30am, so this is totally normal) far too many times. My dinners usually revolve around a baked potato. While I'm not necessarily eating unhealthily, it's very bland and boring. Plus, I'm a bit broke after travelling and paying our car insurance premium and signing up for a half in Austin (more on that in a bit).

So, I've decided to take on the October vegan kickstart with my running buddy Libby. At the very least, I'll be forced to raid my pantry and cook up all the veggies I just bought! I tried the plan a couple of years ago (see this post) and while it's a bit boring for an experienced vegan, it's sure gonna help an uninspired vegan!

Now, back to food of September past. For my last Mofo post, here are three photos of some recent vegan goodies:

Vegan mulita with soyrizo at Los Gorditos...a random stop on my way home from work.

Vegan pats of butter at a salad bar in my honky-tonk hometown.

Vegan burger at OMSI's new restaurant Theory.

I'm planning on checking in about the Kickstart program during October. The menu has changed and there seems to be more variety than in programs past. I would love for this to help me build meal plans and a schedule when it comes to cooking and feeding my little family of two, but only time will tell.

Lastly, that half marathon I mentioned earlier? Yeah, Libby and I are embarking on a new challenge: run half marathons in every state. What?! Our first one is the 3M Half in Austin. Check out the last year's goodie bag!

A kick to the arse.

A funny thing happens when I do something I'm proud of: I reward myself with food.

That might be ok if it were just once, but nope, I've been rewarding myself for a week now. I have gained a little over a pound in two weeks, which is NOT a bad thing but it's still a little discouraging. (please don't tell me gaining weight is normal, I'm well aware!!)

Every couple of months, PCRM puts out a vegan Kickstart program, a 3 week program designed to help new vegans ease into an awesome and healthy lifestyle and to provide current vegans a "kick" to their current routines. I've decided to participate in April's Kickstart as a plan to get myself back into the habit of eating well and cooking somewhat regularly. I love me some PB & J and vegan mac, but I gotta give my body a break!

Now, one of the hugest misconceptions about veganism is the cost. I can't tell you how many times I hear "it's expensive!" when talking to somebody about my diet. Um, hello, I work one day a week and my husband's work is event based! I never, EVER go out with my friends! I wear my clothes until they're threadbare and scandalous! We're far from rich and we can afford to eat well on about $50 a week, which is still pretty high, in my opinion. In fact, it's the weeks where I'm grabbing stuff like PB & J and mac on a regular basis that it adds up! Today I went and bought the veggies for the first week of the Kickstart program. Here is my list of all the things I need for the week:

Honestly, that pile of veggies totaled up to $16. I still need to buy beans, grains and some spices but all of that can be had at the bulk section of Winco, a local ginormous grocery chain that is mostly cheaper than the regular grocery store (Fred Meyer, Safeway). The trick is buying whole, unprocessed foods. When you start getting into the analogues and "fake" foods, you pay more. Yeah, they taste good, but are they really worth it? I love me some Coconut Bliss, but I only buy it if it's on super sale. Daiya is a nice treat, but it's also just that: a treat. The thing about processed foods (vegan or not) is they have higher levels of sodium and preservatives to make it taste better and last longer but c'mon, that shit isn't good for you.

I plan on sticking to the meal plans PCRM gives me, with some minor changes that I'll detail as I go along. My birthday is on Wednesday, but I'm not celebrating until Saturday so I'm taking that as a free day. I'm also running Bridges to Brews on April 17th and you'd better believe I'm drinking my two beers at the end. Other than that, though, I'll stick it through and I feel good about the decision to participate!

If anyone else is interested in trying it out, here is the link:  21-Day Vegan Kickstart!