Dry Toast and Other Foods for an Upset Stomach

I felt so queasy on the drive home Thursday after eating my leftover sandwich from Annabel Lee that I nearly pulled over a couple times, worried that otherwise I would throw up in my passenger seat.  :(  Fortunately I never did, and I made it home okay.  As soon as I got home I went and sat in the bathroom for a while before I felt good enough to make myself a piece of plain toast to help settle my stomach.  Needless to say, I also cancelled on the crossfit class I'd registered for that night! 

 

Plain toast is what my Mom always used to make for me when I was sick as a kid, and I still think it's the best remedy for an upset stomach.  You have to get something in your stomach to help ground it, but it has to be something very innocuous so it doesn't come back up.  And liquids are definitely off-limits! 

 

The rest of the evening I pretty much spent curled up on the couch trying to eat foods that I thought wouldn't upset my stomach.  After the toast I made myself a bowl of apple cinnamon oatmeal with a scoop of peanut butter mixed in.  That went over pretty well.  And the more I ate the more grounded my stomach felt.  Part of the problem is being hungry makes me kind of nauseated too, so I had to balance sick-nausea with hunger-nausea ...

 

By the end of the night I was getting hungry again, so I pulled the banana coconut tart out of the freezer to see if freezing had helped hold it together better.  Obviously, freezing the tart really helped to firm up the cashew cream - it was almost like ice cream!  Unfortunately, it didn't help much with holding the crust together.  It was just too crumbly ... but still tasty!  Josh had a piece and said he'd probably prefer it un-frozen, so back to the fridge it went!  Let's see if I can find a happy medium for this tart ... before it's all eaten up!

The Food I Already Own

I have a confession. Three days after I "became vegan" I ate a sandwich with mozzarella. I justified it because it was in my fridge and would go bad if it wasn't eaten. Plus just a few days before I would have eaten it without a second thought. In fact, I think I did because it was already half eaten.

But now that the perishables are gone, the question becomes: what about those pesky non-vegan items that could just sit until my boyfriend or someone else takes care of them? These two items designed to make life easier for vegetarians still don't help me out as a vegan:

 

Worse still, I know there's some Mexican hot chocolate in the cupboard that my boyfriend will never drink.  If I don't do it, it's just going to go to waste.  I feel like I'm back to the cheesed salad I got a while back.  I can't bring myself to waste food.  So I will drink the hot chocolate.  But should I go out of my way to eat these MorningStar items just to get them out sooner than later?  Or should I hope my boyfriend eats them on his own (if I don't prepare them, he probably won't ...)? 

 

Fortunately I have dinner plans for tonight, so I don't have to make this decision now.  But I'd appreciate feedback on what others have done here! 

New Friends

I wrote Saturday about the importance of remembering the vegan foods you've always enjoyed to ease the transition to a vegan lifestyle, but inevitably changes must be made as well. Recently I went to the store to stock up on some vegan foods that had not previously graced my kitchen.

 

 

Truthfully, I wasn't much of a yogurt person when I ate dairy, but I got caught up in the vegan frenzy and ended up with a couple of containers of this soy yogurt.  I have yet to try either the yogurt or the sour cream, but I'm excited to have the options and will write more when I've done something amazing with them.

 

What I have had the opportunity to test out with great success is the Ener-G egg replacer.  When my boyfriend's parents invited us over for brunch last weekend for pancakes, I new this would be a big test for my ability to enjoy outings like I used to.  Fortunately, I made my own vegan pancakes using the egg replacer and my old friend, vanilla soymilk, and they turned out great.  To rub in their faces how wonderful my vegan pancakes could be, I didn't just make plain old pancakes, but banana, walnut, chocolate chip pancakes.  Yes, that's right.  They were completely delicious and I will absolutely be making those again soon.  And maybe some will survive to get a picture on here too!  

Old Friends

I'm probably quite fortunate in making this transition that I have been trying to make vegan choices for some time now, which means I have a few old friends to turn to in these trying times.

 

Having used soy milk to make my morning smoothies and earth balance vegan butter for baking, I already know what I'm getting myself into when I use these products.  And in both cases, I know I'm geting myself into something wonderful :)  So when I make breakfast in the morning (which almost every day involves a banana, flax seed, and either some other fruit and vanilla soymilk or peanut butter and chocolate soymilk, if I'm feeling indulgent), I don't have to change my routine.  This is particularly crucial when I'm tired and just want to go back to bed.  Having a reprieve from the constant analysis and doubt about every food decision is a relief. 

 

Maybe this goes without saying, but I definitely think it's easier to ease yourself into a vegan lifestyle by making a few transition choices like this and experimenting over time, rather than diving in all at once.  While that might be an option for some, or even a preference, it can also leave you with culture shock, which just may be enough to scare you off the path altogether. 

 

Now, please excuse me while I enjoy my vegan breakfast.  Mm mm. 

Finding Treats

We all know this simple truth of life: sometimes you just need some junk food. But as my recent soup experience taught me, finding vegan processed foods can be tricky. Enter the PETA accidentally vegan guide. While not thoroughly comprehensive, this list can end up a real lifesaver.  It's tiring and sometimes overwhelming to read through the food label of every single thing you want to buy.  But this little gem guides you right to your favorites that you might never have known were vegan. 

 

Case in point, I learned that Oreos are vegan, as are most of there spin off products. This came in handy when Thursday's soup left me needing something more. Luckily I snagged an Oreo go-pack at the store and my junk food craving was satisfied.  (Plus several future cravings - this thing's got three servings!)  It seems I've lived to be vegan another day.

The Vegan Soup Challenge

Yesterday's lunch proved to be a bit of a challenge. Having eaten out the previous night I didn't have the luxury of easy leftovers, and I was too lazy to figure something out before work. So I stopped at the store on my way to work assuming I could just pick up some soup for an easy meal.

Apparently not so easy.  My usual go-to vegetarian soups all seem to contain milk or butter.  I also made the annoying discovery upon a closer inspection of the ingredient list that Campbell's Thai Tomato Coconut isn't even actually vegetarian because it has anchovies.  Oops.  I ended up settling on Amy's split pea (helpfully marked vegan by the ingredient list). 

 

The verdict: eh.  I needed to add several of those little to-go packets of pepper that accumulate in the office drawer to give it some extra flavor, and it still wasn't exactly exciting.  But it was filling enough and got me through lunch, which is enough I suppose.  I'll definitely need to make more of an effort to seek out quick lunches that I can turn to when I don't have time for any other preparation.  Any suggestions?