Back to the recipes. I mixed up the Superhero recipes with Vegan recipes this week so I would have a nice balance of foods I really looked forward to and foods I need to introduce myself to and get to know. I was also aware this would require virgin grocery shopping. I was like a foreigner stepping into an American grocery store for the first time. At home, I photocopied my recipes, slipped them into my plastic sheet protectors, and placed them in my 3-ring binder. I created a grocery list of my ingredients. Next, I did meal planning for Charlie and Olivia and added their items to the grocery list, now 2 1/2 pages long!
Before all my list making I spent 2 days re-arranging our tiny kitchen so it was more user friendly for me. I created my own cabinet so I wouldn't have to stare at the microwave popcorn every time I reached for my beans. I did a good job of finding space not only because this is a natural talent I have but I got rid of some stuff we no longer used. After the re-arrange and deep clean in the kitchen I was ready to venture out to the store. I decided to take Olivia with me because I wanted to allow myself time to explore and I would need help with Anderson. Plus, she wanted to get out of the house. So, while the local TV was flashing tornado watch in effect, Olivia, Anderson and I bundled up in our puffy jackets, hats, and umbrellas and headed out. Yes, I'm from Oregon but this was no Oregon rain. This was a real storm.
First stop, Ralphs. I figure I could get all of Charlie and Olivia's food for the week and see how much of mine I could find. Before leaving the house I had highlighted in yellow all the items from my list that I had no knowledge of. I had sat at the computer, looking up each and every one. I made a note next to the yellow highlight: Japanese sea vegetable, soy sauce made from soybeans and wheat, etc. The more I could find the mystery items on my own the better. I am a wimp when it comes to asking for help. I just don't like to.
We started at the far end of the store. I purposely browsed each aisle no matter the kind of food, getting familiar with foods I could never have seen before with a meat/dairy eaters eye. I browsed the soy/health refrigerated section. Most of the items were processed soy foods with substitutes like soy cream cheese, soy hot dogs and soy butter. A few of these items are good for days I don't feel like cooking or am on the go and don't want to blow my diet all together. I didn't choose any of these items this time because I came armed with all my recipes and had already decided it was going to be a week full of cooking!
As we got closer to the baking and ethnic food aisles I began to find some of my items. Olivia was amazing. I gave her an assignment and in between both of us keeping Anderson entertained we began to find my mystery items one by one. Only one time did Anderson reach a glass Jesus candle and drop it on the floor. It didn't break thank god! Olivia actually had fun with me. But that didn't surprise me. She has always had this homemaker quality about her. Sewing, cooking and creating things naturally excite her. She is happy I'm finally joining the party. It was seriously like a scavenger hunt. And the more we found the more I relaxed. I hadn't realized how stressed I had become over all this food I was so unfamiliar with. We found Udon noodles, turmeric, coriander, sesame seed oil, kabocha squash, bok choy and much more!
We were tired and depleted by the time we finished up in produce and we hadn't even made it to our second health food store, Whole Foods. I still had 1/4 of my list to get. Items Ralphs didn't carry. By the time we were unloading at checkout I was tired and cranky. I knew the cost was going to be scary high. Anderson was fussy and I was ready to go home. I was also hungry but knew I had no convenience foods to eat so a meal would be a few hours away! Charlie called during checkout madness so I didn't answer. I would call him back in a few minutes, I thought to myself. Our check out guy was new and I had a belt full of weird vegetables. Poor guy. He had to ask the checkout lady next to us for every code. Anderson was crying and it was taking forever. The party was over. Charlie decided to call Olivia after I didn't answer. She picked up and I grabbed the phone hastily out of her hand (proceeding to embarrass her and I.) I snapped at Charlie, we're busy! I need Olivia to hold Anderson while I finish unloading the cart. I'll call you back!" He said, "Sorry, I was just worried. I called you a few times earlier and you didn't answer." I looked at the time on my cell phone. We had been there for 2 1/2 hours!
We made it home. I apologized to Charlie for being rude to him and asked him to be patient with me through this transition.
The next day, re-energized I managed to get to Whole Foods by myself with the remainder of my list. It went well. I felt free to explore the shelves and found it easier to shop organically in the produce department than at Ralphs. I easily found my grains and beans, like quinoa and azuki. This excited me. I had managed to skip out of Ralphs without asking for guidance but now the hard to find items were left and I knew I may need to ask someone. I found a nice man in produce and one stocking shelves. The man in produce helped me find sweet potatoes and scallions(not to mysterious but remember I just made mash potatoes for the first time this year), and fennel bulb (smells like a carrot!).
The nice man stocking shelves helped me find wakeme, shoyua, brown rice mochi, miso paste, brown rice syrup (yum), and umeboshi vinegar. After finding a few items he looked at me and said, "Macrobiotic diet?" I nodded, embarrassed instead of proud. You know how when you try something new you feel like an amateur at first until you get your barrings? He gave me a few tips on making my own miso soup. Then Charlie called. He wanted me to pick him up some chicken. So I swung by the meat department and made it to the checkout stand without my macrobiotic helper seeing the chicken in my cart.
Speaking of preparing food for meat and dairy eaters while being vegan. It's hard! I'm not grossed out yet like some have told me I may start to become. I know I am being conscious to how horribly animals are treated on dairy farms and chicken farms. I know I am eating to help save the environment. That's all I can do. Even though I prepare Charlie's food it's still his choice to make. Anyhow, what is hard is the amount of time it takes. I know this will get better as I get better. I'm not only a new vegan cook I'm a new cook! I started my dinner last night at 7pm and ate at 9:30pm. It kind of went like this all week. Not everyday though. What's awesome about how I'm cooking is I have leftovers. So some days I didn't have to cook. I also got really ambitious last night and made three new dishes. (soda water and raspberry stoli over ice held my appetite at bay. yes I know, not very superhero of me!)
It was a rough start this week. A lot of work making lists, finding food and finding time to prepare made from scratch foods. Olivia is pretty easy. She'll eat what charlie is eating: turkey burgers, spaghetti and tacos but she'll try almost everything I make and she'll eat the vegetable portion of my meal. So, she is eating better also! We're both working on chewing our bites 30 times. Charlie asked to taste a fried udon noddle this week. Much improvement over the reaction I got from the Vegan cornbread I tried to sneak into his lunch last week.
Biggest lesson learned this week is remembering what the mystery items are once you've found them at the grocery store and have them home in the cupboard or vegetable bin. What was this again?
"There's no easy way out. If there were, I would have bought it. And believe me, it would be one of my favorite things!"
-Oprah Winfrey, O Magazine, February 2004
Vegan Enchiladas. Yum!
Fried Udon Noodles. This is my favorite dish so far. I've made it twice. It's a nice indulgent for my pasta fix.
Fried Udon accompanied by Quinoa with Basil Pine Nuts and Bok Choy drizzled with Ume Vinaigrette. The Quinoa was interesting. I will make it again but I'll need to get used to the strong flavor. I loved the Bok Choy althought the Ume Vinegar is very strong. I'll tone it down next time.
Preparing Sweet Potato-Lentil Stew. This dish has lasted me all week (poured over cous-cous) and is very yummy!
Scarlett Roasted Vegetables. This was not my favorite dish. I was looking forward to an array of veggies but I didn't end up liking the flavors or some of the veggies. I didn't core the fennel bulb properly and I didn't really like the kabocha squash. The recipe called for 3-4 bay leaves. My dish pre-roast looked like I rounded up some items from the ground outside and threw some leaves on it. The bay leaves kind of made it taste this way. Thumbs down but I am open to creating my own roasted veggies!
Homemade Miso soup!
*All recipes can be found in, The Kind Diet by Alicia Silverstone.
