Got on the scale this morning. I have now lost a total of 35 pounds.
I still like what I am doing. I still feel good. I am beginning to miss things, though. I miss Chick Fil A. Last night I had a bowl of vegi chili and I missed cheese. The other day, I missed chocolate (I can have chocolate, just not the things that are usually in it – I may see if i can find a vegan chocolate or a recipe that has minimal fat and sugar).
I was reading the other day that if i keep this up I’ll probably become lactose intolerant, but that’s acceptable.
All in all, I am still happy with what I am doing. I like that I can eat all I want. I have found some interesting new recipes. I am surprised by the variety of ways of putting plant food together. Since my meal planning focus used to be mostly on meat and I like my vegies plain, I put my creative efforts toward meat and added a vegie. Now, if I am to have variety in my food, I have to be creative with vegies. I am also eating more organic. Organic is pricey, but I figure if i am eating only plants it is important to have as many of them as possible without toxins.
An interesting aside: I made horseradish dill humus the other day and used the last of the dill i raised. It was very good. I made more, but had to use dill I bought. It was not as good. I was surprised by how different it tasted. Bought dill has a bitterness that my fresh dill didn’t have, not even the fresh dill I dried. I am going to have to get myself another dill plant.
I had planned to share the more interesting recipes I have found. I’d thought I would share by email, but I just remembered that there is a recipe category here… Hmmm
WOOHOO! Yay for 35 pounds!
vegan chocolate:
om nom nom. Just ask the person who has to avoid dairy. 😉
ok so my go to brands (types):
Endangered Species (dark chocolate flavors) are actually certified vegan … so no bone char sugar, it uses beet sugar iirc.
Ghirardelli Twilight Delight dark chocolates are dairy free, their semi sweet chocolate chips (but not the bar) are also dairy free.
Chocolove (looks like a postcard) has a killer cherry and almond dark chocolate that is dairy free.
Many of those can be found at HEB. If you are not used to eating dark chocolate, let me recommend you start with the lowest % dark chocolate and work up. Starting at 88%+ cocao will make you sick. 72% is my personal happy point for every day snacking but Chocolove is closer to 60% and likely closer to milk chocolate that you are used to.
Reading labels, dark chocolate is where you want to start unless you want to spend for a rice milk bar. If it says MILKFAT or BUTTERFAT then it is not dairy free. urg.
I would suggest breaking it into pieces immediately, putting them in a bag in the back of the freezer, and sucking on a small piece now and again.
as far as cheese, etc. you will eventually stop “missing” it. I think for most people it takes a few months (3/4) before it really stops. I get a (usually hormonal or stress) related cheese craving every few months but all it takes is reminding myself how bad it will make me feel and it takes care of it. You probably will be lactose intolerant if you are not already. It’s pretty miserable and can last for days if you poison yourself. My issue is both protein and lactose, however the kids are pretty severely lactose intolerant and it’s no. fun.
If it helps, Chick Fil A has MSG in their seasonings, dressings, and everything but 2 items on the menu do not have dairy. Even the grilled chicken.
Wish I had read this before going to the store. I would have checked for your brands of chocolate. I did read a Ghirardelli bar but it had something in it that made me decide not to buy, but you say their chips are dairy free. Hmm
The one I am most curious about is Chodolove. I looked on Amazon (the shopping reference site) and found the cherry and almond bar. It is 55% and “may contain traces of milk.” Still, if i find it, I will probably buy a bar. Surely “traces” is little enough.
I have eaten 60% and higher. 60% is as strong as I like. I may be able to go higher now since I am more sensitive to sweetness. I haven’t added sugar to anything in a while.
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Knowing about Chick Fil A’s MSG does help a little. I knew that… will try to think about it when i drive by and look longingly at the store. 🙂 It also helps that they have changed their Southwest Salad. We bought one recently, thinking I would give Luke my chicken. The chicken used to be cut strips laid on the top. Now it is diced and put in a sauce with the black beans and rice. I dug the chicken out, but it was far less appealing (and there was less of it, which is, I am sure, the reason).
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I was reading about being lactose intolerant. It said that lactose intolerance is the norm in mammals. The young need milk, but as they grow up, they eat other things, are weaned, and lose the ability to digest milk. Lactose intolerance just means you have been weaned. 🙂 I thought that was funny.
I will miss ice cream, though… and bowls of cold cereal and pudding… and cheese, of course. I find I can cook with rice milk and not tell the difference, but I am not up to drinking it or eating it in my cereal yet.
Knowing I will probably get sick helps me stay away from dairy, and meat too… Not that it has been a real struggle.
Well not all Ghirardelli bars/chips are dairy free only some.
So that’s annoying. Even some of their dark bars/chips. I know. urg.
Getting really annoyingly specific:
Ghirardelli semi sweet chips = ok
Twilight Delight 72% dark = ok
Seriously that Chocolove will rock your socks. I’m kind of jonesing for one now.
The “may contain traces of” statement is a CYA. It means that it is manufactured on shared equipment. So they may make a batch of milk chocolate, then clean the equipment, and then process something without a diary ingredient. So in theory if someone was very allergic/sensitive to a product and a small amount of residue of was on the equipment was enough to get in their bar and trigger a reaction…well the consumer was warned. Sometimes it might also say “manufactured in a facility that uses x.” I believe for your purposes it should be just fine. As far as my own reactions, that only time I have had a problem is if on the ingredient list there was actually a dairy ingredient… milk, whey, butterfat, milkfat, milk solids, lactose … etc.
oh man… you can make pudding with a lesser amount of unsweetened rice milk. You can even buy pudding mixes, most do not have diary. You didn’t want to know that but it is possible as a special treat. See I’m not putting specific instructions. 😉
EWWWWW on the mixed up Southwest Salad. Dang. Chris feels your pain. That was one of his things to get when we would go.
Maybe if sales fall, they will go back to making the Southwest Salad the way it is supposed to be. 🙂
Of course I can make pudding! That ought to be fine with rice milk. Maybe even ice cream… or maybe not.
Have you ever made your own rice milk? I intend to try.
Interesting Link