Day 11 & 12: Sloppy Joes....

It seems like such a good idea at the time.

After last week's success with the vegan tacos and the vegan lasagna, I was singing the praises of the "Smart Ground" meet substitute. Sure, I was facing strong gastro-intestinal "pressures," but I merely attributed that to the abrupt change in my diet. After all, meat to soy is a big change - I assumed there would be. . . complications. . . and I was willing to put my body through hell in order to show off my will power.

As I mentioned in yesterday's post, this week has been super hectic and very stressful. The presentation I alluded to, kept me sitting at my desk while most of my office scurried home to avoid the inclement weather. I spent the day trying to track down last minute requests for information and last minute edits, all while trying to figure out if the Ribofalvin B-2 in the pretzel nuggets I bought for lunch were vegan safe (a bit of a grey area, but deemed acceptable by most). Staring out the window at the snow, I tried to think of something that would improve my mood. With the knowledge that I had another package of Smart Ground sitting in my fridge, I was brainstorming different ways of preparing the meat substitute when I recalled something I had read on the Peta website - Hunt's Manwhich sauce was vegan! My mood immediately picked up at the thought of reviving a childhood favorite! After finally finishing up at work, I headed straight for the Safeway. This time, despite my hunger pains, the siren calls from the fast food eateries had no effect on me - I was going to have SLOPPY JOES for dinner! I was cooked up the full childhood menu; Sloppy Joes in a Peta, with tater tots and vegetable medley. I even put a big ol' pat of vegan butter on top of the vegetables. Life was good. For about 35 minutes.

I had noticed, while making the Manwhich sauce, that the Smart Ground didn't have the same consistency that it did in the tacos. In fact, after about 5 mins on the stovetop, the Manwhich and Smart Ground formed into a paste like substance. Since I was so hungry, the unsettling Manwhich paste didn't deter me from chowing down on the first Peta, but when I took a bite out of the second, my stomach made a noise that I hadn't heard since last weekend. Clearly my stomach opposes the ground beef impostor! Today, just as last Friday and Saturday, my belly was a powder keg of vegan TNT.

To make matters worse, today was the Office pot luck lunch. Knowing that I wouldn't be able to eat anything, I made a pasta salad last night. Unfortunately, I managed only 4 hours of sleep, woke up late, and had to run out of my house in order to make an 8am meeting - leaving the pasta salad sitting in the fridge. So not only was I tired and gassy, but I had to stand around watching other people enjoy their cornucopia of Pizza, Sandwiches, cookies, brownies and pie, while I stood in the corner eating my apple (I had 2) and fielding questions as to why I wasn't eating anything. Needless to say I am a very cranky vegan at this moment. I'm not sure what I'm going to eat for dinner, but I can tell you for sure, that there will be booze involved...

Day 11
* Coffee and an Apple
* Salad w/ oil and vinegar dressing (I'm slowly coming around on vinegar)
* Bag of Chips
* Bag of Oat Bran Pretzel nuggets
* Sloppy Joes, Tater Tots, Vegetable Medly (the agony)

Day 12
* Coffee (no apple)
* 2 apples and some potato salad (no mayo, just vinegar and herbs....very good stuff)
* potato chips


Since I'm updating this before I figure out what I'm having for dinner, I'll log the rest of my day sometime tomorrow.

~Saps