I’m experimenting with veganism lately. I have a 30 before 30 list (inspired by this project) and going vegan for a month is on it. Unfortunately, as much as I think veganism is a healthy and sustainable diet, the challenge has been tough for me (though maybe not for the reason you’d think).
For a long time (as in over 15 years), I was a vegetarian who also ate fish. Last year I mostly cut the fish out, only indulging once in a while when going out for sushi or when someone cooked fish especially for me and I didn’t want to be rude. So far eating as a vegan at home has been really easy — it’s barely any different from what I would normally be eating. The problem is when I try to eat outside the house. I guess I’m not 100% committed, because I can’t bring myself to inconvenience anyone for the sake of my vegan challenge. I go with my friends to regular restaurants (not vegan ones, since I’m not sure they would like it) and I try my best to order something vegan. Unfortunately, sometimes it’s out of my control — like when the plain pasta I ordered the other day came out with a ton of cheese already on it. I’m not about to make the waiter throw out a perfectly good plate of food because of an experiment. Also, when people cook for me, like my parents did on a recent trip to my hometown, I want to insist on a separate meal. Though I was at least partial motivated by not wanting to miss out on the goat cheese and roasted tomato penne with nutella smores for dessert!
I might sound hopefully un-assertive, but I promise that if I was going to be vegan full-time then I would warn all my friends and family. I managed it just fine when I became a vegetarian at the tender age of 11. If the pasta in the restaurant scenario above had be slathered in meat sauce, I wouldn’t hesitate to ask for another one. But for a 30-day challenge, it seems like overkill.
So the verdict is that I can definitely complete 30 days of veganism… I’m just not sure if they will be 30 days in a row. That’s probably cheating, but it’s my 30 before 30 list so I’ll cheat if I want! So far I’m at 10 days vegan, 5 days not, and I’ve only ever caved because of friends/family (not because I felt like eating an ice cream cone that day). In the meantime, here is my vegan chocolate chip cookie recipe that I adapted. I had a lot of fun reading about the chemistry of vegan baking. The butter is pretty easy to replace with oil, but since eggs are leavening agents, you need something to make the cookies puff up. In the vegan recipes, they often use baking powder and a little vinegar for leavening. The apple sauce is to replace the egg’s wetness. Interesting!
Megan’s Vegan Cookies
A combination of my normal (and amazing) non-vegan recipe and this vegan recipe I found on YouTube. These taste just like those Freihofer’s chocolate chip cookies but bigger and fluffier and, thus, better.
1 cup brown sugar
½ cup white sugar
½ tsp salt
2 tsp baking powder
2 cup all purpose flour
2/3 cup vegetable oil
1 tbsp vanilla extract
½ cup applesauce
1 tbsp vinegar
1-2 cup vegan chocolate chips (some normal brands are accidentally vegan, google and check the labels)
Preheat the oven to 350 F. Mix the dry ingredients together in a big bowl. Mix the wet ingredients together in the measuring cup that you used to measure the oil. Add the wet to the dry and stir with a wooden spoon until combined (don’t use a mixer). Add as many chocolate chips as you like. Line the baking sheets with parchment paper and portion out the cookies (makes 20-30). Bake for 15-20 minutes until they’re just barely turning brown. Scarf them down (well, let them cool off first).
For Science! 