Ovo-Lacto Food Review!

So over the weekend I happened to be out-of-town. For most people this would mean "I'm on vacation, I can eat whatever I want."

For me, it meant, "Oh, hey, I can order a veggie burger at a restaurant and see what it tastes like!"

Yes, ladies and gentlemen, Saturday night I had tofu for the first time in my life and Sunday I had a veggie burger.

Reviews:

Red-curry bowl with tofu: I love curry. My father hates it. I didn't realize I loved curry until three or four years ago when I had it for the first time and absolutely loved it. Unfortunately, since my family basically never has a meal with curry and we rarely go to restaurants where curry is served, I almost never had any. So when I saw that there was red-curry on the menu at this restaurant, I was like "SWEET! I want curry!" This particular curry was NOT vegan; I checked, and the waitress said no. However, it cost $2 more to add chicken to the dish than to add tofu. So I thought, what the heck, I might as well try the tofu.

Most people tell you tofu is disgusting and slimy and rubbery and a billion other things. Here's what I think of tofu; it has a consistency that is basically like chicken, except a teeny-tiny bit chewier. And it tastes like curry when you put it in curry sauce!

Honestly, I think I enjoyed the tofu-curry as much as I would have enjoyed the chicken curry. In this capacity, tofu doesn't taste unusual at all; in fact, it tastes great! It was a wonderful meal and I enjoyed it thoroughly. 5 out of 5 on the tofu curry.

Veggie Burger: Okay, honestly, the veggie burger I had Sunday night was one of the best burgers I have ever had in my life. I couldn't even taste the difference between it and a normal burger; it sure tasted better than, for instance, an all-Angus beef patty from McDonald's. I thoroughly enjoyed it, and ate the whole thing up. I didn't think to check and see if I liked the patty on its own, but as a part of the burger, it was delicious. 4.5 out of 5 for the delicious veggie burger!

Okay, so, technically, neither of these foods were vegan. Both had dairy products in them. But right now is the two weeks before the New Year, when I start ramping up the number of vegetarian and vegan products eaten. While I will definitely enjoy my meat and dairy at Christmas dinner, the next week I hope to go ovo-lacto vegetarian, and then at midnight it's cold turkey.

Or cold tofurkey, as the case may be. :)

Who I Am and What's This About?

My name is Erienne. I live in Oregon, the ninth greenest state in America. I’m a senior in high school and an International Baccalaureate Diploma student. I’m a nerdy geek, and I love books, comic books, writing, art, and sharks.

In March, I will turn eighteen.

Hopefully sometime this summer I will get my first legitimate, real-world, not-just-weeding-the-garden, job.

In September, I will be attending college.

In November, I will vote for the president for the first time in my life.

My freedoms, especially my freedom to choose what I want to see, watch, do, and be, are growing and expanding amazingly. In just a few short months, I will be legally an adult. 2012 is the year of opportunity, of change and independence.

New Year’s is generally considered a good time to make a fresh start. The holidays are over, so you can safely start that diet without being tempted by delicious turkey dinners. For students, it’s close to the beginning of a new semester, so you can keep that A in Psychology that dropped to a B last term. Companies are thinking about taxes, so you have a little bit of breathing room to find the time for that exercise regime. Spending more time with friends, being more frugal with your money, appreciating the blessings you have more often; it all seems to be more likely when the old year has died and the next one is stretching before you.

That wonderful fresh day is coming up on us. So in accordance with that new start, I’m going to go vegan for 2012.

Over the past few years, my eyes have been opened to the way we treat our environment and the way we grow food. I’ve become committed to living green, but it’s been difficult. I currently live ten miles away from my school and four miles – uphill – from the nearest bus station. I can’t feasibly walk or bike to school or town. I have no control over what my family does or whether or not my mom uses plastic or reusable bags when she gets groceries, although I’ve done my best to influence that. I recycle as often as I can, but I feel like it’s just not enough.

The one thing I know I have control over it what I eat. Since animal farming contributes to an enormous amount of global warming and pollution, it’s generally believed that going vegan can reduce an enormous amount of waste.

I decided to test this theory by using the ecological footprint calculator at http://www.myfootprint.org/.

My score eating meat: 6.76 Earths would be needed to sustain my lifestyle.

My score eating vegan: 4.56 Earths would be needed to sustain my lifestyle.

Well, huh. Look at that.

I’m a little apprehensive about this change, though. Yes, I want to do it. Yes, it’s important to me. No, I’m not just doing it to prove that I can (although that’s a major factor.) But I’m not entirely sure that I can actually do it.

That is the purpose of this blog. During the month of December, I will be researching and digging deeper into what it means to make the switch. During that time I will have this blog up and running, cataloguing my feelings, fears, fantasies, and failures. As I come closer to that date – January 1^st, 2012 – I will continue to share what I’ve learned about the vegan lifestyle. And then I’ll make the switch.

This blog will continue throughout 2012. I’ll have you know I don’t want to become rich or famous or anything through this vegan blog. I just want to have some documentation of what I’m doing and how I’m doing it.

I’m nervous, guys.

I’m going to need your help.

I really believe I can do this, and I’m going to go cold turkey, all-or-nothing, no-meat-eggs-or-dairy.

Help me prove to myself that I can.