Weighty Kaity

It's been 10 months (WHAT??) since making the choice to go vegan, and while I've shifted between vegan and pescetarian, while I've occasionally consumed dairy products in desserts and baked goods, I've really drastically changed the way that I eat----and for the better. Am I always good? No. Am I always vegan? No. But I'm healthy and I'm happy.

Starting June 1, my girlfriend and I are moving into a new apartment, and we've vowed to take care of one another health-wise and really get off to a good start. Over the last year I've done a lot of experimenting as to what I like, what I don't like, or stuff that I like but won't prepare, etc. Because I'll be living in a new place and dealing with a drastically reduced budget, I've decided to make a list of the things that I need to have stocked in my kitchen in order to be happy and healthy. These are things that I eat regularly, things I can grab in a pinch, things I can cook with without getting all fancy----things I won't let go to waste because I forget it's there or bought it for something special and don't use it.

After a lot of experimenting, it largely boils down to this:

Pantry
Bob's Red Mill "Vegi" soup mix
Amy's lentil vegetable canned soup
brown rice pasta
rice
canned tomatoes
canned green beans
sweet potatoes
red onions
garlic
extra virgin olive oil
sea salt
black pepper
spices: cumin, allspice, paprika, cinnamon, celery salt, Borsari
crispy onions salad topping
spinach wraps and/or whole grain bread (I haven't had bible bread in a -while- :(!)
Kashi Autumn Wheat cereal

Fridge
romaine lettuce
cucumbers
bell peppers
seedless red grapes
Empire apples
watermelon
Earth Balance soy butter
Silk light plain
Silk light chocolate
Annie's lite raspberry vinaigrette
Annie's vegan worcestershire sauce
Tofurky deli slices
Vegenaise
Tribe hummus
spicy mustard


Recently, I've been having a problem with snacking, where I eat chips and other snacks just because they're in the cupboard and I can eat them easily. I'm not satisfied by them, but they just ... kill a craving, I guess. I don't like doing that, so now that I'm conscious of it I'm going to try and stop. I've prepped some salads and am keeping them in the fridge to take out for lunches, and I have all my sandwich veggies sliced and ready to go. Part of the difficulty is always preparation, and being too lazy to cook. I LOVE to cook, I LOVE to work in the kitchen, but there are a lot of times when I just don't feel like it. So if I prep things in advance while I DO feel like it, I can reap the benefits later.

That's it right now. I haven't been updating a lot. I haven't updated regularly in a long time. I feel like I've made some permanent changes in my eating habits and this journal helped me get there----but I can't be dependent on it. I can't obsess. Now, I'm not always perfect, but that's okay. I'm working on not feeling guilty for slip-ups or willful indulgences. I learn from them, or I enjoy them and move forward. Life's too short to not enjoy some cake from time to time.

Because I have a super nasty habit of going out to the store without thinking about what I have at home, I'm going to make a list of food. When it's gone, I will cross it off. Then, when most of these things on the list are gone, I will go grocery shopping. I'm a grocery addict. A lot of this is convenience food I forgot I had! I've stopped using the basement fridge. Oops. I do NOT want to waste food and therefore waste money. I think I spend more money on groceries than anything else, because I'm ALWAYS picking up new stuff at the store.

( Food that you must eat before you shop again, missy! )


Um. Wow. That list was a lot longer than I thought it was. And about 90% of this is stuff that I would buy now----the things I've italicized are things that I have been making excuses not to eat because of fat content or a change in habits (for example, I don't drink a lot of juice these days). I may not eat those at all, but who knows!

I don't know why I keep thinking I have no food. I'm really glad I made this list. I can save a whole lotta moolah.