TheRealMrsQ's Journal, 17 Jul 24

Yum!!! 

Wow! 

Everything looks yummy. I love the different colours and textures. 

My husband has been vegan (for health reasons) for 4 years. I’ve learned to cook some good meals. But having snacks around has been difficult for me. I gained weight eating the nuts, seeds & grains. I’m doing better snacking on cheese, cottage cheese, turkey sticks & beef jerky. I balance out the salt by not eating salty meals 

@SassieGram - I am definitely still on a learning curve and tracking has been key! My macros have been turned upside down, but on the bright side I’m getting a lot of fiber and no cholesterol at all. We’ll see if it has an overall positive impact on my health after a few months. I welcome any vegan resources you have to share!  

I like the recipes from Nora Cooks dot com. Really great for comfort foods.  

Thank you BW42! I will check it out!  

RealMrsQ -- try the "It Doesn't Taste Like Chicken" website for recipes. I like her stuff so well I bought all three of her cookbooks. The Italian meatballs are a bit of a project, but they are OMG good. (As long as you can eat gluten.) I've also found a lot of great stuff in the cookbook The Veganomicon. I usually make he silken mayo recipe with Dijon and garlic, and I could almost drink it out of the blender, it's so good. We use it for salad dressing -- today I made a ranch version. The book also has a fantastic tofu and cashew ricotta 

@writing…I’m finding that a good sauce makes all the difference! So thank you for the recommendations! Btw, I went deep into the daily dozen 😀 Thank you for making aware of it! I have to say that I’m more affected by the animal rights aspect than I anticipated as I’ve researched. My heart has been hurting.  

@Berry - I am making Nora’s “crab cakes” this weekend! 

Hope they turn out well for you. I've made the mac n cheese, peanut butter cookies and apple fritters so far. 

RealMrsQ - that aspect affects me as well, as do environmental impacts. I've tried to go completely plant-based, but haven't quite pulled it off. I have a lot of mixed feelings about the few animal foods I still eat, but I'm minimizing it more and more over time. 

I watched the Netflix documentary “What the Health?” last week and I’ve been thinking about it ever since. I grew up on a small hobby farm and we raised animals to eat (plus hunted and fished), so I’m well aware of the circle of life and am non-judgmental about dietary choices. I’m just bothered by the conditions some animals endure in commercial farming. (We took such good care of our livestock - I’d hand feed our pigs acorns and they’d follow me around the farm like a pack of dogs.) 😂  

Yep, MrsQ, the CAFOs, the conditions, etc., etc. Lots to think about 

Wow, great job!