This recipe is slightly different from the version I found online. I added a few extra ingredients (celery, white mushrooms, red pepper) and substituted the beef strips for tofu to make it 100% vegan.

• Rice vermicelli noodles — 1/2 pound
• Sesame oil — 2 tablespoons
• Tofu, thinly sliced — 1/4 pound
• Red pepper, thinly sliced — 1
• Onion, thinly sliced — 1
• Carrot, peeled and grated — 1
• Shiitakes, stems removed and thinly sliced — 3
• White mushrooms, sliced — 4-5
• Garlic, minced — 2-3 cloves
• Spinach — 8 ounces, or about 1/2 bunch
• Celery — 1 stalk
• Scallions, cut into 1-inch pieces or thinly sliced — 2-3
• Soy sauce — 2-3 tablespoons
• Sugar — 2 teaspoons
• Salt and pepper — to taste
• Sesame seeds, toasted — 1 tablespoon

1. Bring a large saucepan of water to a boil over medium-high heat. Stir in the noodles and cook for 5 minutes. Remove from heat, drain, rinse with cold water and set aside.
2. Heat the sesame oil in a wok or large sauté pan over medium flame. Add the tofu and sauté about 3-4 minutes. Remove to a plate and set aside.
3. Add a little more oil to the wok or pan if necessary and toss in the onion, carrot, celery and red pepper. Sauté until the onion is just translucent. Add the mushrooms and garlic and sauté 2-3 minutes more. Finally add the spinach and scallions and sauté until the spinach is just wilted.
4. Add the drained noodles, soy sauce, sugar, salt and pepper to the sauté pan and cook, stirring, to heat through. Adjust seasoning.
5. Transfer to a serving dish and garnish with the toasted sesame seeds.

Makes 4 servings

This recipe makes 4-6 servings. I halved everything and only used white flour as I didn’t have any whole wheat flour. I didn’t have canola or safflower oil and used regular sunflower oil. I also didn’t have any frozen blueberries and used fresh ones instead.

Halving everything makes about 3 large pancakes or 4 average ones.

1 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup white flour
3 Tbsp. sugar
3 Tbsp. baking powder (I didn’t use any because I used self rising flour)
1 tsp. sea salt
2 cups vanilla soy milk
3 Tbsp. canola or safflower oil (I used regular sunflower oil)
1/2 cup frozen blueberries
1/2 cup fresh blueberries

Combine dry ingredients in a bowl and sift together. Add vanilla soy milk and oil and mix until smooth.

Ladle onto hot pancake griddle or pan. Add frozen blueberries. Cook for about 2-3 minutes on each side.

Serve with fresh blueberries and maple syrup (optional).

I poured the mix onto a fying pan and added the blueberries. I used my finger to push them into the mixture.

Posting what I eat every day is becoming a little redundant as the majority of my meals (with the exception of dinner) are nearly identical. I eat a bowl of Special K with soy milk for breakfast every morning, a bowl of fruit for my morning snack, and a salad with either leftovers or a piece of brown toast for lunch. I will occasionally throw in a veggie dog if I’m feeling hungry.

The last few days have been a little up and down. I’ve felt more tired & run down than usual, but that could also be due to PMS. I haven’t had any cravings for dairy or meat, nor do I miss those foods.

I’m having a bit of a difficult time coming up with things to make for dinner, though. I’ve never really enjoyed cooking in the first place, so having to be creative in the kitchen tends to make me feel a little overwhelmed at times. Plus, many ingredients are just impossible to find in South Africa.

I’ve been looking at vegan cookbooks and think I’m going to order these:

Ani’s Raw Food Kitchen – Ani Phyo
Mediterranean Vegan Kitchen – Donna Klein
Veganomicon – Isa Chandra Moskowitz
Vegan Planet – Robin Robertson
Vegan Brunch – Isa Chandra Moskowitz

As much as I’d love to switch to a raw vegan diet, I don’t know if it would be possible for me. Some mornings I have to force myself to eat my bowl of fruit. I find most fruit to be bland and not very satisfying. I love berries and could eat those all day, but they are a bit on the expensive side and are not as readily available as other fruit. I do love smoothies, however, so perhaps investing in a blender would make the transition a bit easier.

I woke up yesterday morning feeling pretty good. I went for a 30 minute walk at 5am, and on the way back, walking uphill, I noticed that I wasn’t as tired as usual. Our laneway is very steep, and I’m always huffing & puffing as I make my way up, but this morning I felt much lighter, and wasn’t breathing as heavily. I didn’t feel sleepy after my walk, like I normally do, and was feeling quite bouncy and happy. I even sang to myself as I was vacuuming!

At around 8pm I started to feel pretty exhuasted, so I went to bed shortly after. I couldn’t fall asleep right away, and felt a bit anxious and overwhelmed. I don’t know if those feelings were due to PMS, or if I’m simply stressing out a little bit about our flight back to Canada next week. At one point I had to get up to eat some crackers because I was starving.

Breakfast:

1 cup Special K, 1/2 cup soy milk

Snack:

1 apple, 1 peach, 2 apricots

Lunch:

Leftover eggplant lasagna (lasagna noodles, tomato sauce, eggplant, breadcrumbs, celery, carrot, onion, mushroom, garlic, basil)

Snack:

Soy chocolate pudding

Dinner:

Stir Fry (vegetarian strips, celery, onion, tomato, brocolli, garlic, carrot, alfalfa sprouts)
Bruschetta (olive oil, garlic, tomato, onion) on brown toast

Snack:

2 crackers

Day four was mostly uneventful. My headache passed, and physically I felt pretty much the same I felt prior to starting this experiment. I did notice that at moments I felt more clear-headed, and when writing was able to formulate my sentences a bit faster.

I ate 100% vegan today.

Breakfast:

1 cup Special K, 1/2 cup soy milk

Snack:

1 apple, 1 peach, 2 apricots, 1/2 cup papaya

Lunch:

1 piece brown toast with olive oil, garlic and cucumber
Salad (lettuce, cherry tomatoes, cucumber, alfalfa sprouts, carrot, onion, mixed nuts, fresh lemon juice)

Dinner:

Eggplant lasagna

Snack:

I wanted to make an avocado and roasted garlic dip to go with some carrots and celery, but when I cut open the avocado I noticed that it wasn’t ripe. I had a veggie dog with ketchup, instead. Not the best choice, but I didn’t feel like making anything else after the avocado disappointment.

Taken from http://www.themodernreligion.com/misc/hh/pork.html:

Bad Effects of Pork Consumption

Pig’s bodies contain many toxins, worms and latent diseases. Although some of these infestations are harbored in other animals, modern veterinarians say that pigs are far more predisposed to these illnesses than other animals. This could be because pigs like to scavenge and will eat any kind of food, including dead insects, worms, rotting carcasses, excreta (including their own), garbage, and other pigs.

Influenza (flu) is one of the most famous illnesses which pigs share with humans. This illness is harbored in the lungs of pigs during the summer months and tends to affect pigs and humans in the cooler months. Sausage contains bits of pigs’ lungs, so those who eat pork sausage tend to suffer more during epidemics of influenza. Pig meat contains excessive quantities of histamine and imidazole compounds, which can lead to itching and inflammation; growth hormone, which promotes inflammation and growth; sulphur-containing mesenchymal mucus, which leads to swelling and deposits of mucus in tendons and cartilage, resulting in arthritis, rheumatism, etc.

Sulfur helps cause firm human tendons and ligaments to be replaced by the pig’s soft mesenchymal tissues, and degeneration of human cartilage. Eating pork can also lead to gallstones and obesity, probably due to its high cholesterol and saturated fat content. The pig is the main carrier of the taenia solium worm, which is found it its flesh. These tapeworms are found in human intestines with greater frequency in nations where pigs are eaten. This type of tapeworm can pass through the intestines and affect many other organs, and is incurable once it reaches beyond a certain stage. One in six people in the US and Canada has trichinosis from eating trichina worms which are found in pork. Many people have no symptoms to warn them of this, and when they do, they resemble symptoms of many other illnesses. These worms are not noticed during meat inspections, nor are they killed by salting or smoking. Few people cook the meat long enough to kill the trichinae. The rat (another scavenger) also harbors this disease. There are dozens of other worms, germs, diseases and bacteria which are commonly found in pigs, many of which are specific to the pig, or found in greater frequency in pigs.

Pigs are biologically similar to humans, and their meat is said to taste similar to human flesh. Pigs have been used for dissection in biology labs due to the similarity between their organs and human organs. People with insulin-dependent diabetes usually inject themselves with pig insulin.

Taenia Solium Worm:

A few people that I’ve told about my new eating habits have commented that a human being is supposed to eat everything (meat, dairy, etc.), but in moderation. I’ve always been pretty stubborn and never believed something just because other people did or told me to, so in a way this is an experiment. I will continue to omit dairy, eggs and meat (with the exception of fish) from my diet for a period of one month (until Dec. 31) so that I can form my own opinion and know for a fact whether or not my body needs those foods.

I woke up yesterday morning with a bit of a headache, which stuck around for most of the day. I’m fairly certain the headache was due to withdrawal (I had a similar headache when I was decreasing my dosage of Clonazepam, a medication for anxiety), so I know I don’t have anything to worry about. I also felt a bit more tired, and at one point got a little edgy and yelled at the dishes that were in the drying rack. I feel better this morning.

Breakfast:

1 cup Special K, 1/2 cup soy milk

Snack:

1 carrot, 1 banana, 1 peach, 2 apricots, 1/2 cup papaya

Lunch:

Leftover stuffed pepper (vegetarian ground meat, mushrooms, tomatoes, basil, rice, onion, garlic)
1 piece brown toast with olive oil and garlic

Dinner:

Asparagus & cherry tomatoes grilled in olive oil and garlic
Mashed potatoes
Salmon

Snack:

Watermelon

So far, so good. I haven’t gone full-blown vegan yet — I’m still eating chicken just to finish off what we have in the house & will continue to consume fish for a while longer.

Breakfast:

1 cup Special K, 1/2 cup soy milk

Snack:

1 banana, 2 apricots, 1 peach, 1 cup papaya

Lunch:

Leftover chili with crackers and a salad (lettuce, cherry tomatoes, cucumber, carrot, alfalfa sprouts, mixed nuts, fresh lemon juice)

Dinner:

Red pepper stuffed with rice, vegetarian ground meat, tomato, mushrooms, garlic, basil, onion.
Bruschetta on brown bread with olive oil, garlic, tomatoes, onion.

Snack:

Chocolate soy pudding, 2 cups watermelon

A few weeks ago I started contemplating the idea of becoming a vegan. Not for moral or ethical reasons, but simply because I wanted to be healthier. I stopped eating red meat two months ago, and yesterday I dropped dairy and eggs from my diet. I currently consume chicken and fish, but will be removing chicken very shortly. I’m still not entirely convinced that fish is bad for you, so I may keep it as part of my diet for a while longer. Currently, I’m finding it a little difficult to get all my calories for the day and only managed to consume about 1000 yesterday. Ideally, I should be getting around 1650 if I want to maintain my current weight. My first day being dairy free looked like this:

Breakfast:

1 cup Special K
1/2 cup soy milk

Snack:

1 apricot
1 apple
1/2 banana
1/2 peach
8 pieces papaya

Lunch:

Salad with carrots, cherry tomatoes, lettuce, alfalfa sprouts, mixed nuts and cucumber

Dinner:

Chili containing beans, mushrooms, chili peppers, yellow pepper, onion, garlic, tomatoes, ground chicken
Crackers

Snack:

chocolate soy pudding
strawberries
raspberries