Vegetarian to Vegan: Day 2

Yesterday was the second day I was fully vegan, it was tough but rewarding. For brunch, I had a banana-peanut butter milkshake using Jif creamy peanut butter and H-E-B unsweetened vanilla almond milk. At 300 calories, this was a healthy but sort of heavy breakfast. Later on, I picked up some Bell Plantation PB2 which my friend Diya from In Her Stilettos  recommended to me. Instead of ~190 calories like most peanut butters for two tablespoons, PB2 has only 45 calories for two teaspoons! The peanut butter comes in a powder form which surprised me at first but ended up being more beneficial as I usually use it in milkshakes and smoothies and the powder is much easier to clean off my hand held mixer compared to traditional peanut butter. Also, I found out that although Jif is vegan according to its ingredients list, there has been some controversy as to the source of the diglycerides which could be from either from vegetable sources like soy bean and canola or could be animal derived from cows and hogs. Also apparently Proctor and Gamble is notorious for their animal cruelty through product testing... SO calorie, cruelty and content-wise PB2 was a much healthier choice.

[image via atasteofkoko.com]

For dinner, my dad and I went to The Steeping Room. I was impressed by not only their amount of vegan selection but the care with which the entire restaurant took with our order. When I asked for the meal to be made vegan, the waiter not only made recommendations and accommodated ingredients from another dish to be used in the dish I wanted, but he also specified on my order that it was vegan so the cooks in the back would use all separate dishes and utensils in its cooks so as to not have any cross contamination with animal sources! WOW! That is incredibly rare in a restaurant but I very much appreciate their commitment to their consumer's dietary choices. To start with I had a tomato basil bisque that was vegan but tasted deliciously creamy, followed by a Mediterranean appetizer plate of pita bread slices, hummus, Spanish olives and feta cheese blocks for my dad. The waiter made sure the cheese blocks were in their own compartment on the plate so I could still eat the rest of the vegan portions. For my entree, I had a spinach salad tossed in a balsamic vinaigrette with walnuts and a HUGE grilled vegetable and tofu sandwich on ciabatta bread. The tofu was marinated well and the grilled vegetables, although a bit too raw, were quite flavorful. The ciabatta bread was delicious but I think I need to start cutting down on my white bread intake at restaurants.

[image via coatesnet.com]

Later on I ended up at Chuy's Tex Mex Restaurant, another Austin original, with some old high school friends. While Chuy's has tasty vegan options for entrees, I was disappointed that they didn't have any vegan desserts. So for dessert, I had a glass of Dr. Pepper which ended up being perfect since I had been craving soda and as part of my weight loss regiment I only drink soda on weekends. With a few chips and salsa along with the Dr. Pepper, it was actually the perfect size late Friday night snack. 

[image via sodeliciousdairyfree.com] 

Being vegan is tough, but Whole Foods helped me out a lot. I bought some vegan mini chocolate chips for baking that are dairy free, nut free and soy free along with some So Delicious Dairy Free coconut milk amaretto chery ice cream. I also bought some pepperjack cheese made from rice which I have yet to try.

Hope your diets have improved as mine has!
XOXO,
MissEcoChic