{"id":1138,"date":"2016-01-16T16:53:58","date_gmt":"2016-01-16T21:53:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/smithreports.com\/eatshopgo\/?p=1138"},"modified":"2016-01-16T16:55:54","modified_gmt":"2016-01-16T21:55:54","slug":"veganuary-week-two","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/smithreports.com\/eatshopgo\/2016\/01\/16\/veganuary-week-two\/","title":{"rendered":"Veganuary: Week Two"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"veggies\"<\/a><\/p>\n

I understand that giving up something we enjoy helps us to build character.<\/p>\n

After 15 days without meat, refined sugar or alcohol, my character is\u00a0well under construction.<\/p>\n

Midway through Veganuary<\/a>,\u00a0I have yet to attain\u00a0that higher plane where I actually prefer a menu devoid of crab cakes, creme br\u00fbl\u00e9e and champagne. Still, I am managing to stay the course.<\/p>\n

In the words of my friend Betsy: “It’s good to have a change in your diet and explore different possibilities. All three are worthy efforts…. You can do it.”<\/p>\n

\"IMG_0735\"<\/a>Audrey, a pal from Palmyra High School, suggests I try Hungarian Mushroom Soup from the Moosewood Cookbook<\/a>. The next day, my friend Geri, who once cooked in a vegetarian restaurant, offers to loan me the very same book.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Soon, my kitchen is fragrant with the scent of saut\u00e9ing onions and mushrooms, the base for this earthy\u00a0soup, zipped up with smoked paprika and dill.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Audrey is right. The soup is delicious, a recipe I will make again when I return to the Land of Eating Whatever the Hell I Want after my month-long cleanse.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
\"IMG_0726\"<\/a>I also give tofu another try, pan-frying triangular wedges that I’ve marinated in soy sauce, maple syrup, rice wine vinegar and garlic. I serve the tofu over steamed broccoli and sprinkle with sesame seeds, accompanied with San\u00a0Pellegrino<\/a> sparkling mineral water. I eat it with chopsticks, hoping it will conjure fond memories of sushi and bento boxes.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
It’s better than I thought it would be, although I don’t see tofu rising to the top of my shopping list. At least I’m getting a healthy dose\u00a0of protein, a tall order on a meat-free diet.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n

Because I run with a witty crowd, I also am getting lots of razzing. Suddenly, I am inundated with invitations to go out for burgers and beer, often accompanied with the postscript: LOL.<\/p>\n

My neighbor Wayne summarizes his sentiments in four words: “See you in February.”<\/p>\n

Others are more subtle:<\/p>\n

“You need to have your head examined.”<\/p>\n

“No wine? What were you thinking?”<\/p>\n

“I can’t look. Let me know when it’s over.”<\/p>\n

Fifteen days down; 16 days to go.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I understand that giving up something we enjoy helps us to build character. After 15 days without meat, refined sugar or alcohol, my character is\u00a0well under construction. Midway through Veganuary,\u00a0I have yet to attain\u00a0that higher plane where I actually prefer … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[31,32],"tags":[558,593,594,560,537,592,82],"class_list":["post-1138","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-eat","category-shop","tag-meat","tag-moosewood-cookbook","tag-san-pellegrino","tag-sugar","tag-veganuary","tag-vegetarian","tag-wine"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p2zjZK-im","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/smithreports.com\/eatshopgo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1138","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/smithreports.com\/eatshopgo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/smithreports.com\/eatshopgo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/smithreports.com\/eatshopgo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/smithreports.com\/eatshopgo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1138"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/smithreports.com\/eatshopgo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1138\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1144,"href":"https:\/\/smithreports.com\/eatshopgo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1138\/revisions\/1144"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/smithreports.com\/eatshopgo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1138"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/smithreports.com\/eatshopgo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1138"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/smithreports.com\/eatshopgo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1138"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}