Sayonara Bacon!

Tonight, I said adieu to bacon.

I finished reading Rip Esselstyn's book, The Engine 2 Diet, this weekend and we have decided to go on the diet for the next month.  That means no dairy, no oils, no sweets and no meats.  Especially bacon!  But since we don't like to encourage wastfulness around here we decided to fry up the last of the bacon and make some gingerbread pancakes as a last hurrah and send off to our old eating habits.  I was trying to be all sneaky like about it, but as if it sensed it's own impending doom (because eating it is not doom enough,) every piece came out perfectly crispy and chewy, with no burnt edges, just the way I like it.

Little bastards.

But no more!

We've already been increasing our fruit and veg intake over the last week, and cutting out some of our dairy.  I haven't had milk or eggs in a week (save for the lone egg that was in the pancakes tonight), and we switched out our usual dairy creamer for a soy one over the weekend.  It's pretty tasty actually, and so is almond milk.  Cheese has been a little bit harder.  I totally bought a wedge of Manchego cheese just before I read the book, and we had a bunch of cheese sticks and sliced Muenster hanging around here too.  And I admit, i bought a small container of feta because while I don't mind veggies on my pizza, I can't stand the thought of not having some semblance of cheese on top of it.  But once it's gone, that's it!  No more!

I'm really grateful to my mother in law for taking Billa on Saturday, because it meant I could spend four hours grocery shopping at the farmer's market, Sprouts, and HEB.  I normally don't take that long, and certainly won't in the future, but it gave me the time to get better acquainted with the layouts of my stores and read labels on a bunch of stuff.  It was super weird checking out without dairy, meat, and especially eggs in my cart.  It was even weirder taking the groceries inside and realizing I don't have to worry about not smashing the eggs anymore!

This week, our menu is going to include a potato leek soup, pasta primavera, a wild rice pilaf, black bean tacos (a regular fave in this household...cheap, easy, and super yummy!), and veggie pizza.  Lunches will be finishing off the leftovers from these tasty meals, but also hummus and pita with veggies and salads.  Breakfast is pretty much the same-ol'-same-ol' of cereal or oatmeal, but adding in fruit.  Dessert has been changed to fruit, and most of our snacks have been too.  I've been buying chips from the Food Should Taste Good brand (soooo addicting!) and stocking up on whole grain pretzels and crackers as we run out of the old not-so-good-for-you snacks.  I'm looking forward to this week's meal plan!

The biggest challenge thus far is Sybilla.  Michael and I have been fairly easy to convince that this is the way to go, but Billa ain't having anything to do with it!  She's been good about eating a lot of fruit and I've successfully added carrot juice to her OJ and other juices, and maybe just possibly convinced her that chocolate soy milk is super yummy, but she's such a picky eater already that it's been frustrating.  We keep telling her that the rule is you have to try one bite and that sometimes helps, although tempers have flared mightily over that one bite on more than one occasion.  I think it will get easier over time as we keep giving her the same foods and show her what we're eating, as well as having her help cook, but only time will tell!

Oh bacon, I would say 'it's not you, it's me', but the truth is, it is you.  You and all your fatty salty goodness.  You're breaking my heart, quite literally.  It's time you packed your bags and moved out.  Goodbye, sweet bacon!  Hellooooo, plant-based diet!

Kelly