Pic a Day - 5/2 to 5/8

Mon. May 2, sick day = vegan chocolate mousse

Tues. May 3, scouring through my brother's questionable Lego collection

Wed. May 4, Mom's initiation to vegan baking (& delicious cookies)

Thurs. May 5, the sustainable home building store

Fri. May 6, vegan shepherd's pie

Sat. May 7, tiny house model day 1: framing

Sun. May 8, tiny house model day 2: bathroom + kitchen

Pic a Day - 4/4 to 4/10

Mon. Apr 4, no, I am not starting a lentil-chips store in my bedroom

Tues. Apr 5, STOP

Wed. Apr 6, Maria and Mikey <3

Thurs. Apr 7, lovin' my quinoa

Fri. Apr 8, the bleak dimension

Sat. Apr 9, reading a graphic novel (this is actual homework)

Sun. Apr 10, National Siblings Day (my mom and her bro)

Pic a Day - 1/25 to 1/31

Mon. Jan 25, blue and gold

Tues. Jan 26, losing time

Wed. Jan 27, weird joke turned to made-up language

Thurs. Jan 28, off-campus lunch with the Crew (all except Maria)

Fri. Jan 29, tasty & healthy snack

Sat. Jan 30, first try at vegan baking (apple-cinnamon sugar cookies)

Sun. Jan 31, chrysanthemum tea, pt. II (Thai Vegan)

Tomorrow I Declare Myself Vegan

Tomorrow, January 19, 2016, I "officially" become vegan. I say this because I pretty much decided at the beginning of 2016 to make the full transition to veganism, but I still had non-vegan food products in my pantry and freezer that I had just bought. Once I had finished the last of those, I would be able to say that I actually am a vegan.

I have been vegetarian since July 2, 2012, so I have just passed the three-and-a-half-year marker for being meat-free. With every year, I came to a new realization of what really is and isn't veg-friendly. Since you may be curious, here's a rough timeline:

March-April 2011: going vegetarian for the first time
July 2012: going vegetarian anew
January-December 2013: eating vegan two days a week
~2013: finding out cheese has rennet
~2014: learning about lard, gelatin, carmine, shellac, and other animal by-products (I think this period of discovery probably started sometime in 2013 and continued into the following year)
October 2015: finding out refined sugar isn't vegetarian/vegan (learning about bone char)
January 2016: making the switch

In hindsight, it seems that I was always heading toward veganism (or, at least, toward something beyond basic lacto-ovo vegetarianism), and recently, I must admit that I questioned myself a lot about my dietary habits. "Wouldn't it be easier to just go fully vegan," I wondered, "instead of being super-strict vegetarian and having dozens of animal by-products to avoid while holding onto the few that you find 'ethical'?" The other day, one of my teachers curiously asked me why veganism was better than vegetarianism, and I had to stop and think for a moment, but I finally answered, "I didn't think vegetarianism was enough, ethically."

Since my first attempt at veganism flopped and I felt miserable all the time, I am making more of an effort to research on my second go at it. (E.g. I put flax oil in morning smoothies for the omega-3s and just picked up a canister of nutritional yeast to add B12s to my diet. Also, I'll be drinking more almond milk for the calcium and vitamin D, but I'm taking some pills to supplement it.) In one of my Pic a Day posts a few months ago, I said that to be vegan, one has to be good at food alchemy. So I guess I can think of it, from this point forward, as becoming an apprentice in food alchemy.

P.S. When I see this symbol on food, it makes my life complete! And if I ever get a tattoo, I swear that this will be it. (Kidding. Kind of.)

Pic a Day - 6/1 to 6/7

Mon. June 1, busy at the gas station

Tues. June 2, my dad and I made our own green curry

Wed. June 3, kind of a strange book...

Thurs. June 4, InstaKettle is my life

Fri. June 5, my sleeping-til-noon routine

Sat. June 6, "only slept two hours so I've earned a mini frappucino" face

Sun. June 7, the calm before the storm that is work

Pic a Day - 2/16 to 2/22

Mon. Feb 16, bowling on President's Day

Tues. Feb 17

Wed. Feb 18, solving a super-hard math problem on just a Post-It

Thurs. Feb 19, a modern-art sculpture I made while bored in math class

Fri. Feb 20, LtoR: me, Ravi, and Steffy

Sat. Feb 21, cooking at a friend's house for a Spanish project

Sun. Feb 22, don't think about the music - just play it

Single-Serving Vegan: Avocado-Spinach Panini

Ingredients:
1/2 avocado, diced
anywhere from 1/4 to 1/2 cup spinach
1/2 tomato, sliced
2 slices of ciabatta bread, or a sliced ciabatta roll
1 clove of garlic, minced (optional)
olive oil

Directions:
Spray/brush bread with olive oil; layer avocado, tomato, spinach, and garlic on bread; if desired, spray with olive oil again. Heat olive oil in a skillet on medium heat; put sandwich in, weighing it down by placing another pan on top, either weighted with cans or applying pressure yourself (we used a cast iron skillet; those things are pretty heavy). Cook for 1-2 minutes. Flip; cook for another 1-2 minutes on low to no heat. Serve.

I'll tell you - this is darn good for a vegan sandwich.

This is adapted from a Vegetarian Times recipe, which you can check out here: http://www.vegetariantimes.com/recipe/avocado-spinach-panini/ 

Single-Serving Vegan: Crisped Potatoes

Ingredients:
2-3 small/medium potatoes
olive oil
salt
pepper

Directions:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. Scrub or peel potatoes. Slice into less than 1/8 inch thick slivers or utilize mandolin slicer. Arrange slices on a baking sheet, lined with parchment paper. Spray with olive oil. [If you don't have an olive oil sprayer, put potato slices in a colander/strainer, toss with olive oil, then arrange on parchment-paper-lined baking sheet.] Season with salt and pepper. Put in oven for 25-30 minutes. To crisp them better, remove potatoes on the edges that have already browned and rearrange slices while cooking until they are crisp enough to your liking.

Single-Serving Vegan: Zucchini-Rice Salad

Ingredients:
1/2 zucchini, diced
1 1/3 cups cooked white/brown rice
1/4 red bell pepper, diced
3 to 5 chopped kalamata/black olives
1 teaspoon chopped red/white onion
dressing

• 1 tsp balsamic
• 1  tablespoon olive oil
• salt
• pepper

Directions:

In a large serving bowl, combine rice, zucchini, pepper, olives, onion, and dressing. Mix well. (This says to refrigerate at least one hour before eating, but I just ate it room temperature instead, so, your call.) 

Single-Serving Vegan: Creamy Broccoli Soup

Ingredients:
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 small onion, diced
1 clove garlic, minced (optional)
sprinkle of ground nutmeg
1 cup veggie broth
1 cup water
1/6 cup rolled oats
1 broccoli crown, cut
salt
pepper

Directions:
Heat olive oil in a large saucepan over medium-low heat. Add onion; cook until soft (about 5 minutes). Add a pinch of ground nutmeg; cook until fragrant (about 30 seconds). Stir in garlic (if used), veggie broth, water, oats, and broccoli. Season with salt and pepper. Bring to a boil; reduce heat to low. Cover and simmer until broccoli is tender (10-15 minutes), stirring occasionally. Blend soup. Add more salt and pepper, if desired.

Serving Suggestion:
This soup is great to dip saltines or bread into. You may also drink the soup to avoid getting as many floret bits in your teeth.

Single-Serving Vegan: Garlic Green Beans

Ingredients:
a handful of green beans (Literally a handful. I went to the produce section and just picked out several legumes of my liking, so there is no limit to how much or little you can use.)
1 clove of garlic
olive oil
salt
pepper

Directions:
Rinse and cut the green beans (first the ends, and if you want you can cut the beans into segments of relatively equal and short length). Set a pot on the stove, half-full with water, and bring to a boil. Add green beans to water and watch for when they turn a brighter shade of green. Drain the green beans and set aside.
Smash and mince the garlic. Drizzle some olive oil into a non-stick pan (put on medium heat). Add garlic. Saute garlic until sizzling, then add green beans, still sauteing. Drizzle more olive oil, and add salt and pepper to your liking.

Thai Vegan

Today for lunch my dad and I dined at Thai Vegan, on the southeast corner of Solano and Central in Albuquerque.

My dad ordered green curry, tofu satay, and Thai iced tea. I ordered freshy rolls, wonton noodle soup, and chrysanthemum tea.

Chrysanthemum tea

Freshy rolls

Wonton noodle soup 

Green curry

Tofu satay

this spoon was fun to eat with(hard to get the noodles, though)

The lady in the photo below amused me so much I had to write about her on my blog. When the waitress walked over to her table asking how her meal was, she admitted that it was really good... but that it wasn't what she ordered! It humored me so much I had to photograph her.

Another fun thing... the chef actually came out to visit the customers! He stopped by everyone's table and checked on them and their meal, and bowed to them, wishing them happy holidays. I loved his hat but I couldn't get a picture of his face with it.

Vegan or not, this restaurant is delicious and filling - and healthy, too(as the sign proclaims)! I kept calling everyone who walked in a hipster, and I had no regrets about walking into the quirky vegan diner rather than the Route 66 Malt Shop - which definitely would not have catered to non-meat eaters.

P.S., for dessert we had a fruit called rambutan, chilled over ice. It was sweet and gummy in texture, grape-like.