I need some recipes. Actually, I have a ton of vegan recipes, printed and neatly arranged in a folder that is easily accessible. So what's my problem? The problem is time. I (we all) need more time. Time to shop for, time to learn, time to prep and time to cook. We all know our favorites eventually take us a minial amount of time, but in the beginning, it just simply takes longer. And, I think I need some new vegan recipes that excite me. I have mastered the stir fry. I'm pretty much an expert when it comes to putting a variety of veggies into the sautee pan, adding flavor and then putting it over quinoa, rice, noodles, pasta...early on in this blog I posted my favorite recipe. It still is, but it seems boring right now.
So hear it is. I have quinoa, rice, lentils, cans and cans of cannellini beans, black beans, tomatoes. Suffice it say I have a good amount of base ingredients. I've eaten enough eggplant this summer to turn purple and I am still scared of that section in the produce section of the grocery store where you might find swiss chard and parsnips. Swiss who?
If I am going to self diagnose this post I would have to say that I am just being lazy and that I am overwhelmed with my life. I had hoped that the grocery store would be my new playground and while I have gotten grocery list ideas from fellow MS friends following this diet, I still find myself gravitating toward instant meals. I have "cheated" more than I would like and at the moment, I am annoyed. I am looking for a rhythm that expands beyond the diet. It would be great to find a natural flow from recipe discovery to shopping to cooking to tasting to incorporating a dish into our normal meal plan. Maybe I set my expectations too high, I don't know. I felt completely discouraged at the grocery store tonight, having more to do with the fact that I was there at 9 p.m. on a Sunday night when I had hoped to relaxing at home. Also, it is taking longer to cycle through the dry foods we already had. I thought initially it would be best to transition that way, but as I approach 3 months and still find myself having to work in the last of these foods, it takes more thought than I care to put towards it. And that brings me back to my original issue: time. I don't have the time I want to devote to this right now and because I am still a newbie, it all feels very frustrating. When I was at the grocery store tonight I went for "staples". Tori's milk, bread, eggs, yogurt. I also needed to get some other items that required label reading and it took forever. I mean, forever. Until (and if) I get the time to really start cooking and baking from scratch, I need to carefully read the labels to find vegan shortcuts. I am thankful for Amy's brand frozen foods. I was thankful mostly to find her version of the vegan hot pocket. Again I say thank you to something I can microwave! And that is what really bugs me. I know I will get over the "time" issue. I always do - it goes along with the saying, "practice makes perfect". Repetition makes time. It does this because you become more efficient. So what really bugs me is that we live in an instant society. There is no delay of gratification, it all comes to us whenever we want it, and pronto. And if it doesn't? Well, we get anxious and impatient, and frustrated that we can't have it NOW. So while my frozen, heat-it-up-in-the-microwave vegan burrito is great, at the end of the day it doesn't satisfy anything except my need for immediate gratification, and maybe a little nutritional value. I am not going to become a vegan by virtue of not eating meat and dairy. I am going to become a vegan by adopting the entire lifestyle which is making time to cook meals, making the time to learn about food and how to prepare it, and making time to enjoy the experience longer than 1 minute and 30 seconds, turn once, and cook for an additional 1 minute and 30 seconds.
