A Wonderful Revelation

Thinly disguised impatience...cute!

This is nice shot of LG yesterday evening, wishing I'd "hurry up already" and take the pic so she could dig into the very filling and tasty potato/kale/onion soup. I think she only had one bowlful...I totally doubled that!

During our dinner banter we began to discuss what we'd like to add back into our diet when the 4 week Engine 2 Diet phase is completed. OK, I admit that it was actually a monologue on my part, but she listened patiently...albeit with a similar grimace-smile. As I named the things I miss most, I was amazed to realize that none of them included meat or cheese, butter or cream. The food items I'm looking forward to adding are coconut oil, olive oil, a little more sugar (for baking), a periodic glass [bottle of] of good red wine and a splash of Maker's Mark on the rocks. Interestingly, all of these items fall under the broad banner of "veganism", since none of them contain any animal products. Well, paint me green and call me Ewell Gibbons! (Google it, kids.) I'm still wearing leather shoes and belts and normal, if middle aged, clothing. I had LG check the back of my head for alien implant holes. I looked in the mirror to be sure my pupils were of even size. Everything else seems normal. How could this be happening to me?

Everyone who knows me is aware that I'm just as much - if not more - a hedonist than the next unapologetic oaf. I am not, I assured LG, the least bit inclined to do this kind of a diet if it causes me even the slightest bit of distress of discomfort. "Deferred pleasure" is waiting a couple minutes for my Teavana tea to steep. So many people have asked us if we intend to keep up this "insanity" (verbatim or clearly implied), even when we don't have to. Our position is a clear and decisive, Maybe! We both agree that we'll never again eat as we did before this adventure.

[Mac pushes the soap box aside and steps back into the kitchen.]

Tater soup - infant stage

The soup is a combination of Yukon gold potatoes, red onions, curly leaf kale, vegetable stock, white miso and dry herb mixes. I admit to adding a bit of salt to my bowl and we both added a healthy (literally and figuratively) dose of Bragg's nutritional yeast. The soup was kept on a low boil until the potatoes were soft, then we used a hand potato masher to smooth it out. Pretty darned good stuff. I've managed to accept the fact that soup can, in fact, be a perfectly satisfying meal.

We continue to start each day with a melange (that's French, you know...) of cooked whole grains and fruits. And lunch is generally dinner leftovers or, in my case, a piece of fruit here and a cracker there. I'm not doing that for any reason besides simplicity and ease.

What's really great is that - *as I've said in previous posts - I rarely think about food anymore. If I do feel hungry I can grab any number of things available in our E2-only stocked fridge and pantry.

*as...in previous posts: I try not to run over the same possum too many times, but writing a daily blog tests my creativity and my memory. I hope only to entertaining, be informative and maybe even be a tiny bit motivational...stretching?

Here's a look at some of the milk substitutes we've been using for smoothing, soups, cereal topping, coffee and anything else that seems to benefit from the addition of some liquid or richness.

Faux milks in our pantry

The shorter box is the Mimiccream brand almond & cashew cream LG loves in her coffee and I enjoy on my cooked cereal. Our favorites for smoothies and most applications is almond milk with the rice milk close behind. We bought the soy milk on our initial E2 shopping trip and will use it at some point...probably. All the products you see are made with organically grown ingredients. Since I've used almost no dairy milk in my adult life, this transition has not been a hardship for me. Each of these is useful, but I don't think I'd pour a big glass of any of them if I were thirsty. Of course, I haven't consumed a "glass of milk" in 45 years...easy for me to say.

Another thing we're periodically questioned about is the affect this plant-strong diet has on our digestive tract. You know, in the form of elimination...you know. I may or may not address that issue, depending on my ability to control my sophomoric, bathroom humor inclination - and whether I can formulate an educational end point. For now, let's just say that everything seems to be coming out OK.

See you tomorrow!