I’ve been eating meat my whole life. I’ve attempted to be a pescatarian twice and failed miserably both times. I decided that being meatless just wasn’t for me, but I recently decided to go vegan for a week. This means I couldn’t have animal products at all.
No more double bacon cheeseburgers with everything on it from Culver’s.
My mom and I went to Target the first night to get me vegan options that would hold me down until the next day. Surprisingly, Reese’s Puffs are considered “accidentally vegan,” which is a food that is not specifically for the vegan market but happens to fall in the vegan column. We also bought a few snacks that you wouldn’t think are vegan such as Oreos, Nature Valley Bars and Nutter Butters.
That night, I had Gardein Seven Grain Frozen Crispy Tenders and those were delicious. The only difference between the Gardein Tenders and regular chicken tenders was that the vegan ones were softer and way easier to bite into than regular chicken tenders.
I had a bowl of Reese’s with almond milk every morning for the whole week because I believed it was too early in the morning to experiment in the kitchen.
Eating at school was difficult because school lunch has a lot of meat products and I didn’t want to eat fries and Flamin’ Hots every day for lunch. I made it through the day with a Nature Valley Granola Bar and an apple or banana.
One dinner was Firecracker Vegan Lettuce wraps, which is a lettuce shell with tofu and brown rice noodles in it with a lime and cilantro sauce to go on it. It was very pleasing and crunchy and the sauce made it five times better.
My dad made veggie burgers which I’ve had before and don’t really like because it’s not a real burger. Another night, my dad made an easy vegan potato soup that I had to eat the next day because we didn’t want anything to go to waste. That was disgusting. It was creamy, not the kind of creamy you would like, so I wasn’t looking forward to eating it again the next day.
Then I made a vegan cobb salad, which became my favorite meal of the whole week and I did look forward to eating it again the next day. It had juicy tomatoes, avocados, chickpeas, and tofu chunks. The dressing was a Dijon vinaigrette, which completed the salad perfectly.
Being vegan changed me in a way I didn’t expect. It made me feel more energized and healthier. It also seemed to help my skin a little bit, and, strangely, helped my mood by making me feel happier. Going meatless lowers your chance of cancer, heart diseases, and diabetes, and it really is something you should try for a week.