Don't you love sneaking a peek at other people's shopping carts? I do. I feel like seeing the foods a person is bringing home gives me a little taste of his life. Especially if there's an obvious trend, like all low-sodium products, all ready-to-eat foods, all organic or, let's be honest, all just plain junk (we've all seen them and I've been guilty of having a shopping cart that starts to look like this if I'm baking and purchasing goodies for a major holiday).
When we tell people we are following a vegan diet for six weeks, after their initial reaction, one of the first questions is: "So then, what do you eat?" In response to that question, I thought I'd give you all a sneak peek into our shopping cart, to see what foods we've bought in the past week or so and what we've made with those foods.
This list is the no-holds-barred, honest to goodness, compilation of what we purchased during the past 10 days. To the best of my knowledge there are no additions or subtractions. This isn't a list of what you should or shouldn't be eating. It is just our best attempt, in week one, of experimenting with a well-balanced vegan diet. Here goes...
Before I start tracking my six-week vegan challenge on this blog, I wanted to point something out to you all that may not be so obvious. The stories and information that I'll be sharing here aren't just for vegans or vegetarians or people considering one of those diets. If you're a proud and happy meat eater, my vegan blog posts are for you too! Especially if you've been searching for a way to be just a little bit healthier and feel a little bit better, without turning your world upside down or feeling like you are sacrificing all your favorite foods.
How, you ask? Well, stop looking at it so black-and-white!
When I tell people that I am going vegan, the reaction is often not a good one. Their brow furrows, a frown takes shape on their lips and immediately, invariably, they will say something like: "why would you do that?" or "I could never do that!" or "good luck!" (said in the most sarcastic possible tone). I should consider myself lucky. I've heard stories of folks who get downright angry and take other people's diet decisions personally. Someone did tell my husband (who is going vegan with me) that they thought he was making a stupid decision and that they were concerned for his health. He responded by saying that, most likely, "I am not going to do irreparable harm to my body in six weeks...and Diane will be monitoring our diet."
There is a lot of misunderstanding and confusion out there surrounding vegetarian and vegan diets.
