Hello Friends!
Here’s a post from Miss Sarah on the topic of {Vegetarian Curious}, which is what I am! I met her at Blend and immediately loved her boldness in jumping into a group of girls, making a joke, and passing out her business cards. We later went on a trip to the local farmer’s market and she insisted on having her picture taken with a giant rooster statue. True story.
Enjoy her witty story about how she leads a mostly meat-less life. This is something I could do myself!
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Hi y’all! My name is Sarah, otherwise known in the blogosphere (by perhaps only a handful of people, really) as Miss Smart. I write The Smart Kitchen, which is a blog about my life in food, whether it is a new (predominantly vegan-with-benefits, generally healthy) recipe, a declaration of love for foods I adore, or the trials and tribulations of an elementary school teacher turned small nut butter business owner.
Miss Smart: The Perspective of an Accidental Vegan (With Benefits)
I define myself as a vegan with benefits, mostly because it sounds witty. I didn’t make it up, but I adopted it almost a year ago, when I found myself becoming accidentally vegan after a one-month Vegan Month of Food challenge last October.
I say ‘accidentally’ because I fully intended to return to my smoked turkey and ice cream-loving ways when the month was over.
I’d never cooked much meat at home, but chicken surely found its way into my soups, I ordered pork belly whenever I saw it on a menu, and I loved having the opportunity to taste an incredible assortment of foods when I lived in Austin, from pig feet to beef cheek to—in a moment of delicious ambition—pig brain.
But I loved being vegan. I felt so much more creative—and successful—in the kitchen. I felt healthier, lighter…not in a gain-or-lose-weight way, but just generally less bloated and heavy. [TMI? Sorry. I’m prone to overshare. J] I never was a huge cheese person, so although I truly missed ice cream and my yogurt-for-breakfast routine, it wasn’t too hard to pass up pizza or switch to oatmeal. My skin looked great, most likely because of the lack of dairy, and, in one of the more self-serving reasons I was so happy, it was just kind of fun to say I was a vegan.
And yet, I still say I love meat…I just don’t eat it right now. And it is true. I do. I walk by the pulled pork BBQ at the Whole Foods hot bar and sometimes I really want to stick my face in it because it smells so good. I swear I wrote a recipe in my dreams last night that involved chicken and cheese and lots of Mexican-influenced flavors. And sushi. Oh I do sometimes get strange cravings for sushi. [Although I think that might be for the pickled ginger and soy sauce…and the opportunity to use chopsticks.]
It’s also really hard to go out to eat when you are vegan…or even a lactose (semi) intolerant vegetarian. I’m not just talking about at restaurants, where most of the vegetarian options are covered in cheese, or the word vegan on a menu is foreign to a huge portion of the country. [I nearly flipped out to see seitan on a menu in Central Virginia after moving from Austin, where things like ‘vegan biscuits and gravy’ are commonplace and unsurprising.]
I’m also talking about going to people’s houses and not wanting to be rude by asking a gazillion questions about butter or egg content or turning away food that someone has graciously prepared for you. My family just lets me do my own thing, and I have been known to just bring my own food, but it can still be difficult if you are with people you don’t know very well.
So I decided to deem myself vegan with benefits, which, yes, I am aware pretty much means I eat whatever I want, but what I want generally means vegan or plant-based.
It means that if I find myself at a once in a lifetime dinner, I will nibble on fish, and beef, and even bone marrow. I might just lick my plate clean of the sauce clearly made with butter because it is that good. [And I might pay for it later.]
And that even if it isn’ta once in a lifetime dinner, and the seafood looks really good, I might just go for it.
It means that I tend not to eat cakes and cookies and the plethora of baked goods that pile up in various faculty lounges and lunchrooms, but if a student spends hours making me a green cake with a fondant-covered Rice Krispies treat lizard on it, I will definitely be eating it.
Or if I encounter Banana Cake with Peanut Butter Mousse. I definitely want to eat that.
It means that I prefer to eat burgers made from beans and grains…
…and I didn’t eat turkey on Thanksgiving.
But if I am a guest at someone’s house, I ignore the fact that I can see bacon cooked in the beans.
It means that I tend to stick with sorbet when I go out for gelato…
…but I ‘indulge’ in Chobani whenever my lactose-averse stomach will allow.
[And that I definitely ate the Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup ice cream I made by hand. (Well, with an ice cream maker.)]
Many vegans (or even vegetarians) would take umbrage with my outlook, since I don’t mind if others eat meat and lack true intensity or fervor in my anti-carnivorous preferences. Although I care about humane and ethical treatment of animals, and I do feel physical better without meat, I know that you can eat meat and be healthy (and purchase humanely raised meat), despite my herbaceous leanings.
Maybe one day those cravings for a runny egg or a giant pulled pork sandwich might take over and I’ll pack my (hypothetical) vegan t-shirts into a bag and donate them to a good cause. But vegan with benefits works for me. For now.
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*~Amanda aka Semi-Health Nut~*
What do you think, should we all follow in her footsteps?
ahh i love this, and i love sarah’s outlook. Being vegan made her creative juice flow even more, if thats possible. But i am so with her on the whole foods pulled pork section . YUM
Yes I like that it got her being more creative in the kitchen. This is one of the reasons I’m doing some meat-less days. Trying new things ftw! 🙂
ahh i love this, and i love sarah’s outlook. Being vegan made her creative juice flow even more, if thats possible. But i am so with her on the whole foods pulled pork section . YUM
I remember trying that vegan for a month challenge with Sarah and lasting only two days. Too much fiber (we are obviously both over-sharers and why we are such good friends) I was gnawing on a piece of chicken again a few days later and realizing that each person is so different in regards to what makes them feel healthy. I can eat dairy and meat with no consequences, bread or oatmeal on the otherhand, hello bloated stomach! I love how Sarah’s approach is: this works for me and it works for me right now, but it may not later. A concept that can be applied to all areas of life, not just “diet” (diet = food we eat).
This is very true. I like that you tried it! At least you now know that this “diet” isn’t for you! I love eggs and cottage cheese too much to be vegan, but I would like to get more creative with my food!
I remember trying that vegan for a month challenge with Sarah and lasting only two days. Too much fiber (we are obviously both over-sharers and why we are such good friends) I was gnawing on a piece of chicken again a few days later and realizing that each person is so different in regards to what makes me feel healthy. I can eat dairy and meat with no consequences, bread or oatmeal on the otherhand, hello bloated stomach! I love how Sarah’s approach is: this works for me and it works for me right now, but it may not later. A concept that can be applied to all areas of life, not just “diet” (diet = food we eat).
This is very true. I like that you tried it! At least you now know that this “diet” isn’t for you! I love eggs and cottage cheese too much to be vegan, but I would like to get more creative with my food!
Yes I like that it got her being more creative in the kitchen. This is one of the reasons I’m doing some meat-less days. Trying new things ftw! 🙂
I love everything about this post. Sounds like you (Miss Smart) are comfortable with your choices, and that’s all that matters!!
Agreed! Everyone’s body works differently so we don’t need to conform to popular “diets.”
This is where we all should be… ‘comfortable.’ I like how she isn’t afraid to be herself but also ins’t afraid to consume something, enjoy something and just be part of the gathering from time to time. Which can make the event (whatever it is) that much more enjoyable.
I love everything about this post. Sounds like you are comfortable with your choices, and that’s all that matters!!
Agreed! Everyone’s body works differently so we don’t need to conform to popular “diets.”
This describes how my wife and I think we will be once we both get to where we want to be. We want to be human, civil and also healthy. Great description throughout. Hit the nail on the head perfectly.
This describes how my wife and I think we will be once we both get to where we want to be. We want to be human, civil and also healthy. Great description throughout. Hit the nail on the head perfectly.
This is where we all should be… ‘comfortable.’ I like how she isn’t afraid to be herself but also ins’t afraid to consume something, enjoy something and just be part of the gathering from time to time. Which can make the event (whatever it is) that much more enjoyable.