This week I learned a lot… I learned that I can’t cook bacon without gagging, that I WILL NEVER eat red meat ever again in my life (the smell, the color), and that I’m pretty darn grossed out anytime I’m making chicken too. I don’t think that my family is going to be too happy about it.

Now onto the good side, I am loving this plant based lifestyle, and this time I think it is going to stick.

I made this insanely delicious lunch while the heater was still out. I had some leftover Quinoa, and it was just enough for lunch. I made a tasty tomato sauce and added in artichoke hearts, and capers, once the sauce was bubbly I added in the quinoa. I toasted up a few pieces of my handmade vegan bread to catch all of the yummy sauce. It was seriously delicious! I’ll be making this one again soon.

This quick little stir-fry bowl was lunch in a hurry. It’s just broccoli, cauliflower, and garbanzo beans cooked in veggie stock and plenty of soy sauce. I love garbanzo beans, they have a mild flavor, and they take on other flavors well.

My freezer has a good stock of vegan chili hanging out in it. It makes a easy lunch on a cold, snowed-in day.

I have become obsessed with adding nutritional yeast to every dish that I can. I made cheesy-mashed potatoes with Kale & Quinoa bites. This meal was really good, and very simple to make.

One of my all-time favorites!!! Not tuna salad with saltines. I love this stuff, and so does my kiddo Dylan. It is a snap to make, just pickles, celery, and garbanzo beans. It keeps for a few days in the fridge, and it just keeps getting better.

Hello Vegan Mac & Cheese! I really loved this dish. I added in broccoli and cauliflower for good measure, and this is indeed dairy free. The sauce is rice milk, vegetable stock, nutritional yeast, butter replacement, salt & pepper. I ate every single bite.

I love tacos, crunchy tacos, soft tacos, and street tacos. So I decided to make a batch of vegan street tacos. The kids were even curious about this dish. I double up the corn tortillas so the filling stays in these over-stuffed tacos. This batch was homemade vegan Mexican rice, freshly made guacamole, shredded lettuce, and topped off with homemade salsa. I also had a good serving of chips and homemade guacamole. I think I could eat avocados all day, every day, and for everything.

I’ve been trying my best to sneak in vegan foods for my family to try without them knowing it.

Breakfast for dinner is a great way to do just that trickery. Everybody even tried the blueberries.

Did I already mention just how much I love vegan mac and cheese!?! I had to make it again. This time with more veggies though.

Homemade Vegan Taco Salad is the best! I topped this one off with lots of fresh avocado. I’ve been running into some absolutely perfect avocados at the store lately.

The Veganuary challenge has been much easier than I thought it would be. I am feeling pretty darn fantastic too. I’m not missing the dairy at all, and I’m not missing all of those Lactaid caplets either. I’m ready for Week 4!

And here we go, it’s week three!

• Monday 1/15/2018: Well, the heater is still out, and the kids are out of school today too. I’m making quick trips downstairs to cook, do laundry, and wash dishes, and then I run as quickly as I can back upstairs. Today, I’ve been hungry… But I do have the upstairs stocked with regular snacks, and vegan snacks for me too.
• Tuesday 1/16/2018: The kids were out for a snow day, and that means another day that I won’t be going to the store… I have plenty on stock to make meals for me, but I’m running low on snacks for everyone else.
• Wednesday 1/17/2018: Finally, the kids were back in school. The roads were a mess, so I put off the trip to the store for one more day. James was out of town for meetings, so that meant dinner for just me and the kiddos. That calls for Spaghetti! The kids happily ate vegetarian for dinner, and I stuck with a vegan option. No complaints
• Thursday 1/18/2018: Today I woke up, poured a glass of Almond Milk while I packed the kids lunches, and I was good to go through school drop-off. I still haven’t gone to the store, I’m being lazy. Agnes has soccer practice tonight, and it is right smack dab in the middle of dinner time. I’m thinking of grabbing some take-out for the kids after school, and then making late dinner after 6:30 p.m. I’m not really on a schedule with my meals, and I grab whatever I have on hand, so I’m not too worried. Also I can’t believe that I have made it 18 days!
• Friday 1/19/2018: I finally got out of the house, and to the stores. We were out of just about everything. I founds lots of tasty fruits and veggies on sale, so I’m set for a bit.
• Saturday 1/20/2018: The kids have their first soccer games today, so we picked up take-out on the way home for the family. I had the fridge stocked up with plenty of stuff for me, so it was no big deal.
• Sunday 1/21/2018: Three full weeks and counting!!! I can’t believe that I have made it twenty-one days so far! I really didn’t think that I would make it a full week. The longest time I’ve been vegan before was five days. This time around though, it has been fun and easy to change the way I’m eating. I’ve enjoyed cooking lots of new dishes, and my family has even tried a few new things too. Let’s go week four!