Shopping as a vegan.

Today was my first visit to the regular supermarket as a vegan (not counting the earth-friendly supermarket, because it is a different kind of experience). I spent a lot longer in the fruit and vegie section today, and really had a good look at what was on offer. I got three cartons of mushrooms instead of one, because so many vegan recipes call for mushrooms (the little powerhouses that they are! Filled with lovely B vitamins and whatnot...and they taste good, too!). I was hoping to find some varieties, but they only had champignon, so that's what went in the trolley. As well as four cartons of carrots. I've done a lot of the colour orange so far, and it was time for a change...

The greens were calling me, and I noticed an odd looking vegetable which I don't remember noticing before. Cavolo Nero. It wasn't just calling me - it was screaming my name, and practically jumped into the trolley by itself when I got close enough. Black Curly Kale is an attractive vegetable, with an almost sinful depth of colour, and such a pretty leaf. I was SURE I could make something delicious with it.

Standing at the check-out was a very special moment in my adventure so far - not a single animal product was in my trolley, and yet I felt like I had sufficient food for an entire week's meals, without stress or worry. If the little old signora in the queue behind me had said "And what are you going to do with THAT, my dear?", I could quite happily have said, "Oh, that? Well, that's going into a Moroccan style pie, and this is going into a soup, and these are going to be sprinkled on top of a salad. " The realisation that I am, finally, after 21 years of cooking for myself (and others dependant on me for their meals), totally in control of my kitchen and meal-planning. Did I have to go vegan to get to this point??? And why? And does this mean that thirty days is only the beginning of what is going to be a much longer adventure?

Today's menu: Lunch was a fiasco, but that's because I had lessons at odd times, students that stayed longer, and others that arrived earlier, and so I had a banana at 10, one rice cake with peanut butter at 1.30, the other one at 3, with an apple and two mandarins, and then another banana before shopping! I don't think I'll bother reporting work-day lunches any more - It's kind of embarrassing.

Dinner, on the other hand, was rather special! Today is hubby's birthday, but there was no time to make cake. Mother-in-law is handling that tomorrow (and I will avoid eating the bigné that she makes because she still doesn't know about the adventure, and I don't want to tell her).

I sautéed some garlic, zucchini, carrots and celery in a heavy pan for about 20 minutes, adding water as necessary, then put the MOPUR sausages on top, and put the lid on. This kind of "vegetable meat" is best braised, rather than grilled or cooked like real meat.
In another pan, I sautéed a chopped garlic clove in some olive oil, added a cup of water, a tsp of cumin seeds, and some cracked peppercorns, and a little salt. Then I added 325gr of chopped Cavolo Nero (black curly kale), and put the lid on. It took about 15 minutes to soften, and smelled wonderful.
I served the lot with boiled potatoes dressed with olive oil.
A HUGE fruit salad with kiwi-fruit, apples, oranges, and pineapple finished our Day Six Dinner. My daughter HATED the sausages (it isn't often that food makes her gag, but they did, sad to say). She loved all the vegies, though! My son was the complete opposite, of course. He enjoyed the sausage (but did say that the German wurst that they eat when we go visit our German friends, "the animal ones, Mummy", are MUCH better).

Hubby and I enjoyed the sausages, but agree that neither of us are actually missing meat at all. I think this MOPUR will be for moments when I realise we need a protein injection, or a change from pure vegetable dishes.

Day Six COMPLETE - feeling more than good....feeling on the way to GREAT!