Veganism

So it's summertime. My favorite season! (Although fall is nice too).
A lot has happened since I last wrote - since I was stressing about finals and baking apple pies because I guess that's just my way of coping.  Anyway, I traveled to and back from Brazil for a summer CRP class. I had the time of my life.  Did so many things, saw so many things, made so many friends, took so many pictures, etc etc etc... you get the point.

As most people know, I'm a vegetarian.  Most people don't know that I've been a vegetarian for 6 years (and counting!).  And now guess what?  I've decided to go vegan for a month.  I've always wanted to try it.  One of my friends I met on the Brazil trip was vegan, so with her encouragement I've decided to finally do it!  I see this as a trial period, as more of an experiment than an extreme conversion.  I'm going to see if it works for me, and then, if not, I'll just go back to being normal veggie and eating dairy and eggs. We'll see.

I've been vegan for a week so far. I've actually really been enjoying it because it hasn't been that hard.  It's been easy for the most part.  I guess it's especially so because I make almost all my own food and rarely go out to eat (restaurants don't normally have a lot of vegan options, unless they are expressly vegan).  I do miss my cheese now and then.  For example, we had a fondue dinner party last Saturday - everyone was happily dipping bread into hot melty cheese while I was eating my salad and my tabouli. But the tabouli was so good it made up for not eating the fondue(!).  But other than that, I'm pretty good. I was never a big fan of eggs.  And I think that being vegan is good because it's making me experiment more.  I'm trying out new recipes, using new ingredients, using old ingredients in new ways... and most of all, I'm eating fresh! Lots of fresh fruits and veggies yummmmmm. So good! Especially in the summer.