it needs meatloaf

green juice for breakfast. pineapple, strawberry, watermelon and KALE!

So, this vegan thing is kicking my butt.  Every time I turn around I'm wanting to eat something with meat or an animal product.  Honey, a little parmesan and fish sauce are nothing compared to my prosciutto break down yesterday in the space between getting home from work and dinner.  Oh, and also?  Yesterday, I could not stop thinking about barbecue and cheesy grits... at breakfast time.  So, I'm taking this vegan challenge with a little caveat. I'm going to try my best, but not punish myself with guilt when I 'cheat'.  The point is to try, and to learn more vegan recipes and you know what?  If I end up at the end of the month having NOT eaten vegan for 30 days, I guarantee I'll still have consumed less meat and less dairy than if I had never tried.  And the vegetable consumption is making me a new woman.  Yesterday, I tallied my vegetable count for the day at 11 servings. What-what!

tasty, but incomplete.

Knowing all of that, it should be no surprise that I sat down with my vegan lunch of sauteed baby zucchini with garlic and rice today and thought to myself, "it needs meatloaf."  Turkey meatloaf (we use this recipe but always add garlic in with the onions), baby zucchini and jasmine rice is one of our favorite meals. I should have known better than to try the meal with a missing component and no substitution.

looks good and green, though!

I added a quarter of an avocado and my dish was transformed. I felt full when I was done, but not quite satisfied. I am not sure if that is because my meal was kind of boring or if it is a mental thing. I'm so used to eating meat and dairy it's entirely possibly that my lack of satisfaction is all in my head. I had a square of sugar free dark chocolate when I was done and that was that.