January 31 - Wrap up, preparation and expectations

Well, I'm finally at the end of the first month of 2013. I've had ups and downs but I'd call this month a success. In 2012, I was eating out an exorbitant amount. I've now realized how much money I save by bring my food to work, how much better I feel mentally and physically when I take a little extra time to prepare my  breakfasts, lunches and dinners in advance. And as of last night, I finally have a cleared off dining room table where my family can enjoy dinner together every night (and where my daughter feels like a big girl because she is no longer in a high chair -- she actually requested to sit in her booster seat at the table this morning for breakfast)! Accomplishment!

Yes, I ate out a bit in January. But I ate out substantially less than I did before. And I know that I can keep up this level, or better, of not eating out now. And I'm going to have to because the whole food thing is about to get real...

February's goal is go vegan (not a lot of eating out for vegans). Unlike January's goal, I don't plan on keeping this one up forever, though I may change my mind about that.

I've been vegetarian for 20 years now, and I've always said, "Oh, I could never go vegan. I love cheese too much." And I do love cheese, and milk chocolate. And I will miss both of them. A lot. But I've also been really tired lately (as the mom of a toddler, I expect to be tired, but I've been extra tired, fall asleep standing up tired) and not feeling great, in a very general sort of way. I'm wondering if going vegan will help. I've also been wanting to lose weight. I plan on weighing myself tomorrow morning and then again on March 1, just to see if there's a difference, with no expectation or "trying" to lose weight. Who knows, I may decide this is the life for me. Permanently. We'll give it a college try and see.

In preparation, I asked some Facebook friends if they had recipe recommendations, and I got a few. Yesterday, I made my regular muffins with "flax eggs" (1tbsp of ground flax & 3 tbsp of water, mixed and sit for 10 minutes) instead of eggs. And they turned out good. The batter was very thick so I added some applesauce (next time I'll use all applesauce instead of oil -- I didn't know it was a substitute). They needed to cook a little longer and they fell a little a few minutes out of the oven, but they taste just the same. I also made plans to go for a drink with a friend and learned that some beer and wine are made with something called isinglass -- part of the fish used in refining or filtering (for more info check out Barnivore; it has a complete list of okay for you beers). Sigh. More hidden gems are sure to come.
 
I'm going to try to eat more grains, beans and legumes this month and I'll post some of the more successful and tasty recipes here. I think the preparation I learned in January's not eating out challenge will help me in February. Let's dive in and find out.