I just overheard someone in the office say “I literally finished Uni and then went to work only two weeks later, so I didn’t even have a chance to relax or travel or anything.”
Then in the same minute she said, “my dad bought my car, and I have to pay for petrol.”
Some people have it so tough.
Keeping the blog updated on a daily basis was the biggest challenge. Taking pictures of my food proved to be awkward when eating out (and we tend to eat out a lot here). I'm glad that part of my life is over.
As for the eating tasty food that doesn't contain meat period of my life, that will still happen on occasion. Maybe a little more than it already naturally occurred in the past, but my tastes haven't changed much. I still like granola. Pizza. I still love bread and olive oil. Roasted and sun dried tomatoes. Pasta. Garlicky things. Spicy things. Roasted herb potatoes. Green salads with cucumbers and peppers and home made croutons. Melted cheese. Hummus and Felafel. Asian food of all types. Jaime's chocolate chip cookies. Water. Ginger beer.
I think I snacked on cookies and chocolate laying around more than i normally would. I think I might have gained a bit of weight with the sweets and bread and cheese and all, although I don't have a scale.
I didn't sense having more energy, or feeling like I was lacking protein. Although now that I think about it, I did have some sore muscles and headaches that I are usually not that bad. Not sure if it's related. I feel fine today, and yesterday I had chicken for lunch and dinner (not the cliche' beef burger with which I thought I'd start March. We found a great eatery called "Nandos" with Portuguese / Afro inspired chicken dishes and good sides).
One thing I did feel like I was lacking was manliness. As if my testosterone level was dependent on the meat that was eliminated from my diet. Other contributing factors may had to do with being in London and living the metro life, missing the mountains, and my dog ("man's best friend," after all), and driving stick shift. I felt like I needed to walk out on to the busy sidewalk and punch a random dude in the face, then walk back inside. Not out of anger or frustration. Just to feel a sense of manliness that seemed to be lacking (chemically?). I thought, "then I'd feel better." Rest assured, I avoided acting on this impulse.
Here are some pictures from the Feb 26-28. The last of my strictly vegetarian days.
The last supper. Cheese tortellini soup with zucchini, peppers and spinach and tomatoes. And cheesy bread quickly broiled in the oven.
Fries (chips) from a restaurant in Wells called "Ask". With garlic mayo.
Great penne pasta with fresh basil, mushrooms and fire roasted tomatoes and spicy tomato sauce. And parmesan, of course.
Scone served by Somerset English countryside dwelling friends Bob and Wendy, with jam and "Clotted Cream" on top. Amazing.
Basic vanilla yogurt and granola at home.
Grilled cheese sandwich, made at home with grainy bread and mature English cheddar and olive oil in the pan.
Q: Eric, what's the hardest part about going vegetarian, cold turkey?
A: The food is easy. Keeping up the stupid blog is by far the hardest part.
(I also had a great green salad and some potato gnocchi at that place. Each plate was a pretty small serving. Other meals on this short trip included pretzel sandwich with cheese and tomato and a green salad with grilled pumpkin and almonds at the airport)
And rice noodles with vegetables of some sort. Also super tasty, especially with the chili sauce you can see made friends with both dishes:
Lunch: Korean rice bowl with egg, vegetable and chili sauce (no picture, sorry).
Dinner: Jaime made what she called "Greek Tofu"(pictured) to which she of course insisted on adding pineapple, so I call it "Greek-Polynesian Tofu." Got some serious tang to it with lemon juice, feta and pineapple. The tofu pretty much just soaks up the taste of anything around it. I couldn't distinguish its own taste.
Sent from my Windows Phone
Sunday morning brunch: Jaime passed up this awesome scomelet i made with bell peppers, grape tomatos and mature cheddar and Tabasco, with toast. But I enjoyed it.
And for an early dinner: Basil+ Naan with houmus and my favorite cucumber salad with tomatoes, bell peppers and fresh buffallo mozzarella cheese. The dressing is a dill-herb mix i picked up at a German deli. We used to use this dressing all the time in Germany. Tasty.
