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Today’s Menu:

• Frosted mini wheats with chocolate soy milk
• Large bowl of strawberries (yummy!), an orange
• Broccoli, red pepper and water chestnut mix in orange sesame sauce by Green Giant, with a splash of teriyaki sauce, chow mein noodles and MorningStar Farms Chick’n strips

Review on the day: Breakfast was better than decent, lunch could have been more than just a bowl of berries (but as one who eats based on mood, it could have been much, much worse.) Dinner- I was so excited to try those chick’n strips. They are seasoned, so they smell really good in the bag. They look like real chicken strip pieces. The taste…not terrible, but the texture, vomit. Imagine a cross between silken tofu and fatty chicken bits. My first bite of it mixed with the vegetables nearly made me sick. I was really disappointed by them (shocker, Brian actually liked them. I’m sure I would have liked them better if I weren’t easily grossed out by squishy food.) So I picked them out and completely enjoyed my veggies and chow mein noodles. I’d make it again, without the chick’n. The vegetables are another one of those “steams in the microwave in 5 minutes” deals, so the whole dinner (the chick’n cooks in 2-3 minutes) took a whopping 10 minutes at the most.

I will make this meal again, perhaps with fresh vegetables, and without the chick’n. If you don’t mind squishy food, then try them, you may like them. The taste was not bad, I’m just weird about food texture

For our last night of meat for a month, we decided to go out for dinner. We’d planned to go to The Pickle Barrel, a sandwich shop/deli with the best chicken sandwich I’ve ever had (if you’re ever in Monroe, La, go by and get the Chicken with No Name. It’s good.) They close at 8, and it was 8:05. Curses. So, we cruised through town for a few minutes, then Brian decided to go to China Cafe (also highly recommended- the food comes quick, it’s always fresh, and the lady that runs the place, Rachel, is so friendly and chatty, and always makes sure you like your meal.) I decided to get the sweet and sour chicken, Brian had the house lo mein. And we always get the crab rangoon It’s really sweet and tasty. And this is silly, but the Sprite was particularly crisp, cool and refreshing last night, as well. I could go for another right now.

I noticed in the vegetable section of the menu that they serve sauteed broccoli and water chestnuts. I love both of those, so I asked what they were sauteed in. Rachel told me “they come in brown sauce,” then we had a chat about vegetarianism. She said they could put tofu in with the dish, but I smiled and declined. They use silken tofu, and it’s just too squishy for me. Carrots would be good in it though I bet. I just hope the brown sauce is not oyster sauce. She also said that they have the only vegetarian menu in town (in Chinese restaurants, anyway), so I look forward to trying that dish.

I’ve been recipe browsing lately, and I have found a few things I want to try. Falafel, hummus, eggplant parm and a pasta dish with some olives, sundried tomatoes and pesto. I think some feta cheese will go nicely. I can tell already that I’m not going to completely forgo chee I tried the soy cheese we bought, and let’s just say I hope it’s better melted. It was so not great. I’m also considering getting a few laying hens, so I can be sure any eggs we would use come from happy, well cared for animals. I guess my other major life goal is to have a small farm one day, and to learn to make cheeses. I’m not much of a straight up milk person, because it makes me phlegmy, but take away my cheddar, and I’ll put your eye out. So now I need to figure what’s on the menu for today. I had some frosted mini wheats and chocolate soy milk earlier, and it was really good. It’s also really good in Kashi Crunch cereal. Very sweet. And, hopefully we can hit up the local farmer’s market this afternoon. I am dying for some fresh tomatoes and peaches! And so begins day 1…