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Welcome to the 22nd day of veganosity. The challenge technically only lasted a week, but there's no reason to stop if you find it works for you.

Unfortunately, pictures are few and far between. Between vacations and funerals, the camera tended to disappear into the hands of various family members. A fairly detailed list of meals does exist- shoot me a message if you'd like the link.



In case it's difficult to tell, the top picture is a veganized turkey turnover thing (i substituted boca). The second is lunch at the dorms. The third is my magical backyard food production system.

have a recipe!

ingredients:

2 tbsp. butter substitute (i used earth balance)
8 oz. fresh mushrooms, shiitake or button
1 medium onion, diced
1 tsp. dried thyme
1 tsp. kosher salt
black pepper
3 tbsp. brandy
1/2 cup nondairy milk (i used almond)
1 tsp. whole grain mustard
2 1/2 cups meat substitute (if you can find one that closely resembles turkey, by all means go for it. i used boca crumbles)
2 9-oz. pastry sheets, thawed
put it together:

-preheat the oven to 425 F. line a baking sheet with parchment paper. set the pastry sheets out to finish thawing.
-melt the butter in a medium skillet over high heat. add in the mushrooms, onion, thyme, salt, and pepper to taste. if the meat substitute you’re using is frozen, add it at this point. if it’s cooked, no worries- but don’t add it yet. continue stirring until the mixture is more dry and the onion has softened.
-add the cognac carefully (if you’re using a gas stove, take the pan off the flame) and simmer until the mixture has become thicker and the cognac is more syrupy. add the cream and mustard, bring it to a boil until the cream begins to thicken. if your meat substitute is pre-cooked, add it in now. remove from the heat and let it cool slightly.
-lay out 1 pastry sheet on the baking sheet. using a sharp knife, cut it in half diagonally. divide the mixture in the skillet in fourths, and mound 1/4 of the recipe inside each half. fold the pastry over, pressing the edges with the tines of a fork. poke a few small holes in the top of each pastry so that the steam can vent.
-repeat with the other pastry sheet and remaining filling. you may need two baking sheets.
brush the turnovers with more nondairy milk and bake until golden-brown, around 25 minutes. word of warning: if these are undercooked, the filling will cause the pastry to become soggy when it cools.
enjoy!

(veganized from turkey turnovers in food network kitchens: making it easy)

(no subject)

update: it is now day 49. if i can do this, anyone can do this.

(no subject)

It's really awesome that you did this.

What are your experiences after about half a year?

(no subject) +1

(sorry, just saw the comment)

it's not a hard thing to do- the harder thing is staying healthy. not because of nutrient deficiencies, but because a lot of junk food is "accidentally" free of animal products. i feel healthy and am generally pretty happy, and it sort of opened up a new world of cooking substitutions (yay, cooking chemistry!)