Friday, August 26, 2016

But How Do You Get Your Protein??

Last night I made the perfect meal for all the millions of times vegans, and even vegetarians get asked the ever present protein question. I think it's probably the number one question we get asked. It never ceases to make me giggle to myself, especially when people ask me with that concerned look, like at any minute I'm going to drop dead from lack of protein. I think the Atkins diet craze really started the whole protein obsession. Even a lot of vegetarians and vegans are super obsessed with protein. It's funny, for me since going vegan I don't really worry about any single nutrient, because my diet has become so much more varied and I just feel like I'm getting what my body needs based on how I feel. I eat foods as a vegan that I probably never ate in my life before. I mean, I eat cauliflower now, granted it has to be baked in a scrumptious General Tso sauce, but I'm still eating it!
I was craving cold sesame noodles, and I had a new jar of Tahini burning a whole in my cupboard, but no pasta. Except that I had this soybean pasta that I had found in Seattle at Grocery Outlet. I was going to make my sauce and share the recipe, but I didn't have rice vinegar or sesame oil, so I totally Mcgyvered the sauce. It had tahini, garlic, a little peanut butter, sriracha, soy sauce and the rest of my Bulgogi marinade. The bulgogi sauce has sesame oil and vinegar, so it actually worked. Not very traditional, but tasty nonetheless.
I also baked some tofu, because why not?
I used this brand of pasta. They have adzuki bean pasta, edamame and I think black bean pasta too.
Atkins Approved!
The noodles are good, probably the best tasting gluten free pasta I've had. The texture is of course heavier than traditional pasta. Like Udon, but a little chewier. If I were gluten free, I would probably choose this pasta over some of the others.
For dessert, I had more of the Little Secrets dark chocolate raspberry candies. Definitely my favorite new discovery.
The colors aren't as bright as M&M's, but I like that. No funky dyes or any other toxicity. I want to get like a Costco sized supply of these. It gets easier and better to be a vegan every single day!
In other, more depressing news, the guy from the pancake house never called. I guess his "meeting" went really long, poor guy. It's so depressing because I didn't even want to work there! I genuinely don't want to serve food anymore. Even vegan food. It's just frustrating because I feel trapped in this life of demeaning, low paying soul crushing jobs. I just wish I could walk dogs and scoop poop. Anyway, I feel embarrassed for the whole pancake house debacle. Anyway, I'm trying to not let it dull my shine. I thought about marching in there, and thanking him for wasting my time, but I realized that a) I loathe confrontation and b) what would that really solve? Would it make anything better? I'm going to just let it go. I guess that's a running theme in my current life.
Happy Friday!

8 comments:

  1. That looks like such a good dinner. I have seen some of those pastas over here but wondered about them as they can be pricey. Good to know they are worth trying. We have a big chain of health food stores that regularly does a ' buy one, get one for a penny' sale and I think the pastas crop up in that from time to time so I shall have to give them a try next time I spot them on offer.
    I applaud your attitude re the pancake guy. Good for you.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I know, a lot of the gluten free bean pastas are triple the cost of other gluten free pastas, which are already much more expensive than regular pasta. I probably would have never tried them if I wouldn't have found them at Grocery Outlet. But I definitely can say that the soybean pasta is really tasty. I tasted a couple of noodles plain, and they didn't taste super bean-y or anything like that.

      Delete
  2. Have you tried Craigslist for jobs? Also, I don't know what your skills are, but you should register with a couple of temp agencies. If you can get your foot in the door for office work, you can start on a new path. Just a thought. My thoughts are with you.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I check Craigslist several times a day, and also have a dogwalking ad on that site. A temp agency is a great idea, I'm not very skilled, but I know some things, thanks!

      Delete
  3. Apologies for the anonymous post but I tried to post using my LJ ID (Blake_Fraina) and it didn't work. I know I'm being presumptuous but you should look for data entry jobs and definitely contact every temp agency in SLC. I think you'll probably be able to find something pretty quickly. Good luck!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks for the tips, I had never considered data entry before!

      Delete
  4. I like those bean noodles. I think they work really well with Asian dishes since they texture makes me think of some of the other noodles in Asian cuisine- like rice, buckwheat, sweet potato, etc.

    Have you tried looking at some government jobs? I know in my area they are always looking for new temp mail people, but I know that means being able to drive (not sure if you have a license) and being "on call." My brother in law did it and he would get a phone call every morning at 5/6 in the morning saying "please come in at X time" The pay was good though.

    Yeah protein. Ugh. It is so frustrating. I think also people get healthy people who eat a lot of protein (ie if I am lifting weights) and loosing weight to trying to basic healthy eating. I know most weight loss plans have more protein to calorie ratio because even if you are eating less calories, you still need the same amount of protein. But you need to eat differently for the different stages in your life!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I don't have a license. I gave up driving years ago. I have heard government jobs pay well.
      I just get so frustrated hearing it as a vegan. I swear even as a vegetarian I heard it less!

      Delete