Now, you may be wondering what caused this post. Well, I visited my aunt and uncle, and they are most certainly not vegan. But I am. Kinda. So I gave in to their cuisine for a couple days, and I am quite happy to be leaving tomorrow and returning to my normal diet.
Let's just say that when pancakes are made with (these are the actual measurements, no joke):
1 lb of farmers cheese
2 eggs
4 tablespoons of white flour
and are covered in a sauce that uses:
8 strawberries
2 cups of sour cream
and is served with 8 mini sandwiches that have:
a slice of salami
a slice of tomato
parsley
and half a slice of rye bread
Well.... that feeds three people. As in me, my aunt, and my uncle. For breakfast. With coffee and fresh fruit afterwards.
To say that they can eat is an understatement.
But now after this sort of food since Wednesday night, I am ready to go back to a lifetime of salads, fresh fruit, veggies, and tofu! Give me something lean! No more sausage! No more cheese! No more eggs! I want my lettuce and almonds back!
And the sad thing is, I only ate un-vegan once a day except today, where I was un-vegan for three meals (because it was Saturday and they weren't at work).
This is tonight's dinner, and this is after discussing the health effects of a diet heavy in 'animal protein', which they took to mean 'red meat'.
OK, so this doesn't look so bad! We have a lot of grated, cooked beets, two small cucumbers diced, scallions diced, and some finely chopped dill. This is the healthiest part of the unhealthiest dish at tonight's dinner.
This is a badly taken picture (sorry) of some pickled herring. Surprisingly, this is all we had for 4 people, which makes it pretty healthy too. It was garnished with vinegar, red onion slices, and parsley.
Boiled potatoes! Without a doubt, the healthiest part of this meal! They were garnished with finely chopped dill, and were the only vegan thing served!
You can clearly see the garnished herring - but what is this pink stuff? Well, remember all those chopped veggies in a bowl? Well, we diced two boiled eggs and added that to the mix. And then my aunt poured in a liter of kefir (kinda like a heavy cream-yogurt thing). After tasting it, she decided it still wasn't soup. So she added in half a liter of buttermilk and a tablespoon of lemon juice. Then she decided that it was ready to eat.
So, there was herring, cold beet soup, and boiled potatoes. But wait! That's not all! We had (not pictured) some sugary carbonated fruit drink too! And of course, what is dinner without dessert?! So then we each had a bowl of ice cream and a slice of apple strudel (technically vegan, but only because the margarine used was entirely veggie-based with no added milk products).
So how did I survive the Lithuanian concept of stuffing your guest silly? Well, I took a small bowl of soup, two pieces of herring, a ton of herring garnish, a small cup of fruit soda, and as many boiled potatoes as I could fit on my plate. I ocassionally had bites of everything else, but mostly I ate potatoes. So whenever my host or hostess looked over, I still had soup! and herring! and drink! (I couldn't get out of the ice cream though because I made the mistake of mentioning that July is National Ice Cream Month.)
It also helps to eat really slow.
Now, before you think I was forced to eat all of this, listen up: I told them that I was 'loosely vegan' and was willing to eat what they served me. They merely served me what they would have normally made for themselves. I was the one who willingly ate it, and I must admit that the food was good and brought back a bunch of childhood memories, like my first calzone, my favorite Italian restaurant, summer sausages, pickled herring in Lithuania, cold saltibarsciai on a hot day (that's the beet soup), and boiled potatoes for every Christmas Eve celebration I've ever had. So it was a trip down memory lane, and I'm happy to have tried it all again.
But maybe I should have just tried it, instead of eating a whole calzone, or three sausages with peppers and onions, or summer sausages for breakfast, and even the small bowl of beet soup.
Lesson learned - just tell people I'm allergic to dairy, meat, eggs, and fish, and only take small bites when they aren't looking if I want to taste it. And make my own food.
My aunt did ask to borrow the book I was reading - The China Study - because one of her favorite authors loved that book. I don't think she knows that it's about how eating 'animal protein' like dairy, eggs, fish, and meat causes heart disease, cancer, diabetes, and other common diseases - and has the scientific research to back up each and every claim, from multiple sources.
I highly doubt it will change anything if she reads it, but I'll lend it to her. I've learned my lesson, and maybe she'll learn a thing or two too.
(P.S. I love my aunt and uncle! They are funny, smart, accomplished, and well-rounded individuals! The only thing I worry about is their dietary habits - otherwise they are people I admire and respect in many ways!)
(P.P.S. If this looks delicious to you, I can totally send you recipes! And if you eat like this everyday, don't take this as an insult - I'm not saying that your food sucks! It's tasty and full of flavor! But vegan food can be tasty, full of flavor, and healthy too.)
