My FIRST EVER vegetarian week!

As I've mentioned in my previous blog entry, July 1st of this year marked my 6th year as a pescetarian. When I decided to give up eating meat, I originally intended to stop eating all kinds of meat including seafoods. However, Tita Tessa (gf of my Uncle Aries who's been a vegan for more than a decade now) advised me to have a "transition phase" thus the pescetarian diet.

Fast forward to July 2011, I again planned on giving up seafoods because I had an assumption that Indonesia will be very friendly with vegetarians since it is a Muslim country (I bought books including vegetarian cookbooks and researched information on the nutritional aspects of being one). Much to my disappointment, though most of the restaurants do not offer pork, chicken and beef are the highlights on the menu. Believe it or not, in my 2 years of stay here in Jakarta, I've only been to a vegetarian restaurant ONCE (not counting the vegetarian burrito that I normally buy in a food court nor the vegetarian meal given by a vegetarian parent). We (Angie and I) really planned our schedule just to try this vegetarian restaurant that is nearest to our place. Fortunately, Loving Hut did not disappoint! :) But we haven't had the chance to visit the place again because of our schedule (spell TRAFFIC in South Jakarta!).

I know that it is possible for me to cook my own food but I had so many reasons for not doing so, hehehe :D Since I anticipated that my schedule will still be a bit lighter after the Lebaran (Ramadhan) break plus I've discovered a grocery store that sells veggie meat, I decided to have a feel of how it is to be a vegetarian for a week.

After I attended the sunday service, I excitedly and hurriedly proceeded to Grand Lucky Superstore which is right across the building where the church is located! :) The week before I left for Manila for the Lebaran break, I've already "discovered" that they sell veggie meat / meat analog :) This is what my cart was filled with:



I really don't drink milk ( I am mild lactose intolerant, mild because I do eat ice cream and other food with milk BUT
I vomit when I drink milk! But I want to give soymilk a chance and I want to "train" myself to drink milk
 so I bought a box of it :)






Sa sobrang excited (at gutom!) e nakalimutan ko nang magpicture before I start eating. Ayan ang ebidensya!
Yes, that is RED rice! :) A little different for those who are used with white rice (ME!ME!ME!) but
it eventually gets better and definitely the healthier option :) 



 

I am happy to say that I've prepared all the dishes above except for the lower right. FYI, the yellow rice is what
Indonesians call nasi kuning (nasi for rice and kuning for yellow). It is made with rice, turmeric and coconut
milk. super yummy! :) 



These are some of the juices that I've made :) See the green smoothie at the middle (citrus breeze)? Wonder why
it's green? That's because I've added basil with fresh dalandan juice :) I maximized the use of spinach and
basil in preparing my fruit & veggie smoothies :)

 Syempre, hindi mawawala ang mga realizations ko! Hahaha! :D

1) Cooking is fun! I rarely cook that's why my close friends and family who know me so well really laugh at the idea of me cooking! :) pero hindi naman sa pagyayabang ha, nakapagluto naman na ako ng pininyahang manok, adobo at sinigang dati (as in dating dati pa! hahaha!) at sa awa ng Diyos e buhay pa naman mga tao sa bahay! :p Seriously though, I enjoyed cooking especially after tasting what I've prepared and realizing that I can create something :) I am actually considering learning how to bake, hmmm.....

2) Cooking requires passion, time and dedication. Since I am technically a non-cook, it usually takes me 1 hour to prepare my main meal for the day! That very simple spaghetti or the black pepper steak with broccoli shown above took me almost an hour EACH to prepare. For me to have a decent meal, I have to wake up at 5am to prepare/cook my food so I will be done by 6am to start preparing to go to work. I never realized na ang pagbabalat pala ng sibuyas, paghihiwa at paghuhugas ng mga gulay take so much time! But like what I said in number 1, it felt good to "create" something edible, hehehe :)

3) I know what I put in my mouth. Literally speaking, I do know what food I put inside my mouth. From the tiniest piece of garlic and onion to the amount of liquid aminos (vegan substitute for soysauce) and how the meat was prepared, I know all of those things! I am sure how healthy my foods are and I only have myself to blame if I end up eating unhealthy food!

4) I am grateful to the web and blogs who've been very generous with their recipes. I will be honest and say that I owe GOOGLE a lot! If I am not sure with what I am doing, I just google them and voila, it will lead the way! :D See the sandwich above? I got that recipe from Saab Magalona's blog and the sandwich was really good! (wheat bread, tomato, basil leaves and cream cheese). Most of the fruit and veggie smoothie recipes that I used came from simplegreensmoothies (via IG) but I normally tweak them based on what is available in our ref. Salamat sa internet! :)

5) I am inspired to share what I know. Though I admit that I don't know much about cooking, my overly-excited-cant-wait-to-broadcast-it-to-my-friends self just can't contain my "healthy" discoveries :) I have already bullied inspired my cousin, Ate Jenny, to buy her own blender so she can prepare her own fruit and veggie smoothies. At sosyal sya ha, 2 in 1 juicer/blender ang binili! Good job! :) Sa totoo lang, sa susunod naming potluck get-together (surprise bday party for someone, sshhh) e balak ko ng magdala ng sarili kong luto! Saan kaya ako kumukuha ng lakas ng loob ano?! :D

6) I can't wait to share it with my family (and future kids). O wag ma-excite, hindi po ako buntis! Hahaha! :D I am just excited with the idea that my future kids will be exposed to a healthy lifestyle. Ang swerte-swerte nila sa nanay nila!! Ah eh grabe po ang hangin dito! :D Pero seryoso na, naniniwala kasi ako na kapag ang bata ay nasanay o lumaki sa healthy lifestyle (food and physical activities) e hindi mo na kailangan na pilitin sila kapag medyo malaki na kasi yung healthy food na ang default nila kumbaga :)

I can't wait to learn and try out more recipes recommended by friends and/or found on the net. Please feel free to share any recipes that you have (preferably vegetarian recipes) :) Let us exchange recipes (ayan e kung may mapupulot kayo sa akin! Hahaha!) :D

I never imagined that I will say this but.... Happy cooking! :)