– In which Dorn records his switch to an extra-taurustrial diet.
ERBIVORE LOG.
Day 1 (Oct 1). Twenty-four hours into my eat-no-cow pledge (made here), still no irrational meat cravings, which I worried might happen. I tried to remember the rules of vegetarianism from 40 years ago. Is “protein complementarity” still a thing? (Google says no.) What’s good for protein? Beans, rice, hummus, uh, quinoa? What’s easy enough to make that I’ll actually do it?
And what about the beef already in the freezer—is it out of bounds? The environmental damage is already done. Still, best not to eat it if somebody else will, to keep to the spirit of the rule. If no one else will eat it (e.g., the chili), I probably should, so the cow’s (and the rainforest’s) sacrifice isn’t in vain.
What about other kinds of meats? The promise was only for cow meat (mainly ’cause we’re getting into chicken soup season). I nibbled some bacon from a recipe Kathleen was making. That’s allowed, right? A pig is not a cow. Pigs and chickens don’t burn down rainforests, they just pollute and kill the Chesapeake Bay. And I can’t be expected to solve both problems single-handedly!
Supper: red beans and rice.
Day 2 (Oct 2). Not craving meat yet, but thinking a lot about food. I realize I’m mentally approaching this like I approach being on a diet, which experience has shown does not work in the long run.
I need to develop a new mindset. I should be approaching this as a cooking challenge. I like cooking, and I like trying out new recipes. The days when I didn’t have enough time or energy after work to prepare anything complex are long gone. So the main reason I couldn’t sustain my youthful vegetarianism (or at least the main reason I admitted to myself) is also long gone. The biggest thing holding me back now is probably just inertia. The Post reported on squid salads and armenian chicken meatballs today—I gotta get me some recipes!
Supper: shrimp salad.
Day 3 (Oct 3). An article in the Washington Post today reported a drop in Amazon rainforest fires. My cow-free diet is working! More likely, the press attention of the fires that led to my diet is also working in more direct ways. Either way, good news.
Supper: macaroni & lentils.
Day 4 (Oct 4). It’s Friday, so my body is craving movie popcorn! I’m not ready for The Joker—the murderous white sociopath meme feels too close to home these days. And we already saw Ad Astra (spoiler alert: the Brad Pitt character talks about his feelings for three billion miles).
The Washington Post online had a timely article, “Impossible vs. Beyond: We tested cook-at-home versions to see who makes a better vegan burger”.
They felt that the Impossible Burger was the best of what they tested, and good enough to be more than just the “least bad” of the contestants. I’ll store that info, but right now I’m too busy experimenting with real food ingredients. I’ll turn to fake meats when I’m tired of plant-based plants.
Supper: chicken mushroom soup.
Day 5 (Oct 5). Today was my first real challenge. Cleaning out the freezer, we found a flank steak begging to be charred rare on the grill for breakfast, with sides of broccoli and jacket potatoes cooked just right. Man that looks good!
Stay strong, homie! I let my mind drift back to my college days, where I’d learned my iron discipline. Sunday night was always steak night, but what I liked best about it were the baked potatoes, covered with melted butter and sour cream. That’s roughing it. I concentrated on my baked potato, which was actually really good, though we didn’t have any sour cream. We’d baked it British style for about 3 hours to get that crispy outside and soft inside.
And maybe I cut up the broccoli on the cutting board. And maybe the broccoli touched a little of the flank steak juice there. By accident. But I held firm!
Supper: veggies, and mac & cheese.
Day 6 (Oct 6). This showed up in my Facebook feed today:
Man, that Zuckerberg knows your every thought, doesn’t he? Nothing else interesting meat-wise happened today.
Supper: salmon.
Day 7 (Oct 7). Weekly grocery shopping. Got some beef (for others), picked up some commercial veggie-burgers (but nothing that claimed to be imitation meat).
Nothing remarkable happened today, even by my low standards for what’s worth remarking on. Maybe this a-bovine thing has already settled into my new normal. This’ll be my last log entry until something interesting happens (if ever).
Supper: a Field-burger™.
Thanks for your patience. Next post, something interesting.
Dorn
10/8/2019