starting slow and starchy

So, here's the deal:

I think about 2 years ago (?) I tried to be vegan. It lasted about 3 months. I didn't do it right. I mean, I'm sure there's not a right or wrong way to live a healthy and compassionate life, but I didn't go about doing it the right way for me. I tried making separate meals for Seth and I (he is an omnivore), I got over-ambitious, and I bought a lot of meat substitutes, etc. instead of focusing on healthy, whole foods. I also didn't have a real personal reason for adopting the vegan lifestyle other than it seemed to be the right thing to do. 

Well, I've grown up since then and I've now decided to give it another go: I will not create a food rift between myself and my husband - dinner will be vegan meals that he will enjoy or that he can easily add meat/dairy to; I have a good reason - polycystic kidney disease with a future transplant and a diagnosis of gestational diabetes makes me at higher risk for the disease; I know better - meat/dairy subs are ok, but not the healthiest - healthy, whole foods are the way to go; oh, and a video of freed dairy cows running and rolling around like puppies, yeah.

I'm planning on taking this slow rather than jumping right in - cold-turkey vegan is hard. If I allow myself the space for small setbacks, I think I will be more successful in the end. I'm also more educated this time though, so it may be easier to avoid those setbacks. 

This week is the first (of hopefully many) weeks of vegan meal planning for dinners (I only needed very minor adjustments to my food that I bring to work). To start, I made a meal plan of all things that I felt confident that Seth would enjoy. He is supportive of my choices but he's also very picky so in order to eat healthy together, I need to do lots of research and recipe altering. 

Our first all vegan dinner was a success! I chose a recipe that incorporated 2 of Seth's favorite foods: potatoes and bell peppers.

Here's the link to the inspiration for our dinner:

http://cookingstoned.tv/recipe/mashed-potato-stuffed-bell-peppers/

I obviously altered the recipe for the mashed

 taters so that they would be vegan.

Mashed Potato Stuffed Peppers

3 lbs Yukon gold potatoes (I have leftover mashed taters for later in the week now!)

3 large bell peppers 

4 green onions, thinly chopped

1/2 cup unsweetened plain almond milk (at room temp)

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

2 tbs nutritional yeast (optional, as it really didn't add flavor, you could add more I guess)

1 tsp powdered thyme

2 tsp garlic powder

Fake bacon bits (I think most are vegan)

Salt and pepper to taste 

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. 

Cuts tops off peppers and remove insides and seeds.

Place peppers in a baking dish and bake for about 20 mins, or until wilting and slightly browned.

While peppers are baking, cut potatoes into quarters, leaving the skins on.

Add potatoes to a pot and cover with water. Boil until a fork can pass through a chink of potato easily.

Drain potatoes and return to pot.

Mash first with a masher, then whip with a hand mixer.

When your potatoes are almost at your desired consistency, add all other ingredients besides peppers and finish whipping.

Fill each pepper with mashed potato mixture.

Bake another 10-15 minutes or until potatoes are slightly browning.

If you would like cheese, I think melty cheese on top would be divine :)

Enjoy!