More Uncheese Sadness....

I was really excited to try another recipe from my uncheese cook book. I made the baked macaroni and cheese with high hopes. This too was disappointing. It wasn't cheesy at all. Mind you I had a cold when I was eating it and not much of an appetite at all. But the whole uncheese experience (along with a healthy dose of PMS) seems to have thrown me back onto the cheese wagon. Later that day I ate crackers and cheese and then cheese melted on toast... and felt pretty horrible about it. I want to make the switch to veganism but this cheese thing is just not happening yet. I don't understand it. I totally understand about all the saturated fat in cheese that any sane person would want to stay away from, so why can't I do it? I was saying to my friend Michaela tonight that I probably shouldn't beat myself up about it... that like everything else on my path to vegetarianism and now to veganism it will fall away on its own time. In fact I have been recently noticing a real aversion to eggs... so maybe cheese will be next (please fairies of nutritious eating cut my cravings to cheese!)

On another note. My friend Nancy is an incredible cook. She loves talking about food and is one of the most committed vegans and animals rights activists I know. I think she should have her own blog. Here are some peanut butter and banana cupcakes she made for me. They were beyond delicious. So moist and rich and peanuty. Nancy please start a blog! The world needs your input!

On yet another note.... I read a really interesting article that explains why I have been feeling a lot better about the internal balance in my body after having made a commitment to eating more salads (obviously the recent cheese episodes excepted). The author, Dr. Zoltan Rona, was advocating an alkaline forming plant based diet. The author was saying that "it is a biochemical fact that all disease, especially cancer, heart disease, diabetes, and arthritis exist in an acid medium. All animal products, refined foods, and most high gluten grains create an acid condition in the body. Plant based diets create more of an alkaline body pH." OK, so this is probably way too personal, but I think it is important because it speaks to the value of plant based whole foods in our diet. This month for the first month in years was the first month I did not have a yeast infection. It was also the first month I made a conscious effort to eat a huge serving a salad - raw leafy greens, every single day. Coincidence? I think not.