Going Vegan

I've been thinking about switching to a completely vegan diet for quite a while now.  It isn't that big a stretch for me.  When I eat out, which is not often at all, I will eat chicken but when I eat at home I almost always cook without meat although I do tend to eat a fair amount of cheese.  My weakness is baked goods and I could live on Little Debbie snack cakes which are so NOT part of the lifestyle and diet that I see myself partaking in on any kind of regular basis. So anyway I figured no time like the present.

I did a lot of cooking today.  I started with some baked pita chips.  I had some pita bread hanging around that wasn't at it's freshest anymore so I decided to turn it into crispy chips baked with olive oil and herbs.  This was the result:

Next I made 100% whole wheat bread completely from scratch.  I was worried about it tasting tough since I had read that it's heard to make really good 100% whole wheat loaves.  I must say mine turned out really yummy.  I substituted honey (not vegan) for maple syrup and the recipe called for a small amount of molasses which seemed silly to buy so I used a touch of brown sugar instead.

Next was a surprisingly quick minestrone soup.  This thing had everything under the sun in it.  Tomatoes, rice, beans, carrots, spinach, corn, green beans, onions, garlic, and fresh basil.  It was only supposed to make four servings but I know I'll be eating it all week!