Vegan For Lent: Week Two

For lunch the other day, I prepared a breakfast bagel sandwich. Scrambled eggs, cheddar cheese and four slices of maple bacon. I got through half of it before I realized, "Oh crap! This isn't vegan! And James is gonna know because he'll smell the bacon!"

And then I woke up.

Yep. Those are the kind of dreams I'm having these days. I always wake up with a chuckle.

Week two has included some superb food. James and I had a Groupon to Little India that expired last weekend. So, you know, we simply HAD to get away for dinner to use it before we wasted $20. I was skeptical, having only ever ordered chicken vindaloo when eating Indian (except when in India, of course). I wasn't super excited about what I feared would amount to stir-fried veggies in some tasteless sauce. (How I got to this conclusion, I have no idea. It can't possibly be based on any reality actually involving Indian food that I've experienced up to this point.) What we ate was, simply put, one of the best meals I have had in a long time- vegan or no. We ordered a chickpea masala and another dish that featured mushrooms, lentils, peas and a divinely inspired spicy sauce. The naan at this particular Indian restaurant had egg in it, and I was heartbroken. That is, until James introduced me to Puri. For my New Mexican friends, puri is akin to indian fry bread, only in smaller portions. So we mopped up every last bit of sauce-y deliciousness with deep fried, glorious bread.

I also happened to make the best pancakes AND the best banana bread that I've ever made this past weekend. If you know me, you know I'm not a good baker. I'm terrible at following directions. So this was really no small feat. I'm posting the banana bread recipe below.

So, any significant revelations? Nah. But we're eating well, and enjoying it for sure.

Rachael's Vegan Banana Bread (1 loaf)
(adapted from her mother's delicious recipe)
1 C. sugar
1/2 C. Earth Balance butter
1 TBS apple cider vinegar
2 super-ripe, mashed up bananas
3 TBS non-dairy milk
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
semi-sweet chocolate chips, if desired

Preheat to 350*. Cream sugar, butter & vinegar together. Add bananas and milk, and stir until well blended. Add baking soda, baking powder and flour. Stir until completely combined. Pour into greased loaf pan. Bake 45min to 1 hour.