Plenty of good food was eaten on vacation, and among these yummy foods were new selections that fall under the heading, “processed”. Prior to this, I’d been limiting my processed food intake. With summer comes the quick and easy availability of all sorts of yummy veggies. So, rocking the fresh food was pretty simple.
For vacation, though, I really wanted to have that stereotypical camping experience, and that experience included grilled veggiedogs. Just a few years ago, this would have been impossible, since I’m allergic to soy dogs. I discovered the seitan ones a couple of weeks prior, and I just knew I wanted to try them. They were good for that purpose, and I was happy. I also ended up trying the seitan Italian style sausage and seitan slices. Yes! We did all kinds of outdoorsy activities on vacation: hiking, zipline, paddling, and swimming, so keeping my protein levels up was especially important. But, once I got home, I couldn’t get off the processed seitan wagon.
Was the overconsumption of processed food responsible for the weirdness last week? I really don’t know. I bought some OTC stuff, guessing in the dark, but so far, it’s worked. I do think, however, that the diet change has affected my available energy. And so, yes, a little coffee now and then has kept me perky enough to interact with the world. I know overconsumption of coffee gives me problems, so I try really hard not to have it every day, even though sometimes I’d like to.
But, this is not a woe-is-me post. Instead, I offer last night’s transitory dinner: a mixture of fresh mater with canned asparagus & whole wheat pasta. Not perfect, but a nice way to get back into the rhythm. Evoo, garlic, some crushed pepper, and Italian herbs rounded it out. Pretty tasty! 
I haven’t really eaten much Seitan in my vegan journey, however recently I made a few recipes with it and felt guilty. Like I wasn’t giving my body real nutrition. Just gluten. :/ Thankfully I’m a huge tempeh fan so going forward I hope to sub out tempeh for seitan .
I don’t think seitan is bad in and of itself. It was more the fact that I’d gone for the prepackaged kind instead of making it from scratch, and then ate mostly that for several weeks. It’s supposed to be very high in protein. I just don’t know if prepackaged gluttony is the best way to appreciate it
I reckon eating that much seitan (and therefore gluten) might have been the cause.. It’s always harder when on holidays though! All the best getting back to normal
I did a little shopping yesterday, and after just a few veggie-centric meals, I’m already feeling more like myself! I guess I didn’t really think about excessive gluten in the bad way, because I was so protein-obsessed! Thanks!
It’s hard finding good sources of protein as a vegan, especially since you don’t eat soy!
I sometimes make veggie burgers with beans and oats before going camping because even though I’m not a vegetarian I don’t enjoy too many sausages and regular burgers
They keep really well in a cooler
Thanks!