Coconut Scones

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Coconut Scones

Coconut Scones

After my holiday in Hawaii, I drifted into island time. Without a salty ocean to wade into or a sandy beach to sip cocktails on, I opted for hot showers and drinking sweet, red wine in front of the television. After the sunshine and shaved ice, it was hard to go back to a reality full of work, workouts, and cooking my own dinner. I held onto island time much longer than I should have, trying to convince myself that it was okay to pretend I was on vacation when I clearly wasn't. I was putting off work, eating poorly, and didn't set foot into the gym for months.

Eventually even I realized these bad habits needed to change.

Coconut Scones

I set myself back to a proper work schedule. I completed a month long vegan challenge to jump start a healthier diet. Finally, after avoiding it for too long, I gathered up my courage and faced the gym this afternoon.

Before I caught island time fever, I prided myself on the fact that I regularly made it to the gym five or six hours a week. I was a fixture in the mornings, taking cycling classes and toning through weight lifting. For the first time in my life, the muscles in my biceps couldn't be crushed flat by a set of strong hands. I had calf muscles that surpassed those of my ballerina sister who can dance on the tips of her toes. I could even visibly flex my back muscles. I was proud of the sweat that dripped down my face and the results I achieved.

Then, I threw it all away.

Coconut Scones

I hesitantly walked into the gym this afternoon. The building rests only a couple blocks from where I live now, making it all the more shameful I haven't set foot in one since I moved. I got a membership to bribe myself into regular attendance and headed off to my first class in three solid months—circuit training. There were four of us in the class and it became blatantly obvious that I was having a hard time keeping up. Weights I used effortlessly just months before, suddenly felt like lead bricks in my hands. I was more than half a beat behind in my jumping jacks and I couldn't jump rope to save my life. In hindsight, I really should have chosen a yoga class.

I slowly walked back home with a proverbial tail between my legs, my muscles wobbling like a bowl full of Jello. The "truths" I had been telling myself (You're still in shape! You didn't get winded walking up that flight of stairs, it must have been from the heat) unequivocally became lies. Luckily, it's never too late to head back to the gym and fix the ails of neglect (which I'll do right after I make another batch of these scones).

Coconut Scones

These coconut scones are a delicate, subtle way to begin the day. These scones are a triple coconut threat, holding coconut oil, coconut milk, and coconut flakes in their flaked layers. The scones are dairy/egg-free, but you'd never guess it. The finished scones are glazed in a sweet coconut glaze before serving, which adds just the right amount of sweetness. This is my new favorite breakfast sweet and may be the best scone recipe I've shared with you.

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Chocolate Cherry Cake

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Chocolate Cherry Cake

Chocolate Cherry Cake

A month ago, I was unprepared to take on vegan baking. As a traditional baker (and purveyor of butter and cream), it was a sincere challenge for me to alter everything I thought I knew about baking. I complained about it loudly to anyone who would listen, as I scraped attempt after attempt into the trash. It wasn't that I didn't do enough research before creating recipes; I simply didn't have the experience with vegan baking to make the recipes my own.

I was unreasonable and, as a few of you pointed out, unfair to take my frustration with my own inadequacy at vegan baking out on a lifestyle choice. For this, I apologize.

Chocolate Cherry Cake

After two weeks of struggled baking, a switch finally clicked. The cakes and cookies that came out of the oven no longer went into the garbage can, but were proudly shared with family and friends. My goal to create vegan recipes that did not use hard-to-find or unusual ingredients was becoming a reality and I couldn't be happier. The recipes were not only dairy-free and egg-free, but absolutely delicious in their own right. It was an inspiration.

Even though my vegan challenge is over, I confess I haven't gone to the store to buy butter or eggs just yet (gasp!). When I find myself faced with a warm oven, I don't feel like I'm done creating and experimenting with vegan recipes. Over the next couple weeks, you might spot a few more popping up (and I think you'll fall in love with them as much as I did).

Chocolate Cherry Cake

Recently, I had several pounds of cherries resting in the refrigerator. They were an impulse buy at the market when I saw the price tag had considerably dropped. I ate my way through half the sweet fruit before I realized they were going to go bad before the rest would get eaten. One of the downsides to living alone is that when you buy pounds of several varieties of fruit at once, there is no conceivable way you'll be able to eat them all by yourself (note to self: lesson learned). With a chocolate craving in the back of my mind, and a love for cherries and chocolate, a cake seemed to be in order.

I honestly could have eaten half of this cake in a single sitting. It seems only fair to advise you, this cake should come with a warning label.

Chocolate Cherry Cake

This Chocolate Cherry Cake has a rich, chocolate base with sweet, bursting cherries. The cherries are folded into a basic chocolate cake batter before rising delicately in the oven and the final cake is topped with a dark, decadent chocolate glaze. Use high quality chocolate for the best flavor. I love to eat this cake chilled from the refrigerator, but it can be enjoyed warm or at room temperature. This cake is simple to garnish and aims to impress.

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Thoughts on Going Vegan: Week 4—The End?

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Week 1 | Week 2 | Week 3 | Meal Ideas & Afterthoughts

I've successfully completed the fourth and final week in my month long vegan challenge. As for eating, this week was smooth sailing, with plenty of delicious vegan food. There was, however, a very huge, life-altering realization. Here are a few personal observations about my fourth week*:

  • I've had very few cravings for non-vegan food this past month (and even they were quite fleeting). The first week of the challenge I was worried about missing my favorite foods so much that I sought out vegan alternatives—which weren't very good. I worried for naught. Occasionally I'd get a pang of nostalgia for some of my favorite foods, like Fettuccine Alfredo, but the feeling passed as quickly as it came. Without non-vegan cravings, going vegan was really quite easy and I didn't feel like I was missing out.
  • I accidentally ate half a chip that had milk listed on the ingredient label. I never expected potato chips to contain milk; in between popping a broken one in my mouth and turning over the bag to look at the nutritional information, the damage had been done. It was half a potato chip and whey was the last ingredient on the label, but I felt guilty about it for days. In fact, I still kind of do, which is why I'm confessing it to you.
  • The day after my vegan challenge ended, I went out for a celebratory brunch with my sister and re-introduced myself to dairy and eggs. I had scrambled eggs (without cheese), cream cheese on a bagel, french toast, and half a slice of bacon. After a month of avoiding animal products, I was not expecting that I wouldn't actually like non-vegan food again. They tasted differently than I remember, with a texture that was strange and completely undesirable (especially eggs/meat). I didn't get sick afterwards, but it was an unexpected experience for me.
  • Since the vegan challenge ended, the vast majority of the food I've eaten has been vegan. Here or there I'll eat an old favorite, such as my favorite turkey sandwich or ramen noodles (a guilty pleasure), but they don't taste right and I find that I have to force myself to get it down. While eating turkey sandwiches, I dream of eating humus and vegetable ones instead—a sandwich I didn't even like all that much when I was vegan. Maybe my taste buds have changed? Is that even possible? I wonder.
  • After growing to love vegan food, I think it will definitely have a new role in my diet. It's generally healthy, tastes delicious, and my body feels good when I eat it. Just as there was an adjustment period when I went vegan, there is an adjustment period going back. It may be a few weeks before I can eat and enjoy meat again, but the recipes and lessons I've learned from going vegan will stick with me for a very, very long time.
  • Lastly, it's time for the big realization. I've been plagued with uncomfortable and sometimes painful digestive issues my entire life. While I won't go into detail, it's a condition I've seen several different doctors about, been prescribed different treatments for, and gone through a colonoscopy to try to resolve. No method has fixed the problem and the doctors couldn't sort out what was wrong—for all intents and purposes I was "normal," even though I clearly wasn't. I assumed this was just a problem I would have to live with for the rest of my life.
  • Two weeks into my vegan diet, the problem I had faced continuously for twenty-four years disappeared. Disappeared. I could have cried. For the first time in my life, I had a normally functioning digestive system and it was glorious. While there aren't many allergies associated with eating meat, there are quite a few associated with consuming dairy. After a little research, the symptoms I had been plagued with seemed to match up fairly well with a milk protein intolerance. It is a hypersensitivity to the proteins, casein and whey, which are found in milk; this is not the same thing as lactose intolerance, but the treatment, avoidance of all dairy products, is the same. I've always been a big milk drinker, typically consuming 1 1/2 cups every single day with breakfast. If I really did had an intolerance to milk proteins, I never would have gone long enough without milk to notice a difference until now.
  • Over the next few weeks, I'm going to continue to cut dairy out of my diet while re-introducing meat to see how my digestive system reacts. If it's true that I do have a milk protein intolerance, the diagnosis is really a double edged sword. On one hand, it will shape the way I eat and the way I approach baking for the rest of my life. On the other hand, it may solve my digestive issues, making me feel healthy for the first time in a very long time.

After the fourth and final week, I am sincerely glad, in a hundred different ways, that I took on this challenge. It introduced me to a new lifestyle, new recipes, new flavors, and a new outlook on healthy eating. If I hadn't gone vegan for a month on a whim, I never would have discovered a potential solution to a lifelong health problem. I feel greatly indebted to my time spent as a vegan and urge you to give vegan dishes a chance. You might just like it.

*I mean no offense to those who have gone vegan for moral beliefs and obligations (in fact, you have my utmost respect). This is just a record of my personal experience with the lifestyle.