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Weird Entry on CC statement - Vegan CC?

April 22nd, 2012 at 05:59 pm

So I was checking my Mypoints CC statement on Friday and I noticed something strange. There was a charge for $36.xx at a gas station, and then for that same day/time/station there was a credit for that same amount. I know I got the gas, and I don't remember anything weird about the transaction. I'm not sure who I'd ask about why I got the money credited back - someone at the gas station I guess ... though unless the manager is there I don't know who else would have a clue by 4. The gas station is about 20 miles from here, so not exactly a place I can just "stop by" til I find a person who knows what happened.

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I'm considering going 95% vegan. I'm not interested in being 100% vegan because that would be really difficult here, plus I don't want to have to think about every bite I put in my mouth that much or every article of clothing I purchase ...

So anyway ... one thing I'm trying to figure out is how to make a cottage cheese substitute without using tofu. With my hypothyroidism I need to limit my soy/tofu intake as much as possible (which is hard but not impossible as a vegetarian.) I found one recipe that used soy milk instead of tofu, and am wondering if I could use Rice Milk instead for the same effect??

Text is Vegan Soy Milk CC and Link is http://www.vegan-recipes-online.com/vegan-cottage-cheese.html
Vegan Soy Milk CC Mostly I want to use this for making casserole dishes (such as my favorite Special K roast.)

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I was invited out to the home of one of our church members yesterday. It was a lot of fun. She'd made Asparagus soup - yum! As well as vegetarian tamales (again - yum!) As we were talking, I found out that she'd met her husband at Weimar while attending an 18-day Diabetes reversal seminar. Weimar is run by the Seventh-day Adventist church and has at it's foundation the idea of NEWSTART. (She was pretty impressed that I remembered most of what that stood for - from 7th grade science.) Nutrition, Exercise, Water, Sunshine, Temperance (moderation), Air, Rest, Trust (in a higher power.) What you eat while there is essentially a vegan diet, and you learn how to cook numerous vegan dishes. You also get daily massages and hydrotherapy (hot/cold water treatments.)

I've thought about going and participating in a session before, but never had done any real research into it. After talking with her and hearing first hand about it, I was even more interested. I did some research last night on it (i.e. cost) and realized it is probably not something I'd ever be able to afford unless I develop health problems where my insurance would be willing to help with the cost to allay the health problems.

So ... I already know that eating ice cream doesn't agree with me very well anymore and I rarely if ever drink real milk ... so cheese, eggs and cottage cheese would be the main things I would need to figure out how to do without. Even with eggs though I generally use the egg substitute ...

My plan is to finish eating what I already have in my cupboards/fridge/freezer but then from now on, whatever I purchase will be non-dairy.

Two things I won't give up will be honey and chocolate. (Which is part of why I'm not going 100% vegan -- really, technically, I'll just essentially be a bit stricter of a vegetarian. Currently I'm considered a lacto-ovo vegetarian (dairy products.)

I was told we have a health food store in big G - so I may try looking that up and see what they have to offer.

I think by doing this, my grocery bill will actually eventually go down. I'm hoping that my cravings for sugar/junk food will be reduced the more healthily I eat, and I'll feel better overall so will have more energy (mental and physical) to actually *make* food rather than be a mainly microwave cook. (I still would do a lot of microwaving - just of food that I prepared ahead of time myself and froze.)

---Anyway, I probably won't get too serious about this til school is out and I have time to really figure everything out. All I know is that I need to do something to stop the direction of my scale and something to give myself the energy to not be a computer potato.

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This week we have a male candidate coming! I imagine he's interviewing for a mid-school position. I bet our PE teacher would LOVE to have another male teacher at the school so he wouldn't be so outnumbered. Smile

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My hot water went out sometime in the last two days. I discovered it Saturday morning as I was about to take a shower before going to church. No one knows the number for the new maintenance person of course. One of my coworkers has already offered me the use of her guest shower, but it still leaves me with a sinkful of dirty dishes (which I'd planned on washing last night.)

I tried relighting it myself (like the person showed me how to do last time) but I couldn't get it to work. Arghh!

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When I was at Walmart Friday I saw a summer dress with beautiful beading on it's front. I tried it on and it fit perfectly. Smile It'll be a great dress for SrN's special retirement assembly (has a very native american feel to it.) As I was heading to the fitting rooms, I came across a display of flat sandals (the kind with enclosed heels and criss cross open straps.) They had a pair in my size!! Normally it takes me months and months to find a shoe that I like and that is in my size - but here I found *exactly* what I'd been looking for last summer, before I'd even started to formally begin my latest search. (the sandals I wore last summer/early fall are pretty much shot - even with the $50 price tag!) The dress and shoes cost $26 together. I'm thinking of maybe going back and getting a second pair of the sandals - just because I know how hard it is to find them (and because I'm thinking of using one pair for church/dressy occasions, and one pair for every day wear.)

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I called the medical clinic on Monday about my prescription not being refilled. No apologies were offered, but they said they'd take care of it. I finally got a message from Walgreens on Thursday that my prescription was ready for me! I was going to stop by on Friday, but forgot until it was too late. Then it became too late yesterday as well. I'm going to call them today to make sure it isn't the generic, then I'll go in a 3rd time to town - maybe take in "Lucky One" while I'm in town so it's not a trip *just* for a prescription!!

6 Responses to “Weird Entry on CC statement - Vegan CC?”

  1. Swimgirl Says:
    1335119009

    I've gotten some great vegan recipes from chef chloe dot com. Love the curry and the avocado pesto, especially.

    And there is PLENTY of vegan chocolate out there!

  2. PatientSaver Says:
    1335140091

    As far as that wierd credit on your card, I think the place to go is not the gas station, but to call the credit card company and ask them. It could possibly be related to some sort of "test" by someone at the gas station attempting credit card fraud. The CC company might have more knowledge/experience with that, and if nothing else, you will have at least put the CC company on notice in case something worse happens down the road.

    I would also like to be more vegan than I now; although I'm basicall ovo vegetarian now; I do eat the occasional meat, but hardly ever beef and only once in a while chicken. I do like my rice puddings, skim milk and many different cheeses and don't think I could give that up. Sometimes it seems that you have to give up so much, there's not much to replace it with and suddenly, what food choices you do have seem awfully limited.

  3. PatientSaver Says:
    1335140200

    I think you will be disapponted, though, to see that your food bill doesn't really drop that much.

    I used to think mine should since i rarely buy meat or fish, but i always have nuts in the house, and they're not especially cheap, and neither is cheese. Even though I try to cook a lot of my own meals, my food bills are fairly hefty, over $200 a month for 1 person.

  4. FrugalTexan75 Says:
    1335151730

    Swimgirl - Vegan chocolate = carob = YUCK! Thanks for the website, I'll have to check it out. Smile
    PS - Well, I know that I did buy gas at that station for that amount, so I'm not sure how it could be a test. But probably calling the CC would be a good idea.

    I know what you mean about cheeses ... that will be the most difficult for me. I LOVE Swiss Cheese. But ... I eat so much cheese that it really isn't healthy. I think what I want to do is to not 100% give up cheese, but to have it occasionally and in small amounts. For instance, if I'm at a restaurant and get a veggie burger with cheese. I don't eat out all that often, so that wouldn't happen too often.

    My grocery bill mostly can be cut way down just by reducing my junk food cravings. I spend *way* too much on sugary treats/junk food. Way too much. It may not go down too much since I'll be trying to replace the treats with buying more nuts and fresh veggies ... but I'd much rather see a $200 grocery budget and know that only $5 or $6 of that went to sweets and the rest was healthy, good for me food, than to see that same amount and know that $50 or $60+ went to not healthy, good for me food.

  5. patientsaver Says:
    1335183212

    It may be nothing and i guess on the surface, it doesn't look like anything harmful. I guess i was thinking of how sometimes people get their hands on someone else's credit card number and they "test" it to see if the person notices if they charge very small amounts, like .05, onto their credit card account. If not, then they often feel freer to charge more in the hopes that this particular person doesn't monitor their acct that closely and just pays the bill.

    I know this is different since you were credited. I guess you could just watch the account and see if anything's charged back on.

    Swiss cheese, cheddar, muenster, feta and goat cheese are the ones I eat most often, and all but the cheddar don't often come in low fat varieties. I like the idea of just making things like cheese and meat more of a side dish or accent to the meal instead of the centerpoint.

    I also have a huge sweet tooth. I rarely crave salty things.

  6. LuckyRobin Says:
    1335411842

    I don't think I could ever give up cheese! I find it helps fight the junk food cravings. We have moved towards having our cheese and milk come from pastured cows and goats from sustainable farmers. I don't like the way animals are treated in the "food industry," but sustainable farmers really do a good job with humane treatment. And of course our eggs come from our own birds and we know how well they are treated. However, I do think you should be able to use rice milk for making cottage cheese.

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