Three very debauched weeks in Mexico have led me to Mark Bittman's VB6: Eat Vegan Before 6:00 to Lose Weight and Restore Your Health . . . for Good program. It's very simple. Eat vegan for breakfast and lunch and for dinner you eat what you want. If you're in tune with your body, you probably won't crave meat. I refuse to BE vegan but if it means weight loss and an improvement in my health, I'm happy to EAT vegan, at least for awhile.

The book is great but it really doesn't address the way I eat, which is mostly Mexican. I'll be posting my successes here as they happen and any notable failures as well. I am cheating with two ingredients. I'm taking a little milk with my first coffee in the morning and I'm using my good chicken stock for flavor. I know there are prefab "good" stocks out there but I'm not really into settling for vegan substitutes of known things. I'd rather do without cheese or creamer or whatever than have a Trader Joe's version with 75 ingredients. But I can't do without my chicken stock and it has few if any calories and it's just my compromise.

If you are a serious vegan I can see how Bittman's book and my even weirder interpretation of it could be considered offensive so I apologize in advance if this is the case. At this point, my issues are weight loss and a concern of what it takes to bring a pound of beef to market, organic or not. Maybe this will all change and I've learned never to speak in absolutes about these things but essentially, Vegan Before Six with milk for breakfast and chicken stock for flavor feel just about right, for the moment.

These tacos were made with sauteed mushrooms in olive oil with onion and garlic and then tossed with chopped epazote. My instincts were screaming "Queso fresco!" at me but I ignored them and this was delicious. Next time a little thinned out guacamole/tomatillo salsa.