I admit, I drink way too much coffee even though I drink less now that I once did.  At one time I was putting down 8 cups a day of sock juice (brewed coffee) since it was entirely too convenient. I could fill the french press and drink away and not even realize I was on that sixth cup before I had my eighth. I am also somewhat of an artsy-fartsy coffee connoisseur. I make soy lattes throughout the day, though I cut myself off at about 5pm, and occasionally douse them with this flavoring or that syrup.

There are those days when I’m not home and occasionally feel I like throwing down $4 on a cup of coffee. Those days don’t come often as I am pretty tight with my cash. I have been working on a list of coffee houses around Nashville to get your fix and all of those on the list include soymilk in their milk selections and one, DrinkHaus, also offers rice milk and sometimes almond milk.

I always prefer the local coffee houses. To me it always tastes better and I like not knowing exactly what to expect. I always search out a local coffee house when I travel and usually take home a pound from the places I like. Of course Starbucks is on every street but why go to the corporate bean when you can get your swill from a local coffee joint?

If your favorite coffee isn’t on the list let me know and tell me why it’s your favorite.

UPDATED 4/16/2010

Billy Goat Coffee
401 S. Mt. Juliet Rd., Suite 345
Mt. Juliet, TN
(615) 773-8272

Crema
15 Hermitage Ave.
Nashville, TN
(615) 255-8311

Bongo Java
1812 21st Ave S
Nashville, TN
(615) 777-3436

DrinkHaus Espresso + Tea
500 Madison St.
Nashville, TN
(615) 255-5200

Edgehill Studios Cafe
1201 Villa Place
Nashville, TN
(615) 301-8539

Fido
1812 21st Ave S
Nashville, TN
(615) 777-3436

Frothy Monkey
2509 12th Ave S
Nashville, TN
(615) 292-1808

Portland Brew
3431 Murphy Rd
Nashville, TN
(615) 292-9010

Sam and Zoe’s
525 Heather Place
Nashville, TN
(615) 385-2676

Ugly Mugs
1886 Eastland Ave
Nashville, TN
(615) 915-0675

Cafe Coco
210 Louise  Ave
Nashville, TN
(615) 321-2626

Week two of my soyless existence has passed.  Most notable in changes I have noticed is the fact there are none.  I have lost a couple of pounds but I attribute that to my eating less processed foods.  I am eating more fresh now and even eating out less so the lack of soy can’t take credit there.

It seems eating Asian it very hard to do on a soy free diet.  he one thing I have searched for is a soy-free soy sauce substitute.  It just doesn’t exist, at least it doesn’t exist anywhere near me.  I have stuck with sweet & sour sauce and Trader Joe’s Sweet Chili Sauce.  Both are sugary but have some of the flavor I’m looking for.  I did get treated to an apple pie over the past week as well as German Chocolate Cupcakes.  My wife is the greatest vegan baker and we are usually well stocked with vegan sweets and goodies in the house.  With apple season starting up, I hope for one of pies once a week!

German Chocolate Cupcakes

Apple Pie

It may have been a good idea to have had blood work done prior to starting this event but since I only wanted to gauge my energy levels and weight fluctuations I didn’t think it would be needed.  I don’t have a fondness for needles, either.  If there were any changes in my body that aren’t as evident I’m sure blood work would have showed them.  Otherwise, no changes as of yet but there are two weeks to go.

I am at the end of my first week of reading labels more extensively than I ever have as a vegan.  The soy industry has a firm grip on every aspect of our food supply, and nowhere is this more evident than in processed foods.  Soy protein isolate, soybean oil, soy lecithin – all components of just about every processed food you pick up.  Although some processed foods don’t contain soy, the fact is most do and the only way to truly avoid it is to eat whole foods.  Fresh vegetables, fruits, grains and nuts, which are indeed the best foods for your body, are also the only road to getting zero soy.  With that said, I have not been eating only whole foods.  I have found a processed food here or there without soy.  Our garden is still producing tomatoes, cucumbers and okra.  I picked a small amount of pinto beans last week.  These items typically give me a good lunch but I get lazy in the evenings, the time I really shouldn’t.

The milks I have been trying, which I have spouted about over the last two posts, have been narrowed down to hazelnut.  I have tried a few over the past week.  Almond: too much of a bite.  Rice: too watery.  Oat: grainy, gritty, liquid paper. Hemp: powdery, not as bad as oat.  Drinkable but far too expensive.  Hazelnut tastes light enough, doesn’t have a bad aftertaste and isn’t too expensive.  I spend the most time on the milk subject because I drink a lot of it.  I use it extensively in my coffee and in my cooking.

I have read many articles about soy interfering with thyroid activity.  I haven’t noticed a difference in my energy levels or any weight fluctuations since starting this plan but this is only the first week.  Those differences, should they come, would be expected later on, possibly near the end.

For the next 30 days I will be giving up a staple in my diet, soy.  As a vegan, soy is included in so many things I eat daily.  If you read labels you will notice soy is in just about everything.  While I realize that I may not be able to avoid every presence of soy I will try to do the best I can to take it out of my diet for the next 30 days.   It may sound simple but I’m aware this will be tougher than it seems.  To be a soy-free vegan may seem impossible but I am determined to get through it.

Our trip to the grocery store today will consist of me trying to find replacements for my usual foods.  I will hopefully find a veggie burger without soy so I can have my junk food nights.  I will replce the soy milk I typically use in coffee with almond and hazelnut milk.  We use Earth Balance to bake as well as on baked potatoes and wherever needed but luckily they make a variety of Earth Balance that is soy-free.  It is the ingredient list of many things where this will get difficult.  As an avid label reader, as most vegans are, this will hone my skills to a higher level.

So, why am I doing this?  There are so many “studies”, which I typically find useless, that point out the impact of soy on the endocrine system that I think I will lend an open-mind to and see if removing it from my daily eating would make any change for me.  I will be looking for apparent changes that are noticeable to myself as I won’t be visiting a doctor to get daily blood tests and such as more scientific plans would include.  I will be looking for increased/decreased energy levels, weight loss/gain and anything else I notice that could be related.  At the end of the month I hope to be able to form my own opinion on soy benefits and drawbacks.  Check back for daily posts as I will document here any changes I notice and just how difficult this may or may not be.

Go out to get a coffee and you’ll most likely have the options of whole milk, 2% milk, skim milk and soy milk.   Why do you never find rice milk, almond milk, or goat milk for that matter,  as a choice in your coffee?  I decided to get out of the soy milk rut at home with my coffee and picked up some rice milk.  I used Trader Joe’s Rice Drink from the refrigerated section to try first.  I always found rice milk to be watery and this was no exception.  It is also a bit on the sweet side which isn’t a bad thing considering a like my coffee sweetened, usually with a vanilla syrup I make myself.   Steaming rice milk doesn’t seem to work well if you like foam.  You seem to get a good foam started but it all breaks down to nothing as soon as it gets heavy.  The rice milk lends no flavor to the end drink, so for me it doesn’t work.  No foam, no flavor, no worky.

I also tried hazelnut milk from Pacific Foods.   The consistency is the same as rice milk but the flavor is a bit better.  Still, if you like foam this one doesn’t work.  I’m sure the watery formulas of these two are what lends to the lack of foam production during the steaming.

For now I will stick with soy milk but I will be trying others.  Oat Milk?  Hemp Milk?