What's in your Fridge and taking kids to the bar

I went to the grocery store (Kroger) a few days ago. I hate putting things away. I hate putting away laundry, dishes, papers, and groceries! But after I put the groceries away, I couldn't help stare in my fridge. It is just beautiful. I love seeing all the colors and options. It all looks so yummy. I just want to eat it all on the first day. I thought I would take a picture for all of you. I have been winding up the end of my last semester of my PhD classes (now it is time to start on my dissertation), and I am planning two trainings for work, so I haven't had much time to post on the blog this week. I thought this would be a fun post.

Can you spot the non-vegan item? Oh I'll just tell you and get it out of the way. There is country crock. Remember a few weeks ago I posted about the margarine I thought was vegan not being vegan . . . there it is! I just haven't gotten rid of it, but we don't eat it (you will notice it is right by the Earth Balance). 

So what is all that stuff? Here is a breakdown:

Top Right Shelf: In the containers: Kohlrabi. Homemade sunflower seed butter. whole wheat cous cous. 

Top Left Shelf: White miso. Earth Balance. The dreaded country crock (which is on its way out).

Middle Shelf: Green leafy lettuce, hummus, avocados, sprouts, romaine, red grapes, mushrooms, strawberries, spaghetti squash, watermelon, pineapple, blueberries, almond milk.

bottom shelf: lemons, corn, swiss chard, tomatoes, green grapes, pita bread, corn tortillas, whole wheat wraps.

Open drawer: orange tomato, yellow tomato, yellow pepper, red pepper, tomato, cucumbers zucchini. 

Closed drawers: radishes, green onions, ginger, cilantro, onions, carrots.

And doesn't it look delicious. 

So, my kids are obsessed with going to the food bar. We do salad bars and potato bars. And after the grocery store, I was so irritated and tired, and I just wanted something quick to eat. We decided to just do a pasta bar. 

On the pasta bar, we had whole wheat pasta, cherry tomatoes, carrots, green onions, zucchini, and yellow bell pepper. We had edamame on the side. Quick and easy. 

So the next day, I had a terrible stomach flu. My kids had it the day before, then I was hit with it. So, again, I just wanted to cook something easy. I know I am going to be scolded for my next meal, but scold away. It was delicious. 

We had basmati rice (scolding because it isn't brown, but basmati is so yummo and our neighbors from India from India gave it to me as a gift). Northern beans and Swiss Chard with sliced cucumbers and lemon pepper. It was so good. 

Both meals took about 20 minutes (only because rice and pasta have cook times) to get on the table. They were both so delicious. I loved them. The kids loved them. I guess I felt pretty good to have a beautiful fridge and a beautiful plate. 

So, what's in your fridge?

Earth Day was not a Ripe Tomato, Spiral Diner was

I fell off the planet for the weekend. I took my family on the 2 and a half hour schelp to Dallas, Texas to go to Earth Day and visit my bestest friend in the world. I was so excited because Earth Day Dallas is a huge event with lots of vendors and speakers and is rated a top family event in Texas. It is reviewed as one of the best Earth Day events in the country. Their website promised lots of interesting food, a schedule of enviable speakers, and a list of awesome vendors. It also promised to have a selection of organic and vegan food. You can find the website here http://www.earthdaydallas.org/.

I debated about writing this post because any celebration of the Earth and trying to save the Earth is a good thing, right? And, as a dear friend pointed out, we can't do and be everything, and any small change we make is important. However, this blog is essentially about being the ripe tomato, and I feel like Earth Day Dallas passed up a chance to be ripe tomato.  But in an effort to also be the ripe tomato, I am going to start out by mentioning the things I did like.

Michio spoke at the event. He was funny and interesting. Most of what he said I have heard him say on the Discovery Channel, but I thought it was really neat to hear him in person. 

I thought it was super awesome that they had compostables receptacles. That way you had a place to put compostable trash, but I noticed a lot of people putting compostable things in the regular garbage, so it would have been nice to have educational signage about what is compostable.

A lot of exhibits were really neat. I met some really cool moms who are working for clean air. I got to talk to some neat groups working for organics and clean energy. The kids got to talk about things they think are important in environmental issues. 

Here is where they really missed the boat: the food. But I am going to get to that in a minute. First, they had balloons, plastic bottles. No water refill stations. Tons and tons of handouts and flyers printed on glossy paper (which is difficult to recycle). Then there was the food. There was no vegan food. There was no organic food. There were turkey legs, funnel cakes, the food tent labels "yoga food" sold hot dogs. There was roasted corn slathered in butter. 

The United Nations says that beef manufacturing produces more greenhouse gases than cars. You can read the article here. Not only that but they promised they would have organic and vegan foods. Not only that but I think it sent the wrong message. I think it said Earth Day is just another one day fair. You can go and have fair food and get shiny fair flyers. 

I know that Earth Day shouldn't be some Hippie fest either. I mean, you need to mainstream Earth Day so more people will want to save the Earth, but can we do that by setting a good example and not having a meat fest? Come on Earth Day Dallas, be the ripe tomato. 

After being at Earth Day Dallas all day with an apple and a bag of Vegan chips, I was starving. I was a little irritated, and when I'm hungry, I get extra irritated. So, I had heard great things about the Spiral Diner and Bakery in Dallas, and the good news is it was only 3.5 miles away!

So, me, my husband, my three kids, my friend, and her two kids headed over to the diner. We had a feast. The diner is 100% vegan. You don't even have to ask! You don't even have to question the menu items. That is awesome. When you live in East Texas, and you have to question everything, even the food the says vegan, it is amazing. 

We had the chips and party dip platter that has salsa, guacamole, and a cashew based cheese dip. I ordered the protein platter that had quinoa and black beans and avocado and tahini dressing. It was so yummy. The kids had grilled cheese. We had cheese cake and ice cream and brownies. It was awesome. I give the restaurant 5 stars. 

I told my husband that the next we go on a date, I want to drive 2.5 hours to go there! Check out their website if you live in the area. http://www.spiraldiner.com/

The good news is my camera is fixed, so tomorrow, we should have a back to usual post.

Out of the mouths of babes: Review of "That's why we don't eat Animals"

I ordered "That's why we don't eat animals" from Amazon.com and pre-ordered "Vegan is love" by Ruby Roth. I have mentioned this before, but my husband and I have arguments about how graphic to get with the kids about why we don't eat meat. We have never had arguments about this type of stuff before--we are normally on the same page, but we just can't see to find a happy medium. Quite frankly, neither one of us seems happy with the solutions. We have a difficult time discussing this with our children and an even harder time giving them the words to use to explain themselves. I can tell you why I don't eat meat, but I presume that you are also an adult. I don't know if I can give you six-year-old words to explain it to another six-year-old child. So, I was really happy to get the book, and I am really looking forward to "Vegan is love" on the 24th.

If you are interested in purchasing the book, you can find it here. The book's website can be found here.

I thought I would give you a special treat today. I asked my children to give a little "guest blogger" review of the book in addition to my review because who better to review it than the babes it is meant for.

First Review: Heather (33 years old, mother of 3, PhD candidate). I loved the book. I thought the prose was lovely and the message was age appropriate for all children ages 0-99! I have a special love for pigs, and I got a little teary-eyed during the pig section. I especially liked how Ruby hit all three legs of the tripod of veganism: health, environment, and animals. I thought the pictures conveyed the horribleness of factory farming without being too graphic for young children. I think it set the right tone to let kids know why we don't eat animals and that this is an important and compassionate choice. I especially loved the book because as a mother of mostly vegan children, it gave me a conversation starter with my children. I needed that.

As many of you know, I have been having a particularly difficult time transitioning my 13-year-old daughter. She is resisting it, and I will not force her. I think she just loves finally having something to rebel about. However, I think in her heart she wants to be a vegan, but she just can't admit it out loud to me. Last night we ate out (something we RARELY do) and she told the waitress four separate times that she did not want chicken or cheese on her noodles. She was very clear in conveying her message that chicken and cheese were not welcome on her plate, so I think she is transitioning without admitting it to me.

Before I offer you her review, I want to set the stage a little bit. We were all sitting on the couch (me and the three girls). I started reading the book. The two younger ones were very engaged, but Maggie was looking around doing other things, not paying attention. By the third page, she had sat up, turned her entire body toward me, and was leaning forward, paying attention. Her favorite pre-vegan food is BBQ. When we read the pig page, she said, "Aww, pigs are my new favorite animals." I said, "But Maggie, pigs make ribs and BBQ sammies." She said, "Oh, that's a problem." I have a sneaking feeling she just gave up eating pigs for good.

2nd Review: Maggie (13 years old, 7th grader). I think that the book, That’s Why We Don't Eat AnimalsBy: Ruby Roth, is an amazing book that describes family and factory farming in a very sophisticated way. This book is good for describing the reasons why vegans and vegetarians decide not to eat meat. This book describes the terrible care of the animals that are raised in factory farms. It also describes how free animals live, and that they need their habitats and families to survive. In factory farms, according to Ruby Roth, animals are mistreated and taken from their homes so people can eat them without realizing what happens to those poor defenseless creatures. The picture usage was very creative and caught my attention. In my opinion this book is a very good informational text that should inspire many people to cut down their meat consumption.

3rd Review: Persephone (10 years old, 4th grade): I think the book was very heart warming. I also think if we know about the problem why don’t  we stop  it. We choose what to do, why don’t we choose to stop it. I think we should stop wasting our time killing and more time growing plants. I love your book and take it from me I love to read. So nice job.

Now back to your regularly scheduled writer! Persephone seemed really moved by the book. But she is totally transitioned to a vegetarian diet and is mostly vegan. She is the most committed to the cause already, so I think the book really ignited her activist side. Now, my six-year-old didn't write a review down, but she dictated some thoughts to me.

4th Review: Medea (6 years old, Kindergarten). I thought the book was really sad. I really like Thanksgiving and we usually eat Turkey. What are we going to do this year? (My response was, what do you want to do?) I don't think we should eat a Turkey. It is so sad that they can't fly. I wish I could fly. Does eat animals really destroy the environment? (My response was: It is one of the things that helps destroy the environment). How can we go to Earth Day and eat meat? That is so sad. I think I'm really sad for the pigs. I want to snuggle corney (our dog) so she knows how much I love her and maybe she can tell the pigs I love them too.

Obviously, we are family that loves pigs. I think you can see that we all really enjoyed the book, and we will be recommending it to others. Good job Ruby, and we can't wait to read "Vegan is love!"

Making it work: Using ingredients you can get

I keep saying not everyone has a Whole Foods. So many times we see recipes with fancy ingredients or things we just don't have on hand, and we give up or don't want to make it.  Even more frequently we see ingredients that we simply can't afford. I call this the "take your breath away" factor of health food. The New York Times just published a blog about the challenges of going vegan (read it here). For those of us living in what I like to call the land of Wal Mart, those challenges can seem magnified. My husband said, "Well there may be some things you just have to order online." My response is--that defeats the purpose! I want to show that you can do this, you can be a Vegan, no matter where you live! So here is what you can expect from the blog in the next few weeks: Some reviews of products that you can buy locally at major stores. I don't mean health food stores or Whole Foods or even fancy pants expensive stores like Publix (for those of you in the south) or Fresh (for those of you in Texas). I mean normal stores like Target and yes, even Wal Mart.

(Here is the picture of my Haul earlier this week. Sorry about the picture quality, but it was taken with my phone. I bought all of these items at Target. Tomorrow I am going to detail why I chose these products, their cost, what they are).

As I use the products, I plan to write some reviews of them. I even plan to have my 10 year old serve as a guest blogger to share her input about the products and to give you so input from her sisters.

Back to the main part of my story. The key is to use what you can find. You need to look at recipes and try to figure out what changes you can make to suit your lifestyle. I know, I know. Easier said than done, right? Let me give you my Rice Krispies example.

I wanted to make bars for the kids' lunches. I like to pack something a little sweet. We normally pack a Kids' Cliff's Z Bar (check them out here). But to be honest, my kids were eating one in their lunch, and then they wanted one after school, and the cost was killing me! So I wanted to make some bars at home because it would be cheaper. The recipe called for whole grain, organic puffed rice. Yeah right. Try to find a box of that in my town for less than $6 for the smallest box. The closest thing I could find was Rice Krispies.

This box of cereal cost me $2.99 for the entire box. Here is why I like it: If we buy items like these Rice Krispies, then we send a clear message that there is a market for items like this.

Here is the ingredient list:

Whole grain brown rice, sugar, contains 2% or less of salt. BHT added to packaging for freshness.

Vitamins and Minerals: Iron, vitamin C (ascorbic acid), vitamin E (alpha tocopherol acetate), niacinamide, vitamin A palmitate, vitamin B6 (pyridoxine hydrochloride), vitamin B2 (riboflavin), vitamin B1 (thiamin hydrochloride), folic acid, vitamin D, vitamin B12.

 Not bad, right? So this is what I used because it is what I had access to, and I actually feel pretty good about it because I feel like I'm encouraging a big company to be more Vegan friendly (even if that is wishful thinking).

So here is my BIG confession--I shopped at Wal Mart this week. I found some gift cards that we received for Christmas. I wasn't really sure what to do with them. As  you know, we try to buy from local shops and farmer's markets, etc. We do our grocery shopping at Kroger and if we need "big box" items, we normally go to Target (although I avoid it as much as possible). But then after really thinking about it, I realized I needed to consider what it is really like across America.

Before moving to Texas, we lived in Georgia. Where we lived in Georgia there was no farmer's market and if you wanted to shop and save money, Wal Mart was pretty much the only game in town. So, I decided I should try to see what I could do at Wal Mart.  I was pretty happy with what I found.

I was able to get those delicious Rice Krispies. The Almond Milk cost the same as it cost at Kroger. They had some interesting items like coconut oil. However, they were lacking in dried fruit and in seeds. They had a pretty good selection of fruits and vegetables that were reasonably priced. The best part is they clearly labeled all the produce that was grown in Texas!!! That was awesome. That gave me the choice to buy things that were grown in Texas when possible. I really appreciated that.

More than that, it really gave me inspiration that even if you only have a Wal Mart, you can buy local, you can buy healthy. There are inexpensive choices that are available no matter where you live.

Now prepare yourself in the coming days (and hopefully with a repaired camera) for some awesome product reviews and some even awesome(r) recipes! I even spoke with the kiddos last night, and they have enthusiastically signed up to be blog "interns" and give some product and recipe feedback of their own!

Forks over Knives

My camera is out of batteries and my charger is missing! I ordered a new one, but it won't arrive until Wednesday, so my haul post is going to have to wait. I also have some delicious recipe posts in the making, but I have been wanting to write a post about the movie Forks over Knives for some time. So, I thought I would take advantage of my camera being out of commission to do just that. I live in East Texas. I don't have any friends or family who are Vegans. So when I decided to pursue the Vegan path, I began doing as much research as possible. I feel very lucky that the first movie that popped up on Netflix was Forks over Knives. According to the Forks over Knives website, the movie "examines the profound claim that most, if not all, of the degenerative diseases that afflict us can be controlled, or even reversed, by rejecting animal-based and processed foods."

I think of Veganism as a tripod: health, environment, and animal welfare. However, with my family and friends it is difficult to approach explaining my choice to eat a plant-based diet because of environment or animal welfare; however, health is a cord I could strike. I immediately suggested my family watch the movie. When my friends, family, and colleagues approach me about my food lifestyle, the movie provides me with a conversation starter. The pre-movie conversation usually goes like this:

"Vegan, why aren't you eating meat? I love my meat [insert every meat eating argument here: I couldn't give up bacon, cheese, fish, etc]."

"I chose to become a Vegan for many reasons one of which was my health. Have you seen the movie Forks over Knives? It is a really interesting movie that is available on Netflix. Why don't you watch it this week, and then we can talk about it at the [BBQ, birthday party, dinner, swimming pool, etc] this weekend]."

Isn't that awesome!

While I do really think the movie provides a great and sound reason for switching to Veganism, what I love the most about it is it gives me a way to talk about my lifestyle with my family and friends. That is something that is so difficult. I often think I sound like a fanatic or a hippie or obsessive or a down right crazy person when discussing my choice with my meat eating, butter loving, cheese grubbing loved ones.

How does the post movie conversation go? Well, I don't think I've converted anyone to Veganism . . . yet, but the conversations go something like this:

"I watched that movie. It was CRAZY [the wow it blew my mind kinda crazy]. My favorite part was [insert some fact that resonated with them]. I'm not ready to give up all my meat, but I do think I can cut back. What do you eat?"

"You know for the kids breakfast was super easy to make the switch because they LOVE the taste of almond milk! You should give it a try, we have some in the fridge, and did you know Oreos are Vegan? You can get some great advice from the PETA and Vegan Outreach websites, let me send you the links."

Isn't that awesome too? So far, my conversations really have gone that way!

If you aren't already following a plant-based diet, you should watch this movie because it can save your life. You probably know in your heart you should be eating more plants or you wouldn't be reading my blog. This movie will give you the excuse you have been looking for to do just that. Even if you just go one day a week with no meat (come on get on board with Meatless Monday), you will be better off, and this movie will show you how changing your diet can literally save your life. The movie provides you with evidence to support changing your diet.

If you are just starting a plant-based diet, the movie will provide you with reinforced evidence to support your decision. When you start to feel your resolve waiver, the movie will provide you with the reminders of why you made the choice in the first place. I, personally, have watched it several times in order to remind myself of the important information I gleaned the first go around.

If you have been a Vegan for a long time, then you will benefit from having new information at your disposal. And you might just benefit from having the movie as a conversation starter for your non-Vegan friends and family. I have noticed that in the Vegan community, we tend to get insular because it is easier to be around other Vegans. After all, they eat the way we eat, they wear what we wear, they share our views. It is comfortable. But if we are to make a difference in the world, then we need to kick rocks and take our message to the street. Forks over Knives gives us a tool that is accessible and relate-able to anyone in order to do just that.

Some of my favorite parts of the movie were the real people who tried the new diet, the discussion of the studies done by the researchers, the realistic look at healthcare costs and its relationship to nutrition.  As we continue to discuss healthcare costs, we really should be discussing nutrition.

I was already a Vegan when I watched this movie, but it just reinforced my decision. It made me sit back and say, "ah, yes, I AM doing the right thing. I'm not crazy. This is a good thing." I know that if I can get my loved ones to watch this movie, they will also AT LEAST cut back. That is the ultimate goal, right? I do feel like this movie changed my life. Now when people say, "Why?" I say, "Have you seen Forks over Knives?"

Side Effect: Oh the emotions we feel . . .

One of the side effects of changing your diet is emotions. It isn't just a side effect of going Vegan, it is a side effect of trying to eat a more healthy, whole foods (unprocessed) diet. I want to share my emotions story with you and my theory about it. After all, as the blog title says, I'm here to share my journey with you.

I cried last night. I cried and cried. If you have read my blog, then you know a few weeks ago, I had a total melt down and cried then too. But last night was completely unexpected. My husband is having a difficult time moving into a 100 percent Vegan diet. When we transitioned to Veganism, there were some meat products left in the house. I told him and the kids that they could eat the meat products until they were gone, but once they were gone, they were gone, they're gone. Well to their shock and awe, none of them cooks, so they didn't end up eating the meat products. That means a few frozen meat products got left in the back of the freezer and were never eaten or thrown away.

(above: a picture of me and my husband at a showing of Young Frankenstein when we first transitioned to Veganism--I've lost so much weight since then!)

So to set the scene, we had a great weekend. My daughter had her birthday party, we hung out with my parents, we hung out as a family. We just had a lovely, relaxing weekend. I felt so refreshed. My husband also spent the entire weekend working on his dump truck (a project he is working on as a side business). He didn't get home last night until after 9 pm. He was tired and hungry. There was storm, so I had a headache (which I usually get when the pressure in the air changes).

He walked in the door and said, "I'm hungry." I said, "there is hummus, avocados, lettuce, rice, etc." But then I went to bed because I was tired and not feeling well. Then came the smell. The smell of meat. The smell of cooking meat. He was making hamburgers. I was fine. I called him in the room. He said, "It is fine, it is pregan." Pregan is the term we use for items we had before we became Vegan thus they are prevegan or pregan. "You said we could eat the leftover meat in the house."

I had said that. Seven weeks ago. Nevertheless, I had said that. So, I wasn't mad, really. But then he did something nearly unforgivable. He walked in the room with a hamburger, set it on the bed next to me, and said, "I made you one." I yelled at him to get it away from me. Our oldest daughter screamed that he had reached a new level of cruel, asked if I was ok, and shut my bedroom door.

As soon as the door shut, I started crying. I wasn't crying because he cooked meat. I wasn't crying for the cow or anything like that. We had that meat in the house and had agreed that he could cook it. I didn't want to eat the hamburger. I have absolutely no desire to eat a hamburger. But there I was balling on my bed. And yes, I'm still in the phase where hamburgers smell really good.

So why was I crying? Here is why I think I was crying last night and several times over the last few weeks.

For years now, I have used food to stuff down anything I was feeling. Normally, you want to eat something, you eat it. You feel happy, you eat something. You feel sad, you eat something. You want the hamburger, you eat it. I think I dulled everything with food. I pushed down every emotion with food! I stuffed myself with food. Sugar, caffeine, fat, tasty food made me feel . . . different.

In the old pregan (preVegan) days, I would have just ate the hamburger even though I wasn't hungry, even though it violated my personal convictions. Now I actually have to deal with my emotions. I can't just eat them away. I can't stuff my desire or my sadness or my anger or even my happiness in a hamburger and eat it.

The key is not to give in. I have found that the best way to deal with these unexpected emotional bursts is just to let them come. I found out that if I just let them come, they pass, and I am done and can move on. I have also found that I enjoy the happy moments in my life so much more because they aren't being punctuated by where we are going to eat. I thought something would be missing, but it isn't (but that is for a different blog post). When I first decided to transition to Veganism, many people warned about this emotional bubble outburst. I didn't really believe it would happen to me.

It really does happen. I think I am better for letting it happen. It actually makes me feel more emotionally balanced. I feel good about that. You guys help me too because I can talk to you about it. So thanks. I think that is key. You need to be able to talk to someone about it. You can always talk to me! Leave a comment and share your emotional outbursts and how you deal with them with us.

Phases of Vegan

Being a Vegan is hard. There are so many layers to veganism. You have your food. You have your clothing, furniture, toys, material possessions. And, you have the items you use to clean yourself and your house. Tackling it all at once is not advisable. I watched a youtube video about "going cold turkey." But for someone like me, someone with super, crazy anxiety, there is just too much to know, to learn. Add in living in a suburban/nearly rural environment and you are ripe for Vegan disaster.

I have talked about this before. My husband and I decided that we would do what we can. We are going to try our hardest to do our best and if we make mistakes, then we will learn from them and move on. What we are discovering, the sad truth, is that like oil, nearly everything has an animal product in it. Animal products are used in the manufacturing of everything from the obvious (bacon) to the not so obvious (bicycle tires). If you tried to extract everything in your life with an animal product in it, you would go CRAZY! It simply isn't possible. So, at some point, you have to do the best you can. After all, we all have to live in this world. I don't want my kids to stand out as totally belonging to the Wack-A-Doo family (anymore than they already do in East Texas), and I want to enjoy my life as well.

That being said, even PETA acknowledges that all animal products can't be avoided. See their statement on small amounts of animal products in food here.  Basically, we can't obsess all the time (even if we have obsessive personalities). This has to be especially true when you live in a town that doesn't have access to a wide range of "vegan" foods. Sometime you are going to have to buy bread with monoglycerides as an ingredient. Those monoglycerides may or may not be derived from an animal product, but you are still making the best choice you can. As countless Vegan websites suggest, go for whole, unprocessed foods when possible, then you don't have to worry about it!

But back to the "Phases of Vegan" and me. I realize that I don't even have the food phase down yet. Let's be honest. My mother pulled out a Triscuit and asked if I could eat it, and I had no clue. She didn't have the box, so I couldn't read the ingredients. I just said, "No thanks." Turns out I could have eaten it! But these things take time. We eat primarily fresh foods that I prepare myself, so I don't have to worry too much about it.

Then we had a dreaded moment a few days ago (you can read about the sunscreen moment here) when we ran out of body wash. First, I found out that my conditioner is NOT vegan. I repeat NOT vegan and neither is our body wash. So, we went to the store, painstakingly read all the labels and found a product that we thought met our criteria. It is produced by Dove. Then I find out that Dove tests on Animals, and so does Crest (the people who make my toothpaste). Even though I have been reading the labels, I haven't been buying Vegan products.

This brings me to phases two and three. We have already committed to making the change in our food. We are trying to cut back on our consumerism in general, and we purchase most of our items from auctions, second hand stores, craigslist, etc. When we do purchase new shoes or the like, we purchase vegan products which is pretty easy for us since Converse offers Vegan products (Yeah Converse!) Check out some other awesome Vegan Shoes at this blog Vegan Kicks. So we are cool there. The good news is that you can do the food and the clothing/material items no matter where you live.

Now, toothpaste, that is a whole new level of beast. A WHOLE NEW LEVEL. And that is the phase we are dealing with now. But the story is going to be awesome. Tomorrow I am going to do a little field research on Vegan products that are available at my local stores. After all, that is what this is supposed to be about--how you can do this too when you don't live right next door to a Whole Foods or in a major metropolitan area. So stay tuned. My next blog entry will be a haul...

My obsession with Oreos pays off: New Frosting Recipe

I know, I know . . . I'm obsessed with Oreos. Who wouldn't be? They are delicious, processed, vegan, little treats of delight. What more could you ask for? They are the one treat that we usually keep in the house. A pack lasts me and the three girls about two weeks. What makes Oreos so delicious? Why vegetable shortening of course. So, when my frosting failed miserably a few weeks ago, I thought, "Self." Because, you know I do call myself, self. I thought, "Self, wouldn't it be awesome if you could make frosting that tastes like Oreos?" Why, yes, self, yes, it would.

So, I made that my mission. For my daughter's second, sixth birthday party this weekend, I decided to switch up my cupcake recipe and frosting recipe. The cupcake recipe was too crumbly, but the frosting was marvelous! So, I will stick with my old cupcake recipe, but the new Oreo frosting recipe.

Oreo Frosting Recipe

3 cups of powdered sugar

1/4 cup Earth Balance Margarine

1/4 cup Vegetable Shortening

1 tablespoon vanilla

1-2 tablespoons Almond Milk (as needed)

In a bowl mix powdered sugar, margarine, shortening, and vanilla. With an electric mixer on low, start mixing the ingredients together. Add the milk slowly until the frosting reaches a creamy consistency. 

The is the first Vegan recipe that I developed all on my own. I hope you enjoy it!

Obsessed with what my kids eat: Maybe more parents should

Yesterday I went on a field trip with my six year old (holy cow she is six!), and I found myself obsessing over what she was eating. I was counting up grams of protein and amounts of calcium in my head. I found myself looking up values of different nutrients in one type of bread versus another type of bread and so on.

Then it occurred to me: Before I put my kids on a mostly vegan diet, I never really thought about what they ate. I tried to make sure that they ate healthy meals, but really, I never gave it much thought. So, why am I obsessing now?

If you go online and search out information about being a vegan parent, there is so much information about how it can be bad for kids from information about B12 to vitamin D and protein. People tend to fall into one of two camps: vehemently against vegan kids or absolutely for it. I am the kinda gal who has to do the research, so I just had to keep reading. The truth is that B12 is a food additive because it comes from bacteria, but most people get it from dairy and eggs. Vitamin D is added to dairy as well. Most Americans eat too much protein. If you spend 10-15 minutes outside without sunscreen, your body makes plenty of Vitamin D, by the way.

And, many of the products we eat in our house have B12 as an additive. There are plenty of ways you can get B12--from supplements, nutritional yeast, other foods.

So, because of my new found obsession, I decided to do a side by side comparison of what my kids eat now and what they ate before the new diet (I put the values into Livestrong's my plate calorie counter). What I found out is that they eat about the same amount of protein. They eat more calcium and get more essential nutrients such as vitamin A and K and Manganese. The most important finding is that they eat less calories and less fat (with virtually no trans fats) while getting this valuable punch of nutrition.

I could only think to myself, I wish I had spent more time thinking about what we were all eating before! I don't think parents like me are the problem. I do think about it. I make sure they have access to a wide variety of foods. And I am positive they have changed their taste buds. They eat everything from turnips to Swiss chard. I rarely hear complaints. We don't have a cookie in the house, and not a single child has complained.

I'm not saying that we shouldn't have cookies. If you have read my other posts, then you know we love a good Oreo. But it isn't something that we must eat in our house everyday now. On many of the blogs, the Vegan parents say something like, "if I said I was going to feed my kids pink slime nuggets and chemicals pressed with sugar disguised as cookies, no one would say anything." That really resonated with me. We don't question if someone feeds their kids junk food diets. We rail if someone says having obese children is akin to child abuse, but then when we want to do something like go Vegan for health, ethical, and environmental reasons, then people say you might be doing something wrong. We have internalized this message so much that I have become obsessed with what my children are eating.

Here is the basic fact of the matter, my kids are healthy, they are energetic, lovely children. I am concerned about them, and I make sure that they get what they need. I may make mistakes in terms of what I feed them, but you know what, it can't be worse than a steady diet of McDonald's. So, back to the field trip that sparked this obsession. I was surrounded by five, six, and some seven-year-old children. Many of these children were already displaying the signs of an unhealthy life style (such as obesity and type II diabetes). I was sitting with my field trip group at the park, eating lunch, and I was looking at their lunches.

Let me start by telling you what Medea was eating:

Peanut butter and Vegan marshmallow fluff sandwich on whole wheat, whole grain bread.

Fruit salad with pineapple, cantaloupe, strawberries, blueberries.

Mishmash (applesauce with cinnamon).

Normally I pack a "dessert" item in her lunch like a bar or a cookie or something, but we were out. She recently told me she doesn't have enough time to eat her entire lunch so she would rather have the mishmash than the cookie. She at the fruit salad first and then the sandwich. She saved her mishmash for after she played a while. (Preview: We are going to make oatmeal energy bars so the recipe will be coming soon!)

The other children were eating one of two meals. They had either brought their meal from home or they had a school provided lunch. Let's start with the school provided lunch. The school lunch was a ham and cheese single sandwich. A bag of baked chips and an apple. Every child (three in my group) who brought a lunch from home brought a lunchable. The lunchables were ham and cheese with crackers, a Capri Sun, and a chocolate bar. Each child with a brought lunch also had it supplemented--one child had chips, one had more candy, one had a granola bar. The lunches were gross. Not a single child ate all of their sandwich, but they did eat the candy. Most of them ate at least part of the apple as well.

I noticed that some of the parents who had also chaperoned the field trip brought their kids fast food lunches. It was everywhere. I felt so overwhelmed by the fast food, processed nation that my kids live in. My 13-year-old is still giving me a hassle about how we eat, but I know in my heart that at least she gets good, whole foods at home. I hope that some of that wears off on her. Maybe the compassion component will come later.

For now, I am going to try to obsess just a little less and just to make sure that I continue to plan well rounded, yummy meals for us to eat.

On a funny note from the field trip: As one of the stations, you could be an artist. We all drew pigs and wrote "save the pigs!" I included a picture of Mae's drawing. (I wrote the words).

To fake meat or not to fake meat . . . that is the question!

First, sorry to my subscribers about the double post yesterday that wasn't a double post about applesauce. I hit enter when I should have hit delete... grr technology sometimes. Anyway, I apologize for the blank post. I hope it doesn't happen again. And now to your regularly scheduled blog post:

Everyone from PETA to Vegan Outreach will tell you that one of the best ways to transition to veganism is to eat fake meat. When I say fake meat, I'm talking about meat substitutes such as tofurkey hot dogs and veggie meat crumbles. They have substitute cheeses (some of which are darn tasty) and substitute sausage, beef jerky, they have seitan (pronounced like satan) and all the like. Supposedly, these meat substitutes are supposed to help ease the transition because they help deal with cravings and keep things familiar. After all, life hasn't changed that much right, you can still eat a hot dog-- even if it is a tofu hot dog.

In fact, here is what PETA has to say about it:

Almost all grocery stores now carry delicious faux meat products, too—from veggie burgers and veggie hot dogs to vegetarian chicken nuggets, ribs, steak strips, and more. With these great products available, it's easier than ever to whip up delicious meat-free meals at home.

What a raving endorsement of these products!

Vegan Outreach (one of the coolest vegan groups in my opinion) has a list of substitutes up front and center on their "getting started" page. And in their getting started guide, it is the first thing they talk about right after their glossary of must know vegan terms. The first simple dinner they suggest? A veggie burger or dog! To top it off, they list it as a top source of protein. Yet another raving endorsement of these products.

When I started my transition, I went on a hunt for other Vegan moms to see what they had done. I was shocked and awed by how many of them had recipes for faux philly cheese steak or faux chilly cheese dogs, faux chicken nuggets, faux hot wings. Anything you could imaging, they could faux it.

So, I really started to think about it. To faux or not to faux. My 13 year-old is really resistant to the change and fauxing might make the transition easier for her. And heck, I do like some cheese on my taco! So here are some of the reasons why I have decided not to faux it on the regular:

1. Mock meat is processed. Processing food is bad for your health and bad for the environment. Period. It pollutes your body and it pollutes the earth.

2. Mock meat keeps you used to eating meat! I don't eat meat. Now, I don't even crave meat. To be honest, I don't even really remember what meat tastes like. If I had been eating mock meat all this time, I probably would. I think it would make it easier to cheat. It just doesn't make any sense to me.

3. I live in podunk. While we do have access to some great stores. Mock items are still pretty pricey. Not only that but they are sometime expired at the stores I frequent. And the health food stores here still use styrofoam containers and plastic bags! So there is a whole new layer to my dilemma.

4. See number 2! I don't eat meat. I think it conveys the wrong message. That message is that in order to be happy and fulfilled you have to eat something that either is or resembles meat. That simply isn't true. Tofurky dogs are required. In fact, I think they hurt more than they help. Or at least, they would hurt me. I am a slippery slope kinda gal, and that seems like a slippery slope.

So, as for me and mine, we don't fake meat it. We have been doing pretty good. I am seven weeks in. The little kids are two weeks in. Robert and Maggie still eat meat everyday. But we don't in this house, and that is all I can control. For today, I'm ok with that. And for today we shan't fake meat it.

Of course, we do eat things like lentil patties. Some may see that as a homemade fake meat. I do not. We have eaten lentil patties for a long time not as a burger substitute but just as a lentil patty. Yummy lentil patty.

So what do we eat? For dinner tonight we had, roasted turnips and sweet potatoes, sauteed swiss chard, green beans, and fruit salad. We normally would have beans or quinoa or something to go along with that dinner, but it was me and the kids (no Robert) and they had been snacking all afternoon. They just weren't up for it. As a Vegan parent, I have to be pretty aware of what my kids are eating to make sure they are getting what they need. Oops. I mean, as a parent.

I mean, really is it fair to say as a Vegan parent. I recently ran a comparison of what my kids eat now as Vegans and what they ate before on a junk food diet. They get about 2/3 the amount of calories. Nearly the same amount of protein. 1/4 to 1/8 the amount of sodium. About 1/2 to 2/3 the amount of fat (but now it is all avocados and stuff so no transfats now!). I really do pay attention now when I should have been paying attention all along. But I digress. Maybe I should save that for another day's blog.

Here are the photos of what we ate tonight. I kid you not, all three of my children cleaned their plates, and the 13 year old who is super resistant said, "can I have extra swiss chard?" So, something must be working.

Yucky day to Yeah Day!

Today just started out yucky. Awfully yucky. Terrible really. I found out the traffic ticket I recieved is going to cost me an arm and a leg. (I pled not guilty to a portion of it so I have to go to court). My house is a mess. I'm under a veritable mountain of homework and work work. I just feel blah. Not to mention there is this nagging voice "whatcha going to do with your life?" That is intensified by the people around me who keep asking me things like, "what are your long range plans." I guess I'm tired of feeling responsible for all the plans of other people's lives! But I understand that the decisions I make really do impact so many people. To put it mildly. Today sucks.

Then I had to stop at Kroger to pick up some "filler groceries." Filler groceries are what I call the groceries you have to get in between big shopping. Sometimes it might be milk (of the almond variety for us) or bread or whatever. When I got there, I was just pissy. I have to spend money when I found out how broke I am from a stupid ticket, you get the picture. But then, blueberries were on sale. So I got some crazy idea to make a fruit salad, and I just went crazy. I bought all my favorite fruits from canteloupe to pineapple to kiwis.

Then they had Earth Balance Margarine. This stuff is great. It is made from natural ingredients.
Like I can pronounce every ingredinet on the label. That is usually my threshold for products we bring in the house (except oreos). All of a sudden, I just started feeling better. I think I am starting to feel like I can do this. I feel more confident in my choices more sure that even if I make a flub (like the great margarine crisis of 2012) that I can find a corrective action and move in that direction. I didn't just give up. I didn't just throw in the towel because today was a rough day.

For those of you who know me, it is unusual for me to feel proud of myself. I always feel like I could have done it better. But I really feel like, "yes, yes." I don't know if going vegan is the reason for it or not, but I feel like it might have something to do with it because I am really starting to live my values, and that, my friends, feels good.

I know I promised a post on fake meat . . . I will still do that fake meat post . . . either later today or tomorrow.

Nervous Breakdowns, butter, and oreos

So I had a "vegan" nervous breakdown. I have been doing a lot of vegan research; and as I transition to veganism, I am experiencing the usual ups and downs of what that means. It is also difficult living in a more rural setting without the expansive resources available in more urban settings. But even in Longview, I have it better than in other more rural settings. However, one thing I am coming to realize is that it may actually be better being a rural or suburban vegan because there are fewer choices and fewer judgements so it is easier to transition.

My husband also has helped me overcome some of these little hiccups. He basically said, "you can't be perfect. You are doing the research, you are doing the best you can with the resources you have. Sometime there are going to be mistakes, but you just keep moving forward. Lesson learned." I see his point, and the good thing is that maybe I can share those lessons with you all. And maybe someday all these lessons will make it into a book. But that may be wishful thinking :)

Anyway, back to the nervous breakdown. I ate margarine with whey in it. Whey is a milk byproduct; and therefore, an animal product--not vegan. I had done the research. But when I went to the grocery store, my daughter was bugging me, it was really late at night, I was hurrying, and I didn't read the label. I thought I grabbed the brand that was vegan. So, we just ate it. Then I had this weird nagging voice in my head. So, I read the label. The bad news is it had whey in it. I was really upset.

I mean, I have been trying so hard to have it all go up in flames over whey! Grrr. Dang whey. So, of course, we quit eating it. We bought a vegan brand. Move on.

So, then we went to the store for sun screen. My kids have pretty fair skin. The middle child (Persephone) has been getting a really serious freckle outbreak and it is only APRIL! Well freckles are a sign of sun damage. Our family has a pretty serious history of melanoma, so I wanted to get her one of those stick sunscreens that she could swipe on her face before recess everyday. Just something to be preventative. Well, everything had beeswax in it. GRRR! My dear husband said, "you live in Longview. These are your choices, move on." Well I struggled. Finally I found a stick that didn't have beeswax, but it was on SPF 30. I know the studies say SPF 30 is enough, but I wanted at least 50, and I wanted it to be zinc based, blah blah.

So, I decided that I was going to go with the SPF 30 because it didn't have beeswax and the literature supports that SPF 30 is adequate. But then there was a small display of sunscreen off to the side. So, I read the labels of all of those as well. And as luck would have it, I found a vegan stick that is SPF 50! Yeah! Robert was really irritated that I took like 25 minutes to pick out a sunscreen, but I will know for next time, so it won't take so long, and I felt really happy with my choice.

Then I came home and really thought about what it meant for my family to be Vegans. I think for us, it means that we just do the best that we can. But I realized how difficult this is for me. Especially after my husband called me "One of those crazy Vegans." Am I being crazy? I am not sure. I guess I am figuring it out as I go. I am trying really hard to evaluate gray areas. I am trying to be a good Vegan and to find out what that means in suburban areas.

So what that the margarine had whey in it? I didn't do it on purpose. I learned a valuable lesson. But I also learned something that made me a little sad: a may never be comfortable eating an unfamiliar product again. That is hard to swallow.

So, what did I do in my sadness? I ate a freaking oreo! I promised myself I was not going to be a junk food vegan. I am a healthy, whole grain, celery eating vegan . . . who gets upset and comforts herself with food like the rest of us. That food is oreos. Tomorrow I'm going to write about tofurkey and why I don't eat it. I think all the transition gurus are wrong, so I don't eat fake meat (that is your preview). But I needed the oreo. I needed to eat something vegan that reminded me of what it is like to eat to be happy. I just felt guilty. But I guess, at least it was Vegan, right?

Happy Easter: Loving My Mother Today

I am not religious, but my parents are; and thus, we celebrate Easter with a huge family dinner every year. Our normal dinner menu includes items such as glazed ham, mashed potatoes (loaded with butter and sour cream), pies, etc.

As we approached this holiday, I was so nervous--how was I going to handle my first big holiday as a vegan? I wasn't worried about me. I have a lot of will power, and I am totally committed to my cause (although I did have a major break down yesterday which will be the topic of tomorrow's post). However, I normally do a lot of the cooking in concert with my mother, and I was really worried about how I was going to handle cooking for my family. Since Easter is what I consider one of the minor holidays (Christmas, Thanksgiving being the major holidays), I saw it as a dry run.

Thankfully, my mother came up with a great idea: let's do a lemon/Greek theme. Yes! We mostly call it Greek, but it was really a lemon theme since everything had lemon in it. Then my mother searched out Vegan margarine and vegan bread so I could have garlic bread (one of my favorites.) I freaking love you mom! So that was a great Easter treat.

So, we had a wonderful Easter dinner. We were all full and satisfied, and I think everyone was super happy with our Vegan supper.

Easter Menu:

Greek Lemon Rice Soup

Hummus with Pita Chips

Salad

Olive Bar

Quinoa Salad

Fresh Fruit Salad

Homemade Lemonade

Greek Lemon Soup (My Mom's Recipe)

2 Carrots

2 Celery Stalk

1/2 Onion

3 Vegetable Bouillon Cubes

2 Garlic cloves

1 tbsp olive oil

1/2 cup lemon juice

1 1/2 cups Basmati Rice

1 tbsp Smart Balance Margarine (optional)

8 cups Water

Saute carrots, celery, onion, garlic in olive oil until tender. Add bouillon, rice, lemon juice, and water. Bring to boil and reduce to simmer. Simmer until rice is tender. Once rice is tender, add margarine.

I also wanted to give the recipe for my special Quinoa salad.

2 cups Quinoa

4 cups water

2 tomatoes

1 avocado

1 cucumber

1 red bell pepper

1 small onion

1/4 cup lemon juice

1/8 cup olive oil

salt and pepper

Bring the quinoa and water to a boil, cover, reduce to simmer, and simmer for 25 minutes or until tender. (When quinoa is cooked it has a ring around the edge). Dice all the veggies.

In a mason jar, mix the lemon juice and olive oil. Add salt and pepper to taste. Mix the quinoa, veggie, and the dressing.

So Yummy!

I have put up my hummus recipe up before but I will put it up again because it is so awesome.

2 cans of chickpeas

2 tbsp tahini

3 cloves of garlic

1 tsp of olive oil

salt

water

Put the ingredients in the cuisinart (except the water). Turn it on. Add a small amount of water in a thin stream until the hummus reaches the desired consistency.

Here are the pictures rounding out our meal (except the fruit because I didn't take a photo of that).

The point being . . . this was one of the best Easter dinners we have ever had. It was VEGAN. It went wonderfully. I am so happy. I couldn't have done it without the support of my family. Everyone is still nervous about the major holidays, but we have a lot of time to adjust before then.

The Cupcake Adventure: Happy Birthday Medea

Today is Medea's birthday. She is six. I can hardly believe that six years ago today my little baby was born. I decided that I would dedicate my blog to her today. As I was thinking about a topic to write about dedicated to that little ball of fire, she practically dropped one in my lap. The cupcake adventure. Medea is a spitfire. She says what she is thinking and has a mind of her own. When we started this Vegan crusade, she said, "I am NOT going vegan." Then she decided to go vegetarian. Then the cupcake disaster of 2012 happened. Here is the story.

For her birthday/Easter party at school, her teacher bought Walmart cupcakes from the bakery. These were our favorite cupcakes. We used to buy these little cupcakes all the time. We would buy the 18 pack and eat them in one night, just the four of us girls. So, I attended her class party, and when they had these cupcakes, I wanted to tear into them. I wanted to eat them all. Mostly out of nostalgia. Out of love for the cupcakes. Of course, I didn't, but Mae did (we call Medea Mae).

She ate about 1/4 of the cupcake and then pushed it away. I said, "Aren't you going to eat that?" I wanted to eat it! She said, "Nah, it is gross." I said, "What do you mean, gross?" She said, "I think I just prefer home food." In that moment I realized that she had reset her taste buds. It was awesome. It was an awesome moment for me. The moment in which I made a difference in my child's life. Processed food tastes gross to her. That being said, I did buy a package of Oreos at the store because Veganism doesn't have to be about deprivation and Oreos are vegan. But she hasn't even eaten one of them. None of them has.

But this raised a really important question for me. Can a birthday cake be Vegan and taste good? Yes, there are vegan cakes, but can they replace what we once had? So much of our family traditions are built around food. I haven't even begun to really address how I am going to deal with Thanksgiving. I can't even think about it. I'm not ready. I almost didn't feel ready to address this cupcake situation. Maggie, my oldest child said, "Just let her eat cake." As if she were Marie Antoinette. I considered doing just that until Mae announced that she preferred home food. So, I launched on a quest to make a tasty Vegan cake.

I think it turned out great! The frosting needs some tweaking. I will tweak it. I have already been working on the tweaking in my head. I am going to make another cake next week for Mae's party with her school friends. I will post the new frosting recipe when I make it, but here is the current one and the delicious cake which I would want to eat even if I wasn't Vegan. It was that awesome.

That is what a naked vegan vanilla cupcake looks like.

Recipe:

1 cup sugar

1 2/3 cup flour

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp baking powder

2 tbsp vegetable shortening

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1 cup water

1 1/2 tbsp vanilla

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Put all the dry ingredients together and cut in the shortening. (I did it with knives). Mix all the wet ingredients in a separate bowl. I usually skip this step in recipes, but don't do it! Add the wet to the dry. But here is my tip: start stirring the dry and pour the wet into the dry in a slow, steady stream as you are stirring. Then just mix until they are blended, but don't over mix! Immediately put them in the cupcake tins.

Bake for 30-35 minutes.

I feel like I am missing an ingredient, so I might have to come back an edit this posting if I remember it!

Here is Mae frosting her cupcake.

Vanilla frosting recipe (that I am going to tweak . . . stay tuned)

1/2 cup Vegan margarine

3 cups powdered sugar

1 1/2 tablespoons vanilla extract

Almond milk to thin

Use room temp margarine and beat in sugar and vanilla with an electric mixer. Add almond milk if needed to thin (I didn't need it).

Here is Persephone frosting her cookie. (Her shirt says McStud, just in case you are wondering).

Add Vegan Sprinkles.

This is what they look like done (sans sprinkles). Aren't they lovely. The cupcakes, seriously, were probably the best cupcakes I ever had. The frosting needs work, but those cupcakes. I could have eaten them all day.

In the end, we all loved them. Happy birthday, my little love muffin. I am so proud that I was able to share a Vegan cupcake with her. Maesus, because she could save the world. Because she Mae save the world.