Hello everyone and Happy New Year!!! It's officially 2009!! Lot's of great food, festivity and hilarious interactions this holiday season!!!
Let's start with this one.... organic milk is not purple or green. Or whatever weird thing you might think it is. The most recent hilarious interaction was at my dear Sister's house. This has also happened to me before with a cashier at a grocery store as well. Why do people think organic milk will TASTE different than "regular" milk? Are they simply confusing it with soy milk? Or does the average American really think organic milk is "different"?? Somehow the subject of organic milk came up at a gathering at my sister's... and this person actually thought organic milk tastes different. Seriously?? For starters we explained to the uninformed acquaintance that organic milk is not full of hormones and antibiotics. And oddly it also LASTS longer than regular milk. But shocker - it tastes the same. During this pleasant conversation I bit my tongue and did not say - that it probably tastes BETTER because it doesn't have as much puss in it from gorged udders producing grotesquely unnatural amounts of milk stimulated by hormones. I do try to remain hospitable when having a conversation about anything related to vegetarianism, animal rights etc.
On that note - another hilarious holiday interaction with an acquaintance that thankfully I knew just a little about lest I embarrass myself like she did. We were having nice pleasant conversation and got on the subject of being environmentally conscious. And my belief is to do what you can. Not all things are for all people - I cannot be Ed Begley and ride a bike to power my toaster. But what I can do is take reusable shopping bags with me to the grocery so I don 't have to use "paper or plastic". And as this conversation went on she said she agreed with my philosophy and said more people should be that way, like you know those crazy "vegan people". Oh, by the way... I'm pretty much vegan - I said with a smile wishing the lighting was brighter so I could watch her face turn varying shades of red. Actually it continued to be a great conversation - because I do feel on this issue, as well, that you do what you can. What the person inside my head wanted to say in response to her comment was - actually it's those crazy religious people that will really get on a soap box! But since I knew she IS one of those crazy religious people.... I held my tongue and just chuckled inside at the comment. (no offense to anyone who has deep religious convictions - again - you do what you can).
When someone does find out that I don't eat meat - I tend to leave it at that unless THEY actually ask why. Then I will clarify with a - do you really want to know. And then if they say yes - I have my elevator speech pretty down pat. I do so because I do not think that the industrialized agri-business of factory farming is good for anyone - people, animals, the planet or our economy. And it's also an ethical issue for me personally. If you'd like further information you might want to check out a website called The Meatrix... it's a cartoon and pretty informative without being in your face.
Let's talk about FOOD.... what have I been eating??? Probably still too much!!! I tried a tofurkey on New Year's Day. It was yummy! I also cooked black eyed peas and greens and cornbread - an all around southern New Year's menu - sans the ham hock traditionally cooked IN the peas and greens.
- I am in love with tofurkey deli slices - they are make a GREAT sandwich.
- It's true what they say about veganaise - it is GOOD. I'm the kid who grew up eating mayonaise with their french fries - I love mayo. I do NOT love miracle whip... it's not a miracle, it's a travesty. Veganaise is good.
- Curry - I LOVE curry. I made a cocount curry with cauliflower, red peppers, mushrooms and onions with a sauce by Maya Kaimal Indian Sauces - it was VERY good.
- Silk Soy milk - plain is excellent. I made muffins with it last week. And then made muffins for my hubby again with actual organic milk and he said - these taste different what did you do? (suspecting soy milk I am sure) I liked the ones last week better. Ha! The ones LAST week were made with soy milk!!!!!
- All things field roast - sausages, deli slices, celebration roast. All two thumbs up.
- OH - and I have been struggling to find a good substitute for chicken noodle soup.... as the days click away I am inevitably that much closer to my annual winter cold that will knock me on the couch for a few days.... after much experimentation I have found the holy grail of vegan "chicken noodle soup". It is NOT, I repeat NOT the Amy's no chicken noodle soup. I love most everything Amy's makes - but they just can't get their soup right. I have yet to try an Amy's soup that I really like. No - the clear winner is Fantastic World Foods Vegetarian Chicken Noodle Soup. It IS fantastic!!!! It comes in a large pouch to make a whole pot - or it also comes in little individual "cup o soup" packages that you can make a single serve. I have a ton in the cabinet on standby for the impending plague.
And last but not least - what am I reading??? I just finished "The Ultimate Vegan Guide" by Erik Marcus. It was a GREAT read. And also made me take my vitamins and supplements a little more seriously. And I also LOVED how Erik explained how you are not 'giving up' anything - really becoming vegan is about "crowding out" what you used to eat with new foods. It is not as great of a "sacrifice" as you might think - when you are really just replacing one type of food for lot's of other options. I highly recommend this book to anyone considering crowding meat out of your diet. :)
On that note - Happy New Year everyone!! And I promise upcoming posts - perhaps more quickly - on "just say no to children" and " a tribute to our dogs".
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