On the edge of 2009!!!

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".

On the edge of becoming vegan...

So here is my post about why I am on the edge of becoming vegan! If you don't want to know - skip this one and the next one will be about why we don't have kids - chock full of hilarity!!!

The past six months has been an interesting journey. It was a combination of a few things.....

Six months ago I was on my way to Birmingham for work and I was eagerly anticipating stopping at a chik-fil-a for drive through dinner. I LOVED chik-fil-a sandwiches. About two miles out from the exit I got behind a semi-truck hauling chickens (presumably to slaughter). Feathers flying everywhere, filthy truck.... completely killed the craving for a chik-fil-a sandwich. It amazes me how we are able to compartmentalize and avoid acknowledging where meat comes from - that nicely wrapped in plastic sanitized slice of meat at the grocery store does not register for most people how it got there, we simply don't want to know.

I digress..... At this very same time my sister was reading the notorious book "Skinny Bitch". When I returned from this trip she loaned the book to me... I read it and about every other thing out there I could get my hands on within about a four week time frame.... Omnivores Dilemma, Mad Cowboy, Fast Food Nation, The Way We Eat - Why Our Food Choices Matter. Then came the podcasts, Meat Free Radio, Vegetarian Food for Thought, Vegan Freak Radio. All of the blogs - especially during October "VEGAN MOFO" (vegan Month of Food) were lots of fun. The list goes on - all extremely inspiring. I fed myself a constant supply of vegetarian and vegan information. And I have not looked back.

To answer the question on many minds right now - was it hard to "give up meat"? Not at all, it was like a switch went off in my head, and that was it. My dear sister has been my companion, alli and partner all along the way - we have had constant conversations about all sorts of things vegetarian. Its been a bonding experience for us - I feel like we are 8 year old sisters rallying together in some common childhood crusade!

I have also had someone in my life that is not a meat eater - my dear friend Beth has been a vegetarian since she was in high school. For her, the past six months have been a hilarious bout of quiet reflections of "see, I told you so". In the past we have occasionally had some discussions. I vividly remember a conversation probably ten years ago about the environmental impact of McDonalds... all I heard at the time was blah, blah, corn, blah, blah, cattle, blah blah pollution...and all I was thinking is man I love a happy meal. Now Beth - I hear you LOUD AND CLEAR.

Work has also been interesting. We have meetings - we eat together. In the past six months I have had my fair share of meetings with an obligatory sandwich platter - nothing is more satisfying than a cold cheese sandwich. Or worse, when lunch is ordered in and no one bothered to ask if anyone has any preferences - so Jason's deli ham sandwich boxes all around! Great, thanks. Again not wanting to call attention to myself and not make anyone go out of there way - I crawl "into the pantry" and suffer while I try to make a lunch out of a bun and maybe some chips. I have since learned to call ahead and quietly request that I have a veggie option for lunch.

And being newly veggie, the conversations and questions of course come up. My favorite is the assumption I am doing it to loose weight... ugh, I assure you I am not and in fact I think I have gained a few pounds exploring all of my new "options". This is NOT about weight.

What I have also noticed is that my day to day life and to those close to me my food choices have become a non-issue. There is no need for explanation or discussion - which is a very nice quiet and NORMAL place to be. So for those of you just beginning this - I promise it gets easier and you will eventually not have to talk about it so much!

A few brave people have asked: So why are you not eating meat? And again I am back to my perplexed state of what do I say. Do I say - "its a personal choice" stay in the pantry and move on; or blurt "Because of the horrors of industrially produced meat (aka factory farming) and the fact that over 70% of the corn grown in this country is to feed livestock that aren't even supposed to be eating corn and the fact that I can no longer justify that eating a cow is okay but it's not okay for me to eat my great dane - is why I do not eat carcass. And if you knew what I know you would not eat meat either." And stand and watch their jaws gape open and then they awkwardly move the conversation on. Typically my response is a sanitized combo of both of the above responses and if the person is even remotely interested I will tell them to watch "The Meatrix" - http://www.themeatrix.com/ it's a cartoon play on "the matrix" and pretty much sums up why I am not eating meat. It's benign and easy for most people to stomach.

Which brings me to .... Earthlings. I have not watched Earthlings. I started to... and I am too afraid. Having read and listened to everything that I have in the last six months - I am AFRAID of this documentary. I am afraid of what it will do to me. The documentary is nicknamed "The Vegan Maker". It is a VERY intense documentary that details the exploitation of animals as pets, food, entertainment and research. I watched the first section on pets and knew that it only got more intense from there. I am afraid it will make me hate people (more than I currently do now), I am afraid it will make me jump off the deep end and pack up and leave in the middle of the night to join the Animal Liberation Front. I am seriously afraid of this documentary. It's like "The Meatrix" is a Disney film and "Earthlings" is XXX pornography. Or perhaps more appropriately a "snuff" film.

I am afraid of Earthlings.

So I am on the edge of becoming vegan... I have switched to soy milk. That itself was funny - I tried vanilla silk soy milk, hemp milk, almond milk, rice dream... and FINALLY bought just plain ol unsweetened silk soy milk and it is REALLY GOOD. Lesson learned - stick with the basics - you can't go wrong! I have "sour supreme" and "better than cream cheese" and earth balance "butter" in my fridge. I am in love with field roast and match meat. We've discovered a GREAT vegan cafe here in our small town - and have become regulars. I crave their ruben tempeh sandwich - it is INCREDIBLE.

I am almost vegan - I think there were eggs in a few things that I ate yesterday (Thanksgiving). There are a few products that I have I know have egg in them - Quorn is "NOT VEGAN". (for those of you that listen to Vegan Freak Radio you are laughing right now) But it is a really REALLY good chicken substitute - makes a really mean stir fry!

Side rant - I wish more manufacturers would put "VEGAN" on their labels - but it's almost like the mass public would automatically think - ewe that can't possibly be good. SO not true - you'd be surprised what IS vegan - OREO's are vegan - Surprise they are still YUMMY!!! Okay back to the blog

I look at my suede jacket in my closet VERY differently now. I know where it came from. It makes me sad. I buy cosmetics and toiletries that are not tested on animals and do not contain animal products.

My dear Hubby is an omnivore - but he is a REALLY good sport. He likes food as much as I do - and if it tastes good he will eat it. He doesn't care if it's cow or soy. I greatly appreciate that he is supportive. I think at first he was scared that I might jump off the deep end - but has come to respect my choices and it is not a problem. I am encouraging him to make better choices and when he does eat meat it's "Happy Meat" (again vegan freak fans are laughing here).

I am doing what I can. My sister's favorite quote is "Be the change you want to see in the world". I know that I cannot change the world - but what I can do is be one less meat eater on the planet. Deep down inside I do think if you knew what I know you might reconsider your choices.

I leave you with one of my favorite quotes - "You laugh because I am different, I laugh because you are all the same"