Vegan Becca

Peanut Butter Melties

2011-03-04T18:56:00.001-06:00

This is a recipe I adapted from one I got a couple of decades ago in one of those recipe card subscription trial packs... You know the ones I'm talking about (unless you grew up with the interwebs, and then you probably don't). These cookies are almost like short bread in consistency, and they are by far my favorite peanut butter cookies evah.

PEANUT BUTTER MELTIES

3/4 c. earth balance (or other vegan margarine)
3/4 c. creamy peanut butter
1 c. sugar
1 egg replacer (I use Ener-G for this recipe)
2 c. all purpose flour

Cream earth balance, peanut butter, and sugar together until smooth. Beat in the egg replacer. Stir in flour to make a stiff dough. Shape dough into balls about ping-pong ball size. Place on cookie sheets.

Press with cookie stamp or pointed side of meatless mallet or any other object that will transfer a design onto each cookie. Bake at 350 degrees for 8- 10 minutes or until just lightly browned and set. They will be very soft until cooled. Once the cookies firm up, they should slide easily off of the sheets.

Enjoy!

How vegan are you?

2011-02-01T15:01:00.000-06:00

I had someone I’ve been corresponding with through email ask me this question recently, and the emphasis of the discussion was on a person raising or hunting, and killing and butchering their own animals for meat. Trying to explain something to someone in writing has always had the side effect of helping to solidify my understanding of, or views on the subject, and after writing what turned into a short essay on the subject, I thought I would post a slightly revised version of it here.

So, how vegan? In my mind, you're either vegan, or you're not. Either you believe it's okay to exploit animals, or you don't. The term “Vegan” is specifically designating a person who, for ethical reasons, abstains as much as is reasonably possible from exploiting animals for any purpose. If someone is just avoiding eating animal products for health reasons, etc... then they're a strict vegetarian, but not a vegan. Some will make that distinction by calling someone either a dietary, or an ethical vegan. I am definitely an ethical vegan.

I'm not a rabid vegan by any means, and I come a background of ranchers, farmers, and hunters. While I don't necessarily want to hear about or participate in these things, I am pragmatic enough to see that the hunted animals lived natural lives until the moment they were killed, and those raised for personal consumption are usually well cared for. I'm at odds with many vegans on this subject, because I recognize that there will always be people who want to eat meat, and people doing so in a responsible way is better than factory farming. Commercial livestock operations treat animals as product, and are never okay in my mind, no matter how “humane” they claim to be, and trophy hunters deserve a special level of hell reserved just for them. But the person (who we will assume is never going to stop eating meat) who chooses to take direct responsibility for how the animals they eat live and die, definitely gets more respect from me than the average asshole spouting about climbing to the top of the food chain as they eat the steak someone else raised, killed, and dismembered for them, without a care for how much suffering occurred so they could have a ribeye at the Outback.

Vegan in Fredericksburg

2010-07-13T14:28:00.002-05:00

Wow... It's been over a year since I posted here. I've been trying to eat healthier these days - and not always succeeding. But I take it once food choice at a time, and try to make more good choices than bad.

Since my birthday fell on fourth of July weekend, we put off going out of town until this last weekend. Saturday we headed to Fredericksburg, a place not well known for it's healthy vegan options. However, for the most part, I managed to eat surprisingly well. We ended up snacking quite a bit, but I brought dried fruit and nuts with us to try to stay away from bad snacks.

For dinner Saturday night, we had salad, veggie sushi, and a giant (and way overpriced) stir-fry with a miso sauce that was light on oil. Sunday we grabbed lunch at Subway on our way to Enchanted Rock. I skipped the vinegar and oil I normally would have gotten, and had mustard instead - and of course, no chips or soda. I hiked all the way to the top of the rock - which might not seem like a long hike at only .6 miles to the summit, but it's also a 425 ft increase in altitude over that .6 miles. I'm not sure what the flat surface equivalent might be, but it's definitely got to multiply the effective distance hiked by some factor. The SO had a shoe blowout a little over halfway up, so he camped in a shady spot while I went on to the top.

After cleaning up, we went to dinner at Navajo Grill, and had one of the most wonderful meals I've had in a while (short of Wink, of course). The appetizer was a plate of beautiful local tomatoes with olives, basil, cucumber, and balsamic vinegar (no oil). I was in heaven! For our main course, the chef made us a plate that included a lovely pasta dish with fresh local vegetables in a light tomato sauce, spaghetti squash with sun dried tomatoes, and kale sauteed with white wine, lemon, and roasted garlic. It was light, healthy, and delicious. After dinner we went to see the bat emergence at the Old Tunnel, an abandoned railroad tunnel. If you've never seen a bat emergence, they are impressive. This tunnel is home to anywhere from one to three million bats during the summer months - and they all come out of the tunnel at dusk in search of food.

I wasn't perfect, and yes, I ate a few things that aren't on the acceptable list - but I did make more good choices than bad, and I worked exercise into the weekend. A vast improvement over times past, when I would have used being on a getaway trip as an excuse to eat horribly and be a slug.

My first post as the Austin Vegan Examiner

2009-06-26T18:34:00.001-05:00

It was a bit rushed and not my best work, but I'll get better. I'll be covering various vegan topics, and plan to post several times a week.

http://ping.fm/5eNPF

Survival Tips for New Vegans | The Vital Voice

2009-06-20T13:28:00.001-05:00

Nice article with some simple tips for anyone thinking about going vegan.

From: http://ping.fm/KNXEw

The Low Carbon Diet

2009-06-14T16:30:00.001-05:00

http://ping.fm/a59vM

Scientific American article on how meat contributes to global climate changes

2009-06-14T16:29:00.001-05:00

http://ping.fm/PKzBZ

Meat: the slavery of our time

2009-06-05T05:53:00.001-05:00

http://ping.fm/iqQl8

"So how will we become a vegetarian planet? The numbers suggest that we won't stop eating meat simply because it's "the right thing to do." People love it too much. Instead, we'll be forced to stop. By 2025, we simply won't have the resources to keep up the habit."

Faux butterfinger soft serve sundae at Toy Joy. ZOMG good!!

2009-05-30T23:58:00.003-05:00

Now for the details:

Start with a large helping of Toy Joy's own vanilla soft serve, which uses a combination of soy and coconut milks. Drizzle with hot fudge sauce, and coat with crushed Chick-O-Stick candy. Add two pieces of Chick-O-Stick and a cherry, and you're about as close to a Butterfinger sundae as you're going to get in vegan form.

Animals know right from wrong

2009-05-28T04:47:00.001-05:00

It's unfortunate that animals had to be subjected to captivity and testing for scientists to finally come to the same conclusion that anyone with companion animals has known all along. Thanks to Todd for the link.

http://ping.fm/1JI4o

Holy Sugar Coma Batman!

2009-05-27T16:27:00.001-05:00

Someday I will make this. And it will be awesome.

http://ping.fm/zdVCO

Vegan brownie sunday FTW!

2009-05-25T05:52:00.001-05:00

Had this wonderful brownie sunday with chocolate mint ice "cream" and hot fudge sauce at Lula's Sweet Apothecary in New York City last weekend. It was incredible, and a real joy to go to an all vegan ice cream shop.

Uploaded by www.cellspin.net

Q & A

2009-05-14T01:46:00.003-05:00

1. Favorite non-dairy milk?

Original Almond Breeze

2. What are the top 3 dishes/recipes you are planning to cook?

Miso soup
Mac 'n Crack
Tofu Scramble and chipotle “sausage”

3. Topping of choice for popcorn?

Earth Balance, popcorn salt & nutritional yeast

4. Most disastrous recipe/meal failure?

Gluten-free brownies from a mix . Not pretty - or edible.

5. Favorite pickled item?

Sweet relish

6. How do you organize your recipes?

Uhm...

7. Compost, trash, or garbage disposal?

Compost everything possible, use disposal on rinsed bits that clog the drain, trash for the rest.

8. If you were stranded on an island and could only bring 3 foods...what would they be (don't worry about how you'll cook them)?

Avocado, brownies, edamame

9. Fondest food memory from your childhood?

Mom making me lasagna for my birthday.

10. Favorite vegan ice cream?

Soy Dream Butter Pecan.

11. Most loved kitchen appliance?

Toaster oven.

12. Spice/herb you would die without?

Garlic

13. Cookbook you have owned for the longest time?

A cookbook put out by my grandfather's church. Decidedly not vegan.

14. Favorite flavor of jam/jelly?

Red plum

15. Favorite vegan recipe to serve to an omni friend?

Mac 'n Crack

16. Seitan, tofu, or tempeh?

Tofu, definitely tofu.

17. Favorite meal to cook (or time of day to cook)?

Afternoon

18. What is sitting on top of your refrigerator?

Cookbooks, a pitcher, some stouts & I'm not sure what else... it's a jungle up there

19. Name 3 items in your freezer without looking.

Whole strawberries, vegan wontons, edamame

20. What's on your grocery list?

Vegetable stock, sweet relish, vegenaise, carrots

21. Favorite grocery store?

HEB, because it's close - but Whole Foods for vegan specialty items.

22. Name a recipe you'd love to veganize, but haven't yet.

Banana pudding

23. Food blog you read the most. Or maybe the top 3?

Lonestar Plate - The Vegan Blog of Texas

24. Favorite vegan candy/chocolate?

Dark chocolate with mint, or with almonds and cranberries

25. Most extravagant food item purchased lately?

Chocolate - always with the chocolate

26. What foods are you embarrassed about liking?

I dunno... Sour Patch Kids?

Your Turn!

Animals just wanna have fun

2009-05-11T15:14:00.004-05:00

"From tickling to playing catch, animals engage in certain behaviors just for fun..."

This article makes the point (in a round-about way) that animal activists should focus as much on the fact that animals feel and pursue pleasure, as that they experience fear and pain. I was pleasantly surprised to see the fundamental argument for animal abolition and veganism being presented in a mainstream article - simply that "an animal's life has intrinsic value, that is, value to the individual independent of his or her value to anyone else, including humans..." I am somewhat disappointed that they didn't mention veganism at all, but on the other hand, it's possible the article will plant some ideas in the minds of people who would otherwise dismiss any article with the words "vegan" or "animal abolition" as propoganda.

Shoreline Grill

2009-05-10T03:07:00.000-05:00

I had recently been bemoaning the lack of vegan-friendly upscale restaurants. While looking for a place to take my grandmother for Mother's Day, my wonderful mother found the Shoreline Grill - a very nice restaurant with a vegetarian menu, that actually includes several options marked as vegan.

I started with a local microgreens salad with dried tart cherries, toasted hazelnuts, and a roasted poblano vinaigrette. The flavors worked very well together, and I'd definitely order it again. We decided to try both of the vegan small plates. The first was a tofu tartare, with a "creamy" wasabi sauce, avocado, and house made taro chips. The tofu was lightly marinated with just enough sesame oil to give it a hint of smokiness, without overpowering the other flavors. The other small plate was a "vegetable twister" - basically a sushi roll with avocado, cucumber, asparagus, and sweet soy sauce - all wrapped in potato strings and then deep fried until the potato is browned and crispy. The penne pasta entree was lovely, with a very light sauce enhancing the flavors of the vegetables, rather than it being the primary flavor. For dessert the kitchen put together a dish for us that included a strawberry sorbet surrounded by a flash-frozen berry mix.

Overall, the experience was quite good, and we had a lovely evening. However, as I began writing this post, I realized that instead of the vegan pan roasted tofu that we thought we had ordered for our second entree, we were served the dish directly below it on the menu which included a ginger cream sauce. I'm pretty upset about it, but I can't remember if I specifically said vegan when ordering the tofu. It's such a habit for me that I think I did, but I'm not entirely sure. Where the creamy sauce would normally have been a clue for me, the sauce with the tofu tartare was also quite creamy, and was vegan, so I didn't suspect. I saw a tofu dish marked vegan and ordered it, without really looking closely at the rest of the description. I didn't even look at any of the menu items not marked vegan, or I probably would have realized they'd served us something else entirely. I'm pretty much kicking myself, and feeling a bit ill now at the thought of eating cow excretions. Now I'm just hoping that the dairy doesn't trigger a migraine for me.

Tofu Scramble - Why does everyone alway put turmeric in it?

2009-05-02T01:32:00.000-05:00

I love tofu scramble, but if you look at a dozen recipes for it, ten of them will probably use turmeric. As far as I can tell, the turmeric is just to add a yellow color in order to make the tofu look more like scrambled eggs - it certainly doesn’t add anything to the flavor, and actually detracts from an otherwise yummy dish in my opinion. To be honest, the sight (much less smell) of scrambled eggs makes me want to throw up in my mouth a little, so I can’t understand why anyone would want to make yummy tofu look like something so disgusting. I’ve tried several of the better known recipes out there, but I find I do my best cooking on the fly (except for baking - I always stick fairly close to the base recipe when baking). So here’s my favorite way to make tofu scramble, with a decidedly tex-mex flavor:

- Saute onion, fresh garlic and diced new potatoes in olive oil (or vegetable stock, if trying to reduce fat) until the potatoes are about half done.

- Add sliced mushroom - I prefer baby portobellos - and saute until the mushrooms are almost done.

- Add two Field Roast Chipotle links (or a milder sausage if you’re not into the spice), sliced into small bite-size pieces, and saute until the sausage is warm through.

- Crumble one package of drained extra-firm tofu into the skillet.

- Add your favorite salsa, starting with about one third cup, and adding more if you like. At this point the mix will be fairly wet, but it will cook down fairly quickly.

- Next add your spices (see below) and about a half a cup of nutritional yeast.

- For spices, I like to add black pepper, garlic salt, cumin, and smoked paprika. I couldn’t tell you the exact amounts if I tried, but if you absolutely need quantities, try starting with 1/2 tsp of black pepper, 1 tsp garlic salt, and 2 tsps each cumin and smoked paprika. I think those are probably a little less than I actually use, but it’s always easier to add spice than to remove it.

Simmer over the same heat level used to saute until enough liquid has evaporated to suit your preference. I like mine fairly moist - but that could be just because I’m ready to chow down already!

To complete the tex-mex flavor, serve with sliced avocado and corn tortillas. For another variation, try adding corn and black beans in the first couple of steps, and top with fried corn tortilla strips (the small bits at the bottom of the tortilla chip bag work pretty well too).

Buca di Beppo

2009-04-29T22:13:00.005-05:00

We went to Buca di Beppo tonight for Jess's birthday dinner, and sat at the kitchen table - quite an experience. It was interesting to be right in the heart of the kitchen, but noisy.

While the vegan options are limited, the items that were available were all pretty decent. We started with the bruschetta, which was piled high with a nicely seasoned tomato blend, and quite tasty. The waitress gained points by realizing and pointing out that the "vinaigrette" that normally comes with the salad would not be vegan since it has egg in it (okay, really? egg? in a vinaigrette? WTF?). She brought out olive oil and balsamic vinegar for the salad, which while simple, did have sweet peppers, and kalamata and green olives.

For entrees, we had gnocchi with a garlicky tomato basil sauce*, and spaghetti marinara. Our waitress racked up some more points by offering to check the ingredients list of the gnocchi, but I have to say it was my least favorite of the dishes we had. The sauce was good, but the gnocchi was bland and smooshy. The spaghetti marinara was quite yummy though, and the spaghetti was perfectly cooked.

The highlight of the evening for me though, was the Ultimate Raspberry Lemon Drop. Bacardi Razz and Limon, sweet and sour, and a couple of frozen raspberries served in a martini glass dipped in sugar with lemon zest. Yum!

*Note: My good friend Sarah of The Southern Fried Vegan pointed out that the gnocchi is normally served with a roasted garlic marinara sauce with "a touch of cream". The server checked the ingredients list for us, and the gnocchi itself is vegan, so we had them sub a vegan sauce.

Vegan Friendly Fine Dining in Austin?

2009-04-29T17:44:00.002-05:00

I love Austin. There are so many vegan-friendly restaurants here, and most are serving great food, but so far they're all very casual. My mother (who is awesome) went to some trouble to find a really nice place called Shoreline Grill to go to for Mother's Day, that not only has a vegetarian menu, but half of the items on it are marked vegan. To top it off... they look delicious!

I'll be posting a review of the meal after Mother's Day, but I'd love to hear if anyone has any other vegan fine dining suggestions, or would like to share their experiences with Shoreline Grill.

Veggie Royale & Vegan "Queso" at Bouldin Creek

2009-04-18T23:09:00.001-05:00

Yum!

Vegan "queso"

2009-04-08T18:08:00.001-05:00

Had this the other night at Bouldin Creek Cafe. OMFG it was awesome! Warm cheezy sauce over a scoop of avocado, sprinkled with fresh onion and cilantro. The flavor was wonderful, and it really evoked the qualities that I used to love about queso. Hope it becomes a regular on the menu.

Amsterdam, Etc...

2008-11-13T04:08:00.002-06:00

The serious lack of vegan food choices was my main complaint with Amsterdam. I had a great time otherwise, but mealtimes were a constant struggle. Fortunately there was a wonderful place quite close to the hotel (and scattered throughout the city) called Maoz that served fresh falafel, with a nice variety of vegan toppings to choose from. We ate there several times.

Although most restaurants had vegetarian items, they were almost always covered up in cheese. One nice surprise was a Mexican place called Rose's Cantina. The waitress was extremely helpful, going so far as to have the kitchen make us a special batch of guacamole without sour cream (as if sour cream ever belonged in guac anyway). She helped us figure out what on the menu would be easily adapted, and made an excellent suggestion for adding an ingredient to the dish that we chose that we didn't know was available. By far the most pleasant dining experience we had.

In contrast, we went to local Austin chain Iron Cactus Monday night... I have to say I was surprised to be informed that they were unable to make as simple a change to a menu item as making some enchiladas without cheese in them. Apparently the dishes are all prepared ahead of time, and there was no one in the kitchen capable of cooking something from fresh ingredients. Sad. So I ended up with veggie fajitas - again. They were good, don't get me wrong. I've just come to expect better from a place that has the gall to charge $9 for tableside guac.

"Vegetarian is the New Prius" article

2008-07-09T10:05:00.002-05:00

Just wanted to share this article on The Huffington Post site.

Outstanding Vegan Pizza

2008-05-22T20:23:00.001-05:00

We ordered a cheeseless veggie pizza in Moab, UT expecting the usual meager ingredients. This thing is piled so high with veggies they keep falling off with every bite.

Nom! Nom! Nom!

Lunch outside of Zion Canyon

2008-05-16T15:22:00.001-05:00

Yummy pita & beautiful scenery

Kerbey Lane Cafe in Austin

2008-05-03T00:38:00.001-05:00

OMFG! Vegan tofu mocha cheesecake. 'Nuf said.

I've been slacking on the new recipes

2008-02-16T18:21:00.004-06:00

So I made two this week. The first is the vegetable curry recipe from The Garden of Vegan. I don't think I chopped the broccoli and cauliflower up as small as they intended, and I didn't have any carrots, but it turned out wonderfully anyway. Also, it called for it to be served with jasmine rice, but all I had was basmati...

I also made an Indian dahl recipe from Asian Vegan Cooking. I didn't have yellow split peas, so I used green instead - again, turned out wonderfully anyway...

All this industriousness was inspired by a need to use a bunch of vegetables that were about to go bad because they've been sitting in my veggie bin for over a week while I was too sick to cook much of anything. Now that I'm feeling much better, I felt I should salvage what I could. The plus is that both recipes made enough that I can eat them for several lunches this week!

My V-Day treat

2008-02-16T16:04:00.001-06:00

I took myself out to eat Thursday for V-Day to - where else - the Spiral Diner. They had these adorable little petit fours, so I took a couple home with me since I was, as usual, too full for dessert. They were as yummy as they were cute. And that is a synthetic leather top on my writing desk - in case you were wondering :-p

Finally, some decent food pictures!

2008-01-25T20:04:00.001-06:00

Okay, it's been a while... but, here's a couple of meals I made recently. I even took good pics with my grown-up camera!

Tofu scramble with potatoes, onion, bell pepper and mushroom, and tofu un-bacon. The un-bacon was a bit off on the seasoning... still good, but I definitely want to tweak it some.

And here's kale sauted with onion, mushroom and tofu. I used a lot of chili-garlic sauce, along with additional fresh garlic, and ginger.

Tolerating non-vegans

2008-01-08T21:35:00.000-06:00

This started as a post on the Vegan Freak forums... but I felt that I had more to say and contemplate, so I'm expanding on it here.

A poster there mentioned their increasing difficulty tolerating non-vegans. I was having this same conversation with a vegan friend the other day... About how I find it harder and harder to tolerate omnis that I really like, much less casual acquaintances. I could barely manage to sit and eat lunch with a lady that I've worked and eaten lunch with on and off for 7 years.

I don't even want to spend time around my family as much because of it - everything revolves around eating for most of my family, and therefore revolves around death. Sadly, I think many of my old omni friends have begun to sense this and are slowly drifting away. Even sadder - I'm not so sure that I'm not somewhat relieved that they are, so that I don't have to deal with it every time I go out with them.

I managed to not go to many of my family's big celebrations last year involving large numbers of dead animals... And even got some of them to eat veg with me for several meals. My mother eats vegetarian when it's just us. If I go out socially anymore, it's usually with my vegan friends.

I want to spend as much time in the company of other vegans as possible, and I'm gradually separating myself as much as I can from the omni world. I'm not sure if this is a good thing... but it's the direction I find myself going for now.

Tried two new recipes this week...

2008-01-06T22:51:00.000-06:00

I did a new baked seitan recipe that turned out great... and a whole wheat bread recipe that also came out wonderfully - nice and dense. I like bread that has some substance to it. However, I couldn't find my camera and the cell phone pics looked oh-so-less than appetizing, so no pictures.

I promise a better post next time, but at least I did try the new recipes. And the two of them made a fantastic sandwich for lunch today!

National Geographic series on Best Friends Animal Society begins tonight

2008-01-04T10:17:00.001-06:00

The National Geographic Channel is doing a special on Best Friends Animal Society called Dogtown. The first of the three-part series airs at 9 p.m. Central time tonight. This Salt Lake Tribune story quotes the series executive producer Chris Valentini, "They take dogs that have no place left to go. It's their last chance and [Best Friends staff] do amazing things in dealing with the dogs' medical problems and getting them adopted out."

Recipe of the week?

2008-01-03T00:10:00.000-06:00

I want to blog here more often, and I'm thinking about doing a vegan recipe of the week thing where I try a new recipe at least once a week. This will both encourage me to try new recipes, and make me blog here on a weekly basis. I'll start this week and have the first recipe up by Sunday night.

There. I'm committed to it now.

Sometimes people surprise you

2007-12-09T12:47:00.001-06:00

Where I work they give us a mug full of candy each year for your anniversary. Usually the candy is a bunch of milk chocolate. My second anniversary was last week, and today I came in to find my anniversary mug filled (mostly) with vegan candy. Someone I work with had gone to the trouble to pick candy like Twizzlers, taffy, even some Craisins. There were a couple of non-vegan things that had gelatin in them... but it's the thought that counts.

Love it when the company caters food for us...

2007-11-28T14:42:00.001-06:00

Not! Today was the monthly birthday "treat" day. As usual, nothing I'll eat. A selection of baby bundt cakes from The Corner Bakery, covered in icing. I actually tried to find the nutrition information on their website - not there. Surprisingly, they don't want to tell people just how much fat and calories they're consuming with their baked goods.

On my search, I decided to go look at Einstein Bros Bagel's nutrition information and found that one of my old favorites, the Fruit & Nut Power Bagel, has an egg wash. Why? None of their regular bagels do... why this one? So I wrote them a polite nasty-gram telling them how stupid and foul it was for them to do that.

Plus side... had two different conversations with folks in my department today about being vegan and what I eat.

The Big Bread

2007-11-22T13:49:00.001-06:00

Made the Big Bread recipe from VegWeb.com to take to a potluck. It was so easy!

My oven's inaccurate temp guage strikes again. A little dark, but still be edible - yummy in fact!

Stroganoff!

2007-11-16T14:29:00.001-06:00

The Spiral Diner has a new specials menu! Stroganoff is on there, so I had to have some, and it was awesome! Chase it down with an almond milk latte, and I'm in vegan heaven :-)

The "Mitch" Tofu Club @ Spiral Diner

2007-11-03T11:40:00.000-05:00

Grilled tofu, tomato, lettuce, Baco bits, Chipotle mayo & avocado, w/ their fantastic potato salad! YUM!

Veganomicon!

2007-10-28T14:23:00.001-05:00

Borders had Veganomicon displayed in the center aisle on a display titled "For the Foodie" between two Barefoot Contessa cookbooks... can't decide if it's a good thing to be lumped in with the foodies.

All You Can Eat Pancakes!

2007-10-28T14:18:00.001-05:00

Cranberry pecan pancakes at the Spiral Diner, with an almond milk mocha... I think I believe in heaven now.

Celebration Roast!

2007-10-27T16:06:00.001-05:00

Being pretty lazy Thursday night, I pulled some stuff outof the fridge to toss together. I ended up warming up some leftover Celebration Roast, smothered in brown gravy with mushrooms. Some quick home fries on the side, and it was comfort food, quick and easy. Absolutely delish!

Pumpkin Nut Bread

2007-10-15T09:43:00.001-05:00

I made this last night from a favorite pre-vegan recipe. I substituted flax "eggs" and soymilk for the animal secretions. I truly cannot tell the difference from when I made it before going vegan. Yum!

Spiral Diner!

2007-09-26T05:32:00.001-05:00

Had some wonderful chik'n noodle soup and corn muffins at the Spiral Diner tonight. I love eating there because it's all vegan. It's just a little hard to choose sometimes, since there are so many wonderful options.

Massive bowl of hummus Yum!

2007-09-22T14:13:00.001-05:00

Made a giant bowl of hummus for a Vegan Freak meetup tonight. Fantastic stuff!

2007-09-16T09:08:00.001-05:00

Vegans have a 50% reduced risk of diabetes and 40% reduced risk of cancer! Live healthy live vegan!

Butter Pecan!

2007-09-07T21:56:00.002-05:00

One thing that keeps many people from going vegan is the thought of missing favorite foods. These days, there are vegan versions of all sorts of things. One of my big loves was always ice cream. The quality of non-dairy ice creams has come so far that you can't even tell the difference with many of the flavors out there.

Case in point: Soy Dream Butter Pecan. This stuff is fantastic! It tastes as good as, or better than, any butter pecan ice cream I've ever had.

2007-09-04T14:08:00.001-05:00

According to a United Nations report the livestock industry produces 18 percent more greenhouse gas than all cars in world!

Pizza Feast!

2007-09-03T21:37:00.001-05:00

My roommate and I made this awesome pizza with onion, zucchini, mushrooms, bell peppers, spinach, tofu ricotta, and black olives. Absolutely delicious!

Newest member of the family

2007-09-02T07:58:00.001-05:00

His name is Han Solo - Solo for short. He was the only one of his litter to survive so someone suggested Solo and since I'm such a geek, Han Solo he became :D

New Shoes!

2007-09-01T07:31:00.000-05:00

Found some great new (non-leather) shoes yesterday at Payless. I have a hard time finding shoes because of my large feet (women's size 12), so I'm always on the lookout. I'm hoping by this time next year to have replaced most, if not all, of my leather shoes with non-leather stuff.

I found a great brand called Annie's online at Zappos.com. The bulk of their stuff seems to be all man-made materials, most of their styles were in the $50 range, and they have lots of styles in my size. My plan is to buy a pair every month or so until I've got a decent wardrobe of work shoes built up.

I thought I was going to gradually replace my pregan leather items as they wore out, but every time I wear them I'm constantly reminded that I'm wearing the skin of what was once another living being - and I just can't continue much longer.

Cleaning out cupboards

2007-08-28T13:31:00.001-05:00

I spent the better part of my weekend going through my kitchen and bathroom cabinets. This is a chore I've been putting off for quite some time, but I couldn't stand it any longer.

I threw out a good sized garbage bag of items that weren't vegan, and it felt great. Still got a ways to go, but I'm slowly getting there. I had intended to use up my non-vegan toiletries, but the thought of using items that were manufactured with cruelty and death has begun to weigh heavily on me. I still have a large amount of cleaning supplies that I'm not sure I can continue using much longer.

There are a few things I still have no choice on for the moment. Any medications are automatically not vegan, and I have one that I can't stop taking yet. I don't have the money to replace all my shoes for work yet. But any new purchases I buy will be vegan.

The longer I am vegan, and the more I learn, the more I realize how oblivious I've been to the suffering infused in the products I use. What I used to think of as unreasonable, now seem to be the only ethically consistent choices to make.

2007-08-28T07:47:00.001-05:00

Every hour over one million animals are killed for food in the US. If each of us cut our intake by 10% 1 billion animals would be spared per year

Saw this cattle truck on a recent trip

2007-08-27T08:27:00.001-05:00

Note the Eat Beef slogan on the back.

Texas Steak CookOff = Texas Cattle Massacre

2007-05-17T08:14:00.001-05:00

My family wants me to go to a steak cookoff in Hico, Texas, that my cousin is competing in. I've gone in past years, when I was pre-vegan, but now all I'd be able to think about is how many cows were massacred for some little podunk town to draw in some tourists. Besides, I'm not sure I could stand the smell - blech!

No, I believe I'll pass this year - and every year - in the interest of family harmony, and my own sanity. I'd just spend the day getting more disgusted and angry by the minute. And they're not going to change, so why waste my energy on something so futile? I could be blogging instead!

Cooking Meat Smells Gross

2007-04-01T22:06:00.000-05:00

I always used to think I loved the smell of meat cooking. I've discovered that it's really just the spices I love the smell of - the garlic, rosemary, pepper, etc... The smell of plain unadorned meat truly grosses me out now. And eggs always did smell gross while cooking. When I used to eat eggs, I put so much other stuff in them (onion, garlic, etc...) that it covered the smell. But someone was frying eggs the other day, and I had to leave the room.

I've recently heard the argument that because humans are actually plant-eaters, we are naturally disgusted by the look, feel, smell and taste of meat. This is why we have to change it so much in order to be able to eat it. We remove it as far from its original source as possible. We cut it into small pieces that in no way resemble the animal it came from. We cover it in spices (made from plants) to cover the taste, and we cook it to change the texture from squishy and slimy to a firmer texture and consistency that is closer to that of plants.

The longer I'm vegan, the more I re-sensitize to my natural disgust at the sight and smell of animal flesh. I recently saw a tape of knife demonstration that was very disturbing. The demonstrator had a huge slab of cow flesh hung from a hook and was slashing and stabbing at it to show how "effective" each of the knives were. After just a few moments of watching him slash these gaping wounds, into what was once a beautiful and gentle creature, I got nauseous and had to turn away.

Vegan For Life

2007-02-26T03:26:00.000-06:00

I love being vegan. I eat so much more interesting food than I ever did as an omnivore, and definitely more healthy food. The best part is that I feel light, as if a burden has been lifted. I don't have the constant inner struggle with the guilt of knowing living beings were being killed and tortured merely for the pleasure of my tastebuds. I wrote a poem almost two years ago after seeing dairy cows in small muddy lots all across California. Let's just say they didn't look like happy cows to me...

California Dairy Cows

Black and white

milk machines bred for

my dining pleasure. Standing

foot deep in mud and

urine. Udders swollen with

food for stolen calves you will

never see again.

For my mint-chocolate-chip, you

will never graze green pastures. For

sour cream on a baked potato, you

sleep in shit. Buttering my toast

is cruel and unusual

punishment.

I don't have that guilt anymore and it feels wonderful. Franz Kafka is said to have summed it up very well while looking at fish in an aquarium...

"Now I can look at you in peace; I don't eat you any more."