Vegan Poem.. so beautiful and inspiring!

I just ran across this poem from a mother to her daughter on veganhealth.org and I totally fell in love with it!   I thought I would share it with you!  It's so inspiring! 

You'll never watch an elephant standing on her head
You will see amazing acrobats and painted clowns instead.

You'll never color Easter eggs or eat a "Happy" Meal
Instead you'll give pigs belly rubs - You'll know chickens dream and feel.

The clamor from the ice cream truck won't be music to your ears
You will know your Soy Delicious caused no suffering or tears.

You may hear a gentle gobble as you softly stroke a turkey
And give thanks that she's alive as you're eating your Tofurky.

While other kids buy leather shoes and eat at Chuck E. Cheese
You'll be kissing cows and feeding goats and saying "soy please!"

Being different can be hard I know - This world is often cruel
Maybe you'll be laughed at by the other kids at school. 

But compassion is a vital gift that too few share with others
And your heart will not be filled with guilt the way it plagues your mother's. 

So don't ever be embarrassed or ashamed because you care
You'll be uniquely beautiful with an empathy that's rare. 

And when you see a rescued lamb and touch his thick warm fleece
You'll feel no sadness or remorse - You can look at him in peace. 

What took so long for me to learn, I'll start teaching you from birth
And your footprint will be much tinier on this fragile earth.

 http://www.veganhealth.org/articles/realveganchildren

Earthlings.

I'm forcing myself to watch "Earthlings" again tonight.  I watched it before I was vegan.. and it was what made me become vegan to begin with.  Now that I've been vegan for a while now, I feel that its important for me to watch it again with a more open mind.  I will take notes and write about what I see: 


-Both humans and animals have many of the same desires (though not all) such as the desire for food, water, shelter, companionship, freedom of movement, and avoidance of pain
-Many animals understand the world in which they live and breathe, otherwise they would not survive.
-They are not just "in" the world, they are aware of it
-If we had to kill our own meat, we would all be vegetarians
-Branding, Dehorning (without anesthesia), transportation to slaughter house, milking
-Pesticides and antibiotics are used to increase milk productivity and milk cows are chained and do not get any exercise
-The average cow lives for 20 years, but a milking cow lives on average 4 years
-"Downer" milk cows are often slaughtered and used for fast food restaurants
-Veal calves are taken from their mothers 2 days after birth
-Veal calves are kept with a rope around their neck to reduce breathing
-Baby pigs undergo "tail docking" "ear clipping" and "teeth cutting" and "castration" without any anesthesia
-Throat slitting is the cheapest method of killing an animal
-Americans consume as much chicken in a day as the average american consumed in a year in 1930

To be continued.... I've had enough for tonight.

Denny's Vegetable Skillet made without eggs and sauteed with oil!  This was absolutely DELICIOUS!!!! wow!  I absolutely loved it! I will certainly go back again for a delicious breakfast!  There was so many wonderful veggies in this dish as well as potatoes!  I love when its relatively easy to accommodate a vegan at a common restaurant chain!  I highly suggest this to anyone who is on the road and looking for a cheap yet satisfying breakfast that's vegan.  Because of my job, I have to travel a lot and I'm forced to make items on the menu at a restaurant vegan. I actually enjoy it and have found that its pretty easy to make an item vegan once you get a little practice some tips on making an item vegan that may not already be vegan: 


1. Make sure there is no meat (seems obvious, but better safe than sorry)
2. Ask the waiter or waitress how the item is grilled or sauteed (if applicable)... many places will saute their vegetables in butter, so request that its 
3. Ask if there is any cheese on the item, it's not always listed on the item description
4. Stick with oil based dressing or french dressing
5.  If you are ordering a salad that would originally contain meat and/or cheese, in addition to asking for the salad without, look around the menu for any nuts or bean included in the item descriptions of other meals and/or ask your waitress if there are any beans or nuts in the kitchen.  When ordering your salad, ask for beans or nuts on your salad in place of the meat and cheese.
6. Don't assume its vegan just because its vegetarian (may still contain cheese, butter,etc)
7. Be patient and don't assume that everyone knows exactly what "vegan" means
8. If possible, look at a menu ahead of time, suggest a restaurant that you have looked up on happycow.net, or call ahead and asked about vegan options to determine which options might work for you
9. Sometime's waitresses and waiters may get impatient with you either carry on the questions with them regardless, or ask to speak with the head chef
10. Inquire if there are any vegan options on the menu
11. You can never say thank you enough even for the simplest accommodate or menu enough. Saying thank you will inspire restaurant owners and chefs to add more vegan items to the menu

Separation Anxiety

Lately I've been experiencing a little bit of separation anxiety.  Its not the type of separation anxiety one would think to pair with vegan-ism... ya know missing eggs and dairy etc... nope, it's separation anxiety from my family.  My family are literally 100% opposed to my vegan diet.  They are so turned off to the idea that they are basically ignoring me in my own house.  I feel so ignored and abandoned.  The thing is, I haven't even "officially" told them that I'm vegan.  The way I see it is kind of like this: 


My parents might already "know", based on my food selections and choices, that I'm vegan... but the way they are treating me in response to my lifestyle choices make me feel less and less comfortable with "coming out" to them about being vegan.  Even if they "know", there is a certain level of trust and comfort-ability that I must feel with their likelihood of accepting my decision in order to actually "come out".  Honestly, right now, I feel that they would be incredibly rude and insensitive about the whole issue.  My parents use the terms, "weird shit" and "vegan freak" when I'm cooking.... not exactly the most comfortable of environments to tell your parents that you are making a major life change in.  


I have literally walked into the house 3 nights in a row and my parents have made not one peep to me the entire night... no hello, no how are you, no nothing.  It's almost like they are perceiving what I am doing for MY life as a threat to their own... I literally feel like a stranger in my own home.  The most frustrating part about the whole thing is that I haven't said one single word to them about my feelings about them eating meat because I know that that is not my business, however they can't seem to refrain from making rude and insensitive comments about my eating habits.  Also, I was taught to always treat others with respect no matter how different from you they are... now 22 years later, my parents can't practice what they preach.  I eat good food and I'm proud of my choice. dammit. 


For those of you who don't know, I graduated college and I'm now living with my parents for a couple months before I head to Thailand to volunteer.  In addition to not having lived with my parents in several years, I am also trying to live with them with this new lifestyle I have employed. My parents arent the easiest to please.  They are your average burger and friends, steak and potato kind of people... Atkins diets, low carb diet, diet pill popping, etc etc.....My stepdad is wonderful, but certainly your, "where's the meat?" kind of guy when it comes to vegetarian dishes.  They may be less of a "tough egg to crack" and more of... well, "giant pieces of granite.  

You'll Never Need Chipotle Again

You heard me right, I said, "You'll Never Need Chipotle Again"... It's a daring phrase I know, but I'm willing to risk it all for you to try this fabulous recipe that tastes like a Chipotle burrito bowl.  The combination of these flavors is amazing! I could literally just eat the whole bowl.  I dare you to try it!  So here goes nothing.... :

Mock Chipotle Burrito Bowl: 
1 Cup Uncooked Quinoa + 2 Cups water (cook first: Add 1C Quinoa to 2 Cups water. Cook on high until it boils then reduce to a simmer until all the water is absorbed (13-16 minutes))
2 Tomatoes (diced)
1 Green Pepper

1 Bunch of Fresh Cilantro- add as much or as little as you would like... chop it up into small pieces (I added about 1/2 of a bunch)
1 Jalapeno (remove seeds and dice into tiny pieces)
1 small onion or 1/2 a large onion
3 Cloves of Garlic (diced)
1 Can of Corn- drained
1 Can of Black Beans- drained and rinsed


Throw all of the above listed ingredients into a large mixing bowl and add Quinoa when it is finished.  Mix well and then mix in the sauce/dressing (listed below).  May be refrigerated or eaten fresh.  Serve on tortillas or with tortilla chips for dipping.  This will be a new family favorite!   


For sauce:
1 Teaspoon Salt (1 teaspoon)
1 Tablespoon Ground Cumin
1/4-1/3 Cup of Olive Oil (1/4-1/3)
2 Fresh Limes (squeeze juice) OR 3 Tablespoons of Lime Juice

BEST FLIPPIN' MAC AND CHEESE OF ALL TIME

I'm always looking for recipes that dont "taste" vegan.  Well, if you are looking for a recipe to impress your family and friends and want to sneak it past them that its vegan.. THIS is the recipe for you!  Holy AMAZING!  I used the mozzarella Daiya cheese only when using this recipe and it resulted in a alfredo tasting pasta that was absolutely delicious!  I added a variety of garlic salt, onion salt, basil, pepper, and salt.  I topped it off with crushed corn flakes.  I served this dish to my boyfriend and his family and they absolutely loved it and didn't know it was vegan until they asked the question, "wait, don't vegan NOT eat cheese".  Stumped them!  I'm not a huge fan of the flavor of Daiya on its own, but this recipe really brings Daiya to life and makes for a wonderful meal!  I highly suggest it!  All credit goes to The Vegan Zombie! I'm very glad I took the dive and made this!


Ingredients:
1 lb elbow pasta
1/4 cup flour
1/4 cup canola oil
2 cups soymilk
Daiya cheese 1 1/3 cup (feel free to mix a little of each flavor)
1 tbsp basil garlic spice
1 tsp onion powder
vegan bread crumbs
paprika
salt & pepper

boil pasta
heat canola oil over med heat
stir in flour
add soymilk and bring to boil
add salt pepper, basil garlic spice, and onion powder
add cheese and stir together
strain pasta and put in deep pot
pour melted cheese sauce over pasta
place in glassware dish
add breadcrumbs
sprinkle paprika on top
place in over 20 mins for 350*

Recovery and Veganism... where's the fit?

I've been spending a lot of time lately trying to collect my thoughts on where my vegan lifestyle fits into my recovery from anorexia.  When I was a sophomore, junior, and senior in high school I  was diagnosed with anorexia and was hospitalized for several months at Methodist Eating Disorder Institute.  While its been several years since I've been in the hospital, I still deal with poor body image, guilt, unreasonable fear of foods etc.... I've been able to manage that actual task of eating and maintaining a normal weight over the years which is good, but my mentality isn't quite to par.  


When I entered the hospital, one of the main things that they focused on was re-educating us on nutrition education and how all foods can fit into a healthy diet.  Each of us was provided an individualized meal plan which included a certain number of "breads", "fats", "milks", "veggies", "fruit", "proteins", and "desserts" per day. These meal plans were created to either promote weight gain, weight maintenance, or weight loss (for those with binge eating disorder).  I clearly remember entering the hospital and being told that vegetarian and vegan diets are not catered to at the hospital because many people with eating disorders will use them as an excuse to exclude foods from their diets and to restrict. Unfortunately this is extremely true and was certainly something, i too, fell into.  Obviously, when a plate with meat on it is placed in front of you, you have the option to refuse to eat it, but eventually most people in the hospital fall into eating the plate of meat because they were never truly (ethically or morally) vegan or vegetarian to begin with.  My refusal to eat meat, milk, cheese, butter, etc during that time in my life was not an ethical or moral standpoint, but rather a symptom of my eating disorder.  Aside from the obvious factor that I was EXTREMELY underweight, I know this because had you offered me a vegan alternative such as vegan butter, vegan cheese, almond milk, soy milk,or faux meat... I would have also declined that option.  I wasn't thinking about my personal health, animal cruelty, ethics, or environmental concerns, I was thinking about restricting and calories.  As I began to gain weight, I became more comfortable with eating meat and including meat, cheese, milk, etc in my diet and began to enjoy the flavors of the food I was eating.


In the course of my recovery, I had to avoid becoming vegan or vegetarian because for me, it was a symptom of my eating disorder and I wasn't sure if I would be able to keep myself from relapsing if I began a vegan/vegetarian lifestyle.  Each and every dietary move I made had to be assessed from several different angles to make sure that I was making that choice for the right reasons and not for the eating disorder reasons.  I remember eating out at restaurants and seeking out the vegetarian/vegan option because they were "safer" and "healthier" and the meat meals.  But still, I wasn't making vegetarian decisions because I ethically believed that vegetarianism was the right way, I was being controlled by my eating disorder which told me that meat, cheese, milk, fat, dessert, etc was going to make me fat.  There would be times when I would need to choose between grilled fish and a vegetarian quesadilla and i would undoubtedly choose the fish because i was more concerned with the calories than the ethics of eating meat. 


As years passed and I became more confident with my ability to feed myself properly and choose foods that met my dietary needs, I got a little more creative with my meals and was finally able to make meals because i wanted them and not because my eating disorder was telling me what to eat, when to eat, and how to eat.  I still had a red flag about being vegetarian and especially vegan because i thought it was extremely restrictive and would absolutely lead me to relapse.  Through a series of events in my life in the last year, I was lead to learning more about the vegan lifestyle and the ethics that coincide with it.  Everything I learned about being vegan tugged on my soul and stood true with my own personal ethics and morals, but I was still conflicted with believing that vegan diets are restrictive so I did my own research and found that to be entirely untrue.  While I could have certainly become vegan and been extremely restrictive and only eaten fruits and veggies as I did when I was anorexic, my research taught me that the vegan lifestyles itself is not a restrictive one.  In essence I was put at a crossroads to decide if I would hold true to the vegan lifestyle that I had read about and been convicted by or if I would become vegan in a truly "eating disordered sense" and use it as a restrictive measure.  


I decided that the only "right" way to proclaim myself a vegan would be to do it for the ethical treatment of animals, my own personal health, the environment, and the health of the world.  In order to meet each of those ethical benchmarks, I needed to be vegan in a healthful/nonrestrictive sense with an emphasis on my "own personal health".  The reason I became anorexic in the first place was because I went on a self seeking diet to become "healthy".  Becoming vegan has finally allowed me to seek out that goal of being "healthy" in a truly "healthy" way all the while promoting the ethical treatment of animals, environmental health, and health of the world.  I certainly needed to educate myself on accessing all of the appropriate nutrients in order to meet the needs of my body.  During that time I learned so much about the benefits of a vegan lifestyle in terms of weight, health, etc...  I have eaten a much more flexible and adventurous diet since becoming vegan because I have taken it upon myself to cook a variety of nutrient packed, delicious meals that are good for my body, the planet, and the animals.  I feel good about what I eat because I am confident that I am doing what it right for my body and I am giving my body what it truly desires and needs to survive.  Becoming vegan after making large strides towards recovery has really helped me to feel better about myself and my body knowing that I am doing so much good through my dietary choices.  I have always been a global person and enjoyed knowing how my decisions impact the global world and being vegan has helped me to create a full circle with how my eating and dietary concerns impact our global world.  Knowing this helps to encourage me to continue doing good for my body by nurturing it with good vegan food in order to give me the energy and motivation to physically serve the global world as well.  All around.... I believe that my decision to become vegan has helped me to recognize my place in the global world and helped me to incorporate my personal and physical well being into that equation.  I am a volunteer and missionary, and by being vegan I feel that I am a missionary for the world through my diet 365 days a year by helping to combat world hunger and climate change.... Its absolutely rewarding to know that I am making an effort to fight world hunger through the meals that I prepare for myself.  

101 Reasons to Go Vegan

Well done video!  Love it! If you are vegan, considering being vegan, vegetarian, considering being vegetarian, or a meat eater.... its great video all around!  

"we all desire to live and we all avoid pain, that's what makes us equal"

"we know pigs and dogs are equal yet every time we sit down at the dinner table we convince ourselves otherwise"

Chicken Run, Babe: movies that teach us to love animals and are about rescuing/saving the animals from being killed

If we have a problem watching videos about animal cruelty, why don't we have a problem eating it... where is the disconnect?

Citizens want to believe that animals will be treated humanely if there are laws to prevent the abuse, the fact is... there isn't
"All milk is stress milk"
"75% of the human population is lactose intolerant"
The #1 food allergy is milk
The United States, Sweden, Norway, and Finland consume the most dairy products and all have the highest level osteoporosis.

milk has to be addictive because the child has to want more in order to grow during the greatest growth spurt

of his/her life

68% of all diseases in the United States are diet related

This is Rory Freedman, one of the authors from "Skinny Bitch", speaking at a conference in Hawaii.  Skinny Bitch is an excellent book and Rory's speech is very convicting and educational for all audiences.  I highly recommend this video to anyone who would like to learn about the vegan lifestyle.  

"10 billion land animals are killed every year in the US alone just so we can eat them"

"If you drink milk or eat dairy products, you are directly contributing to the veal industry"


A list of Accidentally Vegan Foods:

oreos
corn pops
hershey's syrup
airheads
swedish fish
fruit loops
fruit roll ups
skittles
cocoa puffs
ritz crackers
sour patch kids
frosted flakes
fritos

Old McDonald's Factory Farm

"Isn’t man an amazing animal?  He kills wildlife by the millions in order to protect his domestic animals and their feed.  Then he kills domestic animals by the billions and eats them.  This in turn kills man by the millions, because eating all those animals leads to degenerative–and fatal–health conditions like heart disease, kidney disease, and cancer.  So then man tortures and kills millions more animals to look for cures for these diseases.  Elsewhere, millions of other human beings are being killed by hunger and malnutrition because food they could eat is being used to fatten domestic animals.  Meanwhile, some people are dying of sad laughter at the absurdity of man, who kills so easily and so violently, and once a year sends out cards praying for ‘Peace on Earth.’”
C. David Coates

FOOD!

 Yummy Homemade Salad with Annie's Organic Papaya Poppy Seed Dressing, Blue Chips, Organic Spinach, Broccoli Slaw, Organic Tomatoes, and pears.

 Homemade Cherry Larabars!

 Grumpy's Mock Duck BBQ and Vegan Chili, Minneapolis

Homemade Blondie's from: 

Chocolate Covered Katie's Chocolate Chip Blondie's Recipe

You'll never guess the secret ingredient!  They are absolutely Delicious!

The Circus

I work a job where I take people with disabilities on vacation.  The vacations are pre-planned and I show up the morning of departure and take the group on vacation as a facilitator.  The last vacation I took was to Wisconsin Dells.  While we were in Wisconsin Dells, we were scheduled to go to the Circus World Museum in Baraboo.  I was so bummed because I, as expected, absolutely HATE the circus.  I sat in the crowd of the circus world museum watching animals such as horses, elephants, and monkeys be humiliated for our amusement.  I sat in the bleachers and listened to the chatter of the viewers around me saying things such as, "that elephant is so smart", "wow, that's so cool", "I never knew elephants could do stuff like that".... all the while I was thinking to myself, "you have no idea the kind of pain and agony that this elephant has/had to go through to be able to do that trick."  As I watched the elephant balance on the giant stool, I was so saddened that he could not simply enjoy the beautiful life of an elephant in the wild.  I looked into this eyes and felt deep sorrow for him and saw his exhaustion and pain as well.

I hated that I had to witness this, but I was thankful to feel what I felt for the elephant rather than feeling what most of the other viewers were feeling.  I felt sorrow and sadness as I watched animal after animal prance across the stage.  I was so irritated at what I saw that I vowed never to attend another Circus or zoo again (although I already avoided them to begin with)... I found Peta2's "Elephants Never Forget" Campaign  and pledged never to go to a circus that uses animals.  Here is the link to the webpage if you would like to learn more about the Elephants Never Forget campaign or make a pledge.  Remember that everyone can make a difference and that every person that doesnt go to the Circus is one less ticket sold.... less tickets=less money= less chance of survival of the circus.
http://features.peta2.com/neverforget/pledge.asp