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I feel that I have so much to say about this whole vegan "thing", but am too lazy to sit down and type it all. But suffice it to say right now that I am proud to be vegan for 8 ENTIRE DAYS, without any major cravings or issues. I feel a sense of pride, accomplishment and happiness that compensates for the fact that I cannot ingest mozzarella cheese. Or Funyuns. Oh, suh-weet Funyuns.

And because I am lazy and will keep this brief, what I wanted to impart, to myself, or anyone who deems to read this is this: It is so very crappy that I can be so excited, proud, happy and allofthatthere with becoming vegan, but that if I tell almost anyone, I just face ridicule. Or scorn. I am a chatty bitch. I like to talk too much at times. I like to regale people with boring stories about my daily life. I wanna tell people about the biggest thing I have done EVER, excepting the Flock of Seagulls-esque hairdo I had in high school. I am not pushing this on anyone else, nor am I judging them. Can I not just be happy about it, without the other junk? I have had many instances in my life where people tell me something they are excited about, and I inwardly groan, or cry. Does my father need another record player? Is three not enough? Does the woman I work with really need to purchase a cheap plastic pink mirror with fake lace and roses glued onto theback? I will feign my own excitement. I do it almost every day. Because if something makes someone happy, or proud, who am I to take that away from them? As long as I do not tie anyone down and force tofu down their throats, lemme be happy. Puh-lease. Thanks much.

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

~Franz Kafka, while admiring fish in an aquarium

Spirulina Popcorn, oh, my!

We had popcorn tonight with spirulina and nutritional yeast sprinkled on it. It was a tip from friends. Thank you, Kris and Karen. In case you are not aware of this, "Spirulina is a blue-green algae. It is a simple, one-celled form of algae that thrives in warm, alkaline fresh-water bodies. The name "spirulina" is derived from the Latin word for "helix" or "spiral"; denoting the physical configuration of the organism when it forms swirling, microscopic strands." We used it as a dry powder, and it is green. Very green.

Nutritional Yeast: "Yellow in color and with a nutty cheesy flavor, nutritional yeast is an inactive yeast that is a favorite amongst many vegans because of its unique flavor and similarity to cheese when added to foods. " Alrighty then, two foods that I am positive that I would never, ever, ever have put on popcorn. Ever. But it was delicious. And the popcorn was slightly green. Did I mention that it was delicious? That is all.

Beaver butt juice : - (

Here we are, Cyber Monday as it is known now in our spanking, new cyber world. Thanksgiving dinner is done, it was traditional as promised to the family, and I did have a few bites of turkey though I really didn’t want to and I felt bad for the little one….10 lb’er….light weight. Next year, we’ll experience some tofurky which doesn’t sound so absurd to me anymore.

Back to today, this is the designated drop dead *no pun intended* day for finishing/donating or tossing the rest of our animal/animal by-product edibles. On all the other animal stuff, like cleaners, leather, wool, etc, we’ve decided to use until gone or worn out. The decision to continue using certain items, such as the leather furniture that was bought last summer, has a lot to do with the fact that the damage is already done and it isn’t practical to flush these items without having a few thousand extra dollars to replace them immediately. Frankly, we are ok with this decision. I swear to all that matter that I will never ever buy these items again!

On the food front, boy oh boy have we been schooling ourselves on what all this lifestyle change encompasses and how we can fit it into our lives. Honestly, I feel like a need a class or two for certification! Perhaps even an Associates of Applied Science degree would be sufficient to induct one into the world of veganism. Don’t get me wrong, I am thrilled about the change, I am just a bit overwhelmed by the scope of product used in every-flippin-thing! Good lord! Who came up with this shit to begin with? Beaver butt juice makes a gives a lovely pungent bouquet for food??? WTF??? Who the hell figured that one out? ACK! Ok, I’ll settle down now.

Today I look forward to leaving my meaty and dairy delights behind….as I learn more and more about where they come from…the weight of it all makes them not so delightful after all.

~elli

The animals of the world exist for their own reasons. They were not made for humans any more than black people were made for whites or women for men.
- Alice Walker, African-American writer & storyteller

Confused, at best.

Veganism (also strict or pure vegetarianism) is a philosophy and lifestyle that seeks to exclude the use of animals for food, clothing, or any other purpose.[1][2] Vegans do not use or consume animal products of any kind.[3] The most popular reasons for becoming a vegan are ethical commitment or moral convictions concerning animal rights, the environment, or human health, and spiritual or religious concerns.[4][5][2] Of particular concern are the practices involved in factory farming and animal testing, and the intensive use of land and other resources required for animal farming.

Here is the definition of vegan on Wikipedia. It pretty much supports any other definition I have seen. I feel like I am, in a way, trying to be one of the "cool kids", if I can fit into the definition of a vegan, and that is confusing, and annoying, as well. I am trying to figure out if I can ever become a true vegan. Elli and I have leather furniture. It makes me sad that we bought it, but it has yet to even be paid off. I own leather shoes. I own wool sweaters. Other things of that nature. A few silk scarves. Yadda. Yadda. Yadda. And I smoke. I saw one site that stated that you can not be a vegan and smoke, as you can not eat and/or use anything that is tested on animals. Well, someday I would like to quit smoking, but giving up all that I am, and readjusting to it all seems like enough to me at this juncture. Can I just smoke Natural American Spirit cigarettes? I am positive that they do not test on animals. I think that might be adhere to the definition anyway. If a vegan can not use anything that was tested on animals, we might have a problem with much of anything.

And now I get to the bones of all of this......Do I really need to worry about if I can define myself as a Vegan or not? Or if someone else can? If I was so worried about keeping up with the Joneses (?) would I even be doing this? I am doing this because I am so repulsed by factory farming. And animal testing. Pretty much anything wherein animals are treated as something less than a creature that feels pain, joy, loss, fear, happiness, etc. Anyone that has ever had a pet knows that animals feel all of these things, and more. And anyone that really looks at what is going on with factory farming would be a liar if they were to tell me that they would not have a problem with their pet being treated in this way, that they are "just animals". So, I do not care if I am one of the "cool kids", I will still smoke, but I will also not eat anything with any animal product in it, to include certain beers, which I now understand to be filtered through BONE CHAR! Holy moly. I will not purchase anything with any animal product in it. I will keep what I have. I will use it til it is gone. Or until it is shabby, in the case of the furniture. I will no longer support the industry that is riding on the backs of animals. But to reiterate ad nauseum, I am keeping what I have. I have not come far enough yet, or am not ready to, or do not have the extra resources to do away with what I have. So be it. I am doing this for animals. Not for others to call me out on not acting or doing as a true vegan. I will have to just label myself as an animal lover.

Also, I have gone to different grocery stores and assorted other places to scope out what food options are open. I have never before spent so much time reading so many labels. And have never realized how much of everything contains animal products. Good Gawd. I will find an item that I love to eat, and I will scroll down the ingredients and I think that I am safe, I can eat this.....YES! And then, at the bottom of the list is something like "whey". Something I would not even have noticed before.....And did I mention the vegetarian cheese made of soy that I thought was safe until I read the ingredients? It is non-dairy cheese but has one little ingredient in it made from milk. Sonofabitchthatmadememad! So, out of the 10 varieties of cheese not made mainly from milk, there are two or three that are actually vegan.

Okay. Here ends the diatribe.

Dinner 12NOV2007

The nightly problem often is..."What's for dinner"

Planning and pre-prep is ideal. Figuring it out at the last minute when you are tired from a days work and HUNGRY is reality sometimes. Last night was one of those nights :-)

What's in the fridge??? Tortillas, onion, tomato, salami needing to go....whip up pizza sauce from tomato paste and tastee spices...grate up some soy cheese....bake on 450 d for 5 minutes....mmmm

This meal was really good and quick! Yay!

~elli