Quote of Today

‎"The art of living lies less in eliminating our troubles than in growing with them." --Bernard M. Baruch

Quote of Today

“The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated” --Mahatma Gandhi

Family Reunion!

Yesterday my family had their annual "reunion" and I absolutely knew there would be very little, if anything, for this new vegan to eat.... So I had to make some treats and introduce my lovely omni family members to the wonder that is... food... that tastes like food... Now there's a shocker! I made a couple different kinds of cookies and a pasta salad. I have a ton of leftovers so that pasta salad will make an appearance in almost every meal I have.

And this pasta goodness is really easy to make and delicious!

I used tri color bow-tie noodles to add a little something extra, threw in some chopped up broccoli, cauliflower, green pepper, cucumber, cherry tomatoes, and black olives, and tossed everything with a light coating of garlic Italian dressing. Light and perfect for summer.

I decided cookies would be another really easy thing to make and that pretty much everyone enjoys a good cookie. So I looked up a few recipes online for chocolate chip, sugar, and peanut butter cookies! Easy as pie... or cookies... The peanut butter cookies turned out horribly and were promptly disposed of. But the other two were fantastic! Everyone loved them, especially the little kids that needed refueling after their marathon of tag and hide-and-seek.

I had a fantastic day making these and an even better time eating them. As weird as my family may be... they're all pretty fun to be around. Usually. :-P

Fooooood...

All I've wanted to eat for the last couple of days is peanut butter, bananas, and bean burritos. Don't ask... I don't know...

Right now the thought of anything else makes me a little bit queasy.

So I give you toast. Elvis style.

Probably the easiest, most delicious, and surprisingly filling meal ever. All you need is toasted bread, a nice slathering of peanut butter, and a sliced up banana. Heaven.

Did I mention bean burritos? Oh yeah. I did. Along with my Elvis toast I've been wanting bean burritos like mad. So... of course... I eat them! it works :)

They usually end up more like tacos from all of the veggies I stuff inside but it still tastes the same!

Another really easy to make meal. Beans. Tortilla. And whatever else you feel like smashing in there. Perfection.

Of course I know that I need some greens tossed in there somewhere so I whipped up this quick little salad. In interest of saving money I buy big containers of already washed and mixed salad. It gives me the option of having all of the greens I could buy at the grocery store with only a small fraction of the price. Maybe it's not ideal but it's much better than not having any at all, right? This salad was also easy. Not quite as good as my previous meals but on a normal basis I probably would have really enjoyed it.

A large handful of the mixed greens, dried cherries, raw sunflower seeds, and a small drizzling of my favorite (vegan!) salad dressing. Easy as pie. Or... salad....

The way I've been wanting to only eat certain foods lately is so not typical for me. But seriously everything else (the smell, the thought, the taste) makes me gag a little bit. So I was completely bummed out that I didn't enjoy my favorite meal of all time. Another easy one, but it's so good you'd think it was bad.

Zucchini, yellow squash, (and my new favorite) Kale, steamed a little bit and browned in a bit of teriyaki sauce.

That's pretty much been it for the last few days. Like I said, it's mostly peanut butter, bananas, and bean burritos...

I haven't posted my food pics in a couple of days! I've taken them but I just haven't gotten around to putting them up... whoops!

Instead of actually being too productive (which I'm allergic to apparently) I'm going to leave the photos for tomorrow. There's something much more important on my mind.

I'm thinking about the word "vegan". Now, I'm not the biggest fan of labels; I find that they put so many restrictions on your life that are impossible to live up to. I can't think of any other way to talk about the way I live my life and the way I eat other than saying "I'm vegan." But am I? Is a month dairy/egg free long enough to call yourself a vegan? Are there time restraints? And if someone who calls themselves a vegan decides to eat a piece of non-vegan cake does that mean they have to start all over? Do they lose the right to call themselves vegan?

What confuses me are the politics. Why is it that we have to make everything a competition? Whether it's against ourselves or against each other it seems that we, for the most part, want to be the better, stronger person at the end. That's evolutionary for sure, y'know... the whole "survival of the fittest" thing...

What if I decided to proudly proclaim that "I'm vegan!"? But a month down the road my knees buckle and I grab a piece of pizza. Does that make me a hypocrite or just human?

I think what I'm trying to get at, trying to make myself remember, is that perfection isn't a possibility. It doesn't exist. We all make decisions that could be considered mistakes, that's just life. But one bite of cake, or pizza, or pie shouldn't completely erase the days, months, weeks, or years of being "vegan". You eat it. You deal with it. You move on. That doesn't mean that you're out of a club or that you are never allowed to call yourself "vegan". It means that you are a human being with vices and weaknesses. I've noticed a certain veil that arises whenever I mention that I'm vegan, or trying to be, to anyone that isn't. Because we don't eat the same things doesn't mean I'm going to slap you over the head or punch you in the face. It means we disagree. It opens up a space for conversation, for education. But it is absolutely understandable to me why someone would occasionally want to throw their hands up and say "I give up!"

We can only do so much. We can all only play perfect for so long.

Quote of Today

‎"The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated." --Mahatma Gandhi

Quote of Today

"You must look into other people as well as at them."

--Lord Chesterfield