I want to take the opportunity to say congratulations to vegan chef Isa Chandra Moskowitz on her article in The New York Times, Strict Vegan Ethics, Frosted with Hedonism. This article was so awesome. Isa is author of Vegan with a Vengence and Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World. You can also find her at The Post Punk Kitchen.

Veganism has been getting a lot of positive press from The New York Times lately, Go Veg. The article on Isa is a wonderful piece. I love it when Isa says “vegans should stop whining about what they can and can’t eat, and start cooking. When someone invites you to dinner, bring something delicious, and share it. I totally agree with her. That has been my philosophy from the very beginning when becoming vegan. It has been such a wonderful thing, filled with great experiences. I have learned great creativity in the kitchen and feel great about the food I put into my body. I also love sharing my vegan creations with others and hope someday to be able to set up vegan cooking demos at some of the local festivals and farmer’s markets, where I can show people that vegan food is delicious and not strange. That is also a lot of the purpose behind the Vegan Fashion Blog. I want to show people that vegans are diverse. We come from all walks of life and can be just like everyone else, except we choose not to harm animals. Some people get annoyed with the girliness of the blog. But it is exactly this girliness that is the point. I want people to know that vegan fashion can be fun. That you can be vegan and dressed fashionably for the boardroom or the courtroom. I also think that people put a lot into how others are dressed, and that vegan activists may be heard by more people when dressed in a way that positively commands attention. When we dress differently, and adamently try to push our beliefs on others, people will dismiss us as freaks. I truly believe the saying that you catch my flies with honey. Educating others about factory farming without judgement upon them, dressing in a way that is elegant and demands attention, and providing people with the best that veganism has to offer, I feel is the best way to introduce them to a cruelty-free lifestyle.

If you all want to read something that you will probably get a big kick out of, I suggest you read the article Soy is making kids ‘gay.’ Hmmm, does he mean happy? Because a vegan diet with some soy supplimentation certainly makes me happy.Though I do agree with the author of the article, that soy should be consumed in moderation, because like everything else it is often processed, I think he goes a bit overboard suggesting that it will demasculize our children. Anyway, it does make for an interesting, if slightly amusing read, with a shread of sound information taking out of context.

More evidence that a vegan diet is superior, to a nonvegan diet in treating diabetes. Dr. Neal Barnard has just released a new book, Dr. Neal Barnard’s Book on Reversing Diabetes, about how a lowfat vegan diet can eliminate the need for medications in those with Type 2 diabetes. Just another reason to be vegan, you won’t have to worry about Type 2 diabetes.

Speaking of Dr. Barnard’s book, The Center for Consumer Freedom is attacking Dr. Barnard’s dietary advice. Why? Hmmm, maybe because they are just a front for such companies as Philip Morris, to propogate junk food and an unhealthy lifestyle. Check out “Consumer” Group Promotes Sugar, Fat, Meat, Alcohol and Tobacco. Next time you come across a study stating that something you know is not healthy, actually is, check out the source, the Center for Consumer Freedom is probably behind it.

My husband has been finding me some great videos.
This first one brought tears to my eyes:

This next one was way hilarious:

This final one sums up vegan very simply:

Hope you enjoy the videos:)

My husband just sent me a link to this newsclip about the Bayer company. You absolutely, positively must watch it.

If you have any Bayer products in your home, please throw them away and do not buy any more Bayer products. Do not support this company whatsoever. I would even suggest that you write you congressional representatives to ask for a thorough criminal investigation of the Bayer company and the FDA. Please send a link of this video to as many people as you know.

Shall I give you the good news or the bad news first. Hmmm, let’s start with the bad news. I was so busy enjoying myself on Thanksgiving, that we forgot to take pictures of all of the delicious food, so my plan is to make one thing a week between now and Christmas from our dinner and post the pictures for all to see. The good news, I had a request for the recipe to my vegan Keylime (actually just lime) pie. It was super, duper delicious and I could eat it over and over again. It didn’t set quite as well as I hoped, but no matter, it was still delicious and cut a lot like a chocolate or banana cream pie.

Keylime Pie

Juice from 8 limes
2 tbsp grated lime peel
1/4 cup water
2 tbsp cornstarch
1/2 cup Maple Syrup
2 Packages Tofutti Cream Cheese
1/2 container Tofutti Sour Cream
1/2 cup Agave Syrup
1 tsp vanilla
1 vegan premade pie shell
Cook pie shell according to package directions. In a saucepan, heat lime juice and water until it begins to boil. Pour into a glass measuring cup and set aside. Rinse out pan and wipe dry. Put in cornstarch and slowly pour in lime mixture, rapidly stirring the whole time. Turn heat to low and stir in maple syrup and lime peels. Cook for about 10 minutes, until mixture begins to thicken. Using a mixer, mix sour cream, cream cheese, agave syrup and vanilla in a mixing bowl. Add lime mixture and mix well. Pour into pie crust and place in a preheated 350 degree oven for 40 minutes. After removing from oven let cool before placing in the refrigerator. Make sure to refrigerate at least 4 hours.

Has anybody seen Fast Food Nation yet? I am asking for the book for Christmas, but have yet to see the movie advertised. Anyway, I saw this horrible review of the movie, written by an anti-organic person, who fills the article with lot’s of misinformation. Needless to say, I am sorry I read it and even sorrier that there are people in the world who will believe the horrible propoganda in this article. Anyway, have a read for yourself and let me know what you think. It’s called Notions for a Fastfood Nation. I encourage you to write to this person and tell him what you think of his article.

Rumor has it that Heather Mills McCartney is planning on opening a Vegan Fastfood Chain. I have mixed feelings about this. First, I can get plenty of vegan fastfood, it is going out to a nice restaurant that can be problematic. I would love to see a chain of vegan fine dining. Two, there is enough fastfood in the world. Vegan fastfood isn’t all that much more healthier than the nonvegan counterpart. Afterall, many (not all) french fries are vegan and they are one of the most unhealthy things a person can put into their bodies. On the other hand, it would be great to be able to go to a restaurant and order a vegan shake when the urge hits or a vegan hot fudge sundae. I can pretty much get vegan hamburgers in a lot of diners, but vegan sundaes, now that would be a novelty.

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving and is taking time to enjoy the holiday season, now matter how you may celebrate it. I am looking forward to some Christmas parades and holiday wonderlands with my son. He gets so excited, which always brings a smile to my face. I am also looking forward to picking up a potted Christmas tree next weekend that I can donate after Christmas. I love decorating Christmas trees. We will make some hot cidar, put on Christmas music and spend some nice family time together. Hope you have some happy family traditions for this season.

I posted an article a long time back on Laboratory Grown Meat. The original idea being that scientists would take cells from animals and then grow the cells in petri dishes. Well I just came across an article today about how scientists have actually cloned the entire animal. So I guess what they really meant was that they would clone the cells in a petri dish until they began to grow into a whole other animal that they would then torture and slaughter for food. Now the FDA is being petitioned for approval of animal products from cloned animals. The cells are actually implanted into an animal, who will give birth to a baby. I am not actually sure of what the point of all this is, other than now they don’t have to go through the trouble of finding a male for the female animal to mate with. Of course, I’m sure that is so much more difficult than taking the nuclei from cells removed from an animal, and then implanting them into another animal (do you detect the sarcasm?). To read more about this check out Groups say FDA should ban sale of food from clones.

I am so bumbed. I just found out about Howard Lynam speaking in my area yesterday, today. I wish I would have known, I would definitely have known. Good news, the next speaker in the series on the link between nutrition and cancer is Eric Schlosser, author of Fast Food Nation. It isn’t until February 4, 2006, but I will be there. I didn’t even now that there was an organization called New Choices Integrative Health in San Luis Obispo. It is a nonprofit organization helping people heal through nutrition and understand the links between disease and what we eat. I am going to contact them and see if they could use some extra help. For anybody even close to this area, check them out at Shutting Down Cancer.

I leave you today with one final link to a blog written by a couple determined to make 365 different vegan recipes in 365 days, called Vegan Dinner. He is a long time vegan, she states she would go vegan, but can’t because of health concerns (not sure what health problems could prevent one from going vegan), but am excited to read about their recipes. So definitely check them out.

I can’t believe the holiday’s are just around the corner. This will be my first vegan holiday season and I am pretty excited. I have lot’s of thoughts on recipes, which I will definitely be posting in the next couple of weeks. I did come across a great article on Vegan Thanksgiving tips for those who are celebrating their first vegan holiday season like me. I think it definitely provided some helpful information.

The article I really wanted to draw your attention to is the one about a student group in Minnesota called Compassionate Action for Animals. Apparently, these students have been holding vegan week activities for about three years. They promote veganism with positive messages and provide vegan foods to feast on. They also provide vegan cooking classes and are providing vegan mentoring services for those who would like to try to go vegan. In addition, they try to get people to sign a GoVeg for a week pledge. They are expecting about six hundred pledges. Kudos to this group. They are truly an awesome and an inspiration. Once I have all of my finances back on track (i.e., have extra money) I would love to sponsor a veg event in my area, where I can cook and provide samples of vegan food for people. I think it would be so cool to show people that vegan food is so totally delicious. You can read more about this article at: Veg Week Encourages Meatless Diets.

Vegan Fashion Blog is gaining recognition by mainstream fashion blogs. This is very exciting. There was a great write up on Vegan Fashion Blog by Are You a Beauty? entitled Beauty Blog Hunt: Looks That Don’t Kill. This is very exciting because it is highlighting that fashion doesn’t have to include torture and death. If I could get just one person to turn away from leather jackets and fur linings while showing them that they can still be fashionable, then the whole blog is worth it for sure.

Check out this great article on SPEAK, on organization seeking to stop the building of Oxford University’s new animal experimentation lab. FYI, this company has already put a stop to the construction of a similar lab in Cambridge. Go SPEAK.

I came across a great service for any interested in animal activism. Be forewarned, some of what you read will bring you to tears and may invoke the urge to scream (or more). But these are all calls to action to contact local representatives to right injustices. Check out IDA eNews.

Okay, one last great article that is of interest to all us vegans, entitled Cruelty-Free Living. It gives a great definition of vegan, as well as a long list of reasons to become vegan. It is a great read and much less distressing than the previous link.

I have a great reason of my own for going vegan, besides the obvious one of not wanting to perpetrate harm on animals. Lately, I have been eating pretty poorly. By that, I mean I have been eating more starchy foods and more snacks. The good news, because the food is vegan and therefore very difficult to make truly bad, I have not gained a pound as a result. I may not have lost weight (which is my overall goal), but I did not gain any either. Pretty good for someone who hasn’t exercised this week due to being sick and eaten without much abandon. I am feeling better now, though the cough has become a bit annoying.

Last night I made my famous (at least in our family famous) cream of potato soup, except instead of putting in celery I used orange bellpepper from my garden. This is one of my favorite recipes. It screams fall and is so comforting. Cooking has been a bit simple lately. I need to use up the last of my zucchini, though I am getting a bit burned out on it. I should be able to cook up some artichokes from the garden next week, which makes me very, very happy because I love artichokes. I already have two that are pretty much full grown and one more that is on it’s way. Happy eating this week.

It is a sad day. My dad had to put his dog, Micky to sleep today. It is funny because my dad always talks smack about people who treat their dogs like humans (you know making them part of the family), but for him that was all talk, because he was very attached to his dog. Mickey had his own engraved doggie collar, went camping and traveling with my dad and was generally spoiled. Do not pitty Micky too much. He had a great life. He lived to be 18 1/2 years old, which is amazing. He was in a lot of pain from a severe spinal injury and arthritis and is wasn’t fair to keep him alive much longer, but he will be greatly missed. My dad is having him cremated and will be taking his ashes with him on his next camping trip to spread Micky’s ashes on the campsite, since this was one of Micky’s (and my dads) favorite things to do.
My son is at school and I will have to tell him when he gets home. He will be very sad because he liked to follow Micky around the yard and would help my dad feed him almost every day.

I can’t believe it is Friday. We are on a more regular schedule now that my son is back in school. Friday has always been a fun day for us. We pick my son up from school and go and do something fun, like go to the park (today we are going through the machine carwash. It was my son’s pick). After our fun activity we go out to dinner and then come home and watch a movie.

Wednesday’s posts and K’s comment have left me very reflective about the steps I have been taking to be kinder to the planet and areas in which I can improve. As I was on my walk today I was counting the number of gus guzzler’s on the street. There were so many that I finally gave up counting and was amazed at the number of people who refuse to take action to protect our planet. I understand some people may not be able to afford to get a new car and exchange their gas guzzlers for something more economic, but it makes me upset to see brand new expeditions and explorers on the road. Don’t people understand the price that will be paid for our continued reliance on oil, both economically and environmentally. I guess it is just like with the whole “meat” issue. People choose to put it out of their head that animals suffer for their food and people choose ignorance as it relates to the environment.

I gravitated towards veganism because of an overall concern with living as wholistically and sustainably as possible. I started with organic foods, cleaners, etc. I wanted to get chemicals out of my food and out of my home as much as possible. Of course I should have probably looked to meat and dairy first, since this is where most of the chemicals consumed by humans exist, but I slowly educated myself as to all the harm associated with meat consumption. I thought it would be hard to be a vegan, but it is not. It is actually one of the easiest things I have ever done (especially after familiarizing myself with some of the vegan fastfood options, we can’t be perfect all of the time). It seems that many vegans have a similar story to my own. They either found organic living and then became vegan or became vegan and found organic living.

I am at a point in time where some of my old “blood” clothes and items are wearing out and I have begun the process of replacing my old clothing, hence much of my interest in the Vegan Fashion Blog. I have done a lot of research to find boots, shoes, sandals, tennis shoes, purses, workout gloves, winter gloves, etc, etc that are not only vegan, but as organic as possible and found the Vegan Fashion Blog a perfect way to share all of my findings. When it came to replacing chemical cleaners and foods with partially hydrogenated oils or animal products, I donated much of these items to shelters and such (except the cleaners). It would be a shame to waste food that others would eat, not to mention the cruelty in throwing away animal products that an animal actually died for. This is how I feel about my leather goods. I won’t throw them away, to me it would be the cruelest of the cruel, but I will no longer be a consumer of these products to do my part to decrease the demand for such cruelty.

Cruelty-free to me extends beyond just eating a vegan diet and purchasing only vegan goods. This is the standard that I am striving for, but can be much more difficult. Cruelty-free is about consuming fair-trade goods whenever possible, especially coffee and teas and buying on fair-trade and conflict-free jewelry. It is about getting the best possible gas mileage you can to keep from supporting terrorism, abuse, and draining all of the earth’s resources. It is about conservationism and being kind to mankind, animals and the earth. I try to buy local when I can to conserve resources and support local farmer’s. I want to know how what other’s do to try to live a “cruelty-free” life and how other’s define living “cruelty-free”

One final thought about cruelty-free living. Part of this is giving back when you can, whether it is through a kind gesture or from pulling out the old checkbook. It could be picking up trash that you see on the side of the road, or starting a petition to get organic foods in your childs school. There are so many ways to give back to the earth and humanity. As we are now on the brink of the holiday season, in which consumerism and waste peak, keep in mind special ways that you can give back, not just to humans but to nature.