Soyagera journey into healthier living

Last March, I posted about items that Hubs and I still use that really don’t fall into our lifestyle agenda. I thought I’d revisit the list to see if any changes have been made in a year:

-Our 2006 Jeep Liberty: Nope. Still on the list. The semi-good news is that it will probably be a vehicle we “drive into the ground,” which is ultimately more eco-friendly than purchasing a brand new one.

- Razors: We no longer use disposable ones, but disposable cartridges are still on the list.

- Swiffer Wet Jet: I am almost finished the bottle of cleaner that comes with the WetJet unit, after which I will be filling with a non-toxic cleanser.

- Ibuprofen: Off the list! Especially now that I am pregnant, but more so because we know of natural remedies, ibuprofen has no need in our home.

- Regular ol’ batteries: still on the list

- Plastic wrap, plastic baggies, plastic cutlery: We have replaced plastic cutlery with these bamboo utensils, but I have yet to figure out how to function without plastic storage bags and plastic wrap.  I will say, however, that most of our food gets reserved in glass containers and a box of baggies lasts months at a time.

– Pizza & Mexican food: about once every 5-6 weeks, we make concessions and just eat some damn cheese (Yup. Still the case.)

– Traditional household paint: I’m so proud to say this one is off the list! We recently moved and painted the new house using only Mythic paint. I hope to post about this product soon.

– Leather shoes/jackets/gloves: Quality and stylish vegan shoes are hard to come by, but if there is a non-leather option for the type of shoe I want to purchase (and the material is eco-friendly, too), I go with that. I haven’t put any other leather products on my body in over a year.

– Paper towels & napkins: Woo Hoo! We now use cloth napkins exclusively and are currently finishing the last of our paper towels. “Unpaper” towels are already in use, though.

–Trashbags: there are bio-degradable trashbags, recycled trashbags…nothing breaks down in a landfill anyway but I suppose we could use something that isn’t made of petroleum. One day, when we have a yard, we will compost and have minimal trash production. We have a yard now! We’ll be composting regularly come spring and will also have curbside recycling. Considering we produce, at most, two bags of trash per week (because we aren’t currently recycling), I think this is great.

–Tampons: With pregnancy, it’s off the list. I started using The Diva Cup before we conceived and have been using “mama cloth” pads in lieu of disposable pantyliners during pregnancy.  I’m not sure how things will be handled once Aunt Flo returns and I go back to work after the baby is born…

So, the list is still in existence. For a perfectionist, all-or-none person like me, I’m surprised I’m okay with this. We have made some pretty big changes in the past year and if the trend continues, perhaps this list will be obliterated in the future!

A few weeks ago, Hubs decided he wanted to incorporate eggs back into his diet. He enjoys egg whites (even though a whole egg is more nutritionally sound) for a heart-healthy protein. For the record, his egg habit lasted through not-even a carton. New [eating] habits die hard, eh? During this Week of The Egg (blech), Hubs forgot to wipe up after making an omelette and egg albumin was left on the countertop (blech again), freaking me out. It had been so long since I had worried about food-borne bacteria that I realized the joys of vegan cooking:

1. There is never the risk of food-borne bacteria, aside from the possibility of bacteria living on unwashed produce. However, this type of bacteria is generally not caused by the food itself, only the handling of it. Raw meat doesn’t have quite the same built-in safety. Any spills on the counter will not send me into a germaphobic frenzy as they once did, pre-veg diet!

2. I can taste my food at any point in the cooking process! I was throwing together some “meaty” filling recently, made with nuts, breadcrumbs, and spices, and was able to taste the concoction as I went along. Try (er–actually, don’t try) that with ground beef. I also enjoy the fact that I can lick the spoon/beaters/bowl while baking without my mother’s voice ringing in my ear, “There’s raw eggs in that!”

3.  Along the lines of the above reasonings, I like that my child will grow up in a household where the kitchen is a loving room producing life-giving nourishment, not a place where things have to be maimed, hacked, and cooked at high heat to be deemed safe.

4. I have a stellar pantry! Sometimes veg cooking calls for unusual ingredients if one is trying to replicate non-veg foods, but often veg cooking just lends itself to trying other cultural food choices (like Thai curry or Ethiopian lentils). Therefore, I’m proud to have an incredible spice collection and to call my cabinets home to things like: agar-agar, barley flour, masa harina, nutritional yeast, kelp flakes, nori, tamari, liquid aminos…the list goes on!

5. (Pretty much goes without saying but I’ll say it anyway.) No animals were harmed in the making of this food.