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.

This book has been in print since the ’80’s but was recently updated for its 10th anniversary.  Food and Healing put all of the ideas I have about health, living, and eating into words. Sensible, interesting words. The book is not about veganism. It’s about maintaining balance in the body. Having a balanced body promotes a balanced life, and vice-versa. I will say that having an open mind about non-American philosophies is helpful in reading about what Colbin calls “the whole food health supportive” diet. She discusses the Standard American Diet (SAD) and how it matches up to her theories of health. It ain’t pretty, folks.

What I liked most is that this is a well-researched and well-written book. It isn’t a fad diet. In fact, it isn’t about a diet at all. It’s about using food to support health and, therefore, one’s purpose in life. (Good luck in figuring out what your purpose is, though. She doesn’t discuss that!) I was just blown away by how much sense Colbin makes. Her way of maintaining and reaching optimal health is ultimately how I would like to cook, eat, and live.

I’ve mentioned the book before on this blog in this post. I commonly refer to Colbin’s philosophies in explaining the choices for my diet/lifestyle, so I wanted to give yet another nod to the book that has such an impact on my life.

The biggest question I see (not hear, because I never hear it in real life) concerning veganism is, “How do I become a vegan?”  I am a regular poster and/or lurker on a few message boards that are geared toward eco-friendliness, and the topic comes up quite often, including issues of “safely” converting to a vegan diet and how to feed children in this way.

There are many, many resources online to aid in the transition to a veg diet/lifestyle, which I have listed at the end of this post. However, I’ll share my personal experience, too, in order to show how it can realistically happen. Our transition to this type of eating was certainly done in stages, so I’ll organize it as such:

Starting Out (Fall 2005)

We naively thought that eliminating animal products just meant substituting soy for dairy, veggie burgers for meat, and tossing any products/foods that didn’t comply.  When we found that all we were eating was a lot of soup, bread, and snacks (and gaining weight in the process!), we picked up a few vegan cookbooks and started learning more. One thing that made it tough was we tried to go, excuse the pun, cold turkey and ended up craving meat and cheese periodically. We called giving in to these cravings “meat cheats.”

Tip: Don’t try to go completely vegan right away. Start slowly, eliminating one thing at a time. For example,  start with soy milk in place of cow’s milk. Or, try getting rid of cheese but keep your eggs and milk for awhile.

Getting the Hang of Things (2006)

We began to understand how to cook without animal products and began building a small repertoire of dishes that worked for us, mainly using processed soy products (like soy “cheese” or “sausage”). We genuinely liked the taste of these products and didn’t miss meat. However, I’m pretty sure there were times when we were more vegetarian in our eating as we couldn’t totally get rid of cheeses.

Tip: Accept the fact that vegetarian/vegan processed foods aren’t always meant to exactly replicate the carnivorous version they represent. Enjoy these foods as they are. Enjoy a veggie burger as a veggie burger and not as a hamburger substitute. These products should make the transition easier, not painful, so choose things that taste good to you!

Really Learning, Really Eliminating (2007)

Here are some common questions (with my answers) about maintaining a vegan diet:

1. How expensive would it be in comparison to vegetarianism?  I really have to watch our budget.
I can’t really say much about cost in comparison. We spend A LOT of money on food and nutrition per month, but we also live in an area with limited options. We’re lucky enough to have an organic market that stocks many items, and there’s a chain grocery retailer that sells much of what we use, but we live in a resort area and pay high prices for everything, it seems. Like anything, there are ways of going cheap, and there are ways of going big. If you’re constantly buying processed, pre-made vegan food, it will add up. If you want, you could live off of rice, beans, and veggies and be fine!

2. What are the staples of your diet?
This is basically what we always have on hand, and consider it’s winter in the fruit/veggie dept:

Protein:
tofu (use this for everything, for any meal, including desserts)
nuts (not just for snacking–I use them in place of meat to make everything from stuffed cabbage to meatloaf to patties)
black beans, chickpeas, kidney beans,quinoa, soy milk, soy yogurt, avocados

Grains:
quinoa, long grain brown rice, cous cous, rice pastas, enriched pastas (the only thing we buy that’s not organic), hemp or other whole-grain breads, wheat tortillas, polenta

Fruits (right now we always have): apples, bananas,  citrus, papaya, mangoes, frozen berries

Veggies: Spinach (fresh and frozen), cabbage, leafy greens like kale, carrots, celery, onions, potatoes (technically not a veggie for us)

Supplementary items (this is where it adds up): greens drinks (for extra veggies), nutritional yeast (for necessary B vitamins), flax seed oil, good quality cooking oils, tamari, minced garlic, ginger, good spices, Earth Balance margarine, rice milk, etc.

Supplements: probiotics, enzymes, high quality multi vits, pre-natals, vit E, cal/mag/zinc liquid supplement (the only thing we take regularly is the vitamins and calcium; Hubs is better about taking enzymes and such–not really required for vegans, just something we do for good health)

3. What is a good place to start that is comprehensive but not overwhelming with vegan info?

The bottom of this post has a good list of places to start.

This is For Life (2008 to present)

We finally learned the right way to eat: we balanced our food groups, got the right nutrients, and eliminated processed soy products (which are no better for the body or the environment than any other mass-produced food).  A supportive and informed naturopath was essential in this process.

We started this diet together when we were dating, and I wasn’t in love with meat enough to hang onto it, so I supported Hubs in his quest to live a healthy, heart-friendly life, so I did most of the cooking. It was a learning process, for sure (still is). However, I advocate it not only because I learned about the horrible food-industry practices in this country, but because we have read SO MUCH about how a vegan diet is better for your health, hands down. The body cannot process all of the protein and dairy that generally comes along with a Standard American Diet, and it leads to other health issues.

Mainly, I found this: when I stopped eating meat (dead energy), my world got brighter. I believe it is because I stopped ingesting dead things. When we started eating more cleanly, more natural foods, we stopped getting sick. When I stopped eating dairy, my chronic sinus problems went away. And when I stopped eating things that most people eat, I was no longer tempted to buy into our consumerist society. Changing the way I ate changed the way I thought about life–and so much for the better.

Excellent Resources:
Veg for Life–excellent easy-to-read site about making the transition to veganism
Go Veg–in association with PETA; tons of info and their Vegetarian Starter Kit
Farm Sanctuary–a wonderful organization which is a wonderful reminder of why people choose to eat vegan

Books to Check Out:
Becoming Vegan: The Complete Guide to Adopting a Healthy Plant-Based Diet,  Davis & Melina
Food and Healing, Annemarie Colbin
The China Study, T. Colin Campbell, Ph.D.
The Great Cholesterol Con, Dr. Malcolm Kendrick
Eating Animals, Jonathan Safran Foer

Favorite Cookbooks:
Vive Le Vegan, Dreena Burton
Veganomicon, Vegan with a Vengeance, Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World, Isa Chandra Moskowitz
Vegan Soul Kitchen, Bryant Terry
La Dolce Vegan, Sarah Kramer
Vegan Yum Yum, Lauren Ulm
Vegan Planet, Robin Robertson

The diaper bag I won! I love it!

A few weeks ago, I posted a giveaway for a Maxwell Designs diaper bag.

Well, as it turns out, I WON! I am so in love with this diaper bag: it’s perfectly functional and practical, it’s just my style, and moreover, it’s COMFORTABLE. Baby Soyager hasn’t yet arrived, but I’ve been stuffing the bag with baby things so that my parent’s dog will get used to scent of baby items. We’re teaching him that it’s “not his.” The bag’s strap is perfectly sized for me, but the bags are now available with adjustable straps, which is probably great if you share the bag with someone who isn’t your size.

Well, Maxwell Designs has a new blog, and in honor of this fact, Maggie (the genius behind these lovely products) is hosting some fantastic giveaways! Check it out by clicking here!

I’ve ALWAYS hated Valentine’s Day. If you’re not in a relationship, it sucks. If you are in a relationship, there’s pressure. If you’ve been with someone for awhile, well, there’s still pressure. My hubby and I long ago decided that Valentine’s Day just wasn’t for us. It is the epitome of consumerist thinking: stores flooded with paper cards, mylar balloons, polyester stuffed animals and cheaply-produced candies, all marketed in a way to elicit a feeling of guilt in those who choose NOT to recognize who they love with these “special” gestures. Blah.

Of the millions of dollars spent on Valentine’s gifts, a large chunk of that goes toward chocolates. Now, I am not about to bash chocolate.  Chocolate is one of the finest foods produced and all the recent hype about its antioxidant properties is true if one buys the *right* kind of chocolate. So, what is the right kind of chocolate?

For this blogger, excellent chocolate has to meet the following criteria:

1. Fair Trade
Cocoa (along with coffee, cotton, and other crops) is one of the world’s most exploited products. Small farms and farmers have lost business and wages due to larger conglomerates taking over, growing in amounts that no single farmer could keep up with, and selling at amounts that no farmer could afford to match.  Just as the private farmer is disappearing in America,  such is the case in parts of the world where there is no other option for income than farming. It’s just good ethics to buy Fair Trade. Wouldn’t you rather consume something that was grown as someone’s livelihood, cared for, tended, and something that received positive energy versus a giant crop used only to support Big Business?

To learn more about Fair Trade cocoa specifically, click here.
To learn more about the Fair Trade Federation, click here.

2. Organic
Let’s just take a look at what one can find in any given Hershey’s chocolate (taken from Hershey’s allergen info). For the sake of brevity, I have taken the obvious ingredients (milk, butter, cocoa) off the list:

• Acid whey
• Anhydrous milk fat
• Butter oil
• Calcium caseinate
• Casein
• Reduced minerals whey
• Sodium caseinate
• Sweetened condensed whey
• Whey protein concentrate
• Defatted peanuts
• Hydrogenated peanut oil
• Partially defatted peanuts
• Peanut flavor
• Hydrogenated lecithin
• Soy protein
• Hydrogenated vegetable protein
• Soya
• Soya lecithin
• Soybean oil
• Hydrogenated vegetable
• Modified food starch
• Hydrogenated coconut oil
• Enriched flour
• Hydrogenated starch
• Wheat flour hydrolysate
• Malt
• Modified food starch
• Corn fiber
• Corn oil
• Corn syrup
• Corn syrup solids
• Cornstarch
• Dextrin
• Dextrose
• Flaked milled corn
• High fructose corn syrup
• High maltose corn syrup
• Hydrogenated glucose syrup
• Hydrogenated starch hydrolysate
• Maltodextrin
• Xanthan gum
• Modified cornstarch
• Foodstarch
• Hydrogenated vegetable oil
• Vegetable oil

Compare it to chocolate products from one of my favorite companies, Liz Lovely

Sandwich Cookie (Organic Unbleached Wheat Flour, Organic Sugar, Expeller Pressed Canola Oil, Organic Peanut Butter [Organic Roasted Peanuts, Organic Palm Oil, Salt], Partially Defatted Peanut Flour, Organic Palm Fruit Oil, Organic Cocoa, Cocoa [Processed with Alkali], Salt, Organic Unsweetened Chocolate, Natural Flavor, Organic Corn Starch, Baking Soda, Soy Lecithin), Organic Fair Trade Dark Chocolate (organic cocoa liquor, organic cane sugar, organic cocoa butter, organic cocoa powder, organic vanilla).
* Certified Organic

I’ll let you research all the above ingredients and decide for yourself whether you’ll choose organic chocolates next time!

3. Vegan
For me, this is big. It’s actually not as hard as you might think to find vegan chocolate. I was never a milk chocolate fan, so I don’t miss that (although great vegan “milk” chocolate is available), and high quality, dark chocolate is easily found in most grocery stores. My local store even sells fair-trade options. Vegan chocolate is just cocoa and cocoa butter, maybe some sugar. That’s it. It’s not adulterated by milk or milk by-products. The taste is pure, chocolatey goodness.

Some of my favorite chocolates, cookies, and other fantastic goodies come from Liz Lovely, which I mentioned above. All of their products are fair-trade, organic, and vegan. What could better for YOUR valentine?

Right now, you can get free shipping on orders over $29 (so easy to do; everything is so yummy!)by entering the code: TRUELOVE. And join the Fanclub! The Liz Lovely crew offers deals and fun contests (for free cookies, of course!) all of the time.

Check out this blog’s eco-friendly, baby-lovin’ giveaway!
Once Upon A Baby

You can win an awesome ERGO carrier!

The holidaze is through and, hopefully, the inevitable craziness of a marketing onslaught made everyone reflect on what’s really important. I generally don’t make New Year’s resolutions, but I found an interesting site that makes creating and keeping resolutions much easier. The best part is that it isn’t so much about resolutions but life improvements.

This blog is The Happiness Project (great title-hm?). Read through to get the gist of the philosophy, then check out The Happiness Project Toolbox to put a plan into action! There is even a space for Group Resolutions where people can motivate each other for a common goal. If you’re interested in resolving to “Go (even more) Green!,” go to my user page and add yourself to the Group Resolution list! First goal: turn off lights when leaving a room. (We’ll start off easy, okay?) Look, as an known procrastinator, the fact that I’ve even created a profile and written ONE resolution is progress for me, so let’s support each other for change!

What are some future “go green” goals you’d like to add?

It’s been a busy year! My last post was in June since Hubs and I took a cross-country trip from the end of June through July (I’ll post on veg road tripping later). When we returned from our trip, we enjoyed a few weeks of East Coast summer until we returned to work at the end of August.  In August, we got an incredible gift: the Soyager family is having a baby! Since then, we’ve been entering the adventurous world of pregnancy, preparing for birth (and baby), and taking in what a life change this will be. Additionally, we relocated to a new home at the end of November and have been kept busy making an older home more of our own.  I’m excited to post about some of our eco-friendly home improvements and the products that make it all happen. And, of course, I’ll have to share what it’s like to be an earth friendly, vegMama, too! Our little sprout is due in April, so I’m making it a goal to get this blog on a regular schedule from now on!

Thanks for reading!