Working on getting on the wagon...

Well, it's been awhile since my last post... and I have been off the vegan bandwagon. I have no excuses, other than laziness and complacency. How can I teach my child to make compassionate food choices when I can't?

However, I am not giving up. Here we go... again. To bolster my efforts I intend to sit down and watch "Food Inc."

Successes and failures

This past week was amazingly busy, stressful, hectic.... all the things that normally make up the life of a work-at-home mommy to a veeeeery busy toddler! It was also a week of some exciting successes, and some serious failures.

First, the successes. I have been a vegan cooking maniac! I made Cajun chickpea patties, oyster mushroom scampi, and cauliflower chowder, all of which were amazing. I am so proud of my new love of cooking, and I can't wait to figure out what will be for dinner this week.

Now for the epic failures. These came in the form of Nutella and pizza. The sad thing is, they weren't really even worth it. It wasn't as though I had some kind of mouth orgasm eating these foods... they were good, but not amazing. Perhaps instead of failures I should chalk this up to a learning experience.

In any case, I am not giving up. This is too important to me to let something like Nutella and subpar pizza interfere with.

Onward and upward!

Blessed with great friends!

I am so happy that I get to make a post like this! Let me set up the back story...

When I first became a vegetarian, I dealt with endless amount of b.s. from "friends" and family. I had people sneak meat into my food if I left to go to the bathroom, I had little chunks of meat flicked at me across tables, and of course I had the required "mooing" while someone ate a steak near me. My most troubling memory is of my sister and I making a box of mac n' cheese (we were only 16 and 18) on Thanksgiving because my stepmother purposely cooked every single item with meat in it (bacon in the green beans, chicken stock in the potatoes, etc.)

So, as you can imagine I have developed something akin to defensiveness in social settings with omni's. History has taught me that I will be under attack.

Last night I had my monthly bunco date with the gals, and it was so much fun (as usual!). Even better, I felt so welcome and accepted in my food decisions. Wonderful hostess Tiffany went out of her way to get a vegan lasagna recipe from her dad, and it was amazing! There was no mooing or teasing.... and in fact, people were asking about vegan meal options for me for when they host. It was such a change of pace from my experiences in the past, and it felt so good to let my gaurd down.

To all my friends and family who love and support me, thank you so much!

Peace is the way.

"There is no way to peace. Peace is the way." - A.J. Muste

I have always loved this quote, for so many reasons. I love that it cuts through all the excuses and procrastinating and gets right to the point. We have to be that which we want most.

This quote feels particularly meaningful today. Not because I am all fired up about some national animal rights issue or because I am feeling like I can tackle the world. Rather, I had a moment of true peace with my toddler on my lap.

A freshly bathed and beautiful Dylan sitting on my lap, we started reading some of his books before bed. As I sat there and told him "Cow... be gentle... soft" and "pig... pretty piglet," I had the most overwhelming feeling of peace and contentment. Watching him pet the little felt square that is supposed to mimic the feeling of a cow's soft hair, I realized that he will truly know what it means to respect these animals. I can read him that book without any shame or regret, and that feeling was the most moving experience I have had in quite some time.

I hope that I am instilling in him the knowledge and conviction to be peace, rather than wondering how to get there.

Right on, Ari

Today's post will be short and sweet (much like me!), as work beckons to me so that I can continue to pay for things such as lights and an ample tofu supply. My victory of the day was the awesome breakfast of "scrambled" tofu, zucchini, and onions with chili powder and garlic, which Dylan and I promptly devoured. It was absolutely delicious, and I think it will be my new breakfast staple around here.

The other thing I want to share is an excerpt from Ari Solomon's article in the January 5, 2010, edition of The Huffington Post, "Who You Callin' Vegangelical."

"So, who's the real extremist? The person who tries to stop unnecessary suffering by cutting out animal products, or the person who says, "I like the way that tastes, so a sentient being needs suffer and die?"

Who's the real fundamentalist? The person who simply speaks the truth about where food comes from, or the person who knowingly chooses to ignore it, listening only to the falsehoods of the meat and dairy clergy? Isn't the latter more akin to choosing to believe the earth is 5,000 years old despite clear evidence to the contrary?"

Off to dream of more zucchini tofu scramble in the morning...

50 billion

I had intended to write something about my first major vegan shopping trip, my excitement about some new recipes, and maybe even my intense drive to get a copy of "Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World" by Isa Chandra Moskowitz. Instead, I find the need to write about the number 50 billion.

50 billion. This is a huge number. If you really think about, this number is unfathomably large. It is 7.4 times the current human population of Earth. It also happens to be how many chickens are globally raised annually. 50 billion beings who spend 39 days inside a concrete prison covered in filth and suffering from innumerable diseases and afflictions. Your gut instinct may be to write them off as nuggets or beady-eyed nothings, but current research shows that birds are remarkably intelligent and social creatures. They think. They feel. Just sit with that. Now, imagine 50 billion again.

I hope that my choice for myself and my family can in some way bring that number down, even by 1.

Perhaps tomorrow I will write about 500 million, which is the number of pigs who live the same sad life as those 50 billion chickens.

Hello blogosphere!

I am not someone who ever thought that I would write a blog. It just really isn't my style. After all, who wants to read about my relatively dull and mundane existence in Alaska (which we all know is a frozen wasteland from which I can see Russia). So, why am I writing a blog then? I feel the need to share my new vegan journey with others, even if the only person that reads this is my husband and the friends I guilt into it.

I am a relatively new vegan (3 days to be exact). Of course, I dabbled in college... but didn't we all? I hope to share my struggles, triumphs, recipes, and adventures being a vegan in a decidedly conservative, meat-eating state.

Here is the rundown:
1. Work at home mom to a remarkably busy 1-year-old boy.
2. Married to an amazing (albeit meat-eating) husband.
3. Companion to 3 rescue dogs and 1 rescue cat. I own a really great vacuum out of necessity.
4. I curse more than is really necessary, and should probably get an anchor tattooed on my arm.

So, if anyone should read this... so begins the Alaskan Vegan adventure!