Kitty pics and vegan tricks (well margarine, actually)

Still slogging my way through the "Vegan No More '10" (it doesn't have a catchy name as far as I know, but that's the name of the post that started it). No, I haven't joined Them (though my morals on this issue were, and still are, around abouts what Quasi-Vegan blogs). My thoughts tonight (erm this morning) are on more traditional vegan topics.

But first, some pictures of my favourite non-humans:

Practicing ridiculous cuteness as usual.

 Here she was trying to attack Haley, so I gave her the Minotaur to beat up; but you can see her cake eyes still straying back to the true object of her Grand Passion (sitting in the green tray.)

 

 

I placed a VHS tape in her way. Here she is in a death grip with Minotaur, but peering around the tape at the object of her slavish devotion (determined to remain in her green tray.) Haley used to have one tray, which she took over when Fernando bought it (so we can never use it). But Minion kicks her out of it sometimes, so now we have a second tray which also must remain empty. She travels from one tray to the other, and back, as Minion torments her.

"Oh. But I lobes you so very, very much."

 And here she has fallen asleep while sucking her thumb (aka my finger.)

 

Here's a picture of my favourite human, disguised as a non-human in his bunnyllama hat.

 

Back to our regularly scheduled program.

I just wanted to share this post, with its comments, because it's such a good example of how twisty life gets when you try to eat ethically. It begins with a discussion of palm oil, which is apparently killing the orangutans (this is old news, but I hadn't heard it -- and there are apparently many ethical problems with palm oil) - and then a discussion about which, if any, vegan margarines to use because most use palm oil.

I don't think the complexity behind the issues is reason to just sing "Fuck youuuu" and go back to eating any way you want. But I've always wanted to be an Ethical Purchaser for the long haul, so I just do it in stages.

-> Before I describe what I mean, I'll take a moment to say that... perhaps it's our obsession with food in North America that makes us focus so much on food as the main area for activism. Orrrr it's just because it's relatively easy to do? Anyway.

I use my patented Lazy Method for transitioning. I was a Lazy Vegetarian first--take one year to try to be vegetarian, give in to the worst cravings, then stop. Later I did Lazy Vegan the same way. After going food-vegan I didn't throw out every non-vegan or animal-tested thing in my home, I just worked on not replacing them as I used them up. I have "broken" my veganism at times (shoes) but that doesn't mean I will or won't again in future--the only thing I can promise is to Not Be Perfect.

And for the occasional thing I've cut out, there's the occasional thing I let in. I finally let honey back in after reading about what's killing off the bees, and some comments from Jae Steele's books (one re. the ethics of it locally speaking, since my alternative was agave, coming from far south - the other a letter she received from a honey farmer). But my condition is it has to be Quebec honey, so it wasn't a cost trade-off, and I've only found that at certain chains (Metro.) All the other kinds are a mix of Prairies honey and something Far Away like Argentina.

And margarine is another one I've always kept a wary eye on, just since I've tried eating less processed food. Man there is nothing more processed than margarine, and that includes the old vegan fave Earth Balance. (Right now I buy Becel's Vegan, which appeared in the large chain I mostly shop at.) But the real problem is that I love margarine. I love fat. I eat a lot of margarine, whether on bread or rice or potatoes or in baking. So the "OH it's so PROCessed!!"ness of it all just hasn't been enough to fight against "Ooh but I'd just like a nice piece of bread and margy please, thanks!" Or shortbread cookies, or baking powder biscuits, etc. And the unhealthiness of eating this much fat... no, that doesn't make the cut either.

But orangutans might do it. Not that the human suffering involved doesn't suck too. But like those cute pics of Minion, dead orangutans is my weak spot. I'm not the person who coos over other people's babies, I coo over their dogs and cats.

I still have some margarine on hand. ...I'm not sure I can go cold veg-turkey. Maybe I can allot a certain # of times per year when I can buy it and just go into a margarine frenzy for a week. And the rest of the time depend on my semi-local Canola oil (Canada), definitely-not-local-but-I-am-SO-not-ready-to-give-it-up-unless-there's-a-monkey-involved olive oil, and the other non-local oils I use in small quantities (coconut, sesame, peanut).

:-'(

It will mean processed foods with palm oil too. Probably just the croissants I like to buy.

X'-(

Oh well. Experience tells me that if I'm firm enough I won't miss it that much. ...Which brings me to another topic. But I'll write it up and stick a later date on it. Enough blabbing for now.

Thoughts on Veganism - some comments

I wanted to reply to some of the comments left on my last post, but my reply was too long for the commenting box. So I'm putting them here.

* UNHEALTHINESS:
From dirtyduck (who is not only a vegan but have a lovely little family with a duck and a pig, among other creatures): "one of my fav bloggers said "even if veganism wasnt one of the healthiest diets, i would still do it" its love of animals that keeps me going. i stand up for what i believe is right. i will take from myself to right a wrong. i think a lot of these people that are going back to meat werent doing it for ethical reasons, which makes us(real vegans) look bad. the very word vegan is abused."

I continue to eat vegan even though I don't objectively believe it to be the healthiest diet. But I'm not comfortable commenting on the health issues of someone who has no energy or is severely depressed, and to tell them they should have to live that way for the sake of the animals. I have friends were severe chronic illness (not caused by being vegans) and they're having trouble holding down jobs and paying their medical bills. I can't wish that upon another person. I do wonder if there's a certain % of the population that, through their basic biology, do very poorly on a vegan diet, and if those are the people who are one by one coming "out of the closet." I don't think it's that weird if it seems to be happening all at once, since they would probably take courage from seeing others do it. According to some of these posts there are some prominent vegan bloggers who behind the scenes are eating meat. ??!! At least these people are being honest. Yikes.

* HUNTER GATHERERS
GMC (my dad, whose been thinking a lot about the issues surrounding killing animals, and how that fits in--or doesn't--with a Christian belief of compassion and love and nonviolence): "Didn't history unfold the other way around? Weren't our ancestors hunters and gatherers before they discovered agriculture, which led to the growth of larger, stronger communities? Meat was part of the equation of course, but home-grown vs. hunted?"

And Rose (a vegan blogger who follows dirtyduck's blog) : "Also, I tend to agree with GMC's point that the development of agriculture and an understanding of nutrition is what catapulted the human species and allowed us to form "civilised" societies...you know those places where we humans are supposedly compassionate, and strive for equality and non-violence. "

I'm talking about before hunting-gathering. If you have two communities gathering, and then one learns to hunt as WELL as gather, they now have a protein advantage.  -> The only reason I bring it up is because I've had vegans tell me that veganism is the most "natural" way to eat. But the most natural impulses of any species are to reproduce and survive--any advantage they have to do that, they will take. And our ancestors did.

As for what agriculture did to change our societies--I don't have strong opinions as to whether it was a positive or a negative. Like most technological developments, it was probably both. As far as I understand it, it's what really cemented the concept of ownership, and further created the divide between the rich and poor, which is why some anti-capitalist people see it as a negative thing. But I'm sure there are many theories around this topic that I'm wholly ignorant of, not being a geographer.

Though I haven't extensively read the arguments of the ex-vegans, I think they believe that a planet of vegans would be unsustainable because of the extensive monoculture that would necessitate it; and therefore they see veganism as violent and harmful to the welfare of wild animals. They're not "in" for factory farming either--they see all large-scale farming as harmful. I don't know enough about this perspective to say whether I agree or not.

My opinions, both on agriculture and on nature/evolution, are in part based on the writings of zoologist Matt Ridley. In The Red Queen he discusses the development of ownership and how this helped certain men accumulate more wealth and then reproduce more widely than other men. It's a VERY interesting and entertaining read. As is his book on why cooperation exists in nature, The Origins of Virtue. Also highly recommended. Neither has to do with animal rights, but as a zoologist he's mostly discussing animal behaviors.

*FACTORY FARMS

I did not mean to give the impression that I think factory farms are just part of "the ciiircle of liiiiife." It's one of the most horrifying industries in the western world, and it's the reason I will not eat meat, eggs, dairy from an unknown source. And since (a) I don't know of any humane farms where I can easily purchase meat or dairy from well-treated animals, and since (b) I haven't made any sort of decision that I would eat meat or dairy from such a farm, I continue to not consume these foods.

*MORALITY
Rose also said "just because the killing of other species exists in the "amoral" realm of nature, does not excuse it from being immoral in a "moral" realm".

I agree. I didn't mean to imply otherwise.

And "even if it were the case that, as you suggest, a tribe of vegetarians could never compete against a tribe of hunters...what difference does that make to us now? Surely, that does not serve as an excuse for not striving towards a compassionate, peaceful, and non-violent society. Even if it were essential to our pre-historic ancestors...it is not essential now" 

As mentioned above, I brought up the hunter aspect in re vegans who argue that eating vegan is the most natural diet. But I don't by any means see that as an excuse for not striving towards a peaceful society.

One of the best, most comprehensive articles I've read on animal rights issues, meat eating, and sustainability is by journalist Michael Pollan. It's a long article but well-well worth the read.

* B12

My understanding is that nutritional yeast only has B12 when it's added as a supplement, same as with cereals. I believe vegans have to get their B12 through supplemented food, or through pills.

Thanks for the feedback. I knew some of what I'd written would come off wickety-wack. I wrote it all in one sitting with minimal editing.

Latest Thoughts on Veganism

-> This is a longish post about my current position on veganism, and on my discovery of a bunch of vegans-turning-omnivore that's happened lately in blogland. While veganism is starting to mainstream a bit because of Ellen, Bill Clinton, Alicia Silverstone, Skinny Bitch, and one Oprah experiment, I think we're going to continue to see a shift towards local and low-processed eating. (The backlash against slow-food hasn't begun in earnest yet, but fast food chains have already figured out how to cash in on it.)


Sometime in 2009 I was frolicking about on the internets (as one is wont to do) and I came across "Racefail 09" -- an epic discussion that started off being about the representation of people of colour in sci fi fantasy, but very quickly became about the fandom of sci fi fantasy, and all the white privilege built into it. Being an internet discussion, it expanded in every direction and so took up many of my evenings to read, and it would be almost impossible to read EVERY blog posting, discussion, and commenting on the topic. But it was very interesting and I would recommend any white writer read some of it. This is the best outline I've seen about it.

So I finished nanowrimo yesterday, and am now frolicking about the internets (as one is wont to do) and catching up with the food blogs I haven't read in awhile, and it seems that while I was in nanoland veganfail '10 appeared. I don't mean it's a discussion of people of color re. veganism (though that's definitely an interesting topic since veganism is also pretty White); it's a bit different in nature...

It seems like a number of vegan bloggers have returned to being omnivores, are blogging about this, and setting off a number of heated discussions. Actually, I haven't hit any really hot discussions yet, but I'm sure they're out there on the more hard-core-vegan sites.

I went vegetarian and then vegan a number of years ago. My basic reason: If I'm such a suck for animals that I can't even watch a cartoon where an animal is sad, then I probably shouldn't be contributing to their real life pain. And since animals are often poorly treated in the production of eggs and milk, I always knew I would eventually step it up to veganism. And then slowly I let go of leather and wool and products tested on animals (and sometimes products with animal ingredients.)

But I was always suspicious of vegan propaganda--that it's the healthiest way to eat, etc. It always seemed like a privileged way to eat. Not vegetarianism, because there are some poorer communities on earth who are vegetarian for religious reasons and such; but veganism seemed like something I could only practice cause I live in a rich country, and am relatively well off.

It also didn't strike me as very natural that vegans have to take supplements (esp calcium and B12) to stay healthy. Especially B12. The only way (if I recall) that you can naturally get B12 without eating animal products, is by eating plant food that's been grown in animal manure and not perfectly washed. You see what's wrong with that picture, where vegans are concerned? So no, I didn't think it was natural. But I veganized anyway because I nevertheless didn't want to support factory farming. *

Also, I have a fairly good understanding of evolution and natural selection. And you can't tell me that a vegetarian community would be able to compete against a community that has discovered hunting. The amount of energy and fat and protein in animals is dense and important for survival. It would have been an absolute advantage. And those are the genes we inherited.

And it's hard for me to see the killing of other animals as immoral, when such killing exists in amoral beings--animals themselves. Death and life go hand in hand. I personally don't view that as inherently bad either. I see it as neutral. Again, it's how we (as sentient beings) treat each other and the beings and world around us that matters to me.

I find most of the nutritional advice in vegan cookbooks and web sites, and given by vegan nutritionists, to be extremely suspect. I enjoy the recipes and ignore the rest.

Then, like many others, I started reading more about local eating, and "slow food" -- the idea that the best thing for the planet is to eat foods produced locally and seasonally, and that the healthiest food for us is food that hasn't been too processed. Both of these ideas make perfect sense to me. It doesn't require a lot of research to see the sense--but if research is required, well at least some of slow food's biggest proponents were people like Michael Pollan, who is well researched and open-minded and sensible. I decided once and for all that it's factory farming I'm against, but that I do not consider it immoral to eat animals and animal products, in and of itself. I do believe people should eat a lot less meat, so that it can be produced in smaller and more humane facilities.

I haven't begun to eat meat or dairy or eggs again, and I don't know if I will. I have started to make some small choices such as eating local honey, rather than South American agave syrup. Since a lot of the foods vegans depend on, like almonds, are dependent upon roving beekeeping, I just can't see honey as more harmful than almonds.

I did give in and start buying leather boots and shoes again a few years ago. I'd been buying cheap non-leather Payless shoes and they were wrecking my feet. (I worked in retail, so on my feet a lot.)

The reality is I feel fine. People always ask me if I felt better and more energetic when I became a vegetarian, and I always said no--I experienced zero change. I have a hearty farmer-stock sort of body, and I think I can simply tolerate a variety of ways of eating. I'm regular, I'm fat, I'm not prone to depression, I have a goodish amount of energy (though it goes up if I actually exercise), and I'm clear-headed. I even have a genetic disorder that makes me retain more iron than my body needs. The only thing I don't know is where my B-12 levels are at, because it's something that decreases slowly over time and then HITS you one day with major nerve damage, so it's the one thing I'm due to be tested for.

So vegan, not vegan, I don't find diet makes much difference to me. When Sherry-cat was sick I bought some tuna, but he couldn't eat it, and the husband hates fish, so I ate it myself. I did not experience an epiphany. I didn't feel better. I didn't feel like "THIS is what my body has been CRAVING!!!"

But. What's coming out on these blogs is that there are some people who become very, very ill on a vegan diet. (I've known people who got sick as vegetarians, usually because they have a genetic iron deficiency; but I know only, like, one person who's even vegan in the first place.) These people became severely depressed, lacking in energy, hair falling out, etc. And within a week of eating meat (even within a mouthful) their health began to improve.

Because many of these people were somewhat radical vegans--the kinds of people, I assume, who I avoided and who I always felt gave veganism a bad name, with their poor facts and poor logic--the return to meat-eating was devastating. They believed with all their hearts that a vegan diet was the healthiest on the planet, the most natural; they knew all the "facts" and arguments, not just about nutrition but ecological ones (how veganism would save the planet etc); and they ate WELL. They ate "good vegan" diets. They took their supplements, ate tons of greens, etc etc. (Much better than I eat.)

Yet still they got terribly sick. So they've gone back to being omnivore. But in having to revert to eating meat, they also opened their minds to the criticism of their previous beliefs, and now tend to believe that a vegan diet is not only killing some people, but would not be good for the planet; and in fact they see agriculture as The Big Bad. I think some of them lean towards hunting-gathering, I guess others to small-scale agriculture (small farming.) Well you don't have to convince me that a lot of environmental problems have come along with agriculture, I learned that in Environmental Geography 101 back in the 1990s. And it definitely went hand in hand with the development of ownership and therefore capitalism (and patriarchy and sex sex sex!!)

Veganism, at its origin, was about compassion for all living creatures and the planet they live on--and that's always what it's been about for me. Compassion for animals has to be balanced against compassion for people and the planet, if only because our well-being is all tied in with each other. So I'm all in for considering how large scale farming of all kinds affects animals indirectly, through their ecology.

Mind, I find there's as much extremism and gooey politics mixed into their new omnivore-saves-the-planet beliefs, and that doesn't interest me. I do believe eating meat is better for them (as I believe it is in general), and I do believe their new political beliefs are sincere, and not rationalizations. But like recent converts to Anything, they might be starting down a new path of Righteousness and Radicalism and Judgment that makes me uncomfortable. I say "MAY" be. These aren't blogs I read regularly, I don't know these people at all. I'm wondering out loud about a general trend, rather than judging specific people.

I gather that the political background for many of these people is feminist. While I am a feminist, I've never equated Female with Nature, and believed women are more peaceful than men, and somehow connected all that with veganism. I don't think you'll ever see me write about What Mother Nature Believes is Most Nurturing For My Body. I don't see veganism as a patriarchal plot to keep women (or womyn) (or wimmin) activists weak and not out activating. (Rather I think it's a sad coincidence that this diet that many thought was radical and energizing, ended up sapping some of these people of their energy and therefore their radicalism.

But I do agree with some of the commenters who see a lot of eating disorderness in many vegans. There's a lot about purity and perfectionism and control. And beating yourself up when you've eating something "bad". There's bad food and good food. There's obsession and control issues. So for some people I think there is some body-hatred going on. Which certainly isn't in line with feminism.

So I don't know what's going to happen with my own eating habits. It's all vair vair interesting. I'm always in for thinking, learning, challenging, and growing. :-)


Here are the blogs I've so far read, in order of finding them...

-> Vegan Lunch Box: Dec 1, 2010 (this blog I do follow a bit, so that's how I got into this topic) - she admitted to no longer being vegan, and the post or comments led me to the other sites

-> Voracious: Nov 10, 2010 - this is one of the people who was very sick as a vegan

-> Paleosister: This blog started in July 2010, and the whole thing is about this topic. The subtitle is "Wheat is murder." (So, like, probably not the site for me.)

-> Lierre Keith's site: I gather she's one of the more famous anti-vegans (or maybe it's more accurate to say anti-agriculturalists.)

-> I follow a couple "vegan of color" sites, so I thought I should hop over and see if any of them are talking about this. And lo and behold one of the contributors posted a farewell to veganism message on November 5th. His new blog is here but I haven't read it yet.

-> And a rebuttal. (I've only started reading up on all this, so bear with me if my entry is short on Facts! and Counterfacts!)

* NOTE: There have been some fairly good studies that find a vegan diet can help reverse heart disease and diabetes, for a large number of people (but not everyone.) So I do think that in some circumstances a vegan diet can be very healthy.

[There's a semi-part-2 to this post, as a reply to a couple points raised in the comments.]

23 066

Check out that graph baby.

 

Imma touch the sky! ...One of my fave Kanye songs, and funny video. He does have a sense of humour, believe it or not. 

- "Do you know who I am??" 

- "This is why we couldn't never work out, Nia." 

- "Do you know who I am??"

- "I know--I just--I said your name!"

Okay, I've made pasta, and butternut squash soup (the recipes in Vegan With a Vengeance aren't short, but they are always YUMMY.)  I've chosen a candle for the night--from these Partylite candles we've owned for over 10 years. lol They all smell the same by now. I've read email, cooked in my cafe, and earlier today I wrote a thousand words to set me up for a party scene. Parties are always fun to write because you can make anything happen at them, and dump all the characters in the scene. I'm gonna finish my bowl of soup and go! Touch the skyyyy!

13 377

Today I did the dishes, and made biscuits, pasta, winter soup, and a chocolate cake. That's the yummy kind of procrastination! Now I just need to figure out how to get Pinky back to San Fran, but I think I've got something...

menoum

I've been having a craving for chocolate cupcakes for two days now. Menoum menoum, as they say in French.

veggies where art thou??

I'm trying to find more cookbooks with vegetable cooking. You'd think there would be a VEGAN vegetable cookbook out there, but not that I've found. So many books still treat vegetables as a side dish, that it can be hard bringing them to the center of the plate! (Or taking up half the plate, as they should.)

But if I buy another vegetarian or regular vegetable cookbook, I'll end up with all these cheese and egg recipes. Annoying. I already have one, and I like it--don't need more.

I ordered this one: Greens Glorious Greens! One review said it mostly makes do without meat, eggs and cheese, and it's highly rated re. recipes turning out.

And this one: Farmer John's Real Dirt. It's from an organic farm, and the cookbook started as a way to provide more info about vegetables for their "CSA" (community supported agriculture) clients. These are the organizations that you sign up for and they dump a box of Whatever's New That Week on your doorstep, and you've got to figure out what to make with it all. So people often need recipe ideas. I've always wanted to try the local one, but not sure how to arrange deliveries in an apartment. Anyway, it's not vegan but should be pretty crunchy-granola.

There's also a DVD about this guy and his farm, which I ordered second hand--it's won all sorts of awards.

I've discovered that with this job I can't keep up with my own writing, my marriage, and eating healthy. So unfortunately Writing is taking the cut. :-( Hopefully not permanently. All I've been eating for supper lately is refried beans, mixed with salsa, and corn chips. And that's healthier than where I was two weeks ago! I've also reintroduced homemade hummus & veggies. My body is all "What? What are these crunchy things you ingest?? Bah!" And bean salad. Next I want to make homemade granola. Bébé steps.

Alright, gotta go now. Have "overtime work" to get working on. Hapoo.

Munch munch munch

I listened to this song while writing the following post, and, it's so good. I thought it required sharing.



So. I've always wanted to MAKE myself try the experiment of not doing something else while eating. As a way of being more conscious of my food and when I'm full.

But the idea always *scared* me. I love combining food with other forms of entertainment. Getting something nice to eat, and pairing it with a good book or TV show... it's almost planned. "As soon as I'm done reading my emails, I will make a nice (faux)cheese sandwich and eat it while watching The Office."

At the same time, I know I'm a classic unconscious eater. And ever since being on my headache pill, my appetite has changed in some way. I get hungry when I shouldn't, logically, be hungry. And I used to be a little better at not indulging in something yummy-but-meh-nutrition, like potato chippies. Now, my brain has become Lost to All Reason.

I don't want to go off the headache pill, because I'd rather be fat with less headaches; but as of a couple months I've noticed my knees hurting me. So the fat thing has crossed some invisible line from "s'alright, I'm can survive at this weight" to "intrusive."

Anyway, yesterday for some reason I felt I could finally try the entertainment-free-eating. So I've to try for at least one week, right? An experiment should at least go one week.

I've given myself breakfast as a reprieve, because coming alive is already the biggest trial I face every day. And at work today I just forgot. I focused while eating my homemade bread cause it was crumbly, but I think I read emails while eating carrots.

Also, full disclosure, I have a map of the world placemat on the kitchen table.

It was funny just now, though, when I went to get some chippies. I poured out a reasonable portion of chippies, sat down on the couch, and then thought--hm. I have to turn off the tv. Ignore my computer. And just sit here and eat chips.

It was a novel experience. Snacks feel like they should go along with an activity. It wasn't as boring as I thought it'd be. I composed this entry in my head. And then thought about a conversation I had with my boss. Is that cheating? I can only do so much to prevent being entertained.

I fully anticipate not being able to make this an actual Real Habit. But experiments are at least educational. I once went a week without eating corn syrup and that was an eye-opener.

Saaaltyyyy salty salty salty...

Really interesting article on salt in the New York Times. I skimmed most, but the first couple pages have Fun Facts!

As a demonstration, Kellogg prepared some of its biggest sellers with most of the salt removed. The Cheez-It fell apart in surprising ways. The golden yellow hue faded. The crackers became sticky when chewed, and the mash packed onto the teeth. The taste was not merely bland but medicinal.

“I really get the bitter on that,” the company’s spokeswoman, J. Adaire Putnam, said with a wince as she watched Mr. Kepplinger struggle to swallow.

They moved on to Corn Flakes. Without salt the cereal tasted metallic. The Eggo waffles evoked stale straw. The butter flavor in the Keebler Light Buttery Crackers, which have no actual butter, simply disappeared.

...

processed foods, along with restaurant meals, now account for roughly 80 percent of the salt in the American diet. The rest comes from the kitchen salt shaker or occurs naturally in food.

...

In calculating the percent of the daily recommended sodium intake in each serving, companies use the standard for healthy adults below middle age, a teaspoon of salt, or about 2,300 milligrams. But the recommendation for the vast majority of Americans — children, adults of middle age or older, all blacks and anyone with hypertension — is less than 1,500 milligrams a day.

When you make similar recipes at home, the amount of salt you use is minimal compared to these descriptions. I guess because you use more expensive ingredients. If I make cookies, for example, there's some salt in my processed ingredients (margarine) but otherwise you're putting maybe half a teaspoon. And you can eliminate that teaspoon and the cookies will still be tasty.

In something like guacamole the salt makes a big difference, but again, more than 3/4 of a teaspoon and it will taste too salty.

Shows what a difference it makes to your health to sometimes make homemade food. Or at least, you have more control and knowledge. A good reminder for me, because the more I work the more processed food I buy.

Mind you - I don't have a very discerning palate, but there are some foods that I now like much better when homemade. Hummus, cookies, granola--the store bought versions don't taste as good as they used to. Especially cookies! I'm always disappointed by processed cookies, even brands I used to love.

Mmmm. Cooookies.

Ohhh the sadness

While I don't think it's immoral to eat meat, here's yet another reason (article below) why I remain vegan. Unless you know the farm yourself, can visit it, and can openly witness how they treat their animals, then you can never be sure if they were treated humanely. And that goes for dairy too.

Instead of relying on labels like organic, it's probably better just to decrease your meat and dairy consumption. Meh meh meh!

An undercover investigation reveals factory farm conditions at an organic, “humane” slaughterhouse.

By Liz Miller

This week, British animal welfare group Animal Aid released undercover video revealing that a purported organic, "humane" slaughterhouse confines and beats animals and does not follow humane slaughter practices. Animal Aid chose the slaughterhouse because it is certified to the highest standard in the UK, and it received humane slaughter certification from organic, eco-conscious farming group Soil Association. Inhumane practices caught on film mimic the worst violations committed on factory farms, from extreme animal confinement and abuse to slaughtering conscious animals. Critics of organic farming are calling the investigation proof that certified organic meat is no more ethical than meat produced by factory farms. (vegnews)

food and writing and tv

I seem to have fallen back into cooking again, over the past month. I think it started in November when I got into the Making Soup habit; and now the husbando is eating healthier, so I want to make sure there are things to eat.

I think I can eat a lot of homemade if I...

- make a couple veggie-filled big things on the weekend, which I can bring to lunch at work. They don't need to turn out great, cause at work I don't care what I eat.

- make a couple easy things, a couple times during the week when I get home from work -- like pasta with oil and lemon.

And I'm back to making my own muffins and cookies, and eating them Moderately.

Tonight I'm trying to make hot breakfast cereal (corn meal with dates and nuts, from that slow cooker book), as something healthy to eat for breakfast.

Okay. I've got to do some writing now. (I've actually taken my Mail program out of my mac dock, so that I'm not inclined to check it all the time and procrastinate. So I only have to resist my Home page (which has blog updates) and facebook. Which apparently I'm better at than resisting Mail. Oh, and I found a program that will email me all my twitter updates once a day, in one email. Like that too.

And I haven't got back into any TV shows yet. If anyone asks me "Are you watching XYZ it's amaaazing!" I'm just going to nod my head enthusiastically and give a thumbs up. I'm not a tv snob. It's just that movies and tv are at the bottom of my Entertainment Pole--they're easier to cut out than books and internets.

PS - I'm back with a bowl of hot cereal. It's pretty nice. This may turn out to be my favourite use for the slow cooker.

Edna St Vincent Millay's voice - & - bland cooking

Still really enjoying this book of letters by American women, but I've finally found the right inspiration for Genie's diary entries (for my Henry V book.)

I started looking only at women either 10 years older or younger than Genie (born in 1900) and whose letter sounded distinguished enough that I could lift some expressions and language from it, and give Genie's entries a distinctive feel. Sometimes I come across great lines, but no one will believe they're from the early 1900s... they'll think I haven't done my research! The best was: "That's the dope!"

Finally I came across the poet Edna St Vincent Millay, born 1892, and she's hilarious. She's sitting bored on a train, and writes out the interchange she had with room service at the last hotel she stayed in: "it advertises itself as Chicago's Most Home-like Hotel. Well, that's it. It's so... home-like that if you want a cup of coffee you have to go down to the kitchen and make it yourself."

(To read the exciting exchange between Millay and Room Service, click here!)

There's a book of Millay's letters that's out of print, and I was going to order it online; but then I read reviews of her biography, and they all same the same thing--"It's just an infodump of Millay's journals and letters! No editing! Journal entries and letters! This sucks!" So it sounds like the bio will be perfect for me.

And so an Unprecedented Winter Trip to the Library is called for. Wish me luck.



In other news: I once again tried a recipe from Robin Robertson's slow cooker cookbook, and it was, as usual, completely lacking in flavor. It had 8 spices, and yet zero flavor--like the other things I've tried from this book. And this is a woman who writes international cookbooks! I have her "meat and potatoes" book and it's just fine. I guess crockpots are her weakness. If you read the reviews of it on her web site, it doesn't sound like anyone actually cooked from it before reviewing.

Oh well, I'll pack them into lunch tupperwares and eat it at work.

Oh the cookbook addiction!

Gave into temptation and bought a new vegan cookbook. I had my eye on Vegan Lunch Boxes, and on The Urban Vegan (I read her blog), but they both have faux-vegan processed food which I don't like. (a) Because I can only buy a lot of those things at the health food store, and I'm way too cold-resistant to go that far (7 min walk) in the winter. Seriously. I don't even go to the library across the street. ALL outdoor activity ceases once we reach 5 degrees C.

And (b) some products we don't have at all in my store, and I don't have a car so I'm not going any further.

And (c) I just don't want to eat a lot of processed food. Yes I'll buy bread and cereal and spaghetti sauce. But if I'm going to buy processed food, I'll buy a whole meal (hummus), or as a treat (vegan cream cheese, ice cream). Not as stuff I have on hand at all times, for any recipe.

Anyway, so I bought The Supermarket Vegan because it's based on 2 things: (1) food you can get at a suburban grocery store, and (2) not very processed.

I tried it tonight. In minutes I found two recipes I could make using the ingredients I have on hand, even though I haven't done a big shopping trip lately; I made them both, and was done, and cleanup done, within an hour. (I like to make big pots of things to eat over a couple days.) I made chilli with pasta, and curried orzo.

...Yes I know I'm the only vegan who read this blog. But I... I needed to shaaare. Probably a good book for people who want to make more vegetarian or vegan meals, but without having to buy kooky ingredients.

I'm the luckiest giiirl in the woooorld

The first time my brother and I saw this, O How We Laffed. And I still love to say: "I'm the luckiest boy in the world. I'm the LUCKiest Boy in the WOOORLD!!"

I'm feeling lucky too. I was on the staff holiday party committee this year, and it all went off without a hitch tonight. Now I have sore feet, and four gigantic slabs of the heaviest cake you've ever carried, which I have to find a way to bring into work. It's a cake-boss time cake... have you ever lifted a cake with a fondant cover? You could do a workout with fondant.

And we had a vegan cake too. Minoum-minoum.

Rich Person Guilt, Comfort Food, and one Good Cookbook

I guess when I'm in a blah mood I feel like cooking. Yesterday I made pasta, and vegetable soup with dumplings. Today I made muffins and bread. There's something comforting about the process. I turn on CBC radio, then I sit down and poke through my cookbooks until I find what I'm in the mood for (and have ingredients for), then I unload and reload the dishwasher, clean all the counters with vinegar and water, fire up the oven, pull out my beautiful green mixing bowls, and get started. I load the dirty cooking things into the empty dishwasher as I go, so by the end I have a warm kitchen, good food, and a clean kitchen.

The CBC show was Definitely Not the Opera, and the theme was guilt--parental guilt, cultural guilt, survivor guilt, guilt of a woman who got out of Afghanistan, guilt of the grandson of a concentration camp doctor, green guilt, etc. It was perfect for my mood, because right now I'm steeped in Living in a Rich Country guilt.

I should plug my favourite cookbook again. I was in the mood for muffins and for a herbed no-yeast bread, and decided to go with the two recipes in Jae Steele's book because 99% of her recipes turn out great. And they did once again.


I made apple cinnamon muffins (but with cranberries instead of raisins) and the "almost focaccia bread." Both turned out dreamy. I've never seen a bad review for this book, and you don't need to be vegan to enjoy it. She doesn't rely on prepared vegan foods (fake cream cheese, fake cheese etc) but instead emphasizes whole foods, so at work I recommend it to people just looking for a healthy cookbook. The recipes are also quick... so good for lazy people like moi...
Get it in...

Canada
The US
The UK
France
Japan
and probably a lot of other countries.

And she has a new book out this spring! Yays!