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We've Moved to VeganBits.com

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 28 Dec 2007 01:32:00 +0000

Hi Everyone,

It's been almost 6 months and we've got this vegan thing down. To celebrate, we bought our own website, VeganBits.com. You can continue to read about us there. If you're a current subscriber, this blogger subscription will no longer update. You'll need to click on the RSS button at Vegan Bits to subscribe to ensure that you continue to receive our new posts.

Thank you for following our progress and we hope to see you at our new home!

Lane & Jane

Happy Holidays!

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 21 Dec 2007 20:15:00 +0000

Hi Everyone,

Jane and I want to wish you all Happy Holidays. We celebrate Christmas in our household and that means we're going to be incredibly busy over the next week... We're also still having DSL issues, and won't have time to get to the library to post. But there is a light at the end of the tunnel. We've got a service call scheduled for the 27th. (Keep your fingers crossed.) We expect to be up and running then.

In the meantime, to paraphrase Elvis Costello ... we wish you all peace and love and understanding, whatever holiday you and yours might celebrate.

Lane & Jane

How to Cook Everything Vegetarian, or Not

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 21 Dec 2007 01:50:00 +0000

Jane has Mark Bittman's "How to Cook Everything Vegetarian" on loan from our local library. She likes to test drive new recipes prior to buying a new cookbook. This cookbook looks very promising. It's almost 1,000 pages and seems quite comprehensive. The recipes we've read sound appealing. So we're pretty excited to try a few.

Recently, we went to our favorite local Indian restaurant and had a delicious, new-to-us, eggplant dish. As Jane was going through the Bittman Cookbook she found a recipe that looked similar to that dish. She actually called me to tell me about it and that she was going to prepare that recipe for dinner tonight. In response to "what are we eating tonight" I usually hear "dinner." Jane has long since stopped telling me what I'm getting since, on rare occasion, I might have suggested I'd rather eat something other than what she was preparing. So I knew she was pretty excited about this recipe since I was hearing about it in advance.

Unfortunately, the dish didn't live up to what we had at Akbar, the Indian restaurant I've been referring too. We were both pretty disappointed in the results. The dish looks pretty, and smells good, but it was kind of, well... not what we had at Akbar. So, this recipes not a keeper. But we're not through with this cookbook just yet.

It's Tex/Mexican for Dinner Tonight

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 19 Dec 2007 03:20:00 +0000

Tonight we had bean burritos with home-made guacamole and Tofutti Sour Cream. Yum. Jane puts black beans, an onion and a few drops of liquid smoke in the food processor, and voilia, vegan "refried" beans. It's a pretty quick and easy meal for her to get together, and we both really enjoy it. She always uses whole wheat tortillas too, so we feel good about our healthy "fast food."

Tonights version had a little brown rice, some diced tomatoes and a healthy dollop of Cholula brand Hot Sauce, which we get at Costco, of all places. And, as usual, the tortillas were accompanied by a large green salad. Dinner was filling and quite satisfying. Thanks Jane!

We're Back -- And Eating Indian Food Again!

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 18 Dec 2007 04:09:00 +0000

First, let me apologize to anyone who has missed our blogging since Thursday. We have been having DSL issues and I am now at my public library using their free wireless. It's certainly not the most convenient way of getting things out there, but it works, and it's better than trying to steal bandwidth from your neighbors! (That is, if any of them are still reckless enough to use an insecure wireless connection.) Anyway, back to the topic at hand!

Last week I ventured out and had Indian food for lunch, and was successful enough to find a few vegan dishes. So last night Jane and I decided to try our favorite Indian Restaurant again. We haven't been since we've become vegans. Our rationale for avoiding this restaurant is that it is home to one of our absolute most favorite dish: Chicken Tikka Masala, an obvious vegan no-no, prepared in a tomato cream sauce which is spectacular.

After 5+ months of being vegan, we figured we might be beyond pining for the Chicken Tikka Masala and wouldn't have any trouble passing it over. Thankfully, that proved to be correct.

We also asked our server for help in selecting items that were compatible with a vegan diet. He suggested the Channa Masala, which is garbanzo beans prepared in an onion and tomato sauce. This sounded similar to something Jane makes with okra, so we decided to try that. Our waiter also suggested the Bengan ka Salan, which is a sauteed eggplant dish prepared in a coconut-tamarind sauce. OUT OF THIS WORLD! We enjoyed it so much that we didn't even miss the Tikka Masala, and may have found our new favorite dish.

Of course, we skipped the naan, and did verify with this restaurant that it is indeed made with egg and milk. But Jane has scoped out a recipe for vegan naan on the internet and will be giving it a whirl some tine early next year. She's got enough on her plate with all the family / holiday things going on now. (You can read that as: I got "that" look for even daring to ask when she'd be baking the naan.)

Naan - It Isn't for Vegans!

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 14 Dec 2007 02:46:00 +0000

I had lunch with a colleague today. We went to an Indian restaurant he knew of, very close to our meeting site, which was important since the weather wasn't cooperating much. The restaurant shall remain nameless, since it isn't one I care to refer to anyone!

Regardless, our server was great. He helped me find a vegan meal and as our food was being brought to the table, he grabbed my naan (an Indian flat bread usually served to help sop up all the delicious sauces), and said he'd provide a vegan alternative for me. Apparently, naan is made with milk and eggs. Who knew?

Again the food was actually pretty bad, but the service was stellar. I was really impressed that this person cared enough to ensure that my dietary requirements were being met. He certainly would not have suffered in any way if I'd been served the naan, and quite frankly, I never would have known it wasn't vegan.

So, once again I've learned you cannot make any assumptions... ASK, ASK, ASK!

Vegan Eggnog

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 13 Dec 2007 01:40:00 +0000

If that doesn't sound like an oxymoron...

About a week ago Jane bought a quart of Silk Eggnog. We've enjoyed the Silk Coffee-Milk and Silk Chocolate Milk, so Jane figured we'd give this a try for the holidays.

One of our guests to this blog, Shannon, commented that this product is amazing. So, once again, I had high hopes. Well, Shannon is right. It's really good, and while I can't say I'd want it every day, I certainly expect we'll be having more of it over this holiday season.

Caveat to the reader: I was never one for traditional eggnog, I always found the rum to be too overpowering. I remember having some one year waaaay back when, in my adolescence, sans booze, that was really good - but my girl cousins wouldn't have more than a glass, too many calories.

The Silk product isn't going to help you out if you're dieting, but it's probably a whole lot lower in calories than those traditional egg and cream concoctions!

You're Vegan, So Fish is Good, Right?

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 11 Dec 2007 06:07:00 +0000

Jane and I were at a holiday party Saturday night (that's where the pie went to that I mentioned in my previous post). It was hosted by neighbors down the block with whom we have a casual, nodding-hello, friendship. The party was a sit-down dinner, and was our first dinner party as vegans.

How to handle this? We really didn't know the hosts all that well prior to the party, so we didn't want to inconvenience them. But if they were planning on a "surf and turf" plated meal, we certainly weren't going to be able to participate in that, nor did we want them to waste their money on food we wouldn't eat. We decided that we would tell the hosts we were vegetarian, but didn't eat much cheese, and hope for the best. When Jane called to RSVP she reassured our hosts that we didn't require any special efforts on their part, and if they were worried we'd be more than happy to bring a vegan dish. Otherwise, we'd most likely be fine with the salad and sides they were serving.

Indeed everything did work out fine. We had a number of vegetarian sides to choose from, and our hosts prepared a few of their items meat-free specifically for us. Somehow the conversation got around to our "peculiar" eating habits so Jane outed us as vegans. The couple from the mid-west didn't know what "vegan" meant. When Jane explained we eat no animal product, the wife asked us if we ate fish. I guess if you come from cattle country, fish aren't animals...

We were asked to all bring a dessert, and the dessert table looked wonderful! There were brownies and caramel squares, and lemon bars. In addition to those goodies, there were two cakes and three pies: Jane's Apple Pie, and two pies from Marie Callendar's (a family style restaurant that is most famous for a wide variety pies). I can't speak to the quality of the other desserts because they all contained eggs and butter, so I didn't partake of them, but Jane's Apple Pie was wonderful. In fact, it was the most consumed dessert on the table. There were only two slices left at the end of the evening, and the poor Marie Callendar's apple pie sat there untouched.

Being a member of the estimated 0.3% of the United States population that is vegan certainly makes party-going a challenging event food-wise. But with a little planning and a bit of communication, everything can work out well in the end.

Happy Holidays.

Apple Pie

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 08 Dec 2007 07:18:00 +0000

Jane has always loved to bake. And I have always loved eating her baked goods. Times have been lean since eggs and butter are out of the picture, but today when I got home I was greeted by a heavenly aroma wafting out of the kitchen. I sniffed my way in, and what did my eyes behold but apple pie. Yay! Apple pie for dessert.

Alas, it was not to be. Jane made that pie for a party we are attending tomorrow night. No matter how much I tried to prevail upon her that we should have a slice to see if the crust came out good enough to bring with us, she wouldn't give in. I guess the thought of having to bake another pie tomorrow didn't really excite her as much as it did me.

Anyway, I'm certainly going to have some tomorrow night and I'm sure it will be great!

Baking Woes

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 06 Dec 2007 19:56:00 +0000

As I sit here struggling with the December Daring Baker's challenge, I am researching my ingredient substitutions, specifically eggs in baked goods. I have two really good references at my side. The first is Ann Gentry’s Real Food Daily Cookbook which Lane has blogged about often, and we love. The second is Mark Bittman’s How to Cook Everything Vegetarian- an ambitious title, but at just over 1000 pages (if you count the Acknowledgments and Intro sections) it may be accurate. This book is new to us, but looks very promising. We've got it on loan from our local library, but I'm thinking it might need to live in our home!

Anyway, the recipe calls for butter and eggs. Of course it does, who on this earth doesn't bake with butter and eggs, and maybe milk. All us vegans! The rest of the ingredients don't pose a problem, I've got them in my cupboard. But I still have this nagging sense of dread. Why? To date, I haven’t been happy with my baked goods and I think it is the fact that the eggs are not (easy to replace). Now I'm faced with baking again, but that is why I signed up for The Daring Baker's in the first place, to get me baking again!

For egg substitutions Ann Gentry recommends tofu, nut butters, fruit purees, or arrowroot. Mark Bittman recommends this recipe:

2 Tablespoons water
1 Tablespoon neutral oil (grapeseed or corn), and
1 teaspoon cornstarch (I’ll use arrowroot)
Mix together and stir until smooth.

The internet provides a whole host of other options, the most intriguing to me is something with ground flax seed. Intuitively, I think the recipe above will work best because it substitutes for the fat, the liquid, and the binding properties of eggs. Mr. Bittman also suggests 3 tablespoons of silken tofu could be used in place of an egg, but I’ve found it adds an almost gritty texture, and maybe changes the taste; in any event, when I’ve used tofu in place of an egg in baking, I haven’t been happy with the results.

If this recipe turns out to be a success (and I will have the opportunity to taste test), Lane will be bringing it to work for his office holiday party on Tuesday. If not, well I still have a few days to try and get some cookies together!
Merry Happy! -- Jane

It's the Holiday Season....

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 06 Dec 2007 04:25:00 +0000

OK, I'll admit it. I'm one of those guys you used to see frantically shopping on Christmas eve. I wasn't out there trying to get the perfect gift... I was just trying to get any gift. Jane has finally beaten it into my head that "Christmas is Coming." It doesn't matter what time of the year it is, Christmas is always coming.

My wife is always looking for gifts to give. But she's not one of those people who just give gifts for any occasion. She'll hang on to the thing until a birthday or Christmas comes along. Her life is far less stressful that way. And now mine is too.

It's early December, so guess what's around the corner?

So this year, for the third year in a row, I am looking ahead. I'm thinking Jane needs to have a new cookbook, specifically The Joy of Vegan Baking: The Compassionate Cooks' Traditional Treats and Sinful Sweets. But will this be a gift for her, or for me? ;-)

Cream of Tomato Soup with a Surprize

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 04 Dec 2007 04:05:00 +0000

It' s been cold here again. That always makes me think of soup. Luckily, Jane thinks the same way, so we've been having a variety of soups and stews lately. In our pre-vegan life, one of our old standby meals was cream of tomato soup and grilled cheese sandwiches, with a green salad. The only possibility left from that meal is the green salad.

This week's foray to the library resulted in us borrowing The Taste for Living Cookbook: Mike Milken's Favorite Recipes for Fighting Cancer by Michael Milken and Beth Ginsberg. It's not a vegan cookbook but it promotes itself as a collection of recipes for fighting cancer, so that got our attention (Jane's family history of cancer being one of the primary reasons we're vegans now). The book is fresh looking and attractively laid out, and a number of the recipes are vegan, and sound interesting. And lo and behold, one of the first recipes in the book is for Cream of Tomato Soup.

So, last night Jane made their version of cream of tomato soup. Cream? you might ask. Well in place of the cream it comes with a surprise... Their note states that oats can be used as a cream replacement in any pureed soup. (Huh?) To accompany the soup, Jane made grilled cheese sandwiches with vegan cheese. (Woo hoo, old standby!) And, as usual a green salad, this time topped with Chili Lime Dressing (recipe from the aforementioned book).

To recap: new cookbook, two new recipes. The salad dressing was outright awful. Thankfully, Jane only made half the recipe, so dumping the rest down the drain wasn't as wasteful as it could have been. The soup wasn't awful, but didn't hold up to the grilled cheese at all. We had leftover soup tonight with the last of the Tender Potato Bread Focaccia; it was better the second day. I don't know whether that's because the flavors had a chance to mature overnight, or if the bread was a better compliment than the grilled cheese.

Tender Potato Bread - Daring Baker's November Challenge

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 03 Dec 2007 05:34:00 +0000

Hi everyone. Today it's Jane who's authoring the blog post. Since I'm participating in The Daring Bakers challenges, I'll be the one blogging. Lane will continue to blog most of the other posts.

Anyway, The Daring Bakers December Challenge was issued today. We're all supposed to wait until a specified day to post about that month's challenge, and I most certainly will respect the rules! (My philosophy is, if you don't agree with the rules of the group, don't join the group... it's that simple.)

At any rate, it looks like it will be complicated to "veganize." So, since I'm feeling a little intimidated about this as my first challenge, I decided to take last month's challenge which seemed much more vegan-friendly (and which I can post about now).

The recipe was a "tender potato bread." The recipe called for 4 medium to large baking potatoes which were supposed to be no more than 16 oz. There was some commentary about using 8 ounces if you are a beginner. Well, bread I can do (I used to make a killer cheddar cheese braided bread loaf in my pre-vegan days), but it's been a while, so I used 12 ounces as a compromise. It was only 3 small russet potatoes. They looked so insignificant in the pot!

Overall, success. But the bread really didn't rise. I don't know if that's the potatoes (dense), or the fact that my yeast might be from another century. Regardless, I was a little nervous after my first rise. The recipe can be finished in a few different ways. It makes more than one loaf. The suggestions in the challenge are loaves, rolls and focaccia. So I made a small plain loaf and a focaccia with olive oil, salt, rosemary and maui onions. Lane wandered into the kitchen several times to see what smelled so good.

Finally it was done. And while I didn't get the results I would have hoped for, the small loaf resembles a doorstop, the focaccia was good enough that we ate 1/3 of it before I got it onto the cooling rack!

I will definitely try this again, but first I need to test my yeast and see if it is time to buy a new package!

Fruit Baskets

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 02 Dec 2007 00:01:00 +0000

It's that time of year again. I often get food baskets at work during the holidays as I deal with a number of vendors at work. Since Jane and I don't drink much, and hardly ever drink wine, this is a much more considerate gift. Unfortunately, most of these baskets are geared to the non-vegan. Yesterday I received a lovely basket with lots of milk-chocolate products, which I "shared" with my co-workers, much to Jane's dismay.

I got a fruit basket yesterday. Finally, a gift I could enjoy! The fruit isn't anywhere near as good as what we pick up at our local farmer's market. But that doesn't mean we're not going to eat it! (Mom would be so happy to hear that!) Anyway, it is the thought that counts.

The basket itself was beautiful, and it was an interesting composition. There was a half of a small watermelon, a pineapple, a bunch of globe grapes and some kiwi and pomegranate. I must admit, I've never seen anything like that before. Jane cut up the fruit and made us fruit salad which we'll have for dessert the next few nights. The kiwi and pomegranate will make nice additions to our dinner salad.

Daring Bakers -- We're in!

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 01 Dec 2007 03:53:00 +0000

Jane has just been conditionally accepted into a group called The Daring Bakers. She's very excited, and I must say I am as well. The Daring Bakers is a group of bakers who are challenged to all prepare the same recipe and then post about it. Being vegan means that Jane will have to alter the recipe a tad, but it is within the rules to do so, provided you have food allergies or ethical concerns regarding the food product. Anyway, that's what Jane told me about the group (and I may have gotten a detail or two wrong... I wasn't completely focused).

I think it's more about the artistic presentation, but it will get Jane back into the swing of baking. She's been pretty much out of it. For a while there I was getting muffins, and even though I loved them, she didn't think they were up to par. She also really didn't care for the pumpkin cookies at Thanksgiving, so we're both looking forward to this exercise.

I understand there is some degree of secrecy involved too... so all the posts re The Daring Bakers will be done by Jane, since she'll certainly be more conversant in the rules than I am. She did mention that last month's recipe was Potato Bread. Sounds yummy!

Go Jane!

The Vegan Refrigerator

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 30 Nov 2007 01:37:00 +0000

Being a "new" vegan means that I often have to tell people I've changed my way of eating. When I do this, I'm frequently met with a look of pure puzzlement. In addition to the question of "why," I am invariably asked, "but what do you eat?" as if there isn't anything but meat and potatoes out there.

So, instead of categorizing a list of foods, I thought I'd take a picture of the refrigerator. See... plenty of food. Granted, there's not much there to just pull out and eat without some kind of preparation, but aren't we supposed to be cutting down on our consumption of processed foods anyway?

This photo's pretty representational of what you'll find any time you open the refrigerator door, except for the soda. Oh, and we haven't tried the Silk Eggnog yet. That's for later!

Stew... Boo!

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 28 Nov 2007 04:47:00 +0000

Dinner tonight was some kind of stew: Black eyed peas, yams, spinach, and soy-chorizo (a Mexican spicy sausage). When I used to cook, Jane and I would have discussions about whether cooking is a science (my opinion) or an art (her opinion). I used to follow recipes exactly. Jane will modify recipes at the drop of a hat; if she doesn't have something on hand, she'll substitute something she feels is logical. Often, she'll eyeball the amount of an ingredient, and if it's something she likes, she'll add more of it to the pot. Most of the time this works out just fine. Every once in a while it is a complete disaster.

The recipe she used tonight called for sausage and red pepper flakes. She had soy-chorizo in the refrigerator that was nearing its expiration date. Since the chorizo is spicy, Jane figured she could use that minus the pepper flakes and all would be well.

Muy spicy! Our first few bites were not promising at all, but as we continued eating our dinner, it grew on us. This iteration of this dish will not be a repeat, however! Jane promised she'd try it again, as the recipe specifies.

Mmmm... Leftovers

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 27 Nov 2007 04:53:00 +0000

Things have been quiet here since Thanksgiving. Something to give thanks for!

Leftovers are another thing to give thanks for. I know that some people complain when faced with the same meal a second time. For me, I could eat Thanksgiving every night. OK, maybe I'd get bored with that too, but five days of eating my favorite combinations of food is not tough at all. Jane laughs and says I could be a cat, and not one of those finicky ones! But that certainly makes her life easier, since she does all the cooking.

We just finished the last of everything tonight. We stretched the Tofurky to 6 servings. Tonight we had Gardenburgers Riblets with the remaining sides. Yummy. They're definitely on the favorites list.

Well, we survived Thanksgiving as vegans. Now let's see how we handle the "holiday eating season." Since Jane won't be involved in the usual baking mania, we're hoping to maintain the weight loss we've achieved so far.

Season's Eatings

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 23 Nov 2007 23:57:00 +0000

Thanksgiving is all about traditions. This was our 10th Thanksgiving together. Our first holiday together was Thanksgiving. For us, it has become a day we recommit to our relationship. As part of our tradition, we have our dinner alone, followed by dessert with our relatives. So this way we have the best of both worlds.

This year we had our first Vegan Thanksgiving. If you've been reading along with us, you've probably heard me whining about not having turkey this year. Well, it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. Certainly, we missed the turkey, but the Tofurky was a passable alternative. The dinner was very good. Our menu consisted of the following:

Tofurky Roast and Gravy
Stuffing
Homemade Cranberry Sauce
Mashed Yams
Cumin Braised Brussels Sprouts
Sweet and Sour Red Cabbage
Salad: Mixed Baby Greens with Kiwi and Cranberry

And for dessert:

Apple Pie
Pumpkin Pecan Cranberry Cookies

Our traditional (non-vegan) Thanksgiving was pretty much the same. Obviously we had turkey instead of Tofurky. Also, Jane used to make mashed cauliflower instead of the yams, but since that dish requires copious amounts of butter and cream, Jane opted not to try to "veganize" it. She also skipped the onion pie entirely, as that calls for eggs and milk to bind everything together, and she was concerned that the taste would be "off" if she used one of the available alternatives. The rest of the dishes were all our regulars sans the dairy products.

So how was our Thanksgiving in comparison to the previous years? Our side dishes were stellar. If you didn't know they were "veganized, " it's highly unlikely that you would even notice. The mashed yams were a nice addition to the plate. Jane used a little soy milk and spiced them with garam masala and sea salt. They tasted like Thanksgiving!

Cooking the Tofurky was interesting. Since I usually took care of the bird in the past, Jane suggested I prepare the roast this year. When we took the product out of the box, we were struck by how small it was. And getting it out of the casing it was wrapped in proved to be quite the challenge. Really, they could make that a lot easier! But the preparation was easy enough. You put the Tofurky in a pan with some root vegetables and pour an olive oil sage mix over everything and into the oven it goes. Jane and I joked that I was making a baste-free bird, since you plop it in the oven and don't touch it again until 10 minutes before it's done.

It smelled like turkey. But it didn't taste like turkey, and we both missed our turkey. However, it's certainly edible, and much easier to prepare and clean up after than a roast turkey, and we wound up with about six servings instead of the four they suggest on the box. So, we'll do it again next year. By then our taste buds should have completely acclimated to the vegan life!

For dessert, Jane made the apple pie and pumpkin cookies I mentioned above. Of course they were prepared using vegan recipes. Our hosts also had pumpkin and pecan pies which looked delicious, but weren't vegan. As a side note, when being served my pie, I was offered the option of whipped cream. My response, "no thanks Maria, whipped cream isn't vegan."

And now it's time for some leftovers. Yum!

Eat Green - Literally and Figuratively

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 22 Nov 2007 03:35:00 +0000

As I've mentioned in previous posts, once you tell someone you're doing something a little out of ordinary they tend to challenge you. Yesterday we were chatting with our cousins who think we are insane for restricting our diet so severely. Tom wanted to know why, exactly, we were doing this, but somehow the conversation transitioned to something else before I finished my answer. So this post's for you Tom!

1) Health: Vegetarian, and more specifically, vegan diets are credited with reducing the risk of heart disease, diabetes, cancer, and a whole host of other chronic conditions.

2) Environment: Eating lower on the food chain is much better for our environment; it takes fewer resources to grow vegetables than it does to grow cattle! The production of animal based foodstuff is a major source of environmental pollution and consumes vast quantities of resources from water to pesticides to petroleum, not to mention the fact that the grain used to feed cattle could be used to feed humans.

3) Humanity: Factory farming is inhumane. Hens are kept in overcrowded conditions and debeaked to prevent them from pecking each other to death. Pigs are kept in wire cages that are large enough so they are not pressed up against the bars, but not so large as to allow them to turn around. The cows, well they aren't so happy (reference to the "happy cows" dairy campaign here in California). Ducks and geese are force fed to the point of bursting to make liver pate. I could go on, but I find it particularly bothersome to think about any of this.

For more detailed facts and information try the following sites:

Vegan Outreach for information on all three topics above;
Peta, for information on cruelty to animals in farming;
EarthSave, for information on environmental issues and concerns.
And finally, here's the link to the United Nation's comprehensive report entitled Livestock's Long Shadow, which details the environmental impact of farming on the planet.

Bottom line: We're cutting back our consumption of animal products significantly, and hopefully reducing our chances of heart attack and other so-called lifestyle diseases. We're also reducing our carbon footprint (our impact on global warming).

If any of these arguments have swayed you and you're interested in trying a vegetarian or vegan diet, sign up to take the Veg Pledge here.

Oh, and Happy Thanksgiving to all those turkeys who have been spared thanks to the Tofurky.

Technorati Profile

Mmmm.... Riblets

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 21 Nov 2007 01:13:00 +0000

So yesterday I was whining a bit, and feeling deprived. Today I'm doing much better. Jane made us BBQ Riblets for dinner. They're a Gardenburger product and quite tasty, if I might add. It's the barbeque sauce that really makes the dish. It's got a really nice peppery tang and is very reminiscent of a barbeque place we used to go to when we still ate animal flesh.

Of course the riblets don't look as good on the plate as they do on the box, but we were really pleased with our meal. Jane steamed some baby zucchini and we had a large green salad to go with it.

I'm a huge "Simpson's" fan and you can often catch me quoting Homer. For those of you who might share this obsession, this product reminded me of the Krusty Rib Sandwich in the episode "I'm Spelling As Fast As I Can." I've been obsessing about my riblets since dinner last night, and have been emailing Jane all day begging for a repeat. Alas, we're having pasta for dinner tonight. (Normally this would thrill me.)

One final note: The nutritional information on the package indicates that there are 2 servings at 240 calories each. Personally, I wanted more than the individual sleeve of 4 ribs in a "riblet"(the entire riblet is edible - no bones!) - maybe next time I can convince Jane to make 1 1/2 packages, I think she would have happily had more as well! 6 riblets at 360 calories with a slew of veggies on the side seems like a reasonable dinner to me.

I Want Turkey for Thanksgiving

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 20 Nov 2007 04:11:00 +0000

Jane and I have been anxious about Thanksgiving, and our anxieties are increasing as the day draws near. You'd think we were hosting a dinner for 50, but in reality it's the concept of preparing a vegan feast in place of the turkey dinner we have perfected over the years that is most daunting.

So far our vegan experience has been positive. For the most part, we've done well. There are things that simply cannot be replaced, however, and I fear one of those things is roast turkey.

We've been culling the internet and our vegan cookbooks for "special" recipes to make our holiday dinner comparable to what it has been in previous years. We've got the menu set. And Jane has the Tofurky turkey in the refrigerator. The sales clerk at Trader Joe's (one of our local supermarkets) told Jane they taste really good and always sell out.

While surfing, Jane came upon Gentle Thanksgiving. They give high marks to the Tofurky turkey. So, again, I'm hopeful. But we've been disappointed before. And I really love turkey.

But that doesn't change the fact that I'm not really wanting to be vegan today (actually, this Thursday). Today, I want turkey, and lox (smoked salmon) and cream cheese on a bagel, and Jane's strawberry shortcake replete with real whipped cream. I'm tired of only having one choice at most restaurants, or worse, having to invent a meal. Today, I want to be an omnivore.

Ingredient

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 18 Nov 2007 01:05:00 +0000

This is a can of pumpkin, and if you click on the photo to the left, you can see the ingredient list reads:

Ingredient: Pumpkin

I don't know why, but that struck me as hilarious. It's not often you buy something processed that consists of only one ingredient. The other pumpkin cans I've seen hanging around the grocery store shelves have multiple ingredients. I know Jane is planning on making a pumpkin pie with this, and she said something about pumpkin biscotti (using this recipe).

For an egg replacer (to make the biscotti vegan), Jane found the advice below at this website

Flax seed egg replacer is the best overall egg replacer for baked goods around. It adds to the lift and contributes to a texture like that created by eggs in quick breads and cookies.

Whole flax seeds can be purchased in natural foods stores. Grind them in a spice or coffee grinder to a powdery meal. Use a blender if you don’t have a spice grinder for this.

To make the egg replacer, use 1 Tablespoon ground flax seeds to 3 Tablespoons water for each egg to be replaced. Whip flax seeds and water together with a hand blender or in a blender until frothy. It’s easier to blend enough for at least four eggs—3/4 cup water to 1/4 cup flax seeds. Replace up to four eggs with this mixture. You can store extra egg replacer in the refrigerator for one week.

I'll let you know how this all turns out! I'm hoping she'll pre-test it tomorrow, but she's a little consumed with the idea of a vegan Thanksgiving these days, and I don't want to push my luck!

I guess you could use the canned pumpkin for just about anything; it certainly looks like it would make squash soup a lot easier to make. I never understand having to roast the cut pumpkin for over 30 minutes. If you're boiling the pumpkin anyway... I'm not a cook, so feel free to ignore that comment.

Anyway, Thanksgiving is coming. As I mentioned yesterday, it's going to be our first vegan Thanksgiving. I'm hoping it's a good one.

Thanksgiving Preview

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 17 Nov 2007 02:48:00 +0000

Well, it's finally here. The holiday season is upon us. Aside from the constant bombardment by advertisers, I know this because when I walked into the kitchen tonight I saw this lovely bowl of autumnal produce perched on the counter. (Some of these items have since made it into the refrigerator.) And wait 'til you see what I found in the fridge (photo below).

I have to admit, when Jane said we were going vegan back in July, one of the first things I thought about was Thanksgiving. Traditionally, Jane got the largest turkey she could find and we spent days making all our favorites... mashed cauliflower (cream), onion pie (butter, milk, cheddar cheese), sweet and sour red cabbage (butter). Our stuffing was killer - a southwestern pepper and cornbread concoction that calls for two cups of heavy cream and 2+ sticks of butter; it's amazingly good. We'd eat leftovers until we couldn't stand the sight of them anymore!

However, only two of our traditional dishes are vegan - the braised brussels sprouts (olive oil, lemon, salt and cumin) and cranberry relish (cranberries, sugar, oranges, wine). And last I checked, roasted turkey isn't vegan. So, when I agreed to this vegan diet I suggested that we revisit the idea of Thanksgiving as it got closer. Confession: I was hoping we'd make an exception for the week. It's not that I'm unhappy with our vegan lifestyle, but I really LOVE Thanksgiving.

As time has gone by the thought of eating animal flesh has become repugnant. Funny how that happened. And now that I've done some reading on the horrors of the dairy industry, dairy products seem far less palatable than before. If we had a local farm with free range milk cows and a farmer who went out and did his milking by hand we would definitely include dairy in our diet. But we live in Los Angeles, and that's about as likely as, well, a vegan turkey dinner!

So for the first time in 10 years, we're completely revising our Thanksgiving menu. Jane's been culling recipes from her vegan cookbooks and a few vegan recipe sites. She'll also "vegan-ize" one or two of our recipes. I think she's nervous... which would explain the tofurky thing. But the picture looks good. I'm hopeful.

Autumn Squash

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 15 Nov 2007 22:51:00 +0000

It's that time of the year again here in sunny Southern California. The weather has gone cool and the produce available at our local farmers market has dropped off. Actually, it's been really hot the last few days (95F yesterday!), but since it's already November 15, I'm pretending it's cool .

But it's also time for autumn squash. I love autumn squash. Jane makes a great squash soup. Or sometimes, she'll roast the squash in the oven with butter (vegan spread) and a little salt and brown sugar. Yum. I walked into the kitchen tonight and saw this beautiful pile of squash on our kitchen counter. I salivating, wondering what I'm getting to eat over the next few days!