WorldVeganDay.info is asking us all to do just that, to get our stories out there.  To blog, twitter, YouTube, FaceBook, MySpace, or visit forums and get the word out.  Why did you go vegan?  Tell your story, who knows, you may inspire others.

Below is a partial list of activities around the globe.  If you don't see anything in your neck of the woods, check out google, facebook, craigslist, or your local colleges.  The information is scattered, but it is out there.  As for Jane and me, we're going to be making dinner for a few friends who aren't vegan.   Activism through eating.

• If you're in Melbourne, AUS, here's some info on your World Vegan Day celebration.
• If you're in Wellington, New Zealand, here's info on a World Vegan Day Bake Sale.
• If you're in England, near  Croydon, here's some info on your World Vegan Day celebration.  They're saying you should be there, or be without vegan cake and beer.  (Damn, wrong continent!)
• If you're in England, near Ennis Killen and are interested in practicing some yoga, followed by a meal of home cooked vegan fare... visit here.
• If you're in Glasglow, the Univerity of Glasgow is hosting an Animal Lovers Fayre in honor of World Vegan Day.
• If you're in Paris, you should check out  Paris Vegan Day.  I can't tell you exactly what they have planned, but dusting off my High School french, I believe there will be  vegan product representation and vegan food availabe.
• If you're in Montreal, they've got a World Vegan Day Fashion Show planned.  It's billed as an  evening of fashion, gourmet vegan cuisine and musical entertainment.
• If you're in India, the Sthitaprajna Vegan Life Centre near Byndoor, Udupi District, Karnataka, is planning a three-day vegan event (Nov 1 - Nov 3).
• If you're in San Francisco, there's a World Vegan Celebration dinner on Monday night.  Just $15 including tax and tip.  Details here.
• If you're in the Los Angeles area, VegKids is sponsoring a rollerskating event in NorthRidge
• Please note, if you're in the Los Angeles area and were planning on attending the Animal Acres World Vegan Day celebration, IT HAS BEEN CANCELED.
• If you're in Phoenix, AZ, the  Spectrum Mall light rail station is hosting a potluck of vegan goodies.

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Mezzetta Southwest Vinaigrette

Jane and I sampled two of the Mezzetta Vinaigretta salad toppings recently.  We tried both the Southwest (pictured)  and Mediterranean toppings.   The product comes ready made in a jar.  Their tag line is "just add lettuce."  Jane loved the idea of the product as something quick to prepare for those days when getting a meal together can be a challenge.  I was  a little leery.  I'm not a huge fan of things like this... I feel that the ingredients all tend to gelatanize over time and become a soft mush.   But I'm not the cook, and if the cook needs to have the occasional quick fixins I'm not going to complain.

We were concerned about the lactic acid and "natural flavors" on the ingredient list.  This is the email we received:

The Vinaigretta is indeed Vegan (except for flavors with honey, which is debatable). Regarding your questions:
1) The lactic acid we use is produced from the fermentation of sugar.
2) The natural flavor is derived from spices.

Let me know if you have any further questions, thanks so much!

So how did it taste?  Neither of us loved the Mediterranean Vinaigretta.  It had an odd taste and was rather oily.  The Southwest Chipotle Lime Vinaigretta was better.  I liked it, Jane thought it was okay.  Neither of us in any rush to run out and buy more, but it makes a nice meal if you don't really want to think about putting together salad dressing and fixings.

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1. Favorite non-dairy milk?
Actually, I have three:

1. Home-made almond milk -  Jane whips up a batch using our  Soyabella Milk Maker every four or five days. I use this in our breakfast shake and Jane uses it for almost all of her cooking/baking endeavors.
2. For cereal, I like WestSoys Plain Light - it's closest to the old fat free cow's milk I used to drink BV (before vegan).
3. Silk Light Chocolate - I like this as a snack.  I'm totally addicted!

2. What are the top 3 dishes/recipes you are planning to cook?
I don't do any of the cooking... but Jane's certainly got 3 recipes on the back burner that I can't wait to try.  Susan's Okara Crab Cakes and her Seitan baked in Sweet and Sour Orange Sauce.  And a whole bunch of new recipes Jane is planning on debuting for Thanksgiving this year.

3. Topping of choice for popcorn?
I have never been a huge fan of flavored popcorn.  I prefer the regular buttered and salted variety.  So it's Earth Balance for me!

4. Most disastrous recipe/meal failure?
The worst thing Jane has made for us as vegans has been Veganomicon's Mac & Cheese.   I know plenty of you enjoy it, but we both took one bite and then Jane threw out the panful (something she NEVER does).  It was such a disaster that we have avoided all mac and cheese recipes

5. Favorite pickled item?
There is a wonderful Japanese pickled cucumber condiment we get sometimes.  I can't remember what it's called, but I know they use a bit of sugar in the brine too.

6. How do you organize your recipes?
I don't understand how Jane has the books organized, but she knows where each one lives.  She's also got a ton of recipes online organized by things like: appetizers, breads, soups, breakfast, lunch, dinner, desserts, cakes, cookies, and FAVORITES

7. Compost, trash, or garbage disposal?
How about recycling?   I compost all our kitchen scraps.  And we're lucky, we can co-mingle all our recyclables, including all plastics, which are picked up weekly.

8. If you were stranded on an island and could only bring 3 foods...what would they be (don't worry about how you'll cook them)?
Turkish Lentil Stew, Strawberries (really ripe, fresh from the farmer's market) or Cherimoya, and almost any bread.

9. Fondest food memory from your childhood?
My mother made hamburgers for dinner one night; they were rocks (my mom was and still is a HORRIBLE cook).  When my parents weren't looking, my brother grabbed our burgers and threw them out the third floor window.  When my parents went out that night, my brother ordered us a pizza.  He was 6 years older than me, and I thought he was sooo cool.

10. Favorite vegan ice cream?
So Delicious - Chocolate Brownie Almond

11. Most loved kitchen appliance?
Again, I defer to Jane.... It's her Kitchen Aid Mixer.

12. Spice/herb you would die without?
Savory: Cumin // Sweet: Cinnamon

13. Cookbook you have owned for the longest time?
Joy of Cooking, and we still use it!

14. Favorite flavor of jam/jelly?
Blackberry.

15. Favorite vegan recipe to serve to an omni friend?
Tofu chocolate mousse.  People cannot believe that it is vegan.

16. Seitan, tofu, or tempeh?
Seitan by far.  But tofu is the easiest.

17. Favorite meal to cook (or time of day to cook)?
Jane likes to cook in the afternoon.

18. What is sitting on top of your refrigerator?
Because we have such a tiny kitchen, we have a ton of stuff on top of our fridge.  The toaster oven lives there, along with whatever cold cereals we are eating at the moment, tea bags, two bottles of liquor, and the local phone books (what are those?).  I'm probably forgetting something!

19. Name 3 items in your freezer without looking.
That's easy.  Morningstar's Grillers Vegan, frozen fruit (blueberries, blackberries, and cherries) for our breakfast shake, and Trader Joe's Chocolate non-dairy dessert (our vegan ice cream).

20. What's on your grocery list?
Phyllo dough, Field Roast sausages, and tofu.

21. Favorite grocery store?
Trader Joe's.  They are starting to carry more and more vegan products, and their prices are usually much better than what we get elsewhere.

22. Name a recipe you'd love to veganize, but haven't yet.
Macaroni and cheese!

23. Food blog you read the most (besides Isa's because I know you check it everyday). Or maybe the top 3?
Fat Free Vegan - Susan has the best recipes!

Seitan is My Motor - Mihl also has a great blog.  Jane has had good results with her baked goods.

Bitten - Mark Bittman's blog for the NY Times.

24. Favorite vegan candy/chocolate?
Jane's chocolate truffles.

25. Most extravagant food item purchased lately?
Soy milk powder.  Jane uses it in icing.  It was around $14 for a canister.  Sheesh!

26. Ingredients you are scared to work with?
Jane bought something called annatto for a recipe she can no longer find.  It's been sitting in the cupboard for about 4 months now.

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Personally, I cannot understand how someone would buy a pet when there are so many animals in shelters, especially today when many people are giving up their companion animals because of financial issues.  And yet, it is very common.  My cousin bought himself a boxer last year, and a co-worker is getting herself an English Bulldog.  Both of them have purchased their animals from breeders.  I tried to dissuade them, but they both had their minds made up, and nothing I said had any influence.  I even sent them links to websites for rescues for the breeds they were looking for.  Also, it's not uncommon to find specific breeds at local animal shelters today.  But my money is still on the mutts.

Regardless of how you feel however, if someone wants to buy a companion animal, they currently have that right.  So I find myself in the interesting position of siding with the person who bought her dog, even though I think what she is doing is morally wrong.  But her antagonist is really out there.  The most bizarre thing about all this is that they live on different continents.  It almost  seems like he is venting all his frustrations at her because she is so far away and can't really retaliate.  Regardless, it is her choice.  It is still very legal in this country to breed and sell animals.   His behavior is alienating others on the board who might otherwise be on his "side."  This chat has nothing to do with animal rights or veganism.

Having said all that, if you are considering getting a pet in the near future, please look to your local animal shelters.  There are so many wonderful animals in need of a good home.  Petfinder, which is an on-line, searchable database of animals that need homes, has animals all across North America.   Be aware that each shelter has their own set of fees and requirements for adoptees.

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UPDATE: CLICK HERE to reserve your very own copy of Food, Inc. now:

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Specifically, we tried the Whole Food Health Optimizer, the Whole Food Smoothie Infusion, and the Antioxidant EFA (essential fatty acid) Oil Blend.

The Whole Food Smoothie Infusion is a high quality protein powder that also provides fiber and Omega 3 EFAs.  I added it to my morning shake, in place of the protein powder I usually use.  It had a pleasant taste and the added benefit of the fiber and EFAs which I wasn't getting in the hemp powder I've been using.  So, as soon as I finish my stash, this is my new protein powder.

The Whole Food Smoothie Infusion is a great product to take on the road with you.  All you need to do is add water and you have a vegan meal replacement.  Personally, I thought they were a bit on the sweet side, but Jane loved them.  She especially liked the chai flavor blended with ice to make a nice summer concoction.  You can also add the smoothie infusion to the fruit based smoothie of your choice.  They also provide you with a few recipes.

The Antioxidant EFA Oil blend makes a good salad dressing.  We found it to have a slightly nutty taste which is a nice change from the extra virgin olive oil Jane usually uses.

Overall, we feel these are high quality products that are a welcome addition to our pantry.

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So here's a little known tidbit about me.  I cannot tear myself away from the television when Food Network, or one of the Discovery channels is airing something about competitive eating.  No, I have no interest in putting my skills to the test.  Actually, I have no idea how these people can actually eat this quantity of food in the period of time allotted. (Someone actually ate 8 pounds of mayonnaise in 10 minutes, and Sonya "The Black Widow" choked down 552 oysters in 10 minutes!)  Regardless of the foods they're eating, I am mesmerized.  I liken it to a car crash.  Most people can't look away.  Competitive eating is my car crash, I have to watch.

Joey Chestnut, one of the more famous competitive eaters on the circuit, was the star of the show.  He was trying to break his previous record of 231 Gyoza in 10 minutes.  Unfortunately for him, he started having some real trouble around minute 7, and only managed a paltry 181 Gyoza.  But hey, it was enough to win the competition.

Here's some footage of his technique.  Joey "Jaws" Chestnut, the reigning hot dog eating champion,  is the left most male competitor (top row).  Jaws ate 68 Nathans dogs this past 4th of July beating out Kobayashi for a third straight year.  No, the hot dogs are not vegan.  Regardless, vegan or otherwise, who in their right mind is choking down 68 hot dogs in 10 minutes?!  The guy on the right in the blue baseball cap was disqualified.  He hurled.  (No it's not on the video!)   And the amateur eaters are in the bottom row.  If you compare their techniques, you can definitely tell who trains for this event!

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Before travel research your destination:

• Contact your Hotel or B&B to find out if they can accommodate your dietary restrictions.  Be specific!
• Find out which restaurants are vegan-friendly in the area.
• Scope out the local health food stores, food co-ops, and farmer's markets.  Note the addresses.  You may even want to print out maps to help you, as the maps that you get from the car rental places can be lacking.
• Find your emergency food.  For us, it tends to be Taco Bell.  We know we can always get a bean burrito without cheese to tide us over.
• If you are traveling outside the country, do research on local cuisines.  Many cultures are not as meat and dairy-centric as we are and you can find dishes based on lentils or beans...

Prepare some food to take along with you.  Lets face it, airport food leave a lot to be desired, and delays are pretty commonplace.  So it's always a good idea to be prepared.  We usually bring along some combination of the following:

• Sandwiches we've prepared in advance.  We usually bring a total of three to share.
• Fruit (if necessary, peeled and sliced).
• Nuts and seeds.
• Trail mix - we usually just throw together some combination of the dried fruits and nuts we have on hand.
• Protein bars.
• Primal Strips -- we just encountered this vegan jerky on our last trips; now a staple in our home.
• Vega Whole Food Health Optimizer -- this meal replacement powder needs only water.  Great for travel!  (Product review coming soon.)
• Jane usually brings along some powdered miso soup.  Just add hot water.  (When getting miso, make sure there are no bonito flakes.  This is a dried fish powder.)

Strategies while you are on the road:

• Bring protein sources (bars, jerky, meal replacement powders).  You can usually get a salad, veggies, and pasta eating out.  Vegan protein can often be a challenge.  If you have your own stash, you can supplement later.
• The coffee maker in your hotel room is your friend.   You can boil water to reconstitute a number of different things.  And you can use the pot to heat up soups -- just be considerate of the next guests and don't put anything but coffee grounds in the basket -- and clean out the pot well.
• Ask your hotel to empty out the mini bar so you can use the fridge for your food.  We've had some success with this.  Some hotels just won't do it.  But they may be willing to provide you with a mini fridge if they have one on hand.
• Consider staying someplace with a kitchen for at least part of your trip.  Being able to prepare your own food can be quite helpful.
• You can find food at any grocery store --  salad, along with a vinaigrette dressing that doesn't require refrigeration, are easily purchased.  You can supplement that with some hummus and a loaf of bread and some fruit and you have a delicious meal.
• Bring a can opener with you.  If you can't find anything else, you can always buy cans of beans or chickpeas at a local grocery store (and salad...) and you've got a reasonable meal.
• We also like to buy tortillas to make wraps.  If you can't find vegan mock meats, you can usually get grilled veggies at the supermarket salad bar, and hummus, or canned beans.  Jane often makes a wrap as follows:  tortilla, lettuce, black beans, roasted red pepper, avocado slices.  It's delicious and you can find the ingredients anywhere.
• Prepare food in advance.  Jane often makes granola bars, and chickpea cutlets to bring along.  Once she even made muffins.  She put them in a tin and we had them for a few days.

Traveling with a car.  This opens up a wide range of options.  Jane's finally convinced me that you can just throw stuff in the trunk for "just in case."

• Bring a cooler with some large size ziploc bags. You can get ice easily...  fill the ziplocs and you can store things in the car for awhile.
• We have brought a blender with us (not often) since I really like to have my shake for breakfast in the morning.  It's also allowed us to make a variety of hummus and bean spreads.
• Bring your favorite snacks and easily portable foods.  If you wind up finding suitable alternatives on the road, you can always bring these things back home with you.  And it's great to have something you're willing to eat on hand.

When staying with non-vegan family/friends:

• Discuss in advance what you eat.  Most people can handle rice and beans easily.
• Offer to bring something to share.  Or offer to cook something (make sure you can get your hands on the required ingredients).
• Regardless of  how well-meaning your hosts are, always assume you will need to supplement your meal, and bring a stash of protein bars, or jerky, or other meal replacement.  If it turns out you don't need it, you can always bring it home again.  But far better to be prepared.

One final note, we had our hummus confiscated at the Bozeman airport.  It was sealed.  The security dude told me if the hummus was on a sandwhich it would have been okay.  Go figure!  We've never had a problem at LAX, but each airport is different, and we've always found the security at the smaller airports to be far more stringent than elsewhere.  So, if you are bringing food items with you, bear in mind the creamy stuff might be problematic.

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2 J's Milk Alternatives

So, we're back.  I'd love to say we had a wonderful trip, but unfortunately I threw my back out my first night there.  I'm slowly getting better, but it is still rather uncomfortable to sit for long periods of time.   I won't go into details, because this is a blog about veganism, but man...  If you're having guests  (we were staying at my cousins at the beginning of our trip) you should do a little to make them feel welcome.  Soap, shampoo... a reasonable bed to sleep on.  We're not in college anymore people.  Sleeping on the floor doesn't work for us!!!!  (My cousins are older than we are, so they should have a clue.)  The rest of our trip wasn't as much fun as it could have been because of my back, but we made the best of it.  Wow Montana is GORGEOUS!  But I really wanted to talk about traveling while vegan.

Mayo Options at 2 J's

We were a little apprehensive about what we were going to eat, so Jane did some advance sleuthing on the internet.  She scoped out the local health food stores along our route, and that basically saved us.  She even printed out maps to these locations, so were were able to find them without any trouble.  I'm happy to announce that we were fully vegan our entire trip with the possible exception of our B&B breakfasts.  The inn keepers assured us our meals were vegan, but unless you do the actual food preparation you have to accept that you'll never really know what you're getting.

Before we left home, Jane packed us a lunch and some goodies for our flights.  She made us sandwiches, and we had nuts and a bunch of fruit, and she also brought about 10 protein bars, fearing our food options for the rest of the trip.  All this extra food proved to be a good thing even before we got to Montana since our two 1-hour flights with short layover turned out to take over 9 hours!  But we did get Biscoff cookies (vegan) on our Delta flights.  Yum!

2 J's Cheese Alternatives

Our plan was to stop off at the food co-op in Bozeman after we landed.  Since we didn't get out of the airport until 8.30 pm and we had a 2+ hour drive into the wilds of MT, we skipped it.  My cousins are gluten-free and said they'd have some vegan fare for us.  But we had no dinner that night. We got in at 11 pm, and they didn't think to offer us anything, even though we were supposed to eat with them.  (We'd kept them apprised of our constantly updated ETAs.)  Thank God my wife is a girl scout! (Another hosting hint people: offer your guests food and water when they arrive!)

Our stay with the cousins was okay.  We did get vegan food, but no discernible protein.  Since we had our stash of protein bars and nuts it wasn't a total disaster, but it would have been nice to have something other than grilled veggies and rice.  Normally I don't hold people responsible to feed me when my diet is so far from the mainstream, but wife-of-cousin is a licensed dietician, and said it wouldn't be a problem to feed us.   Just goes to show you that you can't really count on anyone else.

Frozen Foods at 2 Js

After cousins, we drove up to Great Falls.  We checked in to our B&B and went in search of provisions and dinner.  On Jane's list was one option in Great Falls:  2 J's Market.  I wasn't expecting much.  WOW!  The selection was amazing.  We bought a ton of food there simply because we could (also, we had access to a fridge in our B&B).  We bought mixed greens for salad, picked up a bottle of salad dressing,  wraps and vegan cold cuts, vegan cheese, an avocado, Primal Strips, and some ice cream.  And a variety of beautiful fruit.  And for dessert, a pint of Purely Decadent Chocolate Brownie Almond.  Then it was off to Taco Bell for bean burritos, no cheese please.  We brought all our goodies back to our room and had a nice spread for dinner.

2 J's Bulk Food Section

After we made our reservation at both B&B's we phoned and asked if they would be able to accommodate a vegan diet.  They both assured us they had experience feeding vegan guests.  Our first breakfast, at The Collins Mansion, was an oatmeal bake which was good, if a little dry.  But the second morning we had a baked banana thing with home fries and fruit.  Jane was laughing with that we could go into diabetic coma, the bananas were shockingly sweet as they were topped with marshmallow.  When we asked about them, the hostess assured us they were vegan, the marshmallows were made with no egg white.  We explained about the gelatin, but she wasn't particularly receptive and insisted they were vegan.  We picked around the fluff.  You have to go with the flow when you're not eating in your own home!

Bozeman Food Coop Produce

We spent the day at the Montana State Fair.  Jane made sandwiches for us, and we brought along some fruit.   That was actually critical.  There were NO vegan food options at the fair.  The closest thing was the fried pickles.  But I'm sure the batter ruled them out.   There were also fried oreos, fried jalapeno peppers, and fried meatballs -- on a stick of course.  And just about everyone we spoke with raved about them.

Unfortunately I really couldn't stay at the fair that long.  I actually got a massage during the fair and managed to stay on my feet until around 6.30, but then we needed dinner, and I needed to lie down.  Once again we hit Taco Bell for our bean burrito fix.  Then back to 2 J's for more salad and vegan ice cream.

Bozeman Food Co-Op Bulk

After Great Falls, we drove through Helena.  Another Taco Bell stop for lunch and then off to the Real Food Market.  Another beautiful store.  We picked up some more salad for dinner and a some vegan soup and a loaf of french bread and vegan cheese.   We arrived at our second B&B, the Howlers Inn, (a federal wolf preserve)  and settled in to make dinner.  Our room was equipped with it's own kitchen, which made things simple.

We had the B&B prepare breakfast for two days of our stay.  Our first breakfast was an oatmeal bake.  Sound familiar?  I was laughing with Jane that there must be a Montana B&B Breakfast Cookbook they all use.  Thankfully, we had vegan french toast for breakfast the next morning.  Again, I'm not 100% positive the breakfast was vegan, but the hosts truly cared.  (If you're going to stay in Bozeman, we really recommend this place.  The hosts are friendly and helpful, everything is clean, and they get the concept of breakfast...  free flowing food and beverage.  Unlike the Collins Mansion -- coffee, tea, or water.)  They're also pretty accommodating of alternative eaters.  One morning they had vegans (us), gluten free folk, one vegetarian, and "regular" eaters, and took everything in stride.

Bozeman Food Coop Spices

For our afternoons around Bozeman, we had Primal Strips, a delicious vegan jerky,  and other snacks.  If you haven't tried them, you should.  They are amazing.  We really enjoyed the teriyaki flavor.  Yum.   One day we ate at the Bozeman Food Co-Op.   We visited them twice.  Once to pick up a few provisions.  Gorgeous place.  We were jealous.  Although we don't have difficulty finding vegan foods here, the food co-ops and health food stores we visited in Montana were much nicer than what we frequent here.  How unbelievable is that?

Before heading to the airport we also stopped at Huckleberry's Natural Market.  They're attached to a regular grocery store, but you can find tons of vegan food there.  Again, beautiful store with a wide variety of products.

Montanna Fields

If it sounds like all we did was visit grocery stores, that's not the case, but I wanted to point out all the food options available whenever you travel.  Also, I really couldn't sit down to eat, so restaurants (which appeared to be VERY limited) weren't really an option for us.   I'm sure there are plenty of locations where we wouldn't have been as successful an we were in Montana, but there are strategies you can take to make your travels as a vegan easier.  I'll touch on that in my next post.

Howlers Inn Wolves

Anyway, Montana is gorgeous, at least in the summer.  And you can make it a vegan friendly trip if you don't mind preparing your own food.

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Shojin's Caterpillar Roll

Jane and I are off to Montana for a week.  Since it looks like vegan dining will be Taco Bell and The Pita Pit, we figured we'd get a quick fix from our favorite vegan restaurant, Shojin.

As always, dinner was fantastic.  We started our dinner with our all time favorite, the Caterpillar Roll.  When we first went vegan the idea of "vegan sushi" was a bit of a joke to us.  Sushi was fish, and we had loved it.  But let me assure you, we are converts.  This roll starts with a base of Shojin's barbequed seitan and is topped with sliced avocado.  YUM!  We've tried other vegan sushi, but this is our absolute favorite.

Our next course was the Barbequed Seitan.  It's sliced seitan with some kind of light barbeque sauce.  In our opinion, Kimiko (Shojin's master chef) makes the best seitan.  It's far and away better than any other we've ever eaten.

Shojin's Seitan Pepper Steak

One of the reasons we enjoy Shojin so much is that they are constantly changing their menu.  They keep the core items, but add things as certain foods become seasonally available.  Our main course was the Seitan Pepper Steak, which is one of those new things.  It was delicious.  If you haven't tried Shojin, and can get to Little Tokyo in downtown Los Angeles, go... you won't be sorry.

So we're sated, and hopefully our expectations of our food options in Montana will be exceeded.

Click here for Shojin's website.

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