4 Ingredient Vegan and Things You Wouldn't Expect

First I want to start by saying that I am having a ton of fun cooking all this new and yummy vegan food! I recently purchased a cookbook called "The 4 Ingredient Vegan" and have tried a couple of the recipes so far. Two nights ago I made Mediterranean Penne (and added zucchini to it) as well as the Roasted Eggplant and Pesto Roulade. Personally, I enjoyed this eggplant dish the best. I can't find any links at the moment to these recipes but I'll try writing them out for you in a later post!

I'm also having fun "veganizing" my food when we eat out. Today we went to Ingredient (one of my favorite Kansas City area restaurants and our go-to place when we are fresh out of ideas of where to eat!) and I ordered the falafel sandwich which was delish! To make it vegan I ordered it without the tatziki sauce (which is yogurt-based) and had fresh grilled veggies on the side. I love Ingredient (and could devote an entire post to it) because they have so many veggie options including the West Coast Veggie Burger, pizzas with soy cheese, custom salads with really fresh ingredients, a great portabella melt and a fabulous vegan black bean soup. Is there any wonder we keep going back?

While trying a lot of these new recipes, I am finding that it is truly a learning process. I never realized how many food products contain things made with milk, cheese, and eggs. It is easy to cut out those products per say when you are simply switching from dairy cheddar to Daiya cheddar (another vegan product I am loving right now) or from skim milk to rice milk. But when I was making the eggplant dish above, I included pesto and didn't realize until later that you actually have to buy a vegan pesto because the regular kind has parm cheese in it. Also, things like sugar (sugar!!!) have animal products in them. (Many types of granulated sugar are made with bone char, made from the bones of cows). I never would have known this before because it is not on the ingredient list. My goal in this whole process is to cause the least amount of suffering possible. If I read an ingredient list and it says flat out that it contains milk or eggs, I will avoid it. I keep thinking of all the things I've been learning and it makes it so much easier to avoid these products... By the way, since going completely vegan (with a few mishaps of course!) I am feeling fabulous! Oh and we had the gingerbread waffles again this morning and they were just as yummy as last week.

Products I Like: Aveda

When I was growing up, the salon my mom took me to used Aveda hair care products. And I have used them on and off for years. Now I use their "clove" shampoo as well as their "be curly" conditioner and they make my hair feel and look great! (Don't I sound like a commercial? Hahaha!). Better yet, their ingredients are natural and plant-based and they believe that "Aveda products show that what you put on your body should be as healthy and natural as what you put into it." I couldn't agree more! I have not been able to find out whether Aveda is officially vegan but I know that they do not test on animals. In fact, on the back of my shampoo bottle it says, "People Tested." Sounds good to me!

Baking

It's a quiet Friday night. My dog is curled up on her bed. My boy is asleep. My husband is reading. (Yes, we're very exciting, aren't we?) And I just finished making breakfast for tomorrow morning... gingerbread waffles. First of all, they're vegan so this is the first time I've made waffles without eggs or milk. Second, the recipe for these bad boys calls for molasses. I've never cooked with molasses before so when I opened the bottle and started to pour, I thought it smelled nasty. "How on earth are these going to taste good with this stuff in them?" I thought. Well, ten minutes of preparing and a waffle iron later, I was taste-testing some very yummy waffles. They literally taste like a gingerbread cookie so if that's your thing, I highly recommend making these! You don't even need syrup or honey on them. I'm just going to top them with some fresh strawberries and add a couple veggie sausages (Smart Links) on the side in the morning. Here is a link to the recipe... http://www.peta.org/living/vegetarian-living/recipes/gingerbread-waffles.aspx

Earlier in the day, Christopher helped me make a batch of vegan pumpkin muffins for a Halloween party we are going to tomorrow night. At first, I was thinking that if they didn't turn out so great, we would just bring a side of fruit or something but they actually turned out well. (Chris, upon sampling a muffin fresh out of the oven said, "Yummy in my tummy." The seal of approval!). Here is the recipe we used...
http://vegetarian.about.com/od/breakfastrecipe1/r/pumpkinmuffins.htm

My very first try at vegan baking came several weeks ago when I made peanut butter cups using a recipe from Alicia Silverstone's book, The Kind Life. When I ate the first one a couple hours after baking, I gave the creation a "so so." After a couple days in the fridge (and then a couple more in the freezer) I was definitely impressed! http://www.thekindlife.com/post/chocolate-peanut-butter-cups

I know this blog is all about health, but it's always important to throw in a little fun food every now and then, especially when it's completely plant-based!

Products I Like: Arbonne

From time to time, I would like to include some products that I like that contribute to a healthy lifestyle (or at least can make you look cute without causing any suffering). Believe it or not, there are many non-food products that contain animal by-products or that test on animals. It makes me feel great to use a product that comes from a company that doesn't test on animals or, better yet, that is certified vegan.

Arbonne is a cosmetics and beauty company that is, in fact, certified vegan! I started using their facial cleansers and lotions over the summer and now I use their cosmetics as well. Arbonne puts out high quality products and has values I admire. Check them out at the website below!

www.arbonne.com

My confession

Do you want the good news or the bad news first? Well, I'll start you off like this...

The Bad News: I ate a bacon cheeseburger on my vacation to San Diego this past week.
The Good News: It was 100% vegan!

You read that correctly! While in San Diego, CA (of course) we found a completely vegan fast food restaurant, complete with a drive-thru and a selection of desserts. Evolution Fast Food is located in North Park right next to Balboa Park (home of the San Diego Zoo and many, many museums). The food was really good and it was refreshing to walk into a restaurant and not have to examine the menu with a fine tooth comb. We knew everything was vegan, and even though the food was not the healthiest we were happy to find that it was all plant-based. Here is a picture of my "burger" and a side of sweet potato fries...

 

Yum! Prior to our trip I was finding it pretty easy to eat a vegan diet. Everything is easier when you are in your home environment! I figured it would be challenging on vacation and I figured at some point I would be having cheese in some form. But it was actually easier than I thought. Of course, this was California where there may be more of a demand for vegetarian cuisine than, say, Kansas. We ate at several non-vegetarian restaurants, however, that had vegan dishes such as veggie fajitas and pasta with veggies and tomato sauce. We also ate at a Greek semi-vegetarian restaurant where I had Japanese eggplant stuffed with onions and tomatoes while my husband had falafel with pita and hummus. While lunch and dinner were not much of a problem, I have to admit that breakfast did get a little boring (oatmeal and fruit every morning). There were also a couple stressful days when my son was sick and the last thing I wanted to do was order a salad... so pizza it was! But overall, I found this traveling experience to be pretty good as far as eating goes.

Vegan Ultra Triathlete

If you think you won't have enough energy when you cut out animal products, check this guy out...

http://www.peta.org/tv/videos/celebrities/87275849001.aspx

And I can also account for the fact that my energy levels have increased dramatically over the past week as vegan (and the past year as vegetarian) and my workouts feel more productive than they ever have.

Interesting Info (Part 3)

This will be the last installment of the three part "Interesting Info" series. I have by no means touched on some of the cruelest and most shocking practices in the meat and dairy industries. However, I hope that the information presented from Jonathan Safran Foer's book Eating Animals will get you thinking a bit more about what is on your plate...

• "Cattle raised for beef are still adolescents when they meet their end."

• Obviously, dairy cows have to be impregnated in order to produce milk. Ever wonder what happens to their babies? (Well, I didn't either until a short time ago.) The females are raised to become milkers, just like their mothers. The males are sold to the veal industry, fed an iron-deprived diet, prevented from getting exercise (to keep the meat "tender") and slaughtered for human consumption after a very short life.  

• The bond between mother cows and their babies is very strong. There have been stories of mothers escaping factory farms and even regular farms in search of their babies (who have been taken from them so the mothers can be milked for people to consume their milk and all the products made from their milk--cheese, yogurt, ice cream, butter, etc.)

• In many attempts by Safran Foer to see the inside of slaughter facilities, he was repeatedly denied. He writes, "It isn't hard to figure out why the beef industry won't let even an enthusiastic carnivore near its slaughter facilities... A meat industry that follows the ethics most of us hold (providing a good life and an easy death for animals, little waste) is not a fantasy, but it cannot deliver the immense amount of cheap meat per capita we currently enjoy." 

• Beware when you see the term "cage free" on a carton of eggs. All that means is that there is no cage around the actual animal. There can literally be 30,000 to 50,000 (and more) egg layers in a small, crowded and confined facility. It doesn't mean the chickens are running around free on the old fashioned farms pictured on the labels of eggs and milk we buy. 

I've frequently read over the past year that if we had to kill our food ourselves, we would all be vegetarians. Or, as Paul McCartney has said, "If slaughterhouses had glass walls, we'd all be vegetarians." It is important that we understand what goes in to the production of our food. If you are ready to take the next step in learning about factory farm production, read some of the books I've listed on my book list. You can also see footage on www.peta.org and type in "Meet your Meat" to the search section. You can even watch a movie called "Earthlings" online (even the trailer for this movie is intense--this is the movie that initially made me want to become vegan). It is disturbing and difficult to watch these images, but they depict what is actually happening and we need to know these things. 

What I'll Be Missing

It has been brought to my attention all the things I will be missing, now that I have decided to follow a vegan diet. Many of these foods have been part of my life for, well, most of my life. And thinking about them makes me realize the emotional connection we can have to the food we eat. In fact, I've already had a couple experiences in one week that make me realize the awkwardness that can come up when you tell someone you are making a choice to not eat certain foods (as opposed to telling someone you have a specific food allergy--no one ever questions that). Some of these foods include...

1. New York/New Jersey-style pizza (sigh)

2. Salt bagel with cream cheese (unbelievably a fixture in my NJ diet since third grade)

3. Dunkin Donuts coffee with skim milk and sugar (not a big deal since I can find other things to go in my coffee)

4. Emily's frozen custard (!)

5. Traditionally made cakes, cupcakes, and certain pies (double sigh)

6. Two breakfast dishes that my dad makes for me every time I go visit--florentine omelet with spinach and feta cheese and his yummy blueberry pancakes (although as we found out this morning, there are pretty good vegan recipes for pancakes)

There are more, of course, but these are the ones that stand out. First of all, I don't want anyone to be offended if I refuse something they make because of what it's made with. It's nothing against the cooking (you all know from past experience how much I love these dishes). Also, don't feel like I am deprived by not eating something or that you have to go out of your way to make something special. I (and most vegetarians/vegans) have made this choice for my own health as well as the health of animals and the planet. I will miss these things, don't get me wrong. But I feel very comfortable with my decision and I'm sticking to it!

Interesting Info (Part Two)

Jonathan Safran Foer's book, Eating Animals, presents a tremendous amount of information about the horrors of factory farming. Not only are the animals in these operations treated terribly, but the environmental waste created by these "farms" can be devastating. Here are some more points from his book to take seriously...

• "A typical pig factory farm will produce 7.2 million pounds of manure annually, a typical broiler (the chickens people eat) facility will produce 6.6 million pounds, and a typical cattle feedlot 344 million pounds."

• One major company (Smithfield) "kills more individual hogs than the combined populations of New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago, Houston, Phoenix, Philadelphia, San Antonio, San Diego, Dallas, San Jose, Detroit, Jacksonville, Indianapolis, San Francisco, Columbus, Austin, Fort Worth, and Memphis-- some 31 million animals." 

• It is cheaper for large animal production companies to pay fines for pollution than to change the way the factory farming system works, even though it is wreaking havoc on the environment. 

• Pregnant pigs (sows) are kept in "gestation crates" that are so small that they cannot turn around. They can barely move, no bedding is provided, food is reduced to prevent too much weight gain, and they must "lie or step in their own waste to force it through the slatted floor." Contrary to popular belief, pigs are very intelligent (more so than most dogs) and such conditions can cause psychological issues. In the wild (or on a non-factory farm) pregnant pigs will spend a lot of time foraging for material to build a nest for her approaching litter of piglets. Just because they are in large hog operations does not mean they don't have these instinctual urges and the denial of this leads to much suffering. 

There are far worse things that occur in "hog operations" and processing plants that I can't even relate on this blog. (Seriously, read the book!). But in my opinion, nothing good can come from food that is produced in such damaging and cruel ways. 

Interesting Info (Part One)

This is the first of three blog entries about interesting (well, at least I think so) facts I learned from Jonathan Safran Foer's book Eating Animals...

• "On average, Americans eat the equivalent of 21,000 entire animals in a lifetime."

• "Scientific studies and government records suggest that virtually all (upwards of 95 percent of) chickens become infected with E.coli and between 39 and 75 percent of chickens in retail stores are still infected." (He's talking about factory farm birds here which account for 99% of the chicken Americans consume). 

• According to Scott Bronstein (a reporter for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution who conducted interviews with over 100 USDA poultry inspectors from 37 plants) "Every week, millions of chickens leaking yellow pus, stained by green feces, contaminated by harmful bacteria, or marred by lung and heart infections, cancerous tumors, or skin conditions are shipped for sale to consumers." Mmmmm.

• Chickens are frequently injected with "broths and salty solutions to give them what we have come to think of as the chicken look, smell, and taste. 

• The original strain of influenza is thought to have originated from migratory birds and the original case of H1N1 can be traced back to a factory farm housing hogs in North Carolina, not Mexico. (Safran Foer goes into a very extensive and convincing correlation between increased factory farming/meat consumption and the rise of flu epidemics. I don't have enough space to go into it here--you have to read his book!). 

The fourth point here made me think of something I never thought of before I became vegetarian. Almost always, we cook meat with some type of sauce or marinade. Or we put ketchup on a burger or mustard on a hot dog. Is there anyone who actually likes to eat meat by itself? Also, we have to be so careful handling raw meat because of possible disease transmission yet pop it in the oven or on the grill and 30 minutes later its "scrumptious." Hmmm.

While I'm thinking of it...

Something just came to mind that I want to speak about. Just because a person decides to speak out in defense of animals does not mean that they are anti-human. It seems like animal rights activists get a bad rap because of what they stand for. It is not an either/or situation. Choosing to live in a way that reduces the suffering of animals can also benefit people. Why would a person's work to end the abuse of animals  be a bad thing? I don't get it.

I also think people tend to forget that, when it comes down to it (and feel free to disagree), we are animals too.

The Book Made Me Do It!

As I've progressed along this journey, I've read a lot of books on the subject of plant-based diets. They have all been informative and have made compelling arguments, but only one made me cross the line from vegetarian to vegan. That book is Eating Animals by Jonathan Safran Foer.

www.eatinganimals.com

Safran Foer is typically a fiction writer so his style for this book is quite different than any of the others I have read about being vegetarian. He uses the facts, and even (pork, beef, dairy) industry data to make his claim for being vegan, yet he never comes right out and says "You need to adopt this lifestyle." The research speaks for itself. He even admits in the book that he can't seriously argue that eating vegan necessarily tastes better than the alternative and that the smell of a BBQ still appeals to him. But because of what he has seen, Safran Foer says that a few minutes of culinary pleasure and satisfaction are not worth the suffering he knows went into that food.

I will be sharing some of his information with you on this blog in the coming weeks but I highly recommend that you read this book. It is shocking, disturbing, logical, and hopeful all at the same time. Check out this interview Safran Foer did on the Ellen DeGeneres Show.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=knClcpPR6mc

Let's get started

Before I get into the nitty gritty of the story behind those spare ribs on your plate, I want lay out some of the benefits of adopting a healthy vegan diet. Healthy is the key word here because you can certainly consume a vegan diet full of junky foods. Remember that Fritos and Sour Patch Kids are both considered vegan!

So here we go (and this is by no means an exhaustive list...)
1. Reduced intake of saturated fats (you know, the crap that clogs your arteries and leads to heart attacks?)
2. Higher intake of fiber
3. Increased intake of phytochemicals and antioxidants found primarily in plant-based foods.
4. Optimal intake of protein (no, you don't need to eat meat to get enough protein; consumption of meat can lead to excessive amounts of protein intake which, among other things, can drain calcium from your bones).
5. Decreased rates of heart disease, obesity, type 2 diabetes, macular degeneration, arthritis, osteoporosis,  and many forms of cancer.
6. Weight loss (if needed).
7. Increased energy (and, personally, I've noticed a sense of calm since I stopped eating meat that wasn't there before).
8. Stronger hair and nails; clearer skin.
9. Decrease in PMS symptoms (come on ladies, that's reason enough!), allergies, and migraines.
10. Reduced animal suffering.
11. Much needed help for the environment (this is a huge factor as factory farming is the leading cause of environmental pollution and climate change right now, not the kind of car you drive or the plastic bags you put your groceries in).
12. Reduced chance of getting food related illnesses (E. coli; campylobactor; salmonella).
13. More food for everyone (did you know that 80% of the corn grown in this country is for livestock? yes, that's right, 80%).
14. Eliminate your consumption of hormones and antibiotics used on animals in today's factory farms.
15. All the cool people are doing it. :)

I could go on and on and I hope to convince you, with some of the arguments that convinced me, that going veg is the way to go!

Just Couldn't Stay Away

Okay, listen. I just couldn't stay away.

The more I think about it, read about it, learn about it, the more I need to share it with you. This blog has previously focused on living a healthy lifestyle through good nutrition and exercise, hence the title "Healthy for Life." The name of the blog will not change but the main focus will.

Today I am making a commitment to become vegan. I've wanted to do this for a while but I kept making excuses for delaying it (oh, I'll be vegan at home and eat cheese out at restaurants; I'll eliminate eggs but I'll still eat baked goods that have eggs in them; I don't want to inconvenience anyone; if we're on vacation, I'll have cheese and eggs, etc, etc). But enough is enough.

I want to share my journey with you, as I have been doing, but there is information I've been learning that I have to share with you. Some of this information might be unpleasant or might ruin your appetite. Some of this information might stop you from reading mid-paragraph. Some of this information might cause you utter disbelief.

But some of this information might change the way you think about your food. Some might cause you to start eating completely vegetarian once, twice, three times a week. And some might cause you to change the way you eat totally, for the rest of your life. I can only hope to have that kind of influence.