Monday Happies: ECPR Conference, Montreal, and Letting go of Negativity

As you may know, last week was a bit insane. We had to say goodbye to our new friend Blakeley the cat, and my thesis disappeared. But on Thursday night we headed to Montreal for the ECPR 9th Annual conference, and on the way I decided that I didn't want to dwell on the negativity of the events that happened earlier in the week. The couple days we spent in Montreal were for me about experiencing the new and letting go of unhappiness.

Following along the theme of the new, tt was the first time the ECPR conference was held  outside of Europe and it was very exciting to be surrounded by  so many awesome and successful academics from all over  the world. Friday I presented a paper that is related to my  thesis project on public washrooms and the third space, and saturday I was  invited to act as the discussant for an experimental panel on art and politics - this is subject matter that is rather foreign to me,  but was enlightening and definitely left me with many interesting methodological questions. The joy I got from these passionate people is indescribable! VOMD suggested that maybe I needed to lose my thesis in order for it to become what it needs to be... that the questions that were raised about my paper, and that I raised myself in the Saturday panel were ones that could not be asked, and would have had little effect, were my thesis not lost. I like this idea. I like to think that the universe through this wrench into my life to shake me up a bit and make me think a  little more about where my project (and my life) is going.

VOMD and I stayed  in a nice little hotel called Plateau Royale down town. We were struck by how clean the streets of Montreal are (and by how attractive and well-dressed the population is!) We went to an excellent vegetarian restaurant for lunch on Friday called Lola Rosa and ate amazing vegan poutine made with Daiya cheese! Commence drooling now. VOMD also got a vegan quesadilla and I go probably the best vegan burger I've ever had. We stuffed them in our faces before I could get a picture.

It was awesome to be in a french city with a french speaking person, VOMD basically did  all  the talking while we were there and I was very  lucky to have such a wonderful guide! He took me to the Montreal Museum of Fine Art (which is free for people under 30!) and to Old Montreal. 

Overall, the trip was a great success and I was so glad that VOMD came with me. 

I will say, though, that as far as vegan friendly cities goes, Hamilton beats Montreal by a landslide. I am so lucky to live in such a great place  to be vegan, even if it means I have to deal with trash on the streets and a population that doesn't match their loafers to their belts.

Happy Monday!

-J

The end of the world (or, A virus attacked me and deleted my thesis)

Story time.  A couple years ago my sister lost a whole bunch of her data for her thesis  due to a computer malfunction. When I started my thesis I decided that I would never let that happen to me. I saved my thesis on a USB key and backed it up on Drop Box.  Safe, right?

Wrong.

My thesis is gone. A couple days ago I plugged  my USB into my computer to start working on my presentation for the upcoming ECPR conference and suddenly a billion things started popping up on my screen, and then...gone. When I signed on to Drop Box my thesis was nowhere to be found. With the help of  some local awesome nerds (thank you!!!) I was able to retrieve about 5% of the information from the USB. When I add that to the tiny amount of information I had sent to my thesis advisor and myself, then that means I have about...6% of the data. Half-hearted woo!

VOMD and I are moving next week, and this weekend we are in Montreal for the ECPR conference, at which I am also acting as the discussant for another panel (the notes for which were also lost... Luckily, the paper for the conference was emailed to my panel members, and is therefore safe... but that feels like such a minor victory. My panel presentation is this morning... in an hour actually. And it is going to be so crappy, but it will be the perfect way to end this crappy week.

But... wish me  luck at the conference anyway.

Next week is going to be amazing. I've promised myself so now it has to happen.

Happy-ish Friday!

-J

Heartbreak Hotel part 2 (or, Goodbye Blakeley)

So, as you may know, VOMD and I found a beautiful, if underfed, cat last week and brought him to the vet. We were  originally told that he has no microchip but when we went back to get him his shots and so forth, we found that he was microchipped after all.We were crossing our fingers  that the "owner" wouldn't call  the vet back,  but unfortunately she did. Yesterday afternoon (4  days after  the vet called to say they had found her cat) she called back and came to retrieve him.

It has been a long time since I have been so sad. She told us when she arrived that she lets him run around outside without a collar and that she has not registered him with the city. A tag only costs $13 in Hamilton, and getting a tag allows strangers to call you when they find your cat, and ensures 1 free ride home for your animal friend  from the city.

I am a little bit glad, in a way, that  we got to care for him for a while, because I  am hopeful that his caregiver has learned a lesson and will take better  care  of him in the future.  But at the same  time, I desperately wish that we could  have kept him  in our lives. He is such a sweet, playful, affectionate boy who deserves a forever home that takes care of him properly,  doesn't let him get too skinny,and reports him missing if he is  ever to run.

A little advice to other cat "owners"  out there: if you love your animal friend, especially if you live in or near an urban or high traffic area, make  him or  her and indoor cat. A neutered, domesticated animal does not have the necessary skills to survive healthily outside and is very likely to either be hit by a car, get in a fight with a stray or ferrel cat, or simply starve. It is not cruel to keep a cat indoors, as long as you give them ample opportunities to exercise, feed them healthy food, and give them the attention and entertainment they need. it is far more cruel to let them wander and risk them being  injured or killed.  Blakeley was lucky because two caring animal lovers  found him,  took him to a vet, and gave him good quality food and plenty of love. But most cats left outside will not be so lucky.

Bye for now.

-J

The not-so-healthy-herbivore (or, I'm Realizing I'm Not Invincible)

I've been vegan for about 4 years now, and before that vegetarian for about the same amount of time. I try to take decent care of myself - I don't eat many sweets and I'm not a huge snacker. I try to stay relatively active. I've had my iron and B12 levels checked before and they have normally been within the normal and healthy range.

Turns out, though, that I'm not magically immune to common health issues! Who knew?!

I got some blood work done recently - just a standard check up - and the doctor noted two problems: 1) my iron is low; 2) I have slightly high BAD cholesterol.  Luckily, even though I seldom take my B12 supplement, my levels are still, to quote my doctor "absolutely excellent!" (there was a less than subtle hint of surprise in his voice). I guess I retain it well;  hurray for that minor victory!

When you go vegan you are told by lots of other vegans that its going to make you feel amazing... and the  truth is, it totally does! My reason for going vegan was and still is the lives of animals, but it was a nice boost to know I was taking care of myself as well.

But, being vegan can also make you a bit complacent about your own health. If you're anything like me, you  feel amazing about being vegan, and tend to think that all the problems you faced as a non-vegan are in the rear-view.

It is a bit of a rude awakening to realize  that even though I consume zero animal products, I have a family  history of bad cholesterol, and a tendency towards low iron retention.

These are minor issues, and are easily fixed by an alteration in my diet and a daily iron supplement, but it makes me feel a little more mortal.

All this said, I'm excited to see how my new diet changes and supplements impact the way I feel. I've even read that low iron can lead to skin issues like acne, so here's hoping that's my problem and supplementation will help clear that issue up!.

For any of you who are feeling discouraged by family or vegan related health issues, I encourage you to find a doctor who supports your lifestyle choices and is willing to work with you to find a solution that does clash with your values. My doctor understands that eating animal products of any kind is not an option and I am so lucky to have him on my side. I have heard horror stories about doctors scaring their patients into giving up their ethical lifestyle.  If your doctor is like that, I think its time to find a new one.

Happy Tuesday!

-J

Happy Monday from Heartbreak Hotel! (Adopting a "stray" cat is complicated)

So, it turns out that the rules of adopting a stray cat are kind of messed up.

As you may already know, VOMD and I found a sweet cat dodging cars  in the way to Dundas earlier this week. We fell in love immediately with this poor underfed cutie and took him to the vet immediately. The vet scanned him and told us he was not microchipped so all we had to do was post on Helping Lost Pets and if we got no responses in 72 hours, he was ours! So, we did that, and received no responses. We brought him back to  the  vet Saturday for his shots, to get microchipped, and to get tested for all the standard feline communicable diseases.

And then drama. I guess the first vet didn't scan thoroughly enough, and he  actually  is microchipped! The  way this works now is that they call the "owner" and tell them they found her cat, and she has 7 days to  claim him.

What is totally messed up about  this system is that  Blakeley was never reported missing, even though  he has a microchip. It is obvious that he was living outside for at least a month  and his previous  caregiver didn't give a shit enough to even report him missing. But if she calls now, after she's informed that he's been found, she gets to take him back! She didn't care enough to search for him...and yet she gets to take him back because  she is the "rightful owner".

Our fingers are crossed that she doesn't call. I don't wish for bad people to exist....and keep being  shitty. But I do hope that we can continue to give him a happy home for the rest of his life.

I love this little sucker!

I love all these little suckers!

Happy Hopeful Monday!

-J

New Best Friend

Good Morning!

So,  yesterday VOMD came home  from work very early and decided to take me out for lunch. We stopped to do some nature sight-seeing along the way and  met a new best friend. Meet Blakeley! He came right out of the  bushes toward us, without fear. He was freaking out a bit because of cars passing by us, but went right up to VOMD and started rubbing up against on his legs! He loved the car ride to the vet and stood up against the window just like a dog most of the way.

He is very underfed, and while we have listed him on the Helping Lost Pets website we are really not-so-secretly hoping that nobody claims him, because he is so sweet I already have two new cavities!

We are so in love. We have yet to introduce   him to our other cats, for obvious reasons, so right now he's sharing  a room with Tobi (who sadly is cooped up in her enclosure until we can ensure that Blakeley is not a threat to her).

All in all, today is a great day.

Happy Wednesday!

-J

How to not be a discouraged vegan

As I've mentioned before (and as you  may know) being vegan can be lonely business. You may be lucky and find a partner to share it with (like my VOMD) but even if you do,  sometimes it can be discouraging to see so little change happening in the world around you.

When you are feeling particularly crappy  about the state of the world, there are a few things that you can do to pick yourself back up again and stop being so damn depressing. Having gone through my fair share of discouragement and depression, I can say that these things sort of work (I say sort of, because its not  magic. If you're not committed to feeling better, then chances are your're not going to feel better).

1. Join a supportive online community. You might have to shop around for one that works for you and  try to avoid the ones that have an obvious amount of infighting and negativity between group members. I belonged for a while to a Vegans of the World group on Facebook, but it just started to bum  me out. Now I am part of a Hamilton Community Vegans group and even though I don't know the people in person, being connected to them online makes me feel encouraged on days when I don't  really feel like leaving the house. 
2. Join a cause! There are so may important issues that you can get involved with either online or in person. You can volunteer some f your times to social media campaigns for groups like Sea Shepherd or Fur Bearer Defenders - or any other group that gives a crap about animals. Or you can try to find a local group to volunteer with - maybe a group dedicated to greening your community. In North Bay  there was a group called Greening Nipissing that hosted film screenings and other types events related to the environment. Here is Hamilton there is a community garden project called Hamilton Victory Gardens that is dedicated to food security - they build gardens in empty city lots!  You can also check out  your local low kill shelter or a farm sanctuary near by to connect with like-minded  people.
3. Read some books. There are lots of books about people changing the world  for animals. Whether you're looking for a brain exercising intellectual  read or a light-hearted inspirational story, check out Amazon or your local book store for one of these: Farm Santuary by Gene Bauer; Ecofeminism: Feminist Intersections with Other Animals and the Earth by Carol Adams  and Lori Gruen; Eating Animals by Jonathan Safran Foer; The Lucky Ones, by Jenny Brown; My gentle barn, by Ellie Laks; Zoopolis: A political Theory of Animal Rights, by Sue Donaldson and Will Kymlicka. These are just some of my favourites, but there are plenty more to choose from. 
4. Cook something delicious. Maybe this is just me, but cooking food always makes me feel better, especially when I am following a recipe from a vegan cook book, or converting an old well-loved recipe to a vegan one. Having a collection of vegan cook books to choose from on your shelf can also make it feel more normal and exciting to be vegan, rather than frustrating and lonesome. You can look through those cookbooks and be reminded that enough people bought these books  to make them profitable and worth publishing! How cool is it that veganism is becoming so mainstream?! Sure, it might be a fad, but so were skinny  jeans, and now literally everyone has at least a few pairs! If you're not a skilled chef,  try out a simple vegan cookbook without tons of exotic ingredients. Isa Chandra Moskowitz  has lots of amazing cookbooks  that are great for beginners. My favourite is Veganomicon, by Isa and Terry Hope  Romero . It is absolutely chock full of amazing recipes. You can also check out Cookin' Crunk by Bianca Phillips and  Thug Kitchen. If you don't want to buy a book, then just check out a vegan food blog like Oh She Glows or It Doesn' Taste Like Chicken.
5. Adopt an animal. Honestly,you should have done this already, but if you haven't, dedicating your life to another creature's well-being is a sure-fire way to feel amazing about life. Without my animal  companions, I would be a far less happy person.  Yes, caring for animals includes a fair amount of heart ache - I lost three of my companions in the last year - but the time you spend caring for them, and giving them the best life possible will be among the best things you ever do in your life. 

What are some of the  things you do to feel less discouraged on your vegan  journey?

Happy Tuesday!

-J

Monday Happies! Midsummer's Dream Festival and Crafty Fun!

So, this past Saturday VOMD, myself, and a couple of amazing friends (and their adorable kids) went to the Midsummer's Dream Festival in Gage Park. It was so much fun, and totally worth the hour it took to scrub pink dye out of our armpits. My only complaint is that the festival was not super vegan friendly (that is, there was way too much meat being grilled for my liking and sadly, there are no more vegan food trucks in Hamilton... Man, I miss Karma Chameleon).

But it was so much fun. I had not seen my friend for a few months since classes ended and she became occupied with work and studying for her  comprehensive exams, and I became entirely focused on my thesis. She also brought us vegan doughnuts from Beechwood Doughnuts in St. Catharines!

There was supposed to be bubble soccer and an obstacle course, but that didn't pan out for one reason or another, but really, the good company, and the ridiculously joyful smile on the face of my friend's daughter when she got to throw colours all over everyone made up for anything we may have missed out on. VOMD and I got thoroughly coated in colour cornstarch and it took ages to get all that colour off (I still had a huge pink splotch on my stomach yesterday!)

With that all said and done, I had some time to start thinking about being crafty again. I recently made the garter set for my best friend's wedding, and I had some leftover camouflage material so I thought I should probably put it  to use. When my youngest niece was born I made her stuffed animals - a little fox and an owl door hanger. Working from the same basic idea, I cut up an old t-shirt and used the left over material from my friend's garter set to make this little guy! He's kind of a fox,  but I think he looks a bit like a raccoon.

Sometimes I'm crafty. He's kind of ugly, and its certainly far from professional,  but I think there is a kind of charm in creating something by hand that you can tell was made by hand. VOMD says I should sell these, but I think he's too ugly, and I can't bring myself to follow any type of pattern, so any future little creatures would probably turn out just as silly. I also like the idea of just doing something for fun now and then.

I don't get crafty very often any more. Since beginning grad school, my creativity  has been at an all-time low, so it feels nice to use my hands for something other than scrolling through journal articles. 

Those are my happy thoughts for today. 

Happy Monday!

-J

Friday Foodies: Whole Grain Sandwich Buns!

Good Morning!

VOMD eats a LOT of sandwiches. He takes two for lunch every day, and even though bread isn't really that expensive, it adds up. We use probably  two loaves a week. So, I've started making it myself sometimes.

I usually don't make wholegrain bread, because I can never seem to make it fluffy, but I decided to give some buns a try.

How yummy do these look!?

I started with this recipe from Holy Cow Vegan, but being the type of person who doesn't take direction well I obviously made some tweaks.

Ingredients:
 6 cups whole wheat flour
 1/2 cup  unbleached white flour
 4 tbsp vital wheat gluten (optional...but it will be worth it)
 3 tsp active dry yeast
 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
 2 tsp salt
 2 3/4 cups warm water
 2 tbsp maple syrup
 1/4 cup olive oil

Directions

1. In a large mixing bowl mix maple syrup, warm water (not too hot, but definitely not cold) and yeast gently and set aside. It will start to get foamy, and that's when you know its ready to go. 
2. In a separate bowl combine whole wheat flour, wheat gluten, salt, and baking powder. Be sure that all the ingredients are mixed well. 
3. Begin to slowly combine dry ingredient mix with the yeast mixture about a cup at a time. Mix slowly and make sure it is thoroughly  combined before adding more. Once it gets too thick  to mix with a wooden spoon, use your hands. It will form a sticky but somewhat smooth dough. Now add the oil and mix until it is combined in the dough 
4. Sprinkle a clean board with white flour and begin to kneed the dough on the board. Kneed for about 5-8 minutes. The dough should be very soft, and a little sticky still when you are done kneading, but little bubbles may begin to  form beneath the surface. Form a smooth ball.
5. Oil a bowl (I used the one I had the dry ingredients in) and turn the dough over in the oil to coat the whole ball. Cover with a verylightly dampened towel and set aside to rise. It may take about 1.5 to 2 hours to double in size. If it is cold, or you have aggressive air conditioning, put it in your oven (don't turn it on) to rise.
6. Once it's doubled, punch it down lightly, then form it into 12 smooth balls (or six balls and one loaf, if you want)
7. Place on a baking sheet with parchment paper over top. You can add a little flour to the bottom of the balls, or corn meal if you'd like, to make extra sure they don't stick.
8. Let rise again until about doubled in size (this time not in the oven, because you have to preheat it). I can fit six balls per pan, with an inch or so between them. 
9. Preheat your oven to 375 degrees. 
10. Once the dough balls have risen, place them in the oven, on the centre rack, and bake for about 5 minutes before turning the oven down to 350 degrees. If they are getting brown too quick, a trick is to spray them lightly with a mist of water. Then continue to bake for about 20 more minutes. They will be a nice golden brown when they are finished. If you are making a loaf, then leave it in for about 5-7 minutes longer. 
11. Take them out of the oven and, if you want them to stay super soft and look nice and shiny like the ones in the picture, coat them really  lightly with vegan butter (like Earth Balance) or even a mild olive oil. You can sprinkle sesame seeds on top like I did, or just let them be.
12. Put  them on a rack to finish cooling, but don't pull them apart yet, and then when cooled down a bit put them in your face. I ate one still a little warm with Earth Balance and fresh tomato and daaammmn was it good. 

These things are so soft and delicious. I'm glad I added the wheat gluten like Vaishali from Holy Cow Vegan suggested because it makes them the perfect mixture of fluffy and chewy. These buns won't stay fresh as long as the stuff you get from the store, so if you don't eat a ton of bread, put  some in the freezer and just take them out as you need them. If you want them to taste fresh after freezing them, you can do what my mom does: put them in a paper bag (like the ones you get from the liquor store, or when you  buy mushrooms), and spray the bag lightly with water, and toss them in the oven for a couple minutes at 325. Don't leave them too long, though, because there is a risk of burning! Watch them closely.

Yum!

Happy Friday!

-J

Job Hunt Failure and Container Garden Daydreaming

So, this week I almost joined a cult.

Sounds exciting right?! Let me explain. You know those direct marketing companies that hire anyone? Well, one responded to my resume on Indeed and told me they were looking for managers to join their team. They said I looked like a great fit and that they love people who have a wealth of education and experience.

They told me to wear corporate business attire to the interview and when I showed up I did an interview with a guy with a receding hairline wearing a spiffy suit in a relatively well-decorated office. He asked me all the typical  questions that you get asked at interviews and then asked me to come in the next day for a follow up and an observation day to see how things were done around there.

I was pretty excited. I bought a nice suit and the next day showed up at the observation. Then as youngish guy with no  sales experience (who used to be a carpenter, apparently) took me to Tim Horton's and tried to sell me the job. He told me about  the intense earning potential. He explained how he now made close to $4000/week and basically  could do whatever he pleased because working for  this company was like being self-employed. It was a great sales pitch... he used  my name many times (almost a creepy amount) and paid  for my coffee and then in the end offered me the job.

I felt uneasy.

I went home and researched the company and read hundreds of reviews from ex-employees who never got paid for the work they did, and found that they don't even offer benefits, let alone a base salary.

So I didn't end up taking the job. From the offer of a manager position (which actually turned out to be a complete load of crap) to the cultish regurgitation of the sales pitch given to every single applicant, regardless of education level or experience, the whole situation reeked of creepiness.

Being unemployed is difficult sometimes. While I am focusing on my thesis right now, I still  want to be bringing in a bit of an income and a job like the one offered to me would have been great, if it weren't completely disturbing. After doing my own research I found that direct marketing sales jobs like this are increasing in Canada as  companies outsource their marketing to similar firms; these firms offer little to no base salary, demand regular attendance of their "employees" at unpaid training and group bonding exercises and seldom offer any benefits to their workforce. They reel people in with a convincing sales pitch and "employ", primarily, undereducated youth and young adults with little to no sales experience or education - i.e. the underemployed - who are more easily drawn in by the creepy, aggressive sales  pitch offered by an almost pyramid-scheme type business model.

Part of me wishes I had the vulva to join the company, just to see how it operates and maybe write a shocking tell-all... but sadly, I just don't have the patience.



So, instead of having a job, I've been working on a paper for the ECPR conference at the end of the month and daydreaming about the amazing balcony garden I'm going to grow next year! Here are two of my favourite ideas I've found on the web:

I like how clean  and simple this first one is,  but at  the same time, I really want to grow as many veggies as possible in a tiny space...

Image borrowed from fitnesstreats.com 

...which is why this one is so amazing. We are moving to the apartment above us and will have a really small walk out porch (like...only a couple feet), so the hanging  bags and pots would be perfect!

http://newgardendesigning.blogspot.ca/2014/08/container-gardening-designs.html

This summer isn't nearly over and I'm already dreaming about next spring.


Well, that's it for me.

Happy Thursday!

-J

Monday Happies and OH MY STROGANOFF!

Happy  Monday everyone!

As Always, my weekend with VOMD was amazing. Have I mentioned that I love him and have the best boyfriend ever?

Here's a taste of one of VOMD's favourite meals recently. I had a huge craving for that stroganoff my ex-stepmom used to make when I was growing up, but I had no idea how to make it vegan friendly. I'm pretty sure her's was a lazy  version using canned mushroom soup, so I though, hey...mushrooms!


Johanna's Vegan Sort-of Stroganoff

Our cat friends like to supervise in the kitchen. Princess George was kind of annoyed that I didn't let her eat some. 

VOMD and I always try to buy as much of our food from the near-death racks at the grocery store - you know, the one's filled with over ripe bananas and weird bags full of mangoes, oranges, eddoes, and avacadoes thrown together as though you could some how make a meal with those four, completely random ingredients. About a month ago there were about fifty packages of slightly brown mushrooms  on there, so we bought about 10 of them and put them in the freezer for a rainy day. Well, last week not only did it rain, but we also ran out of food and so I was relieved to find we still had one package of these slightly brown mushrooms left in the freezer!

Ingredients
1 package of frozen sliced mushrooms (I guess you could just cut up about a cup and a half of fresh mushrooms, but all I had was the frozen ones!)
1 Large onion, halved and sliced
2/3 can Romano beans, rinsed well (I saved the rest and added it to bean dip the next day)
1 1/2 cups warm water
1 cube of mushroom soup base (make sure its vegan! read the ingredients!)
2 tbsp whole wheat flour
Salt and pepper to taste

Directions
1) Sauté the onions on medium heat until they are translucent, then add the frozen mushrooms and cover with a lid or plate. You can add a little salt to get the juices flowing, but don't add too much because the soup base is probably super salty
2) In a bowl or measuring cup, dissolve soup base cube in warm water, then add flour and whisk away until its well combined
3) When the mushrooms are completely defrosted and getting darker brown, and the onions are golden, add the soup base mixture and stir it to combine. You might want to reduce your heat a bit to stop it from bubbling over or sticking to the bottom of your pan.
4) Add your romano beans and stir to combine. If it's too thick, add a little more water, if it's too  watery, sprinkle a tiny bit more flour over top and whisk it in to make sure you don't get clumps. Nobody liked clumpy gravy.
5) Add pepper to taste.  You probably don't need salt, you know, because of the super salty soup base.
6) Serve over the noodles of your choice. We didn't have ribbon noodles so I used some spinach rice spaghetti noddles we had on hand.


VOMD had two servings and we both licked out plates clean. No leftovers with this one!

Happy Monday!

-J

Friday Foodies! Lazy Rosé and PASTAÄLGAR!

*Before I get started,I just wanted to let you know I've put my recipes all in one place, and will try to continue to do so as I add more. Keep in mind, this is obviously not a food blog... at all, so photos will probably be shitty, recipes unprofessional, and you will have to wade through some personal drama to get to the actual food in each post. See them here or just visit the tab above that says "FOOD!"*

This is not meant to be an advertisement for Ikea or anything,  but how damn cute is this pasta?! VOMD and I went to Ikea last weekend and bought a new set of dishes, and we could not resist this adorable elf shaped pasta! We have a real problem with resistance, I know. Get some self control, us! At least it's organic.

This week has been very emotional, coming to terms with the fact that lots of vegans don't like me, but I have been so lucky to have VOMD here with me to buy me vegan double chocolate oatmeal cookies from Democracy and bring me soy lattes to cheer me up! If I ever doubt that the world is a  good place, then I just have to look into his eyes and I am reminded.

Here is something amazing and simple we ate this week. I know I'm supposed to be switching to whole food, but its a slow process, and so far I'm doing pretty good with breakfasts and lunches, but white pasta at dinner time is a pretty hard habit to kick.

We didn't have much in the fridge or cupboards this week. You know how it goes...you plan to buy groceries but you go to Niagara on the Lake and buy nutcracker figurines from the Christmas store instead.

I might have an addiction to nutcracker Christmas ornaments... VOMD found me the one that looks like a Mounty! 

So, for dinner a couple nights ago it was slim pickings. So here's my Pasta with Lazy Rosé and Mushroom Sauce!

Ingredients
1 big ol' can of diced tomatoes (we use the reduced salt kind)
2 large onions, halved and sliced
2 cups (ish) white mushrooms
1 heaping tbsp Vegenaise (trust me, this is going to make it awesome!)
1 big tbsp herb and garlic vegan cream cheese (I had Daiya on hand)
A couple dashes of organic dried basil (it just tastes better!)
Salt and pepper to taste

Directions
1) Sauté the onions and mushrooms until they get all juicy and golden brown, adding a tiny bit of salt to get the juices flowing
2) Slightly strain the canned tomatoes so that they are not all liquidy
3) Add tomatoes to mushrooms and onions and stir to combine.
4) Turn down to low and add Vegenaise and vegan cream cheese, stirring to combine,  but not letting it bubble too much (it might separate and get kind of weird if it boils)
5) Add basil and salt and pepper to taste
6) Serve over Adorable elk shaped pasta! (Or you know, any pasta... or rice...or just eat it on its own.  It's really good.)

Note: I added a few sliced of Tofurkey, all chopped up to this, because we happened to have a few leftover sliced from VOMD's lunches last week, but I'd imagine it would be just as good without it because the mushrooms kind of overpower the Tofurkey's mild flavour.

I promise, adding Vegenaise won't make it weird.  VOMD puts Vegenaise in Vegan Mac and Cheese and it just makes it super creamy and awesome!

Happy Friday!

-J

I Heart Michael Greger; also, Sweet Tea Recipe!

After my post earlier this week that had very little to do with honey, but became all about honey some how, I have really been thinking hard about why I define myself as a vegan. The majority of self-proclaimed vegans will certainly say that I am not truly vegan. While I respect their views, I have decided that while honey is something that I could certainly live without and will probably give up altogether in the future, I can still happily and proudly call myself a vegan even though I sometimes use it. Veganism is not about personal purity. It is about the animals. For example, I sometimes choose honey to sweeten Sweet Tea (super simple recipe at the bottom!) rather than white sugar, which we NEVER have in the house. White sugar, while not always processed using bone char, is still hell for the planet and the animals - and bugs - that live on it. Honey, produced locally and as ethically as possible, is a far more planet and bug friendly choice, and right now I do not feel guilty for making that choice (hear that haters? you can stop spamming my Facebook inbox now!)

Here's one of the best quotes I have ever read that really gets to the point of why I don't think vegans have to be perfect:

I'm afraid that our public avoidance of honey is hurting us as a movement. A certain number of bees are undeniably killed by honey production, but far more insects are killed, for example, in sugar production. And if we really cared about bugs we would never again eat anything either at home or in a restaurant that wasn't strictly organically grown—after all, killing bugs is what pesticides do best. And organic production uses pesticides too (albeit "natural"). Researchers measure up to approximately 10,000 bugs per square foot of soil—that’s over 400 million per acre, 250 trillion per square mile. Even "veganically" grown produce involves the deaths of countless bugs in lost habitat, tilling, harvesting and transportation. We probably kill more bugs driving to the grocery store to get some honey-sweetened product than are killed in the product’s production. 

Our position on honey therefore just doesn't make any sense, and I think the general population knows this on an intuitive level. Veganism for them, then, becomes more about some quasi-religious personal purity, rather than about stopping animal abuse. No wonder veganism can seem nonsensical to the average person. We have this kind of magical thinking; we feel good about ourselves as if we’re actually helping the animals obsessing about where some trace ingredient comes from, when in fact it may have the opposite effect. We may be hurting animals by making veganism seem more like petty dogmatic self-flagellation. 

In my eyes, if we choose to avoid honey, fine. Let’s just not make a huge production of it and force everybody to do the same if they want to join the club. 

You can read his whole essay here.


That's all I'm going to say about honey for now.

Sweet Tea:
Ingredients
2 FULL tea bags (you know, the ones you can buy at David's Tea that you can fill yourself, but make them really full!) of your favourite Black or Rooibos tea
    If you don't have fillable tea bags, you can use regular tea bags,  but use 3 or 4
1.5 Litres of water
1/4 cup maple syrup, or GASP honey (I actually use maple syrup more often than honey, because it is easier to come by)
1/2 lemon

Directions
Put your water in a pot (or kettle, I guess...but then the rest of the instructions won't make any sense) and bring to a boil. Turn on low and add your tea bags. Let it bubble a little, then turn it off and cover it to let it steep. I usually let it sit for about an hour before taking out the bags... or even longer  because sometimes I forget I was making tea and take a nap. Then, add your sweetener of choice and stir. While it cools down squeeze half the lemon in there (or don't if you don't like lemon). Once its cool enough, pour it into a pitcher and put it in the fridge, covered, to finish cooling. Pour over ice, and serve over ice with a fresh slice of lemon and then sit in the sun and think about all the cool things you would do if you won a cool million.

Happy Thursday!

-J

Dealing with haters and embracing my "kumbaya vegan"

So, yesterday I wrote a post about 5 things vegans do that annoy me. I could not have possibly predicted the immense hatred that came as responses to that post and while I don't regret posting it, I will say that I am glad my comments section is moderated, because almost all the comments I got were swearing at me, calling me a liar and an idiot, and worse. Needless to say, only those comments that aren't full of cussing and hate will be tolerated on this blog...which sadly means that very few comments get through.

That said, I don't mind it when people disagree with me. I knew that the honey issue was going to get people all crazy, because, lets face it, vegans are passionate folks and I can't blame them for seeing some hypocrisy in my stance on local "ethical" honey.

I shared  that post, just  for fun, on the "Vegan World" Facebook page. I thought it would give some a laugh, and give others something to think about. Sadly, I am embarrassed to say that I took it down an hour later because of the onslaught of anger that it instigated, one of the least hurtful of which read:

"What a whinefest. How about "necrovore?" Literally, "eaters of death." I prefer that. What's not to be negative about, while billions are living in abject suffering and being slaughtered in the most unimaginable ways? Kumbaya vegans...making friends and being popular. What about the animals, you say?

Well...irk away on the fact that she eats honey, and believes that there is such a thing as "cruelty-free" silk and wool. For anyone out there that doesn't know any better, that is not a vegan. She's a liar, and the reason why people are so very confused about what the word means. She's not even a DIETARY vegan lol". 

I also got a couple: "You're the reason nobody takes vegans seriously"s and more than a  couple "You're not even vegan"s.

(I share these, only because they  get the point across that I'm a moron without swearing at me or calling me names.)

I'm okay with this. So, maybe according to this woman I am a liar, and perhaps I am not really a vegan. But I love the planet. I love the animals on it, and that includes humans. I refuse to be the type of person who puts shit out into the world and expects it to turn to gold. The animals don't need a bunch of angry, mean, and hateful people on their side. They need kind people who are  willing to listen and teach and even learn from others.

The perfect example of this that I can think of are the people who run Piebird Vegan Farmstay. I met Yan and Sherry a few years ago, when I was a new vegan working for the Nipissing University Peace Research Initiative and I had the joy of filming an interview with them. They take in farm animals - chickens, a turkey, and lots of happy goats (and recently built some homes for some bees to live in peace!) - and invite their guests to interact with and help care for the animals. They spoke about peace, about being in nature, about how we can learn so much from the animals about love, friendship and joy. Yes, they are activists and they fight for animals. Yes, they completely disagree with animal suffering in any form.  But they offer a place where people can come and learn about veganism in a safe and peaceful environment, free from hate and judgement.

I would love it if we could take a page from their book and continue to love other humans as  much as we love animals.

If this makes me a "kumbaya vegan", and if being a "kumbaya vegan" makes me some  how less worthy of respect than other "perfect vegans", then I think I'm okay with that.

Actually, I'm thinking of retiring the word vegan from my vocabulary and just calling myself a good damn person. (I'm just kidding. I'm vegan, haters!)


Happy Wednesday!


-J

5 things vegans do that irk me

EDIT: First, I don't think there is any such thing as ethical silk or ethical wool, so please actually read the blog if you're going to send me hate messages referencing it. Second, I maintain that it is wrong to criticise and berate people who choose to live ethically, even if they maintain minor caveats (i.e. they use "ethical silk" or "ethical wool".

I tend to like crappy vegan people even more than I like super nice non-vegans. This is a bad habit and I am working on extending my love outward a little bit and becoming more understanding of people's shortcomings.

Nonetheless, there are still a few things that lots of vegans do that really irk me (yes, I'm guilty of some of these as well). Lately I have shared a lot about the things that non-vegans say and do that get me down, but vegans aren't perfect either.

1. Calling non-vegans carnivores: This is just silly, and totally plays into the completely manufactured scientific argument that non-vegans make for continuing their murderous ways. A carnivore is an organism that subsists entirely on flesh/meat. Humans are not carnivores, though we have become omnivorous - meaning that we derive energy from both  flesh and plants.  Stop calling meat-eating humans carnivores. 
2. Focusing on the people who suck, rather than the people that don't: This isn't really a vegan problem, per se. I find that we live in a  time  of immense egotism and self importance. We think that we are smarter than everyone else. We think that everyone else is a moron. Everyone else is the reason that the world is the way that it is. When we become vegan, it becomes all too easy to place all of the blame for all the world's ills on non-vegans. And just like when you hear a song for the first time, and then you notice it everywhere, so too do you start to notice all the crappy stuff that people do after you become vegan. This is incredibly unhealthy and can lead to defeatism - the militant vegan's worst nightmare! 
3. Only making friends with other vegans: We are obviously going to be attracted to like-minded people, in the same way that surfers hang around with other surfers, and foodies make friends with foodies, so too is is natural for vegans to make vegan friends. But because of #2, we sometimes find ourselves rejecting our non-vegan friends...and this isn't cool. How do you hope to have an influence on others if you fence yourself off from regular people? 
4. Criticising other vegans: Now, I am just as guilty of this as many others, but we really have to stop criticising our vegan brethren. We can't all agree on everything. For example, I eat local honey, and I know some vegans who will wear "cruelty free silk" (Ahimsa Silk), and "cruelty free wool" (Non-Mulesed) from time to time. On the other hand, there are lots of vegans  who do not think that we should use anything that comes from living creatures, including manure from companion animals, or the naturally shed feathers of companion birds. All of these are perfectly valid ways of being vegan. We all believe in living compassionately, not killing, not torturing, and not taking advantage of any species. Even though I do not agree with people using silk, no matter how it's cultivated, nor wool that is produced on farms for profit (I'm in the air about wool that is harvested from companion animals) I know that my fellow vegans are doing their best and I must try not to criticise them. For one thing, this opens me up to criticism as well, and for another, there is a very fine line between criticism and disparagement. Disparagement is the enemy of intelligent conversation and personal growth. Intelligent debate is fine, but don't be a dick.
5. Hating everything: This is  linked closely with #2 and like #2, we all  do it, not just vegans (bahahahaha...the eight year old in me just cracked up a little). I do find that lots of the vegans I have met, though, are Negative Nancies, especially those who I met in the North, where vegans are fewer and farther between than in the big city. I get it. When you're the only vegan you know, its hard to not get down on the world. They don't think that there is hope for the planet. They are kind of hermits. They have bad attitudes. They bitch all the time. They never talk about beautiful sunsets and they never tell funny stories. Everything sucks. I dated a guy like this briefly, and while it was nice to be with a vegan, it was really difficult to remain positive and joyful with that negativity around you all the time. I firmly believe that you get back what you put out into the world. If you're a grumpy jerk, then the world will be a dark place; if you're positive, then the world will be bright. 

Simple.

Also, look! I made a new friend!

Happy Tuesday!

-J

Monday Happies!

Today is the Civic Holiday, so instead of waking up alone in a sweltering hot room like I do most Mondays, I got to wake up with VOMD and eat breakfast (Toasted Tomato Sandwiches!) while watching Community. Oh gosh, I forgot how funny the D&D episode was!

This weekend, like most of our weekends, has been full of good food and awesome adventures. We went for a walk on Friday evening and ended up in a graveyard... that's not weird, is it?

It was very romantic, in a totally strange way. So many stones marking the resting places of people born hundreds of years ago. I can't imagine how many stories are buried  with them...

On Saturday VOMD and I went to Democracy and had Nachos and Pizza - amazing! Please go there right now and eat them... right now.

Yesterday we went to Ikea and had fun laying on fluffy beds and getting lost in the insane maze that is that ridiculous store.

And today...today we are going to nap a lot and relax and go for a nice long walk.

Happy Monday!

-J