Vegan Recipes, Ideas, and Living » Lifestyle

When Eco-Nerds Eat Meat…

Benjamin Jones — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 22:22:20 +0000

…It can be a little annoying. Why am I such a disapproving, restrictive, hippy, liberal, evil person? Well, I’ll tell you a bit about something that recently reminded me of how it annoys me.

Meat-eating at HybridFest in Madison, WI

Recently I was at a car show all about saving fuel and reducing our eco-impact to talk about one of my other websites, and I happened upon a video display for the new Ford Escape Hybrid.

The display, to highlight how little carbon the car put out, said that it would take 168 miles of driving to emit the same amount of greenhouse gases as a single burger on the BBQ grille. Of course the numbers are a little twisted, but the point is valid, meat has a large environmental impact, even when compared to motor vehicles.

Hearing this, of course, is less than shocking for me. However, what did catch my attention was the number of steak dinners at the banquet for HybridFest members. A small minority of us ate vegan or vegetarian (I know of one other), but the large majority had large steaks and everyone else had grilled chicken.

It’s not shocking, people don’t always make the connection, but it’s an important one to make. So, if you’ve been on the bubble about veganism, vegetarianism, or even meat-light, please don’t forget that a meat-free diet is a comparatively large part of decreasing your carbon footprint.

StrawberryHedgehog.com’s Wonderful Vegan Soaps

Benjamin Jones — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 03:20:59 +0000

Soap is great. It makes you feel clean and smell better, which I find to be one of the simplest pleasures in life. However, the difference between a mundane experience and a refreshing one comes down to something as simple as soap.

And Tracy over at strawberryhedgehog makes great soap, which is, not coincidentally, vegan-friendly. I have been using some for the last week or two and I can truly say it is great stuff. Sometimes hard to purchase if you are a college student on a budget, but good for small, thoughtful gifts for others and for treating yourself every once in a while.

UPDATE: For those of us who stink at buying soap regularly, check out the soap club!

Japan Vegan: Trials and Tribulations

Benjamin Jones — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 15:08:40 +0000

Before coming to Japan this time around I knew I would have to make compromises. Compromises about what I would eat in order to keep myself healthy and be able to ride my bike around and enjoy the place.

I didn’t think too much about it before coming because I knew it would be practically impossible to predict what I would have to do before I actually got here.

I knew there was a special style of Japanese cooking practiced mainly by Buddhist monks and things, but I didn’t know if it would be accessible. I knew they were lots of naturally vegan things in Japan, but I also knew there would be less options away from the big cities.

Well, it turns out the monks that don’t eat meat and such are part of an older sect that really only hangs out around Kyoto, quite far from here. Furthermore, I was right about having less choice.

I am also burdened by knowing more about things.

For example, the last time I was in Japan I didn’t know that pretty much every soup base for everything had a fish base or used dashi, which is a little bit fish.

I also didn’t know that eggs were in the batter for tenpura or that even the most vegetable-type curries would have something like chicken or pork consume.

I also knew that if I ate nothing but rice I would quickly suffer from it and not be able to do much. So, I had to make compromises. Compromises like:
- Vegetable udon may have some tiny amount of fish in it, but oh well,
- This pasta may have a small amount of parmesan on it, but oh well,
- XYZ might not be exactly like I would want it, but I would rather not starve.

Most of these compromises are things that you can’t do much about. If you ask for a recommendation for what udon doesn’t have fish in it, you will end up with udon with a fish base and a chunk of naruto (which is fish) anyway. If you ask for something without cheese, you’ll get parmesan. If you ask for vegetable curry they’ll think you mean just with more vegetables and not with just vegetables.

This is probably because cooks don’t really get it, and you can’t expect them to. Especially in Japan, where cheese and milk is sort of a foreign idea, “cheese” isn’t really the same thing as we might normally think of it. Cheese might just be swiss cheese or something, and if you ask them about the parmesan you’ll get a “O RLY, you meant that, too?” sort of answer.

So, while I tend to play safe on veganism in the U.S., while I am here I am playing safe on keeping my body functioning healthily so I can do my research and ride my bike. Veganism is considerably easier when cooking for myself, and I’ll have more on that in the next few days, .

Green Tea is Addictively Good

Benjamin Jones — Thu, 05 Feb 2009 08:30:21 +0000

Green tea is simple. Perhaps the only complicated thing about it is that it is not always green. Recently I’ve been searching the world for something to get hooked on that I can drink in massive quantities to replace my previous addiction to Dr. Pepper, which was not only horrible for me but creates a lot of aluminum and plastic waste that isn’t very attractive.

I think green tea is the answer, but there is a problem. As much as I love green tea on both a sensational and ideological level, I can’t drink it at night without getting bad heartburn that makes it hard to sleep and stays with me when I wake up in the morning. I find that the only way to neutralize the effects of a couple of cups of tea is to pour about half a gallon of water down my throat. This isn’t working.

So, I’m asking all you, what do you drink? Caffeine is not an issue for me (even at 3:30am, like right now), but I need something decently low calorie that can be consumed in great quantity and won’t cost that much or generate that much waste. Water is great, and I drink it all the time, but it’s also bland and sometimes I want a bit more.

Any suggestions? I feel like I need to kick my tea habit before it gets any worse!

The Best Thing About Vegan Burgers…

Benjamin Jones — Mon, 26 Jan 2009 04:41:55 +0000

I’ve been hassled a bit about posting so I figured it was time to get one of my recent thoughts off my chest about the subtle benefits of a vegan lifestyle. Last year, I talked a bit about my love affair with the George Foreman grill, and while I was using it today to cook up some more of those tasty Gardenburgers, I had a revelation: there’s no dripping fat!

This is probably a revelation I and many other vegans have had before, but I think it’s worth stepping back for at least a short moment to think about. The grill in question has always been advertised as the “lean, mean, fat-reducing grilling machine” or something like that, with the comercials highlighting how the fat would just pour off of your steaks as you grilled them to a juicy perfection.

No, I went vegetarian more than four years ago so I never had the experience of cooking meat on a Foreman grill but if anybody has pan fried a piece of steak you’ll know how much fat drips out of these things. That’s exactly why the Foreman grills home with those gross little grease catching trays for the fat to slide into.

Veggie burgers? No grease at all. Just flip one on the surface and nothing drips off. There may be a bit of steam but nothing that smells funny or isn’t soluble in water. Sure, it may be a small thing, but today I was riding my bicycle (indoors) and thinking “I’m so glad I’m not still putting that crap in my body.”

Happy eating!

Being Rude Never Helped Anyone (A Vegan Perspective)

Benjamin Jones — Sat, 08 Nov 2008 04:28:16 +0000

Today, there was a bit of a hissy fit in my recent post about vegan cross-contamination issues. At first I got a little offended and was rude, but when I toned it back and tried to extend an olive branch, I was attacked for not even being a vegan because I wasn’t out “defending my rights” by attacking other people. This, I think, is really sad, and I wanted to explain a few things.

I used to be very strict about eating out and things, but after living in Japan for a period, where not only did people not understand what veganism was, but they thought I was crazy. The best I could do was present myself as being like a strict Buddhist monk, who would only eat things like “shoujinryouri,” which is vegan cuisine for the monks that still don’t eat animal products (most Buddhist monks in Japan abandoned this tradition a long time ago, though some sects still abstain from meat).

It was really hard to eat anywhere. It was hard to eat out, to shop, to anything. This lead to me just eating not enough food, basically. I was often tired and felt a little off-kilter. If I had to go through it again, which I will soon, I wouldn’t give up veganism, but I will have to learn to be a little smarter and less stressed out about it.

In fact, I hope to return to Japan in the spring and summer to do linguistic research. Because a lot of that research will have an anthropological focus, it means I will be doing lots of eating out with pushy Japanese people. And there, part of doing research is fitting in and not challenging the social paradigm of the people you’re eating with. This means that to be a vegan, I will have to be very careful and will have a lot of pressure on me to change, which worries me.

As such, I don’t think it’s kind for anyone to be pushy or rude, whatever the cause is. I encourage people to try veganism, but I don’t attack them or bully them. Who are you going to win over that way? Probably less people than a kind, caring individual would.

So my thought: be nice to others. If you want people to try veganism, cook them something tasty and tell them why you chose it. Don’t shove pamplets of dead animals in their face and then yell “murderers” at them. You have to consider that most people don’t consider what’s wrong with their actions, so they might be will to change. But those people know that they don’t like being talked down to or yelled at, and that’s going to turn them off to your message.

Happy eating!

My Theory on Eating Out and Cross-Contamination

Benjamin Jones — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 06:50:08 +0000

Recently a comment on my post about vegan pizza got me thinking about my policy on cross-contamination when eating out. Obviously, this is something I have thought about for a few years, so I’ll try to some up my views in just a few points, since I don’t want to bore you.

Anyway, here was the original comment:

I work at a pizza place that sounds a lot like Ramunto’s…and “cross-contamination” happens all the time. Your hand goes straight from the ham to the pineapple or sausage to the black olives. Or cheese accidentally get dropped in the sauce…actually, the cheese gets everywhere.

Just out of curiosity…is this a concern for you, that animal products are likely mixed in to your vegan pizza even if only in minimal amounts?

To answer this, I’ll first get into the reasons why I am a vegan, and how I try to flesh that out in practice:

Ethics: Basically, I think it’s an ethical obligation to reduce suffering wherever possible. I believe that animals have developed enough nervous systems to feel pain, and as such, it’s reasonable to expect that they do not like dying or being kept as slaves for food. Because I can be perfectly healthy without animal products, I feel ethically obligated to be vegan.
Environment: Eating lower on the food chain reduces waste and environmental impact. Don’t believe me? Look it up, :p. I don’t feel like explaining. But imagine how much food and water it takes to keep a cow alive for long enough to get to the dinner table. It’s a lot more than it would take if it were just the human eating veggies and such. Cows aren’t efficient power converters.
Health: I’m not super worried about my health, but I try to take care, and I see where veganism can fit in there.

Now, how does this apply to cross-contamination? Well, first I should talk about what that is in a broad sense, I guess. Cross-contamination happens when things are fried in the same oil, cooked in the same pan, or when something might get dripped when moving stuff around. It’s why a lot of products say “manufactured in a facility that also produces blah, blah, blah.” In those circumstances cross-contamination could harm people with serious allergies. Here’s how I feel in regards to the reasons why I’m vegan:

Ethics: I am still electing vegan choices and I can’t expect restaurant workers to be infallible. My family owns a farm, and you’d be surprised how many snakes and stuff get chopped up when you’re harvesting crops, but does this mean you’re not going to eat soy beans? It wasn’t the intention and isn’t really preventable without extreme means, so I don’t think it bears much ethical concern here.
Environment: Since you’re not electing extra non-vegan things, and the quantity is almost non-existent, I don’t see how this is an issue.
Health: See above.

Now, to sound a little angry about it, I think getting overly concerned with cross-contamination when eating out is pretty worthless. Are you vegan because you like the label and seeming hardcore or because you’re acting in accordance with convictions? Personally, I tend not to tell people I’m vegan, because people thinking whatever about me isn’t going to affect what my vegan actions are doing. In the same way, not eating out or having unrealistic expectations of chefs isn’t going to change the impact of vegan dining choices.

My conclusion: be vegan, don’t be stuck up.

Happy World Vegan Day!

Benjamin Jones — Sun, 02 Nov 2008 07:15:01 +0000

Evidently it was World Vegan Day yesterday. I kind of feel silly having missed it since it’s not like there are many things dedicated to us vegans rolling around out there. But there you go! I’ll have to add it to my calenday so I can cook something tasty next year.

I did make cookies though, so I guess that’s something. Anyway, happy (belated) World Vegan Day! Did you do anything special?

Being Sick Just Ain’t Fun

Benjamin Jones — Sat, 01 Nov 2008 03:02:42 +0000

That probably sounds like the world’s worst tautology to most of you, but recently I’ve been put back in touch with just how much is sucks to be sick. Since becoming vegan 2.5 years I’ve only been sick once before just now. That was last winter when I succumbed to the stress of taking extra classes and not being able to get it all done. At the time, I was only sick for about 3 days.

This go around I was sick for a grand total of 2 weeks. It started with a runny nose and a hoarse cough, but then quickly progressed to extreme fatigue and an inability to sleep due to the force of my coughing while laying down. Couple that with the fact that these 2 weeks overlapped with one of the busiest school weeks of my life and you get a few things: I’m better now but really sleepy and even though I have a list of like ten things I want to update here, but I haven’t posted anything in ages.

Anyway, take care of yourself. I’ll post some things. Delicious things!

The Vegan’s Hundred

Benjamin Jones — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 23:14:16 +0000

This sounds slightly like the “Dartmouth Seven” (use Google if you’re curious), so I was instantly interested. After reading this I am seriously ready to get back on the horse with trying new recipes. Why have I been so lazy?

Anyway, this idea comes from here, and I’d like to say thanks to the creator/editor!

The Vegan’s Hundred

Your mission, should you choose to accept it:

1) Copy this list into your own blog, including these instructions.
2) Bold all the items you’ve eaten.
3) Cross out any items that you would never consider eating.
4) Post a comment here once you’ve finished and link your post back to this one.
5) Pass it on!

1. Natto (next time I’m in Japan)
2. Green Smoothie
3. Tofu Scramble
4. Haggis
5. Mangosteen
6. Creme brulee
7. Fondue
8. Marmite/Vegemite
9. Borscht
10. Baba ghanoush
11. Nachos
12. Authentic soba noodles
13. PB&J sandwich
14. Aloo gobi
15. Taco from a street cart
16. Boba Tea
17. Black truffle
18. Fruit wine made from something other than grapes
19. Gyoza (a chinese dumpling, but the author used the japanese name)
20. Vanilla ice cream
21. Heirloom tomatoes
22. Fresh wild berries
23. Ceviche
24. Rice and beans
25. Knish
26. Raw scotch bonnet pepper
27. Dulce de leche
28. Caviar (vegan caviar?)
29. Baklava
30. Pate
31. Wasabi peas
32. Chowder in a sourdough bowl
33. Mango lassi
34. Sauerkraut
35. Root beer float
36. Mulled cider
37. Scones with buttery spread and jam
38. Vodka jelly
39. Gumbo
40. Fast food french fries
41. Raw Brownies
42. Fresh Garbanzo Beans
43. Dahl
44. Homemade Soymilk
45. Wine from a bottle worth £60/$120 or more
46. Stroopwafle
47. Samosas
48. Vegetable Sushi (as japanese will tell you, if it’s just veggies, it’s not sushi)
49. Glazed doughnut
50. Seaweed
51. Prickly pear
52. Umeboshi (beware, it’s potent)
53. Tofurkey
54. Sheese
55. Cotton candy
56. Gnocchi (I’m seriously about to cook this for dinner as I write)
57. Piña colada
58. Birch beer
59. Scrapple
60. Carob chips (barf)
61. S’mores
62. Soy curls
63. Chickpea cutlets
64. Curry
65. Durian
66. Homemade Sausages
67. Churros, elephant ears, or funnel cake
68. Smoked tofu
69. Fried plantain
70. Mochi
71. Gazpacho
72. Warm chocolate chip cookies
73. Absinthe
74. Corn on the cob
75. Whipped cream, straight from the can
76. Pomegranate
77. Fauxstess Cupcake
78. Mashed potatoes with gravy
79. Jerky
80. Croissants
81. French onion soup
82. Savory crepes
83. Tings
84. A meal at Candle 79
85. Moussaka
86. Sprouted grains or seeds
87. Macaroni and “cheese”
88. Flowers
89. Matzoh ball soup
90. White chocolate
91. Seitan
92. Kimchi
93. Butterscotch chips
94. Yellow watermelon
95. Chili with chocolate
96. Bagel and Tofutti (I hate tofutti)
97. Potato milk
98. Polenta
99. Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee
100. Raw cookie dough

I’m kinda picky and don’t drink, . Hopefully I can update this from time to time with links to recipes I post. I should probably make it a page so it stays visible. Anyway, it seems fun!

Wendy’s New Meatetarian Ad is Annoying/Foolish

Benjamin Jones — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 09:16:11 +0000

Oi, have you seen it yet? It’s yet to make it’s way online and Wendy’s isn’t hosting it either, so I’m just going to assume you’ve seen the new TV ad for the Baconator. Normally I’d call it something other than foolish, but I don’t like to curse on my blog. For those of you that haven’t seen the ad, I’ll give you an idea what it’s like.

The commercial is set in a Wendy’s with two younger people (20-somethings) chatting over a meal. The attractive blonde woman offers the kind-of-ugly man some of her salad, when he replies that he can’t, because he’s a meatetarian. Evidently, “it’s a commitment.”

Not only is it a joke on veg*ns, but a joke on the ones who annoy me too (the self-accomplished type), but in the end it trys to make a joke out of how we live and whatnot, which is silly. What’s next? Paper ads glorifying desforestation or SUV ads melting ice caps? Fine, Wendy’s, sell your meaty food, but don’t try to pass off your heart disease sandwich as some holy grail of the quest to eat meat at the expense of others!

Making the best of a bad vegan situation

Benjamin Jones — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 23:02:07 +0000

Every so often I like to opine on issues that I think come up often in vegan life that deal with a bit more than ingredients and other delicious stuff. In the past I’ve talked a bit about relationships, but today I would love it if I could ramble on a bit about eating (or not eating) out.

My mom’s birthday

Most years we are out on my grandmother’s farm, where my mom grew up, for her birthday. This year is no different. However, this is the first time I’ve been out here since I’ve been vegan.

Anyway, for my mom’s birthday I wanted to take her out to dinner, but seeing how the biggest town within an hour of here has a population of 8,000 and a very limited restaurant scene outside of the all-you-can-eat feed hole and the Sonic, I knew things would be pretty grim.

In the end we went to a place called Washington Street, which is the only thing in town near a “nice restaurant.” Last time I was there I got fettucine alfredo, so I assumed there would be some sort of pasta with marinara sauce, at the very least.

Boy, was I wrong! Looking at the menu, I was a little dumbfounded. In search of real food, I asked about the soup, but no luck there. In the end, I got a house salad with no cheese and no dressing. To say the least, I was pretty damn hungry.

So, what did I learn?

Well, for one thing, I learned that the places I’m used to eating, being not in the middle of “I eat my cow when it’s still mooing” territory, have more vegan options that most places. In fact, the people around my area are likely to know what a vegan person is.

You don’t always have that kind of luck, though. So what then? Well, I guess you can’t go into every situation expecting too much. And even then, there will probably be something to eat. I ended up having a big salad. I got about zero nutrition out of that wad of lettuce (it wasn’t a very creative salad), but it wasn’t deep-friend and beer-battered, so it probably didn’t kill me when I had a snack later.

Even though it would be nice to not go around explaining ourselves all the time and trying to have vegan stuff whipped for us at places that’ve never heard the word, we’re not quite there yet.

Photo: flickr by rexipe

Falling out of a Dietary Black Hole

Benjamin Jones — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 04:02:25 +0000

Just the other day I posted about how, since I’ve been home from college, I’ve lost interest in what I’m eating. I really should post more often, but I first wanted to thank you for all of your comments, and then note that I am at least a little bit back on track.

I was a little distracted in my quest, at first, by a trip I made back to Dartmouth in order to sock in some good cycling with my new bike over the weekend. If there is one thing I can say that both cycling and veganism have taught me, it’s that you have to love what you’re doing to really be able to do it. I won’t bore you with pictures of my bike or stories of afternoons spent cycling, but it’s really interesting how quickly you can get bored of it when you shoes suck and make your feet hurt. Veganism, I feel, is the same way. If I were eating gruel I would probably not last very long as a vegan.

Anyway, at Dartmouth I didn’t have my usual fare, and rediscovered both eating out and eating dinners of chips and salsa. Coming home I felt a little refreshed, and decided to mix it up at little bit, at least with some burritos and at least not eating the same thing two meals in a row.

The thing I love about burritos is that they can be as simple or as complicated as you like. I usually keep it simple, with just rice and refried beans, though sometimes I will toss in some potatoes, carrots, peas, vegan cheese, or whatever else that’s sitting around and looks like it can cook itself easily enough. Does anyone else have solutions like that?

Well, nothing much exciting, but at least an update that I’m not dead. Hopefully I’ll have a good recipe for you in a day or two!

Falling into a Dietary Black Hole

Benjamin Jones — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 22:22:50 +0000

Having not spent a term home from school since I started (last summer I was in Japan), I never really got used to being vegan and always having to cook for myself. Sure, cooking for myself is easy, but at the frequency of two meals a day it can get a little troublesome trying to find new things. My solution during break was always the same thing: cook pasta for lunch and pasta for dinner. Usually the same kind and always in the same way.

Well, since I’m home for good (3 months) this time, that’s just not going to work out. Especially now that I’m cycling, it’s become rather boring and nutritionally unsatisfactory to eat nothing but pasta day in and day out. Every so often I’ll mix it up with things like gnocchi, but at the base of it, I’m not really escaping the problem. In fact, the oven right now is full of baking tater tots, which, along with unsweetened ice tea, will suffice for my 2pm lunch.

Now that I’m “becoming” an “adult,” I’m faced with those terribly important problems of shopping for groceries and cooking with variety. I certainly can’t cook my favorite recipes every day because there will be repitition, but on the other hand, I’ll have to know what I want to cook so I’m not going to the store to buy ingredients every day. What is a boy to do?

Anyway, starting today I’m going to work on getting my nutrition back on track, and I hope to share that with you folks. Mehbe it’ll work out fine and I’ll no longer be bored to death with what I’m eating, and mehbe it won’t, but that remains to be seen! Does anyone have advice for a fledgling adult like myself?

Is Making Out Vegan? Part II

Benjamin Jones — Sun, 11 May 2008 03:32:05 +0000

Just as a follow up to my previous post on vegan relationships, I thought it would be worth noting that I am once again dating someone, but this time a non-vegan. She is definitely health conscious (probably more so than me), and very aware of where her food comes from. She believes in organics and all that, and even has her own chickens and such up at her home (not at college though).

I totally respect that idea of being conscious of what we eat, and I think the fact that she’s already that way, but never was a vegetarian might make her susceptible to converting to the dark side, but I don’t plan to push it very hard, to be honest, .

Perhaps I sounded too cynical in my last post, but I definitely think finding love in non-veg*ns is possible…as long as the partner enjoys your cooking!

Ahh, the joys of running a vegan group on campus!

Benjamin Jones — Sun, 06 Apr 2008 01:47:36 +0000

And when I say joins, I mean, darn, it sure can be rewarding even if it is a huge pain in the butt.

So this spring Dartmouth Vegan Society is coming back into force after being on hiatus in the winter due to my inability to keep up with an extra course load and other obligations. It was a bit sad to lose touch with the group, but now that we’re back in action I’m reminded how troublesome it can actually be.

We got about 10 people to show up, which, all things considered, is a pretty darn good turn out. Some new faces, but pretty much the same old folks you get to know when you’re vegan on a small campus.

Anyway, we’ve got a few plans, and I thought it might be worth going over some of them in case anyone is interested or has some suggestions (since the group can be pretty sparce for ideas when it comes down to it):

we’re going to work on bringing back a vegan nutritionist (named Deanna Latson) next year. Last year she gave a great presentation, and it would be cool to see her back to expose some new faces.
last year we had a pretty sweet barbeque during the large party weekend in the Spring (known as Green Key), and I definitely think we should do that again.
we’re also working on doing some pot-lucks, both within and without the group, to have fun and also to get some new people interested in the tasty possibilities that are vegan cooking.

Anyway, just a short update, but I’m pretty excited, you’ll see more updates (hopefully with pictures and recipes) as life goes on.

Unhealthy, Late-night Study Food

Benjamin Jones — Tue, 05 Feb 2008 06:47:16 +0000

What am I eating right now? So Delicious Chocolate Peanut Butter ice cream with a Tropical Source chocolate chip garnishing.

Why the devil am I eating such unhealthy food? Well, that’s a fair question. See, the thing is, I’ve been up to 4am every night and my mind and body are starting to crumble under the stress, so I figured, why not enjoy some ice cream! I should be able to get some rest later on in the week, but for now I need to grit my teeth and bear it.

That said, I wanted to share with you all some of the snacks that I pick up when I just feel like letting go and replacing real food with junk. You may remember the chocolate chips from my favorite cookie recipe, but I don’t think I’ve ever mentioned that ice cream before. So Delicious (and it’s fancier counterpart, Purely Decadent Soy Delicious) is made by Turtle Mountain to strict vegan standards and is also registered organic by the USDA.

I prefer the Chocolate Peanut Butter flavor for the ice cream with it’s the only thing I’m eating (yep, dinner tonight was ice cream), but if I’m bringing ice cream to a dinner or hosting a social event, I will usually get the richer chocolate version. This stuff is rather good, and I’ve had it (especially the fancier stuff in the pint tubs) with many non-vegan friends and they all enjoy it. There are tons of flavors to try, and if you’re getting Soy Delicious, I would recommend Peanut Butter Zig-Zag (have you noticed a pattern?).

Anywho, if you’ve never tried it, don’t be scared! Vegan ice cream can be great and So Delicious leaves nothing to be desired (though I have had vegan ice creams that are not quite up to par). So, go out to your grocery store and pick some up. If they don’t have it leave them a note to tell them to buy it and head to a Whole Foods, local co-op, or other more hippy-friendly store and get some!

Well, that’s my quick aside, it’s back to work for me! Perhaps tomorrow night I’ll pick up some bananas instead of ice cream to keep me company through the long night.

What do you eat when you’ve got to be up and can’t fight the hunger pangs?

Is making out vegan?

Benjamin Jones — Wed, 23 Jan 2008 08:25:45 +0000

My gosh, I sure hope so!

But seriously, in every vegan and vegetarian’s life, there usually comes the question of how our beliefs will affect our interpersonal relationships and love lives.

I’m still a youngin’ (19 as of writing this post), so I can’t offer the life’s wisdom that goes along with finding and settling down with that one special person, but I’ll take this time to look forward and see think about how my veganism will affect my future with the ladies.

So far I’ve had two “significant” relationships, both of them with omnivores at the onset. During the first was when I made the initial transition to vegetarianism, and to be honest, it was one of the things that drove a wedge between us. She didn’t understand and didn’t want to, and the change just seemed to be emblematic of a greater drift. In the end, after we broke up, she became a vegetarian (and might be a vegan these days), but at that point I definitely felt a bit antagonized.

My second serious girlfriend also started out as an omnivore, but in relatively short order she became a vegetarian and then a vegan. Thankfully, I no longer had to worry about kissing her after she ate something I found ethically reprehensible.

Hypercritical? Maybe. Truthful? Yes.

And I think that’s really the most important thing to keep in mind here: you’re going to feel a certain way about people with different eating habits than you. Eating is a big part of life, and if you try to put those feelings aside, it may come back to haunt you. Be honest and upfront, with yourself and your partner.

That said, I really don’t know where I’ll be going. I don’t feel like I mind too much, but cooking and vegany things are definitely on my top lists of fun things to do, so it’s not easy to discount the role veganism could play in a future relationship.

Time will tell, I suspect!

Has anyone else given this issue any thought?