10 Foods Vegans CAN Eat

I was checking out YDV today and discovered a very frustrating post in reference to an even more frustrating article, "10 Foods That Vegans Can't Eat". Granted, it was one of those stupid Yahoo! articles that seem to be just there for content sake, rather than actually being anything worth reporting, but it was frustrating nonetheless.

And actually, the article itself was a nice little nod to the vegan community, in a way. It's intention seemed to be to inform the masses (who for whatever reason don't know already) what being vegan actually means. And I appreciate that. The real frustration was the comments. They all seemed to be ANGRY at vegans and often referred to them as hypocrites. YDV did a great job of pointing out that perhaps a better article would have been "10 Principles of Veganism".

But since I'm primarily in the business of cooking and eating, I would like to instead write a list of 10 foods we CAN eat. After all, that is the question we get asked the most, right?

'Tis the Season: Give the Gift of a Charity Donation for Animals!

December 1st has come and gone (with snow, too!) and if you're slacking on holiday shopping, look no further! The best gift you can give to the compassionate people in your life, is the gift of giving. Giving to any charity in someone's name shows you care about that person and their causes. Not to mention, you don't even have to leave your home. So, pull up a mug of hot, mulled apple cider, grab your laptop, and get holiday shopping!

Here's a list of some great animal organizations that you could gift to someone this year!

• Mercy For Animals: If you live in Columbus, you probably hear about MFA a lot. They sponsor meetup groups (like our Thanksgiving Potluck last month), hold charity events, and Dec. 11th they are having a holiday party at Dragonfly Neo-V. They are a great organization, dedicated to giving a voice to animal rights: Read more about their mission.
• PeTA: We all love to hate PeTA, I think. They're certainly controversial. But what they do a good job of is keeping animals rights a part of the conversation. Gift a donation for PeTA.
• You can also go to this website and gift over hundreds of charities of your choosing, including American Humane Association, SPCA, Wildlife Conservation Society, etc.
• Donate to a Farm Sanctuary! Or take a trip down, and volunteer. It's the best way to directly help animals in need.
  

Fall is here.

I haven't cooked or baked much in a while, which probably explains my long standing silence on here.

Andrew's Aunt Laura died in July, just a couple weeks after our all-family vacation to North Carolina. She had been suffering from some, even still today, mysterious symptoms that were causing her a lot of pain. She was one of my favorite people in Andrew's family, besides Andrew of course. She took pottery classes with me. She stuck to them even though they made her cry. She was probably the only person who read this blog. She always asked me about it and told me which posts she liked best. We had similar taste in music. We even went to a concert together once. She was always giving me tickets to things. We got along well. She was nice. I had been losing interest in this blog, as most people do with blogs, and when Laura died... it was too depressing. Even still, I get sad looking at it.

The Pottery Show w/ Better Pic, the Arnolds, & Pattycake Bakery

I've disappeared a little bit. And when I do reappear, it's usually to talk about The Conscious Cook, I know. I've been kind of on a recipe making/cooking hiatus for a couple reasons: 1) Andrew is competing in the Arnold Classic, or the Arnold Sports Festival, on Saturday, thus he is cutting weight. Which means he's not eating. Which means I'm out a job. And 2) I've embarked on yet another hobby, pottery. Which takes away a few of my nights each week, and has really helped business at Tip Top [[not that they need it, but it's near the studio- kinda - and take out is easier than cooking at 9 at night]]. So for that, I apologize.

Last Friday my pottery studio, Clayspace, had a gallery showing for all the classes [[including little ole beginners potter's wheel - my class]]. It was fun. A lot of people came out, and I brought a vegan cheesecake to share [[since it was a pot luck, too]]. I don't really have any pictures of the night. I brought my camera and everything, but so many people wound up coming and sometimes you're just having too much fun to take pictures. Here are some pictures of my pottery that I took:























































































Like I said, it was beginners potter's wheel, so a lot of this stuff is pretty conventional. I experimented with the colors a little bit, so that's why some of them are the color of poop. This time around I'm taking a slab class. Ideally I'll be making more interesting pieces. We'll see!

Anyway, the classes are super fun, and the instructors are really helpful. If anyone is interested in taking one, go look at their website and contact Tami Knight. [[PS she's vegetarian!]]

As far as The Arnold Sports Festival goes, Andrew in competing in Sanshou on Saturday. No head contact, but kicking, punching below the neck, and some throws are involved. I'm pretty excited for him. Since he's been cutting weight his food has consisted of Amy's lunches [[which are conveniently under 300 calories]] and clif bar dinners. He's pretty manorexic lately [[read: man anorexic]]. I'm trying not to gorge myself too much in front of him. Although I did make some awesome "Oysters Rockafeller" from [[duh]] The Conscious Cook last night. I forced him to try one. I ate the rest pretty much. I'll post about those later. The night before that I had a big ass bowl of brussels sprouts covered in earth balance and cayenne pepper. Which should explain to you my lack of posting. Generally lack luster dinners or things from a cookbook.

An adorable little Amy's pizza! Cheeseless and so freaking tasty.

Something I do want to share, however, is this hilarious entry into Cupcake Wars. Columbus' very own Pattycake Bakery was asked to submit a video to be a part of Cupcake Wars on food network. What I discovered from watching their video is that they have an evil twin next door. Check it out:

Go South Florida!

``A generation ago, it was quite unusual,'' said Dr. Neal Barnard, founder of the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, which advocates for vegan and low-fat vegetarian school lunches. ``Nowadays, kids do it for political reasons, environmental reasons, animal rights reasons.'' [[full article]]

I always wondered what the vegans in my high school ate for lunch. I know the vegetarians probably just ate candy, chips, and pizza [[so healthy, right?]]. But I did know a few vegans growing up-- and there was nothing for them. Not even a vegan salad dressing. So, it's really refreshing to hear about schools in South Florida, and not just college campuses, offering vegetarian AND vegan options. They recognize the switch in the way youth thinks, and they're feeding that demand.

Some of the veg*n options they offer:
* indicates vegan meal

Salad with sunflower seeds *

Gardenburger *

Cheese pizza

Black beans and rice *

Red beans and rice *

Egg salad on wheat bun

Grilled cheese sandwich

Some vegetarian and vegan offerings in Miami-Dade public schools:

Hummus and veggie platter *

Veggie chik tenders *

Vegan patties *

PBJ sandwich *

Rice and beans *

Cheese pizza

I don't have a kid, otherwise I'd probably try to push this. But if you do and you're veg*n, I would try to get more options in your child's school! It's possible-- they'll respond if a need is expressed. So, go do it!

In Vitro Meat

For a few months now, I've been reading about in vitro meat that the Dutch have been brewing in labs from a small, fleshy sample of a pig. They say it may be in grocery stores as soon as 2014. PETA's been throwing cash at them in support, and I'm trying to decide if I support it myself. I'm working out the implications of in vitro meat in my mind and I can't really see anything wrong with it. Personally, I don't think I'll ever eat meat again. This meat is supposed to be healthier, greener, and cruelty-free [[all the major reasons to go vegan]], but I don't think I could stomach it. I guess the only issues I have with in vitro meat are in my imagination. What if it proves to be unhealthy? More cancerous than meat already is? And since I've been playing Left 4 Dead 2 a lot-- what if it's the start of the zombie apocalypse and we run around like mad cows gnawing our faces off?? It's a stretch, but what if...?

This is a picture of lab grown meat from TreeHugger

Then, I come to the question of eggs and milk. I haven't heard any word about growing dairy and eggs, but I start to wonder-- could I eat that? Could I go out and get pasta without worrying if they use butter or oil? Probably. I may not cook with it anymore, since I've harnessed this passion for MacGyver vegan cooking, but it'd sure be nice to eat out and not have to ask a thousand questions.

Anyway, I'm curious about what you guys think. Would you eat it? Is it technically "vegan" to you? Any zombie apocalypse thoughts?

Thanksgiving and an Ode to Pesto

Thanksgiving was good. I got to get in Mimi's way while I tried to cook a whole other thrown-together Thanksgiving meal. It turned out well all things considered. I made a green bean casserole the night before, baked it without the onions, and carried it in a cooler as we drove to KY. I baked it there with some fancy fried onions I found at whole foods [[vegan!]]-- that way the onions didn't get soggy sitting in the cooler. Other than that, Mimi set aside some potatoes to make vegan mashed potatoes, and there were some sides of vegetables free of butter. Notably, this bean/corn stew type thing that Dave made the night before. And then the Tofurky with stuffing and gravy.






















I don't have any new recipes for you, as this weekend we only had about 60 dollars until payday which means no grocery shopping, which means easy, thrown together food. I do however love pesto, and made some before we left to KY for Thanksgiving. So, I got to make some stuff with that. This isn't the healthiest post ever, mind you. It is the holidays, though, so it's to be expected. Don't worry, you'll probably join a gym for your new year's resolution.


Pesto pizza: whole wheat crust, pesto with cilantro, sauteed peppers, onions, and garlic, chipotle field roast sausages, and pickled jalapenos


Pesto sandwich: Fried tofu marinated in pesto, pesto spread, vegenaise, and fried onions on ezekiel toast. It's a low fat dish. :)

Family Guy: "My Life Has No Meaning"

Brian, the dog from Family Guy, suffered a mini-crisis when he discovered that animal life has no meaning in a human-run world. He started an animal rights organization where he tried to get people to see that animal life has meaning [[much like PETA]] only to hear people say, "I want a cheese burger", "I wonder what a dog tastes like", "Let's eat him!!"

It's nice to see a show highlight something that frustrates me daily. Hearing someone say their love of bacon outweighs their love of animals really disgusts me-- and I think Family Guy made fun of it pretty well. They even had one douche bag guy say "They eat doggies!?" pointing out how silly it is when people hate pet cruelty more than other animal cruelty in general. I just wish the episode didn't end with Brian realizing his life has some kind of meaning as a house pet. Lost it's awesome cred. Keep an eye out for this episode if you haven't already seen it. It's hilarious and depressing all at once.

Tiny Canary Indie Design Market

Sorry I've been gone-- first Andrew got sick, then I did. So it's been a long week of being sick at work or staying home in a coma all day. Sunday was our first real day out of the dungeon that had become our living room. We pried ourselves away from the hours of Left for Dead and Mad Men season 1 to go to the Tiny Canary Indie Design Market and it was awesome. Tons of people came from all over the country to showcase their awesome crafts, and Patty Cake was there with cookies and cupcakes and sticky buns.

I think people were pretty run down by the time we got there late in the afternoon the second day. It was funny. I like people that way. They don't really care what they say, and they don't try too hard to sell you on stuff. So you can peruse in peace. Here's some of the awesomeness we bought:

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The first place we stopped at was this soap booth, Metropolis Soap Co. The owner isn't vegan, but she does hate working with animal fat [[because it's nasty, duh]] so all of her soaps and lip balms are 100% vegan! She claims she can't bake, so she makes soap. The owner didn't want to be in the photo, so I cut her head off. Like I said, everyone was tired. She's based out of Brooklyn, NY and has this sweet retro wrapping that's kitschy, which I know you vegans love, and funny. You can buy any of her soaps, lip balms and other products online.

Some awesome orange creme lip balm. It smells amazing!! They're five dollars each.

Some soaps. The Black Soap Horror has charcoal in it which is said to extract toxins from your pores. And the green one is a really nice smelling spearmint soap. More lips balms and a flier. I think the soaps were 6 dollars each.

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This one is my absolute favorite. They are a brother and sister duo from Minneapolis, and they make these amazing necklaces with REAL, super tiny flowers in them. They are so beautifully hand crafted, you have to see them in person to really appreciate them. The only downside is that they are pretty pricey. This necklace, with a chain, came out to $74. But you get a one-of-a-kind, handcrafted necklace. I recommend clicking on this picture to see it up close and checking out the amazing selection on their website.

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And finally something awesome and Columbus-based! Wholly Craft is that pink, handmade looking store on High St. I had never gone in there, but after seeing them at Tiny Canary I definitely want to make the trip over. They have these awesome comic book coasters, posters, and Columbus theme magnets. I saw these and had to get them. They're just so sick. The one on the left is Superman saving a boat or something. The one of the right is Wonder Woman leaping from planes. Check out Wholly Craft!

Vegan MoFo Day 28: Pinot Noir Sauce

Vegan Month of Food is winding down and it makes me a little sad. It should be vegan YEAR of food. It's nice to have a network of bloggers to read and to have some extra motivation to cook and post about it daily. It will feel so silent when all is done.

Today I went to the dentist for the first time in like two years. I was a little scared. But sure enough, the dentist tells me my teeth are awesome and strangely plaque-free [[even though I switched to fluoride-free toothpaste]]. I'm slightly prone to cavities and I already knew going in there that one was really bugging me, so unfortunately I have to get two filled. The dentist says I need to start using fluoride again, but I wonder-- if I'm so good at taking care of my teeth already, what more can fluoride do for me? Is anyone else on the anti-fluoride train?

Anyway, back to food and not my disgusting oral hygiene. I love sauces. I think they bring a whole meal together and set the tone for the flavors. I make a lot of white wine cream sauces, just because they're velvety and homey feeling, but I think I neglect the darker, red wine sauces. After making a gardein marsala the other day though, I've been turned onto red wine sauces. I used just a really cheap pinot noir this time and added a little flour to make it thicker than the marsala sauce. Topped it with a cornmeal crusted seitan and had some brussels sprouts on the side.


[[Pinot Noir Sauce]]

about 1 tbs olive oil or any oil, after cooking a protein
1 cup thinly sliced red onions
3-4 cloves minced garlic
about 1 tsp basil
1/2 tsp marjoram
1/2 tsp parsley
1/2 tsp oregano
1 1/2 cups cheap pinot noir, or any red wine
1 cup no-chicken broth
2 tbs flour
salt and pepper to taste

-- Cook your protein in the same pan as your sauce. If you have any left over oil, use that to sautee the onions, otherwise add about 1 tbs. Cook with minced garlic.
-- When onions are soft and translucent, add the seasoning through oregano and cook about 30 seconds.
-- Add the red wine. Allow to simmer on medium heat until reduced in half.
-- Add the broth and stir.
-- When broth is incorporated, add the flour and whisk quickly to avoid lumps. Sifting the flour beforehand may help this.
-- Allow to simmer on medium heat until thickened. Add salt and pepper-- be sure to taste. You may want to add more seasoning per your preference.
-- Top on protein, mashed potatoes, vegetables-- anything.

Vegan MoFo Day 3: Survey Says!

I found this survey on Whoa Wren's blog and thought I'd take a lazy Saturday to fill it out. You should fill it out, too.

1. Favorite non-dairy milk?
Rice milk. Vanilla.

2. What are the top 3 dishes/recipes you are planning to cook?
I'm determined to make a good pesto, whole wheat cinnamon buns, and ... it's not really cooking, but ice cream!

3. Topping of choice for popcorn?
earth balance and salt.

4. Most disastrous recipe/meal failure?
I made a chocolate cake and didn't know the difference between dutch processed and regular cocoa powder. EPIC fail. It tasted like ass.

5. Favorite pickled item?
Jalapenos.

6. How do you organize your recipes?
At home, I have a baker's rack with post-its and tabs for things I make often. At home, I have a "vegan blogs" tab on my toolbar filled with recipes.

7. Compost, trash, or garbage disposal?
Trash.

8. If you were stranded on an island and could only bring 3 foods...what would they be (don't worry about how you'll cook them)?
sweet potatoes, avocados, and seitan

9. Fondest food memory from your childhood?
Pretending I was French and doing stupid accents while I made boxed alfredo with my sister.

10. Favorite vegan ice cream?
Purely Decadent Coconut Milk Mocha Almond Fudge ooooh my god

11. Most loved kitchen appliance?
Wooden spoons... Is that an appliance? ;)

12. Spice/herb you would die without?
I probably would say cayenne pepper or something, but it's really salt.

13. Cookbook you have owned for the longest time?
Veganomicon.

14. Favorite flavor of jam/jelly?
Strawberry.

15. Favorite vegan recipe to serve to an omni friend?
Cheesecake! They never know...

16. Seitan, tofu, or tempeh?
Seitan and tofu are close. But probably seitan.

17. Favorite meal to cook (or time of day to cook)?
I like cooking mid day.

18. What is sitting on top of your refrigerator?
Ezekiel cereal and a shit ton of empty bottles of alcohol. Not mine. They're all Andrew's brother's!

19. Name 3 items in your freezer without looking.
Amy's frozen pizza, blue berries, ground flax seed

20. What's on your grocery list?
Garlic, broccoli, vegan oyster sauce, onion... I need to go shopping, bad.

21. Favorite grocery store?
Kroger or the Co-op

22. Name a recipe you'd love to veganize, but haven't yet.
Brown bread and sweet butter from Outback Steakhouse.... oh man.

23. Food blog you read the most (besides Isa's because I know you check it everyday). Or maybe the top 3?
Happy. Healthy. Life. , Vegan Dad, Fat Free Vegan... iono I read a lot. Everything on my blog roll and more.

24. Favorite vegan candy/chocolate?
Green & Black... 85% dark

25. Most extravagant food item purchased lately?
Meeh. I don't buy extravagant. I got a Z pizza for lunch?

26. Ingredients you are scared to work with?
Iono... almost everything in produce. I don't know what to do with half that crap. I will never buy coconuts again.

Vegan MoFo: Blueberry Scones

When I was little, we lived in Santa Barbara, CA. My mom, for some strange reason, was obsessed with winter holidays. She had whole collections of strange Christmas CD's, our houses always had to have a fire place [[we moved a lot]], and we always baked a lot. As a kid I always enjoyed it, but looking back I see how silly it is to have a roaring fire when it's 70 degrees out. It was all fun, but seemed really unnecessary. My mom wore Ugg boots with her shorts and t-shirt.

Now that I live in the mid-west, where there are seasons, especially fall and winter, I'm starting to understand exactly why we do all these wintery things around the holidays. It's grey. It's cold. All your plants died. It's pretty depressing. But baking... and fires... and snuggling... those all grab new meaning to me.

Perfectly flaky in the middle.

I was laying on the couch last night, feeling cold and bored and just zoning out like a giant sloth. The cold weather really gets me down. Eventually, I got out "The Joy of Vegan Baking" and made her amazingly delicious blueberry scones. And suddenly I didn't seem to mind that it was near freezing and dark at 6. Because I was eating an incredibly flaky, warm blueberry scone. That was my a-ha moment. Baking makes so much more sense when it sucks outside.

Anyway, if you want to bake the best vegan stuff ever, like scones and pies and lemon cheesecakes -- buy The Joy of Vegan Baking. It's my favorite.

Happy World Vegetarian Day! And the start of Vegan MoFo!

BBQ Seitan Sandwich

I think Andrew and I come off strange to a lot of people. Many Friday nights are spent at the track, running, while everyone else goes to bars and drinks the week away. When we do go out, it's often to coffee shops and movies and great restaurants. Which isn't so abnormal, but we go to vegan spots, get soy lattes, and sometimes see independent films and that's odd to people. When we have office lunches, I often don't go or if I do go, I just don't eat. Andrew is a magician-- as awesome as that is, I think many people don't understand why someone with a Journalism degree becomes one. I was on my way to becoming a dentist, but I gave that up to be anything else. A cook, a painter, I'm still really not sure. I got married when I was barely 20 to a guy I knew all but a few months.

But of all these strange, alienating things, I think being vegan is the most bizarre to people. It makes it hard to go out to dinner or do most anything with people who aren't vegan. Whenever there's huge family events, I'm often stuck in the kitchen getting in every one's way making a whole separate meal for Andrew and me. Sometimes we just eat before, and show up after everyone else eats.

Some Weekend Concoctions

I used to get a meatball sub from subway almost every day on my way to work in Berkeley. I'd walk to work every day, and the street I turned on had two places-- a McDonald's and a Subway. I thought the Subway was the lesser of the two evils, but I suppose getting a meatball sub was the worst thing I could have done. But do you blame me? The melty mozzarella with the sweet, tanginess of the marinara on an herby loaf. It was amazing.

I've been meaning to recreate something like that for a long time. This weekend I was feeling lazy and uninspired, and this reflects that. It wasn't to die for or spot on "meatball sub". It was just a tasty medley of crap I threw together. We had some mozzarella in the fridge and some marinara sauce left over from the pizza night, thus this was born.

I used an Ezekiel bun, whole wheat. Then I just grilled some tempeh and onions with some bragg's and spices and god only knows what else.


Then for breakfast on Sunday, Andrew was telling me about this restaurant he went to where he first discovered nutritional yeast [[the guys a vegan for years and never even heard of it, crazy right?]]. Their tofu scramble is chunky and really crispy on the outside. They put it in tacos and stuff, too. I tried to recreate this and although I liked it, I wasn't able to get it quite as crispy as I'd like. Once I get it right, I'll let you know.


It's a whole wheat, whole grain tortilla with chunky tofu scramble, spicy spinach, chopped jalapenos, chopped scallions, and some cholula hot sauce.

Columbus Vegan Meet Up

This Saturday, Andrew and I finally went to our first Columbus vegan meet up. We always mentioned it but somehow never made it over to one. One of the organizers, Doug, sent me a message on my restaurant guide list, so I thought -- what the heck? I had been emailing Morgan [[of Morgan Avocado]] and decided to invite her -- the more vegans I kind of know there, the less awkward I'd be. I'm more of a "behind a computer" kind of gal. I'm not ashamed to say it. :)

Anyway, Saturday rolls around, and the meet up was awesome and not awkward at all. A great mix of age groups and people; of vegan newbies and veterans to talk to-- it's nice to be able to impart advice to people and get some advice. I've been on a quest to make amazing Aloo Chana and all my attempts have been mediocre. It was sweet to be able to talk to people who liked the same food as me and were able to share some wisdom.

The tofu wrap from Benevolence -- picture taken by group organizer, Debra.
Check out more photos of this event!

Beyond that, I FINALLY got to try Benevolence Cafe. I'm pretty sure the owner is the coolest chick on the planet, and her baked tofu wrap is out of this world. I could eat 8 of them. Simultaneously. Every day. Until the day I died. It's got crispy romaine, a creamy tahini sauce, and a baked tofu that I suspect is battered with some nutritional yeast based batter all in a whole wheat tortilla. I can't wait until they are done with renovations.

Next month there's a pot luck. If you live in Columbus, you should come!

the new face of columbus vegan

Hey guys, I updated my site. Tried to make it a little more "hip" since everyone and their mom has the other template. It was a nice one. I'll miss it.

Let me know what you think of the new template and if there are any kinks I need to work out. The navigation is a little different, too.

Thanks! Stay dry on this rainy day!

Pink Sucks

SO, I was looking at my google news and came across an ecorazzi post bashing Kanye West [[because who doesn't love a good Kanye bashing, am I right?]]. Anyway, it basically said Kanya loves fur, Pink [[the singer with the Pink hair? Remember her from like 4 years ago?]] got offended and now there's a post up about how much Kanye sucks for loving fur.

Me, being the inquisitive person that I am, suspected that Pink isn't even vegetarian. Although I couldn't find many credible sources that said she wasn't veg [[but some tabloids!]], I couldn't find any article confirming she is in fact vegetarian [[unless you count wikipedia, which I don't]].

So what's my point? I made a comment about what a phony Pink is because she's anti-fur but still eats meat, and how people who are anti-fur but still eat meat are hypocritical idiots [[read the comments here]]. And I get a comment from someone who not only made no sense, but tried to attack the quality of my food. Apparently I should appreciate Pink's illogical tendencies because she cares about the animals-- kind of. Not only that, but some one else found out Pink sold leather pants at an auction. Big surprise there.

My question to you is: Is being anti-fur "good enough" for you? Or does it anger you that someone says you can eat one animal but not skin another?

Bukowski and Some Thoughts

"This is a world where everybody’s gotta do something. Ya know, somebody laid down this rule that everybody’s gotta do something, they gotta be something. You know, a dentist, a glider pilot, a narc, a janitor, a preacher, all that . . . Sometimes I just get tired of thinking of all the things that I don’t wanna do. All the things that I don’t wanna be. Places I don’t wanna go, like India, like getting my teeth cleaned. Save the whale, all that, I don’t understand that . . ."
—Barfly, 1987

I like this Charles Bukowski quote. I'm getting really tired of thinking lately. Andrew and I are in a transient point in our life. We're on the edge, constantly considering moving to new places but always finding reasons not to. I'm exploring new paths in my mind, and finding that choosing "what I want to be" is too impossible of a task. And lately, I've just been sticking my head in the ground, going through the motions and trying not to think too much [[which explains my influx of recipes -- the kitchen is a nice way to loose yourself, instant results are rare and nice, too]]. I'm hoping some great revelation will come to me soon, and I'll know exactly what I should be doing. I know I'm only 20, now, but 21 is sneaking up on me, and I suppose before I know it, 30 will sneak up on me, and it will be even harder to transition out of the 9 to5. The longer I stay, the more comfortable I get. And going back to school seems even more pointless [[I'll just have to pick a major, or settle on one and end up with a useless degree and even more copious school debt]].

For now, I suppose I'll cook. And continue to post recipes, in hopes that I help the transition to veganism for some people. Or simply give those at a 9 to 5, or those beating their heads in during class, something light-hearted and fun to read.

New ABC Series About Vegans

A new series "The Goode Family" aired last night on ABC about a family of tree-hugging, vegan hippies. It's meant to be more satirical, I think, much like the creators former series "King of the Hill" [[which I never watched, it creeped me out]]. While I haven't seen the show yet [[a late night run and a new episode of "The Ultimate Fighter" stole my attention]], I've read a lot of articles about it that have caught my attention. My favorite review is Ginia Bellafante's of the New York Times. She noticed something that was really bothering me -- aren't we past making fun of environmentalists?

"But the show feels aggressively off-kilter with the current mood, as if it had been incubated in the early to mid-’90s, when it was possible to find global-warming skeptics among even the reasonable and informed. Who really thinks of wind power — an allusion to which is a running visual gag in the show — as mindless, left-wing nonsense anymore?" [[read more here]]

Even my retarded, right-winged mother can admit that wind power makes sense [[well... maybe. She does say she doesn't "believe" in global warming. Whatever that means.]] . Either way, at the end of the day, I think we're all beyond this ignorant, anti-environment rhetoric. I'll still check out the show, though. Gotta know your haters. :)

Vegan 101 - New Comedy Series

I found a new online series about dating a vegan. Or maybe the first episode is just about dating a vegan? I can't tell. I thought it was pretty funny but Andrew said it was stupid. Maybe I have no taste, who knows. Either way, check it out!