Stronger than we Know

Have you ever spoken to someone who is cutting back on their meat consumption because their doctor told them to? Or passed someone in the grocery store who has some boxes of various veggie burgers in their cart for health reasons? It seems like even the most aggressive meat eater will limit the teasing and judgment since it's for their health. They sleep easier at night knowing that Jim and Carol would be eating bacon wrapped cheeseburgers if it weren't for that idiot doctor. It's when you choose to not eat animals that things get weird. It's even worse when you make that choice because you believe animals aren't here to be eaten. For some reason that just brings out the anger in some (a lot) of people. I've seen the same behavior when it comes to healthy habits. If someone is forced by their doctor to live a healthy life, well okay. But if someone chooses to live a healthy life to prevent having to ever be forced to live a healthy life, well bring on the side eyes and rolls. It can be so frustrating! And although I am a proud vegan, and always will be, sometimes it gets so frustrating almost always being the minority. I can think of several situations where someone is being a dick towards veganism, and all of a sudden the whole room is staring. So now you're stuck defending your choices/veganism to more than one person. It's overwhelming, and intimidating. It can be enough to make you just want to be silent about your convictions. It's definitely silenced me in the past. I've worked in restaurants where I would be fired for saying I don't eat meat. I'm supposed to go along with the myth of meat and potatoes equals a delicious, satisfying meal.
I want to encourage all of us who love animals and believe that they have as much of a right to life as we do to not let the masses silence us. What I've come to learn is choosing your battles is crucial to keeping your sanity. It doesn't make the vegan argument weak if you say agree to disagree to someone. If someone were trying to convince me to eat meat, at some point they would have to walk away, because it's just mot going to happen. So, I am a proud vegan, and I proudly say I'm a vegan here in Wal-Mart land, and I accept the looks and snide comments. I'm learning that balance of being proud and loud about who I am, while also realizing that I haven't yet received my wand that turns everyone into a peace loving vegan. I'm told it's in the mail, so fingers crossed it's coming soon!
I know that things are changing. More and more people are at least flirting with the idea of eating less meat, more and more restaurants are offering vegan options, CHAO!, and fur, and even leather are slowly becoming very outdated, we are making changes for the better. We don't have to fight every battle, and we don't have to waste our energy answering every inane comment people throw our way. But we don't have to hide our veganism either. We are vegans, not criminals. We should all share our stories of dealing with people who challenge/bully us. What I'm learning more and more each day is there is strength in numbers, and also it feels so good to share, and have other people relate. It reminds us that we aren't alone!
Slow and steady wins the race!

When Librarians Attack!!!!!!

I had an interesting experience at the library yesterday. I haven't been to the library as often as I like this winter, and so it was really exciting being able to go. Things looked up even more when I saw that they had Isa Does It. I have to give this library credit, for as much as I rail on this city, the library is pretty impressive. They have a decent collection of vegetarian/vegan cookbooks, and they even stay somewhat current. I go to check out, and I just am feeling so great because it's forty degrees, and I'm at the library, and then the librarian has to choose to be a dick. I won't say it ruined my day, but it was an unnecessary downer. The librarian must have noticed the word vegan in the title, and decided to kind of challenge veganism. She went on a diatribe of how she was raised on a farm, and she is of the mindset that a) animals were created to be eaten and b) if we didn't kill and eat the animals, what would we do about population control, they might outnumber us all! There were other annoying factoids that she threw in, but those two stood out, as I have heard those weak ass arguments many times already. What surprised/irritated me is other times I've heard this it's at least been part of a conversation where I offered up a vegan viewpoint, prepared to defend veganism. I wasn't prepared to have to listen to this at the library. I can only imagine some of the strange books people check out. I felt very uncomfortable, and I felt like this woman was being really defensive with me for no apparent reason. In the past I would have argued with her, and let it really affect me. I told her simply we would have to agree to disagree. I said as strongly as she felt about eating animals, I felt that strongly about not eating them. I then took my books, said have a nice day, and left. I'm going to let it go this time, but if that ever happens again at this library, I will be complaining for sure. I feel I should be able to check out books without having to defend myself with a librarian. For a long time vegans were the butt of tons of jokes, from the crappy vegan food to the weak, sickly way we looked and so on and so forth. Times have changed, we are strong and healthy, not weak, and we now have vegan cheese that can be eaten cold. We've come a long, long way, and if I'm not forcing my ideals down your throat, I certainly don't want anyone else's shoved down my throat. When someone tells me animals are here only for consumption, I just have to walk away. I've learned through too many hours of debate that people who believe that are capable of coming to a different conclusion, but it has to be when they are ready to have that light bulb moment. We only learn from those moments when we are ready and accepting of the chance to learn and grow.
I'm curious how other vegetarians/vegans handle unexpected defensiveness and confrontations?

Comforting Food and Thoughts

I was in the mood for something creamy and rich for dinner last night. I decided to make a cashew Alfredo sauce, and just to gild the lily, I added roasted onion and garlic. I love making onions this way. It's similar to caramelizing, but you don't have to dirty a pan! I just sliced one onion, added four peeled cloves of garlic, a glug of extra virgin olive oil, s&p, and a pinch of dried oregano. Wrap in foil, and bake at 350 for thirty to forty minutes. The flavor is so rich and deep, it makes the Alfredo so incredibly delicious, I want to eat it like soup. Adding the roasted garlic and onion to hummus also takes it over the top. I wish I would have written everything down, but alas, I'm still working on writing things down when I cook. But I wanted to share the roasting onions with your garlic tip. I love the rich flavor of caramelized onions, and this is just kind of a shortcut to achieve that flavor. It turns almost jam like, you could just spread it on some bread and call it dinner. (speaking from experience)  You can add whatever herbs you like, that you think will go with your dish. Sometimes I add some crushed red pepper and basil, other times rosemary and thyme.  I'm not much of a gravy person myself, but I bet it would make the base of a super savory gravy. It makes a tasty topping for a pizza too. It elevates the pizza to fancy status.
In non-vegan/foodnews, for the past two days, it's been over thirty degrees where I live(!), and today and tomorrow close to forty degrees! I feel insane saying this, but it truly feels amazingly warm! Just to be able to step outside, and have it not hurt to breathe is pretty amazing. As much as I love roasted garlic and onion Alfredo, I absolutely cannot wait for "I can't even turn on the oven it's so hot" weather. Winter is dragging it's heels, but it will be defeated.

Just Beet It

Beets seem to be one of those vegetables that you either love, or hate. Some people love the sweet flavor, others find them too earthy (dirt). I am not a fan myself. They are so unbelievably gorgeous, it seems impossible that something so brilliant could taste so dirty!
When I first started incorporating juices and smoothies into my diet, I did a lot of research into what fruits and veggies are most beneficial, what goes well together, and what fruits and veg I wanted to eat/drink more of. Beets came up over and over for a few reasons, two of which are they are powerhouses nutritionally, and I realized I needed to get more red into my diet! I'll never forget my first beet juice experience. I remember it was beets, carrot, cucumber, and apple. The juice itself was so beautiful, I thought it would have to be delicious. Man, I could not have been more wrong. I choked it down, but it took a loooooooooooong time! One of the many benefits of beets is that it helps to detoxify the liver. And it helps purify the blood. Since I drank so heavily in the past, I am always looking for foods, and herbs that heal the liver. So, I had to find a way to make beet juice palatable. I've done ALOT of experimenting, and I've learned a lot. I've learned to not mix celery with beets, pears work better than apples to mask the flavor, if you can, add pineapple to the mix because pineapple loves to overpower beets, and the juice of a lemon, or lime is imperative to cut the earth flavor. Adding ginger, or fresh herbs like cilantro or parsley also help make tastier beet juice.
And now, I have learned the biggest and best beet flavor fighter. Blood oranges. For some random reason, I found a bag of blood oranges on sale for $1.99! Blood oranges are usually out of my price range, so I figured blood orange and beet juice would be my new experiment. I blended two smallish beets, plus the greens, one pear, a small knob of ginger, and four blood oranges, strained my juice through a mesh strainer, and had a beautiful glass of juice. The blood oranges made the juice even more ruby than usual. I squeezed in the juice of half of a lemon and gave a tentative taste. I couldn't believe it, for the first time in my life, I almost liked it! Something about the tartness of the blood orange really cut out almost all of the dirty(sorry earthy) flavor of the beets! I came so close to enjoying this juice, I'm gonna go ahead and say it, it really was a bloody miracle!
If you eat or juice beets, make sure you're usint the greens as well. The greens are full of Vitamins A, K, and C. As well as containing high amounts of calcium, iron, magnesium, potassium, and choline.

Stop Hammer Time!

It's easy to get angry when someone disagrees with us. Maybe not over small things, but big issues, especially things we're passionate about. There's a reason people use that rule of not discussing religion or politics in public. Sometimes you even may want to kind of talk down to people. It's easy to think of people as idiots, dumb asses, morons and so on and so forth. It seems that's how various 24 hour news channels fill a lot of their time, putting down anyone who disagrees with them. I had an experience last week where I was severely put down by someone because of my beliefs, and I have to be honest, it was painful. The first insult came when someone in my family who knows that I believe in being kind to the earth, decided to launch a military verbal strike against environmentalists, any "idiot" who believes in climate change, and basically anyone who believes in science. This person was talking with so much rage that it was almost scary. Like I almost thought I could get my ass kicked for believing in climate change. The next day, the same kind of situation arose when the same person asked me if I like a certain artist, and I gave the wrong answer by saying yes. Clearly the correct answer was no. My truth led to a very angry diatribe, with some mid level racism thrown in for extra credit.  Whoever you are, whatever side you're on, whatever your belief system is, when you silence someone by yelling, or name calling, you haven't won anything. You haven't helped your cause, if anything you've hurt it. When I was silenced this past weekend, it wasn't because I conceded to the fact that this person was right, and climate change isn't happening, I quieted down because saying anything else would only result in further name calling. I prefer to save my energy for battles that might make a difference.
I'm writing about my experience last weekend because it really hurt my feelings to be so insulted. I certainly don't expect the world to share my viewpoints, but I am no more or less of an idiot than anyone else out there fumbling around, trying to make the world a better place. I see a lot of anger in the vegan community at times, a lot of differing views of how we should eat, how we should look, who we should support, and not support, and so on and so forth. I don't want vegans to be hostile and downright mean to people who disagree, or aren't all the way there yet. When you get so verbally assaulted, you don't want to learn more about the other point of view. You want to run away from the mean people.
Last weekend's events kind of tied into me learning more about The Four Agreements, by Don Miguel Ruiz. The first agreement is Be impeccable with your word. Speak with integrity, speak only out of truth and love, and don't use your word against yourself or others.  Pretty powerful stuff. I'm working on this first step, and it's hard. It's hard to use only good words. I notice that while I'm not a gossipy person, when I'm at work and everyone's talking bad about everyone else, it's easy to fall into that toxic sandpit.
I hope we can at some point learn to be more tolerant of differing ideas. Maybe if we were willing to learn more about other views, and try to practice empathy, maybe we could make more positive changes. I prefer the gentle fairy dust approach, as opposed to hammering my opinions in your face.

If You're Vegan and You Know it Clap Your Hands

After tasting my way through all three Chao flavors, I still can't believe what I tasted! I still can't believe that not only did I eat vegan cheese cold, straight out of the package, and I preferred it that way. Amazing if you ask me! There has been a lot of negativity in the vegan world lately, with the recent Beyoncé meal plan and all. Also, if you ever read any YouTube comments, you can see a lot of animosity between certain vegan diets. And man vegans can be as mean as any bully, or Fox News personality I've ever seen. So, because of all the negative nellies out there, I wanted to write about the positive progress I see happening. First of all, Beyoncé's vegan meal service made news all over. As someone who has a weakness for celebrity gossip, it was all over all the glossy mags, and websites. And almost every news outlet picked up at least a blurb. We live in the land of must have 24 hours of news, so yeah, a vegan meal service started by Beyoncé will make it to CNN. And the only negative thing I heard or read was about the price. No one was making fun of vegan food, or the diet. It's weird, mainstream, meat eating society was more accepting of this vegan meal service than vegans. Weird, right.
Chao slices of course make the list. Field roast has made vegan cheese something to be taken seriously, not laughed at. Field roast also makes the tastiest vegan sausages, and I love their roast. I think it's called celebration roast. It is out if this world, it makes tasty sandwiches.
Just Mayo is another company that changed my life for the better. I loved Veganaise for so many years, but after tasting Just Mayo, there's just no going back. Just Mayo could be slathered on any non-veg's sandwich, and I guarantee they wouldn't even notice.
Beyond Meat is another company that is really working on making meatless meat for the meat loving crowd. A lot of vegans actually have a problem with the realness of the texture if their faux chicken. But we want food that appeals to the meat eaters. If we want to stop the harm and murder of animals, we have to make food that appeals to carnivorous taste buds.
And I can't forget to mention all of the amazing snacks that Earth Balance has been putting out. I mean the vegan cheddar flavor chips are the stuff dreams are made of. And the vegan cheese crackers take all of us back to childhood eating cheese nips, or its, depending. They also have made some great vegan boxed mac and cheese. The white cheddar is my personal fave.
Vegans are not the butt of as many jokes as before, and I think that says a lot for how far we've come. Even recognized carnivores are speaking of Meatless Mondays, and now promoting going at least two days a week without meat. I know it's so easy to get pissed, and feel like we're getting nowhere. I live in a town where people hunt. Like a lot of people. And I work in a non veg restaurant, although I hesitate to call it a restaurant, anyway I see and wait on nothing but your typical Wal-Mart style 'Merican who loves meat, and the more the better. But when I get too discouraged, I remind myself of the progress that is being made. Vegans are a force to be reckoned with, and we aren't going anywhere.
I hope things simmer down for awhile, and we can find some peace within the movement, and try again for nice. It kind of makes us look like asses when we are promoting compassion for all beings, but then using our words to tear each other down, and tear down anyone who disagrees with us, or does something we don't like. Lets be a wonderful, nice, and kind group, with some kick-ass food. Let's be the cool kids everyone wants to be a part of!

I forgot to mention Gardein. I have not had one Gardein product that hasn't blown my mind. The mandarin orange chick'n strips are dangerously good. I bet a Gardein beefless burger with a slice of Chao cheese, any flavor would please most meat lovers palate!

Chao Up, it Gets Better!

After going two full weeks of single digit, and below zero temps, yesterday reached a balmy thirty plus degrees. I was able to trudge to the Laundromat. Even though the laundry is only about three blocks away, it is not a journey I'm willing to take in the single digits. I will pull the cleanest dirty item I own to wear. The walk was of course spent weaving in between the streets and sidewalks as people have overall decided to say eff shoveling, ever. When I arrived, I figured I'd be alone since I got there very close to opening. I don't know about other Laundromats, but the two close to my apartment seem to be a refuge camp for sex offenders and people you run from in a dark alley. You would never see me in either place after dark. Of course there were a couple of pervy convict types in there. It's very uncomfortable when people are staring at your undergarments as you're trying to shove them in the machine as quickly as possible. Anyway, my day is going downhill fast as I'm fearing for my safety, (at eight-thirty in the morning, I might add.) I look out of the window, and it's snowing pretty hard. NO NO NO! I finished my laundry, walked home through the snow, almost biffed it several times, and then finally got home, and before I could even take my coat off I see someone has gifted me with a hairball! I  was pretty frazzled, and I seriously understand toddlers having tantrums. Sometimes you really do need to cry, and slobber, and kick and punch. Anyway, after putting laundry away, and calming down a bit, I remembered that I still had a package of tomato cayenne Chao slices in my fridge! Like any addict knows, nothing calms you down like a quick fix. What I  noticed first is that field roast really nailed it with the color. It looks much closer to a good quality cheddar than other vegan cheeses. When I  opened the package, these slices smelled very reminiscent of pepper jack. And it looked like pepper jack, except if memory serves, pepper jack was white. It tasted like cheddar, but like a pepper jack cheddar. I would say the tomato flavor is very subtle. It has a spicy kick, but definitely a mild kick, and it has a nice cheddar bite. As with the other flavors, the slices separate easily, and it has a great firm texture that I adore. I ate a slice on it's own, and then I  had some sesame crackers with the cheese on top, and wow, I  almost cried tears of joy. All of  my laundry, and weather issues went bye-bye. I totally zoned out on my Chao buzz, all thoughts of snow and pervy weirdo's floated away, in a spicy haze. What I'm really trying to say is that field roast has nailed it in every single department, as far as I'm concerned. Field roast can drop the mic, they've won it all. I did not combine any with my ripe avocado, once again, I just wanted to eat it in it's natural, lovely state. It would make kick-ass nachos, or Queso dips. I've seen a few recipes and pictures online, and yum. Or julienned and put on a taco salad, or burrito bowl. I bet it would make amazing jalapeno poppers too! Maybe What I  have left of my package will make it into a recipe. Maybe. I see what my grocery splurge is going to be week, after week.
I've tried all three flavors, and I can't really pick a fave. If I were forced, I would have to say creamy original, because it reminded me of childhood in some kind of way, and with no other competing flavors, the tang of the cheese really shined. The tomato cayenne is nipping at the heels. Something else super cool about this cheese is it has a pretty long expiration date. I bought my packages on Saturday, Feb. 28th, and they are good until July 13th. If anyone out there buys this cheese, and the expiration date becomes an issue, please let me know. I would be amazed if this cheese lasts in any household for more than a week!
My alternate Chao title was going to be Third time's the Chao-m. I'm here everyday folks.

You're Going to want to Chao down on This Pasta

I did it! I managed to exercise self control, and save some of the coconut herb slices to cook with. It's been so cold and snowy, and the winter blues have been mucking up my spirits, so something mac and cheesey sounded so good. I decided to really splurge and make my favorite vegan Alfredo sauce, and then add the Chao to really make it beyond decadent. This was a meal that I would make for someone really special. Chao is really changing my life. I'm so sorry daiya, but I can't imagine going back to you. I might keep a bag of you in the freezer for Dylan, but I am all about the Chao! I have one last flavor to try, the tomato cayenne which I will be trying today. I have a perfectly ripe avocado. I see the two coming together and making some delicious music together.
Sorry, I'm getting all ahead of myself. Back to this wonderful cheesey dish. The Chao melted beautifully in the pasta, and it made the sauce so unctuous. It added to the dish much more than daiya does. It didn't liquefy, and kind of melt away. It melted, but kept some body and let it's presence be known in the dish. Chao slices are no shrinking violets! Here's the recipe, I hope if anyone tries it, they love it as much as I do.
                                                        Vegan Mac& Chao Cheese!
                                                             1 C. Raw cashews, soaked for 2 hours
                                                              4 T Nutritional yeast
                                                              1tsp. garlic powder
                                                              1/2 tsp. onion powder
                                                               1tsp. dried oregano
                                                               1 tsp. miso paste
                                                               3 slices Chao coconut herb
                                                               1/2 C water
                                                                1/4 C unsweetened plant milk of choice
                                                                1 1/2 tsp. arrowroot, or cornstarch
                                                                S&P to taste

                                                                2 C. Dried pasta, any short shape you prefer.




Blend all ingredients minus the Chao, and pasta. While making the sauce, also boil your pasta according to directions. Cook one minute under time directed. You will be cooking it with the sauce to melt the cheese, and you don't want mushy pasta. (unless you do) You might have to add a little more liquid, I find it's always a little different each time. You want the sauce to be thick. Not so thick that it won't pour out of the blender, but still thick. Once your pasta is done cooking, drain and put back into the pot. Add your cashew sauce, and over med. low heat, stir for one minute to thicken, and come together. Tear the Chao slices into small pieces, and slowly stir into the pasta. Turn off heat, cover pot, and allow to sit for four or five minutes. (so hard.)  Once the time has passed. open the lid and witness the creamiest, dreamiest bowl of pasta ever!


  This is a rich and decadent dish, and the Chao added both wonderful flavor, and texture to this dish.
Now that I've made this once and let Chao kind of be the star, I think next time I might add some roasted garlic to the sauce, and maybe even caramelized onions. The possibilities are endless! Enjoy.
            

Chao-a-bunga Dude!

I'm becoming a vegan cheese addict, just when I was getting used to a life without. I used daiya sometimes, but maybe like once or twice a month. But I can't stop eating these chao slices! I am now working on the coconut herb, with black pepper. This one would be great on a toasted baguette, with a little drizzle of balsamic vinegar. It's a little sharper than the creamy original, and definitely is herby, and peppery. This flavor is definitely unique. It doesn't remind me of any type of cruel cheese, but it still has the rich, cheesy texture. I bet it would be super tasty topping a Portobello burger. I ingested the whole package of creamy original cold, and I want to try to do something cooked with the coconut herb. I'm going to experiment today, if I can exercise self control, and not eat all of the slices straight out of the package. I feel like the coconut herb would also be wonderful julienned and added to any kind of fancy salad. It doesn't taste super strongly of coconut, but there is a hint of it for sure. Like I said, it's unlike anything I've tasted before, so it's hard to describe. I haven't yet tasted the tomato cayenne, but so far I would say the coconut herb is the one I would put on a cheese and crackers table. It looks all pretty and fancy with the specks of pepper, and oregano.
I truly feel addicted, and part of me doesn't even want to mess around with cooking this cheese. I'm kind of enjoying my addiction, sneaking slices out of the fridge, worrying about how I'm going to get more. It's just so amazing being able to eat it out of the package, I even bought crackers that I still haven't opened, because the cheese is so dang good I don't want anything else ruining the bite!
Another joyous, beautiful win for Field Roast!!!

Smile, and say Chao!

After what feels like the longest wait EVER, I was finally able to splurge on some fresh Chao vegan cheese! Life is good. I planned for this magical moment, and splurged on all three flavors, tomato cayenne, coconut herb, and creamy original. I know that I should practice my patience here, and wait until I've tasted all three flavors, and then talk about it. But what can I say, my life seriously lacks right now, so I want to have three separate, joyous experiences. I'm dragging this out like a reality show. Anyway, I opened the creamy original first. I smelled it, and I swear everyone was right! It smells so cheesey! It does not have any kind of strange, mystery smell at all! And it is not slimy or sweaty, or damp in any way. It feels firm like a deli slice of Swiss, or provolone. And the slices separate very easily, no broken pieces here. I was so nervous tasting it cold, I think most vegans can agree on the fact that if it's not a nut based cheese, do not dare to eat it plain, or uncooked. And once again, everyone was right. I don't know what else to say, I ate two slices plain, right out of the package, and I had to stop myself from eating it all, standing in my kitchen! It reminded me of a muenster, or even maybe a baby Swiss. Honestly, it's been so dang long since I've had cruel cheese, I can't exactly remember, but it has a mild, yet rich flavor which is what I remember about those two cheeses. I then made myself something I thought I would never eat again. A cold cheese sandwich! With just mustard! And it was so freaking good I'm almost in tears thinking about it now.  It has such a nice, firm texture that seems to be lacking in other vegan cheeses. If you haven't tried this cheese yet, I truly can't recommend it enough. When I first heard rumblings about this new vegan cheese that tasted great cold, I was very full of hope, but also doubt. When daiya first came out with their Swiss slices, I felt like it kind of smelled like Swiss. So I ate some cold, out of the package, and all I can say is NO. Good in a grilled cheese, or some other cooked preparation, but not cold, and alone. I am so overjoyed that the hype was so deserved. I would easily serve this to anyone who is not vegan, and even dubious non-vegans. I can't imagine anyone having a problem. I want to give Field Roast the biggest hug for making this delicious product. I paid $5.99 per package, which on my tiny budget is a splurge, but trust me, it is a super low price considering the quality. Field Roast is nailing it, between their grain sausages, and deli slices, and now this insanely delicious cheese. I keep saying it's getting harder and harder to use taste as an excuse for cruelty.
I plan on experimenting with cooking with this cheese, and of course I will be trying the two other flavors very soon, so I will be reporting on all of my findings.Oh, I forgot to mention that the package comes with ten slices, and the slices are hearty. Also, his majesty, Dylan is apparently a daiya shreds loyalist, he wants no part of the Chao. More for me, but I feel bad for him because Chao is pretty much going to always be my vegan cheese of choice. Sorry dude!