No funny anticdotes, no poignant stories,... no jokes. Its time to pull the curtain, fall to my knees and get on with it. Forgive me vegans for I have sinned,.. its been,.. well never since my last confession. Since I became vegan, I have been pretty good about staying true, and I haven't overtly strayed (well...), but I have pretended not to notice a few things. I feel compelled to enumerate these. Perhaps it will be therapeutic, we'll see.
- Pizza Crusts - My son never eats the crusts. I tell them they are the best part, and he says "then you eat them". So I do
- Coffee Cream - I grab the "non-dairy" creamer most of the time, but I know full well there is still dairy derivatives in there. I really need a good substitute, I cant just drink it black
- Milk - Ok, I really don't drink milk, but I'm the one who tests if the milk in the fridge (for the kids) is still good. I always did this by taking a swig. Last time I did this it was spoiled and I about hurled all over the kitchen. Serves me right
- Sushi - I've been better about this, but you've read the blog. Last two times I went though were all vegan
- Fish Sauce - Well not directly, its not like I took a big drink of it, but admittedly the last few times I had Thai, I failed to point this out when I ordered my curries. In a related story, miso soup is generally made with bonito stock, which clearly is ng. I usually get miso soup with my sushi.
- Butter/Ghee - I clearly order the vegetarian options when ordering Indian, but I don't always inquire about the use of butter. I've also melted a little over popcorn, not to mention the movie theater. Does that make me a bad person?
- McDonalds French Fries - Ok, I only did this a few times, but I have done it. (That does make me a bad person)
- Subway Veggie Patties - I discovered about a month in that Subway had veggie patties, that evening I googled, and discovered they were not vegan. I've picked them up a few times since, despite knowing this. In my defense, I've only done this out of desperation.
- Pasta/Sauce - My mother-in-law is a great cook. I'm pretty sure her pasta was made with eggs, I'm damn sure the sauce was cooked with meatballs. I just avoid the meatballs, but the rest is clearly not vegan.
- Oreo's - Bones,... plain and simple. Oreo's are bony.
- The bottoms of cans of Mini Ravioli - Very minor one, but I tend to clean off the spoons when I'm packing the kids lunch. Ok, I was reaching a bit on this
Just needed to get this off my chest. As a result, I started thinking about all of the things in my life I've dined on that I am sorry about. I wont even begin to enumerate those now.
You don't owe anyone anything. If you want to change that list, change it. But don't do it because you're not 'vegan' enough. There's no such thing.
ReplyDeletethank you cel. its nice to get outside encouragement, as i tend to obsess about how well i am doing.
ReplyDeleteGoing vegan isn't easy. It took me 6 months to fully "convert". I like your humor and the fact that you're conscious of what you're eating. That's the big problem with most people - they eat the bones/fish sauce/ghee... without being conscious of it. You're taking note and trying to do better. That's amazing :)
ReplyDeletethanks angela. humor is the only way i can approach this, and writing this is my therapy. the comments are appreciated as that helps validate what i am doing. it also helps to keep me grounded :)
ReplyDeleteI liked your post. I have only been vegan a year and I have bad days. Cheese is my weakness and the substitute being so damn expensive does not help at times.
ReplyDeleteProgress is huge, so don't be hard on yourself. :)
ReplyDeleteI can say, however, that Silk soy creamer is the shiznit (as the kids apparently say) and that it is vegan. Absolutely love that stuff.
Butter: Have you tried Earth Balance? When I first went vegan, I tried a number of non-butter subs and none were very good. Earth Balance, however, I eat on fresh baguette and everything else (including fiddleheads, which MUST be made in no other way except with salt, pepper, and butter or "butter"); I also use E.B. in baking.
noelle,.. thanks for the post! cheese is really a hard one for me as well. the fake stuff is not that satisfying, because i still remember what it is i am missing. i'm sure that will fade. i know if you drink diet coke for a while, you'll get used to it
ReplyDeletecolleen,.. silk and so-d are both very good, its the powdered ones that are hard to find. still on a quest. EB is great, it was one of the first things we switched over too, and i could have done it years ago. thanks!
There are many vegan substitutes for the things you describe. I am not good at knowing them all as I tend to eat whole foods and I have allergies. Have you gone to any websites like http://www.veganstore.com/? Even browsing there will give you an idea of what's out there. Hang in there, it takes time. The whole world is full of animal abuse and explotation and it's hidden, so it's like learning a new language to figure out what is/isn't vegan.
ReplyDeletebitt of raw,.. i have looked, and you are right, i've gotten a lot of ideas from those sites. it does take time, and indeed is like learning a new language. i've just discovered the community, so i'm still walking around introducing myself :) thanks for the post!
ReplyDeleteI had a hard time finding Coffee Cream as well since I didn't like soy milk in my coffee. Trader Joe's vegan soy creamer is quite good, without chalky aftertaste and Soy Delicious Coconut Creamer is amazing. I also use plain almond milk sometimes with good results.
ReplyDeletethanks for the comment elisabeth. i love the so delicious, as that was a recent discovery for me. the challenge now is finding a powdered non soy version for travelling, so far, i've had no luck finding that.
ReplyDelete