Living Without Meat

Yesterday I proclaimed it silly to think that being vegan is hard. Today, I received a question from a college friend about keeping veganism cheap. And as we all know, a diet is easier to follow to if it is affordable.

So how is being vegan easy? It’s cheap.

My friend writes: I started delving into [being vegan] in March and haven’t had any problems because I’ve been living at home. But I move in a week to go to Grad school and I will be on a very limited budget. I was hoping you may have some helpful hints/ideas on how to maintain my healthy lifestyle because I really cant imagine going back to just being vegetarian.

Tips for Being Vegan on a Budget (something I know a lot about):

1. Find a good bulk store. In Philadelphia, I go to Nuts to You, a local chain store that has inexpensive bulk nuts, dried fruits, grains, baking needs, and even candy. On top of their low prices, they also greater discount the more you buy. Giant grocery stores and natural food co-ops are other places that I have found low cost bulk foods.

2. Eat less processed foods. Veganism becomes expensive when you start buying lots of frozen veggie burgers, Amy’s meals, prepared foods, and other processed stuff.

3. When you do eat out, know how to work the menu. It is not worth the price you’ll pay to order something that usually had meat and ask them to leave it off. Usually, you still pay the with-meat price. Instead, try asking the waitress if the chef is willing to put something together for you or order a few side dishes. I recently got beans, rice, and sauteed veggies at Chili’s for only about $6 by ordering side dishes.

4. Use things up. It may sound obvious, but it really helps. Don’t let any food go to waste. If fresh vegetables, especially spinach, are starting to go bad — freeze them. Also, don’t worry about keeping a fully stocked pantry; rather, use what you buy before you buy more (except for foods that are cheaper in bulk, of course).

Those are my best suggestions for keeping veganism affordable. What tips can you add? Leave a comment!

A lot of times when people hear that I am vegan they respond that they could never do that. They act like it is this huge, impossible feat to cut animal products out of your diet. They seem to forget that people change their diet every day and that millions of us have already managed to become vegan or vegetarian. I know that it can be hard, but it is not impossible. Nothing is impossible. Just check out what these people have been up to:

* Farm Sanctuary staff members are currently spending their week walking 300 miles from the Taking Action for Animals conference in Washington, D.C. to the Farm’s Country Hoe Down in upstate New York, all to raise money for their former coworker Chuck who is battling brain cancer (and astronomical medical bills). Click here to donate!

* Larry “the Marathon Maniac” Macon just ran three marathons in one weekend. The 63-year-old runner currently holds the world record for the most marathons run in one year with 105 completed in 2008. He has run over 500 distance runs total, and didn’t even start running competitively until age 49.

* And let’s not forget the amazing animals, such as Faith, the two-legged dog (shown here) who has learned to walk, hop, and get around any way possible. And of course the millions of animals that put up with abuse every day and live in situations that most people would consider impossible living arrangements.

People and animals do amazing things every day that most of us would consider difficult if not impossible. So go ahead, tell me again that being vegan is too hard …

Check back tomorrow for more about how easy it is to be vegan!

This weekend I drove down to the Washington, D.C. area to exhibit for the Humane League at the Humane Society’s Taking Action for Animals (TAFA) conference. It was a fun, though busy and tiring, weekend. I got meet people who I work with through phone and email but had never met in person, and just generally enjoy being in the company of several hundred like-minded people. But most of all, I got to eat! There was such a high prevalence of good food at this all-vegan conference that I easily overate.

On my drive down, I munched in the car on green grapes, a banana, and coffee with soy milk.

After I arrived and got set up, I used my lunch voucher to grab more fresh fruit, a vegan egg salad sandwich, a vegan BLT, and the largest chocolate chocolate chip brownie ever (which I am still working on). They also served a couscous salad and chips.

For dinner, there was a sit-down banquet. It was weird to grab a roll and spread some butter on without even thinking about whether it was vegan or not. I even jumped a little when the server started pouring a creamy dressing on my garden salad. The entree included a rice dish, broccoli rabe, and two faux chicken cutlets from Gardein. Dessert was a fancy-looking red velvet cake (shown here) with a few different sauces and icings. Sadly the cake was a bit dry, but everything else was excellent.

The next morning I was treated to a free drink and pastry at the hotel’s Starbucks since I had a less than desirable room. (I was right next to the elevator and people kept trying to open my door thinking it was the stairs.) I planned on just getting my standard iced soy latte until I saw the sign: “Lemon poppy seed muffin and chocolate chip scone are vegan.” I went for the muffin.

Lunch for Sunday included two more delicious vegan sandwiches - a panini with pesto, tomato and Daiya cheese, and a wrap with faux chicken, lettuce, dried cranberries, and apples. There was also more fruit, chips, chocolate chip cookies, and some pasta salad.

Two days later I am still full!

This dessert picture was snapped by VEGdaily and Ecorazzi blogger Michael Parrish DuDell. Check out both of these blogs for more TAFA posts including an interview with celebrity speaker actress Ginnifer Goodwin.

It seems the media has also fallen in love with Allyson Siegel and Lilly, the five-legged dog that she rescued from being sold to a Coney Island animal freak show. Updates on the little puppy’s story have been buzzing around Web.

Wednesday, July 22, “Freaks of Nature” owner John Strong threatened to sue Calvin Owensby for selling the six-week-old dog to Siegel instead of him. Strong was fine with the situation until the story became popular; he felt that he was painted as a bad guy. Despite Strong’s threats, Siegel took Lilly in to have her extra limb removed a week early because the media storm surrounding the puppy was becoming too intense. The 90-minute surgery went well and Lilly is recovering quickly.

“She’s alert. She’s kind of running around. There were no complications whatsoever,” Siegel said. “The vet says he expects her to make a full recovery. All four legs work great. … I just want it to be over.”

The health nuts of Rodale Publishing — who have brought us magazines such as Men’s and Women’s Health, Organic Gardening, and my new favorite, Runner’s World, and is currently working on Alicia Silverstone’s The Kind Diet — has a lot of fun info put together online and in print for their Eat This, Not That! collection. Obviously not all of their recommendations are vegan, but a lot are! It’s nice to read (and not at all surprising) The 20 Worst Foods in America and realize that not a single one of these unhealthy fast foods are vegan.

I enjoy reading most of the Eat This, Not That! lists, but lately I have especially enjoyed these veg-friendly ones:

* 11 Secrets the Food Industry Doesn’t Want You to Know

* 10 Ways to Save at the Supermarket

* Master the Produce Aisle

I think I just fell in love with a woman that I have never met and probably never will: Allyson Siegel (shown here) of Charlotte, NC.

When Siegel got wind that Precious a five-legged puppy was being sold to a Coney Island freak show, she jumped to Precious’ rescue. “Freaks of Nature” owner John Strong had already paid Calvin Owensby, owner of Chihuahua Diamond where Precious was born, a $1,000 deposit on his $3,000 bid for Precious. But Siegel didn’t let a down payment stand in her way of saving the Chihuahua-terrier mix from a life as a sideshow freak.

“I called Calvin and I said, ‘I understand this is about money,’ and I just said, ‘How much?’” Siegel told the New York Daily News. “She’s beautiful, she’s not a freak, she’s a normal little puppy dog and she should be just like all the others.”

Siegel paid Owensby, whose girlfriend agreed that the puppy should not go to a freak show, $3,000 plus an additional $1,000 to cover the returned deposit to Strong.

Precious, who now goes by Lilly, is healthy and doing well. She has been to the vet and will soon have her extra limb removed. The Animal League of Gaston County is helping to cover the surgery’s expenses and will be hosting a fund-raiser this Friday evening at the Dog Bar, a dog-friendly bar in Charlotte.

If you would like to help out, you can contact the Dog Bar at 704-370-3595 for more information about the event, or the Animal League at 704-868-4673 to make a donation on Lilly’s behalf.

I was flipping through old issues of Natural Health magazine recently and have decided that it is an extremely vegan-friendly publication. One issue in particular had a long article all about cow milk alternatives. It analyzed and explained nut milks such as soy and almond, and grain milks such as rice.

I already knew plenty about a vegan’s milk options, but I did learn the importance of being picky when selecting your soy milk.

1. You should always buy organic soy milk. Regular, non-organic soy bean plants are very heavily sprayed with pesticides. Also, 85 percent of soy beans manufactured in the U.S. come from genetically modified plants. (source for these stats: Quamut)

2. You should buy soy milk without added sugar for most of your milky needs. The occasional flavored soy milk is fine, just consider it dessert because a large portion of the calories in soy milk with sugar added come from sugar. It’s not just the chocolate that’s a culprit here though, plain soy milk often has just as much sugar in it.

3. If you are drinking or using a lot, switch it up with other milk options once in awhile. There is still plenty of controversy and debate over whether or not we can take in too much soy, since it contains phytoestrogens which can cause a hormonal imbalance. I decided to pick up something other than soy this week and, as luck would have it, Acme has both rice and almond milks on sale!

4. Buy fortified soy milk. Although it naturally has lots of low-fat protein, all nine essential amino acids, and plenty of other healthy stuff, it is not a natural source of calcium or B vitamins. You should look for milks that have both of these added in.

Dear coffee shops (big chains and small locals alike, except for you, Dunkin Donuts, because you refuse to offer soy milk at all):

I, and many other vegans and lactose intolerant folks, genuinely appreciate you offering soy milk for our guilty pleasure iced latte fix. However, there are a few concerns that I would like to address with you.

1. Why must we pay an additional fee for choosing soy milk? Sure it’s a little more expensive, but only about $2 more per gallon if you bought it from the store and I am sure that you can get better deals that Average Jane. You charge about 50 cents for around 10 ounces. Now I am not doing exact math here, but that is about $10 in extra fees per gallon of soy milk. That is quite the mark up!

2. Can you please teach your baristas the importance of shaking the soy milk often? Before each use would be preferable. I don’t know about others, but I am not a big fan of the chalky taste and texture that soy milk develops when it is not given a good shake once in awhile. Seeing as how you are charging us extra for it, I don’t think it is too much to ask to get a chalk-free latte. Perhaps you could reinvest all that extra soy milk money into a brief memo to all of your employees: “shake the soy milk, please.” Would that be so hard?

But again, I would like to stress that, although it may not seem like it, I do highly appreciate you carrying soy milk.

Sincerely,

Sally, the only slightly disgruntled vegan

I am moving in three weeks. I have just started a new job at a local recreation center. My other job’s boss is going away for a few weeks and I’ll be manning the headquarters. Basically … there are a lot of things going around in my head. I can’t walk down the street without constantly making mental to-do lists.

As I was doing just that the other day I started to think, “I’m running around like a chicken with its head cut off.” Then I stopped (as in I actually stopped walking, in the middle of one of the busiest sidewalks in Center City Philadelphia). Mental note: must come up with a vegan equivalent to this saying.

A few days later, when I still hadn’t come up with a animal-friendly version (clever metaphors have never been my strength), I overheard one of my friend’s compare himself to a headless chicken. I tried finding an alternative online, but only found “in a frenzy.”

So, creative vegans, I need your help! Can anyone out there help us all come up with something to say instead of “running around like a chicken with his head cut off”?

In other vegan metaphor news … at the moment I watching Confessions of a Shopaholic and caught wind of one I like. When Isla Fisher’s character, the title in-debt shopaholic, accidentally gets a job at a financial magazine her roommates proclaims: “It’s like when an animal rights activist gets attacked by a bear. … What do you call that? Ironic!”

A friend from college, Lauren, left me a message on Facebook this week saying that she had just baked the most delicious vegan cookies to take into work on her birthday and wanted to share the recipe with me and the readers of Living Without Meat. So, thanks to Lauren, here’s a reader-approved all-vegan recipe for peanut butter chocolate chip cookies.

Lauren’s Birthday Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ingredients (obviously, use the vegan versions where needed):

* 1 cup margarine
* 1/2 cup sugar
* 1/2 cup brown sugar
* 1/4 cup soft (silken) tofu
* 1/2 tsp vanilla
* 1 1/2 cups flour
* 3/4 tsp baking soda
* 1/4 tsp salt
* 1/2 cup peanut butter
* 1 cup chocolate chips

Preparation:

1. Pre-heat the oven to 400 degrees.

2. In a large bowl, cream together the margarine, sugar, and brown sugar.

3. Add the tofu and vanilla and whisk until smooth and creamy.

4. In a separate bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, and salt. Add to the margarine mixture and combine well.

5. Add the peanut butter and mix well, then fold in the chocolate chips.

6. Roll the dough into 1 inch balls and place on a baking sheet. Bake for 5 to 8 minutes, until cookies are golden brown.

7. Eat, enjoy, and share with all of your non-vegans friends, proving to them that vegan cookies can be delicious!

Thanks, Lauren - and happy vegan birthday! Need more ideas for what to whip up for a vegan birthday celebration? Check out my previous post birthday baking compilation post, Happy Vegan Birthday, Natalie Portman and Ingrid Newkirk.

Want to share your recipes? Email LivingWithoutMeat at gmail dot com!

The LOL Cats of I Can Has Cheezburger have been feeling quite vegetarian lately …

Although there are a number of reasons why my two cats still eat a meat-based diet - one is sick and ends up in the hospital if I feed him anything other then his prescription food - there are plenty of people who have successfully fed their cat a healthy vegetarian diet. If you want to try weening Fluffy off of the fleshy stuff, be sure to check out these helpful sites:

* Vegan Cats is a great resource for vegan cat and dog food, treats, supplements, shampoo, and more. You can also purchase vegan pet foods and products at Vegan Essentials, Pangea the Vegan Store, and Veggie Pets.

* “Cat Vegetarian Diet Research - Is It Healthy For Your Cat,” an ezine article written by Moses Wright, founder of FelineDiet.net.

* The Essential Vegetarian’s blog post, 7 Reasons Why Your Cat Cannot Be Vegetarian which, although it is clearly on the non-veg side, provides a detailed explanation of what cats need nutritionally. Similar information is laid out on the Vegetarian Society’s cat diet fact sheet.

* The International Vegetarian Unions FAQs about feeding pets a veggie diet answers the basic concerns.

* Find everything else that you will ever need to know about vegan cats at Farm Sanctuary’s Veg For Life including links to more sites that sell veg pet food, a list of different brands, and lots of different tips and nutritional concerns for switching Fluffy’s diet.

Have vegan cat or other pet? Leave a comment and let us know about your decision and transition!

I made some delicious food yesterday! I stopped by the grocery store after work and was feeling very inspired by all of the fresh produce. I grabbed celery, spinach, and basil with a few specific ideas in mind. I haven’t put them all together yet, but I did make one yummy mocktail with the basil and a vegan egg salad with the celery.

Vegan Egg Salad

1. Press one block of firm tofu by putting it on a plate, wrapped in a kitchen towel, with something heavy sitting on top of it. When the towel is soaked, change it with a new, dry one and let the tofu dry a little more.

2. Put the block of tofu in a mixing bowl and mix it with a knife. Rotate the knife around the bowl and all through the tofu as you would a mixing spoon, chopping up the tofu into small pieces that will start to resemble chopped up egg whites.

3. Into the mixing bowl add:
* the chopped tofu
* 5 to 7 stalks of celery, chopped
* 1/4 of an onion, chopped
* 1 Tbsp. mustard
* 2 to 4 Tbsp. vegan mayonnaise, depending on how much mayo you like
* Salt and cayenne pepper to taste

4. Mix everything together well and taste it. Add more ingredients to make it to your personal liking. Serve it on a bed of lettuce or spinach with some crackers and sliced tomato, or as a sandwich. I don’t even like regular egg salad, but I couldn’t stop taste testing this!

Raspberry Lemon Basil Mocktail

1. In a glass, use the end of a spoon or other utensil to mash together about 6 to 8 fresh raspberries and 7 to 10 fresh basil leaves with a tsp. of sugar.

2. Add some ice and fill the glass 2/3 of the way full with a lemony drink such as raspberry lemonade, lemonade, or lemon iced tea. I used a homemade raspberry-lemon puree that was quite liquidy.

3. Fill the rest of the glass with something light such as sparkling water. I didn’t have any on hand, so I added coconut water.

4. Garnish with a raspberry and basil and devour!

My mom finds it to be quite odd that vegans, who are overly concerned about keeping our bodies pure in many ways, tend toward tattoos and piercings. But it’s true, most vegans that I know have a tattoo, piercing, or two, or ten. It’s just something that veg heads like.

Companies have caught onto this trend and vegan business folk have started capitalizing on it. There are now vegan tattoo inks, piercing after care, and several other cruelty-free options for compassionate punks.

If you’re in the market, check out these …

* Canadian-based Punk Medics makes “vegan skin care with edge,” including basic items such as body wash, lip balm, and shampoo and conditioner, but the Body Art Pro company also has jewelry cleaner, road rash spray, ear lobe care, and tattoo barrier cream … everything a good stereotypical punk ass vegan needs.

* In addition to the end supply of good vegan foods, shoes, and other products, Vegan Essentials also has a tattoo care section that currently features a hemp oil tattoo balm. Order before July 11 and get a 5 percent discount on your order by using coupon code “july09a.” Sign up for their email list and find out how to save 5, 10, or 15 percent each month.

* Rose Tattoo Aftercare has a choice of lavender or rose tattoo balm that is not only 100 percent vegan, but is also all natural with no preservatives and 97 percent organic.

As for getting vegan ink, just ask your tattoo artist to use it. Who knows, your tattooer may even be vegan like mine!

Looking to add some more seasonal into your SOLE food (Seasonal Organic Local Ethical)? Here are some in-season fruits and vegetables for the month of July and my favorite way to enjoy each.

Banana
Blended up in a smoothie is easily the best way to take in this potassium-rich staple. Try it with peanut butter, soy milk, and ice, or, for a more refreshing drink, with iced tea and frozen berries. Add some fresh blueberries, blackberries, and raspberries for even more in season fruit.

Carrots, Broccoli, and Chickpeas
What a nice coincidence that all of these are in season at the same time! Blend the chickpeas into a hummus dip and enjoy with cut up carrot sticks and broccoli florets.

Grapefruit
This citrus fruit is a great morning starter all on it’s own. Cut it in half, slice through the sections, and sprinkle with a touch of sugar.

Lemon
Squeeze some fresh lemon into your water for a cleansing beverage, or add a little sugar for a sweet drink on a hot day.

Tomatoes
During the warm weather, I love sliced tomatoes with just a touch of salt and nothing else. But they also go great with some fresh basil and a vegan version of fresh mozzarella.

Zucchini and Yellow Squash
I grabbed some of each of these two popular kinds of squash at the Amish farmers’ market this weekend because they looked so good! The zukes and squashes are so big right now! For a simple, sauteed side dish, slice up both and saute them in a little oil and butter with some garlic, onion, and sea salt. After a few minutes, add a little water and cover the pan steam finish them.

I hope all of the Americans out there enjoyed as vegan-filled a Fourth of July as I did. And if you live elsewhere, I still hope that you enjoyed some delicious veganness on this Saturday, July 4.

After a relaxing morning, complete with a bike ride to Mugshots, a local vegan-friendly coffee house, for fruit smoothies, a hummus and veggies wrap, and a game of scrabble with my roommate, we headed into the city for Philadelphia’s annual Welcome American festival, concert, and fireworks. We first spent a few hours handing out vegetarian pamphlets from Vegan Outreach. Then we headed out to dinner.

We ate at Continental Mid-town, a local restaurant that is known for having lots of veg options. The menu had recently been redone and now includes a vegetarian section. Unfortunately, the menu does not fully explain the dishes and I ended up ordering two things that were very not vegan. The waitress more than happily, and a bit apologetically, got me new plates sans cheese and eggs. The bus boy even apologized and mentioned that the same mistake had already happened to another vegan earlier in the week.

After enjoying a blend off mushrooms on flat bread and an insanely delicious layered dish that included tofu, whipped edamame, avocado, arugula, and a mustard sauce, we went on a hunt for vegan dessert. Across the street at the new ice cream store I asked if there were any vegan options. Another apology, but also another comment about my not being the first person to ask. Down the road at the chocolate shop I found a few dark chocolate delights - plus, the sales girl said that several other vegans had come in hoping for vegan dessert!

Hopefully some of these restaurants and stores start to take note and offer more vegan options!