Vegan Living: Fountain of Youth?

I heard about this woman on Facebook and she is amazing.

She entered PETA's Sexiest Vegetarian over 50 contest and won...AT 70!

I cannot believe this woman is 70! Watch the video and check her out.

I want to be her when I grow up!!!

On this note, I have to mention, I hear many of my peers complaining about aches and pains this problem and that problem that I just don’t have to deal with. Plant foods are very healing! Maybe they are the Fountain of Youth, too!

Toodles!

Vegan junk food substitutes for dead animal junk food

I’m getting a lot of questions about vegan substitutes for standard kid snacks.

I will tell you some of what we’ve tried and tested. Kids aren’t stupid. If it isn’t yummy and equally cool, forget it.

With that in mind, here are some winners in our family.

Instead of Soft Batch Cookies (for the chocolate chip) or other cookies (for the rest), try Uncle Eddie's Vegan Cookies.

These cookies are awesome and come in flavors like

• Oatmeal Chocolate Chip
• Chocolate Chip
• Oatmeal Raisin
• Peanut Butter
  
• Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip (pictured)
  
• Trail Mix

Trader Joe’s has their own brand of these for less money…Same cookies!

YUMMY!

Instead of Gummy Bears, try Annie's Organic Bunny Fruit Snacks

These are bunnies instead of bears, but my kids don’t really care.

Of special note, Annie makes a giant pack around Halloween time, so you can spread the vegan gelatin alternative love around to kids everywhere! YAY!!!

At Whole Foods Market, you can also find vegan gummy worms (rolled in sugar even) and things like that. Really, anything your rotting teeth desire. La la la.

Instead of Oreo’s, which are full of trans fats and otherwise nasty ingredients, try Newman-O's. These are super tasty.

I made some vegan chocolate cupcakes and stirred crushed Newman-O’s into them…My kids are still singing my praises.

We also tried the gluten-free variety recently. I must admit…not nearly as tasty…but if you need to be wheat free, they’ll do.

Instead of Mac & Cheese, try Road's End Organics with "Chreese"

On this one, my children like the gluten-free flavors better for some reason. I don’t love the cheddar, but they think it’s divine.

The alfredo is pretty convincing. I like to stir in broccoli or chopped kale.

Sometimes, if I'm really feeling like giving them that 70s feel, I slice veggie dogs and stir them in...Mac & Weenies! Weeeee!

(Play Bee Gee's while cooking and consuming)

Instead of Goldfish, try Eco-Planet Cheddar Organic Crackers.

My kids like these because they come in four shapes instead of just one.

While newer COLOR goldfish has presented some serious competition with all of their artificial brightness, thus far, my children are satisfied with the orangeness of these crackers.

Later, we can chat about how most mainstream food companies used crush bugs to bring you those pretty orange and red colors in "naturally colored" foods and drinks. No, I am not kidding!

Instead of ice cream made from cow milk, try these taste bud miracle delights!

Our friends in Seattle turned us on to this Coconut Bliss stuff. OMG YUMMY HEAVEN. It tastes so creamy and fantastic....AND it comes in many great flavors. You just have to try it! EVEN if you are sure you're addicted to cow breastmilk.

It is high in saturated fat, but has zero cholesterol. How is this possible? Well, it turns out that the experts studying saturated fat from plant food are (gee…am I surprised?) finding out it is actually good for you. The saturated fat in animal products (just like the protein) remains, as always, not good for you.

So, you can actually enjoy your fatty, creamy ice cream. Oh, AND it’s sweetened with agave. Diabetic heaven in a pint container!

There are so many flavors…It’s amazing. I will say, if you hate coconut, you can taste a hint of it in some flavors. I do know several people who don’t like coconut, but who still love many flavors of this ice cream. You'll have to experiment if you're coconut-sensitive to see which ones you like.

An alternative is Purely Decadent and So Delicious Coconut Milk products. They also make soy products (not as yummy, unless chocolate, in my opinion). The cool thing about these people is they have yogurt, creamer and things like ice cream sandwiches, in addition to the ice cream. They have a mint chip that is to die for and a gluten-free (seriously!) cookie dough ice cream that is ridiculously tasty!

I also just found out Rice Dream is making bonbons (although I have yet to see them). SAY IT AIN'T SO!!!! Oh daytime TV heaven (kidding).

Truth be told, I'm not a huge fan of Rice Dream, but I know people who are. You have to be adventurous. If you have a Whole Foods Market, they guarantee everything they sell, so if you don't like it, you can just get your money back. How great is that?

AGAIN…I’m not saying this is the most healthy way to be a vegan. These foods should be eaten in moderation, OF COURSE. I’m just saying, if you have children and you want them to have things that are equally tempting as the other kid snacks out there, but you can't stomach the thought of some of the nasty dead things, antibiotics, hormones, pus, growth hormones, crushed bugs and so on going into your precious, developing little love children…here are some fun options.

Toodles!

The War on Food

Okay, this image just cracks me up! At least they were saying “Plant more beans” instead of “Kill more cows!”

Like pretty much EVERYONE, I love food. Sometimes I feel like in the quest to make healthy choices, I’m fighting an uphill battle. I’ve been a vegetarian for a very long time. I’ve heard all the jokes (same ones over and over from my brother especially). I’m in my 30s, so I’ve had time to watch the world evolve from thinking vegetarians are total freak shows to seeing that there might be some wisdom to the choice.

I’ve never been in the vegan club or the raw club or even the vegetarian club. I cheat occasionally (although I’d call that rarely now) and I haven’t felt the pangs of self-righteousness over my dietary choices since I was in my late teens or early twenties. I knew even before I had kids what many of my ideals were with children and their relationship with food.

Here are the principals I try to follow with the kids:

1. Inspire healthy choices. In other words, live it. Make it yummy. Don’t nag, berate, belittle or guilt. (Challenging!)

2. Don’t use food as a bribe or withhold food as a punishment. (This should be a no-brainer, but I see people doing this every single day).

3. Never force a child to eat a particular food or to finish their plate (but do keep presenting foods over and over again).

4. Give children total food freedom, when they’re ready.

AH….That was the sticky part…”when they’re ready.” When would that be? I figured it would be at about 7. Instead, with my eldest, it was about 4. I relaxed the reins. She, being 4 and mostly exposed to what I had exposed her to, mostly chose foods that made me beam with pride. I had done SUCH A GREAT JOB!!!

Then came 5 and 6 and 7 and the outside world. (uh oh)

Truthfully, my daughter still makes great choices and I still beam with pride…even when she’s stuffing a piece of cow cheese pizza in her face while saying, “No thanks. I don’t eat pepperoni. I’m vegan.” (How funny is that?!) But I’ll be honest, it isn’t like it was before when she only had what I chose for her to have.

More complications arose when my younger children, who I hadn’t deemed able to choose, wanted what their sister had, even though they weren't at my predetermined age of consciousness. What now?

Basically, I’m learning to relax. The most difficult part of it for me is SHUTTING THE HELL UP. I have to fight the urge at a party not to say things like, “Honey, that probably has partially hydrogenated oils in it” or "Ewww, gellllll-a-tinnnnn." Who wants to hear that? How lame!

Nagging is so passé.

It still slips out. I’m getting much better at it. I love what the Disease Proof blog says about feeding kids without nagging (recommended!). It's pretty unschooly, too, and so that resonates with me quite a bit.

In a nutshell, I’m trying to provide tons of yummy stuff, keep piles of healthy snacks on me wherever we go and shut up about the rest.

Toodles!

Marshmallow Madness

I find myself looking for vegan alternatives to SAD foods frequently, because my children want fun orange cheese crackers, marshmallows or gummy bears, too. I promise you, there is a healthier option for everything now.

We do try to avoid processed foods and lean heavily toward raw foods. However, JOYFUL living is my priority and I would rather my children have a tiny amount of less healthy vegan food than feel like the sad, left-out kid at the party. (In fact, my kids eat whatever they want, vegan or not, at parties…It’s taken me a while to become comfortable with it…A journey for another post, perhaps).

Why don’t I want them to eat marshmallows or other products made with gelatin? Well, for one, gelatin could be about the most disgusting thing EVER EATEN by humans. Only bugs or poop could top it. Well, maybe not bugs. Read about it. To make gelatin, the manufacturers boil skin, bones, ligaments and tendons from pigs and cows to give your marshmallows and gummy bears that familiar, chewy texture. Tasty, huh?

Think about it. YUM!…Do you REALLY want to feed your kids artificially dyed and flavored boiled dead animal parts? How’s that TENDON, dear? YUCK!

(By the way, before Halloween, I’ll post about how we (kind of ) solve the Halloween dilemma in a world full of such nasty candy without killing the joy.)

Oh, and, just so you know, Kosher gelatin still has fish stuff in it. Why bother? They can use agar agar or pectin to make many wonderfully yummy junk foods.

With that said, here are some examples of marshmallow alternatives my children prefer to chewing dead pig and cow ligaments disguised with fake flavors and colors.

Marshmallow alternatives:

1) Ricemellow Cream is great for making rice crispy treats, for putting in hot cocoa and other fun things, like fabulous fluff-n-butter sandwiches (this fluff plus your fave nut butter).

2) Vegan Vanilla Marshmallows by Sweet & Sara. We found these in Whole Foods one day (I’ve seen them at Mother’s Market and Sprouts, too). My kids just like these plain.

3) The best for roasting on a stick over a fire are Dandies Air-Puffed Vegan Marshmallows by Chicago Soy Dairy. They even catch on fire, just like the nasty skin-and-tendons version! The brain surgeon and kids LOVE these (too sweet for me!).

You can find all of these online and in some natural food stores.

Now, remember, I’m not calling these healthy, BUT they are much healthier than traditional marshmallows, and WAY WAY WAY LESS DISGUSTING.

Toodles!

Rainbow Plates

Since I mentioned Rainbow Plates, I thought I should write a blog post about them. Rainbow Plates are something I invented when my 7-year-old was about two. I had heard the phrase “Eat the Rainbow” and I wanted an easy way to remember to make sure we did that every day. 

While I have now tried to move away from plastics (more on that later), my friend the Tupperware lady, turned me on to this nifty Serving Center Set. 

It has six sections – OH RAINBOW PLATE PERFECTION – plus a center thing for dips or whatever. One caveat: I’m not sure if Tupperware is all that safe. There are some strong arguments both ways.  I am keeping my eyes peeled for a surely safe and eco-friendly option, but for now, I don’t heat it and I’m not super paranoid about using it.

Anyway, each day (ha ha in my dreams…really about 4 days a week), I fill the tray with fruits and veggies from each color of the rainbow. For example, today we had RED strawberries, ORANGE satsumas, YELLOW bell peppers, GREEN romaine, BLUE blueberries and PURPLE grapes.  In the center, I’ll put some hummus, guacamole, salsa or other dip for the kidlets to dip lettuce leaves or whatever in. The rainbow tray I use has a cover that can go under it as well, so you can put ice under it or a cover over it and presto! 

Toodles!

A Bit About Breakfast

My next giant goal in life is to write what we eat each day. People are always asking me what I feed the kids or, when they see them eating, how I get them to eat so many fruits and vegetables. That is a long story and a journey in itself (I’ll get to it), but for now, I’ll just start with breakfast.  It's pretty easy.

For breakfast, we often have fruit smoothies. I made a mix of whatever sounds good to them. They will each contribute or sometimes one will be in charge. We keep several bags of frozen organic fruit in the freezer at all times.  I throw a bunch of fruit in the blender, and then some greens. 

When it comes to adding greens, start very slowly. I started by adding just one kale or romaine leaf, or a small handful of spinach. Each time I made a smoothie, I added another leaf. The kids (or your taste buds if it’s for you) will tell you when enough is enough, but I also found that our tolerance for greens went up quickly. Oh look! Here’s an article I wrote on how to use vegetables in smoothies. 

We use a VitaMix. These suckers are expensive, but worth every penny. Before my parents and siblings bought me one, I used the Magic Bullet (also bought by my family...Who finds these things?) to make smaller ones in batches.  It was not as good, but it was okay. There are other good blenders out there as well, but an awesome blender is the key to blending greens smoothly into your smoothie (say it 10 times fast).

Sometimes the kids want what I call the “beige” foods. These are the not-as-healthy-but-okay grain foods. On those days, we’ll have a grain food (more on that later, but steel-cut oats, granola, etc.) plus I make giant “rainbow” plates of fruit. 

On some days, we just eat fruit.  We also make parfaits by layering fruit and granola. The kids like when I use a nondairy yogurt, too, but I often skip that layer.  I'm not so into most nondairy dairy-like things.

TIP:  If fruit is getting too ripe, do not let it go bad! Just cut it up and freeze it. Ripe fruit is sweeter and great for smoothies!

Toodles!

Vitamin B12…The Big Mystery

I thought I should bring up B12 right away. B12 is the ONE vitamin that you truly cannot get enough of in a pure vegan diet. It is also a very important vitamin, particularly if you’re into brains and the nervous system… and we clearly are into brains and the nervous system in this house.

If you want to learn a bit about B12 from a simple source, here is the Wikipedia reference for B12. 

So you must be wondering, if a vegan diet means no B12, this could cause such major problems! Why would a brain surgeon not only allow, but also recommend a vegan diet? Well, because it is easy to get. Most grain products are fortified with it, as are most nondairy milk products. There are plenty of supplement options for kids and adults as well.

What I always wondered, though, was if this is way of eating is good for me, why is there one deficient vitamin? I knew God or nature or whatever you want to believe in would not screw up that badly. 

I found out about a decade ago that there is a simple answer to this question. It’s that vitamin B12 is a soil vitamin. Back in the day, humans and other mammals did not spray their foods with deadly pesticides nor were they very worried about things like food contamination. In other words, they just picked some fruit or lettuce and ate it. They might have wiped it off, but they did not wash the heck out of it. There was always a little dirt in the diet and so B12 was abundant. 

As it is in the SAD (Standard American Diet), people consume the animals that consume the unwashed produce. They concentrate the vitamin B12 (and the pesticides and antibiotics and everything else they ingest), so it is easy to get B12 if you eat the animals. It is just as easy (and far less disgusting) to get it from a supplement or B12 fortified product, though.

I like the VegLife Vegan Kids Multiple for insurance purposes. There are plenty of others available, too.

Oh, and please ask questions! I need ideas for posts!

 

Toodles!

Focus on Food

So, I've been neglecting my blog (Facebook addiction, anyone?) and I've lost most of my followers according to the stat program I use, BUT I've been promising a few great people I'd get it going again. I am changing direction a bit, however. I'm going to focus much more on nutrition and diet and how I get my children (and my hardworking husband) to eat so many veggies. It seems that is what people most want to know.

It has been fun to see so many people close to me change in little or big ways towards a more veggie life. I often answer the same questions over and over again (happily...I'm into it... Everyone who knows me knows this!), so I'm excited to share some resources and learn with others on the path to healthful living.

So tonight, for my first post since I quit posting, I have devised a little system for when I talk about what we eat. I will call these "basic veggie" (things anyone would be brave enough to try), "intermediate veggie" (getting braver) and "advanced veggie" (super brave things like funky-colored smoothies and such). Let's see if I follow through on this one.

I'm going to start sharing my favorite books, blogs, recipes, etc. I don't have a huge amount of time to devise recipes, so most of these will be stolen and credited appropriately. Occasionally (rarely?), I will come up with something of my own and share it here. Of course, parenting thoughts, home schooling thoughts, political thoughts and random whatnots will likely creep in from time to time.

My posts will stay stream-of-consciousness and probably will remain too long, but this is the one place that as a writer I don't have to edit myself (or be edited), so that's just how it's going to be.

Okay, that's it for the reintroduction.

The very first thing I have to say about eating a plant-based diet is that people are full of crap when it comes to "moderation.” (My one friend used to joke, "If you believe in moderation, then why is your ass so big?" That's funny, but kind of mean, yes?). Moderation is a little bit of this or a little bit of that. A good rule of thumb is about 5 percent to 15 percent of the diet can be crap. To me, moderation is eating freely at a party here and there or having one unhealthy dinner out every two weeks, NOT eating processed, dead food every day (or every meal!).

On the other hand, perfectionism (with which I'm far too closely acquainted) is one way to suck the joy out of your journey, leading to discouragement. You do have to know yourself. For some (present company included, although I've done well lately), having a little nacho fest is not going to throw them off course. For others, it takes one unhealthy meal for them to throw in the towel and go back to their old ways.

Last thing for today: Forget the Food Pyramid. It is pure stupidity. It is better than the old four basic food groups, but it is inadequate. Check out this vegan pyramid instead. I wouldn’t call it perfect, but it’s a huge step up.

Toodles!

So the brain surgeon is on the interview trail and it's finally for a real job...the kind where he will finally get a living wage. Okay, it might be a tad more than a living wage. My friends ooh and ahh. People say, "Oh, you will be so happy" and "Everything will be great, soon" and things like that. That's nice and all, but money has never really been a major driver for me.

That sounds crazy, I know, but it's true. Everyone who knows me can attest to that (even though they seem to have a vision that more money will buy some new level of happiness). Still, I'm looking forward to losing my title as breadwinner, too. I'm kinda tired. Happy, but tired.

Money is nice. It really is. It reduces some worry, I suppose. But over my lifetime, I've been blessed to be on both ends of the financial spectrum -- and many places in between -- and I know that it's true that money doesn't buy happiness. The opposite is also true -- poverty doesn't necessarily make people unhappy.

I say blessed, because I have learned much from all of my financial experiences....

And if you look across your life, at all the people you know, you will see that there is no correlation between wealth and happiness. People with a lot of money can find just as many things to be miserable about as people who are poor. People with fewer financial resources, in fact, often seem to be better able to find happiness in challenging circumstances.

Just some thoughts.

Toodles.

Housecleaning

I used to be obsessed with schedules and planning. An organized and clean house was inordinately important to me. This is one area (of many) where kids (and FlyLady) have been very good for me. Schedules become unbalanced in a moment’s notice. The best-laid plans go to hell in an instant. Even though I’m an expert housecleaner, I’m so outnumbered that cleanliness only happens when everyone is out of the house, but then I’m out of the house, too.

And what’s the point of the house, then?

In all honesty, every single day of the weak, several major catastrophes happen, even when I’m organized and running ahead of schedule. Someone barfs or pours a blueberry smoothie over their head or spills it on the couch, or the dog dumps over the recycling bin, or BooBoo gets glue in her hair, or the L-man puts lotion in his eye or Miss M stubs her toe and if there’s none of that, there’s always time for an unexpected blowout Poop-o-rama.

It’s the glamorous life I’m living, and I'm loving it.

Toodles.

Bad Tax Estimates

Did I mention I owe Uncle Sam AGAIN? Yes, for whatever reason, my CPA and I can’t seem to estimate the coming hit right. I did better this year…I owe just over $5,000. Last year I screwed up by $12,000. That was a fun check to write. Good times.

I did file on time. Points for that.

Happy birthday to my nephew Jesse and my little cousin Eden today!

Toodles.

Facebook Obsession

Okay, attempt numero uno at the short blog posts and getting my blog back in gear. I’ve heard the angry roars from my followers (kidding).

Topic of the day…My current obsession with Facebook, which improved, but then got MUCH worse after my family developed the GI BUG FROM HELL. Psychological recovery from this has proven tougher than physical recovery. Since I’m a writer by trade and have my laptop on all but 5 hours a day, the checking Facebook thing has gotten out of hand. Those little red notification notices are too tempting to resist.

The silly applications are worse. Why do I even take time to do them? I guess for a little bit of non-kid fun. I’m addicted to Scrabble, Kidnap, Pieces of Flair and occasionally get tempted into other things like Vampire Wars, Little Green Patch, Little Blue Cove and the like.

I’ve been Tweeting a lot more. I’m learning a bit about how use it more professionally, but really just playing so far. I have about 600 followers and I really have no idea how that happened, but it’s made Twitter much more interesting.

I’m feeling very nostalgic this week and looking at the interconnectivity of life. So many of my friends know each other, but people from different parts of my life that I never thought would have met. I no longer think it’s six degrees of separation, I think it is more like one or two.

Digging through the patchwork of my life is proving to be very interesting.

Toodles.

Update on the pedophile neighbor

I wish I had been blogging, but honestly, I just had too much to do. Okay, in truth, my free time was taken up with my Facebook addiction. Luckily, I’m finding Facebook less addicting now. Turning off the email notifications has helped immensely with that.

Really, I was a little freaked out.

To just get down to it, my neighbor swallowed a lethal dose of unknown pills two days before the election. His trial would have been on Election Day. He was facing 20 felony counts for child pornography (plus tons of evidence and a confession) and such and I guess he couldn’t take the heat.

I had weird thoughts: Didn’t he wonder if President Obama would win? Why not the day of the trial? Why not three weeks ago? Why on a Saturday night? Where was the dog?

As those who know me well know, the month between when he posted bail and when he killed himself was challenging for me. I usually let things roll, but with the brain surgeon working weird hours and having the loose canon right next door, I had trouble sleeping and felt on edge often.

I knew he was going to kill himself. I worried he would shoot himself and a stray bullet would go through our wall or that he would take out more than just himself.

In some weird way, I feel very conflicted about his death, though. He was somebody’s son.

My children’s swim teacher, who had become our friend, killed himself just a short time before the pedophile neighbor did. It was so hard to understand, as suicide will always be. The brain surgeon was very torn apart about it – and he’s pretty tough, considering what he deals with every day. I was hysterical. It seems so senseless to me even now. Michael was this beautiful force of positive energy, loved by so many people. I know I will never understand.

We never really know people, I guess. People have their dark feelings.

So, when Michael killed himself and the pedophile posted bail, all I could think was, “Why do people like Michael kill themselves and people like [pedophile] don’t.” I wished the pedophile would. I wanted him to just disappear. Now I feel some terrible sense of guilt that he did.

He was a sick man. Everything I’ve read and heard says that you can’t rehabilitate a pedophile, but I’m not sure wishing death on them is the kindest course of action, either. The lead detective on the case, who had kept in contact with me, said there was no telling what he would have done if he remained free or when he was released.

The night of his discovery, I went into some sort of shock, even though I expected him to do it. I knew something was up all day. I didn’t see him or hear his dog. His morning paper remained untouched on his doormat. His Audi hadn’t moved.

When they found him, I sat plastered to my front window, watching the fire trucks and the ambulance come and go. I spoke to the police. I waited until the coroner arrived at 2:00 a.m. Then I watched them wheel him away. I’m not sure why I did any of this, because in doing so, I gave myself a permanent memory of the end of a sad waste of life that I don’t need. It isn’t exactly positive energy.

Now, a month later, there is still a police sticker on his door. His Audi is still there. It is eerily silent.

But I don’t have to worry about going to the park anymore or about him slamming his door or swearing at us when we walk by. In some sense, this five-year voyage to a little section of hell is over. Yet, he will always be in the landscape of my mind. Unwelcome in every way.