We are celebrating our first year of becoming vegan this month! I say "becoming vegan" because it took us almost a year to completely give up all animal foods and products. We had to learn how to shop and cook new foods, and are still learning where to buy non animal products for clothing, shoes and personal care and cleaning products too. It's definitely a process. I ate eggs up until about Easter last year, and had my last fish on our trip to the coast last October. (honestly the fish did nothing for me anyway, which is weird because I used to love most fish). Im not sure I wouldn't eat some salmon, if I knew who caught it, and knew it was fresh and not from a factory farm...and it died humanely...we'll see. But other than that, we are full on vegans now! We just feel so good knowing we are no longer contributing to the unneeded pain and suffering of any animals (or at least doing our very best to prevent it!) We feel great too--our clothes fit good, no more bowel problems, less headaches and allergies and way less anxiety! I also get way more excited about meals and the food is always delicious and satisfying .
We had a great Thanksgiving this year at our house! Well, the food was amazing anyway...I was very nervous the day before when we were cooking and expecting alot of Jamison's family to stay with us. I just get that way when I have to play hostess! I want everything to be really nice and warm and inviting and yummy! This is what we cooked:
Maple glazed sweet potato scones, spinach dip in a sourdough bread roll, olive and pickle tray, chickpea cutlets, roasted lemony potatoes, wine, holiday salad with spiced pumpkin seeds and pomegranate, creamy pumpkin penne with sage and toasted pecans, pumpkin pie, chocolate pumpkin bread pudding, chocolate peanut butter cups, and...vegan irish coffees. MMMMMM!! My sister also brought garlicky green beans and Tuaca Apple Pie hot drinks, and Mom brought her famous sweet potatoes that she veganized and they were better than ever!
Everything was absolutely delicious and we all had a great time. We're hoping that all the delicious food wowed our families and maybe even changed their thinking about what they want to eat! We are eating vegan everyday, but it seems even more important to be conscious during our family celebrations. Jamison and I have decided on a new tradition for our family: since we want to celebrate love and gratitude during our holidays, we want to have only (cruelty free) vegan goodies to eat in our house for our celebrations, and anyone who wants to celebrate with us is welcome!Personally, I feel so good about how we are being so much more conscious in our purchases. I know that turkeys are among the most abused and tortured animals out there and even sparing one is something (imagine if everyone made this choice!).
About Me
- Shell
- I'm Shelly, a nature-worshipper, animal lover, mom, yogini, and adventure-seeker living in the great Northwest US! I share my life with an amazingly strong, kind man and a beautiful, compassionate and hilarious daughter. In 2009, we embarked on a new path of veganism, and are eating so many delicious, healthy foods, feeling great and finding the transition to be easy, exciting and fun! We also have the wanderlust! So this blog will include our journeys around the world!
Monday, November 29, 2010
Saturday, November 20, 2010
Thursday, November 11, 2010
Happy
I was at the park the other day (it was beautiful fall weather and I don't know if I've ever seen the trees so colorful!), swinging next to Jossy in her little swing, and we were hanging our heads way back to look up at the clouds in the blue sky and it hit me: I am INSANELY happy!! Just having so much fun with my baby girl, being Mom and wife to such an amazing man as Jamison, and knowing how lucky we all are. Last night, Delberta went all the way to the park and back with us (almost a mile), in her new wheelchair! I cried with relief that she can still join us on walks now for awhile! Looking forward to a great holiday season with my family.
Sunday, August 1, 2010
broccolini tini
Found this smoothie recipe in my "Vegan Comfort Foods" cookbook by Alicia Simpson. She says " Broccolini is a hybrid of broccoli and Chinese kale, offering the best of both worlds. This smoothie is incredibly detoxifying, which is why it's the only smoothie that is broken up into two 8 oz smoothies instead of one 16 oz...Broccolini has a specialaffinity for breaking up mucus. Drink this smoothie slowly until you get used to it; feel free to store it in the refrigerator, and sip it throughout the day.
I usually have some issues with mucus in the spring, related to allergies, so although it is now almost August, I wanted to add this post so I can look it up later! Maybe we can grow some ourselves, I will look into it...
Here is the smoothie recipe:
1 cup broccolini florets
1 c frozen tropical fruit mix (papaya, pineapple, mango)
1 kiwi, peeled and cut into thick slices
3/4 cup fresh pear juice
2/3 Medjool dates, seeds removed (0h my gosh I have been buying organic fresh dates from the co-op, I never knew they could taste soooo good!)
Anyway, can't wait to get our new Vitamix!!! (we are waiting for a sale as they are $450 to $600!
I usually have some issues with mucus in the spring, related to allergies, so although it is now almost August, I wanted to add this post so I can look it up later! Maybe we can grow some ourselves, I will look into it...
Here is the smoothie recipe:
1 cup broccolini florets
1 c frozen tropical fruit mix (papaya, pineapple, mango)
1 kiwi, peeled and cut into thick slices
3/4 cup fresh pear juice
2/3 Medjool dates, seeds removed (0h my gosh I have been buying organic fresh dates from the co-op, I never knew they could taste soooo good!)
Anyway, can't wait to get our new Vitamix!!! (we are waiting for a sale as they are $450 to $600!
Monday, July 26, 2010
Mad as hell at Dairy industry
This is what I just posted on Facebook:
Bawling my eyes out. Just watched the most horrific video of animal brutality I have ever seen on You Tube, of Conklin Farm in Ohio. If you can, watch it, and send a note to this man, asking him to stop (the main abuser was arrested and fired, but Conklin himself is also in the video committing acts of abuse). Just another reason I will not support the dairy industry. Please don't kid yourself if you think this doesn't go on...
Johnson Ⓥ I know that some of you will say that "this isn't the norm". That may be true, I don't know, I am not aware of what all goes on as far as horrific abuse on most farms. I do know that this one did happen, it's on this video and it is horrifi...c. I also know that innocent cows on dairy farms are continuously impregnanted every year, so that they can be hooked up to machines and milked, so that humans can have what was intended for the calf that was ripped away from it's mother soon after it was born. ( I have seen cows and calves wailing for each other when they are separated, it is no different than if you took a human's baby away.) The cows are given hormones to make them produce so much milk that their udders are painfully enlarged, often to the point of infection called mastitis (which makes udders pus-ridden and bloody), and this is treated with... antibiotics. They are simply milk machines. Is this not abuse??
Bawling my eyes out. Just watched the most horrific video of animal brutality I have ever seen on You Tube, of Conklin Farm in Ohio. If you can, watch it, and send a note to this man, asking him to stop (the main abuser was arrested and fired, but Conklin himself is also in the video committing acts of abuse). Just another reason I will not support the dairy industry. Please don't kid yourself if you think this doesn't go on...
Johnson Ⓥ I know that some of you will say that "this isn't the norm". That may be true, I don't know, I am not aware of what all goes on as far as horrific abuse on most farms. I do know that this one did happen, it's on this video and it is horrifi...c. I also know that innocent cows on dairy farms are continuously impregnanted every year, so that they can be hooked up to machines and milked, so that humans can have what was intended for the calf that was ripped away from it's mother soon after it was born. ( I have seen cows and calves wailing for each other when they are separated, it is no different than if you took a human's baby away.) The cows are given hormones to make them produce so much milk that their udders are painfully enlarged, often to the point of infection called mastitis (which makes udders pus-ridden and bloody), and this is treated with... antibiotics. They are simply milk machines. Is this not abuse??
Thursday, July 22, 2010
yoga
Did an hour of yoga tonight...because I needed to, and to help me sleep...but I am still awake! I was lying there thinking of something I read in Yoga journal that I think is so profoundly brilliant. It is regarding envy, and here is an excerpt:
"Forget about the person you envy. Forget about what she has that you wish were yours. Look instead at the energy that feeling is made of, and you'll notice that nothing in the feeling has any real solidity. Perhaps, at that moment, you might open to the insight that the energy forming and dissolving within your mind and heart is not really separate from the energy around you. Perhaps, at that moment, you might realize that the person you envy is not really someone separate from you; that you lack nothing because you are, at your deepest core, part of a vast field of energy that contains potentially everything you could ever want or need."
"Forget about the person you envy. Forget about what she has that you wish were yours. Look instead at the energy that feeling is made of, and you'll notice that nothing in the feeling has any real solidity. Perhaps, at that moment, you might open to the insight that the energy forming and dissolving within your mind and heart is not really separate from the energy around you. Perhaps, at that moment, you might realize that the person you envy is not really someone separate from you; that you lack nothing because you are, at your deepest core, part of a vast field of energy that contains potentially everything you could ever want or need."
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