Thanksgiving!!! (I know I'm a little behind, works been crazy!)

When most people hear the word Thanksgiving they think of turkey, yams with marshmallows, and pie...

to some vegan's it's a time to worry about what their non vegan families are making, and what they will even be able to eat. This year I didn't want to deal with that problem so I made my own pie and my very first Tofurky dinner. It was so delicious. Even the open-minded non-vegans in my family wanted to try both and gave me a ton of compliments. 

My friend Mandy helped me make the pie, and I so appreciate her help. She is the one pictured in all the pie pictures. This is all proof that I made it through my first vegan holiday and am super stoked on every other holiday now!!!

Night before Thanksgiving.....

 

And now for the morning of Thanksgiving!!!!

Vegan Barbecue Sandwiches!!!

Tonight for dinner I had my very first Vegan Barbecue Sandwich. It was SUPER delicious. I recommend everyone try one. The brand I used was LightLife. 

It was a super quick meal. You just cut a slit in the package and heat in the microwave for a minute (it says a minute and a half, but after a minute mine was hot) I added a side of creamed corn and voila. Dinner. :)

Help Stop The Suffering in University of Utah Labs!!!!

This is truly sad, I cannot believe that these sort of things go on, and you never think they'll be happening almost right in your backyard. I was shocked when I read University of Utah on the Peta site.

While undercover inside the labs of the University of Utah (UU), PETA's investigator saw cats acquired from area animal shelters who had holes drilled into their skulls and electrodes implanted in their brains, rabbits who underwent highly invasive spinal surgeries, and monkeys who were kept all alone and constantly thirsty so that they would cooperate during experiments.These are just a few of the investigator's photographs from UU.

These are just a few examples of the atrosoties that are happening....

These kittens and others purchased from local animal shelters had a chemical injected into their brains to cause a build-up of excess fluid. All these kittens and two additional litters died before the experiments were completed.

Frik was kept constantly thirsty so that he would cooperate with experimenters in exchange for a few drops of water.

This rabbit had an incision cut into her back and implants inserted into her spine. In similar experiments, the surgically mutilated rabbits were observed for 24 weeks and then killed.

Click here to help stop these experiments!!! 

Just a little something to help get your mind rolling this morning.....

Get free stickers at peta2.com

A Couple Days Worth of Food Review....

I always thought it would be so hard to be vegan in a farming community like Utah, but I went to Urbanspoon.com and found a ton of vegan friendly restaurants. The first one I decided to try was Este Pizzaria since I was taking my best friend with me and she isn't vegan or even vegetarian and I was like "oh you can never go wrong with vegan pizza!" and I was right she loved it. We ordered the Vegan White Pizza which was olive oil, oregano, tomatoes, vegan cheese (usually comes with onions, but it wasn't that kinda night. haha) But it was only $19 for a medium pizza and 2 sodas. We also got a side order of Garlic Knots which were like $4 but SO worth it.

 

Then a few nights after I went out and had that fabulous pizza I decided I would make a vegan version of something that my mom made for me all the time when I was a kid it doesn't have a special name, we just always called it "Hot dogs, Potatoes, and Cheese" which is about the most obvious name a dish like this can have. haha. So I just made it with Yves meatless hot dogs, instant mashed potatoes with soy milk and butter substitute and Tofutti American style soy slices. Quick, Easy and even more delicious with a side of vegetables. (pictured here with peas.)

 

 And finally (this is a long post, I've been behind on my posts. haha.)

The other day I was walking around target before work and noticed this Amy's Kitchen Enchiladas in the freezer, I was a little hesitant to get them, just because you never know. But I love me some enchiladas and it's so hard to find good vegan Mexican food. Especially microwavable!! 

 

They were so delicious and I recommend the next time you are in the freezer section of any grocery store and you see these you should pick them up. MmmMmm!

Yesterday was my first World Vegan Day!!!

Before I was Vegan I didn't even know Vegans had their own holiday! lol. But really World Vegan Day is more of a day to help non-vegans get a feel for being vegan and maybe try it out. 

    My Vegan Day Activity was that I went to my mom's house and talked to my fourteen year old sister about vegetarianism, she has been flirting with it for a while but doesn't quite know how to go about it, I just made sure she knows that I'm here for her whenever she's ready to make her decision. It's terribly hard to grow up vegan in a house full of meat-eaters. But I did it, so I know it is possible, it's just a little harder. But...

"all good things are worth the work."

    I even had a little debate with my mom on the subject. She was once vegetarian, but has returned to eating meat. She was partially the reason I decided to give up meat in the first place, so I am rather disappointed that she went back to the "dark side" lol. 

On a side note I vote that everyone should go to Compassion over Killing and order a free copy of the recipe book. I just got mine in the mail and I'm SO excited to try out all the recipes. I'm even planning my holiday meals already. :)

Guide to Vegan Halloween 2009

Halloween is my very favorite holiday ever, and I'm so glad it is only 2 days away. This year I'm going to be Betty Boop and Grenade is going to be a pirate. :)

But Halloween also brings up an important aspect of the holiday.....candy. Being vegan, candy is somewhat limited but there are plenty of choices left!

Including:

• Airheads taffy
• Atkins peanut butter bars
• Blow Pops
• Brach’s Cinnamon Hard Candy
• Charms lollipops
• Chick-o-Sticks
• Cracker Jack
• Cry Babies
• Dem Bones
• Dots
• Dum-Dums
• Fireballs
• Goldenberg's Peanut Chews
• Hubba Bubba bubblegum
• Jolly Ranchers (lollipops and hard candy)
• Jujubees
• Jujyfruits
• Lemonheads
• Mambas
• Mary Janes (regular and peanut butter kisses)
• Now and Later
• Pez
• Ring Pop lollipops
• Smarties (U.S. Brand)
• Sour Patch Kids
• Super Bubble
• Swedish Fish
• Sweet Tarts
• Tropical Source mini chocolate bags
• Twizzlers
• Zotz

And plenty of party snack choices including:

• Bean dip (make sure it’s lard-free)
• Cracker Jack
• Fritos
• Lance’s Toasty Crackers
• Lay's Stax
• Lay's WOW! potato chips
• Microwave popcorn (minus the real butter flavor)
• Munchos
• Peanuts, sunflower seeds, almonds, cashews, and Pistachios
• Pretzels
• Salsa
• Skittles’ Mints
• Tostitos
• Trail mix
• Triscuits
• Wheat Thins

If you're wondering why vegans are limited to these items here's why:

Casein—Whey’s cousin, casein is made from curdled milk. Yuck!

Gelatin—Rhymes with "skeleton." Coincidence? I think not. Gelatin is a protein made by boiling cows’ and pigs’ skin, tendons, ligaments, and bones. Jell-O? Heck, no!

Honey—Sure, honey tastes sweet, but you’ll get a bad taste in your mouth when you learn how it’s "harvested."

From a former beekeeper: "[T]ypically, beekeepers are gloved and netted to avoid stings (nearly every bee who stings will die due to her entrails being pulled from her body attached to her stinger.) Then the hives are opened as quickly as possible and the bees are ‘smoked.’ Smoke from a smoldering fire carried in a ‘smoker’ is pumped into the hive and the bees are ‘calmed.’ In spite of this, the combs are pulled quickly and many bees are crushed in the process. When a bee is hurt, she releases a chemical message that alerts and activates the hive members who proceed to attack the intruder—giving their lives in the process."

Lard—Lard is such a gross word, it almost makes you wonder why they just don’t call it what it is: "Fat from hog abdomens."

Pepsin—If the thought of eating lard turns your stomach, stay away from pepsin, a clotting agent from pigs’ stomachs, used in some cheeses and vitamins.

Rennet—Certain words just make you cringe, like coagulate, congeal, clot—which is what rennet, an enzyme taken from baby calves’ stomachs, is used for in cheese production.

Stearic Acid—It may sound less gross than "lard," but stearic acid, which often rears its ugly head in chocolate and vitamins, comes from a fatty substance taken from slaughtered pigs’ stomachs—or from cows, sheep, or dogs and cats euthanized in animal shelters. Still want to chew on that piece of Fido?

Cetyl Palmitate—Check your head if you’re using margarine that contains cetyl palmitate, the fancy term for the waxy oil derived from sperm whales’ heads or from dolphins. "I can’t believe it’s not " oh, wait. It is" Whale head wax"?

Urea—Urea comes from urine and other "bodily fluids." It’s used to "brown" baked goods, like pretzels. Um, yeah. And the oven is for ??

Oh, and remember to stay away from anything made by Nestle and Mars due to their non vegan practices!

Have a happy and safe Halloween!!!

(all info obtained from Peta)