Playing Catch-up
Monday, July 12th, 2010Hey kiddles! I know it’s been awhile. But if you are reading this then it means you have not given up on me and I love you for that! I hesitate to look at the date stamp on my last entry. I might die of shame over neglecting this blog.
So where have I been? What have I been up to? Have I given up my vegan ways? NEVER!
For the past few months I’ve been eating much of the same things you have seen me post in this blog before. Over and over again. I’ve tried a few new (to me) products and invented a few foods out of desperation and a thinning pantry. I’ve also dealt with a wide range of anti-vegan sentiment. And I’ve been struggling with some shopping highs and lows. So where to begin? How about where we left off?
My last post was in *cringe* February (I’m sorry. please forgive me? Will groveling suffice, or do I need to bribe you?) and I had just gotten back from the Portland, OR /Vancouver, WA area. And while I was there I made it to a Whole Foods to try some Go Max Go candybars. Maybe they deserve their own post with pictures of the packaging and how they look cut open. But I honestly don’t know how I made it back to the apartment I was staying at without swallowing all four candy bars whole. They certainly didn’t make it back home with me and to my computer. So I’m just stealing this picture straight from their website:
If you want to see what they look like cut open just go to their website and drool over the products page. For those who don’t get the names, here is the breakdown: Jokerz = Snickers. Twilight = Mars Bar. Buccaneer = 3 Musketeers. Mahalo = Almond Joy.
I, like most Americans, indulged a bit too much in cheap candy bars when I was a kid… and adult. So in making the switch over to Veganism I instantly felt a void in the form of milk chocolatey snacks. I’m not certain, but this blog post entitled “Chocolate” may have covered that a little.
If you can find them, Go Max Go bars are the absolute best for scratching that candy bar itch. Yeah, they’re a tad spendy, but I’m starting to get used to that in “luxury” items. But the cost of vegan “milk” chocolate has helped me to learn moderation.
These candy bars aren’t as thick as their mainstream counterparts, and I did feel as though the Jokerz bar could use a little more peanut, but they are good. They have classic candy bar texture and taste.
As for the results of my previous chocolate taste testing which I dropped the ball on… Larabar’s are for health food nuts who think they like junk food. The Boom Choco Boom bar tasted like cheap Easter chocolate, which I have no problem with. But if you have the option, the Boom Choco Boom crispie rice bar is the way to go. And the clear winner of the three was Terra Nostra’s Ricemilk Choco bar. Of course, it wasn’t cheap. And I hesitate to say that it was worth it. But if you need a milk chocolate fix then you won’t be griping over the price.
/chocolate
I also had my first run in with the much talked about Gardein Faux meats. After a spectacular failure at trying to get vegan Thai food in Vancouver I raided my host’s fridge and discovered some spaghetti with Gardein meatballs. Now, before I go further I should say that I don’t really care for spaghetti. Keeping that in mind, this spaghetti (and it’s vgn meatballs) was just as good as any spaghetti I have had in the past. Looking at their website now, I don’t see the meatballs. I guess that doesn’t matter because the product I really fell in love with was the Chicken Scaloppini. And I am ecstatic that my local shopping haunt, Food4Less, now carries a large selection of Gardein products.
Food4Less also recently started carrying Dandies vgn marshmallows & Ricemallow creme. Visions of Rice Crispie treats dance in my head. But just as surely as my spirits soared, I was soon brought crashing down to earth by the horrible realization that Food4Less no longer carries Frontier brand Vgn Chicken Bouillon. I live on the stuff and buy the bulk bags there constantly and now I am left lost and chicken-flavourless. And to add insult to injury it seems that they have switched out their Vital Wheat Gluten with Gluten Flour. Gluten Flour has a lower gluten content and makes for very sad seitan. But Fred Meyer still had VWC, and Frontier Bouillon in smaller quantities.
/new shopping
I also recently volunteered at the Frybread booth at the Veteran’s Powwow. The frybread was made with milk and therefore I couldn’t eat it. I’m sure you’re not surprised that I couldn’t eat much of anything at our their food booth. The booth was staffed by mostly volunteers, the majority of them Veterans. A few times people asked me why I wasn’t eating anything and I volunteered that I was vegan and had to explain what that means. You can probably guess that I’m not a food ethics nazi by virtue of the fact that I was helping out at a booth that served animal products. So it shouldn’t surprise you to learn that I never harangue people about what they eat or where their meat comes from. If they ask me my opinion I will give it, but I never try to convert a meat eater. But some people think that all vegans are argumentative and confrontational. And some of those people think that they will have the upperhand if they take the initiative to start the argument. This happened that weekend as I was rolling dough.
A guy walked up to me and in a condescending tone like that of an adult to a idiot child he started telling me that God put animals on this earth for us to eat. I just smiled and shook my head like I wasn’t buying it. And when he realized that he wasn’t going to get a rise out of me he dropped it. In situations like these no one is going to win an argument. And trying to argue would be a waste of my time and energy. Pick your battles. This wasn’t even a skirmish.
Apart from this would-be antagonist I’ve had to put up with borderline insulting comments about how vegan food must be full of sticks and twigs and other silly comments belittling the food (and ingredients of the food) that I eat. But I don’t let it get me down. I just go on being happy with the food that I eat.
/confrontation
Plans for the future?
I want to start cooking again. More than just what I’ve already been making. I want to try some new recipes. I also want to make my own un-turkey this holiday season. So I’ll be doing some experimenting soon. And I’m resolved to get back on the posting bandwagon with stories and pictures of my experience.
much love,
Melanie
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Melanie Marie is an Easy Rider
OK, So Now You’re a Vegetarian – I bought this book when it came out in 2000, shortly after I became vegetarian not because I thought it would be an invaluable tool, but because it was written by a local girl and they mentioned it on the news.? So I thought, “why not“.
I don’t even know where Practical Vegetarian came from.? I didn’t buy it.? Maybe someone dropped it off at my mother’s house in an effort to recommend some healthy meals for my father who is a diabetic and eats crap.? There are other cookbooks out there by the same name.? So don’t be confused.? This is a tiny book that looks like it came bundled with other things, not something you would buy individually.
the Betty Crocker’s Cookbook might have some baking recipes that can be converted, but for the most part this is a junkfood cookbook for an era in american cooking when junk food was starting to make it big at home and in the market.
Easy Sushi was a birthday gift from my amazon wishlist.? I never really intended on making sushi I just wanted ot look at the pictures because sushi is so pretty to look at.? It has no veg redemption.? If you want to make vegetarian sushi it is one google search away.
Now here is the great surprise to me.? Harumi’s Japanese Cooking was my favorite cookbook purchase in my omni days.? I am a HUGE otaku and love making bentos, so in the effort to make more authentic inclusions to my bentos I bought a cookbook from this renownd and awesome author.? Every dish (even the ones I would never eat) look amazing and there are lots of notations on what ingredients can be omitted or substituted if you can’t get the ingredients that she lists.
