Veganism : a lifestyle that seeks to exclude the use of animals for food, clothing, or any other purpose. Our Mission: To reinforce the idea that veganism is not only beneficial for an average busy family, but downright easy. And delicious. Check back often for posts about food, thoughts, links, and more related to living in a vegan home. Oh, and if you like something, let me know!
Friday, July 30, 2010
Peanut Butter Conundrum
Ever since my 5 year old's tantrum over peanut butter at the Little Grill, I have been asking myself this question, "Should I switch to natural peanut butter or just leave well-enough alone?" Natural peanut butter sounds so wholesome, but it just doesn't have the flavor and consistency of the commercially prepared varieties. As far as I can tell, when I looked up peanut butter on Wikipedia, the main problem with commercial peanut butters is the amount of saturated and trans fats they contain, as well as preservatives. Also, they put a lot of sugar in commercial varieties, and I think that is the main problem with my son. He LIKES sweet peanut butter, and the natural stuff is a little reminiscent of paste...like, school paste. Not gonna lie, if you have been eating the sweet stuff, eating the natural stuff is pretty shocking. I think at this point in time, for us it is a matter of taste. We try to eat healthfully, so I am going to maintain that sugar in peanut butter is not such a bad thing as long as you balance it with good choices like natural jams and whole wheat bread and do not make it a daily thing. You have to make that choice for yourself, I am not advocating one or the other for anyone but my own kids. I just wanted to pass on these thoughts and hopefully it will inspire someone! A few commercial companies are jumping on the "natural" bandwagon, though. Supposedly Jiff makes a natural peanut butter that is healthier and tastes very similar to the original.
Thursday, July 22, 2010
Brown Thumb? No Time?
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Wednesday, July 21, 2010
The Common Market
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Friday, July 16, 2010
Green Machine
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I have been in serious gardening mode for the last few weeks! This is one of my favorite times of the year, and the anticipation of seeing all my hard work pay off is crazy. We started planting back in May. Every year we go to the Blandy Mother's Day Plant sale and pick up all kinds of organic and heirloom plants. Many of our plants come from seed as well, like the beans. Well, we have quite a crop this year because we terraced off another portion of the yard and now have even more growing space than last year. Who says you can't have an awesome garden on less than an acre in the city? So this is a vegan gardener's dream come true, we have: green beans, yellow squash, zucchini, sugar snap peas, broccoli, cucumbers, many kinds of tomatoes, eggplant, butterhead lettuce, bell peppers, hot peppers, potatoes, and gads of herbs like sage, parsley, oregano, and the traditional basil patch. It is not so much hard work, I have the kids to help me. There are many lessons to be learned when growing a garden, the most important being responsibility and an understanding of growth and new life. I will post more as my garden produces more and I get to try many new recipes. Can't wait for the gazpacho and the kids are begging me to make pasta sauce. People from California, I envy you with your year-round growing season!!!! I could really do this all year. I think I need to build a greenhouse this fall!
Thursday, July 15, 2010
The Little Grill Collective
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Today we decided to throw caution to the wind and travel to the Green Valley Book Fair just south of Harrisonburg, VA. You can get thousands of new books for practically nothing. I love getting a fairly new title for $3.00 and then checking the original price to see that it WAS $25.00!!! On our way home we were very hungry so we decided to stop at the Little Grill Collective in Harrisonburg. It is kind of a hole in the wall, but we loved it. The atmosphere is really laid-back. I felt totally comfortable bringing the kids in there! Low and behold, there were plenty of options for veg-heads. There were several sandwiches that included tempeh, salads, appetizers that included falafel and hummus, and each dish came with a ton of chips and/or fresh fries. You can ask to have the cheese in ANYTHING substituted with vegan cheese. I especially enjoyed the vegan chocolate chip cookie (just order one, they are massive, and ask to have it warmed up), the ginger lemonade, and the paintings and stuff around the room. It was more like being at home than a restaurant. Parents take note: the peanut butter in the PB&J is all natural, no sugar added. We usually get our peanut butter sweetened, so my 5 year old turned into a real grouch and refused to eat because the peanut butter "tasted funny". Other than that, Little Grill is amazing and not to be missed!!! Next stop in Harrisonburg will be the Ethiopian place!
Great Book For Kids
We recently purchased this wonderful book by Ruby Roth called That's Why We Don't Eat Animals. I have to say that I enjoyed it as much as the kids did. It explains, in kid-friendly terms, the reasons why we don't eat animals and how it affects the world. The pictures are lovely, as well. If your library has it, check it out. If not, find it online!
Wednesday, July 14, 2010
Adventures in SushiLand!
So I decided to try to make my own sushi. It is NEVER the way I want it when we go out, and the stuff that you get at the Asian buffets almost always has fish or those yucky little orange fish eggs. I got everything that I needed at the grocery store. It is a brand name called Sushi Chef, and it totally rocks. I got the Nori (seaweed paper, tastes better than it looks), the rolling mat and the paddle, the rice, the veggies for the center, and even the pickled ginger and wasabi paste. The rice was easy but the timing had to be JUST right to get the right consistency. While I was cooking the rice, I chopped some avocado, cucumber, and carrot slivers. When the rice was finished, I used wet hands (really important, this stuff is super sticky) to spread it out on a piece of nori paper till it was almost flat. I added the veggies and rolled it up. The I used a sharp, wet knife to cut the long roll into pieces. It was easy and delicious. We ate it before a broccoli stir-fry. The next time I make it, though, I will do the whole shebang ahead of time so that I do not end up overcooking my main dish...again (oopsy!).
Here is a good video if you need a visual. It is slightly different from what I did, but looks good and it all vegan! Trust yourself, I have done it and it IS do-able at home :) If the video does not show up, here is the link -
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RU-b9XS1g5s
Wednesday, July 7, 2010
Bonnaroo Experience
My husband and I took a break from the kids last month and went to experience the Bonnaroo music festival in Manchester, Tenn. It was great fun camping for four days, tons of great musicians like Damian Marley and Michael Franti, lots of cool new people to meet, and LOTS of great food. There were many great vegan experiences to be had. We went nuts for the Samosa stand. If you haven't tried a samosa yet, you should. Most Indian eateries have them, and both kids and grown-ups will love them. It is a pocket of flakey crist filled with veggie, chick peas, and other goodies. Bonnaroo also had an abundance of sweet potato fries, which are healthier than regular fries and very tasty!! Overall, Bonnaroo gets two thumbs up on the vegan scale!!!
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