I'm hoping to get this blog posted before it is officially Christmas Eve, but it's not looking so good at the moment. But it has been far too long since I've written anything, and there are so many exciting things to cover! Before I go any further, let us all take a moment to appreciate the wonder, majesty, and beauty that is my mother's new kitchen:
When I went away for the most recent semester, my kitchen was a black hole of cement and drywall, so this is quite an improvement. It is indeed a work of art that was hopefully worth the months of cooking on a camping stove on the back patio. I knew that coming home would be both a huge opportunity and an equally huge challenge for my fooding adventures. I was not wrong. Though my resources seem boundless in comparison to those of my dorm room, I also have the (well-intended) adversity of my family members. I've prepared myself for this in three major ways:
- I got my facts straight. One of the best things about my ADD-type personality is that when I do find something I'm willing to focus on, I focus on it a lot. And when I do focus on something, it becomes really important to me to become as knowledgeable as possible on the subject. It leads to some pretty useless information about the ocean and ballet and stuff. In this case, I did hours of internet research about the ethical, nutritional, and environmental benefits and downfalls of a vegan diet. I also read The Starch Solution by John A. McDougall, MD, and Mary McDougall. It was really helpful because it provided me with information in support of a vegan diet from all the aforementioned categories. I was able to stump my older brother with some information about Egyptians and Heart Disease from this book, which was pretty cool. I know that my family only questions what I'm doing because they don't want me to die, so having information to support my decisions is extremely important.
- I collected an arsenal of vegan cookie recipes. I had to find a way to combat my Christmas cravings. As I've mentioned before, my mom is a very, very good non-vegan cook. I knew I would have to have some substitutes for myself in order to avoid caving in and eating the New Zealand Holly Cookies. My dessert board on Pinterest is overflowing with vegan and raw vegan desserts to make. So far, I've made vegan versions of Giada De Laurentiis' Chocolate and Coconut Lace Cookies and Averie Cooks' Chewy Oatmeal Coconut Brown Sugar Cookies. I'll be posting the veganized recipes, as well as the recipe for my Roasted Vegetable Quinoa Slaw, shortly.
- I scavenged for vegan ingredients. The little town of Vista, California may not be Brooklyn, but it's also not Kansas (I actually know nothing about Kansas there may be a surplus of hipster vegans there): there are some hip stores with the ingredients I need here. I bought a ton of vegetables, fruits, and starches to start off, of course. Then I found some vegan butter and virgin coconut oil for butter replacements, Agave nectar to replace honey, and so on. Though vegan shopping may require a little research ahead of time, it really isn't that difficult to find what you're looking for in this day and age.
With these three tactics the foundation of my technique, I ventured to the turbulent battle lines of my kitchen. My mother greeted my at the airport with a vegan-friendly granola bar and my brother had been looking up vegan cookies for me - they are supportive my fooding and that made me very happy. However, they also have no problem challenging me to explain my motivation for going vegan, over and over again, and they're not used to the level of health I'm trying to achieve. Though I've been eating more fat than I had been at school, it has helped me expand my knowledge and skill in this fooding experiment.
Thanks for reading and happy holidays again! Stay tuned for my Vegan Lace Cookies, Vegan Oatmeal Coconut Brown Sugar Cookies, and my Roasted Vegetable Quinoa Slaw.
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