I’m MoFo inspired!

An actual blog update, oh no!

I’ve borrowed this survey from my friend Nicole, who is the wondrous wonderful beacon of inspiring wonderment glowing in the vegan firmament who originally inspired me to throw caution to the wind (and vegan pies into the faces of naysayers) and go veg in the 1st place! All the MoFo-ing (“Vegan Month of Food” blogging) going on in the blogosphere has also inspired me to forgo valuable sleep and answer the following questions!

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1. Favourite non-dairy milk?
… Good grief, just one? Well. I love the heck outta my homemade raw nut milks. Almond & date milk is a classic. Macadamia milk is frothy & perfectly creamy, cashew milk is great in tea & in berry smoothies, & hazelnut milk is simply divine (but pricey!). Shop-bought? I usually go for Vitasoy rice milk or Bonsoy. Or a coconut if they look nice!

2. What are the top 3 dishes/recipes you are planning to cook?
… Only 3? Another good grief! I’ll just tell you my most immediate plans: 1. For my 6mo daughter, I’m going to try whizzing up a raw mash of sweet potato & zucchini, maybe a dash of flax oil or Udo’s oil, & warm it slightly; 2. Mango sorbet coconut tartlets from Ani Phyo’s dessert book; 3. Sprout & tempeh sang choy bow.

3. Topping of choice for popcorn?
Tamari & nutritional yeast is BRILLIANT on popcorn. Just ask Webly.

4. Most disastrous recipe/meal failure?
A while back I made a gluten-free orange cake that collapsed near the end of baking & turned to mush in the centre. But it still tasted good! I made many gluten-free test loaves with too much baking soda, yick. & onion in juice… What the hell is up with people drinking that? Yargh.

5. Favourite pickled item?
Radish in sushi.

6. How do you organise your recipes?
Organise? In one big random pile! Or with categories or tags on a blog!

7. Compost, trash, or garbage disposal?
Compost, bitches! We have 2 enormous bins in the garden, & a bokashi bin in the kitchen. There’s a rumour going around that we named them after our favourite characters on True Blood. I think you’ll find that’s an outright lie. Or true. One of those.

8. If you were stranded on an island and could only bring 3 foods…what would they be (don’t worry about how you’ll cook them)?
ONLY 3? Wot! Very uncool.

1. Bananas
2. Parsley
3. Sesame seeds

… damn it. I want goji berries & dates, too. & a million other things! Like raw brazil nut carob/cacao cakes! & coconuts. D’oh.

9. Fondest food memory from your childhood?
Mushrooms. On the BBQ. I remember I thought they were gross & didn’t want to try them, but then I did & said something like: “Mushrooms are better than chocolate.” Wise words, indeed.

10. Favourite vegan ice cream?
I can’t go past the lime icecream from Ani Phyo’s raw dessert book. It’s like the best fruity gelato & the best creamy icecream ever all at once! So lovely. & FYI: I’ve heard it said that vegan icecream is not real icecream, & that’s very true: it’s unreal icecream. Fucking A.

11. Most loved kitchen appliance?
Blender! Of course.

12. Spice/herb you would die without?
I’ve grown to love parsley. It’s brilliantly versatile & packed full of nutrients. Good, old parsley! It’s underrated. & quite lovely in the right smoothie or juice.

13. Cookbook you have owned for the longest time?
I have an enormous collection… not sure. I think my 1st vegan recipe book was Vegan With A Vengeance.

14. Favourite flavour of jam/jelly?
Raw jam made out of dates & raspberries srsly kicks butt. & I don’t mind some fig jam.

15. Favourite vegan recipe to serve to an omni friend?
Ooo… Snackwise, the raw brazil carob & coconut slice kicks even “carob haters” in the arse, so that’s fun! Mains, I find baked vegan shepherd’s pie wins many hearts. Or a salad of raw Asian greens, herbs, avocado, & tomato dressed with a tamari-gingery-sesame seedy-nice oil concoction amazes anyone & everyone. You CAN win friends with salad!

16. Seitan, tofu, or tempeh?
I love tempeh the mostest, but don’t eat it often enough. Tofu is easy & nice. I don’t do wheaty seitan usually, but occasionally yum-out on Asian soy faux meat. In a protein kinda category (& FYI ugh, I loathe the world’s protein fixation & exaggerated RDIs), I usually steer more towards nuts, mushrooms, greens, lentils, & beans.

17. Favourite meal to cook (or time of day to cook)?
I’m all about breakfast, baby. Smoothies, juices, fruit pudding, freshly blended nut milky things, berry-laden raw muesli, scrambled tofu or nuts, leftover pizza or curry, herbs & greens, nut spreads on toast/raw bread, marmite, tomatoes, faux pho, miso, & raw desserts… Breakfast for every meal, k thx!

18. What is sitting on top of your refrigerator?
Placemats & kitchen scales &… random stuff.

19. Name 3 items in your freezer without looking.
Berries, carob sauce/raw icing (frosting), tempeh.

20. What’s on your grocery list?
Right now? Tomatoes & garlic. Running low!

21. Favourite grocery store?
Don’t really have one… I prefer outdoor produce markets, & they vary week to week… Asian grocery shops that stock crazy “pure vegetarian” foods are always fun. I like the one at Q-store shopping complex on the Gold Coast. They always have fresh coriander, which is more than I can say for the bloody awful chain stupormarkets around here! Fie.

22. Name a recipe you’d love to veganize, but haven’t yet.
A proper crème brûlée. I’ve been meaning to for aaages. People always make them custardy instead of really creamy. I reckon it would be easiest replicated using gourmet raw foodie techniques rather than with cooked stuff. Macadamia nuts &/or cashews are probably a good place to start. & I shall start. As soon as I have time & develop a hankering for an insanely rich dessert.

23. Food blog you read the most (besides Isa’s because I know you check it everyday). Or maybe the top 3?
Way to embarrass me, survey. I haven’t been keeping up with any blog regularly since bubs arrived! Sorry, blogosphere.

24. Favourite vegan candy/chocolate?
Swami’s Rawganic chocolate bars. No contest. She’s a brilliant cook/uncook.

25. Most extravagant food item purchased lately?
I don’t really do extravagant..? Perhaps hemp oil… oh, wait. That’s not officially recognised as a foodstuff in Australia yet! Way to be behind the times, Australia. Also hemp flour, since you can’t buy hemp seeds. & hemp flour is only supposed to be used animal feed, apparently. Gee, lucky humans are animals, then! But. Ok. So I’d better just feed it to my cats because our backwards-arse government regulatory body says no. Yep. Yessir.

26. Ingredients you are scared to work with?
Anything vegan ist gut, ja! Except maybe that Mexican gourmet moldy corn stuff? Pass. I don’t digest regular corn too well anyway. Also, O_o & vegan haggis. I mean srsly. WHY.

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Fun! I hope y’all out there are enjoying Vegan MoFo! Xoxo

June already? No recent posts? Must be time for a rambly update…

Winter has arrived here in the southern hemisphere, and we’ve had flooding rains and all sorts of “fun” around my city.

The cold weather has meant our feline companions have become extra needy and have been progressively taking up more and more space on the end of our bed at night, leaving less and less room for us and interrupting our sleep! We could shut the door, I suppose… but that would probably just result in a howling cat duet outside the door.

My husband and I have also been renovating our bathroom, and we’re just about done – just waiting on some tiles to arrive so we can finish fixing up the walls. There’s also the possibility we might be moving in the not-to-distant future, but we’re still working on the details, so more on that later.

I’ve been eating more and more “raw food” as well. This doesn’t have much to do with veganism particularly, as I’m largely of the ethical vegan variety, and view the diet/health part and ecological benefits as secondary to the liberation/welfare of commodified/abused animals. The combination of my husband being diagnosed gluten-intolerant a while back and my reading the Campbell’s China Study at an earlier point has led me to investigate healthy eating alternatives within the framework of a cruelty-free lifestyle, and – while a plant-based diet already seems to be the healthiest option as far as nutrition is concerned – there’s no harm in going further and improving healthy eating beyond the minimum. I was never much of a junk food person to start off with (besides potato chips… fried tater = love), and my husband has always been a bit of a “foodie” preferring fancy creations made from unprocessed wholefoods. And you can’t get more wholefoodie than raw and fresh.

I picked up a copy of Ani Phyo’s Raw Food Kitchen a few months back and have been trying out the recipes, and I have to say I’m pretty darn impressed by the raw food style of “uncooking.” Most of the foods are incredibly tasty, and I’ve been brimming over with energy. It’s quite surprising. It’s not a hugely noticeable improvement, as I was already eating a pretty decent diet and in great health, but I’m certainly perkier and sleeping less, as is my gluten-intolerant husband. Since I started increasing raw foods in my diet in January I haven’t had so much as a sniffle, and between the stress of a wedding and a family funeral combined with a background of chronic hayfever, I think that’s probably something worth writing home about. I can still have my black forest cake and eat it, too, except now it’s made out of brazil nuts, dates, carob and other goodies that form a surprisingly awesome cake that is probably among the tastiest damn cakes I’ve ever chomped on (and I’ve chomped quite a few!). And I can eat the whole damn cake while losing weight at the same time – it’s a lazy person’s dream diet! Ha. (Except that the higher energy levels mean you’re actually driven to want to exercise! Which is probably not such a bad thing, either.)

Still, it’s a separate issue to the ethical vegan life, insofar as it’s only of obvious benefit is to myself (although with the increase in local fresh foods and decrease in packaging it’s probably a tad less environmentally destructive, which is useful). I’m not going to go on about that too much here. This blog is supposed to be about supporting gluten-free vegan living, not a health programme as such, beyond the absence of gluten. Veganism is for animal rights and liberation, not personal gain/health or “just a diet.” Still, given my interest in the health/gluten intolerance areas, it’s probably a little comforting to know that my recipes – if you do try them out – are unlikely to aggravate digestive problems, hey? Ha. They might even assist with health improvements…

So if “raw” recipes start featuring more heavily, this is why. The most equipment-heavy stuff I’ll post will use a blender or food processor at most, other than the dehydrated raw bread I’ve already posted. I don’t have the intention of going 100% raw any time soon, as “My Husband, The Scientist” – in addition to his digestive system being a severe critic – is quite critical of the biological/chemical/nutritional science expounded by proponents of the “raw movement.” My Husband, The Scientist won’t tolerate any blind-faithy, airy-fairy, feel-goodery, fluffy-bunny nonsense in our kitchen! And fair enough, too – all that unscientific mumbo-jumbo would probably knock our chakras out of alignment… um.

What else? More recipes coming soon. And perhaps the most important news I’ve saved for last: I’m adopting some mice that have been rescued! I’ll post photos and stories of the little guys soon.

The thinking animal

Anyone who has adopted an animal and brought it into their home knows that animals are more than automatons. For those of us who pay close attention to our animal companions, we’ve witnessed a full range of emotions, mischievous thinking (and the disastrous results that follow!), the curiosity, and the behaviours taught and learnt over time.

Intelligence is not just limited to cats and dogs: people have reported the same sorts of things from other pets, from rodents to snakes to goldfish. Heck, I once saw an article about goldfish who were taught to play a form of miniature underwater soccer! My own adopted angelfish take a great deal of interest in the world outside their tank, and my rats love to play games and collect items to create all manner of bizarre decorations in their cage. With a little persistence, rats can be trained to come when their name is called.

So how does this relate to a gluten-free vegan blog? Well, besides my adopted animal companions eating a gluten-free diet, too (it just turned out that way), the idea of animal intelligence, feeling, wants and needs is what veganism is about. Animals can suffer, that much is clear. But evidence – in our own homes and in laboratories – shows that they can think and reason as well. Humans are not unique, despite the egotism that people spew about our “right” to dominate the earth. Monkeys and crows use tools, earthworms and otters build homes for themselves from carefully chosen materials. Pigs are known for being vastly more intelligent than dogs, and cows and chickens kept on small properties are often prized as “pets” rather than food or egg/dairy production machines.

Simply because animals do not cause destruction and create concrete jungles on a mass scale in the process (like humans do) does not mean their abilities should be dismissed. Rats – commonly used in psychology experiments – have even demonstrated meta-cognitive abilities, ie. thinking about thinking – reconsidering choices, thoughts, the world, etc. Rats are the second most destructive force on earth, next to humans, but we are not the only animals who reshape their environment and create from it, as mentioned earlier. There are a vast range of abilities and intelligences across the animal kingdom.

My compassion for another human is not limited to my estimate of their intelligence. Is someone with a lower intelligence less entitled to a life free from harm? Or, to put it another way: is someone with a different form of intelligence, with a different way of life, any less entitled to a life free from harm, abuse, enslavement, forced labour, and violent slaughter? For the most part, the wants of animals are ignored, or dismissed as non-existent (yet anyone with pets – or companion animals – knows that animal have needs, eg. cats in particular aren’t afraid to remind you know about what they want! Incessantly and repeatedly. And each individual cat makes their requests in a different way, and has preferences for different things).

For humans, the answer appears obvious in the age of the Declaration of Human Rights, yet less than one hundred years ago humans still enslaved others, discriminated based on race, gender, physical and intellectual disabilities. This still goes on in plenty of places in the world, in plenty of ways, but it’s not considered fair or just. As education becomes more and more widespread, people are empowered to make choices and rethink what is acceptable treatment of them and others. People work to eliminate violence and abuse based on bigotry. The anti-sweatshop movement is a great example (and remarkably similar to the anti-factory farming movement).

So, where does veganism fit in? Discriminating on the basis of species is equivalent to discriminating on the basis of any other arbitrary characteristic, such as race or gender. Simply because an intelligent being is of a different species doesn’t make it any less worthy of our compassion. The idea of “inherent worth” being applied to arbitrary characteristics is the same idea behind white supremacy and the patriarchal values oppressing women – it is a poor excuse for excusing all sorts of violent, ignorant, and abusive behaviour against another life. Simply because someone is born with white skin or is a man does not make them more worthy of privilege than dark skinned folks or women, respectively. Similarly, being born a human should not give you the privilege to abuse nonhumans or to place your needs above theirs. To not use, abuse, or support animal industry is to not engage in bigotry against nonhuman species.

Speciesism, like racism and sexism, causes harm, destruction, violence, and pain, and it’s completely unnecessary. There is nothing to be gained by supporting animal abuse, but plenty to lose by continuing down this path – for starters, animal industries create more pollution than all other industries combined, including automotive, and animal farming industries so often have to be subsidised by governments to stay afloat – ultimately they are not sustainable on any level. Just as sexism and racism impede societies economically and sociologically, so does speciesism.

Animals are entitled to their own needs just as much as we are. They express their needs to each other and to us – and here’s a National Geographic article that shows they do. Not only can animals relate to each other, they can stretch themselves to think in human terms. Most humans are incapable of relating to animals on their terms, yet animals are often open and willing to learn from us and teach us.

Minds of their Own:
Animals are smarter than you think.
By Virginia Morell

But is this what veganism is all about? Focusing on all the misery and violence in the world? … Absolutely not! Although fostering awareness of suffering is a key step, along with the issues of animal rights and the importance of acknowledging non-human intelligence. Veganism is about positive change, personal liberation for everyone – and not at the expense of anyone else. The aim is freedom and happiness for everyone, human and nonhuman. It’s about health for everyone, animals of all species and the environment included. By making an effort to stop consuming animal products, life improves. Eating also becomes cheaper and fun and positive. Shopping for clothes and other items besides food also falls into the same realm.

Vegans sometimes hit a negative wall when other people don’t understand the meaning of veganism and take it as a personal criticism or a challenge. But it’s not just about you, and it’s not just about me. It’s about the animals, the rights of non-human and human animals. It’s also about the health of the planet and the health of all non-human and human animals. Veganism is about living in balance with a large ecosystem, without engaging in unsustainable, needlessly destructive or violent behaviours. Ultimately, it’s about helping everyone, which is inclusive of you and me… So hug a vegan today! We’re not out to personally attack or criticise you. We’re only trying to be nice! And if we manage to raise awareness in the process and help more people become vegan along the way, then so much the better for everyone.

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My next non-recipe vegan articles coming up in the near future will feature: why food tastes better when you’re vegan; why veganism is not restrictive or about “giving up” things; how veganism is about discovering a whole new, vast world of flavours and life options beyond the western infatuation with grease, constipation, disease, and obesity; further discussion on human and “pet”/companion animal interactions; various approaches to becoming vegan; why PETA is a thorn in the side of veganism; Buddhists, other religions/philosophies, & veganism… and whatever other stuff comes up in the meantime! And more recipes. There’s always more recipes.

Still vegan & kickin

Hey, world! I’m still well and truly alive… I haven’t posted in ages. Between the holiday break, summertime, the glorious drought-breaking rains (well, not quite drought-breaking, but getting there!), family illnesses, a car accident, insurance issues, wedding planning, drama, drama, drama… I just haven’t found the time or energy to post! Sorry, guys.

I’ll be starting up again soon, not just with recipes but also with animal rights rants/info. You see, veganism is a lifestyle that advocates and protects the rights of animals to live free of harm and abuse, it’s not just a diet – the diet is called “vegetarian” (yep, that’s a note to all you “dietary vegans” – check your vocab, get accurate, and stop making it hard on the rest of us! No animal products means no animal products, not just in the kitchen but in the bathroom and the wardrobe, too!).

Also, one further note… I’ve been getting the odd comment over my break along the lines of: “thanks for the blog! gluten-free AND vegan = yay! More, please!” and the like. That makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. Thanks, guys! It’s fantastic… But! (and there’s always a “but”)… I have also been getting the odd whinge about how “limiting” a vegan gluten-free diet is… I have a quick response for that: ABSOLUTE CRAP. To put it bluntly.

Seriously… Gluten-free vegans cut out only a few nasty pseudo-foods: pieces of animal corpses, animal fluids, and a few icky grains… so what’s left? There are 7,000 edible plants in the world, so there’s probably still around 6,900 plants you can eat at least (are their even 100 foods with gluten in them? I doubt it!). Open your eyes! If it really looks grim to you, then you need to get out of the crap local chain supermarkets you’re going to and get your butt down to a health store, an independent grocery store, or out to a farmers market. Eat fresher, it’s better! By sticking to mostly fresh produce you’ll avoid gluten and wheat additives that hide in some processed “foods”. Please. And stop complaining. There really is no need. These foods taste great and they’re all around you!…

Okay, yes, I’ll admit it: I have felt your pain, truly I have. I, too, was blind to the plethora of foods available to we lucky, over-privileged folks in the western world. My first month or two going vegan I was a bit lost. Then I got myself a spare day on the weekend, and went on a grocery shopping adventure and found out that produce is almost limitless. Every time I go to the produce market I always see fresh plant food that I’ve yet to try… mainly because I have no clue what to do with it. Then, later on, my first month or two cooking gluten-free was a sticky nightmare of several different flours… but they came together into glorious bread and cake creations in the end. So c’mon – I’ve done the hard yards, as have other gluten-free and vegan cooks out there, so you don’t have to! Read some recipes, go get the ingredients, follow the recipe, and there you have it: food! Edible, tasty, and everything! Easy peasy. Staring at recipes doesn’t help food appear. Buy some stuff, cook a little… get out there and live your life! Don’t waste it complaining about what you don’t have. If you’ve got an internet connection and the time to use it, you can probably afford the time and money to go out into the big scary world to buy a bowl of rice, a potato, an apple, some lentils, or maybe even some flour to make a loaf of gluten-free bread… at the very, very least. Living compassionately and being healthy is fun and rewarding. Get into the swing of it!

A teeny, weeny, tiny, itty, bitty bit of persistence is all that’s called for… if that. It’s not a lot to ask of yourself. Anything really worth doing in life is worth a thought or two, and a little bit of energy every now and then. Avoiding causing harm to animals makes veganism worth it alone – it’s about animal health, not my health! But, then, the health benefits of veganism combined with going gluten-free (for allergies/digestive health – it’s not an ethical statement to pass on wheat/gluten!) make it doubly worth it. Conveniently: protecting animal health = protecting my health. (Karma, anyone?!) Additionally, animal industries create more pollution than all other industries on the planet combined, so eating vegan is the best thing you can do for the environment, too. Veganism is just awesome, period. But you knew that already, right? (If not, here’s a good, quick overview: “about veganism“).

So… Coming up soon I’ll be posting some recipes, talking about issues of animal rights and welfare, and whatever else takes my fancy. (Remind me to post my wedding reception menu after we sit down with the chef and work it out – exciting!) I’ve been trying out some “raw food” recipes – which are all gluten-free-friendly – so I’ll include a few of those as well, including some fancy dehydrated bread and cracker experiments. I’m also really into fruit smoothies with spirulina at present – they’re a tasty breakfast! Spirulina has virtually no taste, but it packs an energy punch like nothing else.

Happy 2008! Hope you are well & rocking out, vegan-style.
Catch you again soon! Hart! xo