Daisy, Daisy . . .

(Cross-posted from Daily Kos)

Here in the mountains of Northeastern PA the snow is almost gone and it's supposed to be 65 today, about 20 degrees over normal for now. But we'll take it! Also, here's a Naughty Kitten update: our Daisy has mellowed to the point where we can handle her.



This is Daisy today.

You all [friends at Daily Kos] were so helpful a few weeks ago when my husband had reached the end of his rope with her. We made some suggested accommodations, but the biggest positive influence came, I believe, from our psychic friend who asked spirit guides to speak with her and explain that jumping on the mantel wasn't cool. Dasiy remained quiet and subdued for over an hour, unusual for a 7-month old kitten, and she has never jumped up there again. Made a believer out of me! When I saw our friend and told her, she said, "It was a spirit already in your home," either one of our cats who has passed on (there were 4, 2 who have been in this house) or one of our beloved parents, or...?

The greatness of a nation can be judged by the way its animals are treated - Mahatma Gandhi

Spring Will Soon Be Here!

Springtime is a season of joy for all creatures. We await her arrival with open arms. The squirrels in the back yard scrounging around my bird feeders, the black crows on the spine of the house, and walking like men with hands clasped behind their backs on the winter-faded grass, and we humans and our cat Daisy all look toward spring at this time of winter discontent in the world.

Our young Daisy enjoys a beam of sunlight and an airborne faux-furry mouse toy.

Here in the mountains of Northern Pennsylvania, the sun is shining, the snow is almost gone, except for a few little patches here and there, and the air is 52 degrees. A far cry from the 10-below temperatures we braved a month or so ago.

Living in an eco-friendly, vegetarian way, aspiring toward the vegan, at ease in my own skin today, I welcome this season of greater light and freedom. On Sunday we'll turn the clocks ahead for Daylight Savings Time, and the mornings will be darker and the evenings brighter.

Another winter will soon end as the equinox passes in just two weeks, and hope of warmth will cheer us again. Meanwhile, it's another day today to live in harmony with the Earth.

The Engine 2 Diet

This morning on the "Today Show" I saw a segment featuring Rip Esselstyn, a hunky and totally fit firefighter from Engine 2 Company in Austin, Texas whose firehouse has gone totally vegan after several guys had colossal total cholesterol scores. Rip has a book out, The Engine 2 Diet, with a website where you can learn more and order it via links to all the usual online vendors, or get it through Amazon.

My omnivore husband announced, as we watched this piece, that he's decided to swear off red meat, including pork. This is a big change and one that gives me great hope! Just last night he was telling me what an inconvenience my veggie lifestyle is for him, because he wanted to stir fry my tofu and veggies in the same pan where he'd sauteed his Kung Po shrimp without cleaning it out. I deferred, grateful for his wanting to make it for me, and telling myself that any faint vestiges of his shrimp don't change my commitment to my own vegetarian ways.

Wearing Your Ethics

The longer I enjoy meatless eating, the more sensitive I'm becoming to the needs of the planet and our animal co-inhabitants. As moved as I am to tears and disgust by cruelty in factory farming, I still need to know it exists and fight it. I have watched the videos and read the articles and I tell others what I believe and why. The easiest way to get the point across is fashion without confrontation, at least that's how it seems. The Peta Store has some awesome t-shirt choices. Paul McCartney wore the "Eat No (cow)" t-shirt on an album cover. I have it in the "Eat No (fish)" version, too. Order a few. Wear your convictions!

I went to the hairdresser recently. One of the working women there comes from Eastern Europe and had raised her own meat and poultry. Because diet seems to be a constant topic among us when I'm there, my vegetarian lifestyle came up (again). I explained that as much as I had enjoyed meat as a food, at least sometimes, it was exposure to factory farming cruelty that turned me from it, never to return to eating animal flesh again. The European woman said that she and her husband slaughtered their animals themselves and assured us that chickens and lambs "have no adrenaline" and therefore can't feel fear. I think that's preposterous. I told her that anything that dies in a state of distress is suffused with the chemical influence of that disstress and this is bad for the person eating it. Maybe lions on the Savannah are innured to those influences, but we who have many healthier alternatives, and the molars to grind grains and veggies, are not.

Holding My Own

Life as a vegetarian about 8 months into the process is really good. Thus far I've stopped eating all meat, fish and poultry. I've stopped buying new leather shoes (found great Chuck Taylor at the Converse outlet and Madden Girl shoes that you can get at Alternative Outfitters) and accessories. I especially like the Converse slip-style with eyelets but no laces that come in black and colors and even some funky patterns. I got black and aqua.

I cook and eat vegan as much as possible, while still eating eggs and dairy when we eat in restaurants that don't offer vegan selections. I anticipate reaching a point one day where I stop doing even that, just as I reached the point where the concept of eating meat bothered me too much. That took years, however, and I am allowing this journey to unfold. Meanwhile, Red Robin has meatless patties available on all their awesome burger selections.

One of my favorites is the Blackened Bayou Burger made with a Boca or Gardenburger. They describe it: "Blackened (meatless) burger topped with roasted red peppers, angry onions, Pepper-Jack cheese, Creole mustard sauce and cabbage-carrot mix on a jalapeño-cornmeal kaiser roll. Add a splash of Tabasco® for even more spice. It's good, we guar-an-tee!" Yup! Fer true!

I bake vegan, using soy milk, soy sour cream, egg substitute (Ener-G), and other goodies. I now subscribe to VegNews and recently baked the "Vegan Whoopie Pies" they featured. They were delicious but do enjoy them fresh if you make them. They're made with whole wheat pastry flour and are still light and yummy, with no sense of eating something grainy or rough.

The whoopie pies were great at first but after hanging out in freezer and fridge for a couple of weeks became too crumbly to really enjoy, so I threw them out by the bird feeders and expect the squirrels had a field day. In fact I saw one character holding up one piece in both paws and nibbling before scampering off into the woods.

Today I baked some Valentine's Day cupcakes to take to dinner with friends. I made the Golden Vanilla Cupcakes with Chocolate Ganache and piped hot-pink icing hearts, and filled with Cookies-and-Cream frosting from the last batch of minis I made. My recipes all come from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World, and I recommend it highly! No, I haven't lost weight since switching from Atkins-style carnivore to vegetarian, but after gaining about 13 pounds from June to December 2008, I've lost about 8 of that and am havng no trouble maintaining. I'll likely lose again if and when I convert to vegan fully, but that's for another day.

That's it for now, except that we now have a real cat, not only a virtual one, and her name is Daisy.

My first vegetarian Thanksgiving

It was a nice holiday spent with great friends who made special effort to accomodate my veggie needs. Just to be on the safe side, I brought a few things myself: Whole Foods Portobello Mushroom Gravy and several side dishes (Vegan Green Bean Casserole, Sweet Potatoes with Apricots, and Vegan Stuffing). I was so glad I took the trouble to make my own stuffing because our host had only what she made in the bird. I learned some valuable lessons along the way:

• Only use recipes from trusted sources. I selected 2 excellent ones that worked beautifully from Jill at Persistent Vegetarian State, but I still wanted and searched for the Green Bean Casserole and found many, most complicated. One recipe sounded great, substituting the Campbell's mushroom soup with Creamy Portobello mushroom soup, but the amount it called for had to be really wrong, 32 ounces. My guess is it should have been the small box, not the quart. I followed directions, and thank goodness my husband found a way for us to remove a lot of the extra liquid, which by the way became a tasty gravy. Leading to the next tip:
• Be prepared to be creative and innovative. My chosen stuffing recipe called for challah bread made into cubes and toasted. I found ready-made bread cubes at Whole Foods. Problem: after I assembled everything, I found that 2 bags was one bag too many, leading to my having to add twice the vegetable broth, plus some additional water. In the end it was delightful, and having a lot more than I needed, I was able to add some Earth Balance margarine to the surplus and make it into balls, then bake them in muffin tins. Yummy!

Last night we met friends for dinner out and I learned that K has virtually given up fish and is now vegetarian, too. They're having a Tofurky tonight, and I can't wait to hear how it turns out. Lucky girl, her man will eat stuffed peppers made with soy crumbles and Tofurky. Maybe in future days mine will, too. But until then, we peacefully coexist and both love animals. To each his own time and place for change.

Still Groovin' the Veggie Way

Wow, three months since my last post! Well, it's been pretty busy. First, we got very involved in the 2008 Presidential Election, working to elect Barack Obama and Joe Biden and all the good men and women down ticket. How cool that we succeeded! Yes we did!

Here's a nice YouTube from the campaign:




After enjoying that, let me tell you that we are trying to singlehandedly hold up the economy! Mr. Maven just got his very own 2009 Toyota Prius, a back sexy one. Gone is the fairly big SUV, and all that gas consumption. The Prius we already have (mine, a 2007 in beautiful blue) gets about 48 mpg and even driving between New York and PA weekly, we only use about 6.5 gals.

Now, it's Saturday and we're tired, but it's been a good week. Last Sunday Nature Maven presented a professional workshop in Chicago, and yesterday did it again in New York. Ahhhh. Rest and recuperation in the country!

And, yes, I'm still meat-free for these past 5 months. I've gained about 7 pounds overall with the return to carbs, but I'm okay with it at this point. Eventually I'll get back where I need to be, or maybe I'm already there.