Vegan MoFo 2012

I missed the deadline to sign up officially, but I'm going to do it anyway. I need something a little more productive than catching up on cop shows and playing The Sims. What better than to write at length about the food I eat?

I'm hoping it'll be cathartic. Never has the concept of showdown been more appropriate. Until recently, I had no consistent employment, and now I have a bit of debt to contend with. The job I did get isn't exactly going to do it, so I have to keep a tight budget where I can.

The other food related challenge I'm facing is dealing with a 6 year old's diet. I actually don't have to do much of it, because she's not mine, but my input has been requested. She's not vegan. Of course, I won't be involved in preparing non-vegan foods for her. The kid eats about as SAD as you can get most of the time, and she's pretty arbitrarily picky about what she does eat. It would be manageable except for the tantrums. I just don't know how to deal.

So food related stress all around should make for gripping blog posts. Or at least, for a poorly photographed diary of what I eat every day.

One other source of stress is how sick my cat is. She's been sick for about a month now, and the vets are unsure about what the problem is. She has good days and bad, but normal tasks like eating and finding the litter box are always a struggle. I love her though, so I've been caring for her as best I can.

Challenges, Diets, Cleanses, and So On

I'm not a big fan of the cleanses or detoxifying diets or anything too faddish and regimented. I don't really need to go into the whys though because I think I'm kind of doing one. I do realize that the title of this post is therefore a bit misleading.

Technically, it's a "challenge." My sister is running it to collect data, and I want to help her out, so I ordered this book. It isn't here yet, but my sister sent me a priming email. It looks like I've signed up to drink a half gallon of smoothie a day, and to eat a mammoth salad for lunches and dinners. Not bad things at all.

My sister is way more health conscious than I am. When she started experimenting with raw foods, it wasn't for the cupcakes. I, on the other hand have more dessert cookbooks than meal ones. She knows a lot and the one thing she's always chiding me for is my love of sugar ... the white death.



(Well she gives me a hard time about coffee too, but I think those days are over).

This love of health and of helping others has led her to breaking into the health and nutrition career arena, and this challenge is part of that. The plan isn't necessarily vegan, but it's so heavily emphatic about plant consumption that it may as well be. As such, I decided that a challenge would be good blog fodder. We start Monday! So I have to lock up my Cool Mint Oreos, and finish up the bread pudding that's currently baking. Ten days without sugar will be a Vegan Showdown (Hey! That's the name of the blog!) if I've encountered one.




OK seriously Blogger? Do I really have to add hard returns manually now, or am I totally missing something here? Also, the alignment on that video sucks and I'm not really interested in messing around with it right now because my dog wants to go on a walk. Why would you want to delay that?

Substitutions that Work

If you're out of tomato paste, substitute bloody Mary mix. Granted, the consistencies are different, but a little extra cooking time has always solved that problem for me. Also it helps to not complain needlessly when otherwise delicious food is just a little imperfect.

Mushrooms That Look Like Creepy Biscuits, and Scones

Back to the Baltimore Farmer's Market!

Since it's Easter Sunday, not all of the vendors showed up, but I still got some fun stuff.

This is one of the pictures painted on the pillars there. It says "It's what you focus on that grows." I don't mind telling you that I need that reminder A LOT. My negativity can be overwhelming at times. I need to learn to cultivate more compassion towards human animals.

Right now I'm a little unsure what to do with the Lion's Mane/Pom Pom Mushrooms I got, but we'll see what happens. They're a little creepy looking! I also got spinach, squash, and beets, but photography is not top priority today. By photography, I mean snapping pictures on my phone. Also, those other things are not so creepy as to deserve a picture.


I learned today that a 5 year old may weep at the sight of tofu scramble, but will devour blueberry lavender scones. After watching her physically reject blueberry scones from Whole Foods, I was sure there was no chance, but I guess if it tastes like soap, kids are all in?

Here's a scone reference picture that I took a few days ago.

Baltimore

I live here now - in a smaller apartment, with a smaller kitchen, and way less money. That's what happens when you have no job! Well no full time job. I'm a substitute teacher at a school that's way too far away from me, and way too stressful.

I was about to say it's easy to be vegan under these circumstances, but then I took a sip of coffee from a mug that's been on the desk for a few days ... arguably this isn't a strictly vegan problem though. And frankly, I'm not in the mood to write about how cheap and awesome beans are right now.

I'm off to the Baltimore Farmer's Market tomorrow morning. It opens at 7 am! It's beneath an overpass! How very urban. I was there last week and bought some amazing stuff, including beautiful mushrooms.

Vegan MoFo 2011!

So I'm a few days late to the party. Last year MoFo really inspired me to write every day and it was wonderful. This year I have severe limits on my time and technology access due a change in the day job circumstances.

I almost didn't sign up this year, but I have been wanting a reason to write more regularly (even though I shouldn't need a reason), so here I am.

Last year I fantasized about a 2011 MoFo with a creative theme, amazing pictures, thrilling give aways, and all the internet praise I could stomach. But then I didn't really think about how I wouldn't be wasting away in a soul-crushing job that afforded me little except for long days with little to do and internet access. Given the choice, I'm happy to blog a little (lot) less and be much happier 8-10 hours a day. Also, since I'm in an unpaid internship, there will be no improvements that require money.

So I didn't really set any posting goals, and this first week of October has already sped by with little input from me, and I'm out of town all weekend - maybe that'll give me some material though, since I'm going to be at a festival and camping.

I will probably also have a pretty stellar post at some point about the lavish dinner I make to celebrate the return of Arrested Development. Or I'll sit and rewatch seasons 1-3, eating blueberry muffins and making I blue myself jokes. I've gotten some serious non-AD mileage out of that line as recently as this summer.

SUFFERING RENDERED

If you're in the MD/DC/VA area, I recommend checking out Scotlund Haisley's exhibit, SUFFERING RENDERED at the Art Works Studio School gallery. The pieces are heavy representation of animal rescues - a look at individual animals' last moment before freedom.

I was able to attend the opening reception and speak with Haisley, who explained the mission of, successes won by, and setbacks encountered by his organization, Animal Rescue Corps.

I also got to speak with a lot of people who had never given much thought to the welfare of animals that are considered livestock. It was easy for people to express outrage and shock at the`idea of stray dogs being rounded up and shot to death, but coversations about pieces like the one depicting factory farmed pigs were puncuated by discomfort.

Maybe I've been in a bit of an angry vegan mood lately, but I felt no discomfort and was pretty blunt with everyone I talked to. The things you're seeing can end now with you. All you have to do is to live mindfully and with respect for all life in your heart. If you do that, your actions will effect change. Or you can continue to clutch your pearls at the sights depicted, and then continue to do things the way you always did. So let's see what kind of social change art inspires.

The exhibit will remain up through October, so do get in touch with the directors to stop in to see the works. In the meantime, check out this video tour.



For the record, I am affiliated with ArtWorks, and due to that fact, the opening reception featured vegan food exclusively. Future events will always include vegan options as well, but it's worth pointing out that the more vegans who drop a line to the school, the more likely and frequent vegan catering will be featured.

You should also know that I skipped the cocktail hour dress code and rocked my Arm The Animals T-shirt. I was assured by several fashion-minded people that this was totally OK, since the political message was apropros. It wasn't lost on Haisley or his wife.