Mostly Vegan

I am a Mostly Vegan. Daniel suggested that I do a blog post about my way of eating, and since I get a lot of questions about it (and it confuses people sometimes), I thought it was a good idea. (For those of you who just want recipes, and want to skip my explanations, they are found at the end of this post. Enjoy! :) ) I don't pretend to be any kind of nutritional expert. I just wanted to answer some friends' questions and explain how I do this. And to share some good recipes, of course.

 A vegan is someone who does not use animal products. That's right. No milk, eggs, cheese, meat, etc. There is a broad range of vegans, from ovo-vegans (those who eat eggs) and pesca-vegans (those who eat fish) to raw vegans (who eat only raw plants) and really hardcore vegans (who don't wear leather, because it came from a cow). I sort of fall somewhere in that spectrum, and I like to call myself a mostly vegan. Here's why:

1. I never drink milk. I think cow's milk is bad for people. Yep. I just said that, and I'm sure there are some people who are outraged. Not only do I think it's bad for us, I also don't like it that much anymore. Apparently, my tastes have changed a lot. The last time I had milk was almost 2 years ago, and at the time, I had been off of milk for a while. When I drank it (at some family function or other) it tasted super-gross to me. I don't use it for cooking or baking, either. Anytime a recipe calls for milk, I substitute soy milk.
2. I don't eat eggs. Once in a blue moon, I may say to myself, "Self, Toad in the Hole sounds really good right now" (mostly for nostalgic reasons, probably). And I'd make myself some Toad in the Hole. Usually, though, it's not worth it. I'm not much of an egg person. I do occasionally use eggs in baking; but usually I try to substitute something else for them. Which does work. I prefer to find vegan recipes, though, as opposed to trying to make a recipe vegan.
3. I rarely eat meat. If I can help it, I don't eat meat. At home, we don't eat meat (except for when people come for dinner, sometimes. And even then, I usually opt out of having it). At ward functions where there are other food choices, I'll forgo the hotdogs (sometimes I eat beforehand, just in case). If, however, a situation arises where it would be better to go ahead and eat meat, I do, and I don't feel guilty about it (for example, going to someone else's house for dinner).
4. I still do eat cheese. But only sometimes. In fact, it's been a while since I've bought cheese. We tend to go light-handed with the cheese over at our house. It is one of the foods that most people love (myself included), but is also the worst for us, unfortunately. I've been making a real effort to stay away from the stuff.
5. I love honey. I'm never giving it up. And, I don't think it counts, because I haven't heard a lot of warnings about honey.
6. Nope. I don't even do ice cream, usually. The one exception is when I go home. The Fernandez' are big ice cream eaters. :) Love you guys!

 I get asked a lot why I decided to switch over to veganism. There is one big, main reason, and one not so big, secondary reason.

First, the reason I decided to switch over was because of health. A few years ago, my mom told me that she was going to try the vegan thing, and she recommended this book to me. The gist of it is that animal products, consumed in high quantities (like the way we eat them here in good ol' 'Merica) can promote many of the most dangerous diseases, the ones that end up killing us: diabetes, heart disease, cancer. I completely believe that! No offense to anyone who may read this, but I have always thought that many of the popular high protein-low carb diets out there are dangerous. They just didn't feel right to me. When I read the China Study, it felt right. And I believe that it outlines how we should be eating: stick to the plants!

Let me preface my second reason by saying that I am not a huge animal rights advocate. I never have been, despite my love for and fascination with animals. However, once I made the switch to veganism, I started to do a little research about how animal foods are processed, and it made me cry. Really. I believe that God put animals on the earth for our enjoyment and our use. I do not believe He gave them to us to abuse in the way we sometimes do. And I do not believe that our "use" of them should necessarily include eating them. Now, as I'm writing this, I can hear some of you yelling that that's wrong. "God did include animals so we can eat them!" I think there is a time and a season for all things, and I think the time and season for eating animals in large quantities is definitely past. In this age and country, we don't really suffer from famine or shortage of food, do we? There is a plethora of healthy plant food available to us, correct? So we can plausibly make the decision to not eat animals and still be alright, right? That's what I think, too. :)

So, the main question I get is "What do you eat?" or some variation of that question. I also get the comment, "So, your food is gross, huh?" or "You basically eat like a rabbit, right?" Well, no. My food is actually really good. I eat plants. Hooray! Fruits, vegetables, beans, grains. And I like it. I recognize that it is entirely possible to be vegan and not have a healthy diet, but I try to eat more plants and less "vegan" junk food (like potato chips ... when was the last time I bought potato chips?). My food is not gross! We eat pretty well at our house. Right, Daniel??? Just try the recipes if you don't believe me. As with all kind of cooking, though, we do come across recipes we don't like. It's hit and miss. But, we still try new ones and we have a pretty big repertoire of good recipes under our belt now.

One last thing before the good stuff (ya know, ... food). If any one is interested in becoming vegan (or "Sort of Vegan" or "Mostly Vegan" or whatever), I would suggest you read this book and this book, along with the one I already mentioned. Also, there are some really great documentaries on netflix that are very motivational and informative: "Forks Over Knives" and "Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead".