What to Eat?

Normally we ask ourselves that question when we want something but not sure what for any meal or snack of the day but I am asking myself what I normally eat and how to convert it into a Vegan meal.

I love tacos, spaghetti, pizza, chicken, hamburgers, chocolate, ANYTHING. I have always been opened minded when it came to food. Only one time I couldnt stomach a dish and that was ramen with sardines, my stomach was so upset with me when I tried it. :/

Whats great about being vegan and having tacos is making it all sorts of ways.

I need to seriously thinking of my replacements now while I am still in "research mode"  . Today I had two fried hot dogs, my family and I dont like all beef but the turkey, chicken and pork combo. So I dont think the change over will be that hard for me.

Pizza seems easy no meat no cheese.

Hmmm need to really think about my personal menu. 

The Great Honey Debate

So, while researching and trying to figure out this Vegan lifestyle that I have chosen, one question always lingered How come Honey is NOT considered Vegan?

Sources say because they are factory farmed like cows to make the honey, even though it is something leftover from the bees but it still happens and insects are considered living, breathing creatures with feelings. Plus if you are a true vegan you avoid ALL animal products.

Personally, I dont ever use hardly any honey with anything, normally though if I make a smoothie I would use it but I can just as well and have in the past substituted it with sugar. But vegan die hards do not use honey.

Good Articles on the subject: 
The Vegan Woman 
PETA
Vegetus

You Decide ;)

2 Inspiring Vegan Stories

Couple Loses 280lbs after Going Vegan

Man Loses 100lbs going on Plant Based Diet

Strawberry, Banana and Avocado Smoothie

http://gymflow100.com/strawberry-banana-and-avocado-smoothie/

Mid-Vegan Crisis

Okay so I had to stop for a minute...I didnt have very many food options and I was confused and still am sorting things out on my own. So today I went to the local Harmons Grocery store to pickup my rx (for crazy, high cholesterol and heartburn and that is another blog post on a different topic on taking care of that with fruits veggies juicing etc) and decided to check out their Vegan products in the produce section.

AND THEY HAD A SECTION! :D A lot bigger than Walmarts for sure. All kinds of dairy free and meatless options for food. My bigger concern was dairy than meat. The only thing I couldnt find was egg replacements. But that is ok.

See I dont live near a Whole Foods and I am on a budget. My markets are Walmart and Harmons and if I feel like driving out of the way Smiths. I mainly shop at Walmart though.

Im not going Vegan yet, I still have to get my new lifestyle food and do I dare say "Diet" in order before I can take that leap. I dont want to do it and then panicking and freaking out over what to eat! I hate that and that is also why I have a hard time doing cleanses. Because I LOVE FOOD.

Im still trying to figure out which milk I like too. So far between coconut and almond I prefer the almond, the next Im going to try is soy and rice milk. I keep hearing how soy is bad for you so Im going to read up on that and see what all that shit is about.

Seeing this section at Harmons made me kind of feel like GOD telling me I am going in the right direction and made a wise decision to go Vegan and that I do have options out there based on my circumstances. 

So still working on it and in the process and on hold. Till my next update ;)

All Life is Equal

Vegan/Vegetarian - ON HOLD

Well, after some thought I realize I am going to need more thoughtful way to approach this to go through with it. I thought I did but I need to do more research.

See, I would take a step forward and then go 2 steps back. I put too much pressure on myself and then get overwhelmed. I cannot do that. This is serious. I also need some serious self-discipline to do this.

But I will continue with my Animal Rights Activism in general.


Until further notice, ON HOLD. 

Peace :)

To Be Vegan to Me it Needs to be kept SIMPLE

1) No Meat, Dairy, Sea animals.
2) No Leather, No Wool, Wildlife skin & No Fur etc...
3) No Hunting for Sport or period. (Poaching, food, etc)

The Deal Breaker is end of the world when it comes to food lol! But in all seriousness. YES. 

Innocence turned into Products...

The Struggle

 Well the last few days I learned a few things about myself while attempting to go Vegan:

1) Coconut milk is not very good but Almond milk tastes pretty good.

2) They put dairy in almost EVERYTHING.  Kind of annoying if you ask me.

3) Im a Self-Employed Nurse Assistant and you cannot turn down your senior friend to have a meal with him with meat or dairy in it.

4) It seems you eat a lot more carbs being a Vegan. Such as breads and such but then it made me wonder if bread is made with eggs and milk and the same with pasta?

5) Walmart does not have very many vegan items.

6) Found this delicious Vegan Recipe site

7) Some Vegans think its ok to eat seafood? That just puzzles me because no meat or dairy IMO means no meat or dairy and I include seafood in that aspect. Plus sea animals face the same cruelty as farm animals, domestic and wild.

8) At first I thought I cant do this its too hard but then I login to my Facebook account and see the harm done to animals in the name of a patty or some bacon or milk  and then I remember WHY Im doing this and keep moving forward and just take it one meal/snack at a time. If I happen to be eating dairy then I at least am happy Im not eating meat and if I hadnt ate neither then I know I am making progress. :)

1st Main Obstacle - Dairy Free

I think Dairy is going to be a bigger challenge than meat now that I am actually thinking about it...tonight I already have had donuts and milk (regular) so I need to make sure I get some almond milk soon and check the ingredients in donuts.

Plus my coffee with cream and sugar is the dry creamer (I think its non-dairy not sure) and I also buy and use for my 2nd cup is the liquid vanilla creamer. 

Shopping List - Food Groups

Thinking about WHAT I need to Buy:

1. Milk Substitute for my evening glass of milk before bed - Almond Milk (Calcium)
2. Meat/Chicken Substitute - Tofu/Beans/Rice (no processed rice and beans but if so then whatever) (Protein)
3. Fruits/Veggies
4. Vegan Chocolate?

Going to have to personalize this VERY much above doesnt help what i wrote and below will just help me figure it out better based on how i eat already

One Day at a Time....

Todays Meals

Breakfast:  Coffee with dried creamer and sugar
56 cent pancakes at IHOP with butter and syrup
Snack: Candy (Andes Mints & Hi-Chews)
Dinner:  Leftovers made into Chilequieles (corn tortilla, veggies, veggie burger pieces fried in a pan) tempted to add sour cream but didnt.

Dr. Pepper and Water I drank throughout the day

Andes Mints and Butter wasnt Vegan but getting better plus I may eat more later

Going Vegan? WTF??

I know it sounds crazy but here's my story.

I have been an meat & dairy eater my whole life. I love milk, I love fried food like chicken and steak. I love junk food. I normally have a glass of milk at night before bed, helps me sleep good.

I have also been an animal lover my entire life. My first pet was an cat named Tripper and our family dog named Lady when I was born and raised in Las Vegas NV.

Growing up we had our family pets after moving to Utah 2 dogs and a cat, whom have all passed away of old age and were cremated to have a respectful death. Altogether now we have 4 cats and 2 dogs. 1 dog and 1 cat are personally mine. (Sheesha on the left and Baby on the right) My daughter has my own kitten named Kitten that she received for her 9th birthday. Ironically all my pets are black and white and my parents are assorted colors so I guess we know whos who lol!

Anyway back to being Going Vegan.  Im constantly on Facebook, I love animal pictures, dug deeper and liked more pages that had to do with animal rights and now here I am daily signing petitions to protect all animals around the world and our environment. After seeing how farm animals in USA are treated as well as our wild life and even domestic animals and wishing everyday for GOD to harm those that harm those animals. I decided ENOUGH IS ENOUGH. Im going Vegan.

Thoughts on GMOs? I have already thought about this as well. My concern is less with GMOs and more with animals and their life and the cruelty they face. 

Another thing that helped me make my decision is in The Bible #AspiringChristian and from what I have googled we are natural HERBIVORES. Our bodies are built ONLY to eat plants like fruits and veggies and grains. The Bible Verse that helped me also with this was Genesis 1:29-30 but after the flood of Noah GOD gave us permission to eat meat Genesis 9:3-4 with guidelines to follow from Leviticus 11. Plus reading a story of a previous Butcher to Animal Activist really helped me decide to change my mind. 

I also have really high cholesterol so what really helps is my doctor told me to avoid fried foods (which I really dont want too), 2 pieces of cheese a week (dont like that neither) and avoid pork.

I have tried a little in the past by making tofu tacos (which actually came out pretty good) and veggie tacos (huge fan of tacos). I normally would eat chicken or steak tacos.  I have also dabbed in juicing which I plan on doing again once I get a better juicer.

VEGAN RULES FOR MYSELF: 

1.  I cannot guarantee I can be 100% Vegan because there will be exceptions such as special occasions like when my mother cooks German food (pork and dairy) or Thanksgiving (ironically my fave holiday) and other things. Im thinking I could be probably 80% of the time which is good enough for me. I also like pasta with cheese such as tortellini & ravoli, spaghetti with meat, pizza?  etc. Fish/Shrimp/Crab I also still enjoy and not very often so I think it is ok to have.

2.  Im still in the process of becoming a Vegan, which is not exactly easy. For example I had a hamburger last night and today regret it. I need to go shopping and get the foods that I normally get for myself and research the best substitutes. 

If I have anything else to add on my journey to becoming a Vegan. Thanks for listening :) 

At first I was unsure if I was going to do a public or private Vegan blog but I figure if I can help another Aspiring Vegan as well and share tips that work for me then I can help someone else in the process as well. :) As well as keep me accountable.