I eat moss. Apples and moss.

Lentils for special occasions.



VEGANS EAT FOOD. Yes, I screamed that. And when I say 'food', I do not mean sticks, I do not mean plain raw tofu, I do not mean dry iceberg lettuce with sprouts. I mean foooooooooooood.



Let's start with some breakfast food you might should you find yourself an herbivore. There are delicious and nutritious vegan alternatives to non-vegan breakfast foods you may be used to. Many cereals (even a lot of the sugary, popular ones) are “accidentally vegan” and you can just pour soy, rice, almond, or one of the other many vegan milks out there on top of it. Scour your local health-food store for brands of vegan waffles, because they do exist, or find a recipe and make your own. Same for pancakes – a surprising amount of regular mixes are vegan and you can simply use non-dairy milk/butter with them. Make toast and spread it with jelly, peanut butter, or vegan butter/margarine. Make a smoothie with fruit and soy yogurt. Spread a bagel with vegan cream cheese or peanut butter. Have a bowl of oatmeal (most brands are vegan) with dried fruit and peanut or cashew butter in it. Have some granola like the hippie you are. Scramble tofu with spices and veggies. Take that scrambled tofu and throw it in a tortilla with potatoes and vegan sausage for a breakfast burrito. Top a rice cake with nut butter and fruit. Fruit by itself is always a good, light, healthy breakfast. Make muffins the night before and heat a few up in the morning. Break out of the breakfast mold and just heat up leftovers from the night before – I love having miso soup for breakfast. If you’re in a hurry, take a banana and a bag of dry vegan cereal with you – take a bite of the banana and then dip it in the cereal, it’ll stick. You can also find individual juicebox-style soymilk cartons to take with you. One meal down, and did I use the word 'sprouts' at all?



Lunch and dinner I'll lump in the same category. There's much than salad, that’s for sure. Not that salad isn’t great and healthy. But salad is just one of the many, many things that vegans eat for dinner. A vegan cookbook, or even a veganized recipe from a non-vegan cookbook, is a great place to start. But you don’t necessarily need a cookbook every night. Like with breakfast, in most cases you can simply replace what you used to eat with its vegan equivalent, and there are also a lot of delicious vegan dishes that don’t rely on these substitutes. Use mock beef crumbles in pasta sauce instead of beef, or just leave them out and use nice fresh tomatoes and herbs. Make quesadillas or burritos with roasted vegetables and beans. Have a bowl of soup made with veggie broth instead of chicken or beef broth. Top a baked potato with vegan sour cream, vegan butter, broccoli, mock bacon bits, nutritional yeast, or whatever other toppings you can think of. Stir-fry veggies with rice or noodles and teriyaki sauce. Make veggie and seitan kabobs. Use beans in chili instead of meat. Explore different ethnic foods you may not have tried, like Indian, Mediterranean, Thai, or Japanese food. Peanut butter and jelly is a classic. Mashed potatoes can be made with vegan butter and non-dairy milk. Replace chicken with seitan in casseroles. Use silken tofu instead of eggs in quiche recipes. If you want comfort food, try macaroni and vegan cheese. Roast potatoes with olive oil, rosemary, pepper, and salt. Marinate tempeh in barbeque sauce. Have a sandwich with vegan lunchmeat slices. Grill portobello mushrooms and serve on buns with fries. I'm done thinking. No twigs.



Snacks are of course important. Let's see...popcorn with nutritional yeast (Act II Butter Lover’s is ironically vegan, or make your own), grapes, bananas, pretzels, granola/energy bars, fruit leathers, melon, a bagel half with peanut butter, soy yogurt, frozen juice bars, trail mix, peaches, applesauce, crackers, oranges, pita/veggies and hummus, cherries, chips and salsa, peanuts, cashews, almonds, or other nuts, dried fruit, oven fries, apples and peanut butter, sandwiches, cereal, rice cakes, plums, muffins, vegan ice cream sandwiches, graham crackers, vegan nachos, salad, or rice crisps.



Vegans! eat! food!

Where do you get your protein?

This seems to be the common follow-up to the, "What do you eat?" question. This inquiry is rooted in the Western culinary view that meat equals protein, end of story. If you are a cooking show addict (guilty!), you may note that in higher echelons of food preparation, chefs often use the terms "protein" and "meat" synonymously. So where the heck do vegans get their protein? For those of you playing at home, take note, for the next sentence will almost always be the answer to any "...where do vegans get essential nutrient X?" question. The answer--from a wide variety of foods and a naturally diverse diet.

First, let's cover what protein is. As keeping with the spirit of this blog, I am going to do this from my own understanding. I obtained most of this information from various health guides for vegans and maybe a few random biology lectures still bouncing around in my brain. Proteins are chains of amino acids, all which are necessary for healthy growth and living. There are 20 total 9 highly important essential amino acids which the human body needs to function properly. A protein is considered "high quality" or "complete" when it provides all 9 of the essential amino acids in one food. Though, this terminology often causes improper conclusions about food quality: the body needs all nine, there are no detrimental effects to one's health if they come from different sources, as long as proper quantities of all of the essential amino acids are consumed.

One of the most common sources of protein for vegans is soy/tofu/tempeh products. This is a "high quality" protein source meaning it contains all 9 essential amino acids. This leads to a common misnomer. Many people with a small amount of knowledge of veganism believe that this is our ONLY source of protein. I know plenty of vegans who are allergic to tofu, soy or choose not to eat it for various reasons. It is quite easy to get sufficient protein from other sources as well!

Legumes (think beans and nuts) serve as another excellent group to satisfy protein needs. Additionally, raw vegans and those looking for less processed foods will happily choose items from this family to fulfill daily protein requirements. Legumes stand as an excellent choice for any diet; they are cheap, delicious, rich in protein and loaded with both fiber and iron.

Textured Vegetable Protein, as the name hints, is another great protein provider. Many vegan faux meats and substitutes offer substantial amounts of daily requirements. These are great supplement foods but especially new vegans should be warned they are highly processed and often loaded with sodium. Sodium, even for vegans, should be kept at moderate levels as it reduces the bioavailability of many helpful chemicals and nutrients. In simpler terms, one's body cannot absorb the good stuff when a diet is overloaded with salt.

Almost all vegetables offer protein, just in smaller amounts than the previously mentioned foods. Have no fear, a well planned, diverse vegan diet will provide you with plenty of protein. So how much protein does one need exactly? This depends on your size and level of activity. A 150 lb man that is not particularly active requires about 70 grams of protein per day, where a woman at 130 lbs will probably need around 60 grams. Those readers in countries smart enough to use the metric system (cough, cough, side rant) will find the calculation very easy....about 1 gram of protein per kg of body weight for those with average amounts of daily exertion.

Those in strenuous cardiovascular sports will most likely need around 1.5 the amount of those listed for sedentary individuals. If you are weight lifting to be a swarthy vegan pro-wrestler, you could need almost double the standard amount. This might sound like a huge challenge, but as a former weight lifter (several years ago) you will most likely find that heavy resistance exercise will leave you prone to seconds, thirds, fourths at dinner followed by covering the sofa in balsamic vinaigrette and devouring that as well.

I give you all of this information with the massive disclaimer that I am not a nutritionist. If you are particularly concerned about a well balanced cruelty-free diet, especially as a vegan newbie (I say this with complete love), a few consultations with a dietitian might be a worthwhile investment. This brings me to another warning, find a certified individual that is knowledgeable and friendly toward vegans. There are countless brilliant, intelligent, open minded nutritionists out there. There are also ones as ignorant as the general population. If you are going to drop the cash, a little investigative work will ensure that it is money well spent.

In closing, vary your diet. Don't skip the legumes. Soy and tofu are another great source if they are to your liking. If you still struggle to meet your requirements, consider nut butters and possibly vegan supplement shakes and drinks. Consulting a professional can help you thoughtfully plan out a protein packed menu, but a little foresight and some healthy habits go a long way.

Look at this list! It's all about products that are "accidentally vegan!"

Well, I'm sorry to rain on your parade, but pay attention to the little disclaimer near the bottom, in small print:

"*Items listed may contain trace amounts of animal-derived ingredients. While PETA supports a strict adherence to veganism, we put the task of vigorously reducing animal suffering ahead of personal purity. Boycotting products that are 99.9 percent vegan sends the message to manufacturers that there is no market for this food, which ends up hurting more animals."

Seems perfectly fine at first, right? But let's take another look at this. First, if something even has a teensy amount of an animal product in it, it's not vegan. So they are trying to make veganism "easier" by promoting... non-vegan products. Yep. That's right. PETA (regardless of their other sins/accomplishments) is trying to make vegans into non-vegans.

Second comes when you take a look at the next sentence. You know, the second one - specifically, the second part of that second sentence. "Personal purity." Ouch. So my wanting to eschew all animal products is about "personal purity"? Okay, I'll give you some of that - it can make and has made me feel extremely guilty to accidentally eat an animal product (because all vegans, even long-time ones, can fuck up!), and I don't like to do it at all. But accusations of not caring about animals and just being squeamish to actual vegans? With friends like these, who needs enemies?

Third, I think it's a big mistake to say that if we don't buy non-vegan products, it shows that there isn't a market for vegan products - after all, vegan =\= non-vegan and non-vegan =\= vegan. It pretty much just shows them that there's a market for animal products, so keep buying!

Y'see, the reason I'm vegan is not just because of "personal purity". It's not just because I don't want to be a part of the commodification and suffering - it's because I want the commodification and suffering to stop. It's because I know that, even though I'm just one person, many vegans would be a force to deal with. You know. "Together, we are strong." Call it following the herd, I don't care - I'm pushing the inevitable revolution rather than resisting it. And I wouldn't want it any other way.

So save your money, and go buy a can of chickpeas and make hummus rather than serve us (processed) non-vegan crap - which, if we're knowledgeable, we'll end up turning down, and make you feel bad. Veganism is easy! - it's just that there's a lot of people spreading misinformation about how not everything has to be vegan to, um, be vegan.

So what, do you just like, eat salads?

Almost every vegan I know has gotten this question, and then thoroughly and practically answered it by ordering sesame veggies with the Thai basil vegetables, or the tempura vegetables with the sauteed mushrooms, or the garlic-fried green beans, or the pasta puttanesca, or the...

Well, you get the point.

While some vegans love salads, others absolutely hate them. I'm somewhere in-between: I like salads, but I'm very picky about them. They have to be just so. No sweet stuff except for balsamic vinegar. They must have green leafy vegetables and some sort of allium ground vegetable. They cannot have too much oiliness. And, of course, vegan.

Verdict: Easier to serve me a plate of fruit, nuts, and sea vegetables. For other vegans, it'll be pasta, bruschetta, cole slaw, grilled portabellas, or whatever else that's vegan.

So go easy on yourself and skip the salad - make them something else. A vegetable pot pie will usually work - you can find lots of easy recipes for them on the Internet (which you obviously have if you're reading this). If all else fails, go to the vegan themselves and ask them, what do you like? I guarantee that there will be something that's easy to cook, cheap, and readily available. By ignoring the vast amounts of information at your fingertips, you're practically guaranteeing that the vegan in your life will be difficult to cook for!

How about fish/chicken/eggs?

My favourite response to this one is from my friend Dana: "Find me the seeds to grow them, then get back to me."

Back when I did consume dairy/eggs (which really isn't much of a moral stance; you're still exploiting animals if you're using the products of their bodies), I'd get this question constantly. Nowadays, there are people who understand lactose intolerance, so they never question that. They also seem to understand that many Hindus do not partake of eggs. Again, not a huge leap. But after all those options are done, the "other" stuff starts.

Let me set the record straight: Just because they don't show pain like you do does not mean they are incapable of pain. Just because they cannot speak in your language to tell you to leave them alone does not give you a right to use them for your desires. They're still sentient beings, and I'd rather leave them alone, thanks.

How do I live cheaply on a vegan diet?

Drop the processed products - fake meats, packaged plant milks, and especially the vegan caviar. You don't need it. No, really, you don't. No, not even for protein.

Cut it down to the bare basics - grains, vegetables, fruits, legumes.

Organic barley is $.69/lb.
Organic hard red wheatberries are $.59/lb.
Organic speltberries are $1.39/lb.
Organic oats are $.50/lb.
The really expensive organic potatoes are $.91/lb.
Organic kale is $1.39/bunch ($2/bunch at some places).
Fruit ranges from $.39/lb. (organic minneolas whoohoo!) to $4/lb. (Avoid!)
Growing 20 bunches of your own leafy greens in a square foot gardening box, $1.50 and a whole lotta time.
Weekly/daily B-12 tablet or spray: $.12-$.50/tablet or spray.

Compare that to (prices from Harris Teeter):

Bologna: $4.99/lb.
Honey-Baked Ham (or, as we vegans affectionately call it, "pig butt"): $4.49/lb.
Sockeye Salmon: $9.99/lb.
Ballpark Franks: $3/pack
Smoked Bacon: $3.99/lb.
Whole Chicken Body: $1.99/lb.

And oh man, if you want to get organic flesh so you can eat someone's carcass and feel good about it, well fuck...

So, say you're eating in a week:

4 lbs. of potatoes ($3.64)
1 lb. of oats ($.50)
3 lbs. of barley ($2.27) (keep in mind that this is about 2,000 calories).
2 bunches of kale ($4)
6 lbs. non-organic and organic fruit ($7-$9)
Daily B-12 tablets ($3.50)

And, drumroll please.. $24.49.

Yep, that's right. You're still under $30/week; add a few more bunches of kale and you'll still be under $30/week. Now, I don't know about you, but the rest of my family spends about $800/month on food alone, because their diet's made up of mainly non-vegan products, which are more expensive. There's the feeding costs, the space costs, the lighting costs, the water costs, the construction costs, the worker costs, the equipment costs - beak cutters and such, the transportation costs (to the slaughterhouse and away), the economic cost to the citizens for having the government subsidise it, the health care costs, the environmental costs, etc. etc. Meanwhile, we vegans are over here munching on our cheap dinner that was comprised of: watering costs, space costs, harvesting costs, transportation costs (actually, harvesting costs could fall under this), worker costs, offset by lowering health care costs, (usually) lower environmental costs, etc. etc.

So, what you're really saying is...

How do I not cook and still live cheaply as a vegan?

Answer: you can't. But wait!

I didn't much like cooking either, when I started as a carnist. I hated it so much that I refused to learn! Then, of course, I became vegan, and because I didn't have many prepackaged foods available, I began to cook - and I liked it. Says my girlfriend:

With veganism, I actually enjoyed learning how to cook. It was far more simpler to handle plant-based foods than it would ever be to handle animal flesh. It is less time consuming, and more frugal to cook (or uncook, for raw vegans) plant-based foods. Animal flesh is expensive, hazardous to handle, time-consuming to handle and cook it properly and NOT only that, but to cook it in a way that would render it appetizing (people commonly load up on salt, spices, marinades, sauces, breading, frying, etc to mask the actual "taste" of death.

So go on and save your pocketbook.. and the animals, too.

(P.S. Potatoes do well in the microwave, for quick meals.)

What do you eat? (Raw Vegan Edition)

Well, when I first began my veganity, I got a lot of that question. "What do you eat, anyways?" And I would need to have a list on hand, simply because there was so much I ate and still do eat. But that list has changed some from the past now that I'm edging into being raw. So this list concerns raw vegans.

Now, let's get one thing straight: There are raw vegetarians (omnivores - milk and/or eggs and/or honey) and raw carnists (omnivores - all animal products) and raw vegans (herbivores - no animal products). I'm a raw vegan, and hoo boy, if you come up to me and tell me you're a vegan, you had best not be eatin' honey if you want your ovaries/nads to stay away from your nose. But I'll leave the "why not honey?" question for someone else. :)

So, to start this list off, this is what I had today:

Breakfast - Raw cashews; an apple; a grapefruit; green tea.
Lunch - Arame pasta with miso-(raw) tahini sauce and leek, zucchini, and anaheim pepper; kale salad with a similar miso-tahini dressing; strawberries; an apple; "wakame" (what Toshki, one of our Japanese exchange students, says is actually called "kom"); green tea.
Afternoon snack: Raw hummus with red bell pepper sticks; coffee with raw agave nectar.
Dinner: More kom with some apples; a chard/leek/cabbage/zucchini/carrot salad with raw tahini-dill-sage dressing; green tea; and whatever else that I feel like eating (hint: it's not gonna be non-vegan).

See? Looks pretty filling, and I mean "lyk woah" kind of filling. Extrapolating from this, raw vegans can eat everything that non-raw vegans do (yes, the hummus was made with garbanzos!), just prepared differently. So, raw vegans (and vegans!) eat:

Fruits: Lychees, bell peppers, habanero peppers, anaheim peppers, serrano peppers, chile peppers, more peppers!, apples of all kinds, pears of all kinds, oranges of all kinds, plums of all kinds, lemons, limes, butternut squash, carnival squash, acorn squash, buttercup squash, more squash!, cherries of all kinds, pineapples, mangoes of all kinds, kiwis, bananas, apricots, nectarines, peaches, grapefruits of all kinds, zucchini, watermelons of all kinds, summer squash, avocados, dates (yes please!), cherimoyas, tamarind, citron, guavas, passionfruit, figs, currants, blackberries, raspberries, marionberries, gooseberries, coconuts, raisins, olives, acai, papayas, grapes, eggplants of all kinds, tomatoes, cantaloupe, muskmelon, dragonfruit, and all other fruit from every other place on the globe.

Vegetables: Potatoes of all kinds, lettuce of all kinds, leeks, carrots of all kinds, cabbage, cauliflower, broccoli, celery, Brussels sprouts, fennel, watercress, onions of all kinds, garlic of all kinds, rhubarb, parsnips, rutabagas, turnips, beets of all kinds, radishes of all kinds, yams, sweet potatoes, turnip greens, capers, asparagus, bamboo shoots, water chestnuts, okra, pickles, cucumbers, saurkraut, weisskraut, mushrooms of all kinds (I know they're not vegetables, I didn't want to make another category!).

Dark Leafy Green Vegetables: Chard of all kinds, kale of all kinds, spinach of all kinds, mustard greens (I consider this a DLG because of its extremely high nutrient content), collard greens.

Nuts & Seeds: Pistachios, Brazil nuts, cashews, walnuts, almonds, sesame seeds, pumpkin seeds, macadamia nuts, pecans, hazelnuts (filberts), sunflower seeds, flaxseeds, carob, chestnuts, pine nuts.

Grains (raw vegans can eat these sprouted): Corn (raw already), barley, rye, spelt, wheat (and wheatberries), quinoa, oats, kamut wheat, rice of all kinds, millet.

Legumes (again, raw if they're sprouted): Chickpeas (garbanzos), kidney beans, green beans, wax beans, peanuts, black beans, pinto beans, canellini beans, peas of all kinds, red beans, more beans!, cacao beans, lentils of all kinds.

Spices & Herbs: Black pepper, pink pepper, white pepper, basil, ginger, nutmeg, cinnamon, cardamom, dillweed, dillseed, chamomile, lavender, cumin, turmeric, fennelseed, fenugreek, marjoram, tarragon, sage, thyme, cayenne pepper, rosemary, oregano, anise, Chinese star anise, allspice, vanilla beans, cloves, orange peel, applewood, lemongrass, savory, peppermint, spearmint, saffron, paprika, horseradish, asafoetida, wasabi, soy sauce.

Sweeteners: Agave nectar, raw/unrefined sugar, maple syrup, brown rice syrup, molasses, blackstrap molasses, stevia, xylitol.

To drink: Water, white tea, black tea, green tea, oolong tea, herbal tea, juices (as long as they're not animal tested or have fish in them - yeah, I know), smoothies (dairy-free), vegan wine and beer and other liquors, (sorry Dino!) vegan hazelnut milk, etc.

Now, I've missed more than a few things on this list, but it's long enough that it'll let the curious know exactly - what does a vegan eat? And it would be cool if vegans could just point to this list and say, "this!" Just remember that, in reality, a vegan eating cooked food eats far more than this - wheat and non-wheat pasta, grain breads, and so on. (Yes, some of these can be imitated, but not replicated, by raw foods - but I prefer not to go to that.)

So the next time someone asks you, "What does a vegan eat, anyways?", you have somewhere to go!

But don’t you miss dairy?

“One day I was visiting my parents and all of a sudden I started to crave manicotti!” So were the words of a long-time friend, a person that inspired me to go vegan, but who ultimately (after 5-plus years, no less) went the way of so many ex-vegans that seem to surface the moment I mention that I’m vegan.

The answer I give people who ask if I miss or crave cow’s milk, cheese, ice cream (insert creamy cheesy product) is a resounding “No.” I don’t crave dairy products, because like most of the brown people in this world I am lactose intolerant. While signs of lactose intolerance can be spotted in premature babies and young children - regardless of race or ethnicity - the inability to properly digest lactase enzymes are prevalent in Native American, black, Asian, and Hispanic populations.

When I learned that I was lactose intolerant in my early 20s it forced me to seek out alternatives for calcium, which was not hard, much to the relief of my worried mother, since so many foods are fortified. When I started moving to a plant-based diet I was surprised to learn how much calcium leafy green vegetables pack in a serving. And all that time I thought the way to strong and healthy bones was through the mammary secretions of herbivorous animals. (Side-rant: If we called milk for what it is, would people still clamor for a slice of that hideous American single?)

When people talk of craving milk products, they are not too far off; casomorphins (think casein + morphine) in cow’s milk is a protein compound that draws baby calves to their mother. Humans who consume large amounts of cheese can actually experience cravings for the stuff, similar to a coffee drinkers’ need for their morning cup.

Just like hardcore coffee drinkers can cut back and ultimately stop drinking coffee, so too can those hardcore cheese eaters. I personally stopped consuming dairy products all at once, but for those products that you think you cannot live without, chances are there are vegan alternatives. If you’re craving something salty along the lines of parmesan, toast some walnuts or use a soy sauce, two products that contain high levels of naturally-occurring glutamate (of MSG fame.) There are plenty of options for non-dairy ice creams, and I’ve found that extra firm silken tofu achieves a texture very similar to cheese cake. Beware of some soy cheeses that contain whey and casein. Or better yet, give your taste buds time to adjust and appreciate the multitude of foods beyond dairy.

Don't you miss being able to eat meat/cheese/etc?

"Since you sometimes eat seitan, TVP, tofu, and other things commonly used as a substitute for meat, and you seem to like nutritional yeast and vegan cheeses, doesn't that mean you miss the real stuff?"

I was raised on the Standard American Diet. I've eaten more dead animals than I care to admit. But having not had any meat in nearly 5 years, and other animal products in well over 2 years, the sight and smell of the "real stuff" makes me both very sad and physically ill. The one time I was accidentally given something with real cheese in it, the cheese tasted like rubber, and the moment I realized what it was, I didn't want to eat it.

In short, no, I do not miss meat, eggs or dairy. And the fake meats and cheeses are things I can - and frequently do - abstain from. Most of the stuff is overprocessed chemical Frankenfood, and some of it is so creepily close to the original it disturbs me.

Furthermore, I'm not depriving myself. My diet has been much more varied since going vegan, and I no longer eat compulsively. I'm free to eat whatever I want. I simply don't want to eat the products of torture.

What do you eat!?

Of all the questions that I've ever gotten, this one has to be the most common one. Although I do have an easy out for it, which is, "I eat everything that I used to, with the exception of the dairy and eggs. See, I was raised Indian vegetarian, and we generally eat a lot of food that's already vegan. This tiny little step was easy for me." This is what I call my quick and dirty answer. It's my default for if I'm in a hurry, can't be bothered to spend more time with the person, or am really not in the mood to launch into a dissertation about my dietary habits. It's also an easy out for me, and I know that I shouldn't use it quite so much, because it's going to start making vegans who weren't raised with my lifestyle seem like they're deprived or something.

If I do have more time, I'll go into further depth. "Well, there's grains, pasta, fresh and cooked vegetables, nuts, seeds, berries, dark leafy greens (which I hope you're getting enough of!), lots of beans, legumes, and other such things that I eat all the time." That's closer to reality for me, because although a lot of my food is heavily based on Indian cuisine, there's plenty of it that I improvise, or randomly make up on the spot. Calling the food that I make at home "Indian vegan" would be a gross underestimation from reality. Come to think of it, I eat a huge variety of foods, straight from the produce aisle, and eat more of a variety, now that I've realised that not everything need have dairy in it to be a meal (the pitfall that many Indian vegetarians fall into). 

Finally, if I'm reaching the end of my rope, and the person's getting on my nerves, there's always the, "I eat such a variety that I wrote a cookbook about it, that's available on Amazon, which people are buying as we speak. How 'bout you?"