At the moment I am between jobs and struggling for money.
Luckily my parents are wonderful and extremely supportive of me.
So... my mother gave me some money for Thanksgiving. I couldn't find a celebration roast anywhere close (we spent the weekend near Galveston) but amazingly the grocery store in small town Texas City, Texas has a HUGE organic/vegan/health food section.
I decided not to cook anything difficult and went straight to the processed instant foods that looked "vegan enough." By this I mean none of the products contained any meat, eggs, dairy, honey, gelatin, or anything I knew used animal products, but some of the products had ingredients that may have been questionable. I didn't look up every single ingredient I simply decided that I would do my best.
Here is what I ended up with:
The faux chicken rocked! It honestly tasted like chicken nuggets.
Now for the finished product:
As I reflected on my Thanksgiving I was extremely proud of myself. I had a huge delicious meal with plenty of leftovers and I honestly didn't feel like anything was missing.
When I read my friends and family's facebook status updates I started to think about the hundreds of thousands of Turkeys that are killed each year and I felt ashamed that I accepted that as the reality of the holiday. It began to upset me that everyone else still does accept it. I am still dealing with the emotions I am having toward the people I love who continue to eat meat, but that is something to be discussed in another post.
HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!
Love,
Jeffrey
3 comments:
Well I am going through something similar with my new diet. I eat 6 times a day and I am thinking about food all day. What veggies do I have to prepare for lunch and dinner, how much I want bread, can I have a small bite of whatever Ben is eating, can I have 6 cashews instead of 5, make sure I have a plan when I go somewhere, can't take a nap unless I've had my breakfast already, have to remember my water, have to remember to eat a snack. It's so much. I still miss my food. And then on the other side, I am scared of it. Scared of the extra pound I gained or the pound I didn't lose from going off plan for a day. I want to get to a place where I truly believe that food is here to keep us alive. So eat it because its good for you. But then there's the whole issue of taste buds, and the issue of people doing things to make food taste better because of those taste buds. I feel a lot better than I ever have before so that needs to be primary.
As for you Jeff, I know you are conflicted because you have so many loved ones that love meat. But you also say how hungry you are all the time. The fact is that meat has a lot of protein in it and we need protein to function. Do you know how much protein is in the meals I get? A LOT. And meat tasting good is only one reason people eat it. The other is that it helps keep us going and it has been this way for a very long time. And if you're not getting what you need to keep you going you need to realize that meat was giving that to you, and if you're going to stay vegan, you need figure out a way to get just as much. My mom and Lisa were both not eating meat until Lisa was pregnant and she stopped because her body needed it. I know there are other ways to get it and you're probably just adjusting to that but please know that people don't just eat meat because its good.
I hope this doesnt come across as me not encouraging you to be vegan. Just trying to offer a different perspective than the simple taste factor of eating meat. Although taste is a pretty big thing. But that goes back to what I said earlier about people realizing that food shouldnt be eaten primarily for taste most of the time. Its supposed to keep us alive.
Well I am going through something similar with my new diet. I eat 6 times a day and I am thinking about food all day. What veggies do I have to prepare for lunch and dinner, how much I want bread, can I have a small bite of whatever Ben is eating, can I have 6 cashews instead of 5, make sure I have a plan when I go somewhere, can't take a nap unless I've had my breakfast already, have to remember my water, have to remember to eat a snack. It's so much. I still miss my food. And then on the other side, I am scared of it. Scared of the extra pound I gained or the pound I didn't lose from going off plan for a day. I want to get to a place where I truly believe that food is here to keep us alive. So eat it because its good for you. But then there's the whole issue of taste buds, and the issue of people doing things to make food taste better because of those taste buds. I feel a lot better than I ever have before so that needs to be primary.
As for you Jeff, I know you are conflicted because you have so many loved ones that love meat. But you also say how hungry you are all the time. The fact is that meat has a lot of protein in it and we need protein to function. Do you know how much protein is in the meals I get? A LOT. And meat tasting good is only one reason people eat it. The other is that it helps keep us going and it has been this way for a very long time. And if you're not getting what you need to keep you going you need to realize that meat was giving that to you, and if you're going to stay vegan, you need figure out a way to get just as much. My mom and Lisa were both not eating meat until Lisa was pregnant and she stopped because her body needed it. I know there are other ways to get it and you're probably just adjusting to that but please know that people don't just eat meat because its good.
I hope this doesnt come across as me not encouraging you to be vegan. Just trying to offer a different perspective than the simple taste factor of eating meat. Although taste is a pretty big thing. But that goes back to what I said earlier about people realizing that food shouldnt be eaten primarily for taste most of the time. Its supposed to keep us alive.
Have you seen Farm Sanctuary's video of Thanksgiving FOR The Turkeys?
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