Write. Read. Repeat.

For the most part, I am willing to give anything a chance. You never know when you may discover your next new hobby or niche. I love to cook and experiment with new foods. The eating portion is alright, but being able to combine ingredients together to make something spectacular for my family and friends is the best part. This really came into play after I went vegan and all the questions of “what can vegans even eat” came flooding in and in some way, I guess I wanted to prove that vegan food can be delicious, affordable, and accessible.

I don’t care so much into making vegan dishes look or taste exactly like their non-vegan counterpart, but if a dish tastes good, regardless of comparability, then it is simply a good dish in it’s own right. Yes, Beyond Meat does quench my hunger to ripe my teeth into something, but a freshly harvested human heart would do the same thing, and let’s face it, the burger is just easier to obtain.

When I look at making a new dish, I do tend to scroll through Pinterest, perusing recipes and comparing them to one another as they are all titled “World Best Vegan Blank Recipe”. Despite the fact that there can technically only be one world’s best of something, just about every Pinterest recipe maker/blogger (def not putting chef in there), uses that same, horribly marketed title for their recipe and believe me, 90% of them fucking suck both in the technique and flavor.

When I first went vegan about 13 years ago, my family took it upon themselves to buy me vegan cook books. One or two that covered appetizers, entrees, and desserts was pretty helpful due to lack of accessible internet at that time. However, two years ago, my father gifted me a vegan cook book as if I hadn’t made it the last 11 years eating food. Now , you may be saying, “oh, its a nice thought, and maybe there’s a new recipe to try in there” to yourself, but this specific book is the epitome of why I hate “those vegans”.

“Those vegans” are the ones who have to tell you that they are vegan within the first breath of meeting you and reinstate it loudly for everyone to hear if you offer them something not vegan as if that self appointed title makes them a damn saint of humanity. They are the ones that PETA adores when they cover themselves in fake blood and lay half naked in the street telling you how bad the animal agriculture business is. It’s absolutely horrid, don’t get me wrong, but there’s a place and time for that. They are the vegans that make everything about being vegan super hippy and elite. They are the ones that are “vegan”, but only eat meat on Fridays…get out. “Those vegans” are the ones who ruin being vegan for the rest of us.

Back on topic of the cookbook, and the type of vegan cook books that drive me up the fucking wall. Our top contester is Gaz fucking Oakley. He is the top dog when it comes to elitist meals. Maybe his target audience is that of the rich with abundant time, but when trying to discuss how accessible a vegan lifestyle can be, it is this pretentiousness that bases one of the many counterpoints that the meat-eaters like to make against the “ease” of being vegan. That vegan food outside of raw veg and fruit is inaccessible or requires exotic ingredients, tools, and exuberant amounts of time and money.

To me, the principle of being vegan comes down to the tag line of “don’t be a dick”. You can live a very, if not more healthy life by not eating animals or their by-products. Obviously, to me it is the only moral way of consuming food. It is also one of the biggest, positive impacts on the environment someone can make. How animal agriculture effects global warming could be a whole post on it’s own, but if you are unaware of this matter, I highly recommend watching the documentary and checking out the website Cowspiracy for more information on that.

If one can not only survive, but thrive off of a plant-based diet that does not elicit pain, terror, and suffering, then why choose any lesser option? Humans are by far the most dangerous creature on this planet. Not just because of the war and violence we show each other, but for the cruelty that we show creatures that are incapable of truly being evil. Humans destroy the very nature that gives us the ability to live on this planet. The rate at which the planet is being destroyed namely by the animal agriculture industry is damn near to the point of being irreparable.

I want to show those who will listen how accessible and affordable living a crusty-free lifestyle can be. If you do undertake in this, be prepared to be uncomfortable. It takes a change of ethical and moral thinking patterns to make this achievable.

When I decided to become pescatarian 15 years ago, I was convinced the “classic way”. It was in the late 2000’s when PETA was leaking and spreading the grotesque videos of what happens in the slaughterhouses and by-product facilities. Not 30 seconds into the first of these videos was I convinced, that is my thinking pattern changed, that I had to change the way I lived. I was 11 years old at the time. It wasn’t until 2 years later that I was at a dinner party and the hostess asked if I was vegan or just vegetarian in regards to wanting whip cream on my apple pie. I had never heard the term and once it was explained to me, I had an “oh shit” moment. Why had I not thought about the repercussions of consuming animal by-products as well? How had I not realized that there was the ‘next level’ as far as my ethics went in regards to those animal lives? It was that night, after eating the pie that I decided to become vegan.

It was hard going vegan at that time. All vegan alternatives were soy-based and while my parents were supportive (more like didn’t care one way or another), neither them or I knew how to make vegan food with the limited options. The sudden jolt of so much soy to my system made me sick for the first two weeks. It was rough, but not once did I feel any sense of regret or thought that I should go back to being just pescatarian. I knew I could figure it out just as much as I knew I couldn’t let a little obstacle get in the way of the greater point of not being apart of animal suffering.

By this revelation, in no way am I referring to enlightenment, but when you live a life of kindness to animals and the environment, it does change you for the better. Living a vegan lifestyle is only part of what we can do to try and help out the planet, but it is a damn good start that does make a major difference in your personal impact and your health.

If anything in this post or any research you do into animal agriculture and the climate crisis on your own make you uncomfortable, then you are getting to the point of thought pattern change. Take a look at your personal morals and ethics. If you treat a dog or cat’s life as more important than that of the animal on your plate, then I explore you to find out why. I am not into converting anyone, or worse, becoming one of “those vegans”, but I believe in providing all of the information for people to make their own decision. Never once have I tried to guilt someone into being vegan or make loud statements of why I don’t want a non-vegan meal when offered, I just politely say “no thank you”. If they want to know more, I am more than happy to explain my decision, but it is just that, my decision, and I cannot make that for someone else. Creating conflict on the matter will only convince people to go further in the other direction.

If you have any questions on what living a vegan lifestyle for a regular person looks like, please let me know and I would be happy to share more.

Thank you.