In other news, I passed my course! For those of you out of the loop, I’ve been taking a course in Natural Nutrition for almost two years now, and I finally finished and wrote my exam. I passed with a 90% It feels so good to be finished, and now I get can started following a very different career path. Watch for my business to start up in September.

I will also be heading off to CFB Gagetown again with the Army Cadets for the summer. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, the cadet movement is the absolute best program for youth that this country has to offer. If your child will 12-13 years old this fall, I highly recommend that they check it out. Everything is free, (and that includes the summer camp.)

Finally, I had a question addressed to me quite some time ago by “Mother of Two.” I’m sorry I didn’t see it earlier but I haven’t logged in for quite a while. The question was this:

“I have a question that perhaps you can answer. As a vegan or vegetarian you have made a choice not to not eat animal products or meat respectively. The reasons may vary from health resons to political or environmental. My question is, if you have choosen this lifestyle then why do you want to eat food that looks like meat products? It seems very strange to me that someone who does not want to eat meat wants to consume things that are made to resemble meat. ”

Why, that’s an easy one. The decision to give up meat was for exactly the reasons you mention, particularly a matter of ethics. Once we realized the incredible suffering being caused to animals on account of our appetites, (not to mention the environment) the choice not to contribute to that suffering was a no-brainer. (For more info, please watch the documentary “Earthlings” on Google Video.
The choice was not, however, a culinary one. I ate a meat-centric diet for 36 years. Tastes simply do not change overnight, and it would be disingenuous of me to pretend that they did. To this day, I still find the smell of fried chicken intoxicating. Having seen first hand how those chickens are raised, however, makes eating it out of the question. So the occasional meatless substitute fills in the gaps. Better a meatless chicken breast that the real thing. At least the meatless one caused no suffering.
Not only that, but we frequently host friends and family members for dinner, and I think they find it comforting to see something on the plate that at least looks familiar.
Just because something is tasty is not enough reason to keep eating it. My neighbour’s cat might be delicious, but I think we’d all agree that ethics would make that unthinkable. I just happen to want to extend that regard to all animals, not just the cute and fluffy ones.
Hope that answers your question. Peace!

We had these for supper just last night. The texture was great and very much like regular chicken nuggets. (Nothing wing-like about them, I’m afraid.) The cooked up in eight minutes, were very tasty (if perhaps a little TOO hot!) and I would buy them again for all those reasons. The downside is that they’re pretty pricey at $4.99 for an amount that would feed three kids or two adults.

Next, we have President’s Choice Meatless Breaded Chicken Strips.

These little suckers are absolutely to die for, no word of a lie. They’re pretty cheap, too, at $6.99 for two pounds. If you did not know better, I swear that you would never know that these were not made of real chicken, they are that eerily realistic. All the yumminess of a chicken finger without the suffering OR the cholesterol! I highly recommend that you pick up a box, especially if you have fussy kids. You can can find them mixed in among the other frozen boxed chicken at the Superstore.

This is absolutely one of my family’s favourite recipes of all time. It’s taken me quite a while to perfect it, but in the meantime, we’ve eaten quite a few quasi-failures that still filled the void. It’s very simple, and a great way to introduce your family to “soy ground round”, if you haven’t already. Bon Appetit!

Meatless Potato-Stroganoff Casserole

First, get busy and peel and slice 6 cups of potatoes. Fairly thin, but not too thin, ya know? Set aside in a bowl of cold water.

In a frying pan, add:
1 tsp olive oil
1/2 medium onion, chopped fairly fine

~Saute~

Then Add:

340 gram package of soy ground round
Cook for a few minutes and set aside.

Meanwhile, in another bowl, combine:

1 3/4 cups water
1/4 tsp black pepper
1 1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp onion powder
1 tsp garlic powder
1 cube vegetable bouillon like Oxo
2 tsp vegan beef-style bouillon
1 Tbsp tomato ketchup
1 1/2 tsp soy sauce
1/2 cup plain non-dairy milk
1/2 cup Tofutti Sour Cream

Spray an oven safe covered casserole dish with cooking spray. Pre-heat oven to 375 degrees.

Layer potato slices and ground round and onion mixture in the dish. Pour liquid over it, cover, and cook at 375 for 45 minutes covered, then 15 minutes uncovered. Extend this time if the casserole still looks too “liquid.” Scoop out and serve!

Serves four.

The Five Best Meat Substitutes (And Tips for Using Them!)

I ate meat for the better part of thirty-five years, and I certainly didn’t give up eating meat because I didn’t like the taste of it. So, pre-packaged meat substitutes have played a big role in our transition to a meatless lifestyle. These days, you can find a vegetarian substitute for just about every meat product you can imagine, from pepperoni and bacon to turkey and ground beef. Some of them are eerily realistic, and enable me to whip up family favorites with no one the wiser that they don’t contain meat. Some others are not so successful.

The use of meat substitutes are controversial in some circles, for a few different reasons. One reason is that some folks don’t understand why a person committed to animal welfare would still want to eat something that mimics the taste of the animal. All I can say to that is that lots of people grew up eating a lot of meat, and the use of a similar tasting substitute can really ease the transition. Another point is that meat substitutes are almost always highly processed foods, and can contain a lot of preservatives and artificial flavours and colours. True enough. But used on occasion, they are still better than the alternative and can help a person get more variety into their diet.

Unfortunately, these items CAN be pricey in some instances, so you certainly don’t want to be spending your money on items that you don’t like. So I’m going to help you out! Here are the top five meat substitutes that my family loves and that I buy frequently. All are available here in Nova Scotia.

#1. Soy Ground Round: This is a substitute for ground beef that you can buy at most major grocery stores. At Sobey’s, you can find Yves brand in the produce section. At the Atlantic Superstore, it is found in the deli section, and is their own “Blue Menu” brand. This works best in dishes that involve tomato sauce, like tacos, chili, or spaghetti sauce. Even in dishes like hamburger and gravy, I always add a squirt of ketchup as the tomato flavour offsets any lingering “soy” taste. I look for it to be marked down and then throw it in the freezer.

#2. President’s Choice World’s Best Meatless Chicken Breasts: These suckers are simply awesome! They’re another Blue Menu product, and can be found at the Atlantic Superstore in the frozen food section, mixed in with all the regular chicken breasts and strips, etc. At this moment, eight good-sized “breasts” are $12.99, which is cheaper than the same number made from actual chicken! These are so, so yummy cooked with Shake ‘n Bake or a smear of BBQ sauce, and are amazingly juicy when cooked on the Barbie. At 150 calories apiece, they are also suitable for those souls who are watching their weight.

#3: Tofurky Hickory Smoked Deli Slices: I pick these up in the Natural Foods section of our local Superstore. They come in three flavours, including oven roasted and Italian, but the Hickory Smoked is my favourite. Never feel deprived when eating a sandwich again. We even take a pack of these to our local Subway and get the staff to add these slices to our subs.
#4: Schneider’s Au Naturel Meatless Chicken Nuggets and Burgers: These can be bought both at Sobey’s and the Superstore in the frozen meat section. No word of a lie, I have served both of these products to friends and family members and they have not even known that they weren’t made of meat. In fact, my deeply carnivorous brother-in-law proclaimed them the best nuggets he had ever had!

#5: A Tie: Yves veggie Pepperoni and President’s Choice Blue Menu Soy Hot Dogs: I have to admit, unlike the previous four products, neither one of these made me want to run down the street screaming with joy. However, they are very good and have found a place in our family’s diet. The PC soy hot dogs are by far the best of all the brands I have tried, but will never be mistaken for a real hot dog. They do make an acceptable substitute for those days when you need something to round out a can of beans or need something to cook on a stick over the fire. The veggie pepperoni has a very realistic taste, and it makes a great addition to pizza, but I personally find the texture a bit rubbery, so when I use it I cut or grate it up first. (The rest of my family doesn’t have the same problem.)

If you give any of these products a try, drop me a line and let me know how you liked them!

“I would like to begin eating a vegetarian diet in January. I’ve tried it a few times before but didn’t feel good physically so began eating meat again after a few days. Do you have any suggestions on how to begin eating a vegetarian diet?”

Good question! Giving up, (or at least drastically reducing), your consumption of animal products is a wonderful resolution for 2009. But like any resolution, you need a plan in order to be successful. Like the saying goes, if you fail to plan, you plan to fail! So here goes:

Tracy’s Ten Top Tips for Going Veg This Year!

1. Increase Your Motivation: You need to think about why you are considering making the switch to a meatless diet. Is it for health reasons? Is it for animal rights? How about the environment, or world hunger? There are a lot of great reasons to give up meat, and the more you know about the issues, the firmer your resolve will be on days when it may seem hard. Even if you are motivated solely by health concerns, take the time to do a little research about other reasons to go veg, such as the cruelty inherent in today’s factory farms and the environmental destruction being caused by society’s appetite for meat. I recommend that you go to Google Video and watch “Earthlings”, directed by Shaun Monson and narrated by Joaquin Phoenix. An amazing and eye-opening documentary if ever there was one.

2. Get Educated: In order to follow a healthy vegetarian or vegan diet, you first need to know what that entails. Vegans eat more than salad, you know! When someone tells me that they tried a vegan diet in the past but got tired/sick/rundown, invariably it turns out that they were eating nothing but fruit and vegetables. Salads, salads, and more salads. Either that, or a diet consisting of French fries and Pepsi. No darn wonder they got sick! Fact is, you can eat an unbalanced and unhealthy diet no matter who they are. There are both vegan and vegetarian food pyramids that you can follow to ensure that you are eating a balanced diet. You can find lots of resources on the Internet via a quick Google search. www.chooseveg.com is a particularly good one.

3. Examine Your Strength and Weaknesses: In order to ensure you eat a healthy diet, you have to be honest about where you’re starting from so you know what direction you need to take. For example, maybe you’ve tried tofu before and you simply hate it, and you are thinking that this might be a hurdle you need to get over. Or perhaps you’re like me, and you’re just not fond of a lot of vegetables, like broccoli (ICK!) or Brussels spouts. (GAG!) You can work around just about any food dislike and still eat well, but you will need to investigate alternatives. At least if you’re honest you won’t start a diet that you hate, only to throw in the towel a week later.

4. Analyze Your Current Diet: Get a piece of paper (even better, a notebook) and list all of your favourite meals. Then divide them into three groups; Group One will be meals that you already eat that are vegan/vegetarian, like spaghetti with red sauce or grilled cheese sandwiches. These you can already add to your new meal plan. Group Two will be meals that you are confident you can easily veganize with a few simple changes and still enjoy. For example, you can substitute vegetable stir-fry for a meat version, or buy a veggie burger in place of a regular one. Group Three will be meals that you love, but you are not so sure that you’ll be able to find replacements for. But guess what? There aren’t too many dishes that someone out there hasn’t yet veganized. All you need to do is Google, and you’ll be overwhelmed by the number of recipes out there for meatless breakfast sausage, faux steak, meatless “turkey”, and even BBQ ribs! With just a little research, you should be able to find a good-looking recipe for just about every meal on your list.

5. Browse for New Recipes: One of the greatest things about going veg*n, for me at least, we being exposed to so many exciting new tastes and flavours that I’d never experienced before. Go to the library on a rainy day and check out some cookbooks, or go online to and search for vegetarian recipes online. Find at least half a dozen that look good to you, and jot them down in your notebook.

6. Go Shopping: Armed with your nutritional information and a fistful of new recipes, get thee to the store!! Locally, I find that the Atlantic Superstore has the best selection of veg-friendly foods. Don’t go crazy and fill your cart with tons of new foods all at once, because you may be throwing your money away on items that you end up not liking. Choose just a few new items to try at first, like a brand of veggie burgers that look good, or meatless cold cuts for your sandwiches. If you do purchase something that doesn’t turn your crank, see if you can use it in a different way. (For example, if you buy a brand of soymilk that isn’t your cup of tea, you can still use it in baking.)

7. Know Yourself: Will you ease into Veg*nism gradually, or will you jump in with both feet and never look back? Only you know what works for you, based on your unique personality, your resources and your life. For me personally, I picked a date about three weeks away on which I would go vegan cold turkey, then spent those three weeks trying out new foods and recipes, and stocking up on staples.

8. Be Kind to Yourself: Nobody is perfect, so don’t expect more of yourself than you can realistically deliver. If you cave in to Grandma and eat her beef stew, don’t spend days agonizing about your moment of weakness. Accept that you’re only human and move on. By the next time you’ll likely be stronger and more able to refuse gently. Also, give yourself time for your tastebuds to adjust. Some textures and flavours of vegetarian foods might be unfamiliar to you, but believe me when I say that you will quickly grow to first like them, and then prefer them. Soy cheese is one example; when I first tried it, I was, shall we say, underwhelmed. But I persisted, adding a little bit more to my pizza every time I cooked, and one day about a month later, I was amazed to discover that I was chowing down on a big cheesy pizza and lovin’ it. Your tastebuds will catch up if you just give them some time.

9. Upgrade Your Groceries: Just because your diet is meatless doesn’t necessarily mean it’s as healthy as it can be. Others won’t have much respect for your dietary choices if they see that it consists of processed crap. If you eat things like white bread, white pasta, soda pop and potato chips, you are wasting your calories on junk that will only make you fat and tired. Upgrade your breads and pasta to whole wheat (you won’t notice the difference) and switch to 100% fruit and vegetables juices. If you need something crunchy, try raw vegetables or rice crisps. Ditch the deep-fried junk, and opt for baked and broiled foods instead.

10. And finally, Grow a Thick Skin: I’ve been a veg*n for three years now, and I’ve had in that time span many a conversation with others about my diet. The sad fact is that there are other people who will see your dietary choices as a personal affront, even if you never open your mouth. Some people will see your choices as a commentary on THEIR behaviour, and they will get defensive. You will have people pick at you and make jokes at your expense. Relatives will be horrified and be certain that you are dying. You will have folks roll their eyes at you and make comments behind your back about how strange you have become. All I can say to you is this: It’s your life, not theirs. No one has a right to decide for you how you will live your life. All you can do is smile, keep your comments to yourself, enjoy your food and enjoy your life. Don’t talk about controversial topics in mixed company, and above all, lead by example. Living well is always the best revenge.

Good Luck!

The fact is, I am a voracious reader, and certain books have had no small part in making me the near-vegan that I am today. Books can be eye opening, illuminating, thought provoking, and educational. (And oh yes, entertaining too, of course!) So if there’s someone on your list that you haven’t picked something up for yet, (including yourself) here are three books that I think everyone, be they vegan or meat eater, should read.

#1: The China Study, by T.Colin Campbell. This gent, who grew up on a dairy farm, is a much-respected scientific researcher who started his career believing that animal protein is absolutely essential to be healthy. But what he discovered during his years of research led him to the opposite conclusion. He was in charge of conducting “The China Study”, which is considered to be the “Grand Prix of epidemiology” and the “most comprehensive large study ever undertaken of the relationship between diet and the risk of developing disease.” The book makes is staggeringly clear, through sound scientific research, that a vegan diet is the healthiest diet on the planet. Also, and perhaps even more interesting, are Dr. Campbell’s shocking personal stories of what happens behind the scenes in those agencies whose job it should be to give you proper information about how to safeguard your health. Pretty scary stuff.

#2: Dominion, by Matthew Scully. He is a former speechwriter for George W. Bush, and no one turns a phrase quite as well as this man does. This book is about man’s relationship to animals, and also about our excuses for not treating them with mercy and dignity. The New York Times Book Review states the following:

“Dominion is a horrible, wonderful, important book. It is horrible in its subject, a half-reportorial, half-philosophical examination of some of the most repugnant things that human beings do to animals…. The book is wonderful in its eloquent, mordant clarity, and its hilarious fillets of sanctimonious cant and hypocrisy…. Dominion is important in large measure because the author, an avowed conservative Republican and former speechwriter for George W. Bush, is an unexpected defender of the animals against the depredations of profit driven corporations, swaggering, gun-loving hunters, proponents of renewed ‘harvesting’ of whales and elephants and others who insist that all of nature is humanity’s romper room, to play with, rearrange, and plunder at will…. This is a beautiful book, and a balm to the scared, lonely animal in us all. — Natalie Angier, The New York Times Book Review

And here are a few more reviews, because this is a difficult book for me to explain adequately myself:

“An unsettling book, one that will challenge the conflicting views most of us hold…. It shines a bright light on indecent treatment kept out of the public view…. It promises to stir many hearts and minds.” –The Arizona Republic
“[Scully] doesn’t proselytize. What he advocates, simply, is humane treatment for all God’s creatures…. I was saddened, moved and unsettled by this book. I no longer consider animal rights a fringe movement…. In the end, Scully does a brilliant job of planting a very disturbing seed: If we can treat animals this cruelly, what are we capable of doing to ourselves?” –The Rocky Mountain News

#3: Slaughterhouse, by Gail Eisnitz : Gail is a member of the Humane Farming Association of the United States, and makes her living investigating cases of animal cruelty. She is not a vegetarian, simply someone who does not like to see animals suffer. It is a thoroughly shocking look at the inside of today’s slaughterhouses and what happens there. Not for the faint of heart, but something I personally think everyone who eats meat should be forced to read. There’s an awful lot of nasty stuff taking place behind those closed doors, and even if you like to eat meat, I’m guessing you’ll like it a whole lot less once you read about how it gets to your plate.

Here’s a book review I found on Amazon.ca that sums it all up pretty well:

“In 1989, Gail Eisnitz received a letter from Timothy Walker, a well known whistleblower. His letter stated that he has first hand knowledge that a slaughterhouse (Kaplan Industries) was skinning live cattle. At first, she didn’t know what to believe so she called the USDA. A USDA inspector called her back with the findings: no cattle were being skinned alive at Kaplan.
She decides to contact Walker by phone. When asked how he knew that Kaplan was skinning live cows, he stated that he was a USDA employee. He begins to tell Eisnitz a few more details.
In the US alone, over one hundred and one million pigs are slaughtered each year. Thirty seven million cattle and calves, more than four million horses, goats and sheep and over eight BILLION chickens and turkeys are killed.
Millions of chickens leaking yellow pus, stained green feces, contaminated by harmful bacteria and tumors are shipped for sale to customers.
At a Perdue plant, there is so much fecal contamination on the floor from chickens that it leaked into a workers boots and burned his feet so badly that his toenails had to be amputated. The company won’t even allow workers to leave the line to go to the bathroom so they relieve themselves on the floor. Sometimes the chickens that are hung fall to the floor that is covered with roaches, feces and blood. The chickens that fall aren’t even washed off before being hung back up on the line. One worked said that he “saw flies on the chicken as it went down the line and maggots in boxes which contained bags that the chickens would be wrapped in.” Occasionally, maggots were ground up with everything else and remained in the final product.

This is disturbing, and it should be. I hope that those who read this book will do something. Write to your senator or Member of Parliament, stop eating meat or even distribute this book among friends. Just do something. These are animals. They feel pain just like you do. Would you allow this to happen to a dog or cat? They why allow it to happen to farm animals.
This is a book that everyone needs to read. A lot of people believe or like to believe that their dinner arrived on their plate humanely. People need to know about wrongdoings like this. It’s inhumane and it’s wrong, plain and simple. “

So. There you have it. I urge you to start 2009 with a fresh perspective on some of these very important issues. Grab yourself one of these books, crack open that bottle of wine this holiday season, and do yourself the best favour of all: Educate yourself.
Merry Christmas to you all!

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There are lots of reasons to avoid eating turkey this holiday season. Turkeys and chickens are arguably the most abused animals on this planet, and chances are very good that your Christmas turkey lived a very short and brutal life before appearing on your table. If you want to read more about it, you can click here to go to Compassion Over Killing’s website, or here to check out Peta’s undercover expose of turkey farming.

But enough about that. Today, I want to focus on the positive, like my positively delicious faux turkey that can make your feast special and cruelty free, to boot. It can be a simple turkey loaf that you slice and serve, or made into a turkey roll with stuffing inside. You can decide based on how much time you have and how much energy you have left by Christmas Eve.

First, here’s the recipe:

Add to blender:
5 oz (150 mls) silken tofu (You can get this at the Superstore in the Natural Foods section.)
1-cup water
1 tsp salt
¾ tsp black pepper
1 ½ Tbsp vegan chicken style bouillon (Again, available in the Natural Foods Section, labled Gluten-Free)
Scant ½ tsp poultry seasoning
½ tsp garlic powder
½ tsp onion salt
½ tsp thyme
Pinch celery seed

Blend. Add the mixture to the following ingredients, already mixed in a large bowl:

1/3-cup soy flour
1 ½ cups vital wheat gluten flour (Buy at the Bulk Barn or at the health food store)
1 Tbsp rolled oats
1 Tbsp cornmeal
Knead together into a firm ball. Keep more gluten flour on hand, between ¼ and ½ cup, to work into the seitan as you knead it. Once mixed, let sit for one hour. Then, knead again until firm, just a minute or so.

Prepare a large juice can (or a loaf pan) by lining it with non-stick foil or parchment paper.

Place seitan in the can, and press it down into the bottom of the can to make sure it is a solid mass. Alternatively, make into a somewhat bread-shaped loaf and press into a loaf pan.

Pour over the seitan a broth made of the following:
1-cup water
½ tsp black pepper
¼ tsp garlic powder
¼ tsp onion salt
¼ tsp poultry seasoning
¼ tsp thyme
1 Tbsp Vegan Chik’n bouillon

Cover can/pan with foil. Pre-heat oven to 375 degrees. Place can in oven and immediately reduce heat to 250 degrees. Let cook for 3 hours. Remove from can and cool on rack. Slice once cool.

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This recipe can be used to make a holiday seitan “stuffed breast of turkey”. If you want lots of leftovers, double the recipe. Instead of pressing into a juice can, you will roll the seitan out flat on a surface dusted with gluten flour.

In the centre, add a mound of stuffing. Homemade or a boxed variety, it doesn’t matter. Roll up, starting by folding in the ends followed by folding in the long side. Wrap tightly with damp cheesecloth or butcher’s twine. Place the bundle in a deep oven-safe dish. Pour over the “turkey” the broth made as above.

Cook the same amount of time, remove from oven and allow to cool. This can be made the day before, and then wrapped in foil and cooked in a medium oven for about thirty minutes before your dinner.

This recipe has a damn lot going for it, if I do say so my damn self. It’s super cheap, needs no careful thawing, no risk of salmonella or any other nasty diseases, and you don’t end up on Christmas morning up to your elbow in a turkey’s butt, digging out their innards. (That never was a pleasant way to start such a pleasant day.)

Holy cap, I hate the cold! I don’t know how I ended up living in Canada, because when it comes to winter, I prefer to observe it from inside the house, thank you very much. So when winter comes, there’s nothing I like better than to hibernate in the house, stoke up the fire, have a glass of wine and make soup.
This soup just happens to get it’s “OOmph!” from a splash of red wine. Red wine happens to be good for the appetite and the digestion, and a glass a day can help keep your arteries open and flowin’. So now that the Christmas season (and the snow and ice season) is upon us, go ahead and crack open a bottle and make this rich, decadent soup. Enjoy a nice glass of vino while you watch the pot.

Mushroom Stew in Red Wine Broth
Serves Six
Get yourself a large pot. Add:
2 tsp olive oil
2 large garlic cloves
8 oz white button mushrooms, chopped
1 medium onion, diced
~Saute until onions are translucent~

Then Add:
2 cups tomato juice
8 cups water
1/3 cup red wine (I used Carlo Rossi)
3 cups diced potato, about dice size
1 1/2 cups diced carrot, about dice size
1 cup frozen green bean pieces
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
2 tsp paprika
2 1/2 Tbsp Beef-style vegan bouillon
1/2 tsp rubbed oregano
1/2 tsp Summer Savoury

Let simmer for about 45 minutes

PS: Be sure to check out my little interview on the Entertainment page. Tim Reeves-Horton, (who is a very nice dude, BTW) came to my house and shot it last week. He ever managed to make me sound marginally intelligent! (That’s the sign of a good editor…:0)

I would love to see more parents be supportive of their child’s choice to give up meat and other animal products, but in order for that to work, some sacrifices are necessary on both sides. Respect is a two way street, and unless both parent and child are respectful of each other’s choices, you are likely going to end up with uncomfortable conflict in the home, and nobody wants to live like that.

So, you’re a teenager who would like to be a vegan and have your folks support that choice? Great! Perhaps they will, but it’s going to require some effort on your part and a little understanding. Cuz guess what? I was once a teenager too, and I can tell you that when it came to a difference of opinion between me and an adult, I could be pretty obnoxious. (I once told off the workers at a Right to Life booth and called them some pretty nasty names, just because I was a snotty, know-it-all teenager and they happened to have a different opinion than me. For the record, I still support abortion rights, but as an adult, I now know that few situations are black and white; almost all are shades of gray.)

So if you want your parents to respect your choices, be sure that you respect theirs. Avoid getting into heated discussions about slaughterhouses over the dinner table. Don’t make snide comments about the “corpses” in the refrigerator. If your parents don’t understand the reasons behind your new eating habits, try your best to inform them in a non-confrontational way. Write them a letter, or ask them to read a book that you found very informative.

Also, you are going to need to show your folks that you’ve done your homework and know how to eat a complete and balanced diet. Make sure you eat a wide range of foods from the vegan food pyramid, like lots of beans and legumes, whole grains, fruit and veg, and fortified non-dairy milks and cheeses. Avoid junk food and soda, and show your parents that you are serious about your health.

Don’t expect them to cook for you, at least not right away; get yourself in the kitchen and help! If your family is having a pasta meal, make some of your own meatless sauce to share. If you’re spending some time at a friend’s house or at a relatives place, be sure you pack food to take with you. You cannot expect others to cater to you or expect your Mom to cook two separate meals every night. Go shopping with her and point out products you would like to try. Who knows? If you behave in a positive and enthusiastic way, you just may find your family dining on a meatless meal you whipped up for them.

But it’s not just the teens who have to bend a little in this situation; I think parents owe it to their children to be supportive of the choices their children make, especially a choice like Veganism that’s coming from a positive place and attempting to make a difference in the world. After all, it’s not like they’re choosing to knock down parking meters; they want to save animals lives!

If your child asks you to peruse some reading material or watch a video, please respect them enough to do that. You may or may not agree with the message, but no one ever suffered from too much information. If they want you to purchase special foods for them, please do that if you have the means. If money is tight, ask your teen to research more inexpensive options. And as long as your teen is choosing healthy foods, you need not worry about their health; according to the Dieticians of Canada, a well-planned vegan diet is suitable for every stage of life and in fact, promotes better health and fewer chronic diseases long-term.

To make a long-winded rant short, it’s all about mutual respect. Veganism or vegetarianism is only one of the ways your opinions will differ from your child’s as time goes on and they grow into their own person, and as long as you have a respectful dialogue with your child now, you’re setting the stage for a close and mutually beneficial relationship with them as time marches on.

Two years ago, my Mom suggested to me that I really should write a cookbook. At the time, I thought that was a bang-up idea, and I went the idea double-time for a while. But then, real life intruded and the idea of putting together a book of meatless recipes kinda fell by the wayside.

Until my Mom suggested that we exchange homemade Christmas presents this year. And I thought, what better thing to give my Mom then the very first copy of my cookbook? So I got busy and put one together, and had it self-published at a great website called Lulu.com. It took me the better part of a year to pull it off.

Although it isn’t perfect, I think I’ve created something that others might find useful. It’s directed primarily at folks who might not be vegetarian, but are still interested in eating fewer animal products (or none at all!) For example, people with high cholesterol, hypertension, heart problems, bowel problems, and yes, people debating the issue of animal cruelty too.  There are a few chapters on why a person might choose to eat less meat, some tips for stocking your pantry, some advice on what tools you might need to get the job done, all ending with 54 of my best recipes that came from two years of vegan blogging.

The recipes are aimed at folks like myself; small-town people with simple tastes, limited budgets, and a healthy suspicion of fancy-shmancy food. You’ll find recipes for healthier biscuits, vegan holiday “turkey”, meatless Filet Mignon, brownie cookies, veggie burgers, meatless sausage patties, corn chowder, fish-free fishcakes, pasta sauce with red wine, and chunky sausage stew, just to name a few.

It can be downloaded for $5 directly from the website, (certainly the most economical way) or ordered in print for $13.44. Unfortunately, as this is an American company and our dollar is in the toilet, ordering one copy can be very expensive. So, as I have a few friends and acquaintences who have told me they would like one, I have ordered in ten copies and paid the shipping myself.

If anyone would like to have a copy when they come in, please let me know. The cost will be $15, and that is with a twenty-three cent profit to myself. (WooHoosrc=”http://southshorenow.ca/blogs/vegan/wp-content/uploads/2008/11/cookbook-front-cover-revised-300×300.jpg” alt=”" width=”300″ height=”300″ />

You can check out the front and back cover, along with the table of contents, by clicking on the link below. Please drop me a line if you have any questions and I’ll be happy to answer them!