Veganizing Recipes and Oh, My Life

I am a foodie. I LOVE FOOD. It has been awhile now that I have been a vegetarian. I sure miss a steak and still love the smell of bacon :). It has been a test to my beliefs to not eat meat as I had done for most of my life. It has been a learning experience filled with sadness and enlightenment. I have read so much about animals and the farming industry that I have no doubt I am doing the right thing for my conscious. Early on in my journey into vegetarianism I ate eggs and milk products but avoided any meat, poultry, fish, or any animal ingredients (gelatin, lecithin, carmine, etc.) in food. I also purchase toiletries and household cleaners from companies who do not test on animals or have animal ingredients in their products (BTW, that pretty much eliminates any big name brand at the store). Being a lacto-ovo vegetarian is really easy in comparison to being a vegan.

However, the more I read the more I became conflicted with eating eggs. I think eggs are an excellent source of protein and necessary amino acids and really really wish I could eat them. After reading how chickens are treated, even in the so-called free range farming, I could no longer support eating eggs. If I had my own chickens I think I would use eggs but alas I do not have the opportunity to do so as my HOA does not allow farm animals. Did I mention I need to move? I digress :).

So now I avoid eggs (::sigh::) and I do eat some dairy: mostly sour cream, cheese, and butter. I don’t like milk so that has not been a big issue for me and soy milk works great for anything I need to use it in. I buy organic milk (from companies that make a clear statement that the cows are treated well) for Peanut and am slowly transitioning to organic butter, sour cream, and cheese products. That is expensive to do. I am not sure if I will transition from using milk products to avoiding them as well. I LOVE CHEESE :). And that would be a very difficult thing for me to give up. No cream or butter? I don’t know about that. I am only human :).

That said, it is a struggle to adapt recipes to be vegan or vegetarian. I am really into baking and eggs are so essential to baking; at least in the western world! It has been an experience trying to find egg substitutions that work and work well. My impression is often vegans say to themselves, “Well, there are no animal ingredients in this so I will sacrifice taste.”  I CANNOT agree to this! Food should taste GOOD!! I am on a quest to find good vegan recipes that taste good too :). I can have both dammit!

So far I have been able to make an excellent chocolate cake and chocolate chip walnut cookies that are delicious and vegan. I even have hard-core carnivores (such as my hubby) tell me they are da bomb. Yay! So I will keep experimenting to find good vegan baked goods and know, for me, I am doing the right thing for myself, the planet, and all living things. Slack you are right, I am a damn hippy :).