The Vegan Bucket List

I subscribe to the VegNews magazine. Since I do not live in the U.S. anymore (and because I love the idea of less trees dying so that I can enjoy the magazine) I receive the electronic version. It took me a long time to get used to it, but now I like it even more. Before, I would fold corners, leave in post-it notes, and more often than not, forget what I wanted to make from the magazine as it got lost in the shuffle. Now, I take screen shots of things I am interested in, want to make and/or buy, and read on the fly. It works out really well for me.

Anyway, I happened to visit the VegNews website today and found this list: The Vegan Bucket List. I think it is fantastic and I want to do everything on it...eventually!

The things I have already accomplished include:

Ask your (non-vegan) family or friends to try a vegan meal, day, or week. It's the perfect birthday gift!

Visit Portland, Ore.’s vegan mini-mall. Leave with a tattoo, cookie, message t-shirt, and a few snacks for the road. (okay, I seriously did consider a tattoo here...even met with one of the artists! But, didn't actually go through with it :-(
Meet your vegan superhero. Whether it’s Gene Baur, John Salley, Kathy Freston, Wayne Pacelle, or Tal Ronnen, go to one of your favorite star’s public events and thank them for their work. (Isa Chandra Moskowitz and Heather Mills)
Be vegan until 6pm, and then stay vegan until the following day. Repeat. (I have been repeating for over 2 years!)
Dine at Candle 79 in New York and Millennium in San Francisco, not on the same night. Go with people whom you truly adore, and feast on appetizers, salads, entrees, drinks, and desserts (multiples of each). Share everything so you get to taste it all! (I am half way here...My dad and I ate at Millennium.)Inspire at least one person to become vegan. (My adorable mom)
Help the environment by opting for a bicycle or running shoes over a car. (I bike to work daily.)
Cook an entirely vegan holiday dinner for your friends and family. (3 Thanksgivings in a row now!)

Start a balcony herb garden.

Become a vegan hostess extraordinaire by throwing holiday parties, brunches, bonfires, barbecues, fondue nights, and so on. (And, we just bought a grill!!!)

Spend a week at The Gentle Gourmet B&B in Paris. (2 meals...Love this place!)

Visit the Chicago Diner and feast on The Radical Reuben, mashed potatoes, and cookie dough peanut butter milkshake.

Find a vegan restaurant in every city you visit, no matter how remote! (Or at least something vegan on the menu!)

Attend (or, even better yet, have!) a vegan wedding. (Not 100% - I grew up in the mid-west! But, we did have a vegan main course option and all dessert was vegan!)

Veganism and cancer treatment: One success story

The question: Can you follow a vegan diet if you have cancer?


The answer: Yes – but even the most devoted vegans must be prepared to significantly alter their lifestyle.

The experts: Debbie Farrell is a two-time cancer survivor. As part of her treatment program, she follows a strict vegan diet, one she will remain on for the rest of her life.

Shani Fox, ND, specializes in treating cancer patients. While Fox did not treat Farrell, she believes there are strong benefits to following a plant-based diet during cancer treatment.

Four years ago, Debbie Farrell, 54, was diagnosed with fallopian tube cancer. Surgery was successful, and chemotherapy was recommended. However, Farrell chose not to undergo chemotherapy and instead opted for a vegan diet consisting of carrot juice and a product called Barley Green. This is all Farrell ate for the next six months. After that, she followed the completely vegan Halleluiah diet: 85% raw food, 15% cooked.

Farrell says, “Unfortunately, after a couple of years, we got off track and went back to the standard American diet. I believe this was the cause of the return of my cancer” in April 2010.

While Fox is not aware of any definitive studies proving that a vegan diet prevents certain kinds of cancer, there are studies that show hormonal cancers, like breast and prostate, can be linked to animal-based diets. “Antibiotics can be powerful drivers of hormonal cancers,” she says.

Because vegans avoid animal products, they are less exposed to antibiotics, which may prove beneficial in terms of long-term health. “You can find studies of the harmful effects of animal products. You can derive that avoidance leads to a better position,” Fox adds.


What is true of any cancer treatment: Nutrition is critical. And reducing inflammation is key, Fox says.

“The most important role when fighting cancer is to keep inflammation down.” One cause of inflammation is an animal-based diet that includes meat, dairy, and eggs. Eliminating these foods “is an advantage for a vegan diet,” Fox says.


Farrell’s Cancer Returns


Last spring, following an abnormal blood test, a PET scan revealed a half-dollar sized tumor between Farrell’s spine and rectum. She was told by her oncologist the cancer was “treatable but not curable.” Not willing to accept this diagnosis, Farrell chose a homeopathic doctor in Carson City, Nev. who practices a form of treatment called IPT: Insulin Potentiation Therapy.

Along with IPT, Farrell followed an extremely strict, all-organic vegan diet from the book Healing the Gerson Way.

Her diet, then and now, consists of oatmeal and raisins for breakfast and a salad and soup for lunch and dinner. Farrell prepares the soup with potatoes, tomatoes, leeks, onions, and distilled water.

Juicing is also a main component of the diet. The book identifies this “as being your medicine,” Farrell explains.

Although the book advises 13 8 oz. servings per day, Farrell’s protocol has been modified to eight. She begins with orange juice in the morning, then consumes five servings of a carrot- apple juice combo throughout the day. She also drinks a green juice twice daily. Farrell’s recipe includes raw ingredients such as beet leaves, red leaf lettuce, Swiss chard, red cabbage and one apple.

Farrell once asked her doctor how long she had to follow this diet. His response: “You will never eat like your neighbor again.”

The monotony is worth it to her: Four weeks after beginning treatment for her second bout of cancer, Farrell is again in remission. She is convinced that the IPT, plus the vegan diet, has saved her life.


Cancer and the vegan diet: More than raw vegetables


Fox says the main concern with following a vegan diet during cancer treatment is ensuring the patient is getting enough digestible protein. This is important because many factors in cancer treatment cause the breakdown of tissue. Protein is necessary to tissue repair.

During treatment, “It is possible to be vegan and consume enough protein, but it is more challenging without animal products. There could be a place where a vegan diet is outweighed by the need for protein,” Fox explains, but this would be carefully planned with the patient in order to “stay with their ethical concerns as to why they are vegan in the first place.”

Christmas Presents for the Vegans in Your Life

For Christmas, my adorable sister-in-law, Terra and my brother, Craig bought us the cookbook Appetite for Reduction by Isa Chandra Moskowitz. We LOVE it! So far, I have made three recipes but can't wait to try them all. The ingredients lists are short and simple, but packed with flavor. Nutritional information is included with each recipe. And, a majority are soy and gluten free, or give alterations to make them such.

Everyday Chickpea-Quinoa Salad ( because you could eat this EVERYDAY and never get tired of it!!!)

 Shaved Brussels Sprouts

Lotsa Veggie Lentil Soup

 

And, they also bought us a milk frother! So, John made Oat Milk Lattes today.

 

 

Welcome to Denmark

My husband's company purchased these flowers for us as a "Welcome to Denmark" gesture!

So far, finding organic fruits and vegetables is not difficult. I have not noticed if they are local or imported but the concept of buying local is very strong here. I have also found a brand of marinated tofu, soy burger crumbles, and something resembling chicken nuggets in the frozen foods section. Soy, rice, and oat milk are easy to find in most grocery stores, and yesterday, we found soy creamer. The usual variety of grains (quinoa, bulgur, all varieties of rice, polenta, all varieties of beans, etc) are available. On my to-do list for this week, I plan to visit the asian market, turkish market, and an all organic supermarket in search of nutritional yeast and agave, along with a few other "must-have" staples.

As for restaurants, we have only had lunch out a few times at a place called Jacob's Pita Bar. They have a humus and falafel pita that is very tastey! Yesterday, a friend gave us a mini guide to the city that lists a few restaurants with vegetarian selections. Dining out is VERY pricey, so it won't happen often. But, I am thrilled to know that I might have a few options for when our budget opens up to a night out!

In a nut shell, Denmark is not vegan-friendly, but also not vegan-impossible!

Oat Milk and The Story of Stuff

I was out shopping with a friend, Christina, and she was looking for ingredients to make an amazing vegan dessert quiche. As a substitute for sour cream, she used Oat Milk. I was surprised at how creamy and thick and rich it was. So, when John and I were shopping this weekend, we bought some and we have been eating it with cereal and coffee. It is not extremely expensive and, in my opinion, better tasting and has a better consistency than Rice Milk.


I have also become very dedicated to buying dried beans. After watching a short documentary called The Story of Stuff, I am trying to do better about buying things with less packaging. I am very diligent about taking my own bags when shopping, bringing my green bags when buying produce, and buying as many things in bulk as possible. Spices, fresh tofu, and dried beans are all things I find easily at the Naschmarkt with very little packaging. I have found it is also much less expensive to buy beans dried. I purchased black beans and chickpeas, each bag was €2.80 ($3.84) and will make approximately 18 cups of beans! Hello beans forever!

Along with the beans, I found organic applesauce (for some peanut butter cookies I will make soon!) and Mori-Nu tofu. Very random.

Vitamin Wheel

Information about Chocolate

I haven't been baking much lately, so yesterday when I was at the grocery store, I wandered down the baking aisle to see what the vegan selection was. I found some Bakers Unsweetened Baking Chocolate Squares that are 100% Cacao! I felt so confident that this meant they were 100% vegan that I bought them. When I got home I wanted to check for sure and found this great site, All About Chocolate, that gives a list and little description of many different varieties of chocolate and their "vegan" status! Look for a posting of something in the area of “chocolate goodness” soon!!!!

It is going well!!!!!!!

Even though I have not posted for a few days, I have been cooking up a storm...A vegan storm that is! I am not 100% vegan yet, but because of the amazing recipes I have found online, ideas from other creative vegan bloggers and a seminar that we attended, John is completely on board!!!! Yesterday we went to the Eugene Home and Garden Show! Kay Hansen, author of Vegan Homestyle (officially my first vegan cookbook!!!) gave a short lecture on the leading causes of disease...most of which are completely preventable. The point that stuck with me most: eat three meals a day. Give your digestive system a break in between, i.e. no snacking. It takes 5 - 6 hours to digest a meal and eating in between causes your system to stop working on the first meal, start digesting the new food. This leaves the original meal to sit and wait, meanwhile creating toxins. Her cookbook does a much nicer job of describing it. But bottom line for me: lay off the snacks :-(

So here are a few of my recent food creations....I must say, my photography skills are very weak right now and most pictures turned out blurry and therefore are not posted!

This idea was swiped from one of my favorite blog sites Lauren's Vegan Journal and a HUGE inspiration for creating my own (blog title and all!!) A fabulous alternative to pasta is Spaghetti Squash. I like to bake it sliced in half lengthwise, seeds scooped out and spread with olive oil, salt and pepper. It bakes quickly in a shallow baking pan filled with water, seasoned side down. When it is ready, the inside will easily pull out with a fork. For the sauce, I cooked onions and garlic, added crushed tomatoes, portobello mushrooms, a variety of Italian seasonings, artichoke hearts and Tofurky Italian Sausage ...I think that was all. It turned out delicious and we had lunch for at least 3 days afterward. The picture on the other hand was so blurry I deleted it.

Cleaning out the kitchen!

I am excited to find that I actually have very few items that are not already vegan!!! Worcestershire sauce surprised me with anchovies!!!! I also have obvious things like honey and shrimp bouillon (a random purchase of John’s). I am making plans to use these items up (many in lunches for John so I can avoid them) and am currently searching for replacements.

Bragg’s Liquid Amino Acids is a recommended substitute for the Worcestershire sauce….A product that I have used and enjoyed for years.

While perusing the web I came across this very interesting link at the Peta website that says items such as OREO’s, Bisquick, and Crisco are vegan. After further noodling, I found that they contain the ingredients Mono and Diglycerides…..which CAN be made of animal fat. It seems Peta labels items vegan if the animal products measure less than 2%. Interesting!
The cake mix, Crisco, and Bisquick are from the list!

The decision....

John blames it all on a story we heard on NPR a few days ago. Products from cloned animals will soon be available in grocery stores...UNLABELED! Yes, icky. But not fully responsible for my decision. I have been a vegetarian, on and off, for over 12 years. Although I do not agree with the cruel treatment of animals, I am mainly focused on the health benefits veganism offers. Reduced risk of heart disease and cancer for starters!

The transition will not be instant. John is less than thrilled. But I know I will win him over with a few delicious meals...and a few vegan baked goods! Before long, he (we) won't miss cheese!!! And of course he occasionally sneaks in meat dishes when we go out to dinner.

So this will be a record of my transition. I do not currently eat meat but it is surprising how many food items contain animal products! My goal is to quickly use up products currently in my kitchen containing animal products while replacing them with vegan choices. I have found many great websites that offer vegan recipes, substitution ideas, and I am currently reading the book Becoming Vegan by Brenda Davis, R.D and Vesanto Melina, M.S., R.D. I have also scheduled an appointment to have my blood tested for minerals/vitamins/hormone levels, etc. to know if I am currently lacking in any area.

My hope for this blog is to share information, nutrition, and encourage veganism while keeping a food journal of things I make, restaurants, favorite websites, books, and maybe someday clothing and household items completely plant derived!!! Who knows.

Enjoy and Thanks!