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Here in the Eastern US, we were blasted with a snow storm this past weekend. We survived just fine, but as we look at possibly ANOTHER foot OR TWO today into tomorrow, well, I'm getting a tad nervous.

As a veggie, I love stocking up on fresh fruit and veggies, but when you can't get to the store for a couple weeks you run a bit low, and stocking up leads to rotten food. So I've taken the frozen route: frozen veggies, frozen fruit. Lots of oatmeal and grits. Canned beans. This is all stuff I keep on hand anyway, but I know I'll be out of bananas way before I can get more. Sad face.

How do you guys handle snow? Do you buy extra produce, juice like mad, and store it? Freeze your fresh stuff to prolong it? Give me some pointers, I've got about six hours till the next wave!

This time, I’ll talk about the non-fun stuff. Next time – snark! So stay tuned.

When dealing with questions about being a vegan or vegetarian, the first thing to determine is the motive of the asker.

Concerned parent? Assface “friend” looking to win an argument? Inquisitive stranger?

It makes a difference.

If the person asking is either honestly curious or legitimately concerned, please don’t be a jerk, okay? You’re giving veg*ns a bad name if you do. Then people think we’re all sarcastic and bitter because all we do all day is suck on lettuce and want nothing more than scarf a porterhouse.

Don’t sigh and roll your eyes, don’t get confrontational, don’t huff, smirk, or start slinging words like ignorant or lemming. Please?

And let me be clear, a friend or mother-in-law or parent asking questions out of concern is legitimate. Most people spend their whole lives hearing people need meat/dairy/eggs/animal products to be healthy. They see veg*ns as fringe fanatics. Some envision us handing out bloody slaughterhouse photos to kids for shock value, and bombing buildings in our spare time.

Do you blame them for being concerned? I don’t.

The industries that profit from human consumption of animal products are spending a lot of money to appear necessary. I mean, heck, I can’t watch TV without seeing ads for beef, chicken, and pork, or the new “Incredible, Edible, Egg!” ads. And how about the 200+ celebrity endorsements for the “Got Milk?” campaign?

I could go on endlessly about the ways these industries promote themselves, but that’s not really the point. The point is what we veg*ns eat – or, more specifically, what we DON’T eat – looks strange. And not only strange, it can easily appear unhealthy to people who haven’t done research. And why would they do research? They aren’t going veg*n. You are!

So how do you deal with the legitimate questions?

Simple: Answer them. Nicely. (I'm known for my novel ideas.)

Because here's the good news! There are answers for every single legitimate concern. Where we get enough protein, how we get “complete” proteins, how we get iron or B12, why we do it, if it’s hard, if it’s expensive, etc.

And if you DON’T know where we get ...

Fact: If your family's income is $50,000, you're richer than 99% of the world.

Fact: 50% of the world live on less than $800 a year (about $2 a day).

Fact: The world has enough resources to end poverty and hunger; it lacks the willingness to do so.

Why am I mentioning this? I'm a vegetarian because it's easy for me to be so. I can walk to two big box groceries within 2 miles of my apartment and buy whatever I want from them. Part of my motivation to be vegetarian is a protest of big business, of the commercialization of living beings, and the cruelty and apathy of a corrupt and broken system.

In Peru, giving a family a pair of guinea pigs to breed could mean the difference between life and death. 25,000 children worldwide die each day of hunger and related causes. For want of a guinea pig, in some cases.

Many of us claim to want the world to be vegetarian. But when people subsist on mud pies (hey, that makes them vegetarian!) and are so starved they can't stand, I'd be tempted to pass out guinea pigs myself. Yes, we have enough corn and grain, that's the broken system at work.

My question is thus: Is vegetarianism enough? We claim that we are vegetarians to do our part in bringing down that corrupt system. But it's so much more than that. Impacting big business isn't enough. Even if we were heard loudly enough to cause companies to clean up their acts in the First World, there is a larger problem to contend with: that of human apathy and fear of change and sacrifice. If we are committed to a vegetarian world, we have to address this.

What are you willing to do?

Well, I just went to my first veg*n meetup and it was great to finally meet other veg*ns. We ate at the Bright Star Vegan Thai restaurant in Rancho Cucamonga, CA. I got a delicious mild curry dish and a tempura veggie appetizer.

My meal came with soup and as I was about to eat it, the first thing that came to my mind was, I wonder if there is chicken stock in here? Then I thought, what a shame it is that we become so conditioned to expecting things to contain animals in them, that it is our first thought (or at least mine). I had to keep reminding myself as I ate that everything was safe to eat. The creamy sauce didn't have dairy, the soup didn't have chicken, the tempura didn't have eggs.

Back to the meetup. It was arranged through meetup.com and two other people showed up, both were very nice. It was great to be able to talk and eat with other people and not have someone make a rude comment about what you are or aren't eating. The restaurant stayed very busy most of the time we were there, which was nice to see. The meetup group gets together for dinner once a month and I'm looking forward to the next one.

Agave nectar (also known as agave syrup) is a healthy, natural, vegan alternative to honey. Many of you may not have heard of it before, even though is has been around for hundreds of years. It has been steadily gaining in popularity especially with diabetics, because of its low glycemic index. People on diets also like it, because it’s sweeter than sugar, less is used. Recipes using it can be found all over the internet and there are even entire cookbooks available.

It can easily replace all types of sweeteners in recipes – white and brown sugar, honey, corn syrup, maple syrup, turbinado/raw sugar and brown rice syrup. While not all recipes work well with substitutions, most will. The following substitutions should work, but some recipes may need a little tweaking to get it just right. For baking you may need to reduce the temperature by about 25 degrees, because just like honey, it browns quicker.

• Honey and maple syrup can generally be evenly exchanged.
• White, brown, turbinado and raw sugars – replace one cup with 2/3 – 3/4 cup of agave and reduce other liquids by 1/4 cup and up to 1/3 cup for white sugar.
• Corn syrup – replace one cup with 1/2 cup agave and increase liquids by 1/3 cup.
• Brown rice syrup – replace one cup with 1/3 – 1/2 cup agave and increase liquids by 1/2 cup.

You’ll be surprised at all the places it can be used and its ease of use. When making spaghetti sauce, instead of sugar, I just get out the agave bottle and squirt some in. I often just eyeball things rather than measure. The same for coffee, hot tea, lemonade or iced tea. Grab the bottle and give it a little squeeze. Do you add sugar to your cereal? Well you can squeeze a little agave in there as well. It tastes good on pancakes and waffles too.

Here are a few interesting facts about the agave.
• Tequila is made from the agave plant as well.
• It isn’t a cactus, but a succulent like the aloe plant.
• It grows for 7-12 years before the syrup or pina is harvested to make the nectar.

So, take a break from your unhealthy, processed sugar and give it a try. You will be pleasantly surprised with its mild, sweet taste and ease of use.

(Thanks to my brother, who spared 15 minutes from his busy life of Not Updating His Website to manipulate this stock photo.)

I was asked to think of reasons why honey-being-vegan debate keeps cropping up in the vegan-o-sphere, and I can't come up with a good one. (Incidentally, what a stunning blog topic - "I tired to figure something out and failed. Read on for details.")

I've come to the conclusion honey has to be made of heroin.

I understand many vegan debates. Debates about taking life-saving medications. About feeding companion animals. About where to draw the line with old/inherited leather and fur. About certain trace ingredients, computers, cars, etc.

Actually, that's a giant lie. I don't understand many of those debates. Especially the cars/computers/housing materials/etc. ones. But that's a whole different blog.

But honey? No, it's not vegan. The End.

There is zero reason for a debate. It's not life-saving, it's not necessary for humans in any way, and it's easy to avoid.

That, to me, is the essence of being vegan. AVOIDING things wherever possible. I don't think I'm going out on a limb by saying honey is avoidable. Looking at the labels on bread, it's certainly easier to avoid honey than something like L-cysteine, and I still manage to avoid that without having hysterical fits in the grocery store while shrieking about how My. Life. Is. So. Hard.

Arguments for honey being vegan are deeply strange.

• Insects aren't sentient. (Yes, they are.)
• Insects aren't as important as mammals/other animals. (Your views on the hierarchy of animals "mattering" are important how?)
• Honey is a plant by-product. (This has to be a joke.)
• It tastes good. (Okay, this REALLY has to be a joke.)
• I know vegans who eat honey. (No, in fact you don't. You know vegetarians who eat honey. Next?)
• It makes vegans look "crazy," thus hurting the movement by saying we avoid honey. (Sweetheart, have I got news for you. Yes, "not eating honey" IS on the list of things that make vegans look crazy. It ranks as reason #527, just above, "I bet they go online and debate whether or not it's vegan to bite their own cuticles.")

That last one actually makes me laugh out loud. If we have (as the author of this gem of ...

Cold temperatures and damp, dreary weather seem to be at their worst after the festivities of December are long forgotten. I'm looking for an excuse to crank up my oven and thus pump more heat into my kitchen. The ultimate comfort food (at least today?) Scalloped Potatoes.

These potatoes have a wonderfully creamy sauce infused with garlic flavor, don't be alarmed by the amount I've included, it mellows nicely during baking.
This is another of those "basics" that every vegan needs to have in their repertoire. Feel free to use less (or more) garlic!!


Garlic Scalloped Potatoes

• 8 medium-largish Yukon Gold or Yellow Finn potatoes (Any waxy, yellow potato works well here)
• 1 large, sweet onion (Walla Walla Sweets please - I live in Washington, what can I say...)
• 2 cups non-dairy milk (I love using the Unsweetened flavor of So Delicious Coconut Milk Beverage here, when I have it - nice and creamy but not "coconut-y". Try it, or use whatever plain, unsweetened plant milk you have!!)
• 1 cup vegetable broth
• 1/2 cup vegan Tofutti "sour cream" (OR 1/2 cup blended silken tofu with 1 Tbsp. lemon juice)
• 2 Tbsp. vegan margarine
• 1/3 cup flour
• 1 tbsp paprika
• 2 tsp sea salt
• 2 tsp black pepper
• 3 tsp each onion powder & garlic powder
• 4 - 8 cloves fresh garlic, run thru garlic press or food processor
• optional - seasoned bread crumbs for the topping

Preheat oven to 400°.
If you're using a thick-skinned baking potato, you may want to peel them. I use "Yukon Gold" which have very thin, tender skins, so I just scrub them really well and leave the skins on.

Mix flour, salt, pepper and paprika in a small bowl.
Put milk and broth in a small pan and heat (stirring occasionally) to boiling.

Slice the potatoes and onion as thin as you can - I use a mandolin slicer.
Heavily grease a 9 X 12 baking dish. Place a a thin, even layer of potatoes and onions into a 9"x13" baking pan (about a third of the potatoes/onions). Sprinkle with about 1/3 of the flour mixture.

After milk/broth has heated to boiling, add the vegan "sour cream", margarine, garlic and onion powders. Add pressed (or food-processed) ...

Just made an interesting “discovery” I thought I’d share with everyone. I’m a big fan of frozen convenience foods – Morningstar Farms, Boca, etc. – and consume them fairly often. At $4+ a box they can be a bit pricey. Anyway, I just found out there are coupons on eBay for Morningstar Farms products – most auctions seem to start between $0.99 - $1.50 and are for 10-20 75 cents off coupons.

I’m not a big fan of paying for something that should be free but I may cave on this one, why pay more than I have to?

You can view the current auctions here (if the link doesn’t work just go to eBay.com and search for “Morningstar Farms coupons”). Just be sure you check the expiration dates and shipping costs.

I'm going visit my mother this weekend and it's stirred up a lot of things for me. Most of all, my vegetarianism is for my health. My father died of a massive heart attack when I was 6, and my mother has since had TWO triple-bypasses. Yet she continues to eat poorly. Greasy fried food, donuts and tons of sweets, processed foods to the max.

I went vegetarian because of her health, but she can't bother to change anything herself? I kind of want to shake her. Then give her a green juice IV.

But I can't. I can tell her everything I know, with an annotated bibliography of sources, make charts and graphs, heck, if I knew it, I'd tell her when she'd die, (and more than likely WHY) but it wouldn't change a thing. She's so rooted in her bad health habits it'd be like speaking to a brick wall. Not to mention, she's 65 and while change is possible at any age, she's not open to it now that she's 'settled.'

Does this mean I shouldn't try? No, of course not. The situation is never hopeless. And, sad though it is to consider, perhaps my mother's declining health has served and is serving its purpose. Perhaps it isn't supposed to be a wake-up call to her.

Perhaps it was intended for me all along.

My favorite veggie can't be beat;
It's way more versatile than meat.
I love to find different things to do
with spuds, there's always something new!

For comfort and home styling,
Mashing spuds is quite beguiling.
Most unhealthy and a lot of fun
french fries have so many hearts won.

But I'm in favor of simple and plain;
baked is the star of my dinner game.
Chop it or top it, whatever you choose,
Baked is a way you can never lose.

-----

I just gave potatoes their due,
what's your favorite veggie;
how about you?