Welcome to my blog: Introduction

WELCOME...

Today, I decided to start a blog for those interested in becoming vegan or finding tasty vegan recipes.  Becoming vegan is a journey... a lifestyle change.  I'm in the process of changing my lifestyle back to my vegan roots.  We can journey together in this blogosphere.

In truth, I have been at least a vegetarian all of my life.  I am a child of the mid-1970s and I lived in an integrated area of New Haven, Connecticut, for most of my childhood.  My parents became vegetarians when they were first married based on religious convictions and health.  They became students in the field of medical missionary practices and learned that what we eat affects our body's ability to fight disease or function properly.  Once my mother made the transition from vegetarian to vegan, my siblings and I had had to do some adjustments.  I believe I was around five years old, and my two elder siblings were at least three years older than me.  My twin younger brothers were born at least three years later and they didn't really know any difference.

As a child, my mother did not allow us to even have candy, which led to some unmentionable solutions to obtain the drug-like substances.  My mother made all of our food, even down to her bread-like cakes, which the neighborhood children sneered at upon being invited in to one of our birthday celebrations.  No eggs, meat, or dairy was found on our table or in our refrigerator.   However, on occasion we would go to Captain's to get a cheese pizza pie.

Other times we received a taste of the unknown were during trips down south to visit extended family. These were times of quasi-food vacations, especially in the dessert arena.  When we visited family, we were treated to ice cream, cakes, and cookies made with the ingredients banned from our house.  My siblings and I had a choice to make regarding which food path we would choose once we came to the age of accountability.  By this time, my family had moved south where very few people had ever met a vegetarian, not to mention a vegan.  So, we can all say, we chose the path of dairy and eggs.  It was the easier route.  However, anytime we became ill, miraculously we would return to our vegan eating habits until we were better.  Eventually, once we all exited our 20s, we all began to hearken back to the familiar childhood eating habits, that had remarkably gained esteem across the nation.

All of a sudden, being vegan was no longer sneered at, but suggested as a way to a healthy lifestyle.   Hollywood stars, medical doctors, and even talk show hosts began spreading the glad tidings.  My mother, who had inspired my sister to open her own health-food store, used to have to rely on co-ops and bulk food purchases to put healthy food on the table.  As the years passed, and to our surprise, some of the chained grocery stores began to offer vegetarian options that you once could not find in any conventional grocery store.  Supermarkets dedicated to health and wholesome lifestyles became avenues from which to buy whole foods, though for an exuberant price.

Though each year the packaged vegan cheeses began to taste better and melt, the vegan milk options grew from soy to nut and fruit options, and wheat and soy substitute meat options became more comparably tasty to their animal counterparts, the prices for these options grew and some alien ingredients appeared in them as well.  Being vegan became less affordable than I remembered it being.  Eating the dairy and eggs were more affordable, easier to prepare, and still very tasty.  However, I remembered something I had forgotten...

When I was a child,  my mother relied mostly on fruits, vegetables, grains, and nuts.  What this meant is that everything we ate, she prepared or "processed" herself.  She knew what ingredients were in her veggie burgers; she knew what she put in her vegan cheeses; and she knew how to feed her family of five (at the time) like kings and queens while on a ridiculously tight budget.

That brings me to this blog.  I have just earned my doctoral degree in an educational field, but I am not yet gainfully employed.  I do have a breadwinner in my household, but we are still on a tight budget.  I want to share my knowledge in a way that is helpful to people.  I began veganizing recipes years ago, but my vegan lifestyle has usually been off-and-on again, depending upon what was going on with me.  However, if you visited my dwelling, at times you may have found cage-free eggs, but you would not have found a lick of dairy cheese.  In truth, I am also on the fence with Greek yogurt and keifer because of the benefits they provide, but even here there are vegan varieties.  I am starting this blog to keep me accountable to my vegan lifestyle at least through the summer.  My husband is not vegan, but he is vegetarian and eats what I prepare.  This journey begins on May 1, 2013.  Hopefully the folks who have encouraged me to do this will support me in this journey.  We'll see.  My resilience will depend on how much fun I have doing this.  So, I am going to attempt to make this journey fun and informative for you and for me!

What am I hoping to do?  Well, two to three days a week, I am hoping to come up with a tasty, but healthy vegan recipe.  Truly, the menu options are limitless... there may be entrees, salads and salad dressings, desserts (and we all LOVE desserts), sides, smoothies, and drinks (non-alcoholic).  I hope to provide tips that I find helpful as well along the way.  I will also provide links to external helpful sites and other vegan blogs if I think their recipes outshine anything I tried to do and other vegan informative sites.  You'll get the truth as I see it!  I'm excited to do this and I'm ready to start!

Today, the first entry will be a smoothie that I came across today from VegNews.  Heaven, indeed, if you like cherries.

Cherry Vanilla Smoothie "Experiential Vegan"-style

Original recipe from VegNews site.  See VegNews site for detox plan and more smoothies and juices.   Website: http://vegnews.com/articles/page.do?pageId=5685&catId=2

What VegNews says about this recipe: "Part-milkshake and part-smoothie, this sweet sipper is a deliciously desserty way to sneak vitamins into your morning routine. Cinnamon and vanilla elevate the flavors of creamy almond milk and vibrant cherries, creating decadent flavor for a smoothie packed with protein, vitamin C, fiber, and iron. Plus, while you may not taste the added avocado and kale, they add a boost of vitamins E and K, respectively, for an all-in-one nutritious breakfast experience. For more easy healthy tips, check out The Three-Day Detox Plan Anyone Can Do on VegNews.com."

Serving size: 1

Ingredients:
1-1⁄2 cups organic almond vanilla milk
(See homemade almond vanilla milk YouTube recipe: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WeZCMNB2YO0)
1⁄2 cup frozen organic cherries
2 cups  organic lacinato kale (about three or four leaves)
1/2-1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoons vanilla (or crumble 1/2 -1 vanilla bean in the blender, depending upon preference)
1/4 whole organic avocado (optional)

Instructions:
In a blender, add all ingredients and process until smooth.

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That's it for today, folks!  Enjoy!  If you want to try both the VegNews version and my tweaked version, let me know which one you liked more!  Feedback is always welcomed and encouraged.