Make This

OMG. I just submitted this to my recipe site, and it is so yummy it makes me want to eat the whole batch. No kidding. I just bought a bunch of random tasty veggies, stood out in the kitchen and threw it all together, and I'm taking it to my family's Christmas party potluck thingy tonight. I had about 3 little sample bowls first though. The fact that I actually took the time to write it all down, even while not feeling good, should speak volumes for it's deliciousness. Make this.




"GREEK GODDESS" Pasta Salad:

A deliciously decadent, filling, easily vegan pasta salad that I made up on the spot to bring to a potluck. It's so versatile, you can add or omit almost anything!

Recipe Details

Makes:
Prep Time:	20 minutes
Cook Time:	10 minutes
Ready In:	0
Servings:	10

Ingredients

1 12-oz. box tri-color salad rotini (spiral) pasta

1 16-fl. oz. bottle Greek vinaigrette salad dressing (I use Kroger brand, which is vegan--many low-fat or fat-free Greek dressings are also vegan.)

2 medium ripe avocados

1/2 tsp. minced garlic

1-12 oz jar marinated artichoke hearts, drained and diced

1-12 oz jar Kalamata olives, drained and sliced

1-8 oz. jar roasted red bell peppers, drained and cut into strips

4 ripe Roma tomatoes, diced

1-12 oz. jar sun-dried tomatoes, drained and cut into strips

1 small or medium broccoli crown

1 small to medium zucchini, chopped AND/OR

1 small to medium cucumber, chopped

1 small red onion, diced

1 fresh yellow bell pepper, diced

Directions

1. Cook the pasta according to package directions. Drain, rinse with cool water, and place in a large bowl.
2. Steam the broccoli just until crisp-tender. Rinse with cold water, then finely chop and add to pasta.
3. Meanwhile in a medium bowl, mash the avocados well. Slowly whisk in the Greek dressing and garlic until well mixed, and set aside.
4. Add all other vegetables to the pasta, and cover with the avocado-dressing. Gently stir to mix. Refrigerate at least one hour or until ready to serve.

Happy Thanksgiving...

So we're going to D's parents' for Thanksgiving this year, which is exciting, because (1) it's a miracle of God that my mom is OK with not seeing us on the actual holiday; she usually pisses all over everyone trying to mark her territory (pardon the metaphor; if you knew my mom you'd totally do that "funny if it weren't so true" thing). Oh yeah...excited to go to the in-laws b/c (2) bro-in-law is getting his GF from out of state (orig. out of country!!) to come in for Thanksgiving, and he's not the suavest guy out there, but he's a good guy & I'm pulling for him and I wanna meet this chick! And (3), even though D's folks don't really "get" the whole vegan thing, they're good people & we haven't seen a lot of them lately, and (shh don't tell this) I'd rather hang out at their house than at either one of my parents' places. Hands down.

But dammit they still don't "get" the "vegan" thing. They had trouble with "vegetarian." So...(I can't believe how long it took me to come up with this, but it is the elegant solution, no?) I told mom-in-law that hey, I'd *love* to help you out w/ Thanksgiving this year! I can bring pumpkin cinnamon rolls, risotto, green bean casserole, the cranberry stuff, and the sweet potato stuff. And of course she was all "oh how sweet" and said sure to everything except the sweet taters b/c she'd already bought those.

Sooooo it is 12:41 in the A.M.
I had enough caffeine today to keep everyone on my street awake...but I only slept 5 hours lastnight b/c yesterday was about a 14 hour day at work. Long story. So it's this weird mix between exhausted and buzzing around wired & it's almost sickening.

I just made this middle-eastern inspired herbed risotto
http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Andrews-Herb-Risotto/Detail.aspx?prop31=3
which everyone raved about, and it turned out pretty nice except I added a bit too much salt (whoops...but it's definitely still alright)...not sure how well that's gonna go over at ye olde traditional thanksgiving feast though... we'll see. (obviously I used vegetable broth--that no-chicken broth to be exact--and omitted the parm, duh.) And garnished with some of the fresh fennel fronds and diced tomato (I think I must have a tomato fetish)

And this stuff:
http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Oranged-Cranberry-Sauce/Detail.aspx?prop31=5
Oranged cranberry sauce...the world's easiest and longest tasting recipe. I exaggerate, but not by much. I swear though, I've never been too excited about cranberries, but this is incredible.

http://donteatoffthesidewalk.com/?p=129
I hope these turn out. This will be my 3rd baking with yeast attempt. I'm almost done. They're in the pan, in roll form, in the fridge, going to rise them again & bake 'em up fresh in the morning. If they're not amazing I'm going to cry b/c they were a messy pain in the ass and I really have my hopes up.

Also in the morning I'm going to whip up some green bean casserole. I have fresh portabellas and big button mushrooms waiting in my fridge for the purpose, and I can make a mean sauce to bake it up in. I'm going to use real onions, too...hope no one misses that frenchfried shit.

Kk...fingers are crossed...wish me some luck...and some sleep!!!
Happy Thanksgiving y'all.

more deliciousness than I can handle!

I have developed some tasty new addictions. First one is (since I'm getting a cold) some fresh squeezed orange juice. They sell it at work, fresh, and I'm going to start having some every time I work. It's amazing, and b/c I only pay half price, it's probably cheaper to get it at work than to have to squeeze a million oranges to make it myself.

Another is that previously mentioned red pepper hummus. I added a large-ish jar of roasted red bell peppers (I was going to do my own, but these were so convenient!) with a little over half of a (1 lb., dried) bag of chick peas, cooked. To that, I added some sesame oil (I couldn't find tahini in my grocery store; but the sesame oil worked nicely), lemon juice, soy sauce, fresh ground black pepper, garlic (I always use the minced, jarred garlic), cumin, and just a bit of salt. Deliciousness. It makes about a ton, but I've eaten almost all of mine, 2 days later--it's that good.

Next is these cookies from this "Gifts from a Basket" cookbook that D's aunt gave me one year. I've been craving these because they're awesome; and I finally whipped up a batch. The only change I had to make was subbing vegan margarine for butter.
Raspberry Pecan Thumbprints:
2 cups all-purpose flour (I like to use 1 c whole wheat & 1 c all-purp)
1 cup pecan pieces, finely chopped, divided
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. allspice
1/8 tsp. salt
1 cup margarine, softened
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla
1/3 cup seedless raspberry jam (which I'm out of, so I used strawberry)
Cream together the margarine & sugar. Add vanilla, salt, cinnamon, allspice, pecans, and then flour. The recipe tells you to save 1/2 the pecans to sprinkle on the outside of the cookies later, but I usually just add about 2/3 cup to the batter and leave it at that because I'm that lazy. Then form the dough into 1" balls, make a dent in each with your thumb (or any finger will do I suppose), press the cracks in the dough together really well (or else they'll fall apart), and fill the indent with a "generous 1/4 tsp" of jam in each cookie.
Bake at 350 for 14 minutes or just until set. Don't eat or handle these til they cool, because the jam turns to lava for a little while. But try them and you'll be hooked.


My next recipe comes from here:
http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/The-Best-Thai-Peanut-Sauce/Detail.aspx?prop31=1
It's called The Best Thai Peanut Sauce; and I've never done a ton of Thai cooking, but I tried this for the first time this morning, and the recipe's title doesn't lie. I could eat this every day. The recipe calls for fish sauce, but I used an extra Tbsp. of soy sauce and a dash of sesame oil instead. Absolutely delicious. Also it creams up really thick, so I added a little extra coconut milk. Here's what it calls for:

• 1 1/2 cups creamy peanut butter
• 1/2 cup coconut milk
• 3 tablespoons water
• 3 tablespoons fresh lime juice
• 3 tablespoons soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon hot sauce
• 1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger root
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro

You mix everything in a bowl & don't even have to cook it. I left out the hot sauce for my husband & child's sakes, and used dried ground ginger, and was out of cilantro. It was absolutely fantastic. I'm taking the leftovers to my dad's tonight for dinner. I served it over spaghetti pasta (that's all I had) and it worked really well. Tonight I'm going to saute some tofu with it too.

One last Vegan MoFo

So tonight at D's cousin's house, we had this cook out/bonfire thingy, and I brought homemade roasted red pepper hummus (OMG it was the best hummus I've ever had in my life) with pita crisps, red & green bell pepper strips, and carrot sticks. Also, some o' those homemade vegan brownies, some chips 'n' salsa, and some maple BBQ flavor potato chips. Mmm. And that would have been my meal....except, my favorite cousin-in-law (we'll call him Skinny Buddha--little inside joke) brought me some vegan chicken stuff (I think it was general tso's--it was really sweet and perfect texture and absolutely the most delicious soy chicken--or any soy, or any chicken for that matter--that I've ever experienced), and he was even late b/c he spilled it the first time and had to go back and re-buy it, and he made everyone try it, including D, and it was the most awesomely touching, supportive thing he could have done for me, and I think he knew it by the way that my face lit up...think I'll write him an email though just to remind him how awesome he is. I didn't even miss the hotdogs or marshmallows! I was really nervous about that party, and Buddha made me feel really welcome and supported after working up the nerve to "come out" to my in-laws. It was a really good night; and we sat around the fire and talked and that kind of thing is my favorite ever. Good night all.

Brownies!

Yummy brownies adapted from the recipe here:
http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Vegan-Brownies/Detail.aspx?prop31=1

• 2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
• 2 cups sugar
• 3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup water
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• 3/4 cup unsweetened apple sauce
  
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Bake at 350 for 25-30 minutes or so. Yum yum! I think this is going to be my staple brownie recipe! I also threw some chopped pecans in mine.

Vegan MoFo: stroganoff, shoping, shampoo, and the salad bar.

I dyed my hair last night. I used the same color (medium brown) and brand my friend uses, because her hair looks awesome. Mine came out really really dark though. I kind of hated it at first. But the last time I dyed my hair brown, it faded over time, plus I don't want my hair to fall out, so I figured I'd wait awhile and see how I do with the new look. This morning I still hated it, so I washed it three times in the shower. It didn't lighten it that much. But in some lights I kind of like it now. It's pretty much the closest dye is going to come to my natural color...I think, anyway; I haven't had a full head of my natural hair color in a while. And there's a reason for that--I still can't tell if it looks good on me. It's just kind of bleh. Shit, now I'll have to develop a personality or something. LOL. I can't tell if D hates it and is just being nice, or if he just doesn't like that I "keep changing just about everything possible". He doesn't get the concept of winterizing.

So today I woke up feeling a little shitty. Which for me, usually means pre-really-shitty. Sore throat, achy body, tired as hell, that kind of mess. None the less, I took the aforementioned shower, got my ass (and my kid's) ready, and ventured out to find a Halloween costume for him. He wanted to be a dinosaur--a green dinosaur. And Wal-Mart, Target, the Halloween store they put up next to the mall, Old Navy, the OTHER Wal-Mart near us--nobody had a dinosaur costume. I mean come on, that is not a really far-fetched thing to dress up as, is it? Anyway, we took a break for lunch (my real reason for making a trip out) that I had been planning, to meet up with my friend Laura. She is vegetarian too (not vegan tho). We met at Ruby Tuesday, which has few vegetarian menu items, and no vegan ones, except for the most amazing salad bar I've ever been to. I mean, spinach, 3 kinds of lettuce mixes, tomatoes, beets, dried cranberries, edemame, chick peas, mushrooms, just on and on. I had two plates and I was stuffed. It was delicious.

After lunch, at Laura's suggestion, I took the cranky and exhausted kid to Meijer...and lo and behold, they had exactly one dinosaur costume. And it was green. And one size too big, but at this point, who cares. More room for layers underneath. Its cold here! I made it extra cool by putting felt "claws" on the arm and leg openings that will extend over his hands. Yay, I'm so excited! Then we went back to Old Navy to return some of the green clothes I bought (I was going to make a costume, which would've been even cooler, but that would have ended up costing twice or 3 times as much!!), and then to Wal Mart where I got a bandana, a sash, and a plastic sword...I'm going to be a pirate. What would've been really cute is a parrot costume--this is the last year he'll be small enough I could get away with this--dress him as a parrot and me as a pirate and set him on my shoulders! But parrot is even harder to find than green dinosaur, and it wasn't what the boy wanted.

He's been sleeping a lot lately. He won't take his nap til 4 in the afternoon, and then he just doesn't get up til morning. (Yesterday & today). Maybe he was starting to feel like I was and he's sleeping it off. I'm about to go do the same thing.

But first let me blog about this stroganoff I made. I was craving some good, hearty comfort food, and I knew D would appreciate that too. I basically used the recipe off the Peta website (http://www.vegcooking.com/veganMenus-13.asp), but I made my own sauce because I can never find vegan mushroom gravy.
1 lb cooked pasta (I used whole wheat rotini)
I sliced & sauteed some Tempeh, rather than using beef style crumbles, then took that out to add to the sauce at the end. Sauce recipe later.

Vegan MoFo: Sublicious!

Ha ha. So 4 stores and the bank (and $180) later, I got home and chilled for a bit. Then D got home (he's listening to Rush Limbaugh now...yeah...) and he was uber hungry, so what did I make with my (mostly) healthy haul? Subs! I had a hankering for some of those yummy oven baked subs my momma used to make. I put turkey & cheese on D's, just cheese on my son's; and then I piled all of them up with mushrooms, onions, cucumbers, pickles, tomatoes, lettuce, guac and Italian dressing (on mine; ranch on the boys'). That turkey stank. I could barely touch it. I am over meat forever. But I'm not gonna lie, I missed real cheddar a little. I'll get over that too, I'm sure. When I ate my sub, it was phenomenal. I am so happy now...I'll probably make these every day til I run out of sub buns!!! Mmmm new favorite thing of the moment!!

ugh

So... I worked about 12 hours yesterday, straight through, no time for a break. I was taking parties and all around getting my ass handed to me. And because it was Sunday, tips were shittier than usual. In case you didn't know, because I honestly think not everyone does: 20% is a tip. This is how we feed our families, clothe our children, etc. If your server "wows" you and really does a phenomenal job, more is ALWAYS appreciated. 15% and we wonder what we did wrong. 10% is infuriating and disrespectful, and any less is just an insult and you might as well stiff.

Good, that's off my chest. Saturday night I ran my ass off too. Only to turn around and do it all day Sunday. Both nights, all I had for dinner was french fries and OJ. I feel all nauseous and gross now, and I'm trying to force myself to eat some fruit for breakfast because I know I need to, but I don't even feel like eating at this point. On the bright side, I have money to go to the store now, which is THANK GOD because we are out of pretty much all the staples. I mean, no bread, oil, soy milk, regular milk for that matter (D and the child), wheat flour, tofu; my kitchen is about to break down! So I'm going to make a HUGE store run, and probably go to 2, if not 3 different stores (Aldi, which has the cheapest veg, fruit, bread, and even soy milk, but basically nothing else; it's worth a trip because the other stores are so damn expensive--but I have to go there anyway if I want something fancy...like black beans and tofu...lol!)

On the really bright side, I have a fridge full of left over veggie/tofu lasagna, enchiladas, vegetable soup, and rice. I cook for like 5 people for some reason (I've never lived with more than 3 others, so its inexplicable), and D used to eat a TON (he's cut way back), but he won't touch the lasagna or enchiladas, so it's all mine! mwahahaha!!!

I think since I'm going to the store and I love variety and I loooove to cook, I'm going to turn that fridge o' leftovers into a big old freezer o' leftovers. ;) Then, when I don't feel like cooking, I can grab some easy, homemade delicousness. I know I should've been doing this all along, but I'm kind of excited at the idea.

Vegan MoFo--"roll me a fat one!"

So for lunch I was gonna puss out and do spaghetti for like the 1000th time in my life, but I had this really ripe, huge, perfect avocado; along with a bunch of other veggies I needed to use; and those inspired these beauties. Fajita-style enchiladas! Cheeseless Mexican, anyone?

I cooked some brown rice with an onion, some thyme, garlic, salt, pepper, and a bay leaf. Yum! Then I sauteed 2 smallish zucchini, 3 small onions, and 1 1/2 green bell peppers. I seasoned it with cumin, coriander, paprika, garlic, salt, pepper, a bit of oregano...I think that was all...

I diced some tomatoes & opened up a can of whoop ass...er, I mean, black beans. Then I layered the zucchini mixture, tomatoes, and beans into a whole wheat flour tortilla (use any tortillas, but check the ingredients & make sure they're vegan). Roll it up, place it in a lightly greased baking pan, and repeat until you run out of tortillas or fill up the pan. Mine turned out a little light on the beans, so next time I will use two cans & put more in each enchilada. Cover with mild green enchilada sauce (or whatever yummy vegan sauce you want to top them with). Bake til the rice gets done.

Then, I made the guacamole. Everyone has a favorite guac recipe, but I used verde salsa, tomatoes, green onions, vinegar, a little tabasco, paprika, cumin, salt, pepper, and garlic powder to my mashed avocado. It wasn't super duper thick, but the flavor was incredible. I was going to serve it with tortilla chips, but I put it on my enchilada and even kept sneaking bites right from the bowl. YUM!

You could also top with Tofutti's sour cream knockoff, and I would have, but I'm saving mine for this fake stroganoff thing. I'm sure you could also use vegan cheese or vegan ground beef, but D has a thing against "weird fake stuff", so I kept it simple (and amazing).

*takes a bow*

Shepherd's Pie, as promised.

Oh my God. This is one of those recipes that doesn't try to fool you, but you still can't believe it's vegan, to the point that you almost feel guilty eating it! I got it from vegcooking.com, but modified the hell out of it to the point that it became my own. Sorry that when I cook, I don't measure out a lot of stuff. I just eyeball it and it comes out awesome.

Scrub a bunch of potatoes, cut them into manageable pieces (about 2 inch squares or so is fine) and boil them in water until they are really soft.

In a large skillet, saute some veggies. Traditional shepherd's pie uses peas, but D hates peas, and this meal was geared toward him, so I left them out. I used (in this order): carrots, onions, green beans, corn, zucchini, and garlic. Feel free to add or subtract when you make this. The Peta recipe called for a ground beef substitute, but D is not a fan of fake-outs, so I left that out and just used veggies.

In my saucier, I saute an onion & some garlic, and then make a good amount of roux with the onions in it (using flour and vegan margarine, about 1/4 cup each). Then I add red wine and vegetable broth (more broth than wine) until it's a gravy consistency, and throw in some mushrooms and a few tablespoons of soy sauce.

Toss the veggies with the gravy. Dump them all into a large baking pan, or use 2 or 3 pie pans so you can have leftovers! Drain the potatoes, throw in some vegan margarine, a little vegetable broth or soy milk, vegan sour cream if desired, salt, pepper, and garlic; chives or parsley optional. Mash with a fork. You can use a mixer, but you don't need to. You want a thicker mashed potato consistency. Spread your mashed potatoes over the veggie mixture. Bake until the potatoes are lightly browned on top; about 350 for 30 minutes or so.

Feel free to play around with seasonings--sage, rosemary, and thyme combo; caraway adds an interesting flavor; extra garlic goes nicely; whatever you like.
Enjoy!

Survey

1. What was the most recent tea you drank?
our minty yummy iced Green Tea at work

2. What vegan forms do you post/lurk on? If so, what is your username? Spill!
I'm just getting in to this whole internet vegan thing. So it's here, PPK, whatever blogs I'm following, IDK...lurk is a good word for how i roll.

3. You have to have tofu for dinner, and it has be an Italian dish. What comes to mind first?
This lasagna I just made with tofu in place of the ricotta. The kid and I love it, D won't touch it. Well, he did take a bite. And hated it..

4. How many vegan blogs do you read on an average day?
Too early to have an "average day"...I'm devouring this shit right now.

5. Besides your own, what is the most recent one you’ve read?
Love Like a Vegan

6. If you could hang out with a vegan blogger that you haven’t met, who would it be, and what would you do?

Good question. I don't know though.

7. If you had to base your dinners for a week around one of the holy trilogy – tofu, seitan or tempeh, which would it be?
I'd do tofu, because that's what I'm most familiar with

8. If you had to use one in a fight, which would it be?
tempeh...i have some that I could beat someone to death with

9. Name 3 meals you’d realistically make with that tough protein of choice!
Teryaki stir fry, vegetable stew, and, um...I don't know, some imitation beef tips thing with noodles & mushrooms

10. What’s a recipe in vegan blogland that you’ve been eyeing?
These pumpkin cinnamon rolls from Don't Eat off the Sidewalk

11. Do you own any clothing with vegan messages/brands on them?
I have a t-shirt that I stole from a (omni) guy friend of mine, with a pig on it that says "please don't eat me (I love you)"

12. Have you made your pilgrimage to the ‘vegan mecca’ yet? (Portland, duh)
Not yet.

13. What age did you first go vegan? Did it stick?
I have dabbled with it off and on since age 18...and no it didn't. But it was unofficial anyway. I was vegetarian (ovo/lacto) from age 9 til 14, but my high school didn't have anything good for vegetarians, so that didn't stick either.

14. What is the worst vegan meal you’ve had? Who cooked it?
This salad at work the other day...I tried to get creative with dressing it with vinegar & oil & pepper, and it turned out really bitter and gross

15. What made you decide to blog?
I’m not sure, I was inspired by lots of other great vegan blogs and decided to give it a shot. <-- good answer.

16. What are three of your favorite meals to make?
I made the most amazing shepherd's pie the other day. Even D loved it.

I like to get creative with pastas

Aaand, I like to do this asian stir fry thing with rice and serve it with lettuce leaves to make wraps.

17. What dish would you bring to a vegan Thanksgiving-themed potluck?
I'd either do a big pan of that shepherd's pie (recipe to come soon) OR I'd get gutsy and attempt those pumpkin cinnamon rolls. Mmmm I'm getting excited.

18. Where is your favorite vegan meal at a restaurant? How many times have you ordered it?
I haven't been to a lot of vegan restaurants...I'm obsessed with the salad bar at Ruby Tuesday's; and I have ordered veggie fajita bowls at Chipotle more times than I can count.

19. What do you think the best chain to dine as a vegan is?
Chipotle is easy & awesome. As is Ruby Tuesday. Quizno's is amazing (gotta love the guac), and Subway is just ok.

20. My kitchen needs a………

Hmm...so many things. A wisk. Standing mixer. More damn groceries. Another muffin pan. A really good supply of vegan cookbooks. I feel like I can't live without some of these cookbooks...must...wait...til...Christmas...!

21. This vegetable is not allowed in my kitchen…..!
All veggies welcome...haven't met one yet that I couldn't handle.

22. What’s for dinner tonight?
Spaghetti

23. What’s your favourite cookie cutter?
Ooo! My kitchen needs cookie cutters too!

Getting high on information...

I've delved into the ocean of information out here on the world wide web a little too far today I think. I'm never one to just let something go, so I've followed countless rabbit trails all evening after work...on the one hand, it's good, because I'm getting support and tips and reinforcement and being re-energized for my new vegan life...on the other hand, I think I've out-vegan-ed myself...I'm totally overwhelmed now. Dammit Julie, just go to bed. The internet will still be there in the morning.

P.S.: This is how it works at my house. D & I take turns. This week, I get up with Fusser, I put him to bed, I clean up his messes and discipline him and play with him when both of us are too tired and entertain him and generally take the most responsibility for him. Next week, and last week, that's D's job. It's a good way to stay sane and not hate each other from built up resentment at the notion that we are each doing everything and the other is a lazy shit who does nothing. We're not that horrible anymore (we may be the first couple in history whose relationship was helped--probably saved--by a 6-month separation), but a break, quiet time, and personal space are still really important to us with an almost-3-year-old all over us all the time. He's in that really annoying NO phase. I know it's his job to learn how to rebel, but I am thisclose to losing my hair every time I hear about what he doesn't wanna do.

So it's my week to be extra responsible, and I haven't been doing well with that lately. I feel like I need to be more selfish because I'm educating myself, getting support, inspiration, etc etc, changing my way of life. So I should go to bed because sleep is a big thing for me. Shit. And this was gonna be a short blog.

Wish List

'Cause if I write it on paper my son will eat it, scribble on it, tear it up, or otherwise lose it.

Vegan with a Vengeance (cookbook)
Vegan Cupcakes Take over the World (cookbook)
Another muffin tin
Gift card to get my hair done again

more later. probably.

Welcome to the Madness

Wow welcome to the 21st century, me. I blog on Myspace, so I guess I never really figured I'd need one here. But, I have a diverse enough group of friends that I guess I have issues being too honest in my posts on there, and when I am, I feel really narcissistic or exposed or whatever else is wrong, so this way, I'm just putting it all out there in cyberspace for anyone or no one to stumble across.

I am a 22 year old, married, working mom. Long-time off & on vegetarian, recently turned vegan. So far I feel so fucking healthy it's unreal. But I'm still kind of an avid foodie, and I love a good challenge, so that works out perfectly. My husband is a good old meat & potatoes kind of guy; I'm mildly impressed that he's still even speaking to me since I've cut out basically half of his diet. Ha ha ha ha. He's not the super supportive type...but he's doing well. My son could give a shit right now. He's 2 and he gets to eat whatever daddy and/or mommy are having. So, meat, cheese, fruit, bread, veggies--he usually isn't super picky. I'm going to plan his 3rd birthday party vegan though. Yep I'm pretty much a challenge addict. Saves me from a lot of boredom.

Politically I'm a total anomaly. The fact that my collection of views is so strange has me convinced that I'm the last sane person on the face of the earth. I was raised a liberal by two ex hippies, turned apathetic, turned moderate, turning more and more conservative. My basic philosophy is, life is sacred. I AM NOT RELIGIOUS; but I believe in god, we were intelligently designed (how long it took that to play out, I don't pretend to know), and I sure as hell don't have the right to end anyone's life. Animals included. Thus, the diet change. I'm not this huge animal lover, I don't have or want pets, I don't get all gooey over other people's pets, but I also don't consider them food. More on that later, I'm sure, little narcissist that I am.

Back to politics. Life=good. So I'm against abortion, and I don't give a fuck what anyone says, I have had a life in my uterus, I have heard a heart beating on the ultrasound, I have felt him wiggling and kicking and sleeping and playing inside of me, a fetus IS a fucking baby, and furthermore abortion is actually WORSE than murder in my eyes, because a baby, an unborn baby, is the epitome of innocence. I'm also against the death penalty; I realize we can't be housing everyone forever, and that paroling evildoers is bad, but those are separate problems; killing people because it's cheaper is unconscionable. Let them live with the knowledge of what they did--personally I'd rather die, if it was heinous enough--but it's not any of our place to take their life in return.

Society pisses me off on a daily basis. The gods of want and convenience reign, and babies and animals (again, not on the same level, but two examples!!!!) are the sacrifice.
I'm becoming more conservative because I've worked hard for what I have and where I am in life and I love it. But I live around a bunch of white trash (working on getting out of here, thanks) who are all constantly looking for a handout, which makes me absolutely sick. My generation wants everything handed to them, they give up, they think that if they want it bad enough or deserve it enough they should just automatically get it without having to do any real work. I was like that for 5 minutes. I got over it. I grew up. I had to. And now I love my life and wish that everyone knew the feeling of standing on their own two feet and being responsible, decent human beings. If my neighbor asks me for 5 bucks so she can buy cigarettes one more time, I think I am going to throw something at her.

Oh yeah I have rage and anger issues. Not as bad lately, because I am no longer ingesting rage, pain, grief, and fear on a daily basis (yes, I read Skinny Bitch)...but I have more issues than US Weekly. Ha. ha. ha.

Well this has been fun. If you can stomach my style, good for you, rock on. If not, oh well, just throwing shit out there into cyberspace. Ciao.