"I am not a vegetarian because I love animals; I am a vegetarian because I hate plants."
- A. Whitney Brown
Hello everyone. May the sunshine sneak past any clouds that surround you and provide a little warmth.
I thought that perhaps a few words are in order. Nothing spectacular to share. Let's call it an update, okay?
Last night's pulp (not juice) meal? 1/2 green apple, 1 large carrot and 1 cup broccoli I believe. Tiffany picked it out of our new juicing book and told me the ingredients but I haven't a good memory. Chucky's motto is, "I cannot remember whether I have Alzheimer's."
None of the latest concoctions can stand up to a Tiffany's Green Smoothie but all choices have been digestible and filling so far. The only thing taking Tiffany and I some getting used to is the consistency of pulping (using whole fruit in a Blendtec) as opposed to using a juicer. Last night's dinner was somewhere half-way between applesauce and a slightly thickened juice, fluid but fibrous. If not for the innate ability of the human body to dissimilate nutrition from waste, we'd quickly migrate to juicing.
If I were able to utilize all of the juicing by-product in another raw form, we would quickly dust off the Breville juicer. I simply refuse to toss the juicer's waste into the compost bin. There's simply too much additional nutrition being tossed away! Of course, there exists the beauty of the pulp-free juice.
In other plans, Tiffany and I are seriously considering an almost totally vegan lifestyle. In a two-phase approach, we first plan to use those dairy items that we currently have on-hand (free range eggs, no-fat yogurt, cheeses, etc.). We have both agreed to switch to vegan alternatives as we deplete our existing food stuffs. Ultimately, we will only consume animal based products on those rare occasions which we dine out. For example, an egg white omelet at Maitland Breakfast Club or an egg white breakfast sandwich at Subway.
Our approach will become eating animal based foods only on rare occasion. To make this the exception rather than the rule. Who knows? Maybe we can eventually ween ourselves off of eggs and dairy completely?
Why this sudden change in our vegetarian tactics? The more we've researched, the more we've read, and the more we've investigated; we have finally opened our eyes (and brains) to conclude that most of life's ailments can ultimately be tied to human consumption of animal based products. Even GMO's are now scaring the hell out of me! Only in the USA can dairy cows be injected with rBGH hormones. The Europeans and Canadians are smart enough not to permit it. The more you learn about what you're putting into your body, the scarier that it becomes.
No, I don't purport to believe that I'll ever be able to escape all pesticides, herbicides, GMO's, genetically engineered corporate-profit food stuff additives, hormones, steroids, etc. But... there exists one simple fact. I will never even come close without trying! We human beings have that wonderful ability to think, judge, evaluate, and decide. Tiffany and I? We plan to dust off some off that unused brain material and begin putting it to good healthy use.
Just my two-cents? Whatever you are doing I am certain is good for you. I won't preach because I'm still quite ignorant. If I were not ignorant I would have become health conscious a very long time ago. Maybe it's simply my moment? It only took many, many years and processed foods to get me here.
Thanks for the ear! What do you think? Are Tiffany and Chucky about to jump off the deep end? Is my picture blurred? Am I missing a key point?
Hi-dee hi-dee think-about-what-you-are-about-to-eat-before-your-next-bite ho my friend.
None of the latest concoctions can stand up to a Tiffany's Green Smoothie but all choices have been digestible and filling so far. The only thing taking Tiffany and I some getting used to is the consistency of pulping (using whole fruit in a Blendtec) as opposed to using a juicer. Last night's dinner was somewhere half-way between applesauce and a slightly thickened juice, fluid but fibrous. If not for the innate ability of the human body to dissimilate nutrition from waste, we'd quickly migrate to juicing.
If I were able to utilize all of the juicing by-product in another raw form, we would quickly dust off the Breville juicer. I simply refuse to toss the juicer's waste into the compost bin. There's simply too much additional nutrition being tossed away! Of course, there exists the beauty of the pulp-free juice.
In other plans, Tiffany and I are seriously considering an almost totally vegan lifestyle. In a two-phase approach, we first plan to use those dairy items that we currently have on-hand (free range eggs, no-fat yogurt, cheeses, etc.). We have both agreed to switch to vegan alternatives as we deplete our existing food stuffs. Ultimately, we will only consume animal based products on those rare occasions which we dine out. For example, an egg white omelet at Maitland Breakfast Club or an egg white breakfast sandwich at Subway.
Our approach will become eating animal based foods only on rare occasion. To make this the exception rather than the rule. Who knows? Maybe we can eventually ween ourselves off of eggs and dairy completely?
Why this sudden change in our vegetarian tactics? The more we've researched, the more we've read, and the more we've investigated; we have finally opened our eyes (and brains) to conclude that most of life's ailments can ultimately be tied to human consumption of animal based products. Even GMO's are now scaring the hell out of me! Only in the USA can dairy cows be injected with rBGH hormones. The Europeans and Canadians are smart enough not to permit it. The more you learn about what you're putting into your body, the scarier that it becomes.
No, I don't purport to believe that I'll ever be able to escape all pesticides, herbicides, GMO's, genetically engineered corporate-profit food stuff additives, hormones, steroids, etc. But... there exists one simple fact. I will never even come close without trying! We human beings have that wonderful ability to think, judge, evaluate, and decide. Tiffany and I? We plan to dust off some off that unused brain material and begin putting it to good healthy use.
Just my two-cents? Whatever you are doing I am certain is good for you. I won't preach because I'm still quite ignorant. If I were not ignorant I would have become health conscious a very long time ago. Maybe it's simply my moment? It only took many, many years and processed foods to get me here.
Thanks for the ear! What do you think? Are Tiffany and Chucky about to jump off the deep end? Is my picture blurred? Am I missing a key point?
Hi-dee hi-dee think-about-what-you-are-about-to-eat-before-your-next-bite ho my friend.
AWESOME!!! love to hear it =) its hard to keep eating animals once you have "seen" as you say. I believe you are on the path to veganism but it is just slower than mine was. and thats fine, everyone goes at their own pace. As for the black bean hummus post -did i read "i just BOUGHT a huge thing of hummus at costco" ? ? are you still buying hummus?? its so much more cost effective (and fresh tasting) to make your own!!
ReplyDeleteI think this is fantastic! (Though being an almost-vegan already myself, I might be biased.) The thing is, every reason you have for not eating meat - health, animal welfare, environment, etc. - holds true for dairy and eggs as well. So, it's a very logical extension of vegetarianism to drop the dairy and eggs.
ReplyDeleteI follow the same method you're proposing - I eat vegan at home, but vegetarian when eating out. (I do often eat vegan when eating out too, but just not always.) I think it's a really good and realistic balance.
Hi Michele. We've still have to go through some dairy products in our refrigerator and freezer but no more dairy purchases. It'll probably take a while to go through what we've got stock up but we'll get there.
ReplyDeleteHomemade hummus? I've tried a couple of recipes that we outstanding but haven't got close to Sabra brand hummus. I challenge you for a killer, knock-the-ball-out-of-the-park hummus recipe. I'm waiting.
Thanks for the positive feedback.
Hi Angie. Yes, when Tiffany and I got realistic with ourselves we realized it'd be hard to give up dairy 100% when dining out.
ReplyDeleteThanks for confirming our decision that of a logical one. And, many thanks for the positive feedback! Take care and be healthy.