Vegan?

I never thought I would ever say this, but I think I am going to go vegan. Yup. Cold turkey. (Pun totally intended.) Over the last six months, my lactose intolerance seemed to have transformed from very mild (I did not even realize I was suffering from it for 24 years) to rather bad. (I cannot speak for you, but I call a debilitating stomachache that lasted two weeks "bad".)

I was on a verge of vegetarianism anyway. Due to my issues with dairy, I was cutting out cheeses and milk and only rarely ate chicken or turkey or tuna.

Then last week, I watched the documentary The Cove of the slaughtering of thousands of dolphins in Teijin, Japan, every year. Watching the footage of the fishermen stabbing those poor creatures and watching them writhe in pain as they slowly bled to death...

A day or two later, I happened to watch a few health videos by Dr. Walter Veith of Amazing Discoveries that discuss the science and medical aspects of a plant-based versus meat-based diet. I was shocked at how harmful animal protein actually is. It not only shortens our life span, it plays a role in many diseases that people suffer from today and is physically crippling to our bodies. Yet our society teaches us from infancy that you must eat a lot of meat to get enough protein to be healthy. Yet you can get the same amount of protein – healthier plant protein – from broccoli then you can a steak or chicken.

For a triple whammy, Barstow SDA Church hosted Chef Mark Anthony [link] this weekend, and he gave a vegan cooking demonstration Sunday afternoon. I only need to substitute a few ingredients and the meals I have been cooking/eating lately would become vegan... with no flavor loss! (Flavor is very important to me. I love experimenting with spices. If something does not taste good, I will not eat it.)

All of these seemingly random experiences combined to help form my decision to go vegan. As the saying goes: "Ignorance is bliss." But now that I know, I cannot turn a blind eye and pretend everything

So my mom and I went shopping this afternoon at the tiny health food store in town and picked up some textured vegetable protein (TVP), vital wheat gluten, brown rice flour, and a few other things. For dinner, I made a delicious taco meat mixture using the TVP instead of the usual ground turkey, and it actually had a better flavor than the turkey because the TVP is, on its own, flavorless yet soaks up the flavor of the spices nicely. And I love spices! Especially chili powder. Chili powder is my current favorite spice (followed by sage, oddly enough). Anyway, I also added fresh onion, jalapenos, black beans, corn, and some other veggies I found in the refrigerator. When it was done, I put it on a wrap, added a secret salsa mixture, and some lettuce. It was delicious! I saved some to take to work tomorrow for lunch.

Yup, I think 2010 is the year I will be going vegan. It will be a little challenging to keep fresh fruits and vegetables in the frig and the dry ingredients stocked in the cupboard, but I think I am up for the challenge. There is no way I can go back to eating meat, not when the only thing I see in my mind are those poor dolphins thrashing in the water or the deformed legs of the sheep given too much animal protein in their diet or my co-worker eating fish head for lunch. It is too disgusting. And I will not eat dairy. My body has been rejecting it my whole life, but my brain has only recently caught up.

The whole time I was writing this post, I was listening to Owl City over at YouTube. My older sister texted me about the song Fireflies and said it reminded her of me. (Is that a good thing?) I have not listened to the radio in about three years, so I am out of the loop when it comes to the latest songs. Anyway, call me weird, but I love Owl City's sound and the lyrics are random yet make sense to me. (Hey, I have shared some of my bizarre dreams and random thoughts here on LJ over the years, and there are definitely some similarities.) I will have to keep my eyes peeled for the CD next time I am in Wal-mart or a music store. And the band Annasay. Yup.