VegWeb

There are a few things that I really relied on to remain sane as a vegan. I never grew up with a good background of cooking and food. So the sudden need to prepare vegan foods was a huge wake up call for me. Unfortunately the first vegan cookbook I bought was "Skinny Bitch in the Kitch" because of its rave reviews, but its not the easiest guide for the newly turned vegan. I couldn't cook to begin with, so using "chickpea flour" and "kelp powder" were too advanced for me, and I imagine a lot of other people too. I don't think I would have survived if I didn't have all the help from online. Not only are there tons of amazing blogs out there that gave me hope, but tons of great easy vegan recipes. There are countless websites I could list but one that I really love is VegWeb.com. Like everything on my blog I am not paid to say anything, I just appreciate the large database of recipes from beginner to pro. And although I've found some fantastic vegan cookbooks out there (Vegan Table is amazing) I still fall back on VegWeb because it offers something cookbooks can't; feedback. The comments on VegWeb have saved me from not adding enough of a certain spice, or to clarify what the heck some ingredients even are. Lately I've been in a bind because I don't have extra money to spare on anything, not even food. So I've been able to find recipes online that can accommodate my short supply. It always much harder to do anything alone, and thankfully because of the countless other people out there who have shared their stories online I don't have to.

Much Love and Thanks

Super Morbidly Obese

I know its been awhile since my last post, but with finals just ending and the wedding right around the corner, I've been going a tad crazy. I'm not going to lie, no matter what I'm busy with, my vice has always been television. Flipping through the channels I started watching "Half-Ton Dad." At first I wanted to find another show, because honestly I was really disgusted. The man in the show is classified as "Super Morbidly Obese," and at the start of his medical treatments weighs in over 1030 lbs. I know that America is full of obese people, but shouldn't stories like this be a real wake up call to people? I've talked about the show Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution before, and love the fact that is shows that change is possible. But the change needs to happen, on more levels than just switching out sugar filled strawberry flavor milk for regular milk. The REAL problem is how we view food as a whole. If you look at a bowl of salad and groan, either you don't know how to make a good salad or there is a real problem with how we view food.

One of the doctors on the show "Half-Ton Dad" says, in my opinion naively, that "children will always pick fast food over healthy food." Growing up and "working" in a home that doubled as a day care, I would like to think I'm not a total dummy when it comes to children. The real reason kids want fast food over healthy food is the way we represent fast food or unhealthy food to them. If we rewarded kids with a slice of frozen watermelon (watermelon popsicle yum) or other healthy treats instead of chocolate or candy, they are going to crave healthier foods. Kids rely on their parents and elders to develop their tastes. Of course we do crave fats and salts on a primal level as well but if we are "primed" to get these fats, salt and sugars from healthier sources we are more likely to eat greasy fast food more sparingly. So we need to man up and realize our youth is not doomed just because there is McDonald's. But if we don't cultivate healthy eating habits at home we are setting our youth up to be over weight and unhealthy.