Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies: Yummy!

Are you bored of me talking about getting off of my medications?  You must be because I sure am!  I was so focused on it for a time because I had to be, but things have changed for the better.  So let's change it up.

I am a bit of a chocoholic.  I love chocolate and chocolate chip cookies are one of my many chocolate weaknesses.  I found this great recipe for Chocolate Chip Cookies that just happen to be vegan.  I've made them several times and they are quite easy and very quick to make.

I change up the ingredients from time to time.  I've made them with margarine and also with oil.  The oil was a little easier to mix, but that's about the only difference I noticed.  For baking, I use an oil that is part canola oil, part olive oil.  I don't like to bake with olive oil, even though it's healthy because who wants olive flavoured chocolate chip cookies?

The last time I made the cookies, I used agave instead of sugar.  I bought some agave on a whim the last time I was at the bulk food store.  I'd seen agave as an ingredient for vegan baking and I thought I'd give it a try.  Agave looks like honey in the bottle.  It's sweet without being too sweet.  Agave can be used in place of sugar. I went with less agave than sugar required and I didn't fiddle with the liquid measurements although the article I read said that you should. It didn't matter, the cookies came out just as good as ever. I think the secret to this recipe is the cinnamon. I made them without cinnamon the last time I baked because I'd run right out of it. Too bad, because the cookies are good without the cinnamon, but they are great with it!

Now I'm a little more laid back than the recipe's author when it comes to baking.  I pretty much throw the ingredients in the bowl, mix it up and bake.  Sampling almost always occurs before the dough makes it to the oven.  One tip:  if you scroll to the bottom of the the first part of the recipe, there's a button to show the next step, don't use that one, use the one that gives you all the steps on one screen.  It's much easier that way.

3 out of 4 in our house like these cookies.  The 4th is my youngest who has decided she doesn't like chocolate lately.  Not sure how I had a child who doesn't like chocolate!  I may try them without chocolate next as it sounds like they might be pretty tasty.

Vegan Mofo is Back! Pasta & What's in the Fridge Sauce

October is the Vegan Month of Food, also known as Vegan MoFo!  Last year was my first year participating.  You can find a blog roll of all of this year's participants at www.veganmofo.com.

I've now been vegan for a little over a year and I'm very happy with the decision I made to move to a plant based diet.  I'm still learning as I go.

Tonight's dinner is going to be pasta and "What's in the fridge" Sauce.  This catchy title is something that I ame up with because I generally choose the ingredients in the sauce by opening the refrigerator to see what I have to work with.  Today I scored with zucchini and eggplant.

Not my pasta, but a close facsimilie

I start with a can of crushed tomatoes and add a can of beans.  Tonight I chose lentils because my kids seem to prefer softer beans, so I figured they would be more likely to eat them.  Usually I start with a bit of garlic fried in the pan, but I skipped it today.  I added a little water to the sauce and then chopped up some zucchini and eggplant.  Threw in some spices-orgeano, parsley, garlic salt and set it to simmer.

We'll be eating whole grain pasta tonight for a change.  The kids don't notice a difference in taste and I like being able to give them a healthier option.

I like to make my own sauce because know what is in it then.  When my father became  diabetic we found that many of the prepared sauces have a lot of sugar, so we started to do it ourselves.

Now for my not-so-secret secret: to reduce the acidity of the tomatoes, put a carrot in the sauce.  When it's finished, don't eat the carrot!  Compost it.  Trust me, the carrot will not taste good. And the verdict is in! Whole family enjoyed dinner. The youngest even asked for seconds (she's normally the one who does not like the veggies)!

Things that I Think About

I've been doing some thinking lately. People always worry when I start thinking. You may have noticed that my Getting Back to Fit posts fizzled out after the third post. There's a reason for that. I didn't get past three days of exercising. How pathetic is that? I know it takes time to build a routine, but why can't I stay motivated long enough to build a routine?

"Going" vegan wasn't as hard as it is for me to exercise. I'm coming up on my one year anniversary of being vegan in a couple of weeks. And while I may not be strict on things like desserts and chocolate, I didn't really feel the need to "cheat". I craved cheese for a bit, but ice cream doesn't even appeal to me any more and I loved ice cream. I wouldn't say that I'm eating ideally. I need to look at getting rid of white flour and some other over-processed foods and I'd really like to use more organic foods.

So I guess what I'm wondering is why has it been easier to change my lifestyle to include a vegan diet than it is to add exercise to my day? Exercise could help me to manage my depression and anxiety better. It could help me to sleep better too, but I resist doing it. I've kind of been toying with the idea of taking up running. It's something I've thought of before, but I keep pushing it away. Then I saw that one of my friends has joined a running clinic and after only a few runs, she's talking about runner's euphoria and how much she loves it. Is it time for me to take a step out of my comfort zone and give it a try? Considering how much I hate the idea of going to a gym (who wants to hang out with a bunch of fit people when you are so obviously not?), I kind of feel the same way about joining a running clinic. Maybe it's time for me to look into it though. It doesn't cost anything to see when they are offered and how much they are, right? Maybe? Well, I'll check out their web site this week and give it some more thought. You know, if I put as much effort into actually exercising as I do to putting it off and feeling guilty for it, I'd probably be in excellent shape by now. Things that make you go hmmm.




I just saw this book--it sounds exactly like what I need!

And the numbers are in!

OK, so I finally found my scale and weighed myself.  I changed to a vegan diet in September.  I've been trying to follow a healthy vegan eating plan, but I do eat some not so healthy food from time to time.  I haven't added exercise to my healthy living yet.  Are you ready for it?  I was really surprised when I weighed myself and discovered that I have lost 20 pounds since September!


It's coming off slowly and that is fine by me!  For me, it's better to lose the weight slowly because when I've lost weight in the past, it was quicker and came back fairly quickly.  I feel better knowing it's coming off bit by bit and that I feel the results.

I also feel better about what I'm eating. If you are thinking about adopting a vegan lifestyle, I recommend these two books as a starting place. Christina Pirello's book is what made me decide that I was going to change my eating habits. And I started with the Kickstart in September last year. It was a really great tool for me to get started on the vegan pathway. I'm not a super vegan or anything, but this has been the right choice for me.

Getting Healthy & Organized

I've been a little quiet lately, mostly because I haven't had too much to say. I'm still working on being healthy by following a vegan diet and it's been working well for me. I have the odd day where I think that life would be easier if I was a vegetarian, but it's usually a short-lived feeling. When I think about how animals are abused in factory farms to give milk and eggs, it pretty much seals the deal for me. Truthfully, I wish it was easier to find vegan foods some days, but I'm becoming a pretty good label reader now.



I'm getting organized too, very slowly, but it's happening. Every time a charity calls us to see if we have any items to donate, I always say yes. If I don't already have something ready, it gives me a chance to get a box or two of things out. This week, I happened to find some pull-ups in a drawer and since my little one doesn't need them, I posted them on freecycle and was able to give them and a box of clothes away to the same person. It felt good to know that they were going on to someone who could use them. I especially love being able to pass on kids clothes, because we have been so blessed with receiving hand-me-downs from friends and family for my girls.

I'm also on a tossing spree. There is so much stuff laying around the house that just needed to be put in the recycling bin. I've been able to get rid of a few boxes in the basement--sad to think that we moved and stored some of this stuff.

Bit by bit, I'm getting rid of the crap in my life, and it feels pretty good. I find decluttering has a positive impact on my mood as well because it releases some of the stress I feel. It lifts away some of the weight that I carry around all the time. Clearing the clutter from my home also helps to clear the clutter in my head too. Maybe all I have to do to be rid of depression is to completely declutter my life...now that would be something!

The Joys of Being the Only Vegan at a Family Dinner

I've been vegan for a little over four months now. It is still something I'm adjusting to, and I guess I've brought my family along for the ride.

My husband has been surprisingly supportive. I think that he sees the positive effect this new way of eating has had on me. My oldest daughter doesn't completely understand, but she knows that I don't eat anything with any animal product in it. My youngest could care less, and that is fine with me.

I haven't made a big deal about it with my extended family. I told my mom first, and she was pretty great. I was surprised she didn't freak out too much. Mom even sent me an article she read about dairy products being a possible cause to cancer. Wow. Mom made me a special dish for dinner on Christmas. When I go over there for dinner, Mom will try to have something for me to eat, and if she doesn't, she's totally cool if I go down the street to hit up the salad bar at the grocery store.

It gets a little more difficult at my husband's family. They don't get it, and I can deal with that. I just hate feeling like I'm the family freak now. My husband picked me up from work this afternoon and we went straight to his parents. Everyone decided to order in Chinese food. When they were counting how many people to feed, I mentioned I wouldn't be eating the combo meal. My husband was actually great. He went through the menu and found a vegetable lo mein with rice noodles. His sister asked me if I couldn't just take the meat out of a dish and that's when I felt like I was being a pain to everyone. I don't want to be difficult. If I had known we were going to have dinner there, I would have been more prepared. I don't want everyone else to feel put out because I choose to eat differently. It's my choice. I'm choosing to be healthy. I'm choosing to make less of an impact on the earth. I'm choosing to be kind to animals.

I wonder what it seems like to everyone else. Am I a pain? Do I sound like the kid who is a picky eater? I guess I have become a picky eater in a way--although I prefer to think of it as being a conscious eater. I am more aware of what I am eating and where it comes from. Does that make me the annoying freak? I hope not, especially since I did share my lo mein! And my sister-in-law let me know where I could find some good soy ice "cream" too.

Getting Healthy...Check! Getting Fit....Working On It!

If you've been following me for any length of time, you know that I have struggled to get myself fit, organized and healthy and I have varying amounts of success with each one, but not at the same time. Well, now I'm trying it a different way.

Going vegan has helped me to get healthier. I've been making better food choices and I'm not ravenously hungry at any point of the day (unless supper is late, but I'm working on that!). I don't have the wicked chocolate or Coke (as in Coca Cola!) cravings that I once had. I suspect that this means that my depression is in better control as well because craving chocolate was a sure fire sign that my depression was not in check.

Now on to the next phase. It's time to work on getting fit now. The weight has been coming off slowly, since I started following a vegan diet. This makes me happy because I don't want to lose weight too fast and have it all bounce back. Now it's time to get serious about losing the weight. I fired up the Wii Fit again finally.


It was over 200 days since I last used it. OK, so that's not good. Then the machine weighed me and bloop, bloop, bloop, my Mii gets all fat and obese again. The cool thing is that the weight was down :) And I got 15 minutes of workout time done. So, now I have to keep it up...again. But hey, what have I got to lose, right?

Vegan MoFo: Prepared Vegan Foods & Meatless Meats

As much as I enjoy cooking, I also enjoy having a night off. I was very excited to hear from a vegan co-worker that one of the grocery stores in town offers vegan prepared foods. She was eating meatless nuggets the other day for lunch.

Well, we made the trek to the other side of town, and I found a nice selection of vegan foods. My husband joked that for someone who doesn't eat meat, I'm going out of my way to have food that looks and tastes like meat. He likes to call the meatless sandwich meats "phoney baloney". Of course, I told him that it wasn't balogna, it was salami!

Tonight I had a veggie patty and it was really good. It didn't taste anything like a hamburger, and that was just fine with me. I'll probably try the nuggets later in the week. I put the patty in a bun with some lettuce and had some baby carrots on the side. Finished up with some salsa and some whole wheat tortilla chips. Yummy!

The store also had different things like meatless ground beef and chicken and meatless Canadian bacon. Interesting.... I missed the vegan cheese. It turns out I should have looked in the cheese section, not the vegan deli meat section. Who knew? I'm just glad that I've found a store that stocks the type of foods I want to eat.

I had one of those moments that reinforced my decision to go vegan while we were shopping. My youngest daughter loves to look at the fish tanks in the store. She pointed out the lobsters to me and said, "Look Mama, crabs!" I said, "No, those are lobsters," and then it hit me that those poor creatures were going to be someone's dinner. It made me sad.

Vegan Mofo--Crock Pot Minestrone Soup

I am not a morning person by any stretch of the imagination, and that is one reason my crock pot does not get a lot of use. I'm usually packing my lunch and eating/drinking my breakfast on my way out the door. So today, when my daughter's kindergarten class let the children in early because it was raining, I found myself at home with a few minutes to spare. My husband was working at a physical job today, and I knew he'd come home and say, "Let's get pizza" and since the pizza place we frequent does not make "special order" pizzas (read--vegan), it's a pain to order from there.

Long story short, I thought I'd make something in my crock pot. I had a library book on vegan crock pot cooking, so I took a quick look, found something that I had most of the ingredients for and took a shot.

The recipe was pretty easy and I'll include a link to the book I used so you can take a look if you want to. I've never made minestrone soup, so I was really looking forward to it. It smelled delicious as soon as I opened the door tonight. I had asked my husband to put the pasta in the soup when he came home since he gets home about a half hour before me. I even left the cook book out so he could see the recipe. You know where I'm going with this, don't you?

I went into the kitchen and lifted the lid on my pot of soup to find that there was in fact no liquid left in the pot. I asked him how much pasta he put in. His answer, "The whole thing." That's right, he put a whole bag of pasta in the crockpot and then walked away. It's one of those things that you just have to laugh at because it turned out well as a pasta dish, even if that is not what I intended to make. I said earlier that part of being a vegan is experimentation, and I think this proves it. Best of all, the kids loved the pasta, even my daughter who hates sauce on her pasta. Hubby is not in the dog house this time. Next time? Well, we'll see.

Vegan MoFo: Stir Fry and Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

Hello! Welcome to my life! I have gained a few followers over the last weeks and I wanted to say "Hi! I'm glad to meet you!"

I think the challenge I have with vegan eating is that it's not as easy to just grab something and eat it without thinking. I guess that is the point. I have become more mindful of what I am eating. This means spending more time reading labels, trying to figure out if something is actually vegan. Imagine my surprise last week when I discovered that the veggie cheese I was considering purchasing contained milk! How disappointing!

The fun part is trying new things. As a vegan, you can't be afraid of new foods. You have to be open to new foods and new ways of cooking foods. I really enjoy the freedom of gathering up some veggies, chopping them up and throwing them all together in a stir fry. I don't always have the best results, but most days, they are pretty good.

Today, I made a stir fry with bean sprouts, mushrooms, bok choy, cabbage and carrots (for the colour!). I started with a bit of vegetable broth, then added some soya sauce to cook the vegetable with. I made some brown rice (I think I have finally figured out how to make it well!) and then threw it together. OK, well not literally. I have been tempted to throw stuff around the kitchen, but tonight was not one of those nights. I knew I had done well when hubby had seconds (and he claims to dislike brown rice!). I've got two servings put away in the fridge for lunch this week too, so that's a little less stress for me in the morning. Now I don't have to try to figure out a vegan lunch at the last minute.

I'm attempting to make some oatmeal raisin cookies. The recipe I used seemed pretty good. I had everything on hand, so that was a bonus. They are not turning out very well though! The cookies are very sweet and have fallen apart when I take them off the tray. We'll see how the second tray turns out, because you never know.
I think that I'll try another recipe next time, one with less sugar for sure!

How to Freak Out Your Mother-In-Law at Thanksgiving

Yes, I did it. I totally freaked out my mother-in-law and I feel bad about it. See, we were trying to decide if we needed to make the ham as well as the turkey. Mum was counting how many wouldn't eat one or the other and I said, "Don't worry, I won't be eating either." Mum was digesting that when my husband and daughter both told her that I was "eating vegan" now. Oh yeah, thanks guys. Let's not ease her into it or anything.

Mum started to question me and my sister (in-law, but we call each other sisters) told her not to worry about me because I was not doing this without having researched it and following a program (kickstart). Mum dropped it then, but I saw her a few days later, and that's when the questions started.

I know Mum is just worried about me, but its hard to describe why I want to be vegan to her because she's an English baby-boomer. She's used to meat being something that you didn't get very often, so it was special and yes, an important part of a healthy diet. And to be honest, it's hard to explain it anyway. I want to be vegan because I feel it's healthier and it's better for the environment and animals. I feel healthier not eating animal products. I'm losing fat. My weight hasn't decreased a whole lot, but I am wearing pants that I couldn't even do up before I started eating vegan (and they are comfortable!).

My plan right now is to stick with what I am doing and not worry about what other people think. I'll give Mum more info in small pieces and see how it goes.

By the way, there is a new vegan social network I found out about this week. If you are interested in vegan or vegetarian eating or animal rights, you should check it out! This Dish is Veg Social. If you sign up, add me. My user name there is Jess. (and I just joined a group there called "Living with Omnivores"--might help me out!)

21 Day Vegan Kickstart, Week 2

So, I'm over the half way mark in the 21 Day Vegan Kickstart and I'm still following a vegan diet. I've had a couple challenges, but it's getting easier to do.

I have not been following the menu plan this week. I've been loading up on veggies and adding pasta or rice and beans as well as adding lots of fruit. What I need to find is a quick go-to meal for those nights when I really just don't feel like cooking and would normally go out and buy a pizza.

I keep finding myself wanting to add cheese to things, but I have caught myself in time so far. It becomes tempting when the food is something the kids aren't going to eat and normally I would just finish it off for them. Now I'm having to consciously make an effort to leave it.

Benefits? You bet! My pants are starting to fit better. Last week when I put on my jeans, they were very tight and I had more overhang than was comfortable. It's been great to see the overhang (aka "muffin top") shrink over the last couple of weeks. My skin feels better too. I don't know that it looks better yet, but it feels less oily and blemished to me. I've also noticed that I am not craving caffeine, cola or chocolate. This is huge for me because caffeine (usually in the form of diet cola) was what fuelled a lot of my days before. I'm not having my typical mid-afternoon slump where I can barely keep my eyes open and I'm sleeping at night. I'm falling asleep easier and even though I may get up in the middle of the night, I go right back to sleep! I'm still tired, but no where near what it was like before. I'm even having less headaches! Before I would have to have a bottle of acetaminophen in my purse at all times. Now I've had maybe 4 tablets over the last two weeks. So, I'm feeling pretty good, thanks for asking!

I made some Chocolate Raspberry Mousse tonight from the Day 6 menu. It was incredibly easy to make. It's chilling now and I am looking forward to trying it soon! Yummy!

It All Starts With the First Step: 21 Day Vegan Kickstart

Tomorrow, I am taking the first step in my journey to healthier eating. I'm starting the 21 Day Vegan Kickstart. I found information on it from Christina Pirello's site and it looked like a good way to get a start on a vegan diet.

For some reason, I don't feel afraid about making these huge changes in my eating habits. Considering I eat a lot of cheese and dairy products, especially chocolate? I expected to feel terrified. But guess what? There are a lot of vegan alternatives to the foods that I love and trying to find them and make them is kind of a challenge that I'm looking forward to.

I expect the hardest part to be planning meals in advance so that I don't have to worry about figuring out what I'm going to eat at the last minute. Well, that and finding vegan foods in my city. My regular grocery store does not stock a lot of what I am going to need, so I'm going to have to make some trips to some other stores to get me started. Hopefully since I live in a very multicultural area, I'll be able to find foods without having to trek across town 6 times or head to the big bad City to find them.

What I like about the program is that they give you recipes and shopping lists right from the start. They have inspirational videos every day as well as a celebrity leader for the day who gives you tips and even phone calls (?) to help you on your way. And hey, it's only 21 days. Surely I can handle that? I've heard that people who start on a vegan diet planning on doing it temporarily often stick with it because of how much better they feel! I'm hoping that is the case with me. I will surely let you know. In the meantime, I'm off to the bulk food store and then the grocery store with my shopping list in hand. Here goes nothing!

Healthy Eating: Vegetarian, Vegan, Gluten Free??

Lately, it seems that everywhere I look, different diets are being touted as making huge changes in overall health.  Some of the special needs parenting sites I follow have talked about changing their children's diets and seeing positive results (usually these are gluten free).  Just this week, one of the characters in a book I was reading was a vegan chef.

It's hard to know if these are "fads" like the carbohydrate thing that was going on a few years ago or not.  I don't want to be the kid who jumps in with both feet and then finds that I'm in water over my head.  I've started to look at information on vegan diets.  I'm not lying, it would be a huge change.  The benefits in terms of reducing the risk of heart disease and diabetes alone would be a good reason to try it.

Is there any one out there who is currently following a vegetarian, vegan or gluten free diet?  I would really love to talk to someone real who has made this kind of change.  Any suggestions, tips or reference sites would be much appreciated!

Don't worry, this isn't something I'm going to jump into all at once.  I'm strictly gathering information right now.  I imagine that this kind of change is one that would have to happen gradually, but I need to find out more.  I found some interesting books on amazon.ca.  If you know a book that would be helpful for starting a vegan diet, please let me know!