Vegan

I decided to go "vegan" in my third year of college when I moved out of my parents house and into my own place. However, what I consider vegan and what others consider vegan isn't necessarily the same. I decided to write this post to explain my views on veganism and the message I try to give. This is not to say what is right or wrong or to argue the generally accepted definition of vegan. This post is not to try to convince you to become vegan. This post is not to argue or persuade at all, but to simply explain my views.
The generally accepted definition of vegan is a person who does not eat any food that is or contains animal products. This includes eggs, butter, honey, beef, chicken, fish, etc. Vegan is generally more than just a diet but also a lifestyle. A vegan refrains from purchasing that which is or contains animal products such as leather, snake skin, etc. Two of the main reasons for veganism is for ones health or because one opposes the slaughter of animals for their food and clothing.
Above is what makes up this label "vegan". It's strict and many find it too hard to do. Personally, I don't like it. I want to fight for animals rights and end the torture they are put through. I also want to be in good health since I am a dancer. I am also a psych major. I think about how the human mind works, how habits are formed, how the mind responds to stimulus, and why we do what we do.
I think the idea of veganism as I defined earlier is great. Unfortunately, I doubt there will ever be enough people, at least in the next few generations, that will be able to maintain and want to maintain such an idea. It's also very hard to convert people because of the vast limitations. Personally, I don't think of most of it as a limitation, but people on the outside do. I don't want to send the message that veganism is restrictive or unattainable for the normal individual. For many reasons, I changed what the word vegan meant to me. I changed "do" to "try" and made it something that I could see other people wanting to do. It's hard to change people all at once, especially those opposed to change.
I feel like being vegan shouldn't feel like a chore. It should never feel like it's restricting you. I feel like it shouldn't be what stops you from hanging with friends and it shouldn't make going on trips a nightmare. I didn't want it to be something that would stress me out either. I felt like if it were any of those things, it would be wrong. I want to protect animal rights and I want them to be treated as living beings with feelings and a mind, but the general definition of veganism just doesn't work for me. I feel like it's unavailable to too many types of people as well. Depending on where you live may make it harder too. So I came up with an alternative.
My parents are in no way vegan nor will they ever be. My father would never give up meat and eggs. They are willing to try some vegan food, but they won't eat vegan every night, so when I'm at my parents, I let myself have non-vegan foods. The only meats I will eat is poultry and shrimp though, I won't eat mammals. It's not really because of the vegan thing or anything, I just never really cared for red meat. Actually, I gave up mammal meat years before I "gave up" meat. Anyway, back on topic, I relax the rules when I go to my parents, which isn't very often.
 The other issue I have is that I still go to dance conventions and things with the studio I used to be in. Often times, it's just not healthy, realistic, or possible to refuse non-vegan foods. Since health is one of the reasons people give up animal products, I think it would be rather counterproductive if doing so harmed their health. See at the convention I was with my old studio most of the time. There was only an hour for lunch and not much near the convention center in the way of food. There were the two hotel restaurants, a subway, a pizza place, and a snack concession thing that was in the convention center. None of these places served anything vegan, unless I just wanted to order some lettuce. Some how, I don't think I could dance for hours with nothing but lettuce to eat. Not only was there nothing vegan, but there was hardly anything vegetarian. I suppose you could get a cheese pizza or a veggi sub but subway always had a line too long to get through in less than an hour and we never went in the pizza place. The restaurant we went to mainly had nothing vegan or vegetarian, so I ate chicken. The other restaurant we went to once and it wasn't very good. I didn't even understand half the menu and ended up getting a very expensive bowl of mac and cheese off the kids menu that wasn't worth the ten dollars I paid! However this post is not about the Hiltons awful restaurant. Anyway, the point I am trying to make is that I am often put into situations where being vegan just isn't something I can do.
The other problem I have is that I'm a rather picky eater. If I go to a restaurant with family or friends, there usually isn't anything vegan and only a few vegetarian things. The problem is, I don't like restaurant salad. The only one I like has meat. I don't like dressing on my salad either. So that basically destroys the vegan salad option. Even if they do have something vegan, it's usually not something that is appealing. I hope one day, restaurants will pick up a vegan cook book and put some options on the menu for us, other than lettuce. In the end, I decided I would just stick to the few things I used to get at restaurants if I went with family and friends.
The fourth issue is finding vegan substitutes. My apartment is in a relatively small mountain town. We basically have a food lion for groceries. Across the bridge we have a Kroger and Walmart. Most of the closest areas don't really have much either. A town a little while away might have a bit more but not much. If you wish to drive an hour on the interstate, that's what you get. In other words, options are small. Walmart isn't in to selling vegan foods yet. They are still working on adding organic. Our Kroger is small but it does have a section with vegan and organic foods. Still, the section is shared by both things and is only a small area. I have never been in the Food Lion because I have never cared for them much. Anyways, since it ranks in the top worst grocery stores, I doubt it has much. I do order products online but that can be hard and expensive. I have a bit better luck at my parents though since there is a lot more there. I suppose if you live in a bigger city, you could probably find everything, but for those of us who don't, it's not so easy. While I do try hard to eat vegan at home, sometimes I do end up using regular cheese or "I Can't Believe It's Not Butter." It's not even once a month though. However, I have to accept that sometimes it's just not possible.
The fifth issue I have is that the only vegan ice cream Kroger has is Coconut milk and Almond milk based ones. I can sort of deal with the chocolate coconut milk one but I am not a fan of coconut in any form. The almond milk just tastes funny and awful. I have tried and tried, but coconut ice cream and almond ice cream just isn't something I can get used to. For the most part, I just gave up ice cream. If I do eat it, that is one thing I don't attempt to buy vegan. I gave up on it. It just won't happen. If I am going to eat ice cream I want to at least enjoy it. Also, the Cold Stone Creamery near my parents house has banana ice cream which I can't find anywhere else and am in love with. Of course it's at my parents so the rule doesn't apply there, but still.
The last issue I have is dance shoes and costumes. If I can, I don't buy the leather shoes. I switched to canvas and other things. However, when I was competing or when I perform, if the choreographer wants everyone to wear the same specific brand and type shoe and it's leather, I can't really say no. If the costume has something from animals on it, I can't say no. If the type of shoe I need for a class only comes in leather or if the only one I can afford comes in leather, I have to buy leather. Basically, I don't always get a choice. With what I do, I often don't get to make choices and I can't argue. So while I try to avoid it, it only works if I have a choice.
Not always having choices or being allowed to choose is a big reason why I can't be the traditional vegan even if I wanted to. However, I don't like the idea that if you can't do it all the way then you can't do it at all. I don't like the idea that if you choose to have a favorite food of yours every few months, that you can't be vegan.
So I changed the rules. I decided to go by what vegan means to me, which is try. Try to avoid animal products when possible. Allow yourself an old favorite food every once in a while. Don't let it become something that stresses you out.
My rules are that vegan rules don't apply at my parents or going out to eat. The rules don't apply when I have to buy something for dance. When at home, I must TRY to use only vegan ingredients. I should try to use vegan ingredients as much as possible and only purchase vegan goods as much as possible no matter where I am. If vegan options are unavailable, I may choose non-vegan options as long as it's not very often. If I do get meat while at my parents house, I will try to get meat that is organic and treated well. If I am able to get meat or other goods from a local farm where I know they treat their animals humanely and kindly, then it is okay (though I don't care to touch meat so I don't).
When people look at me, I want them to take away the idea that they are able to help without giving up everything. I want them to see that anyone can help. I think it's more realistic to try to introduce others to vegan foods as something they can add to their life. I think it's more realistic to try to get meat eaters to stop eating or eat less of those animals who are treated badly. If less people buy from sellers who abuse animals and treat them as nothing more than a lump of meat, then more places will treat their animals better. I don't think it's realistic to try to stop the consumption of animals, but it might be realistic to change how they are treated.
So far, I have told my friends and family about my choices. I have cooked vegan foods for them too and shared recipes. My father has bad health and needs to eat better. I've been introducing him to vegan foods and he takes to some of them. He won't go vegan, but even if he swaps his normal non-vegan meals for vegan ones every once in a while it will be better. I have also gotten my parents to stop buying from some of the worse meat companies. I can't turn them vegan, but even small changes are better than none. I also have friends trying vegan things and trying to get away from processed foods and meats. I help them with how to substitute certain ingredients and what brands are good. I told one friend about it and she is considering do something similar to me making it more of a try thing than a do because she too needs to be able to be flexible. I don't try to force it on anyone nor do I act like it only works if you go all the way. When I tell them I'm vegan, I usually try to tell people how I think of it, and I find the response from others differs from when I simply say I'm vegan. I tell people they should try, even if it's just one or two meals a week, it's better than nothing. People who enjoy meat and other things sometimes like this idea of going vegan for just a few meals a week. Sometimes they start out with just doing it once or twice and then end up eating less and less of processed and non-vegan foods.
I like to cook vegan a lot, and so I pretty much don't cook anything that isn't vegan. For one thing, vegan dishes eliminate the problem of several popular allergies such as milk and eggs. I also find that it's pretty easy to just keep substituting for things like peanuts, gluten, wheat, etc. Since I know people with egg allergies and gluten allergies, I like knowing that I can make something that they can eat when I'm cooking a dish for a party or something. I always know that whether the person is vegan, vegetarian, lactose intolerant, or allergic to eggs, they won't be left out. It also means I don't have to touch meat, and I hate touching meat. I also tend to get a little paranoid about trying to figure out if the meat is fully cooked or not and with chicken I sometimes think there is pink left forever. It feels safer with vegan ingridients because for the most part, you can eat it raw. When you make dough, you can eat that raw too because there are no eggs. I love that part. I like that if something isn't fully cooked and I eat it anyways, that it's not likely to hurt me. Only time I wish I used eggs is when making chocolate chip cookies or lemon bars. I have recipes for vegan versions but so far haven't had any luck making them work.
Anyway, that's my way of thinking and my way of being vegan. If you don't like it, to bad.

One Way Or Another, You Will Pay!

One way or another, you will pay. You can pay now or you can pay later. In the end, you still have to pay, unless you die young in a car crash or something. The question I ask you is, when do you want to pay?
You can pay now for the healthy and organic foods, or you can pay later for the medical bills and insurance companies. Your choice.
        Consider this though. If you pay now for the healthy things, you will feel better, but you will have to pay all your life for those things. If you pay later for the medical bills, later may not be so far away. Later could even be tomorrow. Paying later won't help you feel good for the rest of your life. Paying later could mean a shorter life. Is saving money really more important to you than having time with your family, do the things you want to do, living in your own house and sleeping in your own bed, and watching your children and grandchildren grow up? You can replace money. You can make more money. You don't really need that big screen tv, you need that apple.
      Healthy food is a big part of healthy living. You may say you want to get abs and you go to the gym and do tons of ab work, but if you go home and eat the wrong foods and junk food, it's not going to work. Healthy food is important. It can help keep your body and brain functioning properly and keep you feeling good mentally and physically. I'll talk more about food helping your brain and body later.
      Buying healthy organic food isn't always expensive. Look around. Ask your neighbors. Ask your co-workers. Often you can find it at good prices. And don't forget, it takes less broccoli and apples to fill you up and fuel you than it does cookies. Foods without all the modifications and chemicals won't always need to be in such big quanities to satisfy you.
      Organic can sometimes be more expensive. (I will discuss organic vs natural later). However, an extra dollar is better than cancer right? It's better than disease and hospital stays and huge medical bills right? See, non-organic foods have chemicals that aren't normally in the food. Non-organic food may have been modified. We can discuss that more in another post.
      My point is, maybe you think you are saving money by buying those cookies instead of the apple. You might be saving money today but all that money you saved will eventually end up paying the medical bills. Of course maybe you could get lucky and be one of the few that suffers little to no consequence for bad eating. Do you really want to risk that though? Do you want to risk watching your kids grow, doing things you love, spending time with the one you love, and all the things that are truely precious in life? No one is saying you can't enjoy a piece of chocolate cake every once in a while, just not every day.
     If you can read these words, you are old enough to take responsibility for your body and make the choice. Pay now or pay later, but you will pay. There is no 'pass go and collect 200.' There is no way to avoid it.
Pay now, or pay later.

Please Take The Time To Read!

Please read the entire thing. You may disagree, and if you do, that’s fine. You may post your disagreement in a post. But first, please read the entire thing with an open mind and think about what is being said. Inevitably, someone is going to read with a closed mind and no interest is seeing anything from anyone elses views or changing their own ideas. But I beg of you to please try to read with an open mind. Thank you. 

We all post pictures that could potentially trigger someone even if all you post is pictures of pink cuddly teddy bears. Sometimes it’s to reach out. But when one reaches out because he or she needs help with (lets use the above example)  fear of pink cuddly teddy bears, he or she  needs to be aware of who he or she is reaching out too. If if he or she is reaching out to a group of people who are also afraid of those teddy bears or are recovering from that fear or so on then that person is reaching out to people who need just as much help and are suffering too. That is not really the best group to reach out to for help but it’s human nature to stick with others who are like us, not to reach out to someone who might be of better help but is not in the same situation.

Now take this for example. Bob puts up a picture of a pink cuddly teddy bear that he is forced to see everyday when he goes to work. He wants to post it to ask for help in a way. One of his friends, Amy, sees the wall post saying Bob has added a picture. When she looks at the picture it scares her. She starts to have a panic attack. She comments on Bob’s picture saying she is sorry he is suffering from this fear but she is going to have to delete him because his pictures are triggering her panic attacks. 

Amy isn’t being mean or trying to hurt Bob. Amy is protecting herself because she knows if she sees those pictures she will have a panic attack and she is trying to stop having them so often. She cares about Bob but she cannot risk her own mental health for his sake. That won’t help either one of them. She is respecting her own needs but also trying to respect his. She did not just delete him right away; she gave him a reason why therefore, respecting his need and right to know why he was being deleted from her friends list. She cared about him enough to respect him and his needs and rights.

 Suppose Bob comments back to her that she must just hate him. Amy then comes back to try to explain and correct what she feels was some miscommunication. She cared enough to risk seeing the teddy bear and going into another panic attack just to correct what she feels was some miscommunication. 

When someone tells you they have to delete you for their own safety, try to understand it’s nothing against you. They are not being selfish either. It is important that we try to help others and care about one another. However, if we risk our own health and safety to do so then we really are not doing anyone any good. Even if we manage to help the other person, if we are still suffering or even worse off than before then we haven’t really fixed anything. We do need to help those that we can and be kind and respectful but before taking care of others we must make sure we take care of ourselves. That does NOT mean we need to make sure we can buy a limosine before we feed the homeless or give an unemployed man a job before he loses everything he has. It means we need to make sure that we have the necessities and are safe before we try to fill someone elses needs and keep them safe. Putting our own safety before someone elses is not selfish. It’s wise and important. It is also a step towards our own healing.  

When Bob reaches out to his group he needs to be aware that these friends of his are not in any better position than he is. They may find his pictures of the things he fears to be triggering or just unsettling. Bob might be posting those pictures because he wants people to know what he is afraid of or obbessed with and feel that by posting them someone might beable to help him overcome it but it could hurt some people. These people may choose to delete him as a friend and/or block him. They are taking care of themselves. By making that decision they are respecting themselves and that is a big step in recovery from any fear, obssesion, addiction, or illness. They are not being mean. They simply can not handle it.

There are other ways to handle such a situation though. Personally, I prefer the option of asking that person to blcok you from seeing their pictures or a particular album. One can also block themselves from seeing someones status updates. This way you can still talk to the person but you don’t have to risk your own safety assuming that it is only their pictures or status posts that bother you. 

If someone asks you to block them from seeing your photos are a particular group of photos then don’t get offended. They value your friendship but they are trying to protect themselves at the same time. Now Facebook makes you post the pictures to your wall (unless there is some cheat way that I am not aware of) which means if you add to that album then those pictures will come up in the news/status feed. If you have friends on your account that have asked to be blocked from that sort of picture or album then it is respctful that you go to your wall as soon as you can and delete the post. Even if no one has asked you to be blocked, if you know what you just uploaded could be triggering, it is best to go ahead and do that anyway. 

Point is, everyone has the right to free speech and freedom of expression(though it can be limited on the internet by websites or censored). People have the right to post status and pictures. However they also have the responsibility to deal with any consequences for their actions. If you post a half naked pick with some guys face buried in your chest and a potention employer decided not to hire you because of it then that is their right because you are responsible for your actions. If you want to post pictures of the  ”scarry” pink cuddly teddy bears and someone deletes you as a friend, that is their right. We also are responsible for others safety when it involves our actions and decisions. It is everyones responsibility to respect that others may delete us because of the things we post. It is our responsibility to be mindful of what we post and to block those who have asked to be blocked and to delete posts in which we can not block someone from seeing. It is our responsibility to be respectful of other peoples choices and wishes. We have the right to post what we want within limitations. But with every right comes responsibility.     We are also responsible for our own safety.That means we are responsible for asking someone to block us or deleting them if their content or words endangers us in any way shape or form. We are also responsible for reporting those who do not respect the rights of others, such as the right to safety, those who threaten an individuals or groups safety, or those who deny their responsibilities that come with their rights. 

Chicken Breasts With Tomatoes And Olives Recipe

Chicken Breasts With Tomatoes and Olives Recipe

A light recipe!

 

Ingredients

• The 5 ingredients:
• 4 (6-ounce) skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
• 1 cup multicolored cherry or grape tomatoes, halved
• 3 tablespoons oil and vinegar dressing, divided
• 20 olives, halved
• 1/2 cup (2 ounces) crumbled feta cheese

Preparation

• Prepare grill to medium-high heat. Sprinkle chicken evenly with 1/4 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper. Place chicken on grill rack coated with cooking spray, and grill for 6 minutes on each side or until chicken is done. Keep warm. Combine tomatoes, 1 1/2 tablespoons dressing, and olives in a medium skillet over medium heat, and cook for 2 minutes or until tomatoes soften slightly and mixture is thoroughly heated, stirring occasionally. Brush chicken with remaining 1 1/2 tablespoons dressing. Cut each chicken breast half into 3/4-inch slices. Top each chicken breast half with 1/4 cup tomato mixture. Sprinkle each serving with 2 tablespoons cheese and torn basil leaves, if desired.

Nutritional Information

Amount per serving

• Calories: 348
• Fat: 17.3g
• Saturated fat: 4.4g
• Monounsaturated fat: 5g
• Polyunsaturated fat: 1.2g
• Protein: 41.9g
• Carbohydrate: 3.9g
• Fiber: 0.6g
• Cholesterol: 111mg
• Iron: 1.6mg
• Sodium: 810mg
• Calcium: 100mg

Healthy Chicken Strips With Optional Blue Cheese Dressing

A light recipe for chicken strips. Healthy and tasty!

Ingredients

• Chicken:
• 1/2 cup low-fat buttermilk
• 1/2 teaspoon hot sauce
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon paprika
• 1/2 teaspoon ground red pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 pound chicken breast tenders
• 1 tablespoon canola oil
• Dressing:
• 1/2 cup fat-free mayonnaise
• 1/4 cup (1 ounce) crumbled blue cheese
• 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
• 1 teaspoon bottled minced garlic
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Preparation

• To prepare chicken, combine buttermilk and hot sauce in a shallow dish. Lightly spoon flour into a dry measuring cup; level with a knife. Combine flour and next 4 ingredients (through salt) in a shallow dish. Dip chicken in buttermilk mixture, and dredge chicken in flour mixture.
• Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add chicken; cook 4 minutes on each side or until done. Remove from pan. Set aside, and keep warm.
• While chicken cooks, prepare the dressing. Combine fat-free mayonnaise and next 5 ingredients (through black pepper) in a small bowl. Serve with chicken strips.

Nutritional Information

Amount per serving

• Calories: 281
• Calories from fat: 28%
• Fat: 8.7g
• Saturated fat: 2.6g
• Monounsaturated fat: 3.2g
• Polyunsaturated fat: 1.5g
• Protein: 30.8g
• Carbohydrate: 18.4g
• Fiber: 1.3g
• Cholesterol: 77mg
• Iron: 1.9mg
• Sodium: 771mg
• Calcium: 101mg