Friday, December 14, 2007

Y'all eat burger, right?

I cannot recall how many times in my life I've gotten the "What da y'all eat?" question in response to my veganism. Most go through all the stuff I can't eat, listing mainly food that can easily be vegan. Spaghetti, soup, pizza, bread, cookies. Then there are those that think that I can still eat chicken, fish, or even steak.
People have a lot of misconceptions about veganism. The main one being that I am missing out on something. This one is simple: THE ONLY THING I MISS IS CONVENIENCE. I do not miss meat, not in any form. Actually, I believe a dead animal is a carcass, not food.
There is such a great variety of food outside the animal kingdom that it is almost impossible to not find complete satisfying meals. Since going from vegetarian to full on vegan, the quality of my food has vastly improved. I just do more cooking now, and eat less prepared foods. Which is something worthwhile for everyone to do. I eat better now than I ever have, in both quality and flavor.

So, what DO y'all eat?
Tofu. Prepare it ANY way. I fucking love tofu. I have it for breakfast almost every morning. Boil it, mash it, put it in a stew.
Pasta. Top with vegan butter and spices, or marinara sauce, or tvp-meat-sauce, or vegan mock cheese sauce, or peanut sesame sauce.
Classic Americana. Corn on the cob, steamed veggies, mashed potatoes, hot fresh bread, and a vegan mock meat (chicken style, rib style, tofu, baked seitan, fried tvp.
Vegan hot dogs and fries. Vegan hot dogs are made with good stuff, not scraps of barely edible meat, like their meat-world counterparts.
Sandwiches and chips. Tofurky slices are the absolute best.
Tacos. Refried beans or black beans, seasoned tvp, shredded lettuce, and salsa all wrapped up in a nice big soft flour tortilla. I little ingenuity can turn this meal into quesadillas, taco salad, or nachos.
Tvp-loaf. Tvp, cracker crumbs and barbecue sauce. Add corn and mashed potatoes. Eat.
Cold cereal, hot cereal, soup and crackers, mixed bean chili, bagles, PBnJ, fried rice with or without tvp or seitan.
I could go on...

Until next time... eat well.

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