A parade of vegan food (photos)

Well, here they are, as promised. 2 days ago I just re-discovered the close-up setting on Steph's camera, so most of these photo's pretty much suck because they were taken before that :) Oh well, the meals were delicious. Many of them are already repeat visitors at our table, and all of them will be in the future.

Spaghetti and bean balls

Chili Cornbread Crusted Tofu "Po Boy"

Frying up some seitan for one of our favorites . . .

. . . the BBQ seitan and coleslaw sammich (these bbq strips cook well on the grill too)

Snobby Joe (sloppy joe style lentils - very good)

All the above dishes are from the Veganomicon. As you can see we haven't ventured very far from the "sammiches" section as of late, probably because I can get free (and great quality) bread from the bakery where I work part time.

Veganism part 3

Well, I'm still going strong on the whole vegan thing. I've certainly taken it farther than I ever thought I would, but there is rarely a week where I don't slip in a little animal product somewhere (chicken tamales in Chicago, a sip of cheesy broccoli soup at the bakery, a cinnamon roll, etc.) It's not real hard when I'm at home, but the ways of the world outside my walls can make it a challenge. I can say I am officially sick of the vegan hummus sandwich, and the weekly vegan cookies on our bakery's menu. So lately I'm starting to explore off the menu options - a vegan pizza was last week's experiment, and it was quite good.

When I say I've taken this thing farther than I thought I would, I mean that the following quote from my first blog post on this topic no longer applies -

"I don't want to become an inconvenience to others, especially when I am a guest and am served food."

While I'm still uncomfortable refusing food that is served to me, it doesn't mean I haven't done it, and won't do it again. Two weeks ago I took my first stand as a vegan. My aunt and uncle will often have a bunch of us Vanderzee cousins over for pizza on Sunday afternoons after church. The last time I was invited I decided I wasn't going to eat any pizza, so I packed myself a chili corn bread crusted tofu sandwich (deelish). I was nervous about explaing this to people, but realized that if I didn't want to use animal products I needed to start telling others that, and then explaining why. My excuses like - "Well, they already ordered the pizza so I might as well. . ." or "They made this food just for me" were no longer holding up. If I start saying no thanks to food, others will start to think about their own consumption and in the end less animal products will be consumed (even if it is just me). Also, it got some good discussion started with one of my cousins who is thinking about becoming a vegetarian. If I reluctantly chose to just eat the dang pizza, I would have missed out on some good discussion and more people would continue on their way with possible negative misconceptions about those crazy vegans. Now it's just, "that crazy cousin" ;)
Last thing - I started this whole experiment because I was struck hard by the realities of factory farming in meat, eggs, and dairy. In the light of my views on Christian stewardship I was greatly saddened by the environmental toll as well as the things animals suffer all so we can have some food we don't even need. I was under the impression that it was healthy to eat animal products, but I could get what I needed okay from a vegan diet as well. As I continue to do research, however, I'm starting to find that much to my surprise a plant-based diet is actually much healthier, and animal protein has even been linked to the high heart disease and cancer rates in the U.S. Yikes! This book, the China Study, lays it all out there scientifically and it's pretty incredible. I was very skeptical at first, but I'm coming around. Anyway, just thought I'd mention that as another step on this journey, and more to come on that when I finish the book.
Also, I'm excited to post some pictures of the vegan wonders that have graced our kitchen. I'll do that this week.

We're not in Seattle anymore

For the most part Grand Rapids is pretty familiar to me, and even though I grew up in a markedly different place, I'm not often struck by the glaring differences of this world called West Michigan. There have been a few moments, though. I'll share some.
- A Columbian friend asked me why there are so many churches in the U.S. I had to explain to him that this is the Mecca of all things "reformed", and there's a very healthy portion of other church denominations too. It's not a U.S. thing - it's a Grand Rapids thing.
- My bakery/coffee shop is closed on Sundays - would a place like this survive in Seattle? There are a whole lot of things that are closed on Sundays, and everything closes earlier around here.

Today's little venture, however, definitely takes the cake. I was up early buying some groceries so I could make some Baja Tempeh Tacos for our potluck tonight. I had a bunch of stuff, including a 12 pack of Labatt Blue (the tempeh marinade calls for a pilsner beer). As I put my beer on the conveyor, the words of the clerk magically transported me back to Colonial New England. "You can't buy beer on Sundays before noon."
I was flabbergasted, "really?!"
"Really. Michigan state law."
Many of you may think I'm being overly dramatic here - after all, Pennsylvania won't let you buy any alcohol anytime on Sundays, and in Michigan you can at least buy beer and liquor in a regular grocery store as opposed to state run liquor stores. Still, I couldn't help but feel oppressed. I hung my head in despair and left the store. In my mind my Sunday morning drunken binge was turning into a Sunday afternoon drunken binge. All of a sudden I had several hours to kill with nothing to do but . . .
go to church!! Wow, I guess these laws really work!