Today is my 7-year vegan anniversary. Every year I try to reflect on how being vegan has changed the way I think, feel, live and look at the world. Because it does change – there are times I’m more angry, times I’m more sensitive, times I feel empowered and times I feel helpless. It’s certainly […]
Archive | Thoughts
Why I Could Never Quit Being Vegan
Whenever I have a vegan-versary or veggie-versary, I write an essay focusing on what veganism means to me, what struggles I work through or some other batch of feelings I need to express. July 21, 2015 marks 7 years to the day I watched “Meet Your Meat,” stopped eating meat and began my vegan […]
Purim Lessons and Vegan, Gluten-Free Hamantaschen
Purim is coming! Purim has always been my favorite Jewish holiday, probably because it’s one of the few where you can make noise in synagogue and it’s not only ok, it’s encouraged. Everyone gets noisemakers called groggers and you can stamp your feet loudly. It’s the most fun you get to have in temple. Over […]
Apologies and Love Letters: 6 Years Vegan
Today is my 6 year anniversary of becoming vegan. I was going to write a new essay but nothing I could write could express how I feel more than this essay that I wrote for my 4 year vegan anniversary. So I present it again, updated. Whenever people comment about the pictures of food and […]
Animal Place and the Food for Thought Campaign
In my mind, animal rescuers are the most wonderful, admirable and compassionate people out there. They tirelessly spend their time, money and lives saving animals from death, helping them to heal, get food, shelter and medical care and then, hopefully, homes where they can forever live in peace and happiness. The love and empathy […]
The “V” Word Holiday Gift Guide
It’s time again for me to compile a list of my favorite things. I can be pretty hard to please so the things that made this list are pretty special. And many of them are gifts that keep giving and give back because those are the very best gifts of all. Books will be […]
Happy Birthday & Welcome to the New Home of The “V” Word!
Today is The “V” Word’s 4th birthday and it has been given the best gift EVER! A new home! Dave and Sian Graham of Vegan Web Design created and designed this beautiful web site for me. It was a lot of work especially working with someone like me who understood practically nothing about web design. […]
5 Years Later
It has been 5 years since I stopped eating meat. Five years ago my freezer was filled with meat, my refrigerator held various cheeses and milk and eating out always meant meat-filled dishes. Five years ago I didn’t know one vegetarian and I had never even heard of the word “vegan.” So much […]
The "V" Word Cookbook Preview
Hi loyal “V”-Gang! I have a surprise for you! You all know that I have been working on my cookbook and you also know it’s been taking me a long time. Between my normal full-time job, being ill and trying not to get too down from my handful of rejections from publishers and agents, I […]
Apologies and Love Letters: 4 Years Vegan
46 Whenever people comment about the pictures of food and recipes I post, I always joke, “I’m not a chef. I’m just hungry.” There is some truth to that. I never cooked very much and when I did, much of it came from boxes or envelopes filled with flavored powders. When Tom and I began […]
The "V" Word’s Top Ten Posts of 2012
One of the traditions of New Year’s Eve is the countdown to the New Year, the ball dropping, kisses and confetti. So here is a countdown of The “V” Word’s most popular posts of 2012. 10. Happy New Year: Rosh Hashanah Menu for 5773 A delicious feast to start the new year off right including […]
My Favorite Things: Holiday Gift Suggestions & a Giveaway!!!
There are only a couple of weeks left to get your Christmas gift shopping done and if you celebrate Hanukkah, well…it’s already half over. So it’s time for The “V” Word’s Holiday Gift Suggestions and a special Holiday Giveaway! This year I have compiled a list of my favorite things (like Oprah but sorry, no cars). I can […]
Please, Please Ask Me Where I Get My Protein
Ask some vegans what question annoys them most and you will probably hear “If you don’t eat meat, where do you get your protein from?” The runner-up question is probably, “If you don’t drink milk, where do you get your calcium from?” And why are these questions so annoying to many vegans? Probably because they […]
VeganMoFo: Top Chef Masters Vegan Challenge
The “V” Word continues VeganMoFo, the vegan month of food, with its theme “If TV Celebrity Chefs Went Vegan.” Today, however, I am taking a break from cooking and twisting the theme a bit to “When TV Celebrity Chefs are Forced to Cook Vegan.” One of my favorite cooking competition shows is Top Chef. Even more […]
VeganMoFo 2012: My 2nd Season
It’s October, my favorite month of the year. The weather is cooler and the leaves are turning to all my favorite jewel-toned colors: orange, green, brown, red and purple (hey, there are purple leaves!). It’s the month of Tom’s and my anniversary (our 5th wedding anniversary and our 9th since we met). This year will […]
The "V" Word Turns 3 Years Old Today!
Today The “V” Word turns 3 years old. My baby is growing up now and has become bigger, stronger and more than I could have ever imagined.The story of how The “V” Word came to be can be found here in the very first post I wrote 3 years ago today. It was not meant […]
Celebrating the Day I Gave Up Eating Meat
Today is my 4 year veggiversary. It was 4 years ago today that I gave up meat (including fish) and became a vegetarian. Within 7 months of this date, I would become a vegan. Some people think that this date “doesn’t count,” that it is not as important as the day one becomes a vegan. […]
Yesterday I Missed Being Fat
Yesterday I missed being fat. I actually had a moment when I said out loud, “I wish I was fat again.” Sounds ridiculous, right? Let me explain. Tom’s and my birthdays are coming up this month. We both needed new clothes and shoes so we reluctantly set out to go shopping. I say reluctantly because […]
3 Years Vegan: What Really Counts?
Today is my 3 year anniversary of becoming vegan. It has been 1095 days since I consumed any animal products and 1312 days since I gave up eating animal flesh. Supposedly, I have saved over 300 animals although given the way I used to eat, that number might easily be doubled. I have lost 116 […]
My Health Journey
It’s a new year and the time when people are making resolutions about how they are going to improve their lives. One of the most popular resolutions is to lose weight and eat better. Unfortunately, too many resolutions are abandoned before the first week of the year is over. I tend not to make New […]
The "V" Word’s Top Posts of 2011
One of the traditions of New Year’s Eve is the countdown to the New Year, the ball dropping, kisses and confetti. So here is a countdown of The “V” Word’s most popular posts of 2011. 10. Mexican Sunday Brunch – a delicious feast of Mexican Tofu Scramble, Spanish-Style Potatoes, Pico de Gallo and Red […]
My Vegan Christmas Carol
A friend of mine suggested veganizing holiday songs. Here is my version, a Vegan version of “Do You Hear What I Hear.” Said the turkey to the little lamb Do you see what I see On tables all across the land Do you see what I see Our selves, our flesh All cut up with […]
My 10 Favorite Books for Holiday Gift Giving
I love books. Books are among my very favorite things. Is it any wonder I married a librarian? Books make wonderful gifts and these are my top ten choices for vegan/animal rights books (cookbooks are not included in this list; that’s a separate list to come). It was hard to limit my choices so I […]
My 5 Favorite Gift Ideas that Help Sanctuaries and Animal Organizations
It’s that time of year again – time to start buying holiday gifts for our loved ones (and even our not so loved ones). I love buying gifts that give back to the organizations and to the animals. Tom and I have a tradition that at least one of our Chanukah gifts to each other […]