Well, I’ve got one day of being a vegan under my belt and I’m
feeling pretty good (translation: I’m not starving, but I did wake up to a bacon,
egg, and cheese sandwich-with-a-healthy-squirt-of-Sriracha craving).
Surprisingly, yesterday’s PAN orientation meeting went
really well. I must confess that I thought the meeting was going to play out
very differently. Picture this: Animal rights activists scattered around the
room gathering in small clusters. They’re donning PETA t-shirts and standing
barefoot. The heavy red church door opens. A gust of wind fills the space and I
walk in. Conversation stops. All heads turn to look at me. I’m standing there with
my shiny whale blubber coated lips, leather boots, and goose down coat all of
which are being cataloged in the minds of the PAN representatives. We go around
the horn, introduce ourselves, and state our current diet (“Hello, my name is
Jess and I am a carnivore…” as if they didn’t already know). During the meeting
we are forced to watch a video documenting the gruesome treatment of animals
destined for consumption, which just so happened to be chockfull of blood
spatters on the camera lens. We then pick at a lunch of tofu sandwiches, which
taste like cardboard, and inevitably end up in a warm chewed up mess in my 78%
post consumer recycled napkin. Finally, we’re sent on our way with recipes
featuring items no one has ever heard of and judgmental gazes…Fortunately for me, this scenario couldn’t be further from the truth. I was greeted with a warm welcome, a room full of smiles (despite the fact that approximately 30% of my outfit was made from animal byproducts), and a Happy New Year hug from Corey. Everyone introduced themselves by stating their name, status (pledge or mentor), and why they were pledging to go vegan or why they were already vegan. My personal introduction had the room chuckling. Perhaps that was because we were sitting in a church and I made a “Last Supper” reference (see yesterday’s post). In general, there were only a couple of other people going from the “I eat anything” category to veganism. Most other pledges were self-proclaimed vegetarians.
After our individual introductions, I met my PAN vegan pledge mentor, Amy. We chatted about meals, recipes, and vegan spots in Philadelphia. During our chitchat, lunch was served. We had several options including salad (duh, but served with vegan dressing), sandwiches, and pizza. I enjoyed a small salad with Italian dressing and a slice of “cheese” pizza from Blackbird Pizzeria. The pizza was surprisingly delicious. Although it took me a couple of bites to get used to the “cheese” consistency/texture, the sauce was out-of-this-world and made for a satisfying lunch. In a separate pizza delivery, I tried a slice of Blackbird’s seitan pepperoni pizza. I was not as pleased with my second helping as the meat substitute was much to be desired for. For dessert, I had a banana chocolate chip muffin (made by a 12 year vegan veteran) – YUM.
I had some post-lunch conversations with other pledges and mentors before packing up my goodie bag and saying goodbye. I left the PAN orientation meeting feeling empowered and supported.
Later in the day I went grocery shopping at Trader Joes and
Whole Foods. There are several things you should know about me when it comes to
grocery shopping: 1. I hate it and therefore 2. Don’t do it. 3. When I do go
grocery shopping, I make it quick. I know what I want – I get in and I get out.
4. I’ve never read the ingredients section of a food label before (note: I do
not have any food allergies or sensitivities, if I like something I will eat
it, I don’t care what’s in it). So all things considered, I knew this was going
to be a lengthy and painful experience.
Trader Joes has a lot of food that I love. For example I
really enjoy – ahem – enjoyed their frozen chana masala (made with cream) and
their selection of cheeses. I used to go in, get my cart, and hit all of my favorite
sections; however during my visit yesterday, I found myself wandering up and
down the aisles looking for foods that would fill up my cabinet and/or refrigerator.
I grabbed some fresh produce (blueberries and raspberries), frozen edamame, and
almonds before heading to the checkout line mildly frustrated.
Realizing that Trader Joes doesn’t necessarily have a ton of
options (regardless of vegetarian or vegan classification), I headed to Whole
Foods to bulk up on my vegan foodstuffs. I knew exactly what I was going to
make for dinner (Rachael Ray’s Sicilian Roast Stuffed Eggplant), so I located
those items first. On any other day of the week I would have just purchased
these items at my local Pathmark or SuperFresh, but I was at Whole Foods to get
some less common items. In addition to acquiring the ingredients for my dinner,
I also picked up vanilla almond milk, hummus, peanut butter, pretzels, and a
microwavable chana masala (made without cream) meal. Not too bad for my first
attempt; however, while I was in the snack food aisle, I found myself
questioning whether or not pita chips were vegan. Realizing that the contact
information for my vegan mentor, Amy, was at home in my goodie bag, I pulled
out my iPhone and Googled: “Are pita chips vegan?”. The website that I landed
on indicated that Stacy’s brand pita chips are indeed vegan; however, Whole
Foods either never stocked this item or they were fresh out. I settled for Newman’s
Own pretzels, a nice complement to my Bobby’s Roasted Red Pepper hummus. Yep.
Knowing exactly what I was going to make for dinner made my
trip to the grocery store a little less painful; however, I now know that I am
going to have to devote some serious time to reading food labels, because
although it was less painful, it was no less time consuming.
As mentioned above, I planned on fixing a favorite dish of
mine courtesy of Ms. Ray – stuffed eggplant (http://www.rachaelrayshow.com/food/recipes/sicilian-roast-stuffed-eggplant/).
This recipe calls for mozzarella cheese but other than that it is completely
vegan. I’ve made it several times before, but this time I made it without the mozzarella.
It was scrumptious – just ask Jess2, she thought this batch was the best one yet!
The journey continues…
I'm glad we didn't scare you away! Interestingly enough, you will find a lot of vegans who strongly dislike PETA (myself included). To put it nicely, they are a dishonest group with a huge budget of $30 million a year and no backbone to help make serious changes (of all their campaigns, they don't have a clear, "Go Vegan!" campaign!)
ReplyDeleteI'm actually not that great at reading/understanding labels. I know a few things, but going vegan, I floated towards more whole foods out of laziness and also getting things other vegans told me were vegan. So, I think it's great that some people are good at deciphering stuff but it's less necessary than people think.