Veganism Here I Come

It’s official. After eight years of vegetarianism, knowing the whole time that if I said I was doing it for animal rights I was being hypocritical, I have finally decided to take the plunge.  It will be a process, but so far I’m doing great. My first step is to stop buying non-vegan foods for my house. So far I went on two shopping excursions, one to Whole Foods (love it a little too much there…) where as usual I spent more money on my dogs than myself, but did walk away with some good stuff (a can of cajun rice and beans made by Eden Organics being one). Then today I went to Safeway and picked up stuff for vegan chili, and some snackfoods to take on my trip to Rapid City this weekend (dog show). The vegan chili is simmering away, and in honor of Vegan Mofo I decided to post what I did with it here.

Brown half an onion and one green bell pepper in a touch of olive oil, add some fresh ground black pepper to that mix, along with some chili powder. Then toss in a big can of tomatoes (organic if you please) and let that get a little simmery. Drain a can of sweet corn and toss that in, then add three cans of beans (your choice, I picked black, kidney, and great northern) liquid included, and stir it all up.  Let this get all hot and steamy and add spices to your taste, I personally tossed in a ton of chili powder since I like it spicy, a good amount of black pepper since I’m addicted to it, some sea salt, some ground dry garlic, and some Lawry’s. Then Heat up some tortillas (I like soft corn) and enjoy. The longer it simmers the yummier it will be, and it gets better with each re-heat, I swear. YUM. Plus, it makes a ton, so if you’re me you can eat off of it all week, very quickly, which is a huge plus with my schedule. Of course, you could add vegan cheese or sour cream to top it off, but I haven’t had the chance to find out what I like in that arena just yet and to be honest, I like it without. 

It’s funny, whenever I considered veganism in the past I felt overwhelmed–like I could not possibly achieve such a thing.  But looking back, that is how I felt about vegetarianism (I come from a family of meat eaters) in the beginning and I overcame all of that with time. But when I decided to be a vegan, I suddenly felt ethically and spiritually right. I felt as though I had made a choice that would lead me to only good things, and though I know at times it will be difficult, there really is no question in my mind as to whether or not this is the absolute right thing to do. I will be a vegan to reduce animal suffering, to reduce my negative impact on the environment, and to take the best care of my body that I can (since it is, after all, the only one I get). 

If it ever gets really tough (like today when I wanted my normal veggie benedict…) all I have to do is watch a clip, or even just the preview for Earthlings (www.earthlings.com) and I will be able to draw strength from what I have seen, since knowledge and empowerment are one and the same.