Confessions

Yes, I do believe that a vegan diet is an extremely healthy choice.  Does being vegan = health?  Not even close.  To follow a vegan diet and remain healthy, is the same as following a non-vegan diet and remaining healthy.  You have to watch what you eat, and think about how it affects your body.  I recently started school, and due to the nature of my life changing drastically and suddenly - my body started to experience fatigue and as a result I started eating more junk food, and drinking soda again, and making many other choices that weighed me down day to day.  I would get energy, but I would crash later.  I also noticed the scale going from 170 to 176 and I didn't like the change.  Unfortunately there are a lot of junk food options that are conveniently vegan, and I was taking full advantage of them.  I have since got back on track with eating fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and drinking plenty of water and I'm already remembering why I decided to eat vegan to start with.  When I was not eating healthy, my skin was affected, my weight, my energy level, my mood, ...everything.  It is so important to eat a healthy diet, and stay active.

On another note, being vegan is important to me.  It is a choice I have made, and I do completely believe in it.  However, it is for health reasons that I have made the choice.  It is not a religion, and I am not bound to it.  I have explained to my children that being vegan is important, but it is not more important than enjoying life.  I do let my children eat food that is not vegan on occasion, just like any parent would let their child eat "junk" in moderation.  Birthday parties, Halloween parties, at their friends house, when someone brings them food, etc.  I am not a hardcore vegan, and I do not claim to be.  I can admire people who are, and I think that's great - but I'm here to tell you that is not the case with my family.  I only buy vegan groceries, and I only pack vegan lunches and snacks.  In doing so, I can feel very comfortable that by far the majority of what they eat is vegan.  That is good enough for me.  I don't want them so conscious of food choices that they miss a good time, because they are alienated by their diet.  A healthy diet is key to a long, happy life - but if you're not happy, what is the point of a long, healthy life?  Moderation.  Always in moderation.

She loves tofu dogs, with apple slices and peanut butter as a side!

Breakfast Skillets

A new favorite in my house is breakfast skillets.  Originally we were making scrambled tofu, and it progressed to a breakfast skillet.  When you buy tofu in the grocery store, I usually go with firm tofu for this, you open the package and drain the water.  You can put it on a paper towel, and put something weighted on top of it to strain out excess water before using it.  Then you break apart and put in the skillet like you would if you were scrambling eggs.  So at that point you can mix in onions, mushrooms, bell peppers, or whatever it is you usually enjoy eating with your scrambled eggs.

THEN we went a little bit farther with it.  We, and by we I mean he (husband), boil potatoes and cut them into cubes and throw them into the skillet and mix it with the tofu, mushrooms, onions, bell peppers, etc.  To add a little moisture, you can add vegetable stock - which we usually keep on hand to make the soup I have mentioned and posted pictures of before.  It is really, really good.