I read a very interesting blog today by a woman ( a Vegan) who was sick of being moaned at in cyberspace by the Vegan Police.( Happy Herbivore ) She was referring to the fact that she found she could never be 'vegan enough' to please everyone and so was just going to refer to herself as a plant eater from now.
It really struck a cord with me. So many meat eaters feel threatened when I say that Im a vegetarian, and I think that in some cases, its because they are waiting for the lecture. Well sorry guys, youve got a long wait. :)
I would love it if more people ate as vegetarians. One of my main reasons for becoming a veggie was because of the difference it makes to the planet. BUT thats my reason, and I honestly cant expect the entire world to eat the way I do for my reasons. I have a sincere objection to the PETA method of converting people to Veganism. They like to use horror flicks of chickens and pigs being slaughtered to convince people of the cruelty of eating meat. The problem with this approach.... people just switch it OFF. I know I do , I have no desire to see animals being killed, and so the message is lost.
A better approach is to live the part. Amaze people by not being the weak, pale and pasty wraith walking through the door, surviving on little more than morals and outrage. Rather invite people for supper, or gasp! actually go to a braai, and offer to share your lovely Vegan and Veggie food with the meat eaters. You'll probably find that they are surprised at how good meat free food can be, and will be more open to eating Veggie just once ot twice a week.
And thats all I can really hope for. Lectures and outrage dont work on teenagers, what makes you think they could EVER work on an adult :)
Tuesday, 8 November 2011
Sunday, 6 November 2011
In the whole scheme of things
I havent posted for ages, I have honestly felt like I dont have too much to say, and rather than blather on about nothing, I decided to say nothing at all.
My idea for this blog was really a place for me to experiment and share my adventures in Veggie and Vegan cookery, but, to be honest, I dont have the time to keep making "New and Exciting" recipes.
So , this blog is going to become a little more like me. In other words, its going to be a whole lot of different things at once. In fact , I'm going to make this my place to talk about the things that mean a lot to me, and hope that other people find them interesting too :)
Food is still vastly important to me, and I really have to say that I do like to cook, and make new and exciting meals. However one of the things that I have battled with lately is housework, and I find that I ended up hating cooking in the evenings because a) kitchen needed to be cleaned before I started, and b) I never knew what to cook until the 11th hour - pasta and sauce anyone????
Enter Stage left - www.flylady.net . While I do admit the thought of doing housework a little bit at a time seemed odd, it really does work. I used to leave everything till the last minute, and then plough through a mountain of work!! The FlyLady principles are simple, and really, it makes keeping my house clean a breeze.
The best part of this for me is starting little habits that add up to an easier life. Little things like making the bed, or doing 1 load of laundry every day ( I do admit that the ironing is still an issue ) all add up to a home thats under control. And my new favorite FlyLady habit?? Menu Planning !!!
www.flylady.net has a whole section on this, but let me break down for you how we did it in our house. DH , DD ( 5 years old ) and I sat down for supper, and I asked them what they liked to eat in the evenings. We ended up with a list of 20 meals without looking at a cookbook or searching ANYTHING, this was all just off the top of our heads. DD got to add her Veggie Hotdogs and Macaroni Cheese, and DH got to add his Roasted Potato and Tomato salad.
I then removed anything that was hated by anyone in the family ( Mac and Cheese went, but was replaced by Pasta Alfredo ) , or anything that took a lot of effort to cook, and then looked at the weekdays. On Tuesdays and Thursdays I am not at home for supper, so those nights our meals are things DH can make quickly, think Omelettes and Frys Schnitzels with veg. The rest of the week just got filled in randomly, but we did try to keep Friday to almost junk food, ie homemade Pizzas, Veggie Dogs and Lasagne. We also make extra Supper to take to work for lunch, so we dont have to buy anything from the shops during the day
Weekends we left free to try new recipes, and any of those that we like will just be added onto the rotation.
The end result?? I how have a spreadsheet of meals that lasts for 4 weeks, with no repeats!! I will continue to add to this, and yes, I will put absolute favorites on a monthly rotation, so we dont miss them too much!!
Once a week, I look at what we will be eating the next week, and I do all the shopping at once for the week, which saves me a fortune because there is no wastage.
So , all in all, this makes me happy!!
My idea for this blog was really a place for me to experiment and share my adventures in Veggie and Vegan cookery, but, to be honest, I dont have the time to keep making "New and Exciting" recipes.
So , this blog is going to become a little more like me. In other words, its going to be a whole lot of different things at once. In fact , I'm going to make this my place to talk about the things that mean a lot to me, and hope that other people find them interesting too :)
Food is still vastly important to me, and I really have to say that I do like to cook, and make new and exciting meals. However one of the things that I have battled with lately is housework, and I find that I ended up hating cooking in the evenings because a) kitchen needed to be cleaned before I started, and b) I never knew what to cook until the 11th hour - pasta and sauce anyone????
Enter Stage left - www.flylady.net . While I do admit the thought of doing housework a little bit at a time seemed odd, it really does work. I used to leave everything till the last minute, and then plough through a mountain of work!! The FlyLady principles are simple, and really, it makes keeping my house clean a breeze.
The best part of this for me is starting little habits that add up to an easier life. Little things like making the bed, or doing 1 load of laundry every day ( I do admit that the ironing is still an issue ) all add up to a home thats under control. And my new favorite FlyLady habit?? Menu Planning !!!
www.flylady.net has a whole section on this, but let me break down for you how we did it in our house. DH , DD ( 5 years old ) and I sat down for supper, and I asked them what they liked to eat in the evenings. We ended up with a list of 20 meals without looking at a cookbook or searching ANYTHING, this was all just off the top of our heads. DD got to add her Veggie Hotdogs and Macaroni Cheese, and DH got to add his Roasted Potato and Tomato salad.
I then removed anything that was hated by anyone in the family ( Mac and Cheese went, but was replaced by Pasta Alfredo ) , or anything that took a lot of effort to cook, and then looked at the weekdays. On Tuesdays and Thursdays I am not at home for supper, so those nights our meals are things DH can make quickly, think Omelettes and Frys Schnitzels with veg. The rest of the week just got filled in randomly, but we did try to keep Friday to almost junk food, ie homemade Pizzas, Veggie Dogs and Lasagne. We also make extra Supper to take to work for lunch, so we dont have to buy anything from the shops during the day
Weekends we left free to try new recipes, and any of those that we like will just be added onto the rotation.
The end result?? I how have a spreadsheet of meals that lasts for 4 weeks, with no repeats!! I will continue to add to this, and yes, I will put absolute favorites on a monthly rotation, so we dont miss them too much!!
Once a week, I look at what we will be eating the next week, and I do all the shopping at once for the week, which saves me a fortune because there is no wastage.
So , all in all, this makes me happy!!
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