A Few Words of Encouragement

After reading my last blog post, one of my best friends' husband's friends (I love friend chains like that) sent me this message. He's also a vegan and was a big help when I first started out my meatless adventures.

Some words of (hopefully) encouragement.

I've been a vegan...almost a year now, wow! I think that if you make it a set of rules to follow or laws to abide by, then this kind of thing is bound to happen. You break the rules, you feel guilty. I try to think of veganism as more of a way of life or a guideline. If I decide one night I want Coldstone Ice Cream I don't feel guilty about it the next day. My lifestyle is such as to lessen the suffering of animals and promote a new way of living in a consumer society. I try to make the best decisions I can but in the end, if I constantly deny myself the things I enjoy I'll go crazy. Maybe once every few months I get real ice cream, and that's about as far as it goes for me.

Next, I want to make a comment about what you said about eating dairy and eggs that come from happy cows and chickens. I think in a lot of ways you're right. However, think about your slippery slope. You stop being vegan, and you eat eggs at home that come from a farm that you know and trust. You even go get your eggs yourself from the farm. This is great. Now you're out in a restaurant, and suddenly it's easier to decide to eat something with egg in it. You don't know where the egg came from, but...you're not a vegan so its easier to make the decision to eat the egg.

Again, this might sound like rule making. I think one of the most crucial parts of veganism is that knowing it's your lifestyle helps make the tough decisions when you're out and about. However if you constantly deny yourself all things you enjoy this kind of thing will happen.

The other part of veganism for me is showing others that there is an alternative way to living. I think of it as taking a stand in a way. Not in preaching as much as in living. That's partly why I don't get happy-chicken eggs at home. The whole lifestyle of being vegan speaks to others that I'm trying to live in a new world, a world that's already available in some ways but not quite here yet.

My final words are to say: every now and then get your favorite non vegan thing and eat it. Don't even worry about it where it comes from if you have to, just eat it.

I'd like to think that if I ate happy eggs at home I'd be able to resist other eggs in restaurants. But I think we all know the strength of my willpower and realize that that's probably a complete impossibility. Boo.

I think I'm just getting nervous because I've finally gotten to my breaking point with gluten. I knew this day would come just like dairy. It's sad. I don't want to say goodbye to another yummy food group. But I can no longer deal with all the side effects that follow right along my gluten consumption. I'm making dinner with pita bread tonight because it's already planned and that is my farewell. I feel like once gluten is gone combined with my vegan lifestyle, I'll have nothing left to eat, especially in restaurants where I seem to live on veggieburgers...

I'm also get quite nervous for all my travels this summer. It's pretty easy being vegan in NYC and such. I know where to go and what I can eat. I'm not sure what I'm going to do about all these foreign countries. My most horrendous recollection of Spain was the Casa del Jamon (House of Ham) where there are hundreds of carcasses strung from hooks on the ceiling. They'll slice you off some so you can sit at the bar and eat yummy (read: disgusting) tapas. However, they did have marvelous sangria which I consumed copiously whenever there to forget the rotting flesh hanging over my head. I think this experience is where my pre-vegan aversion to ham came from.

Oh well. I will let you know how my gluten-free veganism goes as soon as I begin it tomorrow. I'm debating going out and bingeing on gluten before I have to give it up, but I really don't want to deal with the crazy hives that will produce. Look at me, total addict going out for my last hit. Ridiculous. But yet, I still can't help it.

P.S. If you'd like to hear more of my friend's views on veganism and life, here's a link to his website.

Slippery Slope: Not just for Adolescent Guidance

Sorry I neglect you. I feel bad. But only a little.

I was having a crisis. If you can find a way to let me make blogging my job, I promise I’ll pay a bit more attention to you. Maybe.

So, the slippery slope. Whenever I hear these words I immediately think of middle school guidance and my nice private religious school upbringing. The day we had to fill out a chutes and ladders type worksheet about how far we would go with a guy was my most favorite slippery slope lesson ever. Just to make crazy redhead Mrs. Montgomery upset, a few of decided we would “go all the way.” Of course we ended up pregnant and with an STD (or should I say STI and be up with the appropriate and politically correct lingo concerning venereal issues) all thanks to the good ol’ slippery slope.

However, I’m now thinking I should have paid more attention to all those slippery slope lessons as I’m now sliding down it quite rapidly. Or at least I was.

When we went away for Memorial Day, the one night I planned on eating rice and beans for dinner. I figured others would want some as well so I bought family sized of both without bothering to read labels. The brand I normally use is vegan happy, so I just assumed all saffron rice was. You know what they say about assuming. It makes an ass out of you and me. (Or I guess that only works with ‘assume’ and not ‘assuming’ and I was the only one with the issue in this case, but you can just pretend it works and go with it, okay?)

Sooo, that fateful night I was hungry and wanted normal food so I figured I’d just eat the effing rice even though it had nice dehydrated chicken flakes in it. Yum. So appetizing. How can we even eat food when there’s crap like that listed in the ingredients?

But unfortunately, this one little bite set me off on a downward spiral. After getting home from Memorial Day, I had a butter croissant. I couldn’t resist. Then I spent the whole day feeling crazy guilty and promising I wouldn’t do it again.

Then we saw some friends the next weekend for dinner. We went to a Thai place and my one friend got Thai tea. I’d never heard of it before and felt the need to try even though it was made with heavy cream. (Thai tea = super strong tea served over ice with heavy cream)

It was also my pap’s birthday that weekend so the next day I got to watch the fam sit around and enjoy cake and ice cream. I’d bought myself some soy ice cream. It was crap. So I was feeling very bad for myself and was deciding I couldn’t go through life being depressed just because I was forcing myself not to eat stuff and then feel guilty about it when I did.

Butttt, I thought about it. I don’t want to eat meat. It still disgusts me. I’m still not allowed to eat dairy and I don’t really like eggs. I really just miss eating highly processed things that have egg or milk product in them. I shouldn’t eat that junk anyway. Soo, still a vegan. However, to be truthful, I don’t think this will be forever. I think being a vegetarian will be forever. Meat = nasty for me. But, I really don’t see anything wrong with eating eggs or dairy that come from happy animals. If you get produce that is locally grown and raised (from a farmers market or co-op) and you know that the animals aren’t being abused for their produce, then why not? Chickens have to produce eggs. Cows must make milk while pregnant. If we’re going to be good and gracious consumers, then I see no issue using these products.

I think that is a standard misconception, though. Cows don’t produce milk all the time. Just like humans, they only produce milk while pregnant and just after giving birth. The huge dairy farms keep their cows constantly in gestation (fancy word, hopefully you know it) and as soon as they give birth they take the babies and sell them to veal farms. It’s mean and cruel and keeps the cows in horrible health. Again, after learning all this stuff, I’m surprised anyone is willing to consume these things. But, like always, to each their own.

This entry has no recipes as I’ve been lazy lately and have tried no new recipes. I’ve basically been living off rice and beans. However, I did make another great discovery today. My co-worker went out in search of cookies for the two of us and she came back with Lorna Doone shortbread cookies! They’re vegan happy! So exciting. I was just thinking at the grocery store yesterday how much I would miss shortbread. I rarely eat it, but when I do, I love it. Sooo now I have an easy vegan happy option. They do have gluten though… But I haven’t gotten around to dealing with that issue yet.

Ok, that’s all for now. Hopefully it was enough to make up for a week of neglect. If not, sucks to be you.

OH, I almost forgot to add my madre’s latest words of wisdom. All my hair is apparently now going to fall out because of my B-12 deficiency on my vegan diet. Good thing Demi Moore once did a movie entitled G.I. Jane and made bald heads cool for the rest of us.

Gotta love the madre.

I plead insanity.

So apparently I'm going insane.

No, that's not referring to my tenure as head juror the past two weeks (although my fellow jurors are worse than my fourth grade class last year with their bickering). No, that's not referring to my job (or lack thereof). No, that's not referring to the zoo of animals I keep in my house.

That's referring to what my mother told me on the phone this afternoon.

I'm going insane.

Or so said a random gastroenterologist she met at a dinner party this weekend. Apparently, it "just came up in conversation" that all vegans eventually go crazy. His theory was that as we vegans don't get all of our essential amino acids, our brain chemistry slowly starts to shift. It happens so gradually we don't even notice. Telling my mom that she could keep her eyes out for me and let me know once I start going insane and that I'd eat a steak didn't help either... "By that point, it'll be too late!" says she.

My mom also had another wonderful revelation from this conversation. "So when you see all these weird vegan people and think that they're crazy, they actually are! They're going insane!" Wonderful. Thanks random gastroenterologist for all your fine help and medical advice.

It was at this point that I discussed with the madre that I am taking this quite seriously, read about it all the time, and plan my meals to be sure I get all my essential amino acids in during the day. If anything, I eat much more balanced now than I ever did. However, she says her great worry, as always, is child birth. (Somebody's a bit desperate for grandkids, I'd say.) She told me to consider myself like an old cut down tree. I have all these "health" rings inside me that I'm building up now. It's not just my health when I'm pregnant, but my health history beforehand.

I told my mom gracias, but I think her career with analogies is over. No girl wants to be compared to a tree trunk.

However, that's not what I actually said. I agreed with her that it's smart to keep an eye on my health and promised to make an appointment with a nutritionist. It definitely couldn't hurt. And then at least the madre will have no ammo for calling me insane in the future... or at least no ammo stemming from my diet.

So last night I made my vegan yum pizza again, so I guess I'll finally blog about it. I just bought a vegan friendly crust from the store, coated it with olive oil, spread spicy tomato basil sauce all around, sprinkled garlic powder and red pepper flakes all over then added a whole bunch of veggies such as red and green pepper, onion, broccoli and eggplant. (Italian eggplant no less. I like my veggies like I like my men. Foreign.)

Then I dumped a bit more sauce on the top, a bit more garlic powder then baked it at 450 degrees for ten minutes or so.

Super easy, super delish.

You can feel free to add any sauce or toppings you please, as long as they're vegan friendly of course.

So I guess that's all for now. Maybe tonight I'll have another fun nightmare to blog about that involves my vegan tree self being chopped down for sprouting insane sprigs or leaves... We'll see. One can only hope.

Ask [Google] and you shall receive.

First, sorry for the lack of posts last week. I've been quite busy with jury duty. What with the 10 am start, the hourly breaks, two hours for lunch and the crazy long days till 5 pm, there's just been no time. Jury duty is quite taxing. It doesn't leave much room for anything else in my life.

But anyway, I have a lot to catch up on. I take all these pictures of yummy food I make or eat then never blog about any of it. People look through the photos on my phone and think I'm some food-obsessed lunatic (which really, I am).

Last weekend after brunch I was most upset that Nutella wasn't vegan and I asked if anyone knew of a vegan friendly recipe. Well, I did something better than asking my friends. I asked Google. 

And of course, I found a super scrumptious vegan Nutella, or Not-ella if you prefer, recipe. Here's how I made it. (Sorry the recipe's not exact. I have a thing against measuring cups. I like to pretend I'm Martha and can just throw ingredients around and magically concoct a dish.)

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups roasted hazelnuts (You can use raw hazelnuts if you feel the need to go through the hassle or roasting them yourself. I like to use my time wisely, so I went with roasted.)

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1/2 cup confectioners sugar

1/4 cup cocoa

1 tsp vanilla extract

First, you should smoosh up all your hazelnuts in a food processor. Probably about 3 minutes. You want them to have an ultra fine consistency. Then add in all your other ingredients and continue to process, scraping down the sides occasionally until it is well mixed. You may need to add slightly more oil to get the right consistency for you. But really, once you do that, you're done! Ta-da! So easy. You can keep it in the fridge in an airtight container for up to a month before it will start to go off. (Go off, go bad, same difference. Blame the huz if you don't like that expression. His foreigner speak has rubbed off on me.)

It was super yummy on my bagel in the morning. And no, I do not need any commentary on how I'm not supposed to be eating bagels. Thanks.

Soooo, what else do I have to tell you about? Vacation?

The huz and I plus Chip-a-roo went to a lake house with friends for Memorial Day weekend. We had our own mini-couples retreat. (I mean mini-retreat, not mini-couples, although some of my friends are quite short.)

The first morning there, everyone had pancakes. Unfortunately, the mix had eggs and milk in it so I couldn't have any. So while the others were cooking, the huz and I took a trip to Walmart to pick up some stuff I could actually eat. (And as a side note, never go to a Walmart in the middle of nowhere America. I've never been so scared in my life. Much scarier than vegan-eating vampires.)

I just got some Bisquick batter which is easily used to make vegan happy pancakes. I made myself a batch when we got back. However, everyone was done eating by that point, so it was a bit sad.

The next morning I decided to solve the problem by making everyone my vegan happy pancakes. Here's how: Just follow the recipe on the back of the Bisquick box for pancakes, but where it calls for two eggs, use one banana and instead of regular milk, use soy milk. It's super delish! Especially if you use vanilla soy milk.

In many recipes that call for eggs, especially baking recipes, you can easily replace the egg with a smooshy banana. This is another great use for icky spotty bananas that my banana-racist self refuses to eat. Basically, one banana = two eggs. For those of you who suck at math, that means half a banana = one egg. 

So anyway, I made a huge batch of vegan happy pancakes and everyone loved them! I think I had them quite convinced that vegan food was not so bad, and maybe even quite scrumptious. 

And then they ate my vegan happy pancakes with a side of bacon.

Oh well. To each their own. At least they all realized that vegan food does not equal nasty food as many are inclined to think. I think that's still a point for vegan. I do have to thank my friends though. They were all super nice and concerned about what I could and couldn't eat. They even bought me special dark chocolate that was dairy-free for smores. (Although my smores still lacked marhmallows. Couldn't expect Walmart to carry vegan friendly marshmallows, now could we? Or maybe they were sold back by the shotguns and fishing licenses and I just missed them.)

Overall, vacation was wondefulicious. (Wonderful because I got to frolic in the sun with friends and delicious because we spent the long weekend stuffing our faces around the clock. What else do you do on vacation?). I  also got a tan so that the random Russian lady who sits next to me on the jury can stop asking me if I ever go in the sunshine. I may be Finnish, but I'm seriously not that pale. Hopefully this will shut her up for the rest of the trial.

I have still never blogged about my uber delicious pizza that I've made twice now! And the tofu mozzarella sticks! But, I'll get to it one day. I like to keep my readers in suspense. 

Cheese is a gateway drug.

So as of yesterday, I would have said being a vegan was a piece of cake. (And obviously I would mean a vegan-friendly piece of cake.) But today, it was rough. I've made it a month (I missed my anniversary! Sadness...) with no issues, but not anymore. We went out to brunch in Hanover Square with friends to finally get our 'H' date done since the weather was too ick to make the drive to the Hamptons. This brunch turned out to be quite a boozy brunch. Loooove the all you can drink $10 champagne special. The restaurant obviously didn't know who they were dealing with when they decided upon this marketing campaign. Soo, two bottles of champagne later, it was very very hard to resist the cheese the restaurant smeared all over my otherwise vegan happy potatoes. I miss cheese. I miss milkshakes. I miss whipped cream. I miss all things cow related. However, I was still a good little vegan and gave the yummy cheesey potato goodness to the huz and got yet another veggieburger for brunch. I sense a pattern forming...

For dessert the huz and I split a banana and Nutella crepe which was crazy delish. Buttttt, like everything else delicious, I came home to find out there's freaking MILK in Nutella... Something else delicious I have to cross off my list. I'm wondering if I can find a recipe to make a vegan friendly Nutella....

So I suppose I technically cheated today. However, my philosophy is if I didn't know there was milk, egg, etc. in it, it's ok. I just won't have it again from there on out. I guess today was my farewell party for Nutella. I'll miss you more than you'll know, yummy hazlenuty deliciousness...

Thank goodness champagne is vegan friendly otherwise I might actually die. No, really. I'd die.

But the good news is, the champagne did wear off (is that really good news, though?) and I am no longer so obsessed with my cheese cravings.

Have you ever noticed that though? We all crave dairy products like we're strung out on coke. We all assume that dumping cheese on a meal will automatically make it more scrumptious. Why is this? Why are we all soooo obsessed with cheese? Might I even say we're addicted to cheese? Yes, I might.

We are all totally addicted to cheese. There's a protein in all dairy products called Casein, but it is found in a more heavily concentrated form in cheese than in other dairy products. And... "Opiates hide inside casein, the main dairy protein. As casein molecules are digested, they break apart to release tiny opiate molecules, called casomorphins. One of these compounds has about one-tenth the opiate strength of morphine" (healthdiaries.com). So in other words, cheese is a gateway drug. We're all freaking addicted. You better watch out. The next step might actually be you sniffing a line in a dirty NYC bathroom...


But now it makes perfect sense to me why I don't miss eggs or meat in the slightest, but cheese makes my mouth water and gives me horrible cravings. I'm an addict.


The same is also true of a protein that's found in gluten. It also causes addictive behaviors. I love how the two food groups I'm not supposed to eat, gluten and diary, are the two food groups that are actually addictive. It's like God is punishing me for all the times I've told smokers that they need to stop whining and quit smoking already. I'll take this moment now to apologize. Addiction sucks, even if it is only to cheese and gluten. I totally feel like a junkie who is way overdue for a fix...


But, the good little vegan that I am is resisting. When I first read The Kind Diet by Alicia Silverstone, I remembered her saying that there would come a time when we all missed the food so much that we would debate going back to eating the animal nasty foods. She recommended we reread the section in her book where she outlines all the junk that goes into our food and all the horrible treatments the animals go through to become our food. It was a good suggestion. I am totally back on the bandwagon. 


I am no remembering that when I sat down I totally meant to write this post about a yummy pizza and tofu "mozzarella" sticks that I made the other night... I was obviously sidetracked. Maybe the champagne hasn't really worn off yet... 

Enough with the dreams already.

So this time I had a genuine nightmare. Nothing comical about it.

I dreamt that I got accidentally pregnant and it was a very unwelcome pregnancy because I hadn't "gone through the motions" that the huz and I agreed would be necessary before attempting a vegan pregnancy.

After the aforementioned discussion where my mom tried to scare me out of veganism by threatening deformed babies, the huz and I decided that if I wanted to be a vegan while pregnant, we would have to be very smart and careful about it. (And PLEASE do not read this the wrong way and start asking me twenty questions about our growing family. We have no plans to have kids and certainly do not want them for ages. Ick.) However, we still discussed what our plan would be and decided that when we are ready, I'll go to the doctor and get some bloodwork done to make sure that all of my chemical and nutritional levels are where they should be and then I'd work with a nutritionist to ensure I'm getting all the proper vitamins and minerals while preggo. This may sound like a lot of work, but I really can't imagine eating meat as I get queasy just considering it now, so it's what must be done to be a responsible preggo vegan.

So anyway, in my dream I got knocked up by accident (by the huz of course) and was very shocked/upset to discover this condition. I was totally freaked out to tell the huz because I knew he'd be ticked that we hadn't "followed the plan." So then I started debating whether or not I should keep the baby since it would probably be deformed due to my lack of nutrition, and then I got extremely upset because I could totally never abort a baby. This is when I woke up.

Like I said, nothing comical about this one... I think it does show that my mom's tactics did get to me. I've always found pregnancy pretty freaky to begin with (Something growing inside of you?? Haven't we seen like fifty science fiction films with this plot? They never end well...) and now it freaks me out even more... However, this does add to my arsenal of why it's necessary for us to wait to have kids. I'm too freaked out.

I really don't think it'll be an issue though. I eat much healthier and much more balanced now than I ever did before. I plan out my day to insure I'm getting the right intake of all the food groups (minus meat and dairy obvi), pay attention to my amino acids and take daily vitamins to keep my B-12 up. These are all things I never bothered with before.

However, I do have to say that I am slightly disappointed with my vegan diet. Yes, watching Food, Inc. did push me over the edge to embark on this journey, but it was also partly done for health reasons. The good news is, my stomach problems have totally disappeared since I began eating vegan. The bad news is my hives did not. I've now been tested for every allergy ever and they've all come back negative, except for apples. Of course of all the things I'd definitely be allergic to, it had to be my favorite fruit, which happens to be in EVERYTHING! I'm not pleased.

It turns out I must have a "sensativity" to something which "unfortunately cannot be tested." In other words, the doctors told me they're idiots and have no idea what's up. I so need to go on an episode of House. Dr. House would totally know what the dealio is. I'm so glad I've drained myself of all my blood for testing over the past few years to discover my 'sensitivity' to who knows what.

But the worst of it is, they assume the sensitivity is indeed to gluten. In other words, this may be my last blogpost because I am soon going to starve to death. No meat, no dairy, no eggs, no gluten? Boo. Huge sad face. I don't miss the meat, dairy, or eggs (ok, maybe occasionally the dairy) but I freaking looooove gluten-filled carbolicious foods. I have heard this is a direct result of my Finnish descent. We were programed to crave carbs to plump us up for the winter when food would be scarce so that we could survive to the next spring and summer. I like this explanation better than saying I lack all self-control or willpower to control my bagel cravings.

So anyway, I'll keep you posted on my slow descent into starvation. I had a bagel this morning at Starbucks. I decided I needed one last farewell gesture. And of course, I now have hives on my eyes. I think most people assume the huz beats me. It gets that bad. Luckily, huge granny sunglasses are totally in in New York, especially when inside. (Don't you know your cool factor raises 10 points if you wear your sunnies inside? Of course you didn't, you're not from New York.) so I just walk around in those all day and people assume I'm too important to make eye contact with them (which is also obviously true).

I have no fun pictures for you this post as I have been totally lazy and getting salads out or not making fun recipes from scratch. I did, however, make the Gardenburger Blackbean Chipotle burgers that I blogged about a few posts back. Woah nasty. I hated them. The huz loved them though, so I guess that just goes to show you how completely unrefined his palate is. Just kidding. Love the huz.

Tonight I'm going to search for another fun quinoa recipe to make and well let you know how it goes tomorrow. That is if I actually bother to cook tonight. Don't hold your breath.

Can vampires be vegan?

I have now had three nightmares concerning my recent lifestyle change. So weird considering that I rarely, if ever, have dreams. I've heard this means that I'm so continually exhausted that my brain is too tired to even bother working at night time. Sounds about right lately.

But anyway, my second dream was last weekend just after getting back from spending Mothers Day with the fam in Philadelphia. My mom was trying to scare me out of veganism at dinner telling me that I'll end up with deformed babies because of the B-12 and Folic Acid deficiency that can easily occur if you don't eat healthfully and take vitamins while on a vegan diet. That night, I dreamt I was prego and the doctors were all scared of my baby bump and would come nowhere near it telling me I was having a demon baby. Then I ended up having a baby and it was a little kitten that looked just like Tundra (my own cute baby kitty)! Then I woke up. I have no idea what the meaning of this dream is, but if eating a vegan diet while pregnant results in giving birth to cute kittens, that sounds alright to me.

My most recent dream was this past weekend, again while in Philadelphia. (I notice that all of my dreams have to do with Philly... maybe there's a lot of negative anti-vegan energy coming my way from those parts...) My parents had a graduation party for my sister (and me by default as well since we're graduating in such a quick succession) and I was talking to one of my parents' lifelong couple friends about books. The wife is a crazy reader just like me and we were discussing my mild obsession with adolescent fiction, especially vampiresssss. (Yes, I have read Twilight. Yes, I do watch the movies. No, I'm not ashamed of myself.)

There was also a lot of discussion of my vegan diet. These two discussions combined and created an uber nasty nightmare. I can't remember the beginning of it too well, but I do remember the end. A pack of vampires was chasing me and trying to get me because I was a vegan and the only way to stop them was to kill my kitty who was on a runaway train. So I was running to try and save the love of my life and try to evade the vampires, but of course they have super-human speed, so I couldn't. Just when the vampires were about to get me, I woke up all panicked. I was super freaked out so I went to get a drink of water and it was then I realized that my nightmare was actually quite comical. However, during the dream it was extremely terrifying. Maybe if I'd stayed asleep long enough all the vampires would have died due to a garlic overdose from my blood. I have started using way too much of it since I became a vegan...

I thought I remembered that the vampires in my dream were also vegans. But when I thought about it, I realized that that made no sense. Vampires can't be vegan. Last time I checked, no blood in celery. 

I think my family's favorite part about me becoming a vegan are my increasingly absurd dreams about it... 

But anyway, this past weekend I was back in Philadelphia to attend my sister's graduation party and ceremony. I assumed that this grad party would have nothing I could eat, so I went shopping on my way home and got all the ingredients for a yummy garbanzo bean (or chick pea, but garbanzo is so much more fun to say, garbaaaaaanzoooo) salad. I think the madre was a bit offended by this. "Did you actually think I'd throw a party without taking your dietary needs into consideration?!" Ummm, yes? But, I was glad to be proven wrong. 

Look at how much yummy yummy vegan food I could eat at the party!!

I was such a lucky little vegan! My mom even told people who called up and asked what to bring that they should make something vegan friendly! What a good madre I have!

Not only that, my mom made me a vegan graduation "cake." Last weekend when I was home, I was lamenting the fact that I could never have another cake again (and yes I realize you can make vegan cakes, but I was in the mood to be melodramatic). Sooo, the madre made me a cake! I LOVED IT!!!

A plate of roasted red pepper hummus with cucumber letters! How creative is she! However, by the end of the night when the huz, my sister and a friend got hold of it, it did not look so good.

That was the best we could come up with. I think we need to join a Scrabble club and hone our skillz. Any possible definitions for nags-crap? I think it's the poo of old unhappy ladies. Just a guess.

But all in all, I was happy and stuffed and full of vegan yumminess after the party. Success in my book.