Vegan Community - or Some People I've Been Meaning To Thank!

The meal above is brought to you by just a few of the many vegans I admire.  Two of the new vegans I admire, in fact!

Veganism is one of those things that really needed the internet to grow to the popularity that it is today.  I can't imagine how lonely it must have been to be a vegan in the 80s, or even the 90s without all the wonderful vegan blogs, recipe sharing sites and general support a vegan finds over the internet these days.  Of course, I owe my veganism to the people who paved the way before all that support, so I know it was possible: Thank you Sarah Kramer, PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) and your tables, and Bob and Jenna Torres, whose vegan freak podcasts were the guns pointing at my conscious telling me I needed to change my life.

Of course, with a blog like Cheatin' Vegan, you know I'm not always perfect.  None of us really are, as Melisser Elliott points out in her book, The Vegan Girl's Guide To Life.  Every week, it seems, there is something added to the - in the words of Bob Torres - NOT VEGAN list.  The biggest thing we can ever do, though, is be as cruelty-free as possible.  This year, writing about my veganism, I feel the pressure mounting to cheat less.  And this weekend, I succeeded.  Rather than saying, "it's the weekend, let me eat honey!" I cooked myself a vegan feast! 

And now to dish out the compliments of inspiration for that:

The Lentil Loaf (on the right) comes from a fabulous vegan blog I've been following since its beginning this January: The Chubby Vegan.  He highlights many fabulous recipes, and always has lovely pictures to match!

This is the first recipe from that blog that I've tried, but its success has encouraged me to try many more!

Now, I was talking with my sister this afternoon and she mentioned trying new recipes out this evening as well.  (We're a family filled with awesome cooks!)  Like the rest of my family (and possibly the rest of the sane world), she likes to follow new recipes EXACTLY as they are written.  I, on the other hand, RARELY follow recipes exactly as they are written - new or family favourites I have memorized.  In my culinary past, this has resulted in very few screw-ups (corn on pizza was a good idea, but I should have spread it out more evenly so as to avoid the nickname of "Conehead Pizza" for months afterwards.), so I continue to live dangerously.  For example, I used mustard in the Chubby Vegan's lentil loaf rather than the ketchup suggested.  When I used to make Meat Loaf for the fam, I always used mustard powder, so I figured it would be a better combination for me.  Mmmmmm, it was!  But, thus, my loaf looks different from the wonderful pics on his blog.  Also, I was impatient - those pieces of loaf were still warm, steamy, and falling all over the place...especially into my tummy - YUM!

On the bottom, you see some lovely orbs of cooked dough smothered in a greyish substance.  This image probably makes you wonder WTF just a little bit...

I first heard about Melisser Elliot last November, while shopping in a bookstore in Saskatoon.  I adore viewing the vegan section in EVERY bookstore I visit, and I stumbled upon her new book, The Vegan Girl's Guide to Life.  It was magical!  Living on a TIGHT TIGHT budget, though, I couldn't buy it that weekend... I put a request on it from my local library as soon as I got home, though.  Two months later, it arrived on the library shelves and I was sent an email IMMEDIATELY.  It was one of the most exciting days so far this year...

I'll review her book in the next few days, but for now, I'll tell you this recipe for Vegan Biscuits and White Gravy come from it.  And they are delicious...although, I would recommend following one important part to the gavy recipe: use unsweetened "milk."  My vanilla flavoured almond milk just didn't quite reach that savoury taste one wants their gravy to have...

Check out Melisser Elliot's blog "The Urban Housewife" for more info on her book, and her lovely life as a vegan.  Just one more hero for me to have!

The carrots, of course, come from my omnivorous days... A time some people like to refer to as "pre-gan" days.  I like the new term, almost as much as I like carrots....yum!