Vaguely Vegan
"Eva, what you are actually describing is just that you are, in fact, an omnivore"
-K. Howe
keeping it real.
So up front, I would like to say that I understand that I am not a vegan. And in fact, that is exactly what this post was supposed to be about. Kyle.
This post was supposed to tell you that you can eat vegan food sometimes and it can be awesome + you can still love your steak + cheese potatoes. It's a new way of thinking of things for me. Plant-based food can be really good for you + for the environment so it's nice to try it out every once and a while. And as a person who has a passion for funky cheeses + steak + poached eggs + squid + salty buttered bread, you can believe me when I say that vegan food can be really super amazing too. It does not have to be like the free meals you got in undergrad, where the beans were under-cooked and the "brownies" dried out your mouth.
Kyle + I decided recently to reboot our healthy lifestyles by at least putting some effort into eating well. Next thing I know Kyle is making nut cheeses + sunflower cheeses + replacing noodles with eggplant and at first I was horrified but then I realized how damn good this food was. I was especially horrified when he cracked out our Oh She Glows Cookbook to make avocado pasta. Oh except it turns out it is insanely good. like. so. freaking. good.
Recently, I was sitting around with a group of people, one of whom is very much into clean eating + she started to talk about how we are all lactose intolerant (which is true, really humans aren't super supposed to be drinking cow milk) and I did my automatic silent internal monologue "ohhhh man here we go again. I'll never give up my dairy + meat. I love it too much." When I started thinking about how much dairy I eat and was shocked that I really don't eat very much. We use almond or coconut milk in our smoothies, we only buy cheese if it's for parties or for a specific recipe, we cook most of our food in olive oil, not butter, we put cream in our coffee, and I like Greek yogurt for it's probiotic + filling you up at work properties, but other than that it's basically a dairy free household. I had. no. idea.
That meant that our week of vegetarian feasting accidentally turned into a week of vegan eating. And it was awesome. But that doesn't mean I'm even remotely considering being a vegan.
And that's because I love eating.
I know people say that, but I really, really, really love eating. It brings so much joy to my life. Some of the biggest highlights of my life are some meals I ate. The crab in Maryland. My mom's Thanksgiving stuffing. My first glass of ice wine with dessert. That funky cheese I ate on the roof. Oh my god I can't believe I'm typing this before breakfast. Pure torture.
my conclusion though, after ACCIDENTALLY eating a bunch of vegan food, is that I'm happy to eat vegan food as long as it's adding to my life, not taking it away.
life addition
Sunflower seed "cheese" full of basil + olives.
YAASSSSSS
life subtraction
Never having gorgonzola again.
Booo. Hissss.
Now that I've been thinking about veganism like this, it's been way more fun + surprisingly delightful. Vegan "cheese" will never replace real cheese. Nope, nope, nope. But vegan "cheese" can be a super nice addition to a meal, as long as you weren't in the mood for the genuine stuff. There's a million flavours + recipes out there to try + a quinoa wrap with cashew cheese + broccoli tastes amazing.
yasss i'm def. adding some vegan to my life
even weird shit like avocado pasta
i had no idea it was worth it.
Kyle + I decided that we owe the planet + the creatures that live here something. But we are also unwilling to give up eating meat. So we found a solution.