Well, the weekend did not go as well as I thought it would.
For example, my husband and I had a pretty big argument about the Veggie Fair kickoff party, and then I ended up going to the Veggie Fair by myself.
It was pretty fun at first. We had a beer at the bar and chatted for awhile. I bid on a painting at the silent auction. I was a little surprised that they didn’t have only vegan appetizers, but huge vegan burritos! I wish I’d known, or I wouldn’t have eaten dinner!
We had a couple vegan cupcakes. Deep chocolate and carrot (cup)cake. The highlight of the evening:
Then the Mercy for Animals spokesman put on his presentation, and that was where the argument came in. Nick started complaining about how ‘Mercy for Animals’ was a misnomer, because you can still want humane farming practices while still eating meat. And then he went on to give a few anti-vegan arguments:
1) It’s hypocritical to be a vegan while you still eat plants, since plants are also alive. Also, how do you know they can’t feel pain?
2) If everybody becomes a vegan, what will happen to the farmers? Won’t they lose their jobs? I thought you supported the ‘Occupy Wall Street’ crowd? What about the economy?
3) Why are you so worried about animals when there are ghettos? Don’t people need help, too?
These are all sorts of straw man, ridiculous arguments. But I was getting worked up, trying to eat my chocolate cupcake in peace, but feeling very attacked.
Now that it’s later, I realized what went wrong. Nick has been so supportive of my veganism, eating whatever I make, never commenting on my food choices, ect, that his diatribe was a complete shock. In retrospect, it’s not surprising that he got defensive of his animal eating when confronted with graphic videos of animals in factory farms being tortured. Nick loves animals, even though he does eat some of them. When we are away from home, he calls the house every day to check on the cats.
Also, when he realized how much he hurt my feelings, he bought me a new Vegan cookbook, and looked up a bunch of Vegan friendly restaurants we could try ‘every week’. ‘Every week’, huh? That might be a good blog addition. *grin*
So even though he was being a jerk, I’m still partially responsible for not thinking how a video like that might upset him. But don’t tell him I said that. :)
I think he was a little afraid to go to the Texas Veggie State Fair after our blow up at the kick off party. So I went by myself. But the Fair was pretty nice! There were a LOT more people than the organizers were expecting. There was a band. I saw a couple speakers, and a presentation by a Raw Food Chef. She made Blondies out of macadamia nuts, dates, vanilla, salt and sugar. And they were really good!
I had a Tofurky slice that tasted so much like smoked turkey that I was a little creeped out. I had a dish of Nada Moo ice cream. It was chocolate, and it was amazing! I wanted a Vegan corn dog, but the line was SO long the entire time I was there. So I ended up having a veggie taco, while listening to the band and sitting on a hill overlooking the water. Tons of people brought their dogs.
And best of all, there was free parking!
I know this entry was a mouthful, but I should also leave you with this AMAZING mashed potato recipe. It’s… phenomenal. It’s called:
High Protein Garlic Mashed Potatoes
8 medium red potatoes
1 can white beans (I used Cannelini. Navy would be good, too.)
1 Tbsp unflavored soy or almond milk (actually, I didn’t have milk, and it was still good)
¼ cup Earth Balance (or margarine)
2-3 garlic cloves
1 tsp sea salt
½ tsp pepper
1 tsp Cayenne powder (or paprika)
-Wash potatoes and chop them into quarters, leaving skins on. Put them in a pot, cover them with water, and boil for about 30 min, til fork tender. Drain and put in a bowl. This part was pretty annoying to me. But.. Mash them with a Potato Masher if you have one. It leaves chunks of potato and I think I like it better than whipping them. Add milk and margarine, and mash some more.
In a food processor, add: garlic cloves, drained and rinsed beans, cayenne, and process until smooth. Add the bean mixture to the mashed potatoes.. No, I know. Trust me, you can’t even taste it. Stir it all in. Then add the black pepper. Mix that in really well.
Eat straight out of bowl with spoon. At least that’s what I did until I was dragged away from it. I didn’t even manage to get a picture. But you KNOW I'll be making them again! Possibly for Thanksgiving.
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