Happy St. Patty's!

Happy St. Patty's day! Hope ya'll enjoyed some green beer :)

Another holiday with a center around food (but as Tami pointed out, aren't they all???) Actually, I think this one may be centered around drinking but in any case, there's usually a corned cow, too.

I am happy to say that this year, my Mom veganized the meal for us! We had Tofurkey roast, brussel sprouts, and colcannon puffs. Thank you to Susan V. for coming up with this amazing recipe! It really is one of our favorites, and for good reason - it's fantastically delish! I didn't have my camera on me, so I took a picture using my phone but there's no way I am posting it - it looks as ugly as it tasted yummy! The BEST part for the kids were the homemade vegan donuts - can you believe it?!?! They were so good, and my mom said easy too! The kids decorated them with green sprinkles, and were in heaven.

It's taken my parents years to be comfortable with the vegan thing. I am so lucky - they've always been supportive of our choice (but I have a sneaking suspicion there's been a lot of eye rolling behind my back and a lot of "she's going through a phase"'s). While they are not veg, my Mom is really close (My plan is almost complete!! Muhahhahahah!!!) and my Dad is super tolerant, and even said he liked the Tofurkey tonight!

I think it was a little hard for my parents because the way I eat and feed my children is so drastically different than the way they fed me as a child. We ate what we *knew* to be healthy, but a lot of the foods I was raised on are SAD (Standard American Diet) foods. I think, for my mom particularly, it was a bit of a slap in the face; a way of saying that what she cooked and provided for us was not good enough, or that she made a mistake. While this isn't what I think or feel at all, I can understand. Because the fact is, I feed my children differently because I believe that the SAD is not good enough. But that wasn't her fault; it's the damn system of food and commercialism (have you seen Food, Inc. yet?)

So, I tried to keep my mouth shut as much as possible, asked for limited accommodations, and tried my damnedest to educate and not lecture when opportunities arose. Was I successful? Not really, hahah! But I will say that I think my kids and I have made a difference in what they eat. They now buy organic/free range eggs, support better animal agriculture practices, and best of all have greatly decreased their meat consumption.

Bottom line is, it can be really hard to see others we know and love make the decision to continue eating meat and dairy when we've presented them with the info that made us decide to be vegan. People will make their own choices, and I believe that most will come around; it may not be exactly as we'd wish, or in the time frame we'd hope for. Always remember that we make a difference, even if only by exposing them to veganism and opening their minds - even a little. All we can do is look for those opportunities to gently educate, to bake kick ass vegan cookies, and encourage and thank them when they do show signs of acceptance and transitions.

How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world. ~Anne Frank