Gordian Knot

"No problem can be solved from the same level of consciousness that created it. "

Albert Einstein

Since becoming a vegan not much has changed. I still look and feel like crap. Just because I don't feel better doesn't mean I can't start thinking better though.

In an attempt to raise my consciousness I'm watching documentaries like Food Inc., King Corn, and All In This Tea. One of the most important things I've learned so far is that everything (good or bad) seeps right into our food. Misty mountains and a winding fresh water stream make a great tasting tea and a soulful culinary experience. Corn fed beef wading knee high in their own shit for the entire duration of their miserable lives results in e. coli epidemics, obesity, and heart attacks. Human beings have never paid less for their food and more for their health care.

I have also learned that many of the tasty looking (but slightly tasteless) foods I have started eating to replace animal products in my diet are made of soy and corn. Apparently the soy and corn industries are as (or more) corrupt and harmful than the meat and dairy industries. The nutritional value of the entire world's food supply has been diminished as these once delicious crops have been re-engineered into mere fillers and additives for just about everything we consume (even batteries), literally becoming the vessels of corporate ignorance, greed, and short term self-interests.

In the 1950's the McDonald brothers wheeled their ox cart onto the world's stage leaving us with a seemingly unsolvable puzzle. Our very survival may depend on a solution. Is there another Alexander on the horizon equipped to set us free and boldly usher in a new era? Or are the few of us who care to notice doomed to spend our days wearing our bloody knuckles to the bone fussing with this god forsaken knot ... Is there something wholesome in this house for me to eat that is delicious, easy to prepare, and affordable? Maybe the food I eat deserves more investment after all? I already gave up meat. Should I give up the Internet, cable, or (gasp) my cell phone (they are killing off the bees aren't they?), to be able to afford locally grown organic food? I'm hungry right now. Consciousness raising hurts. Help! I need an intervention before I go to In and Out and have a corn fed hamburger and a stroke.

Veganomics

I just saw the movie Julie and Julia. It's about a food lover & office wage slave who makes a name for herself blogging her race to cook all 520 recipes in Julia Child's first book in 365 days. Activity is more important to me right now than originality, so I thought I'd cook & blog my way through , Veganomicon, The Ultimate Vegan Cookbook.

Given the random and lousy food choices I've been making since I became a vegan, the pictures in this cookbook have become like porn to me. While I'm now convinced that vegan's can eat delicious food, I'm not going to be working my way through this (or any other) cookbook anytime soon. The introduction alone includes chapters on stocking your pantry, equipment needed, and cooking and prepping terminology and techniques. Just reading the table of contents made me feel like a loser doomed to a dreary life of either cheap corporate junk food or cereal and soy milk. I was particularly discouraged when skimming the chapter on low-fat cooking that confirmed my suspicion that a vegan diet does not automatically mean weight loss. Be warned, many vegans also struggle with a gut and fat ass.

I am discouraged but I refuse to give up this early in the game. I can have flavor and variety in my diet. I can decrease my waistline while increasing my karma. I can do this with nothing more than a can opener, a few pans, and a short attention span. I will go it alone and create some receipts that are satisfying but don't involve mandolines, crepe pans, blanching, braising or julienne. Next stop, Trader Joe's.

You Are What You Eat

I decided to become a vegan. Off to a good start too! I didn't eat any animal products all day... and it wasn't that hard. I ate oatmeal, nuts, vegetables, crackers, raisins, bananas, popcorn, hummus dip, lots of coffee, a chocolate bar covered in peanut butter and half a bottle of wine. Probably a few other things... a lot of other things. I scarfed down anything I could get my hands on that I didn't think had animal products in it. It's already clear to me that being a vegan may be good for my karma but isn't necessarily good for my waistline.

Running On Empty?

Look at the picture under "ABOUT ME" in the side bar. Now add about 100 lbs, knock out a tooth, and wipe the smile off his face. I'm forty one, been in the same roller coaster relationship for over 20 years, work 50+ hours a week (but live in poverty), have two cats and no kids. Pathetic, yes. Sympathetic, no. Why should anybody want to follow my story? If you are a happy, well adjusted person, I probably have nothing to offer you. If you are a slob like me who yearns to be something better but doesn't know where to begin, then I probably have nothing to offer you either... but I'm going to put in the effort. I want to be your hero.

I am on a quest to transform myself into a beautiful person inside and out: A person who all the world will admire. If all goes as planned, I will be a shining role model who demonstrates that anything is possible. You will learn from me (in clear and easy steps) how to improve your life and become a living saint.

And if all does not go as planned? You'll have a front row seat to the burial of a mans hopes and dreams. A small tragedy that may very well make your own drudgery and broken dreams more tolerable in comparison. At the very least, I can guarantee you will get a pretty good idea of what not to do on your own path to perfection.