Folks, I want to address a topic that is so sensitive and close to many that it makes my heart ache… It drives me crazy and makes me want to shout from the roof tops. “What are you talking about?”—you might ask… I am talking about FOOD ADDICTIONS. This time, however, I will not be talking about omnivores, I will be talking about herbivores. That would include all of you who are vegan, in case if you are wondering…
About a week and a half ago my husband scouted nearby towns to find a vegan restaurant. He wanted to take me out to celebrate my birthday. When we lived in Columbus, OH, we would visit a wonderful, one of a kind vegan restaurant, Dragon Fly, for special occasions. The food was second to none. It was not cheap, but it was worth every penny in customer satisfaction. Ever since we moved here, we have not been able to find anything that comes even close to it. Although Portland, OR, seems to be more vegan/raw vegan friendly than Columbus, there has not been anything that would satisfy our pallet so far.
After some searching Demetrye found a little family owned Vietnamese place: Nhut Quang. He read the reviews carefully. Most of them were positive and boasted about the taste of foods. I was reluctant to go, but decided to make Demetrye happy, so we went…
The prices were… let’s just say affordable. After reading the menu I could barely find any items that had no gluten or soy in them. Every single dish had loads of either or both. We asked to speak to the chef (sorry, but I am using this term loosely here). After asking him several questions he assured me that he will hold gluten and soy ingredients from the dishes I picked. I was hungry, so I was really looking forward to tasting the food. My mouth was watering. I was looking forward to experiencing something new and, hopefully, delicious.
Our food came out. My fork and knife ready… first bite of the first dish… What happened? The outer shell of the potato bun was actually made with white flour… I could not believe it! I was sure that the language barrier could not have been the problem, since the cook actually spoke with us for a couple of minutes. He assured me that there will be no gluten/wheat or soy… But, it was my birthday, so I was not going to let something small like that ruin it. Instead of sending food back or asking for a refund I passed most of it to Demetrye, after taking a few bites. I also discovered there were chunks of gluten inside the potato bun… I hoped that, perhaps, the next dish would be better. I had ordered rice noodle soup. Surely, there would be no surprises here… Alas! There were large chunks of gluten floating in it, apparently used as a meat substitute. I pulled them out, tasted the soup… The only good thing about the soup were green herbs and leafs of lettuce served on a side. The soup was blend and nauseously sweet. And did I mention that it had gluten floating in it? A week and a half later I can barely recall what the third dish was… Ah… it was Vietnamese Pancakes… It was a blub of what looked like wheat dough with thick sprouts of an unidentifiable origin rolled into it, with… I am sure you probably guessed it by now—thick “bacon” slices {tempeh}. Three dishes—three strikes—I was DONE! Demetrye and I kindly packed ourselves and left. I was not up for disputing our charges—It was bad enough that my b-day dinner was a huge disappointment.
Off we went to the next place that was promising to bring some satisfaction. Piece of Cake is a bakery located in Portland. We called them ahead of time to find out if they carried any vegan, soy free, gluten free items. Demetrye wanted me to have a cake and I did not protest either. When he called the bakery, they bragged on their blueberry coffee cake. We called our order in ahead of time. I was looking forward to the “treat”. Something had to lift my mood after a disappointing dinner. Folks, let me save you the drama and get to the point—it was horrible! A small piece of cake, barely baked through was disguised with an inch thick layer of rice frosting. I was never a fan of frosting of any kind, and this was no exception. It was nothing but pure sugar. After I carefully scraped it off my slice of cake (thankfully I ordered only a slice), there was not much left to taste. A couple of crumbly, blend bites… And I waited until we drove back to Longview to even taste it! Needless to say, it ended up in the trash.
Why am I telling you this story? I have never been a big fan of substitutes. Why change a diet only to find items to replace what caused us problems in the first place? Food substitutes are a pit that many new vegans fall into. I know—I’ve been there. When Demetrye and I became vegan over 2 years ago, we tried the veggie bits, Better Than Sour Cream, Better Than Cream Cheese, Veganaise (mayo substitute), tempeh that is flavored to taste like bacon (it would cost you your firstborn eventually, if you keep eating it : ) ). I learned how to make cheesecakes and nuggets out of tofu, and many other things. The longer we are following through with our dietary change, though, the more we get away from all that, as I find it unnecessary. Most substitutes are used not because they are a nutritious necessity, they are used as a crutch and unwillingness to truly part with the harmful foods that they imitate—meats, dairy, etc. The restaurant that we visited on my b-day is a prime example—the menu was loaded with items like “Barbeque Ribs”, etc., that are nothing more than tofu or gluten cooked in a way to imitate their evil counterparts.
Please bear with me, if it sounds like I am rambling.
My birthday experience might not have been the most exciting one, although I thoroughly enjoyed the attention and the company of my lovely husband, but it awakened me even more to the fact that we would go to any length to cater to our weaknesses.
Lets step back for a second and analyze the situation. When we change our diets, a lot of us do so for health reasons. We want to: unclog our arteries, lower blood pressure, rid ourselves of cancer, lose weight, etc. The reasons are various, but they all stem from the same issue—physical ailments. Unfortunately, when some of us that become vegan/raw vegan, don’t have a heart transformation, only plate transformation. We do it because we have to, we do it almost begrudgingly, and we miss the foods that got us in trouble so much, that we go to any length to imitate it and get as close to is as possible without paying the consequences. You might think that there is nothing wrong with this picture, I, however, do. I can speak about it, since I, for a while, too chased after this phantom of the past—sometimes for myself, sometimes for my husband, and, sometimes, to wow my guests. But then I realized that I changed my family’s diet to benefit from the vitamins, nutrients and minerals we were otherwise lacking and that none of them are going to come from the same source: soy and gluten [substitutes]. Why abandon one horrible diet for one that does not seem to be much better. No wonder that there are so many sick and junk eating vegans! No wonder that the rest of the world would not want to follow the same dietary transformation! Why would they, if we are no better off than they are?!
To truly benefit from a vegan/high-raw/raw vegan diet, we must use variety of foods. We must rotate them to benefit from all that God has to offer through His wonderful creation. There is a reason different plants grow in different seasons. There is a reason some plants are red, some are yellow, some are green, and some come in all colors of rainbow. There is a reason some plants are sweet, some are bitter and some are neutral in taste. God created a variety so that we can benefit from it all! So, why not abandon our old diets fully and wholeheartedly to never look back?! Why not, instead of using substitutes, dive head long into the world of vegetation we discover and allow our pallets be entertained by NEW tastes; to retrain our taste buds and our bodies entirely, instead of looking back to the Egypt*, longing for days long gone.
I am happy to report that I no longer rely on substitutes. I occasionally do use Vegan mayo, but in EXTREME moderation. I believe that is it! I am not even interested in finding out all the “wonderful” wheat substitutes. I would rather find a way to grind my own flour and eat it only occasionally and in moderation, than follow into a trap like that. I am, however, all for incorporating a variety of different flours to make delicious side dishes. I, for the most part, am no longer using anything other than what I create myself out of things that my Creator so abundantly provided. I find no need for it. Given, there are times when I still remember some of the foods I had grown up with that I occasionally miss, but not so much as to try to mimic it with something else. The longer I control my body, the more it learns to obey my commands! Remember that the food is created for the body, not the body for the food!
Out with the Old! In with the New!
Don’t let your past bad habits ruin the most wonderful change that you can experience in your physical life! I would like to challenge you to step out onto the completely new, untraveled road, and start a journey of your own, both fearful and exciting. You have nothing to lose, except for bad habits, and all the health to gain!
Remember: EAT HEALTHY!!! LIVE HAPPY!!!
*for those of you who are not sure why I am referring to the old diet as “Egypt”, I have to explain myself. In the Bible we read a story about Exodus of Jews from the Egypt, where they were bound in slavery for 400 years. In the beginning of their journey they were a happy, jolly bunch—they were free! That is until they bellies started to miss the foods they used to eat in Egypt. Suddenly they had forgotten that they lived in bondage, were counted as dung, and were systematically annihilated. The only thing they could remember was that their stomach used to be full. I will allow my reader to draw the parallel between their story and the one I described.
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Our Longview (WA) Fire Department came out shortly (by they way, they have been working out there all this time). They contained the fire the best they could, after making sure there were no people in the house. Thank you, men!
