Don’t Be Fooled!

Susan

opps…I meant presumptious.

Beth

Jenna, I know you love to roast veggies, and I would love to try roasted cauliflower and brussel sprouts, but don’t understand how I am supposed to mix the ingredients? What do you put on the veggies? How do you mix the garlic in with roasted veggies? Do I just use whole gloves? I have no idea on proportions of anything such as garlic, salt and pepper or oil. Sorry for the ignorant question!

Romina

Oooh, can’t wait to hear what surprises are in store! Yummy breakfast. =) Blueberries rock my world.

Tammy

Beth,

Thanks for the roasting vegtable question. I would like to know also!

Nadia

Hey Susan,

I’ve been skinny my entire life due primarily to a vegan diet since I was 14 – started because after months of stomach aches a doctor’s visit revealed that I can’t digest meat or dairy! Genetics has a little to do with it (mom was very thin also around my age) but it’s mostly a very healthy diet. Only a few people have ever assumed I have an eating disorder because they see me eat and I eat plenty, believe me.

I used to get very annoyed and upset when complete strangers would randomly tell me I’m skinny – I always just retorted back with “Really, I had no idea”. At this point in my life though it doesn’t affect me anymore. If I want a salad for lunch, I’ll have a salad. Are people judgmental? Sometimes yes but I just ignore it. The worst is at work…My co-workers assume I don’t eat because I always go out during my lunch hour. I need the break! Besides, they usually get take out and I always bring in a packed lunch to save money. Although they’ve accepted it at this point I know they are still uneasy. I find that people will be judgmental regardless of how much you weigh, how much you eat etc. As long as you’re healthy and don’t deprive yourself that’s all that matters. I just remind myself that I’m living a healthy life for myself not anyone else. Hope that helps 🙂

Anne P

ha, ryan you should have done it!! that would’ve been hilarious. the title could have been “jenna hearts meat”

Nadia

Susan,

Also with regard to whether doctors tell me I need to gain…whenever I go for physical check-ups everything turns out normal…no vitamin deficiencies or anything so I’ve never had a doctor tell me I need to gain weight despite the customary weigh-ins.

AshleyH

Jenna- I had the most amazing cereal for breakfast that i think you would LOVE! Peanut butter Puffins! So peanut buttery!! Give them a try and you’ll be hooked. i wanted to eat the whole box this morning (and almost did!) 😉

Nadia

I think there are several tests available to see if you’re lactose intolerant. The only way to know for sure is to have one of these tests done. I had a test done, like I mentioned, when I was 14. My doctor told me not to eat for a few hours before the exam. He then took several blood samples over a 2-hour period to measure my blood sugar level. Basically if lactose is incompletely broken down, the blood glucose level does not rise and it didn’t in my case. That’s how he diagnosed me as lactose intolerant (it’s actually pretty severe for me). As for the meat thing that was self-diagnosed…I was getting similar symptoms from eating dairy products and meat products and my doctor suggested cutting out meat for a couple of days to see if they would go away and they did. I never had any tests done for meat intolerance (I don’t even know if they exist) but I didn’t eat meat or dairy to avoid the cramps, bloating, and a host of other annoying symptoms. Around the age of 18 I read up on veganism, became very ethically/morally against consuming/buying meat-related products and adopted it as a lifestyle.

Tammy

For all of us yogart lovers!

Yogurt maker Stonyfield Farm has announced a voluntary recall of its 6 oz. cups of Organic Fat Free Blueberry Yogurt. The recall comes after some consumer complaints reporting plastic and glass fragments in cups of that yogurt, though no injuries have been reported. The affected cups have the following date codes stamped on them: Apr 13 08, Apr 14 08, Apr 15 08, April 25 08 and Apr 26 08.

Customers who have purchased the cups can return them to the store where they purchased them for a full refund. Consumers with questions should contact Stonyfield Farm Consumer Relations at 1-800-PRO-COWS or email crelations@Stonyfield.com.

JennS

hey a question for all the vegans out there who are vegans but NOT because of medical issues. why be a vegan? i mean, if you want cheese eat cheese why get this stuff that looks like it and tastes like it but isn’t the actual product? isn’t this steering away from the “whole” and “natural” idea. to get milk and cheese from a nut it has to go through a lot of processing.. where as cheeses, good chesses, is basically a natural bacterial process.

Mandy

edit to add:
i re-read my comment – and i didn’t mean it so sound so harshly – sorry ladies! What i mean to say was that I also agree with JennS, and that I truly wonder how you vegans out there made the decision to turn down all the natural products, and go for ‘replicas’? Again – apologies – hope it doesnt start anything I didn’t mean to 🙂
have a great day!

Mandy

I hope this isn’t too personal of a question… but does anyone here deal with IBS at all? I tend to find I can’t eat a lot of foods any longer… one being salads and beans of any kind, which saddens me!! But curious if anyone else has to deal with this, too?

Thanks 🙂

nicole r

i’m not a strict vegan, but am transitioning to becoming one. people don’t stop eating dairy, etc because it’s not healthy–its because it comes from animals. i think it would be hard to last as a vegan without having some moral grounding in what you’re doing, and i would say at least 98% of them do. i actually quite like dairy, and am not lactose intolerant, but the reason i decided to finally give that up as well and become full vegan is because of how cruelly most dairy products are obtained. i’m italian, i think i might be composed partly of cheese, but i would rather not eat it if something has to go through pain for me to do so. obviously processed products (such as tofutti cream cheese that still has hydrog. oils) are MUCH less healthy for you than the whole product, but again, it’s the cruelty aspect of the food product that deters vegans from eating it. for me, because i like cheese and other dairy products, i would choose to eat follow your heart cheese or soy yogurt because no animals are involved there. never was a meat fan, so tofurkey doesn’t draw me in the same way.

Maggie

Just to jump in on the vegan thing…

I’m a vegetarian and I’ve considered going vegan because of the animal aspect. What I’ve done instead very carefully shop for my dairy products/eggs. I only drink organic milk that comes from smaller farms, which are known to treat cows better. Also, I only eat free-range, certified organic eggs.

I also closely read the lables of the food I eat, I don’t want anything too processed or artificial. I do enjoy veggie burgers but not the ones that are supposed to taste like meat, rather the ones that taste like veggies or beans. Mostly I just cook for myself for the most part and bring leftovers into work to avoid a lot of processed food.

I believe that this is the best of both worlds for me… as I want to eat mostly all natural foods, yet also want to be good to animals and the environment (the meat industry does massive damage to our environment…).

Jenna, I just found your blog and I love it!! Great inspiration. 🙂

jenn

Nicole R, you just made me lol when you said you think you’re composed partly of cheese.

erica

Thanks Jenna! I’m going to pick up some scottish oats and give them a try soon! I was so excited that my mom had bought blueberries today, which means I can put them in my oats! Mmm!

Ella

I would agree with the other posters in defense of veganism.
It certainly isn’t healthier just to be “vegan” (case in point the tofutti cream cheese or the soy milks/cheeses with stabilizers or even animal casein).

However, if you start reading vegan books for recipes, etc., you start to read about the horrors of dairy and eggs (let alone meat), and once you know about it, it’s hard to enjoy it any more.

Plus, consuming animal products is terrible for the environment, so it clouds my perception of myself if I eat them (sounds odd, I know).

It’s tough here where all the massive food companies have tried to sway vegans into eating junk by producing processed versions of the food we all gave up, but like in any other eating lifestyle, one just needs to be vigilant. Hope that helps too!

Kat

I posted above as Katherine and will start posting as Kat since there is another Katherine and it is better not to confuse everyone 🙂