Category: Eating and Cooking

Veganism: Pancakes

Posted on by Kai Raine

Sometimes, I have down days and just want to not have to think about anything. Pancakes are a great way to start days that are already taking an effort.

Vegan pancakes are insanely easy to make. If you’re feeling particularly low-energy, just mix together 1 part flour and 1 part non-dairy milk and fry it up in some oil. It can be as simple as that.

But if you think it’s worth the time and effort, vegan pancakes can be extremely delicious: better, in my opinion, than their non-vegan counterparts.

This recipe from Ceara’s Kitchen is one of my favorite recipes, and the one that made me fall in love with vegan pancakes in the first place.

This recipe from One Ingredient Chef is a similar version, though slightly more work in its use of flax egg.

And this recipe at All Recipes isn’t quite as elaborate as the two above, but still delish!

Each of the recipes above can also work in waffle irons. 😉

(Is this a cop-out of a blog post, you ask? Perhaps, yes. But as we’re headed for about a month’s worth of introspective, long-ish posts, I could use some pancakes.)

Veganism: Knowing What You Need

Posted on by Kai Raine

Being vegan isn’t a one-size-fits-all solution. A lot of my friends have told me that they simply could not be vegan because it makes them miserable to so limit foods that they enjoy so much. I can sympathize. At times when I break my vegansim (generally for convenience’s sake), I very much enjoy the taste of the non-vegan food. But if I listen to my body, that enjoyment doesn’t last. My body begins to feel heavier and more sluggish if I eat dairy or too much meat. This serves as a reminder that veganism is right for me, and if I was wavering, provides motivation for me to go on being vegan.

But life also isn’t as simple as eating what I like as a vegan. I came to realize that there are certain things that I need to watch. I need to make absolutely sure that I get enough protein. Especially if I’m visiting someone who knows that I’m vegan, the common assumption is that I live on salads. I’m actually not all that fond of the green salad, but more importantly, it doesn’t contain most of the nutrients that I need. At such times, I have to find a delicate way to supplement my diet with something more nutritious.

Furthermore, even if I have total control of my diet, there are some nutrients that are either absent or insufficient in vegan food. I use Holland & Barrett’s Vegan Multivitamin & Mineral Tablets for this. But because I am mostly vegan, I don’t take them routinely—only when I’ve been consistently vegan for a few days or more. Because I’m not consistent, sometimes I lose track.

A friend once told me that she finds it easier to combat her depression if she has vitamin C in the morning: whether by tablet or by orange juice. I was in a shallow depressive phase at the time, and this made me think. I looked back and tried to remember the last time I’d taken the multivitamin tablets. I’d been eating consistently vegan for months, but I hadn’t had taken the tablets recently.

I took to making sure that I had orange juice in the morning and that I took a tablet a day. My depressive phase was gone in a few days. (I also developed a hilarious craving for orange juice that lasted for a few months afterwards. Friends I visited on a regular basis started stocking up on orange juice if they knew I was coming over, knowing that I would be raiding their fridge for it. I took to joking that my body was worried that I’d give it scurvy.)

I never used to pay very close attention to my own eating habits, so in some ways this has been a steep learning curve. If I’m feeling off—in mind or body—I don’t automatically review my recent eating habits to see if there’s anything I might fix there.

Sometimes changing my eating habits doesn’t do anything to help me. But I have found that it helps quite a lot if I keep an eye on it.

Veganism: Why It Works for Me

Posted on by Kai Raine

Two and a half years ago, I became vegan because of the moral considerations: for the environment and for the animals. I remained mostly vegan because I realized it made me feel healthier and more energetic. If I had to pinpoint one major change that kickstarted my journey to a healthier, happier lifestyle, it was the day I turned vegan. Vegetarianism and veganism were things I’d always toyed with, but never quite committed to—until one day, when I went vegan overnight.

I want to emphasize that I’m not advocating for worldwide veganism! This is not about why veganism is great for everyone. This is about how I adopted a new eating habit and stumbled across some realizations about myself.

I turned vegan overnight because of a conversation with a very rational friend of mine, who has on many occasions functioned as my sanity barometer. In essence, I explained to him that I did not go to zoos or aquariums because I had found that I generally didn’t approve of the way that some of their animals were kept. (I have a particular problem with aquariums that keep marine mammals.) I ranted about the studies that show that animals are traumatized by the poor treatment they receive in cramped quarters.

He pointed out that that made no sense. “You would go to a zoo or aquarium maybe what, once a year?” Even less than that, I had to admit. “But you eat animal products a couple times a week, right?” Even more that that: I loved milk and yogurt, and had some virtually everyday. “Surely you see that your argument against zoos and aquariums doesn’t make any sense unless you’re also vegan.”

“Well, I’ve considered being vegan,” I told him. “But the thing is, I don’t like the idea of being that person who visits a friend’s place, or goes to a party and has all the dietary restrictions that have to be catered to.”

I don’t remember what he said at that, because even as I said the words, I heard the flaws in my own reasoning. Obviously, in that case, I could be vegan at home. I could eat whatever I was served in public while still remaining vegan in private. My reason was a ridiculous one.

My friend was insistent that I understand that he wasn’t advocating for veganism, he himself not being vegan. “I know I’d be miserable if I were vegan, and I would rather not subject myself to more difficulty than I have to,” he explained. “But I just wanted to point out that your logic isn’t consistent.”

It was true. That evening I emptied out my fridge and cupboards of all non-vegan food items. I decided I had to make a clean break, or else I might decide “Oh, but I can just get a little of this” and I would fail to uphold my new decision before I had ever really begun. I took the non-vegan food items to this friend, who was concerned.

“You know that I wasn’t trying to tell you that you had to be vegan, right?” he asked me.

“No, I know. It wasn’t you; I convinced myself.”

That evening, I made an Indian dish with lentils, rice and vegetables. I bought soy milk and tofu. That weekend, I looked up recipes for vegan pancakes and muffins and burgers, and anything else I could think of that I might start to crave.

To my own surprise, I didn’t have any cravings for non-vegan food for months. I was excited about the new recipes and I couldn’t wait to find all sorts of new ideas and new foods to cook. For about 6 months, I was strictly vegan.

During this time, I realized that I suddenly had energy like I’d never experienced before. I wanted to be active and move around and go outside. Previously, I’d very much been an indoors person. I still enjoyed my indoor time and my quiet time, but I also wanted to be doing more and going out more.

Over the months that I’ve been mostly vegan, I’ve worked out that this is mainly an effect of removing dairy from my diet. I haven’t gotten any medical tests, but I have come to realize that dairy just doesn’t agree with my body. Somehow, a little bit of dairy in my food has the effect of making me both physically and mentally slower and fatigued. There were minor stomach problems that I used to have habitually that I no longer have ever since removing dairy from my diet.

I have no doubt that at least part of this change came from simply the psychological effect of making a mindful choice to care about what and how I ate. Not having had any real medical tests, I couldn’t say if my reaction to dairy is lactose intolerance, a mild allergy, or something else entirely. I do, however, know that I am happier and more active by simply eliminating dairy from my diet, so I keep that up consistently.

With regards to meat and fish, I’m more fluid. I steer clear of red meat all the time, unless I’m in a place or situation where it’s difficult to work around that. I’m more forgiving of eggs and chicken if the chickens are what I call “happy chickens”: raised with plenty of space and good food and sunlight. Fish I frequently incorporate into my diet (this was a concession I made within the first year so that I would be able to continue to eat Japanese food), but I try to ensure that I only eat seafood that is caught in a sustainable way.

Having read this, one might think, “So you’re not vegan at all, really. You’re mostly just dairy free.”

True, I don’t stick to a strict vegan diet, and I don’t keel over with guilt at the thought of eating meat. It’s more of a guideline than a strict rule. But I do make an effort to remain vegan as much as possible. The effects of meat in my diet aren’t as pronounced as the presence/absence of dairy, but I do feel like I’m happier when I’m eating vegan.