Eat like a Caveman?

I've never really given a whole lot of thought to what's commonly called the Paleo-Diet. Short for Paleolithic.
Some see it as just another fad diet, but one that promotes the idea that humans thrive and and are healthier consuming food (wild plants and animals)  that mimics that of the hunter gather hominids believed to have lived on the earth for over 2.5 million years, but ending 10,000 years ago with the advent of agriculture.


I am far from an expert on this topic. I just know that it advocates eating a large amount of animals, which I can in no way support.  But I wanted to share a very informative as well as entertaining podcast from author Colleen Patrick-Goudreau of Compassionate Cooks. She has done the homework for me. Enjoy.  link.

Oh Paula

 Have you ever had the experience of “knowing” something before you “know” it?

I have.  If you’re not sure what I mean, let me try to explain.  Sometimes, I get a sense of something, an issue, a fact, but not a clear picture.  I once had a sense that someone I knew was pregnant, but had no actual proof or logical reason to think so.  Just a sense that something was…eminent.  Anyway, turned out I was right.

Well, a few days ago I came across an article about the son of a famous chef that just launched a new cooking show.  From the title of this blog post, you may have already figured out who I’m talking about.  I’m referring to Bobby Deen, son of Paula Deen.   When I first read about his new show entitled “Not My Mama’s Meals”, I admit was curious. 

The premise of the cooking show is his healthier take on his mom Paula’s over the top, fattening southern dishes.   Now, you may be wondering what this all has to do with my “knowing” things.

Well after I read that article, I wondered to myself what the motivation was for this family to even create such a show as  this.  Paula has built her culinary empire on unapologetic celebration of decadent, rich, buttery, and often fried southern comfort food. Lots of meat, cheese, sugar, you name it.

But, I had this nagging feeling that someone in that family may have gotten a not so good medical diagnosis.  Now I know.

It is rumored that Paula has type 2 diabetes and will be making an announcement any day now. There is also talk that she may have recently inked a deal with a pharmaceutical company as a spokesperson.  For a diabetes medication no less.  But as of this writing, the company has not confirmed this and in fact denies even working with Ms. Deen.

Some of the online response I’ve read to this news is along the lines of “well of course she has diabetes, surprised she didn’t develop it sooner..”   I admit, I’m not really surprised by the possibility  myself.

I remember a while back watching with disgust a video of Paula making her deep fried mac and cheese recipe..wrapped in bacon.  I took note of the look on her face and the twinkle in her eye when she announced this dish at the beginning of the video. Come on! Now she knew that was wrong. She just had to.

And then there was her connection to Smithfield Foods.

My mind was pretty much made up about her.  Then I would hear or read over the last few months snippets of how she managed to turn her life around and provide for herself and kids by creating the business that has made her famous.   So what did I do?  Ok I’m about to make a confession here.  I read her memoir, Paula Deen: It Ain’t All About the Cookin’.  Why in the world would a self described “black female, Christian vegan” want to read anything that Paula has written accept to ridicule it?

I love stories of those who overcome adversity, especially women. And like her or not Paula has overcome a lot.  As much as I cringe at the recipes she creates, it’s called comfort food for a reason. And  there’s a part of me that warms up to her.   She’s from Georgia. Much of my family is also and those are my roots.   As I read of her difficult marriage to an alcoholic, I felt for her. When she admitted in her book to suffering from agoraphobia and feeling trapped in an affair with a married man for years, I hurt for her.  I connect with people who are real and open about their struggles and pain.

But she’s also funny. I lost count of how many times I laughed out loud at some of the things Paula wrote.  The intimate stuff about relationships especially.

But don’t get me wrong. As I poured through her book I wanted to remake every fat-laden, fleshly recipe in there.    And now it looks like that’s what her son Bobby has set out to do. Although I doubt anything will be vegan friendly.

I suspect in the new future, the number of snarky comments about Paula’s supposed diabetes diagnosis will continue to grow.  The finger wagging judgemental pronouncements are sure to be seen and heard for weeks and months to come.  I'm sure much of it will come from the keyboards of vegans and vegetarians.  But I don’t see this as a time to gloat. I do not celebrate a disease diagnosis in anyone, especially one like diabetes. It’s a horrendous illness that can kill a person piece by piece.

But this is also personal. My grandmothers on both sides of my family succumbed to complications from the disease.  That was one of the motivations for my decision to go vegetarian almost 22 years ago, to do what I could to avoid the same fate.

So, if it turns out that Paula Deen indeed has type 2 diabetes, I pray that a drastic change takes place in how she views food.  I don’t suppose it will be easy, her entire livelihood is built on feeding the country some of the most dangerous food on the planet.  But, she’s not alone in her excessive love of butter.  I sometimes marvel at the comments and attitude towards  her cooking, including my own.  How different is Paula’s cooking from any other traditional southern cook out there? Or soul food cook for that matter, like those from my own family?

She just happens to be famous so she’s demonized by many and admittedly also loved by many.


And I believe she's part of the backlash that's happening in some ways against the pro-healthful eating and mainstreaming of veganism push we're beginning to see. It was bound to happen.  Do I support it? Of course not.  But I do understand it.  The pendulum is always swinging.


So, tonight I pray for Paula Deen's health. I pray that her eyes will be opened to the suffering of the animals as well as that of the human workers she endorses by her cooking and her connection with Smithfield Foods.


Often it takes difficult circumstances for our hearts to open to new possibilities.
I hope this happens to Paula Deen.

What did Dr. King really do?

I didn't write a blog tribute this year to Martin Luther King Jr. But, I did again contemplate some of the same issues and themes as I did last year.   I did come across another tribute that I found intriguing.  One that didn't have the same "Dr King fought against injustice for all people" flavor.


It's called "Most of you have no idea what Martin Luther King actually did." 
The author suggests that the gains made by King's legacy were primarily for the benefit of African Americans in a very specific way. Not just the marching and peaceful protesting about lunch counters and separate drinking fountains.
He makes a provocative statement that "He ended the terror of living as a black person."


To get the full effect of this statement, I highly recommend you check out the entire article. It will really make you think. I know it did me.   But I wonder, do you think this perspective is divisive?

You're too nice

Happy Holidays to everyone!

We had a wonderful time over the season with friends, family and lots and lots of food!

Just today, my husband blurted out something that caught me off guard. He said,  “you’re too nice, too nice of a vegan.”  I asked him what he meant.

 He went on to explain how recently, when we were with friends sharing our holiday stories and events we attended, some made a point to direct their consumption of “the best steak”, pot roast, or whatever at me directly.  They seemed to derive great pleasure in telling me this as it was all done in fun.

I admit that I tend to take comments like this in stride even though my wonderful husband believes that I am more sensitive to many of the omnivores than they are towards me in this respect.      

I thought back on the evening in question. At the time, I did feel a bit annoyed, but I played along, not wanting to put a damper on the evening.  Now I have to admit, I do feel some sadness at the seemingly callous attitude many of my fellow believing(Christian) friends have towards animals. (well, farm animals anyway)

My husband thought that maybe I should have responded with the health and cruelty stats of a meat-centered diet.  But like I said, I didn’t want to put a damper on the evening.  He got me thinking though.   Am I too nice a vegan? 

I’ve written a bit about my journey to veganism in a previous post. How I was vegetarian for over 16 years and felt that was enough, not wanting to appear “extreme” or “militant” like those “crazy” vegans.  Now I am one.  And happily so.

But, I’ve also shared my distaste for conflict, even though I know that I have the ability to silence a room on this issue.  I did it once before, almost 20 years ago.

It was Christmas time and we were visiting family. Grandma, Grandpa, aunts, uncles, and cousins were there. But one granddad was not. He had recently suffered a heart attack.  I withstood teasing and joking about my vegetarianism for a couple of days. Some continued at the dinner table Christmas evening.  I’d had enough. I then lashed out with the stats on cancer, heart disease, etc and their link to the standard American, meat heavy diet.  Then, I went in for the kill and linked it back to how maybe our other grandpa could have been there with us that day if not for different lifestyle choices in terms of food.   Well, everyone shut up pretty quick, looks of guilt on their faces and no one teased me again for the rest of our visit.

Am I proud of how I responded? Yes and no. I have no regrets for standing up for myself and what I believed was important. I’m not proud of the fact that it took a couple of days of teasing before I finally spoke up. 

Should I have spoken up at our recent gathering of friends? Maybe.   But I am responding now.

Honestly, to hear anyone, my loved ones included wax on about the joys of consuming animals is not fun for me.  Ok, I hate it. Especially when it’s done with such “glee and delight” to somehow taunt me.   My reasons for abstaining from meat and now all animal products are for more than the health reasons I had for many years. But also for basic compassion and care for God’s creatures. Yes, the Bible seems to allow for meat eating. It also allows for the consumption of beetles and locusts.

No one I know is giddy about eating those.  

I wonder if I were a kosher observant Jew or Hindu vegetarian, or pork eschewing Muslim, would the omnivores in my life jokingly throw their meat eating adventures my way for sport?  I doubt it.   It often seems that those of us that are vegans or vegetarians by choice without a necessarily religious background attached to it, are fair game to poke fun at.

Have a blessed and happy New Year and here’s to speaking up sooner and more often for what you believe and for those who have no voice!

One final thought.  If you’re vegan or vegetarian, and you receive negative feedback or “good natured” ribbing from your loved ones, how do you respond?  Maybe you’re quicker on your feet with a witty comeback than I am. (like my dear husband is. Lol)  Or do you stew about it for a while then whip it out in a blog post? :-) 

One of the best cake recipes ever

Yes, here I am. I'm sure the one or two of you who actually read this blog were losing sleep these past few months wondering what I've been up to all this time.  No? You say you've had better things to do with your time that waste it stalking this crazy little blog?  

Well, lots has been going on around here. Namely a trip to my hometown of Los Angeles at the beginning of the summer. Perhaps I'll write about that little adventure soon.  I will say this, vegan and vegetarian restaurants abound in the LA area. I was a happy girl for sure!

Today I want to share an amazing cake recipe I came across a few days ago on Chef Chloe's website.  Who's Chef Chloe you say?? Ok, if you're vegan or even vegetarian and you don't know who she is, you seriously need to consider turning in your "Vclub" card.  Just kidding..  But seriously. Chef Chloe' Coscarelli was the first vegan to win a competition on the Food Network last year on Cupcake Wars. Check it out here. Just scroll down the page until you get to the video.
Chloe' was so sweet and adorable even in the face of those catty traditional bakers.  I loved it!

So anyway, fast forward a year later to an amazing cake on Chef Chloe's site. Lemon Olive Oil Cake. Olive oil in a cake you say? Believe me, it was so moist, so decadent.  You don't have to be vegan to appreciate it.
I made a few adjustments for my version, including a mango-papaya syrup in place of the powdered sugar.

I have several friends who don't do regular wheat very well, so I substituted white spelt flour for the all-purpose flour in Chloe's version.  I also used agave' nectar instead of the maple syrup she calls for.  I have another friend who doesn't do other sugars well.   I was feeling a bit sassy, so I added a few pinches of turmeric as well, for more color and a slight(ok, minimal) nutrition boost..

I highly recommend you give it a try and let me know what you think.  It reminded me a lot of the lemon cakes I ate as a kid, only sooo much more sophisticated.  :-)

Long time, no write. And an interview..

So, it's been like five months since I last posted anything.  I'm a bad girl, I know..
Well, I'm working on something now that should be up soon.  In the mean time, here's an interview I did for Sarah of the blog Stuff About Stuff.  She's doing a series on vegan parents and their kids. Very cool.

"Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere"

I was too young to remember the event. The one that no doubt shattered the hopes of many and inflamed the passion for equality and possibly vengeance in others.
My mother was a young woman of 24 when this tragedy occurred. I wonder what she felt when she first heard the news.  I will have to ask her the next time we talk.

But today we celebrate his life and his seemingly God-given mission and destiny to initially fight for  the equality and freedom of African Americans and then for those from every race, religion, and background.
I have much to thank Dr King and others for their role in the evolution of civil rights in this country.

It is surreal to me to sit and contemplate that within my own lifetime and that of my parents, there existed segregated restrooms and lunch counters, lack of voting rights, and even lynching.   In fact, my husband and I (who is white) would have been charged with a felony in the state of Virginia for the crime of miscegenation.

So I am thankful and  forever indebted to Dr King, and others from that era who stood up to injustice of all kinds  Especially to those who preached a nonviolent but firm resistance to evil.  And I am most thankful to the One who I believe was their inspiration. The One I call Savior..


Related: "Letter from Birmingham Jail"

"A meadow in your mouth that explodes on the palette"

Sound a little over the top?

Well, that was the exclamation of a very happy diner at Sutra, a vegetarian restaurant in Seattle, Wa.

And how did I get to hear this? Well believe it or not, there's an awesome new show on the Cooking Channel called The Veg Edge.  I can hardly contain my excitement!

Now I've always been a big fan of cooking shows.  I was often glued to the tv set as a kid when the Galloping Gourmet was on. I know, I just dated myself. 

The Veg Edge isn't the first veg friendly cooking show to hit the airwaves. We have public television to thank for the long-running  Christina Cooks with Christina Pirello. When I discovered her last year, I read that her show had been on for about 10 years! Why didn't I know this? Man, do I feel cheated.

Then there's another show I just discovered a few weeks ago called Naturally Delicious, hosted by the owner of Southern California restaurant Real Food Daily, Ann Gentry.

But The Veg Edge is different from those other shows.  This is a faced paced vegetarian travel show that shines the spotlight on several culinary geniuses across the US, ranging in their skills from creating  mouth-watering down home dishes to ultra trendy raw food works of art and everything in between.

You know, I've always heard and read that Portland is the vegan heaven.  Now I know the legends are true!

 Must. Go. To. Portland.

So check out The Veg Edge the next time it's on and give the Cooking Channel lots of positive feedback. Who knows, maybe other networks will jump on the bandwagon and create their own veg-friendly shows.  I for one would love it.  It's about time.

The Back of the Bus and the back porch

It's not often that I dwell on the racial prejudice I experienced in my younger years.  But this morning when I logged on and noticed today's Google doodle, a tribute to Rosa Parks, who in an act of civil disobedience, refused to obey an order by a bus driver to give up her seat to a white passenger, thus sparking the Montgomery Bus Boycott, I was immediately taken back.

Now I'm too young to have endured the kind of legislated bigotry and segregation that those of my parents' generation did, but for the short time our family lived in a small town outside of Chicago, I did endure regular negative attention and prejudice from other kids. Yes as the cliche' goes, kids are cruel. As if middle school isn't already the worst time of a kids' life, add to that being the only black student one year and only one of 3 another.    

I never let on to my parents what I was going through during those years.  I've always been a bit of an introvert by nature. But I doubt if I was much different from most kids my age at the time.  Maybe you felt comfortable telling your parents anything and everything you felt and experienced when you were growing up. Not me.  I just buried it. All of it. Way. Down. Deep.

So what was it like being one of the very few black kids in our area? Well, I think I may have been a bit angry at God for a while. I started to wonder why I wasn't born a blue-eyed blond white girl with straight hair.  I just knew that things would have been so much easier than what I was going through being black.  And I was quite the curiosity for many of my classmates and the neighbor kids.
Ignorant questions would abound. My hair. My skin. "Do you tan?" "You can tan?" "You can burn?"

Hardly more than a day or two would go by when I wasn't being called a nigger. Funny, now we're so much more p.c. We don't actually say or spell it out in polite company. But back then, it was different, at least for me. I wish more than anything that I had fought back.

I did fight back once.  Some kid called me a nigger one too many times and on the w r o n g day.  A few seconds later, I was picking the flesh of the back of his neck from my fingernails.
He never called me that again.
Am I condoning violence?  No. I was a sad, picked on kid with pent up anger and frustration over the racism I experienced on a regular basis.  I do feel some regret now over what I did to that boy. I'm sure there was a better way to respond.

We moved back to California when I was in my teens, and honestly I couldn't have been happier.
But was my entire time in the Midwest totally miserable and a complete waste?  I would have to say no.

In that small town was where I believe I met God for real.   Our next door neighbors were baptists and like good baptists, they wanted to make sure I heard the "Good News".

During the summer of 1976, they hosted a vacation bible school for their church on their big back porch. So several of us kids in the area attended.

I loved it. The bible stories, the teacher, even the other kids. And I loved learning about Jesus.
So, even though my time in that part of the country was difficult from a racial standpoint, I believe that in terms of my spiritual awakening, it appears I was in the right place at the right time.

So yes, reading about Rosa today is bittersweet for me. But I am so thankful for the strength God gave her to stand up(or sit as the case may be) for what was right.  And I want to also express my thanks to that neighbor of ours from so long ago, whose name I can't even remember now, for extending the kindness they did by inviting this wounded, bullied girl into their home to meet the Savior.

I'm not an animal rights activist, pt 2

Ok, I realize I ended my last post on this subject a bit on the snarky side. I guess that was my way of responding to all of those sermons I have heard over the years "correcting" those of us who attempt to live a vegetarian lifestyle.


But back to my parting comment. I mentioned that I actually attempted to go vegetarian a couple of years before it became permanent. This was in the late 80's.  During this time, I was nursing my new infant son, about to have another child, and coming across verses of scripture that seemed to paint those eating a vegetarian diet as weak at best or "following doctrines of demons" at worst.  Yikes! What was I going to do with that?


disclaimer: Those of you my beloved friends who are not Christians, feel free to check out for the next few paragraphs if you like. This part of my rant may seem odd to you. But, if you're curious or intrigued at some of the inner turmoil and conflict that exists in the Church on this issue, read on..


So, let's look at the scripture that seems to condemn the way I've chosen to live my life.


Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the later times some shall depart from the faith, giving head to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils...forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from meats, which God has created to be received with thanksgiving of them which believe and know the truth.  For every creature of God is good and nothing to be refused, if it be received with thanksgiving: for it is sanctified by the word of God and prayer.  I Timothy 4:1-6


Well, there you have it Simone, see right there proof that your vegetarian/vegan ways are less than godly and bordering on demonic. Just "pray over it" and you're good.  You can eat anything you want.
 I have to say when I was first confronted with that verse, that's what I started to believe too.  Now, I used the King James Version on purpose here. This is the translation I was most familiar with at the time.  And this is where it gets sticky for us Christian veggie people.


I've since learned that the word used for "meat" in this passage is the Greek word broma, which can be translated as simply food or flesh, depending on the context of the passage.  
Commentators often interpret the word here to mean flesh due to the the rest of the passage which has to do with marriage.  During this time in Church history, gnostic teachings often plagued the Church with a dualistic belief system that suggested that all that was natural or earthly(including the physical body, marriage, sexual relations) was evil and that only the spiritual was holy or good.  
This is what the Apostle Paul was dealing with here.  But it's interesting that if you go back to Romans chapter 14, he seems to have a more accepting view of vegetarians. 


Receive one who is weak in the faith, but not to disputes over doubtful things.  For one believes he may eat all things, but he who is weak eats only vegetables.  Let not him who eats despise him who does not eat, and let not him who does not eat judge him who eats; for God has received him.
Romans 14:1-3


Wow, this is quite a different vibe from the previous passage! In fact, in a more modern translation, the word weak used to describe believers who abstain from flesh is replaced with sensitive conscience.
One reason many early converts to the Christian faith may have had a problem with the idea of eating meat was because they were mostly Jews and the idea of consuming the distinctly non-kosher food of the gentiles (which was at times offered to their idol gods before consumption) was unthinkable.  On the other hand, the new converts who were gentiles may have abstained due to a desire to renounce their old life and all that reminded them of it.
There appears to be no condemnation of vegetarianism in this passage, but an admonition to everyone within the Church to accept one another and refrain from judging each other on the basis of their diet.
I do find it interesting though that just like I've never heard a sermon defending the bug eating I alluded to earlier, I've also never heard from the pulpit the compassion and acceptance towards the vegetable eaters that is commanded.


So what does this have to do with you Simone? Well, it may be possible to justify meat eating from a biblical perspective.  But like many things, that doesn't always mean  that it is the best thing for me to do today, in my world.   Maybe for me the most loving, compassionate thing I can do for God's creatures who often live in such deplorable conditions of suffering and torture, is to not contribute to that suffering and simply refuse to eat them.  But my refusal is not for the animals sake alone.  How much  grain, corn, and soybeans  are actually grown for human consumption?  How much is grown to fatten up animals quickly, which are then slaughtered, which are then purchased for human consumption?    How many more hungry people could be fed in Third World countries with the food that's now being  fed to livestock?


Now I realize that my purchase of plant food today may not contribute to feeding a hungry baby tomorrow. I know the issue is complicated and I don't mean to over simplify.   But if enough of us in the global North decided to make that choice, maybe we could make a small difference.
Maybe the global hunger issue is just too big for you to wrap your mind around. The idea of people starving on the other side of the world while tragic, is just not something you think much about.


Ok, how about something a little closer to home right here in America?
One of the most dangerous jobs in this country is that of a slaughterhouse worker.  It has been said that since the large meat-packing  companies only view the animals they "process" as machines that that mentality simply carries over to how the humans doing the work are treated as well.  Most are people of color from low income communities. The many who are undocumented workers, due to fear of deportation, are vulnerable and not so quick to voice opposition to unfair treatment.   
Do we want to continue giving our hard earned money to this cruel system? One that tortures animals and exploits humans?  I know I don't. Not if I want to take the commandments of my Lord seriously. And that is why I became an activist.


  And you must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength. The second is equally important: Love your neighbor as yourself. No other commandment is greater than these.
Mark 12:30-31




note: If this post has piqued your interest to learn more about vegetarianism and animal rights from a Christian perspective, here are a couple of books that I've found to be quite eye-opening on the subject.


Dominion: The Power of Man, the Suffering of Animals, and the Call to Mercy
Is God a Vegetarian? Christianity, Vegetarianism, and Animal Rights