Poster:	rosapolaris
Date:	2009-02-18 23:05
Subject:	Intro
Security:	Public

I've been a member for a while, and I thought it was time to say hi. I live in Sweden and I've been vegan for years. It's something I've never regretted. Any other Swedish people here? Or Europeans? In any case, I'd love to make new veg friends.

Poster:	turtleinthecity
Date:	2008-03-22 16:18
Subject:	Introduction
Security:	Public
Mood:	content

Hi! I'm very new here (and to IJ - I'm a LiveJournal exile), so I figured I should post an introductory thingy.

I'm Sam. I've been vegan since August, but vegetarian since May. I'm a student living in New York, where it's pretty easy to be vegan, but when school's in recess I live in Texas with my family, where it is a bit more difficult to be vegan. However, I'm willing to keep up with it now that I'm aware of all the cruelty that goes on in the factory farming industry :)

Anyway, I'm very glad to have found this community!

Poster:	tuimelgeest
Date:	2008-02-02 02:59
Subject:	veganniversary
Security:	Public

Today is my six year veganniversary. Though I thought I should go vegan not too long after going vegetarian, it took me quite a while to get to it, what with me still living at home and not being all that assertive.

Right now it's odd to think how insecure I could be in my veganism at first. Not insecure about believing it was the right thing to do, but insecure in dealing with other people. There are still times when dealing with people isn't that easy, but I've gotten a lot better at it.

I'm also surprised at how easy it turned out to be. Before going vegan, it looked like quite the difficult thing, with all kinds of self-denial.
Once I actually went vegan, I realised it was nothing like that. As much as I enjoyed the mars bars when I was younger, eating them now would give me no joy.

Though I do occasionally wish for some vegan caramel bar. Or wish Peanut Chews were available here.

special post I wrote to spam the world.

Poster:	ms_treesap
Date:	2008-01-22 18:03
Subject:	An introduction
Security:	Public

Hello, I just joined the comm and thought it would be polite to introduce myself :)

I'm a nineteen year old British student who's been vegetarian for my entire life (apart from the odd 'experiment' and gelatinous sweet). A couple of years ago, I decided to stop buying leather products, to the bewilderment of my mum (who's a lifelong veggie herself, but has a leather sofa).

I'm lucky as I study in a very liberal city with many vegie and vegan cafes and restaurants, as well as fairtrade food and clothes. I bought a nice pair of trainers from the local branch of this shop :Vegetarian Shoes.

Looking forward to meeting everyone here :)

Poster:	clare_dragonfly
Date:	2008-01-07 22:03
Subject:	Pasties
Security:	Public

A few days ago I was watching Good Eats with the boy and there was an episode on pasties or pocket pies (and I'm sure they have other names as well). They looked so yummy I want to make one! I'm sure I can come up with my own fillings, but does anyone know of a vegan recipe for the pasty dough? Or even one I could veganize? I don't remember the recipe Alton Brown used or I'd experiment with that.

Poster:	tuimelgeest
Date:	2008-01-02 11:41
Subject:	Hi
Security:	Public

Hi all,

I recently joined IJ after getting a little too annoyed with LJ. Back on LJ I never much bothered with vegan comms since they all seemed so big and probably full of wank, but this one looks very nice and comfy, so I thought I'd join.

Basics about me: I'm a Dutch student who is rather geeky and has recently discovered the joy of knitting.

I went vegetarian some seven years ago, basically on the spot, when I realised that I was eating something that was once alive and could no longer do that. I've always known, of course, but for some reason it took a while to click.
This was on the last day or a family vacation, so it took my mum a few days to figure it out, which was fine by me. After some token protest she wasn't too bothered (she was already cooking the meaty bits seperately since one of my brothers went veg at four years old), and after reading a bit about the basics of vegetarianism I realised I should go vegan if I wanted to at least have the principles consistent even if the practice can't be 100% pure.

It was a good year and a half before I actually went vegan, since I was still living with my parents. When, early 2002, I went to live in France on my own for a few months, I thought it'd be a nice time to go vegan since I was properly in charge of my own food. It was a lot easier than I had thought.

Though I rarely cook from cookbooks, I have a bunch of vegan ones I like to just read.

Poster:	clare_dragonfly
Date:	2007-12-23 14:18
Subject:	Cookbook Review
Security:	Public

Vive Le Vegan by Dreena Burton

While I admit to not having much basis for comparison, it's my opinion that this cookbook is perfect for people like me who are new to vegan cooking and want easy, tasty meals, snacks, and desserts. There are a ton of good recipes as well as lots of useful information, such as cooking times for grains and beans and a whole section on the benefits of hemp. I made the "Peanut 'Better' Cookies" and the "Homestyle Chocolate Chip Cookies" and they both turned out delicious. I'd like to make the banana pancakes and lentil soup soon, too. I'll have to go shopping to make a lot of the recipes in this book, but that's more a reflection on my family's pantry than on the book! I love that it's all whole foods and there's a great variety of grains and protein sources. Though I don't have any trouble with wheat, I think it's great that most of the recipes are wheat-free or could easily be made wheat-free. It's also really cool that very few of the recipes use "fake" vegan products. A couple of them use vegan cheese and/or vegan ground round, but for the most part there's no attempt to imitate non-vegan food--the recipes are great, healthy meals on their own.

There's also a large section on raising vegan infants and children, explaining how and when to introduce different kinds of solid food (based on advice given by the author's midwife). I don't have reason to use that yet, but I expect to someday, and it seems like a really good resource. Overall, I'm thrilled to have received this book as my first vegan cookbook.

Poster:	feralfauna
Date:	2007-12-19 01:53
Subject:	Recipes
Security:	Public

SO how do you all feel about just recipe posts? I cook almost every night and usually it's my own recipe used, and I often think about sharing them. Would that be welcome here?

I did post one with my intro and it was well received, but I don't want to take that as an invitation to post recipes if it will annoy people. :D

Poster:	arcadian_dream
Date:	2007-12-19 17:15
Subject:	Why, Hello There...
Security:	Public
Mood:	bouncy
Music:	'Personal Jesus' - Depeche Mode

It only, just this second as I was scouring the net for a vegan tiramisu recipe, occurred to me to search IJ for a veg*n community and voila! Here you are, and now here I am! *waves*

So, anyway, my name's Ria, and I've been vegan since the beginning of June. Not long, but doing pretty good seeing as it was a somewhat sudden decision. I still use honey because, frankly, I'm not entirely convinced on that point. Apart from that though, I am living la dolce vegan: no leather, wool, animal tested products, etc.

Also, I'm a bit of a mad cook so expect to see me 'round here ranting about the deliciosness of that recipe (whatever it might be) that I just tested out :)

Anyway, lovely to meet you all, and looking forward to many posts of veg*n fabulousness.

Ria xx

Poster:	clare_dragonfly
Date:	2007-12-07 14:43
Subject:	Sharing some vegan links...
Security:	Public

Here are some websites I have bookmarked that sell vegan items, from food and cosmetics to shoes, bags, and jewelry.

http://www.veganessentials.com/
http://www.alternativeoutfitters.com/index.asp
http://www.vegetarianshoesandbags.com/
And this vegan floss: http://greenasathistle.com/2007/04/04/

Poster:	feralfauna
Date:	2007-12-04 15:30
Subject:	Hi there and a recipe.
Security:	Public

New here, I just defected from LiveJournal. I'm vegan and I cook A LOT so I was hoping to see an active veg*n community here. Hopefully this one might get active.

Meanwhile I have a lovely breaded artichoke recipe I can share. The amounts of flour, rice milk and bread crumbs are guesswork- start with this much but have more on hand in case you need it.

one can artichoke hearts, halved
1 cuppish rice milk (you can use real or soy milk if you prefer)
1/2 cuppish flour
1/2 cuppish dry bread crumbs, plain- to this I add about a tsp each of herbs for extra flavor; oregano, parsley and marjoram are good, and if I add sage I add a little less
olive oil (or canola if you prefer)
lemon juice

I put three bowls out in a row- the first has the flour, second, the rice milk and third the herbs with the dry bread crumbs. You might end up needing more of each, but usually these amounts work fine for me.

Halve the artichoke hearts, or quarter if you want them smaller. Using tongs, I coat each piece in flour, then dip completely in rice milk, then coat in the seasoned bread crumbs. Make sure both sides are coated in this breading mixture. Set aside.

Add oil to a skillet heat the oil until a coated artichoke heart set into it bubbles around the edges- you can test by dipping one in. Then add each heart to the oil, not overcrowding.

Let them sizzle for a bit until the edges are golden brown and then turn each one over carefully. When done, remove with spatula and set on a paper towel to absorb excess oil.

Splash with lemon juice and remove from paper towel to serve, leaving excess oil behind.

Obviously one can do a lot of little changes with this recipe. You can sautée garlic in the oil first. You can use different herbs in the breading. You can use preseasoned bread crumbs.

I can pretty much eat a whole can of these in one sitting.

Poster:	clare_dragonfly
Date:	2007-09-26 00:56
Subject:	Greetings!
Security:	Public

So now that there's a few members here (yay!), I figured I'd get the ball rolling with an introduction. I'm Clare, and I'm mostly vegan. I still use honey, silk, and probably will still use angora, but otherwise I don't use any animal products (except for the leather shoes and belt--I have decided not to purchase any more leather, though). I was raised vegetarian and went vegan very recently... as in, just a few days ago. I considered it over the summer, but wanted to wait until I was done school and didn't have to eat in the dining hall, but after discussing it with a friend I decided to go vegan. It's not easy, but I'm doing a decent job at it so far.

Feel free to introduce yourself, and post recipes, questions, musings, jokes, and whatever else you can think of that relates to veg*nism!

Also, I would be most pleased if someone wanted to make or share an icon for this community :D