Eating Plants, Day 2

This morning I ate my usual breakfast of toasted oats, almond milk and a banana. It was splendid. 

I was most excited about the soy hot chocolate that I bought from Starbucks. Back in the day, I used to work at Starbucks and swore by the non-fat hot chocolate with extra whip. But in actuality I was unwilling to try the steamed soy. However, I LOVED it. So, that is going to be helpful for my life of chocolate loving. 

For lunch I ate an amazing rice, lentil, tofu and veggie casserole. The recipe is from the Idiot’s Guide to Plant-Based Nutrition. Except I added chopped tofu, a chopped pepper, and I’m going to add some tomatoes next time.

For dinner, I was in a rush, and I realized throwing together a well-balanced vegan meal in 3 minutes is not easy. So I made a peanut butter and cinnamon-raisin toast sandwich. 

I guess I need to eat vegetables, huh?

Eating Plants: Day 1

Originally I thought Kashi Toasted Oats looked like dog food, so I avoided them. But, this morning I ate a bowl with great delight along with some tasty almond milk, blueberries, bananas and a glass of OJ. I ate lunch out: a sandwich with tabbouleh, hummus and veggies (luckily Cynthia ate my cheddar). My biggest temptation of the day were the Valentine's M&Ms that my husband bought me - that are currently staring me in the face in a cute bowl on my table.

My February Chickpea Pot Pie

For dinner, I had a chickpea and veggie pot pie. I got the recipe off of VegTimes but made a few changes. I used potatoes instead of pasta, coconut cream instead of cream cheese and eliminated the parmesan. Next time I am planning on using a vegan cream cheese alternative and finding a salty replacement for the parmesan ... or maybe I'll look into getting a cookbook like this to find more creative cheesy recipes.

I tried making a vegan hot chocolate this evening, but I think I need to go a different route with my next endeavor.

Overall, a successful first day.

40 days of Plants

About three and a half years ago, I decided to become a pescetarian after reading Serve God Save the Planet. I thought, why not contribute to the environmentalist cause on earth, while it's still flourishing? I decide to stop eating fish products about a year and a half ago, since my vegan husband convinced me it wasn't helpful for my body. Then during my wedding vows I committed to try to a vegan diet for a season of my life. So I'm going for it, starting this Lenten season I have decided to go vegan for 40 days. I confess, I am sticking with eating honey. Bees love me, and I am sure they won't mind me celebrating their life-work.

Many may say that I have a lack of self-control, so attempting to go vegan is a little bit silly. But, how will I know if I don't try? I am going to try to post here about my adventures in cooking, eating and my accomplishments in saying no especially to macaroni and cheese and milk chocolate, etc. during this short season of my life.

A Month in Uganda

I traveled to Uganda in June of 2011 for a month. We took four other InterVarsity staff and eleven InterVarsity students from colleges throughout New England.

What did I learn? It seems impossible to communicate that. However, I will try.

I learned the simple things like:
how to say “good morning” before ... “when is breakfast going to be ready?”
how to sit down for a hour-long meal morning, noon and night each day without any agenda other than eating and community building
how to worship without instruments and in other languages
how to enjoy seeing infinite stars in the sky, without the impeding city lights
how to smile and say hello to strangers on the streets, even in the middle of a run
how to have communal spiritual disciplines
how to communicate my genuine love for people without speaking and how to sincerely be overcome with grief and sadness upon leaving people I nearly just met

Then, I learned deeper things that I saw with my own eyes:

Like the reality that many people are extremely oppressed, more than I understood ... people are dying because of serious injustices, others are living in incredibly unacceptable conditions, they are suffering. I began considering what would it look like for their dignity to be restored? If we are truly a global humanity under God, is that really

I began to ask questions about the progress of our society in America in 2011 and the implications that has on what qualifies as injustice in regards to our global humanity.

What are the implications of the disparity between the American poor and the Ugandan upper middle class?
... the Ugandan University students that we were traveling with are familiar with bathing out of a bucket and seem to only washed their clothes by hand in a bucket. It is normal to eat an entire meal of carbohydrates. They sleep without screens on their windows, without mosquito nets and do not use bug spray in an area known to have prevalent malaria.

Even the American poor are prospering in comparison with Ugandan’s middle class, with a seeming permanence. Is this okay?

Is food and drinking water a human’s right?
... the majority of Uganda lives on $1 a day ... and that is not enough for them ... most are eating 1 meal a day, 1 meal of carbohydrates, that is ... the children are malnourished and their bodies show it ... it is reality that the majority of people in Uganda do not have running water and have to walk a distance to fetch their water

With American wealth and advancements, can we with good conscience allow people to die of thirst and hunger?

Is medical care a human’s right?
... it is reality that people who are ill or injured can go to a hospital and not be seen for days without bribing the nurses for attention

One afternoon, we traveled to a hospital in Kampala, the capital city, to minister to some visitors there. Some of us met a guy named Moses. He had been in a motorcycle accident, the skin on his scalp, face, arms, and side had been scraped off due to the impact of the accident. He had no friend or family there with him, and he just lay on a bed in the hallway, hoping to be seen. He had checked in and been seen by a nurse on his first day there, but had never been cleaned up, only bandaged to prevent from bleeding on the bed. He had no money to bribe the nurses, he had no one to advocate for him, he had not eaten, he had not bathed. It had been two and a half days since he arrived.

This would never happen in America. Does this mean anything?
He could have easily died that afternoon. Does that mean anything?

Is a sanitary environment a human’s right?
... people in the Ugandan slums use the bathroom in front of their homes, because they have no access to an out house ... it is reality that even the cities have no trash disposal, the middle class throw their trash into a pile where bugs then begin to breed ...

Is free education a human’s right?
... children in Uganda pay about $1 of school fees per school day for public schooling, in relationship to the average income, this means that without external aid and sponsorship the majority of Ugandans would not be attending elementary or secondary school. This creates an inability for the average Ugandan students to attend school without financial aid from others.

So, how do I respond? What do I do now that I have seen these injustices firsthand? Do I search for the cause and end it? Where do I even start.

I’m starting by praying.

And I’ll go from there.