Traveling for food

Yesterday was a long day spent driving. We headed up to St. Louis to visit the Global Foods Market, Whole Food store, and Trader Joe's. I have to say that shopping for food or anything in St. Louis on a Saturday is out from now on.  Too crowded!

The experience at the Global Foods Market on Lindbergh in Kirkwood was awesome.. as usual. I have never seen such diverse fruits and vegetables under one roof. It was definitely an educational experience. We went down every aisle and had a blast. I found sesame seeds which have been all but impossible to find here. An entire bag, 1 pound, for under $3.00. Tahini, which is actually a sesame seed butter was less than half the price here and the amount is double what is available in my town. Everything was economical and FRESH!

Whole Foods in Brentwood was a zoo. The staff were knowledgable and friendly, but the customers were a little rude. I know it's hard to believe but the world does not revolve around a select few. It was very difficult to navigate down the aisles with two carts side by side but the selection of wheat free, gluten free products was awesome and well labeled throughout the store. We finally found the vegetarian, vegan section of dairy free products and there was CHEESE. Mozzerella, american and pepper jack OH MY! Our son was in heaven. He was beaming with the concept of grilled cheese sandwiches and macaroni with ooey gooey golden deliciousness, yeah it's a word.

After having two wonderful experiences I thought Trader Joe's in Brentwood was a slight let down, except for the wonderful employee who copied 5-6 pages of products that are vegan friendly for us. The lines were long and the people were getting restless. All in all, I came home with bags of nutritious items for the family and it wasn't a strain on the pocket book! Thanks St. Louis for having what we needed.

I'm choosing a vegan lifestyle for health reasons

I don't really make new years resolutions because I always break them. However, I usually have one...lose the weight. I wasn't always overweight, as a young kid I was, as my mother says, "under weight and over tall". Things change when growing up in this fast food, over-processed junk food world. After I had my son nearly 12 years ago (wow, has it been that long?) I slowly began packing on the pounds. After having some shortness of breath and other issues it was either do this all the way or possibly not be here in a couple of years. Yeah, that's not an option.

It all started with documentaries like Vegucated, Forks over Knives and Fat, sick and nearly dead. Then a trip to the local library with a very select few copies of vegan books like, Living Vegan for Dummies, Veganist, and The Kind Diet. Then everything began to make sense. What had I been doing to myself all of the years. Then the guilt of knowing what I had been feeding my unsuspecting family was overwhelming. A person has to start somewhere and that is exactly what we have been doing.

We did eliminate meat, dairy, and (wheat (gluten) as a personal choice) immediately. It wasn't hard for my son and I, but it has been a little hard for my husband. He is trying so hard, one meal at a time!  I have been hitting the vegan recipes pretty hard this past week and making some real progress inventing some tasty dishes. I will post those recipes and pictures soon, until then you closet vegans in southeast missouri keep up the good fight. No a less violent approach would be.... keep up the good eats!

Just starting out as a new Vegan

So... After my 11 year old son and I watched the documentary "vegucated" we have begun our vegan journey. In a few short weeks we have encouraged my husband and mother to do the same. I have to say that the journey has been interesting thus far. Where we live the closest meetup for other vegetarians/vegans is 1 1/2 hours away. The health food store in our town is limited and I am learning everything from documentaries, books and the web. So far so good! Wishing for vegan friends in our area.