For foodies
Attack of the Vegans!!!!!!!!
Yes they are here and we better get used to it! THE VEGANS ARE COMING!!! And ready to tear you down and preach the no meat word of gospel! Put down the fried chicken and pork chops because animals have rights too!! Stop eating that slave food and start eating sensibly! Processed foods are the DEVIL!!!
Bit much? I’m kidding…
Nothing wrong with veganism. In fact, I actually admire them and raw foodists because there’s such much that they give up in order to live a healthier lifestyle with all of this temptation around them. They actually helped bring to the forefront food advocacy, corporate practices, and food safety. Many of them on the outside seem like pot smoking, patchouli smelling, dirty f*cking hippies who are activists, food, political, or otherwise, oh, and are white liberals. Ok, I know that there are plenty of black vegans such as the author of Vegan Soul. It’s not so rare anymore that one would find those. They seem to be just popping up everywhere these days with their cookbooks and their body care products and their blogs and vegan information sites. And I do find vegan food, well most of it anyway, to be not only nutritious and fulfilling, but very delicious, and not bland and flavorless like most people would think.
What’s a vegan? Who would want to give up the big piece of chicken? Veganism is more than just not eating meat. It is a lifestyle. The term came from Donald Watson of the UK who founded the British Vegan Society in 1944 and by H. Jay Hinshah in 1960 who founded the American Vegan Society. They avoid meat, fish, shellfish, eggs, milk, cheese, pretty much anything that had a pulse. There are a variety of reasons why people go meatless, one of them being caging and sanitary conditions of how the animals are kept. Free range – hormone free chicken simply means that the chickens are not caged up so close together and are able to roam free. They are not injected with a bunch of hormones and steroids to prevent disease and make them fatter. Why is this important? Because one, whatever they are injected with ends up in our food supply and will eventually make us sick. Wild caught salmon or other fish means just what it means. Salmon that is not farm raised and feed stuf that is harmful and eventually ends up harming us. Another reason many vegans have given up on meat products is because corporations have laced our food with too many additives and chemicals that make us sick anyway. I mean, really, most food that seem harmless such as chicken nuggets from fast food restaurants have like 50 damn ingredients in them, and a lot of it comes from chemical preservatives. And does anyone remember the Mad Cow scare? And finally, animals are killed inhumanely in this country. They are taken to slaughterhouses such as these and are kicked, beaten, and their throats slashed. Yeah, the cow scene alone was pretty disgusting. And then it ends up on your plate. Yes, I understand.
Vegans also stay away from products that are tested on animals. Products labeled cruelty free, are not in any way shape or form tested on rats, mice, rabbits. They don’t wear anything made from animals such as leather, furs from chinchilla, rabbit, fox, no gators, snake skin and pretty much every expensive bag from Prada and Gucci. They also don’t use anything that has beeswax, lanolin, emu oil, musk, and carmine in its products. Who wants to see lipstick on a pig anyway? But there are downsides to going vegan. One being that you could end up being deficient in certain vitamins and minerals such as calcium, vitamin D, iron, protein, vitamin B-12, and omega-3 fatty acids. That is why it is recommended by the Vegan Society and the Vegan Outreach to replace these vitamins with supplements are with foods such as seaweed and leafy green vegetables. Their diets mainly consists of tofu, tempeh, seitan, vegetables, legumes, and fruits. Another downfall to going vegan is that people in the community tend to ostracize those that don’t want to eat meat anymore. First we stopped eating pork, then red meat, now no meat? What type of bullsh*t is this? Actually this was talked about over at A Black Girl’s Guide to Weight loss . As I have said before, it would benefit us if we ventured outside the box and tried something unfamiliar to us. As much as we like our food seasoned and flavorful, vegan food does not have to be bland and boring. It does not mean that you are any less black than your peers because you chose to give up the big piece of chicken for, well, chik’n. Don’t worry about what the crabs think; you are the one that lives in you skin and are affected by what you put in your body.
But I have a beef (for) vegans. It’s a peeve of mine when folks want to get in my business about what I’m eating and what I put in my body. I’m being hypocritical some might say because I talk about healthy eating all the time, and yet, I’ll indulge every now and then. Hell, I’m not depriving myself; I tried that and it just doesn’t work for me. I still like meat, I just know my limits and have definitely limited my intake because I want to be healthy for me, and not for some animals that will kill me anyway. In other words, I still live a happy and healthy life and the people who are in the same boat as I am are living just as comfortable. So no, you’re not better than me. Another peeve of mine is when there tends to be a disregard for human life over an animal. I love animals too, hell I’ll even say that I don’t wear fur and wear fake leather(rarely folks)…Guess what? Between a me and a chicken, I’m at the top of the food chain. If I were to swim in the ocean or go on a safari in the African jungle, I’d be somewhere in the middle. If I were to get eaten by a shark or a lion, hey, it is what it is. And it’s a personal choice that people make when it comes to what they put in their bodies. Through food advocacy, you job is to educate the public about going vegan, what the benefits are, and what they can do to protect the environment and help keep our food supply safe. If I wanted to be preached to about why I am an animal killer and how I will rot in hell, I’d find this sexy:
and go hard in the paint that PETA threw on me
The movement is certainly growing and while I would love to join in on the fun and exciting world of all things non-meat, my love/hate relationship permits me not to. at least for right now. Vegans are a growing movement and people who have identified themselves as vegan make up about 1% of the nation. As for the black community, as much as we hear about heart disease, diabetes, and hypertension, going vegan seems like a viable option. What we don’t need to do is to treat one of our own like a freak of nature because they are giving up meat. But the food’s great.
Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( 2 so far )How Nasty Are You?: Sex and Food Edition
It really irks me when people, especially black people, are picky as hell about their food, but they will go downtown on just about any(one)thing. I was speaking to someone the other day about how I would love to be on that show Bizarre Foods because it’s just looks like something up my alley and he told me that she couldn’t eat that stuf(understandable) but then went on to say how he only eats foods he recognizes. So I asked what he meant by that and threw out some examples to him and he goes, “Goat Cheese??? Hell damn no. Medium rare filet mignon?? My meat better be well done or else I’m taking it back. Christine, Why you like that bougie food anyway?” His ignorance was astounding. But nonetheless not surprising.
So is goat cheese, brie and sushi considered bougie? Only rich people eat that stuf? I must have missed that. But anyway, I wanted to ask him has he ever performed oral sex on anyone, but I’ll assume the answer is yes. And I’m pretty sure that there are other’s like him that don’t mind going down under to the briny deep. Appearance? Hey they all look the same(ok, most). Besides, that’s just a mole at the tip. Smell? slightly fishy, but he’ll do it just once since she did it on him first. She might be having a bad day. Or, if she’s going on him, he doused it with cologne and now you’re smelling like Black Polo. Taste? Slightly tart, salty, watery, a little musty, bitter and somewhat sweet. Ok, now swallow! Mmmm Mmmm good!
So what I have just described above is the experience of oral sex. You don’t really know what you’re getting, and you just have to assume that it’s palatable. Hey, if it looks good, eat it(no pun intended). It’s like going out to a restaurant and ordering off the menu and when it comes to you, the plating is nice, it smells mouth-watering, and the taste is heaven. Only difference is, you won’t get a std from eating actual food. Ejaculate fluids in semen contain fructose sugars, proteins, a little urea(pee), minerals, water and happy little foot soldiers called spermatozoa that impregnate you. No, you will not get pregnant if you swallow semen. It’s usually a translucent white or greyish color and kinda sticky. It should not be green, yellow, or pink because that mean there’s either an intruder such as a std or blood in the semen. So if you eat foods such as pineapple or that piece of chicken, will it alter the taste? Sure it will, but with simple diet changes to make it sweeter:
No smoking, no alcohol, no drugs and cut the meat consumption. Add fresh fruits and vegetables to your diet and foods with cinnamon, peppermint, lemon and foods high in chlorophyll will enhance semen sweetness.
Vaginal juices on the other hand have a ph of around 3.8-4.5 and are slightly more acidic than semen due to the good bacteria. The color should be clear to white and sticky not curdled and chunky. Again, if you start to see rainbow down there, it’s probably best for you to head to the doc. And it should NOT smell fishy, foul or clear out the room. I’m sure we’ve all heard this complaint before, but the real culprits of this come from either an infection such as bacterial vaginosis and yeast, poor hygiene, sweat, STDs, and funky urine. The taste can range anywhere between bland, salty, acidic and like rice milk. So how much discharge is ok? If you are using birth control such as the pill or IUD, expect to see more discharge than usual. Diet changes such as noted above will be able to alter the taste and smell of your vagina. Also, not wearing tight clothing, not douching, and using unscented gentle soaps will keep infections away.
So if you’re going to eat downtown(pun intended) or about to devour a 9 inch uncircumcised sausage, then why not try something new that you can eat in front of people like offal, foie gras, and panna cotta. Really ask yourself if you’re willing to fellate some dude you just met a few months ago and haven’t asked him about his sexual past or history, what’s wrong with trying a little kim chee. Because all it is fermented food that’s been sitting around creating good bacteria and it’s actually good for you. “Need a rimshot*, hey, doogie doogie?” Why not try eating some chittlin’s. They both taste like shit if not cleaned properly. Open yourself to other cultures and flavors. There are thousands to choose from and it really makes no sense to confine yourself to one thing. It’s absolutely OK to partake in human sexual secretions, as long as the person is clean and STD free(VD for you old schoolers). I personally don’t think that it’s something that you should do with any and everyone because you’re setting yourself up to catch disease and treading into the hoe category.
*Rimshot-Excerpted from Erykah Badu’s Rimshot record. It’s a slang term for analingus**
**Analingus – the act of oral sex using one’s tongue to lick around the anal region and anus(asshole)
Don’t end up with this. Be adventurous and be safe.
Phat 2 Death
This is not a new blog topic per se, but I wanted to post this link I saw on WEE SEE YOU that outlines the epidemic of obesity in the African-American Community and how fast food companies are running the gamut of “super sizing’ it’s customer’s by not offering any healthy choices. The strategically place their restaurants near schools and in low-income communities because for them, they generate huge profits while at the same time, making us sick. My hope is that people really stop eating this stuf or at least cut back on it dramatically, but we don’t live in an idealistic world. Here’s the paradox; blacks are McDonalds’ #1 customer base; they employ thousands and 1 out of 8 Americans have worked there or at other fast food joints. According to the article, they helped create hundreds of black millionaires and have performed charity work such as through the Ronald McDonald Foundation, sponsored sports events, and have even become environmentally responsible by using renewable packaging in 82% of it’s consumer products. I feel like they are the neighborhood drug dealer that sells us crack but uses that money to build up the community. The article not only talks about fast food, but how there are a lack of healthier choices in low-income communities and the choices are getting slimmer and slimmer as supermarkets venture out to the suburbs. Here’s the article http://atlantapost.com/2011/01/31/how-fast-food-companies-%E2%80%9Csuper-size%E2%80%9D-african-americans/
Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( None so far )Ooh Baby, I like it Raw…..
Please get your mind out the gutter lol. This will be more of a review and some information on raw food. I’m noticing a lot of cookbooks dealing with raw foods and the benefits of living a raw lifestyle. I just wanna say that it had to grow on me at first. Sure I have a love/hate relationship with meat and have no problem eating vegetarian and vegan food, but what’s this business about uncooked food? Can one live on seeds, nuts, fruits and vegetables alone? 
Raw Food is just what the name suggests. It is food that is not only vegan, but not cooked, baked, fried or sautéed. It is food that it naturally and organically grown with out the use of chemicals and it is food that is not pasteurized. The food is lightly heated using a dehydrator to create fruit strips, crackers, and ‘breads’. It gives the body energy, enhances your skins’ appearance and helps to maintain mental clarity. Also known as living foods or ‘live foods’, these foods are full of enzymes that help you digest food and aid in metabolism. It makes sense because when you cook food, you kill off the live enzymes and most of its natural vitamins and minerals that are supposed to be good for you. And finally, eating raw fruits and vegetables helps to detoxify the body and eliminate wastes. I have a couple of raw food cookbooks, one called Raw Food/Real World by Sarma Mengalis and Matthew Kensey, and the other, Ani’s Raw Food Kitchen by Ani Phyo. Both books are very colorful and describes the benefits of the raw food diet and the movement itself for more sustainable foods. In many of the recipes, they use dehydrators, food processors, and blenders for smoothies, purees, and to make stuf like crackers and breads. I’ll admit, I’m not a huge fan of recreations of regular food like burgers and lasagna because, I’ve tried it and they taste awful. Too salty, too sweet, and too nutty. Most of the ingredients used in raw foods happen to come from coconuts and coconut oil which have gotten a bad rep until recently, agave syrup, nutritoonal yeast, and cocoa powder. Even Whole Foods have started selling raw food. They sell packaged raw crackers, macaroons, raw cookies, and other raw goodies. These tend to be very expensive so if you’re feeling a little adventurous and have some extra dough, shell out $10 for some crackers or granola. I don’t know about other areas, but the Whole Foods in the DC/Baltimore area sells them from their vendors Awesome Foods, and Zia’s Cafe’ in Towson. I’ve had Awesome Foods’ raw taco, raw pizza, and raw mediterranean wrap. The pizza was good, but the taco was too salty, nutty, and left my mouth dry. The med wrap was soggy, the veggies were soggy and it was just plain disgusting. I even took that one back for something else. From Zia’s Cafe’, I had the raw coconut creme pie, and raw apple cobbler. The pie was so delicious, creamy and not too sweet. They used unsweetened coconut and coconut oil in many of the dessert dishes without the coconut being overpowering. The cobbler tasted pretty good as well. I thought that they may have used too much cinnamon though. But the cobbler ‘crumbs’ were made from pureed dates and walnuts. Unfortunately, this one sent me running to the bathroom. But that’s supposed to be a good thing right? Recently, I ate the Curry ‘Chicken” wrap from Zia’s Cafe. The wrap itself was made from collard green leaves and the filling was made from a pureed mix of sunflower seeds, cashews, curry powder, turmeric, carrots, grapes, and nutritional yeast. It was packed in flavor and I almost forgot that it wasn’t really chicken salad. It got its creaminess from the cashews that were probably soaked in water first before being pureed.
So I’ve decided to include some of my favorite recipes from the books that I have tried. Here’s one from Ani’s Book on page 166, Save the Tune Pate’. This can be eaten with crackers, chips, or wrapped in collard green leaves to make a tuna wrap. Suprisingly, this stuf had NO tuna in it, but tasted like it could be tuna salad
Save the Tuna Pate’ -makes 4 servings
2 cloves of garlic
*1 tablespoon dulse flakes
2 cups of unsalted sunflower seeds
Juice of 2 lemons or 4 tablespoons
1/2 cup of water
2 grated carrots
1/2 bunch of parsley leaves chopped
1/4 cup of red onion chopped
salt and pepper to taste
Process the garlic and dulse in a food processor. Then add the seeds and processor to make a small crumb like mixture. Add the lemon juice and just enough water to make a thick paste. Scoop the pate’ in a bowl and add the carrots, parsley, onion, and salt and pepper to taste.
*Dulse flakes and small red/purple seaweed flakes that can be found in most health food stores They can either be snacked on raw, or eaten in soups and salads.
Here’s another one from Raw Food/Real World called Chocolate pudding page 239. It has no dairy in it which I like considering I can’t have most foods with dairy. Most vegans usually eat chocolate pudding made from tofu, but this one is derived from coconuts.
Chocolate Pudding – makes 4 servings
2 cups of coconut meat*
3/4 cup of coconut water at room temperature(or more if needed to thin)
1/2 cup maple syrup
1/3 cup agave nectar
1/2 cup cocoa powder
2 tablespoons vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon salt
In a high-speed blender, puree all the ingredients until completely smooth, stopping to scrape the sides at times. Transfer to bowls and chill for a firmer pudding or just eat it right away. This tastes great with fresh fruit such as strawberries and raspberries.
*it’s best to use young Thai coconut meat. This coconut is softer than the regular kind and has a tan looking husk around it that looks pointed at the top. They sell these at ethnic grocery stores and health food stores but one can also find them packaged in the freezer section in some Asian markets.
So far, I have had my good and my bad with raw food. I know that people live on this stuf in their daily lives and it makes me wonder if they miss eating cooked food. To them, the benefits outweigh the costs. And sometime in the future, I will test this theory of the raw food diet and update my blog post under the title, Yeah Baby I like it Raaawwww!
Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( 1 so far )Love of food
One thing I love besides sex, sleep and family is food. I finally came out of the closet to reveal myself as a foodie(as if it was a bad thing to be a foodie?) and I love to try different foods. My favorite is Asian foods such as Vietnamese, Japanese, Chinese, and Thai. Nothing against western flavors, but these cuisines are always bold in flavor and offer something different for the palate. And of course, I like to eat vegan and vegetarian foods as well. I’m still growing to like raw food although it’s mostly fruit, veggies, nuts and seeds you’re eating. Unfortunately, I could never bring myself to be a veg, mostly due to my love/hate relationship with meat, and my undying love of fried chicken. But I do try to eat less of it and so far, that battle is 50/50.
But sugar and carbs on the other hand are wearing me down. I am like a crack addict when it comes so sugar, so much that some of my products are inspired by sweet creations. When I don’t get my fix, I start tweaking and getting all jittery until I am able to satisfy my urges. Sometimes I break off my relationship with Mr. Sugar Daddy thinking that this is the last time, and I’m not fucking with him no more because of what I become(fat, overweight, obese, diabetic) when I’m with him, but he just makes me feel sooooo good and I just gotta have one bite, maybe a little indulgence. See? Wash, rinse, repeat. Carbs are needed to fuel the body with energy but too much can make u sluggish. And that damn sugar likes to hide in carbs like simple carbohydrates including but not limited to bread, pastries, and cookies.
I bring up this up because I have noted before in my other blog about attitudes about food in the African-American community( blog.greenafrodiva.wp.com ) Why is it that we are afraid to try new things and only stick to what is recognizable and comfortable? And I hate to say this, but lets keep it real, most of the food that we eat is not only not good for us, it’s just not that good. Shit swimming in grease, fried, or soaked in butter piled atop of more shit soaked in grease not only does not look too appealing, but it’s a heart attack waiting to happen. Is that shit supposed to be comfort food? Is that really down-home cooking? Becuase every time I’ve taken a bite of a that stuf, I get this painful, heavy sensation in my gut, like it’s telling me,”really Christine? This shit again? Did u not get the memo the last time u were on the toilet? or in the hospital a few years back cuz u couldn’t shit? smdh…” yeah, really not that comforting. Ok, I do admit that I do engage in a burger once in a while and I was one of those people excited about Sonic coming to the neighborhood. But I know as well as u know of at least one person that eats like this everyday. Yet they wonder why they must pay more insurance, have low sex drive, are always tired, and complain about that weird feeling in their chest and gut.
Natural and organic food is boring, lacking in flavor, looks unappealing and lacking in flavor. I meant to put lacking in flavor twice. Not all of it is, but that’s the criticism you’d most likely hear. And that it’s too expensive. I don’t come from a lot of money myself, but at least every other payday, I try to venture to Whole(paycheck) Foods, MOMs, or Trader Joes to indulge in something healthier for my family. I also attend farmer’s markets around the area for fresh produce and try some of the local flavors of homemade jellies and cookies(organic of course). There’s no excuse. Preparing your own food has it’s good and bad because at least you know what you’re putting in your food, but at the same time, don’t know how many calories you’re consuming and let’s face it, who weighs their food these days to note porti0n control? With all the hoopla about African Americans and our health issues, it seems to me that not only are we getting fatter and lazier, but we’re becoming ignorant about food in general while only sticking to what is familiar to us and what feels good. If you ask us if we ever had goat cheese, brie or kim chee, we’d probably tell you hell naw, or make that I’m not eating anything that smells weird face. Hell, I still get funny looks from folks when I cut into my medium rare steak at Ruby Tuesdays. We can be adventurous with sex, but not with food, hmmmm…….
Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( None so far )
Green Afro Diva ™ - Natural Living with Flava 