[Life] Animal Freedom Fighters

[CiCi]

Animal Freedom Fighters

Here's a place where those who believe in Animal Rights can come together. Animal Rights are the Rights that a growing number of people feel animals should have; the most basic Right, the Right to Life, is what people like us fight for. We've gained a good foothold in modern society. It's thanks to passionate people like us that animal abusers are punished more harshly for their crimes and why it's illegal to harm a cat or dog like it is to harm a human. However, we still have a long way to go. Pigs, cows, and other farm animals are still abused and it's not seen as criminal in most justice systems, beloved domesticated animals are discarded like objects, and animals still unfortunately have to suffer at the hands of our fellow humans. If you're one of the compassionate, loving, and dedicated people who believe this is wrong, this club is for you!

The Animal Freedom Fighter's Club discusses not only the rights animals do and should have but we also discuss veganism, vegetarianism, veg-curiosity, and have general discussions about the lovely animals with whom we share our world.

Share pictures of all of your pets, farm animals, domestic pets, pocket pets, and otherwise. Share your favorite vegan recipes. Or just have a place filled with like-minded people to discuss Rights or vent. And feel free to go off-topic if you wish; we're all friends here trying to get to know one another! Though we're mostly catering to people who are already vegan or vegetarian, we also accept veg-curious people — those who are not yet vegan or vegetarian but are looking to get into the lifestyle and want help from long standing veg-heads!

Rules
There aren't many but we do have a few!

I. Please no trolling in this club. We get enough of that, we don't need more snarky bacon jokes, thank you.

II. Keep debates civil! I know how heated things can get, let's just remember that we're all friends here, working toward the same goals.

III. No gory images or videos. We all know what goes on in slaughterhouses, let's not post those things here.

IV. Anyone is allowed to take reign of the conversation! We're not too strict here; we're just friends with a common goal and interest. As long as there's not an active topic or event going on, we don't mind you talking about what you like, whether it's cute animals, veganism/vegetarianism, or other things you like; we're all friends here who want to learn about one another and have fun!

Questions for newcomers:

I. How long have you been vegan or vegetarian?
II. Do you have any pets?
III. What's your favorite dish?
IV. What are some of your other interests?

Freedom Fighters

CiCi Sama
VisionofMilotic


_{(Just request for your name to be on the list and you will be placed here, too! If you're on the Freedom Fighters list, you'll be able to receive direct messages about events and activities going on in the club!)}

I. How long have you been vegan or vegetarian?
I've been vegan for 7 years. I was vegetarian before then, from 13 thru 20 years old. Yeah, I'm old, I know.

II. Do you have any pets?
I have quite a few! Nothing like enjoying my home with animals. 2 dogs, 3 cats (I'd have 5 dogs if I could, lmao), a yellow saharan uromastyx, and a turtle.

III. What's your favorite dish?
Hard to say! There are so many awesome vegan dishes. Some things I've had to change, like chili or mac n' cheese, and then there are other delicious foods that didn't need change, like koshary and vegetable soup. All amazing 🖤

IV. What are some of your other interests?
I enjoy writing and drawing (original and fan works). I also love to obsess over fictional men; some of my current obsessions are Prince Zuko and Thief King Bakura. And if you haven't noticed by my steez, I love the gothic and dark aesthetics of life 🖤

 

[VisionofMilotic]

Where has this club been all my life?

I. How long have you been vegan or vegetarian?
Over 10 years. Don't worry, you are not the only antique on the shelf!

II. Do you have any pets?
Oh yes! A home is not as cozy without them. I have a Norwegian Forest cat named Ward after the Disney animator Ward Kimball who animated "Rucifee" the cat from Cinderella and several other famous kitties like the Siamese cats from Lady and the Tramp and the Cheshire cat from Alice and Wonderland. He is super smart, if a little Machiavellian and possessive. Basically he's a little munchlax though happy to eat.

I also have a big, fluffy Great Pyrenees mountain dog. I call him Prince for his regal bearing. He is a gentle giant who protects all the little critters of the house.

I am also fostering a stray cat in the neighborhood, a beautiful black cat with golden eyes that could pass for a Bombay . He's very animated, affectionate and frisky and can do acrobatic tricks worthy of the circus in pursuit of his toy fishing rod. I call him Salem from Sabrina the Teenage Witch.

I have been blessed with many wonderful pets over the years two Chow Chow dogs, A black and white pair Han and Chewy from StarWars, brave German Sherpherd named Cinnamon, my goldfish Goldie and Friendly, and my rabbit Powderpuff. I have also volunteered with and fostered many other animals are re-homed strays.

What's your favorite dish?

I love Asian cuisine, and I can't resist vegetable sushi, love rolls with carrots or cucumber, avocado, asparagus, black rice, quinoa. I also can't resist fried rice of noodles, could eat it everyday.

What are some of your other interests?

Writing both original stories and fanfiction, collecting and customizing pullip dolls--a Korean fashion doll, amigurumi/crochet, pokemon, cooking and curling up with a historical or fantasy romance novel or miniseries.

 

[CiCi]

Oh yes! A home is not as cozy without them. I have a Norwegian Forest cat named Ward after the Disney animator Ward Kimball who animated "Rucifee" the cat from Cinderella and several other famous kitties like the Siamese cats from Lady and the Tramp and the Cheshire cat from Alice and Wonderland. He is super smart, if a little Machiavellian and possessive. Basically he's a little munchlax though happy to eat.

I also have a big, fluffy Great Pyrenees mountain dog. I call him Prince for his regal bearing. He is a gentle giant who protects all the little critters of the house.

I am also fostering a stray cat in the neighborhood, a beautiful black cat with golden eyes that could pass for a Bombay . He's very animated, affectionate and frisky and can do acrobatic tricks worthy of the circus in pursuit of his toy fishing rod. I call him Salem from Sabrina the Teenage Witch.

I have been blessed with many wonderful pets over the years two Chow Chow dogs, A black and white pair Han and Chewy from StarWars, brave German Sherpherd named Cinnamon, my goldfish Goldie and Friendly, and my rabbit Powderpuff. I have also volunteered with and fostered many other animals are re-homed strays.

I really miss my work as a volunteer in shelters. Unfortunate that it's not a viable option in my life atm because it was one of the most fulfilling things I'd ever done, and I did it for about 6 or 7 years! I miss it a lot.

Awww, my fave is your adorable Prince! ♥♥ He sounds so cute and sweet! I love big doggos. <3 If I could afford it, I'd have a home full of big ol' pups like our other two (especially the 30 inches at the shoulder and 85 lbs Briggs; he's such a big boi! ♥). Rucifee xD That's adorable.

Rip, to all of your beloved family members; I know how hard it is to lose them when they mean so much to people like us. Han, Chewy, Cinnamon, and Powderpuff really struck a chord for me since I lost my bunny and my beloved practically-my-son dog this year. I have their urns at home but it's obviously not the same. That being said, my dog's urn will be coming with me when I get married this coming Halloween and he'll be with me at the altar in the arms of whomever I choose to be my maid of honor.

I love Asian cuisine, and I can't resist vegetable sushi, love rolls with carrots or cucumber, avocado, asparagus, black rice, quinoa. I also can't resist fried rice of noodles, could eat it everyday.

Mmm, Asian-style food is so good! I was obsessed with this veggie sushi I found at a local market recently. Ate way too much of the stuff xD Tried to find it again the other day but they were sold out. Probably because they were making room for all the leftover 'turkey' stuff from Thanksgiving. Their sandwiches were good, at least :P

Writing both original stories and fanfiction, collecting and customizing pullip dolls--a Korean fashion doll, amigurumi/crochet, pokemon, cooking and curling up with a historical or fantasy romance novel or miniseries.

I tried to get into crochet but I couldn't figure out how to do it without hurting my hands. Dx It's so cool, though.
Ooh, I'd love to hear more about your stories sometime! It's fun to find other writers, especially ones who do both original and fanfiction. Usually I only find one or the other ^^'

 

[VisionofMilotic]

I really miss my work as a volunteer in shelters. Unfortunate that it's not a viable option in my life atm because it was one of the most fulfilling things I'd ever done, and I did it for about 6 or 7 years! I miss it a lot.

You made a difference on the life of lots of lonely animals. I had done some volunteer work at my local Humane Society animal shelter, but they have changed from being a No-Kill shelter and I don't believe in euthanasia for healthy animals that are adoptable. So I have mostly been taking in strays. There is an ARF still in my community and they are No-Kill though, and they could probably use my help soon.

Awww, my fave is your adorable Prince! ♥♥ He sounds so cute and sweet! I love big doggos. <3 If I could afford it, I'd have a home full of big ol' pups like our other two (especially the 30 inches at the shoulder and 85 lbs Briggs; he's such a big boi! ♥). Rucifee xD That's adorable.

Big dogs are the best! A lot of people are intimidated by them because of their size, often they are much more calm and mellow though compared to many little dogs.

If you like the Great Pyrenees mountain dog there's a beautiful French film I would recommend called Belle and Sebastian that takes place during WWII. Here's a photo of the Prince.

Rip, to all of your beloved family members; I know how hard it is to lose them when they mean so much to people like us. Han, Chewy, Cinnamon, and Powderpuff really struck a chord for me since I lost my bunny and my beloved practically-my-son dog this year. I have their urns at home but it's obviously not the same. That being said, my dog's urn will be coming with me when I get married this coming Halloween and he'll be with me at the altar in the arms of whomever I choose to be my maid of honor.

Thank you for your kind words, and for sharing something so personal. I sm sorry for your dog and bunny rabbit, I hope your babies had a peaceful end and their souls are roaming free. My grandfather was a huge animal lover. He took in every stray dog he could find, he was a sweet man who passed on too, but in my family we always say that he's out playing with our beloved departed pets as we speak. /Hugs
Your pets I bet sure love you for the rich life you gave them full of love. Bringing your dog to the altar as a guest of honor is one of the most precious and original ideas I have ever heard. They say a dog is man's best friend, now he's kinda like the best man!

I tried to get into crochet but I couldn't figure out how to do it without hurting my hands. Dx It's so cool, though.
Ooh, I'd love to hear more about your stories sometime! It's fun to find other writers, especially ones who do both original and fanfiction. Usually I only find one or the other ^^'

I can't crochet to save my life! I'm collecting others hard work! Decorating the room with crochet i find in artisan stores. Needles and I don't mix. I had to withdraw from a costume construction class because I was so atrocious XD I couldn't complete my projects. I'll stick to making dolls.

Oooooooh, I'd love to tell you more about my writing! You've got yourself a deal! Maybe I'll even show you...
I love researching ancient myths and legends around the world and write my own retellings. You don't by any chance like Greek mythology do you? I have got some fanfictions I am about to upload soon too. I love me some Hoenn.

 

[CiCi]

Awww! Prince is so handsome! ♥

And yes, I do enjoy Greek mythology. I prefer Egyptian but I like Greek, too :3

Speaking of cultures! Let's do some recipe swaps, shall we? But let's try to make a fun game out of it, too. One of us will state a nationality or a culture and the next person will post their favorite recipe stemming from it (i.e., P1: Chinese; P2: *posts a recipe for Chow Mein*). Maybe we'll find some new recipes this way! Plus, I love exploring other cultures through foods, which is how koshary became one of my favorite dishes :P

I'll start!
Caribbean

 

[VisionofMilotic]

Awww! Prince is so handsome! ♥

And yes, I do enjoy Greek mythology. I prefer Egyptian but I like Greek, too :3

Speaking of cultures! Let's do some recipe swaps, shall we? But let's try to make a fun game out of it, too. One of us will state a nationality or a culture and the next person will post their favorite recipe stemming from it (i.e., P1: Chinese; P2: *posts a recipe for Chow Mein*). Maybe we'll find some new recipes this way! Plus, I love exploring other cultures through foods, which is how koshary became one of my favorite dishes :P

I'll start!
Caribbean

Why thank you! I do have handsome pets if you don't mine me tooting my own horn :)

Egyptian mythology is also fascinating, and they have a very interesting relationship with Greece. There are so many Greek myths that take place in Africa, and a syncretism of the Gods. I also love Norse mythology!

This is such a cool idea for a game. How did I miss this post? Let's see I need my boyfriend here because he's much more knowledge about Caribbean food. But I do love me some okra!!!! I'll choose that.
Just found a nice spicy okra recipe online that looks really easy to make.
https://jamaicans.com/spicy-okra-recipe/

Just look at that picture!



You're making my mouth water by the way. I don't think I have ever had koshary before, but it looks darn good!

How about Mediterranean cuisine?

 

[CiCi]

Haha, toot that horn as much as you want here! We're here to celebrate all animals, including our pets (who are always the best pets and we will fight anyone who says otherwise :P). I find that people like us always think our pets are the most handsome and beautiful, the best behaved, and the smartest bois and gurls. And that we also fall in love with other people's pets very quickly :P

I've not learned much about Norse mythology but considering how interesting I tend to find such things, I'm sure I'd love it. Plus, there was this horror game called Unforgiving: A Northern Hymn which made the Swedish and Norse mythos look so cool! Super cool game with a really awesome concept. ♥

My favorite Mediterranean food is definitely a quinoa salad bowl. Here's a basic recipe for that!
Salad:
1 cup/1 can of chickpeas (drained)
1-2 cups of cooked quinoa
Avocado (sliced)
Cucumber (diced)
Bell pepper (diced)
Red onion (diced)
1/2 cup black olive halves
1/2 cup of tofu feta 'cheese' (typically made by crumbling firm tofu, and adding nutritional yeast, salt, a tsp of lemon juice, and garlic powder to taste) -- optional

Add everything together all hodgepodge -- that's the fun part about this recipe. It's very loose and you don't have to worry much.


Dressing:
Juice from 1 lemon
1 tbsp vinegar
1 tbsp dijon mustard
1 tsp maple syrup
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp ground cumin
Salt & pepper to taste

Just mix them all together and put on top of your finished salad bowl!

♥♥

Hmmm... How about something Korean? :D

 

[CiCi]

Hey, Freedom Fighters, here's hoping your holidays have been going well! Especially the food situation. Anyone wanna share what kind of veghead dinners they've had? :D

Got myself a tofurky, which was all right, but then I had tofurky's ham and oooooml 🖤🖤🖤 So tasty! I loved it! Plus the stuffing, cranberry sauce, rolls, mashed potatoes, sauerkraut -- a fully vegan dinner for both Thanksgiving and Christmas. Loved every moment of it and so did my family! x3

 

[VisionofMilotic]

Over the holidays I got some "mock crab cakes" from Whole Foods. They were so juicy and delicious, really flavorful with this tangy, smoked taste. They are big and filling. They are 100% vegan made from soy.

I have tried vegan crab cakes before, and the results haven't always been as much of a success, earlier this year I bought a jack fruit-based crabless cake fron Trader Joe's that tasted like a wet newspaper. But this one was a really nice treat.

I baked some extras for my mum who is not vegetarian or vegan, and she thought they were extra good and had no idea they were not actual crab cakes, and she's picky about her crab cakes and likes them heavy on the crab not stuffing. She likes crab cakes, but not just anybody's, and she really liked these. I never let on that they were imitations. I kept it a secret, trolling a meat eater :)

The rest of what I bought was kinda run of the mill, got some cabbage from the deli-- it was okay, a little sweeter than I would have liked but edible, not wet newspaper. Some bellpepers and grilled asparagus-- all good. And they had some really good cornbread, it was so smooth and creamy, I wish I had bought more. Also picked up some olives and yummy grape leaves/ dolmas because I could :P

 

[CiCi]

*literally everything*

Oh yum!! <3 I loved crab cakes before going vegan and crab has been the one thing I've truly missed. I wonder if you and I tried the same kind of crab cakes. I had the Gardein brand and they were pretty good! Too dang small, though xD

Ahaha, same thing happens with the Beyond Burgers where meat-eaters often don't even realize they had a vegan burger. And topping it with Follow Your Heart cheez? Oh god yes, that's just heavenly.

Mmm, cornbread <3 So good. I found an amazing recipe for very cakey cornbread, since that's the kind I like. I'll share the link just in case you ever wanted to try it! Everyone who's ever had this recipe has fallen in love with it :P Sometimes I replace the applesauce with more oil or more milk and it still works similarly, maybe just a little denser.
https://veganrescue.com/2015/09/23/easy-moist-vegan-cornbread/

 

[VisionofMilotic]

I think the crab cakes were different because they were huge and filling, you could just eat one crab cake and be satisfied for the whole day. I found them in the deli section of Whole Foods I think they are made fresh there exclusively.

I definitely need to try that cornbread recipe! Thank you for the blessing. I have put a little cinnamon apple sauce in corn bread so I have a good feeling about yours.

I found something that might be useful to food lovers in the United States. This app is called seasonal food guide, and it tracks what food will be in season at the specified time of year in your area of the country. I have apples to look forward to, kale, peanuts, squash, sweet potatoes and more. I made a delicious soup for the night with many of the delights growing in my home state, all kinds of herbs, kale, carrots, leeks, and more onions, potatoes, sundried tomatoes that were preserved from earlier in the year, ground pepper. It's scrumptious if I do say so myself!

https://www.seasonalfoodguide.org//

 

[VisionofMilotic]

Curses! Foiled again!

The hardest part for me about being vegetarian is not giving up the taste of meat-- I don't crave it particularly anymore, and if I do there are plenty of good imitations, beyond meat, field roast, impossible burgers etc. Finding vegetarian options while eating out isn't usually that hard either, though there are still a lot of restaurants especially the "upper scale" ones that unfortunately are not sensitive to all types of clientele and can only offer a side dish. This still isn't the biggest challenge for me, it's one night of inconvenience and I try somewhere else next time. I am lucky to have also some restaurants that are accommodating where I live, and I cook a lot at home anyway. The real struggle for me is having to know every ingredient in your food.

Some things are obviously not vegetarian like the salad in the store with bacon bits on top, other things are not so obvious until you look closely like the uncle Ben's rice I bought this week at the grocery store. I didn't even think to read all of the details on the label. I just thought I was buying some rice with spices. I walked away from the roasted chicken rice and jambalaya, and picked up a long grain wild rice and rice pilaf.

The wild rice was fine, just celery, rice, onions, parsley, spinach, canola etc, but the rice pilaf tricked me because it had chicken fat. As soon as I opened the box of the rice pilaf I could tell it smelled especially savoury, so I read the ingredients again. There were so many that I had missed the chicken broth towards the bottom, so I had to give it away to a family member. I hadn't eaten any and wasn't going to, but couldn't take it back because I had opened it. I did the best I could with the situation so it didn't go to waste, but I still felt bad.

Grocery shopping is stressful because you can never just relax while buying groceries, you have to read every label carefully because using the fat of animal or other by products is so common in cooking that it could be tossed into almost anything for flavor, even a box of crackers might be more than it seems, and it won't be advertised on the front of the box in big letters because it isn't one of the main ingredients, and it's not going to bother most folks. It's hard to keep up with every detail when I shop, and it can get tiring reading the tiny print and I can still make mistakes and overlook things that I am not supposed to eat, or not even think to look at too closely.

I had bought some spanikopita without giving it much thought because it's traditionally a Greek dish and feta cheese is what's normally in it. While feta was indeed in it this spanikopita there was also a mixture of different cheeses in this particular brand I realized as I read all of the ingredients on the back. The reason it came to my attention was because I was going to serve it to a friend who has food allergies, and was making sure that it hadn't been cooked in soybean oil because a lot of food is, and she is allergic to that. I'm glad I did check it out again before we ate together because while it had no soy fortunately for her, unfortunately for me one of the secondary cheeses was parmesan-- which is typically made with animal rennet, rennet comes from the cow or sheep's stomach. So the snack was all hers. If it had been a pizza or pasta or some other Italian dish I would have been watching out for parmesan, and checked to see what was in it more closely, but didn't even expect to find it here, so I had just looked at the item in the most cursory of ways.

From now on if I am buying cheese or know that I am buying a meal that will consist of cheese even if it doesn't sound like something that would contain meat I look out for Kosher certified cheeses because meat and dairy cannot be mixed if you keep to kosher dietary law. Red Apple's smoked cheeses are some of the more delicious cheeses I have come across and kosher, I have tried their Gouda and Cheddar and they go great in my omelettes made from cage free eggs. A lot of the soft cheeses like laughing cow and cream cheese or the paneer in my Indian curry are vegetarian-friendly because of the way they are prepared.

Ordering pizza is something I take a pass on though more and more because it's really hard to find pizzas without parmesan hidden somewhere in it unless you get a frozen vegan pizza. I buy Daiya sometimes, the dairy-free and meat-free pizza. They haven't quite got the hang of replicating the taste of cheese yet, but I really like the way they do the Italian sausage topping--that part does taste like the real thing to me at least.

I still have to watch out for the things that shouldn't have cheese in it. Stuff like pizza, sandwiches, salads, mac &cheese or a pierogi don't catch me off guard because I know these things will usually have cheese and I know how to spot the cheeses that work for my diet, and which ones don't. The curve ball comes when it's something I didn't even guess would have cheese like the cauliflower cakes I bought from Trader Joe's-- why do they need parmesan? Cauliflower is usually a vegan's best friend, baked stuffed cauliflower or cauliflower bread crusts, c'mon baby that's such a common substitute like tofu. Now that I know about that dash of parmesan though I just stick to Trade Joe's potato pancakes. Nothing in there but potatoes, matzoh, onions, egg and white pepper, perfectly fine for the vegetarian woman, and they're way tastier anyway.

 

[CiCi]

I guess because I typically eat things that are specifically advertised as vegan and because I make most of my own food, I don't find myself looking at ingredient labels all too often. Could also be that I did all my label checking like... 6 years ago xD So I don't have to worry about doing it much anymore unless I'm buying something completely out of the ordinary. Like recently, where the local market got a "veggie sausage" and I had to read the ingredients for once. Glad I did 'cuz it had egg; no thanks.

I think the only time in recent memory where I bought something that had an unacceptable ingredient was from LiteLife, surprisingly. Can't even remember what it was at this point but LiteLife's other foods were all vegan so I picked it up without a second thought. Read the ingredients at home right before I opened it and lucky I did because it had egg in it! I felt... I dunno, oddly betrayed, 'cuz all their other foods were vegan so I was expecting this to be as well. But I was able to take it back for a full refund since it was unopened and got something I knew 100% was vegan instead.

Oddly, got raked across the coals by a couple of people in a vegan group on Facebook back when I was stupid and went on Facebook. Apparently, I'm an idiot for not checking the ingredients and even more of an idiot for feeling betrayed because... I don't really remember, some stupid reason, probably. Those were definitely the more jackass types of that group, though; just gotta roll your eyes at them. Especially because they got mad at me for buying animal products (which obviously was not my intention) and ignored that I got it back for a full refund, so they didn't get any money for that particular product anyway. One of many, many reasons I don't deal with social media anymore. PC is as social as it gets for me, lol. Even then, I see where they're coming from, they're just going about things in all the wrong ways.

In terms of pizza, I prefer to get Follow Your Heart and then make my own parmesan with cashews and nooch :3 So yummy. Follow Your Heart is the dang KING of vegan cheese. 🖤 Daiya is just all right at best. Some of their stuff has a weird film that it leaves in my mouth, too. I've had Daiya cheese based pizza from a shop (that's kinda far away, unfortunately) that actually tastes really good, but that could be the toppings I typically get. Who knows.

Ahaha, I got so caught up in exploring that seasonal food guide from last time that I completely forgot about this thread xD That thing's super cool. Unfortunately, where I live, I don't start getting variety until around May.

 

[CiCi]

Hey, VegHeads! Well, fellow VegHead, but I'm being optimistic. Anyway, my fiancee and I found a new Vegan Bakery near his new job and they've got some amazing food and variety. I was wondering:

Anyone here been to a new Vegan or Vegetarian only restaurant or cafe? And if you did, how was your experience there? :D

 

[CiCi]

Hello to old and new Veg-Heads! Just curious and wanting to be topical. How has your grocery shopping been affected by the covid going around? Where I live, despite that stores were hectic, pretty much all of my food was still widely available. Most of the meat in the back was completely gone, but my fiancee and I were able to snag some delicious yummies and a vegan frozen pizza for good luck!

 

[VisionofMilotic]

Hello to old and new Veg-Heads! Just curious and wanting to be topical. How has your grocery shopping been affected by the covid going around? Where I live, despite that stores were hectic, pretty much all of my food was still widely available. Most of the meat in the back was completely gone, but my fiancee and I were able to snag some delicious yummies and a vegan frozen pizza for good luck!

Gosh, you're lucky to have that vegan bakery, I sure wish we had something like that in my community. I want to hear about those goodies.

I'm just grateful to have a restaurant with any tasty vegan options. Earlier this year I was I invited to dinner at PF Chang, and despite having a menu that went on for several pages like reading a magazines, they had like 2 vegan dishes, and what they prepared was extremely bland. Maybe it was just the chef that day, but I was given essentially white rice and boiled up broccoli without taste or seasoning T_T Not everybody can cook vegetables right.

As for how buying groceries has been during the outbreak, I would say it varies, sometimes really common things like bread or heads of lettuce are sold out like I have never seen before, on the other hand really nice novelty things are oftentimes still available. I was able to score some tasty litelife vegan ground beef and falafels from the grocery store before the weekend. So overall, I would say we've had it better than some areas that have been hit by COVID-19. There's a lot of standing in-line and reduced staff and limited store hours understandably, but I sometimes get around that by having groceries delivered or using the curbside grocery pick-up.

I'm intrigued by your yummy vegan pizza. Was it Follow Your Heart, or something brand new? Gettting Good vegan/vegetarian pizzas is something I'm interested in. Pizzas are always fun. What I know of that's totally meat-free is Daiya and Coulipower, but like you mentioned they are average, and I'm always on the look out for something extra special. I have had trouble finding Follow Your Heart in my local stores, but want to try that soon too.

 

[CiCi]

*literally everything*

Oof, that sounds like it's awful at PF Chang. Never been there and now I know not to go -- I can get rice and broccoli at home, AND make it taste good!

I've heard about getting groceries delivered but I've never actually done it before. Since we don't have many grocery stores around me, I gotta wonder if it wouldn't be a better option to have groceries delivered. What's the like?

The pizza was Daiya, actually! Which normally has at best "okay" cheese, but the Daiya pizzas taste pretty awesome! Dunno if they use a different cheese recipe for the pizza or what, but I love them. Only issue is how expensive they are, so we can only get one every now and again. That said, I still enjoy making my own pizza, and I loooove using FYH cheese on them. <3 So good. But when I'm lazy, Daiya pizzas work, too.

I've never actually had Coulipower before! I'd try it, at least, even though you seem to think it's average. Different taste buds and all :)

 

[VisionofMilotic]

Oof, that sounds like it's awful at PF Chang. Never been there and now I know not to go -- I can get rice and broccoli at home, AND make it taste good!

I won't be going back for sure :p They were also really rigid, and couldn't accommodate on anything. I looked through practically a whole manuscript on sushi, and asked if they had any with just vegetables--not one. I asked if they could leave the fish out of one and substitute any vegetable, a carrot or something-- they wouldn't budge.

Most restaurants are willing to leave something out if it's a Greek salad I ask if they could not put in the gyro meat, if it's shrimp and mixed vegetables from a Chinese restaurant they will happily hold the seafood. but everything seemed etched in stone at PF Chang. By contrast what they prepared food for my carnivorous family it looked objectively very well cooked, it was beautifully arranged. But they can't help a poor veggie head out. Everybody looked at me with pity, they knew I had been screwed over.

Now there's a fun little local Japanese restaurant in my town and the waitresses have my back, they are such sweetie pies. They make a scrumptious udon noodle and vegetable soup there. It calls for fish broth, but they use their soy miso broth for me :)

I've heard about getting groceries delivered but I've never actually done it before. Since we don't have many grocery stores around me, I gotta wonder if it wouldn't be a better option to have groceries delivered. What's the like?

I like having groceries delivered because it gives me time to really think about what I am buying, and compare the prices, no impulse buying. While shopping online for a delivery you often see new things that you might have overlooked walking down a supermarket aisle. You just type in what you want--say orange juice, and you will be shown every brand available. I find that I forget things less often and end up trying a lot of new things too. It saves a lot of time on top it. Normally I am at least an hour shopping in person.

Grocery delivery and take out is really convenient, and with quarantine right now it's a godsend. Because a lot of people are trying to avoid places that are congested with people there is increased demand for having groceries delivered or a quick pick up in store, so there might be a little more wait depending on your area, but usually it is fast in my experience.

One thing that can be interesting about grocery delivery is that occasionally something you order might sell out of stock before the food can be picked for you, a customer just bought the last one five minutes ago and it hasn't been updated online just yet. This might happen with an item or two. How they handle it generally varies from store to store, but usually they will offer you something similar as a substitution. Like if they're out of Field Roast apple-smoked vegan sausages they will switch it the Field Roast maple breakfast sausages, they might try a different brand like say a Tofurky vegan sausage instead. When that happens I am always curious to see what they come up with. If it's something you don't want you can always turn it down, they will alert you that there was a change no matter how small, and ask if it's okay. If you say nay they will take it off of your tab. I usually am an adventurer though, and like to give it a try.

The pizza was Daiya, actually! Which normally has at best "okay" cheese, but the Daiya pizzas taste pretty awesome! Dunno if they use a different cheese recipe for the pizza or what, but I love them. Only issue is how expensive they are, so we can only get one every now and again. That said, I still enjoy making my own pizza, and I loooove using FYH cheese on them. <3 So good. But when I'm lazy, Daiya pizzas work, too.

I've never actually had Coulipower before! I'd try it, at least, even though you seem to think it's average. Different taste buds and all :)

I had a pretty good Daiya pizza once, it was a vegan Italian sausage pizza. I thought the cheese needed a little more work, but it was still good overall. It was the meat that tasted very real, and it was seasoned good with peppers and onions. Maybe you had what I did?

I think it just varies from Daiya pizza to pizza depending on the toppings. Caulipower I thought was alright, but I really did miss having bread for crust, even though I like cauliflower as a food. But that's just my own preference for big soft deep dish crust talking, they're still fine pizzas that I think are good options for vegans.

Now,I would love to know your secrets for making pizza of your own. I often walk by homemade pizza dough in the store and dream of making my own.

 

[VisionofMilotic]

I hope you don't mind if I make a double post. It will be quick, but I just wanted to share my experience with a bakery I discovered called Organic Bread of Heaven. It's a delightful, small family-run business that is 100% vegan, Kosher, no GMOs or chemicals, no added gluten, everything baked and sent the same day, nothing frozen.

I ordered some cookies from them recently that were so good and worthy of their namesake. The chocolate chip cookies were heavenly, and again no dairy or eggs I am pretty sure. I also had some sweet, delectable bagels this morning from their shop. I am so impressed that I made a new order this morning with more cookies for me, and one of their apple pies for my mum and a loaf of pumpkin bread that I will share with any visitors.

I bought some of their goodies on Etsy, but they have their own website that includes more, and I see that they have homemade pizzas with their own secret recipe for dairy-free mozerellla cheese. I want to try those next.

I thought I would mention this place. Especially for anyone reading in the US because they have fair flat rate shipping, and it's free if you order over 50 bucks worth and they ship really fast like your order may arrive overnight, so food is super fresh. They do I think send food internationally, but the shipping would go up probably. For my part though I really enjoyed shopping there.

https://www.ovenfreshdelivery.com/collections

 

[CiCi]

That actually sounds really cool how they will give you different suggestions in online grocery stores. It'd be an easy way to find new things to eat and, like you, I fancy myself rather adventurous with my food. I think a lot of vegans and veg-heads are like that, actually -- we gotta be in order to "give up" meat and dairy and eggs, haha. It does seem to open up a whole new world (DON'T SING) of eating.

Oh wow! I'll have to look into them, they sound amazing! 🖤🖤 Always worth it to share places like this and hopefully other people can see that link and support their business. Especially in times like this where smaller businesses need all the help they can get. Thank you for sharing!

And a small update on my end: my fiancee and I have been hard at work building a vegetable garden of our own! :D It's been going very well, and we've got a lot of seeds that need planting.

Any other Veg-Heads with a garden? Or looking to plant one?