My Journey To Vegan Cooking Joy!

I am a force to be reckoned with in the kitchen, or so I have been told. I grew up at my mother's elbow, watching her cook everything as I offered to set the table, and help out. My mother was a homemaker with 4 children born over a 5 year period of time, who was an excellent cook, and we always ate dinner at 6pm sharp [even though my dad was always at work till we went to bed], and we always had a Friday night dinner with the whole family, my grandparents included.  Every holiday was a special event in the kitchen, with traditional Jewish recipes, and more food than we could ever eat.   We ate dinner together, shared our day, my father and Zaida (grand father) would discuss politics, and we would laugh and be silly, while tucking into familiar family favorites.

A Kosher home, I would say we ate vegetarian meals at least 70% of the time.  We would have our cereal [hot or cold], and milk for breakfast, with juice perhaps.  We sometimes had eggs on the weekends, or bagels with cream cheese. Lunch was always 'dairy' too. We would have sandwiches with egg salad, tuna fish, salmon salad, or cream cheese and jelly. Occasionally we would have the classic PB&J sandwich. We would drink our milk or juice, and eat fruit and veggies on the side. If we were lucky, we found canned spaghetti (no meat) in our little thermos, but basically lunch was a no meat (beef, poultry, lamb) affair. We never ate pork products, and we never ate shellfish.

Dinner time was where we might find some beef or chicken on the menu. Most nights, my mother would serve fish, a vegetarian cheese lasagna, or spaghetti with a canned sauce and no meat.  There was always a canned vegetable on the side of the plate [I still gag at the thought of wax beans], and some sort of starch, either rice or potatoes. We ate baked chicken livers or braised beef liver (for the iron, I was told), which was deliciously covered in ketchup and caramelized onions, but these were rare treats, usually once a month.  We would eat chicken (on the bone) on occasion, either "shake and bake" style, or baked in a sweet tangy tomato sauce.  Barbeque season would bring the occasional hamburger, hot dog, or even a small beef steak. We would eat these with salads and perhaps a potato side dish. Bread was only eaten with burgers and beef wieners. On Friday nights when we would have an Egg Challah, as part of the Sabbath meal. We would traditionally have a Chicken Soup, Beef Brisket, and Chicken on Friday nights, and only when we ate meat would we be allowed to have Soda Pop to drink, otherwise it was juice or water.

All in all, I have to give my Mother props, she always had a delicious dinner for us,  we always had some form of vegetable and a starch, and we didn't drink our calories in sugar soda, although there was a lot of apple juice and 2% milk. Given what was known about nutrition in the mid 70's, I think she did as well as she could have.  We didn't consume a lot of meat really, and we were always offered fruit, even canned fruit in winter time, as a dessert or treat. We may not have wanted the apple, but it was always in our lunch box anyways.

Fast food was a rare treat when we were kids. I can remember having "Kentucky Fried Chicken" less than 10 times before I was 15, we only ate it if my mother wasn't able to make dinner because she had a busy day of doctors appointments or shoe shopping for 4 kids. We had pizza only at birthday parties, usually not even our own, my mother would often make tiny party sandwiches for our parties, or home made English muffin pizzas of her own. We only went to McDonald's a few times a year, usually with my paternal grandmother, and I never really got into fast-fooding till I was in high-school and working for my own money. I was my own worst enemy in that respect, but I was still interested in all that went into cooking meals for the family.

Recipe by recipe, I memorized my Mother's greatest hits. I learned that cheesy lasagna recipe, and later added in frozen spinach for my own twist.  I made chili exactly as she did. I made her famous Velveeta Tuna dip for fresh vegetables, it was divine with celery. I learned to make egg salad, tuna salad, and tons of other regular everyday recipes by the time I was 10. Soon after my mother would allow me to cook some of the time, and side by side we would attempt new recipes too.  I learned a lot of basic cooking principles, like boiling pasta, eggs, and potatoes, how to make a crumb mixture and bread chicken or fish to fry or bake, and how to make my own oil and vinegar style salad dressings.  I loved the positive feedback I would get from cooking for my family, it was really wonderful.

My Grandmother, my Mother's Mother was a great cook as well, and she had a repertoire of depression era recipes that were filling and cheap to make. I watched carefully and learned her best too. From spaghetti casserole using all bits of leftover cheese in the fridge and canned tomatoes, to a "Jell-O" cake, made simply with flavored gelatin, sour cream, and graham crackers.  She was also a great baker, making amazing pies, cookies, and squares for us.  She had one recipe for a pan square "cookie" that I swear was different each time. She sometimes added nuts, candied fruits, chocolate chips, coconut and other goodies, all in different combinations. It was sort of freeing for me to see that you could use what you had on hand with the same basic recipe, and make something new each time.

So as I wowed my friends, their families, and my family cooking up new and interesting versions of family favorites, and trying new things I read about in the newspaper or on a cooking show (in the days before Food Network), I really learned to love the creative process of cooking. Now, this is by no means the "force to be reckoned with" that I speak of, that came a little later, but I was always a messy cook. I hated washing dishes, but I loved making that mess and seeing the results. My Mother was forever frustrated with the sink full of bowls and implements after I had used, saying "why did you use so many bowls?" My Grandmother once sat laughing hysterically as we made half a dozen apple pies after a trip to the local orchard, I was covered head to toe in flour, and so was the floor and every other surface. She couldn't believe anyone could cook in that kind of mess. It is rather funny, my Mother and Grandmother would clean as they went. Even when she was in her 80's, I would watch my 'hip-less' Baba [Grandmother], with one hand on her walker and the other arm leaning on the counter of her tiny retirement flat kitchen, as she washed each and every item as she was done with it.

When I was done with high-school, I was pretty certain I wanted to go into Nutrition at University, but one less than adequate, by a mere 5%, Chemistry mark meant I was short on the requirement. I decided that since part of the Registered Nutritionist course included some basic cooking courses, I would enroll in Culinary Management at the local Community College instead, and start from there while I boosted my Chemistry Mark.  It changed my cooking forever, both for the better and the not so great.

I remember the uniform, and I hated it. I wore heavy steel toed black work boots, a pair of itchy polyester hounds tooth pants, supposedly unisex, but not if you have curves.  A tight white jacket with a double buttoned front, starched stiff, and binding as heck on my 32DD chest.  A tight white scarf tied around my neck, and a white paper tall chef's hat on my head. I was further bound in by a long white apron, double tied around my waist. At 5'2", I felt like I was being suffocated daily.  I carried a red metal tool box, filled with fabulous [still] knives and tools, and I was off to class from 8am till 4pm daily, 5 days a week.

I can't explain to people who have not experienced it, what it is like to be making beef consume at 8am in the morning, having to taste it over and over for seasoning, and bound in the most unforgiving and awful clothes.  I quickly lost my appetite, and went from a healthy energetic 135 pounds to a  less than robust 115 pounds, and had no appetite for food, and didn't cook at home anymore, the joy had gone out of it.

Sure I learned a lot, I learned knife skills, how to make every stock, sauce, and dressing. I learned to make pastry and breads from scratch, I learned culinary history, which I have to say, I loved, and I learned how to work in a restaurant kitchen in the schools special dinning room.  I was forever told I was under-seasoning my food. What can I say, I grew up in a home where my relatives, many, had heart conditions and so my mother would leave off most salt, and let people add their own as needed.  I learned all the cuts from julienne to chiffonade, and I learned how to sear, sweat, and caramelize.  I learned how to butcher chickens and entire sides of pork, I learned how to plate meals to make them look appealing, I learned how to make seasonal meals, and how to cost recipes and price them to make a profit in a restaurant.  But I also learned that I was not meant to be a chef. Perhaps a cook-book author or TV cooking show host, but not bound in a uniform in a kitchen full of men working my butt off and never seeing anyone enjoy my food.

At the end of my first year in Culinary School,  I was hospitalized for my IBD again [something I had deal with since I was 12 years old], and as I sat surrounded by competent fabulous nurses, I knew that wise the 16 year old me was right, I was meant to be a nurse. I had thought about it for years, but somehow felt I needed to try something else too, just in case I was wrong.  I sat in the hospital and filled out the application for nursing school, as nurses wandered in and out telling me that I should think again, since "there are no jobs for nurses". At the time there were too many nurses and a system that needed to change.  By the time I was done with nursing school, things were changing.

The point is, once I was in a proper strict kitchen environment, where I was forced to season to my Chef Teacher's tastes and not my own, and was graded on that, I really started to really lose my love for cooking.  I enjoyed taking my products home for my family to try, I even 'worked' a dinner for my parents, in full uniform sans-hat making a full fancy menu from soup, plated salad and main, to a swanky chocolate ganache cake. I even made my own piped whipped butter curls and bread for the party. I worked the kitchen as my mother actually sat with her dinner guests for a change. That, I admit, was fun, but not enough to keep me in Culinary School, the Dean was heartbroken when I told him, I was a favorite student, one of only 2 females in my class, and earning near perfect marks in all my non-kitchen classes, and moderately good marks in my kitchen classes, he felt I was a great representative for the school with the industry partners. I just knew it wouldn't fulfill me on a deeper level.

I didn't cook for a long time after that. Several years actually, not till I was living on my own after my RN studies were over as I went to University to get my Baccalaureate Degree.  I had too many cooking implements, inherited from both Grandmothers and my Mother, and no space in my tiny galley kitchen in my studio apartment. But I would try to cook for friends on occasion.  Once I was working in Nursing, my schedule made cooking very difficult, so it was put aside in favor of take away and convenience foods.

It is now years [many years] later, and I have rediscovered my love of cooking with my new Vegan lifestyle. I can no longer order food on the phone or internet, and I can't afford heaps of prepared foods frozen in boxes.  Even prepared vegan meals are full of sugars, fillers, and sodium.  For about 7 dollars [Canadian], you get one tiny tray of Vegan food, one single meal, and no options.  I have opted to cook almost everything I eat now, with the exception of bread [I buy organic Vegan options], and some Soy/Plant Based "fake meats". It is a lot cheaper to cook this way,  and there are lots of leftovers too. Initially stocking my pantry has been a major expense,but I know I will have use for all of it.

So, now I have rediscovered my joy, I have used the favorite recipes passed on from my Mother and Grandmother as a framework for making my own new Vegan versions. I am using what I learned in Culinary School to combine my favorite flavors and techniques to create a pile of brand new creation that I could just eat over and over again [and have]. I have found some recipes in books or online, and customized them to what fruits or veggies I have on hand. I think that the Vegan challenge, eliminating the meat, dairy, eggs, and any animal products at all -- is really exciting to me. Finding new and interesting spice combinations, while leaving off salt if possible, and opting for lots of bright and fresh organic vegetables is really a nice change.

Vegan home cooking may not be for everyone, and there is definitely a benefit to be found from having a lot of previous cooking experience [vegan or otherwise], but I think it is really the best way to go for a healthy and balanced Vegan diet.  You could live off fast food veganist options, or ready to eat canned or frozen meals, but you will get a lot of sodium, spend a heap of money, and get little nutrition or fiber in the deal. Make no mistake, there are 'fat' [I hate that word] Vegans, and there are unhealthy Vegans. Just because you cut out meat, dairy, eggs, fish, and their by-products and embrace a kinder and more compassionate lifestyle, doesn't automatically equate with a balanced diet. You need to be aware of the calories, fat, protein, carbohydrates and sodium you are taking in, and you need to be sure you are covered with your vitamin intakes too. By cooking for yourself, even just once a day, you are giving yourself a fiber full and comforting meal, to your own taste and the seasonal offerings in your area.  Now I am a whole other kind of "force" to be reckoned with in the kitchen, and so far, everyone who has tasted my Vegan recipes is "If this is vegan, bring it on" thrilled.
 
Here are 3 of my self-created Vegan recipes; one hot, one cold, and one slow-cooker option, with fairly fast and easy delicious results. Enjoy!

Ketsy's Vegan Chilli Con Kindness

A 100% Vegan alternative for those who adore "Chili con Carne" made the Canadian way. All the rich chili flavor and texture and none of the fat. An easy throw it in the pot and simmer dinner for the whole family that can be modified to suit your own taste.
Ingredients:
1 Jar (660 mL) of Strained Crushed Tomatoes
1 Can (540 mL) Diced Canned Tomatoes (Chili Seasoned Variety Optional)
1 Can ( 390 mL) Organic Canned Kidney Beans
1 Package (340 g) Yves Veggie Ground
1 Packet of Club House Chili Seasoning (or Similar)
3 Tbsp. Extra Virgin Olive Oil
2 Small (Yellow) Cooking Onions
1 Large Stalk of Celery
1 Medium Carrot
2-4 Large Garlic Cloves (To Your Taste)
Directions:
1. Wash Raw Vegetables
2. Peel Carrot, then use peeler to shred Carrot into ribbons, chop ribbons finely
3. Chop Celery into small dice
4. Peel and chop Cooking Onions into medium/small dice
5. Peel and chop Garlic cloves into medium/small dice
6. In a small stock pot, add Olive Oil, heat to medium or when a piece of onion added starts to bubble
7. Add Onions, Garlic, Carrot, and Celery to pot, lower temperature to a simmer and "sweat" the ingredients until onions are transparent. (Approx. 8-10 minutes)
8. Add package of Yves Veggie Ground (or similar Vegetable Protein Crumble), break into smaller crumbles with wooden spoon, stir
9. Add remaining ingredients - Jar of Strained Tomatoes, Can of Diced Tomatoes (Seasoned or Plain), Kidney Beans (drained of fluid but not rinsed.)
10. Stir together well, cover and bring to a slow simmer over low heat.
11. Allow to simmer covered for 30 minutes or longer as desired.

Serve immediately in Large Bowls (Serves 6 - 1 Cup Servings as a Main Course).

Serving Suggestion: Serve with Toasted Organic Whole Grain Bread and Vegan Margarine. Grated Non-Dairy Cheese may be added as a garnish.

Storage: May be cooled, placed in jar or other covered container and refrigerated for up to 7 days, or frozen in single servings in plastic freezer safe containers or zip-loc bags for up to 3 months.

Nutrition Information: Per 1 Cup Serving - 278 calories, 34g Carbohydrates, 9g Fat, 17g Protein, Fiber 7g, 875mg Sodium.

Ketsy's Decadent Avocado Quinoa Bowl

A versatile cold Quinoa salad with Avocado, Black Beans, Grapefruit, and Red Bell Peppers. Can be served as a lunch or dinner item, or serve as a side dish. Colorful, delicious, and versatile, you can easily switch in ingredients you enjoy and have on hand.
Ingredients:
2 cups (500 mL) Vegan Vegetable Stock
1 cup (240 mL) Dry Organic Whole Grain Quinoa (Pre-washed)
1 medium Organic Cooking Onion - Diced
1/2 Red Bell Pepper - Seeded and Diced
2 Large Cloves of Garlic - Crushed in Garlic Press
1/8 cup Chopped Fresh Organic Parsley
1/2 pint Cherry or Grape Tomatoes (Halved)
1 Medium Organic Grapefruit - Peeled, Sectioned, Chopped into cubes, Reserve Juice
1 Medium Organic Avocado - Cut into small cubes
1 Can (398 mL) Organic Black Beans - Drained and Well Rinsed
2 Tbsp. Extra Virgin Olive Oil
3 Tbsp. Apple Cider Vinegar
Directions:
1. Bring Vegetable Stock to a boil in a 2.5L sauce pan. Add Quinoa to Broth and stir. Return to a boil, then cover. Reduce heat to medium and cook covered for 14-18 minutes until all stock has been absorbed.  Remove from heat and fluff Quinoa Grains, add chopped Red Bell Pepper, Onions, and Garlic to to pot, and cover. Let Stand 15 minutes.

2. In a Large Bowl add Grapefruit Pieces and Juice, Tomatoes, Chopped Parsley, Avocado Cubes, and Black Beans. Add Olive Oil and Apple Cider Vinegar. Stir.

3. Allow Quinoa mixture to cool, or place in fridge. Cover Avocado mixture and refrigerate until ready to serve.

4. Mix Quinoa with Avocado mixture and toss well. Scoop in 1 Cup Servings in Bowls.

Suggested Serving: Can be served over a bed of Organic Baby Mixed Greens. Garnish with Parsley Sprigs if desired. Store in fridge up to 2 days. [I dare you to make it last that long, this one has me eating it for breakfast the next day too!]

Nutrition Information: Per 1 Cup Serving - 313 calories, 43g Carbohydrates, 11g Fat, 8g Protein, Fiber 8g, 462mg Sodium.

Ketsy's  Kurry Potato, Chickpea, with Lentils (Slow Cooker)

A warm and filling easy slow cooker vegan curry, with delicious potatoes, chick peas, and lentils. Lots of warm curry flavor, with little fuss. Can be modified to suit your taste or pantry items, including adding additional spices to taste. Lots of protein, no added oil or fats. Use of Organic Ingredients is of course optional.
Ingredients:
8-10 Medium Yukon Gold Potatoes, Washed and Cut into 1 Inch Cubes.
1 Can of Organic Chick Peas (Do Not Drain)
1 Medium Yellow Cooking Onion (Large Diced)
1/2 Large Can of Organic Diced Tomatoes (Approx. 1.5 cups with Juice)
1 Cup Organic Vegetable Stock
4 tsp. Garam Masala Spice (Indian Mixed Spice Blend, Includes Curry Flavor)
1 tsp. Kosher or Table Sea Salt
1/2 tsp. Ground Black Pepper
1 Pinch Crushed Red Chili Flakes (or More to Taste)

To The Side: 1 cup Red (Orange) Lentils, Rinsed Well and Strained of Water.
Directions:
1. Turn On The Slow Cooker To High Setting (II). Place Potatoes, Chick Peas with Water, Onion, Diced Tomatoes and Juice, Stock, and Spices In Crock Pot. Make Sure Potatoes Are Close To The Bottom and The Allow Liquid To Settle Down Around Them.

2. Cover And Let Heat To Simmer, Stirring Occasionally To Distribute Spices.

3. After 3 Hours, Add Lentils To The Cooker With Previous Ingredients. Stir Well Into Liquids, Cover And Allow To Cook for 30 Minutes. 

4. Stir Once More, Turning Items From Top To Bottom Of Cooker Crock, Taste Liquid To Assess Flavors. Add More Spices As Needed, (Garam Masala - Salt - Pepper - Chilli Flakes To Taste) till desired flavor is reached. Less Spice Produces a More Mild Curry.

5. Allow To Simmer an Additional 30 Minutes. Once 4 Hour Mark Is Reached, Turn Of Heat to Serve Immediately, Or Lower to Low Setting (I), to hold warm and serve after an hour. Longer Cooking Develops Curry Flavor, But Will Make for A Mushy Potato Consistency.

Makes: 6 Generous 1 Cup Servings.
Suggestion: Serve Over Basmati Rice or Jasmine Rice For A Complete Meal. For A Real Indian Style Dinner, Include Soft Fresh Naan Breads and A Spicy Fruit Chutney On The Side.

Nutrition Information: Per 1 Cup Serving - 244 calories, 48g Carbohydrates, 1g Fat, 11g Protein, Fiber 5g, 629mg Sodium.

What You Say Matters - Common Idioms For Vegans

  When you embrace a compassionate lifestyle, you start to see all sorts of things that you never considered inappropriate before.  You also begin to hear a lot of things that strike you differently than they might have in your pre-vegan days. Idioms play a major role in our everyday communications. These are those common little sayings that are time tested and widely understood. They save time, they connect us to our past, and they make communication more interesting. That said, it also communicates volumes about who we are and what makes us tick.

  Many idioms use animals in their expressions, and that is what we need to think about. Do you know what the original meaning of the saying is? Are we perpetuating a way of thinking that treats animals as objects as opposed to thinking, feeling being entitled to live a cruelty free life? Here are some common animal idioms, and some suggestions for alternates that may have a wider reach than you realize.

Photo Credit: Using English

Well I'll be a Monkey's Uncle. This one is just precious isn't it? It dates from around the time Charles Darwin began publishing his work on evolution. Those who thought it was all a bunch of hooey would say this little tidbit, expressing their disbelief at such a notion. Well guess what, we are basically all monkey's uncles or aunts, and that extends to every other living species too. We all share things in common, the will to live, to be free, to exist free of pain. Perhaps saying I'll be an Eggplant's Uncle is more appropriate. Really, that is an absurd thought. We know that we aren't related to vegetables, grains, seeds, and plants in the way we are to other species.

Don't look a gift horse in the mouth. Another good one, it basically means not to inspect a gifted or free item in front of the giver. Not only is that downright rude, but it goes back to a time when inspecting a horses gum line could tell you about its relative age and health. Now I wonder why that information would be important. Any guesses? Animals are not put on this earth merely for our use and consumption, so nix this one from your vocabulary if you can. Better still, try switching it up for Don't look a gifted cabbage in the leaves. You can wash up those organic veggies when you get home.

Photo Credit: Holy Taco

What do we say when we are trying to express being grateful for what you already have? A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush. It's pretty obvious where this little gem comes from, when hunting, it is better to go for the sure thing then to risk it and go for the risky bigger haul. Let's get the birds back in the bushes and fields where they belong, they are not for sport. I rather like the expression A blackberry in the hand is worth two in the thorns. Very yummy imagery and the only one that gets hurt is the one digging in the bush for those juicy berries.

Is there anything more adorable then the imagery of fluffy kittens and puppies a plenty? It's raining cats and dogs may seem to be a harmless expression, but its origins are rather macabre. What seems to describe a heavy rainfall rather refers to the aftermath of such an event. It hails back to a time when the streets of 17th century London would be filled with the carcasses of dead cats and dogs when the rain was heavy and they were flooded. There is no more distasteful image then that of starved, abused, or consumed and discarded animals floating in the streets. I think that this saying will never be the same for me. Saying It's raining rice and beans is far more palatable and even more appropriate. The earth can provide both of these delicious staples in plentiful numbers enough for every living sole, if we used our land and other resources better.

Crocodile tears refer to fake or unauthentic tears for mere effect. It originated from an observance of a crocodile eating, and its tendency to secrete 'tears' from its lachrymal glands when working its jaw. But let's look further, it also suggests that crocodiles are somehow 'other', and are not capable of feeling pain or fear, something that is simply not true. All animals feel, if they have a nervous system, they are designed to feel for self preservation. So let's just chuck this expression and put in one we all can identify with, Onion tears. Tell me the last time you were chopping onions and didn't get a little weepy eyed, but did that mean you were sad? Not likely, it is the effect of the sulfur being released in the juice of the cut onion, it irritates our eyes, but our tears are not from pain or fear, but rather the work of those same lacrimal glands.

Living High on the Hog is something few of us are doing in this economy, but the term refers to those who are living extravagantly.  It refers to the fact that the wealthiest individuals could afford the best, which included the best animal flesh, literally those cuts from high up on the pig, the back and belly. The lower parts, the feet for instance, were meant for the servants and the poor. Pretty awful imagery, but in today's world, one would hope that those with an extravagant lifestyle would be choosing to put the very best into their bodies. And while for non-vegans that may include meat, one hopes it would be limited to the best organic products in moderation.  For the rest of us, the saying I would rather use is living High on the Hemp, A nice double entendre there.  Hemp may just be one of those perfect crops, we can get great oils, milks, and protein from this plant and it is not only a great food source, but it can be used to produce sturdy canvas cloth as well as light linen-like fabrics. It is also the basis for many other goods, and is a hearty crop that can grow in many different climates. High on the hemp indeed!

Photo Credit: The Daily Mail

We were always warned as children; Don't count your chickens before they are hatched. This originates from one of Aesop's fables in which a young milkmaid imagines her bucket of milk being turned into cream and butter, and those items being traded for eggs that will then hatch and all the things that will come to her from having all those chickens. Seems harmless, but it does perpetuate the belief that cow’s milk and chickens are property to be used as mere commodities, a way to obtain other things, be it money or luxury goods. It is too close to the factory farming model for my liking. Switch this one for something a little more organic and sustainable; how about Don't count your pumpkins until they are harvested. Just think of those lovely big fat orange pumpkins, but not every pumpkin seed grows to become a viable pumpkin. No harm, no fowl, literally.

Photo Credit: Women's Day

Ever have a juicy secret and been told Don't let the cat out of the bag. We understand this to mean keep things on the down low, don't let the word get out.  It seems innocent enough, until you examine its ghastly origins. This was a warning to those early market patrons who went to buy what they thought was a fat piglet for dinner, and were tricked by the butcher who always handed over goods in a burlap bag.  If one did not inspect their purchase, they might indeed find a skinned cat in the bag instead of the desired piglet, it’s all pretty sickening.  Letting the cat out of the bag was really about discovering trickery and avoiding being the victim of a ruse.  Is there a compassionate way to express the same idea? There are many, but you can choose your own.  I may go with Don't let the banana out of the blender. Just thinking of smoothies makes me happy.

And finally, the mother of all idioms, Killing two birds with one stone. This one leaves little to the imagination, as it denotes taking down two birds with a single shot.  Do we even want to use a word like ‘kill’ in our vocabulary, unless we are discussing what we did to our daily workout? I think we can do without the word in common speech, and leave it for referring to what it really is, the taking of a life, any life, before its natural end.  We get enough of this sort of violence in our daily news.  As for me, I will happily replace it with the term Cutting two carrots with one knife.  Vegetables are not suffering a violent end when we use them in our daily diets, but this accomplishes the same intention of the original saying, accomplishing more with less effort.

  When you think about the words you use, the turns of phrase, the language you employ to communicate your ideas and intentions, it is easy to slip into the same old tired idioms. I think the words that come out of our mouths are just as important as the food we put into them. When you choose to live compassionately, it is often a series of small steps, small changes over time that bring us in line with a new values system and way of living. Using positive terminology and imagery helps us to become more self-aware, more evolved, and more enlightened. It may take time, but there is value is using words and sayings that express your kinder and more harmonious outlook.

  Imagine the next time you are having a conversation with a friend and use one of your ‘new’ improved idioms in place of the standards.  You might find your listener confused initially. They may say “pardon”, or even ask “what did you just say?” Imagine the ripple effect,  what if your explaining your new phrases got others thinking about what they say, imagine if people began to question where the origins of their own pet phrases came from.  At the very least you have made an impression, the best case scenario is that they begin to examine the role that animals play in their own lives.  I am not saying you will be out converting others to a new vegan lifestyle, you might, but more than likely you will not.  I don’t believe in preaching about a vegan lifestyle, it is not a religion, it is a choice made for personal reasons. But what if your new turn of phrase is the tiny pebble in the pond, one that sends out little ripples at first, but they get larger and larger as they move away from that initial splash. You never know where those ripples may lead, and your new kinder way of expressing yourself may just have the power to lead others to find a more compassionate way of being in the world, and isn’t that Cutting two carrots with one knife. Food for thought.