Christmas review

We had a really lovely Christmas. We are in the learning phase for vegan eating. It turns out that vegan bacon and vegan ham both taste an awful lot like veggie dogs. I like veggie dogs, but don’t think we will get the vegan bacon or ham again. One batch of cookies tasted good the first day, but by the next day they were so bad we threw them out. In fact, I ended up really not liking the vegan butter we used (Earth Balance) even though lots of people recommend it for baking. It has a weird flavour, which seems to build over time. It’s just as well, because it is made using palm oil which I have learned recently is highly problematic both environmentally and ethically. So for most things in the future we will try to use olive oil or canola oil.

I want to be clear that I am trying to eat a mostly vegan diet, not becoming vegan. It feels nearly impossible to live up to a perfect standard, to take an all-or-nothing stance on what ethical eating is.  I was getting really stressed about trying to be completely vegan, and felt like giving up. But I find that if I say that I am not vegan, just eating a mostly vegan diet, I feel less stressed and make more vegan choices. When you are stressed you default to whatever is familiar. When you are not stressed you are more free to consider alternatives.

In any case, we had a fun Christmas with toys and chocolate and wearing pajamas all day. I didn’t get  great photos, but here are a few:

Today is a beautiful winter day. While Jeff and Maren went grocery shopping, Linden and I took a trike ride. It makes so much difference to me to be able to go outside in the winter independently. It is much easier to enjoy what is enjoyable about this climate. This is just four blocks from our house:

A mostly vegan Christmas

First, thanks to all who expressed well wishes and support after Koshka died. I realized thinking back that she was a terrible roommate when she was a younger cat. She pooped on kitchen mats and rolled it up (Elaine and I used to call them poo-ritos) peed in the middle of one roommate’s bed, and otherwise was fairly difficult to live with at times. So I also appreciate the tolerance of those roommates that I had years ago (do you know who you are :-)  She was much calmer and less difficult, at least in some ways, when she got older.

We were fortunate to get in on a cancellation appointment at the allergist. So we have a little bit more clarity about what to do with Linden. The good news is that she is likely to grow out of her allergies, and that “moderate“ peanut allergy we saw on the blood test is pretty insignificant. All of her allergies are quite mild. She had skin testing and the results showed that she wasn’t quite negative and wasn’t quite positive for milk allergy. So what we are supposed to do is expose her regularly to allergens and potential allergens as long as she tolerates it. Since she has had no respiratory symptoms and no swelling in her tongue or lips the allergist thinks that we are safe to expose her to allergens at home without worrying. So that is great news.

However, we have made some significant changes already to avoid dairy and eggs, and are continuing to choose a mostly vegan diet. It is actually difficult at times to expose Linden to dairy and eggs because she doesn’t eat many of the non-vegan foods we make for her. So far pizza with cheese is the exception. We are finding that in most situations choosing to eat a vegan diet is quite easy. The only time it isn’t easy is with certain treats (everyone knows how much I like ice cream, and vegan alternatives are super expensive to buy and time-consuming to make), snacks like donuts for Jeff, and situations like parties when everyone else is partaking in cookies or cake and it is hard to say no.

In thinking about and planning for Christmas, basically everything we have planned is vegan. I am veganizing  four different Christmas cookie recipes, so far with very good results. Yesterday we had a vegan hot chocolate that you just mix with water and it was super good. We also had it with vegan marshmallows (pink mint flavoured ones). The treats we are making at home have been wonderful in their vegan versions, and we don’t feel like we are missing out at all. We were able to buy vegan pierogies at the store, a vegan ham-style roast, and even vegan bacon for breakfast. It really is easier than ever to be vegan.

We are spending this Christmas at home, and have planned things to be nice and relaxing. We are all done shopping and wrapping gifts (we are doing all reusable wrapping this year, mostly fabric tied with ribbons and fabric bags, and it turns out this is faster and easier than wrapping with paper), we have made some cookies and the rest of the cookie dough is in the freezer, grocery shopping is happening as we speak, and the rest is just hanging out as a family.

Goodbye to Koshka

Last Wednesday my cat Koshka died. She was 18 1/2 years old, and I got her when she was a kitten. I have essentially lived my entire adult life with her. She was also in increasingly poor health, and I started to think she was dying about four years ago. It became clear last week that she was really and truly dying. We were able to have a veterinarian come to our house and help her die peacefully at home with all of her human family present, and our other cat Maddy nearby. It was as positive as it could be, and I am sad and also a bit relieved that she had a good death.

Here are a couple of photos from just before she died:

And one from April when she was healthier, basking in the sun: