I'm a VEGAN!

I was looking over my blog today and realized that I don't have much written in here about one of the things I care deeply about, the vegan lifestyle. Now I say lifestyle because it is so much more than a diet, for us it is the way of life. I try very hard not to preach to people about why I think this diet is better that I think sometimes I go in the complete opposite direction and not discuss it at all. So I'm a closet vegan which is not what I want to be.

Today I've decided is a great day to open that darn closet door and let the laundry air. I decided to change the links on the side of my blog today because the ones there didn't mean much to me. I just threw something up because I was sick of looking at the reminders so I came up with google news, iTunes, and a link to recipes. Well, today as I was looking over my blog to update, correct, and delete entries I noticed those links that I placed over there a couple months ago and realized they really say nothing about me. So, I went through my bookmarks and noticed that most of my bookmarks are vegetarian/vegan/animal related. So, I decided to pull those sites I go to for inspiration and ideas off of my private bookmark list and post a few of them on here. Hopefully it will come in handy to others.

One of my favorite links is the one for the Vegan Lunch Box. It's an awesome blog full of wonderful and different ideas for a vegan child's lunch. Many people don't realize how difficult it can be to raise a vegan child who goes to the typical american school. Where treats are always either pizza full of cheese or ice cream. Not only do these kids have to deal with the every day peer pressures that other kids deal with but then you add on top of everything the pressure to be like everyone else and eat the hamburger served in the cafeteria, or the ice cream that is served for a job well done, or pizza that you can find at any classroom celebration. With her blog I've found it a lot easier to help my child understand why we are the way we are and that it really is better. He doesn't feel like he's the only one anymore which helps more than anything. Bob has never been one to follow the crowd but the urge to fit in is always there just like any other kid. But with her blog now he's the envy of the lunch room!

While her son eats way more veggies than I could ever hope to get Bob or Bumpo to eat, it still has some great ideas. Plus, I've also gotten Bob involved in the site so every day we sit down and look at what shmoo had for lunch that day and it has helped me get Bob to eat more veggies, which is always a good thing for a vegan. Without veggies there isn't much else. . . oh wait, there isn't ANYTHING else! I can't say enough good stuff about Mrs. Shmoo's blog. It's very complete, with a picture of the lunch included every day and then a verdict listed based on how much of her son's lunch was left at the end of the day. All I can say is what a great idea!!