I recently had the happy surprise of being contacted privately on Facebook by a fellow LDS person who is interested in learning more about veganism. They asked me:
How do you interpret that part in Genesis that talks about animals and the so-called "license" that we have to use them for work (like oxen, horses, etc) and food?? I'm guessing this reference gets thrown at vegans in non-secular debates often. I usually know what non-believers would respond but what about vegans who believe in God and the scriptures?
I thought it might be informative to those who follow this blog for me to share my response. So....
Here is my response:
I assume you are referring to Genesis 1:26 which says "And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth."
This verse says that in the garden of Eden, God gave man dominion over animals. It does not specify what that meant (if you know of a more specific verse please direct me to it). If it is the kind of dominion God has over us, it is more of a responsibility than a "license" to use them however we see fit. I understand this verse to mean that we have a responsibility to take care of the earth and our fellow creatures. A king has dominion over his people, but does that mean he has a right to use those people? I take it to mean he has a responsibility for their welfare.
Now, there are more verses in Genesis chapter 9, detailing the first instances of when the Eden-like peace between animals and humans was broken. Verses 1-5 say
"And God blessed Noah and his sons, and said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth.
And the fear of you and the dread of you shall be upon every beast of the earth, and upon every fowl of the air, upon all that moveth upon the earth, and upon all the fishes of the sea; into your hand are they delivered.
Every moving thing that liveth shall be meat for you; even as the green herb have I given you all things.
But flesh with the life thereof, which is the blood thereof, shall ye not eat.
And surely your blood of your lives will I require; at the hand of every beast will I require it, and at the hand of man; at the hand of every man's brother will I require the life of man."
If we are to take these verses literally, we must conclude that God gave Noah permission to eat animals. The Joseph Smith Translation clarifies some of the latter verses in verse 11, where God tells Noah that "blood shall not be shed, only for meat, to save your lives; and the blood of every beast will I require at your hands."
This makes it seem very clear to me that God was only allowing Noah to kill animals for food because there was nothing else to eat after the flood--he says specifically "only for meat, to save your lives" meaning when they would otherwise die of starvation, and that "the blood of every beast will I require at your hands" meaning that the killing of animals is something we are accountable for, perhaps even to the same extent as killing another human being.
Therefore, the lives of animals matter to God, and he only allows the killing of animals in a life-or-death situation.
D&C 49:21 also states: “wo be unto man that sheddeth blood or that wasteth flesh and hath no need."
Because I have done the research to realize that human beings don't actually need to eat animals (or their byproducts) to live healthy lives, I feel that I am not justified in eating animal products. I would much rather work toward a better dominion where animals are taken care of as they were meant to be, rather than exploited.
The bible also condones owning slaves and stoning one's neighbor for breaking the Sabbath, so I feel that some rules in the Old Testament should be considered within their cultural context.
What it comes down to for me though, is what I feel in my heart. As I moved closer and closer to becoming vegan, I felt myself becoming a better and more compassionate person... I think, more Christlike in some small way. It was a beautiful feeling as my mind began to open up to realize that I don't ever have to rationalize being cruel to anyone or anything. I asked myself, about treating animals like objects... if it feels wrong, if it is violent, if it is unnecessary, why am I doing it? Wouldn't it be better to err on the side of compassion? It is so liberating to learn how to trust that impulse in myself rather than doubting because of the popular opinion of other church members.
Even if veganism is not currently required of church members, it just makes me think of these verses from the D&C:
"For behold, it is not meet that I should command in all things; for he that is compelled in all things, the same is a slothful and not a wise servant; wherefore be receiveth no reward.
Verily I say, men should be anxiously engaged in a good cause, and do many things of their own free will, and bring to pass much righteousness;
For the power is in them, wherein they are agents unto themselves. And inasmuch as men do good they shall in nowise lose their reward.
But he that does not anything until he is commanded, and receiveth a commandment with doubtful heart, and keepeth it with slothfulness, the same is damned."
(D&C 58:26-29)
This is something that I want to be anxiously engaged in of my own free will, and I think that if more people were concerned with animals, it would bring to pass much righteousness, not just for animals, but in changing people's hearts to love and serve others beyond conventional borders.
Sorry this is such a long response again, I tend to get wordy when I'm trying to explain things that I feel very strongly about. I hope none of this comes off as judgmental of non-vegans and non-vegetarians--these are just the things I considered for myself in making my decision. There's more details in my paper of course, which I have attached to this email.
Thank you for letting me share this with you. It's not often I get to talk about these things to someone who is honestly curious.
When Our Song Says Peace
A couple of thoughts and a story for you, today.
First
Having a tumblr has been simultaneously wonderful and revolting. I watch a lot of other vegan blogs and so I end up seeing a lot of pictures of the suffering of animals, pictures meant to inform other people. I also get to see some debates play out between the vegan bloggers and people who take issue with their various opinions (there was a really long and very depressing one about comparing factory farming to the holocaust). Sometimes seeing how cruel people can be makes me feel physically ill for the whole day. But on the whole I am glad I watch these other vegans because I'm inspired by their courage and the way they stick to their morals. It helps me know I'm not alone in what I want to do and the discouragement I feel along the way.
Second
As always, I am trying to find that happy place where my morality and my spirituality are aligned. This is proving to be harder than I expected. I so often feel alone among my fellow mormons because of my views on compassion for animals and other groups of beings which the church doesn't care about as much. My idea of God's unconditional love is apparently quite radical. I can't really describe how discouraging it is to realize that the church, which for most of my life has been my source of moral guidance, is not in perfect harmony with what my morals are now. But I try to trust God anyway, and believe that if it is compassionate, God is behind it 100% because he IS love itself.
While seeking for some comfort on this rainy day, I came across this hymn in the ELW, which is a hymnal from the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. I love the ELCA's concept of "gentle justice". It makes so much sense to me.
When Our Song Says Peace
When our song says peace and the world says war,
we will sing despite the world.
We will trust the song, for we sing of God,
who breaks the spear and sword
and stills the storm of war.
When our song says free and the world says bound
We will sing despite the world
We will trust the song, for we sing of God,
who opens prison doors
and sets the captives free
When our song says home and the world says lost,
we will sing despite the world.
We will trust the song, for we sing of God,
who brings us home at last,
and gives a song to all.
It was just what I needed to hear. I have a hard time really trusting "my song," this message I feel so strongly about. I can't NOT sing it, and yet because the world says WAR, BOUND, LOST, so loudly that I often feel discouraged and wonder if I might be wrong. But God gave me that song for a reason, and it would be wrong of me not to sing it.
Finally
I promised to share this story several posts back.
When I was going home to visit my family this last December, I had to take the shuttle from the Las Vegas airport to St. George where my dad would pick me up. When I went out to the shuttle I saw a very androgynous person who I suspected might be female but didn't really know either way. I find androgyny fascinating so I felt unusually curious about her. She had very very short hair and was holding a pile of blankets and had a few large suitcases. I didn't speak to her, and she sat behind me in the shuttle, talking to another woman who was much better at talking than I am.
By listening to their conversation I learned that this girl was going to Cedar City because she had been addicted to heroine and had relapsed while trying to get clean, and her parents had kicked her out of the house, so she was going to stay with a couple of friends. She was suffering from withdrawals that made her feel like she had a bad flu. She'd never been to Cedar City before. The woman actually suggested she ask the church for help once she got there, and the girl said she didn't really want to get involved with the church. I'm sure she had some strong reasons, one of which was probably because she identified as gay. I turned around at this point and said "well there are other churches too that would probably help you out if you asked" because I didn't want her to be left alone without support because she was afraid of the LDS church. I understand why a lot of people don't want to get involved with the church, because unfortunately a lot of identities are not treated like they are valid by other church members (such as being gay).
I didn't manage a lot of conversation beyond that, but I did tell her I liked her short hair, and that my family lived within an hour of Cedar City and yes, I was LDS but fairly liberal for an LDS person.
For about two thirds of the drive this girl slept and I thought about her, how alone she must feel, abandoned because of one mistake while she was trying hard to turn her life around. I had the feeling I should write my contact information down and give it to her. I wrote down my email and facebook address with a little note.
When we got to St. George and were waiting to be picked up I asked her if she had someone coming to pick her up (stupid question), and she said yes and lit a cigarette with trembling fingers. I said "I hope this isn't too weird, but is it okay if I give you my email address? If you need someone to just listen, or, you know, if you need help finding your way around...." And she said "yeah, I would like that actually, thanks."
She asked me if I'd heard her whole story and I said I heard some of it, and she said "I just made some really... stupid choices."
And I said "it's okay. We all make stupid choices."
And then I said "I just thought... it must be pretty tough, since it's Christmas and all, and your parents..." and she didn't say anything for a second, sitting on the wheelchair ramp rail, and then she turned her face away and said "Sorry, I just feel like I'm gonna cry right now...." and I said "ahhh, it's okay."
She asked me if I could give her my phone number so we could text but I said I didn't have texting on my phone (which was true). I wondered if I should give it to her anyway so she could call, but I hesitated. I wondered if I should give her a hug, I wanted to give her a hug, but I hesitated, because maybe that would come off weird or something...
Then she heard the shuttle driver talking about the snow and the low temperatures in Cedar, and she'd just come from Vegas so she was worrying because she didn't bring a coat. I thought for a moment of giving her my coat, or digging out one of my sweatshirts. They had all been bought for me by my parents or Danielle's parents though, so I wondered if I should. I hesitated again. Then my dad showed up and I said "good luck" and goodbye.
I thought about her constantly for the next three days, wishing I had given her my number, my coat, found some way to help her besides just a nice gesture and a few "it's okay"s. I cried about her at the Christmas Concert that night. It was weird because she was just some stranger I met, but I felt such a love for her, such a need to let her know that there are people who will accept her even when she makes mistakes... I wanted to let her know that she was important, she was worth so much no matter what her parents or anyone said, and even if she kept making mistakes she would still be worth just as much. I know she had her two friends she was staying with, but sometimes it's not enough to just be lived with... everyone needs to feel loved, and to have a place safe enough to call home.
This experience helped me to start formulating in my mind the dream I have, of creating a place where people and animals can both go to be safe, no matter how damaged they seem, and hopefully that will be a way to start some healing for both people and animals. It will be a place where the song of peace can drown out the shouts of war. I'm not sure if I will ever be able to create such a place in my lifetime, but it's a dream I have anyway, and I'm so glad I met that person on the shuttle.
I haven't written your name down, because I want to respect your privacy, but if you're reading this, I hope you know that I love you, and you can still email or message me anytime. And if you do I'll give you my phone number this time.
First
Having a tumblr has been simultaneously wonderful and revolting. I watch a lot of other vegan blogs and so I end up seeing a lot of pictures of the suffering of animals, pictures meant to inform other people. I also get to see some debates play out between the vegan bloggers and people who take issue with their various opinions (there was a really long and very depressing one about comparing factory farming to the holocaust). Sometimes seeing how cruel people can be makes me feel physically ill for the whole day. But on the whole I am glad I watch these other vegans because I'm inspired by their courage and the way they stick to their morals. It helps me know I'm not alone in what I want to do and the discouragement I feel along the way.
Second
As always, I am trying to find that happy place where my morality and my spirituality are aligned. This is proving to be harder than I expected. I so often feel alone among my fellow mormons because of my views on compassion for animals and other groups of beings which the church doesn't care about as much. My idea of God's unconditional love is apparently quite radical. I can't really describe how discouraging it is to realize that the church, which for most of my life has been my source of moral guidance, is not in perfect harmony with what my morals are now. But I try to trust God anyway, and believe that if it is compassionate, God is behind it 100% because he IS love itself.
While seeking for some comfort on this rainy day, I came across this hymn in the ELW, which is a hymnal from the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. I love the ELCA's concept of "gentle justice". It makes so much sense to me.
When Our Song Says Peace
When our song says peace and the world says war,
we will sing despite the world.
We will trust the song, for we sing of God,
who breaks the spear and sword
and stills the storm of war.
We will sing despite the world
We will trust the song, for we sing of God,
who opens prison doors
and sets the captives free
we will sing despite the world.
We will trust the song, for we sing of God,
who brings us home at last,
and gives a song to all.
Finally
I promised to share this story several posts back.
When I was going home to visit my family this last December, I had to take the shuttle from the Las Vegas airport to St. George where my dad would pick me up. When I went out to the shuttle I saw a very androgynous person who I suspected might be female but didn't really know either way. I find androgyny fascinating so I felt unusually curious about her. She had very very short hair and was holding a pile of blankets and had a few large suitcases. I didn't speak to her, and she sat behind me in the shuttle, talking to another woman who was much better at talking than I am.
By listening to their conversation I learned that this girl was going to Cedar City because she had been addicted to heroine and had relapsed while trying to get clean, and her parents had kicked her out of the house, so she was going to stay with a couple of friends. She was suffering from withdrawals that made her feel like she had a bad flu. She'd never been to Cedar City before. The woman actually suggested she ask the church for help once she got there, and the girl said she didn't really want to get involved with the church. I'm sure she had some strong reasons, one of which was probably because she identified as gay. I turned around at this point and said "well there are other churches too that would probably help you out if you asked" because I didn't want her to be left alone without support because she was afraid of the LDS church. I understand why a lot of people don't want to get involved with the church, because unfortunately a lot of identities are not treated like they are valid by other church members (such as being gay).
I didn't manage a lot of conversation beyond that, but I did tell her I liked her short hair, and that my family lived within an hour of Cedar City and yes, I was LDS but fairly liberal for an LDS person.
For about two thirds of the drive this girl slept and I thought about her, how alone she must feel, abandoned because of one mistake while she was trying hard to turn her life around. I had the feeling I should write my contact information down and give it to her. I wrote down my email and facebook address with a little note.
When we got to St. George and were waiting to be picked up I asked her if she had someone coming to pick her up (stupid question), and she said yes and lit a cigarette with trembling fingers. I said "I hope this isn't too weird, but is it okay if I give you my email address? If you need someone to just listen, or, you know, if you need help finding your way around...." And she said "yeah, I would like that actually, thanks."
She asked me if I'd heard her whole story and I said I heard some of it, and she said "I just made some really... stupid choices."
And I said "it's okay. We all make stupid choices."
And then I said "I just thought... it must be pretty tough, since it's Christmas and all, and your parents..." and she didn't say anything for a second, sitting on the wheelchair ramp rail, and then she turned her face away and said "Sorry, I just feel like I'm gonna cry right now...." and I said "ahhh, it's okay."
She asked me if I could give her my phone number so we could text but I said I didn't have texting on my phone (which was true). I wondered if I should give it to her anyway so she could call, but I hesitated. I wondered if I should give her a hug, I wanted to give her a hug, but I hesitated, because maybe that would come off weird or something...
Then she heard the shuttle driver talking about the snow and the low temperatures in Cedar, and she'd just come from Vegas so she was worrying because she didn't bring a coat. I thought for a moment of giving her my coat, or digging out one of my sweatshirts. They had all been bought for me by my parents or Danielle's parents though, so I wondered if I should. I hesitated again. Then my dad showed up and I said "good luck" and goodbye.
I thought about her constantly for the next three days, wishing I had given her my number, my coat, found some way to help her besides just a nice gesture and a few "it's okay"s. I cried about her at the Christmas Concert that night. It was weird because she was just some stranger I met, but I felt such a love for her, such a need to let her know that there are people who will accept her even when she makes mistakes... I wanted to let her know that she was important, she was worth so much no matter what her parents or anyone said, and even if she kept making mistakes she would still be worth just as much. I know she had her two friends she was staying with, but sometimes it's not enough to just be lived with... everyone needs to feel loved, and to have a place safe enough to call home.
This experience helped me to start formulating in my mind the dream I have, of creating a place where people and animals can both go to be safe, no matter how damaged they seem, and hopefully that will be a way to start some healing for both people and animals. It will be a place where the song of peace can drown out the shouts of war. I'm not sure if I will ever be able to create such a place in my lifetime, but it's a dream I have anyway, and I'm so glad I met that person on the shuttle.
I haven't written your name down, because I want to respect your privacy, but if you're reading this, I hope you know that I love you, and you can still email or message me anytime. And if you do I'll give you my phone number this time.
A couple of recipes - soup and pasta
When it got cloudy and miserable again I tried out making this Mushroom Barley Soup with Fresh Herbs, since I had that thyme and dill left over from making the rosemary dumpling soup. It turned out pretty good I think. But it reminded me of how far I've come in cooking.
The last time I used barley in my cooking was back when I was newly vegan in Hawaii and still had no clue how to cook. For some reason, back then, I didn't seem to realize that I could easily look up amazing recipes on the internet and buy whatever ingredients listed that I didn't have... and also that this was much less risky than trying to make stuff up myself with what I had. I remember boiling barley and then putting almond milk and random herbs in it, trying to make it into a passable soup. It was terrible. Kind of like a really bland but chewy porridge. Also I made a pasta salad where the dressing was mostly ketchup and some kind of oil. This is why you make sure you only try recipes on vegweb as a noobie if there's like a TON of good reviews on that recipe. It actually didn't taste horrible but it was kind of weird....
In any case most of what I cooked back then was just spaghetti with canned sauce, and burritos with canned vegetarian chili and tomatoes in them, sometimes corn too. That was about the extent of my knowledge and it stayed that way for a really unacceptably long time. At some point I finally broke out of it and started experimenting with recipes. I got discouraged a lot of the time when stuff didn't turn out at first. It's really hard when you try for hours to make something delicious and at best it's just kind of "meh". But I didn't give up for long. I'm really grateful to live with a best friend who puts up with my mistakes and encourages me to keep trying. Now I can make stuff that makes people go "wow!" Although that's mostly due to the wonderful recipes at The Post Punk Kitchen, I think I had to hit a learning curve first and start developing a sense of what works and what doesn't in cooking, because up until about half a year ago, I really didn't get it.
So the moral of that story is just keep trying, and it helps if you're getting your recipes from a good source!
Sunny Days and Signs of Life
It's only February but I'm already looking for signs of spring, or at least some kind of life in the otherwise barren winter. Especially on sunny days, I love hearing snatches of birdsong or seeing the splashes of green grass. Even the moss on the rooftops makes me kind of happy.
I tromped around in the park by my apartment complex today and saw these trees budding. They were the only ones. I thoroughly enjoyed myself, but the best part was when I was crossing the little bridge and realized there were two ducks in the creek. Or rather, a drake and a (female) duck.
I snuck around carefully to try and give them space. They were very timid, and moved into the shadows when I got too close, but otherwise seemed to be simply enjoying themselves in the water. The drake circled the duck protectively. He was very beautiful.
The duck had such perfect camouflage too.
As I stepped a little closer to get another picture of her, she was startled at how close I was and burst into nervous flight. Her movement alerted a large yellow lab dog who had been wandering around in the bushes by the creek, and he pounced into sight, which made the drake also take off. For a split second I thought what if somebody were to shoot those ducks right now, right in front of me? Right out of the sky. It seemed so odd, and kind of tragic, to me, that anyone would rather shoot a duck than watch one as I had been doing. I felt bad for scaring them, and I hoped that they would be able to find another peaceful place to spend their day. They seemed so contented in their little corner of the creek, and I had thought, what a shame that they were afraid of me, but how are they supposed to tell I'm no danger to them, when for so many decades they have been hunted by humans?
I was so pleased to see them, swimming so peacefully. I can only hope that someday the whole world is a safe place, for them, for the other animals, and for humans too.
I snuck around carefully to try and give them space. They were very timid, and moved into the shadows when I got too close, but otherwise seemed to be simply enjoying themselves in the water. The drake circled the duck protectively. He was very beautiful.
 |
| Can you find her? |
As I stepped a little closer to get another picture of her, she was startled at how close I was and burst into nervous flight. Her movement alerted a large yellow lab dog who had been wandering around in the bushes by the creek, and he pounced into sight, which made the drake also take off. For a split second I thought what if somebody were to shoot those ducks right now, right in front of me? Right out of the sky. It seemed so odd, and kind of tragic, to me, that anyone would rather shoot a duck than watch one as I had been doing. I felt bad for scaring them, and I hoped that they would be able to find another peaceful place to spend their day. They seemed so contented in their little corner of the creek, and I had thought, what a shame that they were afraid of me, but how are they supposed to tell I'm no danger to them, when for so many decades they have been hunted by humans?
I was so pleased to see them, swimming so peacefully. I can only hope that someday the whole world is a safe place, for them, for the other animals, and for humans too.
Wanna Be a Cat Foster Mama
The other day I was walking from the college to the bus station. It was sunny, and I saw a cat sitting in a windowsill.
He ignored me when I said hello to him, so I went on my way, but then suddenly he ran over meowing and let me pet him. Then he got up and walked off again as if to say he'd been heading somewhere and just happened to run into me on the way there. It was so cute... xD
Then I saw another cat sunning himself in a basement window. He didn't seem to notice me, but it made me happy just to see him so comfy in the sun.
I recently started following a Facebook page called Pet Pardons. The people who run it find out what pets are going to be put down at shelters and try to spread the word around facebook so that someone in the area can rescue or adopt the animals. They've saved many lives, but are unable to save so many more because of how so many people can't or won't adopt, while others don't spay or neuter their pets or abandon them at the shelter because they didn't make a real commitment to that animal. It's really sad. Before I left for Christmas Break, Danielle and I stopped in at the pet store downtown (HOHL/Clark's Feed & Seed) to look at the showroom they set aside for Whatcom Voice of the Animals, which is a local nonprofit organization which fosters unwanted pets until they have homes. The pet store set aside a room for WVOA to put some of their cats in cages during the day so people can come and take a look at them and hopefully want to adopt. There were four adolescent cats, all female, not really kittens anymore, who were all siblings and had been there for two months already. We were especially charmed by the black one because she reminded us of Nina. At that time we thought, well, maybe when I get a job and am in a secure enough position to adopt a cat, we can adopt a cat. I went back to that show room again recently and there were three of the four left still, including the black one.
 |
| This pretty girl was being really friendly though. |
My thinking has started to shift, so that now I am pondering fostering cats rather than adopting them, since I don't know where I'll be for the next few years. How sad it would be for those three beautiful cats if they hadn't been taken in by a no-kill foster organization, but instead had been left at a shelter where they might have been euthanized because they weren't adopted quickly enough. I would like to volunteer for WVOA sometime soon.
Meanwhile, I also wish I had land so that I could rescue farm animals, but that is something that will have to wait until I can afford it. Until then, once I have a job I will just have to be content with donating to those who can rescue for me, like Farm Sanctuary and The Gentle Barn.
Chocolate? VEGAN CHOCOLATE.
Ah, I haven't written in a while. I've been busy jobsearching. I have gotten an interview for a position in the print center at Office Max, which would be nice because it would utilize my experience with Photoshop and other such things.
Actually I will have to admit that I have also been very distracted by two things. One is that I started watching BBC's Sherlock last week and didn't stop until I was done with the Reichenbach Fall (Season 2 Finale). The second is that I got sucked into Tumblr. I have a site there now, where I post a lot of pictures of animals and vegan stuff amongst other random things. It is a major time-vacuum and I really need to get some self-discipline back soon x_x
ANYWAY. Speaking of self-discipline. This post is about chocolate.
This, my friends, is a Justin's dark chocolate peanut butter cup, and it is just as good if not better than a Reese's. And it's Vegan. Danielle got it for me for Christmas, along with a few other vegan chocolate delicacies.
Justin's has some amazing vegan nut butter products. We were first introduced to them when we found a jar of Chocolate Hazelnut Butter at Deals Only. It was so good, not too sweet, but rich and chocolatey and hazelnutty. A bit harder to spread than Nutella but I think, for someone who truly loves hazelnut and chocolate, it's probably better than Nutella. And Nutella isn't vegan, so...
They also have some other nut butters, peanut and almond. Not all of those flavors are Vegan so you have to check the ingredients. They're a bit much if you buy it full price in the store, so I'm glad I have a discount grocery place that gets it from time to time, but it's a real quality product. If you can't find it in a store near you, Justin's has an Amazon Store where you can buy the nut butters in packs of three.
On a fairly related note, we recently tried out some chocolate chip cookie mix that had been sitting in our cupboard for ages. It was another Deals Only find, this time from Cherrybrook Kitchen. Apparently, Cherrybrook Kitchen specializes in hypo-allergenic dessert mixes, so they have gluten-free stuff, vegan stuff, peanut-free stuff, etc. This one wasn't gluten-free, but it WAS Vegan!
Danielle couldn't seem to stop eating these; apparently they're the best chocolate chip cookies she's ever had. Something about them just really hit the spot with her, and I liked them a lot too. They were actually better than the ones we made from Vegan Cookies Invade Your Cookie Jar... o_o I know, blasphemy, but it's true. We'll be on the lookout for more of this stuff.
Questions about where to find Vegan Chocolate Chips? I have seen some at SOME regular grocery stores, and I've heard that Safeway sells them. If you can't find them at a mainstream grocery store, I would suggest looking at your local health food store, or natural grocer, OR looking to buy it on the internet. There are a few different brands...
Speaking of chocolate is reminding me 1) that I need to do a post about these delicious fudgy no-bake cookies that we made, and 2) that for the past week or so I've been really wanting some Tempt Chocolate Fudge hemp-milk ice cream. That stuff is so good, it's like a fudgesicle. Especially good with peanut butter. I also like mixing it with warm berries or berry jam...
Actually I will have to admit that I have also been very distracted by two things. One is that I started watching BBC's Sherlock last week and didn't stop until I was done with the Reichenbach Fall (Season 2 Finale). The second is that I got sucked into Tumblr. I have a site there now, where I post a lot of pictures of animals and vegan stuff amongst other random things. It is a major time-vacuum and I really need to get some self-discipline back soon x_x
ANYWAY. Speaking of self-discipline. This post is about chocolate.
This, my friends, is a Justin's dark chocolate peanut butter cup, and it is just as good if not better than a Reese's. And it's Vegan. Danielle got it for me for Christmas, along with a few other vegan chocolate delicacies.
Justin's has some amazing vegan nut butter products. We were first introduced to them when we found a jar of Chocolate Hazelnut Butter at Deals Only. It was so good, not too sweet, but rich and chocolatey and hazelnutty. A bit harder to spread than Nutella but I think, for someone who truly loves hazelnut and chocolate, it's probably better than Nutella. And Nutella isn't vegan, so...
Danielle couldn't seem to stop eating these; apparently they're the best chocolate chip cookies she's ever had. Something about them just really hit the spot with her, and I liked them a lot too. They were actually better than the ones we made from Vegan Cookies Invade Your Cookie Jar... o_o I know, blasphemy, but it's true. We'll be on the lookout for more of this stuff.
Questions about where to find Vegan Chocolate Chips? I have seen some at SOME regular grocery stores, and I've heard that Safeway sells them. If you can't find them at a mainstream grocery store, I would suggest looking at your local health food store, or natural grocer, OR looking to buy it on the internet. There are a few different brands...
Speaking of chocolate is reminding me 1) that I need to do a post about these delicious fudgy no-bake cookies that we made, and 2) that for the past week or so I've been really wanting some Tempt Chocolate Fudge hemp-milk ice cream. That stuff is so good, it's like a fudgesicle. Especially good with peanut butter. I also like mixing it with warm berries or berry jam...
