ebook, Tour Schedule and Vegan!
So spring seems to be heating up for me as my schedule is slowly filling up with great speaking events and book signings. Mosey on over to the tour schedule page and take a gander and if you’re in the neighborhood stop on by if you can! Additionally, my book will be out as an ebook in the upcoming months. More information to follow as dates are finalized but soon you will be able to download the book onto Kindle or any other book reading devices or simply your computer!
I have gone Vegan in the past couple months thanks to the brilliant book Skinny Bitch—if you haven’t read this yet, please dash off to your nearest bookstore or hop on Amazon and buy it. It will change your live in ways you aren’t prepared for. I have always been vegetarian with the occasional relapse with bacon. I have always wondered what it would be like to go strict Vegan and always just assumed it would be way too hard. Boy was I wrong! It hasn’t been as hard as I thought at all. Thankfully most stores have a nature section which contains a lot of vegan choices these days, plus I live by two all natural specialty stores. I have had to plot out my meals much more carefully as a result but that has served to be a plus for me. I don’t miss dairy. I can honestly say that. My body feels amazing—less saturated if you will. I am losing weight. My stomach has not had that bloated or pouchy feeling since I started this life change. I say life change because that is what it is. It’s not a diet it truly is a life change.
I have been scammed a couple times by products claiming to be dairy free but still snuck in milk derivatives. I have learned to really read labels. Such as Veggie Slices are NOT vegan—they contain Casein which is a harmful dairy derivative. Non-dairy creamer—still has dairy derivatives. It has been an education. When I go out to eat—I have to be extra careful in ordering. I usually get dry veggies or a salad with oil and vinegar. I have been saving lots of money eating out as I usually just eat at home before we go out so I know what is going into my body. I started this out as an experiment; I just wanted to see if it was possible to be Vegan for a month. It is and I LOVE it!
Here are my favorite alternatives thus far:
- Earth Balance “butter” so yummy you will never know the difference
- Vegan Slices – as a serious cheese lover I thought I would never find anything as good. These are rockin!
- WestSoy Milk – seriously you will not know the difference, I drink the vanilla plus!
- Parma – Vegan parmesan – so yummy on top of pasta or salad, popcorn or sandwiches!
- Karma Kookie – The Holistic Chocolate Chip cookie is AMAZING!!
- Amy’s Kitchen – I turn to Amy for almost all my meals…you have to double check the back for the ingredients and makes sure it says VEGAN. I haven’t had one of her meals that I haven’t loved!!
- Vegenaise– being a former mayonnaise whore I thought I would never find a replacement….and I did!
- Alvarado Street Bakery Sprouted Soy Crunch Bread – this stuff is amazing!!!!
- Vegan Treats – this brilliant bakery is the brain child of a high school friend of mine. Her cakes are AMAZING, check her out!