Monday evening at 6:15 PM I finally had a complete meltdown in the middle of my living room floor. I cried, and cried and cried for 20 minutes straight..I had HAD it!
Processed foods are one of vegan's worse enemies. Almost everything made has some form of animal product in it that is used to add flavor, to preserve, and even just to make the food look good; and those processed foods that are vegan are usually loaded with partially hydrogenated oils, fat and tons of carbs and an ingredient list of 20 plus that takes over 1-2 inches of space on the package. So when someone, like myself, walks into the vegetarian/Vegan/Organic section of the grocery store, we tend to become somewhat careless of the ingredients that are in these foods..I guess thinking that maybe, since these foods are organic, they're healthier and less likely to contain the mystery, animal products non-organic foods have. WRONG!
My husband and I went grocery shopping Sunday with a very miserable, slightly feverish, winey 2 year-old in which, if anyone has ever had this experience, they know that going grocery shopping with a sick child doesn't always end well. So when I hit those Organic Aisles, I rushed through them picking up a few new products and kept moving. Bad Idea! Unfortunately, my rush through, led to a list of purchased, non-vegan products and the events that followed:
Sunday at 12:15 PM..starving so I grabbed a pack of Orbitz new gum to chew..checked the ingredients..GELATIN
Sunday at 3:30 PM...Tim picked up a bottle of Blood Orange Mimosa Wine which we planned on taking a taste of..Carmine Coloring..EWWW
Sunday at 7:00 PM...I had picked up an Yerba Mate Frozen Tea Popsicle which I found intriguing and yummy...THat had honey in it! AAAAAHHHH
By this point I was upset but okay. I figured gum is gum. I can give that pack of chewy animal bones away easily. The wine..I was upset but my husband will drink it so no biggy. The popsicle...MAN I wanted that but Amerie will enjoy that so that's okay.
Monday at 6:00 PM..I had bought a Cedar Point Organic Veggie Pizza wrap stating on the front that it was made with an organic tortilla, bell peppers and tomatoes..I turned it over to re-check the ingredeints as I do for everything and found it had honey in it..."FOR WHAT????" I exclaimed..then I saw it had Mozzarella Cheese..AAAHHHH...Finally, MELTDOWN.
I cried on and on..the Evil Processed Foods were a finger push away from winning...I just couldn't understand why I lived in such a cruel, non-caring, conformative world where "different" is abnormal and uncatered to. I wasn't going to give up..I was just FED up. But after a good cry I pulled myself together, got my cooking brain going and made my own pita pizzas and moved on. I made it...I had won.
But I realized being Vegan is tough!! It takes a lot of strong will, patience, determination and a true passion to not give in to the temptations and all the testings that surround us. So this is a shout out to ALL my Vegans and to anyone out there who is having a rough time sticking to something "different"; be it a diet, a relationship, work, WHATEVER it is....Don't let this cruel world bring you down. Stay Strong Willed; Stick to What You Believe In; Most of All Be Who YOU are and I promise you will win. Different is Beautiful; It's the definition of unique.
For other news..I am anticipating for the opening for entries to FOOD2's Sexiest Food Photo Challenge. I Can't wait!!
Stay Beautiful!
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