I wish I had the willpower to be a vegan and not just because all the hipsters are doing it. I've been pretty concerned about what I eat and its impact on our environment since I read this book
. Sadly I'm a dairy addict with a penchant for bacon. The food triumvirate as far as I'm concerned is comprised of milk, cream and butter. Though I love veggies, lentils and nuts I generally dislike tofu and most soy products give me the heebie jeebies. It also concerns me that many of the dairy replacement products seem to be some kind of chemical cocktail or else contain palm oil which given the detrimental environmental impact seems conflicting at best.
. Sadly I'm a dairy addict with a penchant for bacon. The food triumvirate as far as I'm concerned is comprised of milk, cream and butter. Though I love veggies, lentils and nuts I generally dislike tofu and most soy products give me the heebie jeebies. It also concerns me that many of the dairy replacement products seem to be some kind of chemical cocktail or else contain palm oil which given the detrimental environmental impact seems conflicting at best.Though I'm fairly sure we will never manage to be a vegan household, and will most likely never be complete vegetarians (we tend to eat meat about once a week), I do think it would be worthwhile endeavouring to cut down our excessive dairy consumption. Another motivating factor is that dairy can in some cases be linked to eczema from which Minty suffers.
We went to visit some friends of ours whose daughter is dairy intolerant today, so I thought this was the perfect excuse to flirt with the concept of vegan baking. I would be lying if I said I wasn't a little freaked out by this concept. I mean seriously what kind of a cake can you make without milk, butter or eggs??? The answer - a pretty freaking delicious one! I used this recipe from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World
, and you know what? It actually tasted like cake, real cake - not like when someone tries to tell you that vegan sausage tastes just like meat… because it doesn't (just saying). This recipe even rivals my usual dairy laden chocolate cupcake recipe. Give it a try and let me know what you think.
, and you know what? It actually tasted like cake, real cake - not like when someone tries to tell you that vegan sausage tastes just like meat… because it doesn't (just saying). This recipe even rivals my usual dairy laden chocolate cupcake recipe. Give it a try and let me know what you think.
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Your cupcakes look delicious! I have everything in my cupboard except the apple cider vinegar. Might have to try them (but do normal icing.) We eat meat a lot here. But the past few months I've cut down and have been trying some more vegetarian meals. Not because of any health/environmental reasons though. (Although my toddler has exema too and has a cows milk intolerance so maybe they're related? hmm.) Meat is expensive and I just needed a different way to fill the hubby's large appetite up! Oh and being summer time means I don't want to be at the stove any more than I need to, so vegetarian is good for that! :)
ReplyDeletexo MODELmumma
I feel like that book changed my life. I read it just after I started to trial vegetarianism & decided to stick with it after reading it. I can give up meat pretty easily...but cheese??? I am totally with you on that one. Sorry hormone infused dairy cows, but cheese is da bomb. So are ice cream & cakes. Unfortunately I think dairy consumption is linked to my life long snotty nose condition. Boo! All signs are telling me to let dairy go. Will have to try this recipe. Perhaps it'll be the first step toward dairy free living...
ReplyDeleteI will need more than Peter Singer (whose views I find extreme and not entirely logical) to keep me away from dairy. His is just one side of the argument. Dairy foods are a delicious, inexpensive and easy source of nutrition especially calcium. They are foods which many humans have eaten for countless generations.
ReplyDeleteSome people have an unfortunate intolerance but it is easy to group all allergies and suspect dairy. I don't think anyone should eliminate such a good food from their diet or from children's diets without medical guidance.
I enjoyed the "Omnivore's Dilemma" as a source for thinking about why we eat what we eat and the ethics of it.