Vegan Shit I'm Wild About

1. My Vegan Mac n' Cheese Recipe

1 lb. macaroni noodles
2 cloves minced garlic
2 1/4 c soy milk
1/2 c nutritional yeast
1/4 c flour
oil (1-3 tbsps)
2 T soy sauce
1 packet mustard (about 1-2 tsp?)
2 drops hickory smoke flavor
Cornmeal

Spices:
Cayenne pepper
Garlic Powder
Paprika
Season Salt
Mrs. Dash
Pepper

Directions:
Preheat oven to 400°.
Cook noodles according to directions on box. In a sauce-pot, cook the minced garlic in 1-3 tbsps or so of oil until fragrant. Add soy milk, nutritional yeast, and flour. Stir frequently so it doesn't burn. Throw in the spices to taste. (I definitely recommend a few dashes of cayenne pepper because it gives it some oomf.) Continue to stir until the sauce begins to thicken up. Once it's begun to thicken, throw the noodles in and coat. Then dump the mixture into a casserole dish. Sprinkle a generous amount of paprika over the top. Also sprinkle a generous amount of cornmeal as well.
Throw into the oven for about 20 minutes or until it's started to get a bit crunchy and hot. Serve.

2. Favorite Vegan Cookbooks

Vegan with a Vegeance

The PeTA Celebrity Cookbook

The Candle Cafe Cookbook

The Lantern Vegan Family Cookbook

La Dolce Vegan!

3. Vegan Required Reading

Slaughterhouse by Gail Eisnitz

Animal Liberation by Peter Singer

The Sexual Politics of Meat by Carol J. Adams

Eternal Treblinka: Our Treatment of Animals and the Holocaust by Charles Patterson

Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side of the All-American Meal by Eric Schlosser

The Lives of Animals by J.M. Coetzee

4. Vegan Digital Camera Developing

Mpix.com*

5. Fav Vegan Beers

Ephemere

Great Lakes Brewing Co.'s Holy Moses

6. Fav Vegan Places on the Web

Vegan World Order

Herbivore: Vegetarian Culture

Vegan Freaks

The Vegetarian Resource Group

VegCooking

Post Punk Kitchen

7. Cool Vegan Food Blogs

Vegan Lunch Box

The Vegan Cooking School

Eat Air: A Vegan Food Log

What the Hell Does a Vegan Eat Anyway?

8. Reassuring/Grounding Words for Vegans

Jo Stepaniak

9. Kick-Ass Vegan Grocery Guide

VegCooking Shopping Guide

10. Vegan Companies

Vegan Companies

Cari Amici

VegBay

Herbivore Clothing

Pangea

Web of Life Natural Food Market--cafe is all vegan

11. Cool Crafts for Critters

Crafters for Critters

12. Fav Vegan Hair Products

Abba

13. Vegan Links for Eating Out

Vegetarian/Vegan Options at Fast Food Restaurants

Vegetarian Fast Food Restaurants

Meatless Meals for Working People

Vegetarian-Restaurants.net

Vegan World Order Guide to Vegan/Veggie Restaurants

14. Info About Food Ingredients

VRG.org

Vegetarian Guide to Label Reading

Guide to Animal-Derived Ingredients

Animal Derived Ingredients List

15. Fav Local Restaurants that Cater to Vegans

Another Level II--621 East 185th Street, Cleveland, OH

Johnny Mango--3120 Bridge Ave., Cleveland, OH:

we have TONS of vegan items!!! Both our flour and (organic)wheat tortillas are vegan. We have Veggies, Beans and grain of the day that are always vegan.

The combo of all 3 is called the Bus Boy Special and I eat it every day. We have Veggie (eggplant, portabella, pepper, onion, zucchini) burritos and Portabella mushroom/tomato/garlic burritos. All burritos are filled with lettuce, tomato, pickled onion and a dash of lemon-herb-tofu dressing (totally vegan). By themselves, they come with chips and salsa. Upgrade to a big plate, and get rice, beans, slaw, and a grilled banana. The banana is swiped with guava butter that can be eliminated. Otherwise, our "big plate" is vegan. Our fried rice has frequently been made without egg or fish sauce, substituting soy sauce to make it vegan. Fried tofu with garlic sauce, plantains (caribbean fries), guacamole, chips and salsa, oh so many options for you. Although the cornbread is made with soymilk, it also contains butter (sorry!). The rice crepe, without the cornbread, is a great choice. The chicken cashew salad without the chicken is a regular vegan customer favorite. We serve many, many vegan customers. Hope to see you soon!

Shelley

ps... did I mention our juice bar????

16. Vegan Recipes on the 'Net

Post Punk Kitchen Recipes

The Vegan Chef

VegWeb Recipes

Veggie Table Recipes

Abbey's Vegetarian Recipes

The Cat-Tea Corner Vegan Recipe Page

Vegan Mania Recipes

Happy Cow's Vegetarian/Vegan Recipes

Vegan Connection Recipes

RandomGirl.com's Vegan Recipes

Dairy-Free Recipes

Sno-Isle Natural Foods Co-op Recipes

17. Vegan Multi-Vitamin

Vegan One Multiple Vitamin from VegLife

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Things I Realized This Weekend

1. E revealed to me that he's secretly attracted to (and fetishizes) plasticy girls and he doesn't know why. This got me thinking about what/whom I find myself guiltily attracted to, and I realized the following: One of my subgenres of attraction is that I'm attracted to pretty boys who are attracted to me in some way (or are at least intrigued by me). This is the most egotistical thing ever, but it is the case. Hence it being a "guilty" attraction. Generally, pretty boys don't do it for me (and vice versa, for that matter). But if I realize that they're intrigued by me or find me interesting in some way, that's when they start to become more attractive to me. For some reason, I find it to be a touchstone that reveals that they aren't just genero pretty boys, that if they find me intriguing (since I'm not stereotypically pretty), then there must be something a little bit more deep and interesting going on in that pretty package of theirs. Case in point, blond stoner boy and the fastiduously trendy and well-dressed eyeglass guy who fitted my glasses. I'm such a fucking egotistical cock.

2. That I've reduced horror movies down to several categories and figured out which category I'm most fond of: the campy, the supernatural/spooky horror flick, the horror flick about the horror that is human beings. Most horror flicks fall into one of these three categories (between which there is, of course, a bit of overlap). I prefer the second category. And then the first. And then the final. I like movies about the fucked-upedness (worst word ever) that is human nature and that is deviation, but oftentimes, they are much too unsettling and disturbing for me to want to invest time in. I mean, I know that human beings are royally fucked up, but there is something that horrifies me about glorifying them through excitedly filming it.

3. It's actually a good thing that my eyeglasses broke. My new eyeglasses are WAY cooler. They have that sexy librarian look going on--like I just fucked someone against the bookshelves in the biology section of the public library and am now checking out a Ramona book to a little girl with my shirt slightly askew.

4. I am actually capable of inventing really good recipes on my own. This weekend, being the tool I am, I decided to make a vegan mac n' cheese recipe that a certain Ms. Peppermint had sent me on a postcard a while back, but then promptly misread the ingredients, leaving myself sans brewer's yeast (which I had misread as NUTRITIONAL yeast). After punching myself in the boob several times in punishment, I decided to wing it and try invent my own recipe for a baked mac n' cheese. In the non-vegan world, this would be fairly easy--toss some cheese in with noodles. But in vegan-land, where I did not have any processed vegan cheddar cheese or anything handy, this offered more of a challenge. I had to figure out what the hell to mix together to make something taste like cheese (without making it cause people to hurl). Apparently, I found the right mixture, as it turned out really fucking good, both to my amazement and E's as well. Apparently nutritional yeast, garlic, soy milk, soy sauce, mustard, hickory flavoring, cayenne pepper, and a weird variety of other spices taste DAMN good and cheezy when mixed together. Yip yip.

5. I am a total slob.

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This Weekend, Thinking

This weekend, downing cozy sushi, watching fucked-up Asian horror flicks, sharing wine, snuggling with my cats, all provided a moment for me to pause and think about where things are in this 29th year of living this life that I've been raising as my own. The past 3-4 years have been some crazy ones with so much change that it unsettles me to think back on them sometimes. I've grown wildly apart from some folks, I've lost people/pets I love, I've gone through so many changes in my perspective/philosophical outlooks on things. I've grown to love folks deeply, I've found myself no longer walking quite so tightly hand-in-hand with other folks down my dirty little path (and I've realized I'm ok with that), I've learned to not give a shit about what people think of me, I've found myself finally living for myself and not others (and putting myself ahead for once), I've sloughed off the skin of people who were doing me more harm than good, I've been reunited with my little high-strung and enjoyable veggie way of living, and I have something that I'm heading towards now, that I'm working my ass off towards and enjoying, something that's a light at the end of the tunnel and that excites me to think and talk about, something which will hopefully open doors to other little somethings that excite me as well. I feel hopeful. I feel hopeful and I feel happy. I feel like I wanna fuck the world. And I feel centered. Finally. I realized this the other day. This is good.

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Politically Incorrect on the 23rd

I've wanted to blog all week about how strange it is that I found out on the same day this week that a) a midget and b) someone I was friends with in middle school (and who just recently tracked me down via my blog) both live on a street I drive down every day to get to work, and I'd never realized this before.

But then I figured, knowing my luck (I just recently broke my bathroom cabinet mirror and consequently had the worst day of work I've *ever* had the next day--someone deleted files I'd spent nothing less than 6 hours working on--and I got a certain foxy lady pissed off at me and vice versa, and the list goes on and on), I would end up finding out that she's actually MARRIED to the midget fellow and they're very sensitive about referring to him as a midget (understandably so, which is part of my hesititation in mentioning it). And then the death threats would begin, since they both just live a few blocks away from me.

So I didn't post it.

But now I am.

Because, well, dammit, when you find out someone you were friends with in middle school and some of high school (who wrote a poem comparing you to the mineral beryl) and a midget live on the same street, not more than a handful of blocks away from you, that's just too fucking David Lynchian not to mention.

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The Power of Christ Compels You (To Eat Vegan)

A recipe for a whole-wheat vegan cake and a very different viewpoint on why to go vegan:

WATCH THE VIDEO HERE

(For those of you who pick on me about *MY* arguments about veganism, next time you feel compelled to make fun, hearken back to the words of our brother Fillipe and let the sanity of my words flutter down upon you.*)

Transcripted:

Cameraman: Why do you make your food vegan? Why don't you just get the ingredients--the regular ingredients--and make your food the normal way? Why vegan?

Fillipe: That's a very good question, but it is also a very simple question. You know we are called to do everything for the glory of God. And we are living in the last days. And Satan is going to try to make an assault upon our mind. And the battle is in our mind. And if we do not eat healthfully and keep our body fit, our mind will be weak. Our mind will not be able to make rational and correct decisions. And that is one of the major reasons why I eat only vegan. Because I have seen that if I have eaten other things that have been contaminated--such as dairy and milk and eggs and meat, you know, meat products--all that does is clogs up my system. I cannot think properly. And I cannot be able to communicate with my lord and savior. So it is very important that I eat nutritious food that is abundant in all the vitamins and minerals that I need for my body.... And when I get this balanced nutrition that is solely found only in fruits, grains, nuts, and vegetables, then, my body will feel great--and I do feel great--and I do the rest of the eight laws of health, and my mind is clear. I am able to study the word of God and be able to discern spiritual things, because spiritual things are spiritually discerned and only when you are healthy are you able to discern spiritual things. Because your mind will not be dull. It will be clear and the Holy Spirit can to communicate to you. But if it is clouded, how can you communicate? That's why it is very important to keep your mind and your body all surrendered to the Lord, so that he may be able to teach you and use you.


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*And yes, I make fun. But only because I am a Christian-hating atheist**.





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**And, yes. I am kidding. Though the transition from discussing the recipe to discussing his reasons for veganism is abrupt and resonates with that turning-on-brainwashed-propaganda feel. And I say that again, not based on my Christian-hating heart, but simply because, well, Satan told me to.

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Strange Things That I've Discovered My Kitten Franny Enjoys Eating

1. Black beans.
2. Cap'n Crunch.
3. Cheerios.
4. Fuzz.

Franny eyeing
colander of black beans

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Sir, I Mean, Ma'am

Having spent half of yesterday afternoon dealing with the bullshit that is mechanics, it seemed fitting to return home to Judge Judy whose shows often seem to be a symbol of the fucked up male-dominated power-structures of this country.

But wait, you say, she's a FEMALE and in a position of power! How does that make her show a symbol of these fucked up power structures?

Well, watch an episode or two sometime and see how many times people call her "Sir." It cracks me up every time, but only yesterday did it dawn on me that it is really quite the commentary on American society and patriarchal power structures to see folks constantly erring and referring to a woman in an "unusual position of power" as "Sir."

And she ain't the only one who gets that either.

Men rule the world.

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I love you, Soup!

On this the most holiest day of love, I wanted to finally announce it to the world!

For 27 years, I loathed you! I was suspicious of your random spices! I was leery of the indiscernible chunks of veg-like substances floating in you! I was doubtful of the usefulness and enjoyableness of a relatively unchewable food!

At first I was afraid, I was petrified! But you've made me come to see the truth! You've made the world glow just a little bit brighter, the birds chirp just a little bit louder, the unicorns neigh and frolick just a little bit neighier and frolickier!

I love you, Soup! I love you, and I want the world to know!

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New Improved List of Things That Bring Me Joy

1. Picturing Michele and her cute laugh as she sits in some coffee shop, choking on laughter after she reads something she finds funny on my blog.

2. The sky Sunday night when my brother was over and how the pink dusk clouds were peeled back in just one scabby patch across the center of the sky where it was bright and brilliant blue.

3. Cuddling with Zooey the other morning where we actually spooned for an hour or two.

4. When a certain Russian fellow refers to smoking in his broken English as "suiciding yourself."

5. When I get random messages on my machine from Maura's nieces and nephews singing ACDC'S "TNT" or reading me a homemade ghost story.

6. The quiet of driving in a blanket of snow that's surrounding you from above and below in white.

7. That D actually consumed about 12 or 14 of the worst cookies I've ever made in my life, within about 5 hours.

8. When weird inside-jokes I have with my sister Lisee randomly pop into my head: Zebra Mushroom!

9. When my brother rather cutely and sincerely tells me how proud he is of me.

10. That I woke up the other morning with Maura's song "Ohio" stuck in my head and how it wedged there ALL day. That's a good sign, woman.

11. Finding the perfect gift for someone.

12. Being clutzy (alternately fun and irritating).

13. Franny's fat little hairy Italian-man belly.

14. Fucking good vegan tamale pie.

15. The Broken Social Scene song "Anthems for a 17-Year old Girl."

16. See "H.E."

17. Heat.

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Oh Inverted World!

Right at this moment, despite the fact that

• I found out that I have to get my car repaired in order for it to pass the stupid e-check,


• I broke my glasses in two this weekend while cleaning them with my apparent super-hero-strength touch, and


• I am momentarily short in the money-department,

I am having one of those peaceful-heart, weightlessly blissful and happy moments, where I feel like I should be walking somewhere and suddenly be moved into thoughtful slow motion while some Shins song that you'd find playing towards the end of a Scrubs episode kicks in, my scrubs and my Farrah-Fawcett armpit-hair blowing in the wind.

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Apparently I Need to Work Harder at Alienating You After All, My Dear Readers

From: XXXX
Sent: Monday, February 06, 2006 1:00 PM
To: Lindy Loo
Subject: hello monday.
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Hey!

So, I just wanted to share with you a tid bit I learned this weekend. It was your "controversial" blog dear [Lindy Loo] that served as the catalyst for change in a dear friend's decision to go Vegetarian.

Props.

See, you make a difference…despite the hairy aftermath of comments, some people really got what you were saying and felt the purpose/impact of your message.

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The Constant Gardener

The problem that I have with movies like this is that they are touted to be big eye-openers about social injustice etc. etc. And yet, these movies depersonalize the individuals suffering at the hands of said social injustice in the same way that the big pharmeceutical companies do to these folks--these folks become nothing more than faceless masses that compose a backdrop for some big, admirable endeavor by a white dude.

Call me cynical, but The Constant Gardener may be well-done and all that--well-constructed with good acting--but for a movie that DOES keep getting props for making Americans aware of bad shit going on in other countries, it sure as shit leaves the folks in Kenya completely and utterly faceless as they suffer at the hands of slimy corporations, nothing more than a backdrop for two (and I quote) "courteous, self-effacing, large of heart" white folks and their love-story.

But maybe that's just me.

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Hat's Off To Yas

This weekend E surprised me with some killer vegan shampoo and conditioner that he picked up for me while out shopping.

The D-squared Unit also made a special delivery to my house with not one, but *TWO* fantastically huge, family-sized, frozen vegan Pepperidge Farm dinners.

It is easy to forget about and overlook the folks who are there for you, come hell or highwater, when you're busy getting crap from other folks. But it is nice to have friends who are in your corner, who really get it, regardless of whether they agree with you or not, regardless of whether they roll their eyes at your ranting and raving.

Them's good peoples.

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Don't Fear the Reaper

While driving today and listening to a cover of the song "Don't Fear the Reaper," I saw a man in an ARMY jacket jogging down the road in perfect sync with the beat of the song. This struck me as a weird little self-contained commentary, so I just felt the need to share it with others.

Carry on.

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Imposing My Viewpoint, Part II

The other day, while watching the newest of the Batman flicks, I had this sudden flashback to middle school.

*Opening my Big Bag o' Dork*

Back in 6th or 7th grade, I went through this phase where I was absolutely in love with the movie Batman and was horrendously smitten with that "Batdance" song by Prince (you can listen to a brief clip HERE). I vividly remember listening to that song over and over on my headphones in the car while I stared out the car window as my parents drove around looking at houses.

Oh, and kids at school used to pay me to draw them pictures from the movie. A particular favorite of the hip middle-school crowd was my drawing of The Joker.

Yeah, you heard me.

Put *that* in your pipe and smoke it!

*Closing up my Big Bag o' Dork and resealing it really damn tight*

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