September Challenge

We have finally come to a decision about our September challenge. Here's the scoop (drumroll please):

Our lives are cluttered, noisy, busy. We tend to live for the weekend, hoping somehow that after a long work week we can finally have some peace and quiet. We can finally have time to reflect on the "big picture". We only experience quiet and the sound of our own thoughts and reflections in tiny, almost imperceptible moments.

The month of September will be aptly named therefore "The Month of Silence."

The challenge: spend one hour a day in absolute silence. No iPod, no TV, no conversations, no cell phone. Just you and the noise outside.


The hope: to use this time to think, pray, reflect, write letters, or anything else that will help you find rest in a life so cluttered with noise. Join us!

Veganism and your social life

Over the course of the last month, I have realized that going vegan can take its toll on your social life. Lis and I are thankful for good friends, but even so we've seen a few things that can happen.

1. Your non-vegan friends feel like there's a part of your friendship that is no longer accessible. Going out to eat, once a casual get together, is now a laborious chore ("That sounds good...but does it have a vegan option?")


2. Your non-vegan friends may be offended at the fact that you imply in some sense that their food is unworthy to be eaten by you. In other words, they think you are saying, "I'm just too good to eat meat."


3. Your non-vegan friends will deliberately not want to eat "your food," because just by eating it they feel like they are supporting your choice of being vegan.


4. Your non-vegan friends will taunt you with food from your "previous life."


All in all, none of the experiences have really happened to us. But it is true that food can bring people together. On the same token, however, we've learned that it can also keep people apart. Here's to a little more mutual understanding of the "other" when it comes to dietary lifestyle...

Accidental Cheating

Lis and I have both had our small, accidental mistakes in the last couple of days.

Mine: Out on a camping trip, after a long hike. I ate a granola bar that contained milk chocolate. NOT VEGAN!

Lisa's: 4 little goldfish, forgetting that this product contains cheese.

All in all, it's the spirit of the law we're going by on this thing, so no big guilty consciences on our part. Onwards! Only six days left...

Vegan Birthday

Celebrated tonight in Little Tokyo for some vegan sushi.

The restaurant: Sho-Jin, which focuses primarily on macrobiotic principles. All about portions and nutritional balance. Good times.

Nice little discovery

ZPizza. Undoubtedly a play on words, inspired by the following hypothetical scene:

INT. COFFEE SHOP. DAY
A group of BUSINESS MEN sit together around a table. Napkins strewn about, half-finished espresso drinks scattered.

BUSINESS MAN 1
Now that we've got an idea for our restaurant, we just need a name...

BUSINESS MAN 2
(in a horrible French accent)
Yes, yes, how will we sell "ze pizza?"

The businessmen pause and look around at each other, stunned by the moment of genius they have just witnessed.

And...scene.

But seriously, for all my vegan friends (this number is currently around zero) and my lactose-intolerant friends (still getting the numbers on this one) they have a lot of great options for non-dairy pizza. I've tried it, and it's legit!

Day 13

And going strong. To be honest, I have not had a whole lot of cravings for either meat or dairy products. I have lost a small amount of weight (3 pounds) in 13 days just by switching to a vegan diet and overall I feel healthier and more energized.

I don't want to hastily commit to anything, but I think one thing's for sure: we will be including less meat in our daily diet. It's good for farmers, good for the environment, good for you.

Life is not about avoiding disease (i.e. diabetes) when it's already too late, but pursuing health regardless. The same can be said about our lives in general. We don't live to avoid sin, but to pursue the Good.

The Mastermind

Well.. As you might have guessed, Alex Carpenter was not the Mastermind behind this idea.

I WAS!

For the past couple of years we have become progressively more and more health & fitness conscious. Its been quite fun seeing how our passions and hobbies have molded together over years. I love the idea of us cooking together, training together and learning together. We have even begun training for the Long Beach Half Marathon on Oct!




Week one of our Vegan journey is now over and here are some highlights:

A fridge full of nature's best.

Edamame stir fry

Tonight we host our first dinner party - featuring lentil tacos, and vegan nachos!

No Dairy? Preposterous!

Rice Milk. Soy Milk. Almond Milk. These three milks are mingling with my cereals as we speak, because good old cow milk is out of the question for this month.

Granted, it's just the second day of this thing, but have you ever wondered why we are so dependent on cow milk in our diet? In a way, it's kind of bizarre that humans are so dependent on another mammal's milk in order to "survive." More to come on my blossoming relationships with "the other milks."

Soys and Boys

In preparing for Vegan month, I was told by different people that soy contains high levels of estrogen. As vegans, soy will be one of our go-to proteins, so I had to find out what was what, lest I be a girly man (some people assumed that estrogen would have a feminizing effect on a man eating it regularly).

Turns out - according to my research - that like anything, too much of one thing ain't that great, but no, it does not have a feminizing effect on men who include it in their diet regularly. So if I cry during "Marley & Me" or "The Notebook" it's because they're just good movies, ok? Because Marley WAS a bad dog but then, you know, because the family loved him so much he was a GOOD dog. So lay off me! Or at least lay off soy.

So Fresh and So Clean, Clean

During this month of being a vegan, we hope to buy tons of fresh vegetables and fruits. We'll be rocking the farmer's market scene like it was nobody's business. Locally grown food supports our local E-con (my nickname for economy) and the food itself is free from harmful chemicals. Back in the G.o.E. (my nickname for Garden of Eden) I don't imagine there were a whole lot of pesticides.

All in all, the farmer's markets are also a more communal food-buying experience. Take pics of your farmer's market experience and post them right here on the blog!

Vegans For One Month

August 2010: Vegan month for Alex and Lisa. Who's in for joining us on our culinary adventure?