Meatless Monday – The Joy of Being Vegan

Ok, ok, so I didn’t cook anything new this week to share a recipe for. I hope you understand – I was gone most of the week and, though, I did cook this past week, I simply remade some of my favorites.

If you’re really looking for a new recipe to try this week, you’ll notice there’s a new widget in my right sidebar that links to other “Meatless Monday” recipes (look for the piggie).

Having said all this, I do have related thoughts to share. Just some of my own observations of being vegan for for almost a year and a half now.

I read a lot of information on if having a vegan diet is better or healthier for you and the planet, etc. There is so much information out there leaning back and forth on each side of the argument. I think it all comes down to just simply what works for you. So, I’m not going to touch this topic and its arguments simply because I don’t think I’m expert enough to address them completely. I’ll just share my observations and opinions.

First, I feel like overall food tastes better now. I’m not sure if that happens along with trying to keep a pretty “clean” and whole food type diet or not. I just feel that my taste buds are more sensitive now to different flavors and spices – a real bonus if you ask me.

Second, (and these are in no particular order otherwise this might have to be moved to the #1 spot), I have no “food guilt” anymore. I’m referring to that high-caloric type of food guilt. This isn’t to say that some vegan recipes can’t be high in calories, it’s just that overall I feel that eating healthier allows me the freedom to really eat what I want and what my body craves without that after-indulgence low that I’ve felt in the past. You know that I-just-stuffed-myself-and-can’t-move-feeling? Well, I don’t have that anymore.

And, finally, tying all these thoughts together would be the fact that I feel more “connected” to my food now – in a good way. I really think about what I’m going to eat and plan for my meals and snacks and, I think I enjoy them more. This could be why I feel what I eat tastes better and has no guilt about it.

Trying new foods and new recipes has really become a huge JOY in my life – I’m calling this the 

I could be mistaken, but it’s this joy that I see expressed through recipes and posts on the many vegan blog sites I read.

I love it…it makes me feel connected to a community of “happy, joyous people”.

What could be better than that?

So as not to leave you without links to some of these fabulous people, here are some of my favorite vegan blogs:

• The Post Punk Kitchen
• Compassionate Cooks
• BitterSweet Blog
• Urban Vegan
• Finding Vegan
• The Savvy Vegetarian

This is by no means a complete list of vegan blogs I LOVE. I’ll start sharing at least one every Monday when I get back to posting my Meatless Monday Recipes (next week, I promise).

There are my vegan thoughts and shares this week. I hope everyone has a wonderfully healthy and joyous week!

~ Lita