CrispyQ

Welcome, blockkick.

Crosses fingers for Will x x Wow, cool boss, new observatory & a new telescope? What more could you ask for? Oh yeah, a membership at Hell's Gym! Good luck!

Vote for your fave Fix Walmart slogan here: http://www.ourfuture.org/fixwalmart/vote.cfm On edit: I voted for "Profits for China, foodstamps for Americans." ===

That white garlic pizza sauce was anything but bland!! Choco Silk gets my vote. I only buy it occasionally cuz once it's opened, it's gone. Nat, the Silk nog is very good. Not very thick, but great flavor!

I have the flabbiest inner thighs. I'm finally starting to see some results with my outer thighs, but even at my most fit, my inner thighs, while not fat, were still flabby. Any suggestions?

My husband has already requested I make this ASAP! Thanks!! ps -- you may have taken longer to make a contribution, but it was worth the wait! ===

Great site! I was particularly fond of the Ninja section: Ask the Ninja, Robots & the Ninja guide. The little green guy under 'Abilities' rocks! Nice work!

Welcome Steve! Wow, I'm envious that you require less sleep at night. Wish I had experienced that! Your book sounds great - especially since the most frequent question we get asked is "where do you get your protein?"

Welcome cryptomancer! You will find lots of help going vegan here. Cheese was my last beast to tame when going vegan & from what I've read here & other places, that is very common. Check your health food store for "Follow Your Heart" vegan cheese -- same people who make Vegenaise. It's good & I think comes in four flavors. Then head over the the recipes forum & check out VeganMadres pizza recipe. It rocks! Glad to have you on the board.

Here I am in one of my many bash bush tees. http://pic4.picturetrail.com/VOL728/2745263/7447862/118614667.jpg

I'm very cautious about contributing, especially to national organizations that I can't visit. Non-profits are very good at pulling at your heart strings to open your wallet. I prefer to spend my donations locally where I can drop by & see what they are doing. Locally, I support Greenwood Wildlife Rehabilitation Sanctuary & have done some volunteer work for them. I love this place, although it is often times very sad to see the harm our species inflicts on wildlife through our carelessness & ignorance. I also support the two local chapters of the Humane Society. As for human organizations, the only one I support is my local library because I believe education is our best tool to change people’s perspectives. BTW, here are some links to some charity watchdog organizations. I don’t know how good they are, but they are a start. You can also request financials from any organization that you want to contribute to. They should be willing to provide them. http://charityguide.org/charity/charityratings.htm http://www.charitywatch.org/ http://www.heartsandminds.org/links/givelinks.htm#Guidestar on edit: Daniel, thank you for the link to Friends of Animals. They have a nice website with some excellent campaigns & this is the first I've heard of the parakeet issue. I'm shocked that the Audubon Society would endorse the cruel treatment of these birds. Arghhh!!! I've had parakeets & they are fantastic!

Google is your friend: http://www.living-foods.com/articles/sprouting.html http://www.sproutpeople.com/grow/bits/bits.html http://www.sproutpeople.com/cookery/essene.html And finally, it looks like you were not wrong about the amount of time it takes to make essene bread: http://bread.allrecipes.com/az/EsseneBread.asp

Welcome Tristan! How great for you to have a local gym owned by a veg/animal person! I think you will find this group motiviating for getting in shape. BTW, I'm a programmer too & right now working on the most boring project I could imagine. Yawn . . . . . that's why I need surf breaks! Yeah, too many hours in front of the computer has contributed to my abundant behind.

Beautifully said! I believe many of us are better people cuz of our interactions with our animal friends -- interactions we would not have had if we had not opened our homes to pets. I agree with Bigbwii that animal domestication is probably here to stay. We should do the best we can for those who need our help, friendship, love & care.

I wondered what you ended up making for T-day, CollegeB. Glad your mom liked it too. Mine is terrified of the mighty soy bean. Love your new avatar photo, too!

That is the coolest pic ever!! I love it!!

Welcome, Eva! Taking homeless people to dinner is a beautiful act of kindness. You rock!

Wonderfully said, Nat! I couldn't agree more! And Violet13, thanks so much for bringing up a topic that I think too many are horribly unaware of. I was ignorant of the cruelty of the dairy industry for many years, wrongly thinking that the animals were not killed and that it was in the interest of the industry to provide a good environment for the dairy cows. How naive I was. Then I learned about the veal industry and about how they keep the dairy cows pregnant for most of their lives with the help of a contraption commonly referred to as the rape rack. It was then that I could no longer stick my head in the sand about this horrid industry.

How do you all keep on track with your workouts during the holidays? Or do you recognize it's that time of year & do your best knowing you'll get back to it after the first of the year. Any suggestions are appreciated.

My old guy eats health food store chows (meat based) & some canned food. My younger cats (13) eat mostly vegan chows & canned food from this site: http://www.vegancats.com/ If you're concerned about taurine, clam juice is a good source & you can pour some on their chows daily. It's a compromise, but perhaps not as drastic a one as meat food. VeggyMeggy, you are right, vegan cat food is expensive & you must plan ahead. If you run out of chows you can't just run to the store & get some. All that said, I'm a better person for my living with animals. Does that make it right? I don't know, but I would not be as compassionate to all animals had it not been for my intimate interactions with a few animals. However, in the future, I will probably limit my animal companions to ones that are veg or omnivorous. I've had rabbits & they are wonderful creatures - vegetarian too, although you have to read the labels as some manufacturers put beef fat in rabbit food. Go figure.

Congrats on the recognization of your hard work!

Yo, Shelby! Congrats!! You will have the guys lining up to sign up with you (hey, you're hot!) & I think from your general attitude you will also have the girls interested in training with you. (Sign me up!) Congrats!!

??? Are vegan girls harder to approach than non-vegan girls? I would think a vegan guy would have an advantage with vegan girls simply cuz of his vegan philosophy. ?????? Or does your comment encompass ALL girls?

"Fox smells it's own hole."

Well, Nat, I guess it would be telling someone they’re wrong. And the problem I have with it is I think it turns people off to whatever message you state after that. I think a better way is to point out that eating meat harms other beings, beings who feel pain, enjoy their lives as much as we enjoy ours, & all for a reason that is no longer valid – we don’t need to eat animals to survive. By going this route, you have not attacked their behavior, but rather have given them arguments to consider or refute. I guess it's really a matter of taking the personalization out of our statements. I think you are a great voice for the animals. I admire that you encourage people to watch “Meet your Meat.” I think it’s a great educational tool; very graphic, honest, & revealing about their cruel choices. I don’t consider that judgmental. That said, I realize this is a board of vegans & a great place to vent about our society’s conventional cruel mores. Sometimes it helps our everyday interactions with non-vegans to come here & rant about their lack of humanity toward non-human animals. I know I struggle daily with human beings lack of compassion for anything non-human. ===