8/19/05
Busy day ahead! Lots of cooking/baking. I need to finish the last of the bars, then get on with the triple chocolate mini cakes, pretzels, and pineapple upside down cakes. I also defrosted some meat that's finally thawed (it took over 3 days in the fridge!) so I need to get that cooked up.
Tomorrow we're dropping off the baked goods, doubling back and dropping off cans at the shelter for them to recycle, then I bribed DH with breakfast if he would come and donate blood. I feel really bad in that it's been a long while since I donated. I have O+ so they always need my type. DH is AB- which is very rare, so they usually need his as well. I really need to get back to donating once every 8 weeks. Part of the problem is that the local blood donation center is 2 towns and about 25 minutes away. I know this really shouldn't be an obstacle--I should be grateful that I can drive 25 minutes and that I'm not dying in a hospital bed in need of blood--but sometimes I do let it get in the way. Maybe the solution is to look for more local blood drives.
I accidentally stumbled on the PETA website yesterday (I'm going to be blaming this indirectly on Chris, who happened to mention KFC.
) It sounded good so I went to look up the nutrition information when I stumbled on to PETA's site detailing the cruelties commited by KFC's suppliers. Reading all that quickly nixed the idea of KFC!
It also brought me back to something I'd be casually thinking about for the last couple months: vegetarianism. I lived as vegetarian through my last years of high school, more as rebellion and preening than a motivated choice. Still, it was not that difficult and not at all unpleasant.
I've been thinking about converting back partially for health reasons but mostly for ethcial reasons. It was quite disturbing and difficult to read about factory farming and commerical slaughter yesterday, but I figured if these animals are going to die so I can eat them, the least I owe them is to acknowledge what they suffer. I don't have a problem, in theory, with humans eating animals. I can understand the food chain and the fact that we're omnivores. What I can't abide is the conditions these poor animals live under at factory farms, and the unnecessary cruelty they experience during the slaughter process. And, with really no practical, viable way of ensuring that the meat animals I would eat were raised and slaugtered humanely, the next best option is to just become a vegetarian.
I haven't 100% percent arrived at a decision, nor have I figured out how I'm going to handle eggs and milk (conditions for dairy cows and laying hens are just as bad as for slaughter animals), but I did start poking around looking for resources to help start a vegetarian life. I cashed in some survey reward points for a subscription to Vegetarian Times, and I have comitted to not buying any more meat in the foreseeable future. I'm going to use up the stock we have, but I won't be adding to it. From there, we'll see...
8:45am
--1 chicken apple gouda sausage
--1 bun
--1 cup milk
--1 chocolate butterscotch cookie
Will all that being said here I am eating the last sausage!
I'm also eating the last of my "sample" cookies! These things sure are darn good! I'm going to get started on baking in a couple of hours. I need to wait until it's late enough to go pick up my neighbors baking rack to use with the mini cakes. I want to bake everything up in sequence so I only have to heat the oven up once today. Wish me luck!
1:30pm
--a few tastes, crumbs, etc of everything I've been baking
--a few ranch crackers
--1 HC stuffed shells meal
Well the baking is going pretty well. I got the bars done and plated and I'm about 1/2 way through the triple chocolate cakes. I'm listening to the Party Favorites music channel that comes with the cable and it's doing a good job keeping things cheerful and upbeat.
I am a mess! I have butter, batter, sugar, and I couldn't tell you what else all over my shirt. Today I definitely made an exception to my getting dressed in the morning rule!
6:45pm
--2 servings manwich
--2 hot dog buns
--1 1/2 large carrots
--2 T hummus
--1 cup nsa peach applesauce
--1 handful baked nacho chips
Between the carrots, applesauce, and chips dinner tonight was an etude in orange. I dropped the bomb about wanting to go veggie on DH while we were eating. The second I said it I could see a question form (Are you going to make me eat any of that tofu stuff?) but it took him a couple of tries to get a response out. I basically told him I was hoping we could meet halfway. I wasn't going to buy or cook any more meat, but I wasn't going to stop him from buying or fixing his own meat, or having it at restaurants. Since it doesn't really affect breakfast much for us, and he eats lunch at work, this only really affects one meal for him. I think it will be OK. He seemed relieved when I told him I didn't expect him to convert and cautiously optimistic that I wasn't going to force soy milk on him.
I don't think I ate anything this afternoon. If I did it was a cracker or two filched from the box. I was in so much pain this afternoon--TOM is coming and I had about an hour of awful cramps. I was whining, but the kitties weren't particularly moved by my plight.
This isn't normal for me--between the moodiness, depression, and cramps I have had the worst PMS of my life since I've been on Yasmin. It usually doesn't last long, and everything else is fine with this pill, but those couple of days aren't fun!
9:00pm
--4-5 M&M's
--4-5 Hugs
Leftovers from the pretzel candies. Those are now done and cooling. I'm about to go start the mini pineapple upside down cakes and then that will be it.
I ran out to the store tonight to try to find something to use as a drizzle/topping for the chocolate cakes. They just looked unfinished. I found a bottle of sundae sauce that seemed thick and was advertized for plate decorating, but it turned out to be just like Hershey's syrup. I also bought a bottle of raspberry plate decorating syrup, and while the consistency was right, it didn't really show up well against the chocolate cakes and wasn't going to set. It was tasty, however. I wound up settling for just a dusting of powdered sugar.
While I was at the store I took a look at some of the veggie options. There was a lot to choose from and Safeway, the parent company of our Dominicks, is even making their own private label organic and soy products. I also found organic milk that advertized humane animal care standards. I'll have to investigate but this may be a viable option. The products were expensive, but not by a huge margin. It's worth it to me to pay more.
I am with you on changing this habit.
but I can bounce back and at least that's the end of them!
They cancelled my meat substitutes project, but had cookies, crackers, and cereal to offer me. I wound up with cereal, which I think it best. It's going to be the biggest most complicated, but at least I won't have to sit and think about cookies all day. I can deal with cereal!
But it was fun! Luckily he kept his sense of humor about it and admitted that it was good. We'll see if he touches the leftovers, though. 
