It’s buttah, baby

May 8, 2012 | 6 Comments »

Today it’s all about the buttah! I know. I know! It’s butter! Well, I’m from Rhode Island. So I can get away with calling it buttah! No, seriously. That’s how we say it.

If you’re familiar with my website you must know that at times I leave the word vegan out. I don’t do it intentionally. I don’t have a problem with the word vegan or anything like that. It’s just that my food is no longer vegan food to me. Now it’s just… well… FOOD! So please don’t be surprised if you’re reading my blog or looking over a recipe and see the word butter without the word vegan before it. You can take comfort in knowing that I did in fact use vegan butter. I mean come on! Do I REALLY have to be THAT specific? Does the term butter ONLY apply to the DAIRY filled spread? I was under the impression that the vegan stuff could simply be called butter as well.

Sometimes using the word vegan just seems… repetitive. For example, I never see anyone complain that I don’t use the word vegan before sugar. Why is that? All vegans know that all sugars are not in fact vegan. So should I always make note of the use of ‘vegan sugar’ in a recipe? Or do you just assume that as a vegan for the past 3+ years I do in fact use a vegan sugar?

When I first went vegan over 3 years ago the word vegan was used so much that my 4 year old (now 7 year old) son walked around saying ‘VEGANS!’ for the longest time! It was usually accompanied by a peace sign which I found to be adorable! But as time went on the word just sort of faded. When I send hubby out for butter, he comes back with a tub of Earth Balance. Or Smart Balance (the vegan one in case you were STILL wondering). By now he knows that I don’t consume dairy. So if I send him out for ice cream I know he’s going to come back with my favorite brand/flavor of vegan ice cream. Do you see the point I’m trying to make here?

If I have offended any vegans, I apologize. But think about this. The food we vegans eat isn’t JUST vegan food. It’s actually food. Now while I have NO issues with people who eat an omnivorous diet (my husband and son still do and I still love them oodles), I personally don’t view animals or animal byproducts as FOOD. So maybe you can understand a little better why I no longer label my food as VEGAN food and instead simply just call it like I see it. Animals and animal byproducts aren’t food to me. And vegan food is just normal food.

And while I’m at it I’d also like to remind everyone that this is in fact MY blog. Yeah yeah yeah, we’ve all heard the ‘This is my blog if you don’t like it there’s the door!’ speech before. Maybe you have? But some of you might need to be reminded of that. In the past I’ve offended people with MY views and MY choice of words. In fact I’m sure some of you reading this now might be pretty pissed off. A good example would be my blogging about why I decided to go vegan which I posted a while back. A lot of fellow vegans sent me hate mail and made snide remarks about my ‘in your face’ approach. But here’s the thing. It wasn’t an approach! I wasn’t trying to convert anyone. And I really don’t think I should have to apologize for MY feelings/thoughts on the matter.

We all have our reasons for why we chose to go vegan. For me, it was upsetting watching men shovel chickens in tiny ass crates into a live poultry shop. A shop that stunk up the entire block. It also confused me to watch people walk by gagging and yelling out about how badly it smelled only to walk across the street to the fried chicken place and order some fried chicken. I was simply expressing MY feelings/thoughts. It upset me. And it confused me. I have the right to feel those things. And I shouldn’t have to apologize for it. I ended up taking down the post because too many people were just so upset. Well, guess what? That’s not happening anymore! If you’re offended by something you see here, stop visiting! It’s that simple. If you have a question or concern, feel free to ask me! I won’t bite! There’s no need to hold it back. And there’s definitely no need to create an alias just to point something out to me! I mean come on! That’s just CRAZY!

I’m not a bad person. But at the same time I’m also not some doormat that you can walk all over and wipe your dirty feet on. In the past I have given into the nagging and complaining. I stood back as my photos, entire blog posts, ideas, etc. were stolen. I’m here to tell you that is NOT going to happen anymore! Standing up for myself and what I believe in does NOT make me a bad person. And if you can’t see that, you must be one of the people I’m referring to.

Non-vegans: If you have a question or concern regarding an ingredient or specific brand I use, PLEASE, feel free to ask! The comment form is there for a reason. I won’t bite! I promise!

Vegans: When are you going to wake up and realize that we are ALL on the SAME team here? A lot of my audience are non-vegans. Most are friends of mine who happen to think my food looks good. The ONE day out of the week they try out a recipe is ONE day an animal didn’t make it to their dinner table. Jumping all over someone because they didn’t specify what type or brand of butter they used doesn’t help the cause. It turns people off and in most cases scares them away entirely. Think about that.