Embrace the Unexpected

Sing it with me...

"Schoooool's out for summa.......schooooool's out foreva....."

Well, not really forever, but today is the first day of summer vacation for our local district and my now soon to be 4th grader.  Dad took a couple days off to chill at home with the dude, while mom continues the 8-5 grind (insert sigh <here>), until big sis starts watching him next week (ahhhh, childcare in America, that's a whole other post.  Hell, that's a whole other blog).  But as usual, I digress...

I learn so much from my son:  what causes gray hair and wrinkles, what increases my heart rate to rapidly increase and darkens my complexion to a blood red color the fastest, what takes chocolate chip granola bar out of carpet...and car backseats...and hair...and cat fur, what tasty libation can take the edge off of a scenario just enough to make it tolerable.  But seriously, I do learn a lot from him.  I may not realize it in the moment, but he makes me think about things differently.  He presents me with so many opportunities to view things in life through a different lens.  For the 2.4 of you that have been reading my sporadic posts for the past few months, you may recall that I finally got off my ass and started this blog because of an early Valentine's Day card my son made me.  More recently, he has reminded me that I need to get outside more (mom, will you pitch to me?), that I need more physical activity (mom, will you pitch to me?), that I need to stretch more before I do anything physical (mom, can you pitch to me?).

Today, Doug posted a picture of a self portrait Lennon made this morning on this, his first day of break.

This made me smile.  Before I left this morning I told him I didn't want him in front of the Xbox and/or tablet all day.  That he had to also play outside and read and write, etc.  I fully expected to come home to a bleary eyed zombie child 3 shades paler than he was when he woke up. And this was what he chose to do.  It was not at all what I had expected.  Not, in a million years, how I thought he would spend his first morning of "freedom".

Why was I so sure of how he would spend the time?  This made me think of what is expected.  What do I expect of myself?  I am a very routine oriented person.  It is good from a productivity point, but from a fun, creative and adventurous point, not so much.  This makes me want to challenge myself to stop confining me to my world of the little box with the rabbit wheel of life constantly spinning and going nowhere.  Vary it.  Shake it up.  Surprise myself.

Life can get very robotic, day in and day out.  Always saying "no", or "maybe later", or "it's too expensive", or "that's just silly".  Sure, there is a time and place for those answers.  But there are also times for "yes's" and "now's" and "treat yourself's" and "just being silly".  Find those moments and give those answers from time to time.

Now go get your crayons and draw a self portrait with things you love just shooting out of you with excitement and anticipation like baseball and pika pika (this would be a Pokemon reference, for those who think I may be drinking right now) and hearts and mountains.  Go find your Pika Pika.  And say yes to it.

Now go have a rock star day.

Screw the Schedule

Hi.  Remember me?  Lisa, here.  Also affectionately known to some as Vegan Vocalmama.  I know it’s been a while.  Six weeks to be exact.  Miss me?  For the .00042 of you that did, I truly apologize.  It has been a whirlwind of good, bad and ugly.  I was so upset with myself when I missed that next post.  And even more so when I missed another, and another.  But the last six weeks have been comprised of every illness under the sun flying through my place of employment which hit me hard for a solid month and was finally diagnosed as walking pneumonia.  We had a several leaks and water damage at our home and had to have contractors out to replace and repair different areas.  We had a death in the family.  My son’s spring baseball season started (Red Sox, #50, GO MOOKIE! ...also, they are currently 5 – 0, just sayin’).  I’ve been trying to address new and colorful attitude issues from said spring baseball player.  I went away for spring break for 10 days with hubby and small person, and we all survived each other and made it back alive (seriously though, great, well balanced and much needed trip).  Now, I’m back and catching up on the regular daily responsibilities of life that I have fallen behind on over these last six weeks.

My life feels like one big schedule.  Be here, get there, time for this, late for that, and add these 19,427 things to the family calendar for next month.  It really gets crazy, I don’t know how people do it sometimes.  In all reality, I truly believe that unless you are independently wealthy in this country, your time and your life are not your own.  You find and carve out what you can for yourself.  That was why I started this blog.

I started Vegan Vocalmama as a creative outlet for myself.  As a place I could blabber on about whatever food, music or life situations or scenarios struck me that week.  Missing those weeks made me feel like a failure.  Like I wasn’t good enough to be doing this.  I thought about the bloggers I read and the podcasts I listen to, how the hell do these people do it and never miss one?  Or if they do, they miss like ONE and it’s because they are on their near deathbed with, I don’t know what, maybe walking pneumonia. Well you know what?  This is MY blog!  And I get to make the rules!  So my new rule is….

SCREW THE SCHEDULE!

I would love to write every week, lord knows enough things happen.  But I am not going to take this thing that I created to bring me joy and peace and laughter and have it just be another thing on my “This shit needs to get done, like, yesterday” list.  So for the .00042 of you out there that are happy to hear from me, don’t get worried if I’m not shining a new beacon of light in your life every week (and if I am the beacon you are counting on, you might want to consider alternatives…like vegan ice cream…or therapy).  But I will be here.  And I will bring light and food and music and humiliating and humorous stories about me and my family.  So I do hope you decide to come back.  Add your email so you don’t miss one “ha-ha wet your pants because you know you are thinking that same thing” moment.  I promise it will be worth it.  See you soon.  Peace Out.

Now go have a rock star day.

Tom Petty: The Family Tie That Binds

I thought it was about time for the first music post of this newly formed chaos.  This would fall under the “Sing a song” portion of our weekly program.  I hope you enjoy it.  Remember to always listen to the tunes that make you feel your very best, and share them with those you love.

On Sunday, October 1, 2017, I turned 43.  I’m not a big birthday person.  Chilling at home with the family and a good movie is alright with me.  And that’s probably what we did.  Then Monday, October 2, 2017, I got up, took Lennon to school and went to work like any other day.  Then I got the news.  Early that morning, Tom Petty was found unconscious at his home, not breathing and in full cardiac arrest.  It was unreal to me.  This man.  This icon.  This stranger that had been a part of our family would most likely not make it through the night. 

We had grown up on Tom Petty.  The memories were endless.  He knew our grief, he knew our joy, and he knew we were regular, normal people trying to get by.   He put our visions and emotions and wants and needs into words when we weren’t even able to ourselves. I was fortunate enough to see him perform when I was younger.  But now… now being older (and wiser?  Questionable, I know), he seemed more of a peer than a rock star. He seemed like that favorite beat up old cozy sweatshirt you bust out on the cold days for that extra layer of physical, emotional and mental comfort.  He seemed like an old friend.

After Doug and I were married, we saw him together in Charlotte.  It was like a rediscovery of life.  All of the good parts of it.  Over time, we found that, often unbeknownst to us, Tom and his lyrics would weave themselves in and out of our lives at fairly regular intervals.  What better anthem for your 10 month old pulling himself up and gaining independence than Learning to Fly?

Lennon would ask for Tom Petty at a very young age, recognizing the safe feeling of home it gave him.  I remember him singing Runnin’ Down A Dream.  He would get half of the words wrong, but that was okay, and I’m sure Tom would think it was okay, too.  We listened to a lot of Tom in 2017, and the Highway Companion album became a front seat passenger on the many baseball road trips we would take.  We couldn’t go anywhere without Tom.  If I had a nickel for every time I heard “A coyote ran across the road, on the move without a home…” well, let’s just say I’d probably have a lot more time to work on this blog.  His lyrics gave us things to talk about as a family.  It gave us things we could relate to.  In a time of smartphones, tablets, laptops, and everyone with their face in a device while sitting 5 feet away from each other in the same room; where everyone rushed through everything and there never seemed to be enough time for anything or anyone, his music was somehow able to bring us together.

Earlier that same year, after a quick stop to see Tom's childhood home in Gainesville, FL, and take a stroll down his old street, we were fortunate enough to see him perform in Tampa.  To be able to share that with Lennon, to watch him experience this person who had just been a voice on a recording, it was worth every penny and then some.  

It must have been the music gods that scheduled that part of the tour while we were in Tampa for a Rays game.  Because who knew that 5 months from then, he would be gone.

I remember that day so clearly.  I had picked Lennon up from afterschool and we stopped at the dollar store for something.  We were in the car in the parking lot and I told him that Tom Petty was really sick and in the hospital.  I had never seen my little boy cry so hard and feel so much pain.  He understood and it hurt like hell.  But he remembered.  “I’ll never get to see him again!” he screamed through tears in the car trying to catch his breath.  He remembered seeing him. He had the memory and that would never go away.  And we would all help keep that memory, and the overall memory of Tom, alive.  Because that’s what he did, and does, for us.  He keeps us going.  He keeps us alive.

In late September of 2018, Tom Petty, An American Treasure was released, billed as “a career-spanning Tom Petty box set featuring 60 tracks on 4 CDs that unveils previously unreleased recordings, alternate versions of classic songs, rarities, historic live performances and deep tracks that spotlight Tom's remarkable depth and evolution as a revered and tremendously influential songwriter, recording artist and performer.”  I couldn’t have put it better myself.  So many new things to discover, and rediscover.  Perhaps one of the coolest things for us is that the “Even the Losers” track was recorded live at Rochester Community War Memorial in Rochester, NY on September 9, 1989…and my husband, Doug, was there.  Talk about coming full circle.

I have listened to this collection almost daily over the past 5+ months.  A lot of it on my own and quite a bit of it with Lennon.  And we now have a new favorite song.  It’s our feel good song.  Our song that even after a rough, rushed and harried morning, we can get in the car, take a deep breath and know that the day is going to be okay.  Maybe even better than okay. Previously unreleased track 16, “Keep a Little Soul,” is a 1982 cut from the Long After Dark sessions.  I was 7.  And now I listen and smile and rock out to it with my 8 year old son, volume blaring and windows down even when it’s 20 degrees out.  Because, is there any other way?  You’re welcome.

I tried to find a food reference in Tom’s lyrics to pay a special culinary tribute, which after weeks of searching are, oddly, slim to none.  But Doug did find an article where Tom says his favorite sandwich was peanut butter and jelly.  So in honor of the late, better than great, Tom Petty, I give you my own little creation of thanks…Full Moon Fevers (vegan, of course!):

FULL MOON FEVERS

Ingredients:

• 1 flax egg (courtesy of The Minimalist Baker – click HERE for recipe)
• 1/2 tbsp. water
• 1/4 cup peanut butter (I think creamy works best.  Also, you could use any nut butter, but since this is paying homage to Tom, we’re sticking with the traditional peanut)
• 3-1/2 tbsp vegan heavy cream (courtesy of tybeet contribution @ Genius Kitchen – click HERE for recipe)
• 1.5 tbsp vegan confectioners’ sugar (I prefer Wholesome Organic Powdered Confectioners Sugar
• 1 package of puff pastry - should include 2 rolls (I prefer Athens Phyllo Dough Sheets, vegan and easily found in even the freezer section at Walmart!)
• 3 tbsp jam/preserves of your choice

Directions:

·     

• Thaw pastry dough (see box for best method) 
• Make your vegan heavy cream.  I made mine a few hours before and put it in a glass jar in the fridge.  It separated little, but all I had to do was shake the jar up.  It is a little thinner than heavy cream, but did the trick J
• Make your flax egg and let it sit for 5 minutes.  Then add the additional water and stir.  Set aside.
• Mix your nut butter of choice, v. heavy cream and v. confectioners' sugar in a bowl until the smooth and well blended. Set aside.
• GOOGLE WORKING WITH PUFF PASTRY!!  This stuff dried out super quick so it’s good to have some wax paper and a wet towel on hand.
• On a hard surface that you can cut on, unroll 1 pastry sheet.  Either dust the surface with flour or lay down some wax or parchment paper to prevent sticking. (Yes, there are supposed to be lie 30 ridiculously thin sheets that comprise one layer or sheet. No one told me this…I was confused.)
• I used a canola oil nonstick spray and sprayed between each layer to maintain moisture and to help give it a buttery, crispy texture after baking.
• Using a round cutter, cut 6 circles out of one sheet (if you get better at it, you can probably get more out of a sheet, but being new to the dough, I had a lot of scrap!)  You really need to press down and twist the cutter back and forth to get it to cut through all of the layers.
• Lay each of the circles on a parchment paper lined baking sheet.
  
• In the center of each circle, plop a spoonful of the nut butter mixture and a spoonful of your jam/preserves. (I had some of the nut butter mixture leftover, but yummmmmm, that was fine with me!  Freeze it, you’ll love it).
• Using a brush or small spook, spread the flax seed mixture around the edge of the dough circle, this will help create like a glue to seal ‘em shut.
• Using the same technique, unroll the other pastry dough and cut 6 more circle.  Place these on top of the 6 beauties on the tray (actually they won’t look beautiful yet, so don’t panic.)
• Press the edges of the top and bottom circles together to seal them up.
• Stab them gently once in the center with a fork to create 4 much needed vent holes (I'm just saying), or a small slit with a sharp knife.

• Bake for 15 minutes, then let them col on the sheet for another 15 minutes. 
• Top with confectioners sugar (I finally got to use my clearance special sifter!!!  I felt very chefyJ)

These reheat well, too, but just for like 8-10 seconds in the microwave, wooh!  That jelly gets hot!

Let me know if you have any questions, or if you have any other filling ideas!  And if you make them, post it on Instagram and tag me @veganvocalmama !

And Tom, thanks for Keeping Me Alive.

Now go have a rock star day.

Spring Training...VVM Style

For those of you that may be new to the insanity that is my daily life, you may not be aware of my family’s baseball obsession.  My husband and I both grew up liking baseball, but life takes over and we don’t have a major league team where live and it just kind of fell to the side.  After our son was born, around age 3 we took him to a minor league game here in Asheville.  He showed an immediate interest.  As time went on we attended more games and my husband and I began to rediscover our love of the game.  In the spring of 2017 we were on vacation, not far from Miami and it happened to be the Miami Marlins home opener, so we went and had a blast.  And lucky for us, it was the first time Rally Cat made an appearance and thus an unofficial mascot was born…my husband does the best play by play…

In early May of that year, we trekked down to Tampa to see Tom Petty (more on that in a later post) on a Saturday and saw that the Tampa Bay Rays had a home game on Sunday, so we extended the trip by a day. Again we had a blast.  And the best part was sharing all of this with Lennon, who at this point was almost 7.  Our wheels started turning.  These had been two of the most fun family experiences we had ever had.  And then the question was asked…

Could we see all 30 major league ballparks? 

And then the challenges grew…

By car?

And then we were just gluttons for punishment…

In 18 months?

Bottom line is, yes. We did it, by car, in 16 months.  Boom!  But that’s a fun filled story for another post.  What I want to write about today is the food.  I was on my veggie to vegan journey through all of this, and these long trips and ballpark food did not make it easy.  Many parks now have veggie burgers and veggie dogs (while sodium filled and most likely not vegan, they will do in a pinch and at least feels like ballpark food).  Some stadiums have Mexican Food vendors now where I could score a veggie taco or veggie nachos.  Arlington, TX had a baked potato stand, of course all potatoes advertised were smothered in chili, cheese and butter.  Some stadiums have little markets with prepackaged cheese and fruit platters, and salads. (I have to draw the line here.  I’m at a baseball game, not a cocktail party.  This is a completely last resort in dire circumstances only).  But I’ve learned that if you ask nicely and get creative, even within the confines of a baseball stadium, people, will happily do their best to accommodate you.

Well, it’s March.  It has been 6 months since my husband and son have seen baseball game, and almost 7 months for me.  Spring is in the air and cannot get to the currently cold, rainy, dreary mountains of western NC fast enough.  But we simply could not wait.  The calling was too strong.  Friday night, March 1, we hit the road at 5:45pm after work, stopped and stocked up on 10 bean burritos from taco bell (no cheese), ate 3 each in the car for dinner, checked into a free hotel near Jacksonville Airport around 1am (thank you Hilton Honors Points).  Hit the road again at 5:45 Saturday morning and headed to Publix Field at Joker Marchant Stadium in Lakeland, Fl.  Home of the Detroit Tigers Spring Training season. 

It was in the 80’s.  It was sunny.  We were sweating.  We were happy.  We arrived at the ballpark a little before 10am for the 1pm game as we had batting practice tickets and needed to continue the tradition of getting a ball at every park.   While the boys were hawking, mama did her ceremonial stroll and investigation of the concourse and the offerings.  No veggie burgers.  No veggie dogs.  There was a little market with the fruit and cheese and salads (I had not hit “dire” on the Vegan Vocalmama meter yet).  And then I saw it.  “Mac and Taters”.  Take your pick of mac n cheese or tater tots and load them with a protein and various toppings.  Hmmmm.  It took a while for them to understand that I did not want to “choose a protein” and could I please have a few extra other toppings instead.  Finally we overcame the nutrition communication barrier and for $10 I got tater tots topped with guacamole, tomatoes, roasted corn, black beans and crispy tortilla strips.  Voila!  Vegan Tater Tot Mexican Taco Salad!  It was oddly, insanely delicious and did not sit in my stomach like a rock.  That is successful dining at Baseball Park.  BOOM!

And not only did we make a new baseball stadium fanatic friend from Michigan (Hi Ron and family!), we got another ball to add to our collection.  Ok, we got 8.  Including one I caught with a textbook two handed grab from high atop the Braves bullpen.

After a sweat filled day we headed a bit back east to Orlando where we scored another free night (thanks again Hilton Honors Points).  After a dip in the hot tub (because who doesn’t want to submerse themselves in scalding water after they’ve sweat all day?), it was time for a run to Subway for some yummy veggie subs to end the day.

Up early Sunday morning for another pool dip, split the third veggie sub and polish of our remaining 2 bean burritos each…breakfast of baseball vegan champions!  So off we set to Champion Stadium, home of Atlanta Braves Spring Training.  Park, enter, and chill on the berm.  Very fun atmosphere.  And then mama takes her concourse stroll.  No veggie burgers.  No veggie dogs.  Not even the dire circumstance fruit, cheese, salad option.  But wait.  Rounding the last bend I looked up with a total sense of defeat at one of the last concession stand menus and could not believe my eyes. 

Not veggie burger or veggie patty.  But a Vegan Burger.  This was a first from any major or minor league stadiums I had been too.  Someone finally understood that there are vegan baseball fans who want to eat baseball food too.  I was so friggin excited.  I wasn’t ready to order and eat yet, but I was giddy.  I literally stood in line just to talk to the worker about it.  They were delighted at my excitement and said that when I come back and ate it, I needed to tell them how it was because they had never had one.  They also, said, "yeah, we also have that Tomahawk Shrimp!"  Which just reminded me that not everyone knows what vegan means, but they generally mean well.  Later in the game I went back and for $12.25 I purchased my vegan burger with vegan pepper jack cheese, vegan sriracha mayo, arugula, tomato and pickled red onion served on a warm pretzel roll with a side of fries.  Yes, please.  I stopped at another stand for plain tater tots for Lennon and met Terry who had a smile and energy that lit up the concourse.  She was happy for me and couldn’t wait to try the vegan burger herself.  Terry rocked.  Hi Terry (sorry, I suck at selfies)!!!

And then I ate.  And ate.  And ate.  

And then it was gone.  

And I was once again happy.  SCORE!!!!!!!

The day ended with several more balls, including a toss up to moi of an official spring training league ball from the Marlins pitching coach. One for the books.

My point is, if you keep asking, you will find it.  And the more we ask in more places, the more likely we are to start seeing more options and changes. I always make it a point to thank someone in charge for whatever option I was able to find.  It reminds them that we are not all the stereotypical barefoot, granola crunching, tree hugging, tie-dye wearing people you see in movies and on TV (but I love them too, please tell them to subscribe J).  Many of us are just normal everyday people who participate in life and activities and just want to eat things that did not come from an animal or involve hurting an animal for whatever our reason(s).

So speak up, vote with your dollars and say thanks where it applies.  And most importantly PLAY BALL!!!

Now go have a rock star day.

How Marie Kondo Helped Me Tackle Toxicity and Non-Necessity

About 2 years ago, I got an audio book from the library by a teeny tiny Japanese organizing consultant lady who had a very different approach to cleaning out, cutting back, prioritizing, etc.  I gave it a go and didn’t do half bad.  Flash forward and Marie Kondo is now everywhere you look.  She has been on all of the major networks, has numerous books, even has her own Netflix series now (watch it) and, practice what she preaches or not, you just can’t not like her. 

As part of my new effort to haul my aging ass out of bed at 5am to squeeze in some “me time” on the treadmill (if this is what they mean by self-care, I prefer not caring), I indulge in things that my family wouldn’t want to watch necessarily, or that many people would make fun of, and I don’t care.  That’s the “me” part of the “me time”, people.  Well, for about 10 days I binge watched Tidying Up with Marie Kondo on Netflix.  The first thing I would like to say is props to Marie and the producers for covering a varying array of society.  She covered households with kids, without kids, empty nesters, newlyweds, gay couples, straight couples, retired couples, a new widow with 3 grown kids, young, middle aged, older, everything.  And the best part was that I could see a little teeny tiny Marie Kondo sized piece of myself in all of the scenarios.  It really made me stop and think of what I have and what I need and what is important and why. 

First and foremost upon completion of the visual binge, I KonMari’d the crap out of my clothes.  I looked for sparks of joy in sweaters, had heated arguments with several pairs of pants, bought some shorts a farewell margarita, had a deep and meaningful discussion with my inner child until we agreed that I did not need the plaid winter coat and hat from when we were 5, thanked name worthy leather bags and told them that it wasn’t their fault the animals had suffered, purse-say (pun totally intended), but that I needed to move on.  And then there were the t-shirts.  Good lord, the t-shirts.  Dressers vomiting cotton, poly and rayon blends from every corner of every drawer.  How many times did I exclaim “Oh!  That’s where that was!” after a 3 year MIA oversized shirt with a bank logo on it that I won at a baseball game would show itself.

Really?  How had this happened?  When did I become this person?  So many well-meaning gifts received over the years that just sit for one reason or another.  (Sidebar:  I will give and receive gift cards over clothes any day.  There is nothing harder than buying/receiving clothes for/from another person that is not your young child).  But I Googled the KonMari method for folding and went to town.  I was literally in self-imposed solitary confinement in my bedroom for about 5 hours on a Saturday.  I made it through 5 Beth Hart albums and some extra tunes here and there.  But I did it.  A few decisions were difficult, but overall I truly feel I made the right choices. 

All of this got me thinking about how I felt cleansed in a weird non woo woo practical grown up mom lady kind of way.  Basically, as cleansed as a “normal” person can feel about their clothes.  But it felt good.  It felt lighter.  And then it hit me.  I could apply this to so much more in my life.  I just don’t mean clothes, books, papers, Komono (miscellaneous stuff), and sentimental items like teeny tiny Marie Kondo wants you to tediously do in a very specific order (I loved it when the widow was like, no Marie, doing it in my order, in my way).  I mean habits I have and words I use and people I interact with.   The physical items were really taking up space and wasting a lot of my time and energy looking at/for them.  Well, weren’t there other things that did that as well?  Weren’t there things, and even people, that maybe unbeknownst to me were just sucking the life out of me?  I really and truly am a positive person, but there are some situations and people you simply cannot change.  Like the other child’s mom who somehow criticizes your parenting at every interaction with a smile on her face so that you don’t realize until you are halfway home and you scream “That bitch!” in the car, but thankfully your kids head is buried in his tablet (nothing to see here, folks, move along).  Or the coworker who is simply the most negative person on the planet.  I am all for positivity and killing them with kindness, but after a while, I’m like “Fuck off, and go be miserable down the hall.”  That may sound harsh to some people, but I’m not talking about having a bad day (we all have them), or depression (it’s a real thing). I’m talking about people that just complain about every single thing, every single day, and shoot down every single idea or tear down others in order to make themselves feel better.  Why am I even trying with these people anymore??  And then there are the people that just make you feel bad about yourself.  These are the worst.  They are the people that say they care, and act like they care, but in reality they have a way of hurting you, insulting you and cutting you down more than anyone else.  And it hurts so badly because they are the ones you trust the most and you believe what they say.  You gotta dig yourself out from under these people.  You are better than them, and so am I.  You are strong.  You wouldn’t have made it through three weeks of my novice, meandering, finding its way blog if you weren’t (if this is the first post you are reading, go back and read the other 2, just to prove to yourself how strong you really are…and subscribe so your strength can continue to grow…ok, I’ll stop now).  

Drugs, cigarettes, alcohol, binge eating, bullying. These are all things that you need to stop, because you are better than them.  In the big, big, big picture, what are they bringing you?  

Negative, Batman.  In that big, big, big picture, they are bringing you nothing more than that oversized t-shirt with the bank logo on it. 

These things and habits and people are toxic.  They are like a chemical eating away at your flesh or your organs or your soul.  They are non-essential.  They are unnecessary.  So, the next time you find yourself giving too much, trying too hard and finding yourself as the one with your face down in the gutter when you woke up that morning singing some Katrina and the Waves, just remember to KonMari the crap out of...well...the crap.

This may not be exactly what Marie Kondo was going for, but she definitely has made an impact on me and I am grateful.

Go have a rock star day.

Baby Steps, Big Changes

Just to set the record straight, I’m not some 40 year vegetarian, 30 year vegan, woo woo, meditating, deep breathing, yoga stretching, matchstick Victoria’s Secret model in a custom made sports bra sitting in the lotus position writing this.  Far from it, my friends.

I’m a 44 year old wife and mom, who could stand to lose a few pounds, with a full time job, 2 felines, a good sense of humor and what seems like very little time.  I like to think of myself as a late bloomer when it comes to this whole plant based thing.  My husband and I got married in 2005 and soon after that, for one reason or another, we decided to give up meat.  It was really just health based, I think.  My dad was obese with a terrible diet and passed away from a heart attack 6 weeks before our wedding, never getting to meet his son in law and my beautiful then 5 year old step-daughter. Maybe that was always gnawing at the back of my brain. Also it was about this time that someone from a former job of mine had recommended The China Study, which I read and enjoyed, and got the gist of, but was a little science-y of a read for me.  So we decided to make this change. And I’d say we held fairly strong for about 4-6 months.  But life takes over, grills come out, social pressures impede, and it’s just easier to do what you know, you know? 

Flash forward to 2017, I'm pretty sure it was Mother’s Day weekend.  And my friend whom we shall call Carrie (hi, Carrie!), came over with dinner for us, just because she is awesome and generous like that.  She had prepared a completely raw dinner for us.  I remember she had made some type of raw burgers which we wrapped in lettuce leaves, and some kind of noodles, I think they were kelp, with a homemade raw sauce.  We were doing the nodding and smiling deal with wide eyes hoping she would not see the terror in our faces.  But out of love and gratefulness, we took a bite.  Then another.  Then another.  Before we knew it we were done and asking for more.  Carrie told us that she had been dabbling in raw food and was enjoying it.  What was this foreign train I felt I needed to board?    And thus my wheels began to spin.

Podcasts were a foreign concept to me.  I didn’t get it.  Probably because I never really tried it.  So I downloaded a free podcast app (Podcast Addict) and starting searching.  This was where I found Laura-Jane, The Rawtarian.  I devoured her podcast from episode one and started incorporating more raw style foods into my diet, and less and less meat.  This meant, automatically including more fruits and veggies in my diet, something that had previously been a very small percentage of my food intake.

I found myself feeling better, sleeping better, and losing some weight, simply by changing what I ate.  I was astounded.  This could simply not be possible.  I HATED exercise and never did it, so that certainly wasn’t it.  The only thing that I had altered was my diet.  I was so intrigued.  Netflix and the Buncombe County Library became my best friends.

My husband and I devoured all of the documentaries we could watch online and from the library:  ForksOver Knives, Vegucated, Food Inc., What the Health?, Cowspiracy, Food Matters, FoodChoices, Supersize Me, Why Are We Fat?, Beyond Food, Hungry For Change, PlantPure Nation, Vegan Everyday Stories, Fed Up, In Defense of Food.  You name, it we watched it.  Our jaws dropping further and further with each nugget of information.

Then I thought wait, there must be more of those podcast thingys about this stuff, too!!  BOOM.  Vickie and Larissa of Vegetarian Zen infiltrated my life starting sometime in the summer of 2017, and they have never left, please find them and love and cherish them and their Peas and Carrots Society as I do (Whaddup??!!).  Now I feel like I’m best buds with Alyssa of Live Planted.   Chuck Carroll (the weight loss champion) and I have a good laugh as we learn every Thursday when his new Exam Room podcast drops.  And through all of this, over the past 21 months, we have continued to make changes, and feel different, better.  But I seriously couldn’t have done it without these people and resources.  People like Dr. Colin T. Campbell, Dr. Michael Greger, The Minimalist Baker, the Cheap Lazy Vegan, Dr. Neal Barnard of the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, Caitlin Shoemaker of From My Bowl, and oh so many more!  I’m telling you, the more you dig, the more you learn, the more you find ideas to try, the more you learn what works for you and what doesn’t.

This digital world that we live in has so many pros and cons.  You really have to find the way to make it work for you, not against you.  For example, don’t ever Google your symptoms, it will just tell you 19 ways that you are dying.  Do, however, google things like “easy vegan lasagna”, “easy vegan cheesecake”, "easy vegan mac and cheese”, “easy vegan buffalo wings”.   Oops, careful Lisa, you’re going to get a rep as an easy vegan, LOL!!  HAHAHAHA!!!  I kill me.  But I digress…

I’m not a strict anything. I just strive to eat 100% plant based, cooked, raw, home, out, wherever, and whatever and however.  It began for my health, and now my reasons have broadened as I learn more about animal cruelty, the environment and how these little choices I make every day can have such an enormous impact.

I will have other posts on foods and ideas that are more specific.  But what I want you to know is that this is not an all or nothing deal.  You do your own vegan you, if that is what you’re looking for.  Maybe that is Meatless Mondays.  Maybe it’s giving up all animal products but cheese (because OMG.  But more on that later.  I’ll let you enjoy it a little longer before I gross out.  Because we’re friends now J).  Maybe it is just eating less meat and dairy for a while to test the waters.  Maybe you want to just add more fruits and veggies and whole grains and legumes to whatever your existing diet consists of.  ROCK ON!!  Just do what you can when you can and before you know it, you will most likely find that these decisions are not even decisions anymore, they are just your natural choices that don’t require any more thought.

Maybe you’re doing it for your health.

Maybe you’re doing it for the love and safety of the animals.

Maybe you’re doing it for the environment, we only got one planet, peeps.

Whatever your reason(s) are, just do it.  One baby step at a time.  And me?  Hey, I’m just another resource for you on this wacky journey that I hope is long and healthy for both of us.  So please let me know if you have any questions, concerns or comments.  Nothing is too big or too small.

Go have a rock star day.

PS.  I figured out how to do hyperlinks today.  Be afraid.  Be very afraid.

How Did I Get Here?!

This blog.  My blog.  It has been staring me in the face for several minutes here and there throughout my busy days and weeks for many months now.  I would dabble in building and designing it.  Get frustrated because I am essentially “blog-building illiterate”.  The glaring “NO POSTS” would attack me from the page every time I logged in (often forgetting the password because it had been so long).  What exactly did I want to write about?  Didn’t I need a very specific niche?  Didn’t I need to be incredibly amazing at something in particular in order to make my words worthy to be put out there?  There just never seems to be enough time.  I work, I mom, I wife, I life and the clock just keeps spinning and spinning.

Then, this morning, on this blustery Wednesday, February 13^th, my 8 year old son did something unprecedented.  He decided not to play the Xbox this morning with the free time before school.  He chose to come into the kitchen with blank paper and a pencil.  As I washed dishes in my bathrobe with a towel on my head, watching the clock as always, he sat with a grin on his face and I left him to it.  Blow drying my hair in the bathroom, there was a knock on the door and a “MOM, CAN YOU TURN THAT OFF FOR A SEC?”  I turned it off and he handed me a folded piece of paper.  I asked him if he wanted to wait until Valentine’s Day and he said no, that he wanted to give it to me today.  There was a pencil drawn heart on the front with “I Love You” in the center.  The tears started almost immediately when I opened it.  On the right was another heart and “I Love You!”  And on the left was my son’s early Valentines note for me:

Dear Mom,

I love you so much! XOXOXOXOXO.  Thank you for doing all of the cooking and the dishes.  I know sometimes you have a hard time and I make it harder.  But like you said to me yesterday, you are the most important thing in world to me.  I am sorry.

Thank you,

From Lennon

He hadn’t done anything wrong, we had had a great morning.  But this was how he chose to spend his time this morning.  He chose to spend it reminding me that he loves me and apologizing for things that have happened in the past, and will most likely happen in the future.  But he made the decision that this was more important than his Xbox this morning.  And he had listened to and remembered what I had told him yesterday.  This was the greatest gift I ever could have gotten.

And it was eye opening.

Ultimately we choose how we spend our time.  We lecture our kids about spending too much time in front of one screen or another,  we lecture people at work (or are lectured) about how work time is spent and how could it be more productive.  Sure, there are some things we have no control over.  And we are just as guilty of falling prey to various time sucks as everyone else.  But the things and the time that we do have control over, we sacrifice much too easily.  We hand it to social media, to Amazon, to Netflix, to online shopping.  Don’t get me wrong, all of these things are amazing and have improved my life in so many ways, but they also have stolen a little piece of who I am by swallowing whole what small pockets of time I might find that are actually mine.  I think it is time that I reclaim it.  I wanted to start a blog because I am a creative person, always have been.  I’ve always liked to sing and write and perform and entertain.  It was an outlet for me and most of the time other people benefited from my efforts as well.  But this thing called Life just seems to have taken over every nook and cranny of my existence and I just felt like there was no room for Creative Lisa. Or more accurately, no time for her.

Having recently adopted a plant based diet, and really enjoying it, my husband suggested I start a vegan blog.  ME???  I don’t know anything about being vegan.  All of the websites I go to and podcasts I listen to and YouTube channels I watch (potential time suck, anyone?) are so much better than me and know so much more than me.  Who would ever want to read ME?  Enter excuses <here>.  I was terrified.  Where did I start?  What would I write about? No, no, no + too much + I can’t = shut down.  But I continued to cook and eat and sing in the car and think. 

My tag has always been Vocalmama.  It’s very fitting: I sing, I love music, I’m mouthy, somewhat opinionated (gulp), and I’m a mom.  Add the plant based diet persona and we get VeganVocalmama.  As I started thinking about this, it seemed more comfortable, more fitting.  I could write about lots of things regarding different aspects of veganism, music and parenting.  If people like you wanted to read them, great! And if not, well, their loss.

So here I am.  A lesson learned from son on choosing how to spend my time.  I have to find the time for myself, and if I can’t find it, I have to make it.  And yes, the laundry might sit an extra day.  Maybe I write on my lunch break instead of walking one day.  Maybe we make the leftovers that are on their last legs stretch for one more dinner.  Why?  Because without me and the small bit of sanity that I am miraculously able to maintain on a moment to moment basis, this world would be a different place.

So I hope you come back for some more food, music, thoughts and conversation…and hopefully laughs (life is nothing without laughs).

Go have a rock star day.