renaissance, expanded

As I said in my previous post, I'd like to resurrect this blog. I think before it was just too limited in scope, so now I'm broadening it. Now that I'm venturing into veganism I'd like to chronicle that journey, as well as post the occasional bit of art or craftiness, and thoughts on spirituality. So that's my idea: to write about the parts of life that make it rich and fulfilling but wouldn't usually make it into my journal (leandra_nyx.livejournal.com). The things that give texture to my life, if not actual form.

I don't get the chance to work on art projects as often as I'd like, but when I do I think it would be nice to able to show off the things I've made. Who knows, maybe having a place to share would actually inspire me to make more art even!

As far as spirituality goes, I'm pretty sure that I'll always consider myself pagan, but my beliefs and practices are always evolving. I've dabbled in a bit of nearly every pagan (and non-pagan) path -- my bulging bookshelf proves it -- out of personal interest or simply a desire for knowledge and understanding. To make a long story short, I'm an eclectic pagan who's roots are in Wicca and Women's Spirituality, who takes inspiration from Hinduism's views on Deity, and appreciates the mythologies of many cultures. I've been part of a coven for four years, and I'll probably post a bit about our goings-on, as well as general thoughts.

I imagine my vegan experiments will probably dominate this blog, however. When vegan cookbook authors tell you that going vegan is easy, guess what -- they're LYING. Vegan cooking by itself is as easy as any other cuisine, but breaking food habits is HARD. Perhaps it's easier for others, but veganism for me has come with the dual challenge of changing my eating habits while simultaneously learning how to cook. Well, that's not quite right. I know how to cook, and I'd say I'm a damn good cook, but what I lack is some of the skills associated with cooking.

Before I learned about veganism I was a vegetarian, but a bad vegetarian. I would cook something from scratch maybe once a week, and my husband and I ate a lot of frozen pizzas, boxed foods, and ramen. I know that's really lame, but sadly, true. Now that I'm attempting to be vegan those foods don't work anymore, and thank goodness! There are always Amy's frozen meals, but those are expensive. So, being vegan is good in many ways: good for my budget, good for my health, and most of all, good for the animals!

Unfortunately, it's not really coming overnight for me. As I said, I'm a good cook, but haven't really been in the habit of cooking a lot, so I'm having to learn some of the basics. Things like: Planning a menu in advance, and shopping for things that are on that menu. Developing a meal repetoire. Making sure that I'm not planning to make too many complicated meals in one week, which burns me out. And the big thing for me, learning how to cook vegetables! All of that may sound silly to someone who has been doing it for a while, but these are skills that take time to learn! My husband is still only vegetarian too, so when I fail at one of those steps, I'll usually break down and go in for the frozen pizza with him. So while I may not be 100% vegan yet, I'm definitely working on it... and I want to document my progress, not to mention the tasty food I make!