Alysoun Mahoney's profile

More About Me

Reasons why I prefer to eat vegetarian or vegan:

I am vegan because I don't want to cause animal suffering. Also it is better for my personal health. And the planet's health.

I joined HappyCow Members Community because:

I think it was 2006 when I was planning one of several trips to China and needed help finding veg-friendly restaurants there. Happy Cow came through! Since then, I've used the site to find veg-friendly restaurants in cities all around the world. Now I live in a semi-rural community ~40 miles from Washington DC, in Loudoun County VA. This county is also rapidly introducing veg-friendly restaurants, but many people don't know this yet! I hope to share my finds with the world, and encourage more vegans to come to Loudoun County!

Here are some places I've been that I liked... and places that I would like to visit one day:

I like something about everyplace I've been. I've lived in Oak Park IL; San Francisco, Berkeley, Palo Alto, Santa Cruz and Redondo Beach CA; New York, NY; Hoboken NJ; McLean, Arlington and Middleburg VA (the latter is my current home); Taipei Taiwan; Beijing and Shanghai China; Hong Kong. I have visited too many places to name - but a few standouts are Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City Vietnam; Antigua Guatemala; Rome, Florence and Naples Italy; London England; Barcelona Spain; Paris France and Geneva Switzerland.

Some of my favorite veg*n foods include:

So many I don't know where to start! For special occasions, I love to make a dish called Faux Gras from the cookbook "30-Minute Vegan's Taste of Europe". For everyday eating, I mostly make Asian-inspired dishes with tofu and various veggies and rice; or vegan burritos. I'm excited about all the vegan cheese products that have been developed in recent years - especially Miyoko's Kitchen cultured nut products.

Here are some books, movies, magazines, and my favorites that I would recommend to other HappyCow members:

Book: "For the Prevention of Cruelty: The History and Legacy of Animal Rights Activism in the United States." Movie: Vegucated. TV show: Lisa the Vegetarian (Simpsons 1995 season 7 episode).