DC1346's profile

More About Me

Reasons why I prefer to eat vegetarian or vegan:

I enjoy a primarily vegan diet because it's more affordable and healthier than a diet which includes meat, sugar, and dairy products.

I joined HappyCow Members Community because:

I joined this site because at the time I joined, I lived in rural Arizona where the local diet consisted of beef with beans or potatoes. I am now living in Las Vegas where there is actually an entire vegan community.

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

My father was a doctor with the U.S. Public Health Service and I grew up in Ghana, Thailand, and El Salvador. As a teacher, I have lived and worked in Saudi Arabia and Lebanon. All told, I have spent 17 years living abroad.

Some of my favorite veg*n foods include:

Since I did not grow up as a vegan let alone a vegetarian, the only way I've been able to stay on a total vegetarian diet has been to produce foods that look and taste like the comfort foods I grew up with. My favorite vegan meals include "beef" won-ton soup, chicken fried "steak" with mashed potatoes and country gravy, and "pork" tamales. I am now in the process of publishing a 10 volume vegan cookbook series called, "The Unintentional Vegan." Volume 1: Beef is currently available through Amazon.com as an e-book.

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

If you haven't seen the film, Vegucated, I'd strongly recommend it. It was produced in 2011. The premise of this film was simple. Could a vegan producer convince 3 non-vegan New Yorkers to adopt a vegan diet for 6 weeks? The film follows these participants for 1 1/2 months through their initial health screening, nutrition workshops and visits to farms and (meat) processing plants. It concluded with an exit medical screening that evaluated how a vegan diet affected their overall health. The film also ended with a decision from each participant as to whether or not he or she would continue pursing a vegan diet.