So to keep balance in the universe, I want to share these Vegan alternative recipes for two Girl Scout Classics. No, they are not the healthiest things to eat, but they are certainly better for the planet (palm oil plantations are destroying orangutan habitats at a FAST pace), and better for animals and humans (because they don’t have animal ingredients).

So until the Girl Scouts stop using palm oil and animal ingredients in their recipes, this is what we will be having at out house. Plus we don’t have to wait for Girl Scout Cookie Season to have them!

Vegan Tagalongs
by Annie and Dan Shannon

Makes 18 to 24 cookies

What You Need: For the cookie base: 1 cup vegan margarine 1/2 cup sugar 2-1/4 cups flour 1/4 teaspoon ground flaxseed 1 teaspoon vanilla 1/2 teaspoon salt 1 tablespoon applesauce 2 tablespoons vanilla soymilkFor the peanut butter filling: 1 cup powdered sugar 1/2 cup chunky natural peanut butter 1/8 teaspoon saltFor the chocolate coating: 1 10-ounce bag vegan chocolate chips

What You Do: 1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. In a stand mixer or medium bowl with an electric handheld mixer, cream margarine and sugar. Add flour, flaxseed, vanilla, salt, applesauce, and soymilk, and blend until dough is smooth.2. In a cookie press without a form or with your hands, roll dough into a uniform tube. Slice into 1/4-inch wafers. On a cookie sheet covered in aluminum foil, bake for 6 to 8 minutes or until edges are golden brown. Remove and place on wire cooling rack.3. For the peanut butter filling, in a large bowl, mix powdered sugar, peanut butter, and salt. With your hands, use roughly 1 tablespoon of mixture to form small balls and gently press on top of each cookie.4. For the chocolate coating, in a microwave-safe dish, melt chocolate chips (about 2 minutes on high heat) in microwave. Once chocolate is fully melted, drop cookies into dish one at a time, using a spoon to pour chocolate over the top and coat evenly.5. On a parchment-lined cookie sheet, place dipped cookies. When all are coated, chill cookies in refrigerator for 2 hours or until chocolate is fully dry. Photo by Annie & Dan Shannon   Vegan Thin Mints by Chef Chloe Ingredients Cookies 1 ¼ cup all-purpose flour (or gluten-free all-purpose flour) 1 cup sugar ½ cup cocoa powder ¼ teaspoon salt ¼ teaspoon baking soda ¾ cup vegan margarine 3 tablespoons soy, almond, or rice milk 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract ½ teaspoon pure peppermint extract Chocolate Coating This Chocolate Coating recipe will coat half the cookies (about 32). If you are baking off all of the dough, double this recipe. Procedure To make the Cookies In a food processor, pulse flour, sugar, cocoa powder, salt, and baking soda until combined. Add margarine, milk, vanilla, and mint extract. Pulse a few more times until the mixture comes together. Transfer the mixture to a large bowl and knead it with your hands until it comes together and all the flour is incorporated. Chill the dough in the refrigerator for 1 hour. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and line two large baking sheets with parchment paper or silpats. Remove dough from refrigerator. Roll a heaping teaspoon of cookie dough into a ball and place onto prepared baking sheets, leaving about 3 inches in between each ball. Evenly flatten the dough with your fingertips so that it is about ¼ inch thick and bake for 12-14 minutes. Let cool completely. To make the Chocolate Coating Melt chocolate chips and margarine in a double boiler or microwave. Stir in the mint extract and mix until smooth. Dip completely cooled cookies into the chocolate and remove with a fork, gently scrapping off excess chocolate using the side of the bowl. Or, spread a thin layer of the chocolate on top of the cookies. Place cookies on a parchment-lined plate or tray and refrigerate until chocolate coating sets. Store in the refrigerator until serving.

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I think it is healthy human nature to question even your most deep-rooted beliefs as I have often questioned my vegan choices. But the signs keep coming that I was indeed on the right track every time my convictions were put to the test. And the thing that solidified my certainty once and for all was seeing first hand the faces of the animals who have escaped from the animal agriculture system where they have been rescued by farm animal sanctuaries.  Seeing these animals, hearing their stories from their rescuers, and meeting others who feel the same way I do proved to me there is no other way I could possibly live.

I have now come to know many individual farm animals whose lives I vowed to not exploit. Each certainly has their own unique personality, just like dogs and cats. I’ve met cows who’ve escaped impossible situations moments before they were to be slaughtered. Cows who have scaled 6-foot walls, minutes away from the killing floor where they have seen, smelled, and heard others before them fall. Cows are not physically supposed to be able to scale 6-foot walls. But some have. Some have escaped Halal markets in New York City, and ran for their lives through the streets, not knowing where they were going, but damn sure knowing where they didn’t want to be.

I’ve met a cow who was so traumatized after all her years spent in the dairy industry (on a small scale farm mind you! Not a huge factory farm!) where she gave birth to baby after baby and never was allowed to keep one of those babies because her milk was meant for humans – as were her babies. Her newborns were dragged away, minutes after birth, before they could suckle, before they could even stand, and instead of being licked clean by their mother’s warm tongue, they were hosed off with harsh cold water and forced into a pen or truck for their fate as a future dairy cow or veal. Their mother was left with her natural inclination to nurture and nothing but an unnatural machine to feed. After she was no longer useful to the dairy industry she was sent to slaughter where she decided she had had enough. She escaped and was rescued by a sanctuary where she is self-confined to a pen that she is afraid to step out of. Understandably, she does not trust humans, but she allows one person to go near her, a man who is one of her rescuers. She is nervous when anyone else tries to approach her, but she recognizes this man and allows him to get close. After all she has been through, she is able to recognize him as an individual. Yet why don’t more people give her the same respect and recognize her individuality?

When I visit these animals at the sanctuaries where they are so blessed to be, I always think of the ones before them in that line at the slaughterhouse who were not able to escape. Or other animals who were so weak and maltreated, they never even made it that far. There is nothing I can do for those animals except to say to them, “It was not for me. Your life was not ended for me. With every bite of food I take, I am not harming you and I never will.” That’s the only thing that gives me some peace. That is why I am a vegan.

Some say veganism is a western privilege- that because we have the luxury of choice, we can actually choose to not eat an entire category of food. To this I can retort and say, eating meat can also be said to be a western privilege- one that Americans in general are so gluttonously taking advantage of. But I don’t see the point in arguing if veganism is a privilege or not. This is my culture, and this is what I know. I can only try and affect change around me, and I only offer my opinions, I never force them. We are a in a country of abundance of resources and choices and of course I am grateful to be able to make the choice of veganism. I am also grateful my family does not own slaves and my mother is not forced to be subservient to my father. I am glad in this country we have battled against racism and sexism. And I am glad there is a large movement to squelch the next big ‘ism”: Speciesism – where humans take dominance over every living thing. I think western privilege can be an example to the rest of the world, that no, they don’t have to live like us, but the goal of society can be to have equal rights for all, and to get to a place where we can think beyond ourselves and recognize the rights of others to live without oppression, torture, and fear- no matter what race, gender – or species.

Now one final note for those who are not fans of groups like Peta and other animal rights organizations. I think many people feel like animal rights activists are trying to shove their beliefs down everyone’s throat. Yes, these groups do broadcast their views, and as a result, may offend those who believe differently. But may I offer this perspective: It is only fair. Vegans endure countless messages promoting things that they deplore: Beef commercials; Got milk? billboard ads; sides of trucks plastered with images of poultry; egg breakfast specials posted in restaurant windows…the barrage is endless and everywhere. If animal rights groups had the money and political power that the animal agriculture industry does, then we’d be seeing commercials and ads to combat these messages that are telling the public that animal exploitation is normal- when to so many people, it is not. If the dairy industry is allowed to tell a lie that milk does a body good, then why can’t animal rights activists tell the truth- that it is not necessary, or even healthy, for humans to go from their mother’s breast milk to another species’ breast milk? Now, I’m not saying everyone will agree what the truth is, but at least the public would be presented equally with both sides and could make more well-rounded, informed decisions. And then maybe, instead of vegans being perceived as extreme, maybe the reasons for their choices will be more understood and even accepted.

And that is why Go Lightly (my vegan cafe in Montclair) is here serving vegan, organic, and raw food. If there is going to be a burger joint, and pizzeria on just about every block, why not plant-based alternatives? To me, this is progress to a more humane, peaceful, and healthy world.

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Americans seem especially to be obsessed with protein- even to the effect that many get way too much of it- leading to kidney problems, and heart disease when that excess protein comes from animal sources. Protein is a combo of amino acids, and all plants have these amino acids. By eating a good variety of legumes, whole grains, and fresh fruits and veggies and making sure you get enough calories, it would actually be difficult to be protein deficient. Many new vegans may feel they are not getting enough protein, but that’s usually because they begin by eating only “light” foods such as salads and fruits. It is important (and more fun) to expand your idea of what a vegan diet is and include all kinds of foods including the “heavier” plant foods such as nuts, seeds, and beans and work them into your repertoire. It helps me to remember a vegan diet is not limited but inclusive of thousands of combinations of hundreds of vegetables, fruits, nuts, seeds, legumes, herbs, and spices. Compare that to there being only a handful of animal foods people tend to eat: eggs, dairy, cows, chickens, pigs, fish, and sometimes goats and lambs.

And thinking that calcium needs to come from animal milk is just the result of savvy marketing on part of the dairy industry. Cow’s milk is made to turn a 600 pound calf into a 2 ton cow. How can this possibly be good for a 100 to 200 pound person, let alone a small child? There are naturally occurring steroids and hormones even in organic milks that are simply not intended for the human species. We are mammals and like any other mammal in the animal kingdom, we were meant to drink our own mother’s breast milk and then be weaned. Period. Not switch to another species’ milk when we are weaned from our mother’s milk! So where do I get my calcium? Leafy greens, broccoli, almonds, legumes, and seeds. And do I get enough? Apparently according to my last bone density test. But what I’m not getting is the saturated fat, cholesterol, and pro-inflammatories that dairy contains and that contribute to heart disease, certain cancers, diabetes, and other major chronic disease. I’m also not getting any of the blood and mucous that also are served up in a glass of milk. Ick!

And as far as B12 is concerned, many people think it comes from animals. But actually  B12 is a microorganism that naturally occurs in soil, which is consumed by animals and is stored in their tissue which in turn is taken up by humans who consume those animals. The plants that we eat are generally scrubbed clean of  B12, so yes, if you don’t eat animals, it is harder to get B12. But luckily we are animals too and we store B12 in our bodies, so taking a supplement, or using B12 fortified plant-milks, even occasionally, will take care of a vegan’s B12 needs.

But really, the best improvement to my health since I began a vegan diet is really a very personal and life-changing testimony. Since I was a small child (baby really) I have suffered from severe allergies and at times debilitating bouts of eczema. I am not brave enough to post pictures of me at my worst, but I will share that I was hospitalized for complications due to eczema inflammations and have had to have steroid injections just to be comfortable enough to function at times throughout my childhood. Once I fully eliminated animal products from my diet and detoxed out all the toxins from processed foods and learned to eat properly, by the time I was 19 eczema was a rare event, and even other allergies like hayfever were a thing of the past.

I see all this as karmically being rewarded for not eating animals, but some may still want to see the science behind the health benefits of a plant-based diet. For those folks I highly recommend reading “The China Study” by Colin T. Campbell and seeing the film Forks Over Knives. These two information sources are changing more lives everyday and yours may be next.

Now I am working on my parents.

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But then I would get hungry, and the stomach trumps the mind at times like that. And I didn’t know what else to eat besides milk with cereal for breakfast, roast beef sandwich for lunch, and chicken for dinner. But then I began thinking about my dog, Tuna. Supposedly, I am more important than her and my needs come first because she is an animal and I am a human. But just because her agenda is to find a patch of sun to lie in and mine is to go to school and get a job and earn money does not mean that my needs are superior to hers. To think that they are would be applying my human values to her, and deciding that just because this lowly animal doesn’t value the same things I do then I can decide what I’d like to do with her. And if she is tasty, why then, I could just kill her and eat her, right? Because I am human- it is my right!

But this didn’t sit right with me, of course. I would not eat my dog. I love my dog. I know her as an individual. But why should my knowing and caring for an individual animal necessitate them being saved from my plate? Maybe they have a right to live their life no matter what relationship I have with them. I don’t know other people’s dogs, but I do not want them harmed. They offer no value to me, but I still believe in their right to live. Why not any animal- cow, pig, chicken, sheep, goat? Are they below dogs? According to whose standards? Does a less smart person have less of a right to life than a smart person? And again, according to whose standards?

So I decided that eating animals and their by-products was gross, and now I had this philosophical argument as back up for when I got really hungry and didn’t care. It has taken me many years to change my eating and shopping habits, and to this day, twenty-three years later, I am still learning.

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Introducing Common Good Laundry Detergent and Dish Soap IN BULK!

These Brooklyn-made line of cleaning detergents are the ultimate in purity, power, and positive-green concepts. Founder Sacha Dunn brought the tradition of refillable products from her native Australia to the U.S. when she noticed how hard it is to live plastic-free here! But we are changing that, aren’t we? Simply bring in any empty bottle to Go Lightly’s refill station at 4 So. Fullerton Ave., Montclair and pump out some of the squeaky-clean goodness of these 100% biodegradable, essential oil scented, triple concentrated detergents. It’s wonderful to buy eco-friendly products, but it is DIVINE to avoid buying more plastic packaging in the process!

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