We decided to go vegan about a month ago but have postponed letting the world know until we used up the butter and mayonnaise that we had in our fridge. Well, that day has finally arrived, so we’re coming out officially as vegan!
As you likely are aware, our lives changed when we volunteered for a week at Elephant Nature Park. We fell in love with the animals there (Mae Kham Paan and Dani, especially) and the mission of the Save Elephant Foundation. That’s the reason we continue to visit every other week and help out however we can. On one of these volunteer days, Ligeia was dusting off some wooden signs engraved with thought-provoking quotes. One quote, in particular, resonated with us and has forced us to take a closer look at the impact we have as we live our lives:
Becoming vegan certainly comes with a load of sacrifices. Mindy went through this process when she gave up meat, but since Ligeia has lived her entire life as a vegetarian, this sacrifice is new for her. Despite it being difficult, we gain strength knowing that we no longer negatively impact the lives of animals anywhere.
We will most likely return to this blog post as a sort of memoriam for all the foods we’ll miss.
RIP: We’ve definitely had some good times in the past, but now it’s time to say goodbye. You will never be forgotten.
- grilled cheese sandwiches
- quesadillas
- mac and cheese (arguably the orange powder in the Kraft Mac and Cheese/Kraft Dinner may not be cheese)
- fettucine alfredo
- ice-cream (but we’ve gotten into ice-cream made with coconut milk instead)
- scrambled eggs, deviled eggs, etc
- French toast
- Challa bread
- many cakes and pies
- milk chocolate
We’re always on the lookout for amazing vegan recipes, so if you know of any or want to learn of some of our favorites, please let us know!
Update
In hindsight, going vegan was easier than we could have imagined. Our only regret is not doing it sooner. Today (August 16, 2018) marks our 6-year veganniversary and we have noticed two things about this post: we no longer feel that being vegan is a sacrifice in any way, shape or form; and all the foods we thought we’d miss, we either don’t miss at all or we have simply veganized them.
Anonymous
good luck. WUV WUV WUV
Tara
I know they make soy cheese here..how about in Thailand? I've heard that going vegan is the best thing you can do!! I'm thinking about going gluten free…and I've heard its great for your body too! Looks like you and Ligeia are having the time of your life there!!
Puala
I am vegan since 2003 and it s been one of the best choices of my life!!!!
I will be in Chiang Mai next saturday for only 3 or 4 days and your blog is so inspiring!!! hope to find vegan places to eat. And also to have a nice experience with elephants there !! congrats for your blog and enjoy life there!!
Mindy & Ligeia
Hi Puala,
We have just passed our 1st year VEGANniversary and agree that becoming vegan was one of the best decisions of our life, along with getting married of course. 😉
We normally recommend Anchan Restaurant but unfortunately they will be closed for the next month. What are we going to eat now? The great thing about Chiang Mai is that there are many places that serve vegan food. Just be sure to ask for no fish sauce as sometimes they like to add that into curries and curry paste. We recommend Khun Churn for their lunch buffet, which is off Nimmanhemin Road on Soi 17 – perhaps it’s 15).
And of course we recommend visiting the Elephant Nature Park.
We hope you enjoy your time here and we hope that our blog helps you to navigate your way through the city. Please feel free to give us suggestions of ways we can improve our site, especially for vegans. 🙂
veganmiam.com
Congratulations!
veganmiam.com
All of these dishes can be veganised easily 😉
Mindy & Ligeia
So glad to hear this. Of course there is no substitute for certain things, like Brie cheese, but you know, it we have no problem in giving these up anyway. No longer willing to hurt animals just so I can enjoy a snack. Knowing what happens to animals, I no longer would enjoy it anyway.
A year later and we are still very happy with our choice to go vegan.