Neil and I are celebrating our Third Wedding Anniversary this weekend and today we are off to explore Providence, Rhode Island. While we are galavanting around Rhode Island, Massachusetts and New Hampshire I hope you enjoy the Vegan Wedding Feature posts. In this first post Tess Challis discusses her all vegan menu and how if the food looks beautiful and taste delicious anyone will eat vegan. Enjoy!
Lentil Spinach Soup (photo by Michelle McCluggage)
Although my marriage didn’t have a fairy tale ending, I can happily say that my ex-husband and I are still great friends! We were married in the fall of 2002 in the Lizard Head wilderness. Here in Colorado, you can legally marry each other without anyone else present. However, we did want to have a gathering to celebrate a few weeks after the actual marriage took place. At the time, we were on a shoestring budget so we had to get really creative. Luckily, there were lots of incredibly kind and generous people who offered to participate. Local professional musicians offered to sing at our celebration for free and the space we rented for the celebration was also practically free!
So, all that was left was food! Being a vegan since 1991, I was determined to work delicious vegan cuisine into the event as well. And since I was in charge of the food (and my husband was a vegan-friendly vegetarian), we decided on a delicious, all-vegan menu. Having done quite a bit of catering and personal chef work at that point, I knew what dishes were crowd pleasers. For an event like this with mostly omnivores, I wanted a menu that would be exciting and satisfying for everyone. I didn’t want even one person to say, “That was good, but where’s the meat?” So, we decided on a menu that included the following: Creamy hummus (pictured) with sourdough bread, gourmet mini-pizzas (pictured), Italian bread salad, fresh spring rolls with peanut sauce, Lemon Asparagus Linguine (pictured), Lemon Lentil Soup (pictured), and Chocolate Decadence Cake (pictured). I’ve obviously found that Italian food is a guaranteed crowd-pleaser! And it was – even my meat-and-potatoes grandma said after dinner: “If you cooked for me every day, I would be a vegan!” Everyone loved the food and talked about it for many months afterward.
Creamy Hummus with Sourdough Bread (Photo by Olga Vasiljeva)
Mini PIzzas (Photo by Michelle McCluggage)
Lemon Asparagus Linguine (Photo by Michelle McCluggage)
Chocolate Decadence Cake (Photo by Michelle McCluggage)
So, this has been my path! Turning people on to a vegan lifestyle via delicious food. It’s such a sneaky approach, but one that works surprisingly well! I can’t tell you how many people have told me over the years that the vegan food I’ve served them has been just about the best thing they’ve ever eaten. It’s so exciting to turn people on to really delicious food that awakens their taste buds – and then to tell them, “By the way, that was all vegan – and healthy!”
Quintessence (“Tess”) Challis began her holistic health journey in her late teens. After a lifetime of numerous health ailments (including acne, obesity, strep throat, constant illnesses, anxiety, and depression), she found that a vegan diet along with an “inner wellness regime” of meditation and visualization literally made a world of difference.
In 1994, she began sharing this knowledge through cooking classes, catering, meditation classes, and workshops. She has also been a personal chef to many clients across the United States.
In 2009, Tess published the 2nd edition of Radiant Health, Inner Wealth, a vegan cookbook and complete holistic health resource. Tess’s latest book, The Two-Week Wellness Solution: The Fast Track to Permanent Weight Loss and Vitality, was released in June 2010 and includes a foreward by Dr. Neal Barnard. Her next book, Radiance 4 Life: The 4 Cornerstones of Ultimate Vitality, is due out in June 2011. She currently works as a wellness coach, cooking class instructor, author/speaker, and personal trainer.
November marks my FIRST complete year of following a vegan diet. I am an opera singer married to an aspiring conductor and even though these two lifestyles come together very nicely our eating lifestyles are so different. When I approached my husband about changing my eating lifestyle he did not know what was coming. I had been a vegetarian for two years back in 2005 but incorporated meat back in my life after I started dating my husband. After a year of marriage, my diet was in hysterics. I was suffering from migraines, digestive issues, and moodiness. When I switched to a vegan diet I slowly started seeing changes, especially after adding vitamins, minerals and more. As of last night, my husband told me that he can tell how quick I am on the racquetball court because I am not out of breath and I am living healthy. Even though my husband chooses not to be vegan, he enjoys all the dishes I prepare that are vegan, even requesting them again.
I know it sounds so cliche’ but I really was moved by Alicia Silverstone’s book The Kind Diet and nearly read the entire book on a flight back from Houston last year November 2009. Before dating my husband I had been focusing on a vegetarian diet but was easily swayed by stress to eating lots of dairy and unhealthy foods. After I started dating my husband I decided to give up my healthy eating. What did that do for me? I went up 2 dress sizes before the wedding and it got worse after the wedding. I added diet colas, meat, dairy, and too much sugar to my daily diet. As a result I suffered horrible migraines, worse than my normal heat and exercise -induced headaches, and decided it had to be diet-related.
After a year and a half of being married I sat with my husband and told him I needed to make drastic changes in my life. I was not a happy person around him at times because my food choices were making me a moody person. I think the fact that I cried showed him how serious I was being wanting to change my eating habits, he just wanted to make sure it was not going to affect what he was going to be eating. It was hard at first trying tomake 2 meals an evening, cooking meat for my husband and making an all-vegan meal for myself.
I am an experimenter when it comes to cooking so I knew that I was going to have fun making new meals. The more I tried the recipes in the The Kind Diet the more I knew what type of recipes I needed to make. I started substituting cheese for vegan cheeses, even though Daiya was not out yet. I purchased tofu, Match vegan meats, and Field Roast sausages and added more fruits and vegetables to my diet. As soon as I eliminated the diet colas and the increased amounts of sugar I lost my first 20 pounds.
I know it is hard for people to realize that I did not become vegan because of the pain caused to animals, but I know that in my becoming vegan I am not supporting the pain caused to animals. My becoming vegan was a personal conviction to become a healthier eater focusing on whole and natural foods. Every day is one step towards supporting the love of all God’s creation and if it means eating from the fruits of the earth, I will do that.
After visiting a naturopath in July 2010 I found out I was B12, Vitamin D, iron deficient. I added a whole vitamin and minerals regimen and started enjoying protein shakes and a more focused meal plan. I have been working out consistently at a gym daily and feel better than ever! I continue to strive towards my goal of not being deficient in an area and being at my goal weight. Being vegan is the best thing that has happened to me!
Being vegan has tremendously improved my migraines, increased breathing support for singing and changed my whole emotional well-being too!
If you enjoyed this check out these other guest posts:
Please enjoy this guest post from Britta Conner regarding her journey to veganism.
My journey into plant based eating began in October 2009. My birthday was in the month before and I make it a habit to get a check up around that time every year as a gift to myself.
I had long known that high cholesterol ran in my family, on both sides, so I knew it was likely that it would hit me at some point. In 2005 I was tested and found that my cholesterol was 224. Until that point I had eaten the Standard American Diet, mostly white and brown foods. I decided to do a diet overhaul and reduced white sugars, stopped buying white flour and I opted for all whole wheat products to include all breads and pastas. I started cooking more foods and relying far less on convenience foods. I started portion control and exercising and I dropped 15 pounds in a month. I reduced meat intake, and only ate red meat once a month or less.
I didn’t think about my cholesterol at all, I just assumed it was going down as I was eating healthier and exercising regularly as well as losing weight. I didn’t get it checked again until September 2009. It was 251. Somehow it had raised!
I have a friend who goes in and out of being vegan, she loaned me some reading material and I decided to commit to it for 6 months, when my insurance would pay for another cholesterol test. It was an interesting time becoming vegan, right around the holidays, but it was a wonderful time to try out new recipes and really dig in to the new way of eating.
I didn’t experience weight loss right away. It’s never been easy for me and though I had read many accounts of weight falling off of people who began a plant based diet, I was not one of them. By January I had only lost 2 pounds. I found that to lose weight, I still had to count calories, despite all the promises I had read that a change to vegan eating would be an end to weight problems.
Six months from beginning to eat vegan I went back to the doctor and found out that my cholesterol was 188. No longer the danger zone. I hope it continues to drop, but if it doesn’t, my heart is safe at this level. I got checked again this October, after a full year as a vegan and I am waiting on results.
In that time I have had more weight loss success. I went from 174 pounds on a 5’1″ frame (after my second child was born) to 152. I am about half way to my goal weight. In the beginning as a vegan I made a lot of the less healthy vegan foods to prove to myself that I wouldn’t have to lack the things I grew up loving. I made candies, baked goods, and rich savory things. I also did this for my husband, he wasn’t thrilled with the idea of vegan eating. I eventually moved away from this and now use those foods for parties and special occasions. I get the bulk of my nutrition from whole grains (like bulgar wheat, cous cous, millet and brown and wild rice), vegetables, beans and some nuts and fruits. I am also adding a lot of raw foods into my diet. I still have a long way to go with my dietary reform, I make mistakes and hinder my own progress frequently, but I am getting there one step at a time.
If you enjoyed this check out these other guest posts:
My name is Caitlin and I blog about my healthy lifestyle at Healthy Tipping Point. About a year ago, I recognized a need in our community for a way to stop Fat Talk, or negative internal self-talk. As Jillian Michaels said, “Fat talk is transcending…. It affects your reality and damages you professionally, personally, and physically.”
To help end Fat Talk, I launched the Operation Beautiful website, which is becoming a book on August 3, 2010 (if you want to order the book, it’s available on Amazon, Barnes and Noble,Borders, and Indie Bound). The mission of Operation Beautiful is to post anonymous notes in public places for other women to find. The point is that WE ARE ALL BEAUTIFUL. You are enough… just the way you are!
By posting these notes, girls, women, and even men are redefining what “beautiful” means and focusing on their internal qualities for validation. I think we spend too much time, energy, and money chasing an unrealistic ideal of perfection.
So, what do we really mean when we say, “I’m so fat”? We actually mean that we are FULL WITH AN EMOTION. Oftentimes, it’s shame. Or sadness. Or fear. Why do we express our inner turmoil by hating our bodies? Because that’s what Fat Talk and society tells us to do. Don’t admit you’re scared, just feel fat! Don’t admit you’re lonely or depressed, you’re just fat! We can deal with ugliness, we cannot deal with weakness. The next time you feel the urge to say, “I’m so fat,” think about what you REALLY mean. By berating your body, you aren’t doing any favors. But by honoring your emotions, you’re living a happier, more honest life.
If you wouldn’t say it out loud to a friend, why would you say it to yourself?
Maybe right now you’re thinking: “But a little guilt can be a GOOD thing!” or “Guilt is a normal reaction to indulging!” But, if guilt was healthy or “normal,” it would be PRODUCTIVE and it would make you HAPPY. Do you find yourself feeling guilty over food a lot? Well, then — you’re repeating the same actions over and over again, and clearly… Guilt isn’t productive, it doesn’t work, and it only serves to lower your self -esteem. Guilt is a waste of time and takes away from productive things you could be doing with your time — meditating, studying, sleeping, calling your friends on the phone, and more.
For tips on how to stop Fat Talk and begin to see yourself in a more positive light, check out Change the Way You See, Not the Way You Look.
If you’d like to spread the message of positivity and hope, post an Operation Beautiful note! Take a picture of your note and email it to me at seebriderun@gmail.com, and I’ll post it on the site for thousands of others to read and enjoy.
Join me on the quest to eliminate Fat Talk in all its nasty and evil forms from our lives! Remember, it starts now… and it starts with you.
I’ve posted this video about Fat Talk a few times before, but not recently. If you haven’t watched this before, please do! It’s so powerful and I cry every time:
Bio JL began her vegetarian-to-vegan journey in 2002. Four years ago she made a conscious decision to change careers and find balance in her life, which meant she could finally explore interests outside of work. Those include volunteering for nonprofit organizations, enjoying all kinds of red wine, taking up knitting and running a few half-marathons and triathlons each year. Then she began eating vegan; she became obsessed with cooking.When she’s not making grocery lists, training for a half-marathon or trying just one more recipe she found on a vegan blog, she goes to work as an administrator at a community college and teaches a course on nonprofit management at a local university. JL lives in metro NYC with her husband and two cats. You can find her on Twitter: http://twitter.com/JLgoesVegan or in the blogosphere http://jerrilynn.tumblr.com/ where she’s taking baby steps to find her blog voice.
EVERYBODY HAS A STORY At the age of 36 I quit eating meat. Almost. I was in Kenya for work. We were in a small village in the Rift Valley. There was a celebration held in for an auspicious occasion and my colleagues and I were guests of honor. Early in the day an elder from the community brought a goat to the site of the celebration—a truth demonstration of generosity. The goat was presented and subsequently killed and boiled. That evening, we were offered the goat for dinner. To refuse it would have been an affront (or so I told myself?) Essentially I met a goat, shook his hand then ate him. I became a vegetarian.
Not exactly. I become one of those—I‘m a vegetarian, but I eat fish—people. That went on for nearly four years. Fish was my crutch. I didn’t eat fish at home but had convinced myself that eating out would be too difficult so I should just order fish. I ate out a lot. On a vacation four years ago, after eating fish to the point of ridiculousness, I decided it was time to be a real vegetarian. I gave up fish.
During this span of eight years I had somehow morphed from a 36 year old couch potato who smoked a pack a day and would eat half a bag of fun size Baby Ruth candy bars in one sitting to a non-smoker, 20 pounds lighter, gearing up for her first marathon in 2005 at the age of 40.
Fast forward to January of 2010, age 44. I run. A lot.
May 2010, just after a 5k Race in 26:30; not a bad pace for a couch-potato-to-runner turning 45 in two months
I compete in triathlons. I eat vegetarian and pretty healthily at that. But somehow every November and December I would find myself nursing a post-race season injury. Less exercise and holiday feeding frenzies = chubby JL each January. This year I received an email from my local yoga studio about a cleanse workshop. I had never done a cleanse in my life, but it intrigued me.I met with Jill of Hera Wellness who led an extremely informative workshop explaining a variety of cleansing methods. And I was off, a 14-day cleanse of clean eating (no processed foods), no coffee, no caffeine, no sugar, no dairy, no wheat, no wine (what?! no red wine?! I survived) and, in the middle, three days of Master Cleanse. At the conclusion of the cleanse I felt fantastic and became a cleanse convert. I continued eating the same healthy way (but resumed red wine and a cup of coffee a day) and I continued to eliminate dairy and wheat from my diet.Suddenly I realized that the only animal based foods in my diet were honey and eggs. I realized I was an egg away from being a vegan.
For six months I have been eating vegan. I have never felt better. I had my annual physical with my general practitioner about 5 months into my new vegan diet. I told her to indicate in my file that I was eating vegan. She scrunched up her nose and asked “Why vegan?” I described a typical day of eating and she concluded that I may be one of the healthiest eaters she knows. Four days later she phoned me with my blood work results. She began the conversation by saying “Keep eating the way you’re eating.” My already decent cholesterol from a year ago (174) was down to 128.
How did I go about making the transition? I am a planner. I love a good spreadsheet. I knew I couldn’t go into this without really thinking it through; I consulted with my nutrition counselor and with her guidance, and the vegan blogosphere, I equipped myself to do it right. As a result of reading many, many (many! blogs) I purchased several books
The first vegan blog I stumbled upon was Cook.Vegan.Lover! After reading Lindsay’s blog I kept clicking links and finding more and more great blogs to read.
Where to start with all of this great information on the web? Most mornings, before going out for a training run, I sit down with a cup of warm water, cayenne pepper and lemon or a cup of half-caf/ half– decaf coffee and I read, read, read. Each time I stumble upon a recipe I must try, I cut and paste it into a Google document (I have 192 recipes, but who’s counting?) Then, when out and about I may find one of the new ingredients because it’s on my iPhone. (Medjool dates,Bragg Liquid Aminos, chia seeds, dulse flakes, nutritional yeast)
I used to eek through preparing a meal. Boca cheese burger on a wheat bun, steamed veggie, a salad. Now I’m obsessed with vegan cooking. I plan my meals. Each Saturday my husband and I hit the farmer’s market and my local health food store for most of my organic produce and “hard to find” items, and Trader Joe’s for the rest. On Sundays I move into the kitchen, turn my stereo on full blast and just start cooking. I try out new recipes with tofu, TVP and tempeh. With lentils and beans. Soups, stew. Veggie burgers, collard and kale salads, quinoa a zillion ways, chutneys.I purchased a L’Equip dehydrator and make “raw” kale chips, flax crackers and sunflower seed bread.
I take pictures of my food.
Grilled yams with homemade rhubarb chutney, grilled sesame-miso tofu and grilled asparagus
They say the journey is the destination. I have been on a vegetarian journey and have finally arrived to eating vegan. Note I say eat vegan. I now find myself confronted with what it means to be vegan. The journey continues.
Quintessence (“Tess”) Challis began her holistic health journey in her late teens. After a lifetime of numerous health ailments (including acne, obesity, strep throat, constant illnesses, anxiety, and depression), she found that a vegan diet along with an “inner wellness regime” of meditation and visualization literally made a world of difference. 
