Our Vegan Halloween 2007

I first wrote about "Vegan and Ethical Trick-or-Treating" in September. Here is an update.

We had an absolutely excellent Halloween! My oldest daughter dressed as a Borg (from Star Trek) and my youngest was an astronaut. Note the space theme. :)

We went to two parties: A Vegan one (a potluck), and a Homeschooler's one (with a mini-carnival atmosphere -- we had a "Candy Toss"). Both were very fun, in drastically different ways.

We went out Trick-or-Treating with a friend of my oldest daughter's (and her mom) for two hours last night. We hit 82 houses and filled two huge bags (and later a gigantic bowl) with candy. After sorting the candy out, we estimated that a good 50% of the loot we brought home was vegan (we're counting the non-food items in this figure). Of the non-vegan foods we received, at least 40% were vegetarian! For non-food items, we received: pencils, yo-yos, and a toy watch. We were quite impressed. The biggest disappointment was finding that Nerds now have crushed beetles in them.

What are our plans for the non-vegan candy? First we'll give some to non-vegetarian friends (which is just about everyone we know), then we'll either use the rest for Gingerbread house decorating or take to my husband's office. We don't encourage food waste and never throw away foods that are still edible (we take non-vegan food presents to food banks and other food donation sites, or give to friends). While we, personally, won't eat the non-vegan foods, we feel that the animals the foods are made out of are best served by not getting thrown away. Our Halloween candy is much better off in the hands of people that were going to eat those foods anyway, rather than in a dumpster.

On a different fun note, today is the first day of November, so adopt your Webkinz black bear this month (the black bear is November's "Webkinz Pet of the Month"). We adopted two today (a girl named "Juniper" and a girl named "Ursa"). Our special gifts were the coveted Flying Saucer and the really exciting donut seed. We can't wait to harvest our very own farm fresh donuts. Of course, ours are vegan. :) Prepackaged vegan donuts can be purchased here.

Kitt Peak and Tohono O'odham Diet

My family and I spent yesterday afternoon exploring Kitt Peak and the Tohono O'odham reservation area (just west of Tucson, Arizona). It is GORGEOUS there! This is not to be underrated. It didn't hurt that the weather was perfect (although it usually is with its 300+ sunny days per year), of course, but the photographs of the area in inclement weather proved that it is spectacular then, too.

My children are incredibly interested in space. They were delighted to see the telescopes at Kitt Peak. With 26 huge telescopes in work, we were only able to see a couple up close and personal. I was the most fascinated to find out that there are currently 895 potentially dangerous meteors hurling themselves toward/near the Earth right now. It is amazing what all we can discover about space today. We loved hearing about the process in place for getting time on the telescopes for research. We can't wait to attend one of their overnight sessions that are open to the public (all attendants must now be 9 or older).

As a completely random and happy surprise, we saw a shocking and wonderful billboard in this Indian Nation. It read:
"Diabetes is Preventable"
with subtext stating that a change in diet is all that is necessary to rid people of the disease (I sadly did not get a photograph). I was VERY impressed with the message and the gorgeous vegetables on the sign! The Tohono O'odham people are taking back their health. They've discovered that the people in their nation that have changed from a native diet to a SAD (Standard American Diet) are falling prey to the wide variety of diseases that the rest of America is riddled with. Changing back to a diet high in vegetables, whole grains, and fruit completely reverses the diseases. Diabetes in particular has been proven to be completely preventable amongst the Tohono O'odham people, which is an amazing thing since eating a poor diet causes four times as many Native American people to develop diabetes as in the U.S. population at large. Before this study, between 50 and 75% of the Tohono O'odham people had diabetes. I look forward to hearing the new statistics as dietary changes are sweeping the area.

What is the most surprising to me in all of this information is not that it is true -- it definitely is; what surprises me is that this hasn't become common knowledge. This dietary information should be on the news and in the newspapers. This is the stuff that will change the world! Can you imagine a disease free world, or even just a world free of diabetes? It's a glorious thought.

Think you have to change your diet to a Tohono O'odham native diet of prickly pear pads, chia seeds, tepary bean, and other Sonoran Desert plants? You don't. I live here and I have no idea how to prepare any of these plants (although I'd like to learn). Any lowfat whole foods vegan diet will work in the prevention and reversal of diabetes. Native people around the entire globe have been showing us their healthy diets -- all will work at keeping all people disease free. It isn't until a group of people change their diet to include huge amounts of meat and/or dairy that they develop the killing diseases of today (like heart disease and diabetes). Try one style of food and stick to it only, or mix it up from day to day. You don't have to have a boring, uninteresting, tasteless or difficult diet in order to eat healthy.

Here are a couple of of the many sites that talk more about this tremendous information, with specific information regarding diet and the Tohono O'odham people:
TOCA: Tohono O'odham Community Action
CBS News: 60 Minutes: "Why is America So Fat?"
W.K. Kellogg Foundation: "Fighting Diabetes with Native Foods"

I left the Tohono O'odham Nation with a sense of peace. It is a beautiful nation with amazingly beautiful people that are talented, artistic (their baskets are amazing!), and intelligent. Their culture is strong with a rich and and fascinating history. I can't wait to learn more.

Land of Enchantment

New Mexico is called the Land of Enchantment for a very good reason. This huge state has desert, high mountains, lava fields, white sands, and much more. Our goal on this latest adventure was to explore space and the white sand dunes.

First, we went sledding in White Sands, using regular domed sleds. My daughter is certain that they call them "flying saucer domes" due to Roswell being such a short distance away. Perhaps the aliens needed to land in saucers so that they, too, could sled on the dunes? While the temperature was high, the sand was cool. It felt luxurious to walk in the sand barefoot.

Click to play | Make your own Smilebox

Next we visited the New Mexico Museum of Space History and IMAX theater. This little treat was perfect for us in our current explorations of space. We spent the entire day going between the two buildings, enjoying the exhibits and the shows. We capped off the day with a Halloween costume purchase for my little daughter. She is going as a NASA astronaut.

The next day, we made our way to Sunspot, NM, where the National Sun Observatory and the Apache Point Observatory are located. Sunspot is another hidden gem. We had the road to ourselves and the surroundings couldn't have been more beautiful. We were told that the view was of an area larger than the state of Connecticut! It did seem like we could see forever.

Then, of course, our trip wasn't complete without going back to the dunes on our way out of the area. We took the time right before our drive to sit in a zen-like state and listen to the silence. It was very refreshing.

Space, the Final Frontier

Here are my daughters at Star Trek: The Experience in Las Vegas a few weeks ago. We are huge Star Trek fans. While we've chosen to not purchase or use a curriculum for our children's education, we've been known to joke and say that we use the Star Trek curriculum (afterall, we've been averaging viewing about one show per day over the last 2-3 years). Star Trek is connected to everything. Everything can go back to Star Trek. The book All I Really Need to Know I Learned from Watching Star Trek is really quite accurate!

As Unschoolers, we believe that everything is connected. Learning happens ALL the time, no matter where you are or what you are doing. The world really is our classroom. However, even that hasn't been a large enough room for us lately. We've been exploring space. The night skies have been amazing this summer. We've been tracking satellites, stars, and planets.

My children have been pondering the deep questions: Are we alone? Are there other universes? What else is out there?

They've found Science Fiction authors to be more intriguing than other authors. Fantasy and science fiction come easily to their minds and they've been creating their own worlds as well. Both they and I enjoy writing our own speculative fiction stories. String theory and alternate realities can dominate our minds and conversations for days and nights on end. We can stay up all night watching Sliders and the lunar eclipse simultaneously. We're in no hurry, no need to rush, yet the learning flow comes so quickly...

Eating Vegan While Traveling

My daughters and I are currently on a road trip, checking out famous (and not so famous) space exhibits and sites in New Mexico (more on this later). We knew from the get-go that eating a healthy vegan diet whilst traveling was probably going to be challenging. It is, but we've got some suggestions on how to make it easier:

1. Take as much food with you as you can manage. Many things don't have to be refrigerated, such as pb&j, Clif bars, pretzels, and misc. snack items. Things that do have to be refrigerated can often be carried for a few hours and eaten as your first trip meal.
   
2. Check happycow.net for restaurants and health food stores at your destination (and on the way to your destination). This site is an excellent resource for finding vegetarian and vegan friendly stores and eateries. Be sure to write reviews of the places you check out. I always read reviews of places I am considering going to.
   
3. If you see a health food store, go into it, even if you aren't hungry. We found our supper today by stumbling upon a health food store. While most of the items were very much not vegan, we were able to find healthy choices.
4. Don't let yourself get dehydrated! Buy bottled water if you need to, it is worth it.
5. Don't let yourself get to the point that you are so hungry you are willing to eat anything you find. Seek out food well before you are starving.
6. Find meals at grocery stores and eat at parks. You don't have to eat all your meals at restaurants and fast food joints. We've found some fun fruit and dry cereal for breakfast. If you know that fast food places are going to be your only choice, figure out what you are going to order before you go in. Many meals can be veganized if you ask the right questions and make your needs made clear (politely, of course).
   
7. Don't hesitate to eat the "wrong meals" at the "wrong times". If you have access to delicious and nutritious vegan burritos, eat them even if it is breakfast time. Ditto on cereal for supper. My daughter highly recommends spaghetti for breakfast and peaches for lunch. I'm not actually a big cereal fan, but it does make for easy and quick trip food.
8. Have fun and try new things! You just might find new favorites.