Vegan Myths Busted!

While there are many reasons to become a vegan, there are a lot of reasons (or excuses or misconceptions) out there about why NOT to become a vegan. So I figured I’d compile a quick FunnySpoon Five list of common myths about veganism, and then debunk them. I mean, if you don’t want to give up meat and cheese because you really like them, that’s one thing. But if you’re refusing to become vegan based on misinformation, that’s another. So here goes:

The FunnySpoon Five: Top 5 Myths About Veganism

1. A lack of meat causes anemia/iron deficiency. While eating red meat is a common (and great) source of iron, avoiding red meat does not automatically lead to anemia or iron deficiency. Vegans can get plenty of iron from whole grain bread, cereals, dried fruit, spinach, broccoli, and tofu. Get more info about veganism and anemia.


2. A lack of dairy causes calcium deficiency. Again, while non-vegans can easily get their recommended daily dose of calcium from "traditional" sources – milk, cheese, yogurt – there are plenty of options out there for vegans. Tofu, spinach, broccoli, and nuts are great natural sources of calcium, and some soy milks and instant breakfast cereals are fortified with calcium as well. Get more info about veganism and calcium deficiency.


3. Going vegan will help you lose weight quickly. You will not necessarily lose weight just by going vegan – if you fill up on fatty vegan foods or junk foods (many junk foods are still vegan), and especially if you fill up on sweets, your daily caloric intake can still be high. However, if you pay attention to what you eat and focus mainly on whole grains and veggies, you should be fine. The Vegan Food Pyramid can help you figure out how much of each type of food you should be eating.


4. Vegans are all crazy tree huggers who love animals more than people. There are many reasons why people choose to become vegan. There may be some vegan “whackos” out there, but there are also “whackos” who eat meat, too! Vegans may have made the choice to become vegan because they care about animals, or because they don’t like the taste of meat/cheese, or for environmental reasons, or just for general health. Becoming vegan doesn’t automatically attach the “crazy tree hugger” label to you – if you’re educated about veganism you can respond to these stereotypes and inform the very people who are perpetuating these myths!


5. Vegan products are too hard to find, too expensive, and taste gross. No way! We’ve compiled a list of tasty vegan products that are available almost anywhere and also created some special vegan recipes we thought Ellen (and all vegans!) would enjoy. Dig in!

Have you heard of any other myths or misconceptions about veganism? Share in the comments!

101 Things To Do With Tofu!

FunnySpoon recently partnered with Stephanie Ashcraft, author of "101 Things To Do With A Salad" (along with many other "101 Things" books), to promote recipes on our site. Imagine our pleasant surprise when we stumbled across "101 Things To Do With Tofu"! As big fans of the 101 Things series, and as two non-vegans trying to go vegan for a week, the "101 Things To Do With Tofu" blog was amazingly helpful. Hope you enjoy it as well!

What's this WEWE thing?

We have to admit it - WE LOVE ELLEN!! We think she's incredibly cool, funny, generous, interesting and savvy. Did we mention that we love her?! She's just so darn loveable!

Anyway, we think FunnySpoon is right up her ally. The FunnySpoon no-nonsense, no-pretense approach to cooking seems very "Ellen" and we think it would really appeal to her audience. So we're on a mission to get her familiar with our website, our cooking style and our brand.

To help us acomplish this we've embarked on a little experiment. We've learned that Ellen eats a vegan diet so we're going vegan for a week. We're calling it the "What Ellen Would Eat" Challenge. I was a vegetarian for many years, but now incorporate fish into my diet. It's not a huge stretch for me (although I'm sure I'm going to miss all my dairy products!!). However, Vicki is a meat-loving, cheese-loving, bacon-loving carnivore. This is going to be one difficult challenge for her!

The cool things about this challenge:

1. We are challenging ourselves to eat a healthy diet for a week. Vegan diets are known to be low in fat, low in cholesterol and high in fiber.


2. We're creating a ton of healthy, fun recipes for FunnySpoon.


3. We hope Ellen (and Portia) will try at least a few of the recipes we're developing for them.

So, about 20 times a day over the next week we'll be saying to ourselves "WE WE" or "What Ellen Would Eat" every time we open the fridge, look in the pantry, try to figure out how to skip the yummy, delicious butter and every time we hear our tummy grumble for cheese!
You want to join us in the challenge? We'll chronicle our ups and downs on this blog, share our recipes and our hints for how to incorporate some vegan meals into your diet. Vegan may not be the answer for your (or for us) forever, but it's always good to try new things, right? Right! Say it with me. WE WE!!