Our Hen House
Our Hen House
  • Home
  • Podcasts
    • Our Hen House Podcast
    • Animal Law Podcast
    • Flock Bonus Content
    • Antiracism Audio Series
    • Limited Series: Teaching Jasmin How to Cook Vegan
  • About
    • About Our Hen House
    • Inside the Coop – Bios
    • Join the Flock
    • Suggest a Guest
    • Press Coverage
    • Policies
    • Contact
  • Learn More
    • Videos
    • Blog
      • Book Reviews
    • Hen Press
    • Why Animal Rights?
      • Animal Testing and Research
      • Clothing
      • Companion Animals
      • Dairy
      • Eggs
      • Entertainment
      • Fishes
      • Meat
      • Veganism
      • Wildlife
      • What to do?
  • Donate
Thought for Food

Will You Be My Vegan Valentine? (BONUS: Recipe for Rhubarb Banana “Ice Cream”), by JL Fields

by JL Fields February 14, 2013
written by JL Fields
436
This Valentine's Day, a date with OHH is the sweetest there is!

This Valentine’s Day, a date with OHH is the sweetest kind there is!

Three years ago this month I went vegan. That transition was unplanned and unscripted. I had no idea that three years later I would:

  • Write a blog – JL Goes Vegan (and that people would actually read it and would make my recipes);
  • Write a vegan online column for the food section of my local paper;
  • Become a certified vegan lifestyle coach and educator;
  • Offer vegan lifestyle classes in Colorado Springs (hell, I didn’t even know that I would be living in Colorado Springs, for that matter);
  • Be invited to speak at the Niagara VegFest;
  • Co-author a book for vegan women with the fabulous Ginny Messina (a.k.a. The Vegan R.D.);
  • Shift my life purpose so dramatically that I would recreate my career so that I focus my professional energies on working to end animal suffering.

My vegetarian journey began with a goat – a goat whom I met before he was slaughtered and later consumed by me, and many others, at a celebration in Africa. I went vegetarian the next day. But the eventual shift to veganism was really about personal health, and about plant-based food. That’s when I started cooking like never before, and decided to chronicle my journey.

Three years ago, after eight years as a vegetarian, I went on a 16-day nutritional cleanse. At the conclusion of those 16 days, I had a realization: I had consumed no dairy and only one hard-boiled egg. An egg away from being vegan? I leaped.

About a year later, my friend Gena Hamshaw, of Choosing Raw, wrote a blog post about her visit to a farm animal sanctuary in the Washington, DC area. Intrigued, I felt compelled to look into sanctuaries near me, and quickly landed on the Woodstock Farm Animal Sanctuary website. Browsing the “animals” section of the site, I flipped through pictures of goats.  It clicked. I had gone vegetarian for a goat, but my veganism had been about my health – about me.  That’s all fine and good (at least I went vegan), but staring into the faces of the rescued goats at this sanctuary – a place that was about to become such a huge part of my life – I felt that perhaps my veganism was about goats, too. Maybe this desire to give up consumption of meat, dairy and eggs was more about the animals than I had realized – more political and less personal. I followed a donate link and became a sponsor of Clover, a goat I fell in love with via video.

And so, my ethical vegan journey began. It was a tough beginning. The more you know, well, the more you know. As I espoused the virtues of veganism to my coworkers, I began to feel embarrassed by my leather boots. I was a little lost. How much was enough? Then, I started listening to the Our Hen House podcast. My worldview felt less hard as I became educated on all aspects of veganism – ethics, environment, health, and food.  I was growing as a vegan, and – wouldn’t you know it – I was growing into an activist. As a result, all those things I listed above, things I simply could not have imagined years ago, began to happen.

I am indebted to Our Hen House for making my veganism less about me and mostly about the animals (hey, good health is an awesome side effect). For that reason, I am inviting you to join me in making Our Hen House our vegan valentine. I have been vegan for 1,095 days and I want to raise $1,095 for this organization that has become such a deeply ingrained part of so many of our lives. I want Our Hen House to have the resources necessary to motivate and inspire even more vegan activists.

I am the vegan I am today – the activist I am today – because of Our Hen House.  I learned to be indefatigably positive on my bumpy journey.

I learned that food can be activism.

***

Vegan Rhubarb-Banana Soft Serve by JL Fields

Vegan Rhubarb-Banana Soft Serve by JL Fields

Would you like to engage in some food activism? Make this fun, easy, pink Valentine’s Day dessert to wow your non-vegan sweetheart, friends or co-workers. I first read about banana soft serve “ice cream” on Choosing Raw, where Gena shared the simple method of tossing frozen bananas into a food processor (seriously, that’s it!) to turn them into an easy vegan ice cream. It was a game-changer (sort of like Our Hen House). 

[print_this]Rhubarb Banana “Ice Cream”

by JL Fields 

Ingredients 

  • 2 frozen bananas, cut into 1 – 2 inch pieces
  • 1/2 cup frozen rhubarb, diced
  • 3 medjool dates, pitted and quartered
  • 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

Instructions

  • Place bananas, rhubarb, and dates in a food processor.
  • Turn the food processor on and hold that food processor down, because that frozen fruit causes quite a ruckus!
  • Add vanilla extract once you have begun pulsing the fruit.
  • Process for 3 – 5 minutes, scraping down the sides as need. Opt for 3 minutes if you want chunky ice cream (I do!) or 5 minutes for a smoother soft serve.
YIELD:  Serves 2[/print_this]

***

JL Fields

JL Fields is a vegan lifestyle coach and educator – certified by the Main Street Vegan Academy – at Go Vegan with JL! She is co-authoring Vegan for Her: The Women’s Guide to Being Healthy and Fit on a Plant-Based Diet (Da Capo Press, July 2013). JL shares plant-based education, recipes and cooking techniques, as well as animal rights information and resources, on her blog JL goes Vegan. She is the editor of the community blog Stop Chasing Skinny.

Share 0 FacebookTwitterPinterestEmail
previous post
Happy Squirrel
next post
Ann Cottrell Free Animal Reporting Award Once Again Seeks Submissions

You may also like

Moving Beyond the Scale for a Happy Healthy Life (BONUS Recipe: Vegan...

“Think! Eat! Act!” Ruminations of a Sea Shepherd Cook (BONUS RECIPE: Vegan...

Putting My Best Food Forward: Spreading Veganism through Enthusiasm (BONUS: Vegan Apricot...

I Am a Compulsive Overeater … and a Vegan

Sprout it Out: You Don’t Need a Green Thumb to Grow Green...

From My Eating Disorder to My Life’s Purpose: How Veganism Changed Things...

Protein in Vegan Diets: Take Advantage of the Options (BONUS RECIPE: Grape...

A Cruelty-Free Galley (Plus a Bonus Recipe for Raw Chocolate Ganache Pie)

To Eat with Joy: Healing Myself and Finding Compassion (BONUS: Kale Salad...

How to Host a Vegan “Wine” & Cheese Tasting (BONUS: Recipe for...

Search Episodes

Subscribe to our Shows

Apple PodcastsGoogle PodcastsSpotifyStitcherPocketCastsAmazon Music
More
  • Apple PodcastsApple Podcasts
  • RSSRSS
  • SpotifySpotify
  • Google PodcastsGoogle Podcasts
  • Amazon MusicAmazon Music
  • StitcherStitcher
  • PocketCastsPocketCasts
  • CastBoxCastBox
  • Player.fmPlayer.fm
  • TuneInTuneIn
Apple PodcastsGoogle PodcastsSpotifyStitcherPocketCastsAmazon Music
More
  • RSSRSS
  • Apple PodcastsApple Podcasts
  • Google PodcastsGoogle Podcasts
  • SpotifySpotify
  • Amazon MusicAmazon Music
  • StitcherStitcher
  • CastBoxCastBox
  • Player.fmPlayer.fm
  • TuneInTuneIn
  • PocketCastsPocketCasts

Subscribe to OHH Emails

We don’t spam or share your email with others. Privacy policy.

Please Check Your Email to Confirm Your Subscription!

Instagram

Join us On Facebook

Join us On Facebook

Keep in touch

Facebook Twitter Instagram
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram

©2023 - Our Hen House - All Rights Reserved


Back To Top
Our Hen House
  • Home
  • Podcasts
    • Our Hen House Podcast
    • Animal Law Podcast
    • Flock Bonus Content
    • Antiracism Audio Series
    • Limited Series: Teaching Jasmin How to Cook Vegan
  • About
    • About Our Hen House
    • Inside the Coop – Bios
    • Join the Flock
    • Suggest a Guest
    • Press Coverage
    • Policies
    • Contact
  • Learn More
    • Videos
    • Blog
      • Book Reviews
    • Hen Press
    • Why Animal Rights?
      • Animal Testing and Research
      • Clothing
      • Companion Animals
      • Dairy
      • Eggs
      • Entertainment
      • Fishes
      • Meat
      • Veganism
      • Wildlife
      • What to do?
  • Donate
Our Hen House
Search Podcasts
  • Home
  • Podcasts
    • Our Hen House Podcast
    • Animal Law Podcast
    • Flock Bonus Content
    • Antiracism Audio Series
    • Limited Series: Teaching Jasmin How to Cook Vegan
  • About
    • About Our Hen House
    • Inside the Coop – Bios
    • Join the Flock
    • Suggest a Guest
    • Press Coverage
    • Policies
    • Contact
  • Learn More
    • Videos
    • Blog
      • Book Reviews
    • Hen Press
    • Why Animal Rights?
      • Animal Testing and Research
      • Clothing
      • Companion Animals
      • Dairy
      • Eggs
      • Entertainment
      • Fishes
      • Meat
      • Veganism
      • Wildlife
      • What to do?
  • Donate

Subscribe

Apple PodcastsGoogle PodcastsSpotifyAmazon Music
More
  • Apple PodcastsApple Podcasts
  • RSSRSS
  • SpotifySpotify
  • Google PodcastsGoogle Podcasts
  • Amazon MusicAmazon Music
  • StitcherStitcher
  • PocketCastsPocketCasts
  • CastBoxCastBox
  • Player.fmPlayer.fm
  • TuneInTuneIn
Apple PodcastsGoogle PodcastsSpotifyAmazon Music
More
  • RSSRSS
  • Apple PodcastsApple Podcasts
  • Google PodcastsGoogle Podcasts
  • SpotifySpotify
  • Amazon MusicAmazon Music
  • StitcherStitcher
  • CastBoxCastBox
  • Player.fmPlayer.fm
  • TuneInTuneIn
  • PocketCastsPocketCasts

OHH NEWSLETTER

We don’t spam or share your email with others. Privacy policy.

Please Check Your Email to Confirm Your Subscription!

 
Sign In

Keep me signed in until I sign out

Forgot your password?

Password Recovery

A new password will be emailed to you.

Have received a new password? Login here