Fabris softener!

[Karma007]

I admire your teenage daughter for being so strict, bravo to her! And to you for helping her manage this! *applause*

I moved from vegetarian to vegan as i could no longer stomach the welfarist approach being commonly bandied about in the UK...the "it doesn't matter if they die so that we can eat them, so long as they have a nice life" approach. Now i favour a more abolitionist take which has me thinking that actually who are we to impose our will on any sentient beings? What gives us the right to take a life or exploit those who for some reason people see as lesser creatures.

And on the whole do vegetables feel pain thing - when you brand a cow it hurts it, it makes a noise and registers pain. When you brand an aubergine it sizzles and goes nicely with hoummus!

That's funny! I can hear the sizzle of grilled vegys now!

[Karma007]

Indido, does your daughter help with the cooking and shopping (I know, not cool...but vegan cooking can be awesome, especially with the right cookbooks. Have I mentioned the cupcakes?). I would tell her that, while she's welcome to eat what she wants, if she wants more than rice and vegys, she better learn to cook, and how to seek out the good stuff, even in a less than stellar grocery. There is also a list on the web somewhere of "accidentaly vegan" foods for her to check out, should she miss some of her junk food faves (Oreos!)

There are a lot of myths concerning meat and dairy free diets ("the'yre all skinny and malnourished...you can't be a serious athlete on a vegan diet...you won't get enough protien"...) and if she is choosing this route, especially as a growing teen, she'll need to have a firm understanding of what her nutritional requirements are.

Also, if's she a web surfer, have her check out the Post Punk Vegan Kitchen (theppk.com). It's full of like minded individuals, and if she loves food, she's welcome there, regardless of where her politics stand.

Feel free to email me if you would like more info

Here's me...shutting up again...

[deeaimond]

Indigo,

I agree with shootingstar, that if your daughter chooses to be a strict vegan, you should not have to be the one cracking your head over what she can or cannot eat all the time. Since she is old enough to make the food choices that enable her to be a vegan, she should also be able to take enough care to make sure she is eating healthily. Learning to cook for herself will mean that she gets to experience how complicated food prep can be and so she will learn to not complain. It also means there are more things for her to eat, and who knows, some of them might be good enough to tempt the rest of the family as well. (Then occasionally she can take over the cooking duties leaving you free to go for as nice long ride)

In my home my parents have always worked full time so cooking duties always fell to me. I cook well, but occasionally there are some slip-ups. Or sometimes, especially these days when i come back from work exhausted (with more work waiting to be done) and dad and bro are just waiting for a meal. I'm happy to cook more (I have to eat too)

But I understand the frustrations of having to prepare food around the various likes and dislikes of a whole family of people. Having one vegan makes it even more tough I imagine. Fortunately for me, no one dares complain (because then I will just cook for myself for a week and all they can have is the smell of good food.)

Oh and another good jelly substitute for gelatin is konnyaku (a kind of japanese yam) It makes excellent jello and is full of fibre.

As for the original topic of fabric softener, I don't use any either, because its hard to know what kind of chemicals are in it and i have unidentified allergies to chemicals.