Whole Foods is your friend. That's the first thing.

Pasta is super easy. You can go with a straight marinara or add imitation ground beef to it. All the imitation ground meat products that are found in the refrigerated section of Whole Foods are useful, and the vast majority are vegan.

I don't know how Chelsea feels about tofu, but that's a classic.

Also try couscous. Boil water, stir in the couscous, take it off the heat, let it rest for five minutes, then fluff it with a fork. Way easier than mac and cheese. Add olive oil, sundried tomatoes, imitation chicken stock, soak saffron threads in the water -- there are a lot of choices.

Original Boca Burgers are vegan.

Portabella mushroom sandwiches on hearth bread with olive oil, garlic, basil, and vine-ripened tomatoes are great. Add olives if you're adventurous. In fact, portabella mushrooms in dishes can taste and feel just like meat, and can satisfy meat cravings.

Edamame -- soybeans in the pod -- are the easiest thing to make and can neuter a killer protein craving.

Dissolve 1 level scoop of Nutritional Yeast Flakes and 1 - 1½ teaspoons of Bragg Liquid Aminos in 8 ounces of boiling water for a rich, satisfying, salty-tasting broth containing 9 grams of protein. It tastes a bit like chicken broth. Both of these ingredients are useful in that they provide B12, which absolutely has to be supplemented in a vegan diet. (Really, regardless of what she's read to the contrary, it really, really does need to be supplemented. She'd be good for a couple of years with her body's stores, but then her body would stop working.)

Malt-o-meal, prepared with water or milk substitute, or the Asian hot cereal called BioLife are both good for breakfasts.

When out for dinner, salads, pasta, and baked potatoes with salsa are all options. Indian and Ethiopean foods are also frequently vegan.

For milk substitutes, either get Silk from the refrigerated section or Pacific-brand rice, grain, or nut milks from the unrefrigerated section. Generic soymilk is pretty nasty.

If she likes cheese, Joanne Stepaniak's The Uncheese Cookbook is worth the cover price.

Check back-issues of my veganism blog at http://www.mcgees.org/veganismblog.shtml for some other hints and recipes.

Ask if you need more pointers.

Josh,

Thanks for the information. I already knew about Whole Foods, but I was unclear as to what to get there. We've been shopping there for years, and it had done a great job of meeting Chelsea's vegetarian needs, but just about every single item there that she'd been enjoying turned out not to be vegan-friendly.

As far as I can tell, Chelsea seems to be fine with tofu, but (as I'm sure you've experienced) the day often comes when one can no longer stand to even think about putting any more tofu in one's body for a period of several weeks.

I will be checking out the Uncheese Cookbook, as cheese has been (by far) the hardest part of her diet to give up. Thanks again for your advice. Hopefully, I'll be able to do half as good a job of implementing it as you've done of providing it.

- Whelp

Well, if that isn't just the single cutest thing ever.

"No matter what you think of Gorgeous George, Jeremy Paxman's interview with him last night was off the map." Joshua McGee, 05 May 2005

I have this suspicious feeling that quite a few more people are about to have fairly strong opinions of Mr Galloway.

Re: 10/28 post

Can we make a contest out of putting playground insults in legalese? Here's my first entry:

"The defendant was then informed that the accused "[was] rubber" whereas the defendant "[was] glue," which the defendant interpreted as the accused implying that whatsoever the defendant said would bounce off of the accused and stick to the defendant."

OK, I can do better than that.

"John Doe replied, "I see London; I see France; I see [name withheld]'s underpants." [name withheld] understood this to mean that John Doe had not only visited two major European capitals, but also inferred that the waistline of his pants had dropped below the socially acceptable level."

Last one, I swear. Maybe.

INDICTMENT

COUNT ONE
(TAUNTING)

1. At times material to this indictment:
POSITIONS OF PARTIES RELATED TO THE TREE
     a) David McGee (“McGee”) was seated on the ground, and was not located in the tree (“tree”)
     b) Margaret O’Houlihan (“O’Houlihan”) was seated on the ground, and was not located in tree.
     c) McGee and O’Houlihan had maintained a distance of no less than two (2) feet between themselves at all times.

2. ACTIONS OF THE DEFENDANT
     a) Michael Whelchel (“Whelp”) did approach McGee and O’Houlihan and did knowingly state the following: “David and Margaret sitting in a tree; K-I-S-S-I-N-G; first comes love, then comes marriage; then comes the baby in the baby-carriage.”

THEREFORE

Michael Whelchel did knowingly and corruptly endeavor to influence, obstruct and impede the due course of friendship, by taunting McGee and O’Houlihan, and by subsequently misleading all those within the range of his voice to believe that
     a) McGee and O’Houlihan were seated in a tree (an accusation of a crime, as this took place on public land where climbing of trees is forbidden)
     b) McGee and O’Houlihan’s lips were in close proximity
     c) McGee and O’Houlihan were
          a. In love
          b. Shortly to be wed
          c. Shortly to conceive a child
          d. Shortly to purchase a pram for said child

Michael Whelchel did know that all of these statements were false. In violation of city statute 17-J, and all the common rules of decency, the defendant is herein indicted. What a dick.

just a vulgar Norm Mcdonald interpretation

"That is not what your mother said last night" which the students interpreted as the Member implying that he had spent time socially with that student's mother. By ‘social time’ the prosecution is implying that the Member has, on at least one occasion, has had sex with that student’s mother. Where ‘sex with’ is implying that there has, at least, been oral and/or vaginal penetration, possibly anal or other, with the Member’s member. The Member’s member will from here on out be referred to as MM or the Penis. The student’s mother will from here on be referred to as SM or the Slut.

So I was visiting the M:TG site today reading up on Guildpact when an article referred to the mythical players that cards are designed for. Timmy, Johnny, Spike...and Vorthos? Who the hell is Vorthos?

Vorthos is a mythical player named by M:TG Creative Director Matt Cavotta. It refers to someone who plays Magic primarily for the stories and flavor, and who builds decks with an eye to flavor.

Ah crap, that makes me Vorthos, doesn't it?

I suppose it does, Rory. :-)

In other news, for the subscribers, mcgees.org is back.

Hello webmaster, very nice site here, great work!
TomasKell

Wow.

Hi!
My name is Jessika!

Er, hi, Jessika! Welcome!

Um ... bye?