I Don't Eat Eggs

It's funny . . . because I did LOVE eggs!
Every way possible!
Egg salad, scrambled, hard-boiled, sunny-side up, over-easy, eggs Benedict, in omelets, in sandwiches, and in bagels(with cheese and salsa!). Loved eggs!

The reason it's funny, is because once I started to associate eggs with the pain and suffering and truly see what they are, I was able to change.
Now when I think about chicken's eggs, I have zero interest or desire to eat them.
I think about all of those birds forced into that tiny 'living' space with other diseased, miserable birds. Forced into those terrible conditions. Only to meet a cold end.
I watched Mercy For Animals' Fowl Play a couple months ago. Very disturbing!
I refuse to give my money to that industry! Well, my taxes still pay to subsidize...but I am not giving them the money that I have a say about! Damn it!!

There are ways of creating the same, or very similar, flavors and textures that I crave. I really and truly don't feel like I've 'given up' or 'sacrificed 'anything for the vegan cause. If I want it bad enough, I'll either find a way to make/get said item, or I'll practice patience and wait till I can have it. It'll be more special, is my thinking.

That being said, my grandmother makes this dessert that is incredibly delicious. My family calls it Hungarian Torta. I love it. My grandma even made some to serve at our wedding.
I think it's so good.
But I grew up with it. Troy doesn't think it's that great. In fact, once he heard the ingredients, he said it's actually a little gross.                 Wah Wah
It is absolutely not vegan. It has a lot of eggs. A lot.
I would love to veganize this torta, but I am lost. I definitely need help.
**I'll post a link to the recipe once I get some more details from my mom. It is the most poorly written recipe that we have ever read! It's so confusing! I have many many questions for my mom, and once she's able to give me more direction, I'll post the recipe. That will be my challenge.
          Veganize this!(see, then I'll post a link there, where it's underlined!)

About six months into my veganism, I watched a video on YouTube, "Best Speech You Will Ever Hear-Gary Yourofsky". It was amazing! 
I bring up this inspiring speech because Gary Yourofsky talks about chicken's eggs. He refers to eggs as 'chicken periods'.
This was mind-wrinkling for me.
Chicken periods?!? Come on, now, they are different!
                       ...once I started to think about it though...

Yes, I realize it's not quite the same as eating human menstrual fluid. 

But it's damn close.

The real difference is that our babies grow inside of us.
For birds, the chick gets all of its nutrients from inside of the egg, while baby humans first get all of their nutrients from the menstrual lining in their mother's uterus. The same thing happens to female chickens as female humans: If the egg is not fertilized, it gets discarded. It leaves the body.

Ta Dah! Eggs and periods. Well, to be completely accurate, for birds, the egg leaves the body either way.

So, yes, eggs are nutritious.
Nutritious for chicken fetuses!
They do have a hell of a lot of cholesterol!
Yes, I realize that we aren't really eating the "unborn fetuses of chickens". They are unfertilized. Still, that's fucking gross.
Chicken periods.

Honey-What's the buzz?

When I first went vegan in the fall of 2010, I didn't consider insects a part of my circle of compassion.
Why should, or would I?! Bugs are annoying, at best! When asked by my fellow belly dancers, how I felt about honey, I wasn't sure what to say. I didn't know much about bees or how the honey was collected. I think I said I was fine with honey.
Then I read a few articles and vegan books that talked about the problems with keeping bees.
Course, I can't recall where I read what!<eye roll>
But, I have learned, and since grown. As I'm sure I'll continue to grow as I learn more! Ahh living.
Fuck, I love living!

As I was saying(I get side-tracked), I did learn that bees have central nervous systems. They can feel!

I do remember, quite distinctly, when I was about 7 or 8 years old, I had somehow captured 3 or 4 bees in a glass mason jar. I was delighted!
I also knew that I had to let them out, or they would die. I was too afraid of the bees stinging me to let them out. They died. It was a tough day for me. I remember this event, twenty-odd years later!
Never did that again! Boy howdy!

Bees can and do, inevitably, also get injured or killed when their honey is collected.  The queen bee is also 'replaced' (killed) every 2 years.
I learned that bees are in the phylum Arthropoda-the same as lobsters and crabs! While, it may be true that lobsters and crabs are insects of the sea, lobsters and crabs can also feel. In fact, Whole Foods decided they would no longer carry lobsters because keeping them in captivity is too inhumane! It is tempting to say that I shouldn't be following the ethics of a corporation and, fair enough! But at the same time, if a multi-million dollar corporation has a problem with keeping live lobsters, shouldn't that tell us something?!
Another great thought on honey, is that honey is bee vomit.(Gary Yourofsky was the first person I heard that called honey 'bee vomit'.)
There are many different plant-based liquid sweeteners out there: agave nectar, brown rice syrup, and maple syrup to name the ones I can say off the top of my head. And I have a severe brain injury! See-you can learn this stuff! Easy. I did!
I have changed my position when it comes to bees, honey, and beeswax. I purposely avoid it. It still wrinkles my brain that bees can feel! I buy different crackers now. Instead of the honey graham crackers, I buy amaranth graham crackers. I no longer purchase goods with beeswax.
I do still use my old vitamin E cream, that has beeswax. I bought it prior to becoming vegan. Namely for my tracheotomy scar. Today I get professional photos taken for my vehicle insurance to assess how much money I get for my scarring. It's been two years. Craziness!