Welcome to the Northern Oregon Coast!

Well, it is taking me a bit longer to get this blog up and running than I thought. I will keep plugging away at it. I am not new to blogging and I know that it takes a bit of time, sometimes, to get the blog rolling. So, as I mentioned before I live in a small village on the Oregon Coast. We have one short main street that ends at the ocean.

We have a natural food store, Mother Nature's Natural Foods, that has a decent selection of foods fit for a vegan and a cute little organic produce selection that has saved my dinner a few times.

This little store carries Daiya Cheese! It isn't very big and they service not only the local population but a much larger tourist population so their vegan selection is pretty basic but it is enough in a pinch! They also have a small selection of vegan baked goods and treats as well as gluten free items.
There is a local pizza place, Marzano's, where you can order a pizza with veggies and without cheese. Honestly, I make a fantastic vegan pizza so there is no contest. In addition next door to the natural food store is the Left Coast Siesta (www.leftcoastsiesta.com) which is vegan friendly. I haven't really found any other restaurants in town as vegan friendly as the two mentioned above.
So basically the options for eating out are very minimal. We aren't in Portland are we!
So why would a vegan wash up on the beach here? Well, this is one of the most beautiful spots on the coast. It feels like home to me. This wonderful little town is full to bursting with talented, creative, hard working people. There is also a constant stream of people who have homes here but live most of the time elsewhere, such as Portland. They bring in new perspectives and experiences to add to the mix.
I am not, nor have I ever been, a city girl. So I am at home here where I can enjoy the beauty of the ocean and forest, the people, and the occasionally fierce and wild weather.
Eating vegan however, is a challenge but not uncomfortably so. I belong to the Astoria Food Co-op. Astoria, of Goonies fame, is about 45 miles north up Highway 101. Sometimes 101 closes down when the weather gets rough. There are floods and occasional mudslides that can and do occur. Fortunately we usually have warning when a storm is coming so we have time to stock up. The co-op is small but they carry a larger vegan selection at slightly better prices (oh yeah, cost of living a bit more expensive here) than in town.
Astoria also has my favorite bakery, The Blue Scorcher Bakery (www.bluescorcher.com). Not only do they sell a wonderful organic whole wheat (and vegan) bread, they have a nice little eatery where they make whole food meals from scratch. I occasionally stop there for lunch when shopping at the co-op.
There is a Costco now just south of Astoria but I find that Costco just doesn't carry enough of what I eat to make the membership worthwhile and I would much rather support local businesses when I can.
I still need to explore the towns between here and Astoria as well as to the south. We spent a summer in Cannon Beach just north so I know there is even less available there or close to the same. Seaside has a little health food store. I still need to explore that city too.
So you can see, I have my work cut out for me. I am not a huge fan of dinning out but it is a nice treat once in a while. I will make an effort to explore a bit more.
This post has gone on for long enough! I will be putting some of my favorite vegan links on a side-bar. This coming week I have a trip up north planned to replenish the food supplies. I will be going on a 21 day cleanse found in Kris Carr's new Crazy Sexy Life Diet book. I would like to include more raw foods in my diet. I don't think I want to be a completely raw vegan but adding more raw meals would be a good thing. I haven't even begun to talk about the beach and ocean. More coming soon!
-Renee

Hello, My Name Is...

Well now, I suppose I should start this off at the beginning. Hello, my name is Renee. I live in a tiny little village on the northern Oregon Coast. I am an artist and I am vegan. I was vegetarian for 12 years before going vegan. I have been vegan for three years now.

I tried to go vegan when I first became vegetarian. At the time I was living in another small town far away from resources. At that time as well, the internet was not as easily accessible as it is now. To this day the place where we lived only has dial-up service! Oh yes, we. I will get to the we in a moment...

I was not successful at becoming vegan with that first attempt. Looking back I would say I just did not have enough information to be a healthy vegan. Like many vegetarians, I relied fairly heavily on dairy products in my diet. So how did I become vegan and why? I would love to be able to say that I had learned about the horrific circumstances the animals that provided my dairy products endured and that made me change but at that time I was still uninformed. The simple reason why I became vegan was that dairy made me ill. It turns out that not only was I lactose intolerant, but down right allergic to dairy. The allergy was getting worse as I got older. This time when I went vegan there was an incredible amount of resources available. I also began to learn about the way we treat animals in the food, clothing, and entertainment industries.

It has not been hard for me to eat a strict plant-based diet. I did not miss the dairy, since it made me sick. There was no way I wanted to go back to feeling that ill. Since I started three years ago I have done a lot of reading. I have read cook books, nutrition books, animal rights books,  and books on the politics of food. In addition to books, I dove into the wealth of information available online.

At this time, I don't think I will be putting up a lot of recipes. Never fear! There will be plenty of talk about delicious vegan food! There are so many incredible vegan cooking blogs and websites out there already, so I will be referring to them as interesting things pop up. I will be putting up a list of my favorite blogs that I follow and any resources I use.

Now, about that  “we”. I live here with my husband and dog...who are not vegan. We have been married for 26 plus years. I was not vegan or even vegetarian when we were first married. That said, my husband eats a mosty vegan diet. That is, since I do most of the cooking he gets vegan meals. He also makes his own soy milk! He does occasionally consume animal products. My dog alas, did not thrive on a vegan diet so does not consume one now.

Tomorrow I will introduce you all to my little town and the incredibly beautiful area in which we live. I will be explaining a bit more of the why it is a challenge to be a vegan in this area. Those challenges have made it necessary for me to tweak the way I eat, in a good way. I will be talking about a healthy whole foods diet, what you need, how much it costs, and where one can find good food in this area.

One cannot live in this incredible environment and not include it in ones lifestyle. The environment where I live is strong, and a relatively rugged and isolated area, It is also stunningly beautiful and I absolutely love it. Living on the wild Pacific edge of the North American continent has its challenges, but I wouldn’t want to live anywhere else at this time.

-Renee

Welcome!

Welcome! This blog will be built over the next couple of days. Just to give a hint as to what it is about; I am a vegan living on the wild northern Oregon coast. It is a beautiful, rugged area. Finding local vegan resources is a challenge. I am accepting that challenge and will be posting the resources I find and the people I meet here. My goal is to blog a minimum of 5 times a week.
One cannot live on the coast and not mention the ocean environment. There will be a lot of that too!
Stay tuned!
-Renee