But... do you get enough protein?

Powerful Protein

One of the biggest questions/worries/comments I get as a non-consumer of animal protein is... "Where do you get your protein? Do you get enough protein?" It's an old argument and one that isn't entirely accurate. You see... most North Americans get more than enough protein... but there is no need to hit 100 grams of protein/day. Actually... 50 grams of protein/day is enough for the average woman and 60 grams of protein/day for the average man. If you're an ultra-marathoner, you might need more... but that's not me...

 So... where do I get my protein? Let's look at an average meal plan:

Breakfast (standard)

• oatmeal (rolled oats) (1/2 cup dry) - 6 grams of protein
  
• walnuts (1 oz) - 6 grams of protein
• berries ( 1 cup) - 1 gram of protein
• cinnamon (1 tsp) - 0.1 grams of protein
• hemp hearts (1 Tbsp) - 4 grams of protein
• ground flax seed (1 Tbsp) - 1.3 grams of protein
• soy milk (1 cup) - 7 grams of protein
  
• baked beans (1/2 cup) - 6 grams of protein
  
• nutritional yeast (2 Tbsp) - 11 grams of protein

Let's see... 6+6+1+0.1+4+1.3+7+6+11= 42.4 grams of protein... just for breakfast.

Just to compare... scrambled eggs (3 eggs) and bacon (6 slices) have 13 grams of protein (and 0 grams fibre). Add two pancakes for another 5 grams of protein (and 0 grams of fibre). And a glass of 2% milk for 8 grams of protein (and 0 grams of fibre). We're even! Yay! But then... we'd have to talk sugars and saturated fats and... well... I don't think we want to go there today. You get the picture I think... Gram for gram... I can meet the protein requirements. And no... we don't supplement with protein powders... we don't need them. If ever we become marathoners... we'll supplement with protein powders...

Oh... and in case you're wondering... you've likely heard that animal proteins are considered "complete" proteins which means they have all the amino acids that we need. A one stop shop, so to speak. The terms "complete" and "incomplete "are a bit misleading though. Plant-based foods also contain all of the amino acids we require, just in slightly different proportions. All that means is that we need to eat a mixture of plant-based foods (not just rice and beans)... a varied diet... some legumes, some whole grains, some soy products, some nuts.

And no... soy products do not mess with your estrogen... that's another fallacy. Eating three servings of soy products/day (every day) is perfectly fine.

Another interesting tidbit... our bodies can only absorb 25 to 40 grams of protein at one sitting... so it's important to spread out our protein consumption. If we eat too much protein (like half a chicken - 80 grams of protein)... it gets stored as fat... and the excess amino acids get excreted...

Anyhow... back to my average daily meal plan...

Lunch (an example - the salad is standard... the "main" dish varies)

• salad
• dark leafy greens (2 cups) - 6 grams of protein
• tomatoes (100 grams) - 1 gram of protein
• cucumber (50 grams) - 0.4 grams of protein
• radishes (2 medium) - 0.2 grams of protein
• grapes (1/2 cup) - 0.2 grams of protein
• kohlrabi (1/4 cup) - 1 gram of protein
• red lentil curry on top of farro
• red lentils (1/2 cup cooked) - 9 grams of protein (protein powerhouse!)
• onions & tomatoes in curry - 0.5 grams (guesstimate)
• farro (1/2 cup cooked) - 4 grams of protein (better than rice - same as quinoa)

Let's tally up lunch - 6+1+0.4+0.2+0.2+1+9+0.5+4= 22.3 grams of protein

So... let's see... that's... 64.7 grams of protein for breakfast and lunch. Boom... mic drop.

Protein for an herbivore ain't a problem if... IF... you eat a whole food, plant based diet. Toss in a bunch of white bread and pizza dough and potatoes instead of the oatmeal, soy milk, beans, nutritional yeast, dark leafy greens, lentils and farro and... the protein falls through the floor.

Fabulous Fibre

The bigger issue is Fibre... Our daily fibre requirement is in the neighbourhood of 30 grams/day... from food... not from supplements. The average North American gets 15 grams of fibre per day... and over 97% of Americans do NOT get enough fibre.

Let's bee clear... meat/fish/dairy/eggs have a great big whopping 0 for fibre. We're not talking about muscle fibres... those are not dietary fibre.

Fibre comes from plants... it's what allows plants to defy gravity and hold their shape. And our gut biomes love fibre, both the soluble and the insoluble types, and if you want anything... you want to keep your little gut biome happy...

Sooo... how does my breakfast and lunch stack up in the fibre department?

Breakfast (standard)

• oatmeal (rolled oats) (1/2 cup dry) - 4 grams of fibre
  
• walnuts (1 oz) - 2 grams of fibre
• berries ( 1 cup) - 3.6 grams of fibre
• cinnamon (1 tsp) - 1.4 grams of fibre
• hemp seed (1 Tbsp) - 0.4 grams of fibre
• ground flax seed (1 Tbsp) - 1.9 grams of fibre
  
• soy milk (1 cup) 1.5 grams of fibre
  
• baked beans (1/2 cup) - 7 grams of fibre
• nutritional yeast (2 Tbsp) - 2.5 grams of fibre

Let's see... 4+2+3.6+1.4+0.4+1.9+1.5+7+2.5= 24.3 grams of fibre... just for breakfast.

Lunch (an example - the salad is standard... the "main" dish varies)

• salad
• dark leafy greens (2 cups) - 6 grams of fibre
• tomatoes (100 grams) - 1.5 grams of fibre
  
• cucumber (50 grams) - 0.2 grams of fibre
• radishes (2 medium) - 0.1 grams of fibre
  
• grapes (1/2 cup) - 0.2 grams of fibre
• kohlrabi (1/4 cup) - 2 grams of fibre
• red lentil curry on top of farro
• red lentils (1/2 cup) - 8 grams of fibre
  
• onions & tomatoes in curry - 0.5 grams of fibre (guesstimate)
• farro (1/2 cup) - 2.5 grams of fibre

Let's tally up lunch - 6+1.5+0.2+0.1+0.2+2+8+0.5+2.5=21 grams of fibre

So... that's 44.3 grams of fibre for breakfast and lunch.

And yes... we do eat our main meal at lunchtime. It dovetails better with the body's circadian rhythm. There's nothing worse than eating in the evening... particularly within four hours of bedtime.

So... what do we have for our evening meal? That varies. Some evenings, I'm just not hungry so I don't eat anything. Some evenings I'll have a few tablespoons of hummus with some veggie sticks (peppers, carrots, cukes, kohlrabi). Some evenings I'll have some peanut butter and mashed berries on top of a slice of pumpernickel style bread. All of which boosts my protein and fibre intake even more.

Sooo... a whole food, plant based diet more than ticks the boxes for protein and fibre. Still not convinced... look at a cow or a bison or a horse or a rhino or an elephant and ask yourself... these strong, muscular herbivores... where do they get their protein from?

Shroom Leather and... More...

Shroom leather shoe on shrooms
From Material District & sold for €583(!)
on Nat-2

Leather made from mushrooms? Wait... what? Yes, it's true. No longer do we need to kill animal to use their skins for shoes, handbags, wallets and jackets. No... now we can use mushrooms.

I really couldn't quite believe it... because on this journey of divesting myself of food and accoutrements that harm animals... I struggled with the whole leather shoes thing. They are just more comfortable, more resilient, more moldable than those plasticized shoes. And, if you get a really good pair of leather shoes, they can last a decade or more. Sigh, I still miss my Mephistos... best shoes ever.

Now... I don't go through shoes like some people go through kleenex... when I find a pair of shoes that I like, I buy them and keep them. And I am not in competition with Imelda Marcos' closet. I have maybe 10 pairs of footwear:

1. Merrell hikers
2. Blundstone half-boots
3. Danish walking shoes
4. Columbia sport sandals
5. Winter boots from Mark's Work Wearhouse
6. Rubber boots for the garden
7. Crocs for the garden
   
8. water shoes

Huh... is that it? I should go check... nope, that's it... And, when one pair of shoes is nearing the edge of its lifespan, I go and buy myself an equally good pair of shoes. Same brand, same make if possible. My feet know what they like and... as I have learned... keep your feet happy and the rest of you will be happy as well. At least out hiking and walking.

Soooo... mushroom leather... what gives with that?

Cute mushrooms and their sub-surface
network of Mycellium

First, there is Mylo, a type of leather made from the mycellium of mushrooms, that's their underground network of threads that connects the larger mushroom organism. I guess I should mention that a mushroom is not just the fruiting body that you see on the surface of the group... your typical mushroom. Nope... there is way more going on underground than we can even imagine. And the mycellium acts as kind of a super highway underground, connecting trees and the wider sub-surface ecosystem. It's quite amazing. And they Mylo stuff, which they are careful not to call "leather", since it really isn't leather, which is made from animal hides, grows in a matter of weeks and uses way less water (for example) than growing a cow would. Waaayyy more eco-friendly.

Then, we have Muskin, also made from mushrooms, but the cap of the Phellinus ellipsoideus mushroom, an inedible shroom native to subtropical forests. Same idea... same shroom leather idea... Apparently they have also tried making leathers out of pineapple and apple scraps. Go figure.

So, I guess the question is... how do we make our voices heard to demand a switch from animal leather to shroom leather? And, yes, I know that animal hides are a byproduct of the meat industry soooo.... maybe we need to ease up one the meat consumption first... thereby reducing the supply of animal hides... thereby creating space and demand for shroom leathers. Makes sense to me. 

OK... so ready to have your mind blown?? Take a look at this picture... Nice looking steak, eh? Looks like a steak, smells like steak, feels like a steak, chews like a steak and... tastes like a steak... BUT...

A Meati steak

Is NOT a steak! Nope. Not a steak. I know... I am drooling too... but this is made from Mycellium. Yep... shroom meat... in this case, a company called Meati. Mycellium for this steak grows overnight... Read more on the Meati website... And... it comes as beef and chicken varieties too... No artificial ingredients. No GMO. And... is high in fibre (that's good) and a protein as well. What's not to like about this? Alas... so far, Meati is only available in Colorado... have to be patient... The Mycellium grows in fermentation vats overnight and the amount of Meati that can be produced is way, way more efficient than livestock farming. Meet Mycellium Meati... it's the wave of the future folks...

Now... we just have to wait for the prices to come down...

Fast Company has a nice overview article of Mushroom Leather

Fast Company also has a nice overview of Meati

In the News - Province to revamp legislaton around plastic

Gotta love British Columbia - it's moving ahead on a four pronged approach to reduce the amount of plastic ending up in our landfills and waterways. This is pretty good news because it's been a bit bumpy lately. Last year, the City of Victoria banned single use plastics (like plastic bags and plastic cutlery) and was taken to court by... you guessed it... the Canadian Plastic Bag Association. They said that municipalities couldn't ban single-use plastics without getting provincial approval. Huh. Well... guess what, the province is moving in that very direction, so cities like Vancouver, Surrey and Victoria will be able to amend their bylaws quite happily. Can't wait for that to happen.

As it turns out, only 40% of plastic is only used once - that's one time. Like plastic bags and straws and cutlery and disposable cups (I'm looking at you DQ). I guess the province has finally realized that the patchwork quilt of different bylaws for different municipalities is getting a bit confusing for everyone.

So... what are we looking at? Well...

1. Bans on Single-Use Packaging - plastic bags come to mind... but I wonder if it will also include things like chocolate bar wrappers and chip bags... they are nothing if not single use... I wonder what will happen with those filmy produce bags...
   
   
2. Reducing Plastics Overall - like phasing out styrofoam clamshell containers and using more recycled plastic in "new" plastic
   
   
3. Recycling More Plastics - so our recycle bins will now be able to accept things like plastic cutlery (although it should be phased out sooo...), plastic straws and sandwich bags
   
   
4. Expanding the Deposit System - the big one here will be now accepting ALL beverage containers in the deposit system - including milk beverages (milk jugs, milk cartons, YoGo drinks, etc). And... we might even move to having a drop and go system, one where you can just bring in a big bag, tag it with a barcode and then have the money eventually deposited to your account. That would be a huge step forward.
   

I'm looking forward to these changes. We can only do so much as individuals and when a province makes changes like this, it gives each of us a chance to make a bigger differnece.

The Sweetest Paper Ever

Wait what??!! Sugar sheet paper??

I was in London Drugs last week, picking up some stuff from the Photo department and as I looked to the left, I saw it... "Sugar Sheet Copy Paper". I had to look twice because it was kind of like... "what?!".

But that's what it says and... yes, Forest Free. No trees were cut down to make this paper. Wow...

When I got home I did a bit of digging and this paper is made from leftover sugar cane, after all the sweet stuff has been extracted. Normally the sugar cane remnants would be plowed back into the soil but... some bright kitten came up with the idea of using it to make paper. And... voila... sugar cane paper. And... it's a Canadian company (SocialPrint.com) based in New Westminster. Very cool...

Although... there is the added shipping impact... the paper is made with Colombian sugar cane waste sooo... there is some transport involved. Which isn't great... but I love the idea of using the waste of something like sugar cane to make something else. Of course... the sugar industry as a whole is not super eco-friendly either... and in promoting sugar cane paper, we may just be shifting deforestation from the temperate boreal forests to the tropical rain forests. So... there are a few different factors to consider in this.

Although... I did find a UBC research paper which seemed to weigh all these different factors and conclude that sugar cane paper has a smaller environmental footprint than paper made from wood pulp...

But... get this... sugar cane paper is not a new thing. Paper made from sugar cane or sorghum waste has been around since at least the late 1930s. And a lot of paper in tropical countries is made from sugar cane waste. Go figure... I guess people use whatever is at hand. Like the Egyptians making paper from papyrus reeds. And there's even paper made from bamboo. I guess for us here in Canada... it's a matter of how much do we love our forests... and do we really want to chop down a 500 year old tree to make copy paper... particularly when it takes many decades to repopulate the forests? It would seem that a quicker turn-around crop like sugar cane or sorghum or bamboo would make more sense.

But then... there's always the question... what's the cost? Well, at London Drugs last week... Sugar Sheet copy paper was $6.99 (on sale - regular price is $7.99) for a ream which isn't that far off from Staples, which sells a regular ream of paper for $5.99 normally. Huh... that's not bad.

Sugar cane clam shell from Staples

So then I had to check and see... does Staples sell this stuff? The answer is no... They do sell 8.5 x 11 pads of lined sugar cane paper... 2 pads of 50 pages each for $4.92. Mmm... not what I'm looking for. On the other hand, Staples does sell "Styrofoam-style" clam shells made from sugar cane... they're not made from petroleum byproduct "Styrofoam" but from sugar cane waste. Which is cool. I wonder what sort of clam shells our favourite take-out restaurant uses? And how does one tell the difference?

Anyhow... back to paper... I also learned that there is even the possibility of paper made from wheat straw... which would be pretty cool too. But paper mills would have to retro-fit their equipment and... until there is a demand, it's not going to happen. Plus wheat straw isn't quite strong enough to be made into paper so needs to be mixed with other pulp fibres. Still... these are all steps in the right direction I think.

I may have to pick up some reams of this paper the next time I'm at London Drugs... It's one small step...

Perspiraton by any other name... still smells like... sweat!

This is a bit of a stinky topic... deodorant and/or antiperspirant. Have you ever noticed that men are sold deodorant (which means it's OK for them to sweat, as long as they smell nice) and women are sold deodorant/antiperspirant (which means it's not OK for them to sweat and they still have to smell nice).

I've known for a while that anti-perspirants are bad... (lymph nodes, breast cancer, Alzheimer's, etc.)... and so, for many years, have used men's deodorant. I still sweat like a pig but at least I smell nice.

No wait... what do they say... horses sweat, men perspire and women glow. Nah... I sweat like a horse when I'm working hard and it's hot out... like moisture dripping into my eyebrows and down my nose. I'm not exactly sure how deodorant in the armpit is supposed to help with the everywhere-else-sweat... Hmph. Sweat is sweat, let's just call it what it is.

Anyhow... my deodorant ran out last week and I thought I would do the eco-friendly thing and recycle the container. I took out the empty dispenser bit with lingering bits of deodorant on it and then searched around the container for the recycle sign with the plastic number. Could not find it anywhere... And as I looked at the empty container, I realized it's made up several different types of plastic... which made me think... "this is probably like a toothbrush... not recyclable".

I looked up deodorant containers on our Recycle BC site and... as I surmised... deodorant containers are NOT currently recyclable. Put them in the garbage bin. Hmph.

Which got me thinking... are there other options to buying deodorant in non-recyclable plastic containers? And... naturally... there are.

First... it would appear that not even men's deodorant, as sold in stores, is necessarily safe. Some of those have aluminum and paraben as well as a variety of chemicals which are not too good for our bodies.

Second... there are a tonne of options out there for natural deodorants, everything from Himalyan sea salt bars to lemons to baking soda concoctions sold in jars or cardboard tubes. Wow... I had no idea. On top of that, you can always make your own deodorant concoction. Although, a bit of digging and this seems quite complicated... and I don't think I'm ready for complicated at this point.

The key factors for me are (1) an effective anti-BO product and (2) it has to be sold in an eco-friendly container. Best Health Magazine Canada offered some reviews of 13 of Canada's top products... all of which sounded nice for handling BO but... what container did they come in?

Schmidt's got rave reviews, particularly their Charcoal and Magnesium natural deodorant but... the packaging looked suspiciously like your typical plastic deodorant container. Oh... wait... they also have it in jars! Ah-hah... With a variety of fetching flavours... Definitely an option.

As I was writing this my partner appeared and said that years ago she used a Himalayan sea salt bar as a deodorant. And that it worked really well. Huh... go figure. I dove down the rabbit hole of sea salt and... while there seem to be some options on Etsy, a lot of the Amazon options are sold out. I found some places in the UK and USA that sell the bars... and a couple in Ontario (on Etsy). The bars can last for a year so would be more economical than some of the other options, like the Schmidt jars. Choices, choices.

At this point, I'm thinking that Himalayan sea salt bars are our best option...

Mind you... we still have some of the traditional deodorant sticks... either use them up or... donate them. Have you ever tried a non-conventional deodorant?

The low-down on take-away Ice Cream

 Yes, I know... we don't eat ice cream anymore because it is made from dairy but... our niece was visiting and... she loves ice cream! Sooo... we had a bit of a spate of ice cream buying a few weeks ago and I realized, it's all such a waste.

Back in the olden days... long before waffle cones... there were those plain old cones... the crunchy ones that seemed to always clog up my teeth. You know the ones. They worked well even though they could be quite drippy and had a tendency to break.... and the bottom might be thrown away too because it was just too much cone and not enough ice cream.

Then we had waffle cones... mmm... so yummy! More expensive... but so good... although... they too could be messy. And even more breakable than the regular cones. On top of that, they might leak through the bottom. But still, quite nice.

Plastic sleeve for a waffle cone

Both the regular cones and waffle cones were perfect for take-away ice cream... at least in theory. There was limited waste, maybe just a few cone bottoms and some napkins. 

Until... some keen entrepreneur came up with a solution... a disposable ice cream cone sleeve. Yes... you heard it right. Now you can put your waffle cone in a plastic sleeve...

Who comes up with these ideas? Someone who sees a way to make a fast buck in the name of "convenience". Who cares about the plastic and the planet?

DQ Blizzards

And then... along came Dairy Queen and all of a sudden, there were all sorts of plastic containers and lids and spoons and plastic-coated cups in which you could have your ice cream concoction.

While the clear cups might be recyclable... those plastic coated cups that the Blizzard comes in are not. While they might say they are "recyclable", most recycling facilities are not equipped to separate the plastic liner from the paper. And... the plastic spoons? Check and see if they have a number on them... not just a recycling logo. They don't. And without the number, there is no way to know what type of plastic was used to make those spoons. And... while researching this, I just learned a few things about plastic recycling... but that is another blog post. Suffice to say, unless it has a "1" or a "2" on it, it is a toss up as to whether or not it will be recycled... even if it ends up in your recycle bin.

All of this means that going to DQ is a bit of a disposable nightmare. Solution? Bring you own long-handled metal teaspoon? That would eliminate the famous red DQ spoon but what about the rest of it? No real solution at this point. Although... I did email DQ's corporate headquarters asking them what they are doing to move away from disposable plastic products... we'll see what sort of a response I get... if any.

Mmm... Peanut Buster Parfait...

Editor's Aside: Did you know that a Peanut Buster Parfait has 710 calories? Shocking, no? But then, a large Oreo Blizzard has a whopping 1340 calories. Wow.

And then... at our local corner store, you can now get ice cream in a small cup... which is much easier to eat, and less messy, than a traditional cone. But... the plastic coated cup is still not recyclable... nor is the flimsy plastic spoon that they give you. Mind you... that is better than the ice cream we got last week at a corner store in another community... they actually still use styrofoam cups!!

There are eco-friendly alternatives out there but... they are likely more expensive than the products that most ice cream shops use. Like little wooden spatula spoons instead of plastic spoons and using compostable cupss instead of disposable ones.

Or... perhaps it is to just order ice cream in a cone and then bring your own bowl and spoon.... dump it all into the bowl and eat it that way... and the poor, sad, compostable cone can be tossed... or something...

Or... just ditch the dairy and skip the take-away ice cream... sigh. Maybe just buy a tub of ice cream from the store instead... or a box of Magnums... except they come wrapped in plasticized something-or-others as well. Sooo hard to ditch the plastic.

PS - I head back from DQ headquarters... all of their stores are franchises and locally owned and operated so they recommend contacting the local one. Although that doesn't address the issue of DQ's standardized spoons, cups, etc.

Saying Goodbye to Fabric Softeners

I had to tweak the title of this blog a bit because originally it was just "Dryer Balls" and... well... that could have a double meaning for some readers. Even "Saying Goodbye to Dryer Sheets" was a bit suspicious... so... here we are.

We gave up dryer sheets (e.g. Bounce) last year. When my Dad passed away, he left us with a half-empty box of Bounce sheets and we used it up. But, after that, we didn't buy anymore. So many reasons:

• they are NOT compostable - dryer sheets are made from thin sheets of polyester (plastic) and can not be placed in your compost and/or recycle bin.
• they make your dryer lint uncompostable as well - because of all the chemicals and fragrances that are used to coat the polyester sheets
• all those chemicals are NOT good for our health or the health of our pets and the environment

Plus... they aren't exactly cheap... 200 Bounce sheets go for $10.98 at Superstore... which means 1000 loads would be about $55... keep that number in your head for later...

Sooo... dryer sheets are a definite no go. But... without dryer sheets, our clothes always came out of the dryer in a big static blob. We were forever losing socks and then finding them days later when we'd reach up a pant leg and pull a sock out. Not so good unless you're training to be a magician.

And, in truth, for many years we managed to handle all of our drying by using the clothesline outside, or a variety of drying racks inside (during the rainier months). That, of course, is the ideal. Skip the whole dryer business and go old school and let the clothes air dry. It worked really well for us until we turned our basement suite into an AirBnb. We can't really afford the luxury of waiting for mountains of sheets and towels to air dry... not to mention we don't have the space for it! And... for whatever reason... the last year has seen us leaning more heavily on the dryer for our own laundry load as well. It's just easier some days... Sooo... the dryer it was. But... what to do about static and wrinkles?

We knew about dryer balls and found three at various garage sales last year. They work... meh. Our clothes still had a static charge and wrinkles were still in evidence. I did a bit of digging and turns out we may be over-drying our clothes. Using dryer balls apparently reduces drying time by about 10% so that needs to be factored in when using the dryer. But still... the plastic ones don't seem to work all that well. Or... we may just not have enough balls... apparently you need at least three balls for small-medium loads... and more balls for larger loads.

But there is another option... wool dryer balls. I had never heard of them... but now that I have, I think we'll be investing in a triad. They use eco-friendly wool... they are definitely compostable when they wear out (after 1000 uses or 3-5 years) and they aren't as noisy as plastic dryer balls bonking around in the dryer. Plus... you can put a few drops of essential oil on them and have that fragrance on your clothes or sheets... And they reduce drying time by up to 25%. Plus... there's less static and wrinkles as well. The wool dryer balls absorb moisture during the dryer process and then release it near the end of the drying cycle. That little bit of moisture is what helps eliminate static cling and wrinkles. Huh... who knew... And no... we are not so vegan that we object to wool sweaters or wool dryer balls...

So... I did a bit of looking and Canadian Tire sells a few options... three wool dryer balls for $14.99 or $17.99. I did some digging and the Frank Dryer Balls made by Gleener apparently use ethically sourced NZ wool.

Tru Earth, a Vancouver company, uses Organic NZ wool and four balls go for $22.95. But you can get 8 balls for $39.95

ULAT, another Vancouver company, uses organic Alberta wool and three balls go for $30. Both Tru Earth and ULAT offer free shipping. But... ULAT gets the David Suzuki stamp of approval as well and is partnered with the Disability Alliance of BC.

And, not to be outdone, Costco sells Nellie's Lamby Wool Dryer Balls, made from NZ wool and... they come in a metal tin that doubles as a piggy bank (cute!). You get 4 balls for $24.99.

At first, I thought these were all a bit pricey... but they all say that their wool dryer balls last for 1000 loads which means they are actually cheaper AND more eco-friendly that Bounce sheets (remember... $55 for 1000 sheets). What's not to like?

But... geez... there are a lot of choices. It's kind of like... close your eyes, spin around in a circle and just pick one!

I think we are going to go with Tru Earth, for a few reasons:

• They are local - made in Vancouver
• They sell 8 balls for $39.95 - that works out to $15 for 3 balls or $20 for 4 balls
• They recommend three balls for small-medium loads, but 5-6 balls for larger loads - given we do a lot of large dryer loads, particularly for the AirBnb... it seems good to have more balls rather than less

Sooo... done deal. I am ordering them. And our plastic dryer balls can go to the thrift store where someone else might get some use out of them...

Trying Tofu

Tofu. Ick.

No, seriously, I hate tofu. I hate the texture of it. I hate the idea of it... soft, tasteless, dissolve in your mouth ickiness.

I am not a big fan of tofu.

I know I've eaten it because I've had lots of Thai food that has snuck tofu in under the radar. "Wait... was that a piece of chicken... that didn't feel like chicken... ick!". I never got to the point of doing a seek pick-out mission in my Pad Thai... not like I would do with mushrooms. I just tried to pretend it wasn't there...

And, going whole-food, plant-based... well... you know tofu and I were due to have a show-down. I know it's a great source of protein but I had also heard all sorts of horror stories about it mucks with your hormones and causes breast cancer. So... I kept a wide berth around tofu. We could just eat legumes... yes... lots and lots of legumes.

Last fall, we tried a meal delivery service and... one of their meals was sesame-crusted tofu. We thought... let's give it a try... it can't be that bad.

Just take a hunk of tofu, cut it in half horizontally... coat it with sesame seeds and fry it up. Easy... and it looked tasty on the picture (at left). Right?? Looks good, doesn't it! But... photos can lie...

As we tried our first bite of pillowy tofu... both of us looked at each other. "Umm... not the greatest... let's try another few bites." After two bites, my partner couldn't take it anymore. I think I made it halfway through my slab of tofu but... eventually even I had to admit defeat. We looked at the poor, sad tofu... then at each other and both agreed... "Let's go get take-out burgers". That was our one and only fail with that particular meal delivery service.

Fast forward nine months and we are trying another meal delivery service... one that offers animal-protein-free options (i.e. vegan). And... as part of that... they use a lot of tofu. We were a bit skeptical but... a friend of ours who eats plant-based had said that the trick with tofu is to cut it into cubes and then stir-fry it... make it nice and golden and crispy. This new meal delivery service seemed to use that method. So... we sucked up our courage and tried again.

The first meal we had from this new meal delivery service was a teriyaki stir fry with tofu... and... cue the music... it was amazing. We both licked our plates. What the heck?? It was easy to cook... and... it was yummy and, since it used extra-firm tofu, we could almost convince ourselves that it was a piece of well-cooked chicken. (see pic below) Yum!

We dove into tofu recipes with both feet and have tried different options... some from the meal delivery service and some from home.

Last week we made a Yellow Thai Coconut Curry with potatoes, carrots and tofu. It is one of our favourite meals from Thai restaurants and we thought... we'll try it at home, except, instead of chicken, we'll make it with tofu. It was seriously scrumptious.

Now... I know what you're thinking. Our massage therapist expressed the same concerns... tofu is bad. It mucks with your hormones and causes breast cancer.

No.

You would need to eat boat loads of tofu and drink tanker trunks full of soy milk to get those sorts of problems. In moderation (like all things), one or two servings of soy products (soy milk, tofu, edamame beans, etc) per day is beneficial. And, like most things, try and get soy in the least processed form... the more processed it is... the worse it can be (like all foods).

When I met with a dietician last fall, she recommended soy products for menopausal hot flashes. I asked her about the "dangers" of soy products and she told me what I just told you. For those interested, Runner's World has a nice overview of the whole soy debate. There are other articles out there but I liked this one because it was fairly comprehensive and accurate.

Now... the one thing with stir-frying tofu is... it has to be fried in oil... which isn't great so... we are going to pull back the reins of this method of consuming soy and restrict ourselves to once or twice a week. We still have our excellent stable to legume recipes and are going to treat stir-fried tofu recipes (like Yellow Thai Coconut Curry and Pad Thai) as treats... Sigh...