During our lunch break, Jessica and I have been known to get a little creative or we desire to be creative and end up just adding a new fruit to our salad. That said, you’ll know why we love Dana Treat. Dana is not only committed to living an ethical lifestyle as a vegetarian cook but she is constantly striving to recreate and create our favorite treats. We had the opportunity to chat with her and thought we’d share. Bon Apetit!
Hi Dana! Share a little bit about yourself and the early days of Dana Treat I started Dana Treat in May of 2008. Since the age of 8, I’ve kept a journal and I love to write! I also love to cook and bake, working with food as a personal chef, caterer, and cooking class instructor, so starting a blog seemed like a natural thing to do. I have been surprised by how much I like writing it and feel like I have connected with an amazing community!
Can you tell us about your commitment to Vegetarian eating? I stopped eating meat when I was 16. I never liked it, never liked the flavor or texture, but always ate what was on my plate. At 16, I was on a bike trip in France and needed an excuse as to why I would NOT eat the foie gras at my homestay family’s dinner table and blurted out, “Je suis vegetarienne!” And then I realized I was. I never ate meat again. I ate fish for a few more years and then gave that up at 20. I’m now celebrating 20 years of being a Vegetarian!
How does eating Vegetarian contribute or influence an ethical lifestyle? I like to say I am not the poster child for a vegetarian diet. My husband eats meat, although not at home, and I have leather seats in my car. But, I am proud that, for the past 20 years, I have not contributed to the miserable lives of pent up cows, pigs, or chickens, as well as the overfishing of the oceans. I watched a program about tuna one night and had not realized what gigantic, majestic creatures they are. To think that they are just swimming along, minding their own business, and then are caught for our consumption made me sick! I was very pleased to know that no tuna died for me, as silly as that sounds.
Unfortunately, I kind of like chicken. What can I do to live and eat ethically? People tend to think that eating vegetarian is all or nothing. You either are one or you aren’t. Why be so black and white? If you like chicken, eat it once a week. Make sure it is being raised ethically and enjoy it! As I said, my own husband eats meat and I am fine with that. But I am the cook in the family and he eats what I make, which is all vegetarian. He is fine with that and is also fine with the fact that our two boys are vegetarian.
A standard you hold yourself to? Make delicious food for myself and my family. At the same time, I also like to give myself a break. I’m not cooking organic pure food everyday. We go out. I get lazy. Sometimes my kids eat cheese quesadillas for days in a row. I bake a lot and always offer them one of my “treats”. I try not to get too offended when they would rather have Halloween candy. I want food to be a happy thing and a fun thing for all of us. It’s healthy most of the time and that is good enough for me. I also want to expose my kids to as many foods as I can and if, someday, they decide to eat meat, I will be ok with that. Knowing they have had a taste of so much good stuff, I trust that they will have rich and healthy appetites.
How do I spice up my tofu?
Click on the Tofu to find out:)
Here’s another treat just for you! Click on the cookie to be treated to the recipe.
And for kicks and giggles, here’s Jess and I attempting the Tofu recipe. It actually wasn’t too hard and of course, delicious! We had a short period of time so we decided to cook the Tofu in a pan (pre-marinated) and added a few carrots to the veggie list-yum! Thanks Dana!
