Pondering veganism

For the first four decades of my life, I hardly spent any time thinking about what I ate, but ever since I took this vegan cooking class, I've been thinking a lot about the moral issues of what I  eat.  I love animals more than the average person, and I don't want them to suffer, but isn't it ok to eat cheese made from milk that was obtained by a nice farmer who milked his non-suffering cow (as opposed to the dairy industry ripping calves away from their mothers)?  Do the farm chickens really mind sharing a few eggs with us?  Don't the bees make enough honey to feed their babies AND us?  Can I live without cheese?  I don't miss the meat (except bacon); it's the dairy that's killing me.  Cheese has always been my favorite food.  I love ice cream and butter.  I miss eggs too. Beans and vegetables are way down at the bottom of the list of things I'd choose to eat, but I've been eating lots of them for the last month.  

My poor family has been suffering while I'm trying to eat vegan.  It's very difficult and time consuming to make them a non-vegan meal after I've just spent a long time in the kitchen making my vegan meal, especially when I'd really rather eat theirs anyway.  Yesterday I made sauteed kale and butternut squash, which Mike and Sarah wouldn't try, and Noah tried but didn't like.  Last night, I was staring at vegan recipes on the internet when Noah appeared at my left ear and Sarah at my right, and they were whispering things like, "This is the Lord your God, who brought your ancestors out of slavery in Egypt.  Your kids want a roast beef sandwich.  Please take them to Jimmy Johns for lunch tomorrow."  Here's a picture of them pleading their cause to Mike:

This morning I woke up to a trail of messages:

 Some of my favorites:

So they're getting roast beef sandwiches for lunch, and I'm having leftover kale and squash with a side of beans.