Quick Vegan Guide: Oslo

 While I loved Oslo, I certainly would not say the best thing about Oslo was the food.  In fact, it may have been the worst thing about Oslo. 

First, let me start off my saying this: Food in Oslo is VERY expensive.   Especially for the quality. 

We stayed at a hotel (Comfort Hotel) that offered a free breakfast buffet.  A lot of the options were not vegan, but being a large buffet there were also vegan options including baked beans, lots of fruit, oatmeal (that you make yourself with nothing added), dried fruit, some vegetables, bread, peanut butter, jelly, olives and pickles.   And they did have soy milk. 

In some ways, I certainly liked the Comfort Hotel, but kind of regretted not getting an apartment style hotel with a kitchenette or kitchen instead.   Because as far as vegan food in the grocery store goes you are basically looking at canned goods (like beans), fresh fruits and vegetables, bread, nuts, one of two grocery stores had soy yogurt, the other had hummus but not the one with soy yogurt, soy or oat milk, and at one of the two soy pudding.   Enough to get by on, but not really super exciting.  In fact, I'd say Reykjavik supermarkets were a lot better than Oslo ones, despite Iceland being a much smaller and isolated country than Norway. 

We did eat out at one vegetarian restaurant with many vegans options.  The food was decent, but it cost about $30 dollars a person, so we didn't end up doing that again.  We were keeping a budget on this trip, so we kind of skipped the restaurant thing even though there are a few vegan/vegetarian restaurants in Oslo (by which I really mean a few). 

In Oslo's Central station Flavours Food Market and Olivelundun do have some vegan items.   Actually, the vegan options were pretty tasty at both...oh and did I mention pretty expensive.    Get the theme here, $$$ if you go to Oslo! 

And one other tip.  Don't fly Scandivanian Airlines (who code share with United) if you actually want your vegan meal (or to be treated half decently).  I'm pretty sure they just ignore vegan meal requests.  A rude flight attendant accused me of never ordering a vegan meal.  They even refused to make a tray with only the few vegan items.   This was really only the beginning of the abuse we took by this terrible airline (which perhaps I'll blog about another time).

Have you been to Oslo?  What do you think of the vegan food in Oslo? 


Looking for my other quick vegan guides.  See below:
Budapest
BWI E terminal
Dublin
International Air Travel
Kansas City
Little Rock Airport
Mall of America
Reykjavik (Iceland)


                                    

Karl Johan Gate -Mainstreet Oslo where people matter more than cars

Warning: Envy Trigger

So what is Karl Johan Gate (pronounced Karl Yohan Gata) ?   Is it truly car-free?   Is it handicap/stroller accessible?  Does no one go there because of the lack of parking (okay I think all of us smart people know the answer to this one).

Karl Johan Gate is the mainstreet in Oslo, Norway.   It's mostly a pedestrian/cyclist mall that goes from the Palace (don't miss the changing of the guards at 1:30pm) to the Central Train Station (which is also a bustling giant indoor shopping center).

First of all it is much bigger and longer than I expected it to be.  It's not a block, it is block after block.   It's bustling.  These pictures were taken on a Sunday so you could see the street-it's so much busier on weekdays.    And if it rains all of a sudden, well instead of heading into their cars and leaving, everyone heads into the shops and restaurants and businesses make even more money that way.

I would not say though that it is completely car free, although I'd say it is very car-low.   At each street there is a crossing where cars can go straight only.    I assume this will change when/if Oslo goes car free in a few years.  As of currently there were few cars at these crossings anyways.   I wouldn't miss the crossings  and from the looks of the number of people vs cars can't imagine many other people would either.

During weekdays you also get a number of delivery vehicles.

And it is super handicap stroller friendly too.  Lots of stroller and wheel chairs too!




                                    

Product Review: Heidi Ho Ne Chevre (black lava)

Product Review: Heidi Ho Ne Chevre

Thought I would delve into the ever increasing market of vegan cheeses and try one that looked particularly interesting and original.   

Rating: 8 out of 10

Pros: Tastes really good.   Vegan certified.   Healthy ingredients.

Cons: Unfortunately, it doesn't take like how I remember goat cheese tasting.

I would absolutely buy this again.   It was yummy.  Really good on its own, really good on crackers, and really good stuffed into mushrooms.

But I do have to say, it tastes like a cashew dip (and a real good one at that), not cheese.    If I were to put this out at a party I'd call it cashew dip not imitation cheese.    It is also not good in the pasta dish I tried to use it in.  

It's also nice it pretty much all contains ingredients I feel good about eating.   Nuts, lemons, black lava salt, etc.   The calories are not too bad for cheese (vegan or otherwise).  The whole container has 480 calories, but it's not the kind of thing you'd eat the whole container of in one sitting.



                               

Ultimately, breastfeeding is easier! Here's why!

Breastfeeding is hard...this is the message formula companies want you to hear.   And even hard core breast feeders are guilty of repeating it.

While breastfeeding might be harder at first, in the long term it's so much easier and will allow you so much more flexibility.  Here's why:

It's one less thing to pack.  You literally save time every time you go out the door.   Which is not easy with a child and any extra thing you have to do can just lead to the next delay.  And it makes travel so much easier!      

You don't have to get out of bed.  Creating a safe co-sleeping environment you can feed right in bed!  Leaving a bottle of formula out all night to feed a baby would be a health hazard.   

It protects your child from illness.  Of course there is the obvious you don't want your child to get sick.  But then how much time are you saving when you have to make extra trips to the ped because your child is sick.  Then they have to sit in the sick area and risk picking up all the other things floating around.   

It protects you from illness too.   Because you can also pick up all kinds of stuff from the sick area.   

You can use the money you save on formula for other things.   My husband wasn't a fan of bi-monthly maid service, until he asked his friend what he was spending on formula.  Turns out the maid service was much cheaper!

It's comforting and helps baby relax.   You'll always have a loving way to comfort your baby!   Even when they get bigger and fall down (and then do it again).

It helps you relax too!   It actually creates hormones that help mom relax and fall back sleep!

And these are just some of the benefits!  Really the benefits are infinite!

                              

Quick Vegan Guide to Kansas City (Missouri)-Crown City Area and airport

Well, it was better than expected.  That being said the quality of such items is another story, although nothing was inedible (for the most part).   Your also mostly stuck with fast food.  So I'm know back from Kansas City and almost recovered from the stomach ache from all the overprocessed food!  

Here's what I ate in Crown Center, Kansas City (Missouri):

World War I Museum: It's nice just to be able to find vegan food at a museum.   They have a lentil sloppy joe.   It was pretty good.   It came with a salad and pickle.   The downside though was I got a bad tomato or two in the salad.  They also have prepackaged humus snack packs.

Einstein Bros Bagels: Along with the hotel restaurant which seemed like a terrible deal for vegan food, one of the only restaurants open at breakfast time that I good find.   Options include getting a bagel with nothing on it, getting a bagel with hummus (what I personally did), peanut butter and/or jelly, fruit cup (also did this), and bananas.   Nice because its cheap, but nothing amazing, just your typical Einsteins.

D'Bronx: Has a hummus sandwich with fries.  Both which were okay, but not great.   Certainly not the best hummus I have had.    But it was okay.

Z-Teca: Actually has a lot of vegan options.   It's a make your own burrito place.   I had the rice and beans burrito with guacamole and mild salsa (you get to pick 3 items and guacamole counts as two).   I had it twice the first time with the whole wheat burrito and the second time with the white burrito.  It wasn't good with the wheat burrito, although edible.  It was better the second time the white burrito, at least as far as fast food goes.  Although I won't call better good.  They also have burrito's with vegetables and mushrooms.

Unforked: This is one of those farm to table places (which I don't really understand because all food comes from farms anyway for the most part and have heard really farm to food is just food).  I tried the fried avocado taco.  Also chips with raspberry sauce.   Let's just say that all tasted about as good as it sounds and I don't plan to taste it again.


 Looking for my other quick vegan guides.  See below:
Budapest
BWI E terminal
Dublin
International Air Travel
Little Rock Airport
Mall of America
Reykjavik (Iceland)


                                    

Do I regret supporting the Green Party? No I don't.

And if I do it's only because even the Green Party isn't doing enough about what is important to our world.

Trump's post about shutting down the government may have been upsetting, but it was nothing compared to the well supported response by some random Democrat accusing Trump of the horrors of a gas tax increase.  Now why a gas tax increase is needed could (and probably should be) a whole other blog post, but let's just go with the basics of it encourages more cars, which encourages more pollution.  Not to mention numerous other problems.

No, the Democratic Party doesn't get my support just because "they aren't Republicans",  And while they talk different, in practicality I can find almost no differences.  In fact, sometimes Republican policy, while I doubt ever deliberate, can actually be better for some of the things I care about than Democratic Policy.

But before I get into that I should probably talk about what matters and what I care about:

1.  Who is going to stop the slaughter of the billions of innocent animals that are killed each year just because they are born the wrong species?

Answer: Neither-in fact Democrats subsidize this senseless violence with our tax payer dollars the same way that Republicans do.   In fact, collectively the meat and dairy industry receive more in tax payer dollars than they make in profits.   Even the Green Party has said little about this.  So if Trump shuts the government down guess who probably isn't going to get money to abuse animals, at least while it is shut down.

2.  Who is going to create a people centered America, instead of a car-centered America?   Neither-In fact, after 8 years of a Democratic president we saw a record number of car purchases, a record number of pedestrian deaths, and a public transit system in the nations capital charging record prices, while offering reduced service and reduced reliability.   So given this why would I sign up to do this again?   Oslo is building a car -free city.   But neither political party is even talking about it...all they can talk about is more roads.  

So, in conclusion I have no regrets about my pre-election choices, comments, etc.  If Democrats want votes they have to actually take a stand and do something, at least something beyond arguing for their own selfish needs that don't do anything for the larger picture of our planet.

                                

Biology 101 for Meatheads: Lesson 2 What about killing bacteria?

Apparently, these people missed basic biology.  You know where you learn there are five kingdoms: Animals, Plants, Fungi, Viruses, and Bacteria.   In other words bacteria are not animals.   Of course we all know this is just another lame excuse for their animal exploitation anyway.  

Previous Biology 101 topic: Plant feelings

                                   

How we teach kids to discriminate

We teach it young.  Be nice to the dog (yes do that), but you can't have any dessert unless you eat a chicken, turkey, fish, cow, pig, etc.   We teach kids that some souls are for protecting and others are for killing...and the factor that should determine which are self-centered...taste buds, societal pressure to fit in, etc.   Speciesism is the first lesson in racism, nationalism, religious discrimination, sexism, sexual orientation discrimination and pretty much any other type of discrimination out there for most kids.

These lessons then are translated into another type of animal...human animals.  Arbitrary factors are used to decide who is so called good and who is so called bad.  They are used instead of actually deeply examining who a person is.      

Kids don't hate each other or other humans or other non human animals.  They don't desire to kill them.   If you don't believe me watch little pre-verbal infants and toddlers playing together or with an animal.   They only see friends.   It is us the adults who make them see enemies.  

                                     

Save the universe from woman breastfeeding in public (satire)

                                                                                 

So you can't handle a woman breastfeeding in public?  How dare some woman give their kids milk from the correct species instead of stealing milk from  a baby cow.    You might see a boob...or even a nipple...and then what....your life might never be the same again...no not your life it will change the whole course of the universe!

So here is how to save the universe:  

1. Ask her if she can go hide in a dirty bathroom with baby, so you can eat your melted stolen cow fat breastmilk gross goo in peace.   Seriously, what else are you supposed to eat? As an adult human your choices are so limited!   When she doesn't even answer you go run and hide in the bathroom yourself.   

2. Timidly come back from toilet to find baby still eating, and  then tell her to stick a blanket over her babies head. Find blanket ends up over your head.     

3.  Take blanket of your face and stare her down like a real tough guy/gal.   After all it's hard to eat with a blanket over your face right?   You've been eating for 33 years, you've done your time with a blanket over your head and now it's the  newbies turn.    

4.  When this fails compare your own private part to hers.  When she tells you it would be fine if your private parts were feeding your kid/dog/etc freak out!  How dare she use her breasts for what they were intended for?     

5.  When she doesn't care and no one else does either, cry over your plate of murdered baby animals and stolen breastmilk, like the wuss you are.   Feel proud knowing you've now abused both human and non-human babies and mothers.   You're the man,,woman, or baby (no offense to babies)!