Seitan isn't scary!

I love seitan. It's probably my favorite food - after maybe sweet potatoes and ginger.

One thing that makes me sad about seitan is that people are so scared of making it. For some reason, it has become this big terrifying monster looming over the vegan kitchen. And it doesn't have to be.

Seitan is actually really easy to make. Plan on your first batch failing miserably. For some reason this seems to happen. I don't know anyone who has had a perfect first batch. The thing is, after the first one it almost always seems to work.

So here's some tips to make your journey into the world of seitan much easier. I've peppered the post with some of my favorite seitan meals from my Instagram to help inspire you.

• Homemade seitan is incredibly versatile. Depending on how you season it and shape it, you can create a thousand dishes. Pot roasts, fajitas, meatballs, a Thanksgiving turkey, burgers, southern fried chicken, or anything else you can imagine. Therefore, don't get yourself too stuck on one singular recipe. Get creative and don't be afraid to experiment.

The birthday dinner my husband made for me. It's breaded and fried seitan served with glazed carrots, mashed potatoes and a homemade barbecue sauce.

• I am most familiar and comfortable with simmered seitan. You can also make it steamed. To simmer seitan, you create a dough with liquids and vital wheat gluten, then simmer it in a delicious broth for around 45 minutes. What you get is a solid chunk of meat, dead bodies not included. You can then cook this pretty much any way you would cook animal-based meat, though it doesn't need as long a cook time as something like chicken would.

Quick pad thai made with leftover seitan strips and whatever veggies I had sitting around.

• The best ratio I've found for delicious seitan is 2 parts dry to 1 part liquid. Put the dry ingredients in a big bowl and then stir in the wet. Once a dough starts to form, finish mixing it with your hands and knead it for a couple of minutes.

One of our seitan turkeys from thanksgiving. We always have to make more than one because the vegan men eat way too much and all of the omnivores have a few slices too.

• The dry is typically almost exclusively vital wheat gluten with different herbs and spices added. I like to add a bunch of ground ginger if I'm planning to make an Asian inspired dish, and I've made delicious sausage by adding lots of fennel and ground pepper. 

Asian-inspired burgers.

• The liquid is mostly composed of broth, but should also include something salty (usually soy sauce), some oil and some acid. My base recipe usually uses olive oil and lemon juice, but you can easily sub most other oils (grapeseed is wonderfully mild) and other acidic liquids (for burgers, try a splash of apple cider vinegar). You can also add minced garlic into the liquid. 

Grilled mango ginger seitan over brown rice.

• To change up the texture and the taste, sub up to half of the wheat gluten with chickpea flour. This is my favorite for making burgers, meatballs or pork chops. 

White pizza with seitan strips, onions, spinach and lots of homemade alfredo and mozzarella.

• Once you've made the dough, you can cut it up into pieces, shape it into burger or meatballs, or just make a big roast. You can also just cut it and slice it up after it's prepared. I usually cut the dough into 3 or 4 chunks, unless I'm making something like burgers or a pot roast. Keep in mind that the seitan will expand while it simmers, so that you don't end up with burgers twice the size of the bread.

These are the burgers that put vegans in heaven and have omnivores begging for the recipe.

• Let the dough rest a few minutes before dumping it into the broth.

• Seitan dough is simmered in a delicious broth in a large saucepan or stock pot. The simmering broth should cover the seitan. Make the broth by mixing a few cups of veggie broth, water, a splash of soy sauce and at least one boullion cube or a comparable seasoning. You can also add more herbs and spices to the broth, as it will affect the flavor of the final product. Sometimes I add a bay leaf and some herb blends to it, along with mashed garlic cloves. 

Thanksgiving leftover sliders. Rolls with a slice of that delicious roast you just saw, covered in mashed potatoes, cheesy corn and gravy.

• When you're simmering seitan the most important thing in the world is to not let the water boil once the seitan is in there, particularly during the first 20 minutes. If you have a finicky stove, you might need to hang out in the kitchen adjusting the heat. Once you've made it a few times, you'll get a feel for what works best for your pot and your stove.

Pecan crusted seitan. This is one of our favorite dishes. Seitan cutlets are coated in a panko and ground pecan mixture and then pan fried.

•  So you've done everything perfectly and the finished seitan is soft and mushy? Grease a cookie sheet and toss it into the oven for a few minutes at 300 degrees F. This won't work if you end up with pureed brains, but it will firm up seitan that's a bit too soft.

Crazy-messy taco filling made with cubed seitan, quinoa, veggies and lots of spices.

• The best seitan is made with homemade broth. Save the ends of veggies as you cut them and store them in the freezer. Then, fill up a giant pot with water, a dash of soy sauce, a bay leaf and whatever veggies you have in the freezer or sitting around. I try to always include onions, potatoes and garlic, but anything else goes. You can also use carrot or potato peels and broccoli stalks. Simmer the whole mess for a few hours, strain it all and store in the fridge in jars. It's a thousand times better than the boxed or canned stuff, and costs next to nothing to make. 

Tandoori setian skewers. Seitan is the answer to all vegan grilling problems.

• One of the best things about seitan is that it keeps really well in the fridge or freezer, and it's easy to make a huge amount at once. Just store it in a big glass or tupperware container filled with the broth you simmered it in. If you'll be using it within a week, keep it in the fridge. If it's going to be longer, toss it in the freezer. You can also marinate seitan overnight or for a few days. This is a great practice for making delicious and easy weekday meals. The seitan is already made, so can just chop it up and add it to any quick meal. 

Making seitan pastelillos (or empanadas). A Puerto Rican dish, veganized. This is before I fried them, obviously.

• If you want to get a really crisp "skin" on the seitan, lightly dust the pieces in flour and pan fry on medium high heat in a little bit of oil.

Still not completely sold? There are some store bought seitan brands out there, but even the few that are really yummy are usually hard to find and pale in comparison to the taste a versatility of homemade. For the record, my favorite brand of seitan is Upton's Naturals, so give them a try if you are new to the seitan world. It can be hard to find, though, and you might need to order it online (according to their website, they don't sell a single one of their products in Florida with the exception of the panhandle. Which we all know isn't really 100% Florida). A lot of vegetarian and vegan restaurants also make their own seitan, and I've only been to one restaurant where that house seitan is bad, so if you are lucky enough to try it at a restaurant, go ahead!

Good luck and let me know any of your foolprood seitan tips and tricks!

Campus to table: Local, organic produce for UCF students

The National Restaurant Association named locally-sourced produce, environmental sustainability and more vegetable based meals in the top ten food trends of 2014. These trends are not lost on University of Central Florida (UCF) students as more are reaping the benefits of the Arboretum community garden and growing their own food at home.

The UCF Arboretum’s community garden takes up about 1 acre of the nearly 82 acre arboretum. About half of the garden area is allocated for vegetables, and the other half is fruit trees. All of the food from the garden goes directly to students, either to volunteers or through the Knight’s Pantry on campus. The arboretum donates approximately 100 pounds of produce a month to the pantry, totaling more than 150 pounds donated in the month of March. This means that students who are struggling to pay for food can incorporate fresh, local and organic vegetables into their diet, instead of just eating the canned and packaged food that is also readily available at Knight’s Pantry.

The garden is entirely maintained by volunteers, and students who volunteer get to bring home some of the food. “If you work the land, you get to reap some of the benefits” Jacques Werleigh, garden manager and leadership liason at the arboretum, said. Volunteers also get other incentives after meeting different goals, such as organic shirts, water bottles and tote bags, but students get to bring home produce each day that they volunteer. Any leftover food is composted and used to grow more vegetables.

The produce available at Knight’s Pantry also offers a particular benefit to vegans and vegetarians on campus. Melanie Arcic gets fresh greens, such as mustard greens, from the pantry because there aren’t many suitable options on campus for her lifestyle. Otherwise, she brings boxed lunches to school with her.

This summer, the arboretum will begin to offer workshops on urban agriculture, so students can learn more about how to grow food in limited spaces and on porches and balconies. Werleigh said that growing food is basic, and that it is a core component of our strength as a species.

“People like to say they don’t have a ‘green thumb’ but I say, ‘no, you’ve just forgotten.’” Werleigh said.

The arboretum garden is organic, which means that growing foods while they are in season is particularly important.

“You can’t have tomatoes year round,” Werleigh said. However, learning about the diversity within food creates a more rich and complete diet. When tomatoes are not in season, tomatillos – a similar food – are readily available. Most people are not aware that there are many different types of spinach since they only see the variety sold in grocery stores, Werleigh said. Three different varieties of spinach are currently in season at the community garden, along with beans, eggplant, peppers, squash and snap peas.

Werleigh also gave advice for common urban agriculture issues.

“Regardless of where you are, you can grow stuff,” he said. In spaces with limited sunlight, herbs and lettuce will thrive. On a balcony, vining plants – such as pole beans, some herbs and Malabar spinach – grow well. He also said that this type of gardening can supplement store bought foods in a way that is healthy and sustainable. 

For students interested in local and sustainable food, Werleigh said that eating locally, supporting local businesses that use organic products and getting involved in food-related public policy are all very important. Food policy issues are the most crucial, he said, particularly laws and rules regarding how food is grown, transported and delivered.

Werleigh said that he wishes more of the local and organic ethic will continue to spread to the UCF area as it has in parts of downtown Orlando and Winter Park where Dandelion Café and the new East End Market are thriving.

The community garden holds volunteer sessions each weekday, and can arrange for weekend volunteer sessions with advance notice and a group of five or more.

Why does meat...?

I was playing around on Google and took these screenshots.

So, why does being vegan feel so great?

More than just a diet, the vegan lifestyle is gaining ground

Celebrities ranging from Beyonce to Al Gore have recently taken on vegan and plant-based lifestyles - either as a permanent change or a temporary diet. A Google Trends report shows that interest in veganism is up drastically since 2004, as searches for the word "vegan" have risen and a recent poll by Harris Interactive shows that the amount of vegetarian children in the United States is up 70 percent in the last few years.

What is all of the fuss about? Pehpsii Altemark Wilcox has identified as a vegan for 20 years and has seen the public's perception of veganism change during that time. She was 11 years old when she made the transition.

"I suppose it was my love and compassion for all living things that started it, but as I ate more veggies I got in to this whole new world of flavours that you just don't get from a "meat and potatoes" kind of diet, and that was it for me. I never missed my old diet one day." Wilcox says.

"When I was younger, people tended to assume I was some crazy activist that burned down labs." says Wilcox. That is not the case anymore.

"I feel like veganism is more commonly understood today. When I was in school I had to constantly explain what it meant over and over again. And explaining to pharmacists and hairdressers about animal products and by-products was a hassle. Today I feel like you can say "vegan" and most people get it." Wilcox says. 

"It's more common to see vegans in pop culture. I know a few very popular singers in rock/metal bands who are vegan and very open about it," Wilcox says. She also attributes the popularity of vegan documentaries (and their availability through websites like Netflix) such as Forks over Knives, An Inconvenient Truth and Earthlings as a cause for the recent changes. 

Other prominent people bringing veganism to the table, like Bill Gates, Joaquin Pheonix, Paul McCartney, Stella McCartney and Ellen DeGeneres have opened eyes to the vegan lifestyle.

Another factor might be that the vegan lifestyle is easier now than it used to be. "Just five to six years ago I remember it as being a bigger hassle than it is today. Most grocery chains have at least a few vegan options in their freezers nowadays," says Wilcox. 

"I think representation is key for any kind of minority movement. Going from grassroot/activism to mainstream as fast as veganism has can only be attributed to the intense media climate we have today. A University study on how Vegans live longer and stay healthier can be posted online on a Monday and by Friday it has been featured in magazines, blogged about and shared in social medias on all continents and read by millions," says Wilcox.

Not all vegans believe that this new found attention is a good thing. Alan O'Reilly says "I'm not at all certain that it's in the correct or most helpful way. Veganism is, I believe, now widely regarded as a mere matter of diet rather than the moral baseline of animal rights that it actually is." O'Reilly has been vegan for five years.

Sal Carr, who has been vegan five months, thinks that vegans themselves have a lot of power to change the way the community and lifestyle is viewed. "I try to be patient and informative whenever people ask me about veganism as I, not so long ago, was a non-vegan and blind to the cruelty," she says.

"Another side of media representation is that people get to see how different vegans are from each other. Just take the contrast between Steve-O from Jackass and Paul McCartney of the Beatles for example. Both are vegans but extremely different." Wilcox says. 

Food Gifts: Balsamic Roasted Garlic

Since I have to get all of my Christmas presents done early this year (we'll be out of town the week before), I thought it might be a good idea to share with you guys some of the gifts I'll be making. Hopefully these ideas and how-to's help you with your gift-giving this year.

I'm a big advocate of the homemade present, and particularly the edible homemade present. I always try to incorporate handmade edibles into all of my gift giving and I change it up each year. One year I did giant cupcakes decorated as ornaments and I gifted them in adorable, festive boxes. That same year I also made mini ornament cupcakes for parties and large groups I was bringing gifts for. I've also done cookies of all kinds and one year I made a couple of weeks worth of frozen meals for my parents. They were all designed to just defrost and throw in the oven so that my family could have a home cooked meal even when they were busy. The options are endless.

This will be a series of posts and I'll also include ideas for labeling and wrapping the food gifts as well.

This year, one of the gifts I'm giving is balsamic roasted garlic. It seems a little odd, but it's useful and fun little present for any chefs and garlic lovers in your life. The plus, this stuff lasts a really long time if it's sealed and in the fridge so you can make it a little ways ahead of time.

 

All you need to make this is:

Aluminum foil

Lots of heads of garlic (depending on how much you want to give)

Balsamic vinegar

Olive oil

Kosher or sea salt

Jars (I used a couple of sizes of mason jars. Use whatever you like but make sure it's pretty and seals fairly well)

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees.

Then, chop the very tops off of the heads of garlic, so a little bit of each clove is exposed.

Line a baking pan of some kind (I used glass) with foil and drizzle a little olive oil over the foil. Then arrange the heads of garlic cut side up.

Drizzle them with a little more olive oil and some balsamic, then sprinkle them with a little salt.

 

It should look a little like this. 

Now, cover the pans with foil and toss them in the oven for about 45 minutes to an hour.

When they come out, let them cool a little and remove each of the cloves from their skin. It shouldn't be too hard now that they are cooked.

Put the cloves back into the foil, drizzle them with more olive oil and balsamic vinegar, then wrap the foil around them to make a little pouch.

Toss them back into the oven for another 15 minutes or so. Take them out of the oven, stir them up, and roast them for another 15 minutes. They should be golden, smell delicious, and be a bit soft.

Now you can package them up.

Roasted garlic has a ton of uses, and it might be a good idea to include a little gift tag with ideas. It's great spread on toast and it a wonderful addition to virtually any pasta sauce. You can also spread it on crackers or even eat it on it's own.

 

Vegan Cooking Tips

I love to cook, so when I started my transition into the vegan lifestyle, experimenting with foods was a big part of my adventure. Here are a collection of tips that I've come across either from other vegan cooks or from my own experiments. Some of them might not be new to the more seasoned vegans out there, but hopefully there are some that you've never heard of before.

What milk do I use? With so many non-dairy milks on the market, it's sometimes confusing deciding which to use in certain recipes. 

As a general rule, almond milk is the most mild and is usually best in most savory recipes and can also be used in desserts.You can also use soy, rice, and hemp milk in most recipes.

Soy milk is highest in protein and is therefore best when you need to curdle the milk (for example, when you are replacing buttermilk. By the way, the recipe for that is about 1 tsp of vinegar to a cup of soy milk). Curdling works with most non-dairy milks, but soy will get you the best results.

When you are making desserts, coconut is usually a great option. It's flavor is a bit more distinct, but it has a much higher fat content and is a beautiful bright white that works well in lots of cakes and sauces. 

Also use coconut milk when your recipe calls for a higher fat form of dairy, like cream. If you need the milk to be even thicker and fattier, refrigerate a can of coconut milk for a few hours. The fat will begin to separate and rise to the top, so use the top of the can for your recipe.

Rice milk is one of the lightest tasting milks, so use it when you don't want the plant milk to weigh down your dish.

Cooking tofu. Tofu can be delicious if cooked well, but usually it's a tasteless spongy mush.

Freeze your tofu. When I buy tofu, I get home and I drain it and then I immediately put it in the freezer in little freezer bags. When you defrost the tofu later, it will drain out the water and you get a much more hearty, meaty texture. It also makes it way easier to marinate and season tofu, which is very important.

Crumbled tofu is a great way to get used to eat tofu and a great way to please people that don't like it. There are two ways to do it. 
First, crumble up the tofu with a fork. Spread the tofu on a lightly greased baking sheet, and then sprinkle seasonings over it. Make sure to use some salt, and don't really worry too much about over seasoning it. Bake the tofu at a low temperature, around 250, for a few hours. Stir it up every half hour or so. The tofu is done when it is a golden color and getting crispy around the edges. You can add this into anything an omnivore would add ground beef to. It's particularly yummy when you use it to stuff peppers and mushrooms or make tacos with. 
The other method is to crumble and marinate the tofu. Crumble it up in a bowl, and then add vinegar, soy sauce, and lots of herbs and spices. Stir periodically and let it sit for a while. Then cook up the tofu in a saute pan until it just starts to brown. This version is particularly good in lasagnas and other pasta dishes.

If you're looking to make slices of tofu, the same principle of marinating applies. Drain the tofu really, really well. Cut it into slices and marinate the slices in a casserole dish or baking pan. The longer they marinate, the better. Then drain the slices again (reserve the marinate!), and cook them in a saute pan with a little oil until they are golden on both sides. Put the slices back into the dish with the marinate, cover with foil, and bake at 350 for about 30 minutes. Depending on the type of marinate you used, serve with veggies, rice, mashed potatoes, or whatever fits. 

Eggs, eggs, eggs. There are a lot of options to replace eggs with when you're baking. Honestly, I think omnivores are so limited just putting eggs in everything. Here are some of the options and what they work best in. Keep in mind that you can mix different egg subs. Think about each individual recipe and which combination you think fits best.
Also, keep in mind that with all of these subs, you will need to add a bit more baking powder or baking soda than the recipe calls for. I find myself adding more even to recipes that are already vegan.

Ener-G - This is an egg replacing powder. You whisk a bit of the powder with warm water, and it actually gets a kind of eggy consistency. This is good in some cookie recipes and where another sub just doesn't seem to fit.

Bananas - A half of a mashed banana equals one egg. This sub is really great in quick breads, muffins, and particularly pancakes. It sometimes makes a dish come out a bit oilier, so cut down on the oil a tiny bit. Keep in mind that this will add a banana flavor to your dish. Usually that's a good thing.

Applesauce - 1/4 cup equals one egg. This is my absolute favorite egg sub. It works best in brownies and chocolate cakes. It doesn't add much of any flavor to the dish, so it's great when you have a lot of other flavors at play. You can also use applesauce to replace some of the oil in a recipe. Go ahead and try making brownies where you replace all of the eggs and all but a teaspoon of the oil with applesauce. They will be the best brownies you've ever had.

Ground Flax Seed - Mix it with warm water to make an egg. This is kind of an all purpose sub, but it tends to work best in savory or particularly hearty dishes.

Tofu - 1/4 cup of blended tofu equals one egg. This is good in recipes like cheesecakes and pies. Be careful about using too much, as it will get a very soy-like flavor. Obviously this only matters if you don't like soy flavors.

Pumpkin - 1/4 cup equals one egg. This is another fun egg sub. It's also best in quick breads and heartier desserts or muffins.

Whipped Cream. There are plenty of good dairy free whipped creams out there now, but sometimes it's nice to make a homemade version, and this one is good.

Take a can of full fat coconut milk and put it in your fridge. It needs to sit there at least a day or two without moving around much, so I usually just make sure I always have a can in the back of my fridge. 
Carefully open the can and spoon out the really thick fat off the top into a bowl. Add a teensy bit of vanilla and some powdered sugar (I'm not giving a strict amount because it depends so much on how sweet you like your whipped cream, but usually around a half cup is a good starting point). 
Then whip it up with a hand or stand mixer. It will take a little while, but soon enough it will look exactly like the dairy version, except it will taste way better.
Stick the bowl into the fridge for a little while so it can firm up just a bit more. Then serve. This is particularly good on a slice of vegan pumpkin pie.

Cutting down on meat cravings. Most vegans don't really crave meat after the first couple of months, but for those of you who are earlier on in your transition, this is the technique I used to avoid them. 

When you are craving meat, you usually aren't actually craving dead animal flesh. The flavors we associate with meat are actually just seasonings, sauces, and cooking methods. Therefore, take all of those delicious sauces and seasonings and throw them on veggies. Growing up, basically all of the meat I ate was seasoned with Adobo (a Hispanic seasoning blend). So I sprinkled it on to all of my veggies before roasting them or sauteing them and I never had any bad cravings. I never even felt like the meat was missing off my plate.

A Vegan Wedding: The Dress

When I first started researching vegan weddings, something that came up a lot was a dress. Books and blogs stressed how difficult it was to find a vegan wedding dress and how hard you'd have to work. They also said that bamboo and other sustainable fabrics were becoming very common and could be found by many designers in all sorts of styles.

I found both of these assertions to be completely false during my search.

When I started looking at bridal salons, I emailed every single highly rated one with the same email (I am obsessed with rating things and looking at ratings. WeddingWire has been my friend). I explained that I was recently engaged and wanted a dress that contains no silk or silk blends. Literally one shop responded saying most of their dresses were silk. The vast majority said they carry little or no silk at all.

Simultaneously, I searched designers that make dresses from more sustainable fabrics like bamboo and hemp. I did find a couple online, but their selection is limited to fitting just one or two very specific styles. Many of the dresses were of a very simple, almost hippie-like aesthetic. Which is perfect for some people, but definitely not for me. There are a few designers out there that can build you a custom dress from these fabrics, but they aren't in my budget and they aren't in my area.

Two of my favorite designers throughout my search were Maggie Sottero and Allure. They might not be your style at all, but both designers make all or nearly all of their dresses out of synthetic fabrics that are comfy and don't feel cheap at all. 

I ended up buying an Allure Bridals dress that I fell in love with.

If you're looking for a truly sustainable dress, they might not be the best option. But for brides that have veganism as the biggest priority and don't love (or can't afford) the bamboo and hemp options these designers are a fantastic starting point. Hopefully soon these fabrics will become more mainstream and feature a wider range of styles and availability.

Unfortunately, something all of the vegan wedding books and blogs don't seem to stress much at all is that most tuxedos are made from wool. We have a lot more time to search for a tux, but we aren't finding too many places that carry vegan options. Men's Wearhouse carries a few choices and the other option is a formal suit made from linen. If we find more as the wedding gets closer, I'll definitely write a tux post as well.

A Vegan Wedding

A few weeks ago, my now fiance proposed to me while on a picnic along a beautiful little river.
A few hours later, we started planning the wedding.
The two of us want to get married in May of next year for an assortment of reasons, so there wasn't really any time to waste.
Of course, we are planning a vegan wedding. Of everyone at the wedding, there will only be 3 vegans. My future husband, my younger brother, and me. Therefore we are trying to make it as vegan as possible and as accessible as possible.
While I've been planning, I haven't really found a ton of resources for vegan couples, particularly in the Central Florida area. So I'm going to try to post a lot of reviews and stories about my experiences to help future brides with their vegan weddings.
If there's anything that you'd like to see my talk about or share, let me know!

Dietary Statistics in the United States

Organizations sometimes try to cater to offering extensive gluten free and kosher products, saying that there is a serious demand over offering vegan and vegetarian options. However, that perception is largely fabricated.

% of US population that identify as Jewish - 1.8% (and declining)
% of US population with Celiac Disease - 1%
% of US population that is vegan - 2-7% (and growing rapidly)
% of US population that is vegetarian - 5-6%

What do you think?

Sources:
http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/10/01/america-jews-religion-jewish/2900871/
http://www.celiaccentral.org/celiac-disease/facts-and-figures/
http://www.publicpolicypolling.com/main/2013/02/food-issues-polarizing-america.html#more
http://www.vrg.org/blog/2011/12/05/how-many-adults-are-vegan-in-the-u-s/

Spreading Your Message and Changing the World

Almost all of us have something (or many things) we are very passionate about, and a lot of us participate in some sort of activism or advocacy related to it. We go to events, we join organizations, and we spread our message both online and in the real world.

However, a lot of times when people are very passionate about their cause, they often get combative out of passion and can hurt their message.

I have created this post to offer a slightly different take on spreading your message and changing the world, one that draws from ideas used in corporate public relations, politics and other fields skilled in changing people's minds. It's a kinder method, one that makes your cause seem like the friendly, open option even for those who are skeptical.

This line represents all people and their feelings/attitudes/opinions on your message. The purple oval on the left is where you probably fall. You feel very strongly about your message or cause and you'd do anything for it. The people in this area aren't likely to change. You don't need to worry about losing them, because they are as passionate as you are.

The green area on the left represents all of the other members of your cause. They feel strongly about it too, and are instrumental in spreading your message as they are the core of your "side." However, these people aren't as solid as you might be, so remember to be nice to them. Even if they might not be quite as passionate as you, don't alienate them. Make them feel good about themselves and what they are doing to make the world a better place. Don't trash them for not being "good" enough. Do that enough times and you could lose their support.

The same sort of idea applies to the purple and green areas on the right. These are the people that strongly oppose you. The individuals in the purple oval on the right aren't going anywhere. So don't try. You aren't going to make Tea Party leaders go all in for universal healthcare. By pushing at them, you not only waste your valuable time and energy, but you make yourself an antagonist as well.
The green on the right also probably isn't worth too much of your time. At least not yet. They are pretty solidly on that side and probably aren't going to change - at least not until the rest of the world is already there. Even then, you still might not get them.

The orange in the middle is where you want to focus your valuable resources. These are the people who aren't really sure how they feel about veganism, fossil fuels, a woman's right to choose. Maybe they are less informed, maybe they've never sat down to think about it, or maybe they have thought about the issue but don't know where to begin. These people are also those who might feel strongly about part of your issue but not another part. 

Be friendly. That doesn't mean you shouldn't share with them the ugly side of eating eggs, or the lies anti-choice people spread about abortion. It just means you shouldn't start with an attack or by alienating them. Be welcoming. Some examples that can be applied to virtually any good cause:

• Give out free vegan food. Don't put giant posters of slaughtered animals by your table or station. Walk up to someone who looks sad and give them a cupcake. Once they've thanked you, tell them it has no dairy or eggs in it and is still super yummy. If they ask more, share with them why you are vegan. Try and gauge which issues are going to be most important to them. Are they in gym clothes? Start with the health aspect. Are they walking a dog? Start with animal rights.

• Do you want more people to bike to work? Understand that this isn't feasible for everyone. If you see someone complaining about the drive to work, tell them how you fixed that problem by riding your bike. Be really excited about it, but not pushy. If you see someone who is thinking about getting a bike but isn't sure, help them pick one out! Think about their budget, their needs, etc. Share your knowledge and passion.

Don't attack people for not being there yet. If they'll listen to you talk, then they are already doing good and you should be thankful. Share with them why you are so passionate about things. Tell them how easy your lifestyle is or how much good it does. Give them examples. And if they are still unsure, tell them that baby steps are good too. Give them resources, give them science. Become their support system.
If your initial reaction is to attack, you are going to put people on the defensive before they can even listen to your point. You are also going to make them form a bad impression of your cause. Particularly if you are pushing for a cause that is often seen as antagonistic, patronizing, or pushy, you need to be incredibly cautious of this (examples include veganism, environmentalism, and atheism). People are already going to be wary, and you need to prove them wrong. A good way to overcome this, if you are a member of one of those groups, is to not start with emotionally charged arguments. Start with science, facts, numbers. This causes the person you are talking to to think before they fight. Don't let things become a battle. Let it be a discussion of ideas and action plans.
Some other tips:

• Before participating in any sort of event for your cause, become familiar with commonly asked questions and attacks. Practice well thought out, friendly responses to them. If you know that you are particularly prone to getting heated, find someone in your group who won't and stick with them. They can pick up questions that might be triggering to you or might cause you to react poorly.
• This does not mean you can't stand up for yourself. Don't start a fight but don't let anyone personally attack your or your friends. If you are with a group make sure you all know to pay attention and stand up for one another. Don't let someone sit there and get verbally beaten up for standing up for your cause.
• Don't walk up to people in crowded areas and shove information into their face. Set up a sign or an area and let interested people come to you. Make yourself look friendly and available for discussion. Have little things to give away, along with stacks of literature that approach your cause from a few different angles.
• Always have resources and literature on hand. Save a document on your computer with a list of sources for your claims and lists of resources for people who need them. Keep business card sized bits of literature and links in your wallet. If you're vegan, keep some mini recipe cards with you. If it's pro-choice that's your cause, keep a card with contact information for local women's clinics. Always be ready to help those in need and share with those interested.
• Always, always, always make sure you aren't giving off a "holier than thou" air. Condescension won't get you anywhere, and with that you won't only hurt those in the middle but you can also seriously hurt the feelings of people on your side.
• Have lots of events to support your cause. Some of them should be strictly serious - like protests or volunteer events - but others should be fun. Put an exciting spin on fundraisers and have parties and get togethers related to your cause (e.g. a vegan potluck, a hiking trip, an upcycled fashion show, a trip to a farm sanctuary). This will make your cause feel more like a community and will also get other people to show up just to have fun. While they are there, they'll learn more about the issue in a positive, relaxing setting.
• Make all of your criticism constructive, and only criticize when it will actually serve a purpose. Phrase your criticisms as suggestions or interesting ideas if possible. Never say something like "this is the WORST EVER." Say "wow, it's so cool to see people put forth this kind of an effort. Another thing you could do is ____" or "another way to do it would be____" or even "to get even better results, we could also try ____."

I hope these tips help and please share any others that you may have!