Melisser Elliott - The Vegan Girls Guide to Life: Cruelty-Free Crafts, Recipes, Beauty Secrets, and More

H i, my name is Melisser, and I am vegan. You may wonder how I came to find veganism, and I figure theres no better way to tell you than to recount my past and the events that have shaped me into the person I am today.

I grew up the oldest of three children in a working-class family. My mother ran a day-care business in our home, and took on other odd jobs to earn money while still being there to take care of us. My father worked at UPS from age nineteen until he retired, a job he kept for the excellent health benefits, so we could make regular doctor visits and have braces on our teeth. We went to church, we took dance lessons... we lived modestly, and my parents worked hard to make sure we never went without.

When I think back to my childhood, I realize that I have always been surrounded by animals. No, not my family members, but the cuddly, loving, nonhuman animals many people call pets. At a very young age, I named my first cat, a scrappy orange tabby, Garfield, and he stayed by my side until I was in high school. Garfield was hardly our only feline; because of my mothers affection for animals, our house was the drop-off location for unwanted pets. We often found ourselves with well over ten cats at a time. They all had their own unique personalities: from everyones favorite tomcat, Kirby, to fluffy Persian princess, Lady Ashley; from the feral calico turned lap cat, Egypt, to Rascal, the one-eyed lover with the scratchy meow.

Because I was good at convincing my mother to let me bring home many new animal companions, we also had rabbits, guinea pigs, rats, hamsters, and birds. As a feral cat colony developed in our neighborhood, my mom and I worked to trap and release the cats, although most of the cats were added to our own family. From the day I was born, I was raised to love and respect animals, and its something Ive kept with me always.

Like most people, I grew up on the standard American diet of meat and potatoes; rarely did a meatless meal appear on our table. Processed food was the norm, with no attention paid to ingredients. This was not through any lack of care on my mothers part; we were all physically fit and seemed to be fine.

At age thirteen I entered high school, where I met a group of vegetarians. I soon decided to become a vegetarian as well. My love for animals was already ingrained in me, and I could no longer fathom eating something I loved. I was your standard junk-food vegetarian: Taco Bell burritos, McDonalds cheeseburgers with no meat, and anything in fried-potato form, especially Tater Tots. My parents werent exactly thrilled, and I was not allowed to cook on my own, so my meals often consisted of side dishes, which I would supplement with lots of ice cream. Of course, I started to gain weight, but I didnt care, and continued being a junk-food vegetarian, if only for the animals sake.

I found punk rock, then ska, and started attending shows and meeting like-minded people where I learned about alternative culture, a far cry from my religious upbringing. Music became a crucial part of my life, and I went to as many live shows as possible, often claiming I was spending the night at a friends house, when I was actually dancing front and center at a music venue.

At seventeen, I was introduced to a guy named Ryan who had been trying to track me down after seeing me at a Hepcat show. It turns out that this was not just any guy, but the one I was destined to marry. We fell in love fast, and by the time I was eighteen, we were living together in San Francisco, with far too many roommates. Like most girls of eighteen, I was a bit insecure and didnt want to be a nuisance, so I slowly incorporated meat back into my diet. I felt horrible and guilty, but we didnt have much money, and I assumed I didnt have other options. I suppressed my feelings about animals and went back to the processed and fast-food American diet of my upbringing.

A few years later I reached my breaking point. I couldnt do it anymore. I couldnt eat the flesh of innocent beings while lavishing affection on my own two cats, Beamish and Scurvy. One night at a Morrissey concert at the London Palladium, I was handed a postcard with a photo of Morrissey standing by a billboard, saying, I want you to go vegetarian. So I did. I returned to vegetarianism, right then and there. When I told my husband, he was 100 percent supportive. We discussed a vegetarian household rule and he obliged, even though he didnt become a vegetarian himself at this time. His choice to eat meat was something he could do on his own time, so he didnt eat it in front of me either, especially since I made most of our meals. All in all, it was an easy transition.

After a trip to New York during the cupcake craze, I tried the baked goods at Magnolia Bakery, and the experience inspired me to try my hand at baking. Up to that point, my idea of making dinner was preparing macaroni and cheese or Pasta Roni, and if I wanted cookies, I went to the supermarket. This new attempt at baking was a success, and it led me to food blogs where I devoured recipes and made new friends.

I noticed a plethora of vegan blogs out there and started reading them, finding my interest piqued about this cruelty-free lifestyle. I tried my hand at vegan baking for a friends birthday, but it was a failure; how could I go vegan without my beloved baking? As I read more, however, and learned about the cruelty of the dairy industry, and how many cheeses contain rennet from a cows stomach and arent even vegetarian, I knew I needed to take the next step and go vegan. I started to gradually make the transition, first cutting out all non-vegan savory foods, and baking an occasional non-vegan dessert. Shortly thereafter I achieved some success with vegan baking, so I went 100 percent vegan. Once again a household rule was discussed, and our vegan household was established. It was at this time that my husband Ryan decided to go vegetarian and the dairy got the boot from our house!

During this time I started my blog, The Urban Housewife, and found support from vegans all over the world. From creating a vegan candy-corn recipe to my first international trip as a vegan, its been a fun ride! About a year after my transition to veganism, Ryan decided to join me and go vegan as well, without any pressure or cajoling from me. Can I say how proud I am here? I mean, seriously, so happy and so proud!