Friends Don't Let Friends: Not Make Risotto

I love risotto.

Ever since I learned how to make it I crave it, especially in the winter. It is more comfort food for me than mac and cheese ever was. The great thing about risotto is it makes a big batch of food, is very simple, it's peaceful to make and looks damn impressive. Plus, you can add almost any flavor or additions to it and make a completely new meal. I've made rosemary versions, saffron, asparagus, mushroom etc.

Oh, and did I mention it' pretty low fat??? Shocking, I know!

I make mine in the most basic way: onions, broth, wine, salt and rice. That's pretty much it. And most of these you should have on hand so it's as good a meal to throw together as it is to make for company.

Here's how it goes:


Ingredients

1 large onion – chopped (garlic optional)
4 Tbl Olive Oil (approximately)
½ cup white wine
2 Cups Arborio rice
6 – 8 cups veggie stock
Salt

Preparation:

Pour stock in separate pot to warm

In large saucepan (6 quart with deep sides, ideally) sauté onions in olive oil, about 4 tablespoons, over medium heat until soft. Can also sauté garlic in there if you choose. If you are adding a woody herb like rosemary, you can add it now.

Add rice and sauté about 10 minutes, until there is just a white dot in the center. Add the white wine and stir until absorbed. Stir in stock in ½ cup increments not adding more until absorbed. Keep adding stock until rice is soft all the way through and cannot absorb any more – usually about 30 to 40 minutes and about 8 cups of stock. Add salt to taste.

When the risotto is done absorbing the stock, you can in things like butter squash puree, steamed or roasted veggies, mushrooms or soft herbs such as sage. Really anything you like will go well with this.

For the two of us, this meal makes a great dinner with salad on the side and then travels and reheats for work lunches beautifully.

Enjoy!


Image via The Vegan Foodie

I Have No Words

All I can do is pass this along to you and beg you to please consider not eating meat. The emotions I feel are such despair at thinking that these abuses happen and that we blithely ignore or disregard these facts.

A new Mercy For Animals undercover investigation reveals unconscionable cruelty to mother pigs and their young piglets at a Hatfield Quality Meat supplier - "Country View Family Farms," in Fannettsburg, Pennsylvania. The hidden camera video provides consumers with a jarring glimpse into the nightmarish world of factory pork production.

MFA's investigation uncovered:

* Workers grabbing piglets by their fragile ears or legs and throwing them across the room and slamming them into transport carts.

* Workers tattooing sows by repeatedly driving sharp metal spikes into their flesh.

* Sows with untreated rectal prolapses and deep, infected sores and scrapes from constant rubbing against the bars of their stalls.

* Workers cutting off piglets' tails with dull pliers and castrating them by ripping out their testes with their bare hands - all without anesthesia.

* Thousands of pregnant pigs confined in two-feet wide metal stalls so small that they could only take one step forward or backward and could not turn around or lie down comfortably.

* Injured, sick and runt piglets being tossed into overcrowded gassing kill carts, slowly suffocating from CO2.

* Workers firing steel rods into sows' heads, sometimes as many as four separate times, before the sows fell and died.

Numerous veterinarians and animal welfare experts have harshly condemned the conditions documented at this "family farm" - which confines nearly 3,000 breeding sows. Dr. Nedim C. Buyukmihci, Emeritus Professor of Veterinary Medicine at the University of California, Davis, asserts, "I can state unequivocally that the pigs in this facility suffered immensely...These people showed complete disregard for the welfare or well-being on the pigs."

The findings of MFA's newest investigation are consistent with those documented at pig farms across the country in recent years - illustrating that animal neglect and abuse are the pork industry norm, not the exception.

Not only are the abuses documented at this facility standard within the industry, they are legal in the state of Pennsylvania. Like most states, Pennsylvania's anti-cruelty statute exempts farmed animals from legal protection. Pigs, like all farmed animals, also lack federal protection during their lives confined on factory farms.

As consumers we can choose compassion over cruelty at every meal. Adopting a compassionate vegan diet is the most powerful action we can take to put an end to needless animal suffering and the conditions documented during this investigation.

I promise to personally help anyone and everyone who will make this switch. It is very simple and easy - you just need an open heart and mind.

Friends Don't Let Friends: Eat Canned Soup

Canned soup, while handy, is loaded with salt and other yucky stuff. There are some fresher options but still they aren't as good as homemade. And please... don't eat those horrible packages of ramen noodles.

Here are two easy soup recipes that don't take too much time to make, are easy to freeze in individual portions and can then be reheated when you need an easy lunch or dinner. The hubby would like to say that reheating is as easy as popping it in the microwave or in a pan over medium-low heat to defrost while you are relaxing with a beer or glass of wine watching tv.

Tomato-Basil Soup

10-12 medium sized roma tomatoes

1 medium onion sliced

1 large bunch of basil or two small containers

Oregano

Salt/pepper

Chili flake

2 cloves of garlic

4c of veggie broth

2c of water

2-3tbsp olive oil (not extra virgin, if you don’t have regular then use canola)

Preparation:

I don’t mind the skins, but if you don’t know the source of your tomatoes you should remove their skin. So start by getting a pot of water boiling, then put in the tomatoes, and be sure to cut off the stem end. Leave them in there for about 1-3 minutes. If you are going to skin them, take them out and drop them in ice water, the skins should come off easy. Otherwise just drain them, remove from pot and set aside.

Add oil to pot, then sauté the onion for about 10 min or so, and then add the tomatoes. Let them sauté for 10 min or so, mashing them when you can, then add the broth, water, spices (not the basil yet). Get it to a boil then reduce the heat to simmer for about an hour. Stir about every 15 minutes or so. Then add the chopped basil. Leave it on the heat for about 20 min or so. I then use a stick blender to puree the soup, which is how I like it. You could let it cool, and then put it in a blender. After that you can eat it, freeze it for later.



Potato-Leek Soup

6 medium potatoes, chopped, peeled

3 medium leeks or 2 large leeks

1 2inch piece of ginger

Fresh rosemary

Salt/pepper

4c of veggie broth

2c of water

2-3tbsp olive oil (not extra virgin, if you don’t have regular then use canola)

Preparation:

NOTE: Leeks are grown in sandy soil and get dirt and grit caught in them. So slice the leek lengthwise and put it in a bowl of cold water. Spreading the layers and shaking them to get the grit out. If they seem really dirty you might have to do with a couple of times.

Get your pot with some oil going, and then add the leek and sauté for 5-6 min then add the chopped potato. Let them sauté for 10 min or so, mashing the potatoes when you can, then add the broth, water, spices, rosemary. Get it to a boil then reduce the heat to simmer for about an hour. Stir about every 15 minutes or so. Leave it on the heat for about 20 min or so. I then use a stick blender to puree the soup, which is how I like it. You could let it cool, then put it in a blender. After that you can eat it, freeze it for later. It will occasionally get yellowy foam on top; this is from the oil, just stir. This recipe uses no cream; I don’t think you need it. The potatoes make it creamy enough.


Serve with a nice roll or crusty bread for dunking.

Friends Don't Let Friends: Eat Crummy Stir-fry

We eat a stir-fry at least once a week. It's veggie-filled, tasty and pretty quick. Faster and healthier and much more delicious than any kind of strip mall take-out.



Here's the hubby's simple stir-fry and sauce recipe. You can add what ever veggies you like... that's what makes it so versatile!

Serve over steamed rice.


Sauce -

1 bunch of scallions, greens only, essentially what you have left over from the veggie list.

1-3 small thin chilies (more or less for how spicy you want it)

1 1/2C water

1-2 in. piece of ginger

3 cloves of garlic

1-2 tsp of toasted sesame oil

1 Tbps soy sauce or tamari

Optional: 1-2 Tbsp of chili-garlic paste or sauce.



Veggies -

1 small broccoli head

1 Napa Cabbage

3 bunches of baby bock choy

1 med-large carrot

1 zucchini

1 bunch of scallions, whites only



For the sauce put it all in a blender and blend, if you want it to all be liquid, if you have bits of chili that is okay but you don't want chunks. You might have to blend for a minute, let it sit for a minute then blend again. It should be a pale green looking sauce.

Cut all the veggies up, leave broccoli florets mostly whole, but you can split them. Slice cabbage in thin strips, same with the bock Choy. For the carrot use a shredding peeler, you can get them at any kitchen store for about $5 it looks like a peeler with teeth. Basically you want thin shreds of carrots. Peel the zucchini and cut into 1/2in to 1inch pieces.

Then stir fry, when it comes to stir frying speed is everything. So have all stir fry ingredients standing by, heat oil in a high side pan. I use Tea Oil, available at Whole Foods, the advantage is you can heat it up really hot and it doesn't smoke. You can use the oil you want but avoid olive oils and don't use anything dairy based. When the oil is hot dump the broccoli, carrots and zucchini in and start stirring, keep stirring for 4-5 minutes, then put in the cabbage and bock Choy, keep stirring for another 4-5 minutes.

I then put in the sauce, keep in mind this doesn't make a thick sauce, the advantage is it is light tasting and very fresh tasting. I put on the sauce then cover for about 2 minutes to give it a little steaming, then plate over rice. You can garnish with sprouts, fresh cucumber or some more of the scallions. Remember whatever you are going to use have it sitting when you are cooking.

Enjoy!

A Thoughtful Video

I found this to be a very thoughtful overview video. It's around 11 minutes but worth watching.

One Year Ago: We Still Miss You Napoleon

One year ago our brave boy Napoleon was taken from us. We think it was by a hawk.



I still mourn for him. It was such a shock and my heart hurts. I miss him every day. I can't even explain how much I loved him.



Napoleon was the reason we became vegetarian and then vegan. How could we care so much for this rooster and know that millions upon millions of baby roosters are ground up alive as a part of the egg industry, hens are brutally debeaked and crammed into cage and millions more are abused and killed for us to eat.



Napoleon had been injured buy a dog several months earlier and was nearly killed protecting his girls. He was very good and brave during his care but he missed his girls. If you don't' think chickens have feelings you should have seen them calling to each other across the yard (Napoleon stayed on our porch during his recovery) and then the emotional reunion...



We love and miss you, Napoleon!

Documentary Review: King Corn

On the weekends I like to watch documentaries. There are so many great ones (and some crummy ones) out there and I like to learn. So I'm going to start incorporating some to share with you.

Today I watched King Corn, and per the trailer summary it is about:

King Corn tells the story of two friends, one acre of corn, and the subsidized crop that drives our fast-food nation. As the film unfolds, Ian Cheney and Curt Ellis, best friends from college on the east coast, move to the heartland to learn where their food comes from. With the help of friendly neighbors, genetically modified seeds, and powerful herbicides, they plant and grow a bumper crop of America's most-productive, most-ubiquitous grain on one acre of Iowa soil. But when they try to follow their pile of corn into the food system, what they learn raises questions about how we eat—and how we farm.

Some snippets I took away from this:

- Rancher says- no grass, cheap feed, confinement lots means cows are "market weight" & killed in 5 months vs years.

- Rancher: America wants and demands cheap food.

- Professor: ground beef isn't really meat. It's fat disguised as meat.

- Predominantly the food/corn grown is to feed... Cattle. Which actually is fatal to them.

- HFCS, obviously, was created and is so prevalent because the government pays farmers to grow an excess of corn. This started in the 1970s.

- Our agricultural yield "improvements" have degraded the nutritional aspect. Basically we're growing acres of sweetener not food

- 1 in 8 New Yorkers have diabetes (many undiagnosed) much if this contributed to soda consumption

- 1 soda a day doubles your risk of developing diabetes.

- "We subsidize the Happy Meals but we don't subsidize the healthy foods"

The more I learn about the food supply and government subsidies, the more appalled I am.

Learn more:

King Corn site - http://www.kingcorn.net/

King Corn YouTube Channel

More free documentaries - http://www.freedocumentaries.org/

Cooking without Eggs.

For many people transitioning to veganism eggs can be a sticking point, especially when it comes to baked goods. It's easy to take eggs out of the main part of your meal but baking is as much science as it is art. Ingredients are coupled in specific ratios to create specific reactions. It's less easy to improvise.



But once you understand the purpose of each ingredient in different types of recipes, it can be much easier to swap out the eggs for another less cruel (and healthier) alternative.

Remember folks - these are just ingredients! You can still have the chocolate cake, or muffins or whatever it is you are emotionally attached to.

What I find even more interesting is that eggless (and baking without dairy too) is not a new thing at all. Many of our grandparents and great-grandparents went through the WWII and Depression era where these ingredients were rationed so they had to create meals without using them.

Luckily we don't have these same problems but, just as many attribute the economic problems of the time to the fact that there was too much of everything, we're seeing the same thing but in terms of food options. Our health is suffering because we have food at every turn... and little of it good.

But let's get back to the purpose of eggs in baked goods. Eggs are generally used for 3 purposes: binding, moisturising and thickening. And there are may other (vegan) ingredients that can easily fill these requirements.

Depending on what the original purpose of the egg ingredient, you can use an egg replacement, vinegar and baking soda, ground flax seeds, pureed fruit, or silken tofu.

I've made:

Chocolate chip walnut cookies -



Blueberry pancakes -



Pumpkin pie -




... And tons more. There are a number of great cookbooks and online recipes. Heck, just search "eggless baking" and you are sure to find a ton of resources. The Joy of Vegan Baking is one of my new favorite cookbooks and she has a great overview on this information too.

Besides reducing the horrors of the egg industry, these replacements are healthier and much easier to keep on hand... and they're usually less expensive too.

Happy baking!

Friends Don't Let Friends: Not Like Brussels Sprouts

Brussels sprouts are cruciferous veggies and are related to cabbages, broccoli and kale. They've been cultivated since almost Roman times, but at least the 1200's, as far as we know.

And I think they've been maligned almost as long.




Personally I blame poor cooks for this perception. There are many recipes out there that including steaming and boiling, which, to me, do little to bring out the best in these delicious gems.

But what veggies were not abused by mid-century cooking methods, especially cabbages? These uninspired cooking methods and negative associates were then handed down again and inflicted upon us. I had no idea how many vegetables I actually liked until I started cooking them for myself. Buying fresh, experimenting with grilling and roasting and bringing out the pure flavors of the food in the best way possible. I've never been a person who likes to drown their vegetables in butter, cream sauces or cheese and as I continue to cook and expand my repertoire of ingredients, I'm finding myself liking formerly avoided things more and more.

I did a quick video of my favorite way to cook and eat Brussels Sprouts, roasted with a drizzle of olive oil and a sprinkle of fresh cracked pepper and kosher salt.



Brussels sprouts are best eaten in the Fall through the Spring when they are at peak season. I especially love to get them still on the stalk. They're so cute!

Enjoy the video... and enjoy your veggies!


More info:

Health info on Brussels Sprouts

Friends Don't Let Friends: Drink Instant Hot Cocoa

I am a hot cocoa and hot chocolate snob. See those adorable snowman mugs and pitcher? I have those just for hot cocoa. And yes, there is a difference between hot chocolate (the latter is made the French way and, ideally, drunk at Angelina's in Paris.)

Hot chocolate is made from several kinds of melted chocolate and creme, is very rich and almost like a melted ganache. Hot cocoa is what we drink here in America much more often and is lighter.

I like mine sugary and somewhat bitter from the cocoa powder.

Here's what I use for two servings. The great thing is you can totally adjust this for taste and number of people.

Ingredients:

3 Cups non-dairy milk. I prefer Almond Breeze but you can use any you prefer.

1/2 Cup ground cocoa powder

1/2 cup granulated sugar


Optional:

1 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 to 1 tsp ground cinnamon

1/16 tsp (just a pinch) of cayenne powder


To make:

Put granulated sugar in a medium sauce pan and sift in ground cocoa to remove any lumps. This will ensure you get an even mix.

Pour in 1/2 cup of the non-dairy milk and whisk together over medium low heat to create a slurry. A slurry is similar to creating a roux and is used to better integrate a solid (the sugar and cocoa powder) into a liquid. If you dumped all the milk in at once it would not evenly incorporate.

Then, when the cocoa, sugar and milk is well mixed, add in the remaining milk and turn the heat up to medium. Keep stirring with your whisk to combine well.

Once you have everything well stirred together, I pour in the vanilla extract and sprinkle in the cinnamon and cayenne. These are optional. You could also add in a bit of peppermint extract or even almond or nutmeg. Totally to your taste.

Once this is well warmed, pour into mugs and top with frothed milk or drop in some vegan marshmallows. You can even sprinkle on a bit more ground cinnamon.

Best enjoyed snuggled on the sofa with a puppy or kitty, of course!

Where are the Celebrations?

To all of the people I know who actively and proudly say they eat meat and will continue to eat meat no matter what they hear, especially in the name of celebrating a holiday, I can only say: Open your mind and hearts.

I once ate meat and I wish I had known then what I know now. I wish I had not been so indoctrinated and had supporters to show me there is another way. And that it is easy and so much better in so many ways.

I'm sharing this video taken in Austria (I believe). Basically some folks dressed as Santa visited these young pigs kept on a factory "farm" - much like what we do here in the US. You will see these poor pigs are kept crowded and in the dark on cement floors, totally unlike their natural environment. They've never experienced kindness from a human or seen hay, which pigs love to play in. These kind Santa's brought them some hay and apples and the pigs over came their fear to nestle up to their new friends.

Sadly these sweet animals are destined for more abuse and to be slaughtered for a meal.

You can't watch this and not be affected or feel a need to make a change. It's not right what we do. The information is clear. The evidence is here. There are tons of resources and other delicious foods available. I promise to be here to help if you need it.

Make the future and the new year better. You CAN make the change.

Full of Flavor

One of the concerns we hear a lot from people when they ask us about being vegans and the food we eat is that they thing the food is going to be boring, ascetic or bland.

Let me just say, this is SOOOO not the case.

We are major foodies. We love food and ingredients and cooking and baking. Heck, I have at least 10 kinds of salt alone. So, when we switched to eating vegan, you can be sure it was not at the expense of our tastebuds.

One thing that you may not consider when you eat a typical animal product-centric diet is that most of the flavors in foods come from plant-based ingredients. Spices, herbs, vinegars, nuts, oils, marinades, dressings, ketchups, mustards, etc. All plant based.

Think about your favorite meals. Personally, I like a good burger, but what I love is the mix of textures, the ketchup, the onion. Having a veggie burger (or even better one of Laughing Seed's Hempnut Burgers, sigh) with the same burger fixings is perfect. Plus no upset stomach that I always got from ground beef.

For Mexican meals, we make veggie fajitas, tacos or burritos or taco salads with Crumbles and my favorite Moe's Art Vandalay burrito too.

Italian is all about tomato sauces which you can add a Field Roast Italian Sausage to (or use for a sausage-pepper sandwich) or risotto which I just make with veggie broth and EarthBalance.

Our favorite meals are usually Indian - we love the spices, the textures and the balance of the dishes - rice, naan, samosas, etc. Yum!

And then there is Thai. Thai cuisine is considered one of the most complex and layered because almost every dish ties in the five main flavor components: hot, sweet, salty, sour, and bitter. A meal we had recently at a local restaurant showcases this fundamental philosophy in the cooking.

The appetizer we started with was called a Healthy Plate and consisted of a leaf wrap (here it was kale) and then chopped red onions and ginger (hot), toasted coconut (sweet), peanuts (salty), lime (sour) and a tamarind sauce (bitter/sweet). You wrapped all of these in the leaf and popped them in your mouth. Amazing!



When we received our meals you could see the same flavors combined into the more integrated savory dishes. The hubby had a tofu dish but mine was all veggies.



We ended the meal with an amazingly decadent sliver of candied sweet potato topped with a rich and creamy coconut cream sauce that I could not get enough of.

Not one part of the meal had an animal product but yet it was complex, flavorful, delicious and satisfying.

It is easy to look at your favorite meals with a fresh eye. Don't get hung up on worrying that you will be "missing out" just think of it as cooking with a few ingredient substitutions and you will be surprised how easy and tasty cooking without meat, dairy and eggs can be.

Snow Day Pics - The Animals

Just some random animal snow day pics

Jake came out, looked around, went back in. I think the chickens stayed in bed.



Tulip says "No to Snow"



This is Petal's first snow and she's all "What do I do with it???"



Stay warm!

Friends Don't Let Friends: Eat Instant Oatmeal

I've decided to start a new series here on The Daily Coop, since the chickens aren't giving me a whole lot of news every day! One of the questions we get a lot is what do we eat (because we're vegan, dontcha know) and recipes for all the delicioso food that we make. And let me tell you, it is delicious, because I am a food snob and not afraid to admit it. Don't give me any crappy or fast food. I won't touch it. Never have, never will.

So, one thing I'm very snobby about is ingredients. As they say - garbage in, garbage out. That doesn't always mean pricey but it does mean good.

So let's start with a pretty traditional meal and a frequent breakfast in our house - oatmeal.

Now we are not talking about instant oatmeal in the packets. Yes, I ate those as a kid. Particularly apples and cinnamon. And I liked them at the time. Mainly because they were sugared to death covered up the gloopy mass of gluey oatmeal. These were better than the Quaker oats my mom would make and then add milk and butter too. I detested that... still do.

This oatmeal is so far from that it isn't even funny. We're talking tasty, hearty and 100% delicious... and it's all because of the oats.

You really have to start with good steel cut oats. This is crucial. I use the John McCann brand that comes in the tin. You will get at least 4 batches worth out of this. There are other brands but this is the one I use. This recipe is totally vegan but I made this before we were vegan. There has been zero change in flavor which these ingredient changes, but we have lost the cholesterol that comes with animal-based milk and butter. So, yeah, go vegan!

Okay, Ingredients:

1 Cup steel cut oats

1 - 2 Tbl Earth Balance butter (from the sticks)

3 Cups boiling water

1 Cup Almond Milk (you can use any non-dairy milk, we just like Almond Breeze)

Pinch of Salt

Sprinkle of ground cinnamon

I made a video of the process a while back on my old camera. It crapped out in the middle so, you will have to forgive me, but I have pictures too!

Step 1: Get your ingredients. You will need a medium sized pot with a lid to cook this in.

EarthBalance sticks - you can use these JUST LIKE dairy butter. Perfect for baking, sauteing and cooking. I prefer the spread on toast, though.

Step 2: Boil the water



Step 3: Melt the EarthBalance



Step 4: While the water is boiling, toast the oats in the melted butter over low heat. Don't let them burn! And yes, I like to use a wooden spoon when I cook oatmeal.



Step 5: When the water boils, pour it over the oats and bring the the temperature down. My stove is pretty powerful so I have to put it on low. You then cover the pot and let the oats simmer and absorb the water for about 30 min. You can stir them every so often and check that they aren't boiling or bubbling over.

Step 6: When the water is absorbed, I add a few pinches of salt, sprinkle in cinnamon (optional) and pour in the last cup of liquid. This can be water but I like to use a cup of almond milk. Let that absorb in for a few minutes uncovered.

You are ready to serve and eat. Oatmeal is perfect to add stuff to. Options are:

- brown sugar

- chopped dates

- fresh blueberries, strawberries, blackberries, etc.

- chocolate chips (yep!)

- chopped nuts of any kind

- toasted coconut

I serve mine in big cafe au lait bowls. This meal will fill you up most of the day. Plus you will have some left over. That is another great thing about this meal. Yes, it does take a bit more time, but you can make a batch on the weekend and then save it in portions and heat it up during the week. Just as simple as instant and a thousand times tastier and better for you.

More recipes to come!

Consider the Birds

I've mentioned this before, but whenever you have extremes in weather it is so important to remember the local wildlife. If you have a yard, keep the brush around and the bushes and trees as full as you can. These sheltered areas give birds and squirrels and chipmunks (and more) a place to hide and try and keep warm.

Even more important is to provide some fresh water and even some seed or crumbs if you can. We keep a low pan of water out for the local birds and are rewarded with visits of all kinds of cardinals, blue jays, crows, finches and more.



Last night we received our first snow - a sudden storm that dumped a lot of snow in a brief time. We saw birds picking up corn and chicken feed in the coop and made sure to spread some seed and fill up all the waters with fresh, non-icy water this morning.



Almost immediately we have seen flocks of birds come by to drink and eat.

We use the land, we can give back in this small measure to help ensure they survive.

We are largely the same - Go Vegan

From VeganiseMe

I'm Thankful for my Turkey

I'm thankful for my turkey Jake.

I'm thankful that he was rescued from an abusive neglectful situation by Red Dog Farm.

I'm thankful he came to live with us.

I'm thankful for his calm presence, sweet personality and beautiful feathers.

I'm thankful for how he likes to follow us around the yard and how he protects the girls.

I'm thankful for food that brings me comfort.... because no animal was hurt or suffered or was killed just to fill my plate.

I'm thankful this lovely bird will never have to live in the horrible conditions or suffer the abuses so many millions of other turkeys do just because people feel they can kill them without remorse.

I'm thankful more and more the people are becoming aware of these issues and many are making changes that hopefully someday will end these horrors.

Veggies are All You Need

I'm kind of in love with this image. It's an an from the International Vegetarian Union.

Why don't we have more of these ads running here in the U.S.? We need to hear something besides the perpetual cycle of meat, eggs, cheese, "happy cow", fast food and soda messaging.

Vegas, Not to my Taste

I'm not going to couch this softly; I don't like Las Vegas. It is essentially the antithesis of everything I stand for and am. I have always thought it was the most artificial and crass city that I have visited. And the more I visit, the more I find that opinion reinforced.

I lived and worked in Orlando for years and some would argue that it is more fake and tacky than Las Vegas. But for me, Vegas is worse because while Disney's artifice has romantic fantasy at it's core, Las Vegas is all about emphasizing negative tendencies.

The city has this glittery overlay to it but just below the glitz it's garbage to the core. I hate the greed, the misogyny and the way people act when they are there... as if this is the place to give into, or even force themselves into, falling prey to their baser instincts. I hate the noise, the gambling and the smoking.

For me, the decadence becomes cloying fast. I am generally a hopeful, joyful vegan but the level of exploitation of animals, living and killed, here is appalling to me. The hotels on the strip are filled with restaurants but I was hard-pressed to find a decent non-animal-based meal. In a town dedicated to tourism you would think you could at lest find one vegetarian friendly restaurant or even a single option on the menu. Heck, I live in the South and typically have no trouble eating out, but it was really difficult here.



There were not even a lot of variety in cuisines. I was surprised in this lack of variety. Most restaurants were "American" or buffets or steakhouses followed by Asian and sushi options. Americanized Italian was a far distant third with very few Mexican or other options.

I pretty much had plain bagel with jam for breakfast and two nights in a row I ate the exact same Chinese stir-fried veggies and white rice. On the third night, wanting a different choice I decided to subject myself to Rainforest Cafe thinking a chain restaurant would cater to a wide variety of dietary needs and that I could probably get a harmless veggie burger there. But sadly their veggie burger contained eggs. In the end I had them make me a salad with the meat and cheese removed and paired that up with a plate of fries. I guess you don't get a lot of veggies in the rainforest... but you do get ribs, shrimp and lots of cheese pizzas and pasta.

You would think an adventurous town like Las Vegas would be a great place for people to try and experience new cuisines and options, but in the end it does nothing but try and appeal to the lowest common denominator. It mirrors back and emphasizes the worst depravities of our excessive lifestyles.

Eggs are Easy

We have been vegan for almost a year now. And one of the best things about it is answering questions and talking with people about how and what we eat. There are a lot of things we grow up being told - mostly because our parents or grandparents were told these "facts" but the governments or agencies whose only vested interest was in their own bottom line.

There are also a lot of things we are not told. Things that, once we learn about them, it seems so obvious we can't believe we never put the facts together. Things that, now that we know about them, we can't help but change how we act and how we think. Now that this knowledge has come through to us we can't help but share it because we think "If only we'd known sooner, we could have changed earlier. And surely others would want to know these facts too so they can make a change as well."

Things like this -

In the egg laying industry they throw away, crush and grind up all of the baby male chicks. Millions and millions of one or two day old fuzzy little chicks are piled and run through conveyors and then tossed down a chute alive to be ground to death just because the egg industry sees them as waste.

All so we can have an egg for breakfast.

Yeah, I can't abide that. I can't be a part of that. I can't support a system that thinks that's just a cost of doing business with no remorse or caring.

So for me, eggs are easy. Easy to give up.

And while we know there are people in transition into vegetarianism and veganism. Eggs seem simple and harmless to keep in (like dairy) but, in terms of overall suffering, in many ways the egg and dairy industries are worse than the meat industry. The numbers, the longer term daily suffering and the male chick "by-products" .

Many would say that I don't really have a right to speak against this as we have the option of eating eggs since we have Meg and Gertie. And yes, the hubby, does eat them at times. But I do not. Yes, we know they are cruelty free and our girls would never be harmed or killed if they stopped laying. But we also have friends who have chickens too. And I'm sure they take great care of them. So even if we didn't have our girls we could still get cruelty-free eggs.

But we wouldn't.

There isn't any point because we don't need them. For us it isn't about the fact that we can't get access to eggs but that we don't want them.

It really can be that simple.

Just let them go.

Nice Rack

My super cooler converted spice rack (formerly a vintage ironing board cabinet) was featured on The Perfect Pantry.



We really love our old (110+ years) house. If you haven't seen the other rooms - take the tour!

Thanks, Perfect Pantry for stopping by!

Renoir and Tofu? Another Day on Sesame Street

I was on the Sesame Street sight looking at this adorable video of kids speculating about a Renoir painting (check it out!) and couldn't embedd the video, so I went to YouTube.

While I was there I found these blasts from the past...

Queen of Six (OMG! The kittens!)



Alligator King - 7



King of Eight



Ladybug Picnic - 12



These were some of my favorite Sesame Street segments of all time. Smart and fun. Why isn't there more of this good stuff instead of all the crummy kids programming now?

Immortalized

I wanted to share another great pet portrait my friend Miss C did. You may remember the Napoleon painting she did. For this birthday, she did an amazing drawing of Tulip and Petal...



Here's the inspirationi image -

If you enlarge the drawing image you can see how she captured the cute details like how their hooves are hanging over the edge of the table and their ears and knee-socks.

If you are interested in getting painting or drawing, send her a message via my email or on her Twitter page - @Miss_C

The Meat of the Problem via The Washington Post

An interesting article in mainstream media that talks about, if you care about the environment, you can do more good by eliminating meat from your diet. Worth reposting.


The Meat of the Problem

By Ezra Klein
Wednesday, July 29, 2009

The debate over climate change has reached a rarefied level of policy abstraction in recent months. Carbon tax or cap-and-trade? Upstream or downstream? Should we auction permits? Head-scratching is, at this point, permitted. But at base, these policies aim to do a simple thing, in a simple way: persuade us to undertake fewer activities that are bad for the atmosphere by making those activities more expensive. Driving an SUV would become pricier. So would heating a giant house with coal and buying electricity from an inefficient power plant. But there's one activity that's not on the list and should be: eating a hamburger.

If it's any consolation, I didn't like writing that sentence any more than you liked reading it. But the evidence is strong. It's not simply that meat is a contributor to global warming; it's that it is a huge contributor. Larger, by a significant margin, than the global transportation sector.

According to a 2006 United Nations report, livestock accounts for 18 percent of worldwide greenhouse gas emissions. Some of meat's contribution to climate change is intuitive. It's more energy efficient to grow grain and feed it to people than it is to grow grain and turn it into feed that we give to calves until they become adults that we then slaughter to feed to people. Some of the contribution is gross. "Manure lagoons," for instance, is the oddly evocative name for the acres of animal excrement that sit in the sun steaming nitrous oxide into the atmosphere. And some of it would make Bart Simpson chuckle. Cow gas -- interestingly, it's mainly burps, not farts -- is a real player.

But the result isn't funny at all: Two researchers at the University of Chicago estimated that switching to a vegan diet would have a bigger impact than trading in your gas guzzler for a Prius (PDF). A study out of Carnegie Mellon University found that the average American would do less for the planet by switching to a totally local diet than by going vegetarian one day a week. That prompted Rajendra Pachauri, the head of the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, to recommend that people give up meat one day a week to take pressure off the atmosphere. The response was quick and vicious. "How convenient for him," was the inexplicable reply from a columnist at the Pittsburgh Tribune Review. "He's a vegetarian."

The visceral reaction against anyone questioning our God-given right to bathe in bacon has been enough to scare many in the environmental movement away from this issue. The National Resources Defense Council has a long page of suggestions for how you, too, can "fight global warming." As you'd expect, "Drive Less" is in bold letters. There's also an endorsement for "high-mileage cars such as hybrids and plug-in hybrids." They advise that you weatherize your home, upgrade to more efficient appliances and even buy carbon offsets. The word "meat" is nowhere to be found.

That's not an oversight. Telling people to give up burgers doesn't poll well. Ben Adler, an urban policy writer, explored that in a December 2008 article for the American Prospect. He called environmental groups and asked them for their policy on meat consumption. "The Sierra Club isn't opposed to eating meat," was the clipped reply from a Sierra Club spokesman. "So that's sort of the long and short of it." And without pressure to address the costs of meat, politicians predictably are whiffing on the issue. The Waxman-Markey cap-and-trade bill, for instance, does nothing to address the emissions from livestock.

The pity of it is that compared with cars or appliances or heating your house, eating pasta on a night when you'd otherwise have made fajitas is easy. It doesn't require a long commute on the bus or the disposable income to trade up to a Prius. It doesn't mean you have to scrounge for change to buy a carbon offset. In fact, it saves money. It's healthful. And it can be done immediately. A Montanan who drives 40 miles to work might not have the option to take public transportation. But he or she can probably pull off a veggie stew. A cash-strapped family might not be able buy a new dishwasher. But it might be able to replace meatballs with mac-and-cheese. That is the whole point behind the cheery PB&J Campaign, which reminds that "you can fight global warming by having a PB&J for lunch." Given that PB&J is delicious, it's not the world's most onerous commitment.

It's also worth saying that this is not a call for asceticism. It's not a value judgment on anyone's choices. Going vegetarian might not be as effective as going vegan, but it's better than eating meat, and eating meat less is better than eating meat more. It would be a whole lot better for the planet if everyone eliminated one meat meal a week than if a small core of die-hards developed perfectly virtuous diets.

I've not had the willpower to eliminate bacon from my life entirely, and so I eliminated it from breakfast and lunch, and when that grew easier, pulled back further to allow myself five meat-based meals a month. And believe me, I enjoy the hell out of those five meals. But if we're going to take global warming seriously, if we're going to make crude oil more expensive and tank-size cars less practical, there's no reason to ignore the impact of what we put on our plates.

Ezra Klein can be reached at kleine@washpost.com or through his blog at http://www.washingtonpost.com/ezraklein.

A Visual

I know it's hard to imagine the degree of depravity that can be done by abusive people.

Here's a visual from the investigation of a man, I assume, about to hurl a turky bodily into the ground or that cage.

In what world is this condoned? In what world do we not care.

How can we continue to support these atrocities by buying the animals killed for us to eat?

Recompense

You may have seen one of the latest horrors of animal abuse coming out of factory farms. Factory workers crushing heads with their feet, slamming the birds against wall and general psychotic behavior left unchecked and unmanaged yet supported because people continue to buy and eat the results of this violence.

Well there has been a small victory for the animals.

Several of the abusers have been convicted and one has been jailed.

Late last year, some factory-farm employees got their pink slips from Aviagen Turkeys, Inc. in response to PETA's undercover investigation, which documented that workers were breaking turkeys' necks, stomping on their heads, and shoving feces and feed into turkeys' mouths.

Then, in February, a grand jury handed down 19 indictments, including 11 felony charges, against three former Aviagen workers, marking the first time in U.S. history that factory-farm employees have faced felony cruelty-to-animals charges for abusing birds.

Fast forward: Two of the three ex-employees, Scott Alvin White and Edward Eric Gwinn, recently pleaded guilty to cruelty charges. On June 8, White was sentenced to serve one year in jail—the maximum period permitted by law! Today, Gwinn was sentenced to serve six months' home confinement—the maximum period permitted by law—on each count, concurrently, and is banned from living with, owning, and working with animals for five years. The case against the third ex-employee, Walter Lee Hambrick, is pending.

Can't get enough? In September, a grand jury in neighboring Monroe County, West Virginia, may well issue further felony indictments against White and Hambrick.

These historic victories by no means even the score for the turkeys who were punched and thrown or the many other birds who suffered when they were forced to watch as other turkeys were abused at Aviagen. After watching our undercover video, animal behavior expert Dr. Lesley J. Rogers stated, "It is now known that when social animals, like turkeys, see and hear other members of their species under stress or suffering physical injury, their levels of stress become elevated. Hence, the behavioural stress is widespread in the birds in the vicinity of those that have been injured and/or handled roughly."

Let me tell you. None of the animals on these farms - commercial or otherwise, look like this:

That's my Jake who is the epitome of what you think a turkey looks like and what we "celebrate" at our holidays (by killing them).

No, the animals that are killed for you to eat look like this...



Use your dollars to show your support.

Boycott these companies - Butterball (One worker told an investigator: "If you jump on their stomachs right, they'll pop ... or their insides will come out of their [rectums]," and other Butterball workers frequently bragged about kicking and tormenting birds.), Aviagen, and more - or just consider cutting back on eating animals. It's a change that's good for you and makes a huge change for these defenseless animals.


More:

Article source here

ButterballCruelty.com

MeetYourMeat.com

Smells Like Awesome

What kind of pet parents are we?

Well, we are totally the over-indulgent kind!

We went out over the weekend and got our baby goat girls an awesome new climbing toy, aka a picnic table.



A goat's gotta climb, right?



I mean, how can you resist a baby face like this???



You can't!

Be jealous! I get to smooch on this cutie every morning!

Home on the Range

So, Jake is finally with us.

I came home from my trip to see our new boy here. We're still getting used to each other but hopefully he will settle in okay. He seems to get along fine with the hens. We just to get him used to us.

I know this is a quick post and I've been lax in writing here but I promise to tell you tons more about Jake very soon. In the meantime, here are some new photos from Saturday free ranging in the yard. You can open them up big to see how colorful and majestic he is.

Enjoy!

A Disconnect

As we have made the switch from a better than average, but still somewhat typical American diet, we've made an effort to educate ourselves on the food we eat. Growing up I ate a lot of meat, eggs and dairy like most people. But in general, I felt I ate better than most. I never drank coffee, I stopped drinking soda before high school and couldn't even stomach ground beef. We never eat fast food (a decision further solidified by Super Size Me) and shopped a lot at our local farmer's market.

Then Napoleon was hurt and our eyes, mind and heart were opened. It takes a lot to realize that you've been marketed to all and told this story all your life. That information was withheld from you and that you were so disconnected from the food you put into your body that you don't even make the connection that the veal you've opposed all your life is directly a result of the cow's milk you were so afraid to not have for your cereal.

I think I'm a pretty savvy person when it comes to marketing stories. I mean, darn it!, I work in advertising. I create these stories and positioning everyday. That's why, as we've learned more and more I'm even more appalled. If, as someone in the industry, I couldn't see through these deceptions, how easy can it be for other people?

That's why it's so important that people see these documentaries. Food Inc. is about where you food is coming from. There is some information about factory farms (the probable ground zero for the latest swine flu outbreak - a Smithfield factory farm in Mexico) and huge seed/chemical companies. While The Future of Food focuses more on Monsanto and how there are only a small handful of corporations controlling our food sources and distribution. The latter scared the heck out of me!

Food Inc. just played at a local film festival and will probably have a limited theater distribution. I had some friends who saw it and said it was very very impactful and eye-opening. I missed it but hope to see it via Netflix soon

The Future of Food is available on Hulu right now. I watched this the other night and was surprised and scared at the implications. There could come a time very very soon when the US is banned from exporting our corn and wheat completely. That is a major issue when our economy is in such a precarious state. And what these companies are doing is so risky and, frankly, unethical. You will be amazed at how little you knew about what was going on. I know I was.

I think that all of this information about food and what we eat and where it comes from should be taught in schools. I feel like I've been told nothing but propaganda my whole life. I am just now coming out of the dark and into the light.

Questions

One of the questions you get (among many) when you are vegetarian or vegan is:

Don't you care about people? Why don't you spend more time worrying about people rather than animals.

Personally, I find it very weird to think that these two things are mutually exclusive. Many people I know who are animal activists care very much for people too. They care about the environment. They often do other volunteer work. They support anti-child labor laws.

But even if you don't actively campaign for a human cause, you are helping people by switching to a vegetable based diet.

There are tons of side benefits that eliminating animals and animal secretions from our diets. Insurance rates could be lowered because health would be better. Lifestyles would improve. The run off from animal processing plants would be reduced. The mental trauma from killing animals would not happen either.

Another huge impact is to the clear cutting of the rain forest for cattle. This impacts our air, potential medicines and even slave labor. Greenpeace just released thier report on the Amazon Cattle Footprint. Some highlights from the report are:

- Forests are a crucial carbon stock: forest ecosystems globally store about one-anda-half times as much carbon as is present in the atmosphere.25 Deforestation of tropical forests is responsible for up to approximately 20% of the global emissions of greenhouse gas, more than the world’s entire transport sector.

- The Amazon is estimated to store between 80-120 billion tonnes of carbon.27,28 If this is destroyed, roughly 50 times the annual greenhouse gas emissions from the US will be emitted.

- Cattle ranching in the Amazon has horrific social impacts, including the highest rates of slave labour in Brazil. 3005 rural workers, kept in slavery, were freed from cattle ranches in 2008. 99% of them had been held in the Legal Amazon.

- The region is home to more than 20 million people – including over 200,000 indigenous people, belonging to 180 different ethnic groups31. The rainforest is their home, providing them food and shelter to tools and medicines - it is also central to their spiritual life.

- Studies estimate that the Amazon supports 40,000 plant species; 427 mammals; 1,294 birds; 378 reptiles; 427 amphibians and 3,000 species of fish. Many other species are still unknown.

- The Amazon produces 20% of river water in the world. The forest influences the hydrologic cycle at local and regional scales, as humidity retained by the Amazon is carried by the wind to other parts of Brazil and South America. The reduction of the forest cover diminishes the amount of rainfall on the Southeast and Center of Brazil, affecting agriculture productivity.

- Belched methane from livestock constitutes one of the largest sources (roughly 30%) of greenhouse gas emissions from agriculture. Agriculture as a whole contributes between 10-12% of global greenhouse gas emissions.

- The greenhouse gas emissions from beef are13 kilograms CO2-eq per kg36. This means eating a kilogram of beef represents roughly the same greenhouse emissions as flying 100 kilometers of a flight, per passenger.

It is definetly something to consider when you are choosing your food. The food we eat should be considered as carefully as any other choice, be it politics or money, because each bite we take as far reaching consequences. Consequences that impact more than just ourselves. The impact of each meal is shared by the world.

Celebrate Life

Robin Chicks - Photo from wmliu via Flickr

Today, Easter and Passover, is a day for celebrating life, renewal and rebirth.

I'm celebrating today by eating a meal that causes no harm: no eggs, no meat, no dairy.

Consider this thought as you choose your meal to celebrate.

Happy Easter!

Resting

Another sad post today. My sweet pup has passed.

I've had my boy Bailey for over 15 years. He was a wonderful pup and I can't imagine my life without him.

He was super smart and always with me. When I first brought him home I used to carry him around in my purse he was so small. And he was always good in the car too. We went on many many road trips. He used to like sitting behind my head so he could see out the window.

Baily came from a family that had two pups. They were both totally adorable 2lb fluff balls. I had a hard time choosing between them at first. When I couldn't pic we did a little test. We took both pups to one end of the room. Then I went to a corner and we took the mom to the other corner. Then they let the pups go. The other pup ran to his mom but Bailey ran to me. I've always felt like his mom.

There are a million memories I have of him.

You Can't Handle The Cute

Baby Petal climbing like a big girl.