And This Is Why the Whole World Can Be Vegan

(photo cred).

"Here's to the crazy ones, the misfits, the rebels, the troublemakers, the round pegs in the square holes... the ones who see things differently - they're not fond of rules... You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them, but the only thing you can't do is ignore them because they change things... they push the human race forward, and while some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius, because the ones who are crazy enough to think that they can change the world, are the ones who do." 

- Steve Jobs

Vegan MoFo! Post #10: Potato Chipotle Soup

Much has happened between my last post and now!

First of all, my roommate and I revamped our Chipotle Taquito recipe a bit and ended up with a delicious soup recipe. Here's the recipe:

P o t a t o  C h i p o t l e  S o u p

Ingredients:
-5 large brown potatoes, chopped into chunks (about 1 or 2'' ea.)
-2 TB canola oil 
-1 large yellow onion, diced
-2 chipotle peppers in adobo sauce (canned variety)
-1.5 TB of adobo sauce (from the can of chipotle peppers)
-2 cloves of garlic, minced
-1 TB earth balance
-sea salt, to taste
-a hearty handful of fresh cilantro, de-stemmed and chopped up

_

Add the potatoes to a pot of water. The water level should be higher than the potatoes. You want about a 2:1 ratio of water to potatoes. Bring to a boil and then turn down to medium-high heat.

In a frying pan, saute the onions and garlic in the oil until soft.

Once the potatoes are very soft and mushy, smash them up with a fork or potato masher. Add the earth balance and sea salt and mix well. Add the onions, garlic, chipotle peppers, and adobo sauce and continue to mash together with the potatoes. Add more water as needed - you want the mixture to be watery, soupy. Cover and let simmer for 20 minutes. Stir in the cilantro and let simmer for another few minutes.

Serve with cilantro as garnish.

I also spent some time at Occupy LA recently. I helped facilitate a discussion on why it's imperative that animal rights and environmentalism be part of this movement. If you're interested in joining me and others in this effort, shoot me an email. This revolution belongs to everyone. 

photocred: http://evolvefish.com

In other news, our all-you-can-eat vegan brunch in honor of Dia de los Muertos is only days away! It's been a long time coming and I'm really excited to throw this event. LA doesn't currently have ANY all-you-can-eat vegan brunch places, and it's about time that happens! I'm also really happy to be donating a portion of our proceeds to the wonderful animal rights organizations, ARME. Check out quarrygirl's advertisement of the event for more details, especially if you're interested in coming!

S'all for now!

Animal Lovers Unite: Ask Obama To Save The Turkeys!

Animal Acres' own Turkey Lurky.

This post is somewhat of a follow-up to the previous post, in which I talked about animals' poor living conditions and ill fates in the zoo system. 

If learning about what orca whales go through at Sea World made you angry, or inspired you to reach out and make a difference, or both, then here's your chance. There's this relatively new Thanksgiving tradition at the White House in which the President "pardons" two turkeys; instead of allowing them to be slaughtered for a Thanksgiving dinner feast, he sends them to Disneyland. Okay, so what's the problem, right?

Here's the thing. While the President is effectively saving two turkeys from instant death each Thanksgiving, their futures are still pretty bleak: at Disneyland, turkeys still typically die within one year of their arrival. So why doesn't the President somehow ensure that the turkeys live long, happy, healthy lives? Well, here's where you and Obama come in.

This year, Farm Sanctuary is sending a (very polite, respectful) petition to President Obama, asking him to send this year's two turkeys to their safe farm in Watkins Glen, NY. There, the turkeys will spend the rest of their years playing and, well, doing whatever turkeys like to do (I can only say that I know what Turkey Lurky likes to do, which is follow volunteers around and "talk" to them). What's certain, though, is that at Farm Sanctuary, the turkeys will be given the kindest care, and they'll never, ever be used for human dinner. But we only have until November 15th to get this petition signed, sealed, and delivered, so please, if you want to spread some gratitude and love this Thanksgiving season, sign the petition now.

I mean, really, all they need is a newly-freed turkey up in there and it'd be the best frickin' photo ever. photocredit.

And hey, if you want, you can sponsor a turkey, too! The estimable Ellen DeGeneres, the vegan celebrity spokesperson for this year's Adopt-A-Turkey Project, is telling folks "Save a life this Thanksgiving, and join me in starting a new tradition by adopting a turkey instead of eating one through Farm Sanctuary's Adopt-A-Turkey Project." Check them out. Kima is pretty adorable.

Not convinced? Read this.

And if you really wanna go all out this Thanksgiving...   

photocredit.

Try some Tofurky! It's 100% vegan, which makes it a compassionate alternative to the actual bird. Oh, and it's quite delicious, I must say.

To give you an idea of what Tofurkey looks like when prepared. photocredit.

If you're serious about getting a Tofurkey product for Thanksgiving, then allow me to highly recommend going for the Tofurkey "feast," which comes with dumplings. Believe me when I tell you that my omnivorous family members were practically fighting me over who got the last dumpling! That's how good it is. :)

Thanks for reading!

day 5 raw: How Much Raw Is Enough? A Synopsis.

My apologies for not posting this yesterday... But here is my word on day 5:

So, yesterday was my last day of the raw food experiment. I felt great! No more nausea, not as much sneezing, and I noticed something I'd heard can happen when you go raw: my complexion was looking really smooth and my eyes appeared brighter and clearer. Also, my cooked-food cravings were not as prominent. I did have a craving for strawberries, though, and in the early evening, I ate almost a whole package of them.

As for other changes, I know that often, people lose weight on the raw food diet, and so I'm sure some of you are wondering if that happened to me. Well, I'm sorry to report that I haven't weighed myself and I don't plan to do it any time soon. (I will say, though, that I do "feel" lighter.) There are a few reasons for this. First, I don't think 5 days is long enough to be able to accurately measure such a thing, what with the normal fluctuations that occur in one's body. Second, I mean to write about a lifestyle, not a weight loss plan. Raw foodism may be used for healthy weight loss, of course, but it's so much more than that. I think that often, weight loss is secondary to other necessary changes that occur, and trust me, weight loss will happen if it needs to. So, if you're looking to lose weight through raw foodism, just be patient and trust your body to do its work! Finally, I do not feel that weight is a sufficient measure of health and beauty, as there are so many factors that go into determining health (and well, beauty is subjective!).

I should also mention, again, that I'm not a medical doctor or nutritionist. These are simply my personal opinions, based on observations of myself and others and what I have read throughout the years that I've been vegan.

Onto some of what I made yesterday!

So, I'm really liking smoothies for breakfast. I think I might hang onto this custom. Smoothies are, hands down, one of my most treasured meals.

cheers! in my backyard

I've even begun to incorporate greens into my smoothies, something I haven't been able to successfully do until now (and by today, I mean post-raw food experiment!). In fact, this morning I made a smoothie consisting of 2 handfuls of kale + 2 bananas + 1/3 grapefruit + 2 handfuls of frozen mixed berries + 2 handfuls of frozen mango. A super healthy smoothie and I didn't even need agave for it!

Also of note, yesterday I took out my raw nori and made some delicious sushi out of long carrot shavings, spinach leaves, cucumber strips, and avocado slices. To finish, I sprinkled (non raw) sesame seeds on top and used tamari as dipping sauce. The results were really aesthetically pleasing to me. Oh! And I discovered that raw nori is high in iron, too!

A sharp knife is really helpful in such endeavors.

As you roll it, you have to really bunch the veggies up toward you. To "seal" it, I improvised by mixing a little water and avocado into a paste-like consistency, then applied it to the edge with my fingers before pressing to seal. This was instead of the rice and water mixture that I usually use to seal my sushi rolls.

To garnish: I placed the sushi on two spinach leaves and put some of the cucumber stripes and carrot shavings off to the side. For me, making sushi is like embarking on an arts and crafts project. I take my aethetics seriously. ;)

I have to say, it tasted great, too.

In my reflections of the past 5 days, I've formed the following, mostly tentative opinions:

1. More often than not, I think I prefer the taste of simple raw foods, like smoothies and salads, rather than more complicated meals like "lemon caper pasta with nut cheese and sprouted raw bread." But let there be no mistake: I do appreciate the aesthetics and extreme creativity that goes into the latter culinary sensations, and I do love me some raw, vegan cheesecake and ice cream (quite possibly more than non-raw vegan cheesecake and ice cream!).

2. I think the reason I didn't feel like going raw was a huge adjustment for me is because I'm already vegan (and have been for a long time). I eat a a decent amount of fruits and veggies as part of my normal routine. It's just that I also eat other things in addition to that - like Daiya cheese, sauteed spinach, french fries, Thai food, and Ezekiel breads, for instance - some of which are healthy, some of which are decidedly not.

3. Given point #2, I don't plan to abstain from cooked foods, at least not now. There are many, many days when I eat raw for 2/3 of my meals, simply because it's what I feel like my body needs (I say "what my body needs," but it's more like "what I'm in the mood for," which I think is the same thing for me).

4. It's a crying shame that certain raw foods, like nuts, are more expensive than their cooked/roasted counterparts. This is backwards!

5. Strawberries, blueberries, bananas, and kale are perfect, amazing foods that I could probably eat every day for the rest of my life and not get bored with them. Mangoes and avocados are close seconds.

6. I, personally, have to be careful not to eat too many nuts. I believe that this contributed to me feeling "off" on day 4 (and why I had a gag-reflex reaction every time I looked at the photos I'd taken of the more nut-laden meals I'd eaten lately!). In fact, if I were to go 100% raw, I think I'd feel better on a lower fat raw lifestyle, as I think this is more fat than I can tolerate without feeling nauseous/getting stomach sick. Something close to 80:10:10. This was similar to how I ate when I experimented with the Eat to Live lifestyle, and as I said, I remember feeling pretty great while doing that.

7. During this 5 day experiment, certain raw food dishes tasted almost *too* vibrant for me! On certain days (namely days 4 and 5), I felt like fruits and leafy greens were mainly what I could tolerate, but things like tomatoes and culinary concoctions like fancy casseroles were too much taste for me. I find this strange and wonder if it was simply my body's way of saying, "hey, no more nuts!" Anyone else experience something like this?

8. Overall, I think I'm more of an ethical-enviro-politico-vegan than a health vegan. This presents a bit of an internal conflict for me, as everything is interconnected, and one cannot truly be an "ethical" vegan without caring about the rest of the reasons for veganism (e.g. keeping as healthy as I can leads to less doctor visits, which contributes less to the rise of health care costs). Don't get me wrong - I care immensely about health. But a) I don't necessarily feel the need to be as absolutely healthy as I can, b) I think that "health" encompasses body and mind, and there are certain cultural elements of my life that I'd miss severely if I went completely raw, and c) while I do "believe" in raw foodism, I am still thinking about what "raw foodism" means - e.g., must one be "100%" raw to achieve the benefits? Or does the maximum value lie somewhere closer to, say, 75%? I don't know! Also, what does "raw foodism" mean for me versus someone else? I do think that people vary in terms of needs.

Unrelated #9: One of my roommates is growing his own kombucha! I'm fascinated by this. It looks like an ear in a jar! (I'm not knocking it - I love kombucha.)

I hope you've enjoyed peering into my raw food experiment. Please leave comments or send emails if you have any thoughts to share!

Peace, 
CYoFC

Interviews: Tom: Why Discriminate Based On Species?

CYoFC:  Describe your current diet/lifestyle (vegan, lacto-ovo vegetarian, pescetarian, freegan, flexitarian, omnivore with vegan tendencies...etc.).

Tom:  Currently I'm sort of in between a vegetarian and a vegan. I don't eat meat or dairy, but I do eat eggs.

CYoFC:  For how long have you been mostly vegan?

Tom:  I became a vegetarian on Thanksgiving 2002.  I tried full veganism two summers ago, but it only last for about six months.  I've had my current diet since then.

CYoFC:  What led to these changes for you?

Tom:  It wasn't until I started dating a vegan girl that I really paid attention to the numerous arguments for a plant-based diet.  Prior to that, I thought the only possible justification for refraining from eating meat was concern for animal welfare.  While I cared very much about animals, I didn't necessarily care more about them than I care about tomatoes or other plants, and you know that we have to kill and eat something in order to live...so "why discriminate based on species?" I thought.  But then I found out about the gross inefficiency of raising animals for food, and the terrible impact it has on the environment.  That really opened my eyes.

CYoFC:  Right on. Were there any challenges you faced throughout these dietary changes? What about current challenges of eating a mostly vegan diet?

Tom:  I don't find refraining from eating meat to be difficult at all.  There are so many alternatives, especially with the numerous advances in mock meat technology happening all the time :-)  I do find it somewhat difficult to find alternatives to products that usually have dairy or eggs mixed in, but even that is getting easier and easier all the time.  For example, the vegan bakery Sticky Fingers here in Washington, DC has lots of delicious baked goods and snacks that aren't made with any animal products.

CYoFC:  DC's Sticky Fingers is phenomenal for vegans and even non-vegans. I've yet to find a better cupcake in the country! Do you plan on continuing to eat mostly vegan? If so, what motivates you ? If not, what motivates you to change?

Tom:  I don't see myself ever eating red meat ever again; I think it's just disgusting.  I do get cravings for fried chicken every now and then, but I think I'll probably be a vegetarian for a long time, if not for life.  I'm not so sure about refraining from dairy, though.  While I don't see myself giving up my current diet anytime soon, I'm not as sure that I'll never eat a dairy-cheese pizza ever again.

CYoFC:  Vegetarian for life! Wow. Tell me, why should other people consider veganism or vegetarianism?

Tom:  For me, having a mostly plant-based diet is just one thing I can do in my day-to-day life to limit the impact that I have on environment (like turning off the lights when I leave the room, or recycling, etc.).  Anyone who is concerned about the environment should think about at least severely limiting their meat consumption.

CYoFC:  You say a mouthful. There are so many environmental effects of meat production that many of us aren't aware of. Even on small, free range farms, the amount of energy and resources needed to raise cattle, pigs, and chickens for food purposes is enormous compared to plant farming. Do you have any tips or advice for people who are just starting out on a more plant-based diet?

Tom:  If you think you'll have a hard time refraining from eating meat, check out the many mock meat brands that are on the market these days.  And, learn how to cook a dish or two.  It's not that hard!

CYoFC:  Good advice. What about your favorite foods?

Tom:  Pasta, broccoli, lentils, onions, garlic, falafel, fake chicken nuggets, vegan cupcakes, Thai food, Indian food, and Ethipian food.  Oh yeah, and eggs in the morning :-/

CYoFC: All of these options contain absolutely no cheese. Describe what the giving-up-cheese process was like for you.

Tom:  It's a little bit difficult, but now that we can get vegan pizza by delivery in Washington, DC it's not too bad.

CYoFC:  Vegan pizza by delivery? That's fabulous. I hope other cities pick up on this! Now, one more question that is oh-so-commonly wondered about plant-eaters: Are you getting enough protein?

Tom:  I think so, but I've honestly never been to a nutritionist, so I'm not too sure.


Thanks, Tom!!!

Tom, 28, currently lives in Washington, DC. In addition to his concerns for animal welfare and the environment, his passions also center around politics, media, technology, and photography.

Meatouts and the Aftermath

I am a frequent and vivid dreamer. I'm able to write paragraphs, sometimes pages, of detail recounting what happened, how I felt, what peoples' intentions were in those images that flicker across my retinas as I sleep. Usually, I find this cool and entertaining. But sometimes, I can't shake apart what I dreamed and what I actually read in the paper or heard from a friend.

This was the problem with Meatless Mondays.

For weeks, I thought that I had simply dreamed about cities, nationwide, opting out of meat for entire days at a time. I thought I had dreamed about some Great American Meatout that couldn't possibly exist.

Still, I couldn't shake the feeling that maybe it wasn't a dream at all, that maybe it was something I'd heard on the radio driving to work. Maybe it could exist.

Well, sooner or later, I began seeing news articles confirming that this custom had, in fact, begun. In an effort to reduce carbon emissions, improve public safety, and encourage healthy choices, Michigan has recently encouraged its citizens to give up meat for one day. Schools in Baltimore have recently begun serving only vegetarian lunches on Mondays. And so on and so on.

This, however, is not without backlash from the meat industry. Buyer, beware: there are lobbyists out there who are invested in influencing the USDA Food Pyramid. Your Food Pyramid, as the USDA calls it (MyPyramid.gov). Even if you do not actively follow these daily guidelines, watch out for the American Meat Institute, the National Pork Board, the Farm Bureau, and the National Cattlemen's Beef Association.

They're pretty pissed.

The prospect of losing sales has them fighting hard against these meat reductions. You may start to see subtle (or not-so-subtle) meat propaganda floating around, and "new scientific evidence" suggesting that humans require more meat, and that meat is a healthier, environmentally safer choice than other foods.

The USDA revises the Food Pyramid every five years. The latest revision? It's due to come out sometime this year. And there's been a lot of talk about what changes should be made to "your" Food Pyramid.