Summer Eatin'

Aww bad news

A few days ago my dad informed me that almost all our chickens got eaten by a weasel :(!!! The weasel got into the pen and the little door was left open that night. Our bad. Anyway only 2 are left living... Leaving us with them and the 2 other hens and one rooster that were on the other side of the barn.

RIP chickys :(

Margret Atwood's 'Edible Woman' Exert.

"She looked down at her own half-eaten steak and suddenly saw it as a hunk of muscle. Blood red. Part of a real cow that once moved and ate and was killed, knocked on the head as it stood in queue like someone waiting for a streetcar. Of course everyone knew that. But most of the time you never thought about it. In the supermarket they had it all pre-packaged in cellophane, with name-labels and price-labels stuck on it, and it was just like buying a jar of peanut-better or a can of beans, and even when you went into a butcher it was made clean, official. But now it was suddenly flesh and blood, rare, and she had been devouring it. Gorging herself on it.

She set down her knife and fork. She felt that she had turned rather pale, and hoped that Petter wouldn't notice. "This is ridiculous," she lectured herself. "Everyone eats cows, it's natural; you have eat to stay alive, meat is good for you, it has lots of proteins and minerals." She picked up her fork, speared a piece, lifted it, and set it down again."

Black Bean and Corn Wraps

Sorry about the bad picture here! My camera really stinks.. Anyway..

This really is delishious, you might have to take my word for it. This is so easy and tasty! I whipped this up for my work lunch and then ate the left overs for dinner later on that day.

1/2 can rinsed canned black beans
1 cup of corn
taco seasoning

To make this simply pour the rinsed black beans and cooked corn into your frying pan. Add some taco seasoning and a few tbsps of water and let simmer for about 10 minutes until warm. Wrap it up in a tortilla, dress with salsa or guacamole (or whatever you like) and
Viola! Fini!
Bon Appetite!

The Baby Chicks have arrived!

I know it's sad that these chickens are making their way towards being eaten.. but I love them, and I feel like they help me to have more of a connection to the earth. My dad and I take good care of them, and they live a good and free life. Five are "laying" hens, 10+ are for "meat". I hate defining them this way, but this is the fact of the matter.
Anyway here the cuties are..

Catching Up.

Tomato Avocado and Walnut salad with pomegranate juice!









Tofu cutlets served with plum sauce, broccoli, and rice with chives.

Tofu cutlets or ("Breast of Tofu") recipe can found here: http://www.everydaydish.tv/Recipe%20Pages/Breast_of_Tofu_Recipe.html
Tzatziki (Cucumber, Garlic, and Yogurt Dip) ((YUM!!))
http://www.greekhomerecipes.com/tzatziki.html
I like to serve this with pita.

I've also gone a bit smoothie crazy since the nice weather has started. There are so many recipes and variations and they're all just so darn tast-y ! Not to mention good for you! Drinking a smoothie is an easy and fun way to get fruit servings in, and to avoid refined sugar cravings.


This one is raspberry,
plain yogurt,
soy milk,
frozen banana and
2 table spoons honey to even out that yogurt flavor and the acidity of the raspberries.

I'll be posting more smoothies as the summer goes on. :)

My Garden - Photo Chronicaling

A reminder of why I'm Vegetarian...

Ugh. How terrible is this? Chopping up animals and eating them. Yuckers.. :(

Barbeques can be animal-friendly and yummy too!!

First barbeque of the spring/summer today and Mmmm mmmm! Was it ever delicious!

Grilled tofu

Marinade for at least 1 hour - 8 hours.

Lemon juice
salt, pepper
Oregano
Garlic

And keep the left over marinade!

Cut tofu into triangle cuts, marinade and grill! About 2 minutes per side. As it grills baste the sides, this will make it super tangy and delicious! I grilled some tomato to put over the finished product mixed with fresh for garnish but you could put just fresh tomato too. You could also mix the fresh tomato with cucumber too as a type of salsa. A mango salsa would be yummy too.. with salsas the options are unlimited!

To grill the potato and corn I just wrapped them with foil and let the grill do the work.. however I did over cook the corn a tad bit! *blush*. To be fair it was my first time trying to grill corn! :)

Beautiful day, satisfying dinner!
Animal friendly, nutritious and tasty!

Quesadilla day!

"Chicken" quesadillas with guacamole. The "chicken" is a prepackaged product from 'Presidents Choice'. This was pretty tasty.. but extremely messy!

Katie's Granola Goddess Mix

This is a yummy variation on other recipes I've found online.
There were no real amount of ingredient, I just kind of threw them in as I wanted! :)


But here's the list of estimations of ingredients:

1/4 cups Hemp seed
1/2 cup Almonds
1/4 Flax seed
1/2 cup cashew and sunflower and pumpkin seeds
2 cups oat meal ( not instant)
1/2 cup honey- could use
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup raisins and cranberries

I got the original recipe from here

However I found mine reallyyyy sweet, so I might use less honey and see if it still binds..
All you have to do is mix up the oats, honey, oil and nuts then put it in a pan and pop it in the oven for 15 minutes. Mix it up again, then toast it for another 15 minutes at 350. Then mix in the dried fruit, and push it together and wait for it to cool. During this time everything will cluster together.

Anyway mine turned out delicious! I even made some into bars :)

Lovely Day of Cooking and Sun..

Today I woke up to the rooster crowing from the barn at 8am. I got up and started my day by making tofu scramble. I had tried this before but the recipe had too much Cumin in it and back then I don't think I knew that I wasn't a fan of Cumin.. I think it also called for silken soft tofu.. which isn't what you should use at all. Needless to say that was yucky, so I was skeptical of this recipe. But this one turned out delicious and got my ready for the day. The recipe came from Post Punk Kitchen http://www.theppk.com/recipes/dbrecipes/recipe.php?RecipeID=110

It was beautiful day here.. and I mean beau-ti-FUL! I wore my new big floppy hat and took some pictures out in the sunshine.















So for supper I decided to make a raw dish with the almonds I had been soaking all day. It's called almond pate! I was skeptical once again because I have never tried to deliberately make a "raw" recipe. It was quite a bit of work since I only had a little blender to work with instead of a big food processor. But it was really yummy! And pretty.. :) Here's where I got the recipe : http://dietdessertndogs.wordpress.com/2008/01/17/raw-almond-veggie-pate/

















For the moment though I have to go collect the eggs, take the clothes down from the line, and then go for a jog! I'm just on the go go go!

Mixed oriental dinner!

This is a delish mix of a dinner I made with my awesome brother during my break from school. I made the Egg fu Young, and all veggie sushi and he made the mixed stir fry :).
Talk about yum! And very easy and creative. Just throw all the veggies in the pan and they do the work themselves. The sushi has carrot, mushroom and spinach in it. It is all about cutting the veggies correctly, and packing the right amount into the nori and then when you roll it up the nori will seal itself. I was concerned about it sticking but no problem, piece of cake! I realize that the egg fu young is a poor choice for an animal activist but I am but a mere vegan-wanna-be.. and I often sub come to dairy and eggs *sigh*. However, I must say it too was delicious all packed to the brim with mushrooms, onion, and bean sprouts :).
Just had to take some pictures of this dinner, it's practically art! - Full of myself? I think so!-

Soba noodles

I made these soba noodles with broccoli, flax seeds, with toasted nori sprinkled over it. Yummm. It's a shame the pictures turned out so lousy though.

Question. Wish.

Question: Why is the idea of protein more important to people then animal welfare?
Wish: I wish people would educate themselves on a balanced vegan or vegetarian diet and learn that protein comes from plant sources as well as meat and meat by products. I wish people would extend their compassion.

Plain and simple..

Summer Fresh

Had a lovely day off today. Went to the market to buy some light summer treats and then came home and had a bit of a picnic. Goat cheese Canapees, field greens with my own white garden radish, vine ripened tomato and some nuts. And for dessert some delectable local strawberries. Very tasty and relaxing. Eating it in the grass, listening to Devendra Banhart made me feel connected to my surroundings. Simply lovely.

" We've got no guns no we don't have any weapons
Just our corn and the children"
- 'Cripple Crow'

A Present Day Animal Holocaust

As a vegetarian I have always made a connection between the Holocaust and factory farming because the treatment of the Jewish/gypsies/disabled during World War Two was so brutal. As of yesterday I had never actually taken the time to think about why I felt this way. So I thought step by step thought the process of the Holocaust and related it to Factory Farming and to my amazement every step in the process really fight the treatment of present day animals in modern operations.

#1 Preparation

When the Jewish were taken to concentration and work camps they were prepared by cutting their hair etc.

In factory farms there is also cruel preparation which differs depending on the the live stock.

Ex:
Pigs: Tails cut off
Chickens: Beaks sanded

#2 Transportation

Jews were taken to camps in cars with too little space in humid cruel conditions.
Similarly pigs, cows, chickens are transported in small boxcars in large numbers.



#3 Selection

In Nazi work camps workers were chosen by age, health and work capacity. If they did not meet these standards they were killed.

In the dairy industry and egg poultry industry if the cow/bird is not meeting quota it is slaughtered.

#4 Living Conditions

When relocated Nazi prisoners were often separated from their loved ones and lived in small cramped housing.

Much like this dairy cows and beef cows are separated from their young. Many animals chickens and pigs in particular live in very cramped conditions.

#5 Death

Death for both the Jewish and farm animals of all kinds is uncertain. Their death date could result in an off day. The method of killing for Jews was incineration for animals it is "cooking". Cooking their flesh- again very similar to the method of Nazi prisoners.

I find it odd that the puzzle fits together so perfectly in all steps. Perhaps this was done purposely to "dehumanize" the Jewish prisoners.

No soul deserves this treatment. Animals are not for butchering. Animals have a life to live just like all humans have.

Note:

In no way am I saying that an animals life today is equal to a Jews. I am simply comparing the two cruel happenings and pointing out the value of both a human and animals soul. The Holocaust should never have happened and will hopefully never happen again. It was a terrible thing. So lets end animal slavery as well.

Wierd Fruit!

Today I tried these need exotic fruits for the first time. The first shown here is called a Mangosteen native to the Sunda Islands and the Moluccas. These are hard to explain because they taste like nothing I have ever tasted before.. but they sort of remind me of a cross between a blueberry and a banana. Quite tasty.


Granadilla fruit is very interesting indeed. The Granailla originated in the Andies - between Venuzuilla and Bolivia. The shell is thin and the texture of a plastic, and once cut inside there is a sac of jelly covered seeds protected by what looks like a thin orange skin. I liked the jelly around the seeds but didn't care for the seeds themselves which are edible and crunchy but not hard. Both are very interesting fruits, try them! It's always fun to try new foods. :D

Missed Novelties

I got to have a BLT this month with fake bacon from Yves which was actually good! It was so nice to sink my teeth into something I grew up with without the guilt of eating a piggy and actually have it taste delicious!

Ever wonder what a cow thinks? Wonder no longer.