Stir Fry Heaven

Stir fry is one of my favorite meals. I make one at least once a week. I couldn't live without my wok! I love that I can throw in whatever veggies I have in the fridge and make a delicious meal. Below is one I made the other night. This particular stir fry had swiss chard, bok choy, mushrooms, onions, yellow pepper, purple pepper, ginger, garlic and tofu. I like to pre-fry the tofu, take it out of the wok then put it back in right at the end. I like CRISPY tofu.

Has it really only been 7 months?

I can't believe I have only been a vegan since January 1st. It feels like I've been one forever. I feel like I found my true self. Like this is how I should have always been living my life. The peace and calm in my heart is real. I think eating cruelty free is a beautiful thing. I wish I was better at explaining to others how awesome this is. I hate seeing people's defensives go up the minute they hear I am vegan. I don't even have to say anything pro-vegan and they are already throwing excuses at me.

Yesterday on Facebook, I posted something about the egg industry and battery cages and how Americans should be outraged. One of my old friends posted this in return: "Have you read Jonathan Safran Foer's new book? It's called Eating Animals. Friend of mine is now vegan & she liked it. I'm not quite ready to read it. I know what it will do to the way I eat and I'm just not ready for it. (does that make me a little selfish? sigh...i think so)" . I think it was a very honest statement. I think a lot of people know that what they are doing causes terrible suffering, unbelievable pain and agonizing death, but they just won't allow themselves to think about it. Because if they do, they will have no choice but to change the way they eat.

By the way, here is the information on the egg industry:
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/15/weekinreview/15marsh.html?_r=1

And I haven't read Eating Animals yet, but it is on my list of must-reads. After I am finished Gene Baur's book "Farm Sanctuary", I'll go get Eating Animals. I'm a really slow reader, so I'll have to pick up the pace. Since we are cutting way back on TV, that should be easy to do.

And here is today's adorable farm animal picture (baby goat at Farm Sanctuary):

First Tomato Harvest of the Season!

We've been waiting (sort of) patiently all summer for our tomatoes to be ready. This 100 degree heat and no rain has been brutal to them. But today, we finally got our first "crop". The tops were a bit split, so we decided to roast them up and make some homemade sauce. So easy and so good.

We took the tomatoes and cut off the split tops. Sprayed a pan with some cooking spray and layed out the tomatoes, fresh garlic and an onion from the Farmer's Market. Drizzled some olive oil and added some salt and pepper. 350 degree oven for maybe 40-50 minutes and they were done. The house smelled soooo good. From there, I put them in the Vita-mix to blend them together. Transfered them to the stove and added fresh oregano and basil from our garden. Added some salt, pepper, more garlic (is there ever too much?), bay leaves and some red pepper flakes. I also added a little tomato paste to thicken it up. We fried up some vegan Field Roast Italian Sausage to add to the sauce and cooked up some bow tie pasta. Oh my, was this a delicious meal! And plenty of left overs for lunch tomorrow.

Here are the tomatoes before roasting:



And after:



Heirloom tomatoes are my new favorite food. I had an heirloom tomato tart for brunch at Moxie Bakery and Cafe this morning and this for dinner. I never want summer to end.

All of God's Creatures

I wish I knew where the whole "God put animals here for us to eat" theory came from. I'm assuming somewhere in the Bible someone found a passage that says it's ok. I'm not a religious person and I don't claim to know everything that is in the Bible. I do, however, know that there are people out there who "interpret" it support what they believe. All I know is that no God of mine would put a feeling, loving, sentient being here on Earth for the sole purpose of being food. To be subjected to pain, suffering and death just to feed us. If He did, why didn't He make it so they couldn't feel pain? What kind of cruel God creates a being knowing it will be able to feel love, joy, happiness, but then never let it feel any of those things. Why don't these people see the veggies and fruits as His gift of food? Probably the whole "forbidden fruit" story.

Here are some pictures of who some people think were put here for them to eat (taken on my visit to Farm Sanctuary:

Here is your lamb chop:


Here is your bacon:


Here is your hamburger:


These beautiful animals have all been rescued from the food industry. Please take a moment to get to know some farm animals. They will forever change the way you think about animals and why they were put on Earth with us.

Who's kitchen is this?

For someone who didn't even like vegetables when she became a vegetarian a few years ago, I sure do eat a lot of fruits and vegetables now! And this doesn't even show you what is in my fridge. I just can't seem to get enough this summer. And the Vita-mix has made eating them even better (tastier, easier, more fun!).

I wish I knew then what I know now. Before I became a vegan, I just couldn't imagine how much amazing food I would be eating. And knowing that it is cruelty free makes it taste even better.

It's here, it's here! The Vita-mix is here!

We finally broke down and spent the money on a Vita-mix. Wow, is this thing awesome. I used to be one of the people who wondered, "What's so great about it? How is it different from my blender?". Well, now I know. This beast could blend my other blender! When I tried to put greens into a smoothie in my old blender, well, lets just say, they didn't really blend. Now, I'm putting kale, cucumbers, anything in there and they are so smooth and yummy. What a great way to get kale in my body every day! And as my older post told , kale rocks. It really does a body good. And the Vita-mix does so much more than smoothies! Anyway, here is our inaugural smoothie in the making. We've since started adding a lot more greens to them.

Pitas love veggies too!

When we got home from work the other day, we both just wanted something lighter for dinner. I had picked up some gorgeous heirloom tomatoes (since ours just won't ripen out back) and a red pepper that looked so inviting. So we grabbed a cucumber from our garden and some really tasty sundried tomato and basil hummus and put it all together on some great pita bread. What a great, fresh meal. I loved it so much that I had it again for lunch the next day!

Vegan Nachos!

When we went to the Hoe Down at Farm Sanctuary a few weeks ago, they had an amazing "cheese" dip called "We Can't Say its Cheese" (http://wayfarefoods.com/node/5). We loved it and thought we'd never see it again. But then I found it at our local co-op. Not sure if its new there, or if I just never noticed it, but I was so happy to find it. So last night, I made vegan nachos (I know, I know, not "healthy"). But every once in a while, you just want some "cheesy" junk food. So I topped some chips with it (and also some cheddar Daiya) and melted them in the oven. I added some veggie refried beans for Steve. Then, I topped them with fresh tomatoes, avocado, green onion, jalapeno peppers and vegan sour cream. O-M-G. SO GOOD. And of course we ate way too much. But worth it. As Cookie Monster would say, it is a "sometimes" food.

Monday, Monday...

I worked all weekend, so I was really happy to have a day off today. Made the trip down to Whole Foods to see if they carried Vega. Of course, they don't, but I found $126 worth of other vegan goodness. I just love their produce section. I also discovered they are carrying the Tofurky vegan pizza now. I've been traveling down to Roots in Clarksville for them, so I'm happy to discover they are in Whole Foods (since Steve works next door to one).

Came home and made a really yummy BLT salad. Fresh lettuce, heirloom cherry tomatoes, tempeh bacon, red pepper, sunflower seeds and a yummy asian sesame dressing. A piece of crusty bread from the bakery on the side and I was a happy girl. I just love a good salad and don't eat enough of them.



So my quest for Vega continues. Guess I'll order it online. Roots in Clarksville carries it, but they've had a small fire and are closed for a bit.

Meat is bad for the environment people!

According to CNN.com, a piece of ice four times the size of Manhattan island has broken away from an ice shelf in Greenland. When are people going to wake up and realize that climate change is REAL and do something about it? And when will people start realizing that meat production is a major cause? A 2006 United Nations report found that the meat industry produces more greenhouse gases than all the SUVs, cars, trucks, planes, and ships in the world combined. I have started to lose patience with the so-called "environmentalists" who love the earth yet continue to consume meat and support this industry.

On another note, starting the day with fresh, local berries is so nice. I wish we had fresh local berries all year! Today, I had blueberries and raspberries with granola on vanilla soy yogurt. I can't wait for breakfast tomorrow!



Had to work today (on Saturday!) and when I came home, we weren't in the mood for a big dinner. So we made breakfast for dinner. We had a delicious tofu scramble with tomato and basil from our garden, red pepper, onion and vegan chorizo sausage. A side of heirloom cherry tomato salad completed a great dinner.

All Hail Kale!

In my quest to eat healthier, I know I need to eat more leafy greens. So at the Farmer's Market on Wednesday, I picked up some kale. No idea what to do with it, so it sat in my fridge until today when I made Kale Chips. They are so good! And talk about easy. Just wash the kale, pull the leaves off the stiff stalk and tear into chip size. Drizzle some olive oil on them and lay them on a cookie sheet. I sprinkled seasoned salt on them. Bake them for like 10-15 minutes at 350 and viola - Kale Chips. They tasted great and are good for you.


A little info on Kale (from http://www.nutrition-and-you.com/kale.html):


Health benefits of Kale (borecole)

Versatile, sweet Kale is widely recognized as an incredibly nutritious vegetable for its low fat, no cholesterol and powerful anti-oxidant properties.

Kale, like other members of the brassica family, contains health promoting phytochemicals, sulforaphane and indole-3-carbinol that are appears to protect against prostate and colon cancers.

Di-indolyl-methane (DIM), a metabolite of indole-3-carbinol has been found to be an effective immune modulator, anti-bacterial and anti-viral agent through its action of potentiating "Interferon-Gamma" receptors.

Borecole is very rich source of ß-carotene, lutein and zeaxanthin. These flavonoids have strong anti-oxidant and anti-cancer activities. Beta carotene is converted to vitamin A in the body.

Zeaxanthin, an important dietary carotenoid, is selectively absorbed into the retinal macula lutea in the eyes where it is thought to provide antioxidant and protective light-filtering functions. Thus, it helps prevent retinal detachment and offers protection against "age related macular degeneration disease" (ARMD) in the elderly.

It is very rich in vitamin A, 100 g leaves provide 512% of RDA. Vitamin A is required for maintaining healthy mucus membranes and skin and is also essential for vision. Foods rich in this vitamin offer protection against lung and oral cavity cancers.

It is one of the excellent vegetable sources for vitamin-K; 100 g provides about 700% of recommended intake. Vitamin K has potential role bone health by promoting osteotrophic (bone formation and strengthening) activity. Adequate vitamin-K levels in the diet helps limiting neuronal damage in the brain; thus, has established role in the treatment of patients suffering from Alzheimer's disease.

This leafy vegetable is notably good in many B-complex group of vitamins such as niacin, vit.B-6 (pyridoxine), thiamin, pantothenic acid, etc that are essential for substrate metabolism in the body.

It is also rich source of minerals like copper, calcium, sodium, potassium, iron, manganese and phosphorus. Potassium in an important component of cell and body fluids that helps controlling heart rate and blood pressure by countering effects of sodium. Manganese is used by the body as a co-factor for the antioxidant enzyme superoxide dismutase. Iron is required for cellular oxidation and red blood cell formation.

Kale provides rich nutrition ingredients that offer protection from vitamin A deficiency, osteoporosis, iron deficiency anaemia, and believed to protect from cardiovascular diseases and, colon and prostate cancers.

In the beginning...

A little over three years ago, my husband and I rescued our first dog. His name is Tyler and he is an adorable Golden Retriever mix. He was found in a kill shelter as a puppy with his two sisters. A puppy rescue in Maryland went to get them and fostered them until they were 8 weeks old. That's when we entered his life. This is him on the day we brought him home:




"Raising" this little guy really got me thinking about animals and their capacity to feel love, joy, even fear. It was then that I started to make the connection between animals and the food I was eating. I could not imagine Tyler being subjected to the same treatment that farm animals are subjected to. I was sitting on the couch one night, thinking about this so I started researching vegetarianism online. This seemed like an impossible goal for me, since I didn't like vegetables, other than an occasional raw veggie salad. I had also begun studying Buddhism and trying to live a more compassionate life. Then, I stumbled onto the video that changed my life. I found the video Meet Your meat:



I watched no more than 90 seconds of this video and decided NO MORE. There was no reason for any animal to suffer for me to eat. Nothing tasted so good that it made this suffering worth it. I wasn't sure what I would eat, but I knew it wouldn't be a farm animal. I told my husband Steve, who had "dabbled" in vegetarianism years ago, and he was immediately on board with me. I decided that to be successful, I would "ease" into it and still eat fish. I don't know why this was ok, but at the time, it was. And it did make it easier. Eventually, I realized that I couldn't live my "values" while still eating fish. Being from Maryland, steamed crabs were the hardest to give up. Then one day, Steve and I were eating them and we both just felt sad and disgusted. It was the last crab we ever ate.

I was living happily as a vegetarian, unaware (or rather refusing to become aware) of the pain and suffering my dairy and egg consumption was causing. Steve became a vegan about a year and a half ago, but I just couldn't take that step for some reason. Finally, on January 1st of this year, I decided to go one month without dairy or eggs. Well, it only took a few days for me to realize how easy it really is. I never looked back. There really is life after cheese, even for someone as addicted to cheese as I was.

I've been living my life as a vegan, but really more like a junk food vegan. I have decided to turn over a new leaf and start eating more healthy. I need to lose weight, so this should help with that too. I've ordered a Vita-mix so I can get more greens into my diet. I can't wait for it to get here! I've decided to blog about my journey. Maybe I'll even be able to help other junk food vegans out there! And here we go...