Smoothie Greatness

After derailing with the rant I posted yesterday, I figured I ought to jump back on the positive train and show some simple, delicious and nutritious food that Jamie and I enjoy  !       The picture above is a smoothie I made for Jamie's breakfast this morning. I should have taken an "after" picture...the smoothie had turned a fabulously deep, rich purple. That mug the stuff is in...it's actually a blender-mug.  A cap with a blade gets screwed onto the top , then I turn it upside down and attach it to the blender base and give a minute or so on high and ta-da !...a fanastic smoothie.   The flavors/variations are truly endless.   This one, from the bottom up is : almonds ( soaked in water overnight to soften ), vanilla soy yogurt, hemp oil ( about a tablespoon ) some ground flaxseed ( can't see it in this picture ), a banana ( this one's not frozen, but frozen chunks are really great ) and frozen blackberries.   No ice.   No need when your fruit is frozen.   I also added some oatmilk to thin it out enough to drink through a straw.   I'll post more on Smoothie Greatness in the coming weeks...such an easy way to start ( or finish ! ) the day.   The nifty blender is a Back to Basics model.   It comes with two blender mugs and two other blender containers and lids, and two blade bases.   The decently powerful motor makes it really useful for lots of small, quick  chopping/blending jobs in our kitchen.

How to Stay Positive and Move Forward ?

OK, so I havent posted anything in what, 5 months...and that post was just a notice that we've moved !   I should post more.   If nothing else it helps to ground me in this insane time of willful  ignorance of the steep costs of breeding and eating animals.   Costs to the environment, human health and, of course,  the price paid by the billions and billions of animals continually bred to die     This new article by Mark Bittman ( who, knowing what he knows, should have given up eating animals years ago, but that's another, sad, story) about the prevalence of troublesome, antibiotic-resistant  bacteria in meat, dairy and eggs reads like a futuristic look into the history of human stupidity and greed.
How to stay positive and move forward in the face of such concrete evidence that things are not going to improve, in any meaningful way, any time soon ?   I don't know.  One step at a time ?   One day at a time ?   I should be encouraged by the public's dawning awareness of animals' sentience and the medical community's assurance that a vegan diet is not only adequate, but extremely healthful.   And I am.  But damn, it requires such a hefty bitter dose of  willful fantasy to pretend that it's ever going to be enough, I feel it stick in the back of my throat at times.   Many times.   Meeting others involved in the work is very very helpful.  
Give up ?   Never.   Teaching others how to cook seemingly strange vegan ingredients feels like the most positive thing that I can do, at this point in my life.   I will never forget when I finally ( finally !  50 years old ! ) realized the whole story behind our obsession with cow's milk and the needless, endless generations of animal suffering it necessitates.  We are kept in the dark about the truth for a reason.   My hope is that I can help open a few more hearts and minds through offering a gentler way to live on this planet.   And the food...ah, the food is fantastic.  Here's some proof ...thousands of tasty recipes and reviews on one well organized site : http://vegweb.com/
And here's to a New Year filled with positive advocacy for animals and bringing some reality to the table.