New Leaf Vegan Society

Smoothie Greatness

2011-12-29T08:46:00.000-08:00

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 ?

2011-12-28T06:22:00.000-08:00

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.

Asleep At The Wheel

2011-07-21T15:14:00.000-07:00

I was so caught up in our big move to Boulder, CO, back in May and June ( and on into July ...) that I failed to really completely take on board the significance of the latest in animal welfare progress. It took a listen to Our Hen House's 78th podcast on the way to Denver this morning ( to tour Denver Tofu!...but that's another story !) to jolt me awake. I was aware of the discussion and heard the rumblings, but I guess was not ready to jump back in. Jeez...I had turned a deaf ear so that I would not have to react/deal with what was probably less than great news. But should this agreement between the Humane Society of the United States and United Egg Producers become actual federal law, it would, according to HSUS , " ....represent the first time that any species of animal is provided with federal protection from abuse while on factory farms, the first federal farm animal protection law in more than 30 years, and the first time that chickens used in food production are provided any federal protections at all ". Great news, actually.
OK...so I'm awake now. Time to help keep the momentum going on this very important development for farmed animals, laying hens in particular. But what we really need, rather than incremental slow change is a wake up call to the everyday people who make food choices several times a day, everyday. Most do not know the horrible conditions that these animals must endure, just to bring cheap, unnecessary animal products to the market. How to get people to understand ? One way is to have people meet chickens, ducks, turkeys, goats, cows, sheep and pigs and see just how much more than food they are. Animal sanctuaries are a great place to meet them, and Peaceful Prairie, just west of Denver , is one of the best.
Go to United Poultry Concerns for many resources ( including recipes ! ) and important updates.
Stay awake.

Continue to March

2011-07-19T05:35:00.000-07:00

Sigh. So much effort ( research and reports ) on the environmental and human health impacts of eating animals and their "products", but damn little ( by the mainstream press) on the fact that these animals are living, breathing, sentient beings. However, Mark Bittman had a good article ( despite dishing about eating lambs with his lentils :/ ) today, referring to The Environmental Working Groups recent report on the environmental impacts of eating meat and dairy, plus a few good links to more discussion on the subjects. I didnt see any reference to animals as actual living, breathing beings on EWG's website, in fact, on their home page, there's a huge plate of steak ( grassfed, organic and "humanely-raised" no doubt...) being offered up...sigh.
Here are a few more links to explore:
The Environmental Working Group.
An essay pointed out by Bittman in a previous article about egg production, by Michele Simon at Food Safety News : Who Really Benefits From The Egg Industry Deal ?
And the indispensable Factory Farm Map. ,which ought to be on display in every grocery store.

Wrap Recipes for the Summer !

2011-06-18T06:39:00.000-07:00

Here in Boulder there are lots of fresh tortilla/wrap makers for these great filling ideas from Healthy Happy Life, but really, just about anywhere you can find decent wrappers nowadays. Enjoy !

More Unhappy Cows in California and the World

2011-06-18T06:27:00.000-07:00

Ugh....when will we wake up to what is really behind the diary industries, and especially California's completely ridiculous Happy Cow campaign ?
Besides misery for the cows and calves involved, the environmental degradation, wildlife displacement and human health issues all add up to real reasons to give up dairy products. In this article, Jonathan Berry, a former executive at a dairy manufacturer in California recounts some of the common management practices and speaks out against them.
Here's a few new recipes to try, using cashews for body and creaminess, from Healthy Happy Live :)

Kale Chips !

2011-05-01T13:40:00.000-07:00

I heard about and read about Kale Chips for many months before I even tried them. Jasmin and Mariann at Our Hen House raved about them several times, and recipes abound on the internet. And I was curious about trying another way to get more kale in me and others, but frankly, it wasnt until I saw a tiny bag of them for almost 5 bucks at a grocery store that I thought, " Ok, I need to try these and see if they can easily be made at home".   And the answer is : Yes !   Super simple to make, and highly addictive eating !   Here are several recipes, and then the way I do it :)
From Vegweb : Kale Chips
A raw recipe , and how I ended up making them :

Baked Kale Chips

1 bunch curly kale
Olive Oil
Seasoning salt, nutritional yeast...herbs maybe
Wash, destem and dry the kale either with a run through the salad spinner, or rolled up into a clean towel and patted dry; then tear it into bite-sized pieces ( the kale, not the towel ! ) Or, wash, tear, then dry. They'll shrink to about half their original size, so tear accordingly.
Drizzle with a tiny bit of olive oil ( or mist with olive oil using your Misto like Theresa did at a recent gathering ! )
Sprinkle with a little bit of seasoning salt ( Spike is good ! ) and a little nutritional yeast sprinkled on is good, too. You could also use a curry seasoning, hot chili pepper flakes...whatever you like :)
Massage it all together to lightly coat the kale pieces with the oil and spices.
Spread the kale pieces out in a single layer on cookie cooling rack, (preferably the kind made with a small wire grid ) and set that on a baking sheet, so that the leaves are surrounded by air, not laying on the baking sheet. This will help them cook evenly and get nice and crisp.
Bake at 300 degrees for 10-13 minutes.   Watch very carefully so they don't burn.
I made some a week ago, and kept them in the fridge, sealed up.   They got kind of limp, so to recrisp them, I tossed them into a baking pan ( no rack) and into the toaster oven at 300 and baked them for, ( I'm not kidding ) ...3 minutes.   Just enough to lift out any moisture that was making them soft, but not enough to cook them anymore. Perfect !
Next week I'm going to experiment with some herbs rubbed into the kale, along with the oil. Maybe I'll remember to take pictures !

Omnivore Bingo !

2011-03-20T04:43:00.000-07:00

I just saw this on Facebook, posted by Joan Ozelis Calpin, who got it from Vegansaurus...absolutely hilarious and relevant :)
Check it out !
http://vegansaurus.com/post/254784826/defensive-omnivore-bingo

Dairy Alternative Class !

2011-02-21T04:41:00.000-08:00

A few weeks back, on February 5th, I had the privilege of introducing 20 enthusiastic people to great plant-based, vegan alternatives to cow's milk ( and diary products ) at The Common Market in Frederick, Maryland. A two hour class can barely cover all the pre-made products available to buy , such as cheeses, cream cheese and sour cream, much less the dozens of vegan cookbooks ( with more coming out every month ! ) to make your own AND all the online resources....but we tried ! I could not have done it without the help of Zoe, their Programs Manager. Her experience with managing many past classes warned her that I was trying to cram too much in to too short a time, so she reined me in and stayed ( worked ! ) the whole two hours portioning, serving and generally keeping things going smoothly. Thank you, Zoe !

We started off with bags of popcorn, sprinkled with Nutritional Yeast ( for it's cheesey goodness ) as we sampled chilled commercial oat, hemp, almond and soy milks and a coconut kefir. I whipped up a cashew milk from just cashews soaked overnight, a teaspoon of agave nectar and some cold water. Then we had Tortilla chips with melted Daiya cheese, both the Cheddar and the Mozzarella styles. In a blender I made a double batch of MacnCheese sauce using half for people to see how it would be on pasta ( we used saltines to dip...pasta too hard with our set up ) and half got mixed with a salsa to create a fantastic Queso Dip ! We finished off with a fantastic Lemon Teasecake, from the must-have cookbook, The Ultimate Uncheese Cookbook , by Jo Stepaniak.
I do hope the participants got a feel for all the delicious vegan dairy alternatives out there, and some reassurance that we do not need cow's milk for calcium or any other nutrient. Dairy cows must endure some of the worst abuses in the animal-use industries, and it's completely necessary...so let's give them a break and explore more humane ways to feed ourselves :)
Next post will include a link to get all the handouts we used in the class...including the recipes!

More Milk Myth

2011-01-27T03:13:00.000-08:00

I was dismayed to see this New York Times article, The Long and Short of Calcium and Vitamin D, perpetuate the myth that humans need to consume cow's milk to get enough calcium. The author, Jane Brody, mentions plant-based foods, but in a way that sounds confusing and dangerous:

But some other desirable foods are problematic, at least when it comes to calcium: you’d have to eat so much broccoli to approach the level in milk that it could be toxic to your thyroid gland. Other vegetables with calcium, like spinach, collards, kale and beans, contain oxalates that block calcium absorption.

Come on. She makes it sound like the oxalates completely block any absorption, and pretty much concludes you should just stick to cow's milk and dairy products. Plant-based milks are barely mentioned. Sigh.
The following is from VeganHealth.org, and can help clear the muddied waters:
Conclusion on Calcium and Vegan Diets
The US recommended intake for calcium is 1,000 mg for most adults. The UK's recommended intake is 700 mg. Given the results of the EPIC-Oxford study on vegan fracture rates, it is prudent to get 700 mg per day. For the average vegan, this probably means drinking one glass of fortified soymilk each day in addition to an otherwise balanced diet.

Table 5. Plant Foods High in Calcium
Food	Serving	Ca (mg)
cow's milk (for comparison)	1 C	300
typical calcium supplement	1 tablet	300-500
soymilk, fortified^b	1 C	200-300
tofu (if 'calcium-set')	1/2 C	120-300
orange juice, fortified^b	1 C	250
blackstrap molasses	1 T	187
sesame seeds	2 T	176
collard greens^a	1/2 C	133
veg baked bean	1 C	128
navy beans	1 C	128
kale^a	1/2 C	90
tahini	1 T	64
broccoli^a	1/2 C	50
almonds	2 T	50
^aCooked \| ^bRead the label for calcium amounts \| T - tablespoon

Calcium Tips

Many non-dairy milks are now fortified with calcium, vitamin D, and/or vitamin B12. Many orange juices are fortified with calcium.
Shake calcium fortified non-dairy milks before pouring as the calcium can settle to the bottom.
The calcium in kale, broccoli, collard greens, and soymilk is all absorbed relatively well.
The calcium in spinach, Swiss chard, and beet greens is not well absorbed, due to their high content of oxalates, which bind calcium.
Calcium supplements can inhibit iron absorption if eaten at the same time. (4).
In addition to the calcium in the leafy greens listed on the right, leafy greens also contain vitamin K which is good for bones.
The Daily Value for calcium on food labels is 1,000 mg. Therefore,if a food label says it has 25% of the daily value, it means it has 250 mg of calcium per serving.

CCAN'S Polar Bear Plunge !

2011-01-26T15:32:00.000-08:00

Some of the 200+ people who braved the icy waters ...note the actual ice on the shore !
Chesapeake Climate Action Network held it's 6th annual Polar Bear Plunge to raise both awareness of climate change and to help fund their ongoing efforts to Fight Global Warming--Keep Winter Cold ! CCAN, headed up by founder Mike Tidwell, works tirelessly educating the public as well as public officials. This year, Congresswoman Donna Edwards of Prince Georges County plunged to show her support ! Here's a snippet from CCAN's website about the event:

OXON HILL, Md. – Holding signs that said “Keep Winter Cold” and “Save the Polar Bears,” hundreds of DC-area residents plunged into the freezing Potomac River Saturday urging the new U.S. Congress to take real action on global warming. With extreme weather intensifying worldwide, including unusually intense recent snowfall in the U.S. consistent with climate change, participants urged elected officials to embrace electric cars and offshore wind power instead of dirty oil and coal.

So, what does all this have to do with New Leaf Vegan Society, ? Well, New Leaf provided about 300 cookies and muffins to the hungry masses...over 200 of them ! I baked my buns off for several days, but man...people go through that stuff like crazy ! I used recipes from Isa Chandra Moskowitz's Veganomicon for Carrot Orange Muffins ( adapted from her Applesauce Oatbran recipe ) Chewy Oatmeal Raisin cookies, and from her Vegan Cookies Invade Your Cookie Jar some awesome Deluxe Cocoa Brownies and Banana Oatmeal Breakfast cookies. I also adapted a recipe for Ginger Molasses Cookies I found on Vegweb. Lori Hill of Lori Hill Productions ( green weddings and events and a dynamo speaker ! ) invited New Leaf back ( this is our 3rd year ! ) and encourages me to spread the vegan word with brochures I bring and leave on the table with the baked goods.
New Leaf's own Jamie plunged for CCAN, and we havent added up his pledges yet, but it looks like we may have made the $ 350.00 goal ( relatives are sending checks, so we're not sure yet ! ). I ( Dale ) do not plunge...it's WAY too cold for me, but I hold Jamie's robe and take pictures ! Check out Vineet's blog, the Green Vine for a nice slide show of the event !

Three New -To-Me Cookbooks

2011-01-12T10:44:00.000-08:00

Just got three more vegan cookbooks the other day ( of the 3,603 "vegan " titles listed at Amazon ! ) and can't wait to get started sampling some recipes.   Colleen Patrick-Goudreau's Color Me Vegan is the newest and looks especially promising with it's refreshingly creative layout and emphasis on nutrition and flavor from the whole rainbow of plant-based foods. Each color gets an essay on the unique nutrition it brings to the table, handy prep tips and recipes from Starters and Salads to Desserts. From the "Orange" chapter : Roasted Orange Beets with Tangerines,Peanut Pumpkin Soup and General Custard's Cream Pie with Almond Oat Crust...just 3 of the 18 recipes in that chapter alone !   Read some of the 30+ reader reviews on this latest of Colleen's cookbooks on Amazon here.
When not writing cookbooks, Colleen Patrick-Goudreau produces very helpful podcasts and is behind an amazing website that offers forums, recipes and much more. See it all here, at CompassionateCooks.com

Vegan On The Cheap , by Robin Robertson , is welcome addition to her long list ( 6 ! ) of cookbooks, and would be a good choice to go along with her essential Vegan Planet, since this new book has some great recipes for meat alternatives that were missing in it, including a recipe for "Big Stick Pepperoni" and "Smoky Tempeh Bits" ( a tasty stand-in for bacon bits ).   She proves that eating vegan does not have to be expensive, and lists the costs per serving of each dish.   I have my eyes on the "Corned Seitan and Cabbage" recipe for St. Patty's day :)

And last but not least is The Nutritional Yeast Cookbook, by Joanne Stepaniak. All the recipes in this slim book ( 143 pages ) use Red Star brand Vegetarian Support Formula Flakes nutritional yeast. This particular brand is vegan, some are not...they may have added whey.   And I know...what a sad, utilitarian name...there ought to be a campaign to find a more inviting name for this incredible food ! I got this book to gain a better understanding of nutritional yeast (NY ) in a vegan diet, and to check out the recipes. There is a short chapter on how it's grown, harvested and dried in preparation to be sold as a finished product, and a nice chart listing its amazing nutritional profile ( just 1.5 tablespoons has 8.34 grams of protein, 8mcg of vitamin b12, 3.9 grams of fiber...and loads of other nutrients ), followed by lots of recipes from breakfast items to desserts.    There's Classic Quiche with Cheddary Crust, Creamy Kale and Potato Chowder, and Apple Babka. NY really is a chameleon...I've used it myself to enrich baked goods ( 1-2 tablespoons, sprinkled on popcorn, added to sauces and gravies and it's a must for making "cheezy" sauces !   I love the stuff, altho it took me awhile to get over it's name and apparent obscurity ( I'd never been aware of it before going vegan ). All recipes in this book are vegan :)     This same author wrote The Ultimate Uncheese Cookbook, which pretty much covers the same ground as this book, and then builds on it.   Buy The Ultimate Uncheese Cookbook.

Antibiotic Overload

2010-12-16T02:13:00.000-08:00

As if raising and slaughtering billions and billions of animals a year just because we ( well, not all of us ! ) like the way they taste , poisoning the environment and ourselves along the way, weren't bad enough , we are also creating 'super bugs' by overuse of antibiotics. Not breaking news really, but here's a post by Tom Philpott at Grist with some recent findings. Grist can be annoyingly clever, light on animal issues, and promoters of Happy Meat, but I follow them because they usually keep up with what's going on in the industrial meat industry, especially through Philpott's Meat Wagon articles. I keep hoping Mr. Philpott will see the light ( in the animals' eyes ) connect the dots and go vegan, but he clings to the humane meat, dairy and egg myths as a way to lessen the impact and keep eating animals. Sigh.

More Poultry Farms On The Delmarva Peninsula ?

2010-12-03T02:02:00.000-08:00

More chicken "houses" closer to the processing plants ...as if there werent too many already ???

See how Tom Philpott uses some of the vast information provided by new tool created by Food & Water Watch right here.

I've driven through some of the Delmarva Peninsula, and seen some of the surreally massive processing plants where, every year, millions and millions of birds end their short pain-filled lives. Hard to forget.

New Tool To Explore

2010-12-02T02:31:00.000-08:00

This website, FactoryFarmMap.org, offers an incredible amount of information in easily digestible bites. And while it does not advocate veganism ( far from it ) it ought to be an eye-opener for everyone. The figures used are from a five-year survey done by the USDA.

Vegan Nutrition

2010-11-29T01:10:00.000-08:00

I should have listed this blog, VeganRD a long time ago. She brings thorough, level-headed knowledge about vegan nutrition to the table from a registered dietitian's perspective, as well as an advocate for the animals.
Great discussion on vegan sources of DHA here :)

Turkey Abuse

2010-11-20T04:58:00.000-08:00

This video was posted by a fellow animal person, Joan Ozelis Calpin on Facebook, and I offer it here :

                                                        Turkey "farm" abuse.

                                                       No excuse.   Seriously.

Vegan Potluck at Poplar Springs

2010-11-17T05:07:00.000-08:00

Poplar Springs Animal Sanctuary, in Poolsville, MD is having their annual Thanksgiving With The Turkeys Saturday the 20th of November, from 12 -4pm. It's a great way to meet some of the animals that would have been food, and share a gigantic totally vegan potluck with hundreds of other like-minded people.. The Washington Post had a nice little write-up on the event, even :)
Now, let's see what to bring ? Well, I'll just have to browse some of the many sites that are featuring vegan Thanksgiving dishes ! Here are a few:
From the NY Times, Chef Chloe Coscarelli dishes up more than cupcakes.
Vegweb, is of course THE place to go to not only find recipes, but read reviews of them !
Here's a list of more vegan menu sites from VeganSoapbox. United Poultry Concerns has a nice recipe section and then be sure to take a look at their homepage and the writings of the Karen Davis, who works tirelessly to educate people on all things fowl :)

Whew...so many recipes and great ideas to choose from !

Hobos and New Friends

2010-11-10T13:59:00.000-08:00

My hubby of 32 years and I spent our anniversary weekend in Delaware. Birding was the main attraction ( besides ourselves : > ) out at Bombay Hook National Wildlife Reserve for Saturday, but first we needed o find a restaurant for Friday night. I honestly figured we'd have the usual issues trying to find decent vegan dinner fare.   But a last minute look on the web brought up this wonderfully independent-minded , mostly vegan restaurant called Hobos in Rehoboth Beach. And as it happens we were staying in a hotel not far from it.   AND, it also happened that they were celebrating World Vegan Day that evening with an all vegan buffe ! As soon as Jamie and I walked in the door we were very warmly greeted by Leslie and Patricia from the VegDelaware group, who insisted we sit with them and their group. I'm so glad we did !   The instant bond that happens between people who advocate for animals was very much alive and well that night. They really made our evening special, and now we have friends in Delaware! I want to meet with them on one of heir outings soon, it sounds like they have a lot of fun. Patricia is promoting Meatless Mondays , the program developed by Johns Hopkins Hospital, that encourages people to explore going meatless one day a week as a way to reduce meat's impact on human health and the environment.   It's getting a lot of attention in the media and will hopefully lead to opening people's eyes and hearts to all the animals that suffer needlessly at our hands, as well as seeing how fantastic vegan food really is :)
Gretchen Hanson is the genius behind the restaurant's sustainable ethos and creative menu.   Make sure to check out her bio on the website, she's a very interesting, dynamic person on a mission !
Oh, and what's with the picture of lotions, shampoo and toothpaste ? It's the loot we won at the raffle held at Hobo's that Friday night...what a night !   And the birding the next day was really great.   Lots of ducks, geese, peeps and American Avocets stopping over to rest and feed while on their way South.   Then we had dinner again at Hobos...couldnt resist !   And thank you Patricia and Leslie for a perfect night.

USDA's Dual Dairy Role

2010-11-07T04:06:00.000-08:00

Has it seemed to you that cheese was in everything and dairy products in general were everywhere ? Ever wonder why ? The USDA has the job of promoting dairy products, while ( kind of ) warning us about the health issues involved in eating the stuff. Ever wonder how that can work ?
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/07/us/07fat.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1&hp

Rich Celery Soup For World Vegan Day !

2010-11-01T15:58:00.000-07:00

I grew up loving Campbell's Cream of Celery Soup. Looking back I am now amazed how easily we were duped into accepting anemic, condensed, canned soups as the standard. With little more than cheap fats, salt, sugar and modern industrial flavorings and thickeners, coupled with comforting advertising ( Mm, mm Good ! ) an entire generation grew to associate "soup" with the iconic red and white can. So is it any wonder that when I felt a craving for some celery soup, my taste buds wander way back to the '60's ? But now I not only wanted it vegan, but thick, creamy and nourishing as well. Here's what I came up with yesterday. The kale adds depth of flavor without overwhelming. It hit the spot so well, I am going to make it again today, and this time get a picture ! This recipe is meant as a springboard...you could toss in garlic and onions if you want, maybe carrots as well. Or maybe leeks and celery...hmmm...I'll have to try that ! Today I added almost 2 cups of minced up kale, and it still mostly tasted like a thick, creamy celery soup.
Rich Celery Soup
2 cups finely chopped celery
1 cup finely chopped kale ( stems removed )
1/2 cup raw cashews
2 cups broth, bullion or water
1 teaspoon Spike, or other seasoning salt
1 cup vegan milk ( I used soy this time )
2 tablespoons flour ( I used wheat, but rice flour, garbanzo bean flour, and others would work ,too )
Finely chopped parsley or cilantro
Toss the celery, kale and cashews into a medium saucepan with the Spike. Bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer and then cover loosely for about 15 minutes, or till the veggies are very soft. Remove from the heat. Mix the flour with the milk and set aside. Using a hand-held immersion type blender, buzz the veggies, cashews and broth till very smooth. You may be able to do it in the pan...it depends on your immersion blender and the softness of the veggies in the soup... (or pour the soup into a real blender ). Add the milk and flour mixture and blend a little more. Return the soup to the heat and cook on medium high until thick and bubbly...about 5 minutes or so. Serve up and sprinkle with the parsley. Or cilantro. I love cilantro :)
Makes about 5 cups of soup.

World Vegan Week ! And a recipe !

2010-10-25T13:29:00.000-07:00

These next 7 days, from Oct. 24th through the 31st is World Vegan Week !   A great time to explore how going vegan can alleviate so much suffering, help heal the planet and ourselves, and enjoy fantastic food at the same time :)
I had a special treat today.   A Brandywine tomato from the garden...a big surprise, since I had abandoned the plants weeks ago, and assumed any remaining tomatoes were not going to be worth harvesting.   Boy was I wrong ! I picked about 70 little Sungolds, and a nice big Brandywine and a few decent Celebrities.   So, to celebrate I made up a big batch of Tofu Salad, spread some on seeded rye bread, sliced up the Brandywine and had a feast. Nice way to start the week !
Tofu Salad, aka Eggless Egg Salad or Happy Hen Salad...it goes by many names, but the recipe generally goes like this:
1 Block firm tofu (the refrigerated kind, packed in water )
2 Tablespoons each minced red bell pepper, celery and onion
2 Tablespoons nutritional yeast
2 Tablespoons yellow mustard
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 cup vegan mayo

Remove the block of tofu from it's water, break in half and gently squeeze and wring the water out of each half. Crumble the squeezed-out tofu in a medium bowl. Add all the rest and mix with a fork, lightly mashing the tofu against the sides of the bowl.   Refrigerate for an hour or so before using as a sandwich spread, a chip dip or a filling for a warp.   Curry powder is really great in this, as is fresh herbs like dill or basil.

IT'S STILL SLAUGHTER

2010-10-22T00:50:00.000-07:00

This article, in the New York Times, is a poster child for the what is wrong with the welfarist branch of the animal rights movement. Why ? Because it perpetuates the welfarist notion that using the animals is not the problem, it's how we use them. Because it promotes shielding people from the reality that many billions of animals are brought into the world as commodities and slaughtered for our pleasure. Because it ignores the fact that we do not need to eat animals, no matter how they were slaughtered. It's still slaughter to the animals themselves.

“People don’t want to know too much,” said Marc Cooper, a senior scientific manager in the farm animals department of the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, in London. “It’s hard to sell humane killing as a concept.”

Yeah.

Check out the abolitionist way of viewing animal rights ( and wrongs ) at Abolitionist Approach dot com.

BBQ Ribz for World Farm Animals Day

2010-09-29T02:56:00.000-07:00

October 2nd is World Farm Animals Day.   A day to reflect on the lives of billions of animals bought into existence only to be slaughtered for our pleasure.   In our modern societies, with so many options, choosing a humane way to feed ourselves is not only the right thing to do...it's getting easier and easier. This recipe for Ribz is a great example...really easy to toss together, very tasty and nutritious, AND does not include the unnecessary suffering of another being.   We love these ribz with coleslaw, lots of extra BBQ sauce and serve it up on big buns or rice. Try this recipe for barbeque ribz, you'll love it and the pigs will love you !
   A warning :   this is very very good...I recommend making a double recipe :)
                                                          SUSAN'S RIBZ WITH A Z

Peaceful Prairie dot Org

2010-09-26T11:33:00.000-07:00

I sometimes forget how wonderful this organization is, and have to go to it now and then to remind myself. Lots of information, links, recipes, awesome photography and beautiful heartfelt stories of the lives of some of the animals at their sanctuary out in Colorado. This site is worth visiting for the stories alone. So check them out at : http://www.peacefulprairie.org/index.html

Pawfest in Winchester , Va !

2010-09-21T12:57:00.000-07:00

Here are some kids ( and an adorable Boston Terrier pup ! ) sampling cookies that Jocelyn and I made to show people that fantastic baked goodies can easily be made without animal products. Totally cruelty-free, delicious AND easy...what's not to love ?

The event, Pawfest is an annual fundraiser and is held on the grounds of the Winchester ASPCA. There were all kinds of games for kids to play, a playground for dogs and a dog wash as well ! Cats and dogs were available for adoption, and I think several found new homes that day. It was a gorgeous late summer day and a perfect event to introduce animal lovers to animal-free baking. We had lots of free literature on hand ( some with recipes )as well as the recipes for the cookie samples. A free drawing for Robin Robertson's great Vegan Planet cookbook created a nice opportunity to show off all the vegan cookbooks out there now.
Lots of curiosity, questions and surprise..." you made THAT without eggs or butter ???? " seemed to be the most common question, much to our delight ! Jocelyn's Chocolate Chip Cookies and my Orange Chocolate Brownies were the hits, and both recipes can be found on her blog, Vegan Family Values. Her husband Mike and their two fun kids were there to help as well. Jocelyn heard many people asking if we'll be there again next year...let's hope so !

Animal Counter

2010-09-16T17:57:00.000-07:00

Below is a pretty incredible graphic put together by the folks at Animal Visuals. I wish there could be one of these posted up on a big screen in every grocery store, just to get people thinking about the individual animals involved, as well as the sheer numbers. Something about seeing them squirming while hanging from their neck or leg tendons, even though I know it's just a cartoon, really makes the point.

DC Vegfest and Cat Food Woes

2010-09-06T03:41:00.000-07:00

The DC Vegfest is coming up soon, September 11th. I have missed them in previous years, but definitely plan on getting there this year ! Looks like a good line up of speakers and food sampling.

The organization ( and fantastic podcast ! ), Our Hen House, continues to amaze me with their broad coverage of vegan issues and their fabulous website.

I've been in an awful quandary about what to feed our 3 cats since one of them developed a urinary tract issue from crystals in his urine. It did not require surgery, but lab tests revealed that his urine was not acidic enough, there were crystals present and even a little blood from the crystals scraping his urethra on the way out...and that meat needed to be added to his vegan diet. Ugh. I had had them on Evolution cat food, the kibbles and the canned for well over a year and had no problems...better than that really...they all were doing very well, including our 15 year old cat who had just joined the ranks of Indoor Kittydom last December. He had been an indoor/outdoor ( mostly outdoor ) most of his life, but was just becoming too slow to escape what ever other critters were out there, that might to do a kitty harm. And the wildlife needed a break from his predation, as well. I am WELL acquainted with the whole "cats are obligate carnivores " issue, and I'm sick of the "how can you press your vegan values, choices on your pet...that's animal abuse, etc....". But at the end of the day I keep coming back to this: Yes, cats are carnivores. But is it right to feed our pets other animals we've dredged from the seas or bred into existence just to be killed and processed into food for us and the scraps as food for our pets ? No. So what to do ? Not keep cats is one answer. But I've already got them ( or do they have me ? ). Find the most ethical way to feed them ? Still working on that. So far, once the one kitty's ( Tomsky ) urinary issue cleared up, we're back to 1/2 cup Evolution kibble, soaked in lots of warm water for about 15 minutes, and about 1/2 a can of various animal meats stirred in. All three cats eat this. I cringe every time i open a can and am researching finding a better alternative. I got an "acidifier" for the vegan cat food, but a little late...Tomsky was having issue with the crystals and needed tests, and the vets answer was "meat". And how much acidifier to add to the vegan food...? And why isnt the vegan cat food already acidified ? This is a very complicated, loaded issue, and I am pretty confident that an ethical answer for feeding pet felines is on the horizon....but for now, we'll just have to keep experimenting with what is the least worst choice. A website for vegan catfood...VeganCats.com...bravely wades into these waters and offers some suggestions.

How to contact New Leaf Vegan !

2010-08-21T08:27:00.000-07:00

Email Dale Ball at vegeats@gmail.com with questions or comments, and recipes from events. I'm working on setting the blog up to be a little more user-friendly :)
Thank you for your patience!

Dale Ball

Portland, Oregon and the Let Live Conference

2010-07-06T02:29:00.000-07:00

I flew West from Virginia to Portland , Oregon on the 24th of June to attend a weekend of animal rights and vegan advocacy workshops and meetings. The Let Live Conference was organized by Student Animal Liberation Coalition, with support from Let Live Foundation as well as local area businesses such as Herbivore Clothing, and Food Fight Grocery. Total immersion in animal exploitation issues for a several days in a row could be very difficult, but the organizers kept things mixed-up to keep the optimism and spirits high. There was an animal rights themed spelling bee the first evening.....a lot of fun, a little educational, and a great ice-breaker to relax everyone. We came from all over the country and from many different perspectives, but advocating for the voiceless unified us all.
Jasmin Singer from Our Hen House guided several of the workshops and discussions, providing both framework and humor to the topics. Gary Lowenthal from Compassion For Animals shared his experiences with animal rescue and tips and in developing the World Wide Vegan Bake Sale . Isa Chandra Moskowitz, author of many great cookbooks, sat on several panels and offered her take on food activism.

Pictured below are , from the left : Glenn Gaetz, Lauren Ornelas, and Christopher Greenslate in one of the workshops. And some neat cast cement gigantic diatoms as sculpture on the streets of Portland....nice !

A strong showing of very active, very brave activists who were hosting this event implored us all to dig deeper and work beyond our comfort zones to be more effective advocates. I am inspired by their dedication and applaud their work. Check out the Let Live link for the list of speakers and exhibitors.
It's really hard to pick just a few favorite speakers, so I will close with two new-to-me people and their grassroots organizations that are working for positive change: Lauren Ornelas of the Food Empowerment Project and Glenn Gaetz Liberation BC.

Off To Portland June 24 !

2010-06-18T11:40:00.000-07:00

New Leaf Vegan Society is going to Portland ,Oregon ! Well, at least I, Dale Ball, will be going....!

I'll be attending the upcoming Let Live Conference from June 25-the 27th...check it out !   Looks to be mostly local folks as speakers, but Portland is now such a vegan mecca, it's natural that it should be there. There will be speakers coming from the East coast as well....Jasmin Singer from Our Hen House, and Gary Loewenthal of Compassion For Animals and the World Wide Vegan Bake Sale are flying out.   I myself am coming from Northern Virginia, and am looking forward to a few days of vegan immersion. Can't wait to visit the Vegan Mini Mall and eat at some of the vegan restaurants in the area !
This year's conference ( the 3rd ) is...." focusing on creative activism, expanding activist skills, and building relationships in the movement and beyond".   Sounds great.
Oh, what does the stink bug in the Coreopsis have to do with anything ?   Nothing !   I just liked his ( or her...who can tell ??? ) position on the flower in my window sill. I set it free outside a few minutes later.   We were "visited" by hundreds and hundreds of them over the last 8 months.   It is kind of hard to get too worked up about them.   the worst they do is sometimes go off and set up a stink, but they don't destroy anything or sting or bite.   Mostly they just die.   In the window sills, behind the plants, in the plants' pot, in the cabinets, under the bed.....

Cinnamon Buns

2010-06-08T08:52:00.000-07:00

The need to make these came as a surprise. After all, Winter baking is behind us, and the flurry of baking for a tabling event with Jocelyn for Valley Earthfest in Berryville, Va ( see her nice coverage of that on her blog Vegan Family Values ) and a few contributions to Gary Lowenthal's World Wide Vegan Bake Sale in Falls Church ( with help from my daughter ,Libby ! ) had me up to my elbows in flour and sugar and nose buried in recipes online and in cookbooks. I thought I'd had enough for a while. The outside calls......tomato plants needing planting and staking and caging. Lettuce and beets need thinning. And the weeding never ends, of course. But thoughts of soft warm, yeasty cinnamon buns kept creeping into my brain. Then I was at Vegan Baking.net, and saw this recipe, and figured it was meant to be ! I had a few alterations in mind, since I have a Bob's Red Mill bag of coconut flour (a by-product of making coconut milk ) and have been curious about using it. I ended up only using 3 Tablespoons, along with an equal extra amount of liquid ( as recommended ) because this stuff really sops up liquids ! And instead of using margarine in the dough, I used some avocado oil I had. I also subbed half of the all-purpose flour with whole wheat pastry flour....replacing 3 tablespoons of the wwpf with the coconut flour. I used oatmilk in place of water. The dough was pretty soft, but boy did it rise and stay risen ! I had left out any raisins or nuts, since this was my first time using that recipe, and didnt want to waste any more ingredients than necessary ....if they didnt turn out !
The filling is great....brown sugar, maple syrup, margarine and cinnamon...mix it all up and spread it on the rolled out rectangle just before rolling up and cutting into 8-12 pieces. Thank you Mattie, over at Veganbaking.net for continuing the research and development of vegan baked goodies ! Next up : Mattie's fudgy brownies...he sez they are the Ultimate !

Earth Day Events Coming Up!

2010-04-05T03:11:00.000-07:00

Even though New Leaf thinks every day is "Earth Day" (of course !) we do like to participate in festivals that highlight our connections to the planet, and spread the good vegan word :) We will be at two awesome celebrations this month. The first one is Valley Earthfest, in Berryville , Va. on the 18th, organized by the indefatigable Cheryl Ash. In it's 3rd year, this event combines heart felt , grassroots exhibits and vendors with fantastic music and a small town, family-oriented feeling. Jocelyn, of Vegan Family Values fame, will be there with her family to help reassure folks that, yes, you can raise awesome, healthy vegan children !
We are also planning to join in on the Worldwide Vegan Bake Sale that day with yummy vegan baked goods !

The other event, Earthday@Loudoun is happening the following weekend on Sunday the 25th, outside of Leesburg , Va. This will be its second year, and if it is anything like it's first year, they should expect several thousand enthusiastic people to visit and learn what they can do to lighten our footprint on the planet while having fun. Lori Seidmeyer and Oya Simpson team up and bring together lots of diverse vendors and exhibitors to satisfy just about everyone...and New Leaf is honored to be one of them!

Look for our tent at both events, it'll be packed with free information on how easy, delicious and Earth-friendly going vegan is, as well as nice people to answer questions, and a chance to win a free vegan cookbook !

Some Compassionate Easter Candy Ideas

2010-03-22T02:20:00.000-07:00

Here's a link to a post I came across this morning for some great looking Easter goodies
Even though our kids are 31 and 27, I am going to give the Cadbury Creme Eggs a try...I think I even have some little eggs molds somewhere. I'll post a picture when I get them made.

Vegan Irish!

2010-03-13T18:43:00.000-08:00

Here's some fun things to cook and drink ( of course! ) for St. Patrick's Day on the 17th, from Vegweb!

Lazy Samoas ( rushed along )

2010-03-09T10:13:00.000-08:00

I had given up on Girl Scout cookies...Samoas were my favorite...they were good but stubbornly not vegan, year after year. I hadnt even thought of Samoas for a good while. And I had thought after making and baking vegan for going on 4 years, that I had seen most of the ideas out there about baking vegan cookies. I even resisted checking out Isa Chandra Moskowitz's new( ish) book...Vegan Cookies Invade Your Cookie Jar. After all...what more could one possibly say/do about making vegan cookies? It had already been proven that not only was it possible to have great ( often superior ) animal-free baked goodies, so why bother? Well, luckily I happened to see VCTOYCJ at our local library, which in itself was a happy moment, and figured i had better see what it's all about ! A quick flip-through revealed a veganized version of ...of...Samoas!!!! I have to buy this book very soon ( and so should you :) ) , since the library would not appreciate me marking up their book, and I can take my time trying all the great looking recipes. Have a look at Vegwebs review of the cookbook, with lots of people chiming in with their experience making the recipes...a fantastic resource if you are wondering about how some recipes worked for others. Also check out this take on Lazy Samoas at The Bad Vegan.
Pictured above are some Lazy Samoas I made yesterday and took to a talk on Animal Behavior. A fellow compassionate cook ( who also organized the talk ) made some fantastic Peanutbutter Cookies too...maybe she'll post her recipe here for us...Meggin ? I ran out of time and so had to rush the drizzle on top, so they are not real pretty... but man, do they taste fantastic! Perfect blend of coconut and chocolate. Don't let the recipe's lengthy instructions scare you off...they come together very easily once you have things lined up. I toasted my coconut the night before. [My comments are in brackets]. Happy baking!
Here's the recipe from Vegan Cookies Invade Your Cookie Jar, by Isa Chandra Moskowitz and Terry Hope Romero.
Lazy Samoas
2 cups grated unsweetened coconut
1/3 cup unrefined coconut oil [ I used refined...it's what I had]
3/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/3 cup nondairy milk [will try coconut milk next time!]
1 tablespoon ground flax seeds
1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt

For Decorating:
1 cup chocolate chips
2 Tablespoons unrefined coconut oil

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper [do not be tempted to skip this step...they will stick]
2. Pour the grated coconut into a large heavy skillet and toast over medium-low heat. Stir occasionally and toast coconut to a light golden brown, about 8 to 10 minutes. Watch carefully to avoid burning. Promptly remove the coconut from the heat and stir occasionally as it cools. If the coconut continues to turn overly brown [mine did!]promptly pour from the skillet into a large dish and spread around to hasten cooling and stop cooking.
3. In a large mixing bowl, combine the coconut oil [warm a bit if it's too solid], brown sugar, nondairy milk, ground flax seeds, and the vanilla until well blended [i let it beat for a few minutes on low on my stand mixer] and smooth. Sift in the all-purpose flour, baking soda and salt and mix to form a batter [note: it'll be fairly soft...a batter, not a dough]. Fold in the coconut.
4. Scoop about 1 Tablespoon of dough 2 inches apart on the cookie sheets. Flatten each cookie with the back of a measuring cup and use your fingers to work a small hole into each center. Bake for 8 minutes, until the edges of the cookies are golden.
5. Let the cookies cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes, then transfer them to wire racks to cool completely. Transfer the cooled cookies onto waxed paper, then place them on the onto a cutting board or other firm surface that can be easily slid onto a refrigerator shelf.
6. while cookies are cooling, melt chocolate chips in a microwave or double-boiler, then stir in the coconut oil into the melted chocolate [blend very well]. Allow the chocolate mixture to cool for about 5 minutes to thicken slightly. Dip cookie bottom into the chocolate and return them to the waxed paper. Now drizzle the remaining chocolate over the cookies, either by dipping a fork into the melted chocolate [ did not work for me] or by pouring the chocolate into a pastry bag fitted with a very small round tip [ i ran out of time and sloppily drizzled with a spoon ]. Chill cookies for at least 30 minutes to completely firm up the chocolate. Store the cookies in a loosely covered container in a very cool place.

Almonds on the Brain and the Road

2010-03-04T09:45:00.000-08:00

Almonds have been on my mind a lot lately...whole unblanched or blanched, slivered or sliced and toasted, they are perfect to toss into a bowl of cereal, on top of a casserole or pilaf or just eaten out of hand,their flavor and nutritional profile are hard to beat. Lots of protein, calcium, iron and vitamin E. I like to keep some in a jar with other seeds and nuts in a jar as high energy road food.

Almond milk purchased in the tetra-paks at the grocery store are too sweet and weak...the homemade kind is so much better. Here's a great detailed tutorial at The Vegan Reader, and how I made almond milk earlier this week. It could not be easier : Pour 1 1/2 cups of whole unblanched or blanched almonds into a jar or bowl, cover with water and soak for 12 hours in the fridge, or up to 3 days ( if soaking longer than 12 hours, pour off the water after 12 hours and then rinse the almonds twice a day ). Toss the nuts into a blender along with 3 cups of filtered water and blend, blend, blend until it's ground up very fine. Pour the contents of the blender into a fine mesh sieve ( or colander ) that has been lined with several layers of cheese cloth and is straddling a bowl large enough to catch the milk. Let it drain for 10 minutes, then twist cheesecloth up so that you can wring out the almond pulp. Keep twisting and wringing until your hands cramp or you're not getting anymore milk. Save the pulp ( it's just enough! ) for the following cookie recipe, which btw, would also make great road food!

Almond Almond Cookies
Adapted from Christina Pirello's recipe for Pignoli Cookies in her wonderful "This Crazy Vegan Life" book. These are a soft, not too sweet cookie. Experiment with the kinds of flours and even the nuts that the cookies are rolled in.
Makes about 25 cookies. Preheat oven to 350.
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons Baking Powder
1/4 cup oil ( sunflower, safflower, avocado, canola...)
1 cup almond pulp
1/2 cup evaporated cane sugar
2 tablespoons brown rice syrup, or maple syrup
1 teaspoon almond extract
1/4 cup almond milk ( see above !)
1 cup toasted, chopped almond slivers in a shallow bowl
Whisk together flours and baking powder together in a medium bowl. Combine oil, sugar, almond pulp and syrup in a small saucepan over medium heat. Cook, stirring, until well combined and smooth...about 3 to 5 minutes. Remove from heat, stir in almond extract and almond milk and let cool for 15 minutes or so. Stir the almond mixture into the flour mixture and combine to make a soft, sticky dough. If it looks dry add a little more milk, if it's too wet, add a little more flour. Roll dough into 1 1/2" balls , then roll in the chopped almond slivers and arrange on the ungreased cookie sheet. Press down a little to flatten them out somewhat and to set the slivers into the cookie. These dont spread out much, so you can space them about 1" apart. Bake for 18-20 minutes. Remove cookies from sheet immediately and cool on a cookie rack.
Try to save some for the road.

Polar Bear Plunge 2010

2010-01-26T10:27:00.000-08:00

Chesapeake Climate Action Network held their 5th Annual Polar Bear Plunge on the Chesapeake Bay beachfront property of the Chesapeake Bay Foundation in Annapolis ,Maryland, the 23rd of January, 2010. New Leaf participated in several ways. I baked and brought along 100 muffins ( Apple Pecan and Carrot Cake Orange ) and 250 cookies ( Peanut Butter, Oatmeal Raisin and Chocolate Chip)to give away to the hungry Plungers and their support teams. New Leaf's own Jamie raised approximately 350.00 ( I say apprx, because I'm not sure how long the donation period stays open....we've had several come in after the actual dip! ) and put up with my non-stop bake-athon the few days leading up to the plunge....thanks, Hon!

Great hot coffee and tea were being given away by Chesapeake Bay Roasting Company. They are an awesome company that pledges 2% of their gross sales to community organizations that are making a positive impact on the health of the Chesapeake Bay. And they graciously shared their tent with us :)

Lori Hill, of Lori Hill Productions, is "committed to the belief that sustainable meetings and events should be the standard, not an option." Lori not only provided us with a gorgeous table and signs labeling the foods, but enthusiastically applauded New Leaf's efforts to introduce people to the joys and benefits of a vegan diet. AND she plunged in the frigid water, raising over $ 1,000.00 for CCAN....!

The recipes I had used for two of the three cookies are from the following cookbooks. The Oatmeal Raisin Cookie recipe is from Colleen Patrick-Goudreau's fantastic Joy Of Vegan Baking, and can be found on an earlier post on our blog. The Chocolate Chip Cookies are from Isa Chandra Moskowitz's venerable Vegan with a Vengeance. However, I am no longer going to use those recipes due to their dependence on Earth Balance margarine which, unfortunately, uses the really problematic palm oil. Check out this post on Vegan Baking.net to see a good overview of the palm oil issues, and enjoy browsing the rest of their site. They are a very valuable vegan baking resource ( say that 5 times fast! ) And it's not that I won't ever use Earth Balance again, but baking hundreds of cookies to give away and essentially promoting the product, definitely does not feel right. So look for newer, more responsible recipes in the near future here. The third cookie was a soft Peanut Butter Oatmeal that used tofu as a secret ingredient...those were pretty darn addictive!

2nd Annual Vegan Baking Roundtable

2009-12-01T16:29:00.000-08:00

Maybe Jocelyn has got a nice photo of one of our creations to insert here, but until then this frosted Chokecherry plant will hold the place :)

For only 6 adult participants ( and two great kids! ) there sure was a lot of food at our 2nd annual Vegan Baking Roundtable on November 22nd. Some of the recipes will follow my shameless gushing of our wonderful vegan baking efforts, and others are available on several links provided. All in all, it was another wonderful testament to how great cruelty-free cooking can be :)
Meggin brought the most incredible Blueberry Pie...only one ragged little piece was left standing by the time we wrapped up ( I got to have it all to myself the next night ). The blueberry flavor was intense in a perfect balance of sweet yet tart. Amazingly deep color and a lightly browned lattice crust made this pie as nice to look at as to eat! Keep reading to find her recipe.

Vineet and Pooja brought 2 gorgeous pumpkin pies that were made from pumpkins they grew themselves. I have had issues with "traditional" Pumpkin Pie in the past...too sweet, too dense....all that egg and dairy I guess. Vineet's pie was fresh and light, the pumpkin and spices were the stars, not just a flavor. He generously brought the second pie for Jamie and I to keep and have for Thanksgiving...thanks Vineet! You can find his recipe and check out his cool blog, The Green Vine.

Jocelyn, her husband Michael Neese, and their two kids, Nylah and Jackson brought a ton of food! Before long she was browning a skillet full of Tofurky sausages she'd found at a bargain price, and decided to share with us ! We munched on those along with my Roasted Cauliflower Quiche ( recipe to follow ), some local Winesap Apples w/ Vegan Caramel Sauce ( also to follow! ) to dip the slices in if you wanted to. Then Jocelyn, with help from Nylah, did her Spiced Banana Pancake demo, including a variation that uses an easily found brand of vegan chocolate chip, Gheradellis. Visit Jocelyn's awesome new blog, Vegan Family Values ! Check out Michael's informative little essay on a strange , but harmless ( and apparently tasty! ) fungus found growing on a tree, and how they cooked and ate it on their blog as well.

A Vegan Baking discussion would not be complete without talking about all the ways to replace eggs, not only as a leavening, but as a main ingredient as well, as in my quiche. We also surfed the net some, looking at several vegan sites, including Veganbaking.net which has loads of information on all things vegan baking. Check out the recipe for the Raw Cranberry Cheesecake there...I've got to try that soon ! Of course, we also showed off our own lovely blogs.
Colleen Patrick-Goudreau's book The Joy of Vegan Baking is highly recommended for clear instructions and inspired recipes...this would make a nice gift for the baker in any family.

Jamie ( who provided our tech support for the computer/tv connection) joined us towards the end, bringing Bosky back from a visit with Dad, and offering his opinions on our efforts...the pies were his favorites!

Meggin's Blueberry Pie
For the Crust:
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon salt
2/3 cup vegetable shortening
8-10 Tablespoons cold water

For The Filling:
4 cups fresh blueberries
1/4 cup tapioca
1 cup sugar
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1 Tablespoon lime juice
Stir together the flour and salt. Cut in the shortening until pieces are pea-sized. Add in the water 1-2 tablespoons at a time, mixing with a fork until dough is moistened, but not sticky. Sepearte dough into two halves. In another bowl, stir together the filling ingredients. Roll out half the dough and line a 9" pie pan with it. Add the blueberry filling ingredients. Roll out the second half of the dough, and either cut into 1/2" strips for a lattice top or place entire sheet over the filling and cut steam vents. Roll together and pinch crusts along edge of pie pan. Bake at 400 degrees for 45-50 minutes, until filling is bubbling and crust is lightly browned.

Vegan Caramel Sauce
3/4 cup canned coconut milk ( i used Trader Joe's light)
3/4 cup light brown evaporated cane sugar
1/3 cup brown rice syrup
2 Tablespoons arrowroot or cornstarch
2 tablespoons water
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
Combine milk and sugars in a small saucepan, bring to a boil and simmer, stirring constantly for 5 minutes. Mix the arrowroot and water, stirring to dissolve the arrowroot. Add to the simmering mixture,whisking well to keep it moving. Cook another 2-3 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in the vanilla. Cool completely before pouring it into a jar for storage. Store in the fridge. Will keep for several weeks. Try it on ice cream, pie, or as a dip for apples.

Roasted Cauliflower Quiche
The crust was pre-baked, at 400 degrees for 10 minutes, using the recipe from an earlier post on this blog, titled Hand Pies...or you can use your own recipe, a store bought crust, or even make crustless naked quiche. Try also in-season asparagus, broccoli, greens ( Vineet has made some great ones using Swiss chard ). The filling is based on a recipe from the cookbook, You Won't Believe It's Vegan! I like all the ingredients to be room temperature before it goes into the oven.
2 heaping cups of cauliflower florets, cut into bite-sized pieces
1 large onion, cut into a small dice
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon ground cumin
salt,pepper
1 14oz. water-packed block firm tofu, drained but not pressed, room temp.
1/2 cup nutritional yeast
1 tablespoon spicy brown mustard
1 1/2 teaspoons light miso ( optional)
1/4 teaspoon turmeric
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
2 teaspoons salt-free Spike seasoning "salt"
1 teaspoon fresh thyme
1/4 cup fresh parsley, chopped fine
Heat the oil in a big heavy skillet, add the onion and cauliflower, cover lightly and sweat the veggies for a few minutes. Remove the lid and continue to cook,on medium-high, stirring the veggies to keep them from burning, but allowing them to caramelize some. Cook until just tender. Remove from heat. ( alternatively, you could roast these or just about any other veggies you want in your quiche, in the oven at 400 for about 20-30 minutes. Be sure that the vegetables are cooked thru ).
Crumble the tofu into a food processor or blender, along with the next 5 ingredients and blend until very smooth, adding a little water or plant milk as needed to get a very thick batter. Stir the roasted veggies and parsley into the tofu blend and spread into your pie crust and bake at 350 for 25-30 minutes. Serve hot, warm or cold!

A NYTimes Look at "Eating Animals"

2009-11-02T16:46:00.000-08:00

I just finished reading this book, "Eating Animals", by Jonathan Safran Foer a few days ago. I really enjoyed Foer's style and the hard questions he asks himself and others about our connections with the animals we live with and that animals that are brought into this world to be eaten. There is enough humor, modesty and self discovery here to keep it real.
The New York Times has a nice little review of the book, AND a cute picture of a Boston Terrier !

World Vegan Day

2009-11-01T14:59:00.000-08:00

Today, November 1st, has been declared World Vegan Day by the venerable Vegan Society of the UK. The term "vegan" was even coined there. Here's a quote, lifted right off the Vegan Society's website :

The Vegan Society, the world's first, was born in November 1944 - after a lengthy gestation. As early as 1909 the ethics of consuming dairy products were hotly debated within the vegetarian movement. In August 1944, Elsie Shrigley and Donald Watson (a conscientious objector later to be acclaimed as the Vegan Society's Founder) agreed the desirability of coordinating 'non-dairy vegetarians'; despite opposition from prominent vegetarians unwilling to even consider adopting a diet free of all animal products.

In November, Donald organised a London meeting of six like-minded 'non-dairy vegetarians' at which it was decided to form a new society and adopt a new name to describe themselves - vegan derived from VEGetariAN.

It was a Sunday, with sunshine, and a blue sky, an auspicious day for the birth of an idealistic new movement.

And so was today ! Here in Northern Virginia, it started out rainy and cold but the clouds moved off and it warmed up enough to enjoy the sunshine and the last of the Fall leaves, glorious on the rain-darkened tree trunks and limbs.

However, a cloud was cast yesterday when Nicolette Hahn-Niman authored an essay in the NY Times. She's muddied the waters with her particular form of moral schizophrenia that allows abstinence from eating the very animals she raises and sells for premium dollars in niche markets. She explains this dichotomy to Jonathan Safran Foer in his wonderfully written new book Eating Animals, " I feel I can make a choice and I don't want it on my conscience . But that's because of my personal connection with animals. It would bother me...I think because I know it's not necessary. "
Huh. Not necessary. But doesn't that kind of make all pain and suffering the animals must endure, in making a profit for her, her responsibility ...? In the NY Times essay she delivers this cloudy bit of self-serving logic:

To a rancher like me, who raises cattle, goats and turkeys the traditional way (on grass), the studies show only that the prevailing methods of producing meat — that is, crowding animals together in factory farms, storing their waste in giant lagoons and cutting down forests to grow crops to feed them — cause substantial greenhouse gases. It could be, in fact, that a conscientious meat eater may have a more environmentally friendly diet than your average vegetarian.

Come on...why not promote a vegan diet, that we know for sure is much more environmentally friendly than the "average vegetarian" diet, or "conscientious carnivore" diet and leaves the needless suffering of billions of farmed animals behind ?
Let the sun shine for all, especially for those who have no say in how they may be brought into and used in this world to make a buck.

Veal Calves

2009-10-29T11:15:00.000-07:00

I don't know what disturbs me most...knowing that this calf has been separated from its mother very soon after birth, chained to hut and will be fed a milk replacement before moving on to a short, stressful life as a milk cow or even shorter life as a veal calf; OR the fact that this picture is so proudly displayed on the cover of this magazine with a caption to go with it on the inside proclaiming : "Livestock exhibitions area a favorite of young and old alike at the State Fair of Virginia." I'm guessing that this very young calf would rather not be one of the exhibits on display.

And then I read this article in the Food section of the Washington Post. It's titled, "Veal, Cast in a Kinder Light",with the subtitle stating ,' The rosy meat from humanely raised male calves is reviving U.S. appetites.' It goes on to ask a stunning question : " What if, under the right circumstances, eating veal were actually more ethical than shunning it? " The logic is that since male dairy calves are, "an otherwise useless by-product of the dairy industry", and a "resource that needs to be utilized", leading one producer in Pa. to conclude , " If you consume dairy, you should eat veal".
Wow. The veal industry does exist because of the dairy industry, true. You cannot have the dairy without the calves. If you consume dairy you are already consuming veal...maybe just not directly. But to encourage people to eat yet more calves, directly, seems especially callous.

Humans do not need to consume dairy, dairy products, calves or the 'spent' dairy cows that enter our food stream as hamburger and other low-grade meat products and as pet food. There are many tasty vegan alternatives that are less polluting to produce, healthier for our bodies,and certainly more humane.

Here's a few sites to check out for information and some great recipes:
TryVeg.com
Compassionatecooks.com
Veganhealth.org

Hand Pies

2009-10-24T09:11:00.000-07:00

I had recently become curious about making Hand Pies...sweet or savory filling wrapped up in a nice crust and baked in the oven. However, my concerns about palm oil, and it's prevalence in Earth Balance and other vegan margarines, kept me from making them. And even though I use Earth Balance for cooking and spreading, I have been trying to cut back. If you don't know about the issues with palm oil,take a look at Mattie's posting about it on his fantastic site, VeganBaking.net...he shares his experiences as a vegan baker and includes lots of recipes and product reviews.
Back to the crust! I tried using refined coconut oil, which is solid at room temperature like the other fats, but it was kind of difficult to work with and very pricey. And then I remembered seeing recipes for making oil-based crusts, and after a few minutes of Googling "oil pie crust", I found this. Wow...so, not only did the oil crust work well, but it beat some of the other, more "traditional" ways of making it...like with butter, lard or shortening. Ok ! So I went to work and made a filling of peeled ( they werent organic )and chopped apples, maple chunks ( very solid chips of reduced maple syrup...too hard to use without melting them down ), cinnamon, freshly grated nutmeg, and lemon juice. I cooked the filling some, so that the apples would be cooked through in the little pies.

Here's the recipe I used to make the crusts...it needs another name, since "Vegetable Oil pie crust" does not really inspire. But in the meantime, here's the recipe, lifted from the Boston Globe. You will notice that 'milk' is listed in the ingredients...of course, us vegans would use a plant milk of our choice. Next week, I'll try using whole-wheat pastry flour and try some small additions of other flours as well. I divided the dough into 8 balls, each one weighing about 2oz. Each ball got rolled out 1/8" thick and shaped into a 5" circle ( more or less). Then I spooned a few tablespoons of filling onto one side, (leaving enough room for sealing the edges), wet that edge with some water, and then pulled the other side over the filling , bringing the two edges together, crimping and sealing them with a fork. I made some vent holes on the top of each one with the fork, brushed with some oil and sprinkled sugar on top. They baked in a 425 degree oven for about 20 minutes. Not only do they look pretty, but they taste really great, with lots of crisp edges and no soggy bottoms !

Finally...a new post!!!!

2009-10-22T09:55:00.000-07:00

I can't believe 6 months have flown by since i last posted a entry to this poor neglected blog. I have been very busy...I just got out of the groove of posting regularly , I guess. There is no shortage of subject matter, that's for sure!
New Leaf has been involved in several events over the last six months, including tabling at the Earthfest at the Barns at Rose Hill in Berryville, Va. on the 6th of June. Jocelyn and her family (that's her working away behind the table, and her blond-haired, pink-skirted daughter offering advice on the other side of the table ) helped make our booth probably the most popular one at the event since we were giving away free fantastic vegan food! We had slices of Chickpea of the Sea and Eggless Egg Salad wraps, an awesome Pasta Salad Jocelyn made, Chocolate Chip Cookies and Oatmeal Raisin cookies. People were genuinely interested in how we made these items and went away with recipes and brochures on how and why to Go Veg. Thanks so much to Cheryl Ash from eCycle for inviting us to her event; Vegfund.org for financial support ( ingredients for the menu! ) and everyone out there who stopped by and sampled how good vegan food can be.
And then there was our stint at Watermelon Parkfest, also in Berryville, Va., in late September, where we gave away various baked goods and got to enjoy some amazing live music as well. The rain did not dampen Jocelyn's spirit as she offered brochures, cookies and advice to cold and hungry attendees at this 3 day music festival. She covered our booth while I came home to teach a Vegan 101 class , with the help of Lori ( thanks Lori!!! ). We had 12 "students" who gamely sampled some very unfamiliar foods ( seitan, cashew cheese, nutritional yeast... ) and we had such a good time we are meeting for a potluck at one of their homes next month!
Whew...enough for now ! I am currently reading 3 books relevant to the vegan lifestyle...they are The Face On Your Plate by Jeffery Moussaieff Masson, Just Food by James McWilliams, and Eating Animals by Jonathan Safran Foer. I did not set out to read 3 books at the same time...I am just greedy, I guess ! I was already reading Just Food on my Kindle, and then saw The Face On Your Plate ( which I had meant to read earlier ), and then read this piece by Foer in the NY Times Magazine a few weeks back and KNEW I had to read his book as soon as possible. So. Time to get back to reading!

Soyatoo's Soy Whip Topping

2009-05-11T18:12:00.000-07:00

I'll be the first to admit that the word "soy" or "soya" does not conjure up images of tasty lusciousness, and so I wish they'ed come up with a tastier name for this remarkable product. The ingredients are : organic soymilk, coconut oil, sugar-beet syrup, organic maltodextrin, palm oil, and 2% or less of natural vanilla, tartaric acid, carrageenan, sea salt,and fractionated palm kernel oil. It's made in Germany, and not very available here, yet. As an alternative to whipped cow's cream or Cool-Whip, it is more than satisfactory...it is superior. It also holds together nicely, once whipped, and keeps in the fridge several days without separating out...AND it's the perfect balance of sweet, but not too sweet with no overwhelming flavor...just a light vanilla background...perfect for berries ! It's very simple to "make"...just dump the chilled contents of the box into a bowl and beat at high speed for about 3 minutes....it makes about 4 or so cups for about $4.00. I need to find a regular supplier of this stuff so I can have it on hand ! Will update when I figure out where to get it locally.

Here it is on Mother's Day, dressing up a Bisquick shortcake, with North Carolina strawberries. This was great, but the berries were neither organic nor local,and I havent used Bisquick in several years, but it IS vegan, and I was dying to test the Soyatoo!!! In few weeks we'll redo this with our own berries, and homemade oat shortcakes, I promise :>

Don't Give Up Pork Because of Swine Flu !

2009-05-04T13:59:00.000-07:00

Give it up because it is an incredibly wasteful, polluting and cruel way to feed ourselves. So sad that even in the face of a pandemic disease, people still want to keep things as they are, ignoring the connections that breeding, keeping and eating animals in extremely unnatural, crowded conditions must eventually have some consequences.

800 lb. Garbanzo and an Oatmeal Cookie recipe

2009-04-20T10:20:00.000-07:00

This banner made it's debut at CCAN's Clean Energy Open House this Saturday, April 18th. New Leaf was there to offer free samples of fabulous vegan food and information on the hows and whys of going vegan. We had recipes of all the dishes : Chickpea of the Sea, Eggless Egg Salad, Spinach Dip, Chocolate Chip cookies...all except the recipe for these really awesome oatmeal raisin cookies.
I was hoping the banner would spark some conversation about our diets' neglected role in greenhouse gas emissions, and it did ! People are finally becoming aware of the cruelty, waste and pollution inherent in using animals as a commodity. We had help from Vegfund.org, a fantastic organization that helps us get the message out there. Thanks Vegfund, and Animal Voices, where I first heard about it.

Oatmeal Raisin Cookies
From The Joy Of Vegan Baking by Colleen Patrick-Goudreau.

2 tablespoons ground flaxseed
6 tablespoons water
1 cup vegan margarine, softened
1 1/2 cups brown sugar
1/4 cup granulated sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 3/3 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1/2 cup oat bran
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
3 cups Old-Fashioned rolled oats
1 cup raisins ( or vegan chocolate chips )
Preheat oven to 350. Grease 3 cookie sheets.
whip up flaxseed and water till thick, creamy and somewhat gelatinous. Set aside.
Cream margarine, sugars and vanilla till fluffy , then beat in the flaxseed mixture, until well combined.
In a separate bowl, thoroughly combine the flour, oat bran, baking soda and baking powder, salt and the spices. Add to the margarine mixture and mix until blended and smooth. Stir in the oatmeal and raisins and stir til well combined. This is where I refrigerate the dough for at least two hours, to stiffen it up, so it won't spread too far out on the cookie sheet. Scoop out walnut-sized balls, set them 2" apart on the cookie sheets and flatten slightly. Bake for 12-15 minutes. Let them set up a few minutes on the cookie sheets before moving them to a wire rack to finish cooling. Makes 3 1/2 dozen.

Fantastic New Organization !

2009-04-13T03:10:00.000-07:00

While having a look at Grist this morning I saw an ad promoting vegetarianism...and of course, I had to look ! What I saw gives me great hope to see that we are combining talents, energies and resources towards positive change. The tone of the website is upbeat yet urgent. The organization is called Let's Act Now, check it out !

Guest Blogger -- Lori

2009-04-01T09:59:00.000-07:00

I am a new vegan. I am a new vegan. I am a new vegan. Ok, I've said it 3 times. It feels good to say. It's been 5 weeks now and it has been an adventure with frustration, food boredom, sugar & meat withdrawals, enlightenment, lightness, some very inquisitive conversations, and plain stupidity. My brother, who has been a vegetarian for over 20 years asked me the day before yesterday if I was still vegan. I guess he didn't think I had it in me.

So, my life has changed. Some shows I used to love to watch, like Food Network Shows and Bizarre Food with Andrew Zimmern now sadden me. I accidentally ended up on the Food Network yesterday and they were cooking ribs. I found myself counting the number of racks and adding up how many dead animals they were grilling up. Selfish! But, I guess I was that way too.

Yesterday, Dale Ball came to my house and we cooked together! Thanks Dale, you're the best! Passover is coming up and I wanted to learn how to make some meat-like loaves with gravy. We made two that were very different, but both very good. I think the highlight was the mushroom gravy. In fact, I ate some for lunch today and basically used the vege loaf as a platform for the mound of gravy I put on my plate. We also made this phenominal chocolate/peanut butter pie. Everyone loved it and couldn't believe it had tofu in it. That tofu made it so filling.

Next on my culinary agenda is to get more vegetable dishes into my meals. I don't want to be a junk food vegan and I can't seem to get out of the plain steamed vegetable rut. Boring!!!

Well, thanks for letting me be your guest Dale. Now I'm off to create my own blog.

Vegan Cats

2009-04-01T07:10:00.000-07:00

Adopting a vegan diet for ourselves turned out to be way easier than I had imagined.
But what to do about feeding our cats, however, has remained an uncomfortable issue. The dogs took to a vegan dog food ( V-dog) right away and have thrived on it for over a year now, and had been eating Nature's Recipe Vegetarian formula ( bought at Pet Smart ) for a year before that.
Sam and Nemo, our basically outdoor cats ( they come in to sleep at night ) were eating various brands of dry cat kibble and way too many wild creatures outside. We took in another kitty last November. He was 12 weeks old then and I knew that I'll always have to keep him inside to keep the birds safe. And what to feed him ? Of course I'd heard scary stories about vegan-fed cats getting sick and dying. That you cannot possibly feed a cat a vegan diet.
And what about imposing my "vegan values, lifestyle" on my poor pets, who cannot choose for themselves ? What about cats killing birds outside ? People tell me it's "natural" , it's what cats do ! But really, there's nothing natural about us humans clearing off land, throwing up houses, roads and parking lots ( with the attendant water run-off....but I digress....) , nothing natural about poisoning the soil with pesticides and fertilizers to grow lawns and ornamental shrubs and then turn out our pets on what's left of the wildlife. Hmmm.
What I came to was this: Standard cat ( and dog ) food is mostly slaughterhouse by-products or fish/seafood products and/or by-products deemed unfit for human consumption. And considering what I know about the state of the oceans and the awful truth of farmed animals' "lifestyles" imposed on them, NOT feeding our pet cats a vegan diet seemed incredibly selfish and cruel. Here's the article that finally got to me : Paul Greenberg's opinion piece in the NY Times . Thank you, Mr. Greenberg, for the wake-up call.

The Evolution Cat food kibbles arrived Monday, and the boys have all accepted it not only without complaint , but actually dove right in ! I had expected there to be a long transition period. Even the 14 year old, Sam, ( hunter extraordinaire, and responsible for the untimely deaths of numerous birds and small rodents over the years) gobbled it up right off the floor when I first opened the package and spilled some. I'm mixing the Evolution cat food with what was left of some Purina catfood kibbles, about half and half. So far, it's just the dry stuff...guess we need to order some canned ! I'll post about the transition now and then as we go, along with pictures of the guys. Featured today is the new guy, Tomsky, aka Mr. Cutey Pants.

Wiki Article Worth a Look

2009-04-01T03:04:00.000-07:00

This article on "environmental vegetarianism" is pretty good ( if you ignore the odd criticism by an Australian towards the end ) and has lots of links to important resources. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Environmental_vegetarianism

Homemade Falafel Fest !

2009-03-30T02:16:00.000-07:00

The recipe for these falafels is basically the recipe from the original Moosewood Cookbook, circa 1977. The biggest difference is that I used uncooked chickpeas ( instead of canned or cooked ) that had been soaked for about 36 hours. 48 hours would not have been too long to soak, so long as the water is changed now and then, and kept cool, but not in the refrigerator. The last time we made falafels I treated the chickpeas as sprouts...by soaking and rinsing them for the first twentyfour hours then rinsing and keeping them in a colander ( above any water )covered and not too cool, and after 48 hours most of the seeds sported adorably tiny roots on one end. I have read that sprouted beans and seeds are more digestible...that seems to be the case for me. Even the long soak for the beans used in this recipe seemed to dramatically reduce the usual gasiness I get from canned chickpeas. These are very easy to make.... the hardest part about making falafels is remembering to start your chickpea soaking ahead of time ! We didnt plan things right, so we did not have any tzatziki sauce on hand, so after Jamie fried these babies ( perfectly...not greasy at all ! ) we just stuffed them in pitas with onions, lettuce, mustard and Vegannaise.
Falafels are fantastic party food with several dips to go with them... we need to make these more often !

FALAFELS
4 cups soaked raw chickpeas, rinsed
3 large cloves garlic, minced or microplaned
juice of 2 large lemons
3 tsp. ground cumin
1 tsp. ground coriander
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. Spike seasoning salt ( optional )
1 3" dried chili pepper pod, crumbled ( or equivalent )
1 small onion, finely chopped
1/2 cup minced flat-leafed Italian parsley, packed
3 Tablespoons flour
extra flour for dredging
oil for frying

Combine all the above in a large bowl, and then pulse in small batches in a food processor or blender until ground up like a coarse-ish meal...not too fine, or they may get tough when cooked. Too coarse and they'll fall apart...test a little as you go and see how it holds together. The flour will help bind it when cooked. Set aside for at least 2 hours, or cover and refrigerate for several days. When ready to cook...have all your sandwich makings ready ( don't forget the tzatziki sauce ! ) make walnut-sized, slightly flattened balls of the mixture, dredge in the extra flour and deep fat fry a few at a time till golden brown...just a few minutes.
Enjoy!

Another Dairy Product

2009-03-25T03:26:00.000-07:00

Milk selling at 2.49 a gallon in grocery stores two blocks away from this dry-lot dairy in Arizona seemed especially insulting to the lives of these animals. Especially this little guy.

One Lucky Vegan

2009-03-23T12:06:00.000-07:00

OK, so this isn't strictly vegan, but watch how it ties in.
I had the good fortune to go on a National Geographic/Lindblad's Among The Great Whales cruise in Baja California Sur with my intrepid 80 year old mother ( thanks, Ma ! ) from Feb. 28th thru March 7th. We shared the ship National Geographic Seabird with 60 other passengers, about half of whom we're either from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, or were big supporters of their work. My love for birds and birding grows every year, so to find myself amongst some serious ( and generous ! ) birders was an unexpected bonus. And wow...birds galore ! Pelicans, egrets, cormorants, ducks, geese, coots, shearwaters, boobies, sea gulls, frigate birds, verdin, grey thrasher, cara caras, cactus wrens.... and the elusive Belding's Yellowthroat thanks to the persistence and patience of several people from the Cornell group.
I had come aboard prepared to "make do", food-wise. Peanut butter, good bread, homemade date/nut/coconut balls, Primal Strip Jerky traveled in my suitcase all the way from Virginia...just in case. And even tho I had filled out and sent my 'special diet' inquiry weeks before, I wasn't sure how 'vegan' would be interpreted. Turns out that a vegan staff member, Erin Tenille, from Portland , Oregon had just been promoted to the kitchen that week. She made fantastic vegan sandwiches, pilafs, risotto, soups and desserts all week long...it certainly made my trip a pleasure, knowing there was a vegan in the kitchen watching out for me. There were a few others that requested vegetarian, and the whole kitchen and dining room staff were very accommodating. Most of the vegetarian options offered were vegan- based and could have cheese added if wanted. Their salads were gorgeous. One salad even had fresh flower blossoms scattered over the tender young greens. There were vegan salad dressings at each lunch and dinner ( and not just oil and vinegar ). My only gripe is that things that could have ( should have :> ) been vegan, were not. Take mashed potatoes...no reason to introduce dairy to that...leave out the butter and heavy cream ! Use vegan margarine and soy creamer ! Also the morning's hash browns or fried potatoes...why butter ? Why not olive, sunflower, safflower, walnut, avocado, or any number of other wonderful oils ? Amazing how many dishes are ruined through mindless additions of cheap, plentiful animal products.

I was thrilled to see that the Lindblad Expedition company left cards in our rooms explaining why they don't serve shrimp on board ("... the shrimp industry is one of the most destructive processes of the industry." ). However, modern industrial dairy practices have got to be one of the most destructive "farming" methods of all time. Yet they get a pass. Hmmmm. Our society really is addicted to dairy, isn't it ?

We saw Blue Whales off Cabo San Lucas. Blue Whales ! The Grey Whales were inexplicably friendly, considering how close we came to wiping their whole population off the planet...rendering their bodies down for oil to burn. A mother Grey repeatedly presented her baby to us humans, who were reaching their hands out of the Zodiac boats, splashing the water...hoping to touch the sweet immense creatures. What an exhilarating and conflicting experience. Part of me shrank from bothering these animals at all, even tho they approached our boats,on their own, once we were in the area. I only wish that people would value the lives of cows, pigs, chickens and all the other animals that suffer at our hands as much as the whales of the oceans. A life is a life.

The Magic of Tofu

2009-02-18T12:28:00.000-08:00

I am constantly amazed at how versatile tofu is. Today I made a quick tofu sour cream to go with my lunch of black bean dip ( a can refried black beans, canned fire-roasted tomatoes, fresh onion and lots of cilantro and a squeeze of lime) and organic corn chips. Does that sound skimpy ? Not if you make it your meal ! I ended up using a half a can of the refrieds, half a can of the tomatoes, and about 1/3 of a carton of the tofu. Loads of protein, taste and fun to eat !
The picture shows Mori-Nu tofu...in an aseptic, or Tetra-pak package. This kind does not need to be refrigerated before it is opened, but is sometimes found in the chilled veggie section in grocery stores. The other kind of tofu usually found in grocery stores is the kind packed in water. But this Tetra-pak type is really great when you want a very smooth creamy texture. The tofu is draining in an old yogurt screen...meant to reduce dairy yogurt by removing the excess moisture. Worked fantastically for the tofu ! One whole carton fit into the cone, and was weighted down with a can of beans for an hour. Almost a 1/2cup of liquid drained off of it. I tossed the drained tofu into the container that came with one of those electric blender sticks ( way better than hauling out a food processor or blender )that my Mom left with us during her last visit ( thanks, Mom! )along with the juice of one lemon, a spoonful of nutritional yeast, several spoonfuls of olive oil, some salt and pepper, blended it up, and, wow...something way better than dairy sour cream and far cheaper and healthier than the commercial non-dairy version. A handful of cilantro tossed into it at the end of blending would be a nice touch !

Little Raviolis

2009-01-23T12:29:00.000-08:00

My husband and I made made these cute little raviolis stuffed with a tofu ricotta (and served with a spicy tomato sauce and Field Roast's Smoked Apple Sage Sausages), in celebration of my brother Kurt's 54th Bday, and his daughter coming out to visit, all the way from San Francisco ! The cookie cutter is about 1 1/2" across. Sorry that there's no picture of the final product...we all fell into it so fast that I forgot the photo-op !

The recipe for the dough is slightly altered from Bryanna's suggested pasta dough recipe
...I did as follows:

1 Cup unbleached all-purpose flour
2/3 cup semolina flour
1/2 cup garbanzo bean flour
1/2 teaspoon slat
2/3 cup water
Mix the dry ingredients together till well combined. Add the water and knead well with your hands or stand mixer, or a food processor, until firm and springy. Cover and let rest at least one hour, or up to several days ( refrigerate after several hours ). We passed our dough through a hand-crank pasta machine several times, and ended up on number 5 on the dial. Too thin and it'll split, too thick and it won't cook properly, but it could easily rolled out by hand. So satisfying to make our own pasta...and vegan to boot !
I'll post the recipe for the ricotta in the next day or so.

CCAN's Polar Bear Plunge Recipes

2009-01-14T11:35:00.000-08:00

The following are the recipes for the muffins and cookies that came to Chesapeake Climate Action Network's Polar Bear Plunge in Annapolis on Jan 10th, 2009.
New Leaf's own Jamie plunged ! Many thanks to all the others who cared enough to plunge, pledge, or otherwise help support the efforts of CCAN, and a special thanks to Lori Hill ( lorihillevents.com ) for including us !

Applesauce-Oatbran Muffins ( with a hint of orange )
( adapted from Veganomicon , by Isa Chandra Moskowitz and Terry Romero )
3/4 cup soy or other plant milk
1/2 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
1 cup unsweetened applesauce
1 teaspoon freshly grated orange zest
1/2 teaspoon orange extract
3 tablespoons canola ( or other )oil
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 cup oat bran
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 cup raisins or dried cranberries ( optional )
Preheat oven to 350. Lightly grease a 12 cup muffin tin. In a large bowl whisk plant milk and vinegar together and set aside for a few minutes to sour the milk. Add the next 5 ingredients and whisk together well. In another, smaller bowl, sift all the dry ingredients together. Then fold the dry ingredients into the wet, stirring only to moisten, do not overmix. Fold in the dried fruit, if used. Fill the muffin tins 2/3 full and bake 25-30 minutes. Allow muffins to cool in tins for 10 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack. Makes 12-16.

Chocolate Chip Cookies
( from Vegan With A Vengeance by Isa Chandra Moskowitz and Terry Romero )
1 cup vegan margarine, room temperature
1 and 1/4 cup sugar
1 tablespoon molasses
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 and 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 and 1/2 cup vegan chocolate chips
Preheat oven to 350. Cream marg and sugar till fluffy. Add molasses and vanilla and beat a little more. Combine flour, baking soda and salt; and then add to the creamed mixture. Fold in the chocolate chips. Add a tablespoon or two of water if dough is too crumbly. Chill dough for a few hours. Drop by spoonfuls onto greased cookie sheet about 2" apart and bake 8-10 minutes. Cool on cookie sheet for 5 minutes before moving to a cooling rack. Mkaes about 2 1/2 dozen cookies.

No Bake Chocolate-Oatmeal-Peanut Butter Cookies
2 cups sugar
1/3 cup cocoa
1 stick ( 1/2 cup ) margarine
1/2 cup soy or other plant milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup natural peanut butter
3 cups oatmeal ( 1/2 old fashioned, 1/2 quick works well )
Stir first 4 ingredients together in a heavy bottomed medium saucepan and bring to a boil, stirring constantly. Boil this together for a full two minutes, continuing to stir constantly. Remove from the heat and stir in the peanut butter, vanilla,mixing and melting the peanut butter in till it's nice and smooth. Add all the oats and mix well till. Let cool enough to scoop spoonfuls out onto oiled cookie sheets or waxed paper. Do not let mixture cool too long in the pan or you will end up with one giant cookie. Let cool and then store in the fridge. Makes about 24.

Corn Muffins or Bread
1 cup all-purpose flour or wholewheat pastry flour
1 cup stone-ground cornmeal
2 tablespoon sugar ( optional)
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 teaspoons Ener-G egg replacer
4 tablespoon warm water
1 cup soy or other plant milk, room temperature
1/4 cup canola oil
Preheat oven to 425. Sift together the dry ingredients in a medium bowl. Beat together the Ener-G powder and water till thick and frothy in another medium bowl, and then whisk in the milk and oil. Add the wet ingredients to the dry till just combined and spoon into greased muffin tins or a 9x9 square pan. Bake muffins for 12-15 minutes, and 20-25 for the square.

Purely Decadent !

2008-12-25T15:42:00.000-08:00

Wow...This is the best ice cream I've had in years !!!! My sweet husband picked it up at a mainstream grocery store ( tomorrow he's going to look for more flavors ! ) I've seen it around, but had not tried it yet. The chocolate flavor is smooth and rich, and blends seamlessly with the incredibly silky coconut milk. I can't wait to try the other flavors...no more making excuses or apologizing for vegan ice creams ! The ingredients read : Organic coconut milk, organic agave syrup,chicory root extract, cocoa, carob bean gum, guar gum, natural flavor. What baffles me is if such a good product can be made from such simple, pure ingredients without harm to the animals, why on Earth would you have it any other way ?

For The Birds

2008-12-19T06:24:00.000-08:00

This morning I made 10 "suet" cakes to give away as gifts, and to feed to the wild birds that visit our feeders. I used tofu tubs as molds. Last Spring I used tofu tubs as seedling starter trays.
the recipe I found online and then adapted, using some older wheat germ and buckwheat kernels to bulk it up a little. I hope they hold together ! They're all in the fridge, chillin down and firming up right now.
I'd followed an older thread online about making vegan suet cakes for birds and someone chimed in and said that the vegan was "self-righteously imposing their warped values on the natural order of things"......as if using animal suet rendered from farmed animals was not imposing on nature, or , the very animals who had to endure very unnatural conditions and then slaughter. Jeez !
I'll post the recipe later :>

Gingerbread Peace Activists

2008-12-17T04:12:00.000-08:00

The results from the flurry of baking for CCAN's Open House at Mike Tidwell's home in Takoma Park on the 13th of December included these guys, ready for action and totally vegan !

Mike graciously lets us set up our vegan advocacy tables and tent during the event to offer plant-based food information and bake sale goodies to compliment their message of reducing our impact on the planet. Chesapeake Climate Action Network promotes individual actions such as eating lower on the food chain, replacing old lightbulbs with CFLs , installing solar panels, collecting rain from your roof in barrels for the garden, and writing to our representatives in government demanding clean renewable energy. Check out their website and get involved :>

Mike Tidwell is a tireless, informed and engaging speaker and writer for the cause and can be heard hosting Earthbeat Radio, along with Daphne Wysham and on Jay Tomlinson's excellent podcast, The World On Fire , as well as appearing on numerous television shows. He's written essays for Orion, Audubon, Grist and others as well as authoring the prescient book Bayou Farewell and a follow-up of sorts, Ravaging Tide. It is an honor to be associated with him, CCAN, the small army of dedicated interns, and of course, Jay!

Here's the recipe for the cookies. Of course, use organic ingredients when ever possible....it's better for everyone . The dough is easy to work with, and does'nt spread out or puff up too much while baking. Makes 10-12 4" delicious Agents Of Change.

GINGERBREAD FOLKS ( adapted from a Vegetarian Resource Group recipe )
1/4 cup oil
1/3 cup evaporate cane brown sugar
1/2 cup molasses ( not blackstrap...use a mild molasses )
2 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup oat flour ( grind some oatmeal in a blender till is is finely crumbled...some bigger particles are ok...you don't need it as fine as wheat flour)
1 teaspoon baking powder
2 teaspoons ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon cinnnamon
1/4 teaspoon cloves
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon fresh orange zest ( optional but nice :> )
1/4 cup plus 1 Tablespoon orange juice
Beat together the first 3 ingredients in a large bowl ( or bowl of stand mixer ). Sift together all the rest of the ingredients except for the orange juice. Add the dry, sifted ingredients to the sugar and oil mixture, alternating with the orange juice. Refrigerate dough for several hours. Roll out dough no thinner than 1/8", cut out shapes, transfer to baking sheets and bake at 350 for 8-12 minute...depending on shape and thickness. The thinner they are rolled the crisper they will be when baked. Don't over-bake ! Cool on racks. These also freeze well.

Vegan Baking Musings

2008-12-10T05:21:00.000-08:00

It has recently occured to me that there seems to be two major reactions to vegan baking, as a subject.
The predominant one : " How could you possibly bake without eggs, butter, milk ? ! ", and then there is, " What ? Why would there be any animal "product" in this bread, cookie, pie, cake..." I was of the first opinion before I became vegan. But pretty quickly I came to (and after two years of baking, sampling, reading, talking about, sampling some more....) the second opinion...why would you want to sully sweet baked goodness with the pain and suffering inherent in animal abuse and slaughter ? Especially when easy effective alternatives abound.

Maybe that's what is so wonderful about vegan baking...every cookie, cake, pie or loaf of bread that gets baked without using the animals is a silent offering to them.

I'm getting ready to go into bake-sale mode for an upcoming event and look forward to introducing more people to the joys of vegan baking ( and eating ! ).

So many great vegan cookbooks out there now..including this fantastic one by Colleen Patrick-Goudreau: The Joy Of Vegan Baking.

Western Maryland Vegetarian Society and a recipe

2008-12-08T12:04:00.000-08:00

Wow...almost 2 months since I've posted anything. It's not like there is a lack of vegan related topics to blog about...in fact, the further I get into this, the more I realize how much loops back to our society's brutal ( or indifferent ) treatment of animals and our disconnect from nature. Living right across from a cow and calf operation is a constant sad reminder.
But yesterday afternoon, I took a break and attended a Vegan Holiday Potluck in Hagerstown, hosted by Western Maryland Vegetarian , met some great people and am now re-energized ! We had some fantastic food at the potluck . The big hits were Chocolate Almond cupcakes made by the daughter of a couple attending. I'm sorry I don't remember their names, but I do recall that the young baker got the recipe from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over The World. I think there was a total of 15 people ...and like Ginnie says, we were all speaking the same language :> Nice, also, to see a table loaded with beautiful, tasty vegan foods and not have to wonder about it's origins.
And now, a recipe for a chicken-like Seitan. It is easy to make, just make sure you have everything. I've made this several times and love it as a sandwich filling ( slice it thinly ) , cut into strips and fried up for fajitas, chopped up and added to a Shepard's Pie...and it freezes very well. The recipe originates from Ann Gentry's Real Food Daily cookbook. Lot's of great recipes in it, and all vegan !

Chicken-style Seitan:

1 tablespoon canola oil, plus more for pan, plus 1/2 cup canola oil

2/3 cup chopped onion

1 tablespoon minced garlic

3 1/2 cups gluten flour

1 cup garbanzo flour

2/3 cup nutritional yeast

1 1/2 teaspoons sea salt

1 3/4 cups freshly cooked cannellini beans, see Cook's note*

1/3 cup tamari

3 cups water

*Cook's Note: If your blender isn't large enough to hold all of the water called for in this recipe, add just enough of it to create a smooth and creamy bean puree, then stir the remaining water into the puree in a large bowl. You can substitute canned organic white beans for the freshly cooked cannellini beans, if desired. After draining, a 15-ounce can will yield 1 3/4 cups of beans.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Line an 8-inch square baking pan with 2-inch-high sides with parchment paper. Lightly oil the parchment paper. Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a heavy skillet over medium heat. Add the onion and garlic and saute for 5 minutes, or until tender. Set aside to cool.

Stir the gluten flour, garbanzo flour, nutritional yeast, and salt in a large bowl to blend. Puree the beans, 1/2 cup canola oil, tamari, and sauteed onion mixture in a blender until smooth, adding some of the water to create a smooth and creamy consistency. Whisk the bean puree and the remaining water in another large bowl to blend. Quickly stir the bean mixture into the flour mixture until a very wet dough forms. Transfer the dough to the prepared baking pan and smooth the top. Cover with aluminum foil.

Place the pan of Seitan Dough in a larger roasting pan. Add enough water to come halfway up the sides of the pan of seitan. Bake for 2 hours, adding more water to the roasting pan if necessary, or until the seitan is firm on top. Cool the seitan to room temperature. Quarter the seitan into 4 equal (1-pound each) squares.

The seitan will keep for 2 days, covered and refrigerated. Wrap the seitan squares separately in plastic wrap, then enclose them in a resealable plastic bag and freeze them up to 1 week, if desired.

Yield: 4 1/2 pounds

It's The Animals !

2008-10-25T10:00:00.000-07:00

Animal agriculture has been in the news a lot lately. October has seen a lot of coverage.

Oprah's powerful October 13th show focused on California's Prop 2 coming up for a vote Nov.4th. Both proponents and those opposed to the initiative were well represented. Video clips were shown from a variety of sources, even some undercover footage taken in a veal barn. The farmers who oppose Prop 2 insist that they will be ruined, forced to give up the business of raising animals for food. They happily gave tours of their modern 'farms', unabashedly presented hundreds of enormous sows living their lives out in gestation crates so confining that they cannot ever turn around, or hens crammed into cages suspended in barns, their feet, wings and beaks in constant danger of becoming entangled in the wire of the cages....presented this as the most modern humane way...this way they're free from food competition, aggression from the other animals and can be administered shots and have their health managed much more individually....all in the name of better animal health and food safety, they say. Other farmers, who use more "humane" methods, also happily gave tours of their farms, insisting that more sunlight, space ,natural food and opportunities to stretch wings and root in the dirt is not only better for the animals and the taste of their flesh, but also for the farmer's bottom line. HSUS's Wayne Pacelle spoke eloquently and patiently for the animals who have no voice in all of this debate over their bodies and lives.

Michael Pollan wrote a fantastic 8,000 word letter to the incoming president addressing changes that need to be made in how we grow and eat our food in the October 12th issue of the NYTimes magazine. Very worth reading.

And this week's NYTimes Magazine has an article about Wayne Pacelle, titled, The Barnyard Strategist, and how he's shaped the HSUS in the last four years into a very powerful politically savvy voice for farmed animals as well as advocates for cats and dogs.

Daily reminders of food prices going up , due in part, to feeding 70% of US grain to farmed animals and to quote Pollan's letter to the president, "...40% of the world's grain output today is fed to animals; 11 percent is fed to cars and trucks, in the form of biofuels."
Animal agriculture is responsible for 18% of global manmade greenhouse gases. We're bringing the planet down for the luxury of eating cheap animal flesh and their secretions. How is it that people can't connect the dots, now that it's been drawn out for us to so plainly see ?

Even the comic strip, Mutts, written and drawn by Patrick McDonnell brought the animals' plight to the table in the Washington Post for the week of October 12-17th with the animals themselves sweetly pleading people to hear their voices.

So. I should be happy that all of this is hitting mainstream America. Right ? I am, to some degree. What I'm not seeing, feeling, is the outrage that I had hoped people would feel when they see what a horrific, filthy , polluting, cruel scam the whole animal agribiz is. It is still business as usual. Pollan weakly promotes eating less meat , but mentions grass-fed beef as the answer so often I wonder if he's got a stake ( no pun intended, seriously ! ) in it. But it's not just "meat"....it's dairy, it's eggs.......it's the animals !!!!!!!
I keep hoping Pollan will come to his senses and go vegan. What a force he could be. I do really love his idea of a White House Organic garden on the South Lawn....what a wonderful example.

So. Yes. Word is getting out. But with the constant election buzz on and the economic meltdown in mid-ooze, I think the message that industrial animal agriculture is bad, bad, bad, just becomes background noise. Too bad it can't sell air time for the networks like the silly doings of celebrities and/or the presidential and vice presidential candidate's mudslinging. Sigh.

Well, as my husband says, Continue To March...!

One more thing.... You would think that the alternative to breeding, feeding, applying antibiotics and growth hormones; disposing of all the waste of the animals and dealing with the attendant water, air, and land pollution; and finally slaughtering, processing, shipping and storing ( all very energy intensive ) of the body parts and by-products was something so repulsive and difficult as to be a non-starter. Tofu ? Plant milks ? Nuts, grains, fruits, vegetables...such simple, easy and incredibly tasty ways to feed ourselves without bringing down the planet. It feels so good to be vegan, but so sad to take this all in.

New Calves in the Field

2008-09-25T16:41:00.000-07:00

My husband and I live directly across from a "cow and calf" operation. On the surface the farm presents the perfect pastoral scene: green rolling hills fall away to a creek that meanders along the edge of some woods. Birds flit in and out of the trees, deer emerge and browse. We've seen 5 kinds of woodpeckers, Indigo Buntings, Redstarts, Blackpoll Warblers, and enough other kinds of birds to wear binoculars many days that I walk with my neighbors and our dogs through the woods. There are even nesting owls and hawks within the little forest.
Cattle navigate in the sea of grasses, content to eat, sleep, chew their cud and tend to their young, who are born right there in the field. Sometimes you can see them minutes after they enter the world. You could even see them being born, if you knew when to look.
The cows udders swell with milk for their babies...just a little though, not like those hideously stretched, distended and painful looking udders on the poor milk cows. The young calves play amongst each other, literally kicking up their heels, nuzzling faces and forming friendships. Sometimes they follow us, as we walk the dogs along the fence line, the bolder ones making a big show of coming closer and closer then suddenly, expolsively, eyes rolling wildly, losing their nerve and wheeling off, arcing clots of dirt, grass and manure through the air. These "meat" cattle enjoy a relatively peaceful and natural existence, until the calve are "weaned ": rounded up and herded onto a transport trailer and hauled off to feedlots or other "finishers". The mother cows bawl heart-breakingly for days, calling for their calves. The calves are all of 4-5 months old. Where ever the calves are , they must be terrified. The cows are already pregnant with the next calf. This process will continue for several years until the mother cow herself will hauled off to a feedlot or slaughterhouse.
The latest mass calf removal happened to fall on the day we hosted the Vegan 101 class on the 7th of September. ( see previous entry by Tanya...thanks for taking and posting the pictures, Mark ! ) I was unaware of the frantic calling, bawling, crying of the mothers...calling their babies over and over and over....until i stepped outside to walk one of our dogs in the early evening. I was all aglow with how well the class went... we had shared stories, recipes and food completely animal-free, and got to introduce some of the great food to people new to veganism. So it took a few minutes for the mothers' cries to penetrate.

Inside my head I wailed, " I am SO, SO SORRY ....." over, and over and over again. I can still hear them, and my own voice.

Scratch the surface of any food animal enterprise, no matter how "humane", and you will find an endless stream of needless suffering imposed on creatures whom we feel entitled to use. Going vegan alleviates the direct connection to the meat, milk and egg industries ( and going vegan is a direct action ), but it heightens your awareness of a horribly skewed food culture that views a simple, peaceful, nutritious plant-based diet as radical and extreme.
I'm only two years into being vegan, and every single day delivers new ( and many distressing old ) examples of why I continue to advocate for a vegan diet on behalf of the animals.

This evening I noticed down where the hill levels out and meets the stream , at the edge of the woods, 8 brand new calves and their mothers resting in the sea of grass. A few of the babies stared at us with wide-eyed curiosity as we walked by.
To the cows and their calves whom I share the sky, the rain and the Earth with, I can only say, again, I am so, so sorry.

Photos - Vegan Cooking 101

2008-09-20T13:17:00.000-07:00

Photos from the Sept. 7 Vegan Cooking 101 demo are posted on our Picasa album. See for yourself all the great nibblies, like those in this photo. Delish!

playing with graphics

2008-09-17T12:27:00.000-07:00

Playing with stuff in Photoshop again....

Vegan 101 Class

2008-09-11T14:07:00.000-07:00

On September 7th, a Vegan 101 class was given by several New Leaf Vegan members, and held at my home. Tanya and Mark came early, bringing plant and nut milks to sample, taco filling ( for a dip ) homemade Hickory Bits ( where's the recipe, Tanya ?? ), chips, plates and bowls ( that are awaiting their entrance into the compost heap ) and some good ideas on setting up the event. We had 12 great "students" attend who spanned the range from committed vegan mothers raising their children vegan to a certain mother-in-law who gamely came along to "see what it's all about". It was really nice to see so much enthusiasm, curiosity and a willingness to try new ways with food !
We made a very simple seitan,tossing it into the oven to bake ( wrapped in foil )while I demonstrated making Eggless Egg Salad and Chickpea Of The Sea ( recipe to follow ! ) We also sampled 2 other types of sietan...one I had made the day before ( a 'chicken' type)and J brought some fantastic chewy BBQ seitan that she had made at home. All 3 seitans had different textures, flavors and nutrition...and all very cheap to make at home. Good news when a little tub of it costs close to $4.00 in a grocery store, if you can find it! Homemade seitan is great...you can slice it up for sandwiches ( hot or cold ) brown it up and use it as you would ground beef ( before you went vegan :>) in any number of ways. maybe we should have a seitan contest at some point...just to get the creativity going !
The plant and nut milk table was a hit...rice, almond, hazelnut, hemp, soy, oat were standing in for cow's milk. All were offered chilled with chocolate syrup on the side for those who wanted it. Hemp is my current favorite...it's got lots of protein, calcium and some omega-3's. Oh, and it tastes great, too !
Gina brought some fantastic brownies and the recipe for them, and we made ( with the help of 17 year old V )and baked some Oatmeal Chocolate chip cookies to demonstrate that beaten ground flax seed can replace a hen's egg very nicely, adding fiber and omega-3's.
We talked about beans and grains (and sampled some Quinoa and Blackbean salad )and I wish we could have covered more nuts and seeds...nut butters, too ! So much to cover, because there is so much food that is vegan...you just have to look beyond what's being pressed on us through clever advertising. The following is from Appetite For Profit

.." the food industry spends upwards of $36 billion annually to market its products.." and "...food corporations spend roughly $12 billion a year directly targeting children with junk food marketing. If parents are supposed to be the ones making decisions for their children, then why are companies bypassing parents altogether and marketing directly to kids? Because corporations such as McDonald’s aim to undermine parental authority by getting children to nag their parents. And it’s not only marketing for junk food that parents must contend with, but also for toys, video games, clothing, CDs, cell phones, computers, you name it."

Hmmm.....

OK, here's the Chickpea recipe. It's lifted and altered from Isa Chandra Moskowitz's fabulous cookbook : Vegan With A Vengeance. In her book it's called Chickpea-Hijiki Salad Sammiches. You'll be amazed how much it tastes like tuna !

I call it : Chickpea Of The Sea.
1 tablespoon dried hijiki, dulse or wakame granules, or other finely ground sea veggie
1 can ( 15-ounce) chickpeas, drained
2 tablespoons Fresh lemon juice or apple cider vinegar
2 tablespoons finely minced onion
1/4 to 1/2 cup finely diced celery
2 Tablespoons Nutritional Yeast ( Red Star Vegetarian Support )
salt and pepper, seasoning salt to taste. I like a little ground cumin, too.
3-4 tablespoons vegan mayonnaise
Stir the lemon juice or vinegar into the celery ,sea veggies, onion, nutritional yeast,salt and pepper in a medium bowl. Set aside for a few minutes to soak.
Then mash the drained chickpeas into the stuff with either a fork or potato masher until no whole chickpeas remain. Add the mayo, and mix it all up.
Use in sandwiches, wraps, lettuce cups or as a dip.

Lip Smackin' Smooze

2008-07-20T15:33:00.000-07:00

While wandering through Whole Foods, my husband recently discovered Smooze fruit ice. It is a refreshing and delicious vegan treat and perfect for a quick cool-down during these hot summer days. In its tidy little package, this chilled goody is not as messy as Popsicles, and nutritionally it has only 5o-70 calories and no high fructose corn syrup. This makes Smooze a smart choice for children and calorie-counting adults. Thanks to 100% coconut milk, this fruit ice is sinfully creamy and the tropical flavors (passion fruit, pineapple, mango, and pink guava) will transport you to a balmy beach in the South Pacific. Don't let its small size fool you, it is completely satisfying and full of flavor. I have fallen in love with Smooze and I bet you will too!

Lovin' Cake Love

2008-07-20T13:36:00.000-07:00

In the last couple of years, the humble cupcake, once relegated to home-baked, school birthday party treats, has surpassed cakes, brownies, pies, and pretty much any other pastry, as the dessert du jour. Every bakery in town has a plain and fancy selection. However as a vegan, unless you live near only a handful of vegan bakeries in the country, you will need to drag out the bowls and baking pans and make your own. So what a delightful surprise when my husband and I were walking through Tysons mall and found the Cake Love bakery in the food court with two (!) vegan cupcakes for sale! We bought one each of the yellow and chocolate cupcakes with buttercream frosting, and the verdict is...yum! The buttercream frosting is wonderful...creamy, buttery, easily melts in your mouth, and has just the right amount of sweetness. The cake portion is not extraordinary, but it is good and I give the cupcakes an enthusiastic thumbs up.

The big story here is not that I've discoverd a really good cupcake, but that a mainstream bakery is progressive enough to offer vegan (and even gluten-free) items. Cake Love is the dream come true of lawyer turned baker Warren Brown; his story is inspiring and a must read on the website. Be sure to check out the information under the Green Label as it includes a great explanation of vegan products and veganism as well as links to goveg.com and veganforlife.com. With two locations in DC, two locations in Virginia, and three in Maryland, if you live in the area, plan a special day that includes stopping in to Cake Love, thanking them for considering us vegans, and enjoying an absolutely lovely treat. If you don't live in the area, well they do ship...you'll have to save your pennies, but no doubt you'll have no regrets.

A Whale of A Tale

2008-06-22T08:27:00.000-07:00

If you’re looking for an easy and entertaining read this summer, grayson by Lynne Cox, is a great choice. This is the true story of a solitary event experienced by the author – swimming in the California coast with a lost baby whale looking for his mother. Lynne was only seventeen at the time, but certainly no ordinary teenager; she had already swum the English Channel, twice, and the Catalina channel, and her comfort and ability in the water comes through in her writing. Her connection with Grayson (the baby whale) is extraordinary, but Lynne’s vivid and reverent description of the sights, sound, and feel of the ocean will equally hold your attention. In the following example, Lynne senses an intensifying energy in the water and takes a look below the surface:

“Thousands of baby anchovy were darting through the water like lit sparklers.
Blinded by panic, they were frantically tearing away from their schools and leaping out of the ocean like popcorn cooking on high heat. They were trying to evade something larger.
Light was exploding around me like hundreds of tiny blue flashbulbs constantly firing.”

Lynne’s knowledge and ease of the ocean is enviable and wondrous and for the first three chapters, you will marvel at her ability to stay calm knowing something large and unidentifiable is swimming beneath her. Nonetheless, you want to be in the water with her or simply be her. On her back beneath the waves, she watches a school of stingray glide above her, observes sunfish basking in the sun near an oil rig, and is enthralled by a graceful, acrobatic show from a pod of dolphins. If you ever had a fantasy about being a mermaid, Lynne comes as close as humanly possible to living the dream…it is truly magical.

Therefore from the perspective of an animal lover, I was sorry to read the following passage about Lynne’s relationship with fisherman friend Carl:

“…Carl usually caught an extra halibut or two, and he always gave me some to bring home for dinner. It was always a little strange kicking ashore while holding a five – to ten – pound dead halibut above my head with fish juices sliding down my arms.

No fish ever tasted as fresh or as sweet as the ones Carl gave me. I liked the fish even more because they were from Carl and I could tell he was as excited about giving me the fish as I was receiving them from him.”

To be so intimately involved with the world of the sea and have an obvious love for its mystery and its inhabitants, and then to eat and thoroughly enjoy fish, to me, is a bizarre disconnect. I realize there are people who revere nature and still justify hunting or fishing and eating meat / seafood, but I can never really understand it. I suppose they feel it is all about the circle of life; whether an animal dies by man or another animal is irrelevant, it’s what happens.

To appreciate this connection is preferable to the alarming apathy and struggle to manipulate nature that is now the norm, but with particular reference to the ocean, considering man is tipping the scales and causing a possibly irrevocable imbalance with pollution, trash, and over fishing, perhaps Lynne could do her part to balance the scales and truly engage in her love of the ocean by abstaining from eating its inhabitants. Maybe she could talk to Carl too!

Despite this disappointing vice of the main character, this is a charming and heartwarming story. It’s a perfect read for your next visit to the beach. Get comfortable on the sand under a big umbrella, read this book, gaze intermittently at the gentle sea, and contemplate the intricate, marvelous world that lies beneath.

Speaking of Gardening...

2008-04-01T18:17:00.000-07:00

This company, Terracycle, really caught my eye the other day...saw it profiled on the Weather Channel, I think. They sell worm-derived fertilizers in recycled bottles and jugs. They are recycling in an actual, meaningful way. So much of what we think is recyclable, is not...not in many local areas, anyway. We toss yogurt containers, and all sorts of other plastics in with the most recycled beverage bottles and jugs into the recycle bins, thinking that things will get sorted out on down the line. Often they do not. And you have no real way of knowing. Now at least some of it can go back into the stream of use...check out what Terracycle will pay you to send the less popular plastics to them.

New Life in a Used Tub

2008-03-25T14:20:00.001-07:00

These are baby Swiss Chard plants starting life in a scrubbed out tofu tub. The tubs make pretty handy little flats for seed starting. Several other tubs are sprouting Redina lettuce and some Coreopsis and Texas Sage flowers. Seed starting is very addictive. And you must not start too early, or you will find yourself a constant slave to their tyrannical needs for sun, water and food...and not too much or too little...it's got to be j u s t right or they sulk. Or worse, collapse and die. Then it's off to the compost heap, but I'd rather they live and grow. These tiny guys will grow up into big shiny-leafed plants and provide lots of wonderful food for very little effort. They could even grow in a roomy pot with some attention to regular watering and an occasional feed.

Co-op America

2008-03-21T06:41:00.000-07:00

My husband and I belong to a fantastic co-op in Frederick,Maryland...The Common Market. They are a true grocery store selling real, whole food at fair prices...not a pill-pushing vitamin and supplement shop ( although they have a fabulous health and beauty department ! ) There are lots and lots of items available in nice clean bulk bins allowing us to buy as much or as little as we want at a time. I can even (grudgingly) forgive them the selling of "happy meat", eggs and dairy, because while people are buying those products they are at least exposed to more vegan products than they ever would at a conventional grocery store. Whole Soy Yogurt is standing shoulder to shoulder, sharing the same 'dairy' case as cow's milk and goat's milk yogurts. Tofurky brand Keilbasas and franks are laying side by side next to organic meat-based hotdogs. A great eat-in or take-out deli and salad/ hot food bar top it all off.

I just realized how lucky we are to live near enough to a such a great resource and am proud that we can help Co-Op America achieve some of their goals. Check out their very informative website and consider becoming a member.

They also include lots of useful information on climate change and the role of our eating habits. Look under "climate change" or "food miles".

Some Good Food !!!

2008-03-19T12:58:00.000-07:00

With all this attention to how destructive a meat-based diet is to the animals, ourselves and the planet, I've not paid a whole lot of attention ( online anyway ! ) to all the really fabulous food that far outshines what corporate animal ag wants you to know !! So here's a few great sites to get an idea of "what to eat" :)

Chooseveg.org has a number of cooking videos featuring Colleen Patrick-Goudreau from Compassionate Cooks.

Vegetarian Resource Group has lots of recipes and solid nutritional information for the entire family.

The Vegan Diet site is a veritable encyclopedia of food !

Compassion Over Killing not only works tirelessly behind the scenes to relieve animal suffering, the also have a nice cache of recipes and ideas on how to go veg, including a great Vegetarian Started Kit.

Food Miles video

2008-03-19T12:51:00.000-07:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p4RCyxgz97g

The SUV In The Kitchen

2008-03-19T12:38:00.000-07:00

I just came across this article, The SUV In The Kitchen, and thought it presented a lot of important information in a nice easy to read way. The author, Laurine Brown, quotes Bill McKibben..." We're living on an SUV diet. Our food arrives at the table marinated in oil-crude oil."

More Milk Worries

2008-03-14T01:55:00.000-07:00

Persistent industrial chemicals find their way into cow's milk. Yet another reason to give up dairy and explore all the other healthy, humane and sustainable alternatives. Check out this story over at Grist.

Animal Agriculture's Big Bubble

2008-02-18T07:55:00.000-08:00

Who knew that animal agriculture was so destructive to the planet we live on ? Not only is it a nightmare for the animals unlucky enough to be born into industrial scale factory farming, but we are also poisoning the very air every living thing on this planet breathes.
How long can we keep this up ?
What's it going to take ?
The latest and largest recall of meat, all 143 Million pounds of, it ought to at least get people's attention. And I hope gets people thinking about, and questioning the whole dairy business. Most of those 500 cows a day that were being "harvested" at that slaughterhouse were spent dairy cows. What does that mean ? What's a spent cow ? If not Mad Cow disease that brought the cow to it's knees and made it a "downer", then what did ? Perhaps the endless cycles of pregnancy, lactating while pregnant, giving up the yearly calf 24 hours after birth, producing gallons and gallons of milk everyday brought her to her knees a little prematurely before the usual 3 or 4 years cycles end at a slaughterhouse.

Book Stack

2008-01-31T17:40:00.001-08:00

Here are a few of the books I've been reading in the last few months in a continuing effort to understand how we, as Americans ( 'The Most Powerful Nation In The World' ), have come to the point where industrially grown/processed/packaged/microwaved foods have become the norm.
Starting from the bottom, I picked up this 1914 Yearbook of the Department of Agriculture at a book sale a few weeks ago. It provides an interesting snapshot of American farm life at the time. One article, titled Clean Water And How To Get It On The Farm, describes a scene ( with accompanying grainy photograph ) of how not to get it:

The rather small area shown comprised a hogpen, chicken yard, and cow lot, and contained a barn, manure pile, open privy, chicken house and a shallow dug well. The pump is of the old wooden type and is located at the foot of the stairs to the back porch. Waste water and slops are dumped into a small ditch presumably intended to drain away from the house and well,but which as a matter of fact fails to drain at all.

Yikes.

Let It Rot by Stu Campbell ( the 3rd book down ) is subtitled The Home Gardener's Guide to Composting. It's a nice light introduction to composting circa the 70's, and despite frequent references to God and quotes from the bible, is a useful little book. Campbell wraps up his introduction with this...."It's time for all of us to discover the larger benefits and cosmic beauty of little earthly things like composting." Hallelujah.

There is a gardening movement afoot using only plant-based fertilizers ( replacing bone meal, blood meal, animal manure and such )...I love this idea ! I've been wondering about all the pharmaceuticals fed to livestock...how much of that gets taken up by plants, and in what form ? Veganic gardening seems like a nice way around all that and yet another way to keep things simple.
Dale