Let's Talk Veggie Burgers

While not necessary to living the veg life there are a ton of different veggie burger brands, flavors, and recipes. For me they are not an everyday thing, but often a convenient addition to my emat-free lifestyle. Surrounded my meat-eaters this is also at times a way to bring what they perceive some element of non-threatening normalcy to the table. It is a versitile food product that can be homemade (check out various online recipe sources, vegetarian/vegan cookbooks, or experiment for yourself), served by itself, along favorite foods, or added to favorite recipes such as chili or tacos. Some porducts are so close to mocking meat they are great for the reluctant vegetarian or even the meat-lover who want. needs to cut back on fats and cholestrol associated with a real burger. The veggie burger is not just for vegetarians, sometimes suggested by doctors for those suffering from heart issues. My personal tastes are in avoidance of the ones that too closely resemble actual meat and lean more towards mushroom flavored, tomato themed burgers, or other tasty flavor combinations. They are easy to prepare on teh stove top, grill, griddle, microwave, oven, or on a table top grill (like a 'George Foreman' brand). Cook them through and add your favorite burger toppers (I love to sautee or grill up some onion or mushrooms to top with a bit of cheese depending on the burger flavor). They are great for quick fix meals, dinner addition, or an afternoon BBQ with friends served along side some fabulous grilled vegetables. I've even been stopped in the grocery store veggie burger section of the freezer to be asked about my favorite flavors and brands. (This was a huge thing for my brother that was with me and witnessed that there are more vegetarians in our smallish college town than just me.)

Check out some of the links before and become educated on the love of veggie burgers. :-)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Veggie_burger
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9685441/
http://www.amyskitchen.com/products/category_view.php?prod_category=1
http://www.gardenburger.com/

In the Words of Neal Barnard: "The beef industry has contributed to more American deaths than all the wars of this century, all natural disasters, and all automobile accidents combined. If beef is your idea of "real food for real people" you'd better live real close to a real good hospital."

I love Gardenburger

We are trying, as a family, to eat together at the table, all at the same time. This is, of course, easier said than done. I'm finding ways to eat pretty much the same things with the exception of meat. Tonight was cheesey julienne potatoes, peas, fried apples (with a touch of brown sugar and cinnamon), rolls, and a Gardenburger BBQ riblet. So full afterwards (yummy!). I was thinking about some baking, but maybe tomorrow.

I was out putting down fresh straw for our pet goats earlier. It is so hard for me to imagine that there are some people that would think about killing these sweet, usually gentle creatures and worse easting them. (We have three fixed males and one female... she is most absolutely the queen of the barn and makes sure the larger animals know this.) The longer I have been a vegetarian the stranger meat eating seems to me and the more horrific is seems that people would kill for the purpose of their tastebuds. Perhaps that sounds just a tad bit dramatic, but sometimes I look back towards the diet I was thought was normal with an uncomfortable shiver. This is the life that I have chosen, but also the life that seemed to choose me. How could I ever go back to that way of eating? I couldn't. My spirit is lighter because of it and my body is my own.

From Samuel Butler, 'Note-Books,' 1912; "Man is the only animal that can remain on friendly terms with the victims he intends to eat until he eats them."

Merry Christmas!!!

Merry Christmas! Yes, the big day has arrived and the family has all been gathered around the tree and the table. For years, my family, has had a surf and turf Christmas dinner tradition (steak and seafood)... however, the last five years have included some adjustment for my needs. Generally, I grill a portabella mushroom or merely eat the thigns that have been served along side of my family's own traditions. This year along side the lima beans, corn, salad, homemade fries, dinner rolls, and wine I had a vegan BBQ riblet. It made me happy and was non-threatening to family seated around the dinner table who often seem rather concerned with what is on my plate or going to be on my plate. Last night we had an entertaining Christmas Eve with family, friends, lots of food, and karaoke. (My cousin has absolutely no sense of pitch or musical ability, but he sure isn't afraid to go for his all.)

Christmas traditions in my house are fairly simple... Christmas Eve includes my grandparents, random other family, friends, and whoever else we come across that will be spending the eve alone with finger food and sweets. It has slowly evolved over the years from pizza bites and bagel bites to more. Christmas morning we wake, not as early as it was when my brothers were younger, to swap presents and empty stockings. (My mother still wraps each one of us kids presents in seperate wrapping paper that matches the stuff she wrapped individually in our stockings. It comes from the years when we were little and seperate wrapping paper was so Santa's hansdwriting wasn't used.) We usually eat a late lunch (not uncommon for various people to take naps in between here depending on lateness of the Eve and earliness of the morn) with many of us still in pajama type clothing. It is a comfortable, relaxed sort of day for family. My sister even brought her dog the share the morning and mid-day with my pomeranian and my brother's boxer mix. (They all got new dog beds for Christmas.)

Hoep everyone had the merriest of holidays and got to spend enjoyable time with family, friends, and loved ones.

In the Words of Abraham Lincoln: "I care not much for a man's religion whose dog and cat are not the better for it."