Lovely

I love being able to share some of the interesting and often inspiring things I find along the way. I hope this inspires you!

New Additions

It's been rather quiet around here the last couple days. The snow is starting to melt and it's all slush, muddy spots, & icey patches. Happy January, right?

For Christmas I go a new set of pots and pans from my mom- all black with colorful butterflies. I am determined to keep them meat-free, but haven't found the inspiration to break them out yet. It's coming, but I have barely felt like even cooking lately. Their time will come.

Most of the excitement around our house has been the arrival of a new puppy. She's a black lab mix & spends her time sleeping or chasing around the other dogs. At just over six weeks she is already bigger than my elderly pom. He tolerates her in his typical way; unconcerned, as long as she isn't laying on top of him. Our dogs really are a part of our family and serve as a constant reminder that I have chosen the right lifestyle and diet. We have three now (my sister has another two). Two are shelter dogs; my 4 lb. mini pomeranian (who is about11-13 yrs old) and our bull boxer (originally said to be a boxer/beagle mix when we brought him home). The newest addition is the first girl dog I think we have ever had and the product of a golden retriever mix farm dog who spent some time with a neightbor's pure black lab. She cuddles and chases the bull boxer. It's amusing for me to watch my brothers melt over her, clicking pictures and taking turns cuddling with her.

We have always been an animal family. Hamsters, birds, a guinie pig, and couple of rabbits, a couple of goats, 2-3 frogs, and cats. What is strange to me is that growing up we were always a cat family, starting with a stray runt born in our garage that couldn't keep up with his mother and siblings. He was so small when we found him that he had to be fed soaking a peice of rag in milk and letting him suckle. After him there were years without a cat or anything until one December my sister brought home a bischon puppy. Between my siblings and I, we are now up to five dogs and two cats, mostly rescues. I can't imagine not having them in our lives. Sometimes I hear stories though and I wonder how people can possibly hurt this beautiful, loving companions that enrich our lives so completely. My pom was abused and it took him and I years to work on undoing some of the damage. He's missing all of his front teeth now and his eyesight is going, but I'm glad to know that for the last six years he has a comfortable and sometimes spoiled existance.

"Would you kill your pet dog or cat to eat it? How about an animal you're not emotionally attached to? Is the thought of slaughtering a cow or chicken or pig with your own hands too much to handle? Instead, would hiring a hit-man to do teh job give you enough distance from the emotional discomfort? What animal did you put a contract out on for you supper last night? Did you make sure that none went to waste and to take a moment to be grateful for its sacrifice?" -- Anonymous

Been Awhile...

In the words of 'Monty Mython,' I'm not dead yet. I just got otherwise distracted which ended up with me living for a season out of the regulalr internet zone in the middle of pretty darn near nowhere. Now that life has somewhat settled down post holiday season, I'm baaa-aaack.

Life in my world has been full of its rather typical ups and downs. Over the summer season I shared a communal kitchen with a bunch of non-vegetarians. I started seeing someone, who like most of the people I meet around here, is also not a vegetarian. He's considerate of our difference in eating habits, but also rather comfortable in his omni ways. the seven year mark of my meat-free lifestyle quietly came and went. The holidays came and went and now the new year is upon us.

There is something about the start of the new year that gives so many people inspiration and energy that can help us get through the rest of the chilled winter months yet to come. We see promise and potential, not only in ourselves, but in the world around us. For myself I am somewhat relieved for the holiday season to be over, not only does it mean a calm to things, but it also means a break from the heavy holiday foods, the regular family style feasts, and all the snacks and treats that threaten to bury us alive during this season. I am now onto a new challenge. During the summer and fall months when my family (and extended family) was in the midst of canning and freezing my aunt canned a box of assorted beans for me. Black beans, lentils, split peas, one I'm not excatly sure what it is, and a combination of all of them. I use black beans pretty regularly, but feel the need to branch out big time and take advantage of the pantry full of home-canned goodness. I've never really worked with lentils or split peas, but I intend to find a way. I'm just not sure how, yet. Inspiration will come... eventually. Wish me luck.

"The animals of the world exist for their own reasons. They were not made for humans any more than black people were made for white, or women created for men. " - Alice Walker

Vegetarian Culture

“Vegetarian Culture” -- a phrase heard in regarding restaurants and people understanding and embracing the ‘vegetarian culture.’ How does the concept of a “vegetarian culture” change in regards to geography, environment, family situation, upbringing, etc? Vegetarian culture in regards to internet, community, religion? Groups? “…Because they understand the vegetarian culture…” is a phrase I recently heard in regards to a restaurant and the offerings in their menu. I, like I am sure many others living a meat-free life, live in an area that does not offer a lot of like-minded individuals in this area. How does the vegetarian culture as whole affect the lives we lead with little personal interaction from other vegetarians?

This is sonething I have been thinking about a lot lately, along with the feelings isolation that is connected to loving in my house and in this part of the country. I've only a few friends who don't eat and most of them have gone back to those meat eating ways or it is a Lent thing. Once in a local grocery store I had someone ask me about my preferred type of veggie burger while I was shopping in that area. My brother, who was with me at the time, was floored. There are others!!! For a moment my lifestyle suddenly seemed almost normal to him as he met a rather normal woman who shared in this journey, but overall this has been the exception. On the whole I feel rather detached from the whole of "vegetarian culture." It's something I am a part of, but also something that seems so far away.

I meet people occassionaly who claim to be vegetarian... but they eat chicken, seafood, and attack others for choosing not to. I occasionally meet people who at least try to respect it, but I also meet a lot of people who just end up attacking me for it or puzzled over the "sacrafise." Sometimes, it feels like a rather isolated journey in a world that thinks I am nuts. Sometimes it would be nice to not feel way.
I did a net search... in hope of finding some other thoughts on it.

* "The Importance of Vegetarian Culture" http://www.vrg.org/journal/vj97sep/979cult.htm
* "Good for the Gods: India" http://www.veggieheadonline.com/india.html
* http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Building-Vegetarian-Culture/
* "Vegetarian & Vegan Diets" @ 'Home Chef' http://www.chefhome.com/Cookbook/Vegetarian.shtml
* "The Vegetarian Channel" http://www.thevegetarianchannel.com/directory/News/Publications/213.html
* "Becoming a Vegetarian" http://becoming-a-vegetarian.blogspot.com/

"Man is the only creature that consumes without producing. He does not give milk, he does not lay eggs, he is too weak to pull the plough, he cannot run fast enough to catch rabbits. Yet he is lord of all the animals." ~George Orwell, Animal Farm

Food TV

There are a lot of people who believe that watching the cooks on TV work their culinary magic can have a calming effect. It seems to be something about watching someone prepare food. I have an uncle in a higher stress career that watches it to “veg” after work and grandparents who are HUGE fans of cooking and food shows. I’m a huge fan, even back to the days before an entire network and channel was created for it. I still sometimes catch episodes of Julia Child on public television. I guess for me part of it and extension of watching my family members cook in their home kitchens and being a part of it. This love that has continued from childhood is not always easy when you don’t eat meat, don’t cook meat, and don’t like the sight or smell of meat. I still watch the cooking shows- I just tend to look towards the side dishes and ways to adapt recipes to a meat-free mindset (sometimes that is as simple as using a vegetable broth or stock instead of chicken, beef, or such). I have been known to channel surf during things I would rather not see, such as roasts, steaks, etc.

There always seem to be reminders that we are a part of the few… that we, the vegetarians and vegans, are the minority. If restaurants and the meat counters at our local grocers were not enough, TV is yet another one of the ever-present reminders. On the plus side there is a growing awareness about the existence and growing numbers of people like me, the average (more or less) Americans who choose a meat-free lifestyle. While watching the food and cooking shows there are more and more meat-free meal ideas or even suggestions for cooking for vegetarian friends and family. It is slow, but positive.

http://www.vegtv.com/
(Traveling Vegetarian) http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=travelingvegetarian (or check out on my listed favorites)
http://www.delicioustv.com/aboutdelicioustv.shtml

"I am not interested to know whether vivisection produces results that are profitable to the human race or doesn't.... The pain which it inflicts upon unconsenting animals is the basis of my enmity toward it, and it is to me sufficient justification of the enmity without looking further." ~Mark Twain

Snow and Stuff

It's been one of those days... well a couple of those days. The cold streak in Ohio is getting old, the temperatures dropped so much w had to bring the goats in from the barn. Unfortunately, we lost one of the from the frigid tempteratures. It is a small barn and just isn't enough protection aginast the severe wind chills. (The other is in a large crate/cage in the spare bedroom with plastic covering the floor.) He seems mostly content, even laying up against the bars to be closer to the dog. I think we will all be ad when the temperatures let up and the risks go back down (he may not be a large goat, but I know he would prefer to have more room and be back in his barn and yard).

This may surprise some people who know that I have lived in Ohio all of my life, but really, REALY am not a big fan of snow or ice or cold. It' aggitates my joints and makes me achy. This is my quiet weekend before the business to come is upon me. No one in my house felt much like cooking for lunch so we went out... a local place that has Chinese and other Oriental type foods. I've often found Ethnic food places to have meat-free options that are not always as readily available in other places (Oriental, Italinan, Mexican, etc). It was alright. My mom made dinner, forgetting about me, she put meat in all of it. I ended up making a mushroom noodle soup for dinner for myself, nothing fancy or great, but the warm both was probably for the better. I think sometimes it really just gets to me when I get forgotten when it comes to family meals. Me being meatless is not a recent, new, or on again/off again thing. It's just me, but sometimes that still doesn't seem so easy for the people around me.

I keep having this fantasy of living in a vegetarian house (more than just me and a small scattering of friends, mostly sometimes vegetarians at best), with vast connections to other vegetarians, and living in a more vegetarian world- where meat-eaters are in the minority and not me. It seems a far away fantasy, but I will keep it.

"Tongue - a variety of meat, rarely served because it clearly crosses the line between a cut of beef and a piece of a dead cow." ~Bob Ekstrom

Simple, Yet Hearty

The lastuple days I've been in one of those moods where I have wanted hearty food that is fairly simple to make. Last night I had to be at the theater so I fixed up a toasted cheese sandwhich (on a nice whole grain bread) and made a homemade vegetable soup out of the selection of vegetables from leftover, frozen, and fresh vegetables, mushrooms and rice that I had around. I thickened it a little with a seasoned flour I keep around and spiced it up. It made an easy take-along in a plastic-lidded container to the theater.

For lunch I sauteed up some onion and spinach with peirogies I had in the freezer. Dinner was a simple parmesan pasta with some spinach and mushrooms thrown in, served along salad with homemade croutons and some garlic bread.

"Drinking without being thirsty and making love at any time, Madame, are the only things that distinguish us from other animals." ~Pierre-Augustin Caron de Beaumarchais, The Marriage of Figaro, 1784, translated

Family Game Night with a Veggie Twist

About once a month my family gets together for a Game Night. It started out on Friday nights meeting with my aunt for dinner somewhere then often going back to her house and playing boardgames. It expanded from there with other family members included and eating mostly at her house. Some nights are more extensively planned than others, but it all comes down to sharing food, games, and time with family. Of course there is added planning when it comes to the lone vegetarian... me. I uslaly make something that compliments the rest of the spread, but highlights the yumminess of not eating meat. Last night was no exception. They planned to make 'haystacks' which basically comes down to a layered personal taco salad with homemade ice cream. Instead of taco meat for me I made a taco inspired mushroom mix by sauteeing mushrooms with garlic, then added some popper flakes and a mix of spices (all to taste). The spice mix included some onion powder, cumin, paprika, pepper, and chili powder. Added a touch of tomato sauce to give a little liquid and color. Then I let it all cook down and cook nicely together into a lovely spiced bit of mushroom taco yumminess. We had a very nice selection of additions for our 'haystacks,' that included corn chips (like fritos or the prefered), the taco mixture, cheese, nacho cheese, tomatos, sliced black olives, onion, sour cream (not a big fan, but my mom is), and shredded lettuce. Then everyone layers it on their plate or in their bowl to their own preferance.

My aunt has an ice cream recipe that does not include raw eggs. (Something that has always made be rather cautious about a lot of homemade ice cream.) We ended up making two beautiful bathches of vanilla and then has a selection of thigns to put in it; multiple candy bars to crush up onto it, carmel, peanut butter sauce, multiple chocolate sauces, pecans, toasted almonds, peanuts, whipped cream, and cherrries.

We did what we did best... we ate, we aggravated each other, we played board games, and we spend time together that a lot of families can not hardly begin to understand.

Quote attributed to George Bernard Shaw: "If a group of beings from another planet were to land on Earth - beings who considered themselves as superior to you as you feel yourself to be to other animals - would you concede them the rights over you that you assume over other animals?"

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."

Happy New Year!!!

Happy New Year!!! I hope it was a peaceful and hopeful ringing in of the new year.

We celebrated the New Year's Day as a family and extended family for our Christmas. (It seemed so much easier somewhat before my teen years and New Year's Eve parties.) Everyone cooks and brings something, we play Christmas Bingo (family tradition) that involved wrapped and inexpensive gifts that eventually are stolen from each other as the pile runs out), eat, and just spend the day together. Somehow everyone was able to make this holiday, including my two cousins that work in emergency services. The food, as always, is plentiful and filling. We took veggie pizza, a strawberry truffle, and soda. Despite my one cousin's continuing ignorance and long standing offensive vegetarian/vegan comments, there was plenty for me to fill my plate with; homemade macaroni and cheese, green beans, scalloped potatoes, fresh veggies, vegetables pizza, and dessert (one cousin made homemade mini cheesecakes with cherries on top... yummmy!). It was a filling day of family and talk of an upcoming wedding (I'm a bride's maid in it), my cousin's new pregnancy anouncement (twins!), and playing with the babies. I was stuffed (of course then I came home and heated some hot pretzel and cheese pizza bites).

From Henry Beston's 'The Outermost House' (1928): "The animal shall not be measured by man. In a world older and more complete than ours, they move finished and complete, gifted with extension of the senses we have lost or never attained, living by voices we shall never hear. They are not brethren; they are not underlings; they are other nations, caught with ourselves in the net of life and time, fellow prisoners of the splendor and travail of the earth."

New Year's Eve

So the New Year is upon us. People all over the country and the world are busy making resolutions for 2008 as well as starting the celebrations. "I will lose x amount of pounds." "I will quit smoking." "I will get a better job." "I will do volunteer work." Sometimes, I think resolutions are just too easy to break. I want everyday to be a chance to live better and try to be better than I was before. It's nice to think of the New Year as a new chance, but everyday should be a chance to be better and to live better. For everyone out there determined that this is the year they will go vegetarian or vegan my hopes are with you and your success.

In the Words of Leonardo da Vinci; "Truely man is the king of beasts, for his brutality exceeds theirs. We live by the death of others: we are burial places! I have from an early age abjured the use of meat, and the time will come when men such as I will look on the murder of animals as they now look on the murder of men."

A Night In

Tonight was a little "Guitar Hero," a little air hockey, a few beers, a couple rounds of "Apples to Apples," and the company of a few good friends. We put out some chips, cheese and crackers, and popped some pizza bites in the oven (they make meatless ones). Yet, everyone's minds seems to be on what to do tomorrow night. (I am still hearing crap for chasing those deer away Christmas Eve that my brothers wanted to shoot in the backyard. I couldn't bare to watch them kill something or attempt to kill something right before my eyes out the kitchen window. I feel like an oddity among these hunters.) I am loving that I have leftovers in the freezer to live off when I don't feel like cooking. Hope ya'all are celebrating the dawn of the New Year in your own fabulous way.

Here's a super easy recipe for Homemade Potato Skins (especially if you are looking for some New Year's Eve recipes).

Easy Potato Skins (easy to make vegan using olive oil or soy margarine and soy cheese)
Cooking potatoes
Butter, margarine, or seasoned olive oil
Cheese (or soy cheese)
Other optional toppings such bacon or sausage-like crumbles (ex- Morningstar or Boca), chili, sliced green onion, steamed broccoli, sautéed vegetables, etc.
* Slit or poke washed potatoes with fork or knife. Microwave (or bake) potatoes until soft (10-15 min approx depending on size, amount, etc). Quarter with knife. Scoop out excess leaving a shell and skin (approx ¼ in) and place skin-side down on baking sheet. Spoon or brush potato skin shells with melted butter or olive oil. Top with cheese and any other optional toppings. Bake at 400 degrees until cheese is melted and bubbling.

Paul Harvey: "Ever occur to you why some of us can be this concerned with animals suffering? Because government is not. Why not? Animals don't vote."

Life is We Know It

Last night was my family's monthly game night. We get together (those of use who can) on a Friday night to play games, eat, and generally enjoy each other's company. I try to make things that I will eat as well as others in my meat-loving family. My brother made buffalo wings and my aunt fried up some cheese sticks and onion rings, but let's face it, this girl needs more than some fried vegetables. I made a quick, easy, and yummy cold veggie pizza with some
pre-packaged croissants, dill vegetable dip, and fresh vegetables. It was a nice switch from the heavy foods that surround the holiday season and the leftovers were appreciated by a shut-in friend of the family. It also made a nice leftover lunch today. (I often get more than one meal out of things I make, especially since my brother's are so picky.)

This evening for dinner I sauteed a nice big portabella mushroom with some diced onion and garlic in butter, than let it cook down with a touch of water and some balsamic vinegar (yum). I served it beside homemade mashed potatoes topped with some shredded cheese.


Easy Cold Veggie Pizza
Pre-packaged croissant dough (makes 6-8 croissants) (or other preferred dough)
Veggie dip (pre-made or other favorite), I prefer a dill dip here
Various vegetables diced, shredded, sliced, etc. (Such as shredded carrots, diced red onion, sliced mushrooms, broccoli, cauliflower, diced green onion, etc.)
Shredded cheese (4-8 oz depending on preferences)
* Roll out croissant dough to make one whole crust. Bake at temp indicated in package. Then let cool.
* Spoon layer of vegetable dip onto baked and cooled crust. Sprinkle and layer vegetables and cheese. Cut. Enjoy.

In the Words of Alice Walker: "Animals can communicate quite well. And they do. And generally speaking, they are ignored."

I have Not fallen Off the of the Planet

I know it seems i got lost and maybe I kind of did. The show took a lot out of me (it's over now and went very well) and now I seem to be fighting some sort of allergic reatcion to something in my everyday environment. (With my luck it will be something in our water.) I've been working on a menus right now for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day for family and friends. We always have friends and family over Christmas Eve with a kind of open house with a variety of appetizers and finger foods. Christmas day they have steak and seafood... I usually experiment with mushroom options to go with the festive spread.

I've been craving black beans and rice (a favorite of mine), but kept forgeting to pick up black beans when out shopping. Finally, tonight I had everything I needed (the recipe as evolved over time and continues to do so). I love to serve it with corn chips, crsip back olives, and a sprinkling of cheese. (It is usually spicey enough to not need any extra hot sauce.) It's all part of the love to eat, love to eat, and love a little spice in life.

Black Beans and Rice (Vegan, depending on whatever served with)

onion (prefer a good red), about 1/2, finely sliced (or however prefer)

garlic (1-2 cloves), diced

oil (to saute)

cooked brown rice (instant 1 c. uncooked to 1 c. boiling water)

frozen corn (or fresh), about 1-2 c.

1 can black beans (sometimes I use spiced ones, depending on what I have on hand)

1 can tomato sauce (and variety)

salt and pepper to taste

favorite spices (typcially: hot pepper flakes, parley, chili spice, smokey tobasco hot sauce as well as optional cumin, cilantro, or whatever else on hand)

* In seperate pan or microwave prepare rice. (You could use a plain white rice or whatever you have on hand, but I almost always use brown rice in my recipes.) In skillet add oil and saute onion slices & garlic (sometimes I had sliced mushrooms too if I have them on hand). I add a touch of water here as the oil cooks to help cut oil use withut cutting cooking liquid. I add the frozen corn right in after the onion and garlic have cooked down and started to carmelize as well as pepper flakes and touches of any other seasoning here as I like to layer the spaices in as I add ingredients. (I either use store-bought frozen corn or the kind we freeze during the summer when fresh corn is everywhere.) Let the corn start to cook through and mix with the cooking liquids (add a touch of water here if needed), then add black beans, cooking everything through. Season to taste. Add rice, mix throughly, then tomato sauce. Season as needed and let everything cook together and thicken. Serve warm with corn chips or tortillas and any prefered toppings. (Ideas for topping or sides include: black olives, shredded cheese, salsa, sour cream, jalepeno slices, or whatever you love.)

* I make a big pan and freeze whatever I don't eat. It is great leftover for lunches, snack, or to share. (When I have taken it work for lunch it makes people sit up, asking what is I have and what smells so good.) I love mine spicey with a nice kick, but spices can be adjusted per preferance. Yummy!!!

*

In the Words of Jimmy Stewart: "Animals give me more pleasure through the viewfinder of a camera than they ever did in the crosshairs of a gunsight. And after I've finished "shooting," my unharmed victims are still around for others to enjoy. I have developed a deep respect for animals. I consider them fellow living creatures with certain rights that should not be violated any more than those of humans."

Non-Forbidden Fruit

The opening weekend of my most recent show is now behind me (along with the hectic schedule of tech week that leads into a show). This show has led to a few things coming up regarding my lack of meat consumption. It surprises people and even seems to confuse others. I guess partially because I don’t come across as militant and I don’t lecture or rave about it. I live my vegetarian existence simply and in a rather matter-of-fact manner. Now I can get back to cooking (my leftover supply in the freezer has run rather low) for the time being. One of the cast members did sent a lovely fruit basket to the cast and I was very happy to see the kids in the show attack it with great excitement over bananas, apples, grapes, strawberries and such. (Candy seems so over-rated when eyes meet the gaze of bright colors of a basket full of yummy fruit.) I tried a new fruit this week that I had never had before… a pomegranate. Someone had brought one the other day to the theater and offered me some. A fun, tasty little fruit that she said her kids loved because of the fun factor of the little bits inside. It’s nice to find new little things to try, especially things that are supposed to be rather good for you too. Yum.

k.d. lang : 'We all love animals. Why do we call some "pets" and others "dinner?" '