Something fun.

Something to, hopefully, make you smile.

Bites of the day

I actually cooked today. I'm slowly getting back into the swing of things. I made a baked pasta primavera with leftover Alfredo sauce from the other night, rotini noodles, carrots, spinach, sauteed mushrooms, some grated parmesan and a lovely provolone cheese melted on top and a sprinkling throughout. Seasoned, mixed together, and topped with cheese; it baked to lovely golden browned top. More a decadent treat than an everyday occurrence. I'll probably stay simple for dinner like a salad. Yum.

Plans for my birthday have been in discussion. Since we were little birthdays have always been celebrated with a family dinner of our choosing. Sometimes we go out, sometimes it is something more at home. My birthday dinner discussions often include a sometimes heated discussion about meat being included. I get the whining about being fair to everyone else and how you can't have a family meal without meat, blah, blah, blah. I'm not really surprised. It would just be nice if once there was a sit down meal where I didn't feel like I was eating around everyone else. Somehow, my brother's dislike of spinach is the same as my not eating meat in their eyes. Oh, to live in a world where I'm not the exception. We seem to have come to an agreement (no one else in my family has to negotiate their birthday dinner) of a fondue night complete with grilled kabobs (so I can have vegetable ones and they can have their meat) and a salad.

We're still in the midst of hunting season. Bah! I asked them to be respectful of me by not hunting on our own property (they have a list of family and friends with more property than we have), but this request was denied out of "respect for them." I try to take comfort in the fact they are not great shots and they are down to just bow season (no more deer being chase by guns). I recently had a friend, who is once again a vegetarian (she's been on and off for years now), who tried to lecture me about hunting. Of course, no one in her family hunts and she doesn't come from a 4-H or agricultural/farming family, therefore not understanding how ingrained in the culture it becomes. What some people don't understand is that I am never going to change them. I just really, really wish that they would be a little more understanding and compassionate about my place in the middle.

"I ask people why they have deer heads on their walls. They always say because its's such a beautiful animal. There you go. I think my mother is attractive, but I have photographs of her." -- Ellen DeGeneres

January Blahs

The January snow is piled up all around and I've been scanning the web and other blogs trying not to feel so isolated. It's a mixture of the winter blahs and an impending birthday (a birthday that serves as a reminder that my twenty-something days are numbered). I'm not sure which is lending more to the feelings of isolation today... the snow and cold, the birthday thing, or the feeling of being socially isolated as vegetarian. I have a large, loud, and usually supportive family... all omnivores. I have an interesting and at times eclectic mix of friends... mostly omnivores. I even have a very sweet, very thoughtful significant other... most definitely an omnivore.

Here I sit, contemplating a new year, and new age, and the desire for an early spring. It's too early to be playing in the dirt and getting dirt ready for planting (it's all covered with that cold, white stuff). It's totally the wrong season for locally grown produce and farmers' markets (they just make me happy). The snow keeps piling up and I, not liking the snow, am forced to wear socks and shoes and all that winter gear. I know part of this is just spring fever and the January blahs, but I think I need to find something, somehow... just not all together sure what that is.

Isolation is a strange thing at times. I've been a vegetarian over seven years now and can barely remember what it was like before. It affects so many things in everyday life. I check food labels at the grocery and at home, even when I am looking at clothes. Leather? I don't think so. Fur? Absolutely not. Yet, everyday there is it blaring in my face - "You are the family freak." It doesn't have to yell, it just is. My brothers hunt. Guns, bows, ammo, and clothing sporting camo and orange are all around. A camo coated doe skull sits in the dining room as my brother's dog chews on a roasted deer bone (gotten from the guy who processors their kills). Somehow our mailbox is an interesting combination of hunting magazine and catalogues and vegetarian magazines. I guess on the plus side, my brothers don't seem to be very good shots. In all the years my three brothers have been hunting; with shotguns, bows, and muzzle loaders they have only brought home two deer (without counting the one my sister took out when it ran into her car). They eat everything they kill and it has to be better for them than the factory farm crap that comes from most groceries.



I just sometimes wish there was more than me nearby. I hear myths about vegetarian romances, but I don't know if I believe in them. I hear stories about like-minded vegetarians getting together regularly to share foods and culture. I hope these exist. Maybe one day, I'll better understand them. Maybe I need to plant something inside, like an herb or something.

"When man wantonly destroys one of the works of man we call him a vandal. When he destroys one of the works of God we call him a sportsman." --Joseph Wood Krutch

Alfredo Pizza Triangles

Looking for something easy for lunch I found a roll of crescent rolls in the refridgerator, topped the unrolled triangles with leftover alfredo sauce, sauteed some onion, garlic and frozen spinach on top of that, then some sauteed mushroom sliced and topped with shredded cheese. Baked until the crusts were golden and the cheese was melty. Easy and even my brother ate some (he cut out the spinach and onion mix and used taco stuff from last night instead).

Rehearsal tonight, so dinner will probably be something on the run. It comes down to what I can grab and go (and hwo much time I want or have to put in to even things like defrosting and reheating).

"In an earlier stage of our development most human groups held to a tribal ethic. Members of the tribe were protected, but people of other tribes could be robbed or killed as one pleased. Gradually the circle of protection expanded, but as recently as 150 years ago we did not include blacks. So African human beings could be captured, shipped to America and sold. In Australia white settlers regarded Aborigines as a pest and hunted them down, much as kangaroos are hunted down today. Just as we have progressed beyond the blatantly racist ethic of the era of slavery and colonialism, so we must now progress beyond the speciesist ethic of the era of factory farming, of the use of animals as mere research tools, of whaling, seal hunting, kangaroo slaughter and the destruction of wilderness. We must take the final step in expanding the circle of ethics." ~Pete Singer

Bow Season... Bleh!

I try to ignore that fact that in this area it is bow hunting season for deer. Of course, then I get those reminders like someone kicking you in the shin or somewhere else. My brothers hunt, my family hunts, and then there is me... the vegetarian and definatly the none hunter of the family. I try to keep my mouth shut, since it does no good otherwise. It just leads to fighting and arguments and that which does not good for anyone. So, I sit and I listen and I bite my lip as I hear them talking on the phone to the processing place regarding the deer that have to pick up and the talk about how the woods were this morning when my brother took his crossbow out, and to my sister calling to find out if anyone got one because she wants venison. I sit, trying not to listen and trying to keep my mouth shut, as I munch on my spicy thai peanut noodles wondering how I managed to become the person I am in this bunch.

"The fascination of shooting as a sport depends almost wholly on whether you are at the right or wrong end of a gun." ~P.G. Wodehouse

Happy Election Day

Happy Election Day! Hope everyone got out there got their vote on.

Made an easy vegetable pot pie. I used a vegetable stew I partially made from leftovers in the refrigerator (leftover onion gravy, lima,s etc) and a few frozen and fresh ones. Added a bit of rice and used about a tablespoon or so of instant mashed potato flakes as thickener. You could still use a flour or cornstarch type thickener, but I wanted to try out using the potato flakes. It worked well. I used unrooled croissant rolls from the refridgerator to make the top crust.

We ordered pizza for dinner.

In the words of George Bernard Shaw; "When a man wants to murder a tiger he calls it sport; when the tiger wants to murder him he calls it ferocity."

Pet Peeves

It was a mostly decent weekend (We had a good opening weekend, Halloween, some dancing, some hanging out with friends, all good things); but one full of some fairly annoying attacks to my way of being and eating and the whole vegetarian thing. We all have those peeves that just want to send us over the edge of just wanting to lash out at people and struggling not to.

Firstly, a friend of the family farms and their family all hunts (much like my own), they called to ask my mom and brothers if they wanted the meat from the deer one of the boys just got. (If they are going to hunt at least they use the meat or know people that will.) So since yesterday all I have heard around the house is about feild dressing, how long it can safely hang in this weather, getting it processed and butchered, finding a place to process, and what they are getting done with this meat (bologna, steaks, burger, etc.) and possibly the hide as well. There were phone calls, debates, conversations, gloating. I try to just ignore it... it doesn;'t do a bit of good to say anything, I just wish I did not have to hear it constantly. That was the start of yesterday.


Then came part two... the real point of my aggravation. It was Halloween weekend as well as an opening weekend for our show. This, unsurprisingly, means going out both night. (Halloween night I dressed as Mother Nature in a flowly, sheer, autumn inspired dress.) Well last night and into the wee hours of this morning we ended up at Denny's (after everything else was closed) and some of the group were still under the influences of alcohol (which probably did not help). Everyone had ordered and the food had just came. As the one girl (one that I had just met had already found myself shaking my head at more than once) began to dig into her chicken strips announced something about her being a vegetarian. I looked across the table at her plate then up at her, "Um, no your not." (This is probably one of my biggest pet peeves of people.) "Yes, I am. I'm just a vegetarian that eats chicken and seafood, I don't eat all things like beef or pork. You know there are all kind of vegetarians and vegans." She continued one babbling and raiing my blood pressure as she was going to lecture me about how a true vegetarian could still eat chicken and seafood and still be a true vegetarian. I don't think she liked my reference to "vegetarians" or eat such as semi-vegetarians. Finally she took a breath (I was getting more and more annoyed and just flat out aggravated) and something was said about me being a vegetarian (two fo the others at the others at the table know that I don't eat meat) and that I really didn't need her to tell me what one was. She asked what I ate and I explained as patiently as I could that I didn't eat anythign that had once had a face, that included chicken and seafood. So she started in on me about being a fake vegan... I don't claim to be a vegan and never had. She also started bragging about how good seafood was and how tasty her chicken strips are. These are the types of people who help make life harder for the rest of who us who actually do not eat meat. She kept at me about how good her chicken tasted and how I was a pretend vegan. I tried to explain why semi vegetarians who still eat some meat make it harder for the rest of us... when we go places people actually try to use chicken breath as "vegetarian" and fish as a "meat alternative." She was too caught up in her idea of always being right to even listen. I can't help it, but it just seems far worse to have pretend and fake vegetarians stirring up trouble than the meat eaters who just don't understand. It also confuses the meat eaters who think we can and do still consume things like that.

Check out these links:
http://www.theveggietable.com/articles/whatisavegetarian.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vegetarianism
http://www.vegetarian-restaurants.net/OtherInfo/VegetarianTypes.htm
http://vegetarian.about.com/od/vegetarianvegan101/tp/TypesofVeg.htm

"To my mind, the life of a lamb is no less precious than that of a human being. I should be unwilling to take the life of a lamb for the sake of the human body." ~Mahatma Gandhi

Live, let live, and be grateful always... Veggie Style

A lot of times vegetarians get a bad reputation for being pushy, demanding, militant, and extremists. I am a firm believer in not doing these things. I live my life the way I want to be treated by others... simply I am who I am. I want to be treated respectfully for my lifestyle and I try to treat others the same way. I know it's not always easy, especially when you are surrounded by meat-eaters nearly everyday and in many cases live with them. As many know, I am the lone vegetarian in my family, and over the years this has ofen caused tension and conflict. My brothers are still extremely bothered by it and often use names like "vege-terrorist." I really try not to turn around the attacks when meat is pushed in my face or when the comments sometimes come in wave after relentless wave.

I've done the research, I have the information at my fingertips, and I am willing discuss my diet and lifestyle in a respectful manner with those who are truly interested and curious. I see no point in attempting to push my ideals onto others and instead try to live more by example. We've all heard the line about attracting more flies with honey, than vinegar... well, it is more along those lines. No one wants to be lectured at or attacked, not me and not anyone I know. Over the past few years I have been approached to speak to my college biology class as well as interested friends and family, mostly as result of my not aggressive tactics. My cookbooks are usually free range for those interested that are close to me and I have to three-ring binders that are packed full of information, history, facts, quotes, and any other vegetarian bits that I have come across along the years. They have been a great resource for me and for those are are genuinly interested.

There is one thing I have found to be one off the greatest aspects of importance to living this life the right way is to be grateful to those who actually try to be respectful of this life. This means making an effort to thank those who take the extra steps to make it easier whether it was cooks at camp who made me something seperate (even if it meant heating up an veggie burger two), my caterer for the rehearsal dinner who made me a special fruit plate, or a family member or friend who remembered me (like Grandma who make snack plates for the wedding party the mornign of the wedding or the green beans that do not include bacon).

We vegetarians and vegans are not freaks of nature, but we will be treated likes ones more often if act like ones. There is nothing good to come of trying to life a peaceful diet while going out and attacking those who do not agree. Live, let live, and be grateful to those who try to undestand that which may still seem very foreign to them.

The woods were made for the hunters of dreams,

The brooks for the fishers of song;

To the hunters who hunt for the gunless game

The streams and the woods belong.

~Sam Walter Foss

Unforgettable

I know it may seem like I have forgotten and abandoned you, but I have not. Hopefully, uou have not forgotten me either. Things have just been a bit hectic around here. Keeping busy in the kitchen; baking, cooking, and trying new recipes. I still can't get certain family members to try new foods, but a person can't make changes over night that easily.

"If slaughterhouses had glass walls, everyone would be a vegetarian." as quoted by Paul McCartney

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."

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."

"Where's the Meat?"

There are things and days that I do not understand; among these is my brothers’ hysterics over meat. I don’t eat it, I don’t like the smell of it, and I have no desire to cook it. This is not new. I was fixing pasta for dinner. The water was getting close to a boil and I was in the process of slicing mushrooms. ‘Where’s the meat?” my brother demanded as he barged into the kitchen. “You need to fix chicken to go with that.” It was not a request, it was a demand. I was not about to be bullied into anything, especially cutting up and cooking chicken (or hamburger as the other one wanted). He freaked out. By freak out I mean major freaking. The fights are still there and sometimes I fear they always will be. As he yelled and screamed, ranted and raved he finally got the chicken out and fixed it himself. Our large kitchen suddenly felt way too small as I tried to keep breadsticks from burning, water from boiling over, and sauce from scorching. The entire time he raved about how horrible it was that I am a vegetarian and how I had done it just to be different. When I first quit eating meat (even back to when I was contemplating it and trying to make a decision) it was such a frightening endeavor to undertake, especially alone and without my family’s support. The stereotype is often of the militant vegetarian picking fights and arguments with meat-eating family, friends, and strangers. I try to avoid the fights and arguments. Yet, somehow I take attacks especially from my siblings while being accused of “attacking” them. (All going back to an afternoon a couple years back when I asked my one brother is he really needed a steak for an after-school snack.) I don’t; attack others for their lifestyle and I don’t want to be attacked for mine. My lifestyle is not hurting anyone, not even myself.

It doesn’t really matter why I became a vegetarian. It’s my life and my body. I wanted to be better and for me this worked. I shouldn’t have to explain myself. I’m open to reasonable discussions and honest curiosity, but not hysterical rants about the evils of vegetables and my supposed responsibility to serve them meat. Sometimes it would be nice to have a real ally; someone who actually understood. I never expected it to be completely easy, but I had hoped that after this long the attacks from family would have ceased. I may not like it, but I have never once attacked them or yelled at them for their continuing to hunt. (It helps that their aim is so bad they can barely hit the broad side of a barn.) I wonder sometimes how important it would be to marry a vegetarian like me, then things like this happen again and I almost don’t want to risk the idea of a long-term relationship with a meat-eater.

Let me leave with a quote that just seems fitting.

From Scott Adams (The writer of Dilbert): “You think I’m one of those wise-ass California vegetarians who is going to tell that eating a few strips of bacon is bad for your health. I’m not. I say it’s a free country and you should be able to kill yourself at any rate you choose, as long as your cold dead body is not blocking my driveway.”

An introduction of sorts

Welcome to my vegetarian world. Think of this almost as a mission statement of types. There are a lot of blogs and bloggers on the web. It’s a huge world out there with all sorts of different interests, purposes, and ideals. Vegetarianism is growing, but sometimes it still feels like a rather lonely world. I believe that living a life without meat should be a celebration and not some thinking of restrictions and explainations. This is my life… and one of the best ways I can think of celebrating it is to share.
Five years ago I found myself at the threshold of vegetarianism. At first the idea seemed a bit scary; I am after all from a long line of Ohio hunters and farmers. Life here often seems centered around football games, deer season, and shared meals for holidays, picnics, or just because. Thanksgiving is a marked a huge turkey and sighting guns in and the prep for deer season. Christmas Day is marked with steak and shrimp. Burgers, hotdogs, and chicken BBQ seem the obvious choice in summer-fare. Then at nineteen, I got sick. What I ate often caused pain, but the pain came from not eating as well. I tried the route the doctors laid before me, but was unsettled with the idea of spending a life on medication. I tried herbs and initial diet changes, but I often felt as though I had hit the glass ceiling. I could see where I wanted to go, I could almost touch, but somehow it stayed out of reach. I wanted to be better and I wanted my life back. I had researched from the beginning, constantly reading and talking to others. It kept coming up… vegetarian. At first it seemed extreme and far-fetched. While, I myself had never hunted, I had to taught to handle one at a young age and it was somewhat expected that one day I would join my cousins, uncles, brothers, Grandpa, and Father in the woods one day. Hunting and farming was a tradition after all. We had been brought up with a respect for the animals whose lives were taken whether from a farm, water, or woods. Nothing was taken that was not going to be used. Game was often shared with family or friends who either did not hunt or did not get anything. It was all I had ever known. But I wasn’t getting any better. And I had to try something. So I made the original goal of one month. Thirty days to let my body adjust (think detox almost) and see if it made any real difference. I woke up one morning and knew that was the day. Without looking back I armed myself with determination and willpower that would get me through the first days. I had figured after the thirty days I would then decide if it would make any different and if it was something I would stick to. By the end of two weeks I knew there was no going back. Five years later, here I am. I got my health back without drugs and potentially dangerous side-effects and I have lasted far longer than most predictions.
For me, I don’t think much about the things I gave up. I may have gave up the sense of my family’s normalcy, but I also gave up the pain. I also gained a sense of awareness about what I put into my body and about the world as a whole. Slowly my family as adapted to the reality that vegetarianism for me is not merely a phase that I will “grow out of.” They accept the veg-friendly food at picnics, cook outs, and even Holiday dinner tables. Most of them have stopped picking about when I will just “go back to normal” and eat meat. The adjustment from omnivore to vegetarian has not be nearly as difficult for me as it has been on various members of my family. Sometimes, I still feel as though it would have been a easier if it had been a road I had not taken alone, but I am almost everyday glad that it is a road I have taken.