Playing in the Kitchen

                                                              Barley Potato Soup

Today I wanted to feel productive, but I didn’t feel like making it a work day.  I decided to go “play” in the kitchen and create some recipes.  I went shopping in Santa Monica this past Wednesday, since they had their 10% discount day at the Co-op.  First I went to Farmer’s Market and bought some organic lush vegetables and fruits, and then off shopping at the Co-op.

I find that if I don’t circulate the food in my frige after shopping days, it can be wasteful, so I thought it would be a good idea to get the food moving into some dishes that I could freeze for during the week.  Spirit doesn't always move me in the direction of the kitchen and cooking and there are days I just don't feel like being in the kitchen, where I would rather go to the beach or shop at my favorite clothing stores!

I made up a few dishes.  I prepared a week's amount of Salad (ziplock bag) a pot of Barley-Potato Soup, Babaganoush, (Mediterranean dish) and an Eggplant Minestrone Stew.  I also made a raw Banana Lemon Creme Pie and Tangerine Ice Cream. 

Especially on weekends, most times my husband will do the dishes when I'm on a cooking spree, when he feels that I would appreciate his help.

Does it take time for me to be in the kitchen like this? YES!  The good news is that I hardly have to be in the kitchen during the week because I have a bunch of pre-prepped dishes that I can either pull from the refrigerator or the freezer. In this way I don't have to give it a bunch of thought about meals and "what's for dinner?" 

MAKE OUR VOICES HEARD!

In India the cow is honored and revered.  Many teachings of the Indian cultures reflect the cow as the second highest in consciousness to human life. Human beings are the highest in consciousness as they have the elements of fire, earth, water, air and ether.  The cow has similar elements, lacking ether (discrimination). Besides this, the cow is an amazingly sensitive and intelligent sentient being, bonding with their calves and other cows, just like humans bond. The law of karma is the same law that Jesus taught, “As you sow, so shall you reap”. Taking life of any living being results in the boomerang of suffering. We see this in the degenerative diseases caused by the Standard American Diet.

I came across this picture of a cow in the pasture.  

This is a reminder of the natural contentment and beauty of cows grazing on grass, their natural nutrient source for their species. This looks nothing like the pictures of factory farmed cows and how they are raised.  

This conditioned idyllic image that the meat and dairy industry would like for us to believe, does not exist!  Whether a cow is raised on a grass fed farm or an industrial farm, humane slaughter is not possible.  Slaughter is slaughter and it incurs a karmic debt, which must be paid.  As much as the meat and diary industry would like us to think of “Old McDonald’s Farm”, this image is not realistic with animal farming, known as CAFO. Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations (CAFO) are referred to as “The Tragedy of Industrial Animal Factories.”  They are also known as Cow Concentration Camps and Poultry Prisons, etc.

Besides the farm animal’s inhumane treatment, what really concerns me is the feeding of these animals.  It is thoroughly documented that these cows are fed insecticides, pesticides, synthetic hormones, protein supplements (food pellets made up from rendered and diseased animals), antibiotics, manure, gravel, euthanized pets and road kill.  For seasoning add in the horrific, heart-wrenching physical animal abuse. Now, added to this grueling mess called “feed” is GMO corn and GMO soy, a diet NEVER intended for a cow, and is foreign to its digestive system. How can a sick cow produce healthy protein? The diet today for a cow is a formula for DISEASE.  Is there any question about why meat and dairy is linked with so many degenerative health conditions?

Check out John Robbins new book  No Happy Cows: Dispatches from the Frontlines of The Food Revolution “There are no happy cows in modern industrialized agriculture.”  --John Robbins

If your computer mail inbox looks anything like mine, please take the time to sign these petitions to stop the cruelty of animals. We must protest and block Monsanto’s continued pressure on our lawmakers, congressmen, etc. to monopolize the seed industry and penalize farmers as well as degrade our health. We must continue to demand labeling for ‘our right to know’ what is in our food! 

Lettuce support our organic farmers and growers, as well as organizations like Organic Consumers Association (OCA) and Institute for Responsible Technology (IRT). These groups are continually in the front lines and trenches, providing ammunition, fighting for our health rights. This violation of nature and lack of compassion needs to be addressed and fought by all of us. All organizations, including environmental, animal rights and health groups need to bond strongly in this fight to MAKE OUR VOICES HEARD!

Earth Day

HAPPY AND HEALTHY EARTH DAY TO EVERYONE!

Earth Day is an annual day, April 22, where worldwide events are held to demonstrate support for environmental protection.
This year Earth Day is falling on Meatless Monday.  The universe is speaking out for Mother Nature  the animals and the environment loudly and clearly!
Supreme Master Cheng Hai says that the most powerful step we can take for the environment to prevent global warming, is to abstain from animal products and dairy and to become vegan.

Becoming vegan is good for the health of the body, the spirit and the environment.  FACTORY FARMING erodes and poisons the land, it poisons the body with all of its GMO corn and soy, hormones, etc. fed to the animals, and the karma involved in this inhumane raising and killing of the animals adds to human suffering, according to the teachings of Spiritual Masters.

Below is an excerpt from my book Vegan Bite By Bite.

"A diet based on animal foods is a primary driving force behind the most serious environmental problems we face".  Will Tuttle - Author World Peace Diet

Lettuce all keep in mind the healthy benefits of eating organic and local produce!  Knowledge of the growing methods of our food is especially important these days.  Explore your LOCAL Farmer's Markets.  Save money during these economic times and cut the fuel expenses of transportation being added to your produce costs.

Here are some coming events of Earth Day celebrations, according to the earliest dates:

Topanga Earth Day
April 20 and 21, 2013

Burbank Recycle Center
500 S. Flower St.
Burbank, CA 91502
(818) 238-3900
Date: April 20, 2013

Children’s Earth Day

April 21, 2003   10:00 – 4:00 PM

10117 Jefferson Blvd. Culver City, CA 90232

310 – 842-8060

VEGFEST

Sunday, May 19, 2013  Woodley Park, Lake Balboa, California

10 top environmental sites: http://www.world.org/weo/environment

Tell me, what fun things do you have planned for Earth Day this year? I would love to hear from you!

More Scary Comes To Dairy!

It seems the dairy industry is at it again, looking to thwart the health interests of its consumers to generate higher profits.
 

The newest in their long trend of withholding information to consumers revolves around their use of artificial sweeteners, aspartame in particular. The dairy industry has recently petitioned the FDA to have the current requirement that milk and other dairy products be labeled as “artificially sweetened” be removed when containing such ingredients as aspartame, so that the label says nothing of the sort.

 

 

The petition, which was filed in 2009 was acknowledged by the FDA last week, which then asked for consumer responses. As you all can imagine, the responses were not positive. A counter-petition has been started by SumOfUs (petition can be found here), and already has over 93,000 signatures. 

As said by SumOfUs campaign manager, Kaytee Riek, in a press release “Hyper-sweet additives like aspartame rewire children’s brains so that they always want sugary foods, turning the kids into tiny consumption machines. This constant craving fattens up the food companies’ bottom lines as it fattens up their customers, leading to our current obesity epidemic. ... [The] industry has moved into formerly healthy foods, pumping them up with sugar, salt, and fat until they, too become part of the problem.”
 

As most educated vegans know, dairy has can cause a host of health risks, even without added ingredients. Aspartame has been linked with brain tumors. Here is a link from Dr. Mercola’s article, which I recommend you read in full.

The move on the part of the dairy industry, to block consumer knowledge of their additives, only goes to show the lengths they are willing to go to make a quick buck, at the expense of their own consumer's health. 
 

I encourage you all to become more aware of this petition, and to sign the counter-petition in the link above. It is important to spread awareness to those who may not know, be they vegan or not. It is especially a problem as a number of children are allergic to aspartame, and their parents may not know about this petition, or it's effects, until their children are already sick. 

Another good option is to write (with regular letters, as they are taken more seriously than email) the FDA, and let them know your thoughts on the dairy industry's current actions.
 

Although as vegans, we do not consume dairy, I for one am against all of this deceitful, fraudulent non-labeling of the truth of how dairy is masqueraded as healthy, and how children are encouraged to consume it, regardless of the unhealthy consequences! 

 

 

 

Please send the above petition to your friends, and be sure to sign it yourself! 

FAST HEALTHY FOODS

MANAGING A HEALTHY KITCHEN

Today and I was washing some lush Watercress I bought at the Hollywood Farmer’s Market, I thought to myself – wow, it takes a lot of time to manage a healthy kitchen!

This thought came to me, after I juiced the organic oranges I bought and put the juice in the freezer, because I got a good buy on a case.  After, making flaxseed-onion crackers in the dehydrator and making up some green salads for the week.

Often the variety of kitchen duties vary, but it does take being able to stay on top of the organization of a kitchen to manage it, without waste.  These times it is especially wise to keep as organized as possible.

A couple of afternoons a week I usually do some cooking in quantity and then freeze the dish in portions.  This way I never stress over “what’s for dinner?”  I stock a variety of either prepared soups or entrees in the freezer to choose from.  When I have stock in my freezer, I can then spend a minimum of time in the kitchen.  When the freezer stock gets low with variety, I start cooking again to build it up.

I like circulating what I have in the freezer, without keeping it too long. This is a picture of an older freezer, but I liked it because it shows the containers and how they can be efficiently stored.  Glass is best to store, but plastic containers stack nicely also.