Got a Date?

Dogs need love too...and what better way to show them than through homemade Valentine cookies? (Well, I suppose letting them sleep on the couch, chase the mailman and drink out of the toilet is probably what they'd prefer, but for the sake of my sanity I'm just going to express my love via the humble cookie!)

Being owned by a beagle and a wannabeagle, I have been highly trained in the art of cookie-giving. Long, loooooong years have been spent in patient repetition of the cookie-drop stance and, by Jove, I think I finally have it!

However, what is the use of being so gifted if you never actually have the chance to practice what they've drummed into you? And since most commercial dog cookies are out because they contain other animals, these vegan pups of mine have suggested strongly that I begin experimenting with making my own. And so, it is with great fanfare that I unveil the latest round of vegan cookies for our canine friends. These latest little nuggets of joy are a real winner so I am excited to share the recipe!

'Got-a-Date-With-Brown-Rice-and-Sweet-Potato Cookie Delights for Dogs'


Here's what you need:

2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 cup sweet potato, finely diced
1/2 cup brown rice, cooked and cooled
3 tbsp chopped dates (5-6 whole dates, approx)
2 tbsp canola oil
3/4 cup water

- Pre-heat the oven to 325 degrees
- Mix your flour and baking powder in a large bowl.
- Add in the rice, sweet potato and chopped dates and mix so that they are nicely distributed.
- Make a well in the center of the bowl and add first the canola and then the water.
- Mix well and - when it is almost completely mixed in - abandon your wooden spoon in favour of your hands. Knead gently for a minute or so.
- Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and turn the dough out onto it.
- Press it down with your hands and then roll out thinly (to about 1/4 inch thick).
- Bake in the pre-heated oven for 30 mins.

Now comes the fun part. Once you remove the baking sheet from the oven you can go ahead and cut the whole huge cookie into bitesize pieces. In the past I have found that a pizza wheel makes life really simple in this regard: first cut long strips and then turn the tray through 90 degrees and cut across again to form squares.

At this point, you'll notice that the cookies are still relatively soft. And this is the key: once you've cut the one giant cookie into many smaller ones, put the tray back in the oven for a further 30 minutes - biscotti-style!

After 30 minutes, turn the oven off, but leave the cookies inside to dry out even more and to cool. That way, they have that awesome crunchiness that doggies the world over will sit up and beg for!

Anyways, given the Valentine's Day connection, I felt Darwin (the Loud) and Humphrey (the Small and Irritating) deserved little bits of my heart instead.



Happy Valentine's Day, friends...and stay vegan!

Happy Birthday Boss!

OK, perhaps I'm a suck-up, but I can't help it. Today, our whole dept celebrated our boss' birthday and I made the cake! I like baking, as you know, but I am also trying to refrain from eating everything I cook (in an attempt not to end up looking like the side of a barn!), so baking for someone else makes perfect sense!

See...it's not altruism, it's self-preservation!
:)

And so, a little food porn! This was the cake:



And for a closeup:



With Humphrey's eyes glowing weirdly blue in the background!



It was a chocolate cake from Colleen Patrick-Goudreau's Joy of Vegan Baking coupled with a basic 'buttercream' frosting spiked with Glenmorangie and coffee liqueur. Oh, and a little candy store in Northampton (MA), Sweeties, supplied the vegan 'cordials' - the delightful little choccie balls on top!

It went down well.



Happy Birthday and here's to the next one!

Eat cake and stay vegan, friends!

Is a vegan diet the new "non-diet"?

I came across the following article in Canada's The Globe and Mail and was intrigued. The article discusses the publication of a study from the George Washington University, the University of Toronto and the PCRM in which diabetics were monitored for 18 months while they followed either a conventional diet or a vegan diet. Unsurprisingly, those following the vegan diet demonstrated better results - better weight loss, reduced blood sugar levels, reduced LDL and decreased need for diabetic meds - plus they found it easier to maintain.

The thing is, these kinds of results are not exactly news....well, not within the vegan community anyway. It is fairly well known and all just so much common sense - nix the cholesterol and saturated fat from your diet, eat freely but lower on the food chain and you'll improve your health! And on a personal level, my own mother has managed much of this too - after years of conventional 'diabetes management', she switched to a completely vegan diet and has succeeded in reducing her insulin dependence dramatically and seriously improving her health.

I guess the interesting thing about it is that the article hints at the importance of 'lifestyle' changes as opposed to simple 'diet' changes. It mentions that vegan meals may initially take a little more preparation - which echoes my last post - but that this was not found to be a problem once participants became accustomed to new ways of cooking. In fact, as the author points out the small extra effort in food prep was ultimately less onerous than the alternative - calorie counting and dietary restriction.

Anyways, for those interested in reading further, here's the article in its entirety:

Is a vegan diet the new "non-diet"?

The question isn't if a diet works, but if it's sustainable. Any number of diets can lower blood sugar, reduce cholesterol or promote weight loss over its initial three months. But the real winner is the one that can accomplish these tasks over the long term.

Enter the vegan diet - a low-fat eating plan that shuns all animal foods including meat, poultry, dairy and eggs. Such a diet has been shown to improve blood sugar in people with diabetes, lower LDL (bad) cholesterol, promote weight loss and even help reverse heart disease.

A study published in the February issue of the Journal of the American Dietetic Association has concluded that a vegan diet - no calorie counting or measuring foods required - is easier to stick to than you might think.

In the study, researchers from the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, the George Washington University and the University of Toronto assigned 99 people with Type 2 diabetes to follow either a low-fat vegan diet or a conventional diabetes diet for 18 months.

The conventional diabetes diet, based on guidelines from the American Diabetes Association, controlled calories, carbohydrates and monounsaturated fat (e.g. olive oil, canola oil, avocado) according to each participant's need to lose weight and lower blood cholesterol. The diet was low in saturated (animal) fat and cholesterol.

The low-fat vegan diet avoided animal products and fatty foods and favoured foods low on the glycemic index such as sweet potatoes, legumes and green vegetables. (Low-GI foods are digested more slowly and, as a result, don't produce large spikes in blood sugar.) There were no restrictions on calories, carbohydrate intake or portion size. In fact, the vegan diet followers consumed more of their daily calories - 75 per cent worth - from carbohydrate-rich foods than did folks on the diabetes diet.

Each group met with a registered dietitian for one hour to establish a meal plan and then attended weekly meetings for nutrition and cooking lessons for 22 weeks. This was followed by optional biweekly nutrition sessions for a year.

The vegan diet dramatically cut consumption of cholesterol, fat and saturated fat and increased fibre intake compared to the conventional diabetes diet.

People on the vegan diet lost weight, lowered their blood sugar and LDL cholesterol, and reduced the need for diabetes medication. Among people whose diabetes medications remained unchanged, those following a vegan diet achieved better blood-sugar control as indicated by bigger improvement in a blood test that measures hemoglobin A1c.

The fact that people assigned to the vegan diet ate as much as they wanted, increased their daily carbohydrate intake and still experienced favourable blood-sugar and weight-loss results may seem surprising. Researchers believe that a low-fat, plant-based diet improves how the body uses insulin. And because vegan diets are low in fat and high in fibre, they're typically lower in calories, which can facilitate weight loss and result in better blood-sugar control.

Sounds good so far, provided you can follow such a plan for the long term. According to this study, you can. While the vegan diet initially required a little more effort in meal preparation, this complaint was no longer heard at 18 months. In contrast, those following the standard diabetic diet reported more discomfort with restrictions such as watching calories and limiting portions of carbohydrate and fat.

While neither diet triggered increased cravings for fatty foods, the vegan diet followers were less likely to crave such foods after 22 weeks on their diet.

Other studies have also reported the acceptability of a vegetarian diet.

In a study of 250 young women who had tried both calorie-controlled weight-loss diets and vegetarian diets, most abandoned their calorie-restricted diet after four months but were able to stick with a vegetarian diet for two years.

A vegetarian diet has the advantages of being lower in saturated fat and cholesterol, and higher in fibre and low-GI carbohydrates, but it does require planning (and supplementation) to ensure you meet daily requirements for protein, vitamin B12, calcium, vitamin D and iodine.

If you've considered going vegetarian, but don't want to give up all animal foods, consider moving toward a plant-based diet - one that emphasizes grains, vegetables and legumes rather than meat, poultry and dairy. When you do eat meat or poultry, eat a smaller portion.

Start by replacing animal foods with meatless protein sources at three meals a week and build from there. Vegetarian protein foods include fortified soy beverages, tofu, soy burgers, tofu dogs, veggie ground round, tempeh, legumes and lentils.

Other types of vegetarian diets limit - but don't exclude - all animal foods. Lacto-vegetarians eat dairy products along with plant-based foods.

While these diets may not lower your blood sugar or cholesterol to the same extent as a vegan diet, if planned properly they still have the advantage of being lower in saturated fat and higher in fibre.

One final note: If you have diabetes, consult your dietitian or doctor before making any changes to your diet. Do not stop taking your diabetes medication without checking with your doctor.

Leslie Beck
LeslieBeck.com

Stay vegan, friends! :)

I (heart) Leftovers...

A casual conversation at work today started me thinking about time. Not in a profound 'What Is The Nature of Time?' or 'Are We Living a Post-Temporal Reality?' kind of way, but ruminating more along the lines of how chronically busy people are and how they seem to have little time to actually cook.

And, unpopular as this observation may prove to be, it seems to me that time is not really the issue - motivation is. Let me explain....

My friend at work was saying she was pushed for time to actually cook from scratch but was uncomfortable relying on frozen/canned/packet foods. She is a busy person, works full-time and hard, has a life and myriad responsibilities and is probably pretty typical in this regard. Anyways, she'd noticed my lunch (leftovers from last night's dinner) and made flattering comments on how good it looked. And so I launched into the talk about how cooking fresh food does not necessarily have to be more time consuming than eating convenience foods.

But it quickly became apparent to me that actually this is not necessarily so.

And thinking about it all a little more, I realised that I am fighting a losing battle trying to convince someone in this argument. It will *always* be quicker to stop at McDonald's on the way home or throw an oven-ready pizza in the microwave than to put together a home-cooked dinner - whether vegan or otherwise. But as the light dawned, it also hit me that the question needs to be reframed. It should be positioned not as 'Do I have time to cook something for dinner tonight?' but rather as 'Do I have time to be sick later in life?'.

Because every vegetable I chop, every leaf of spinach I wash, every bean I rinse is an investment not only *of time* at that moment but an investment *in time* for my own future.

And that is motivation for me.

Oh, and food like this too....

Nava Atlas' Seitan and Polenta Skillet with Fresh Greens.

It starts with these:

1 tube polenta, sliced and quartered
1 1/2 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp soy sauce
1 lb seitan, cut into strips (actually I used a couple of fauxsages instead)
4-6 stalks of bok choy, sliced
5-6 oz baby spinach
4 scallions, sliced
1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
1/4 cup sun-dried tomatoes

And it's simpicity itself!

1. Saute the polenta wedges in a little of the olive oil and set aside.
2. Heat the remaining oil and soy sauce and saute the seitan for about 5 mins. Add in the bok choy, spinach and scallions.
3. Cover and cook until the greens are nicely wilted.
4. Spinkle the vinegar over the greens mix and fold in the cooked polenta and sun-dried tomatoes.
5. Season with salt and pepper if you like and serve.

Like this:



I added a few small red garlicky potatoes and the meal was complete. Plus there was enough for the now somewhat celebrated 'leftovers'.....

Bon appetit!
....and stay vegan, friends!

On finding solace in the small pleasures...

After yesterday's post, I thought something a little less serious might be in order. I also thought I'd take my own advice about enjoying my own dog and so we all went for a run in the forest this morning.

For those of you who do not know them, My Beloved and I are privileged to share our home with a beagle and a dachshund/min pin known locally as Darwin the Loud and Humphrey the Small and Irritating. They are both 'recycled dogs' - Darwin (the beagle) from a local hellhole of a pound and Humphrey is a 'Dixie-dog' - finding himself in New England by way of the sunnier climes of Tennessee.

Anyways, they are the loves of my life (along with their Pop, of course) and I don't quite know what I'd do without them. Sometimes - usually when in the car and they're barking and screaming for all they're worth - I fantasize about being without them, but that feeling dissipates soon after we reach our destination - the park, the dog park, the forest, wherever - or after I've had a few moments alone to regain my 'inner poise'. Or a couple of vodka-tonics. But that would be a whole other story!

Moving along. This morning, saddened beyond belief by yesterday's post, I resolved to take the boys on a long run in the forest. We bundled them into their winter attire and off we went. Here are a few pix...


The forest in question, so beautiful....if a touch chilly!


Darwin hoping he can take off and run.....


Humphrey worrying that he's wearing last year's fashions!

Humphrey is very fine furred which means he gets to wear 2 coats in this kind of weather. His faux shearling velcroes up underneath him and then the fleecy green coat wraps around and closes along his back, meaning he's doubly protected. Perhaps I am overly protective, but he really feels the cold in New England, sitting right by the stove even in the summer when it's 95 degrees outside. Personally I think he might be a tad crazy, but that's ok. We all have our insane side, no?


That famous beagle nose gets into everything....including snow piles. Hmmmmmm......


The boys are very close these days. They are incredibly fond of each other and do everything together. This is a classic moment....tails high, ears back, life is good!








And they know to always come back because their favourite treats are on offer - vegan raspberry and peanut butter biscotti, if you please!


And Darwin's not above posing so I can get his 'best side'....

It was a lovely morning - just what was needed to revive flagging spirits. Being in the forest, tramping through the snow, with the pups and the occasional cross-country skier



really boosted my morale and helped me bring back into focus *my* reality. There is so much trauma 'out there', so much to be incredibly saddened by, and it is vitally important to take a break, enjoy moments like this and take stock of your own reality. Find solace in the small pleasures you have in being with your own animal companions and then recharge your batteries and continue doing what you can for the rest of the animals out here.

I know yesterday's post was difficult, but if you have read so far I thank you for not turning away. And the animals thank you too.

Stay vegan, friends!

Go cuddle your own dog...

Yesterday I received an email from an organization I very much respect, Animals Asia. I first came across them a couple of years ago when I was bought a gift sponsorship of 'Bottom' the bear in my mother's name, as she adores bears. Animals Asia works in China and Vietnam to end bear bile farming and do outstanding work in bear rescue and in education - teaching people about the cruelties of bear bile farming and the hazards to human health of this obscene practice.

At the time, however, I did not realise that Animals Asia has also developed a very strong 'Friend....or Food' program, aimed at changing attitudes in China to dog and cat eating. OK, I sense I might lose a few folks here, but I just ask you to please read on. It is SO important.

This is the reality:



And then they become this:



(Images courtesy of Animals Asia)

And the scale of this practice was also unclear to me until recently. Animal People estimates that 13-16 million dogs and 4 million cats are butchered each year for human consumption in Asia.

Let's hear that again: 13 to 16 million dogs.

Million.

And 4 million cats.

OK, so back to the email I received yesterday. It came from the founder, Jill Robinson, who has launched a desperate appeal for donations to help provide care for the 149 dogs that were rescued on New Year's Eve from dog-meat traders. This is an excerpt from her message:

It all started on New Year’s Eve when the Qiming Rescue Centre, a dog shelter in Chengdu, asked for our help. The authorities in nearby Pengzhou had just confiscated 149 dogs from an unlicensed trading station (after a tip-off from Qiming staff) and the dogs were on their way to the shelter.

A small team, including one of our vets and a vet nurse, quickly grabbed medical supplies and headed for the shelter. We arrived just as the truck carrying the dogs pulled in. I couldn’t believe what we were witnessing! It was horrible in every sense of the word – the stench (so familiar from our visits to live animal markets), the blood-curdling cries coming from the cages as the terrified dogs bit into each and, as always, the terrible feeling we all get when we look into the haunting, sad eyes of these beautiful animals.

I hate to think how long they had been in those cages, many of them packed in so tightly that they were piled on top of each other. Some of the dogs were shaking with anxiety, while others were rigid with fear. Many were suffering terribly and showing symptoms of parvovirus, distemper and kennel cough. Most were skeletal and their coats filthy from being excreted and urinated on by the top layer of dogs.

Animals Asia is health-checking the dogs, treating their wounds, vaccinating them and, sadly, euthanising those that are just too sick to save or so aggressive that we could not rule out rabies or other diseases; these dogs are also a serious risk to other dogs and handlers. The process is ongoing, but we hope many of the dogs will recover and find good homes. However, these are the lucky ones – this year alone, millions of other dogs (and cats) will be slaughtered in the most brutal manner in hellish meat markets in China.

They will be crammed together into tiny cages, loaded onto trucks and driven day and night for four or five days with no food or water (if they are lucky, they might be hosed down, just to keep them alive). Once at the markets in southern China, they will be bludgeoned across the face, stabbed and bled out, or slowly, torturously beaten to death in the misguided belief that their meat will taste better if they are panic-stricken at the point of death. The same fate awaits millions of cats – some of them are even boiled alive.

What is so encouraging about this rescue is that it was a local animal-welfare centre that alerted the authorities about the unlicensed trader and, for the first time, the authorities actually confiscated the dogs! This is a wonderful example of Chinese people standing up and saying “no” to the cruel dog-eating trade – and it underpins our education efforts to stop demand and bring this industry to an end.

Animals Asia really needs funding right now. And money - however much we can all as individuals spare - goes a loooooooong way in China. I know times are tough financially, but life is tougher by far for those dogs and if you can see your way clear to sending a donation - however small - please click on this link.

And then go and cuddle your own dog. Because s/he knows YOU need it.

Thanks friends, and stay vegan.

The delights of tea....

I am a creature of habit, it is true. Being a Brit, I adore my tea but always with white sugar and milk. I'll admit, sometimes I mix it up a bit and switch out the soy milk for rice milk and once I even used the the last dribble of Silk EgglessNog (or whatever it's called) in my early morning cuppa. It made the drink super sweet, but not altogether unpleasant now that I think about it.....Hmmmm.....

Anyways, My Beloved and I were in NoHo this weekend having brunch at our favourite little place, the Green Bean. We'd taken the boys (bundled up in multiple fleecy coats against the sub-zero temperatures) to the forest for a run and felt righteously entitled to a big brunch. Well, that was my excuse anyhow....So ambulating around the town after lunch, and not wanting to admit defeat in the face of windchills around -15 degrees celsius and run home to sit in front of a roaring fire, we went into one of the cooks' shops and I discovered tea. This tea, in fact:



It's called Caribbean Breezes and it was the smell that initially stopped me dead in my tracks - a beautifully sweet yet tangy mix of hibiscus and coconut. I was instantly transported back to the islands, out of the cold and into tropical temps - I just HAD to buy some!

So this afternoon as I did some baking - a top secret project that I dare not discuss right now lest 'someone' read this entry (all will be revealed later) - I brewed up my first pot.




It made 3 cups of a garnet-coloured ambrosia and I enjoyed each one - fantastic!! A touch of agave nectar in place of the refined white sugar sweetened it delightfully and actually making a pot instead of throwing a teabag in a mug lent the whole affaire an element of civility on this frigid, hard-scrabble Sunday afternoon in arctic-blasted New England.




Stay warm...and vegan...friends! :)

Vegans truely are the *best* people....

I just wanted to take a second to respond to and thank the folks who left comments regarding my earlier post on 'Hefty Herbivores'. I was feeling despondant when I wrote it and just having Anonymous, Poookie, Anonymous, Sara and Zucchini Breath take the time not only to read it but to identify and to post comments really gave me the boost I need. And so to your points:

Anonymous aka 'Cybermomma' - you know I only planted the seeds for you and you have made them bear fruit all by yourself. I am terrifically proud of what you have achieved and what you will go on to achieve and I really believe that the changes you've made will keep you with me longer. And that HAS to be good. Right?!?!

Poookie - **you** inspire me! Not only have you lost a ton of weight but you've gained a ton of insight! Yes, we are all unique and we didn't arrive at our sizes overnight, so it's a matter of time and patience. Oh, and consistency...as you say. Thanks so much!

Anonymous - you are definitely NOT alone. And at a size 14 you are gorgeous! :) I hope I might get down to that size at some stage...even while eating the odd vegan donut or two! LOL

Sara - yes, you too hit the nail on the head when you said 'Sure, the occasional indulgence in the vegan cookie or cupcake, but that's the key..occasional.' As I look back over my blog posts, I see a distinct bias towards baked goods and a real lack of balance. I need to correct that. Oh, and I also need to say kudos on YOUR awesome blog - check it out, guys...The Innocent Primate Vegan Blog.

Zucchini Breath - I lurked around your blog too and the pix you post are in no way 'chubby'! 57 lbs since June?!?! - you are my new hero!!!! Love it, love it!

A, P, A, S and ZB - thanks again.

More soon.

And stay vegan, my Friends!

Vegan on the Cheap - not a moment too soon...

Browsing idly around the blogosphere this lunchtime I was struck by two pieces of news that seemed, in my perhaps warped mind at least, somewhat linked. The first is a report regarding the eating of raccoons - apparently given the collapsing economy, folks have taken to ambushing wildlife behind dumpsters, clubbing the unfortunates to death and offering them for sale as human food. The going rate is anywhere between $3 and $7 per raccoon. My, my, doesn't that tempeh look good in comparison....(Thanks to The Informed Vegan for this piece.)

The second nugget of news is that Robin Robertson - author of, I think, 19 veg*n cookbooks to date - has lodged another with her publisher and has yet another in the works. According to her brand spanking new website,

Vegan on the Cheap [is a book whose time] has come. With the economy in a slump and everyone looking for ways to save money, I’m excited to be working on a cookbook devoted to recipes and ideas for eating cheaply (and well). I’ve just finished the first draft of Vegan on the Cheap, and the recipe testing begins soon. I don’t know the publication date of this book either, but I’ll let you know when I do.

So you see folks, there is hope. Even in this economy there is no need to resort to eating freakin' raccoons! Sheesh!!

On 'hefty herbivores' and other such fabled creatures.....

Finally.

I finally did it.

I went to the gym this evening on my way home from work. For the first time this year.

And it was tough. I really felt it and wondered, for the umpteenth time, how the hell it is that I am still so fat?

I have been vegan now for 15 months and I haven't really lost any weight. Now, I should say up front that weight loss and health reasons are not why I went vegan. Not in the least. I made the change from my previously largely omni diet when I discovered the truth about the animals - how they live and how they die, and I could bear no further part of that.

However, whenever I catch myself thinking of 'vegans' in the abstract, perhaps of the stereotype, I think of slender willowy types with glossy shiny hair, perfect teeth and toned bodies.

I do not, in short, think of me.

OK, so I am rational. I am perectly able to see that it took 30+ years for me to get to this state and it's going to take a while to put things right. But I can't help but feel discouraged and disappointed because I have the impression - right or wrong - that the vegan diet is naturally healthier, lower in all of the bad things and higher in the good ones. Is more sustaining, nutrient-dense and calorie-poor and that a healthier body is an inevitable by-product of a healthier way of eating.

And no, it's not a case that I 'cheat' from time to time, secretly gorging on hot dogs and cheese pizza. Because I do not. I would as soon snack on a hot dog as I would on my own dog. To me, the hot dog is not food; it is the desperate remains of a once beautiful, intelligent, sensitive creature whose desire to live matched my own. The cheese on the pizza is little more to me than the product of a grief-stricken mother whose baby has been stolen from her. So, no, I do not 'cheat'; I have no interest in those things.

But the question persists: am I the only fat vegan out there? Am I the exception that proves the rule when it comes to plant-based nutrition? We are so bombarded by images of svelte gorgeous vegan women and I am beginning to question the underlying assumption that veganism = slenderness. (There are, after all, svelte and gorgeous meat-eaters out there, folks who wouldn't know a snowpea if they tripped over it on the way to the steakhouse.)

So, in tandem with committing *once again* (sigh) to regular stops at the gym on the way home, I am launching a study: where are the 'hefty herbivores'? the 'portly-plant eaters'? the 'vegans of size'? Am I in a club of one?? Or are there kindred souls out there, sheltering behind their autographed copies of Skinny Bitch?

Watch this (somewhat substantial) space...

...oh, and Stay Vegan, Friends.