Happy World Vegan Day 2009!

This one is a vegan interpretation of a fairly popular dish people eat in Slovenia. It is originally probably from somewhere else, but who cares. In my family we call this dish “svinčniki” (pencils in Slovene). This is really play on word: “svinja” (pig), “svinčnik” (pencil), “svinčniki” (plural of pencil). In any case, it is a deep fried breaded pork, but some people use different meat. It is also called “Wiener Schnitzel” (Vienna Steak), but I think that one is supposed to have veal. Since both veal and pig suffer super brutal and horrifying life and death for this dish, I think it is time to have a vegan alternative.

Before I start with the recipe, you will ask me, if I am vegan, why would I make a “meat” dish. I generally don’t like fake meats. They seem to send the wrong message. Exception to this are vegan drum sticks and “svinčnik”. Why? Because they are convenient to eat.

The body

• Cup of vital wheat gluten flower
• 1/4 cup of wheat germ
• 1/4 cup of nutritional yeast
• Table spoon of onion powder
• Table spoon of garlic powder
• Table spoon of paprika
• Other spices for flavor
• 2 Table spoons of Soy sauce (use tamari instead of the cheap stuff)
• 2 Table spoons of Olive oil
• Water

Take most of the dry ingredients, except paprika, and mix them together. I usually don’t mix too much to keep some variety of flavor. Add oil and some water and knead until all the dry stuff is moist. It should not be wet or runny. It should have consistency of a stretchy playdough. You will know that it is done when it stops sticking to anything. At this point add paprika and soy sauce and knead but don’t over-knead, so there will be some variety of color. Finally, form into the patties. This last step will be hard, since the dough will be super stretchy.

The suit

• Fine wholewheat flower (or garbanzo beans flower, or white flower)
• Soy/Almond/Hemp/Coconut milk (or any other vegan milk)
• Finely ground flax seeds (use whole seeds in the coffee grinder and not the flax meal)
• Some salt
• Vegan breadcrumbs (make sure they are vegan… most breadcrumbs in the store may have whey, eggs, cheese, cyanide, or other strange things inside)

Take patties and dip them in flower. At this point you should be able to form them even better, since they will have more things to hold them in place. Prepare a low bowl with breadcrumbs. Mix soy milk, flax seeds, and flax. Let it rest enough that flax release their oils. Put in a low bowl for easy dipping. Take flowered patties, fully submerge them in the soy milk mixture, flip them over if necessary and dip them in the breadcrumbs. At this point they should have an even coating. If you like more coating, repeat dipping into the milk and breadcrumbs.

The lotion

• Enough grape seed oil to cover the “svinčnik” (you can use any other high heat oil)

The final step is to deep fry the patties. Heat oil and once hot, put it on medium. Drop the patties in the oil and fry until golden brown on both sides. Take them out and place on a paper towel or a strainer to get rid of some excess oil.

Traditionally “svinčniki” are served with french fries or some other potato dish. That said, you can serve them with pretty much anything. I especially like them next day cold.

Make sure to have some nice wine with them. Preferably a wine from Slovenia.

I would prefer people would go vegan, but this is a great first step. Go Meatless on Mondays:

If we all just commit to one day a week without eating meat, the effect will be great over the course of the year:

• Our greenhouse gas emission reductions equal US switching from a car with average fuel efficiency (that’s about 22 mpg for the entire fleet) to a high efficiency car such as the Toyota Prius (50 mpg).
• We will save about 1 ton of water, enough to fill up the bathtub 22 times per week
• If everyone in the US did this, we’d collectively save about 12 billion gallons of gasoline

(from TreeHugger)

While you are checking out the Meatless Monday website, make sure to check their recipes, such as Zesty Carribean Banana Muffins.

Looks like Mother Earth even in the time of great danger still knows how to show us that she cares about us. Let’s return the favor. Let’s…

• Bike to work ~ reduce air, noise, and visual pollution.
• Live in 20 minute neighborhoods ~ Save time, money, and your life
• Make electricity out of sun, wind, and tide ~ It is cheaper and almost maintenance free
• Go vegan ~ Much healthier and better for the environment

Happy Earth Day 2009!!

Just wanted to share this great little vegan dish with you. It is super easy to make and is one of the set it and forget it dishes. You pretty much just dump everything in the pot and cook for however much you want.

So, here it goes:

• 1 cup of red lentils
• 1 cup of brown basmati rice
• 1 table spoon of garlic chilly sauce (or less if you don’t want spicy)
• 1 table spoon of peanut butter (real one, not that sugar junk)
• 2 table spoons of Island Soyaki
• 5 cardamom seeds
• Some oregano
• Some salt or soy sauce for flavor
• 1 green onion
• Some garlic
• Table spoon of olive oil
• Enough water to cover everything (about three to four cups)

So, dump everything to the pot, mix well, cook until everything soft and eat. Make sure to not eat the cardamom pods. They are there just for flavor.

Couple of things you can add:

• Cinnamon sticks
• Other vegetables
• Tor dal, black eyed peas, or any other quick cooking legumes instead or in addition to the red lentils
• Almond butter

And you can eat this by itself or serve as a side dish to some nice grilled mushrooms, garlic and paprika flavored seitan, or a broiled tofu.

Many vegetables are actually better for preventing bone loss than cow’s milk. Preventing osteoporosis is about more than calcium intake. It is also about calcium absorption and the calcium in many vegetables is more absorbable than calcium from cow’s milk. A number of vegetables also have more calcium per calorie than dairy milk and vegetables have other nutrients for bone health that dairy milk does not.

Highlights from page 103 [of Brenda Davis's "Becoming Vegetarian"]:

Cow’s Milk
1 cup – 300 mg – 32% absorbed, 96 mg net

Turnip Greens, cooked
1 cup – 198 mg – 52% absorbed, 102 mg net

Bok Choy, cooked
1 cup – 158 mg – 53% absorbed, 84 mg net

Mustard Greens, cooked
1 cup – 128 mg – 58% absorbed, 74 mg net

Kake, cooked
1 cup – 122 mg – 49% absorbed, 60 mg net

Broccoli, cooked
1 cup – 70 mg – 61% absorbed, 42 mg net

Tofu, made with a calcium based coagulant
1 cup – 516 mg – 31% absorbed, 160 mg net

Taken from: change.org: On Lactose Intolerance and Absorbing Calcium.

Go Vegan!

Today is an election day in USA. Here in California, people will most likely elect the “that guy” as opposed to “that other guy”. In any case, make sure to
GO OUT AND VOTE! and HAVE YOUR VOICE HEARD!

I don’t really want to tell you who to vote or what other measures and propositions to vote yes or no on. I would like to ask you something though. Either vote for something, that you believe it, even if that is a candidate that does not stand a chance, or if you vote for the least bad, make sure to keep them accountable.

Most people talk about keeping politicians accountable, but they don’t really act on it. For example, a recent minority party suddenly become a majority claiming that they will do a sweeping changes that people want. Once they came in power they actually supported most of the extremely bad policies. Some of them were so bad that the previous majority did not managed to pass. And there is no accountability, since the same new majority will probably be even stronger this time around. Their excuse is that they do not have big enough majority and that the president will veto things. But, what I really think is that they are afraid of losing their precious money from their supporters. Remember, it is not the people who elect a candidate but their financial supporters.

So, if you are a USA citizen, do your civic duty and vote. Then, make sure to get your vote counted. And I don’t mean by taking photos of ballots or doing all this other things to prevent voting fraud. Make sure your vote is counted, by making sure the things you are voting for actually do happen. Vote based on issues and not a person.

Finally, I heard of this and I think everybody should join the Million Mad March. It is a

one million angry people to gather with us in the streets of their state capitals and march in protest of the direction that our country has taken, and the dissection of the people’s role, towards what seems to be our eventual removal from the political system meant to protect and represent us.

So, one more timemake sure to
GO OUT AND VOTE! and HAVE YOUR VOICE HEARD!

Happy World Vegetarian Day!!

Go VEGAN!

Here are some random pages I saw and I thought were cool/funny/interesting/crazy:

• Pay off your share of the US national debt

Transportation

• Bike to work is healthy
• Energy cost of movement
• Live longer, run
• Cool and scary photos of traffic from space

Vegan

• Naked chicks protesting against UK guards wearing fur
• E. coli in Whole Foods beef

Social Security Number

• Protect your SSN
• How secure is your SSN

Interested in some awesome Japanese vegan dishes?

I usually do not like to advertise companies, but I really like these guys. Everybody, meet Alchemy Goods. This company makes all sorts of practical accessories made from recycled bike parts. I recently purchased their wallets and they are great. They are soft, smooth, they do not slide around, and they are environmentally friendly, since they are made from recycled materials.

The AG’s products may or may not be 100% vegan, since some tires and tubes include animal products to make them run cooler. But, considering that most alternatives are made from leather, they are significantly better. Also, since they are recycled, they are much better for the environment.

As you are probably aware if you live in US there will be some minor elections this fall. There are several interesting propositions on those elections. Here are some that I have a strong opinion about:

Proposition 1: Build a high speed train between the San Francisco and Los Angeles area. The major opposition falls into three major camps. There are people who say that since California cannot pay for education and health care, why spend money on this. Second argument is that it would never really be complete and it is a waste of money. Finally, the third argument is that it would have a huge environmental impact. Since I am not a finance person, I will ignore the first two. I assume somebody did the math. The only thing to add is that the money will be saved by people not having to drive or fly there. Also, since less people would drive, there would be substantial positive impact on the environment.

Proposition 2: This one has to do with the ethical treatment of farm animals. Though I don’t agree with people abusing farm animals in any way especially not for food production, I think baby steps can help sometimes. That said, baby steps when they really do something, not like a recent PETA fiasco with the Canadian KFC, where now PETA is promoting KFC. But hey, opposition says that the cost of eggs will go up. That is a good thing, isn’t it. So, I would say opposition to any animal cruelty is a great thing. Especially when it involves words such as “Go Vegan!“.

Proposition 4: Requires parents to be notified and consent to the abortion on a minor. Though in general I agree that the parents should be involved with the life of their children, unnecessary delaying potentially harmful pregnancy on a minor can be extremely serious. In addition this law would increase the underground abortion sites which are generally extremely unsafe, unsanitary and dangerous, compared to the abortion in the proper medical setting. Finally, I see this proposition to be a stepping stone towards making abortion illegal.

Proposition 8: Constitutional amendment with text “Only marriage between a man and a woman is valid or recognized in California.” To quote a famous philosopher Wanda Sykes: “if you don’t believe in same sex marriage, then don’t marry somebody of the same sex.” But in general the message that people should get into their thick head is that this one does not affect them at all! Environment, diet, exercise, financial decisions, etc.. will all affect them, but letting same sex people to marry will not. For more information, check out Let California Ring. Also, check out the arguments against same sex marriage.

Let’s all work together to make this world a happy place. Let’s not bicker about who can associate with who, who has a right to live and who does not, who has access to prosperity and who does not. We are here together and let’s work together to make everybody’s life happy. That includes your life, my life, cats lives, chickens lives, and even lives of people that you do not agree with. And finally, let’s make the lives of our children happy, buy not destroying the environment they will be forced to live in, but protect our precious planet for our children, cats children, chickens children, and anybody else they will share it with.

Choices you make affect everybody. Remember that.

(from A Life Connected)

Another vegetable on the long and growing list of evil vegetables. This time it is:

Thank nature the peppers, habaneros, and cilantro are still ok, so we can at least make the green salsa.

So, how about this, let’s stop the salmonella by not using animal products.

So, go Vegan!!

Vegan Freak is a great book and a must read for any vegan wannabe, vegetarian, a family member of vegan, or somebody who cares about animals in any way. In addition to the book, there is also a great website with forums and other useful information. It also contains Vegan Freak Radio, which is a lighthearted weekly podcast on all things vegan.

In the last Vegan Freak Radio show (June 20th), hosts Bob and Jenna talked to Professor Gary L. Francione. Dr. Francione is a great spokesperson for abolition of animal exploitation.

This was a great interview and worth listening whether you are vegan or not.

Why is the vegetable being vilified?

• Spinach
• Scallions
• Peanuts
• Tomatoes

To quote Dan Brook: “As with e. coli, the media seem to blame vegetables (spinach, scallions, now tomatoes), but the culprit is the farming of animals for meat, especially factory farming.”

Also, from Latina Viva Health: “…, animal waste can get into fields in the form of run-off from contaminated water supply systems and infected animals that sneak in and relieve themselves.”

So, go Vegan!!

It turns out that I am way more dangerous than your hospital or court house bomber. Why? Well, I guess because I am vegan.

Let’s start with this:

• FBI looking for vegan potluck terrorists (from Boing Boing)
• In preparation for the Republican National Convention, the FBI is soliciting informants to keep tabs on local protest groups (from Minneapolis/St. Paul City Pages)

What is so dangerous about us Vegans? How about environmentalists? Well, everything. Think about it. The loss of revenue to the meat production that I cause. Average American eats about 200 lb of meat per year. Assuming that an average pound of meat costs $5, I cost meat economy about $1000 per year. Then there is of course the 50 or so gallons of milk products a year, which at the cost of let say $2 per gallon costs producers hundred or several hundreds of dollars.

So, by the time we are done with that, I cost animal exploitation companies thousands of dollars of lost revenue every year. But it does not stop there. Every person I influence increases this lost revenue. Now, according to: Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act passed in late 2006 it is an offense to do pretty much anything for the purpose of damaging or disrupting an animal enterprise except by means that are protected by the freedom of speech. In other words, I can write an article saying that people should be vegan, but I cannot actually be vegan.

I can easily extend this argument to energy industry. My cycling commute is about 70 miles a week or 3500 miles a year. That is about 11 tanks of gas and each tank costs about $60. So, I cost gas industry at current prices about $600 a year. And my commute is not long and my car is pretty efficient. Imagine I would drive an SUV and commute 40 miles a day.

So, why don’t you join me in becoming a terrorist. It is super easy. Just stop eating meat. It is bad for you anyway. Studies after studies show that. Also, while there, stop consuming dairy and eggs. It has been almost proven that it causes several types of cancer. And if you want to be really radical, jump on that bike. You will save money for gas, money for gym, and by the time you come to work, you will be refreshed and stress free. And you can laugh at people being stuck in traffic.