Redbox Movie Surprise

I had an interesting weekend because I discovered something right in the nick of time. I had seen the Redboxes at the grocery store and thought it might be a good idea some time if we saw a movie we wanted to see to get a movie from the Redbox for $.99. Unfortunately the negatives were that most of the movies were not ones we wanted to see and that we needed to return it the next day. This past weekend I found one I wanted to see and needed to go to the same location the next day. I was ready to pony up the $1. However, in the Sunday paper, I read an article about Netflix vs Blockbuster vs Redbox. In this article, I discovered that Redbox was started by McDonald's - the company I swore I would not patronize after watching Fast Food Nation. Because I read that, I ended up renting the movie from Blockbuster - it cost 5 times as much, but I could watch the movie with a clear conscience. What it showed me was that I need to do my research about who owns the companies that I buy the products of. Some of these large corporations are just not the organizations I want to do business with! Last night we had a lovely summer Sunday meal - I grilled onions and red peppers in the coals and then grilled tofu dogs. Toasted the buns, slathered them with relish, mustard and the onions and peppers. Also, made my own sweet potato fries. A vegan cookout - very nice!!!!!

A 90th Birthday Party

Helped plan and execute a birthday party for my mother-in-law - 90 years old. Despite my serious anxiety about the whole thing - there were going to be 25 people, some meat eaters, some vegetarian and some vegan, ages from 18 months to, well, 90! Now that the party is over and was fun and successful, I can talk about it. A big challenge was the food - I provided 3 versions of lasagna. 1 - with meat, 1 - with cheese only and 1 without cheese or meat, but vegan cheese and vegetables. They were all delicious and seemed to satisfy all comers. Other than that there was a cold cut platter, a vegetable platter, salads from potato, 3 bean to mediterranean, snacks from hummus to salsa and guacamole. Drinks were a champagne punch and a regular non-alcoholic punch - both with rainbow sherbet. For dessert, there was a big bakery cake - (quite beautiful), a vegan chocolate chip pie and a strawberry, blueberry pie. We hung pink streamers from the ceiling and put up 2 shimmery happy birthday signs. The birthday girl is a woman with high standards and her smile at the party was clearly genuine. The whole family was together (a rare event) and a good time was had by all.

She has been on this earth for 90 years

Witnessed many joys and tears

Served her country during WWII

A nurse you would want to be in charge!

Worked hard for her family and hopefully had some fun

We are happy to say, at 90, she is not yet done!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MARY!!!!!

Ok - new subject - today I had a faux chicken salad sandwich for lunch from my favorite vegan restaurant. It was quite delicious, but it left me with the question - if it wasn't chicken what the heck was it. Who needs meat??

Fast Food Nation

It's been so long since I have posted - since I work on a computer all day at work, lately I have been consciously NOT getting on the computer. Instead, I have been reading a couple of interesting books, planting and watering my garden, organizing my recipes etc. This morning I have the day off from work and have

decided to post. A few years ago my son became a vegetarian and gave me "Fast Food Nation" to read. I must say I was as ignorant and many people are about how the food I was eating got to the grocery store in those neat little packages. When I read "Fast Food Nation", I was shocked and dismayed that the facts as stated in the book were things that have been happening and I had not heard anything about them previous to this. Why was there no outrage? From the day I finished that book, the images of the slaughterhouses portrayed and the plight of the slaughterhouse workers and the incredible stranglehold that McDonald's had/has on the meat processing industry just affected me so much. From that day forward, I vowed never to eat at McDonalds again and never to eat red meat again (I included beef and pork in this). I have kept that vow and actually have not even been tempted. Last week I watched the movie "Fast Food Nation" and it only strengthened and confirmed my original thoughts and feelings about what I wanted to eat. I have ordered 3 copies to keep and I intend to lend them out to anyone who wants to see it and become educated. I know that there are people that could walk through a slaugherhouse and eat a hamburger at the same time and seeing this movie probably won't make a dent. Denial is a strong human emotion. However, if even one person cuts down on their meat eating or sees their food supply in a new way, that will be the outcome I hope for. Even though I stopped eating red meat, I continued to eat chicken, turkey, fish, eggs and dairy so I wasn't really even a vegetarian. Sometimes I am amazed that I didn't take the next step right there. It took my daughter becoming a vegan and educating me about the whole animal rights, human rights, health and environmental issues surrounding the supply of all these products. Seeing Fast Food Nation - the movie made me proud to say that I am a vegan and have taken a stand in my own life against the practices and health risks as portrayed in that movie. I don't feel like I have had to sacrifice to do so. I must admit it makes finding acceptable things to eat difficult when I am away from home, but that is changing. Every day that I know that I don't contribute to the cruel animal and human practices and that I am protecting my health and the planet's environment makes me feel happy and confident. Thanks to all who work tirelessly on educating people about these issues.