Cowspiracy and Compassionfest 2016 Hamden, CT

Summer is in full swing and I have been enjoying my veggie burgers, veg dogs and skewers of delicious onions, peppers, tomatoes, zucchini, broccoli and pineapple all cooked on the grill. It so reminds me how little it seems I have to give up to stop eating meat, dairy and eggs.
I have also been experimenting with curries, buddha bowls, all kinds of fresh salads, lentils and a new recipe to marinate and bake tofu. This last one for tofu needs to be reviewed further. This one is called T's Tofu and is by Theresa Bizzell. It has a delicious marinade with so many wonderful ingredients, especially the sesame oil, and bakes for 45 minutes. Since I made a whole block, I had some left over and stored it in the refrigerator. After a day or so I used it in a salad and have to say it almost had the taste and texture of cold chicken. I do not miss eating chicken at all, but it was quite an amazing flavor that this recipe added to the tofu.

********* Best of all is that I get to eat delicious nutritious food that did not harm animals or the  
                                                                               environment and makes me healthy ************

COMPASSIONFEST 

 On July 23, 2016 I attended this wonderful event in Hamden, CT called Compassionfest. This was the 2nd year that it was held. As the banner says it is about community, equality, kindness and compassion. There is no doubt that this wonderful festival successfully delivered on all of these ideas. There were wonderful speakers  - my favorites being Jasmin Singer and the poetry readings - a standout being Sky Raven. Music, delicious vegan food, craft, product and causes booths, workshops and demos - something for everyone. The organizers and supporters did such a wonderful job to reach out to all people and their attendance reflected that. 
The weather was beautifully sunny and it was impossible to be there and not realize how good it feels to be in an environment that can spread compassion to every area of our lives - how we treat each other as human beings and how we treat the other living beings that share the earth with us. 
I can't wait until next year. Hope you can attend!

The other monumental happening was when I finally watched the documentary film "Cowspiracy". 
This film is now available on Netflix and I would say that it is "an inconvenient truth" Part 2. (the following comes from IMDB) The film explores the impact of animal agriculture on the environment, and investigates the policies of environmental organizations on this issue. Environmental organizations investigated in the film include Greenpeace, Sierra Club, Surfrider Foundation, Rainforest Action Network, and many more.^[1][2][3][4]
The film was crowdfunded on IndieGoGo, with 1,449 contributors giving $117,092. This funding was 217% of their goal, and it allowed them to dub the film into Spanish and German and subtitle it into more than 10 other languages, including Chinese and Russian.^[5][6] Screenings are licensed through the distributor as well as on Tugg.^[7]
A new cut of the documentary, executive-produced by Leonardo DiCaprio, premiered globally on Netflix on September 15, 2015.^{[8]
The film was very well done and quite entertaining. I was riveted to the screen from beginning to end - no bathroom breaks!!! I knew some things about the environmental impact of animal agriculture and the ways that this industry tries to hide the truth of the consequences of their methods. I was not actually that surprised that the major environmental organizations did not push back since it seems to be clear that animal agriculture is the main cause of climate change and that cutting down on meat consumption would show benefits to the environment right away. Even China is asking their citizens to eat 50% less meat.
It is clear we are on a very destructive path and action needs to be taken to help sustain our beautiful planet. My takeaway was that I was so glad that I am already a vegan especially since this film educated me in so many ways regarding the environmental impacts of the current food system. It has inspired me to send letters to my congressional representatives about this issue and encourage everyone I know to watch it. Please check it out and spread the word. 
*************Compassion-Love-Tolerance for humans and non-human animals*************}   
 

New Vegan Dishes

Lentil Stew

Lately I have been thinking a lot about adding some new vegan dishes into my repertoire. Since I have a stressful job, there are so many nights I get home and I am just too tired to think about what ingredients I can use to make a meal and am actually too tired to prepare anything that requires more than maybe 4 minutes in the microwave. That means vegan processed food. Don’t get me wrong, there is a lot of good V processed food out there, but I just think I was eating too much of it. And I lacked the motivation to ignore my fatigue and just start cooking.

So…….. I decided to just make it happen! One thing I realized was that I could consider combining a processed product with whole food products – that would get me started. One result of this idea was using a tahini sauce  that  I get at Trader Joes as a dressing with lettuce, cucumber, onions, tomatoes, parsley and dried figs. To this I add 3 falafel patties bought frozen at Trader Joes and microwaved for  1 minute – plop into the salad. This is quick, easy, pretty healthy and quite delicious.

I also wanted to make some meals with all fresh ingredients, especially ones that add protein and texture. Two I tried recently were lentils and quinoa. The lentils were another purchase from Trader Joes – a bag of smoked lentils with no additives etc. To use the lentils, I read through a few recipes both from the Web and some of my vegan cookbooks and then invented my own. I made a lentil stew with fresh grape tomatoes, potatoes, quinoa, onions, carrots, frozen corn and, of course, plenty of seasoning. The cooking aromas from the stew and the vegan corn bread I made to go along with it filled the kitchen. The result was a keeper, but the down side of tweaking multiple recipes and not writing it down means……… well, you know.

Another ingredient that I have used quite a bit is tofu. One popular preparation was a  Chinese type stir fry with other vegetables and sauce makings. It was another recipe mashup and never totally successful – very difficult timing procedures and not enough sauce. So I got lucky and was given a cookbook by a friend at work called “Vegan on a Budget” and, lo and behold, it had a recipe that was very similar to my original one, but it had a better and easier process and it provided a sweet and sour sauce that sounded delicious and made a large quantity. My assessment of this new recipe proved to be accurate and I have prepared it twice recently and despite a large batch made – there are never any leftovers!!!!!

So, I have broken through and am pursuing the vegan food adventure with renewed dedication and excitement. Will be exploring more lentil variations, researching the quinoa possibilities and tweaking the tofu for now. Oh...... and I am into roasting vegetables, fruit – seasoned cauliflower with vegan parm sprinkled after roasting; apples and squash and sweet potatoes – O MY!........ OK – gotta get back to my research – the next dinner time awaits. Compassion for all.