Italian Veggie Soup (Stew?)

It seems my mom is getting a little more interested in the food I make. Although she draws the line at certain raw foods and rather foreign cooked concoctions (such as anything Indian), she's beginning to have me make meals for her, and even will have juice as meals, too!
And I enjoy it. I'm strange, and packing lunches gives me a sense of pleasure. (I swear, being able to pack lunches is the one reason why I would want kids)

Although this was a few weeks ago, she asked me to make her soup with lots of veggies. Which was fine with me! I've since made this recipe twice, and it's just so good! And it was a great way to use up some of the vegetables that had been in our fridge for some time, too.
Now, I'm not really sure whether it should be called soup, as it was more veggie than broth, but whatever works, I guess...




Italian Vegetable Soup
~Swirl Extra Virgin Olive Oil
~4 cloves garlic, minced
~1 large onion, diced
~1 C carrots, diced
~2 medium potatoes, diced
~3 celery stalks, chopped
~1 medium yellow squash, diced
~1 medium zucchini, diced
~2 C vegetable broth
~2 C water
~1 24 or 26 oz can of tomato sauce
~2 bay leaves
~2 Tbsp dried parsley
~1 Tbsp dried oregano
~1/2 Tbsp dried dill
~1 Tbsp dried basil
~1/4 nutrional yeast
~ 1 can kidney beans
~ 1 can corn
~ Salt and Pepper to taste

1.) In a large pot, heat the oil on medium-low. Add the onions and garlic, and let cook until the onions are translucent.
2.) Add all of the vegetables (carrots, potatoes, celery, squashes), herbs, water, broth, tomato sauce, and nutrional yeast and bring to a boil. Once boiling, reduce the heat and let simmer for 40 minutes.
3.) Add the beans and corn and allow to simmer for another 15 to 20 minutes, or until the vegetables are tender. Add salt and pepper to taste (it may be salty enough depending on the tomato sauce and broth used)
4.) You can add some more water or broth if you want it more liquidy.




I love adding some kale to mine once it's ready to be served. The heat of the soup just in a bowl makes the kale crispy and warm! :)

Why wool isn't ethical...

There are many people who will wonder "Why vegan? Why not just vegetarian? What harm does milk, eggs, honey, and wool do?". Well, there are numerous reasons why not to eat animal products that don't kill the animal, but as far as wool goes, a sheep must be sheared. Cows and goats need to give birth to produce milk, I'm sure eggs aren't pleasant for a hen to lay (and I'm sure she'd prefer it if a rooster fertilized it for her), and bees go to great lengths to make honey (not to mention honey is basically bee regurgitation).
I always get questioned why I don't eat honey, but not usually for wool. I have, however, received the slightest bit of teasing from a vegetarian uncle of mine. Details are fuzzy, but I remember him saying "Poor, naked sheepies" over some article of clothing made from wool. I'm not surprised most people don't know the conditions of sheep for wool, but wool just isn't ethical.

Much like their made-for-meat counterparts raised in factory farms, sheep live in poor living conditions and are fed unnatural, inorganic diets.
Similar to how how factory farm animals go through tail-docking, castration (male sheep suffer from this too), teeth-clipping, beak-trimming, and dehorning, sheep go through something called "Mulesing". (See Right)

Mulesing is a practice where lambs are forced onto their backs so chunks of skin and flesh can be "hacked from their rumps with gardening type shears". A sheep's skin will naturally form wrinkles- which, when living in close confinement in their own feces, are a breeding ground for flies. Mulesing is done, usually without the benefit of anesthetics, to prevent the flies from laying eggs in the sheep.
This practice, however, often leaves open wounds on the sheep, which become infested with maggots.




A sheep's production of wool is based on breed and genetics. If a sheep does not produce a profitable amount of wool, s/he will be sold for the meat industry.
Since the sheep was not bred specifically for meat, the meat will be considered "low-grade", and sold at a very low price.
Every year, millions of sheep are shipped from Australia (the biggest wool producer in the world), tightly packed onto open-decked boats "for a journey many will die from" to be slaughtered for the cheap, low-grade meat.

Sheep who are ill, weak, or injured often will collapse and be trampled to death.

Below; Sheep wait to be packed onto a cargo chip
Inside a live-export ship


Others will die from exposure to the harsh conditions of the sea, disease, heat, cold, or starvation.

Every year, tens of thousands of sheep will die from these live-exports.

Those who survive this three-week voyage are instantly taken off to the slaughterhouse. The sheeps are slaughtered by a slit in the throat. Pre-stunning is not done, and the sheep are left to bleed to death.


And if the ethical reasons were not enough to give up on conventional wool, environmental reasons should be.
About 4,000 tons of manure and 2 to 6 million liters of urine are washed into the sea each voyage, along with the bodies of the sheep who didn't survive the trip.



Above; a truck bringing sheep from ship to slaughterhouse overturns.
Below; Sheep Slaughter


Another thing to note: in March, 1980, a live export ship, the Farid Fares, caught fire and sank, bringing 40,605 sheep with it.


Although, I wouldn't say wool is all bad. I will never wear fur, leather, pearls, or silk. I won't ever eat meat, dairy, eggs, or honey. But I can see myself raising sheep and shearing them every spring, throwing their wool, dying it with natural dyes, and knitting it into eco-friendly clothing and toys.
It's much more environmentally-friendly than acrylic, polyester, or inorganic cotton (more pesticides are used on cottan than any other crop). And, unlike other animal products, the sheep really don't have to give anything up if they are treated with love, dignity, and respect like they deserve.

But no matter what, wool will always be itchy, and organic cotton will always be better!


Sources:

http://www.mapleleafweb.com/forums//index.php?showtopic=13533
http://animal-lib.org.au/subjects/animals-for-food/48-sheep-live-export.html

Nature sure knows how to trick...

After spending a long weekend in Disney World, with warm, sunny, 80 degree weather each day, I was rather reluctant to return to the chilly New Jersey air. Arriving back at our school at 10 pm, still wearing shorts and a sombrero from Epcot
s Mexico, I was surprised to find the weather was rather tolerable.
Only a few days later, it picked up to the 70's- which was quite delightful, to say the least.
A few more days spent in the 60's, wildflowers begin to sprout, I begin to anticipate Spring even more than I had been, and then... I wake up to see snow on the ground... What an awful trick Mother Nature has played.
And now we're getting a Winter Storm Warning?? In Spring!?
I thought I would be done with sweatshirts, warming foods, snow boots...that soon, the farmer's market would return, and I could focus on eating more raw. That I would be able to get back into the garden, but no... It's still only March after all.



So I spent today making chili, to prepare for the dreaded Spring-snowstorm.
This recipe is one my uncle taught me how to make. I love it, and it has become one of my favorite meals. It does take a while to make, but it is definitely worth it.
One thing I love about it (and soups and stews too), is that you can change it so easily. Everything is to preferance- whether you want cayenne in it or not, how big you want your chopped peppers to be, the type of beans or grain you want in it, hwo spicy it will be...
It's hard to go wrong with chili, since you can change it up however you want! :)


Yummy Vegetarian Chili:

2 Tbsp Olive Oil
3-4 Cloves garlic, minced
2 Large Onions, chopped
4 Bell peppers, any color, de-seeded and chopped
1 jalapeno pepper, chopped (optional)
2 Carrots, chopped
1/2 C shredded carrots
4 bay leaves
2 tsp cumin (more or less to taste)
1 14 oz can crushed tomatoes
2 C pearled barley
1/2 C rice
1 Tbsp dried parsley
1 bunch fresh Cilantro
4-5 C water
3 cans of kidney, pinto, or black beans, or a combination
1 14 oz can Plum Tomatoes
1 can non-GMO (organic) Corn
1 14 oz can diced Tomatoes
Salt & Pepper to taste
Dash cayenne (optional)

1.) In a large pot, heat the oil on medium-low. Add the garlic and onions, and let simmer for a minute or so. Add the peppers, chopped and grated carrots, barley, rice, crushed tomatoes, cumin, parsley, cilantro, bay leaves, and 4 cups of water.
Cover and let simmer for 2 hours, stirring every so often.
(2) Add in the extra water if it gets too thick.
3.) Rinse the beans, and add them, the plum tomatoes, diced tomatoes, corn, salt, pepper, and cayenne (if adding) to the pot. Stir them in, and cover the pot and let it cook for another 1 1/2 hours, stirring occasionaly.
4.) Let cool before storing in the fridge, and taste test it to make sure you don't need to add any more spices. And you're done! :)



This recipe will make A LOT, so it should last for a little while... ^.^

Rice Pudding (A Breakfast or Dessert Item- you decide!)

I love breakfast. It is no doubt my favorite meal of the day...
Maybe because the mornings are my alone time while the rest of my family sleeps (I'm an early bird...the only teenager I know who happily gets up before 7 am on a weekend), or maybe because it starts the day off right. And there isn't anything like a good, hearty breakfast to put you in a good mood before a weary 7 hours of school...

That, or the fact that you can get away with eating dessert-like items for breakfast!

I have a sweet tooth. Most taureans do.
I love having a bowl of quinoa or oatmeal [very] liberally drizzled with maple syrup, or a plate of sweet, juicy, fresh fruit. Or maybe cakes, muffins, scones, or cinnabuns.

And I don't see anything wrong with that...
To be honest, I thought this was normal though. I mean, what with all those nasty, processed cereals being sold today. (Though, you can't really compare a home-made, not-Quaker bowl of oats to Lucky Charms) But I guess my parents didn't agree. They thought it was odd that I offered to make rice pudding for breakfast before we went skiing...

But it's all the same. Whether you eat it in the morning or at night, rice pudding is still a yummy bowl of...rice. And hey, at least it's brown rice! Plus, if we didn't eat High-on-the-Glycemin-Index breakfasts to make our blood sugars crash, how else would we get rid of all that energy a vegan diet gives? (hee hee)



Brown Basmati Rice Pudding
2 C brown basmati rice
4 1/2 C water
1/4 tsp salt
1 cinnamon stick
1/3 C raisins
2 C unsweetened, plain plant milk (more or less to preferance, I like a litle bit more)
1/2 C maple syrup
1/4 C agave nectar
2 Tbsp vegan butter
1/4 C slivered almonds
1/2 Tbsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/2 Tbsp cinnamon

1) Whirl the rice in a blender/food processor/coffee grinder to chop it up a little bit. It's okay if some turns to rice flour, but make sure most of it is about half the size it was.
2) Toss it in a pot with the water, cinnamon stick, and salt and bring it to a boil. Once it's rolling, reduce heat, add the raisins, and let it simmer until all the water is absorbed. (It took mine roughly 25 minutes, but my grains always seem to cook faster than the recommended time- whether they've been chopped up or not)
3) When the water has been absorbed, and the rice is soft and cooked fully,remove the cinnamon stick and add the milk, maple syrup, agave, butter, almonds, vanilla, and spices. Mix it thoroughly and let it cook on low just a couple minutes longer...
4) Done! I prefer mine cold, but it's tasty either way :)



And enjoy it for both breakfast and dessert ;D