I’ve seen some disturbing footage lately, and I wanted to weigh in. The first video was of a woman in England tossing a cat into a garbage can, or “wheelie bin” as the Brits call it. The second was a girl tossing newborn puppies into a river in Germany. These obviously upsetting videos caused a rapid uproar as they spread throughout the internet at lightning speed. (click on images to read the articles)

This can have positive and negative consequences, of course. On the positive side, both of these people have been identified and their cases are being examined. On the negative side, video viewers can be a very passionate bunch. Hopefully the death threats don’t go beyond just threats. The woman claimed she thought it was a funny joke and that she was just playing with the cat, assuming it would be able to wriggle out of the bin. And the girl says her grandmother told her to get rid of the puppies because they were very ill. She figured throwing them in a raging river would be a quick death. So, it is possible they were not trying to simply be horrible human beings. On the other hand, perhaps the stories are a cover. Or maybe these two are not in good mental health. Whatever the case, had the videos not been posted on the internet, these two may have never been caught. And they may have never seen the error in their ways. But I guarantee they’ve had to think long and hard about what they’ve done, now that they’re under such scrutiny.

It’s nice to know the public cares about animal abuse. Even if most of them don’t pick up on the irony of sending death threats to animal abusers, and then eating a burger and drinking milk, both of which come from factory farms where the animals are probably treated even worse than these poor, defenseless creatures.

But the point of this post is to say that, when it comes to capturing animal abusers, the internet is a wonderful tool. It’s hard to believe the “internet explosion” was only about 15 years ago. Can you imagine life without it now? What a different world it would be…

I was making a salad the other night and realized that all of my salad dressings were expired. It’s one of those items I rarely think to check the date on because store-bought dressings can last quite a while. Time to go dressing shopping!

Now, I know buying items from a company that specializes in cheese and meat is probably a faux-pas, but think of it this way: you’re supporting their vegan food, not the other stuff. Just like we do when we buy soymilk from companies that also sell dairy milk. We are increasing the demand for their soymilk and decreasing the demand for dairy milk. It helps companies evolve to meet the needs of the customers. Though, I should also point out that companies that make purely vegan items should be supported the most by us vegans. So, it’s a tricky issue.

Anyway, I bought Kraft Light Asian Toasted Sesame Reduced Fat Dressing. And it is awesome!! I could take a big pile of lettuce, pour this on it, and be happy. It’s also good with cooked veggies. It does contain high fructose corn syrup, which is a bummer. And “natural flavor” is always risky.

Ingredients: WATER, SOY SAUCE (WATER, WHEAT, SOYBEANS, SALT), HIGH FRUCTOSE CORN SYRUP, APPLE CIDER VINEGAR, SUGAR, SOYBEAN OIL, TOASTED SESAME SEEDS, CONTAINS LESS THAN 2% OF GINGER, GARLIC, CARAMEL COLOR, PHOSPHORIC ACID, CITRIC ACID, XANTHAN GUM, GARLIC JUICE, SALT, PROPYLENE GLYCOL ALGINATE, POLYSORBATE 60, NATURAL FLAVOR, VINEGAR, SPICE, VITAMIN E. CONTAINS: SOY, WHEAT, SESAME SEED.

I haven’t fallen this hard for a dressing since I got the recipe for a restaurant’s homemade dressing and made it vegan. MMMMmmm. I haven’t made that one in a long time. It’s so good, too. This Toasted Sesame dressing is no doubt lower in calories and fat. So you can swap between the wholesome homemade dressing for the Light store bought, but delicious dressing, depending on your dietary preferences.

Buy it here! Kraft Light Asian Toasted Sesame Reduced Fat Dresssing, 16-Ounce Plastic Bottles (Pack of 6)

Annie’s Naturals also makes a Toasted Sesame dressing. I haven’t tried it, but it’s probably pretty yummy. Chilmark Foods also makes a version, as does Soy Vay.

And if you prefer to make your own Toasted Sesame Dressing, here’s a recipe I found, which is “a reverse engineered Kraft Asian Toasted Sesame Dressing, souped up to be so much more healthy because it uses healthy oil, real seeds and real garlic.”

Katie’s Asian Toasted Sesame Salad Dressing

2 Tbs apple cider vinegar
2-3 Tbs soy sauce
1 Tbs sesame oil (optional) plus extra virgin olive oil to make 1/2 cup
2 tsp sesame seeds, toasted*
2 cloves garlic
1/4 tsp ginger

1. Whisk apple cider vinegar, olive oil, optional sesame oil and soy sauce.
2. Whiz the garlic and toasted sesame seeds in a mini-food processor until garlic is in small pieces.
3. Combine and enjoy!

*To toast sesame seeds, put them on a dry cookie sheet in the toaster oven and toast on light once or twice until lightly browned and aromatic.  No toaster oven?  You could certainly use a regular oven on low heat – just watch the closely every few minutes to make sure they don’t burn.  I’m thinking you could also put them in a hot, dry pan and stir constantly until browned, but I haven’t tried that myself.

Store in the fridge (I think?) and try to remember to take it out a half hour before dinner, because the olive oil will solidify when cold. Recipe from Kitchen Stewardship. Full post here.

Basically, there are many options out there. And I recommend you try some because toasted sesame dressing is tops.

I’m officially done with summer classes. What a relief! Except, I’m having a hard time unwinding. Somehow, not having school or work to focus on, for even a day, caused me to stress out about really stupid things. Like my wardrobe, for instance. We were supposed to meet up with friends at the Renaissance Festival yesterday morning. I would comment on how nerdy this is, but I’ve never been to Ren. Fest. Needless to say, we didn’t end up going yesterday either. Why? Somebody’s girlie side came out in full force. I went into a rampage about how unbelievable it was that I had a full closet of clothes and not a single item that actually looked good on me. Plus, my shoes were all worn out from me walking so much. And the ones that weren’t worn out gave me such bad blisters that I couldn’t wear them! My underwear’s old and full of holes. I needed new bras. And to make matters worse, I just felt totally uncomfortable in my skin. Do you ever have days like this?

When I finally calmed down a little, the hubs and I went for a jog. It sucked. I felt hot and gross and unfit. But it did make me feel slightly better. When we got back, I grabbed a big pile of clothes and threw them in a bag to donate. Then I took a nap. And another nap. And another one. My first day to relax had failed, simply because I was overtired.

That evening, we went out for pizza at Punch. You can build your own delicious personal Neopolitan pizza there and it takes only a few minutes to bake in their awesome super hot oven. I had a delicious roasted red pepper, mushroom, and basil pizza. After several naps and a good meal, I was finally starting to feel like my old self again. We went to Office Max and I used my warranty to exchange my ratty brown Franklin Covey “leather-like” vinyl business tote for a new red one, and then went to Payless and got some cute new inexpensive Blowfish flannel upper, rubber sole slip-ons.

That night, we relaxed at home, watched a few episodes of the Sarah Silverman Program, and I passed out early.

And today, we’re going to shop some more! Normally I hate malls, but today I’m kind of looking forward to it. However, more often than not, I cannot find what I’m looking for. I’ll probably end up resorting to online shopping, but I’ll give the mall the old college try one more time. Next week: a haircut. I’m ready for the new me! I hate to admit it, but sometimes the superficial things can make a difference.

The Vegetable Museum - 02, Ju Duoqi, 2008 The Raft of the Lotus Roots

I guess I’d rather eat my vegetables, but as a lady with an art degree, I have to admit, I am impressed. Ju Duoqi is a Chinese woman who’s been quite experimental with her vegetable art. From dressing in clothes made of vegetables, to directing a vegetable play and now recreating famous paintings (like the one above) with vegetables as her medium. Duoqi clearly knows vegetables in an intimate way. And I don’t mean that to sound gross. I mean, she clearly spends a lot of time with vegetables and sees many different layers of beauty that most of us would never notice as we’re scarfing them down for dinner. Like looking at a head of iceberg lettuce and seeing ocean waves. And that’s a huge part of what makes an artist a good artist: the ability to see beauty and build from it in ways others cannot.

Go check out more of Ju Duoqi’s “The Vegetable Museum” here: http://www.parisbeijingphotogallery.com/main/the_vegetable_museum.asp

I popped on the Food Network and 10 seconds in, I hear the word “soymilk.” Zeh?? The show was The Best Thing I Ever Ate: Crunchy. Duff Goldman was salivating over onion rings. There’s a place in Culver City, CA called Akasha that apparently has the best onion rings ever. What makes them unique, you ask? Well, instead of soaking the onions in dairy milk, they use soymilk, so the rings can be consumed by VEGANS and people with dairy allergies! AND they use rice flour for the breading. So they’re gluten free, too! A couple of people close to me have gluten allergies, which I think might actually be harder to deal with than being vegan. Have you tried gluten-free bread?? And for people who are allergic to gluten AND are vegan? All I can say is, I’m sorry. It’s probably a great, healthy way to lose weight, though (unless you’re living off of these onion rings).

Anyway, back to the onion rings! I don’t live in California, so I can’t say firsthand how good these rings are, but I can say that they looked amazing and sounded beautifully crunchy. Yum. And looking at Akasha’s menu, I can say they have several awesome vegan options, besides onion rings. Healthy options, in fact. It’s a bit on the pricey side, but it looks like a cool place, and it sure sounds like the food is fantastic.

Chef Ashaka’s bio on the restaurant’s website says: Akasha is the co-founding chef of Eaturna, an all-natural and organic take-out food company devoted to revolutionizing the way people eat, with delicious and beneficial meals for every day. Her love of cooking with soy led her to be the celebrity chef for Silk® Soymilk, the number-one selling refrigerated soymilk in the nation. She has served her Silk®-based recipes at the EMA awards, backstage at the Grammy’s and Farm Aid, and at ChefDance during the Sundance Film Festival. Akasha also works with The Baker Organic, producers of artisan organic breads, and Americraft, makers of high quality stainless steel cookware.

Anyone who loves cooking with soy and “revolutionizing the way people eat” with organic and natural food is alright in my book! Though I’m still not sure where I stand with Silk after watching Food, Inc. But I do love soymilk. And I still buy Silk when other options aren’t available.

Akasha Restaurant, Bar, Bakery
9543 Culver Boulevard
Culver City, CA 90232
310.845.1700

I was all ready to post a blog about this delicious multigrain pancake mix my husband picked out, which we used to make pancakes this morning, and to brag about how they actually recommend using soy or rice milk to make the pancakes, when I took a closer look at the ingredients. Buttermilk! Grrr. My husband’s usually very good about checking ingredients, but he missed it. And I trusted him and didn’t double check before we made the pancakes.

But I’m not freaking out. The thing is, we all make mistakes. And there are probably things we’ve eaten at restaurants that we thought were vegan or were told were vegan that weren’t. But that’s no reason to throw in the towel or feel like you’ve failed. It’s hard work being purely vegan. There are animal products in so many things. It takes a lot of research to become a pro at avoiding animal products in what we eat, wear, and use each day. Heck, even natural toothbrushes can contain pig hair.

But for me, I know that for the most part, I’m already doing more than many people by avoiding as many animal products as I do each day, educating others about veganism, and supporting charities that fight against animal cruelty. So if an item containing milk ends up in my system once in a rare while, it’s no reason to feel like I’m tainted. I just think of it as a learning experience and move on.

We are vegans living in a non-vegan world. Accidents happen. But think about all the times you don’t use animal products and give yourself a pat on the back. Be proud of your accomplishments. Try not to dwell on the accidents.

And watch this adorable video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NA1i36Dd1qs

Things that are pleasing me presently:

• The fact that I’m getting a good workout (and a good tan) this summer by walking to and from campus every day, which is at least 4 miles of walking a day. Even if it does mean I show up to class drenched in sweat because of how crazy humid it has been. And I’m getting used to the two showers a day ritual. The second shower is just a quick rinse, I swear! I’m not abusing my water privileges too much. Besides, I’m making up for it by walking, which is so green!

• Because of all this raw sun power I’m getting, I’ve developed a little sun damage on my face. Boo. Don’t worry– I’m much better about using sun block now. BUT, I’ve discovered apple cider vinegar and lemon juice help! I rub the vinegar on my face (not too close to the eyes, or you’ll be crying like you just cut an onion) and then I take a cue tip, soak it in lemon juice, and apply it directly to the darker spots. I’ve only been doing it for a few days now and I’m already seeing results. Vegan home remedy, folks!

• My father-in-law brews his own beer, which is delicious. And free! He makes a wide variety, too. It’s fun to learn the process. I’ve enhanced my beer education this summer. And we save the bottles so he can use them a again. Happy recycling!

photo by harvette eats

• Speaking of recycling, what does one do with the spent grain after it’s used to make beer? Why, you make beer bread, of course! My father-in-law’s girlfriend found a recipe for (vegan) Spent Grain Bread, and gave us all the fixins this past weekend so we could make some. MMMmmm!! We have so much fresh, homemade bread right now. Delish! If you are also a home brewer and are looking for ways to use your spent grain, go here: http://www.ptialaska.net/~gbrady/pages/spentgrain.html

• The local beer company, Surly, which is my husband’s favorite, just came out with a limited edition of Surly Hell, which is an unfiltered delight! And hard to find. But, lo-and-behold, the little local liquor (3x fast!) store across from our apartment carries it. We depleted their supply. Man, I’m sounding like an alcoholic with all this beer talk. Honestly, I generally only have a couple of drinks a week. I’m not as bad as you think!

photo by Jill Clardy

• I never have time to go to the farmer’s market on Thursdays, BUT my night class just ended, and I got done with work just in time to catch the tail end of the farmer’s market today! I have oodles of fresh veggies now. I’m thinking the freshest stir fry ever might be in store for tonight’s entrée.

I guess what I’m trying to say is, this is turning out to be a pretty fantastic summer. I’ve had a lot of great adventures, I’ve seen a lot of family and friends, and have quite a bit to be thankful for. What makes you feel sunny and bright this summer?

photo by jonny2love

A reader commented on one of my posts with an important question concerning saturated fats. It’s a topic that seems to come up often when discussing what’s lacking in a vegan diet. So, I thought this was a good question to post in order to provide some clarity on the issue:

Question: what do you do about your body’s need for saturated fats (more likely found in meat/dairy products)?  While you need very little, if you don’t eat any, your body takes it from other sources within your body – namely, your brain…in which saturated fat makes up about 30+ percent of your brain!

Response: Great question! Believe it or not, vegan diets are not devoid of saturated fat. Oils like extra virgin olive oil, palm oil, and coconut oil all contain saturated fat. The thing vegans do not get in their diet is cholesterol, since that is only found in animal products. However, from what I’ve read, we do not need this cholesterol to be healthy. That being said, getting a lot of hydrogenated oil can actually cause the liver to make too much of its own cholesterol. But overall, vegans tend to have much better cholesterol levels than non-vegans.

sources: http://www.vegfamily.com/dietician/0904a.htm, http://wiki.answers.com/Q/Why_do_you_need_saturated_fat

The author of a new children’s book, Nathalie VanBalen, contacted me recently, mentioning that her book, Garlic-Onion-Beet-Spinach-Mango-Carrot-Grapefruit Juice, is great for vegan kids. It’s also a fantastic title.
I took a look at the website and it does look pretty darn cute. I might have to get this one for my nephew. He’s not vegan or vegetarian, but it’s important to teach all kids about where food comes from, isn’t it?
I think so.

I also just discovered my nephew’s love of coloring books, and the website has some adorable coloring pages you can print out. And if you’re looking for a unique, but super cute limited edition plush doll like Thora there on the left, go here. They’re hand made by the author herself! Pretty awesome, if you ask me.

I don’t write too many posts about kids and veganism, so this gave me a good excuse. Thanks Nathalie! Here’s a little blurb about the author I yanked from her site. (click the image to continue reading about the author)

Galle & Jessen Mørk Pålægschokolade

My sister came to visit yesterday (she lives aaaaallllllll the way over in Denmark) and brought me vegan chocolate! Not just any vegan chocolate, but wafer thin chocolate intended to be placed on warm bread so it melts, and then you eat it. And that was my breakfast this morning. Soooo good! It’s also quite excellent eaten by itself. It’s by Galle & Jessen, comes in blue and yellow packaging, and has a bunch of Danish words all over it. Aaaand you can become friends with it on Facebook. I’m all for strengthening my friendship with chocolate.

Zebra Stainless Steel Food Carriers

And THEN when I came home today, I had more presents waiting for me! Grand Trunk, an eco-friendly camping supply company sent me three complimentary stainless steel Zebra Tiffin Boxes, including a lunch box, food carrier, and loop handle pot, and an Eco Travel Bag! This stuff is high quality camping gear, folks. Heck, I’m gonna use this stuff even when I’m not camping!

Look at all the fruits and veggies you can put in there! I am one happy camper right now.