Warm vegan potato salad

Okay, so it's the unofficial start to Summer and like most of America we had our Memorial Day BBQ.

We grilled vegan sausages onions and veggies on the grill. We also made a fresh salad with lettuce, mustard greens and arugula all picked fresh from the garden. We threw in some pear, grated carrot and daikon, which was hot, spicy and really delicious. Our mustard greens are super hot this year.

I had some gold potatoes, so I made up this recipe for potato salad. It came out really yummy, so thought I'd share it with you.

I made it just before we were ready to eat. It was still slightly warm, which we thought was delicious.

2lbs gold or new potatoes, rinsed and cooked with skins left on.

Once cooked chop into small pieces and add,

1/2 small onion finely chopped

2 small stalks celery finely chopped

In a separate bowl mix 2 tsp of ume plum vinegar ( if you don't have um plum any vinegar will do)

   1tblsp Dijon mustard

1 tblsp sweet relish

1/2 cup vegenaise, or any vegan mayonnaise substitute

1tsp salt

black pepper to taste

2 to 3 tblsp of fresh parsley finely chopped

once mixed together mix into the potato, celery and onions.

I also cooked up some veggie bacon strips and crumbled some on top of the potato salad, just before serving.

YUM YUM !!!

Happy Memorial Day and hope everyone has a wonderful Summer.

Awesome Vegan and Gluten Free Cornbread

I've been perfecting this gluten free, vegan cornbread recipe for awhile. After many attempts I think it works great. It's moist and has a good texture. Often the recipes for vegan cornbread fall apart too easily. It keeps well in an airtight container for several days.
My husband loves it and I tend to make it every couple of weeks. It's great to eat with salads, soups, chilli or as a snack, so it's handy to have around.

1 1/2 cups of medium grind cornmeal ( I like Bob's Red Mill)
3/4 cup gluten free all purpose baking flour ( once again I use Bob's)
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp xanthum gum
1 1/4 cups of soy, almond or rice milk
1/4 cup sunflower or safflower oil
1 cup of pure 100% maple syrup


*If you don't want this to be gluten free you can substitute the gluten free flour for wheat flour and omit the xanthum gum.
Mix dry ingredients together. In a seperate bowl mix the wet ingredients. Mix both dry and wet together until blended. No need to get all the lumps out, don't over mix.

Pour into a greased 9x9 baking dish and bake at 400F for approx 30 minutes, or until toothpick inserted in middle comes out clean.

This just in from the "Food Demogracy now" team.

It's such an important issue and we can all help by calling congress and telling them, we have a right to know what food we are buying and eating.

You can go to Food Demogracy now at http://action.fooddemocracynow.org/sign/repeal_the_monsanto_protection_act/?akid=866.545740.dSNZOO&rd=1&t=4

This week, an amendment to repeal the Monsanto Protection Act could be introduced in Congress by Senator Jeff Merkley (D-OR) during the farm bill debate and we need your help to make sure this blatant corporate handout is no longer law.

The passage of the Monsanto Protection Act was the last straw for millions of Americans and citizens worldwide that are outraged over the continued corruption of our democratic institutions, the contamination of our environment and Monsanto’s relentless march to take over of our food supply.

The Monsanto Protection Act has been called the most outrageous corporate handout in recent history. You were one of the 300,000 Food Democracy Now! members that asked Congress and the White House to prevent it from becoming law last March and we need your help to repeal it today! Because of you, the effort to stop the secret provision has now become the rallying cry of a growing movement of everyday citizens around the world who are committed to stopping the corporate takeover of our food supply.

While Section 735 of H.R. 933 is scheduled to sunset at the end of September, the provision has already spawned similar effort to protect the planting of Monsanto’s GMO crops in several states, including Oregon, Missouri and North Carolina. If a provision similar to the Monsanto Protection Act is slipped into the current Farm Bill it could be law for a minimum of 5 years while seriously undermining family farmers' ability to protect their crops from unwanted genetic contamination.

As Food Democracy Now! widely reported this spring, if the Monsanto Protection Act remains law it will strip federal courts of the authority to halt the sale and planting of potentially illegal and hazardous GMO crops while the U.S. Department of Agriculture reviews their potential risks to farmers and the environment. This represents not only a real risk to our food crops, but also to our democratic process, including judicial review.

Starting out Vegan

I have been vegan for nearly 5 years now, but I remember being overwhelmed when I first started.
Trying to figure what I should and shouldn't be eating, what new foods were out there for me to try and how to use them.
It seems we hear a lot more about people trying vegan. Some of this may be because of celebrity exposure. There are a few who have been vegan for some time. Woody Harrelson, Alicia Silverstone, Ellen Degeneres and Natalie Portman, just to name a few.

I think the attention given to the subject because of the interest in some of these celebrities, has ended up being good for all. There's a lot more info out there and a few of the stars have even come out with their own books etc.
Most notably Alicia Silverstone.

I think if you're just starting out and want a quick easy read, Alicia's book is great. It's her take on what has worked for her and she has a good section to show you vegan alternatives to products you use now.

If you go on the web for Ellen's show you can find some fun vegan recipes to add to your repertoire .

If you are looking for an easy to read book on having a happy life including being vegan, you might want to check out Kathy Frestons book Quantum Wellness. It might inspire you to make some changes, that you've been considering.

If you want a truly inspiratinal book, check out Mina Dobic "My beautiful Life". Mina has survived cancer eating a macro biotic diet. Interesting reading.

Of course stay tuned for more information here too.

I'll be sharing my favorite tips, products and recipes.

"Ag-Gag" bills

This is information from the Humane Society. Even if you're not vegan I'm sure eveyone would be oppossed to cruelty of animals. We have to stand up against the abuse. Tell your friends, pass this on.

Anti-Whistleblower Bills Hide Factory-Farming Abuses from the Public

Anti-whistleblower bills ("ag-gag" bills) seek to criminalize whistleblowing on factory farms, keeping Americans in the dark about where their food is coming from. Whistleblowing employees have played a vital role in exposing animal abuse, unsafe working conditions, and environmental problems on industrial farms.

Instead of working to prevent these abuses from occuring, the agribusiness industry has been working to prevent people from finding out about such problems by supporting anti-whistleblower bills.

What do anti-whistleblower bills do?

Anti-whistleblower bills effectively block anyone from exposing animal cruelty, food-safety issues, poor working conditions, and more, by way of the following:
 

• Banning taking a photo or video of a factory farm without permission,
• Essentially making it a crime for an investigator to get work at a factory farm, or
• Requiring mandatory reporting with impossibly short timelines so that no pattern of abuse can be documented.

What is Big Ag's big secret?

These anti-whistleblower bills raise the question, "What does animal agriculture have to hide?" By criminalizing whistleblowing, these bills would make important undercover investigations impossible—investigations like:
 

• The HSUS exposé of calf abuse at a Vermont slaughter plant that led to the plant's closure and a felony criminal conviction
• The HSUS investigation of a cow slaughter plant in California, which prompted the largest meat recall in U.S. history and criminal convictions, too
• The HSUS investigation of Wyoming Premium Farms, which documented rampant animal abuse and brought charges of criminal animal cruelty for nine workers

  What can you do to help fight anti-whistleblower bills?

  In the past, the agricultural industry introduced similar anti-whistleblower bills in Florida,Illinois, Indiana, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, New York, and Tennessee. Most of these bills failed, thanks to a strong outcry from the public and newspaper editorial boards, both of which favor bringing more transparency to an industry shrouded in secrecy and protecting consumers’ right to know how their food is produced.
  In 2013, ten states have introduced anti-whistleblower bills: Arkansas, California, Indiana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Mexico, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Wyoming, and Vermont.
  If your state doesn't have a pending anti-whistleblower bill, you can still help expose cruelty and mistreatment of farm animals by:
  • Donating to The HSUS's Investigations Fund
  • Sharing the investigations the industry wants to hide

  Who opposes anti-whistleblower bills?

  The Humane Society of the United States, the largest animal welfare organization in the nation, and 59 groups including civil liberties, public health, food safety, environmental, food justice, animal welfare, legal, workers' rights, journalism, and First Amendment organizations strongly oppose anti-whistleblower bills.
  These newspapers have editorialized against anti-whistleblower bills:
  • National: The New York Times and The Boston Globe
  • California: Bakersfield Californian, Redding Record Searchlight, The Monterey County Herald, San Francisco Chronicle, The Sacramento Bee, The Press-Enterprise, Los Angeles Times, and Los Angeles Daily News (and eight other L.A. Newspaper Group newspapers)

Indiana: The times-mail, indianapolis Star, The Herlald -Times, the Journal Gazette , South Bend Tribune, The Star Press and The Journal & Courier (2)

Tennessee: Chattanooga Times Free Press, Tenessean, and Knoxville News Sentinel

Wyoming: Casper Star Tribune 

 

Vegan is easier than being vegetarian

 I LOVE being vegan.

 I had been vegetarian on and off for years, but I ended up eating a lot of cheese because it was a quick way to get protein. Once I made the transition to being vegan I thought I would have to make more effort, but it was more a mental click than anything. I have no problem getting protein now and it doesn't take any more time.

It feels better because, lets face it cheese is heavy and milk products are not good for you. If you are just staring out, try the meat alternatives out there. Some of them are really good and you can still enjoy a lot of your favorite dishes, by substituting the meat.