Living Without Meat

In celebration of the pumpkin day that is upon us, I’ve dug around the great wide Internet to find the best vegan recipes for your jack-o-lantern leftovers. So after you pick out your perfect pumpkin to carve, sit down with a hot cup of pumpkin java and browse these tempting, guilt-free, seasonal recipes.

* At a blog that truly is as yummy as it sounds - Vegan Cupcakes are Taking Over the World - find the perfect blend of chocolate-y sweetness and pumpkin bliss in the Pumpkin Pie Brownie recipe.

* Jolinda Hackett, vegetarian writer for About.com, encourages you to enter the kitchen and look Beyond Pumpkin Pie. Three of her more unique recipes are her pumpkin martini, pumpkin risotto, and pumpkin coconut soup.

* Allrecipes has a great holiday drink idea - Vegan Pumpkin Nog! Who wants to drink an egg anyways?

* Compassion Over Killing has a fun Pumpkin Stew that you can serve in the pumpkin!

* Amy, who writes PETA’s VegCooking blog, whipped up a Pumpkin Bread recipe (read carefully, and you’ll see she also links to a few more pumpkin recipes!).

* If sweets aren’t really your thing, try Taste’s Pumpkin, Chickpea, and Zucchini Burger. To make this recipe vegan, sub-in egg replacement and soy yogurt, or anything else that would work to bind the ingredients together. If you’re not concerned about neatness, leave it out all together.

* Pumpkin spice coffee. I am addicted. Here’s how to get it vegan at your fave places: Starbucks: For a hot drink, order a soy pumpkin spice latte no whip. For cold, frappacinos cannot be made vegan so you should order an iced soy pumpkin spice latte no whip. Dunkin’ Donuts: They don’t carry soy milk, unfortunately (at least around me none do). Ask for plain pumpkin coffee, no cream, no latte, no milk products. If your local workers are like mine, you will have to repeat this, and then still return it when they put milk in it. Brew your own: Many companies are making pumpkin blends that you can brew at home. Try Millstone, Gevalia, Baronet, Bean Central, Green Mountain, and Buck Co. Some of these also have small, local stores.

And, of course, roast those seeds!

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The Vegan Chef, Beverly Lynn Bennett, has written several hit cookbooks, and kindly shares many of her wonderful creations with us on her homepage. During this season - where gravy goes with everything - try her Golden Onion Gravy drizzled over mashed potates and green beans.

The Vegan Chef’s Golden Onion Gravy

2/3 cup unbleached flour
3/4 cup onion, diced
2 t. safflower oil
2 t. garlic, minced
4 cups vegetable stock or water
1/2 cup nutritional yeast flakes
2 T. tamari or soy sauce
1 1/2 t. rubbed sage
1 1/2 t. salt
1/4 t. freshly ground black pepper

In a medium saucepan, place the flour, and cook over low heat, while stirring constantly, until lightly brown and fragrant. Transfer the browned flour to a medium bowl and set aside. In the same saucepan, saute the onion in the safflower oil, over low heat, for 3-5 minutes or until soft. Add the garlic and saute an additional 2 minutes. Add the remaining ingredients to browned flour and whisk well to combine. Add the wet ingredients to the sauteed onion mixture, whisk well to combine, and continue to cook the mixture, while whisking constantly, until thickened. Taste and adjust seasonings, as needed.

Yield: 4 Cups

What do you think; can you forego the meaty norm for this oniony, creamy sauce?

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I promise/swear I don’t share every cute animal story that I come across. Today, however, I have to share another one because the story is off line, thus you are more likely to not have seen or read it yet. Plus it involves one of my favorite four-legged movers - the elephant.

South of me, in Tennessee, you can find the Elephant Sanctuary where rescued elephants (from the circus and zoos) go to live out their life. Acres upon acres of land, other elephant friends, people friends too, and most of all: no sharp-hooked poking sticks whacking the rear end. Sounds like elephant heaven to me.

This place is also a place of miracles.

It’s a place where formerly abused, mistreated, and injured animals heal and recover. When they are here, no one tells them what they have to do, where they have to go, and when they have to show off; they make their own decisions. And still they choose to amaze and astound their human friends with their compassion, memory, energy, artistic ability, and more.

Elephant Tarra paints - and sells! - pictures.

Sissy had no elephant companions growing up in the zoo, so to this day she carries a tire, her improvised teddy bear, everywhere she goes.

Jenny and Shirley knew each other when Jenny was just a calf. Shirley acted as a surrogate mother, but then the two were separated. Years later, when reunited at the Sanctuary, they celebrated their reunion and instantly went back to being mommy and little girl.

Minnie, whose is best friends with Lottie, is the first to explore uncharted territory. She leads the others on explorations.

Queenie is a brave one! She was the first to tryout the water troughs. She’s everyone’s good friend, though she definitely spends a lot of time with Minnie and Lottie … and the rubber door flaps on the barn, which she loves to play with in the morning.

This wonderful place, founded and run by former trainers Carol Buckley and Scott Blais (who are shown in the photograph below), was brought to my attention by the current issue of Reader’s Digest. If you get a chance, I definitely recommend picking it up. You can read more about Jenny and Shirley in it.

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The man that I like to refer to as Daddy-o (sometimes people call him Ellis), who has previously shared his hit corn and bean salad recipe, made the most fantastic vegan stuffing for me last year. This man loves to be in kitchen, hosting and serving on special occasions. He had a southern mama, so he enjoys making people happy through food.

However, he is also a busy man, hence I have yet to receive a copy of this fantastic, amazing, first-class, top-rate recipe … hint, hint, wink, wink, love ya, Dad! (Plus, I am assuming, since he also cooks like mom and me, that there really is no recipe, just whatever he can remember tossing into it).

So while we wait, Vegetarian Times magazine has just so happened to post a stuffing recipe recently. The magazine includes the stuffing as part of a pattypan squash (see what they look like here in the picture) recipe, but it would be excellent on it’s own, aside other seasonal side dishes as well.

You’ll have to visit Veg Times get the full Pattypan Squash with “Sausage” and Apple Stuffing recipe, but here is a teaser, with just the stuffing’s directions:

Vegetarian Times’ “Sausage” and Apple Stuffing

Mix 2 1/2 cups dried bread cubes; 3 frozen vegetarian “sausage” links, thawed and chopped (about 1 cup); 1 medium Granny Smith apple, peeled and finely chopped (about 1 cup); 1/4 cup chopped pecans; 2 Tbs. chopped parsley; 1/2 tsp. dried sage; onion powder; 1/4 tsp. ground allspice; and salt and pepper to taste in a bowl. Add 4 Tbs. vegetable broth or water to moisten.

Then just bake it however you desire to eat it. Stuff something, pack something, or just fill a pan to make a side dish (brush the top with oil, and bake at 375* until tops are browned and middle is warm and juicy!).

You could also try mushrooms instead of the fake sausage. Then put in mushroom broth as the moistener. Now that sounds almost as good as something that Dad would whip up for me!

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Before I begin, I must preface this with a few statements about myself. First, I find men attractive in general and tend to not be too picky. Second, I grew up in a small town in Maryland where there are a lot of, well, small town folk (i.e. tattoos of their own name, “gangs” based on which trailer park you live in, etc.).

That being said, I find Steve-O from MTV’s Jackass (and Wild Boyz, and soon-to-be USA show Dr. Steve-O) attractive. I love that he has a tattoo on his rear end that says “Your Name” in fancy lettering. His smile is goofy and sincere and makes me smile.

Now, he has shot two print ads with PETA’s anti-fur campaign - Fur Is Dead - that makes him even more attractive in my eyes.

But this is the boy who’s gained fame on pain! He, however, points out that he has a choice, and the animals don’t. As he put it in an interview with PETA during the photo shoot: “Abuse yourself all you want, just leave animals out of it. Don’t wear fur.”

At PETA’s Fur Is Dead site, you can see larger versions of both of these ads, read a great write up about Steve-O and the campaign, and enter to win an autographed skate deck, a copy of Jackass Number Two, and Steve-O’s own monogrammed towel.

He may be a total Jackass in many ways, but this unconventionally sexy Wild Boy has stripped naked (haha, like that’s a stretch for him) for a good cause! Way to go, Steve-O!

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She wears many hats (don’t we all?). She’s my friend, but most of her days are spent running around as mom, woman, teacher, writer, lover, and chef.

Have I described nearly every toddler-toting female that you know? This certainly could be applied to numerous friends in my life. But only one of them is cool enough thus far to send me a vegetarian recipe for my Fall Feastival - Miss Summer, whose wisdom you can currently find at Mom is Teaching and Creative Mom Cafe.

Summer has put together this little yummy side dish recipe for four to six people, which she whipped up last Thanksgiving. “Everyone loved it,” she says, “and it’s super healthy.”

So, here goes …

Summer’s Baked Fall Rice

1/3 c. rice
1/4 c chopped onion
1/4 c diced green pepper
1/4 c diced celery
2 1/2 c vegetable broth
1/4 tsp thyme
1 med. diced tomato
1/4 c crushed almonds

Preheat your oven to 325 *F. In a pan saute rice, onion, pepper, and celery until rice is golden and vegetables are tender. Stir in the broth and thyme slowly. Add the diced tomato and mix well. Pour into baking dish and sprinkle crushed almonds over top. Bake for 25-30 minutes.

To my palate, and my cooking norms, this sounds awesomely different! How about you?

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I have this cool feature allotted to me where I can see, on a world map, where you guys live (or at least where your feet are planted for the moment that you log on and read me). Much to my surprise, many readers out there in Living Without Meat (LWM) land are hailing from Africa, India, several European countries, (anyone from South Korea reading?), and more.

Knowing this, it seems a tad exclusionary (Is this a word? Can I make it one?) to throw Thanksgiving out there for a full month. I love and appreciate any and every person that happens upon LWM, because without you guys, well, I’d be talking myself … my mom, too. You still read me, right, Mom?

So I am going to continue bringing lots of good recipes from now until the fateful day for American turkeys - November 22 - but with the mindset more of “Fall Feasts.”

What is in season, delicious, comforting, and connected in our stomachs’ minds with fall food?

Continue sending me your recipes, too! (livingwithoutmeat at gmail dot com)

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Tofurky has become a joke. Not the product itself, but the name. Whether or not it is good to the taste buds, I can’t say: I’ve never tried it. But I’d guess that Thanksgiving is the company’s top selling season. Especially the mini, stuffed, faux-meat, two-person servings (called Roast and Gravy).

If that’s all a bit too much for you (it tempts me, but I’ve never given in), and you’re looking for a main entree that’s seasonal, yet veg*n, then you should definitely give Astrology-blogger Beth’s idea a try.

Make a turkey using your favorite
stuffing and puff pastry. Use whole cinnamon sticks for the drumsticks.

Take a mixing bowl, make sure it is well greased, press the stuffing in it, chill, unmold on a baking sheet. Form balls of stuffing for the drum stick, stick cinnamon stick into center of each. Cover with puff pastry.

The original recipe called for making a wash with water and paprika, for color, but I used butter instead. Bake until warm and brown, about 30 minutes.

Sounds pretty awesome to me! What do you guys think? Anyone going try making Beth’s recipe?

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I am not a huge fan of soy milk.

I used to drink a gallon a week of cow’s milk before I decided to go utterly without one day. Since then, symptoms of lactose intolerance that I have shown in small scale since I was a babe, have increased. Now, I cannot consume milk products without suffering a few consequences.

I know that fortified soy milk is an excellent source of calcium and vitamins for vegans. But I am just not a fan of soy milk. If you fail to shake it each and every use, it gets a pasty after taste/texture.

However, I have found a few hints, tips, tricks, and specialty soy milk products that are very good!

* Silk Soymilk refrigerated specialty flavors are yummy. You can find chai, coffee, mocha, and seasonal specials like the current hit (that is in the coffee in front of me at this very moment) pumpkin spice. This would go great with dessert at your vegan Thanksgiving celebration!

* Here’s a good trick that my mom helped me figure out: If you read the ingredients for regular soy milk and the light version, you’ll find that all they do is add water to make it lighter. I do like regular soy milk in my cereal, so I will buy the regular flavor, then mix it with a bit of water over my flakes and - tada! - light soy milk! You can get more for your money this way because regular and light cost exactly the same.

* 8th Continent Soymilk - even my cats will drink this brand. Regular or vanilla; in a glass, in a smoothie, or on a bowl of cereal. It’s just good. Get a coupon online and try it.

* For the love of all that is soy, shake it! Shake it often, and shake it thoroughly.

* Previously I have mentioned that I have a deep love for Odwalla beverages. But they have so many flavors, an endless supply of goodness, that I feel I will forever be trying new ones. My latest amazing find from this brand is their Soy Smart Chocolate Mint Soymilk Drink. It makes a fabulous iced coffee addition, and is a great treat alone. Plus, it has 6g of protein without having whey added in - which is what most hide on the ingredient list.

Check some of these … and let me know your soy milk tips, trick, loves, gripes, and hints, too!

One of the reasons that Thanksgiving is in my mind more than a month prior to the date, is because Canada already had their celebration (Happy belated Thanksgiving, Canadian readers!). Monday October 8 - while Americans were toasting Columbus - our northern neighbors were already gathering with family around the dinner table.

Yarn Harlot, a knitting site I enjoy, is written by Canadian Stephanie Pearl-McPhee, and on two Mondays past, she provided readers with a recipe from her celebration: Homemade Cranberry Sauce.

Now if you are anything like my momma, you prefer the canned kind (just make sure it doesn’t have gelatin in it). But for the rest of us who want to try whipping up our own sweet-tarty side, here is Yarn Harlot Stephanie’s recommended recipe:

454g fresh, whole cranberries. (That’s maybe….3 or 4 cups? I don’t think it’s a precision thing. Two small packages or one big one.)
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup water
1/4 cup orange juice
1 tsp orange rind.

Bring to a boil and cook (somewhat attentively) until the berries are mushy and have gone to bits. (About 10 minutes) The whole thing turns a bit pink and foamy at this point, but have faith.

Sounds easy enough, right? If you think yours is better
let me know! And, be sure to check out Stephanie’s site for pictures of how her cranberry sauce turned out - it looks yummy!

Perhaps you’ve noticed that there is a holiday fast approaching. There are actually quite a few coming up, but there is one in particular that is consuming more time in mind than the others.

It’s not Halloween (I already have my superhero costume ready to go), and it’s not Christmas.

It’s Thanksgiving that has been on my mind a lot lately.

Currently turkeys are being farmed all over the U.S. in preparation for the day when we as Americans feel free to eat lavishly, filling ourselves to the brim, and then having another piece of pie.

But what good would it do, really, if I spent the next month and a half preaching to you about not eating turkey? Besides, that’s just not my style. You cannot tell people “no,” without offering an alternative.

So instead of lectures, depressingly real photographs, and sob stories, I plan of providing you with an endless (okay, it will eventually end, but it will be a whole lot) amount of animal-friendly options for the holidays.

I mean, sure, you know ear of corn is vegan … but there has to be - and is - more.

Last Thanksgiving was my first 100 percent turkey-free one. The year before I nibbled. And I must say, I do not feel as though I missed out on tradition one bit. After all, isn’t this truly a holiday about getting together with family, remembering how much you have to be thankful for, enjoying good company … alright, I’ll say it … watching football and parades.

So if you say that you can’t enjoy your “Turkey Day” without consuming animal meat, then I challenge you to keep up with me through ’til November 22. You will find more delicious cranberry, corn, sweet potato, stuffing, and green bean dishes than you can take in … and perhaps even the soy pumpkin pie that I mentioned before!

If you have a great vegan Thanksgiving dish that you want to share with everyone, e-mail it to me: Living Without Meat @ GMail.com (just take out the spaces).

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If you have ever considered donating to an animal cause, now is the perfect time!

Right now, if you donate to PETA to help end animal testing through advocacy, education, and direct contact with companies, an extremely generous, anonymous donor will match your donation!

Whatever amount comes in from public donations, this contributor will donate the same amount - without recognition. If this person can offer such generous support without receiving public acknowledgment, then perhaps we can dig into our change drawer and toss a little support into the mix for the rabbits who have acid dropped in their eyes, or the puppies who lie around with open wounds, or the monkeys who spend their days with wires attached to their brains.

“Today, there are better tests that are more accurate,” says PETA president Ingrid Newkirk.

I do not want to make you feel guilty; that is not my goal. If you cannot or do not want to donate now or ever to PETA, you can still reach out to these animals by being an informed consumer. Buy your products from companies - like Revlon, Mary Kay, Estée Lauder, and Bath and Body Works - who have already signed a pledge against animal testing. Don’t buy from or support companies who continue to test on small, defenseless animals such as Clariol, Cover Girl, Johnson & Johnson, Arm & Hammer, Max Factor, L’Oreal, Oil of Olay, Pantene, Suave, and (including some listed here) all Proctor & Gamble products.

Show companies that test on animals that you won’t buy them! Show the animals that you care in every thing that you buy!

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Guess what? I like animals. Any and all animals are super cool in my book.

Since everyone knows this about me, I get lots of e-mail forwards, greeting cards (mostly from my mom or people asking for money), articles, and random gifts (on my desk, from my friend, I have a cat calendar, a picture of Olivia the pig, and a Sally-mander cut-out). I love receiving these!

So if you haven’t yet seen the polar bear befriending the sled dog, I must share it with you. You also simply have to hear the whole story, and let the photographers receive their credit.

I’ve found two documented cases of this happening by two different nature photographers. The first, Norbert Rosing, is from Germany, and has shot several series for National Geographic and published ten books including the gorgeously done World of Polar Bears. His are the pictures being forwarded around currently, with a dark-colored dog.

Mark J. Thomas - photographer of Natural Selection nature photos - has a three-piece similar series for sale with an all-white sled dog playing with a polar bear. Thomas also wrote a fantastic description of witnessing the event with Rosing.

He describes the polar bear approaching the dog with the interest of finding a playmate. And now, as I watch at least six red-tailed hawks soaring and performing in a playful air show out my work window, I wonder: how can people not see the humanlike nature of animals?

So keep sending me animal-related forwards. Keep providing me with four-legged decorations for my desk. And, most of all, keep remembering how they really aren’t all that different from us.

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PETA is a good organization for many reasons. Yes, they can be extreme (though many of the cases that come to mind are likely people acting in support of PETA, not actual PETA employees). And no, I do not always agree with their tactics. But dude, check out how many contests they are having right now! I do not deny my love for free stuff and hope to win all of these goodies. But alas, I do not usually have such luck. So I will share these contests with you, and hope that at least one of us will win something.

* Type in your contact info at Caring Consumer and you will be entered to win chemical-free, non-animal-tested, completely vegan products from Nail-Aid and Anise Cosmetics. This contest comes in light of the companies’ president and founder, vegan Tam Tran, being awarded with PETA’s Trail-Blazer Award.

* This one disturbs me, so I will say it quickly: There’s this band All Time Low, and if you go here, to PETA2 you can win their new album and a signed pair of their booty shorts. They don’t like to cut open dead frogs, but apparently are okay with super short shorts that say “GET LOW” on the rear.

* Sexiest, teasingest, tease-of-them-all Dita Von Teese has been seen around town lately. The burlesque-style dancer was a guest on America’s Next Top Model two seasons back, is a spokesmodel for MAC cosmetics, and is now speaking up for animals. She posed for PETA’s ABC (animal birth control) campaign that’s all about controlling the pet population. To kick it all off, you can enter to win a gift certificate to MAC.

* Bands have weird names nowadays (gosh I sound old). Scary Kids Scaring Kids (SKSK) is a band name, got it? And they took pictures at Warped Tour. Now, you can win the camera they used - and all the pictures - plus two copies of their new, self-titled CD, signed by all the guys in SKSK … if that’s the kind of thing that entertains you. Me? I just like anything that is free, and I can delete the pictures and then just have a cool, new camera.

* Remember Alicia Silverstone getting naked and Houston getting mad? Well besides all that, she also told us what her fave cruelty-free products were, and now you can win some of them in a cute Matt & Nat (vegan designer) bag.

* If you enter this one and win, you have to give the prize to ActivistMommy because she will love it. You’ll get a Silverstein CD, and a pair of vegan, Rise Against Vans. (Translated, the prize is one band’s musical musings, and skateboarding shoes with the name of another band on them.)

And now you know how to win.

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Yesterday I mentioned that I made my own ice cream and that I would share the recipe with you. Granted, I said I would share it later in the day yesterday, but hey, in some parts of the world it’s still the same day, right? It has been less than 24 hours since then.

My flavor choice for homemade soy ice cream - made without an ice cream maker - was banana chocolate chip. The recipe called for mega amounts of everything, and since I am broke and my Acme didn’t have any soft tofu in stock, I made up my own, smaller version.

In a food processor, I combined one and a half bananas with about one-third of a package of soft tofu (actually, I was lacking, so I put in about one-fourth a package of soft, and one-fourth firm), 1/4 cup of soy milk (I used vanilla), and a handful of sugar (this is honestly how I measured it. It was perfect for me, but I like things on the less-sweet side).

Now taste it. If you don’t like it now, you won’t magically grow accustomed to it once it is frozen.

Stir in some chocolate chips, walnuts, candy pieces, hunks of fruit, or whatever you like in your cold, creamy desserts. Put the mix in a freezer-safe container, and put in into the freezer with the lid off. Every 15 minutes, give it a good stir and try really hard to limit yourself to just one spoonful per 15-minute stir.

In two to three hours, you will have the optimal serving consistency. If you cover it in the freezer after stirring regularly for two hours, it will still be good, but it will harden some. I just pop it in the refrigerator or set it out on the counter a little before I want to have some.

It is ten times better than any soy ice cream on the market, and it is completely vegan (depending on what chunkage you put in, of course).

For exact measurements of ingredients, as well as numerous variations including pumpkin or chocolate mint, you will have to buy (or see if your local library has) a copy of the recipe book Soy Desserts, available on Amazon.

I absolutely love it! But I’ll have to test it out on the 2-year-old nephew to make sure it’s kid-approved, too. His last review, of my smoothie, was not so positive: “Sometimes, I don’t like Aunt Sally’s smoothies.”

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