Living Without Meat

Writing a double death announcement for two 20-something fathers really got to me yesterday. Even attending an hour-long weightlifting exercise class couldn’t lift my spirits. Of course, it didn’t help that I was feeling tired and unmotivated to begin with.

But then, after watching a ho-hum movie and getting only a few rows of knitting done, something finally managed to put a smile on my face.

I was getting ready for bed. Honestly, I had been ready to go to sleep for hours, but now I was actually heading to dreamland. I decided it was time for a new toothbrush: so I tossed the old one and opened the cabinet.

It was then that I gripped a forgotten Christmas present - a scented, pink, Strawberry Shortcake toothbrush. My sister’s friend had seen it and thought of me (I openly love pink and Miss Shortcake).

As I brushed my teeth I began to smile. Not only was the fruity aromatherapy cheering me up, but the realization that someone thought of me brightened my evening.

I went to bed in a much better mood. I went to bed reassured of my belief that every little thing that you do makes a difference. I went to bed motivated.

Guess who realizes that we (vegans) love their soy desserts and would truly appreciate some more dairy-free yogurt options? Turtle Mountain, that’s who!

The makers of delectable organic, soy, and sugar-free lines of desserts have now come out with five flavors of rich and creamy, vegan yogurt in their soy line - So Delicious.

With tastes of blueberry, raspberry, peach, cinnamon, and vanilla, So Delicious Dairy Free Yogurt brags:

# Dairy Free and Lactose Free
# Certified made with Organic Ingredients
# Excellent source of Vitamin B12 (vegetarian friendly)
# All natural, made with organic soy milk
# Formulated for maximum calcium absorption
# Contains Pre- and Probiotics for enhanced intestinal health
# Cholesterol Free
# No Trans Fats
# Certified Vegan

Be sure to check out the Web site for offers and fun that you will not want to miss! Get coupons. Fill out a survey and win a year’s supply of Turtle Mountain goodness. Join the Farm Sanctuary Kidz Club (okay, I’ve found something that I don’t like about the Sanctuary … they spell kids with a “z”).

First, let me reiterate a few points about myself to ensure that you gather the full potential from what I am about to share.

1. My name is Sally. I love my name.

2. I am vegetarian (I hope you knew that) and consider myself to be quite earth-friendly.

3. I love fairies. In fact, all three of my tattoos are fairies.

4. I knit obsessively. When my hands are needle-free, I am thinking about knitting. I even teach a beginner’s knitting class.

Okay. Are we clear on those four factoids about the wonder that is me?

While browsing the new knitting patterns released in the Winter 2007 issue of online magazine Knitty, I came across one that actually floored me (or more aptly, floored my jaw).

The picture shown here is what I saw second. First what I saw was its title: Sally the Eco Fairy.

Pause for appreciation.

The designer of this pattern, Jennie, is also an animal lover and long time vegetarian. She designed Sally to be very durable for kids (another of my top likes), and made the doll out of undyed, organic Ecoknit cotton. Jennie has designed lots of other fun patterns similar to Sally that can be found at Ariadne Knits.

But of course, I remain partial to Sally the Eco Fairy (in fact, I am considering legally adding “the Eco Fairy” into my name).

knitting pattern, organic knitting

It’s the time of year where parents of middle school-aged girls shamelessly take order forms into their office common spaces, asking their co-workers to gobble up some Girl Scout cookies. It’s the time when these girls strive to earn chintzy prizes in recognition of their parents’ salesmanship.

It’s one of many times of the year when vegans ask themselves: “are there animal products in this?”

For your convenience, I’ve done the grit analysis for you. Many of the names and options vary depending on which baker is being used. So you won’t see all of these on one order form, but I have looked into both bakeries.
Here are the results of my investigation:

VEGAN

* Thanks-A-Lot (Printed with “Thanks” in different languages; coated lightly with
fudge)

* Lemonades (Lemon-flavored shortbread, shaped and printed to look like a lemon slice)

* Cinna-Spins (five ready-to-grab-and-go 100 calorie packs full of crispy cinnamon swirls)

NOT VEGAN

* Shortbread / Trefoils

* Thin Mints

* Lemon Chalet Cremes

* Sugar-free Chocolate Chips

* All Abouts

* Caramel de Lites / Samoas

* Peanut Butter Patties / Tagalongs

* Peanut Butter Sandwich / Do-si-dos

Don’t have a co-worker with a Girl Scout daughter? Online sales are not allowed, but you can search by zip code to find a local troop that is selling the yummy pastimes.

This was not my Project Blog entry, but I am still in the competition! Click Here to vote and check out all the contest-ual goodness!

girl scout cookies, girl scouts, vegan cookies

When I spoke previously about the Elephant Sanctuary, I hinted at the fact that I have a thing for the ginormous mammals. Truth is, I love them and regard them as some of my favorite animals (which I’m sure you can imagine is a hard list to qualify).

What I have not ever mentioned, is the fact that a number of circuses - Ringling Bros. in particular - have a documented history of extreme animal abuse and neglect, especially towards their elephants.

PETA has a campaign to help reveal the truth behind the three rings and tents, but the most inspirational testimonies by far come from those that have worked at a circus, and left due to the horrific things that they witnessed.

Archele Hundley, a former Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus employee, is the most recent to speak out. She has created a PSA, which you can watch here below.

Watch more videos at PETA.org.

In case you have difficulty viewing the video, here are some highlights from Circuses.com:

“I saw handlers deliver a beating … for 30 minutes. She was covered with bloody wounds. I’ll never forget her agonizing screams,” says Hundley.

She also witnessed:

* An elephant beaten with bullhooks so severely in Tulsa, Oklahoma, in 2006 that she bled profusely and cried out in pain.

* A trainer viciously whipped a camel and punched a miniature horse in the face.

* Trainers jabbed horses with pitchforks and gave them extremely painful “lip twists” to force the animals to obey commands.

* An elephant with painful arthritis was kept on the road.

“The abuse was not just once in a while—it occurred every day,” says Hundley. “The elephants, horses, and camels were hit, punched, beaten, and whipped by everyone from the head of animal care down to inexperienced animal handlers hired out of homeless shelters.”

Archele says that she repeatedly complained to circus management about the abuse to no avail, prompting her to quit in disgust.

Thanks for taking the time to educate yourself! CLICK HERE for a list of animal-free circus fun!

If you: are a parent, think cute kids are cute, want proof that kids can be healthy vegans, or are just bored and want a fun link to check out … go visit the Vegan Children article at Vegan Health, a project of Vegan Outreach. These kids are too cute! There are photographs of kids of all ages - that are vegan - along with their story.
(And yes, they do have names like Journey and Saige, and haircuts from the ’70s.) What are you waiting for? Go!

My mom called the other day with a word for everyone interested in vegetarian articles (that’s you):

The latest issue of Newsweek has an article about kids going the way of meatless meals!

Online you can check out the blog version of the feature, titled “Look, Ma, I’m Going Meatless!”

To get the full goodness of a mainstream, popular magazine being supportive of vegetarians, go get yourself a copy today! … and then be sure to tear out the insert, remove the staples, and recycle it when you are done (only, of course, after you have passed it along to anyone interested in reading it, because reuse comes before recycle)!

Let’s support those who support us! Six cheers for Newsweek!

Joost Elffers (yes, this is someone’s name) spends a lot of time playing with his food: he turns carrots into ice cream cones and tops them off with a scoop of cauliflower. He sees a dog when he looks at a banana, but an octopus when it’s just the peel.

In his numerous books - such as How Are You Peeling and Play with Your Food - Elffers works alone or with other authors and photographers to create an imaginary world that both children and adults will fall in love with - in fact, you likely already have seen a picture or two of his somewhere.

Check out his cheery, appetite-enhancing, health-food-only, books at Amazon, or your local bookstore or library. It’s a great way to get your kids thinking about fruits and veggies!

Here’s a preview slideshow of a few of the pictures you’ll find within Joost’s pages:

What a perfect gift this would be for someone who loves fruit and veggies … just make sure you guys coordinate it with each other so that I, er umm…, I mean the recipient, doesn’t receive multiple copies of the same one.

PETA has a plethora of contests going on right now.

**First up, enter you veggie kids in the Cutest Vegetarian Kid in the Land contest. The winner will be features in Animal Times magazine, their local hometown newspaper, and will receive lots of animal-friendly goodies. All you have to do to enter is electronically send in your info with a picture of your child and a mini-bio on him or her. Don’t worry mom and dad - you’re off the hook. I already checked and PETA did specify that the kid has to be 12 or under.

**Living kid-free, or have ugly kids that won’t win a cute contest (just kidding!)? Try your hand a designing an online ad for PETA. Send in your simple or elaborate, professional or newbie advertisement by September 24 for a chance to be one of the top 10 finalists who will be featured on blogs around the Internet as well as PETA.org. The winner will receive an Apple gift card for $500, and the other finalists will all receive Apple gift cards for $20. Additionally, anyone who creates an (appropriate) ad should feel free to send it to me and I will post it here - just a leave a comment letting me know that you made one and I will reply to you personally.

**In the easiest-to-enter, just-fill-out-the-form contest, you can win a $25 gift certificate and a pair of one-of-a-kind PETA “Fur Free” tweezers, all from e.l.f. Cosmetics.

**Umm … and you can win $100 worth of Thomas the Tank Engine products for not taking your family to circuses with animals. I’m sure they’ll take the lead paint out before they send it to you.

This morning I am working on a cryptograms book at work. This is especially fun for me because I get to search for riddles, quotes, poems, song lyrics, and do some of my own writing to be encoded later.

Here is an interesting, thought-provoking poem that I just ran across. Unfortunately it is too long to fit the bill of my book, but I can share it with you!

Kindness to Animals

author unknown

Little children, never give
Pain to things that feel and live;
Let the gentle robin come
For the crumbs you save at home;
As his meat you throw along
He’ll repay you with a song.
Never hurt the timid hare
Peeping from her green grass lair,
Let her come and sport and play
On the lawn at close of day.
The little lark goes soaring high
To the bright windows of the sky,
Singing as if t’were always spring,
And fluttering on an untired wing, -
Oh! Let him sing his happy song,
Nor do these gentle creatures wrong.

Enjoy your day, and try to have a childlike outlook towards animals and life!

poem, animal rights poem, vegetarian poetry, kindness to animals, cryptograms

Are you raising a vegetarian or vegan baby, child, teenager, or family? If so, I found a great resource for you!

Vegetarian Resource Group (VRG), a non-profit based in Baltimore, MD that works to educate the public on all things vegetarian, has a number of great books, articles, recipes, and more for veggie families on its Raising a Vegetarian Family page. One particularly unique offering is their Yahoo! group - vrgparents - where you can talk with other parents raising veggie kids, receive e-mails, and share advice.

vegetarian family, vegetarian resource group, raising vegetarian kids

Animals are not the only ones I like to speak up for regularly. So let’s take a momentary break from thinking about pigs and cows to think about the kids in our lives.

*Children*

My heart bleeds just as much for children as it does for animals. Abused, mistreated, neglected, ill, or in need of anything that I take for granite: all kids can make me cry and smile at the same time.

Children’s Miracle Network and Make-a-Wish Foundation are two child-based non-profits that I support.

I also have a sponsored child, Mabelyn, who lives in the Dominican Republic. Her birthday is coming up in August and she’ll be receiving new pajamas, a toothbrush, and toothpaste from me. I use Children International, but there are many reputable organizations out there.

I also make sure to smile at every child I pass. Talk to them when I get a chance - at the bus stop, library, and shoe store. Spend time with my nephew and niece, and the three wonderful kids that I used to watch daily as a nanny.

It doesn’t take a lot to impact a child’s life. If you have a dollar, donate; an hour, volunteer; arms, hug.

Imagine this: a family of four - mother, father, and two girls - attend a good old fashion pig roast at the father’s company picnic. All the fixings set for a lovely afternoon … until you throw into the mix that the youngest little girl of this particular family at this pig roast is me, future vegan in the making.

My dad took me up to help me fill my plate with a healthy dinner - including pork which I am expecting - while my mom sat with my older sister.

“Here let me slice you off an ear, Sally,” dad says to a mere 4-year-old me, only just beginning to make the connection between pork and pig, as we approach the carved-up pig with head still attached.

Silence.

“How about the snout? Or a nice juicy eyeball?”

Screaming. Screaming. More screaming.

Where was the pork that I was supposed to be getting for dinner, and why is there an animal on the buffet table?

Needless to say, I ate vegetarian that evening. And dad? He ate humble pie.

Need a fun way to teach your kids about where their food comes from? As I was perusing my pictures I found this shot of me with my nephew and the two girlies that I was a nanny for. This is us last summer at the Please Touch Museum in Philadelphia talking about gardening.

Find a children’s museum any where worldwide, and take your kids out for a fun day of creative learning. Take time to talk to them about what they are experiencing!

Don’t worry, I did not forget about Recipe Sunday; I merely bumped it a few hours.

Today I bring you another recipe sent in for a free copy of David Kamp’s “The United States of Arugula” (which I still have a few unclaimed copies of, so get out your vegetarian recipes).

Activist Mommy is our featured chef du jour. She has altered a lacto-ovo brownie, leaving out the milk, eggs, and butter. Her kids love this delight, and her in-laws have no clue that the chocolatey wonders are vegan (shh…we won’t tell!).

Don’t be scared off if you aren’t vegan, these are “so yummy, moist, and sweet” according to Activist Mommy. And when my birthday came last, I had two different vegan cakes that people are still raving about!

Activist Mommy’s Vegan Brownies

1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
4 tablespoons cocoa
1 teaspoon vanilla
3/4 cup vegan sugar
2 bananas
1/4 cup applesauce

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Blend all ingredients in a blender until smooth. Pour into a lightly greased 8×8 pan. Bake for 30 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Enjoy!

Wow, is that really all? That seems easier than classic brownies. Not to mention healthier!

Thanks Activist Mommy, and everyone else … keep those recipes coming.

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