Living Without Meat

I am moving in three weeks. I have just started a new job at a local recreation center. My other job’s boss is going away for a few weeks and I’ll be manning the headquarters. Basically … there are a lot of things going around in my head. I can’t walk down the street without constantly making mental to-do lists.

As I was doing just that the other day I started to think, “I’m running around like a chicken with its head cut off.” Then I stopped (as in I actually stopped walking, in the middle of one of the busiest sidewalks in Center City Philadelphia). Mental note: must come up with a vegan equivalent to this saying.

A few days later, when I still hadn’t come up with a animal-friendly version (clever metaphors have never been my strength), I overheard one of my friend’s compare himself to a headless chicken. I tried finding an alternative online, but only found “in a frenzy.”

So, creative vegans, I need your help! Can anyone out there help us all come up with something to say instead of “running around like a chicken with his head cut off”?

In other vegan metaphor news … at the moment I watching Confessions of a Shopaholic and caught wind of one I like. When Isla Fisher’s character, the title in-debt shopaholic, accidentally gets a job at a financial magazine her roommates proclaims: “It’s like when an animal rights activist gets attacked by a bear. … What do you call that? Ironic!”

Men, today is your lucky day! You can enter the What’s Good for the Bitch is Good for the Bastard contest - and the form is the easiest I’ve ever seen, just enter your email address and you’re good to go.

The grand prize will go to one lucky bastard and will include:

A Gym Bag filled with
* $100 Gift Certificate to Whole Foods
* Nature’s Path Optimum Breakfast Cereal
* French Meadow Bakery “Men’s” Bread
* MaraNatha Organic Peanut Butter
* Amy’s Organic Vegan Chili
* Amy’s Pasta & 3 Bean Soup
* DeBoles Gluten Free Multi Grain Box of Penne
* Bag of Terra Veggie Stix
* Guiltless Gourmet Baked Organic Corn Tortilla Chips
* Bag of “Go Take A Walk” Organic Raw Power Snack
* 2 Clif Bars (Black Cherry Almond & Banana Nut Bread)
* Pro Bar Superfood Slam
* Water Bottle
* Copy of Skinny Bastard

10 runners up will also get one copy each of Skinny Bastard and Skinny Bitch.

Good luck!

Compassion Over Killing (COK) is calling on the public to pledge to avoid eating eggs for the month of May, the month that the egg industry has dubbed as National Egg Month in efforts to keep sales up after the busy Easter season. Take the COK egg-free pledge today - regardless of how many other animal products you do or don’t eat - to show your support for the hardworking, mistreated hens (and the baby boy chicks that are chopped up alive or smothered in the trash).

When you take the pledge, COK will be sure to provide you with everything that you need to continue cooking, baking, and eating without eggs. You’re “Cracking the Habit” package will come in the mail just a few days after you sign up, and will include coupons for great vegan condiments, a vegetarian how-to guide, stickers, and if you are one of the first 200 to sign up, a copy of VegNews magazine.

If you hurry you can still enter One Frugal Foodie’s contest to win a free sampler of HomeFree Treat’s vegan cookies!

A few weeks ago the veg Internet community was abuzz when Post Punk Kitchen’s Isa Chandra Moskowitz was flashed across TVs everywhere in the middle of the American Idol audience, holding a poster board sign reading “vegans [heart] Simon.” If she wasn’t already a veg rock star for her phenomenal animal product-free, she surely is now.

And now you can win the chance to be the next vegan sign wielding American Idol fan - Causecast is giving away two sets of two tickets to the 2009 finale show!

Causecast is an online home for activists of many causes - animals, arts, environment, children, homelessness - to create and share videos to make a difference. Last year, Causecast made a very generous donation to Save the Children and received four tickets to this years finale in return. Instead of keeping them, the organization wants to continue to spread the love; they want to pass them along to two people who are “eager to make a difference.” Read: if you win make a big sign for your cause a la Isa!

Click here to enter!

A few years ago I picked up some Bragg apple cider vinegar, even though I had not yet heard anything about the Bragg brand of live, natural health food products. Today, I still use the cider vinegar regularly, mainly on salads. I drizzle a little oil, a bit of agave nectar, and some Bragg apple cider vinegar instead of a pre-made dressing.

In recent months, I have heard a lot about Bragg liquid aminos through word of mouth. Everyone keeps asking if I have tried them but I have not been able to wrap my head around what the product is and how I use it.

According to the Bragg Web site, liquid aminos are protein concentrate derived from healthy soybeans, that contains 16 essential and non-essential amino acids in naturally occurring amounts. You can use them on salads, tofu, and vegetables, or in soups, stir-frys, and casseroles for an instant protein and nutrient boost.

It also has a natural flavor that people love - but what is this flavor? This is the part that I am most unsure about. There is naturally occurring sodium, so it may be a bit salty. But being something that I am so unfamiliar with, I just can’t imagine what it would taste like and don’t want to spend money on something that I may not like or use.

And then yesterday I stumbled upon this … Bragg will send you a free sample! Sign up for the Free Bragg Health Facts Info Package and you will also receive a few samples of Bragg Liquid Aminos! I signed up, so in a few weeks I will be able to tell you all about the flavor.

Spring is definitely the season for deals and discounts! Get ready for freebies, sales, discounts, and contests …

* Kaia Foods wants you to convince your local health food store to carry their brand of granola, and they’ll thank you with a free bag. If you find a store that doesn’t carry it, encourage them to call Kaia at 510-238-0128 and ask for a wholesale sample kit. E-mail Kaia at info@kaiafoods.com to tell them whom you recommended their products to, and if the health food store contacts Kaia you’ll get a free bag of granola!

* Get $10 off any purchase of $50 or more at PETA’s online catalog now through Earth Day, April 22, by entering promo code “Earth” when checking out.

* Also for Earth Day, awesome tee shirt company WE ADD UP is offering 10% off your total purchase by entering promo code “Earth09.” Plus, if you shop from the link in this blurb the Humane League will get a portion of the proceeds.

WE ADD UP shirts are extremely unique. On the front of each shirt is a number unique to the owner, a number that shows a running count of the people that are doing something to help the environment. On the back, is the green action that the person is committing to. You can choose from different green actions such as composting, driving a hybrid, buying local or organic, carpooling or using mass transit, showering in groups, or my favorite - being vegan, shown here.

* Check out the Raw Food Switch blog for a contest going on right now! Write one paragraph about your biggest healthy eating challenge, share it according to the contest specifics, and be entered to win an hour-long one-on-one Eating By Choice Session. Only two more days to enter!

The Brat Pack, a family of happy rescue dogs that blog, are hosting a online blogging party on Friday, March 20 (which also happens to be National Meat Out Day) to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Best Friends Animal Society.

RSVP for the social event dubbed Pawty for a Purpose to be eligible for some great giveaways and prizes, and to receive a party favor! Then join the party March 20 from 7 to 10 p.m. central time at FiveHappyHounds.com to play along in trivia games, see who wins the different door prizes, socialize with other animal lovers, and learn all about Best Friends.

To be eligible for the big loot of the night, you have to be a Best Friends member. So sign up now for just $25 and be in it to win it!

The battle of fur as fashion has been going strong lately: Lindsay Lohan gets flour thrown on her and called a “fur hag.” Celebrities like Gwyneth Paltrow pose with fur, but swear they were tricked and would never wear it. Even more celebs pose for PETA’s anti-fur ads, most recently, Khloe Kardashian. The Humane Society files a lawsuit against companies that falsely label real fur as faux. Kid Rock loves his fur and starts a war with PETA. …

But can’t we debate the topic in a friendlier manner, like maybe a fashion design competition highlighting budding designers that don’t use fur?

Born Free USA united with Animal Protection Institute and E Magazine have joined forces to do just that!

The contest, fffashion, is a fur-free fashion contest for designers 18 or older, with an April 1, 2009 deadline, and an inexpesive $25 entry fee. Judges include Sophie Uliano, green living guru and author of New York Times bestseller Gorgeously Green; Summer Rayne Oaks, eco-model, activist, spokesperson, and resident expert for Discovery Network’s Planet Green; and Brita Belli, editor of E Magazine. Premier online independent fashion Web site UsTrendy is also supporting the contest.

Learn more about Born Free USA’s stance and believes on their Fight Against Fur campaign page.

Want a chance to win your favorite animal charity a donation? Head over to TaxGirl’s “12 Days of Charitable Giving” and leave a comment about an organization that you personally donated to this year.

For 12 days in December, TaxGirl, with a panel of judges, will select one charity per day. The charity will receive a donation and will be featured on the blog.

Who will get your mention - Farm Sanctuary? Humane Society? PETA? Haven’t donated yet this year? No problem, donate today!

What are you waiting for? Go!

I am really starting to feel like “Sally the Vegan.” I love having this label, and I love that everyone knows it and is comfortable approaching me. People e-mail me for recipe ideas, tell me when they make a fully vegetarian meal, and ask me for animal- and health-related advice. The other day, a trainer at my gym, who I was not even sure knew who I was, came running up to me to tell me she had been thinking about me while watching Wayne Pacelle on Oprah.

I love hearing that something I said or did stuck with someone and impacted their life in some way. This week, however, two people have asked me questions that I was unable to answer - and so I turn to you for input.

1. My friend Kelly was in search of a recipe for vegetarian moussaka. After I was of no help, she was able to find one using mushrooms online. Have you ever made vegetarian moussaka? Please share your recipe!

2. My co-worker has a nine month old at home. She’s vegetarian; her husband is a meat lover. Today she asked for a recommendation for a book about raising kids vegetarian. Not being to the family stage of my life yet, I’ve not read any veg rearing books. Have you raised a veg child? What advice would you give to a new mom whose husband is not interested in vegetarianism? Can you recommend a good book?

Thanks for your help!

Being Wednesday, a day when no one really feels like doing much of anything, I think that it’s time for a game.

Of the 10 food items listed below, 5 are vegan, and 5 are not. Do you know, or can you guess, which are vegan and which are not? You can find the answers by clicking “read the rest….”

1. Marshmallows
2. Blow Pop, Charms, Ring Pop, and Dum Dum Lollipops
3. Progresso’s Vegetable Soup
4. Ritz Crackers
5. Non-Dairy Creamer
6. Worcestershire Sauce
7. Jell-O Instant Pudding
8. Oreo Cookies
9. French Onion Soup, hold the melted cheese
10. Sweet and Spicy Chili Doritos

(more…)

Here’s a little game that I call “Guess Which Famous Man Abused Animals,” in the style of “Who Am I?”

* I had a laboratory that occupied two city blocks. I wanted my lab to have “a stock of almost every conceivable material.” This included over 8,000 kinds of chemicals; hair and fur from humans, horses, hogs, cows, rabbits, goats, minx, camels, and more; animal body parts and products such as silk, cocoons, hooves, teeth, horns, shells, feathers, and tails.

* I once publicly electrocuted an elephant, to her death, and video taped it to prove a point about capital punishment and electricity. I also fed her cyanide-laced carrots before the electrocution. I continued my anti-electrocution campaign by having my workers do the same, repeatedly, to other animals in other locations. All were made into public videos, but “Electrocuting an Elephant” remains my most famous one.

* I am in nearly every history and science book worldwide, without so much as a mention to my animal-torturing ways.

I am a household name, consider a genius for my inventions.

WHO AM I?

Click to find out: (more…)

Sometimes you just want to be a teenager with nothing better to do then take meaningless quizzes. I took the “What Kind of Vampire Are You” one on The N’s Web site and this is the result I got …

Hmm… maybe these quizzes are on to something. Maybe they’re not meaningless.

PETA just announced their annual “Top 10 Vegetarian-Friendly Ballparks” list, and my hometown sluggers - the Philadelphia Phillies - made the top spot for the second year running.

It just so happens that last night I went to the only baseball game that I attend each year - the annual Stich ‘n’ Pitch game. I went hungry and excited to check up on this veg-friendly title; I left disappointed and sick to my stomach.

I suppose that you have to keep in mind that this list is relative. I did not consider this as I walked around the entire stadium on a hunt for veg*n food. After being told by multiple workers that they “know there’s a veggie burger somewhere…,” I finally found one of the numerous options that Citizens Bank Park claims to offer, just as I was starting to think that my options were peanuts or the meal bar in my purse. I waited in line for 20 minutes at Rick’s Steaks, with a fellow vegetarian behind me in line (I can find another veg head anywhere!), to order the “vegetarian steak sandwich” with peppers and no cheese … and apparently no salt or flavor either. I choked down the $9 sub because I was starving by this point, and mistakenly ignored the fact that they cooked my “meat” in the beef grease. I’m guessing the grease is what made me nauseous the rest of the evening.

I would hardly call the Phillies’ home field “vegetarian-friendly.” But since it is named the top, I would hate to try and find a meal at the other ones. Perhaps I have to dine in the private club or a V.I.P. suite to be able to eat without getting sick.

*******

For details on each winning ballpark, including what you can find at each, check out PETA’s official list. The top ten are as follows:

1. Citizens Bank Park (Philadelphia Phillies)
2. AT&T Park (San Francisco Giants)
3. Safeco Field (Seattle Mariners)
4. PETCO Park (San Diego Padres)
5. U.S. Cellular Field (Chicago White Sox)
6. Busch Stadium (St. Louis Cardinals)
7. Comerica Park (Detroit Tigers)
8. Coors Field (Colorado Rockies)
9. Turner Field (Atlanta Braves)
10. (tie) Tropicana Field (Tampa Bay Rays), and Chase Field (Arizona Diamondbacks)