Category Archives: Activism

Apr 08 2013
42 Comments
Activism

Food Bloggers Against Hunger: A Recipe from my Grandmother

pepper, onions, potatoes & beansWhen I make my weekly run to the grocery store, long list in hand, I rarely look at prices – and most days I take that luxury for granted.  For this day, for this post, I’m stopping to think about how truly lucky I am.

Lillian

My grandmother.

Signing on to Food Bloggers Against Hunger (along with over 200 bloggers!) has made me pause, to take stock, to whittle down my grocery list to the bare essentials – to compare prices.  I went to the grocery store armed with $4 and a very short list.  When I thought about how I would stretch that $4, I immediately thought of this dish.  It’s one my Sicilian grandmother made for her family of five.  I’m sure that there were many nights when my grandmother had to stretch a few ingredients to feed her hungry kids – and this dish would’ve have filled their bellies.  She might have added scrambled eggs to this dish – and probably a handful of Parmesano Reggiano if she had it.  This recipe has stood the test of time – my father made it for his family and we kids always thought it was a treat.  Later, it became one of my go-to recipes as a singleton and it’s never failed to satisfy.

Incidentally, I came in under $4 – with nearly a whole whopping dollar to spare.  Here’s how my purchases added up:

Green bell pepper: $0.68
Potato: $0.78
Yellow onion: $0.63
15 oz. can great northern beans: $0.68
Tax: $0.27
Total: $3.04

Instead of eggs or tofu, I added a can of white beans – a bargain.  My grandmother probably would have used olive oil to prepare this dish, but since I run an oil-free kitchen, I’ve cooked mine in some vegetable broth, soy sauce and water.

A Place at the Table

I hope after reading this post you’ll click here and take 30 seconds and send a letter to Congress asking them to support anti-hunger legislation. Your participation will help protect nutrition programs that help kids get much-needed food into their bellies.  For more detailed information, visit Share Our Strength – and check out the documentary, A Place at the Table, via Amazon or iTunes.  Thank you, The Giving Table, for organizing this event.

ingredients

Peppers, Potatoes, Beans & Onions
Serves 4

1 green bell pepper, stemmed, cored and sliced
1 large onion, sliced
3 cloves garlic, minced and divided
1 large potato, scrubbed and peeled
1 15 oz. can great northern beans, rinsed and drained
splash of vegetable broth, water, and or soy sauce
ground black pepper, to taste

Peel and wash the potato, then cut into small cubes.  Pour a little water and soy sauce into a baking dish.  Add the potato, 1/3 of the minced garlic and plenty of ground black pepper.  Now – turn on the oven to 425F and put the pan with the potatoes in the oven.  I start with a cold oven for roasting potatoes because I discovered that they stick less to the pan this way.  Keep a close eye on these guys and add water/broth/soy sauce as necessary to prevent sticking.  They’ll soften and brown a little bit.  After about 20 minutes, they should be done.

Meanwhile, in a large, deep skillet, heat a little water/vegetable broth and add the bell pepper, onion and garlic.  Sauté for 10 minutes or until veggies are soft.  Add water/broth as necessary to prevent sticking.  Stir in the beans and the potatoes, and season with pepper.  Cook just enough to heat the beans through.  Serve immediately.

bowls

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Feb 06 2013
39 Comments
Activism, Miscellaneous

A Humane Society

Orange Tabby KittyIn the fall of a year that I can no longer clearly remember, a friend and I would head out once a week in search of the best, juiciest, cheesiest hamburgers our city had to offer. We sampled sandwiches from steak houses to trendy eateries to dimly-lit holes-in-the-wall. Sometimes we’d talk about her experience volunteering at an animal shelter where most of the workers were vegan. She felt a strong judgment from them – a feeling of elitism because they didn’t consume animal flesh or wear leather but she did. This feeling eventually led her to quit volunteering. As we bit into our dripping burgers, we’d puzzle and joke about their snobby behavior and ask, isn’t the most important thing that she was there, helping animals?! Did her choice of food really matter?

So. Now here I am. Many years later, a plant-eater volunteering at an animal shelter. The situation is reversed. I’m the lone vegan among omnivores.

Animal shelter volunteers and employees have my respect and admiration. They work long, hard hours in an often unpleasant, noisy and odiferous environment. Much of their day involves cleaning up blood, puke, piss and feces. They remember the names of each animal that has passed through their door and they hide tears of both joy and sadness when an especially beloved furry friend has been adopted and leaves for their (hopefully) forever home. They interface with the uncaring and the oblivious; the neglectful and the malicious. They minister to the sick and comfort the dying. They tenderly hold the cat that has been shot or the dog that has been set afire. They witness the handiwork of the ugliest and cruelest in man and they try to undo the damage.

And then they go home and throw a hotdog on the grill or carve into a roasted chicken.

This is the disconnect. This is where I was those many years ago when I knew that I loved animals, that I said I loved animals and yet my actions and my food choices belied that assertion. The animal shelter worker’s anger is raised when the abused or neglected cat or dog or bird or horse comes under their care. How could anyone hurt or kill these gentle creatures? And yet with the items they choose to put in their shopping cart, they are causing – condoning – the pain, suffering and death of other gentle creatures.

I attempt to be mindful of not being “one of those vegans.” The one who comes off as preachy, judgmental, superior – the one who seems to care for animal welfare above that of her own species. I am not that vegan. But I cannot return to the mindset of those hamburger-eating days of oblivion. If I love animals, if I respect that they have an equal place on this planet, than I cannot allow myself to knowingly cause their harm or death by consuming and using their flesh, their skin or their fur.

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Nov 09 2012
25 Comments
Activism, Food News, General

One Small Step…

Magazine ArticleRecently while at Whole Foods, on impulse I picked up the hefty November issue of Cooking Light.  It was their Best Recipes issue.  (Maybe I snagged it because of their promise of The Most Delicious Desserts inside.  That’s an invitation pretty hard to pass up – hardcore vegan or not!)  I’d let my subscription lapse a few months back (as I shared in my A Letter to Cooking Light) and have no intention of re-subscribing, but I was very pleased to see a whole article – albeit a very short one – devoted to a vegan restaurant.  This particular issue includes the 2012 Trailblazing Chef Awards and their Produce Innovation Award went to a vegan eatery called Vedge (drool over their menu here) located in a very meat-heavy city, Philadelphia.  It almost (almost) makes me wish I still lived in D.C. just so I could make a weekend trip to Philly to check it out.

Now, I’m not saying my letter to Cooking Light editor Scott Mowbray had anything to do with their inclusion of a strictly plant-based (and low-salt, low-sugar) chef in their magazine, but it made me pretty happy to see veganism going a tiny bit mainstream.  It’s about time that “regular” food magazines give vegan cooking the attention it deserves – for being innovative, delicious and inspiring.  Here’s to more of the same.

One year ago today: 100% Whole Wheat No-Knead Bread
One year and one day ago today: Slow-Cooker Rice Pudding

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Mar 15 2012
20 Comments
Activism, Food News, General, Vegan Blog Carnival

A Few Good Vegans/A Carnival of Vegans (Volume 2)

Before I kick off Volume 2 of A Carnival of Vegans, a few administrative tasks:

1)  You can find Volume 1 of A Carnival of Vegans right here.

2)  Have you listed YOUR vegan blog on The Vegan Feed?  What?  No??  Why not?!  Do it!  And what about submitting a post or two to Vegan Bloggers Unite! – no reason to put it off any longer. Get your unique voice heard!

3) Belated thanks and big, virtual hugs to my fellow bloggers, Rachel in Veganland, Former Fish Taco Fanatic, The Adventures of Vegan Charlie and In Pursuit of More for sharing various blogging awards with An Unrefined Vegan.  I feel honored to be on your various radar screens!

Cupcakes and Kale:  If you haven’t found this blog already, you’re in for a treat.  Jess’ photos are lovely, her recipes sound awesome and if you head over to her blog right now, you can go a little green with envy over her pictures and stories about traveling vegan-style in Spain.

Desayunos Veganos 365:  I was feeling pretty smug about my breakfasts until Lorna at Tearoom Delights introduced me to this blog.  I love the idea of this project and though Nihacc is not even three months in, I’m hoping he has a similar project lined up for when he completes his vegan breakfast posts for the year.  The photos are real eye candy.  Check out Cocina de Nihacc as well.  My Spanish is lousy, but it looks good, too!

Cucumber Salad

One Poor Persnickety Vegan:  Having a tendency towards the persnickety myself, I was drawn to this sweet blog.  Tasha shares how to she eats well on a tight budget, but the appeal of this blog for me is that, just like me, she’s also down on excess sugar and fat.

Push Mower

Terra Not Terror:  I’m including this green-minded vegan blog for a couple or reasons.  1) A while back, Terra – even though she didn’t know me from Eve – was brave enough to allow me to write a guest post on her blog.  2) Her blog is a great resource for ways to reduce, reuse and recycle.  3) I just plain like her.  4) I want to encourage her to start blogging again!  So please, go visit her blog, leave comments and tell her you want to hear more from her!

The VegBar & Project See Life: I first met Barbie through her VegBar blog – all about sharing food with friends and family – and I immediately felt her warmth.  Now I’m hooked on Project See Life where she shares her journey from deep depression to a full and joyful embrace of life and everything it has to offer.  It’s raw and true and beautiful.  Barbie isn’t vegan (she’s vegetarian), but she is way vegan-friendly and I couldn’t imagine creating a list of excellent vegan blogs without including hers.

VeggieWitch:  Oh, Denise!  She says she “posts often and often with passion,” and it’s so true!  You can feel Denise’s energy and spirit right through your computer screen.  She keeps it interesting by writing about everything under the sun.

Fashion Food Fight: I love the simple creativity of this blog.  Yes, it’s a vegan food/recipe blog – but it takes that idea and adds a little twist by having her beautiful friends “model” some truly yummy looking food.

I’ve barely scratched the surface here!  There are so many more vegan blogs that I’ve jotted down to be included in future Carnival posts.  If you’ve found one that you think ought to be recognized, let me know and I’ll add it to my list.  Or, if you write a vegan blog that you’d like to see mentioned here, send me your link!

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Feb 28 2012
29 Comments
Activism, General

The Vegan Option

New Yorker Cartoon

From the February 13 & 20, 2012 edition of The New Yorker

In November 2011, I published an article on Technorati called Misguided Eating: The Nose to Toes Food Trend, which promptly sank into oblivion.  But I’m not finished with the topic.  And that’s because what inspired the Technorati article continues to inspire me: our fascination with meat.  This time around my inspiration comes from a local (and I mean, a very local) paper.  The kind of paper that has lots of photos of junior high sporting events and interviews with 95-year old veterans celebrating birthdays at the retirement home.  Don’t forget the crime reports of petty thefts and break-ins.  There’s all kinds of interesting information to be gleaned from small town newspapers.  For instance:

A few days ago while I was preparing lunch, Kel was entertaining me by reading aloud from the newspaper.  He came across the meals menu for the local school area and he knew I’d get a kick (i.e., my blood pressure would soar) out of it.  Sample Breakfast items included: cinnamon roll, strudel, a variety of (dairy) milks, breakfast pizza, sausage.  Sample Lunch items included: breaded fish, Frito pie, beef stew, cheeseburger, grilled cheese, cheese sticks.  Two things struck me: the menu has changed little from when I was in school; and it is still spectacularly unhealthy – heavy on meat and cheese, sugar, refined grains and oily, fried foods.  Even the vegetable items are cooked with meat (lima beans and ham, for instance) or battered and fried.  Each day there is the “main” menu item and an alternative.  Maybe something for the non-meat eaters?  No.  The alternatives are as wretched as the main items.  Couldn’t schools at the minimum provide a few healthy alternatives?  How about, for instance, a vegan option?

What we are very successfully doing is raising the next generation to eat as poorly as we now do, to place animal products at the center of their diets and to learn to tolerate vegetables only if they are fried in fat or cooked with meat.  We are grooming our children for a litany of health problems (some of these kids already have Type II diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol) long before they reach middle age.  They will become, like us, dependent on pills to “manage” their entirely diet-controllable diseases.  We are teaching them to view vegetables as side dishes and animals as products.  We are encouraging them to be ignorant of the origins of their food and to be senseless to the pain and suffering from which their chicken nuggets and hamburgers are produced.  It’s unnecessary, willfully ignorant and short-sighted.  And PS: We can easily figure out which industries are subsidizing the school lunch programs.  Money is more important than health and ethics.  The following excerpt is from the March edition of the Nutrition Action Health Letter:

School Meals.  In January 2011, the U.S. Department of Agriculture proposed long-overdue improvements to subsidized school meals, requiring less salt, fewer fries, and more fruit, vegetables and whole grains.

That spelled bad news for sellers of pizzas, fries, Tater Tots, and the like.  So they quickly got their pals in Congress not only to block the USDA’s plan to limit how often kids could be served potatoes, but to classify pizza as a vegetable.  (Isn’t it amazing what a shmear of tomato sauce can do?)

Despite a roar of outrage from the media, members of Congress once again sided with their campaign contributors.

The question is: why do we as a nation remain so short-sighted?  Is the overwhelming evidence for adopting a plant-based diet over an animal-based diet not enough? I haven’t even touched on the environmental impact of “food” animals – nor the horror of the miserable lives and senseless deaths of these same animals.

I am not one to advocate that the government dictate what or how we should eat – they’ve spectacularly botched the job thus far and frankly, the less government intrusion in my life, the better.  And I believe strongly in personal responsibility.  But since they have claimed the job of feeding our children while those children are in school, shouldn’t our government do so more responsibly – with the goal of raising healthy, strong, informed citizens?  We are an educated nation.  We have an infinite amount of health information at our fingertips.  There is no excuse to continue to eat the way that we do – to continue to compromise our health and the health of those too young to understand how the food they eat affects their growing bodies.  We must do everything we can from inside the home and within the community.  Children must be raised to respect not only their bodies, but to respect the lives and bodies of those that lack the voices and means to speak for themselves.  Start in your own home.  Vote with your shopping list – and send your kid to school with a healthy, cruelty-free lunch.

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Feb 02 2012
22 Comments
Activism, Food News, General, Vegan Blog Carnival

A Carnival of Vegans (Volume 1)

There is a “place” out there called BlogCarnival and when I was just starting out with Dough, Dirt & Dye, I jumped into it – submitting some of my posts in the relevant “carnivals.”  Most of the carnivals I wanted to be a part of were defunct so after a while I fell off of the, ahem, merry-go-round.  But I really like the idea of a kind of round-up of what’s out there in the blogosphere.  Especially when it’s vegan-related.  So I thought: why not create a carnival of my own?  What follows is Volume 1.  My goal is to offer a carnival once or twice each month.  If you’re a vegan blogger, know of a vegan blogger, or just want to recommend an interesting vegan-centric website, blog, post or recipe, contact me at AnUnrefinedVegan@gmail.com.

Cattle Restrain Device

Photo Courtesy of Temple Grandin at http://www.grandin.com/humane/restrain.slaughter.html

Mightier Than the Captive Bolt Pistol
Opinion/Activism

We must stop thinking that people will find veganism “daunting” and that we have to promote something less than veganism. If we explain the moral ideas and the arguments in favor of veganism clearly, people will understand. They may not all go vegan immediately; in fact, most won’t. But we should always be clear about the moral baseline. If someone wants to do less as an incremental matter, let that be her/his decision, and not something that we advise to do. The baseline should always be clear. We should never be promoting “happy” or “humane” exploitation as morally acceptable.

For the rest of this article and to light the activist fire within, visit Animal Rights: The Abolitionist Approach.

Other vegan blogger’s blog rolls are great places to discover other…vegan blogs.  I found VeganRabbit thanks to the site mentioned below.  Every post is well-researched and eloquently written.  The article Pseudo-Vegetarianism, is a good companion piece to the article above.

This is one of the first vegan blogs I “found,” thanks to joining the Blog Oklahoma blog ring and I have a real fondness for the VeganElder.  Always thought-provoking.  Every once in a while, even ethical vegans need to be nudged from their plant-based reveries.   Head over and dive in.

SeitanTastier Than Cow Flesh
Food/Recipes

It’s the photos that got me.  Chocolate Pumpkin Loaf from Veganista via Post Punk Kitchen.  Pumpkin and chocolate chips.  Just says “afternoon tea” so clearly.  And another pumpkin recipe, this one on the savory side:

Vegan Pumpkin Chili from FatFreeVegan.  I love a slow-cooker recipe.  I love chili.  And I can vouch for this one cuz I’ve made it.  The addition of pureed pumpkin creates a rich, thick sauce.  It reminded me a little bit of my by-gone Cincinnati chili days (from Skyline Chili, never Gold Star Chili) – so I served it on top of whole wheat spaghetti and sprinkled it with raw diced red onions.

In Fine Balance isn’t a strictly vegan blog, but I wanted to share a recipe here (actually more than one – the original recipe for Curried Millet and Cauliflower sounds delicious) because, well, I enjoy poking around this blog and these Quick Veggie Samosas would be a great way to use a variety leftovers.  I can see any number of fillings being employed this way – just make sure the pastry is vegan.

This one is amazing: gelato made with zero animal-products, is free of artificial colors and preservative and unrefined too boot!  Guiseppe Lamandini uses organic, natural ingredients and sweetens many of his flavors with fruit juice.  Marzipan, pistachio, chocolate, grapefruit, carrot, coconut… and lots of other flavors.  Watch the video and prepare to drool.  Thanks to Go Vegan for the link.

And one more – added at the last minute.  When I saw “Homegrown Smoker” had followed me on Twitter, I thought, great – a BBQ joint is messing with me.  Yes, Homegrown Smoker makes BBQ, but it’s vegan BBQ.  Check out the photos.  Oklahoma desperately needs this place!

BolderBoulderFitter, Faster and Stronger Than the Carnivore
Fitness/Lifestyle/Fashion

I was only going to share the Stop Chasing Skinny link from JLGoesVegan (it took me nearly 45 years to stop worrying about my weight.  Veganism took my mind off of the scale and on to being healthy), but then she posted the first of an FAQs series.  The first one, Why All the Changes Post-40, resonated with me because of my own “transformation” in my 40s.  The details are different, but the result is the same (nearly the same; I’m a runner, but neither a marathoner nor a triathlete).  Watch her video and/or read the summary post.  I’m looking forward to more.

Help for the well-dressed vegan comes from The Streets I Know, like this review of animal-free shoes and boots by Good Guys’ in springy, pastel colors.  I’m looking for some shoes for a spring wedding…no, not my spring wedding.

No Meat Athlete has plenty of reading material and recipes for the plant-based runner.  This article, How to Burn Fat Instead of Sugar and Never Bonk Again, discusses tapering off of sugar to transition into burning fat during long, slow runs.  Long (but not slow…) runs are a thing of my past (damn knees), but I love the idea of getting away from sugar consumption.

Cookbooks

And…Smarter than the USDA
Nutrition/Resources

A topic that fired up the vegan airwaves last month: Paula Deen owning up to a diagnosis of diabetes (three years after the fact…).  It’s unfortunate that she didn’t get ahold of Caldwell B. Esselstyn, Jr., MD before she made a deal with a drug company.  She might have been able to ditch the drugs completely.  This is a thoughtful essay on the topic from NutritionFacts.org.

The sugar monkey was heavily on my back until a few short years ago when I stopped eating refined sugar completely and also lowered my intake of unrefined sugars, so I understand the challenges of kicking the sugar habit… In Sugar!! from LoveLaughVeggies, Lance writes about his childhood addiction to Now and Laters and Bubble Yum – both of which I ate my fair share of as a kid – and his adult cravings as well.

I like this helpful rundown, Healthy and Vegan Baking Substitutions,  from Lindsay Nixon at the Manhattan Vegan Examiner for recipe substitutions of all kinds.

From Tali Sedgwick, at Food NE/RD (Nutrition Educator Certificate & Registered Dietician) – lunch and dinner ideas for sources of calcium besides those from dairy.  Another site on which to while away a lot of time!

Arm yourself – naturally – from the cold and flu season. Robyn Fraser, a naturopathic doctor, shares her tips at Vegan Naturopath to stay healthy this winter.

Thank you!

I’m pleased to have my blog listed at Healthy Living Blogs – a great resource for finding blogs devoted to healthy recipes, fitness, nutrition and everything else.

Yesterday I was excited to discover that my Slow-Cooker Rice Pudding recipe from November 2011 was included in Dash’s article, “Warm, Gooey Slow Cooker Treats.”  Very cool!

Finally, to really immerse yourself in all things vegan, plug into the recently launched The Vegan Feed for podcasts, blogs, news and videos.  I’m proud to have An Unrefined Vegan listed on this site!

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Dec 21 2011
5 Comments
Activism

Tilted

Cow in Tilt TableI clipped out this picture from an issue of Wired (along with the accompanying, brief article) knowing that at some point I would figure out what I wanted to say about it.  It has sat on my desk for a couple of weeks and every time I run across it I think: I must write something about this hideous photo.  Now, my bailiwick is plant-based, cruelty-free recipes.  It is my belief that eliminating meat and dairy from one’s diet guarantees a happier and healthier body.  I mostly leave the animal rights activism to more knowledgeable and eloquent voices.  So the other day when I read The Logic of Animal Rights, by activist and blogger Kara Kapelnikova, I knew that she had written what I would have liked to have said about the photo of this dairy cow hoisted into the air (by a “tilt table”) for an inspection of her hooves.  The deceptive banality of it, the look in the cow’s eye as she stares at the photographer, the filth and muck that surrounds her…While there are certainly more graphic and disturbing images out there, this photo to me exemplifies how we exploit animals for our own needs – how many of us view animals (especially “food” animals) as products rather than living, feeling beings – born, bred and butchered so that we can dine on their remains.  By the way, this was an article in a section called Toolkit about how to start a dairy farm.

Please visit Kara’s blog, Vegan Rabbit to get inspired and informed.  She lends her considerable intelligence, grace and eloquence to the cause of animal rights.

It seems appropriate here to mention another vegan-themed blog, this one called Bacon Is NOT an Herb, written by a new friend from the blogosphere (when I started blogging I had no idea I’d make so many wonderful connections with people of all stripes).  Terri shares recipes and restaurants reviews and makes it a little easier living in her part of the country to thrive on a vegan/vegetarian diet.  Right now she’s looking for vegans, vegetarians or those contemplating making the switch to a cruelty-free diet to submit stories about themselves and their journey.  You can find all of the information here: ‘Coming a Veg.   I think it will be fascinating to read what others have to share about their choices and lives.

Finally, wishing a happy birthday today to a beautiful yogini, vegan, author and devoted friend to “creatures great and small,” Ms. Tracey of Shanti Warrior Holistic Wellness Services.  I’m proud and honored to know her.  Peace and love, my friend.

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Nov 26 2011
3 Comments
Activism

Tasteless

Dead Ducks in SuitcaseA photo from the current issue of Bon Appetit showing dead Moulard ducks stuffed into a suitcase.  What beautiful creatures they must have been – when still alive.  Is duck confit and duck “prosciutto” really worth it?

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Nov 12 2011
Leave a comment
Activism, Food News

Yoga Mats, Pig Stomach & the McRib Sandwich

So what does a fast food chain do with the  “unmarketable parts of the animal?”  Those pesky bits of heart, brain and stomach that end up on the, um, cutting room floor?  It would be a shame to waste any of that goodness.  If you’re McDonald’s you create the popular if puzzling McRib sandwich!

While everyone knows there aren’t any ribs in the McRib, few people who consume the sandwich probably realize that there are lots of other ingredients.  Yes, it has pork and onions, salt and water.  But it also contains ammonium sulfate (an inorganic salt most commonly used in fertilizer), polysorbate 80 (an emulsifier) along with 68 (sixty-eight!!) other ingredients (the bun itself has 34.  Isn’t bread made with just flour, water, yeast and salt?).  The most disturbing ingredient is azodicarbonamide.  What’s that?  It’s a bleaching agent used in the manufacturing of foamed plastics like yoga mats and the soles of shoes.  Makes you want to tie on that bib and chow down.  If knowing that the overworked mat at the gym and the sandwich you ate at lunch have a creepy connection doesn’t turn you off, or that the Humane Society of the United States filed a lawsuit against McDonald’s pork producer (Smithfield Farms) for cruel and inhumane living conditions of their swine isn’t enough to dissuade you, perhaps you’ll be turned off by the thought of consuming 500 wasted calories and a heart-damaging 26 grams of fat.

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