The Purpose of a Dog

It appears that a dog was terribly mistreated during the filming of this movie - forced into a man-made rapids against its will.  Video has surfaced of the dog showing stress and trying to prevent itself from being placed into danger.

An outcry has developed because of this and there is a call to boycot the movie.  The movie will not be premiering as planned and there is an investigation into the situation.

People are outraged, and indeed this is a situation where outrage is warranted.

I just wish that people could save some of this outrage for all of the animals who are slaughtered for food, who are forced into the killing chutes against their will.

Why isn't the same outrage shown to animals who are killed to be food?  It's purely a question of selfish hypocrisy.  That's it and nothing more.  For all the people who say "but bacon" - shame on you.

Savoury Winter Pie

If you asked Mr. Downright Vegan if we ate out or ordered in too often he would say yes we do.  So we are making a concerted effort to cook more and eat at home as much as possible.  Plus, today is Sunday, and instead of going to my father's house for dinner as I usually do, where I have meals prepared by my vegan sister, I stayed home, so I had to cook.

I am always on the lookout for a good recipe, and when I'm reading mainstream magazines I like to consider how I would veganize a recipe.  The inspiration for this Savoury Winter Pie, as I am calling it, was in this month's Country Living UK magazine, only it was made with lamb - how utterly cruel. I substituted Gardein Beefless Ground, a vegan meaty substitute. This is a superior vegan product, in my humble opinion.  You could also use lentils and rice in place of these if you wanted to avoid vegan meats.

Ingredients

1 lb of Gardein Beefless Ground
1 medium butternut squash  chopped into one inch chunks.
1 large onion chopped into the size you like (i like larger pieces, but I know some prefer tiny bits)
1 large carrot chopped into the size you like
2 ribs of celery chopped into the size you like
3 cloves of garlic, chopped/minced as you prefer
Oil for the pan - I used Wegman's basting oil, which is simply cooking oil with herbs in it
I 300 ml can of fire roasted tomatoes
Sweet potatoes

Pre-heat your oven to 350 F

Put the cubes of squash into a bowl and drizzle with a little oil and the herbs of your choice.
Place the squash on a parchment covered cookie sheet and cook in the oven until tender, which takes about 30 minutes.  Set aside.



Place the chopped onions, carrots and celery into a frying pan with a little oil and cook on medium heat, stirring from time to time, until the onions are translucent and the carrots and celery are al dente.

Add the garlic and stir to combine.

Add the can of fire roasted tomatoes.

Add the Beefless Round to the pan.

In the meantime, while the veggies are cooking, scrub your sweet potatoes, and leaving the skins on, slice them in uniformly thin slices.  I tried using a mandoline but I was frankly afraid of slicing my fingers off even though I was using the pushing gizmo, plus I felt that the slices were too thin.  I ended up giving the too thin slices to the squirrels in my backyard.  Using a sharp knife, I cut the sweet potatoes by hand, about 1/4 of an inch thick.

Now increase the heat on the oven to 400 F

Put the cooked squash pieces into the bottom of a pie plate, making sure they are evenly distributed.

Add the contents of the frying pan, and then place the sweet potato rounds on top of this in a single, slight overlapping layer.  Brush the sweet potatoes with oil and season to your liking.  I used the wegman's basting oil and black pepper.

Cook until the sweet potatoes are soft.

A Mainstream Magazine with On-Purpose, Not Accidental, Vegan Recipes

The latest issues of Idées de Ma Maison, a French Canadian magazine, has an article about vegan recipes.  The recipes are good and look tasty.

If you don't read French, you can use the visual translating feature of google translate to take a picture of the recipe and translate it into English.

The muffins look particularly tasty!

This magazine can be downloaded from the Toronto Public Library.  It's worth taking a look at this.

I Feel Like No One is Listening

Sometimes being a vegan is a lonely business.

I do not like sitting down to dinner with my family and have them eating poor dead animals beside me.  I appreciate that I was once a person who ate animals, but I have seen the light, and i have acknowledged how cruelly animals are treated in the food industry and i am trying to make amends by writing this blog and no longer using animals in any way.

I can't stand the smell of cooked meat.

Last week i was out for lunch with a group of retired teachers and we were at a restaurant with only one vegan option, which I ordered.  One of the teachers asked why i don't eat free-range eggs because after all, they are allowed to wander around the farm at will.  Of course this is not true, but I only said, no I do not eat those eggs because of all of the male chicks that are ground up alive and because when the hen stops laying "enough" eggs (whatever that means) she is sent to the slaughterhouse.  I said there is no animal product that you can eat or wear that does not have the slaughterhouse at the end of it.

And then there is this article in today's Mercy For Animals email.  Read it, and weep.  And if you have not stopped drinking milk, perhaps this article will nudge you in the direction that you know in your heart is the right move to make.

http://www.mercyforanimals.org/heres-how-mfa-is-taking-on-canadas-largest

Christmas Dinner, Part One

Last night we celebrated Christmas with Mr. Downright Vegan's family.

I brought along a Field Roast Celebration Roast with roast veggies, and a gluten-free, vegan Christmas cake for dessert.

I enjoyed this very much.

Maple and Toasted Walnut Biscotti

I have been thinking about biscotti lately, and found a number of intriguing recipes on-line, but they all contained eggs and butter.  This recipe is adapted from a Foodland Ontario recipe, but I have veganized it, removing cruel ingredients and replacing them with vegan ones.

These are wonderful biscotti, and are perfect with a cup of tea or coffee.  I am going to make a batch to take to my veterinarian's office for a Christmas gift.  It's a great office that does so much for my furry boys.  On a side note, when my vet was newly qualified, he worked for a while for the federal government, inspecting welfare at slaughterhouses.  What he saw there turned him into a vegetarian.  That's food for thought. 



Maple Walnut Biscotti

1/2 cup (125 mL) vegan butter, at room temperature - I used Earth Balance from the tub
1/2 cup (125 mL) packed vegan friendly brown sugar
2/3 cup (150 mL) maple syrup
1 tsp (5 mL) vanilla
Vegan egg replacer to the equivalent of two eggs - I used Ener-G egg replacer
2-3/4 cups (675 mL) all-purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp (7 mL) baking powder
1 tsp (5 mL) baking soda
1/4 tsp (1 mL) salt
1 cup (250 mL) walnuts, toasted and coarsely chopped

Maple Glaze
1/2 cup (125 mL) vegan friendly icing sugar
3 tbsp (45 mL) maple syrup



I used dark maple syrup for this because i find it has a more intense flavour and aroma, but you can use any maple syrup you like.  Some people prefer a more subtle maple flavour.  My local grocery store has an interesting maple syrup that is flavoured with blackberries.  I think that it might be fun to try this recipe with that maple syrup and maybe add some dried berries to the mix - but that is an adventure for another day!

First, things first: Pre-heat your oven to 350 degrees.

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and spread one cup of walnuts on it.  Bake the walnuts for ten minutes until they look toasted.  Your kitchen will take on a delightful scent as the walnuts toast.  Take the walnuts out of the oven and let them cool.

Now reduce the heat of the oven to 325 degrees.

In a large bowl, combine the flour, baking powder and baking soda and the salt. A light whisk or stir with a wooden spoon is all that is necessary here.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, or in a large mixing bowl using a hand mixer, combine the vegan butter and brown sugar until they are good and mixed, then add the maple syrup,  vanilla and vegan egg replacer.

Add the dry ingredients and mix until there are no pockets of flour left.  The dough will be fairly sticky.   Add the cooled, toasted walnuts and stir them into the batter.

Divide the dough in half.  On a lightly floured surface, with lightly floured hands, shape each half into a roll about 10 to 12 inches long, and place them on a parchment-lined baking sheet, about three inches apart from each other.

Bake them in the 325 degree oven for about 30 minutes, or until they are a nice light golden colour. They should feel slightly firm to the touch.

Now further reduce the heat of the oven to 300 degrees.

When the logs have cooled enough to handle - about 15 minutes - transfer them to a cutting board, and cut them into 3/4 inch slices.  Stand the slices on their bottom so that the cut sides are to the side, not touching the bottom of the pan.  Make sure the slices are not touching - they should be at least 1/2 inch apart.  Bake them in the 300 degree oven for about 30 minutes. At this point they should be almost dry.  Let them cool for about 5 minutes on the baking sheet then transfer them to a wire rack to cool completely.

When the biscotti are cool, drizzle the maple glaze over the tops of them.  The glaze will be set in about 15 minutes or so.

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Vegan Sloppy Joes

I made vegan sloppy joes this evening with Gardein crumbles and a can of Manwish sloppy joe mix, which is vegan.  I added some sliced carrots and sliced celery for crunch, and also added some freshly ground pepper.

We have not had this in years.  It was fabulous - and very low in fat which is great for my DH who is suffering with a wonky gall bladder just now.

Vegan Sloppy Joes

I made vegan sloppy joes this evening with Gardein crumbles and a can of Manwish sloppy joe mix, which is vegan.  I added some sliced carrots and sliced celery for crunch, and also added some freshly ground pepper.

We have not had this in years.  It was fabulous - and very low in fat which is great for my DH who is suffering with a wonky gall bladder just now.

V-Bites

Earlier last week i was in Brighton, a sea-side town. The day was glorious for the end of October - sunny and mild - the perfect day for a stroll along the strand.

I am travelling with my sister, and she and I had lunch in V-Bites, a vegan restaurant in town. I ordered the burger and sweet potato fries and my sister ordered fishy and chips. Both meals were excellent.

Cranberry Pumpkin Bread

This posting for Vegan Mofo was a bit of a challenge because i was not at home in my own kitchen.  I am staying at my dad's house for a few days, and i am not entirely used to his oven.

I had some leftover pumpkin puree and thought I would make some pumpkin bread for my dad.  He's a big fan of banana bread but he can't have bananas for a week or two, so i thought pumpkin bread might be a good alternative.

To make this loaf, i simply used my banana bread recipe and substituted pumpkin puree for mashed banana.


In a large bowl, or the mixing bowl of a stand mixer, place

1 and 2/3 cups of all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon of baking soda
1 teaspoon of cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon of ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon of ground nutmeg
1/2 cup of vegan-friendly sugar
1/2 cup of chopped dried cranberries (or any other dried fruit)
1/2 cup of chopped walnuts (or pecans)

Flour in the mixing bowl

                                                 The spices have been added

Next comes the sugar

Give these ingredients a quick stir to blend them


In another large bowl, place
1 and 1/4 cups of pureed pumpkin
Egg replacer of your choice
3 tablespoons of canola oil

The Pumpkin puree

Stir these ingredients together

Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and stir until they are well-combined.  You can use a stand mixer if you like, and I would have done so had i been at home, but this batter mixes up easily by hand.

Prepare a loaf pan according to your preferred way (I spritzed my loaf pan with canola oil.)



Carefully spoon the batter into your loaf pan, and place it on the middle shelf of the oven.  Oven temperatures can vary greatly I have found.   This loaf takes about 50 minutes to cook.  I set the timer for 45 minutes and tested it. It needed five more minutes.

Your loaf is done when a toothpick inserted in the centre comes out clean and dry.

Allow your loaf to cool in the pan on a wire rack for about ten minutes, then carefully slide it out of the pan to continue cooling on the wire rack.   When the loaf is perfectly cool, you can wrap it in waxed paper.  It will keep nicely, if wrapped,  for a few days.

A Vegan Vacation

I have just returned to Canada from a fantastic all-vegan river cruise, and i can fairly say that it was the best vacation of my life.  Everything on the ship was vegan, from the wine to the snacks to all the breakfast, lunches and dinners.  Furthermore, I found out after the cruise that the cruise company which had chartered the riverboat also replaced all of the cruise boat's down bedding with vegan bedding - so it was vegan right down to the blankets and pillows. The room came with a mini-fridge that was re-stocked daily with drinks, and there were cookies and other treats left for us every day.

The cabin on the cruise.

Some wine and cookies!

More snacks!!!

I can't speak for anyone but myself, but I can say that when i spend money to go on a cruise, I don't want to have to pick my way through the buffet offerings to see what I can eat, nor do I wish to subsidize other people's meat dinners, which is what my dollars would do on a regular cruise.  Finally, I don't ever wish to sit near another table and listen to people rhapsodize over the tastiness of the meat on their plate, meat that they must know was obtained cruelly.

All meals were totally relaxed and enjoyable, even more so because there was no need to scrutinize the menu and ask the waiters about ingredients.  How many times have you gone on vacation as a vegan and had to hope against hope that a friendly chef would be willing to make something special for you, or had to hope that perhaps there was a veggie burger standing by in the freezer? That was not an issue here.

A kebab dinner.

Lime mousse with a chocolate wedge for dessert!

A vegan chef supervised all of the meal prep, and the meals were fantastic. The trip was amazing from beginning to end, and I would recommend it to anyone who is interested in a vegan vacation.  I will definitely be taking another vegan cruise with this company in the future.  Check it out: http://veganrivercruises.com