I don’t know if you have ever been to a tapas bar, but they are one of the greatest experiences you can have with food. I had the pleasure of going to a tapas bar when I was living in Phoenix. Tapas is basically Spanish for appetizer. At a tapas bar, they serve nothing but appetizer style foods and lots of wine and sangria (of course the more I learn about the processing of wine, the more I realize it is best to do your own tapas party, where you can make sure you serve vegan wine). The great thing about tapas bars, is that many of them are vegan friendly. Many European foods are vegetable rich and naturally vegan. At the tapas bar I went to in Phoenix, I simply asked about the vegan choices and the waitress was able to (graciously) point to several items on the menu. Anyway, I wanted to share a very Spanish recipe for grilled vegetables that would be a great inclusion if you wanted to throw your own tapas party. I also included a recipe for Sangria, because what tapas party would be complete without Sangria?

Vegan Spanish Grilled Vegetables (Gluten Free)

2 zucchini

2 yellow or orange bell pepper             

1 onion

4 tbsp olive oil

2 cloves garlic

salt and pepper to taste

1 can garbanzo beans

4 tbsp tahini

1 tbsp olive oil

Chop garlic and place in a bowl with olive oil. Slice fresh vegetables and brush with olive oil and garlic and sprinkle with small amount of salt and pepper. Place vegetables on a grill covered with tin foil and grill until tender. Mix 4 tbsp tahini with 1 tbsp olive oil. Remove vegetables from grill and top with garbanzo beans and tahini.

Sangria (Gluten Free)

1 bottle of merlot

½ cup of honey or brown rice syrup

2 cups sliced fruit (strawberries, grapes, melon, orange)

Mix all ingredients in a punch bowl, add ice, and serve.

Sorry I have been persona non grata this weekend. I had a paper to write for school and that pretty much took precedence over everything else for me. I hope that everyone is having a great Memorial Day. As you are enjoying the day, I hope everyone takes the opportunity to remember your military. Whether you believe it what they are doing or not, they believe that what they are doing is fighting for your nation’s freedom. As many nations have troops deployed for one mission or another, take a moment to think about their families. Another thing I want everyone to take the time to think about is the fact that the military in the U.S. is seriously underfunded. Thanks to all of the tax cuts being received by the wealthy, the troops do not have all of the supplies they need to effectively fight the war in Iraq. Once again, it doesn’t matter whether you believe in the mission, but our troops do deserve the best opportunity to be successful if they are going to have to be out there.

Many parent’s of troops over in Iraq are beginning to hold fundraisers for our troops to get them supplies, whether it been hygiene supplies or food, or just small packages that let them know people remember that they are over there. Even bigger than that, some parents have been sending protective vests and equipment to their children, because they have learned that they do not have all the appropriate equipment. So as you celebrate Memorial Day, try to find time to participate in some of these fundraising activities, because the young men and women that are fighting need us to supply to them, what this failing government is not.

I have been thinking a lot about what my perfect day would look like lately. I am sure all of you have thought about it at one point or another. My perfect day would start with some quiet time in the morning before everyone else has woken up. I would do light yoga and some meditation. Everyone would wake up once I have had a chance to get my mind straight and take care of me for a little while. I would drink tea and eat breakfast with my husband and son. Breakfast would be very nourishing and energizing, something like homemade granola with rice milk and a piece of fruit, or maybe oatmeal with agave syrup and fresh fruit. Then I would go outside and tend to my garden and play in the yard with my son and any animals that I had at the time (we are currently animal free after the death of both of our dogs from cancer). I would then work for a couple of hours. Yes, I enjoy work. I would write articles or maybe right up a psychological assessment. I would eat lunch with my husband and son and then go to work in the afternoon, outside of the house. I would be home in time to do a light workout and make a homemade nourishing meal with my husband and we would eat as a family. We would spend the rest of the evenning together, walking, playing and reading until my son went to bed. At this time I would enjoy a quiet house and do some reading to calm my mind and spirit. Then a good shower and meditation to reflect upon the day. This is my perfect everyday. Of course vacation time and weekends would be a lot different.

My husband and I are in the middle of a seven day internal cleanse right now. Today is day four and so far all is going well. I have had a few cravings in the evening, but nothing significant. For the first two days, we consumed nothing but raw fruit and vegetable broth, and for the next seven days, we have added brown rice and vegetables to the vegetable broth for a nice vegetable rice soup. Still only consuming raw fruits with the soup and lot’s and lot’s of water. Anyway, I wanted to share my recipe for vegetable broth, because it was delish and satisfying.

Cleansing Vegetable Broth

2 organic yellow onions

5 cloves organic garlic

4 tbsp organic extra virgin olive oil

1/2 yellow or orange bellpepper

2 cups chopped organic broccoli

1/2 organcic cauliflower, chopped

2 cups organic carrots, chopped

3 stalks organic celery, chopped

1 cup organic vegetable broth

7 cups purified water

1 tbsp salt

1/2 tbsp pepper

1 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1 tbsp ground cumin

1 teaspoon ground coriander

1 tbsp ground turmeric

1 teaspoon ground cardamom

In a soup pot heat olive oil, add garlic and onion and saute for approximately 4-5 minutes. Add remaining vegetables and saute for an additional five minutes. Add broth, water, and spices. Bring to a boil and reduce heat. Cook for two hours. Remove vegetables for broth fasting or leave in vegetables, add rice and cook for an additional 20 minutes for vegetable -rice soup.

It can be difficult to be a vegan at all of those summer-time gatherings. The grills are going, but what are you going to eat? Isn’t that the question that everyone asks. “Oh, I’m grilling steaks, but what are you going to eat?” I have a surefire recipe for you to try, that all your meat-eating friends will be drooling over. It always seems that when I take things to family gatherings I end up with no leftovers, but there is always plenty of meat dishes left. Hmmmm, I guess they do like the vegan stuff after all.

Spanish Grilled Vegetables (Gluten Free)

2 zucchini

2 yellow or orange bell pepper             

1 onion

4 tbsp olive oil

2 cloves garlic

salt and pepper to taste

1 can garbanzo beans

4 tbsp tahini

1 tbsp olive oil

Chop garlic and place in a bowl with olive oil. Slice fresh vegetables and brush with olive oil and garlic and sprinkle with small amount of salt and pepper. Place vegetables on a grill covered with tin foil and grill until tender. Mix 4 tbsp tahini with 1 tbsp olive oil. Remove vegetables from grill and top with garbanzo beans and tahini.

I have been struggling with the issue of whether or not to raise my four-year-old son vegan or not. Ethically, of course, I feel that I should keep him from consuming animal products and begin him on the path to enlightenment, but there is another part of me that worries that I can harm him by not feeding him animal products, at least occasionally. I know I am probably feeding into the factory farmer’s propaganda, but is it truly healthy for a young growing child to not consume any animal products. Young children are in need of adequate fat to create the myelon sheaths around their neurons to promote neuronal connectivity, but of course there are other adequate sources of fat besides animals, such as olive oil, avocadoes, nuts, etc. What about protein? Is the only complete source of protein found in animal products? Will my child get rickets without adequate protein sources? Is soy protein, hemp protein, bean protein, rice protein, and the protein found in spirulina adequate, or does my child need more?

Of course the only meat I currenly allow my child is free-range, organic chicken and fish. He also consumes small amounts of organic yogurt. Is this acceptable as a vegan, to feed my child these foods? Part of me feels guilty, but I want to make sure I am doing what is best for my child. I am of the mind currently, that I will make sure I do not experience any negative effects before having my child follow a similar way of eating. If I don’t have any problems after a year, then I think that is good enough proof that it is safe for my child. So if you have children and are raising them vegan I would love to hear from you.

As a vegan one of the most common things people ask you is “How do you get your protein?” Well now you can tell them that you get it from blue-green algae, more specifically spirulina. This is a purely vegan source of complete protein. In addition, spirulina provides vegans with a plant source of omega 3’s. This is in addition to all of the antioxidant benefits of spirulina, also known as one of three “super” greens. The other two being green algae and red algae. It is recommended that you buy algae in powder form and mix it with water or juice. I personally had a tablespoon of spirulina in my apple juice this morning. I was afraid to drink it at first, but was surprised to find it that it didn’t taste bad at all.

For those of you with a sweet tooth, who aren’t quite sure what you can eat that is sweet and devoid of animal products, here is a great vegan recipe that will help with those cravings.

Vegan Macadamia Nut Candy Bars (Vegan, Gluten Free)

1 package vegan chocolate chips
2 tbsp orange liquor
2 tbsp rice milk
1 cup chopped Macadamia Nuts

Melt vegan chocolate chips in a double boiler. If you do not have a double boiler, place enough water in a medium sized saucepan to cover the bottom. Place chocolate chips in a small saucepan and place into medium sized saucepan. Once chocolate chips have melted, orange liquor, rice milk and Macadamia Nuts. Place wax paper in a glass baking dish. Make a thin layer of chocolate on the wax paper and place in the refrigerator to let firm. Once firm, cut into chocolate bars.

This is a question that I ponder a lot. As a vegan do I try to convince others to become vegan and do I just live happily knowing that I am doing my own personal bit to prevent animal cruelty. As I think of the small community that I live in, where farm country reigns supreme, I wonder do I go out and make my voice heard and risk negative attention to myself or my family or do I silently watch and keep silent when others give me strange looks as I order food in a restaurant minus all animal products please? Is there a middle ground? Do I just work to educate others when I asked? This is the road that I usually take. I use my very loud voice in the wonderful, but anonymous world of the internet, but at home, I tell people to ask not unless they really want the answer because then I will freely give it to them. I gently urge others to read articles and books about factory farming and the treatment of animals raised for food. Is this enough, I wonder? I saw a story about the McVegan project and how one can have a McVegan event in his or her own town. I saw others remark that they are not sure that their town could handle and I feel the same, but should that stop me. What a wonderful way to spread the word about veganism. A day of family fun. As you begin your weekend I invite you to ponder what our social responsibility is. I hope you all have a great weekend.

I don’t know about you, but I can’t tell you how many times I have called a Mexican restaurant and asked them “do you put lard in your beans or use vegetable oil or water?” Just to find out that they put nasty pig fat in their beans. Or better yet, they act like they don’t know what I am talking about, so I just assume that they use lard. Eating Mexican food in a restaurant can be a difficult task, though there are some restaurants that do not use lard, such as Taco Bell (if you call that a restaurant) and Baja Fresh just to name two very popular food chains.

What do I like to eat at Taco Bell. Well today I tried for the first time the seven-layer burrito, no sour cream, no cheese, extra guacamole as suggested by sexy vegan chick at her blog My Life as a Vegan. It was delicious. Thank goodness, I can travel and know that wherever I go I can get something to eat. (For more fast food ideas check out her blog at http://aveganlife.blogspot.com/2006/03/vegan-fast-food-options.html

When I go to Baja Fresh I always get the vegetarian nachos, no cheese, no sour cream, no guacamole, add fresh avocado and lettuce. They order taker usually looks at me as if I am crazy, but I assure you I am not.

If you are not into going out to eat and would like to make Mexican food at home, here is a vegan recipe that is sure to be a hit with the family. Hope you enjoy it.

Bean Tacos (Vegan, Gluten Free)

8 gluten free tortillas

1 cup leftover tortilla soup

2 cans pinto beans

1 onion

2 cups pico de gallo

2 cups iceburg lettuce

1 avocado, cubed

Chop up onion and mix with leftover tortilla soup and pinto beans. Add salt and pepper and heat on the stove at medium heat. Mash beans while they cook. Heat tortillas in a stainless steel skillet with a very small amount of olive oil. Spoon beans onto tortillas and top with lettuce, pico de gallo and avocado. Fold tortillas in half and serve.