Okay, so better late than never with the promised pictures of my zucchini and the recipes to go with. I had to drive to Ventura yesterday for school to give a presentation that determine whether or not I could apply for my internships this fall.

I am quite proud of the size of these babies. They are incredible. This picture doesn’t do them justice. They expand the entire distance between the tip of my middle finger to my elbow.

So I am making stuffed zucchini for the family tonight. My mom will probably complain that there is no meat of real cheese, but I am sure everyone else will be quite happy.I am making three different versions of stuffed zucchini.

Vegan Rice Stuffed Zucchini

2 cups vegetable
1 cup brown basmati rice
1 large zucchini
3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 white or yellow onion, chopped
4 cloves of garlic, chopped
8-10 basil leaves, chopped
1 tomato, chopped
1 teaspoon Herbes de Provence
Salt and pepper to taste
1/2 shredded vegan mozzarella
Bring vegetable broth to a boil in a medium sized pot. Add basmatic rice and let cook for about 45 minutes, or until all liquid is absorbed. Do not cut zucchini in half. Core out the center of the zucchini, leaving a nice cylindrical shell. Take zucchini center that you cored out and chop up. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a skillet saute garlic and onion for about 4-5 minutes. Add basil and saute another minute or two. Add tomato, zucchini, herbes de Provence, salt and pepper. Cook until zucchini becomes soft. Mix cooked rice and cheese with zucchini mixture and spoon into zucchini cylinder. Place in a glass baking dish and put into the oven. Cook for about 30 minutes.

Sicilian Style Vegan Stuffed Zucchini

5 tbsp olive oil
5 cloves garlic, chopped
2 tbsp chopped onion
1 yellow or orange bellpepper, chopped (you can use green, but it will be bitter for this dish)
1 tomato, chopped up
2 tbsp red pepper flake
1 tbsp chopped fresh basil
1 tbsp herbes de Provence
Salt and pepper to taste
1 large zucchini
1 cup bread crumbs
1/2 cup shredded vegan cheese

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cut zucchini in half and core out center, creating two shells. Cut up zucchini center and set aside. In a skillet saute garlic, onion, and red pepper flake. Cook for 7-8 minutes to really flavor the oil. Add basil and cook an additional 3-4 minutes. Add tomato, chopped zucchini, bellpepper, salt, pepper and herbes de Provence. Cook for about 20 minutes, until the zucchini is very tender. Spoon mixture into zucchini shells and top with bread crumbs and cheese. Bake in the oven 25-30 minutes.

Zucchini Stuffed with Mashed Surpise

1large zucchini
1 large potato
4 cups vegetable broth
1 tbsp herbes de Provence
Salt and pepper to taste
1/4 cup rice milk
2 tbsp vegan butter spread
1 bunch green onions, white parts chopped
10-12 mushrooms, sliced
1 cup bread crumbs
1/2 cup vegan mozzarella cheese

Cut zucchini in half and core out the center of each half, leaving to zucchini shells. Cut up zucchini center and set aside. In a part boil potato in vegetable broth for about 15 minutes, add chopped zucchini and boil an additional 15 minutes, until all vegetables all soft. While potato and zucchini and cooking, saute green onion and mushrooms in butter spread for about 5-7 minutes. Drain liquid out of zucchini and potato, reserving about 1/4 cup of vegetable broth. Mash zucchini and potato and add about 1/4 rice milk. Mix in herbes de Provence, salt, pepper, and sauteed mushrooms and garlic. Spoon mixture into zucchini shells and top with bread crumbs and cheese. Bake in the oven for about 25 minutes.

Okay, I’m ready to eat dinner and it is not even time for lunch yet.

[tags] vegan vegetarian free recipes food blog blogs zucchini rice [/tags]

When browsing the internet, I often come across sites where both vegans and nonvegans comment. On more than one occasion, I have read comments by nonvegans that state that vegans think they are better than everyone else. Is this true? Do vegans truly think they are better than everyone else because their views on animal consumption differ from others. Do we have a sense of entitlement.

Narcissism is defined as a pervasive pattern of grandiosity, need for admiration, and lack of empathy that beings by early adulthood and is present in a variety of contexts (American Psychiatrist Association, 2000). This person is more than confident and frequently brags about his or her accomplishes. They have an overinflated sense of self-importance and believe that they deserve special treatment. They also believe that they are “special” in that they can only be understood by other special or high status people. This does not really sound like many vegans I know The vegans I know are compassionate very empathic people.

I know many of us struggle with “believe that they deserve special treatment” part. But from what I read on the posts, most of you all out there are the exact opposite, you are so concerned with putting other people out that you don’t even want to ask for equal treatment. Another aspect of the core symptomatology of narcissism is feeling that you are special and can only be understood by other people who are special. Most of us probably feel that we can relate better to other vegans (very common for people with similar values to be able to relate to each), but we also relate to others. I know for myself, that when talking to mom’s with young children (vegan or not) I can relate to them. When I talk to my colleagues at school, I relate to them on school related issues. The point I am trying to make is that it is “normal” to be comfortable around others who have similar beliefs). I am sure that there are some vegans who are narcissists, since we are part of the larger human population, but vegan is not synonamous with narcissism. Most of us do not sit around waiting for an oppornity to judge nonvegan actions, nor do we sit around waiting for that perfect opportunity to announce our specialness of being vegan.

Will definitely post my pictures later this evening. Just had a few thoughts that came to mind and wanted to write about them.

References:

American Psychological Association. (2000). Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (4th ed-text revised).

[tags] vegan vegetarian psychology narcissism blog blogs [/tags]

~My hands are dirty, my muscles ache, but fresh fruits and veggies are on my plate~

I worked in my garden for three hours today. It was hot outside. Grass got into my garden and it was time for me to say goodbye to it. It always feels so good to work out in the garden. For one of my psych classes I had to write a paper on humanistic psychology. I chose to write about ecopsychology. One of the main concepts of ecopsychology is that people are totally disconnected from their food sources. We buy our food in a grocery store, a lot of times already prepared and sometimes it even comes on its own plate. All you have to do is cook, eat, and throw away the dishes. This disconnect from our food is part of our disconnect from nature and the collective whole. When I garden, I always think about ecopsychology, because I have a greater appreciation for the food that I grow myself. I plowed the earth (okay I used a pick axe), then racked the dirt and planted my seeds and plants. I water the plants and watch as they grow. Then I get to enjoy the fruit of my labor. It is a lot of hard work, but so worth it. Nothing tastes better than fresh picked fruits and vegetables.

Tomorrow I will post pictures of the huge zucchini I picked from the garden and a recipe to go with it. I am going to make stuffed zucchini for my whole family Friday night, and I will definitely have leftovers because these zucchini are huge.
[tags] vegan garden vegetables fruits food vegetarian blog blogs ecopsychology [/tags]

This week I will do my best to post daily, but this week school comes first. I have a presentation due on Thursday and a paper due on Sunday. Needless to say it will be a hectic week. Last night we barbecued with the neighbors and I made the best Thai Vegetable Noodle Dish. It was a big hit, but I did escape with a small amount of leftovers (okay so I ran with some of my leftovers for lunch today). I wish I would have taken a picture, but we were in a hurry, I was between writing a paper for school, cooking for a potluck at the neighbors, and trying to get to the potluck on time.

Anyway, here is the recipe:

1 yellow onion, chopped
5 cloves garlic, chopped
3 tbsp olive oil
1 package mushrooms (whatever type you have), chopped
1 cup snow peas, broken in halves or thirds
1 cup chopped carrot
2 cups chopped broccoli
1 cup chopped asparagus
1 cup frozen corn
4 cups vegetable broth
1 can coconut milk
2 tbsp curry powder
1 tbsp salt
1 tsp pepper
1-2 tbsp Indian Chili Powder (depending on how spicy you like it)
1 cup fresh spinach
1 package Asian rice noodles

Saute onion and garlic in olive oil. Add mushrooms and saute for a couple of more minutes. Add remaining vegetables and cook until they soften. Add coconut milk, vegetable broth and spices. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and cook for about 40 minutes. Add spinach and stir. Add rice noodles and cook an additional 10 minutes. Remove from heat and serve. Lot’s of ingredients, but trust me it is worth it. It turned out so delicious.

[tags] vegan vegetarian free recipes food blog blogs Thai noodles [/tags]

Last night we barbecued at my parents house. I brought over potatoes and corn to put on the grill. The baked pototoes were so good. I took some tofutti sour cream and added lime juice from 1/4 lime and some chopped green onion. I topped the baked potatoes with smart balance spread, the “sour cream” mixture and some pepper. It was sooo delicious. I am totally loving the tofutti sour cream. This was a totally easy, minimal clean up type of meal and perfect for summer. I think I will get some more potatoes and do it again this week.

Of course the rest of the family chowed on unmetionable food, but that was their loss, because my food was the best, and much healthier, much friendlier, etc. You get the picture.

[tags] vegan vegetarian free recipes baked potato blog blogs food [/tags]

I have added a section on the side of my blog for a “video roll.” I just want to caution those with weak stomachs, some of these videos are very difficult to watch. A couple have been PETA sponsored and provide a very powerful message.

I don’t know how many of you have checked out the PETAKiDS site, but they have the most awesome listing of foods that are accidently vegan. You won’t believe all of the things that are on there. I was quite happy to see a few of them.

Here is the link location:

http://www.petakids.com/accvegan.html

I hope you find this listing useful.

[tags] vegan shopping food ingredients blog blogs vegetarian [/tags]

I don’t know about you, but I love chili. The hotter and spicier the better. I have a recipe for the quickest chili you can ever make that didn’t come straight from a can. It is 100% vegan and 100% easy. I call it cheater chili because it is so easy.

Cheater Vegan Chili

2 cans organic pinto beans, drained and rinsed
2 can organic red kidney beans, drained and rinsed
1-24oz can of organic tomato sauce
1-16 oz jar of organic Pace Picante Sauce (whatever heat level you prefer)
1 tbsp salt
1 teaspoon pepper
1-2 tbsp chili powder (depending on your prefered heat level)

That’s it. Put it all in a stainless steel pot, bring to a boil, reduce to simmer and let cook for about 20 minutes.

I am still looking for nominations for the first Vegan of the Month for The Vegan Place Ezine. Please provide your nominations in the comments section or send me an e-mail at cindy@theveganplace.com

I hope everyone has a great weekend.

[tags] vegan recipe vegetarian food blog blogs chili [/tags]

It seems lately there is a bit of a trend in some of my recent posts. A couple of weeks ago I posted on Food of the Goddess chocolate bars, then it was the Dagoba chocolate bar, and finally I have tried Endangered Species chocolate. I think I have had a bit of a craving for chocolate lately. I even bought a bag of Sunspire chocolate chips when I went shopping. Back to the Endangered Species chocolate . . . This was definitely heaven in the form of chocolate. I had the Dark Chocolate with Espresso Beans and it was so creamy and so rich. Luckily I shared this one with my mom, my son, and my husband because I could have easily eaten it all myself. I will be buying this one again for sure. Not only is the chocolate vegan, but it is ethically traded and 10% of the profit from each bar goes to animal conservation groups. I don’t think it gets much better than that.
[tags] vegan chocolate vegetarian endangered animals blog blogs food [/tags]

I read an article about growing meat in labs the other day. Scientists will remove a few cells from animals and then grow them in a petri type of dish. They describe it as a cruelty-free way to consume meat. Vegetarian Times stated that many vegetarians think that this is a good idea, so I thought I would take a poll to find out what all of you think. I will post the results in next month’s issue of The Vegan Place Ezine, along with a follow up article.

I look forward to reading the results.[tags] vegan vegetarian meat blog blogs food [/tags]