Episode 2: Green Smoothies, Vegan Dogs, This Week in GMO Fail, and Our Very First Cookbook Giveaway!
We cover some serious ground this week, so buckle up and hang on! HSUS offers a Congressional report card on ag legislation affecting animal treatment and farm subsidies. We embrace a diverse food ethics community, then throw stuff deliciously about the kitchen (recipes included!). Dawn cooks for vegan hounds. Food industry inches towards federal GMO labeling — but don’t get too excited, rotten motives may be in play. And we’re tickled to announce our first cookbook giveaway — comment to enter!
Dear HSUS: You Rock!
We start off with some helpful food-related information from the Humane Society. Find out how your representatives in Congress voted on issues affecting your food supply, and tell them what you think about it!
Next we continue our introductions by discussing our own kitchens– what’s there, what’s not, how we cook it, and why.
Which Side Are We On Now, Which Side Are We On?
Listen to find out why we will always put “humane meat” in quotation marks — but will also embrace the people who don’t, who are working towards positive change in our food system. More often than not, we share vast tracts of common ground!
Let’s start there, work together for change where we agree, and keep talking through the rest.
Humans are diverse, and however you eat we’re glad you’re here! If you think we can do better than we’re doing right now with our food system and food culture, we’re on the same team — even if we don’t agree on everything.
(Yet!) 
This Week in Kitchening
- Tanya throws her sunflower sprouts in the lo-mein (and every other damn thing except what she bought ‘em for!)
- Excellent Butter Recipe for vegan baking: melt 1 cup coconut oil and blend with 1 tablespoon non-dairy milk (soy milk works well), 1/4 teaspoon salt, and 1/2 tablespoon nutritional yeast. Measures like dairy butter… makes exceptionally delicious vegan cookies!
- Great greens in the morning! Tanya discovers green gold, with a fantastic green smoothie recipe ebook by EatDrinkBetter’s Becky Striepe (see giveaway contest deets, below).
- Everything-in-the-Pantry Collards Recipe: cut 1 bunch of well-washed collard greens from the stem, and chop leaves into bite-sized strips or pieces; steam for 5 minutes. Meanwhile, mince 2-3 garlic cloves and mix with a tablespoon or so of oil (such as a combo of extra virgin olive oil and sesame oil), lemon or lime juice, a dash each of balsamic vinegar and soy sauce, a generous amount of nutritional yeast (about 1/8 cup), salt to taste, flax seeds if you’ve got ’em (roasted ones are good), and whatever spices you like (cumin, black pepper, white pepper, cayenne, ground mustard). When greens are tender, toss them in garlic-oil mixture and let rest for about 2 minutes. Yum! (Adapted from 5-Minute Collard Greens at worldshealthiestfoods.com)
- Massaged kale: try it, or cheat yourself! Starter recipe here. Also: we’re both in a stem-rut — WTH can you do with kale stems, besides use ‘em for veggie broth? Suggestions welcome in comments.
- For the record, veggie bacon must contain real maple, smoke flavoring, and generous sprinklings of black pepper: sorry, no exceptions.
Help Wanted
Help us get rid of plastic in our kitchens! Ideas, anyone? Especially those produce bags and freezer bags… please share suggestions in comments below, and we will thank you!
Vegan Hounds
Ever thought of feeding your dogs vegan chow? Dawn has! Unlike cats, dogs aren’t obligate carnivores, and can easily thrive on a vegan diet with just a bit of 2-legged research and (in Dawn’s case) kitchen time.
Now if we could just find a suitable vegan substitute for rawhide chews – Hound Senior had dental issues without ‘em, so share below if you know a good vegan substitute.
Useful links for veggiedog kitchen-bidness:
- Sweet potato, peanut butter, and lentil based dog food recipe
- Dry kibble recipe, adapted from the Vegedog nutritional supplement instruction manual: “1. Soy Kibble” recipe but Dawn uses 1/4 the amount of everything it calls for, substitutes brown rice flour for wheat flour, chickpea flour for soy flour, oats for cornmeal; she also uses nutritional yeast for the yeast powder.
- Find general info about feeding vegan dogs here or here
- Use these links to look up recommended measurements for flaxseed oil, cranberry extract (see also here), or hemp protein (Vegedog and Prozyme Plus give supplementation dosage directions on package labels)
Food News: Industry Suddenly Pro-GMO-Labeling? Or Just Sneaky Pre-Empter Attempters?
The movement to label genetically modified ingredients in food at the state level is gaining momentum. In a remarkable about-face on the issue, even big food manufacturers (including Wal-mart) – along with senators in Monsanto’s backyard – suddenly seem receptive to the idea of mandatory GMO labeling at the federal level. Hurray?
Perhaps not so much.
Meanwhile in food news, Monsanto’s Bt corn faces increased rootworm resistance problems, which corporate interests attempt to downplay by not accurately defining ‘confirmed resistance’ – sort of the agricultural version of Bill Clinton’s ‘depends on what your definition of is is’ debacle, and equally ill-advised.
And also – oh goody! – according to new research by an agribusiness consulting firm, GMO products fail again/ still/ ever more dramatically to live up to their industry-hyperbolized promise: Roundup resistant weeds are becoming both more widespread geographically and more prevalent within given areas – as many as 92% of farms in some places now report glyphosate resistance.
(Note: that is observable data, which pro-science people actually respect.)
Braingarden
In the interest of ethical decision making, critical thinking, reason-based world navigation, and general radical progressive rabble-rousing, we hereby announce our intent to share cool stuff with ye, towards the goal of facilitating more good and less foolishness in the world!
This week’s Braingarden picks:
- I’m Right, Your’e Wrong, Now What? Break the Impasse and Get What You Need – best communication/ conflict resolution book EVAH, endlessly helpful for talking to people you disagree with about things that matter.
- yourlogicalfallacyis.com – “Thou shalt not commit logical fallacies!” If you ever get dragged into stupid food debates (PLANTS FEEL PAIN TOOOOOO!!!!! I’VE BEEN EATING GMOS FOR YEARS AND HAVEN’T GROWN A THIRD NOSTRIL OR EXTRA NIPPLE, SO YOU ARE JUST ANTI-SCIENCE!!!!), please use this site to save yourself time and aggro — just send ‘em the link and walk away! The site takes over the (sometimes difficult) educational process, regarding what are and aren’t reasonable arguments to make in the context of rational discourse about meaningful ideas and/ or harmful behaviors.
GIIIIIIVEAWAAAAAAAY!!!
Want a free cookbook (er, blenderbook)? Like us on Facebook, follow us on Twitter, and then comment below to let us know you did so (OR give us recommendations for vegan dog dental health; OR suggest ways to reduce kitchen plastic, besides reusable grocery bags; OR share ideas for non-veggie-broth-related cooking with kale stems!), and we’ll randomly select someone to receive a copy of Becky Striepe’s 40 Days of Green Smoothies!
Contest will run for one week, and we’ll announce a winner on February 27.
(Legal disclaimer: the ebook under discussion may cause significant cravings for kale, as well as irresistable urges to blend healthy foods into delicious smoothies. Individuals with low tolerance for satisfaction, deliciousness, or healthy living are hereby advised to refrain from participation in this giveaway event.)
Image credit: Creative Commons photo by jules:stonesoup.