Going Veggie!

I was spending Christmas with my wonderful in-laws last year. My mother-in-law is all gluten-free these days and she had been given The Moosewood Cookbook as a gift. I think I read through the whole thing about 3 times cover to cover in the lazy, cozy days after the holiday, and I decided (first) to buy my own copy or risk ruining Mom’s new one, and (second) to become a vegetarian for one year, starting on January 1st.
I’d never even considered being vegetarian before. Being raised on a small, all-natural, grass-fed beef farm (with easy access to fresh local chicken and pork as well), I didn’t think I would be able to give meat up. But I needed some kind of catalyst to get me thinking more about what I eat, and I do enjoy a challenge. Now here I am almost three months in and I am doing (and feeling) great!

The earliest known vegetarians were from the areas of current-day India and Greece and lived in the 6th Century BCE. These people made the conscious decision to avoid meat as an act of nonviolence toward animals. Today there are many reasons for going veggie. Some people just don’t like the taste of meat, some believe killing animals for food is cruel, some take up the lifestyle for its health benefits, or to make some kind of political statement, or to be “in” with a certain crowd, or to save money on food.

There are also many different types of vegetarians. Ovo-vegetarians eat eggs but not dairy products. Lacto-vegetarians eat dairy but not eggs. You can guess what ovo-lacto veggies eat. Someone who excludes ALL animal products including eggs, dairy, and honey is a vegan. As for me, I’m technically a pescetarian because I eat fish, but no other meats. I do eat eggs and cheese. As for the health of all these options, some early studies have shown that pescatarians and occasional meat-eaters (people who eat meat only once or twice a week) have the longest lifespan. Strict vegetarians (no fish) and meat-eaters tie for second, followed by vegans. These studies are young, so the outcomes may change as we continue to study the health effects of different diets.

Vegetarians tend to have lower body mass index, lower levels of cholesterol, lower blood pressure, and less incidence of heart disease, hypertension, type 2 diabetes, renal disease, osteoporosis, dementias such as Alzheimer’s disease and other disorders. Some people wonder if a vegetarian diet can provide sufficient nutrition, but studies show most vegetarians have no noteworthy nutritional disadvantages. Protein is widely known for being a “meat” thing, but in fact protein comes from many vegetable sources as well and vegetarian diets easily meet these daily requirements (even for athletes who tend to need a lot of protein). Vitamin B12 can be a tough one for vegans, but is readily available in fish, eggs, and dairy. Vegetarian levels of iron, calcium, fatty acids, and other vitamins tend to be right on par with meat-eaters.

People always ask me if it is hard to be a vegetarian. It really hasn’t been too difficult for me, probably because I’m taking it as a personal challenge. My husband made the spur-of-the-moment decision to join me in veggie-land “in support”, and he’s been having a much harder time (and has cheated a couple times already I have to say, so thanks for the support, honey). : ) Mostly I’ve just been enjoying creating and cooking more meals at home, eating a lot more fresh produce, and trying out new recipes.

Here is a recipe I invented that is so good you won’t even realize it’s a meat-free dish:

Jillian’s Yummy Baked Ravioli

1 bag frozen ravioli, cooked according to package directions
1 large jar of pasta sauce (choose a yummy-sounding one like four cheese or basil garlic)
1/4 medium onion, finely chopped
4 garlic cloves, finely chopped
3 cups fresh or frozen assorted veggies, cut into bite-size pieces (I used broccoli, carrots, zucchini, and peas, but feel free to use your favorites)
3 tablespoons cream cheese
1 cup grated cheddar
1/4 cup bread crumbs (flavored okay, homemade is best)
Olive oil

In large saucepan, heat a little bit of olive oil over medium-high heat. When heated, add chopped onion and garlic and sauté for about 4 minutes. Add additional veggies and sauté until they reach desired softness. You may want to add a little more oil to veggies. Pour sauce into veggie mixture and heat through. Add cream cheese and stir until fully melted in the sauce.

Place cooked, hot raviolis in a 9x13in glass baking dish. Pour sauce and mix in with ravioli. Mix grated cheese and bread crumbs together, sprinkle evenly over the top. Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes. Garlic bread and garden salad make great sides!

Enjoy!

MIKA

Music I am currently (and probably temporarily) obsessed with:

(Yes, you have to watch all 3 videos. No, you may not just watch the first one. No, you may not just watch the first thirty seconds of each one and then comment as if you have an informed opinion. No, I don't care that you are trying to watch this at work and the third video happens to feature a guy dancing (prancing?) around in his underwear) : )

BTW, I love all these, but they are in order from best to not-quite-as-best. : )

Yearbook Photos

Thanks to Troy and Laura (and my slow workdays) for these gems:


Ah, 1960. What a lovely year...



I was a good girl in 1966



1980, not quite fully into my crazy grunge period yet...



Ah, there it is. 1984!



I think I look just like Jaima in this photo (Jaima of 1992, not Jaima of 2010)



But things finally started coming together by 2000. Whew!

Solar Tsunami

As many of you may know, this week held some pretty cool solar activity. Four large coronal mass ejections took place, allowing for fabulous aurora borealis viewing on Earth. Coronal Mass Ejections (CMEs) are similar to and related to solar flares, but the relationship is not yet fully understood. Flares generally produce a visible, well…flare.., which shoots away from the sun. As you can see from this video, no flares were visible during these recent events, though you can glimpse the power of a large CME.

CMEs of this magnitude are cool because they cause such bright northern lights that folks in non-polar regions have a good chance of seeing them. Unfortunately, they also may knock out some unprotected parts of the power grid and mess with satellites.

Nevertheless, the sun is cool (figuratively speaking). Also check out this crazy-awesome photo:


This image is an extreme ultraviolet snapshot from the Solar Dynamics Observatory. It shows the sun's northern hemisphere in mid-eruption. Different colors represent different gas temperatures ranging from ~1 to 2 million degrees K.

*Note: "Solar Tsunami" would be an excellent band name.

Otter Fodder

On a hot summer day, there is nothing like an ice cold Otter Pop to cool things down. Otter Pops--frozen fruit juice in plastic tubes--were originally created in 1970 to compete with a similar product called Fla-Vor-Ice. Not having cute otters with funny names on their packaging, the good people at Fla-Vor-Ice knew they were fighting a losing battle. They bought out the Otter Pop brand and discontinued Fla-Vor-Ice in 1996.

Otter Pops come in six colors, each color assigned a “personality”:

Blue-- Louie-Bloo Raspberry (blue raspberry)
Red-- Poncho Punch (Tropical Punch) (originally Rip Van Lemon until the mid-1970s)
Green-- Sir Isaac Lime (Lemon Lime)
Light Red-- Strawberry Short Kook (Strawberry)
Purple-- Alexander the Grape (Grape)
Orange-- Little Orphan Orange (Orange)

One major event in Otter Pop history is the Sir Isaac Lime protest of 1996. The parent company had made plans to replace Sir Isaac Lime with Scarlett O’Cherry. However, a group of fourth-graders from California mounted a signature-gathering campaign and picketed the company’s headquarters. An email campaign was also put into effect (one Stanford University professor accused the company of “otter-cide”). Company executives relented after meeting with the children; they wisely decided to retain the Sir Isaac Lime flavor.


Per the Otter Pop website, each otter personality is also a member of a band called the Otter PopStars. Each otter has his or her own fan site complete with photos and bios. For example, here is the skinny on Louie-Bloo Raspberry:

Instrument: Upright Bass

Louie is a Jazz poet whose book of verse The Sweet Raspberry of Yesterday and Other Poems has been translated into twelve languages including Beaver and Cockatiel. Originally from New Otterleans, Louie met the Otter PopStars when they were just a band of street musicians playing for clams and rocks outside "Café Le Bloo" - the spot where Louie does his best writing. Their music touched him so deeply that he put down his pen, grabbed his upright bass and immediately joined in the fun. A friend to nature and all its creatures, Louie can often be found cultivating his window box garden of purple snap dragons and bandaging up the bite marks on his fingers.

Favorite things:
-Watching the waves crashing upon the shore
-Estuaries
-A warm café ole in the morning

Pet Peeves
-Confrontation
-Oil spills
-People who don’t know what an estuary is

Info on the rest of the Otter PopStars can be found here.

Going Dutch

The phrase “going Dutch” is a slang expression that means each person on an outing will pay for his or her own food, drinks, and entertainment. This is in contrast to a date scenario where one person is likely to pick up the full tab or a group scenario where the total cost of an evening is evenly split amongst all participants.

The phrase may have originated based on the idea of a Dutch Door, which is one of those cool doors that is split horizontally so the top half or bottom half of the door can each be opened separately. However, “Going Dutch” has often been considered cheap and tasteless, so more likely is the possibility that the phrase originated as a derogatory jibe against the Dutch (which is stupid, of course).

Several other languages have similar phrases, however:
In some parts of Italy the phrase pagare alla romana (to pay like people of Rome) holds the same meaning as going Dutch.

In Turkish, hesabı Alman usulü ödemek means “to pay the bill the German way.”

In Egypt it is called Englizy, meaning “English-style.”

And, ironically, the Dutch phrase Amerikaans feest means American Party and holds the same meaning as going Dutch.

Green Drinkery

I've been involved in GreenDrinks for over a year now, first as a volunteer organizer and now as a board member; not sure why I haven't written about it yet. Time to rectify!

First of all, GreenDrinks is totally awesome. Here is the deal: GreenDrinks is held once a month and is a forum for networking and socializing within the local green community. GreenDrinks clubs are active in over 600 cities and towns worldwide. All GreenDrinks clubs have their own local flair, but also follow the official GreenDrinks Code. The guidelines in the code shape the way that our events are run.

The code, in short:
1. GreenDrinks is open--all people and ideas are welcome
2. GreenDrinks is agenda-free (you will not be preached at)
3. GreenDrinks is not for profit. Though some cities charge a small fee to attend, most are free and drinkers purchase their own food and drinks.
4. GreenDrinks is local and decentralized--Though we all follow 'the code', each city also has the power to do things their own way.

In Spokane, we meet on the second Tuesday of every month at roving locations. Most months our event is held at a local bar or pub, although sometimes a local business or organization will sponsor us. For example, we have had a GreenDrinks in a Laundromat, a print shop, a building supply store, and an advertising agency. We always partner with a local business or non-profit, so each meeting has a focus. The organization is then allowed 2 minutes to talk to the group about what they are all about. The rest of the night is taken up with chatting, meeting new people, exchanging ideas, drinking, and laughing.

For more info about GreenDrinks International, click here.
For info on starting a GreenDrinks in your own city, click here.
For info about GreenDrinks Spokane, click here or here.