Curry Split Pea Soup - Vegan with a Vengeance!

Wow, this cook book, "Vegan with a Vengeance" is really something special! I just had the Curry Split Pea Soup last night, and it was great! Having it for lunch today and dinner again tonight!

I'm a big soup fan, so I'm going to be trying the black bean and corn chipolte stew tonight.

So far this recipe book is full of great ideas. I'm trying the stuffed zucchini and the tofu dill salad this week end as well.

On a side note. I have discovered that Tofurkey is actually pretty good when you spice it up a bit on your own. As well, make your own mushroom gravy instead of getting the one that comes with it. Its much better, less watery, and you can thicken it up a bit. I personally love mushrooms (they are a food group!) so I put several different kinds of mushrooms in it as well. But shitakes are my favorites!

If you happen to be by a meijers grocery store, stop by the health food section and get some Vanilla Chai Latte in the beverage area. Getting your protein never tasted so perfect!

One final note. New studies show that vegetarian and vegan diets tend to cause your brain to shrink. This is due to a b12 deficiency. I'm sure you all already knew this, but don't forget to take b12 supplements OR makes sure you are eating enough nuts and other foods high in b12. Its extremely important to brain growth and development.

Fish DO Feel Pain

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/science/nature/2983045.stm

Fish do feel pain, scientists say
By Alex Kirby
BBC News Online environment correspondent

The first conclusive evidence of pain perception in fish is said to have been found by UK scientists.

This complements earlier findings that both birds and mammals can feel pain, and challenges assertions that fish are impervious to it.

The scientists found sites in the heads of rainbow trout that responded to damaging stimuli.

They also found the fish showed marked reactions when exposed to harmful substances.

The argument over whether fish feel pain has long been a subject of dispute between anglers and animal rights activists.

The research, by a team from the Roslin Institute and the University of Edinburgh, is published in Proceedings B of the Royal Society, the UK's national academy of science.

The researchers, led by Dr Lynne Sneddon, say the "profound behavioural and physiological changes" shown by the trout after exposure to noxious substances are comparable to those seen in higher mammals.

They investigated the fish for the presence of nociceptors, sites that respond to tissue-damaging stimuli.

Multiple sensitivity

The researchers applied mechanical, thermal and chemical stimuli to the heads of anaesthetised fish and recorded their neural activity.

Dr Sneddon said: "We found 58 receptors located on the face and head of the trout that responded to at least one of the stimuli.
Fish just don't have the brains to recognise pain
Dr Bruno Broughton
National Angling Alliance

"Of these, 22 could be classified as nociceptors in that they responded to mechanical pressure and were stimulated when heated above 40 Celsius.

"Eighteen receptors also responded to chemical stimulation and can be defined as polymodal nociceptors."

These polymodal receptors are the first to be found in fish, and resemble those in amphibians, birds and mammals, including humans.

But mechanical thresholds were lower than those found in human skin, for example, perhaps because fish skin is relatively easily damaged.

Double check

The mere presence of nociception in an animal is not enough to prove that it feels pain, because its reaction may be a reflex.

Proof requires demonstrating that the animal's behaviour is adversely affected by a potentially painful experience, and that these behavioural changes are not simple reflex responses.

So the researchers injected bee venom or acetic acid into the lips of some of the trout, with control groups receiving saline solution injections or simply being handled.

All the fish had been conditioned to feed at a ring in their tank, where they were collected for handling or injection.

Dr Sneddon said: "Anomalous behaviours were exhibited by trout subjected to bee venom and acetic acid.

Different development

"Fish demonstrated a 'rocking' motion, strikingly similar to the kind of motion seen in stressed higher vertebrates like mammals.

"The trout injected with the acid were also observed to rub their lips onto the gravel in their tank and on the tank walls. These do not appear to be reflex responses."

The fish injected with venom and acid also took almost three times longer to resume feeding than the control groups.

Dr Sneddon said the team's work "fulfils the criteria for animal pain". Previous work on fish had looked at the elasmobranchs, fish including sharks, skates and rays with cartilaginous skeletons, and at primitive vertebrates like the lamprey.

Dr Sneddon said: "These studies did not conclusively show the presence of nociceptors.
It's shocking that people will still go fishing for fun
Dawn Carr
Peta (Europe)

"We believe our study is the first work with fish of the teleost family [those with bony skeletons], and the results may represent an evolutionary divergence between the teleost and elasmobranch lineages."

The Fish Veterinary Society described the research as "an interesting contribution to the debate".

Dawn Carr, director of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (Europe), said: "It's shocking that people will still go fishing for fun.

"For every cruel thing people do, there is a compassionate alternative.

"There are so many ways to enjoy the outdoors - we hope people would go hiking, camping, boating; any sort of sport that doesn't involve animal suffering would be preferable," she said.
HAVE YOUR SAY
Sport fishing should be immediately banned
Mike, England

The organisation Compassion in World Farming called upon the UK Government to respond to the findings with legislation to improve the living conditions of fish living on fish farms.

The UK's National Angling Alliance described the study's finding's as "surprising".

Dr Bruno Broughton, a fish biologist and NAA adviser, said: "I doubt that it will come as much of a shock to anglers to learn that fish have an elaborate system of sensory cells around their mouths...

"However, it is an entirely different matter to draw conclusions about the ability of fish to feel pain, a psychological experience for which they literally do not have the brains," he said.

He quoted from a study by Professor James Rose of the University of Wyoming, US, in which it was found fish did not possess the necessary and specific regions of the brain, the neocortex.
Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/science/nature/2983045.stm

Published: 2003/04/30 14:25:01 GMT

© BBC MMIX

Well, that settles it, my eating of meat will remain to include no fish. I had all but decided to start eating fish, because they cannot suffer. Now I know they can. So I refuse to be part of that pain.

Vegan Sausages

I'm on a huge kick with the "Smart Ones" Italian Sausage Flavor meat less sausages! I'm eating them like they are going out of style. All I have to put on it is mustard. Very good stuff. Maybe throw some 'kraut on it, or some meatless chili. Either way, I eat them all the time now. Just love them!

Passing the one year mark

This December, I crossed that one year mark. I have been a vegetarian for over a year now. I have to say I have adjusted well now. Things I once hated, I love. Instead of chocolate milk, I drink Rice Dream Chocolate Chai. I have adjusted to meatless lunch "meat" and other meatless substitutes. I have even figured out ways to make my favorite meals with no meat.

I made stuffed shells last night. I used morning star sausage, mixed with marinara, Asiago, and mozerella and stuff them into shells. Topped it with more marinara and more cheese and backed it for 30 minutes. It was fabulous!

I have finally come to the point of accepting my choice and embracing it. I might actually be able to begin to stop drinking milk.

Tofurkey

I had my first Tofurkey brand ToFurkey this thanks giving.

I have to say it was very good. I was really impressed with its flavor and texture. It was delicious! Some other things I had for thanksgiving was a new veggie dish I made. Onions, garlic, brussel sprouts, and shitaki mushrooms all combined with some olive oil. It was SOOO good!

For the next day left overs, I made tofurkey, stuffing, and cranberry jelly sandwiches. Wow, what a great sandwich!

Over all, my first vegetarian thanksgiving was a huge success.

The Killing of the Sharks

I watched a program in which in 1991 there was a shark attack in which someone got killed. In response, they decided to kill larger tiger sharks, to cull the population. What a horrible idea! Cull the sharks for being themselves? Arrogant bastards! You go into their house and they hurt you for it and you blame them? They have been around much longer than us, are serious predators, and you aren't smart enough to understand the risk associated with going in the ocean, so you blame them and kill them off? That just infuriated me! The answer is educating people, and not changing the feeding patterns of a major predators food! Idiots! Sorry you died, but come on, they kill one and we kill a thousand, who is more wrong? And take into account that we killed out of anger and not for food or to defend our home or anything. People are just so damn arrogant!

On a side note, I am completely tired of salad all the time. My wife loves it and since I am a vegetarian, she eats it allot. So I got some whole wheat wraps and decided to do something different. I got some fresh peppers, serano, pablano, and some sweet pepper and mixed it with ranch seasoning and made a paste out of it. It was really good. Then put bell peppers, soy cheese, salad, fresh organic tomatoes, fresh organic green onions and wrapped it up. It was very good! I had it for dinner, and breakfast, and probably again tonight for dinner.

I am a little concerned as recently I found out that soy products might lower a mans libido. Thats not a good thing, so I might need to cut back on soy products. Which seriously puts a damper on becoming a vegan. I just don't know if I can do it. Do I have the will power and the ability to sacrifice to do it? I don't know.

Nature's Call

I'm to the end of my rope with the ignorance of people on this planet. How is it that I am required to respect their views on eating meat and such while they feel completely comfortable make comments at my expense? They ask why I'm not eating the steak and only veggies, and I tell them. They in turn make comments like "mmm, this is good cow!". Shit like that pisses me off! Have a little common courtesy you bastard! I'm not telling you how to live, so why would you presume to be a bitch about it? People suck.

On another note, I just got a French Bulldog, pure bred! He is a family dog, not for show, but he is such a great dog. He loves the kids and they love him. He loves to run around with them. He is such a sweet dog as well. But the funny part is that he snores and snorts! It's hysterical. If you tell him no, he snorts at you, and when he sleeps, he snores, loud! It is so loud he got booted out of the bed because he keeps us up! LMAO! So we got him a nice fluffy bed next to ours to sleep on. He still wakes me up occasionally, but not nearly has bad as when he is right next to you. As well, he farts, constantly, and it smells so bad! It is because he scarfs his food. He practically eats the bowl.

It has taken the cats a long time to like him. Socializing them didn't help, they hate him. The older bigger cat has finally come around to at least not hissing at him. The younger smaller one is still scared of him. But I think the dog doesn't help much because he likes to play and always runs up on the cats and scares them. It is funny to watch but we are trying to get him to stop doing that other animals. He is high strung in that manner. But it takes time, the cats were kittens when we got them and they are house cats, they have never seen a dog up close before. The dog, however, was six months old and grew up with a cat in the house until we got him. The sad part is that at first he always flinched when I went to pet him. I have a feeling he had been hit before. But after a month of not being hit, he has stopped doing that, and now has warmed up to me very nicely. In fact, he has learned that my recliner is the most comfortable chair in the house and likes to wait by it and as soon as you get up, he jumps in! Punk! LOL But it is big enough that he can share it with you. Some times he must be forced into sharing, but you have to teach children to share right?