YMCA played at Sochi Olympics

What a cool idea! I hope they continue to play YMCA over the loudspeakers!!!

Dear Kitty. Some blog

This video is called Village People – YMCA OFFICIAL Music Video 1978.

Translated from NOS TV in the Netherlands:

Russians themselves play YMCA

Saturday, February 8, 2014 15:46

It was the idea of ​​[Dutch gay comedian] Paul de Leeuw: let the party band “Small beer” [Kleintje Pils] play ‘gay song’ YMCA during the speed skating in Sochi as a protest against the anti-LGBTQ law in Russia. It is not known whether the Russians knew about that call and whether they agreed with such a playful protest, but the fact is that the song sounded from the loudspeakers this afternoon in Sochi.

During a break in the while machines cleaned the ice of the Adler Arena, people could hear The Village People which is seen worldwide as a ‘gay’ song.

Kleintje Pils will be going to Sochi next week.

Women’s fight to join the Olympics, sport by sport:

View original post 21 more words

#QatarDeceit A Tweetstorm: Qatar Dolphin Discovery & Research: STOP SPONSORING THE TAIJI DOLPHIN SLAUGHTER

TWEETERS:
TWEETSTORM on September 25th to tell Qatar Dolphin Discovery & Researchwww.facebook.com/QatarDolphinDiscovery (link is not visible in USA) that dolphin slaughter is not acceptable and we will not stop until the slaughter and taking of dolphins into captivity stops!

TWEETSTORM TIME ANNOUNCER: ► http://bit.ly/14qyH50
COUNTDOWN TO TWEETSTORM: ► http://bit.ly/16eudlu

Champions for Cetaceans

By Kirsten Massebeau

On September 1, 2013 the terrible dolphin drive made famous by the academy award-winning documentary “The Cove” began yet another season capturing and killing dolphins and small whales in Taiji, Japan. The Taiji Fisherman’s Union have made and agreement with the World Association of Zoos and Aquariums (WAZA) not to slaughter bottlenose dolphins during the month of September. Buyers of the blood dolphins can then claim no blood was spilled for their collection. The WAZA agreement does not extend to other species. Between September 1st and September 17th 181 dolphins have been driven into the cove. of these 18 were captured (bottlenose), 31 slaughtered (pilot whales and 1 bottlenose dolphin). A total of 121 were released. Once September passes the WAZA agreement no longer applies.  Bottlenose dolphins unwanted for aquariums and marine park display will again be openly slaughtered.

On September 18, 2013…

View original post 422 more words

What’s for Breakfast?

What’s for Breakfast…how about experimenting?

Cooking is an art but it also is a survival skill.  Cooking is not about following recipes exactly nor having thousands of recipes to choose from, it’s about feeding yourself and your family.  Since I live alone with my two dogs and therefore no one else cooks for me, I modify recipes for smaller portions and to my taste.

One of my recent experiments was to make garlic popcorn – I love garlic and I love popcorn so I thought I’d try to make it work.  Still working on this, and will post about that when I am done experimenting.  This morning when I opened the fridge to decide on breakfast, the peanut butter jar was staring me in the face! 

Then it hit me: pancakes with peanut butter and orange marmalade. I was already figuring out what to do.  All I wanted was one pancake so this is what I did to make one pancake:

Pancake Ingredients:

¼ cup of your favorite pancake mix

1/8 cup + 1 tablespoon coconut milk

a pinch of cinnamon powder

a pinch of ground nutmeg

a drop of olive oil
 

Topping ingredients:

1 heaping tablespoon of your favorite peanut butter (I used Adams crunchy peanut butter).

1 heaping teaspoon of your favorite marmalade or jam

Place all pancake ingredients in a bowl and mix it up.  Pour it all into a greased frying pan on a low setting as one pancake.  Cover the pan with a lid and check it in a few minutes.  If  the top is still liquidy and bubbles have formed, wait another couple of minutes before you turn it over. The pancake should look dry not shinny. After you have turned it over, place a heaping tablespoon of peanut butter on top of the pancake and cover the pan with a lid.  After two minutes, look at the pancake, if the peanut butter has started to melt a little, the pancake is done.  Put it on your plate and add a heaping teaspoon of orange marmalade (or your favorite jam) on top and start eating.
If you use a commercially available vegan pancake mix, then this is a vegan recipe.  If you use a non-vegan mix, this is vegetarian recipe.  Check the ingredients on the box or bag of the mix you are using to confirm the ingredients – most commercially available mixes are not vegan.

If you’ve got a great cooking experiment, I’d love to hear it.

vegan pancake (Photo credit: kalavinka)

Related articles

• Apple Peanut Butter Pancakes (inthelivingwell.com)
• How To: Make Vegan Pancakes (missmangue.wordpress.com)
• Pancake Fridays: Vegan Cookies ‘n Cream Pancakes (panprinandproprin.wordpress.com)
• Petit Pancake Stacks (berryberryhappy.wordpress.com)
• Vegan, Soy-Free, Gluten-Free Chocolate Chip Pancakes (bestapproved.wordpress.com)

Vegan Pinto Beans

Some ingredients for pinto beans

While out shopping yesterday, I knew it was going to rain today so I made sure I had ingredients to make a small pot of pinto beans today.  I knew I had beans and garlic at home but didn’t have  a jalapeno pepper, cilantro or tortillas.

As a child I really didn’t care much for any beans but when I discovered Mexican food upon moving to Arizona, that all changed fast!  At first, I was weary of re-fried beans and when I tried them the first time, on the first night I spent in Tempe, I loved them!  I was also leery of hot chili peppers at that time but now, many of the commercially available hot sauces I can eat with a spoon – even the ones marked very hot!  So now I prefer using the hot chilies in my cooking as opposed to the chili sauces in a can or jar.

Keep in mind this is a small pot of beans so if you are making dinner for a large family, you might want to double or triple this recipe.  Please note that only one bay leaf is enough even for a large pot of beans!

INGREDIENTS FOR COOKING THE PINTOS BEANS

1 cup dried pinto beans, washed

1 clove garlic, crushed

1 teaspoon extra virgin olive oil

1 small bay leaf

1 jalapeno pepper

water

FIRST:  Soak the beans overnight. I usually soak the beans in a large jar filled with water.  The photo above has the jar I used with 1 cup of beans in it.  I fill it with water and place the jar on it’s side – make sure the cap is tightly secured.  Don’t leave the jar standing up because as the beans swell up, they will will pack themselves in the bottom and won’t swell up to their full potential.  If the jar is on it’s side, there is plenty of room for expansion.  If you don’t have a jar, use a bowl to soak the beans.

After soaking these beans overnight, place them all in a large pot with two more cups of water.  Bring the pot to a boil and then lower the burner to just above simmer.  Cover the pot with a tight fitting lid and check on them every half hour or so and stir them up to make sure nothing is sticking on the bottom and that there is enough liquid.  If you used a crock pot, you probably wouldn’t have to stir them up but a small quantity like this in a crock pot is not recommended (yes I tried it – the liquid burned off rapidly since crock pots are designed for a larger quantity).

Cooking time is about 4 hours.

So when they look like this photograph, remove and discard the bay leaf.  Remove the chili, smash it with a spatula and remove the skin and discard it; mince the green chili and seeds and return it to the cooking pot.

Cooked Pintos – garlic, bay leaf and jalapeno pepper

NEXT ADD:

1/4 cup chopped sweet onion

1 roma tomato, chopped (about 1/2 cup – a little more or less will be fine)

1/2 teaspoon cumin powder

Let this simmer for about 45 minutes.

NEXT ADD:

1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro and let it simmer for another 15 minutes before serving.

Vegan Pinto Beans

Related articles

• Vaquero Bean Tempeh Chili Recipe From The Great Vegan Bean Book (healthyslowcooking.com)
• Vegetarian Chili: 3 Ways (abeautifulmess.com)
• Recipe: Deliciously Easy Vegan Chili (eatdrinkbetter.com)
• Virtual Vegan Potluck – Rajma! (vegcharlotte.wordpress.com)
• Butternut and Bean Tacos with Tomatillo Salsa (11.27.12) (fox13now.com)
• Vegetarian Chili to Beat All Vegetarian Chilis (seattlefoodshed.wordpress.com)

Rate this:

I made the decision to become vegetarian almost three years ago…it was easier than I thought! These days I can smell the dead meat and fish counters as soon as I walk into a grocery store! Please let me know what you are preparing for Thanksgiving dinner … Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Insectamonarca's Blog

I made the decision to not buy grocery meat a few years ago. I have had no meat in my house since October 9, since I moved to Fitchburg, MA. Factory Farms that supply grocery stores with meat will only STOP when we stop buying meat from grocery stores.

I will buy local grown grass fed beef and free range chickens from local farmers only. I plan to shop at the Farmers Market at Fitchburg Art Museum on December 6, from 4 p.m. – 7 p.m.

Please watch the film that could change your life forever. Once you know how animals are treated at Factory Farms, you will have a conscience to know that we have no right to be cruel to animals.  Take the pledge to stop Factory Farming. Stop Animal Cruelty forever.

Make it Possible – Imagine a world without factory farming.

View original post

Garbanzo Bean Soup

Organic Garbanzo Beans (Photo credit: artizone)

Garbanzo Bean Soup from scratch.

Since I live alone, I’ve been experimenting with making smaller recipes for the single people who like to cook but don’t want quarts and quarts of leftovers.  This  a very simple soup made from dried garbanzo beans, my favorite beans.  If you try the recipe and decide you want to serve it to a large crowd, just double or triple the recipe.  The recipe does not call for any salt during cooking so don’t add any – salt will toughen up the outer casing of the bean – and besides, this soup  tastes great without any salt.

Ingredients

1 cup dried beans

4-5 cups water
(2 cups are used for soaking the beans, the other 3 cups are for cooking so vegetable broth can be used instead)

1 bay leaf

2 pinches of ground rosemary

1/2  teaspoon celery seeds

1 teaspoon ground cumin

2-3 sliced or crushed garlic cloves

1/8 cup fresh chopped parsley

2 tablespoons fresh finely chopped basil

olive oil to drizzle over the top when serving

ground pepper to taste

Preparation:

Rinse the garbanzo beans and pick out any bad ones.  Soak the dried garbanzo beans in 2 cups of water overnight.  (You don’t have to soak garbanzos overnight but if you do, they will come out much more tender and take less time to cook).

Pour the soaked beans, with their water, into a small pot with a cover.  Add the celery seeds, bay leaf, garlic, cumin, rosemary and parsley and bring to a slow boil before turning down the heat to very low.  Let it simmer for 1.5 to 2 hours, stirring occasionally and keep watch over the liquid so it doesn’t get too low.  Add more water if needed – make sure there is more liquid in the pot than the beans.

Take a masher and roughly mash the beans in the pot.  Stir in the chopped basil and let the soup cook down if it’s too watery; if it’s too thick, add more vegetable broth or water.

This recipe makes 2 large bowls of soup or 3 small ones.   I garnished my soup with a few fresh basil leaves and a drizzle of olive oil.

Related articles

• The Most Comforting Tortilla Soup You’ve Ever Tasted (myculinaryjoy.com)
• Simply Delicious Homemade Hummus (cantstayoutofthekitchen.com)
• Food Fodder: Fake Minestrone from a Fake Cook. (unioflife.wordpress.com)
• Meatless Monday: Pesto Chickpea Burgers (blondexambition.wordpress.com)
• Recipes: Chickpea Flat Bread & Basil Pistou (inpursuitofmore.com)
• Recipe: Vegan Harvest Chickpea Salad (inpursuitofmore.com)
• How Do Vegan Athletes Get Protein? (greenerideal.com)
• Pantry Check: Veggie Moroccan-style Curry (girlfriday.typepad.com)
• A Guide to Eating a Plant-Based Diet (zenhabits.net)

 

Lemony Asparagus and Potatoes

It’s been a while since I worked on my blog…among other things, I’ve been tackling making new recipes from old meat containing recipes. I was dreaming for some potatoes that my mom used to cook in her one pot chicken dinner…my revised ‘recipe’ is with asparagus and it is asparagus I picked from a wild patch not far from my house.

Since most of the time I only cook for one, this recipe makes about 2 portions.

Lemony Asparagus and Potatoes

1/8 cup extra virgin olive oil
2 large cloves garlic, crushed/chopped
1/8 tsp dried basil
1/8 tsp dried oregano
1/8 tsp dried thyme
a pinch dried ground sage
ground black pepper to taste
1 tsp soy sauce
juice of one very large lemon
2 or 3 potatoes cut into chunks (enough for 2 people)
¼ cup chopped onion.
Fresh Asparagus cut so they just fit laying across the top of the potatoes in the pot.
¼ cup vegetable broth or water

Place oil, garlic, onion, soy sauce, lemon juice and all spices in a small pot (with a tight fitting cover) and mix well. Add potatoes stir until all potatoes are coated before placing on the stove burner. Turn on heat and and add the vegetable broth a couple minutes later. Cook on a medium low heat with cover on tightly. Depending on the size chunks of potatoes – check the potatoes after 15-20 minutes and if they are almost done. When they need about 5 minutes or so, make sure there is a small bit of liquid in the bottom of the pot, if not pour a couple of tablespoons of vegetable broth or water before placing the cut asparagus across the top of the potatoes. In about 5 minutes the asparagus will be steamed to perfection.

Enjoy!

COMING UP SOON: Spicy Tahini Sauce or dip

Vegetarian Shepherd’s Pie with Portabella Mushrooms

Vegetarian Shepherd’s Pie with Portabella Mushrooms

I love shepherd’s pie but haven’t made this dish since I became vegetarian.  My main quandary was the bottom layer, what should be in it?  In a traditional Shepherds Pie the bottom layer is comprised of ground meat, onions and mushrooms.  I didn’t like the idea of the bottom layer with just mushroom and onions.  The solution came to me while eating a Boca Burger!

2 Boca Burgers cooked per instructions on the box

1 portabella mushroom, sliced thin and lightly sautéed in olive oil

2 garlic cloves smashed

½ cup finely chopped white onion

2 cups fresh corn  kernels ( or 1 pound bag of frozen corn)

3 cups garlic smashed potatoes

1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

Chop the cooked Boca Burgers into small chunks.  Chop the sautéed mushroom slices into 3 or 4 pieces and place in a bowl with the Boca Burger chunks, chopped onion, smashed garlic and EVOO; toss until well mixed.  Evenly place this mixture in the bottom of a 2 quart casserole dish.  Next add the kernel corn in an even layer.  Finally add the Garlic Smashed Potatoes as the top layer.  Bake at 375 degrees for 30 to 40 minutes – when the top browns it’s done!

 

Tomato Veggie Fennel Soup

Tomato Fennel Veggie Soup is a soup based on what I had in the refrigerator – a lot of my soups

Homemade soup is one way to recycle food and not get bored with your diet - do you really want to eat pasta four nights in a row?

 are based on leftovers.  I was determined to use the marinara sauce before it spoiled (I forgot to freeze it) and there was some vegetable stock tucked away in the freezer and then I found the red pepper juice (when I grilled several large sweet red peppers, I saved the juices that dripped out of them and froze it thinking that I would add it to a veggie soup stock).  I also found a half of a white onion

1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

½ cup white onion, chopped fine

2 ribs celery, sliced fine

4 cloves garlic, smashed

2 cups marina sauce

2 cups vegetable stock

1 cup roasted red pepper sauce

This is what I did:

Put the olive oil in the soup pot, along with the onion, celery, smashed garlic, and heated this mixture up on a medium heat for 3 or 4 minutes or until everything started becoming translucent.  Next I added the vegetable stock and the marinara sauce and let it simmer for 10-15 minutes.

I wanted to see what it tasted like and decided to gradually add spices until I got it right. I kept track of what I added and tasted in between each add.  These are the spices I added to the broth:

1     tablespoon dried oregano

1     tablespoon dried basil

1/8  teaspoon red chili flakes

½    teaspoon ground fennel seed

1/8  teaspoon ground sage

½    teaspoon thyme

and about 8 – 10 turns of the black pepper grinder

I simmered this for an hour and tasted it – Bellisima!!.  It was a little thick but when I finished the soup I would add the extra water.  After it cooled, I put it in the refrigerator for the night.  The next day, I finished the soup.  I added these ingredients.

½    cup sliced carrots

1     sliced zucchini

½    red onion chunks

1     cup sliced mushrooms

1     cup water

And then I decided to add simple baking powder dumplings.

1 cup white flour

1 tablespoon soy protein powder

¼ teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon garlic powder

2/3 cup milk

Sift dry ingredients together; stir in the milk until there is a smooth batter.  Drop 1 rounded teaspoonful into the boiling soup, cover the pot and let boil for 5 minutes and serve at once.  Makes about four large servings.

This recipe could easily be a vegan recipe – just substitute water for the milk in the dumplings.  If you were bold, you could try using mushroom broth or vegetable broth!

Garlic Smashed Potatoes

Garlic Smashed Potatoes – a versatile side dish!

 5 lbs Yukon gold potatoes washed (5lbs is not too much – need the leftovers for other dishes, see below)

 A large pot of lightly salted water (use sea salt)

1 stick butter

10 cloves garlic – more if they are small.

salt and pepper to taste

1/8 cup fresh parsley chopped fine

1 cup or more whole milk.

 

After bringing the potatoes to a boil in the salted water, let them boil for about 20 minutes.  While the potatoes are boiling, peel and smash the garlic with a garlic press, and put into a bowl with the butter and chopped parsley and mix it up.  When the potatoes have finished boiling, strain the water and place the potatoes in the bowl with butter mixture.  Mash the potatoes (I prefer mine NOT peeled) with a masher (or fork if that’s all you have).  And use the low setting on your mixer to mash them up.  When sufficiently mashed, add the milk (add more milk to thin if they are too thick) and gradually turn up the mixer until the potatoes are whipped.  They should be thick enough to hold their shape and not runny or loose.

 Leftovers can last in the refrigerator for up to a week in a tightly sealed container or in the freezer for many weeks – best defrost method is microwave.

 

What to do with the leftovers?  

How about a Broccoli and Cheddar Casserole ?

 

Cover the bottom of a small casserole dish with some olive oil making sure to cover all the surfaces. Add the Garlic Smashed Potatoes evenly.  Place some chopped steamed broccoli (can be a leftover) on the potatoes.  Cover the broccoli with coarsely grated cheddar.  Next place the Garlic Smashed Potatoes on top to fill the casserole.  Sprinkle the top with grated parmesan or pecorino romano cheese and a few twists of black pepper.  Place in a 375 degree oven for about 20 minutes or until the top starts browning.  (I use a casserole dish that fits in my toaster oven and it browns up the top real nice and crusty – the way I love it!)

 I did not include any measures for this casserole because what you put in the casserole is basically what is leftover. If there’s not too much smashed potatoes leftover, then use one of those single serving casseroles.  And if you don’t like broccoli, use another vegetable like string beans or corn.