August 9, 2008 at 4:45 pm (Quotes, Random)
Tags: Filters, Hot Water, Impurities, Lead, Quote, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Tap Water, Vegan, Vegetarian, Water Heater
Tidbit of the day:
Using cold tap water is safer than using hot tap water for cooking. This lies in the fact that hot tap water may have been (and most likely was) sitting in your water heater for some time, allowing it to obtain more impurities and increased lead amounts. The difference in the amount of time the hot water vs. cold water would take to boil is minimal, so it is best to use cold water whenever possible. If you have a filter on your faucet, this is not as large of a concern since filters are built to, well, filter impurities including lead. However, filtering hot water will most likely decrease the life of your filter because of the extra strain.
So remember, the few extra minutes it takes for cold water to boil is worth it!!
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Quote of the day:
“What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us.”
–Ralph Waldo Emerson–
Yet another short, sweet and deep quote from our fellow veg Ralph Waldo Emerson!!!
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July 29, 2008 at 2:12 am (Quotes, Uncategorized)
Tags: Leo Tolstoy, Quote, Vegetarian, Western Diets
I’m so proud of myself, blogging the quote of the day when it really can be called that 
. I figured out my issue with the publish later feature of wordpress. So hopefully this will be a common occurrence: on time quotes!
“A man can live and be healthy without killing animals for food; therefore, if he eats meat, he participates in taking animal life merely for the sake of his appetite. And to act so is immoral.”
–Leo Tolstoy, Russian writer and philosopher–
Yes, the man that has befuddled many a college student or literary lover with War and Peace was in fact a vegetarian! They say that vegetarians/vegans have higher IQs (obviously the case since I’m so brilliant! jk) so now we know why his books are so complicated to read. Which I’m sure gives meat eaters another reason to dislike Tolstoy, wishing that he could have dumbed down his books a wee bit for them! (Yes I am joking, it doesn’t matter what you eat, Tolstoy is a complicated read!)
I find the quote interesting for a number of reasons, mainly because I completely agree. But it is also interesting due to the fact that nowadays so many people proclaim that it is unhealthy to be vegan or vegetarian. I wonder if it was in fact the same way in Russia during his lifetime. The amount of issues this world is plagued with (at least those who have or are adopting “western style” diets) you would think would lead people to understand that a diet swarming with meat isn’t any good–so what is their reasoning for thinking our diets could possibly be worse???
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July 3, 2008 at 9:31 pm (Animals, Quotes)
Tags: Animal Rights, Animals, Quotes, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Vegan, Vegetarian
I have been falling behind on my Quote of the Day blogs so maybe we should rename it Quote of the Week! I am finally filling your brains with ever more quote knowledge, here is another one of my favorites:
“People only see what they are prepared to see.”
Which was written by Ralph Waldo Emerson. A very fitting quote for everyday life, fits almost every situation you can think of when dealing with individuals on the “other” side of a debate. Take for instance vegetarianism. People KNOW that it is in fact a pig that was once living on their plate when they have pork or bacon, but do they ever really SEE it for what it is? Or how exactly the animal came to be on their plate? Most people do not want to think about the life that the animal may have lived, they just want to be able to eat what is on their plate. But, like many vegetarians I have heard the stories of, they come to the realization of what is TRULY on their plate, then and only then do they seek answers regarding the pig or the cow or the chicken. Its because they were PREPARED TO SEE it.
I am a great proponent of animal rights and I believe that in every effort we convey to the world that there is someone out there for the first time finally PREPARED to see why we struggle for animal rights. This is why we must always do the little things, because every little thing is not so little added up–especially if we help someone SEE. After all, people only see what they are prepared to see.
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July 3, 2008 at 9:20 pm (Random, Recipes)
Tags: Blog, Manicotti, Recipe, Spinach ricotta, Vegan, Vegetarian
I was just going about my daily routine and what do I find? An advisement on my blog that someone has mentioned me on their website. Whatever could it be? It just so happens that vegoftheweek has mentioned me in the top 4 recipes that I assume were discovered in the past week. Yay! I shall live in infamy! I was mentioned regarding my Spinach-Ricotta Manicotti recipe that I blogged about recently. I’m glad that someone was enticed by my recipe and continues to share it!!
I want to thank vegoftheweek for including me in their webpage, hopefully it will bring more readers to Vegan Verve! Here is the link to the specific blog that mentions me: Mamma Mia!
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June 24, 2008 at 2:44 am (Quotes)
Tags: Emerson, Endangered species, Quote, Vegetarian
“If the stars should appear but one night every thousand years, how man would marvel and adore.”
–Ralph Waldo Emerson–
Emerson, while being a fantastic famous author, was also a vegetarian. To be honest, I did not choose this quote because of this. I always greatly enjoyed his writing and quotes long before I discovered he was also vegetarian–this only made the quotes mean more to me.
Wrapped in this eloquently stated quote, I see Emerson urging mankind to stop taking things for granted. Enjoy the beauty of nature, loved ones, and life. Too often all we do in life is run around not paying attention to what is around us. However, if something were to disappear, only then would we stop and realize how long we had taken it for granted. Oh, how easily this can be applied to everyday life! It could even be applied to human foolishness when it comes to extinct/endangered species. That species’ role DOES matter, don’t take for granted everything will continue as usual.
Stop, look, listen. What are you missing?
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June 24, 2008 at 2:31 am (Recipes)
Tags: Fake turkey, Recipes, Taste, Tofu, Vegan, Vegetarian
I was perusing vegan recipes as I always love to do at 1am and came across this. If you don’t care to visit the link let me describe what you will find there. It is a recipe for Tofu Turkey. Now I must precede my rant to come with the tidbit that I am not a huge fan of tofu, but have been known to eat it on occasion if prepared correctly. Correctly being the key word. What this video shows is the epitome of why so many people either thinking vegetarians/vegans are insane or simply have no taste buds.
The entire recipe for this “tofu turkey” consists of a few simple herbs, some boullion powder and poultry seasoning. Oh, and of course TOFU. I know that tofu absorbs flavors it is exposed to, but I dare say that 2 Tbsp of poultry seasoning and 1 Tbsp of boullion with some herbs will not overpower FIVE large containers of tofu! It should at least be allowed to “marinate” in the glaze they use overnight. Come on people! A website that is supposed to help people learn ABOUT things is not helping our case here. Even I was grossed out by the recipe and site of the “tofu turkey”!! All I have to say is thank god for Turte Mountain and their Tofurky….otherwise there may be no fake “turkey” to show omnivores at Thanksgiving that we vegans do have taste buds, good ones in fact!!
Okay, that was my rant for the day. Wait, one more comment…couldn’t they at least have used seitan? That would have had some hope of becoming edible in their not-so-reliable hands at least. *sigh*
P.S. If anyone reading this actually has tried this recipe and LIKED it (as hard as I find that) please let me know. I really really want to know if that thing they created has any salvation.
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June 23, 2008 at 2:37 am (Recipes)
Tags: Food, Italian, Recipes, Spinach, Tofu Ricotta, Vegan, Vegetarian
As my very first recipe I am going to share, I have decided to select my Spinach and Tofu Ricotta Manicotti. I am an avid lover of all things Italian so this was a no brainer for me! I grew up in a household where cheese and Italian cooking were commonplace so once I became a vegan I knew I would have to tackle vegan Italian food. This meant one thing: recreating some cheeses! Ah! Creating “cheese” can sometimes be tricky but I find ricotta to be one of the easiest to recreate. This is an especially good thing since the vegan market for ricotta “cheese” is barren! The entire manicotti recipe takes only about a half hour to prep and within an hour you will be enjoying stuffed manicotti. Hopefully this recipe will help calm your fears about trying to “recreate” cheese with only your two bare hands!
Spinach-Ricotta Manicotti
Prep Time: 30 minutes
Cook Time: 25-30 minutes
Vegan Ricotta:
½ pound firm tofu, pressed
2 tsp olive oil
1 tsp lemon juice
2 cloves garlic, minced
¼ tsp salt
¼ cup nutritional yeast
1 tbsp basil (fresh or dried)
1/8 tsp pepper
Rest of Ingredients:
6 manicotti shells, cooked until al dente
1 cup frozen spinach
1 cup vegan mozzarella, shredded ( I use Follow Your Heart although I am sure Teese would work well too)
1 jar spaghetti sauce
1. While boiling the manicotti shells in slightly salted water until al dente, prepare the vegan ricotta cheese. Crumble the firm tofu into a medium sized bowl. Add all of the ingredients and mix well. It should appear slightly yellow (due to the nutritional flakes). The spices, including the garlic, can be increased or decreased due to taste preference.
2. Set the vegan ricotta to the side. Shred about 1 cup of vegan mozzarella (approximately ½ package of Follow Your Heart brand). Add the mozzarella to the ricotta and mix well.
3. Thaw the spinach in a saute pan that is lightly oiled until the spinach is moist. Once cooked, slightly drain the spinach using a strainer. Try to remove some excess water using cheesecloth or a clean dishcloth.
4. Using a glass 11x 13 pan, spread half a jar of spaghetti sauce to coat the bottom of the pan.
5. Mix together the spinach with the ricotta/mozzarella mixture and stuff into manicotti shells until completely full. Place into sauce in pan. Do this for all the shells.
6. With the remaining mixture, spread it over the top of the manicotti shells. Top this with the rest of the spaghetti sauce making sure that the manicotti are completely covered (to ensure that they do not come out chewy or hard).
7. Cover with aluminum foil and bake at 400 F for 25-30 minutes.
8. Remove from oven and recycle aluminum foil! Then enjoy!
Serves approx 2-3 people depending on hunger level!
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