You are a superstar

Into the second week of the new year and I have been in touch with readers who have been eating more and more vegan meals this year. As a new vegan, or as someone who is trying to be as vegan as they think they can be at this time, it can be overwhelming at times. It's easy to read vegan websites, magazines, and blogs and see all of these vegan superstars out there. The bigger of a star they seem in your head the smaller your "little" actions might look. Please don't buy into that bs.

I remember sitting with a friend of mine many years ago. She was devastated as a long term relationship was ending, work was beyond crazy, and she felt like she was the worst activist ever as she hadn't had time to do much besides work on her relationship and bust it at work. I told her that she was amazing and that sometimes in this crazy life, we vegan, animal rights activists have to be OK with just being vegan. That can be our big action for the time being. We cannot judge our insides with someone elses outsides, in that people we might look up to as superstar vegan are just as human as we are.

Simply put, in order to be of best service to the billions of animals that suffer every day, we have to take care of ourselves and our family first. I am no good to the voiceless if I have gotten so exhausted, cranky, and judgmental that folks look at me and say no thanks to veganism. What a tragedy that would be for the animals.

If you're feeling overwhelmed and would like ideas that are simple and not all that time consuming, check these out:

Find out who your city council member, state representative, state senator or US Congressman is and send them an email telling them that you're vegan and why. And that you vote.

Go walk a dog at the local shelter. I promote this a lot. As good as it is for the dog, if you're having rough times, it will be amazing for you.

Ask your favorite restaurant to create a Meatless Monday special.

If your local library has a display case, ask them if you can do a vegan display one month. We have done this and it doesn't take a long time yet reaches so many people.

Make a delish vegan dessert for your co-workers. Yum!

Buy a vegan message tshirt from Mercy For Animals, Vegan Outreach, PETA, or Farm Sanctuary and wear it on a walk or to the gym.

Check out one of the many vegan cooking blogs (you can connect from here) and make yourself (or you and a friend/mate) a delish vegan meal.

YOU are the superstar.

Thanks for reading.

Why I don't go to the rodeo

I'm sure the title of this post will not surprise you. As long as my memory is, I never remember thinking that a rodeo was someplace I would go or something I would support. My main reason in not supporting any rodeo (except a human rodeo and I'll get to that) is because of the inherent issue of animal cruelty.

For the life of me I cannot imagine how anyone would think calf roping is not cruel. A terrified calf running for what she may think is her life, being roped and thrown to the ground.

I know, I've heard it many times since moving to the west: "it's our culture". A culture I want nothing to do with.

The National Western Stock Show opened last weekend in Denver. It has been around for over 100 years I think. Tens of thousands will go pet goats and buy cowboy hats and then watch a rodeo. It's entertaining. It's fun. Not for the animals involved. It's always a period of time where I try to not watch local TV as much so I can skip the commercials and the local news stations "sponsorships" of the event. Most reporters in the area trip over each other to make the point that THEY are the biggest fan of the stock show.

As one who tries to look at the good in everything I see, I do see some positive parts of this. People get to meet their meat. They get to look in the eyes of another sentient being, a being that does not want to be tortured, terrorized, or killed. A being that will in most cases feel relief the day they are finally killed and the hell they have experienced will be over. I also think that perhaps a majority of folks who have booths at the stock show or finance the stock show are against the horrors of factory farming. We all have more in common than not.

I also have a tough time with the Stock Show because I don't think it's a very friendly place for a married gay couple. I know many of the folks who support the stock show also support anti-gay politicians, and when driving in cattle country during election season one sees a lot of signs for very anti-gay candidates. But who knows, maybe even folks at the stock show are coming around.

Another possible positive thing for folks attending, if they love animals, which most people do, they will get to see that animals used in a rodeo are not having fun. They are simply product used to create an entertainment form that I hope one day will be history. A true entertaining rodeo would be with humans only, some type of physical-testing weekend of events. How many guys can a guy carry across an arena? How about a muscled cowboy trying to rope another guy? I have seen those couples sporting events where the man carries his wife/girlfriend through a series of sports challenges. That is a great form of entertainment. And just like Cirque du Soleil has reaped crazy profits from a circus without animals, I'm sure one day someone will reap crazy profits from a rodeo without animals.

Thanks for reading.

Cooking at home

We know several people who have decided to explore veganism in 2012 and we want to support them as much as possible. One of the ways we promote veganism is by feeding people amazing vegan food. Many people who are not vegan yet are completely surprised by how delish "our" food is.

One doesn't need to be a chef to create a simple, scrumptious vegan meal. There are many, many vegan recipes out there, and to find some amazing ones just click onto one of the links we have here and check out some of the bloggers we adore who blog about cooking and post recipes. You'll go from WOW to YUM in a matter of minutes as you create their recipes.

I am a great example of one who thought cooking vegan would be tough, but love it. Mike does most of the cooking so me warming up leftovers from his creations is easy. Yet I am pretty good in the kitchen too. One of my favorites is cooking up some fresh kale or swiss chard. It is this easy: heat up a little olive oil in a cast iron skillet. Chop up the kale or swiss chard and add it to the heating olive oil. Add a tiny bit of salt and a nice amount of cayenne pepper and boom, there it is. This is more of a side dish but if you add your favorite bean and maybe some beets it can become a full meal.

We use the cast iron skillet a lot. It's a great tool for cooking.

Another easy dish is a simple scrambled tofu. Most vegan cookbooks have a recipe and they are simple. I love making this on a Sunday morning, just add toast with my favorite mango pepper jam! Scrambled tofu is just firm or extra firm tofu crumbled up in your perfect cast iron skillet with a little olive oil, some onions (I usually saute the onions first, then add the tofu), nutritional yeast, tumeric, some kale or swiss chard, a tiny bit of salt, some pepper and you are on your way. When I want to be decadent I add Daiya cheese. Mmmmm.

Cooking at home is so much fun. I love cooking with Mike. It adds to a perfect date night. And each time you make something you can change the recipe a bit and begin creating a whole new dish.

Try it out and let us know what you made. And we'd love to hear about your favorite vegan recipe. Finally, don't forget to check out some of the vegan cooking blogs linked from our site.

Thank you for reading!

Ashton the (senior) dog needs a home

If you have been reading our blog you most likely have already read about Ashton. She is a nine year old cocker mix who was brought to a shelter with her "brother" after her family could not afford the two dogs any more. The brother was adopted. Ashton went into a deep depression (losing her brother, being in a cage in a noisy place)and the shelter called us asking if we would foster her just to get her out of the shelter. This was over two months ago.

And so goes the life for older dogs in shelters. Ashton has bad allergies and a chronic ear condition that requires daily cleaning. Add that to her age and her chances of finding a permanent home get even lower.

She is a love. A total love. When she looks at you she wags her tail, and just keeps wagging it. She loves to have her belly rubbed and loves to be right at your side.

Our home is filled with older dogs. We adopted Shadow when she was 14. At 18 she is plugging along and is such a huge part of our lives. Rock is 12 and Suga is 9.

Ashton needs a home. Older, senior dogs and cats just want a place to nap and a couple of good meals a day. And love. All really easy things to provide. They make wonderful companions and add so much to the home. In almost all cases they don't tear things up and are already trained to go to the bathroom outside. Yet shelters all over the country are filled with them. For many the cage at the shelter is their last stop.

If you live in the Denver area and would like to meet Ashton, just let us know. If you would like to help senior dogs or cats in your area, just swing by your local shelter and tell them you want to help. You will make their day and the animals' day. And you will be touched for sure!

Thanks for reading!