Animal Friendly Pet Food

It's not really all that hard to make smart, healthy, and animal friendly choices when deciding on what to feed myself, but when it comes to my pets, I'm having some trouble! I've been reading on the internet about raising pets as vegans. I love the idea of it but I haven't been informed enough on the the health facts of vegan diets for cats and dogs yet to make that decision for them. They love meat! I mean go crazy for it! I hate giving it to them. I have been reading up on animal friendly pet food manufacturers. My sister, Toot, has worked at an Animal Hospital for 17 years. She has four dogs of her own. She is extremely picky about what she feeds them. I called her for advice and she recommended Eagle Pack Holistic Select. I read about their company and they seem to check out. They are listed on the Companion Animal Food Guide on the Caring Consumer website: http://www.caringconsumer.com/resources_foodguide.asp as being a company that does not perform animal testing. They claim to be hormone free and to have no added antibiotics.
Here's a link to Eagle Pack if you want to read more: http://www.eaglepack.com/index.html

This dog and cat food is not cheap folks so I hope it's totally worth it! Reviews I read say it is. I had a hard time finding a local place that carries Eagle Pack. I ended up ordering in bulk on line because it saved me money even with the shipping. The best deal I found was Hearty Pet Pet http://www.heartypet.com/ which beat everyone else's prices by 20 bucks for my order of 2 33 lb bags of dog food, 2 cases of canned, and 1 16lb bag of catfood. I think it's because they're having a sale on Eagle Pack.

I read about many other companies. Paul Newman's Organics seems to be a good choice too. You can get that brand at Ellwood Thompson's and some other local pet stores.

I would love any feedback on this issue. This is all new to me. I have 5 pets which equals a lot of food. I'd like to feed them the best and most cruelty free products I can afford. Please respond if you have links, suggestions, etc.
Thanks so much,

Mary, Doctor Stevens, Nurse Hazel, Bonesy Jonesy, Wanda Lewis, and Peter J. Cat :>

Pics from Recent Vegan Recipes

The vegan cooking is going very well. I'm having a blast making new dishes and sharing them with friends. Here are a few pics:Portobello Stoganoff
Home Made Seitan
Sweet Potato Fries (baked)
Kale and Beans

Vegan Cup Cakes

Tonight I made "Fauxtess" (like Hostess) cupcakes from the Vegan with a Vengeance cookbook. The recipe was for chocolate of course, and that's what my taste testers wanted, but I can't eat the chocolate because of my allergies so I made half without cocoa powder so I could eat some too. I chose "Fluffy White" from the icing recipes. Very creamy and sweet. I don't think anyone would have know these cupcakes were vegan if I hadn't told them. They totally satisfied our sweet teeth tonight!

Cool Vegan Shoes and Bags

Just thought I'd post links to some great vegan shopping sites I discovered in my search to not only eat with a conscience but to dress with one too. I ordered this cute ladybug bag. http://www.alternativeoutfitters.com/Bungalow360-Barbie-Ladybug-Canvas-Vegan-Satchel-Bag.aspx
I know you can find animal friendly products in stores all over the place but after shoe shopping today I realized how hard it is to know if the leather is really leather or pleather or who knows what. I decided to hop on line and order from vegan sites that made it easy to know for sure. I ordered that bag, and new pair of crocs. Most Crocs are vegan. There are a few styles that have leather straps. I also ordered these sweet purple kicks from Keep. Keep was mentioned on the Today show recently for their comfortable vegan shoes! Check out their site too: Keep Company

Vegan so far......

So, it's been a little over a week since I purchased the Vegan with a Vengeance cook book to kick start myself towards living a more vegan lifestyle. My first step was to read the cookbook and make a list of main ingredients that I would need on hand. I made a trip to my favorite local health food store Ellwood Thompsons: http://www.ellwoodthompsons.com
I love that Elwoods soooo much! I wish I could afford to do all of my shopping there but I can't so I just load up on stuff I can't get at the regular grocery store. I am now stocked with TVP, Nutritional Yeast, Braggs Amino Liquid, Vital Wheat Gluten (for making seitan), coriander seeds, cardamom pods, turmeric, raw walnuts, carob chips (I am very allergic to chocolate), and a few more staples.

Here are my first three trial recipes from Vegan with a Vengeance:

Potato Edamame Samosas with Coconut Mint Chutney:

I had never made samosas before. They are fun and super easy to make... once you get the samosa pocket technique down that is! Here's a link to a video I watched for some help with that: http://www.wonderhowto.com/how-to/video/how-to-make-samosa-115649/
3 cups flour
3/4 cups soy milk
3 tablespoons oil
1 tablespoon tumeric
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon or more of salt

You can pretty much make the stuffing out of whatever you want. I baked mine in the oven and they were totally delicious. You just have to make sure you brush them with vegetable oil and that your cookie pan is coated. You should flip them about half way through baking them too. They take about 20 mins to cook. You could make a ton and freeze them. I made two batches, one with a potato stuffing, and the other with a green pea and mushroom stuffing. Both awesome.



Tofu Scramble: I like to call this dish SCRAM. It's more fun. I loved this meal. It is supposed to be kind of like spicy scrambled eggs and mushrooms but thankfully it tastes nothing like scrambled eggs. Eggs are my least favorite food on earth no matter what way you fix 'em. I've tried them again and again over the years just to see if my tastes may have changed but I just can't do it. The smell is too much like a fart for me to put it in my mouth, and the texture of the whites... YICK! I could go on and on about my hatred of eggs. I'm sure there are many of you reading this that could go on and on even longer about your love affair with them. Anywho, so this dish does not taste or smell like eggs and I love it. It's quick and easy to make. I served it over a bed of fresh uncooked spinach leaves and coconut jasmine rice. I topped it with a swirl of pineapple chili sauce and diced cilantro leaves.
I can't wait to make it again!


Seitan Portobello Stroganoff:
This dish is for cold days when you want some hearty comfort food. I liked it a lot. I wouldn't make this weekly because it's so filling and heavy but I can see myself craving it's big burgundy flavor and wide noodles during a snow storm or on a cold fall night. I made my own seitan instead of store bought which was a good lesson since I'll be using seitan in tons of vegan recipes. I'd eaten seitan (say-tahn) before but didn't know what the heck it was. It's just a dough made from vital wheat gluten. You can flavor it however you want. It's great for adding girth and texture. Here's a link to the video I watched before making it. I didn't follow all these instructions. I didn't use a food processor for the dough I just worked it by hand. I also added extra flavorings to the stock I boiled it in but this is still a good video to show you how easy it is to make: http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&VideoID=40673776
You can freeze any left over seitan you have for your next dish.

That's all for this week. It's been an easy and adventurous start. I like researching ingredients and putting it all together in the kitchen. I hope you will too.

Starting Line: Vegan Waffles

I have decided to lean the way of the Vegan. This is something I've wanted to do for quite a while. I just wasn't ready to let go of cheese and dairy... oh my God and butter! I thought I wouldn't be able to do it. But, now I feel ready, the time is right. The more I read about the inhumane treatment to animals even on dairy farms and farms that are supposed to be more animal friendly, the more I feel it's the least I can do in my own daily life to help make the world a little bit better. I really want to do this. I bought a new cook book yesterday and read almost all of it last night. It is a great cook book. If you're interested, check out this link:

http://www.theppk.com/veganwithavengeance.html

The recipes look super delicious. I can't wait to try them out! My plan is to veganize any food that I prepare for myself, and to order vegan when I eat out. If someone else is preparing food for me, if I am a guest, then I will try to remain on the vegan diet but will resort to just eating vegetarian if it's not convenient for my host. I think this is a great way to start.
This is day one, March 1st. I am having waffles and black coffee for breakfast. My parents gave me a waffle maker for Christmas. I have used it at least twice a week every week since January. It's amazing. The waffles called for eggs and milk. I substituted ground flaxseed for the eggs, and just used an equal amount of soy milk instead of cows milk. I always doctor up my waffles with fruit and nuts, this morning I'm having them with blueberries and almonds. Here's the recipe:

2 cups Bisquick Heart Smart pancake/waffle mix
3 tablespoons (or more if you'd like) ground flaxseed
1 cup chopped raw almonds
1 cup frozen wild blueberries
1 cup soy milk
2 table spoons vegetable oil

stir together and pour onto piping hot waffle iron! Deliciousness will be yours in just a few short minutes... GUILT FREE! Enjoy!

New Years Fusion Black Eyed Peas

I grew up eating black eyed peas on New Years Day for good luck. I never really liked them but I ate at least a spoon full to take part in the family tradition. My family prepared them the local way: canned black eyed peas simmered with a piece of fat meat, onions, salt and pepper. We always ate them with a swirl of yellow mustard on top. They were always mushy and just YUK.
This year I decided to do things differently. To start with I used dried black eyed peas instead of canned. This changed everything. I didn't want them to be mushy so I decided to roast them. I also wanted more flavor. I mixed sweet, salty, and spicy to go with the savoriness of the beans. This recipe turned out to be so delicious that I will make it anytime not just on New Years.

Ingredients:

2 bags of dry black eyed peas

5 scallions sliced

1 large orange pepper diced

1 large banana pepper diced

1/2 cup crushed sugar coated almonds

1/2 cup diced dried Asian pears (you can use dried apricots or apples if you can't find the pears)

1 1/4 cup olive oil

1/2 cup yellow mustard

2 tablespoons cumin

2 tablespoons curry powder

1 tablespoon cardamom

1 tablespoon brown sugar

cayenne pepper to taste

crushed red chili pepper flakes to taste

sea salt to taste


First soak two bags of dried black eyed peas overnight
Drain them and rinse them well
Put them back in a large pot and boil them for about 20 to 30 minutes or until tender... NOT MUSHY... be very careful not to over boil them. Keep testing them while they are boiling. Remember they are going to be roasted too.
Meanwhile slice scallions into thin rounds and dice your peppers
Put scallions and peppers in a large bowl
Mix in all other ingredients (except for your beans) and stir
When your beans are done strain and rinse them. Rinse out the pot you boiled them in and put the beans back in it
Pour your pepper and scallion marinade over the beans.
Stir until completely mixed
Pour into two 9 x 13 glass baking dishes
Place in oven on 350 for half an hour

Serve with a dollop of sour cream and some chips or however you want.

Good and good for you.