Green Gal

Sabore, a Maasai warrior I met two years ago (Photo credit: Asante Africa ) Today in AP Human Geography, my friends and I presented our end-of-the-year project. We chose the African country of Kenya because my good friend Taylor visited Kenya last summer with her church, so she knew a bit about the culture already. As it turns out, I too know a bit about the culture, having read about the nomadic pastoral lifestyle practiced by many Kenyan people in Man on Earth by John Reader. I also met a Maasai warrior named Sabore and a teacher named Hellen from Kenya at a presentation by Asante Africa at my school two years ago. At the presentation, I purchased a hand-made bracelet and a piece of cloth which is typically worn as clothing. I use it as a table cloth in my room (see it in pictures on this blog post ). Here is the video of Hellen Nkuraiya (see it on the Asante Africa website here ): To prepare for our presentation, yesterday Taylor and I made Kenyan chapati, a type of fr...

Yesterday after purchasing some lovely organic, local produce , I felt inspired to make some soup, something I'd never done before. My grandma had given me a recipe that my cousin had sent her for vegetable soup. It sounded delicious, so I followed the basic instructions but used whatever veggies we had in the house. My cousin had found the recipe for "Tuscan Vegetable Soup" here . My vegetable soup (with the help of my step-mom) included: - 2 organic carrots I purchased at the Farmers Market, sliced - 1 small organic white onion (also from the Farmers Market), diced - about a dozen organic new potatoes, sliced - 3 handfuls of spinach - 2 organic celery stalks, chopped - 32 ounces of organic vegetable broth - a can of organic Great Northern beans, drained and rinsed - 2 cloves of garlic, minced - a handful of chopped parsley - some sprinkles of organic all purpose seasoning - many dashes of salt until the soup was well-flavored - 1 tablespoon organic olive oil It was my f...

It's always encouraging to see mainstream evidence of environmental concern. Real Simple magazine 's Daily Finds email newsletter has lately been encouraging meatless meals. While they are also trying to support a healthier diet, there is of course the environmental sensitivity aspect . Here are some articles from their website: 3 Reasons to Cut Down on Meat 6 Meatless Meals (for Meat Lovers) 25 Vegetarian Main-Course Recipes Are You Scared of Tofu? And, of course, they have a countless number of meatless (and vegan!) recipes on their website . --- This Wednesday I'm meeting with Mr. Bill Radulovich to discuss a "Green Student" internship. I'll post more about it after Wednesday. I'm riding my bike there after school and I've invited the other students who are attending to ride along with me. I'll let you know if anyone joins me :) Have a great Labor Day! Green Gal

Hey everyone, sorry for the absence. My sister is home from the hospital and doing great so I finally have a chance to update my blog! I spent some time at my aunt's house in the country. She helped me figure out some tasty, simple vegan recipes that I can make for dinner at home. I tried out new things, like making tortilla chips and seasoning tofu ground beef with taco sauce for making tacos (a major staple for me--I eat tacos all the time because they're so easy!). I also had breakfast burritos with tofu sausages and hash browns and ate frosting-less strawberry Pop Tarts. At this point, I'm relying on substitutes for meat for a lot of meals because it's a lot easier than making vegetables with rice or other grains for every meal. And it makes it more normal for me to eat with a group--like up at the cabin with the entire family. Here are some great vegan foods that I've tried and enjoy: - Morning Star Farms® Hickory BBQ Riblets (great for when your non-vegan fri...

I've compiled for myself some vegan resources that I hope will be helpful to me as I embark on my vegan voyage tomorrow. I tried to find a printable, pocket-sized list of animal ingredients that I may not be aware of when looking at ingredient lists. From PETA , I found a list with explanations and alternatives and then condensed the ingredients down, removing the additional information. Here is the list (You can copy and past into a word document, change font to 8-pt. Arial, make the page landscape and all margins .9 and it should all fit onto one page that you can print and fold up into a wallet.): Adrenaline. Alanine. Albumen. Albumin. Alcloxa. Aldioxa. Aliphatic Alcohol. Allantoin. Alligator Skin. Alpha-Hydroxy Acids. Ambergris. Amino Acids. Aminosuccinate Acid. Angora. Animal Fats and Oils. Animal Hair. Arachidonic Acid. Arachidyl Proprionate. Aspartic Acid. Aminosuccinate Acid. Bee Pollen. Bee Products. Beeswax. Honeycomb. Benzoic Acid. Beta Carotene. Biotin. Vitamin H. Vitam...

I've been a little neglectful of my blog these past weeks. I was camping, cabining, and spending time with my sister, so I haven't had a chance to sign on and write. But now I have a chance, and figure I should post a Meatless Mondays meal since I haven't in a while. Salad pita sandwich Ingredients: - your favorite pita bread - organic lettuce, tomatoes, carrots, onions, olives, guacamole--anything you enjoy in salads (except meat or chicken, of course!) - your favorite organic salad dressing--avoid dressings with dairy products if you want to go cow-free for your Meatless Monday . My personal favorite dressing is honey-mustard. Directions: 1. Chop carrots, tomatoes, onions, olives, etc. into bite-sized pieces. 2. Open the pita bread pocket so you can stuff things inside without things falling through the other end. 3. Stuff lettuce in to the bottom, being careful not to poke through the bread. 4. In which ever order you'd like, place the different veggies into the pock...

Joey Lee, executive assistant for Meatless Mondays, recently commented on my blog post , encouraging me to begin a weekly Meatless Mondays recipe post with pictures and recipe information for interesting, yummy, nutritious meatless meals. I’m hesitant to take on this project because of the obligation I am creating for myself, but I might as well try. It may turn into a bi-weekly or monthly post, depending on how well it works out. I’m not a huge cook, but I am definitely participating in Meatless Mondays (and have eliminated all beef from my diet), so I want to spread the word and encourage others to try it out. My first meal is a vegetable kabob dish with brown rice on the side. I bought my veggies pre-kabobbed from Trader Joes (so I didn’t pluck them from my own garden or select them from the farmers market), but making this meal with local, organic veggies only makes it taste better—and reduces your environmental impact! And the recipe is really quite simple. Ingredients: - fresh, ...