Mung Bean Dahl

The co-op at uni had a sale on mung beans (I got just under a cup for 55c; I'm horrible at guesstimating weights) so I thought it was the perfect opportunity to finally try some out, after having a delicious mung bean dahl at Vege Rama.

Ingredients:

• 1 tsp each turmeric, pepper and cumin
• 1/2 tsp chilli
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1/2 an onion
• 1 cup dried mung beans
• 1 cup brown rice
• 1 tbsp parsley
• 2 handfulls spinach
• 1 cube vegetable stock
• 1 tbsp vegetable oil
• 4 cups of water

Method:

1. Put mung beans,water, vegetable stock, herbs and spices into a large pot on high, then turn down to let simmer.  You may need to add more water to keep it nice and liquidy.
2. Put brown rice and water in another pot to cook.
3. Fry onion and garlic in a pan with oil until onion is see-through.  Add to mung bean mix.
4. Take brown rice off heat once cooked.
5. Add finely chopped spinach to mung bean mix once there are 10 minutes to go (should have been cooking for about 25 minutes now, no need to worry about being exact, we only want the spinach to be wilted).
6. Take mung beans off heat, serve with rice.

Chocolate Cake

This is a combination of an altered chocolate cake recipe cobbled together from a few different sites and a chocolate icing recipe that I made up after looking at a few different non-vegan sites.  I made it for a friend's birthday and they really enjoyed it and got lots of positive feedback from all of their friends.  The batter is pretty delicious as well!

Cake Ingredients:

• 1.5 cups self raising flour
• 1 cup raw sugar
• 1/4 cup cocoa
• 1/3 cup Nuttelex
• 1 cup water
• 1 tsp vanilla

Icing Ingredients:

• 1.5 cups icing sugar
• 2-3 tbsp warm water
• 2 tsp vegan butter
• 1 tbsp cocoa

Method:

1. Mix cake ingredients together in a bowl.
2. Pour into cake tin.
3. Bake at 180C for ~35 minutes, until knife or skewer comes out clean.
4. Allow to cool for at least an hour or your icing will melt!
5. Make your icing by mixing all ingredients together.  You may need to adjust the amount of liquid to get the right consistency.
6. Serve and eat!

Rio's Rat Rescue

For the month of March, 10% of all sales and all donations from baked goods will be going to Rio's Rat Rescue.  (Let me know what flavour cupcakes you want for the markets on my facebook page!)

'Chess cute rat' by Honey Pie!

Rats are overlooked when it comes to rescues; there are many for cats and dogs (although, still not enough to deal with the amount of animals that are abandonded/neglected).  I am happy that I have finally found a rat rescue as these critters are beautiful!

'Rats are cute too...' by line68

Rio's Rat Rescue is run by a vet nurse in Brisbane.  It is a home run shelter that has only recently started out but is already having an impact.  If you would like to donate some of the items they need (cages, toys, water drippers, etc), please email rio.graham(at)hotmail.com, I'm sure they'd love to hear from you!

'rat' by woinska

 If you've been considering adopting a pet, why not take a rat in?  I myself am hoping to soon adopt two (once I hear back from the rental agency).  For information about looking after your rat, check out The Dapper Rat and for information on what to feed them, check out Veganza.

'Feirefiz, rat curieux' by DianeOzdamar

Banana Cupcakes

I was heading off with my friend to go to dinner at one of their friend's houses.  I've been raised to always take something when going to someone's house.  So I desperately scrambled around the kitchen in last minute haste, looking for something I could bake.  I found four bananas and some flour and sugar.  Using the choconana muffin and banana bread recipes, I created banana cupcakes.

Ingredients:

• 2 cups self raising flour
• 4 bananas, mashed
• 1/2 cup raw sugar
• 1/3 cup vegan butter
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 tsp cinammon
• 1/2 cup non dairy milk

 Method:

1. Mix everything in a bowl.
2. Bake at 180C for 15-20 minutes.

Split Pea Dahl

My best friend absolutely hates chickpeas (I know, I know, how could you hate them?!) so I had to find something easy and cheap to make for them while they were over.  I found this recipe and modified it a little below, and added the price of the ingredients.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup yellow split peas, uncooked      80c
• 3-4 cups water
• 2 cubes veggie stock                           40c
• 10 mushrooms                                   $2.20
• 1 tsp turmeric
• 1 tbsp Nuttelex
• 1/2 onion, diced                                  30c
• 1 1/2 tsp cumin
• 2 cloves garlic                                     5c
• dash pepper and salt, to taste
• 1 cup rice                                           90c

Method:

1. Place water, stock, peas, chopped mushrooms and turmeric in a large pot and let simmer for 25 minutes. You may need to continue adding water to ensure it's not too dry.
2. Cook rice in water in seperate pot. 
3. Fry onion, garlic, Nuttelex and cumin.
4. Add onion mix to pea mix.  Allow to simmer for another 10 minutes, until peas are soft.
5. Serve with rice.

Makes: 2-3 serves

Total: $4.65

Movie Review: END:CIV

Today I had the privilege of having the creator of END:CIV, Franklin Lopez, come in and talk to us about the film.  He explained how it was sparked by attending a talk about peak oil.  It was there that he first heard Derrick Jensen speak.  Franklin bought Derrick's books and this movie is a summation or introduction to some of the premises that are outlined within them.

It covers the death of the environmental movement, the greenwashing of products that we are sold and the destruction of the environment.  It forces us to confront the fact that the environment is our responsibility, that we are the ones who need to do something about this, that we must work together to halt the mindless consumption that the world revolves around.

This film is confronting, but it needs to be.  The issues that it covers are not small, are not going to go away and they need something to be done now.

Best Friends Rescue

The charity for the month of February is Best Friends Rescue.

Best Friends Rescue is a no-kill animal shelter that is entirely run by volunteers.  Currently they save cats and dogs from being put down and help to find them forever homes.  Last year (2011) they helped to rehome 300 dogs.

They rely entirely on donations from the public so this month I am holding a raffle, with all money going to help them.  Check it out, tickets are only $1 each and there are a couple of rad prizes.

Show some support for them on their facebook page, send them a donation or sign up to look after an animal while they help find him/her a forever home.

All photos of animals taken from the list of dogs up for adoption on the BFR page.

Tips for Going Vegan

Congratulations on deciding to either go vegan or try it out!  You’ll be helping the environment, your body and the animals.

First off, you will need to start swapping out things in your fridge and your bathroom once you’re finished using them (if you’re lucky you’ll have found someone to donate them to, but it can be expensive to switch everything over all at once).

I’ve made lists that go from room to room giving you tips.

Kitchen:

• Change dairy milk for soy/almond/hemp/hazelnut/rice milk.
• Change cheese for fake cheese or learn some recipes that make it from nuts.  Cheese is actually addictive due to a morphine-like chemical that is found in it.
• Make sure to get enough beans, nuts and legumes.  Having tins of these can be handy and cheap.
• Change icecream for diary free So Good or sorbets.
• When scanning ingredients, look for the ‘Contains:’ part.  If it says milk or egg you know it’s a no go.  Scan for bolded things.  This is a handy guide for the more hidden ingredients.  Some people remember them, some use phone apps.  Me, I just try to avoid processed food.
• Don’t be afraid to try new fruits and vegetables, you may find that your taste changes and you come to appreciate more variety.
• Don’t forget about B12, it is important.
• A good resource for recipes is vegweb.com, but really Googling anything with the word vegan tacked on is handy.
• Avocadoes, tahini, hummus and oreos seem to be very popular.
• You’ll be suprised at the number of things that are ‘accidentally vegan’, like BBQ Shapes.
• Chocolate - Sweet William is an Australian brand and a few dark chocolates are also vegan (not to mention healthier).  Hot chocolate - try raw cacao or find a brand without milk solids.

Bathroom:

• Swap your shampoo, soap, hair gel, makeup, etc for cruelty free and vegan products.  ChooseCrueltyFree is a good website to start.
• Find some cruelty free cleaning products, or you can make your own using some bi-carb and vinegar.

Bedroom:

• Buy vegan condoms such as Glyde for fun in the bedroom with people with penises.
• Change any toys for fake leather such as those made by VeganErotica.

My best tip to you is, don’t give up just because people are being mean.  Your living a compassionate lifestyle can seem challenging to others.  It can be confronting and make them reassess what it is that they are doing.  Don’t be afraid to reach out to the vegan communities that are near you or on the internet.

Don’t beat yourself up if you get something wrong, everyone does and more than once.  The point is you’re trying and you will learn.  Good luck!

Potato Chips

Ingredients

• Two big potatoes
• One sweet potato
• Oregano, dill, paprika, pepper, salt 1tsp
• 2 cloves garlic
• 2 tbsp oil

Method

1. Chop the normal potatoes into chip size, chop sweet potato half the size.
2. Mix together herbs and spices with oil in a large container.
3. Preheat oven to 210C
4. Put the chips in the container and shake til evenly coated.
5. Put on tray in oven and cook for 35-40 minutes, turning once.

Outreach

A few days ago I got to join the Green Earth Group people and help them hand out 'Eating Up The World' booklets, which you can read online by following the link.

It was a good night, we handed out about 400 or so of them and I only saw a couple get thrown into the recycling bin.  I would have preferred that they be handed back to give to someone who would appreciate the message.  I hope that at least one person went home and had a good think about the environmental consequences of what they eat.

It's been scientifically proven again and again that a vegan diet is the best diet for the environment.  A lot of people just start by having one meatless meal each week.

To find out about more events that are coming up, check out Green Earth Group's website.

Spiced Chocolate Cookies

I had a lot of random ingredients laying around the house so I tried to make some cookies using a recipe that I made up on the spot.  They ended up being a bit bland, but could probably be helped along with nuts/chocolate chips.  My friends suggested that they would make good cookies for dipping in soy milk.  Let me know what you think and how they go!  Any suggestions would be great too of course :).

 Ingredients:
*1 tsp cinnamon
*1 tsp cloves
*1 tsp ginger
*1/3 cup + 1 tbsp Nuttelex
*1/4 cup raw sugar
*1 cup flour
*2 tbsp cocoa
*2tbsp non-dairy milk

Method:
1.  Mix all ingredients together.
2.  Roll into balls and squish down.
3.  Bake 180C for 15-20mins

Makes:  About 12.

Want to do a guest spot recipe?  Contact me at kommonerkraft@yahoo.com.au!

Creator Profile: Epheriell & *bespoke*

Tell us about yourself!

I'm a 30-year-old full-time crafty lady from outside of Brisbane.  A few years back, I went from not even being able to knit in a straight line to being an obsessive crafter.  I went on a bit of a crafty odyssey till I found my craft of choice - silversmithing!

From there, a whole new world opened up for me, and I dove into the craft community.  I'm still here, and now my creations are my full-time business. When I'm not reading a novel on my kindle, that is.

My partner-in-crime is my awesome husband, Nick, who runs the household and helps me run the business, too!

 

What do you create?

I have two main businesses - my eco-friendly jewellery range, Epheriell, and my crafty zine, *bespoke*!

Epheriell is my first love and main business, and *bespoke* came along a little later. *bespoke* is a print and digital zine that comes out quarterly, and it's filled with interviews, stories, tutorials and more aimed at the creative and crafty community in Australia.

I also have a full-time daily lifestyle blog - Epheriell Designs - where I blog about craft, creativity, life and business.

 

 

Are your products vegan friendly?

Well, all of the silver I use for my Epheriell designs is 100% recycled. That is - it's harvested from old photos, industrial processes, etc, then re-refined. No newly mined metal is included. So, not specifically vegan, but certainly earth-conscious!

 

 

How long have you been making things?

I think I enjoyed making stuff as a little kid, but that kinda disappeared as I got older. I have a hideous unfinished scarf I tried to knit in my early 20s, but I think the first thing I actually finished was another scarf, once the crafting bug hit me in my late 20s. I wish I could remember which one it was now!
 

Where do you get your inspiration?

Oh, I never know how to answer this question! I'm so immersed in the creative world these days, inspiration hits me from all angles. For my jewellery designs, sometimes I'll just get a bolt out of the blue... a 'what if I tried this...' sort of idea. Sometimes I'll see a shape that sparks off an idea, or just sit down with my sketchpad and doodle till I come across a design I like.

 

 

How can people contact you?

Blog - EpheriellDesigns.com

Shop - Epheriell.com

*bespoke* zine - bespokezine.com

Twitter - twitter.com/jessvanden

Facebook - facebook.com/epheriell

Fact Sheet: Honey

Lots of people ask if honey is vegan, and some places even sell products with honey in them as vegan.

Bees are animals; they are insects and insects fall into the animal category in biological sciences.  By definition, vegans do not consume honey as it is an animal product.  The bees will collect nectar in their stomachs and there, it is turned into honey, which is then regurgitated when they get back to the hive.  Therefore, it is most definitely an animal product.

'bee on sunflower' by jlodder

However, not only is it an animal product, but there are some animal rights issues surrounding honey and its uses:

"The queen bee is usually killed every year and a new queen introduced to the colony.⁵  The queen may have her wings clipped to prevent her from flying; this is to stop the bees carrying out their natural instinct to swarm (the old queen and a large proportion of the bees leaving the nest once the colony has provided a new queen to replace her)."
Source: The Vegan Society

"Bees are often killed, or their wings and legs torn off, by haphazard handling."
Source: Saint Francis Couture

"Often, queen bees are artificially inseminated."
Source: Veganpeace.com

'Bee happy' by Glisglis

Not to mention that the bees are basically factory farmed and their honey stolen (the honey that they accumulate for the winter and hard times naturally) just so we can have something sweet in our drinks or bread.  The honey that is taken from the bees is usually replaced with sugar or syrup. 

"Some beekeeping schools and beginner’s books advocate feeding sugar syrup to bees in the fall to carry them through the winter."
Source: Hobbyfarms.com

One bee only makes 1/12 of a teaspoon of honey in its entire lifetime.  There is a good write up available here that is full of more research and in depth information if you would like to learn more.

Even if you don’t care about the animal rights issues involved in honey production, you should think about the environmental impact of what you eat (more info here too).

Alternatives to honey include: agave nectar, maple syrup, raw sugar, rice syrup and more.

Vanilla Sponge Cake

Ingredients:
Cake
*2.5 cups self raising flour
*4 tsp baking powder
*3 tsp vanilla
*2/3 cup oil
*2/3 cup sugar
*1 & 3/4 cup water

Icing
*2 cups icing sugar
*1.5 tbsp Nuttelex
*3-4 tbsp nondairy milk
*1/2 tsp vanilla

Method:
1.  Mix cake ingredients together.  If you feel the need, adjust the amount of flour/water.
2.  Bake at 180C for 25-30 minutes or until skewer comes out clean.
3. Let cool.  Prepare icing.
4.  Once cake is cool, spread icing over.

Note: I coloured it red with grey icing.  I just went from an old recipe from somewhere but altered the amounts of things slightly.  If you have any alterations to the recipe add them in the comments and let me know how it goes!

Veg*n Charities

As you all know, I donate 10% of my sales to a different charity each month.  I've currently been doing research into ones that are veg friendly i.e. do not encourage the exploitation of animals (as much, hence veg* rather than just vegan).

This is because the long term environmental effects of meat eating are terrible (e.g. climate change refugees, pollution) and I don't think that the exploitation and murder of animals for food is justified.  For example, Oxfam promotes giving people animals to use and exploit.  As such, I have researched and come up with some veg* friendly charities from around the world.

Vegetarian Orphanages

• Baan Unrak Children's Village
• East African Mission Orphanage
• Gokulam - Bhaktivedanta Children’s Home
• Narayana Seva 

Veg*n Food Aid

• A Well-Fed World
• HIPPO (vegan)
• Food For Life
• Vegfam (vegan)

Food Banks, Soup Kitchens & Restaurants

•  Lentil As Anything (pay as you feel)
• Ontario Vegetarian Food Bank
• The People’s Potato (vegan - pay what you can - no one turned away)
• Vital Connection

I have not included animal sanctuaries, animal rights advocates or rescue groups because there are so many in each country that this list would get out of control.

Know of any more?  Leave a comment or shoot me an email at kommonerkraft(at)yahoo.com.au and I will continue to update this page.

Chickpea and Potato Curry

This photo is after it was refridgerated because I forgot :p

Ingredients:
*1 cup rice
*3 potatoes
*4 tsp curry powder
*1 tsp chili powder
*1 can coconut milk
*2 cans chickpeas
*6 mushrooms, sliced
*1/2 block tofu, cubed (neglect if soy free)
*1 onion, diced
 *1/2 head cauliflower, chopped
*2 cloves garlic

Method:
1.  Put rice on to cook.
2.  Put diced potato on to cook.
3.  Fry up onion, tofu, mushrooms and garlic until onion starts to go see-through.
4.  Add chickpeas, cauliflower, coconut milk and spices to the onion/tofu mix.
5.  Once potatoes are done, add to chickpea mix.
6.  Serve with the rice.

Serves: 4 to 6

Red Beans and Rice

I've found myself with an abundance of brown rice so I'm currently working my way through my bookmarked recipes (there are a lot).

I found a recipe entitled Carribean Red Beans and Rice and decided to give it a try.

I needed substantially more water; about 1 and 1/3 cup more.  I didn't include the onion either as I had none.  In my opinion, it needed more spice, more 'oomph', but all in all it was a pleasant dish.  I was also really lazy and just put everything in the pot together and it turned out fine.  It's a nice, simple dish that is yummy.

Total: $2.95, makes 2-3 serves.

Eggplant Steaks

This post is more of an idea starter than a recipe.

There are many ways that you can prepare the eggplant.  I sliced mine into 1cm thick 'fillets' and then put them on a tea towel.  I sprinkled them with salt to help drain the moisture away (the longer you leave it, the better their texture).

I then mixed together some paprika, vegetable oil and chili powder and covered them with it.

I put them in the oven (with my casserole) for 30-40 minutes at 180C until soft (I poked one with a fork to check).  Remember to flip over and brush with oil on the other side at the 15 minute mark!

You can use them on burgers, by themselves with some veggies, chopped up on a wrap...  They're very versatile!

Fact Sheet: Chicken Eggs

We all know what eggs are, right?  The perfect ingredient for omelettes, something that you have to fiddle with to crack open and put in cake mixes.  Something that healthy people have raw.  Something that comes from chickens that roam the countryside, with farmers picking up after them.

Egg Cartons by clairegren

Eggs are, in fact, unfertilised (most of the time in commercial production) material that the chicken expels from their vent.  It is a natural part of their life; similar to how female humans experience menstruation monthly.  However, chickens in the egg industry are forced to produce eggs at a higher rate so that the most money can be made.  If their egg production falls, they will endure a forced molt in order to boost production before they are killed off.  The egg-laying hens themselves are not the only victims of the egg industry.  Twelve million male chicks are killed each year as a by-product of the egg industry.

Discarded male chicks - Animals Australia

The egg industry made $340 million dollars in 2005-06 thanks to the exploitation of 13 million chickens forced to sit there each day giving you an egg.  Chickens are intelligent creatures capable of communicating with one another, learning tricks and problem solving.  In the egg industry, they are confined to cages with 550 square centimetres per bird.  If you have a ruler near you, it's equivalent to 22cm x 25cm worth of room.  Not only this but the birds are debeaked and can suffer multiple injuries due to not being able to walk around, stretch their wings or socialise normally.

Battery Hen Australia - Source

But surely it's different on free-range farms, right?  Wrong.  They still don't need the male chicks, they still need to breed the egg layers, they still need to kill off the egg layers once they've reached the end of their useful lifespan.  Not only this but they are, obviously, still motivated by profit, which requires using the least resources possible to get the same amount of eggs.  As such, 'free-range' does not really mean what most people are led to believe and there is no legally enforceable standard in Australia currently.  In 2011, the Australian Egg Corporation started taking steps to make a legally enforceable definition of free range which would allow 20,000 chickens per hectare, which Animals Australia campaigned against.  This is not even 10x more space than current regulations for 'normal' egg production (they would have 1m x 50cm in which to roam).

Photo of a rescue by UPROAR!

If left on their own, chickens will naturally eat their own eggs in order to take the nutrients back into their body.  It takes a lot of energy and the shell uses up a lot of calcium that would be better off put back into their bodies for the next round.  If you have a chicken, break the egg open for them to eat or consider grinding up the chicken shell to feed back to them for calcium.

Want to know more about going egg free?  Check out WhyVeg or VegWeb for recipes for tofu scramble, cookies, cakes and muffins.  

Want to rescue a chicken?  The Battery Hen Adoption Project seeks to find people to adopt hens that would otherwise be killed by the egg industry.

Charity: Rainforest Rescue

The charity that I have chosen for the month of January 2012 is Rainforest Rescue.  I chose them due to their diligent work in reforestation and protecting the environment.  Without the environment being protected, there would be nowhere for animals to live nor any clean air for us to breathe.

Rainforest & Moss by Tim√

"Rainforest Rescue is a not-for-profit organisation that has been protecting and restoring rainforests in Australia and internationally since 1998 by providing opportunities for individuals and businesses to Protect Rainforests Forever.  Our projects re-establish rainforests through planting, maintenance and restoration programs, as well as purchasing and protecting high conservation value rainforest and preserving its biodiversity."

Rainforest Pyramind by ahknight

As usual, 10% of all sales will be going to the charity of the month (as well as any extra that you want to give) and 100% of donations for vegan baked goods at markets will also go to the charity of the month.