Have Gone Vegan

variation of pasta dish below

another pasta dish,
originally uploaded by Tulip Girl.

This time I used whole wheat rotini instead of elbow noodles, and Romano instead of navy beans, and I have to admit I liked it even better than before. And because it makes so much I get at least three meals out of it which is great as I bring some of them to work!

super easy pasta dish

quick easy pasta dish,
originally uploaded by Tulip Girl.

I'm always looking for things that are easy to make, with not too many ingredients, hearty and filling, and enough to last me for at least a couple of days! This pasta dish did the trick, and adding the beans made it healthy too. Yum. Oh, click on the pic to see what I used. :)

more good news

From an email sent to me by the International Fund for Animal Welfare:

Incredible news. In an historic victory more than 15 years in the making, Russia today announced a complete ban on the hunting of all harp seals less than one year of age.

YOUR calls and letters have made a huge difference. Nearly 40,000 messages were written for Prime Minister Putin in the last month alone.

You have helped save up to 35,000 baby seals this year from a cruel and brutal slaughter in the White Sea.

Thanks to your support, IFAW has worked tirelessly in Russia to end this hunt since we opened our office there in 1994. We were the first organization to visit the ice and expose the bloody cruelty within Russia when it was virtually unknown - despite being physically assaulted by sealers and enduring powerful opposition from Russian government officials.

Over the past year, IFAW organized a wave of anti-hunt protests in 25 cities across Russia. This public outcry led to mounting pressure on Russia's government to formally address the need to close the harp seal hunt.

And when a ban on just whitecoat pups (up to about 11 days old) was announced in February, we continued to push through the road blocks of fisheries officials to provide the scientific evidence needed to argue for a full ban.

This is your victory. It's time to celebrate ...

And then tackle Canada's commercial seal hunt!

who doesn't love mashed potatoes?

My good friend Krissa forwarded a recipe for mashed sweet potatoes from the George Manteljan Foundation. I love sweet potatoes myself (are they different from yams?), but have never thought of mashing them. I usually roast or boil them instead, so I'll have to try this! But I have to ask: What is garam masala?

Healthy Mashed Sweet Potatoes - no dairy

This full flavored sweet potato dish is quick and easy to prepare for an interesting, and healthy way to serve potatoes that are traditionally full of calories. In fact one serving of this recipe contains only 98 calories but provides 249% of your daily value (DV) for vitamin A! You will find the flavors of the spice mixture and orange juice a wonderful complement to the flavor of the potatoes. Enjoy!

Prep and Cook Time: 15 minutes

Ingredients:

• 2 medium sized sweet potatoes or yams, sliced thin for quick cooking
• 2 TBS fresh orange juice
• ½ tsp garam masala
• 1 TBS extra virgin olive oil
• salt and white pepper to taste

Directions:

1. Bring lightly salted water to a boil in a steamer with a tight fitting lid.
2. Peel, slice and steam sweet potatoes in steamer basket, covered, for about 10 minutes, or until tender
3. When tender, mash with potato masher, adding rest of ingredients. Serves 4

Healthy Cooking Tips:

If you do not have sensitivity to fats, an extra TBS olive oil will give it a richer taste.

some good news for a change

Received the following bulletin from the Ontario SPCA earlier this month:

Dear supporter:

At Queen's Park on April 3, 2008, Community Safety and Correctional Services Minister Rick Bartolucci tabled Bill 50, the 'Provincial Animal Welfare Act' to amend the 89-year old Ontario SPCA Act. On March 1, 2009 the Ontario government proclaimed Bill 50 into law.

The amended Ontario SPCA Act widens the definition of animal cruelty, improves the Ontario SPCA's ability to address critical animal welfare issues and allows our investigators to bring more abusers to justice. Now Ontario has some of the strongest animal welfare legislation in the country!

Key changes include:

• Establishing new provincial offences against animal cruelty, including causing or permitting distress.
• Providing judges with greater flexibility to impose stiffer penalties, including jail time, fines up to $60,000 and a potential lifetime ban on animal ownership.
• Providing inspection powers to the Ontario SPCA; allowing investigators to inspect premises where animals are kept for the purposes of exhibit, entertainment, boarding, sale or hire.
• Permitting the Society to apply for custody of an animal victim while a case is still before the courts.
• Expanding the standards of care to be applicable to all animals, not just dogs and cats.
• Requiring veterinarians to report suspected animal abuse or neglect with protection under the law.
• Making it an offense to train an animal to fight with another animal or to own animal fighting equipment.
• Making it an offense to harm a law enforcement animal, such as a dog or a horse.

The Ontario SPCA is one of the largest and most responsive animal welfare organizations in the country, representing a network of 50 communities across the province. While it is unfortunate, the fact remains that we investigate more than 16,000 allegations of abuse and neglect yearly. As a result of those investigations alone, more than 9,000 animals come into the Society's care requiring veterinary care, sheltering and re-homing.

Our peace officers province-wide investigate heinous crimes on a daily basis. A recent cockfighting case in East Gwillimbury, which received wide-spread media attention, is one such example. With the proclamation of this legislation, new provincial offences for the training of animals to fight and the ownership of animal fighting equipment now exist.

We see unimaginable cruelty on a daily basis. This new legislation gives us hope that we can decrease abuse and save more lives. This is an historic day in animal welfare for the province of Ontario and for the Ontario SPCA. The Society looks forward to working on behalf of Ontarians to address concerns for the well-being of all animals.

To learn more visit www.ontariospca.ca

Sincerely

Kate MacDonald
CEO, Ontario SPCA

Yay, a step in the right direction!

homemade pea soup

can't beat homemade pea soup,
originally uploaded by Tulip Girl.

I love most soups, but split pea soup is probably one of my favourites. Easy to make, filling, hearty, and perfect for winter. Will miss this as spring finally makes her appearance, but that's a sacrifice I'm more than ready to make! :)