The Vegan and Vegetarian Secrets Blog …

We’ve been getting kilos and kilos of tomatoes from our Veggie Patch recently, so we thought we’d share just one of the many tomato based recipes we’ve cooked recently. So here is a very simple tomato soup recipe for you.

Enjoy!

Quick Tomato Soup 

• 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 2 medium onions, finely diced
• 2 carrots, finely diced
• 3 stalks celery, finely chopped
• 1 piece of turnip, cut into small pieces
• 1 sprig of thyme,
• 1 bouquet garni
• 1 bay leaf
• 2 pints (1.2 litres) vegetable stock
• 1 leek, finely diced
• 2 tins crushed tomatoes (or 3-4 cups fresh tomatoes)
• 2 tablespoons tomato paste
• 1 teaspoon sugar, salt and pepper

Heat oil in large saucepan, add the onion and carrot and stir well for about 2 minutes over medium heat

Add celery and turnip and continue stirring for a further 2 minutes.  Add the herbs and the stock, bring to boil and simmer for 20 minutes

Add the leek, tomatoes, tomato paste, sugar and seasoning , stir well and allow to simmer for a further 20 minutes or until the vegetables are tender

Serve garnished with the fresh herbs.

Author: Jeff Popick

On page one of the Bible the Judeo-Christian and Muslim God tells man, “I have given you every herb yielding seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed, to you it shall be for food” And, he saw that this was “very good,” a paradise.

 Then, on page six, after mankind began eating meat (murdered animals), God said, “In toil shall you eat of it all the days of your life.” This is the very point at which paradise is destroyed and from where all problems emanate.

 Interestingly, there is a millennial debate over whether the forbidden fruit was an apple or fig. But this is nothing more than a clear (and self-serving) misinterpretation by meat-eaters. EVERY TREE (in which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed) includes apples and figs … and EVERY other fruit, as well.

 How could any real fruit be forbidden? The answer, of course, is fruit isn’t forbidden at all. It is the very thing, according to the Bible, that God gave man to eat. So what is it that God logically forbade man to eat?

 Let’s consider that God is love. Can love, in any way, be associated with systematic and cold-blooded killing? Of course not. Such behavior is anti-love and, therefore, anti-God. That is why it is forbidden in a paradise, because it destroys paradise. (Even the Buddha said, “To become vegetarian is to step into the stream which leads to Nirvana.”)

 On page five of the Bible, Eve said, “Of the fruit of the trees of the garden we may eat; but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said: Ye shall not eat of it…”

 ”Tree of the Garden is clearly literal. We all know what trees are and we all know what a garden is. Conversely, “the tree that is in the midst of the garden” is clearly metaphorical for God himself; and His “fruit” is sentient life. (My apologies for the gender description of God.)

 To digress for a moment, on page one of the bible God said, “…and to every beast of the earth, and to every fowl of the air, and to every thing that creepeth upon the earth, wherein there is a living soul, [I have given] every green herb for food.” Not only is God emphasizing that plants are food, but he is also clearly telling us that all animals have a soul.

 So what is a soul? The soul is the essence of love, and it is our connection to God. Devouring animals is like devouring God; it is anti-love and, therefore, must be forbidden to have a paradise – the place where God lives.

 If we wish to return to paradise, we must also return to the behavior necessary for paradise. If you want to help create (perhaps more apropos, recreate) a paradise on Earth, you must adopt a loving (and healthy) vegan diet. If you would like to learn more, go to Jeff Popick

About the author: Jeff Popick, also known as “The Vegan Sage,” is a keen visionary and one of the leading experts on the diverse effects our diet has on our lives and our world.

Jeff has worn many hats over the years, from Hollywood stunt man, to lively radio host (“Vegetarian Lifestyles,” KIEV 870 AM, Los Angeles) to millionaire businessman to passionate author & speaker. Jeff Popick

Did you Know that living a Vegetarian Lifestyle Could Help Impact MASSIVE Changes in Global Warming?

Well here are just a few reasons why . . .

• It takes 22 times the acres of land to meet the food energy needs of one person eating meat than it does for one person eating potatoes.
• It takes more than 13 times the water to produce one day’s food supply for an omnivore than it does for a vegan.
• It takes 27 times the petroleum to produce a hamburger than it does a soy burger.
• The land animals confined and killed every year excrete 130 times the feces and urine produced by humans.
• Livestock production also utilizes more than eight percent of global water use, primarily for feed-crop irrigation.
• The annual greenhouse gas output from burger consumption is the equivalent to the annual greenhouse gas output from between four and 13 million SUVs.
• In the Amazon, approximately 60-70 percent of deforestation results from cattle ranches and soybean cultivation.
• And according to a UN FAO report, “in all, livestock production amounts to 70 percent of all agricultural land and 30 percent of the land surface of this planet.” The USDA says growing crops for animals takes up 80 percent of the agricultural land in the US and animals raised for food in the US consume 90 percent of the soy crop, 80 percent of the corn and 70 percent of its grain.

(Ref: VegNews)

This has been one of my fave recipes for a while now, it’s quick and easy plus can be adapted with extra vegetables and even changed with different types of tofu like firm or silken. Great for a lazy Sunday brunch or even to trick the non-veggies into thinking they are actually eating the real thing!

* Scramble Tofu with Mushrooms *

You will need:

• 40g vegan margarine
• 600g button mushrooms
• 1 clove garlic
• 2 spring onions
• 2-4 leaves of Silverbeet (as much or as little as you desire)
• 1 Carrot finely grated 
• 400g firm tofu, drained and crumbled
• 1 tspn tamari
• 1 Tbs finely chopped parsley
• 8 thick slices of crusty sour dough bread

Method:

1. Melt 1 tablespoon margarine in frying pan (or use a non-stick pan if preferred). Add the mushrooms and cook over high heat for 5 minutes, or until mushrooms start to lose their moisture. Add the garlic and cook further few minutes. Remove from the pan.
2. melt remaining margarine in pan and add the spring onion and cook for 30 seconds. Next add the tofu, tamari, mushrooms and grated carrot and cook stirring gently for 2 minutes, until tofu is heated through. Stir in the remaining ingredients and season with sea salt and freshly ground pepper.
3. Lightly toast the bread, spread with a little margarine, if desired, and serve with the scrambled tofu.

Serves 4.

Enjoy!

Looking for foundations for ‘Vegan Nutrition, Health & Diet’?

Well here we’ve listed some of the great books we have found to be very important in educating oneself during an alternative veg*n lifestyle.

• The Food Revolution (John Robbins)
• Fit For Life (Harvey & Marilyn Diamond)
• Diet For A New World (John Robbins)
• The McDougall Quick & Easy Cookboook (John McDougall MD & Mary McDougall)
• Vegan Nutrition: Pure & Simple (Michael Klaper, MD)
• The China Study: The Most Comprehensive Study of Nutrition Ever conducted and the Startling Implications for Diet, Weight Loss and Long-Term Health (T C Campbell)
• Becoming Vegan (Brenda Davis & Versanto Melina)
• World Peace Diet: Eating for Spiritual Health & Social Harmony (W. Tuttle)
• Raising Vegan Children in a Non-Vegan World (by Erin Pavlina)
• Meat Market (Erik Marcus)
• The Sexual Politics of Meat (Carol J Adams)
• Vegan Freak – Being Vegan in a Non-Vegan World (Bob & Jenna Torres)
• You Don’t Have to be a Treehugger to be Vegan (Dan Vishny)

We love these books and can’t recommend them highly enough, so if you’re looking to gain some extra knowledge on veg*n living then why not start with one of the above listed books today.  

P.S. CLICK HERE to find out more on any of the above listed books. 

Wars will never cease while men still kill other animals for food, since to turn any living creature into a roast, a steak, a chop, or any other form of “meat” takes the same kind of violence, the same kind of bloodshed and the same kind of mental processes required to change a living man into a dead soldier.”

Agnes Ryan, “For the Church Door,” March 1943, quoted by Adams, The Sexual Politics of Meat, p 126.