Namaste, Benjamin Bunny

"Nommmmm...."

Benjamin just loves my zafu cushion. But sadly as I leave it out in my living room, it has also become known as the "treat seat" for both Benjamin and Cinnamon.  One night I sat on this cushion with the little plate of apple slices for their evening treats. Now they expect to get their treats every time I sit on this cushion to meditate!

Vegan Roman Chick'n Cacciatore

I usually do not put recipes on this blog since there are only a gazillion vegan and vegetarian recipe blogs out there but I wanted to share a recipe I recently veganized and made my own, because, frankly, it was delicious back in the day when I was sadly still eating chickens.  Cacciatore is the Italian word for hunter, and traditionally this dish has contained chicken or rabbit meat (AARGH! I know, I know...) Per Wikipedia, in cuisine, alla cacciatora refers to a meal prepared “hunter-style” with tomatoes, onions, herbs, often bell pepper, and sometimes wine.  So while this recipe is indeed alla cacciatore, happily no hunters, chickens or bunnies were involved in the making of this dish.

The Hoppy Vegan's Vegan Roman Chick'n Cacciatore

1 pkg Gardein chicken scalloppini, thawed, cut into pieces

1 8 oz package Portobello mushroom slices
2 green bell peppers, sliced into strips
1 onion, minced
3 cloves garlic, sliced
olive oil to saute
1 28 oz can crushed tomatoes (Tuttorosso or other Italian brands are the best!)
½ tsp oregano
1 tsp fresh parsley, chopped
Salt and pepper to taste
¾ cup dry sherry or other white wine

Heat olive oil in pan (just enough to cover the bottom of the pan.)  Saute chicken pieces till lightly browned. Remove. Add mushroom slices.  You may need to add oil as you go. Saute till mushrooms are soft and browned. Remove from pan and set aside with the chicken.  Deglaze the pan with a little of the sherry.

Add peppers, onions, and garlic slices (and if needed, more olive oil). Saute till softened.

Add can of tomatoes, stir and simmer for 5 minutes. Add seasonings, stir, then return chicken and mushrooms to the pan. Stir, cover, and simmer for about 15 to 20 minutes, till chicken pieces and veggies are tender. Add ¾ cup of dry sherry, stir, cook for 5 more minutes, uncovered.

Serve over spaghetti and/or with crusty bread.  This serves 4 people.

 

Possible adaptations/notes:
 
If you’re not a fan of faux meat, double the amount of mushrooms, and add more green peppers.

Dry sherry works best for this sauce but you can use white wine as well. HIGHLY RECOMMEND getting the sherry (the drinking kind, do NOT get the cooking sherry—that stuff is crap.)

What I Don't Get - A Vegan's Rant

You know what I don't get? People making "ewww" noises at the mere thought of going vegan and yet lining up to eat the latest creation at Dunkin Donuts, the glazed doughnut bacon sandwich.

REALLY?
Where do I begin on this one?  It's so nice to see American ingenuity in the kitchen has exceeded its grasp in discovering yet another unhealthy option for an already obese America. Sugary sweet diabetes-inducing pastry combined with pig flesh that has been proven time and time again to be very unhealthy for human beings--yes, bring that to me on a plate! How about some quinoa and beans instead? No, that takes too long. Besides who can pronounce that word anyway? (It's KEEN-wa, by the way.)

It doesn't help that Americans want their food and they want it fast. Run into Dunkins, grab this baby, you're on your way. Tell me, do you even taste this crap as you down it in your rush to get to work? We produce these horrendous breakfast items for fast consumption clearly because if we took the time to really consider what we are consuming, we would be horrified and forced to take action. But we live in the era of instant gratification; we want what we want and we want it now.  You know what, folks? That style of living is killing us. Children--CHILDREN--are developing Type II diabetes at an alarming rate. Look at how fat they are--why do you think that is? For one thing, our government insists on subsidizing the wrong foods--that is why a McDonalds burger is cheaper than broccoli.  We also buy into the insidious marketing campaigns the food industry subjects us to every day. Happy cows? No. Happy family farms and happy cows don't exist anymore (except for the lucky cows who get to live on animal sanctuaries). Wake up and really see what it takes to make that glass of milk. That milk involves stealing a baby cow from his mother and tossing him to the veal industry where he is carved up to satisfy our gluttonous appetites when we go out to dinner.  THINK, please, before you pick up that fork. Think about the sorrow you are consuming when you drink that milk.

This is what we as consumers, as concerned parents, as people who want to live long healthy lives, need to do--THINK. CARE about what you eat. LEARN about what you eat, where it comes from, what it is. Not having time is not an excuse. When you die young, think of all that time you don't have anymore. That doesn't have to be. There are so many resources out there to learn about eating a vegetarian or even a flexitarian diet. You don't have to give meat or animal products up all at once. In some cases, for health reasons, you may not be able to be a strict vegan--I know of people in such situations so I would never judge anyone by how vegan they are or are not. As long as you get on the path and start the journey, that is all that matters. Every meatless meal counts. It is better for you, for your children, for the environment. Perhaps skipping the unhealthy choices may not be better for the bottom line of businesses like Dunkin Donuts, but that is too bad. They have the option to create vegan doughnuts, which time and time again, they seem adamant not to do despite vigorous campaigns by groups like Compassion Over Killing and demands from vegan consumers (yet I understand they are going to unroll a gluten free doughnut soon. Go figure!) We as consumers can make the change if we choose the right foods. A bacon doughnut sandwich is NOT the right choice.

All right, time to get off my soap box. In conclusion, I ask that you please read the link below about what the nation of Bolivia did recently. And check out the very last quote from a local blog at the end of the story. I think that says it all.

http://www.whydontyoutrythis.com/2013/03/bolivia-the-first-latin-american-country-to-ban-mcdonalds.html

Happy Belated Birthday, Cinnamon!

Cinnamon, a.k.a. Princess Bun

Yes, I have been a very negligent blogger these last few months. The Hoppy Vegan has been focusing on becoming a Hoppy Yogi in pursuit of perfecting her yoga practice and getting fit, all the while still finding time to spoil rotten my beloved fur kids, Benjamin and his beloved gal Cinnamon, who turned 9 years old this past May.  She has lost weight since the beginning of the year, but she needed to, and except for the periodic tummy ache (one of which she just had last night), she has been doing very well for an elder bun. She can still hit some solid speed when she comes dashing out from the bedroom hall. And of course she takes great pleasure in nipping Ben in the butt when she thinks he needs it.  She grows a LITTLE more tolerant of my holding her as she gets older, but overall, she is still quite a stingy gal when it comes to doling out nose bonks of affection. Still, she is my precious girl, who I have had the joy of knowing since she was only 2 months old. May she live several more years making me and her boy Benjamin happy as can be.

My preferred boon--or rather, bun--companions



Benjamin and Cinnamon

Today is one of those days in which I feel such deep gratitude for having rabbits as my companions and such despair for the human race. Unlike many people in this world, rabbits are not petty or selfish or spiteful or revengeful. They do not lie and are never hostile.  They do not try to make others miserable, indeed they bring joy and love to their human friends and expect nothing in return, unlike human relationships, where there always seems to be an expected quid pro quo, no matter how much we try to convince ourselves that we truly love the other person more than we love ourselves.  I so much prefer the company of rabbits to that of quite a few people I have encountered during my time on earth in this life.

As a species, we have a long way to go to be worthy of the other creatures on this planet and the planet itself. We are deeply flawed and can learn so much
from the animals we treasure in our lives, as long as we pay attention.  To ignore all that they teach, we do so at our own peril.

Harmony With Yoga and Rabbits

In my neverending quest to find inner peace, I've returned to the hatha yoga practice I abandoned--God knows why--twelve years ago. Last night I rediscovered the challenges of doing yoga practice with two eager bunnies who wish to investigate the strange postures their mama is twisting herself into every night. Benjamin in particular has a serious foot fetish;  he does not care whether I do downward facing dog or bridge pose, as long as he has total access to my toes, which he inexplicably loves to lick (best to my knowledge, there is no carrot juice in my nail polish).  Cinnamon was very concerned as I lay stretched out in corpse pose (more pleasantly known as savasana) at the end of last night's session.  She leapt onto my belly and sniffed at my face, as if to make sure I was still breathing. Ah what a journey my rabbits and I have embarked on! Namaste, bunnies and readers.

Rest in peace, my beloved boy



Ghirardelli, my "George Clooney"

 We met at a local shelter in 2005.  He kept tugging on my sleeve (and therefore, my heart).  A week later he was in our home, despite our vows to keep our rabbit family limited to four.  My ex-husband (still husband at the time) built him a cube cage because we knew eventually we would find him a mate.

Ghirardelli was a bunny who never learned the meaning of the word crepuscular. He loved to play at midnight and keep us up late, which only expedited our search for a mate to keep him occupied.  His first bunwife was a bunny from Jersey named Polly, a hardheaded but softhearted lop who came from a rescue situation in which she had to defend herself against 30 or so other rabbits. With assistance from Susan Wong at Friends of Rabbits, Ghiri and Polly eventually bonded and became a wonderful loving bunny couple. When Polly died in 2008, we knew we had to find him another mate soon. Willow, our one-eyed, one-eared lop, became bunwife number 2. They lived a happy life together, and I missed them terribly after my husband and I separated and eventually divorced.  I could not bear to remove them from the home they knew (they lived in huge cube cage we nicknamed Thump Tower). Today a selfish part of me wishes so much that I had brought them with me, along with Cinnamon. But I knew, since I had to find a new mate for my widowed bunny Cinnamon, that four rabbits was beyond what I could afford or have room for in my new condo.

At the time of his death, Ghirardelli was living in Florida with my ex and his mate, Willow.  He had stopped eating, apparently, and they found him gone one day when they came home. Binky free, my sweet handsome boy, or as I used to call you, my George Clooney. You are with Polly now, and I have no doubt you are raising hell at the Bridge as you were both wont to do in life.  I will carry you in my heart forever. Love, your forever bunny mom, Paulette.