Merry Xmas / Happy Holidays

What’s a Christmas Day like for a vegan? Well, I ended up opening my presents before going to bed on Christmas Eve. I was overjoyed at receiving lots of great vegan items… everything from a vegan slogan T-shirt to an animal rights cotton carrier, vegan chocolate bars, some Lush bodycare and an Animal Aid mug. I think I got the most vegan related items than I’ve ever had – which is great, as I think this means awareness is spreading. I love my friends that put thought into getting items that really matter to me.

Vegan Pressies 2011:

So after getting up late (did I mention I tried one of the Angell vegan choc bars before going to bed and loved it?) and realising a cold was coming and my throat was getting killer sore (think edgy razorblades), I took a multi-vitamin and had my usual soya hot chocolate (I say ‘usual’ – this is usual at weekends and holidays, as on work days or getting up early days I need an energy drink due to lack of sleep instead). I went to see my folks before starting on the big Xmas dinner. This year I’d decided to actually try a proper vegan turkey-style Christmas dinner. Usually I just eat anything… whether I feel like beans on toast, veggieburger, veggie cottage pie or whatever else takes my fancy. But since I do always wish meat eaters would try veggie turkey I figured maybe I ought to have one for a change so I could really show first-hand what it’s like.

I discovered the week leading up to Christmas that there are actually lots of different veggie roasts you can buy. In Tesco you can buy Quorn veggie roasts as well as a Tesco meat-free Chicken roast (ok, chicken’s not turkey, but still!). In Asda you can buy Linda McCartney’s vegetarian roast plus various nut roasts. The best vegan roast in the UK however is Redwood’s Celebration Roast – available from Holland & Barrett and various vegan/health stores. Some of the veggie roasts such as Linda McCartney’s we can’t eat as they have milk and eggs in. Redwood do a 100% vegan roast.

The ‘Celebration Roast’ actually comprises of six turkey style pieces, plus 4 ‘pigs in blankets’ – veggie sausages with vegan bacon wrapped around them. You also get some vegan gravy mix. This is cheaper than buying a real turkey – plus if you buy one of these, an animal doesn’t die. You’ve saved a life. Win win all round.

I put everything in the oven… and waited… After x amount of time I decided to see if they were done and opened the foil to see how the turkey-style pieces and pigs in blankets were doing… The aroma was very ‘meaty’ – in fact, I was almost put off wanting to eat it – the thought of eating something so ‘turkey-like’ almost sickened me, as I haven’t eaten anything tasting of turkey in the last 21 years, since going vegetarian. I was a little apprehensive and told my mom she may end up having to eat all of it!

I put the sprouts on the grill and then added hot water to the gravy granules. The gravy smelt very beefy! I’m used to having vegetable gravy granules while this Redwood gravy was more meaty too.

Eventually the moment I’d been waiting for arrived. Everything was ready so I served it up… Trying a piece of the turkey (fake, don’t forget!) was daunting… I put it in my mouth with a piece of potato and sprout. The taste WAS very turkey-like. In fact I wasn’t sure if I’d be able to eat it all. Thoughts and flashbacks of real turkey filled my mind. It almost tasted too much like real turkey. The sausages almost tasted too much like real sausages too. (I should at this point point out that I’m one of the pickiest eaters on earth when it comes to food. Even food I CAN eat, a lot of it I don’t like…. like I don’t like asian food… or indian food… even if it’s vegan).

The end result:

While I think I’m happier eating non-meat-like items, unless it’s a veggie burger or things like cottage/country pies, I think this roast would actually be perfect for anyone who eats meat that might like to try a meat-free roast – because it really IS similar to real turkey, and real sausages and bacon (the bacon’s not as crackly and softer, but still. Actually I eat the Redwood’s bacon sometimes when I make a BLT – I just wasn’t so keen on it wrapped around a sausage). Seeing and trying something like this makes me wonder why more meat-eating folk don’t actually bother trying it. Why do people keep eating slaughtered animals when they can try something so similar they probably wouldn’t be able to tell the difference? Is it out of laziness? Is it just because they THINK they love the taste of what they’re eating and couldn’t try anything else? Why aren’t people open to trying different food?

After finishing dinner I ate my Moo Free chocolate Santa, which was another Christmas present from a friend, had a look around Facebook and discovered that California now makes McDonalds state that chemicals in some of their food can cause cancer. Wow. I didn’t know about that. After googling a bit it turns out that Acrylamide is the chemical that has been discovered to cause cancer and it is particularly high in high temperatured fast food such as McDonald’s fries. Here’s an article from 2004 - http://corpwatch.org/article.php?id=11351 – it’s interesting how so many people eat McDonald’s but really don’t care what they’re doing to their bodies. It’s also no wonder cancer rates are getting higher when so many people eat at fast food places such as McDonalds. Is it worth paying their cheap prices if you’ll eventually get cancer? It’s funny how people don’t care about what they put into their bodies – until they actually do find out they’ve got something like cancer. They don’t care about animals getting abused and murdered… and they don’t care that the food they’re putting into their bodies could bring on something like cancer either. What DO people care about? They don’t care until it’s too late to care.

I tried watching a couple of movies… first Ice Age, then Kung Fu Panda that I’d recorded earlier… but neither of them interested me. I ate a vegan carrot cake that I’d bought from Goodness Direct, and ended up finishing the night reading a book (how rock n’ roll… Although to be fair it was Nikki Sixx’s Heroin Diaries book which I’ve had for years and never got around to finishing it - I finally got it finished at 5.45am). My mom told me she loved the pigs in blankets (not at 5.45am) – yep, she got the ones I didn’t eat. My mom eats meat, yet everything vegan that I give her to try she loves… It makes no sense why she doesn’t go vegan. I guess she buys meat mainly for my dad… and eats it too.

Now it’s Boxing Day and I’ve just read in the paper that Tory minister Jim Paice is declaring that the fox hunting ban failed. I think that’s insane. If it HAS failed it’s only because the stupid toffs that go out fox hunting are so disrespectful that they don’t care what they do. How is it that the smoking ban managed to be successful when so many people were involved? The general public managed to abide the law of not smoking in public places – yet these moronic fox hunters, of which there are a lot less, think that because they’ve got a bit of money they can disrespect laws and do what they want? That shows how screwed up this country is. The general public with less money has more respect and are more law-abiding than these despicable toffs. Yet the law is not enforced when it comes to people with money that say ‘tallo-ho’. It sickens me, it really does.

Happy Xmas! Ha.

Red Kite

Today I did a day of volunteering at Red Kite Health Foods in Bromsgrove. Since Lisa, owner of Red Kite, is a friend on Facebook I had the idea to email her recently to ask if I could go in and do some voluntary work. I wanted to gain a bit of experience working in a shop since I’ve never worked in one before. Lisa said yes so we arranged that I’d go in today. I got home a few hours ago after an enjoyable day.

(Lisa behind the counter)  

First thing for me to do upon arrival was to get some change. Lisa trusted me with £20 so off I went to the bank to get it converted into 5ps, 10ps and 20ps. Once I returned my main job for the day was going through new stock that had arrived, checking each item off on the list, attaching price labels to each item and putting them on the shelves. Although Red Kite is quite a small store it’s stocked to the max! The store mostly sells vegan and vegetarian products – with a few fish oil supplements too. In amongst the items I had to price and put on shelves were soup, porridge oats, rye bread, tea, pate, sweets, desserts, cooking sauce, regular sauce, mayonaise, beans, seaweed, cereal, biscuits, rice cakes and more.

In my dinner hour, after eating, I walked down Bromsgrove High Street – since I never really go to Bromsgrove – and checked out a bunch of the shops. Later on in the afternoon, Lisa also showed me how to use the till and the credit card machine. Overall the day flew by and soon it was approaching 5.30pm. I bought a few vegan items to bring home with me (and Lisa gave me a few – thanks Lisa!) before we left for the day.  

If you’re ever in Bromsgrove, make sure you call in to Red Kite Health Foods. It’s well worth a visit. You can find Red Kite on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/pages/Red-Kite-Health-Foods/148704191836472

Forks Over Knives

Want cancer, diabetes, heart disease? Then eat meat and dairy!

Forks Over Knives is a documentary now available to buy on DVD that shows how eating a plant based diet can cure diseases. It can reverse the effects that eating meat and dairy can cause, it can stop you having to take pills on a daily basis. Dr. T. Colin Campbell and Dr. Caldwell Esselstyn have both been inspired by the research discoveries they’ve made during their years in the medical industry which led them to the conclusion that meat and dairy is bad for humans. Eating meat can cause strokes, heart attacks, dairy has been shown to bring on more cancerous tumour growths, hypertension and diabetes and more. On this DVD the duo explain it.

More and more people are getting these diseases. There are some interesting quotes in the movie, one being ‘One quarter of what you eat keeps you alive, three-quarters of what you eat keeps your doctor alive’. The medical industry makes billions from the illness of humans. This is why many won’t just tell you to change your eating habits and cut out meat and dairy - and are just happy to keep giving you pills. Would they like to be out of a job? Hell no!

In the DVD you see a number of people who were on medication for diabetes or heart-related problems - and you see how thanks to a change to a plant-based diet they have combated those diseases and no longer need medication, becoming healthier, happier individuals.

Forks Over Knives is the DVD everyone that eats meat or dairy needs to watch. Everyone is always so happy to keep their eyes shut and pretend cruelty to animals doesn’t happen, as long as they can eat the food they like - but in years from now when you start needing medication on a daily basis, won’t you wish you’d done something about your eating habits? Won’t you regret the McMurder Burger you ate on a weekly or monthly basis? Or that slab of steak that wrapped its wings around your heart. Was it worth that taste to be unwell?

Forks Over Knives is inspiring from 30 seconds in - and doesn’t let up until the end. A definite, informative DVD to learn from, and for others to learn from too.

Watch this trailer and then order the full product. It’s well worth it - especially if it means you get to live longer!

Visit www.forksoverknives.com for more info.

Help: Revitalise My Skin

Works With Water is a UK company that have produced a range of food supplements containing ingredients that have been scientifically proven to improve the human body. The products all come under the ‘help:’ name with one of the newest being ‘help: revitalise my skin’, a gel supplement that contains CoEnzyme Q10 and Aloe Vera which aid skin regeneration.

One box of ‘help: revitalise my skin’ costs £9.99 and includes seven sachets (two or three mouthfuls) of the gel supplement, which you eat. They taste nice, although as it’s recommended you eat one a day, they are quite costly. I personally didn’t notice too much of a change in my skin, although maybe it’s more of an inside process. Or maybe I just have awesome skin already that doesn’t need regenerating (I wish!). The products are vegan and not tested on animals.

We do like the idea behind Works With Water and their products although it’s a shame they’re not a bit cheaper as those that aren’t swimming in money probably won’t want to spend £10 a week. That said, it’s good to see edible natural products that can help improve our skin or body functions - and aloe vera seems quite pricey in general (has anyone tried Aloe Vera juice?). You can buy ‘help: clear skin’ (female and male versions) - which tackles blemishes, ‘help: blood pressure’ and ’help: cholesterol’. The products are definitely interesting and innovative. Loads of people take tablets for blood pressure, so if something like Works With Water can lessen the risk of heart attacks and strokes and eleviate blood pressure a more natural and cruelty free way, we’re all for them.

Check http://www.workswithwater.co.uk/ for more info. You can find ‘help:’ in Boots, Superdrug, Holland & Barretts, Waitrose and more.

Juicing, Rebooting & Raw Burgers

After my last blog entry last Monday when I’d been inspired from watching ‘Fat, Sick & Nearly Dead’ I decided to go on a sort of juice diet for 5 days. I say ‘sort of’ because I made a few compromises. Due to always having a lack of sleep from Sunday - Thursday (I usually get 3 hours max sleep on Sunday nights which then screws me up for the rest of the week) I kept my energy drink in the morning in my daily diet. I know that’s cheating but if you had only 3 hours sleep I’m sure you’d need a bit of caffeine too. I imagine the reboot programs are more for people who get adequate amounts of sleep - not people having three hours a night. Anyway, after signing up on www.jointhereboot.com and doing the questionnaire to find out which reboot I should do, it told me to go for the 5 day Reboot Express - which is 5 days of eating and drinking fruits and vegetables only.

I decided I wanted to make it more liquid based though, so made my Reboot Express JUST juice and smoothies. I decided I didn’t want to eat whole fruit or vegetables. I wanted to see if I could just do it in liquid form. Being that I constantly eat junk food, this was a challenge. So for the next few days I took a bottle of juice and a travel mug of smoothie to work to have while at work - I then came home and had more juice and smoothies. You can get enough nutrients from juice to not need to ‘eat’. Vitamins, minerals and phytochemicals are greater in juice than in ‘hard’ food.

I ordered a juicer on Monday night. It arrived on Wednesday and I made my first ever home-made juice. I opted for apple, kale and ginger - and later tried apple and carrot. It was better than I thought. You picture green vegetable juice as tasting bad (or maybe it’s just me that does) - so I was pleasantly surprised that it tasted decent. The problem came when I then decided to add some plums. After taking the stone out of the first plum and putting it in the juicer, I thought to myself ‘do I need to take the stones out, or will the juicer do it for me?’ I mean, it takes the juice and throws the rest away as pulp. I’d read that you can put whole apples in and don’t have to cut them up - so not thinking properly, I put some plums in without taking the stones out. Damn. Not a good idea. (Hey, I’ve never had a juicer before!) Ten minutes later I realised there was a bit of fiberglass in my bowl of pulp, the fruit wasn’t being juiced properly - and yes, it seems part of the fibreglass had been broken, I guess from the power of the plum stone(s). Damn.

I’m in the process of getting a replacement lid/food shoot for the juicer. In the meantime I have tried to replace it by gaffa-taping part of the glass piece back on, Blue Peter style. But I really need a new lid/food shoot.

I did manage to last 5 days. I decided that my 5 days would be up on Saturday evening (I decided to buy the juicer on Monday night). I had a festival on Saturday so figured that would be tough. I’m used to going to festivals and eating crisps whenever I get hungry, and eating pieces of Tofutti cream cheese on toast before leaving the house at the weekend. Also, since Lakeside Ethical Treats was at the festival I wanted to buy a couple of Sweet & Sara Smores (these are heaven). I ended up cementing the completion of my 5 day juice/smoothie diet by having a Smores at the festival at around 8pm.

Since then… well, I’m back to eating ‘junk’ food. I’ve eaten chips, crisps, all the usual things that I like - although I’m also trying to include more juice and smoothies into my diet. I’m trying to make every day half healthy as well as half unhealthy. Monday I made a smoothie for work (adding in some soya protein powder) while then having chips for tea at home.

Yesterday I decided to make my first ever home-made raw vegan burger. This was something I’d been thinking about for a week or two. I started craving a raw veggie burger. Back in May when I went to Houston, I tried my first ever raw veggie burger courtesy of Pat Greer’s Kitchen. I’d never eaten a raw burger and if you haven’t, you probably imagine it doesn’t taste good and don’t imagine it tastes anything like a ‘real’ burger. Well, I tried Pat’s raw veggie burger and was really impressed. It tasted great. I was amazed that you could make burgers that tasted as good as ‘real’ burgers. It didn’t need to be cooked, yet it tasted great and like it WAS cooked.

I decided last week I wanted to try and recreate that burger. I had no idea what ingredients were used, but googled ‘raw veggie burger’ online and checked some recipes (there are a bunch out there). Some used walnuts, some used flaxseed, some used sunflower seeds, some used sundried tomatoes. I managed to get some walnuts, sunflower seeds and sundried tomatoes. I actually got the ingredients while on the juice/smoothie diet so I was itching to make a raw veggie burger but not wanting to actually eat any ‘proper’ food, I had to wait until my 5 day fast was over.

With Sunday being too crazy busy (all day band videoshoot, interview and gig), Monday editing photos all night and Tuesday writing gig and festival reviews, I only decided to make time for the burger last night. I couldn’t wait any longer - so got the ingredients out when I got home from work having watching another raw veggie burger recipe on youtube, and finally made my own. I added some carrot, kale and mixed everything together. As I don’t have a dehydrator I had to use the oven at the lowest gas mark. It takes forever to dehydrate the burgers which is a bit of a pain - I was starving while I was waiting - so ended up eating crisps and Tofutti cream cheese on toast in the process (kind of defeating the objective of trying to make healthy food!). Eventually, it looked like my burger was just about ready so I took it out and tried it (after a photo of course). I used a couple of cabbage leaves for the ‘bun’ - like Pat Greer does… and then took my first bite.

Wow. It was good! I was amazed that I had actually made something that tasted great. It tasted as good as the burger I’d had at Pat Greer’s in Houston. It was so good that I then decided to make five more! :D Today I’ve brought two to work. One I’ve put on wholemeal bread (as I had no bread rolls) - just to see what it tastes like on bread. I’ll taste it later. I’ve eaten the cabbage leaved bun one already and again loved it. It’s awesome to be able to bring a ‘burger’ to work that you can just eat and doesn’t need to be cooked, but tastes great as it is.

If you’ve never tried a raw veggie burger, I recommend it. That’s coming from one of the world’s most pickiest eaters - AND worst cooks! If I like them then you will. Or should. On one hand you may think that they’re not as convenient as eating burgers from a store/diner, and if you’re as busy as I am, you don’t want to be in a kitchen putting ingredients together, but the great thing is that you can make numerous burgers and save them for later. Unlike when you just put one burger under the grill, you can make five at the same time, and then just eat them whenever you feel like one without needing to cook it. It is there, ready, and tastes awesome.

Try it. Reboot your life.

Shari’s Raw Veggie Burger Ingredients:

Sunflower seeds

Sundried tomatoes

Carrots

Walnuts

Kale

Celery (chopped)

Onion (chopped)

Water

I didn’t measure anything - just added a suitable proportion of each. I juiced the carrots and just used the pulp (drank the juice!) - then mixed everything together and put them on tin foil, making into a round ‘burger’ shape. If you don’t have a dehydrator, put on the lowest gas mark in the oven. Dehydrating takes a while. Turn over when one side is done.

Fat, Sick & Nearly Dead

Most of us, sadly, probably know someone who is fat, sick and/or nearly dead. Sometimes it’s ourselves. Other times it’s someone we love. Either way, it’s not good. However, Fat, Sick & Nearly Dead is here like Clark Kent in his Superman outfit to save the day. Or a few days. Or years.

This DVD/documentary is for anyone who needs to get a little healthier. Maybe someone who needs to lose a few, or a lot of pounds. Or someone who frequently visits the doctor with illnesses, conditions and to get medication.

Fat, Sick & Nearly Dead is the journey of Joe Cross, an Australian who goes to America and juices for 60 days. He’s overweight, loaded on steroids and has an autoimmune disease. This DVD shows Joe’s willpower as he drinks juice instead of eating unhealthy food, losing weight and becoming healthier as he travels across America. He eats nothing – and just juices – for 60 days. He also meets Phil, a heavier American with the same autoimmune condition. Phil ends up also starting to juice, being unhappy with his weight and life – and loses so much weight his whole life changes. By the end of the documentary they are both so healthy they don’t need any medication anymore – and both look at least ten years younger.

Fat, Sick & Nearly Dead is inspiring and educational. It’s like that white light shining down, showing you the way to a brighter, better future. At the end of the DVD I went online looking for juicers and making note to buy some kale (to go with some other fruit and veg I have here). I probably won’t make it to ten days just juicing like Joe and Phil, let alone 60 (especially when there are so many crisps in the cupboard and Tofutti cream cheese in the fridge!) – but this DVD was so inspiring that I’m at least going to have a go. If you think your lifestyle needs a kick up the ass you ought to watch this film and give it a go too. Or even if you don’t - it’s well worth watching. Probably the best film I’ve watched all year.

www.fatsickandnearlydead.com

Bake The Difference

On July 30^th I flew to Lisbon, Portugal for the first time. A couple of days later I visited an awesome vegan bakery in the city. Called Bake The Difference, the bakery only opened in May 2011. It deserves to be a big success as the food is great and the prices are good. My non-veggie friend from Germany came with me and we both opted for a toasted sandwich. I had a cheese, tomato & oregano sandwich along with a strawberry cupcake and hot chocolate. The cupcake was awesome – as was the toasted sandwich. We both couldn’t quite finish our sandwiches as they were very filling. The waiter was very friendly and helped with any questions we had. The menu was only in Portuguese but mostly easy to understand. The range of food was good – from pizza (I’d have had one but it wasn’t available at that time) to quiche to sandwiches, cookies and cakes. The waiter said that most of the people that went in for food weren’t vegans but just liked the food. I was tempted to go back later that evening for more food, but as it was pouring with rain and my accommodation for that night was a bit of a walk away I decided against it. Next time I am in Lisbon I will definitely go there again though and will look forward to it a lot. If you’re ever in Lisbon make sure it’s on the top of your list of places to go. You won’t be disappointed.

The counter with cakes and drinks in:

Cupcake & hot choc:

Toasted cheese & tomato sandwich:

The Bake The Difference website is at http://www.bakethedifference.com

Barcelona Cat Bar

I’ve just got back from a quick trip to Barcelona. I went there for a concert, as you do. Of course I printed out a list of vegan/veggie places from Happycow before I went and also a map of the vicinity of our hotel with a bunch of them marked out. It turns out that there are quite a lot of vegetarian restaurants in Barcelona - and also a handful of vegan places. As my friend likes a drink (whereas I’m straight edge), I figured Cat Bar would be perfect for both of us. It is a bar that sells lots of different types of beer (all vegan) - as well as all vegan food! It was 5-10mins walk from our hotel (at Boria 17) and open late. After checking in at our hotel, we pretty much grabbed our purses and went. We found Cat Bar easily and went in to have a bit of food and something to drink.

As it was a Tuesday there was a live performance taking place when we got there, playing acoustic music at the front of the bar. Cat Bar is quite small - or at least it is width ways as you walk in. The back of the bar wasn’t so full so we found a table there. The Cat Bar has an upstairs too although we didn’t venture up there, although there was a balcony with a few folk looking down, watching the acoustic performance.

Our view from the back:

Due to me checking out the menu online at http://catbar.es I knew exactly what I wanted to eat immediately - so as soon as I got to the bar I ordered veggie sausage, beans and chips. The prices in Cat Bar are great - sausage, beans and chips is only 5 Euros. I had a coke to go with it for 1,50.

I wasn’t actually expecting two sausages so that was nice! And the whole meal was tasty.

My friend chose the burger for 3 Euro…

We stayed there for a couple of hours. Cat Bar has free internet - I specifically took my mini laptop so checked my emails, facebook - and also showed my friend the Vegan Black Metal Chef’s first video as she hadn’t checked that out.

Eventually we figured we’d better go and get some much needed sleep - although not without me being tempted by the vegan chocolate cake at the counter. It’s only 1,50 and also super-nice. Actually, I managed to withheld myself from eating it until breakfast next morning. The staff member at the Cat Bar put it into a nice bag for me to take away. I completely forgot to take a pic of the cake but recommend it with everything else Cat Bar sells.

Saying bye to Roy and co. at the Cat Bar (excuse their blurry arms, I only took my cheap Olympus camera!):

Next time I’m in Barcelona I’ll go back for sure. I definitely love the cheap prices - and it’s cool to find somewhere that’s not just a cafe or restaurant but a bar too. Purr-fect for keeping everyone happy. Plus the best thing of all is that it’s 100% vegan. Miao!

Pizza Watch

I feel like I ought to do a dedicated pizza blog since I love pizza so much and it’s all I want to eat when I go out (given the option). I’ve just been away for a week and a half at a bunch of Bon Jovi shows. In Bristol I went to two different places that did pizza. First on the list was Pizza Express. Obviously I’d heard that Pizza Express does pizza that’s suitable for vegans - and a friend on facebook had posted recently about eating vegan pizza at Pizza Express so I wanted to go and check it out. I persuaded a couple of (meat-eating) friends to come with me and asked for the margarita pizza with no cheese. They added some fresh basil for me.

It tasted awesome. I wish I could have returned there again as it was so nice. The funny thing was, I found a ‘2 for the price of 1’ token in the Metro the next day for Pizza Express - but my friends didn’t want to go there again so soon. :-( After the Bon Jovi show we went to look for somewhere to eat. They wanted to go to an indian restaurant - but I hate indian food. We ended up compromising on an italian restaurant called Ciao. It was up Denmark Street, off Broad Quay. Here, they sold pizza, pasta, lasagne and other italian food - plus beer (my friends need this!), wine and soft drinks. I again asked for the regular cheese & tomato pizza but with no cheese. Thankfully again it tasted awesome. I had no clue that pizza would taste so good without (soya) cheese - but it does!

After our main dishes, the waiter asked if we wanted dessert. He ended up giving us some dessert (sorbet) to try for free - and also gave us another free drink/top-up. I also noticed on the bill that he’d knocked over £1 off my pizza since I’d had no cheese. The regular cheese pizza was £6.20 but I was only charged £5.

Ciao is a family-owned restaurant with friendly owners. If you’re in Bristol check it out. I totally recommend it and will go back next time I’m in Bristol.

Pizza

Who could live off pizza? I could. I swear, best food ever. I just went to Germany at the weekend for a couple of concerts. Saturday was our day off. We had a few hours in Dresden before flying to Munich. I had originally wanted to visit a veggie restaurant in Dresden but my friend wanted a walk around the Alt Stadt so I said how about we start there and maybe then head to the veggie restaurant. Well, we ended up not getting to the veggie restaurant as we wandered through the Alt Stadt into a sort of plaza by the Frauenkirche - it was boiling and we were exhausted. Then I spotted a pizza place. We went to look at the menu and I noticed they did a Pizza Marinara - so we decided to sit down and I asked the waiter if he could do the pizza with no cheese. He said yes. So I ended up having this from Piazza Nova:

It was actually really nice - nicer than it looks! lol.

Time started ticking fast and we figured we’d probably best start walking to the train station and then getting the train to the airport. So I didn’t get to go to the veggie diner - maybe next time.

When we got off our flight to Munich I was itching to go to the veggie restaurant in Munich. I had to at least go to one veggie place while I was in the country. The restaurant calling my name was Prinz Myshkin. I managed to persuade Cheryl that we should go there on the way to the hotel as it would be quicker than going to the hotel, checking in and then going to the restaurant - at this point it was pouring with rain. We eventually found Prinz Myshkin and… well… I ended up having pizza again. I’d already checked out Prinz Myshkin’s website in advance before my trip. I knew they had a Pizza Bruschetta although the Potato Gnocchi also looked good. I was torn. But pizza won again. Cheryl said “You should have something different, you’ve had pizza already,” but no… I couldn’t resist a second pizza. Pizza is just heaven. Seriously.

So here’s the pizza I had from Prinz Myshkin:

Lots of tomatoes on there. It had no cheese though. Again it tastes great. I personally usually prefer not to have tomatoes on top of a pizza - I like my pizza just with the tomato puree and cheese, but I won’t complain about this one! Any vegan pizza is a good vegan pizza if I’m travelling. Prinz Myshkin was a cool veggie restaurant. It was bigger than I thought - there were two rooms - a busy big one and then a smaller quieter one. We went in the quieter side and the waiter later told us that Paradise Lost sat at the table we were at when they went there. The waiter told us that a lot of veggie/vegan musicians go there - Lenny Kravitz has been, Ronnie Wood, Henry Rollins, Uriah Heep and more.

Anyway, I could definitely live on pizza. Pizza for dinner, pizza for tea, it’s a shame our hotel didn’t do any vegan pizza that I could have had for breakfast the next morning!

And on that note, I’m starting to crave a pizza now…  

PS. I still need to write an article on the vegan food I had in Texas last month but I’m so insanely busy. I’ve got a mad pile of work - and heading out and about for shows is keeping me from catching up with all the writing I need to do. I’ll get to it soon… hopefully.

SHAC Benefit Single

London based rock band Boy Of The Afterthought fronted by vegan Aaron John are releasing a benefit single called Satellites giving proceeds to SHAC. The single will be available on download from 23rd May via Amazon, Itunes, Play.com etc.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Satellites-Shac-Benefit-Single/dp/B004ZIXI1G/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1305219528&sr=8-6

http://www.play.com/Music/MP3-Download-Track/4-/19941700/Satellites/Product.html?searchtype=allproducts&searchsource=0&searchstring=boy+of+the+afterthought&urlrefer=search

To find out more about Boy Of The Afterthought visit their facebook page at: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Boy-Of-The-Afterthought/138909482806781

The official Boy Of The Afterthought website is at: http://www.boyoftheafterthought.com/

Debut album ‘Lupa’ is out now.

Home on the Range

Home on the Range
Forthcoming CD to Benefit Farm Animal Sanctuaries Featuring Moby, Howard Jones, Nellie McKay, Matisyahu


Currently in the works and due for a September release, Home on the Range (http://planetcdnyc.com/homeontherange.html) is a CD compilation presented by the 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization Compassionate Farming Education Initiative (CFEI) (http://compassionatefarming.org) to benefit farm animal sanctuaries, which rescue and advocate for animals that have suffered abuse and neglect. With a still growing list of artists, the CD currently includes tracks by Moby, Howard Jones, Matisyahu, The Dead Stars on Hollywood, Nellie McKay, Princess Superstar, The Giving Tree Band, Kim Drake, Dropa, Joy Askew and Early Melodic Animals, with exclusive songs by members of Buzzcocks, Crass and U.K. Subs.

Kneel Cohn of The Dead Stars on Hollywood conceived Home on the Range as a way for artists who believe in the cause to support the sanctuaries through their music. In a statement Kneel explained, “As a musician, an animal rights advocate and vegan, I was driven to incorporate these passions and conceptualize an ambitious multi-faceted benefit project, rallying like-minded musicians who wanted to help create a substantial contribution to the movement.” What makes the benefit unique is the fact that all the artists involved are either vegan or vegetarian and accompanying the CD is Compassion 101, CFEI’s resource and lifestyle guide. “The dedicated booklet is designed to promote awareness and education while encouraging people to make more compassionate choices from a place of empowerment, rather than out of habit or routine.” Cohn added.

In the US alone, billions of animals suffer every year within our food system—not only on factory farms where they live packed together without access to grass, sun, earth, or fresh air—but also on small farms where they may be egregiously neglected and abused.

Farm animal sanctuaries throughout the United States rescue and protect animals who have made it out of the food system, sometimes by their own fight for survival and sometimes by virtue of a sympathetic human (or organization) who rescues them. At these sanctuaries the animals are treated with kindness and respect, given clean and spacious housing, tended to with proper medical attention, and fed a healthy diet so that they may live out the rest of their lives in peace. Sanctuaries that the CD will benefit include: Woodstock Farm Animal Sanctuary, Catskill Animal Sanctuary, Happy Trails Farm Animal Sanctuary, Kindred Spirits Sanctuary, and Animal Acres.

Home on the Range is bringing artists together to support the work of several non-profit sanctuaries directly responsible for saving the lives of farm animals. More artists to be announced soon followed by a series of concerts.

The Bland National

If nothing else, sometimes something good comes out of something bad. Saturday was the horrid Grand National - the yearly televised UK horse race which attracts lots of betting and horses dying. There are races leading up to this one, and one horse was killed before Saturday’s event even took place. Then on the day, two more horses died with the jockey of the winning horse later being suspended for 5 days for excessive whipping after the final fence.

While some people are no doubt rejoicing in the pennies that they may have won on the winner, one wonders if they, or the jockeys/trainers/anyone involved, would like to change places with the horses. Would YOU like to be the one being whipped to the finishing line? I read that the winning horse was whipped to near exhaustion and dehydration. All that, and he’s not even given the option of whether he wants to run or not. And, less than half of the horses actually finished the race. That shows how bad it is.

I vote we change this horrid ‘sport’. Put humans in the place of the horses. Make it a piggyback race. The person on top can of course still use a whip if he wants. I wonder how the person underneath would feel if he was whipped excessively to the end? Put your hands up who wants to have a go at being the horse first? My guess is that none of those jockeys, trainers, or even people who bet on the races, would want to be the one being whipped, carrying someone else as fast as he can to the finishing line - just so others can be entertained and try and win money.

It’s sickening.

But the good thing is that people are talking about what happened. Well known people have twittered about how appalling it is. Some TVs and newspapers are now covering the cruelty, giving quotes from Animal Aid and League of Cruel Sports. This year a few more people might start to realise what a horrid event it is. And boycott it from now on.

If you want to bet on something, bet on the lottery. Or buy some raffle tickets for humane raffles. Many animal charities have raffle tickets to sell. That way, you’re chancing your luck while at the same time helping an organisation/charity/animals that needs it.  

Go have a read of www.stopkillinghorses.com for more info.

The Patrick Miracle

Every evening, right about this time (or maybe a little earlier… damn, time flies too fast), over the last week or two I’ve caught up with updates from The Patrick Miracle.

If you don’t know what The Patrick Miracle is - basically it’s a facebook page for a dog that was starved until he was virtually a bag of bones - and then dumped in a chute and thrown out in the trash.

A friend of mine initially posted a link to the news story. I had missed it. But once I read it, the poor dog caught my heart. I ‘LIKE’d the Facebook page that had been made for him (http://www.facebook.com/ThePatrickMiracle) and have been following his progress ever since.

This is what he looked like after being found on March 17th:

They called him Patrick as he was found on St Patrick’s Day.

He couldn’t walk, he had no meat on him at all. It looks like he is barely alive. In fact, one of my Facebook friends wrote that they ought to ‘let the animal die in peace’.

But instead, the kind people at GSVS Pet Hospital in New Jersey have since been trying to nurse him back to health. Patrick now has over 34,000 fans on the Facebook page and Coty and John, who look after the page, have been constantly updating everyone on Patrick’s progress. It’s a steep hill to climb but every day Patrick looks to be a little bit healthier.

March 21st video update:

So sad. But the sad look in his eyes - and ours, are starting to go away as he improves. We even got a video of Patrick doing his ‘business’ a couple of days ago! And yes, it made everyone smile. His legs were strong enough to walk, he could crouch. Today a video of him was posted gobbling some food down. His face is less thin. It is so good to see him putting a weight on.

The woman who allegedly did this to Patrick has now been found and charged - http://www.newjerseynewsroom.com/state/kisha-curtis-of-newark-faces-charges-in-pit-bull-abuse-case 

As it says, if she’s convicted she may get six months in jail, a $16,000 fine or community service. Obviously not enough for the torture she put poor Patrick through.

Sign this petition on behalf of Patrick for stricter laws when it comes to animal abuse - http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/patrick-starved-dog-thrown-down-garbage-chute/

Dogs are not items that can be forgotten about, abused and then thrown away. They are our companions, family members. They deserve the world. Or at least every inch of our heart and kindness, once we decide to bring one into our home and family (and even when not).

Patrick’s lucky. He’s had some amazing vets who’ve gone above and beyond to bring him back to life.

And in some respects, despite the horrid circumstances, we are lucky. We’ve heard of Patrick, seen Patrick and watched him regain his life. He is a miracle. He has touched our lives.

I await tomorrow’s update. And then the following day’s. And then next week’s. I await the day that he is bounding around in a field, playing ball without a care in the world, and has a new loving and caring ‘owner’ (I hate to use that word as he isn’t something to be owned, but you know what I mean… human companion, brother, sister, mother) who will feed him and love him and be his new best friend and family, and treat him like he should have been treated all along. Someone to give him the love and devotion that he deserves. I know that day will come soon… but not soon enough.

Patrick - you’re a hero and an inspiration. Every St Patrick’s Day I will toast (my water or cola, since I don’t drink) to you. To Patrick, the amazing miracle dog. <3