Happy Friday!

I hope you are enjoying the Live Vegan Vibrantly Summit (if you signed up;-). The Day One interviews with Ingrid Newkirk and Dr. Neal Barnard were great. In fact, I will listen to the Dr. Barnard one again and take notes. Such good info. Everything is recorded and available for 72 hours. If you still want to register and get caught up this weekend, click here.

ohhhhh bread

I am proud to report that after our initial failed attempt at bread making, we did it! For round two, my friend Pelican Finn and I called in a professional – our friend Cristina (pictured left of Peli). Her family used to own a bakery, Sweet Art by Lucila. Ella also had an important job as master floor cleaner. While experimenting is fun, bread making is just one of those processes in which the right recipe steps must be followed to ensure that the delicate dance of alchemy can take place.

As you would imagine, bread is not at the top of the list of health foods. However, homemade bread is waaaaaay healthier than store bought. Besides, anything made with love does the body good as far as I’m concerned.

Beware of hidden ingredients. A year or so ago someone asked me how I dealt with bread as a plant-based eater. Holy shiz wizzle. What?! It was a sad day for me. As it turns out, some bread, even the ‘healthy,’ organic kind does contain milk and/or eggs. I had been eating Ezekiel Bread (which is vegan) for so long that I did not even think about bread as a potentially non-vegan food. Live and learn.

If you’ve got your apron on and are eager to get to the recipe and start baking, then skip the next bit. However, if you have ever been curious or tempted to learn more about living a plant-based lifestyle, then I urge you to take a few moments, breathe deep and read on. Sometimes we need more information to decide what to put on our plates. This next part should not make you sad, just more aware and hopefully filled with, well….hope! There is a plant-based solution to every culinary dilemma.

why ditch the dairy?

For your health. Dairy causes damp, mucus conditions in the body and can cause ear infections, sinus infections, eczema, chronic bronchitis and asthma. Also, it is complete myth (sorry mom) that dairy is necessary for bone health and some studies even show that dairy can actually cause more fractures. From Dr. Andrew Weil’s article, Is Milk Bad for Bones?, “If you’ve been drinking milk to lower your risk of fractures late in life, the evidence from these reviews suggests that you may not be doing yourself any good. The dairy industry aggressively promotes the supposed health benefits of milk so that producers and retailers can sell more milk, but adults don’t need it.

While we do need calcium, we can get it from plant-based bone-strengthening foods like broccoli, almonds, kale, tofu (I recommend sprouted, organic tofu only), edamame (also organic only since it is a soy product) and white beans.

For beautiful skin. I avoid dairy not just for the aforementioned health reasons but also for the health of my skin. About 10 years ago, a friend suggested I stop consuming dairy to help clear up my cystic acne. At the time, it seemed impossible to ever give up cream in my tea or coffee and cheese on my pizza but then again, I was pretty miserable during a pizza face episode #acneisnojoke. However, it was not even the prospect of clear skin that prompted me to ditch the dairy. So what did it take?

Have you ever hugged a cow?

For the cows. I began to educate myself on the dairy industry and it took years to make sense of all the overwhelming and often conflicting information. Cowspiracy and other educational movies had yet to come out so I was mostly on my own in my research. You must remember, there are powerful campaigns, lobbyists and money backing the dairy industry and influencing the internet and the media. These influencers pay huge sums of moola to market a cruel and unhealthy product often securing top placements on Google searches. They have the backing and the money to fund these endeavors. The meat and dairy industries are heavily subsidized each year by the U.S. government but the fruit, nut and vegetable farms barely receive any aid. It’s no wonder that meat and dairy industries create stellar marketing campaigns designed to make many people believe that farm animals live happy lives before ending up in some shape or form on our plates.

Is there such a thing as milk or cheese from humanely raised cows? Unless you actually spend some time on a dairy farm and observe the life cycle of a cow, it may be hard to know and harder to want to know. First, here’s something that most people do know and agree with – factory farms are places of tremendous suffering and most of us would not want to support those industries. But what about organic milk from pasture-raised cows living on a farm?

Even organic milk from pasture-raised cows is not humane. Dairy cows – pasture-raised or factory-farmed – live a cycle of: pregnant-deliver-produce milk-pregnant-deliver-produce milk and so on. Calves are born and immediately taken away from their mothers so that we can consume the milk that was meant for the babies. Mothers are traumatized and often fight to stay with their calves. Anyone who tells you differently is not being honest and has their own best financial interests at heart. Finally, where do the calves go? The male calves go to small veal crates because dairy cows are not considered desirable for beef. These calves are confined, often chained, completely alone and slaughtered for veal anywhere from 1 day to 6 months old. The female calves are taken away and raised to endure the same fate as their mothers. While this is not pleasant to read, it is in fact, the reality. When they are sick or just no longer of any use to the farm, where do you think the babies or the full grown cows go? It’s a nasty business no ifs ands or buts. I follow farm sanctuaries around the world who are actively saving a few lucky dairy cows who no longer produce enough milk or babies who are not strong enough to survive. Once and I while I read about a save that includes both mother and baby and the love and the bond is unmistakable. We can end this practice by ending our support of and funneling our marketing dollars to a cruel industry. Helps is on the way!…There are many delicious milk, cheese and meat alternatives. You can still thoroughly enjoy food and with a clear conscience! Check out my recipe section for tons of easy-to-prepare, plant-based recipes. If you would like more information, the Woodstock Farm Sanctuary wrote a great educational post Cows for Dairy.

As a side note on cheese. While cheese comes from dairy and therefore, not something I wish to consume as a follow a kind diet, you may be surprised to know that most cheese is not vegetarian because it normally contains rennet (sometimes listed as ‘enzymes’). Rennet is obtained from the stomach of an unweaned calf and helps to make the cheese sticky and stretchy. Kind of like a stomach. Ew. Anyway, I’m not judging. Dairy protein actually has opiate molecules built in. Cheese offers a super-condensed amount of these opiates, essentially ‘dairy crack.’ Cheese was the last addiction I was able to kick. The key is to have plenty of delicious homemade plant-based dishes around when I know there will be cheese at a party or dinner. This way, I am satisfied and happy. I get an extra boost of joy when herbivores, omnivores, carnivores alike enjoy my dishes.

what about eggs?

Most people know by now that regular eggs are inhumane. Many people know that cage-free is also inhumane (1 sq ft of space, never outdoors). How about free-range? Free range chickens do not live a nice life either (2 sq ft, rarely outdoors). Pasture-raised is much better by contrast (108 sq ft outdoors). Therefore, pasture-raised eggs are something we can eat in good conscience, right? I do not think so unless they are lovingly raised in your own backyard. The commercial egg industry is a nasty business.

I follow farm sanctuaries around the world and read about heart wrenching chicken saves almost daily. On the farm, when chickens stop laying eggs or enough eggs, they are rendered useless and only a minuscule percentage end up in caring, loving hands like a sanctuary. Sanctuaries do amazing work and while they can’t always save these girls because most are too damaged and beyond saving, these sweet beings at least know love before they pass. Have you ever hugged a chicken? I have. That’s me and a chicken (I don’t remember her name unfortunately but she has one!) from the Leilani Farm Sanctuary in Maui. That was my first visit to a sanctuary and it changed my life.

Whoa… I need a glass of wine after this post. It is time to switch up the mood and look on the bright side.

Here’s the GREAT NEWS

 Plant-based foods and meat alternatives are delicious, satisfying, effortless, beautiful and kind. Bread – and basically any baked good – does not require the use of milk or eggs in the recipe. that is fact.

Are you ready to eat some pipping hot, fresh-out-of-the-oven bread? I know I am. Let the bread-making begin…

CRISTINA'S ROSEMARY MULTIGRAIN BREAD

February 2, 2018

by Susie Belanger

Category Recipes

Ingredients

• 3 3/4 cup spring or filtered water
• 1 1/4 oz active yeast
• 1 oz molasses
• 2 pounds bread flour (high gluten flour)
• 1 pounds whole wheat flour
• 1 1/4 oz salt
• 4 oz seed mix (optional- we used a mix of sesame and pumpkin seeds)
• 2 1/4 ounce oats
• several springs (stems removed) of fresh rosemary, chopped fine
• *organic ingredients are always best if your budget allows

Instructions

1. Combine the flours, oats and rosemary in a large bowl.
2. Add the yeast to one side of the bowl and add the salt to the other side.
3. Mix the water and molasses together and pour into the bowl.
4. With clean hands, knead the dough until a uniform ball forms.
5. Keep the dough in the bowl and cover the top of the bowl with a slightly damp towel and leave in a warm place (like an oven warmer - underneath the stove - with the oven set at 350 degrees - so it's not 'in' the oven but benefiting below from the oven's warmth above) and allow it to rise for one hour. This oven warmer tip is important and probably why bread baking attempt #1 failed. For attempt #1, it was too cold and there was a draft so the rises didn't happen properly.
6. That's the first rise.
7. Now knead your bread again and add the seeds (if using). This takes a little elbow grease but continue to work those seeds in there.
8. Separate the dough into 4 separate mounds.
9. Put them in bowls with enough room between each other to rise, cover with a slightly damp towel and allow to rise again for an additional hour.
10. If you feel they need more rising time, let them be another 30-60 minutes.
11. Once the second rise is complete, slide the knife over the tops a couple of times to give it the professional bread look.
12. Bake in a preheated oven at 350 degrees for 30-40 minutes.
13. You can add a small pan with an inch of water during the baking time. Steam helps the bread to cook properly. Thanks Cristina!!!

Spread some extra virgin olive oil, tuna-ish spread, cashew cheese or Miyoko’s European Style Cultured Vegan Butter on your finished product and enjoy.

Note bene: I just graduated to next level baking by using a scale to measure the ingredients. I had bought a scale recently for making skin care products and it really is a useful kitchen tool. All the best chef/bakers use it. You can get a good one for 10 bucks on Amazon. If you have questions as to which type to buy, send me a message. This recipe calls for pounds and ounces so if you do not have a scale, you would just have to convert the metric measurements to U.S. measurements. Here’s a good resource to consult for the conversions from pounds to cups.  Enjoy your weekend!

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