Extreme Makeover: Home Edition

My usual Sunday activities generally include studying, working out, and watching TV. I love to watch Extreme Makeover: Home Edition. It's basically the most exciting part of the day. Well the point of this post is the episode that was on today. They went to Iowa to a family whose home burnt down. They lived on a farm, and lost everything. The family was basically living in a trailor for nine months. Pretty sad, right? No doubt in my mind that they deserved a home makeover. The part that bothered me was that before the fire the family had cattle on what I'm guessing was a dairy farm. For all you vegans out there, you know what my problem was right? The design team replaced their cattle, and everyone thought it was all well and good. Well, also before the fire the family had a pet dog. They also got a new dog. Everyone was all about how cute the dog was and how a dog was part of the family. Don't get me wrong, I love dogs. I just don't see the differentiation in how they would treat a dog, and how you would treat cattle. Obviously they can't be treated exactly alike because they are so different, but one should at least give them each the same respect. I just can't understand how people can be so nice to dogs and other pets, and treat farm animals with so much cruelty. There really is no reason for it. Well, there's my rant for the day. I just hope someday that farm animals will have some liberation.

Health Promotion Human Development Conference

I had a confernce to go to today for my Dietetics major at school. It was an all day conference, with breakfast and lunch included. I thought from the beginning that eating there would be a problem. I ate breakfast before I got there, and good thing I did because they only had muffins there to eat. So, after our morning sessions, we had lunch. There were three different types of pasta, salad, and garlic bread. Guess what I ate? If you guessed salad, you guessed right. There was pasta with alfredo sauce, pasta with marinara sauce (with cheese on top :(), and a pasta with vegetables and a sauce that smelled like barbecue sauce. So, I ended up being hungry for the rest of the day because salad is not a sufficient lunch, especially when it only consists of lettuce and french dressing. I did not just leave it alone though. At the end of the day, we had to fill out comment cards, and in the suggestion area I wrote that they were severely lacking in the vegan food department. Such is the plight of the vegan. I would've thought that this conference being for the school of Health Promotion & Human Development, they would've had some healthy vegan options. I suppose that I guessed wrong. Maybe next year I'll ask what is going to be served.

Mr. Meaty

So, yesterday, my roomate, Christa, was flipping through the channels on our TV, and got to that new show on Nickelodeon called Mr. Meaty. It's all about these kids that work at a fast food place in the mall called Mr. Meaty. In this particular episode, one of the kids got mad at the other one, and quit his job at Mr. Meaty. He went to work at Soy What. The people that worked at Soy What were probably vegetarians if not vegans. They were all portrayed as hippies (I'm not saying that I dislike hippies...they're pretty cool but not all vegs are hippies). The thing that upset me the most was that in the episode, the people that worked at Soy What were so deprived of meat that they turned to cannabilism on the new guy that worked there from Mr. Meaty. As if people are actually deprived of meat. That is so stupid. If veg*ns are portrayed this way on TV, no wonder people think that we're all nuts!

Rice & Black Bean Burritos

So, here's a recipe that I just sort of made up one day. It's pretty good, and damn easy to make.
Rice & Black Bean Burritos
1 cup brown rice + 2 cups water to prepare it with
1 can black beans - drained
1/2 green pepper - chopped
1 can yellow corn - drained
1 packet taco seasoning + 3/4 cup water to prepare it with
3 tbsp. olive oil
8 tortilla shells

So here's what you've got to do:
Put the rice in a pot with the water and bring it to a boil. Then once it starts to boil, turn the heat to low, cover, and simmer the rice for 35-45 minutes, or until the rice has absorbed all of the water. Once the rice is done, set it aside. Then take the oil and put it in the skillet, then add the pepper and sautee for about 3 minutes. Then add the black beans and corn. Stir that together and then add the rice. Stir it all together and then add the taco seasoning and the rest of the water. Simmer for about 3 more minutes or until it is heated throughout. Heat the tortilla shells in the microwave for about 20 seconds per 2 shells. Spoon the rice mix into shells and enjoy. If you want you can add lettuce, soy cheese, taco sauce, or whatever else your heart desires. Enjoy!!!