Joshua Tree

Did you know that the largest and most dense Joshua Tree forest in the world is not at Joshua Tree National Park but rather the Mojave National Preserve? Neither did we until we decided to go for a hike on our way to a recent trip to Cali. As you can see it is a strange place, kind of like being in the middle of a Dr. Suess story...except not as colorful.


I must admit, the only reason I know what a Joshua Tree is was not from intellectual curiosity but rather the U2 album. Pop culture, who would've thought? But I did learn somewhere that the Joshua Tree was named by Mormon Pioneers who thought it resembled the Old Testament prophet Joshua lifting his arms in the air. I don't see the resemblance.

It was actually a big deal getting the little guy on this rock. Myla was pretty jealous.

The kid thought he was pretty cool wearing these sun glasses. Pretty big for Yucca plant, right?

Bentley wanted to be in the photo too but this was about the best he could do.

At the top of the 1.5 mile hike. You can't see it but we're actually facing the Cima Dome, one of the largest (in diameter) dome shaped mountains in the nation.

For being the middle of the desert there wasn't too many cacti like this one which I guess made Henry a little sad.

We didn't see this on our hike but ff you are like us and you have always wondered what the Pope looks like in a sombrero here you go. I guess it goes to show, when a Roman is in Mexico...

The Scientist

For almost a year beginning in 2005 and concluding in 2006 Heidi spent altogether about a month and a half in the hospital receiving chemotherapy. She became emaciated and bald while I was frustrated and withdrawn. I constantly thought about how fun and exciting life had been prior to her diagnosis.

It was about this time that for the first time I heard the song, "The Scientist" by Coldplay. If you've seen the music video you know the song is about a man trying to figure out a way he could go "back to the start" after his significant other died in a car accident. I was so touched by the song that we bought the album and - here's where it gets weird - inside the album's booklet there is the isolated, short sentence: "The scientist is Dan." Weird.

Recently I was introduce to a cover of "The Scientist" by Willie Nelson. Now I'm not a huge fan of the Red-Headed Stranger but having lived in Texas for several years I gained an appreciation for his musical legacy and even more admiration for his promotion of fair farming practices and natural agricultural methods. So I loved this cover and the accompanying commercial!

This is not a promotion of Chipotle, they're OK and they do make a little more effort at supporting local/smaller farmers and avoiding processed foods than most. But lets be honest - they're still a fast food restaurant and not as altruistic as they imply. But its a nice video that does a good job at making a point. Check it out:

Ignorance.

The other day Heidi showed me this image posted by an acquaintance of hers on Facebook with the heading, "Mitt Romney 2012!!!" Naturally this display of sheer ignorance threw me into a tizzy and I not only wanted to say something but felt obligated to do so because this kind of stupidity just needs to be addressed. OK, couple things:

First, this image was taken in the fall of 2008 when President Obama was simply Senator Obama. If one is going to play the "a picture is worth a 1000 words" game one really should find a recent image or else it just seems desperate.

Second, this individual is literally judging a book by its cover because unlike this person I have read this book and the title might be a little misleading for those who do not take the time to open the books cover! For starters the author, Fareed Zakaria was born in Bombay but moved here for college and unlike most Americans he took an exam to become a citizen and is unabashedly proud of his adopted country.

In essence the book is an examination of the evolving global economy...gee, a president familiarizing himself with some of the principles and opinions of the global economy written by a man with a PhD in political science and an expert on the subject of international economic relations, he must be some sort of quack!

As for the content, it is a great book, entirely fascinating and guess what? It is not about a post-American world! In fact, if the individual that posted this dumb message took the time to read even the first sentence of the first paragraph of the first chapter of the text they would be illuminated, "This is a book not about the decline of America but rather about the rise of everyone else." Later on Zakaria explained, "The world is moving from anger to indifference, from anti-Americanism to post-Americanism. The fact that new powers are more strongly asserting their interests is the reality of the post-American world. It also raises the political conundrum of how to achieve international objectives in a world of many actors, state and nonstate."

In an intelligent, interesting and helpful way Zakaria not only examined how and why the world's nations are catching up to America but he offers several ideas on how we can continue to lead the global economy and stay relevant in an ever changing world but I'll let you read about that for yourself. At any rate, sounds like a great book for POTUS to check out, right? I mean the man can only read the Bible for so long!

There, got it out of my system. But come on, if your gonna play political commentator do your research before you jump to conclusions and assume the man who has bank accounts in Switzerland and the Cayman Islands is the best man to lead the free world - Mitt, I'm looking in your general direction - something about that just seems, well, I don't know, un-American.

The Dog Park - Dog Fancier's Park

For a long time we have talked of posting a regular entry, each one on a dog park we have been to at some point over the past several years. But lets start from the beginning. In 2003 we moved to Las Vegas into our humble 600 square foot apartment, the two of us and our dog Bentley. We didn't really know anyone or the area and figured a good place to start was the Dog Fancier's Park off Stephanie and Flamingo.

Thus began the tradition of visiting a dog park at least once a week, usually on Sunday. The dog park is the place to be for many reasons including:

1. You associate people that you would not normally meet.

2. Fresh air and a little exercise does everyone good.

3. The dogs are allowed to exercise their God given instinct to associate with other mutts.

4. Quality family time too - I mean what three year old wouldn't love making regular trips to a park full of dogs?

5. We pay taxes so we might as well see the rewards of those dollars.

Those are a few of the reasons we make regular trips to the dog park. But since we first stepped through the gates of Dog Fancier's Park we have made every effort to visit dog parks when we travel. As a result we have been to parks in Florida, Louisiana, Texas, New Mexico, Colorado, Arizona, Nevada and California. There are at least a few reasons why we do this:

1. We all benefit from a little exercise and fresh air after being cramped in a car for hours.

2. We don't feel like tourists as much, we feel like we have a better understanding of what it is like to live in these various communities.

3. Every trip to the dog park makes for some quality people watching, even more if the park is in a different city.

At any rate the dog park of the week will always be "the dog park" to us. Dog Fancier's Park is behind The Cannery Hotel off of Boulder Highway in Las Vegas and is one of the largest dog parks we have ever been to. It has five separate completely enclosed runs, plenty of benches, tables and water, parking is never a problem and there is even a fun bathroom if you can't hold it in. The park is also used for all sorts of cool dog events including the annual Strutt Your Mutt.

Bentley loves to roam from one corner to another and when he is done with one run he'll stand by a gate to the next groaning and moaning until someone - anyone - will let him in. Myla loves to run wild chasing balls and frisbees...well she doesn't really chase the balls and frisbees but the dogs that are chasing the balls and frisbees.

MEMORABLE MOMENT: There are so many but who can forget the time Myla snatched some poor hapless pigeon right out of the air. The bird was fine, in fact the whole incident probably scared Myla more than Pigey the Pigeon. Myla seemed weirded out by the squirming, feathery thing and was spitting up loose feathers for several minutes.

Stay tuned because like I said, we have lots of dog park stories from the Pacific to the Atlantic Ocean and I know all are dying to hear them!

Being Mormon

I like being a Mormon. Not crazy about Mormon culture (for example I'm not a huge fan of BYU, rarely wear white shirts to church, Jell-O is boiled horse parts and I would never vote for Mitt Romney) but LDS theology works well for me. Granted it isn't for everyone but for us it seems to do the trick.

I'm just glad I can differentiate between the unique doctrine of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and quirky Mormon culture because I get the feeling not all Mormons can do the same. After all, testimonies are founded in theology, not culture.

At any rate recently I stumbled across this diagram on lds.org and have been excited to share the image with those who have not seen it because it illustrates several reasons why I am proud to be a Mormon. Check it out:

In reply to Nicole's comment: How to get started

Yay! I love it when people comment and it gets my wheels turning! I love talking about food, so I am happy when people have questions about it. My cousin Nicole had some awesome questions and I am more than happy to give her my opinion.

Q#1: I LOVE fruit snacks. They are my favorite treat. Is there anything I can do to replace them, or should I just give them up?

A#1: Haha, this one made me laugh. First off I HATE fruit snacks (gummy snacks). Mainly because they are HORRIBLE for your teeth, and even worse for little growing teeth in the children that we feed them to; not to mention that they are pure sugar and most contain gelatin. But I am a 80-20 girl, meaning I try to eat really good 80% of the time. However, everyone has their vices (ie. fruit snacks) and so I think you should give yourself a break and eat "bad" every once in a while. We, as mentioned before, like to eat out-that's our vice (here is a list of veggi places we like to go to).

Now of course the lower the bad number is the better, and I think you should never eat more than 20% of "bad" food. You actually see this a lot with Vegetarians and Vegans. There are lots of foods (or food like substances) that are Vegan, such as french fries, Oreo cookies, sugar sugar sugar....Vegan "food" can be crap too. That's why I actually hate defining myself as a Vegetarian, but I'd rather say that we are a WHOLE FOOD-PLANT BASED family. I feel that really describes us better. And when you do eat that way, at least for me, I found myself reaching for the bad stuff less and less.

Q#2:Where do I start?? I am so interested in cutting out meats and other animal products, but I just don't know where to start! I mean, I attempt to not cook with meat very often, but you had some valid points of how many other animal products we are consuming. So where do I start?

A#2: Love this question! There are multiple answers, or steps really, so here it goes!

1. Go cold turkey (pun intended?) But really, set a goal for you and your whole family, such as we are going to eat Veggi 4 times a week (and maybe even say, one of those days will be Vegan), and then do it AND stick to it. For me, I made up my mind mentally that this was a life-style change that I wanted to stick to, and the next day I stopped eating meat, and it has been 6 years and I haven't looked back. But in full discloser it is a lot harder mentally than it has ever been physically. You literally have to change the way you think about food. The foods that you have been used to your whole life, you can't really eat anymore, or at least not in the same way. Foods that you associate with holidays (hello Thanksgiving turkey) have to be modified. And it's OK! And it's really for the better, it just takes a little shifting. Once you can get over that hump it really is so easy! (Here is a sample of our Thanksgiving menu)
2. Read labels: a lot of food contains hidden animal products, but if you read the label, you usually can find a version that does not. For example Cesar dressing contains anchovies unless you buy Kraft Low-fat Cesar.
   
3. Stock your pantry. Of course it's expensive to go buy everything at once, so if the recipe calls for beans, we just buy extra, and then eventually the pantry is stocked. This may sound silly, but there are just some essentials that you need if you want to eat plant based:

• Canned foods (make sure to get no salt added and rinse well before using): Canned beans (black beans, chickpeas/garbonzo beans, kidney beans...) and Canned tomatoes.
• Grains and Legumes (dried, I buy in bulk): Rice, Lentils, Barley, Bulgar, Couscous, Pasta, Split peas, Quinoa*, Kasha [Buckwheat groats].* (*Quinoa, and Kasha are the only grains that contain all 8 amino-acids, making them a complete protein).
• Olive Oil
• Frozen veggis. I like to buy fresh, but buying veggis out of season can be expensive. Frozen vegetables have nearly the same nutrition value as fresh vegetables. I never buy canned vegetables....never!
• Protein sources (other than eggs and cheese, beans and nuts): Seitan, Tempeh, Tofu, and "fake meats." I prefer seitan, tempeh and tofu over the processed fake meats because they are essentially whole foods (wheat gluten, fermented soy beans, and soy bean curd respectively). However depending where you live you may have difficulty finding them. Whole Foods, Trader Joes, and Sunflower Market are always safe bets; but we have found all three at Kroger's (Smith's). All of these protein sources freeze really well, so if you can find them buy extra and freeze for later use. I really don't like the "fake meats," but we do eat them occasionally. I prefer Quorn products to replace poultry, Morningstar Farms Italian style sausage is really good, and Boca Patty's are always an easy way to enjoy a BBQ with carnivores! However these "fake meats" (better known as transitional foods) should really be eaten sparingly because they are processed and so they contain a lot of the same junk you find in other processed foods.

Q#3: What is/are your favorite cookbook(s) and/or blog(s) to help incorporate a wider variety of vegetables and legumes?

A#3: The first book I read about the health benefits of a plant based diet was, "The New Four Food Groups" by Neil Barnard. We wrote a blog a while ago about the books that have changed how we eat. Here are some ideas of a food menu as well. I love this book, because it lists every food you can imagine, how to cook it, and how it is beneficial. As far as cook books go "The Vegetarian 5-Ingredient Gourmet" is a good starter cook book because the recipes are really easy and don't require any fancy ingredients. "One-Dish Vegetarian Meals", and "Vegan Lunch Box" are also good. We eat a lot of ethnic foods, so specific Indian, Asian, and Italian cook books are helpful as well. There are the links at the side of our page that list helpful resources, but I also like the website VegWeb (which I was having trouble accessing) and Compassionate Cooks.

I hope this helps! Keep the questions and comments coming!

To answer Kira's question: What we don't eat

As mentioned in our last post we eat so much diversity and goodness. I hate when people hear Vegetarianism and immediately think restrictions, because that is simply not true. To be honest we eat a bigger variety than almost everyone we know. But we are Vegetarians, so that means that we don't eat something or else we'd be just like everyone else.

So to answer Kira's question, we are technically OVO-LACTO VEGETARIANS. Which means that we do consume some egg and dairy (Dan drinks cow milk, Heidi and Henry do not). However, I like to think of us as near Vegans (those whom consume no animal products). We eat Vegan I'd say around 80% of the time. The eggs and dairy products that we do consume are Organic, Grain-Feed and Free Range. We know that those are all words and that we are trusting a label, BUT it makes us feel a little better about consuming what animal products we do consume.

We DO NOT however eat any meat/flesh, fish, or animal by-products (gelatin, beef fat, chicken fat, beef broth, chicken broth, lard, fish oil-pretty much anything that would require the animal to be dead in order to eat it). It's actually quite alarming how many animal by-products are placed in processed foods. Moral of that story, don't buy processed foods and then you don't consume crap.

Kira asked what kind of Vegetarian we were because she was confused by the eating sushi part of our last post. See, that is one of the best parts about being Vegetarian-literally nothing is off limits, you can make almost anything Vegetarian or Vegan. Even pot-roast can be made Vegan. If you don't believe me come visit and I'll make it for you!


I digress, back to the sushi. Here are my three top fav veggi sushi rolls that I make ALL the time!

#1. Veggi Roll: (Obviously there are endless possibilities here) Carrots, Avocado, Cucumber, Green Onions, Asparagus, Broccoli....(hint: lightly steam carrots, asparagus, broccoli and then cool before using).

#2. The Christi Roll: (I first had this roll while living in Texas....SO GOOD!!! This is my all time favorite roll). Jalapeno, Avacado and Cream Cheese (this can be made Vegan by replacing the cream cheese with tofu).

#3. The Myla: (OK, this one is named after my dog, but for no other reason than that she was sitting there when I made it). Sauteed Shitake Mushrooms and Onions.

I know that this post is getting a little long, but I wanted to comment on one more thing. This is not a direct shot at Kira's comment (because truly I have no idea how she eats,) but the number one comment we get after someone hears that we are a plant based family is that they immediately say, "Well, I don't really eat that much meat." I almost think that people say that to justify their own eating habits, because deep down they know that they eat too much meat. And statistically they probably do. Americans on average eat 4 times the amount of protein that is recommended, and most of that protein is coming from animal products. Americans eat only 5 percent of calories from fruit, vegetables, beans and unprocessed nuts and seeds. (Joel Fuhrman, M.D; Disease-Proof Your Child 2005)

In our opinion if you are eating meat once a day, you are eating too much meat. This suggestion by Dr. Fuhrman is exactly how we try to eat, "If you choose a limited amount of animal products to be included in your family's diet, I favor eggs over fish or dairy, because of the potential for transmission of chemicals, mercury, and PCBs in the fish and dairy. Eggs, because they are virtually pollution-free would be a favored choice over other animal products to add to an otherwise Vegan diet. If one is to utilize animal products in their family's diet they should only choose low-fat or nonfat varieties of dairy products, if they are included in the diet at all. I recommend substituting nuts, seeds and avocados as the major sources of fat in the diet, instead of diary fat, oils and meat."

Seriously consider how you eat. How much animal products are you really eating? How many whole grains, vegetables and fruits are you really eating? Because chances are you could eat better, we all could.

What We Eat

Not long ago we driving along and saw this bumper sticker on a car. It doesn't even make sense! Is it implying the persons driving this vehicle are in fact cannibals and if given a chance they would eat my family?! That's just dumb.

But it does remind me of a question we hear all the time when someone finds out were vegetarians:

"What do you eat?"

They ask the question with scrunched face and in a way that implies it is simply not possible to eat a diet that does not involve meat. But the fact is since becoming vegetarians (nearly five years ago) we have never ate a more diverse diet. We have several cookbooks and it is pretty rare that we eat the second meal twice. Here is a recent menu:

Monday: Kasha Kupecheskaya with side salad

Tuesday: Potatoes, zucchini and mushroom casserole baked in a veggie broth

Wednesday: Black bean tacos and Spanish rice

Thursday: Buckwheat noodles with Thai peanut sauce and broccoli

Friday: Mediterranean couscous with pita bread and hummus

Saturday: Sushi with Miso soup

On average a menu this size lasts ten days or so and the ingredients cost sixty to seventy dollars. Truthfully we eat out a couple times a week as well...were pretty bad at that one.

Next to joining the army, serving an LDS mission, getting married and becoming a social worker becoming a vegetarian was one of the best decisions of my life and ironically it was one of the easier decisions as well. Doesn't work for all but it certainly works for us and it is a lifestyle we encourage all to at least partially adopt.

Super Tuesday!

Well...what better day to finally start blogging again than on Super Tuesday, right? We really need to blog more because we are notorious for having a lot of random thoughts on mind...although it is awfully narcissistic to think anyone really gives a hoot.

I stumbled across this illustration earlier today and it made me laugh so I felt like sharing because it involves two of my favorite things: Mitt Romney and The Simpsons. Enjoy.


P.S. You know...I'm not even 100% sure what Super Tuesday is...