Under no circumstances do I find it acceptable that humans would harm animals for their own convenience or pleasure.  I believe that animals are not ours to eat, experiment on, use for clothing, or exploit for entertainment.  As many of you, my family is currently planning on a rather large Thanksgiving and Christmas feast this Holiday Season, and with that comes the torture and slaughter of millions of animals each and every such season.  Turkeys and pigs are killed for turkey and ham, cows are deprived of their children–many of which are then deprived of their lives–and plugged into machines that cause infections and sores.  They’re pumped full of antibiotics and hormones and have third-degree burns inflicted on them in the “branding” process.  They’re stressed pushed around.  Then there are eggs which are laid by chickens crammed into cages so tight that many are even incapable of turning around.  Their beaks are seared off with hot knives to prevent them from killing the chicken next to them out of stress induced insanity.

This is the fate of billions of animals per year, and this post is just to take my own personal stand–no matter how insignificant–against this and say that I will not be participating in murder and torture this Holiday Season.  Instead I will be enjoying the best of what my imagination can come up with.  Sure there are the Tofurkey roasts that many point at, but I’ve never been content to replace the products of murder with look-a-likes.  Instead I will be joining in by bringing my own mashed potatoes, yams, pastas, salads, vegetables, caseroles, and desserts to these feasts for my lovely wife and myself.

If any of you are thinking that I–by some miracle–am making any sense, check out the Vegan Outreach article “Why Vegan.”  I hope you all have a safe and happy Holiday Season, and I hope millions of pigs, chickens, turkeys, cows, and ducks will get to enjoy more this season than the most cruel and brutal murders that mankind has to offer.

So here’s a recipe that I like, it’s a buffalo tempeh sandwich.  It’s a little spicy but it’s much more savory than spicy.

Here’s what you need:

• 1 package of tempeh
• 2 tablespoons of dairy-free margarine
• 1/4 cup of hot sauce (I like louisianna hot sauce for this)
• Your favorite sandwich bread (when I make nice sandwiches I like to make my own bread for it, but kaiser rolls and stuff like that work, too)
• 1 tomato, sliced for sandwiches
• enough romaine lettuce to make sandwiches with
• Veganaise or other vegan-friendly mayo
• Enough oil to fry in, I usually just fill the skillet until the oil is about a half inch deep.

Now comes the cooking.  But first, this dish puts up a lot of spice smoke that can make you cough, so make sure you’ve got a well-ventilated area and you’ve got your fan going.

1. Melt your butter, and wisk it into your hot sauce, and put those in a bowl that’s big enough to marinade your tempeh in.
2. Cut your tempeh into pieces about the size of two of your fingers (1 just one of mine, haha)
3. Stick the tempeh in the bowl with the hot sauce and margarine and shake it up a bit, let it sit for like 5 to 10 minutes.
4. Heat your skillet before you put anything in it.  Remember that hot oil always goes into a hot pan, and that cold food always goes into hot oil.  That’ll help your food from mushing, and it’ll help your food from sticking to your pan.
5. Take the marinaded tempeh and put it into the hot oil, let it fry for 3 minutes before touching it, or it may fall apart.  Once the first 3 minutes is up, try turning it over.  Cook the tempeh until it is brown all over, then sit the cooked strips on a paper towel to drain all the oil off.
6. Make your sandwiches, and enjoy.

Tempeh, while it sounds weird, is actually really good.  It’s really crunchy and it has a really cool nutty flavor that I just can’t get enough of.  I like to grill it and fry it and bake it.

I hope you enjoyed this recipe, please comment with any suggestions or modifications.  I’m always looking to improve my recipes.

If the word “tofu” puts you off, please know that I’m not a huge tofu fan myself, but this dish is worth a try, and it’s super simple, and super-cheap.

Here’s what you need:

• 1 package soft silken tofu (be sure that it’s the soft silken tofu or your consistency will be off)
• 1 bag (10oz) of vegan-friendly semi-sweet chocolate chips (carob can work)
• 3tbsp maple syrup
• 1.5 cups your favorite berries or sliced fruit

First, using a double-boiler (I don’t have a double-boiler, so I use a small sauce pot inside of a wok) melt the entire bag of chocolate chips.  Once the chips start melting, stir in the maple syrup.

Take the tofu, pour the excess liquid out and plop it into your blender.  Blend the tofu until it has a smooth yogurt-like consistency.  Then, pour in your chocolate chip mix and blend until well-mixed and smooth.

Cool the mousse, serve with berries or fruit.  Serves between four to six.  This is very rich and very filling.

This recipe is outstanding, I really enjoy it, and it’s just such a tasty treat that is good for you and is 100% cruelty free.

If you’re curious about what it means to be vegan, please check out this goveg.com article and if you’e like to know why my family and I are vegan, please check out this article from vegan outreach.