Meatless Mondays!

Now that I have awakened from a weekend-long slumber, a little disoriented yet extremely well-rested...I suppose it's time for a new blog. For those of you who follow me, and I thank you from the bottom of my heart for doing so, I didn't want to leave you without some food for thought. Get it? Ha...okay...For those who missed my last blog, I had my wisdom teeth out and spent the last few days eating mushy stuff and hydrocodone. Yum!

         This evening I started going through the material for the first section of my online class: The Ecology of Food. Our first topic is "sustainable agriculture." After spending about two hours clicking links, reading articles, and plowing through fields of information (ha again!) I got pretty excited about the topic. After all, it goes hand in hand with one of the reasons I want to go vegetarian: the factory farming of animals. The question I pose to you-- Can we continue to sustain the use of slaughter-houses that overcrowd, medicate and genetically modify farm animals? The antibiotics used to suppress illness in these animals pose a threat to humans in the form of resistant strains of bacteria. Broiler chickens are genetically modified to grow at such a rapid rate that their legs cannot support them and they are unable to walk, some unable to move. Unthinkable amounts of animal waste accumulates and provides a toxic environment for the farm animals as well as pollutants for the surrounding air, water and soil.

          Believe me, I am not a sign toting activist...no offense to sign toters...and the last thing I want to do is scare you away with PETA-like propaganda. You have tons of information right at your fingertips and are quite capable of forming your own opinion. I plan to write much more on this topic for those that are interested. There is so much to know about where our food comes from as well as what food does for our bodies.

          Anywho, I came across a link to a site where their goal is to "help reduce meat consumption 15% in order to improve personal health and the health of our planet." A noble cause. :-) They provide some links on the right hand side of their page, one is a news article about the health implications of meat consumption. In the spirit of Meatless Monday- one day a week, cut out meat... I'd like to share a recipe by Alton Brown for Guacamole. Everyone I make this guacamole for absolutely loves it! Avocados are still in season, and you know they're ready to eat if the skin is evenly colored and dark, almost black, and the flesh underneath feels soft when you press on it. If you try to use an avocado that is too green it will be hard to mash and wont taste as good.

Guacamole

• 3 Haas avocados, halved, seeded and peeled (for this amount of ingredients I would recommend just using two large avocados)
• 1/2 lime or lemon, juiced
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt (must be kosher salt)
• 1/2 tsp ground cumin
• 1/2 teaspoon cayenne
• 1/2 medium onion, diced
• 2 Roma tomatoes, seeded and diced
• 1 tablespoon chopped cilantro
• 1 clove garlic, minced

          In a large bowl place the scooped avocado pulp and lime or lemon juice, toss to coat. Using a potato masher or two forks add the salt, cumin and cayenne and mash together. Fold in the onions, tomatoes, cilantro and garlic. You can add more or less of any of these ingredients according to taste once you have tried it. You must use lime or lemon juice because it will prevent the avocado flesh from turning brown. You can let the guacamole sit at room temperature for up to an hour. Letting it sit for a little while helps bring out the flavor, of course I'm always too impatient and want to eat it right away! Enjoy!