Wednesday, March 25, 2009

Vegan Recipe 5

Abdominal Tacos

Marinade:
3 lb. Vegan abdominals (like flank steak), cut into bite-sized strips
1/4 cup white vinegar
1/4 cup soy sauce
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 limes, juiced
1/4 cup olive oil
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. ground black or lemon pepper
1/2 tsp. garlic powder
1/2 tsp. chili powder
1/2 tsp. dried oregano
1/2 tsp. ground cumin
1/2 tsp. paprika

Fresh Salsa:
1/2 red onion, chopped
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
1/2 lime, juiced

Cooked Salsa:
1 tomato, chopped
1 jalapeno pepper, chopped
1/2 yellow onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
Pinch salt and pepper, to taste

About 12-16 corn tortillas
1 cup crumbled Cotija cheese
1 lime, cut into wedges

In a medium bowl, whisk together the vinegar, soy sauce, 2 cloves of garlic, lime juice and olive oil. Season with salt, pepper, garlic powder, chili powder, oregano, cumin and paprika. Place the Vegan in a thin layer in a large glass baking dish (covered with plastic wrap) or a resealable plastic bag and toss with the marinade. Marinate in the refrigerator for 1 to 8 hours.

Preheat the oven to 450F.

In a small skillet, heat 1 Tbsp. oil and cook the tomato, onion, jalapeno, and 2 cloves of garlic until soft; set aside. In a small bowl, stir together chopped red onion, cilantro, and the lime juice; set aside.

Heat vegetable oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Cook, stirring constantly, until the meat is cooked through and most of the liquid has evaporated.

Heat ½” of oil in a small skillet and fry the corn tortillas, one side at a time, into a taco shell shape. Remove and drain on paper towels. Place a generous amount of Vegan, salsa, and cheese into each taco and garnish with limes. Makes 4 servings.

Vegan Recipe 4

Vegan Brown Rice Salad
(A good side dish to accompany a spicy pectoralis or quadracep)

1½ cups brown rice, medium or short grain
2½ cups water
1 Tbsp. unsalted butter
1 tsp. kosher salt

6 slices Vegan flexors (tastes like bacon)
½ cup diced red onion
½ cup white wine vinegar
½ cup Vegan broth (tastes like chicken)
2 tsp. Dijon mustard
1 tsp. sugar
1 tsp. kosher salt, plus a pinch
½ tsp. freshly ground black pepper

Preheat the oven to 375F. Place the rice into an 8” square glass baking dish. Bring the water, butter, and salt just to a boil in a kettle or covered saucepan. Once the water boils, pour it over the rice, stir to combine, and cover the dish tightly with heavy-duty aluminum foil. Bake on the middle rack of the oven for 1 hour. After 1 hour, remove cover and fluff the rice with a fork.

In a large sauté pan over medium heat, fry the Vegan slices until crisp. Drain, crumble, and set aside. Reserve 1 tablespoon of the fat.

Add the red onion to the pan and cook until translucent, approximately 5 to 6 minutes. Add the vinegar, broth, mustard, sugar, salt, and pepper to the pan and stir to combine. Add the Vegan back to the pan along with the rice and cook, stirring occasionally, until the liquid is absorbed, approximately 7 to 10 minutes. Allow to cool slightly before serving. Makes 4 servings.

Vegan Recipe 3

Fettuccine with Creamy Tomato and Vegan Sauce

2 tablespoons olive oil
3 shallots, chopped
2 large garlic cloves, chopped
3 Italian-style Vegan sausages, casings removed
1 cup whipping cream
2 (14.5-oz.) cans diced tomatoes in juice with Italian seasonings
½ tsp. Italian seasonings
½ Tbsp. dried sage
¾ lb. fettuccine, cooked and drained

Heat oil in a large, heavy pot over medium-high heat. Add shallots and garlic and sauté until beginning to soften, about 3 minutes. Add sausages and sauté until no longer pink, breaking up with back of fork, about 5 minutes. Drain off the oil. Add cream; simmer 5 minutes. Add tomatoes with juices, Italian seasonings, and sage. Simmer until sauce thickens, stirring occasionally, about 15 minutes. Serve on top of fettuccine. Makes 6 servings.

Vegan Recipe 2

Vegan-Vegetable Soup

3 lb. Vegan gastrocnemius (stew meat)
2 Tbsp. cooking oil
6 cups Vegan or vegetable broth
2 cups tomato juice
1 Tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp. chili powder
2 bay leaves
2 medium carrots, diagonally sliced
2 medium stalks of celery, sliced
1 large potato, peeled and cubed
1 small onion, coarsely chopped

In a large 4-quart pot, brown the meat, half at a time, in hot oil; drain off fat. Return all meat to the pan. Stir in the broth, tomato juice, Worcestershire sauce, chili powder, and bay leaves. Bring to boiling; reduce heat. Cover and simmer for 2 hours. Skim fat from broth.

Stir in carrots, celery, potato, and onion into broth. Bring to boiling; reduce heat. Cover and simmer for 30 to 45 minutes or until the vegetables and meat are tender. Discard bay leaves. Makes 8 servings.

Vegan Recipe 1

Vegan Meatballs

1-1/2 lb. Vegan biceps femoris, ground (tastes like hamburger)
1 cup breadcrumbs
3/4 cup minced onion
1 tsp. garlic powder
¼ cup water
Olive oil, for frying

Combine all ingredients except water into a large bowl and mix well. Add water, 1 Tbsp. at a time, until you reach the desired consistency. Make sure the mixture is firm enough to hold its shape but soft enough to cook properly. Shape mixture into small balls, about 1” in diameter.

In a medium saucepan, heat 1 Tbsp. olive oil and brown the meatballs on all sides. Cook until meat is no longer pink OR continue with Sweet and Sour Vegan Meatballs.


Sweet and Sour Vegan Meatballs

1 (20 oz.) can pineapple chunks, drained with juice reserved
1/3 cup fresh lemon juice
3 Tbsp. packed brown sugar
2 Tbsp. soy sauce
1/4 tsp. ginger
2 Tbsp. cornstarch
1 green bell pepper, chopped

In a small bowl, combine 1/4 cup of the reserved pineapple juice, lemon juice, brown sugar, soy sauce, and ginger. Pour into the pan with meatballs and add green pepper. Cover, and simmer until meatballs are done, about 25 minutes. In a small bowl, combine remaining pineapple juice and cornstarch. Stir into meatball mixture, and simmer until thickened. Add pineapple chunks; heat thoroughly. Makes 6 servings.

Monday, March 23, 2009

Sunday, March 22, 2009

THis is for the border.  I will connect the peices to make a frame for the pages and the cover.

Friday, March 20, 2009

Updated Writing 3-23

Introduction

There was a time in our not so recent past when our ancestors rose up and fought their carnivorous oppressors. From that day on, humans began their long climb up the food chain. From the trees we descended, unto the earth. Across vast expanses of grasslands and desert, we trudged. Learning the ways of weapon craft and hunting techniques until one day humans became the supreme creature, able to take down the most powerful and immense of beasts. First-rate consumers have always worked hard to digest and process nutrition, from inferior sources like grasses and gains. Predators have always exploited this by consuming the consumers. You are what you eat. We want you to know that chicken and beef are not the only way to get quality nutrition and still get adequate amounts of youth preserving protein. There is a superior alternative to factory farmed steroid pumped cows and poultry. Animals eat what they are fed, and often they become laden with toxic fillers and chemicals. The answer to quality, nutritious and flavorful flesh is in a vegan diet. That is, a diet consisting of vegan meat.
In this book we will explore many savory and delicious ways to prepare vegan meat, as well as how to obtain and maintain your supply of fresh vegan livestock. What to feed them and when, and what flavors can be accentuated with different techniques.

Section 1) Health

All around the world, meat has become almost a daily necessity to maintain a healthy diet. Meat is pack full of proteins and fats that are essential to maintaining a well-balanced nutrition. Beef, pork, seafood, and poultry all have their benefits and drawbacks, but one thing is for sure… most humans love to eat meat. When it comes to the quality of the meat we consume, this raises a number of issues. Through out time, the affluent society has had their pick at the best quality meat. Depending on the health and raising techniques of livestock, the meat they carry will greatly vary ranging from the nutrients they can provide to the hormones they are fed.

Free-range livestock is supposed to be healthier because the animals aren’t given growth hormones and are left to feed on grass and wild greens rather then being fed slop that’s used to fatten them up. The problem with free-range livestock is the meat they produce is a a lot more expensive then traditional mass-breeding farms. This makes it extremely inaccessible to the average person living paycheck to paycheck. Farm raised livestock is the meat that we commonly consume everyday. From McDonald’s to the “on sale” beef at the grocery store, everyday we eat meat that is packed full of growth hormone, preservatives, and chemicals. The animals that are raised in these farms are packed tightly into stables, commonly defecate on themselves, and are butchered at slaughterhouses that use inhumane killing techniques.

So is there a solution to finding a cheap, high quality source of protein? The answer is YES! For years, vegans have been scrutinized by mainstream culture for not indulging in the primitive ritual of the hunt and kill; however, they have been able to maintain a diet considered to be one of the healthiest possible ways to eat. By maintaining consumption of strictly vegetables, grains, nuts, and fruit, vegans are packed full of essential vitamins and nutrients. You might say, “but what if I don’t want to give up eating meat? Vegans are a bunch of tree huggers!” But what if I were able to tell you that there is a way to get all the benefits of being a vegan without quitting flesh? Don’t eat vegan… instead, EAT VEGANS!!! The average American is full of to much trans-fat and cholesterol to make a balanced meal, but vegans are the solution. They are perhaps the most health conscious living beings on earth, and someday maybe a top player in what we consume in the food chain. Of course this is not to say that obtaining this precious meat is an easy task, but, in the sections to follow you will see guidelines and suggestions on how to best capture, prepare, and cook these delicacies.

Section 2) Supply

Step #1- How to get your vegans: methods of capture and containment, from feeding to breeding

There are two ways to obtain a supply of vegan livestock. The first method is coercion. If coercion does not work, the second method is capture. It can be hard to meet a vegan in a natural setting without actively searching for them in their habitat. Places to find vegans in the wild include music festivals, PETA meetings, drum circles, liberal college campuses, animal rights protests, ect. In certain parts of the country it may require some research to see which events are most prominent in your region. Once you have located a possible supply, you can proceed to enact one of the methods. The first method to be applied should be coercion. It is best to start with coercion first because a happy vegan is a healthy vegan. If you are to frighten a vegan too much, their anxiety will cause distress, which could in turn release harmful doses of hormones and lower the quality of the meat. With this method, consent is a must.

Some useful techniques for coercing a vegan to return to the containment center is to tell a fib. An example of these techniques can include crafting a fake PETA meeting poster, and proceeding to pass them out to the vegans. With a little bit of creative design and smooth talking, it should be easy to coerce a small group of 5-10 vegans at least to meet at the “PETA” event. Once they have arrived, a good technique for containing them is to arrange for an “animal rights” photo shoot. Step 1 should be to obtain a cage large enough to hold them. Step 2 is to convince the vegans that you have acquired to get in the cage so a photo can be taken to give non-vegans a perspective on animal cruelty. If you can convince them to get in the cage without any violence, Step 3 is to simply lock the cage. If they begin to panic, explain that it is just an exercise to deeper understand caged-animals plight. They should be willing to comply.

If these methods of coercion do not work, there are some helpful supplies that may assist in a capture. These tools include duck tape, a potato sack, a large dog kennel, and a van. Some restraints such as rope may also be necessary depending on the amount of resistance encountered. Keep in mind these are to be used as a last resort after all friendly attempts have failed. If it is not possible to locate any vegans in your region, it is possible to use a back-up technique called conversion. The goal of the conversion technique is to take normal omnivorous people and convince them of the benefits of becoming a vegan. If you try hard enough, and given a little bit of time, it is possible to convert a non-vegan to a vegan. It might be wise to attempt to convert multiple people at one time. This will raise your chances of success.

Section 3) Containment

Once you have secured your vegan supply, the next step is to maintain that supply until ready for consumption. We have already touched base on some basic supplies. Again, a large cage is almost essential. A dog kennel might do the job. You can find one at your local pet supply store. Once you have solved the storage situation, you can now focus on keeping your vegans healthy and happy. If they are frightened of the situation, their health can deteriorate very quickly. This is why it is important to attempt to keep them happy and positive about being a vegan. One tool that can be useful for maintaining a healthy vegan is a giant hamster wheel. These exercise wheels are perfect to keep your vegans in shape and give them something to do with their time. These are just some suggestions, you may be creative when coming up with your own containment methods.

Section 4) Cooking knowledge

Different parts of an animal’s body can create different meals. The same applies when considering what kinds of dishes you wish to create from your vegans.
Some common body parts you may want to consider for popular dishes can include: pectoralis, or the breast muscle makes for a great steak. Biceps work well for zesty kabob. The abdominal muscles are great for making flank steaks. The phalanges are wonderful for simulating chicken wings or other finger food. Quadriceps makes for a hearty, slow cooked roast. The Soleus, or muscles surrounding the lower leg make great fajita meat with some good tenderizing. The Trapezius muscles on the upper back can be great for choice carne asada meat. Deltoids are an amaizing likeness of chuck roasts. If you are feeling a little upper class, the Latismus Dorsi makes a delicious striploin. The Flexor and Extensors have a similarity to ham hocks. Of course, if your in the mood for a good rump roast, the most ideal part of the vegan is the Glutius Maximus. Biceps Femoris is most commonly used for hamstring burgers. And finally we come to Gastrocnemius, which makes the beast meat for a fine stew steak. Keep in mind that it is best not to waste, so if you can think of any uses for remaining body parts, BE CREATIVE!!!


More to be Posted soon!!!
Grant
I created several more illustrations for the book. I created the "coercion" scene where the Vegan Eater is using friendly tactics to get his prey into place. I created the "manster wheel, vegan exercise unit" complete with "automated-motivation device" (shock collar). I also drew a scene where a seductress uses her good looks to captivate a mans heart. I also worked with Johnathan to make sure the illustrations were in line with the text.

Jonathan
In the past week I have almost finished the writing content for the book. I also researched pricing points of similar books as pertaining to the number of pages and content, and will soon settle on a sales price for our own book. I have also gathered recipes for the cooking portion and am in the process of editing them.
This week I plan to wrap up and edit the writing content completely by Sunday. We are also planning on finishing the recipes and completing the layout for the book.

Leslie
In the past week, I finalized the organizational identity package for Eat Vegans. I've also continued recipe-gathering/adjustments and work on the guerrilla marketing publications to convert individuals to Veganism and promote our book and website material.


What we aim to complete next week

Finalize the book.
put together a PowerPoint with slides of the artwork and content.
create the "wow" work in progress.
create guerrilla marketing cards
win the crowd. achieve victory.

Tuesday, March 17, 2009

Progress- Sections 1, Start of Section 2

This is a sample of what the actual content is reading like. Please give input so the final draft can be really good :)

Section 1) Health

All around the world, meat has become almost a daily necessity to maintain a healthy diet. Meat is pack full of proteins and fats that are essential to maintaining a well-balanced nutrition. Beef, pork, seafood, and poultry all have their benefits and drawbacks, but one thing is for sure… most humans love to eat meat. When it comes to the quality of the meat we consume, this raises a number of issues. Through out time, the affluent society has had their pick at the best quality meat. Depending on the health and raising techniques of livestock, the meat they carry will greatly vary ranging from the nutrients they can provide to the hormones they are fed.
Free-range livestock is supposed to be healthier because the animals aren’t given growth hormones and are left to feed on grass and wild greens rather then being fed slop that’s used to fatten them up. The problem with free-range livestock is the meat they produce is a a lot more expensive then traditional mass-breeding farms. This makes it extremely inaccessible to the average person living paycheck to paycheck. Farm raised livestock is the meat that we commonly consume everyday. From McDonald’s to the “on sale” beef at the grocery store, everyday we eat meat that is packed full of growth hormone, preservatives, and chemicals. The animals that are raised in these farms are packed tightly into stables, commonly defecate on themselves, and are butchered at slaughterhouses that use inhumane killing techniques.
So is there a solution to finding a cheap, high quality source of protein? The answer is YES! For years, vegans have been scrutinized by mainstream culture for not indulging in the primitive ritual of the hunt and kill; however, they have been able to maintain a diet considered to be one of the healthiest possible ways to eat. By maintaining consumption of strictly vegetables, grains, nuts, and fruit, vegans are packed full of essential vitamins and nutrients. You might say, “but what if I don’t want to give up eating meat? Vegans are a bunch of tree huggers!” But what if I were able to tell you that there is a way to get all the benefits of being a vegan without quitting flesh? Don’t eat vegan… instead, EAT VEGANS!!! The average American is full of to much trans-fat and cholesterol to make a balanced meal, but vegans are the solution. They are perhaps the most health conscious living beings on earth, and someday maybe a top player in what we consume in the food chain. Of course this is not to say that obtaining this precious meat is an easy task, but, in the sections to follow you will see guidelines and suggestions on how to best capture, prepare, and cook these delicacies.

Section 2) Supply
Step #1- How to get your vegans: methods of capture and containment, from feeding to breeding
There are two ways to obtain a supply of vegan livestock. The first method is coercion. If coercion does not work, the second method is capture. It can be hard to meet a vegan in a natural setting without actively searching for them in their habitat. Places to find vegans in the wild include music festivals, PETA meetings, drum circles, liberal college campus’s animal rights protests, ect. In certain parts of the country it may require some research to see which events are most prominent in your region. Once you have located a possible supply, you can proceed to enact one of the methods. The first method to be applied should be coercion. It is best to start with coercion first because a happy vegan is a healthy vegan. If you are to frighten a vegan too much, their anxiety will cause distress, which could in turn release harmful doses of hormones and lower the quality of the meat. With this method, consent is a must.

Sunday, March 15, 2009

Friday, March 13, 2009

The layout

Cover with logo and illustration
Intro “why eat vegans”
(already done)
Good meat versus bad meat. Organic vegan humans and American diet sub sisters.
Pesticides, hormones, chemicals, fat imbalances cholesterol,

How to get your vegans “methods of capture and containment” Feeding and breeding.
1,How to attract them, False peta meetings animal cruelty, “why not get into this cage so we can take a picture” for demonstration purposes.
2.Describe the ways there are to kidnap prospective prime meat by catching people who will be “convinced about the benefits of a vegan diet, or established vegans that are “out to pasture” these are voluntary vegans in society.

((Thought bubble cow with person head.))
How to keep your vegans fit and “happy”. Talk about regular walks, or runs, motivated by cattle prods or trained attack dogs. (illustrate stuff like giant hamster wheels)
Illustrations….
1.tools of the trade, Pictures of rope, tape, cages and “fitness motivation equipment”
treadmills (giant hamster wheel)
2. Forced new age music listening…
3.more to come….
How to prepare a vegan for consumption, prime cuts, roasts, sausages, what to cut with the meat to make it taste best and remain healthy!
1. Illustrate body diagrams, organs

Recopies
1
2
3
4
5
.
.

Do’s and don’ts

Quick funny one-liners… advice

About the authors
Pictures of us


“quotes” from satisfied readers…

Eat Vegans Budget and Publishing Plans

Eat Vegans Budget and publishing procedures

1) Choose best publishing company for needs
2) www.createspace.com, www.lulu.com

Createspace.com is a good alternative to publishing by unit. Createspace.com is a partner of Amazon.com. They publish books based off of royalties rather then charging per unit published. Createspace.com sells from two outlets. First, from their own online store, second from Amazon. The percentage of royalties is based on which outlet the book is sold from. The price breakdown is as follows:
Outlet Royalty Percentage
CreateSpace eStore 20% of list price
Amazon.com 40% of list price

There is also a standard charge applied of $6.65 per book. It is possible by paying an initial membership fee of $39.00 to join the pro plan that cuts this standard charge to $3.65 per book. An example of how this breaks down is as follows.

eStore Sale Amazon.com Sale
List Price
set by you $16.00 $16.00
- Our Share $7.70 $10.90

Your Royalty $8.30 $5.10


If we choose to publish by unit, lulu.com is a great online publishing source for publishing in this manner. The price breakdown is as follows. This might be more useful when making a book with a lot of content where a high price can be established to cut a decent profit.
Quantity Price per unit Total
1 $10.50 $10.50
50 $8.59 $429.50
100 $8.19 $819.00
250 $7.49 $1,872.50
500 $6.79 $3,395.00
1000 $6.69 $6,690.00
5000 $6.69 $33,450.00
Lulu.com online publishing Costs per Unit



3) After establishing which company best suites the need of the project, the next step is to create an account with the publisher. For most companies, they will offer optional services for a set price. For example, if you pay the $39.00 to Createspace.com, you receive pricing discounts. Lulu.com offers marketing packages ranging from $200-$1,000 that offer mass distribution and advertising. It is possible to create an account for free, but these services are definitely good to consider.
Grant Griffard
Allot of stressing.
I designed a food pyramid and body type comparison chart illustrations for the book. I looked for a few recipes to modify for vegan meat.
I began tooling the layout of the book, drawing page borders and cover art. I did not copy all of my files to my thumb-drive before going to sleep last night, but I did get a few in my file, so i have some to show today. The rest needs to be implimented to the websites. I have the weekend off work to do more artwork. And if leslie doesnt show up, I'll not likely be able to pick up the slack on my own. That is all.


Jonathan Kaplan

What I did- Also alot of stressing...
I was able to create a good basic budget and an outline for the procedures we must follow to publish the book. I have loaded it into the doc. sharing of gmail and I will upload it to the blog today in class. I also started a professional personal myspace account. I have also started wrtiting the beginning of the book, but I left my files for it at home. By the end of this weekend I expect to have more then just the intro completed and ready for import. Hopefully I will be able to start on anything else we need completed by Sunday.

Leslie

?????

Friday, March 6, 2009

Week 3 Achivments list

Grant

1.Concept sketches for cover artwork
2.Logo designs
3.Wrote the book intro
4.Chapter headings
5.Purchased the domain name
6.Researched recipies
7.Collected a morgue file of images for reference
8. looked at format options a binding
9. scoured the internet for possible “competition” to see how they were doing it, and what I can do to make our book different and better.

Jonathan

1) I started gathering numbers that include publishing costs, press release, and marketing tools in order to formulate a Budget
2) I drew some sketches and have been coming up with ideas for content of the book.
3) I have been further researching the topic of Vegans to better understand the basis for the project.
4) I went to the bookstore and browsed other cookbooks and reference materials to see what the standard should be for the quality of the project.
5) I have been shopping different publishers to see what the best option is for us.

Leslie

1. I continued gathering more recipes to be used within the book.
2. I came up with a few business card designs.
3. Minor updates to the MySpace and Blog, though the design still needs to be pulled together.

I could not get a photobucket account working.  I dont know why.  I tried several different names/password configs, and it always tells me "you are not eligable for registration".  I have no idea what the problem is.  

I've had NO time this week to make artwork. Work has taken much of my time this past week, and with so many projects going on it's prooving impossible to manage the little time I have effectivly.  I will be busting ass on it this week, as I requested more days off work to catch up on school,

I started writing the intro and chapter layout.  Here's what I got so far.



   There was a time in our not so recent past when our ancestors rose up and fought their carnivorous  oppressors. From that day on, humans began their long climb up the food chain.  From the trees we descended, unto the earth.  Across vast expanses of grasslands and desert, we trudged.  Learning the ways of weapon craft and hunting techniques until one day humans became the supreme creature, able to take down the most powerful and immense of beasts.   First rate consumers have always worked hard to digest and process nutrition, from inferior sources like grasses and gains.  Predators have always exploited this by consuming the consumers.  You are what you eat.  We want you to know that chicken and beef are not the only way to get quality nutrition and still get adequate amounts of youth preserving protein.  There is a superior alternative to factory farmed steroid pumped cows and pultry. Animals eat what they are fed, and often they become laden with toxic fillers and chemicals.   The answer to quality, nutritious and flavorful flesh is in a vegan diet.  That is, a diet consisting of vegan meat. 

    In this book we will explore many savory and delicious ways to prepare vegan meat, as well as how to obtain and maintain your supply of fresh vegan livestock.  What to feed them and when, and what flavors can be accentuated with different techniques.  

 

 

Chapter 1:  How to obtain and maintain your vegan livestock

Chapter2:  How to cure prepare your vegan meat for cold storage or fresh use

Chapter 3: What parts go where, the best pieces to use for the dish

Chapter 4: A collection of various time tested delicious vegan recipes

Chapter 5:  Living as a vegan eater, do’s and dont’s

Let me know what you guys think.  I'm not a writer by trade.