The Compassion Experiment

Check it out! Here are some great "Holiday" soups, and by "Holiday", we mean every day you are alive. Compassionate Broccoli and "Cheese" soup : You will need: One big yellow onion finely chopped. 2 branches of broccoli, trimmed and chopped. 3 cups low-sodium vegetable broth. 1.5 tbs. of nutritional yeast flakes Ground Cumin, and Nutmeg. 0.250 cup of "Milk?" 0.250 cup "Cheese" Cook onion in "saucepan" until softened. Add Nutritional Yeast, Broccoli, Vegetable Broth, two cups of Water, and bring to boil. Stir in Nutmeg, Cumin, and simmer, partially covered, until broccoli is tender (approx. 20 min). Puree soup in a food processor until smooth, in batches. Return to "saucepan". Add "Milk?" and heat until hot. Sprinkle with "Parmesan" "Cheese", and serve to a delighted "crowd". And by "crowd", I mean your family. Enjoy! Here's another! Okay, so it's a repeat, thi...

Dear Editor, A friend of mine alerted me to the fact that your magazine's Holiday Gift Guide for 2010 includes a taxidermied piglet bank - made from a real piglet. This is the most grotesque and disturbing thing that I have heard in some time. How do you justify this and rationalize that this should be considered one of the top gifts to give in 2010? Animals endure enough suffering as it is - do you really think that promoting this kind of gift is an ethical thing to do? Animals should be treated with respect and compassion, and this most certainly does neither. I expect that you will receive an onslaught of letters echoing my thoughts and I hope that you do the right thing and retract this immediately - animals are not things, and they should not be treated as such. Sincerely, B On Friday night, we attended our first ever, compassionate pot luck. And it was AWESOME!! Everything was tasty as hell, and we couldn't stop eating. We brought Carrot and Ginger soup, and it was loote...

Crosby and Jarrad were two of the most amazing cats I've ever met. Now they live together, and have found the perfect home. The moral of the story? Two cats are better than one, four cats are better than two, six cats... Did you hear the story earlier in the year, about a cat falling 15 floors and surviving? She landed on some grass, and broke some bones but, she made it through. That cat is now in Room C, cage C2, at the OMHS . She's a big eyed, black and white cutie, who will probably be sitting in a litter box (not the poopy one), when you peek in her cage. Her eyes will be wide, but she's not frightened. That's one amazing cat! Here we go, yo. Carrot and Ginger Soup , a compassionate classic! What you need : 1 Large Onion 2 tbsp olive oil 1 Large Potato, cubed 2 Large Carrots, chopped 2 Inches of fresh ginger, grated 3 cups Vegetable broth A tease of salt, and a sneeze of pepper. Saute the onions until yummy looking. Add the potatoes, carrots , and ginger. Cook f...

Photo by LW Distorted Reality: TCE "Thanks, for your wonderful blog, and great review of our little sanctuary. We really enjoyed meeting you both, and hope you will be back again! I love the pic of you and Doc, it looks like he's having a little taste. :-)They really are wonderful creatures that have enriched our lives greatly. We love to share them with people, so they can see how great they really are. Thank you for all you do for animals, and especially all the ones you are saving by not eating them!" S Ruby Ranch The best thing about our time during this experiment, has been all the new and amazing experiences, each one better then the next, and life has never been better. It's all about opening your mind to new ideas, and being fearless. Sure, sure, it's that easy. One good idea, spawns another great idea, and when you just go for it, a wave of goodness crashes upon you. How do I find this wave? You try this!: We had meatless chicken strips, recommended by ou...

From S at Ruby Ranch: "Fois gras, lamb and veal are horrible, but you know what "food" offends me the most? Bacon! I'm not exactly sure why, I mean, obviously I love pigs and all pork products are offensive, (as are all meat products) but bacon is way out there. I can't even look at those stupid Wendy's commercials that tout bacon as the greatest superfood ever. I can't look at it, and the smell of it makes me want to resort to violence. I think it might be because there are so many rabid bacon fans. (I wish pigs carried rabies and people could get it from eating bacon)(joke-sort of) When I read about the big fad last year at the ex being chocolate covered bacon, I wanted to go down there, and anyone I spotted eating this abomination, I wanted to take their stick away, throw it on the ground and stomp on it. I don't know why bacon does this to me. I wonder if anyone else feels this way? Need to start an anti-bacon movement!" We feel the same way...

Brooklyn has been at the OHMS for almost 2 years! We were sent this info from B and N , and think it is important to spread the word about FIV. There are cats at the OMHS who have it, and constantly get picked over because people don't really understand the disease at all. Brooklyn, Carbon, Hart, Taters, and Tully are all great cats, and need homes too!! As seen on catchat.org: What is FIV? Feline Immunodeficiency Virus (FIV) has been associated with cats for many years, although it was only labelled as such as recently as 1986. The virus depletes the number of white blood cells, which eventually makes the cat less able to fight off infection. However, because it is such a slow acting virus many FIV positive cats can enjoy a normal lifespan with no apparent health problems resulting from the virus. FIV is species specific, so can only be transmitted from cat to cat, and not to humans or other animals. FIV belongs to the same group as Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) and for this...

This year while at the Vegetarian Food Festival, we saw a pamphlet for a Pig Sanctuary, called Ruby Ranch . We grabbed it, of course, and vowed that we would have to check the place out. Of course with both of us working full-time now, and volunteering, it was hard to find time for it, but this past Tuesday, we were finally able to make it down. And it was unbelievable! We pull up to the house, and the front door opens. Out comes two dogs, and a giant pot belly pig who waddles his way down the front stairs. In the front yard there is a pen with three super cute pot belly pigs, who greeted us and were quite friendly. Seeing pigs on TV is one thing, to have a chance to get up and personal with them, is a whole other thing. These are cute, intelligent creatures, who love people, and to cuddle, and in some cases, even like to sleep in the bed. Ruby Ranch is run by an amazingly compassionate couple, Sherry and Bob, who started with one pig, Ruby, and now they have 19 pigs, two dogs, and thr...