'Bobs on the Barbie

Okay, so it's not really a barbecue, but "Grilling Kabobs" would have been a really dull title, don't you think? I bought a container of mixed up chopped onions and peppers (and a couple of mushrooms--what's up with that? I want more shrooms, dammit!), threaded them with some tempeh chunks on leftover skewers from the last kabobs I bought, brushed on some Annie's Naturals Paradise Marinade and grilled them in my lovely grill pan that I so adore. I had way more veggies than I had room for on the skewers, so after the skewers were done, I just tossed the unthreaded veggies in the grill pan and stirred them around for a bit until they had cooked up some. I also had some Lundberg's rice pilaf and cooked that up, for a nice, healthy (I hope) dinner. The rice could use a little more flavor--maybe next time I'll use half broth and half water to cook it or toss in some seasonings. But it's still pretty good, and I'd get it again.

Earth Day was yesterday, Sunday. And everyone talks about global warming and how to be environmentally friendly. The local paper was asking its readership for their tips, so of course, I wrote in. I said, go vegan and gave a few stats on just how wasteful the animal products industries are and how horribly they pollute the earth. And yes, I backtracked a bit; I realize not everyone can or will go vegan. But just sharply reducing your consumption of animal products will help. And to my suprise and delight, they published my letter, although a little hacked up. The EPA itself states that runoff from factory farms pollutes groundwater more than all other industrial sources combined, and the UN states that raising animals for food generates more greenhouse gases than all the cars and trucks in the world combined. Don't believe me? Know a skeptic? Have them Google "animal products global warming" and see how many hits you get that say, yes, meat production causes some serious environmental problems. And just because meat production is worse than SUVs, that doesn't give you a pass. If you must own a car, find a more fuel-efficient one. The supply of oil on the planet is finite, and your monstermobile isn't helping matters.