"Morgan" Needs A Home...Won't You Help?

Charlie Lindahl sent this to me. An office mate of his suffers from allergies severe enough that he must now evict his 4 year old kitty.

This is Morgan.

Hope someone can find it in their hearts to adopt this little guy. How heartbreaking for him to be ripped from his comfortable and loving home with no place to go......

Check it out.

http://collegestation.craigslist.org/pet/1724241451.html

Bless the Beasts, Bless our Children, & Bless this Earth

May Meetup at Gail Ostensen's Home

Gail Ostensen hosted our meetup last night at her home. WOW! Did we eat good! Some of the delicious dishes folks brought were fresh turnip greens with sliced turnips, corn and veggie salad with a hot chile sesame oil dressing, pear chutney, Humble Vegan Garbanzo Basil Garlic Hummus, guac & blue corn chips, pasta-broc-veggie salad with a poppy seed dressing, fresh cut veggies, strawberries, blackberries and sliced pears. And a delicious vegan brownie cake for dessert.

Among all the munching and the smacking of our lips... we did manage to chat it up about what we want the group to do this year.

Georgia Vergos, Travis Thompson, Laura Thomas, Kristin Williams, Charlie Lindahl, Gail Ostensen, & Slyck Pecena were in attendance. Meg Reynard stopped by for a quick visit on her way to "knock on people's doors" as a census taker.

"Hilde," Gail's adorable puppy dog, enjoyed the attention we gave to her! Have you seen such a cute little face?

Everyone had really great ideas and thoughts....from field trips to animal activism events to educating the public on the health and environmental benefits of adopting a Veg*n lifestyle to a 5K Fun Walk/Run. We also discussed sponsoring "Awakening the Dreamer" event and continuing the holiday donation drive thru....Bless the Beasts and the Children, as well as Earth Day 2011.

We also discussed meeting in the park during the cooler months and alternating pot-lucks with speaker presentations.

John Adams, facilitator of Awakening the Dreamer, stopped by to chat and share some thoughts. John trained last summer for this position. Since age 16, he has been interested in Health as not only physical, psycho-emotional, and spiritual, but societal and planetary, as well. If you want to know more about this amazing symposium.... check out the website.

We all had a great time, fabulous food and good conversation!

If you did not get a chance to attend last night .... we'd love to hear YOUR ideas, thoughts, & suggestions for what you would like the group to be involved in. And if you are interested in being a part of this dynamic group..... just let us know!!

Bless the Beasts, Bless our Children & Bless this Earth

MAY 2010 MEET UP 6pm May the 4th

HOWDY!!!

Wanted to get the word out to everyone about the May Meetup! I am soooo excited!!!! We are meeting at Gail Ostensen's house. She lives in the Woodlake Subdivision.

TUESDAY, The 4th of MAY, 6pm

This meetup is YOUR chance to speak up!! Tell everyone what you want from Vision Voice Veg*n'z. What direction(s) you want us to head. What do you see as our many focuses and what goals do you want to set for the rest of this year. What events do you want us to get involved in. Do we want to plan another Bless the Beasts and the Children in December? I encourage you to take some time and give it some thought before the meetup.Your thoughts, ideas, suggestions, comments, criticisms will be greatly appreciated.

This is the time to bring a dish or something for all to share and for us to sit, eat and get to know each other and have a relaxing evening. Gail will provide the drinks and ice and dishes etc...... This is SO very nice of her :-) THANK YOU GAIL for your gracious hospitality!!

This is also a fantastic opportunity to bring any friends that you have that might be interested in joining our group!! YAY!! we can hear from them too!

We'll meet at 6pm and will eat around 6:45ish..... or when everyone can get there. I know this is earlier then we normally meet... so don't rush. I just thought we could get set the time earlier so those that make it earlier... will have some time to just enjoy chatting with Gail until everyone else arrives.

If you don't mind just shooting me an email for address, directions and to RSVP, I would appreciate it so I can let Gail know how many to expect. You FB buddies... I will post it as an event and you can RSVP there if you prefer.

I so look forward to seeing all of the current folks, the new folks and the potentially new folks!! This will be so great!!!

Sincerely,

Slyck Pecena

Founder & Leader

Bless the Beasts, Bless our Children & Bless this Earth

Brazos Valley Earth Day 2010

WOW!!! This past Saturday here in the Brazos Valley turned out to be a beautiful day for the Earth Day celebration! The morning started off a little “iffy”...... rain? or no rain? We were so fortunate that Cheryl Anne Chandler came up with a tent for us!! Wasn’t needed for rain..... but for protection from that gorgeous sunshine!!! There was a nice breeze around our booth and a BIG THANKS TO HEATHER QUAILS, Coordinator for Earth Day, we had a great location......Right on the main drag.

BIG SHOUT OUTS to the volunteers that shared their busy Saturday with us to help host the table!

*CHERYL ANNE CHANDLER
*KRISTA MAY
*JOHN BORDEN
*GAIL OSTENSEN
*KELLIE WILCOX MOORE *ADITYA SHRIVASTAVA
*LAURA HOMAS

These awesome folks came out to help host our table. We handed out pamphlets, flyers, bookmarks that when planted grow wildflowers and of course.... our famous Vegan and Vegetarian goodies..... These did not last long at all!!!

Let’s see we had Vegan Brownies, Nut Crunch Mix, Cranberry Pecan Cookies, Snack Mix made from raw Pecan-Almond-Cashew-Peanuts-Raisin-Pumpkin Seed in little baggies, Pineapple Cupcakes, Lemon Slices and Lemon-Poppy seed teacakes. All Vegan or Vegetarian and ALL simply YUM-MO!!!!! Everyone loves coming around our booth at events cuz we have the goodies!

We had a lot of folks interested in our group..... had never heard of our group & did not know we existed... that were Veg*n’z. Sure hope to recruit them!

And just look at this little guy..... he is having a great time!!!

Earth Day provided lots of entertainment from a Hybrid car show to demonstrations of Rainwater Harvesting & Composting to Live Music, in which one of our very talented young members entertained the event goers. Cheryl Anne Chandler sang a song called Colors of the Wind from Pocahontas. She is an amazing young woman... far wise beyond her years and not only, musically talented but also, artistically talented. She does our artwork for our group!! Way to go CC!!!! We LOVE you, kiddo!!!

Everyone said this was the best Earth Day yet! A great time was had and we so look forward to next year’s event!!!

Again, Thanks to Everyone!!!!

Slyck Pecena
Founder and Leader

Bless the Beasts, Bless our Children and Bless this Earth

APRIL Meetup

Check out this awesome menu the Village Downtown prepared for our April Meetup!!!

*Vegetable Fajitas w/chimchurri sauce & black beans on the side
*Asparagus w/provolone, red onion & homemade thousand island w/pumpernickel bread
*Bowl of Squash Soup.

Just unbelievably delicious!!! Wish we had pictures!!



Mary Strauss, Sustainability Programs Coordinator City of Bryan, Environmental Services Division, of Be Green in Bryan, chatted with everyone about Environmentally Friendly Yard Care
Equipping your garage or gardening headquarters with tools and techniques that save you time in the garden and are beneficial to the environment! Discover simple ways to conserve water and to reduce your use of synthetic fertilizers and pesticides.


A great group of folks showed up to listen to Mary and to ask her questions. She did an awesome job and is available to speak on numerous topics if you are or your group is interested. Here are just a few:

Environmental/Solid Waste Services
This presentation highlights some of the lesser known but valuable services offered by Bryan’s Environmental Services Division. Do you know where and when you can dispose of your paint and household chemicals for free? Do you know what types or how much brush and bulky you may place curbside? Do you know how to report illegal dumping or other environmental concerns in your area? Find out how you and your family can make a difference in beautifying Bryan!



Water Quality in Your Neighborhood
How do our everyday actions affect the environment? Find out what goes down the storm drains in Bryan as a result of common yard care and home improvement practices and their effect on water quality.

Let’s Tackle Grease in the Kitchen
Grease and oil come from a number of sources. Some of these sources are not easy to spot, such as food scraps, baked goods, sauces and dairy products. Did you know that putting oil and grease down the kitchen sink can cause costly sewer overflows into streets and storm drains in your neighborhood? Learn how and why you should help prevent grease buildups and blocked sewer lines.

You can contact Mary Strauss (979) 209-5910 mstrauss@bryantx.gov

Thanks to everyone for sharing your evening with Mary and making her feel welcome!

And thank you, Mary, for taking time out of your busy schedule to share your knowledge and expertise with the group!

The May meetup is May the 4th, 6pm, at Gail Ostensen’s house!!!! This is a discussion meetup and we want to hear what everyone has to say!! So bring your thoughts, ideas, suggestions AND BRING A DISH or SOMETHING for EVERYONE to share!! It will be a good time to get to know everyone and hear new ideas and suggestions!!

Please email slyck for directions and RSVP if you are interested.

Hope to see you all there!!!

Bless the Beasts, Bless our Children and Bless this Earth

Vision Voice Veg*n'z for the Brazos Valley Celebrate Earth Day

Looking for some all day fun?

This is your invitation to join us for the 15th Annual Brazos Valley Earth Day Celebration at Wolf Pen Amphitheater! It is this Saturday the 17th of April from 11am to 4pm!!

Vision Voice Veg*n’z for the Brazos Valley will host a table and hand out vegan and vegetarian goodies, flyers and pamphlets on different topics associated with Earth Day. This is a chance to chat it up with some of us & see what we are up to. Maybe you've thought about joining our group or coming to one of our meetups.... take this opportunity to check us out!

Come on out and enjoy the Music, Food, Exhibits, Displays, Demonstrations, Activities for Kids, and more... All relating to the environment! It's gonna be educational and entertaining. AND admission is free!

This is the time to celebrate our incredible Mother Earth!

See you there!

Bless the Beasts, Bless our Children and Bless this Earth

Consider Walka Pasta the Pasta!

Thinking that pasta is a safe, healthly choice at your favorite restaurant? Well... get ready to drop your jaw. Take a look at this article that Charlie Lindahl submitted for posting....... and think carefully, next time, before you order broccolli and chicken pasta or shrimp and pasta.

Thanks Charlie!!

Bless the Beasts, Bless our Children and Bless this Earth

Brazos Valley Earth Day 2010 (Invite to Participate)

15th Annual
Brazos Valley Earth Day
Wolf Pen Amphitheater
Saturday, April 17th, 2010
11 AM till 4 PM

Greetings Earthlings!

As you guys may know, Earth Day is coming up in April. Every year, the Brazos Valley holds an event to celebrate it, and this year, it's going to be held at the Wolf Pen Creek Amphitheater. If you've never been there, you can see directions here--->Directions

There's gonna be...
Music, Food, Exhibits, Displays, Demonstrations, Activities for Kids, and more...

All relating to the environment!

It's gonna be educational and entertaining. AND admission is free!

I think it'll be a lot of fun, and so I really encourage you to come and to spread the word.

HERE ARE OUR AWESOME VOLUNTEERS!!!

*GAIL OSTENSEN 10am to noon
*KRISTA MAY 10am to noon
*KELLIE MOORE 11am to 1pm
*CHERYL ANNE CHANDLER all day
*ADITYA SHRIVASTAVA noon to 4pm
*JOHN BORDEN all day (will share our table)
*LAURA THOMAS
*SLYCK PECENA all day

Building on that, Vision Voice Veg*n'z has got a spot reserved for the event. So, we're going to get to have a table set up where we can hang out, pass out goodies, flyers, and let people know how much we support the environment, and how meatless eating relates to the environment as well. Who knows? You may learn a few things yourself.

At about 9:30 we'll set up. 9:30 - 10:30 will be the only occasion vehicles will be allowed in the circle drive off of Colgate. When booth set is complete, they ask that we park along Colgate and in surrounding areas. The parking lot with the circle drive will not be available for parking.

At 10am, we'll start doing shifts at the table. We're thinking 2-hour shifts, depending on how many people we've got. And that'll go until the event is over at 4. Than we will need to stay and help tear down.

WE HAVE A TENT.... MAYBE TWO!!! YAY!!!

SEE YOU THERE!!!!

Thoughts and Prayers, Peace and LOVE
Cherylanne Chandler

And check this out! I only recently found out about this, but found it very interesting. Earth Hour is TOMORROW. Saturday, March 27th. From 8:30 to 9:30, millions of people all over the world turn off their lights. For just one hour. Join us.

Both of these videos are really good, and they may just make an impact:
http://www.myearthhour.org/earth-hour-video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FclcMfzjwug
I know that we need a whole lot more than just one hour once every year... but hey, it's a baby step... and it's still beautiful to see people come together like that.

Bless the Beasts, Bless our Children and Bless this Earth

April 6th Meetup... Coming up!

Come join us for the April 6th meetup!!

6:30pm at the fabulous Village Downtown!

Mary Strauss, the Sustainability Programs Coordinator City of Bryan, Environmental Services Division, will share valuable info with us about Environmentally Friendly Yard Care. It is that time of year again and we are working in our yards and gardens.

And of course the Village will fix up a DEEEElicious menu for us to enjoy. Please come and welcome Mary to our group.

When you get a moment......Please RSVP to Franchesca Garza just so she can let the Village know the number of folks that will be eating.

Plan on a big group discussion for the May meetup. Among other topics....be thinking of what you want from this group..... what directions you want to see it proceed....and what events you want us to be involved in.

Also, Earth Day April 17th is coming up and I have reserved a spot for us. I will provide the table. Now all we need is a tent and volunteers to host the event! Our sweet little Cheryl Anne Chandler will make up some great posters and flyers for us to hand out. Anyone else that wants to promote a topic synonymous with Earth Day, let me know and we can get flyers made up. We have some bike safety flyers left over from Green First Friday that we can hand out. And.... of course we'll need volunteers to make up some delicious veg*n goodies to hand out like we did at Green First Friday!!! Look forward to everyone's involvement in this great event!!






Bless the Beasts, Bless our Children and Bless this Earth

All Natural Produce Wash

I’ve been asking around about a good safe produce wash. I always DO organic as much as possible, but I must have my broccoli fix every week and most weeks I can’t find organic broccoli.

I’ve wanted to start washing my non-organic produce for awhile now and just never took the time to do some research...at least not until this past weekend when the Hubby Bear brought home some green grapes from SAM’s. I looked at those grapes.....you could just see the dusty white film all over each grape.... I thought to myself, “No way! At least until we can wash them with something that is safe and effective.”

So, after polling several folks regarding a safe product on the market that works.... Boots McCann, one of our members, came up with the number one answer! She gave me a recipe that is used by the locals in Mexico to wash their produce. It is all natural and made of products that you most likely have in your kitchen right now!








WATER



VINEGAR




BAKING SODA






LEMON JUICE

That’s it!

The recipe can be found here. I tried it this morning and it works great! I feel much better about eating grocery produce when I can’t get hold of my organic.

Thanks Boots!!


Yours In Health

Slyck Pecena
Founder & Leader

Bless the Beasts, Bless our Children and Bless this Earth

March Meetup Scoop

I was unable to make the March meetup at the Village Cafe, so one of our members wrote up a brief description. Read up on what Cheryl Anne Chandler shares about the meetup. And check out the great pics that Franchesca Garza snapped! BIG thanks to you two!

Our yummy menu (Vegan Dinner Specials) looked something like this

Spring greens soup
Avocado and spicy sprouts sandwich on focaccia bred w/ dijon, cucumber, and carrot and a side
Broccoli and sweet pea Alfredo pasta
Pasta Primavera
Apple and almond cobbler a la mode for dessert!

Jenn Atkins spoke for the March meetup. She is a certified nutritional consultant, a student of herbology, and has worked for BNF for over 20 years. She briefly asked about lifestyles of the group and why we had chosen that particular path. She found that most of us were in it for health reasons and animal rights. I also mentioned the environmental relevance of a meatless lifestyle as well as spirituality.

Jenn discussed her thoughts for any diet. She explained how no two bodies are exactly the same and that different people may have different needs. Therefore, it is every individual's responsibility to develop their own personal awareness and to pay attention to their own body, their own needs, rather than putting all their stock in labels, books, and someone else's words.

The focus of conversation was on connecting to our food and being in touch with ourselves. We discussed the importance of how our food was raised or grown, how the food was prepared/processed, and the affects that it has on us. She mentioned not just food, but everything around us that we're exposed to. Water. Clothing. Material. Stress. Where did it come from and what affect does it have on me?

Jenn concluded by restating her main point, "No matter what you're told, you have to consider: 'What's good for me?'."

Welcome to our 2 newbies!! Cassie Baxter & Georgia Vergos. Hope you guys will become regulars!

Next month, Mary Strauss, the Sustainability Programs Coordinator for the City of Bryan, Environmental Services Division, will chat with us about upcoming events that we can get involved in.

I hope you will come and enjoy great food, interesting company and Mary Strauss. Please welcome her and thank her for sharing her valuable time with us!

APRIL 6th, Tuesday
6:30pm, Village Cafe

Join us for our May meetup as we will have a group "chat it up.” We can all join together, get to know each other, talk (among other topics,) about what we want from the group, where we see the group heading and what impact we want to make on the community!!

Yours in Health!

Slyck Pecena

Founder and Leader

Bless the Beasts, Bless our Children and Bless this Earth

Vision Voice Veg*n'z March Meet-up

Hey Everyone!

The next Vision Voice Veg*n'z meet-up will be on
Wednesday, March 10th
6:30pm at Village Cafe.

Please let me know if you will be present and if you plan on eating dinner. Our speaker is Jenn Atkins. She is a certified nutritional consultant, a massage therapist, and a student of herbology. The topic of discussion will be "Living Sustainably".

Hope you see you there!

Thanks,

-Franchesca
chesca.m@gmail.com





Bless the Beasts, Bless our Children and Bless this Earth

February 2010 Meet Up

What an awesome presentation Betsy (Boots) McCann shared at the Village Cafe for our February 9th meetup. She shared her knowledge in the most casual way about the health and environmental advantages & benefits of buying organic produce.

Boots is a Vegan and is a 3rd year Ph.D. student in Agricultural Leadership, Education, and Communications. She currently works with the Farmer Solidarity Project teaching organic production methods to indigenous farmers in Guatemala, and in summer 2009 completed an internship with the Rodale Institute, where she also worked as a Communications Strategist.

About 15 Veg*n'z showed up to listen to Boots and to endulge in a delicious dinner. The Village, once again, out did it self with a mouth-watering menu for our group. Offering a choice of vegan pita pizza with sweet potatoe french fries or bean tex-mex casserole. Dessert was vegan chocolate cheese cake. We Veg*n'z do eat so good!!!.

BIG THANKS to Boots for taking time from her very busy schedule to speak to the group!

Our next meet up is Wednesday, March 10th 6:30pm at the Village Cafe. Jenn Atkins is our speaker. She is a certified nutritional consultant, a massage therapist, and a student of herbology. The topic of discussion will be "Living Sustainably".

Slyck Pecena
Founder & Leader





Bless the Beasts, Bless our Children and Bless this Earth

Creamy Spinach Pasta

HOWDY everyone!

Here is an awesome looking dish from one of our members.... Franchesca Garza...complete with recipe! I am anxious to try it out myself.

Just another example of how good we Vegans eat!!


BIG THANKS Franchesca for contributing to "OUR" blogsite!!


Creamy Spinach Pasta

Note: You might want to half the ingredients in this recipe, because I doubled them. I just didn’t want to waste any of the coconut milk. So, this is exactly how I made it.

The recipe is as follows:

1- can coconut milk (about 400ml)
2- tablespoons lemon juice
½ - tsp fine sea salt or regular salt
4 – garlic gloves
1- cup raw spinach
4- tablespoons nutritional yeast
1 small bag of your choice of pasta (about 7 oz.)
Nutmeg seasoning for flavoring
Pepper for flavoring

Sauce:
Put coconut milk, lemon juice, salt, garlic gloves, spinach, & nutritional yeast into blender. Sprinkle pepper & nutmeg into blender for flavoring. Puree until super smooth. (It’s okay to have tiny little pieces of spinach visible, it makes the sauce look pretty).


Cook pasta according to package instructions but remove with a couple of minutes left. Drain and place back into pot. Pour the sauce over and mix. Continue to cook over a low heat until sauce is hot enough to serve. When ready, taste and adjust with more nutmeg, pepper and salt as needed.

Serve and enjoy!!


**You can also toast some pine-nuts in a little of Earth Balance in a skillet. Sprinkle over pasta for added décor and a yummy added taste.











Bless the Beasts, Bless our Children and Bless this Earth