Babyfood – Part (2)Mbili

Baby Smoothies

Mmmmmm she loves to eat!

Embe na Parachichi

If it’s green it’s good!

ahhhhhhhh

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Medical Research – Is it Vegetarian?

Breast cancer awareness (Photo credit: AslanMedia)

Recently I had a scare.  I found a lump in my breast and immediately buried myself and gave all my children away!  I confided in a friend who reassured me that breast cancer was “treatable” .  I was relieved as I waited for my Ultrasound and Mammogram appointment.

Mammography in process: Shown is a drawing of a female having a mammogram. A mammogram is a picture of the breast that is made by using low-dose x-rays. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

During one of my sleepless nights I thought how I had been a part of the research and discovery.  I had marched.  I had fundraised.

breast cancer walk, take 2! (Photo credit: skampy)

I had friends involved in breast cancer research.   I remembered the bite marks where the rats, she used for her research, had bitten her.  I had visited her in the lab one day and she showed what she was working on.  She was thinly slicing the rat’s brains to examine.  The same rats that had bitten her were now dead.

(Photo credit: Wikipedia)

I had forgotten the sacrifice of those rats.  And while I felt relief I could be treated I also felt like those rats were being taken advantage of.  It was obvious, by the bite marks around my friends finger nail beds, that the rat didn’t want to be injected with cancer needles or be cured of it’s deadly disease.  The rat was protesting without any voice.  Who was the voice of the rat?  Could I be the voice of the rat?  Could I say that a rat’s life was as important as mine or my children’s?  Could I refuse treatment?  I had children to live for.  And my parents, they had already lost a child (my oldest sister), how would they feel if I died from a “treatable” disease?

What about their feelings?

What about the rat’s feelings?  How many rats lost their mother or their sister or child?  The rat, like a slave, had been given no choice and like the Jews in Germany were forced into experimentation for the purpose of medical research.  No moral person could accept people being used in labs(even though we have forgotten where some of our modern medical research stems from).  How could I as a moral vegetarian ignore this rat holocaust?  I am sure God’s purpose for a rat was not research and I knew morally  it was wrong to use any of God’s creatures for that purpose.  How many had to die so that I may live a better life?

Unmarked grave (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Is there an answer?  When must one become a hypocrite?   In the face of death?  For our children’s sake?  For our parents or husband or family?  For our religion?  What would Daniel or Jesus or His Imperial Majesty Selassie do?  What would I do?  Could I listen to the teachings of the great Rastaman Prof I (a man of love and peace and tranquility within his heart) who after being questioned about being a vegetarian says “I don’t eat fish because I can’t afford to take a life to save a life.  Cuz’ a fish love him life just like how I love mine!”

Orginally found at flikr. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Fortunately I was relieved of my worries about breast cancer but not of my obligation to the rats who sacrificed their lives for medical research.  Is the cost of so many lives and the spilling of so much blood worth it?  Is medical research a vegetarian ideal?

Vegan Rasta Caps

Vegan Rasta Cap - lion of judah style

I am an at home mom of 4 and I am always searching for ways to make money.  Honestly that is why I started a blog.  However, the blog has become more like a journal than a business.  So I decided to start selling caps instead.  These comfy caps are crocheted heaven.  They are made by my friend Rasta who handmakes these caps on the streets of Stonetown on the Island of Zanzibar.  Rasta is Cush.  He eats no flesh, no salt, no prepared foods or processed foods.  Rasta lives an Ital lifestyle.  Fresh fruit and vegetables.  Coconut juice everyday.  Cashews fresh.  He earns his living by the sweat of his brow.  His talent is God given what we might call his destiny.    He does okay selling to the tourists in Z’bar but he has so many people that depend on him that he needs to do better.  I want to see him succeed.  I also need to succeed.  So we started this business together.

Fixin' Moses a hat

The caps are amazing.  They fit a kid from 2 years old to 15 years old.  The cap even fits my head comfortably.

By vegan I meant polyester so it washes great!  It is breathable and lovely.

My kids are always getting complimented on their caps.  So much so, Moses has started trying to sell them!  He is a great salesman and I think his strategy might work.  I am so proud!

I am using social media to do a poll.

It's a beauty!

How much would YOU pay for a fair trade, handmade vegan (haha) cap?

Peace

Milla’s post

milla       is       typing       this!

“i         love this picture!

kayden, milla, moses

i love that  it is summer out!”

Milla and brothers (one from another mother)

NDIZI MBIVU – Sweet Cardamom Plantain

Creamy goodness

Ingredients:

3 Ripe Plantain Banana

2 cups water

1 1/2 cups Coconut milk

1/8 tsp (2 pinches) ground cardamom

Don’t be afraid of the black banana!

The blacker the Plantain the better!  The softer they are the more sweet they are.  BUT yellow, like this one, works too(it just has to boil longer to get soft and more sugar to sweeten the recipe).

Recipe:

Peel plantains.Make sure to scrape the banana, to remove stringy banana bits.

Peel and scrape plantain

Or alternatively cut into the skin and outer flesh of the plantain.

To avoid stringy bits in the sauce, instead of peeling you can cut off the skin and outer flesh of the Plantain banana.

Cut Plantain in half and then half again. Cut plantain length wise to expose seeds.

slice banana length wise exposing inside (seeds) of plantain

Remove seeds and core (It is hard and unpleasant in the sauce)

Remove core

Boil in 2 cups of water for 10 minutes.

Boil

Add coconut milk, sugar and cardamom.

Use finely ground cardamom!

Reduce heat and let simmer for 15 minutes.

Simmer for 15 minutes

Or until you have a creamy consistency.

Creamy goodness

Serve with Coconut Rice or Chapati or on its own.

Serving Size:

3 adult sides

Preparation Time:

45 min.

Lailati

 

Lailati.

CHOCO – Sweet Coconut Mung/Muungi Beans

CHOCO - Sweet Coconut Mung/Muungi Beans

Ingredients:

1 cup Mung/Muungi Beans

1 cup Coconut Milk canned or 1 cup shredded fresh coconut mixed with 1/2 cup water

3 Tbsp Sugar

Recipe:

Sort and clean the Mung beans.

Rinse Mung Beans

Boil the Mung Beans for 25 minutes. Drain water.

They should look like this.

Add Coconut milk or add fresh shredded coconut mixed with water. Add sugar and turn to medium. Don’t stir too much!

Don't stir too much!

With the lid off let the mung beans come to a boil and then them down to low. Let simmer for 15 minutes. Don’t stir too much!

Not yet.

NOW they are READY!

Enjoy with a cup of tea for breakfast, lunch or dinner.

Serving Size:

2 adults

Preparation Time:

45 minutes

Kachumbari – Salad with Lime Dressing

KACHUMBARI - Salad with Lime Dressing

Ingredients:

1/8 cup red Onion

1/8 cup green sweet bell pepper

1/4 cup cabbage

1/4 cup lettuce (I like romaine)

1/4 cup peeled tomato

1/4 tsp salt

pepper to taste

1 1/2 Tbsp lime juice

Recipe:

Cut onion really thin!

Cut vegetables in small pieces (especially onion).  Peel tomato and slice into small pieces.

Don't forget to peel tomato first!

Mix vegetables together and add salt, pepper, & lime.

Lime Time

Mix well again!

Ready!

Enjoyed best with boiled cassava, boiled green plantain, boiled potato, coconut rice, & beans and rice.

Serving Size: 

3 adult side dishes

Preparation Time:

10 minutes

Recipes

Recipes.