Carrot top and tomato stew

Not only vegan, but can also easily be made whole food plant based. 

Ingredients

Water, oil, or non-stick pan

1 large or 2 small onions finely chopped

Greens/tops of one carrot finely chopped

2 TBS chopped green onions chopped

3 TBS fresh oregano finely chopped

1 14.5 oz can pinto, kidney, or garbanzo beans
28 oz can of petite diced tomatoes 

A pinch of salt

Optional if you don't mind bitter and want a little extra nutrition-greens/tops from one beet

1. Place water or oil in pan if not using a nonstick pan or desired.   Saute the onions and carrot tops for about 10 minutes over medium high heat

2.  Add the rest of the ingredients, reduce the heat to medium low, cover, and simmer for at least 20 minutes, but preferably longer, even a few hours. 

                                   

Cinnamon Apple Bread

This bread has no added sugar, white flour, and the only oil is that which is used to grease the pan.  The apples help add a little sweetness.   

Outside of Bread

Ingredients:

1.5 cups warm water

1 packet yeast

3 Tablespoons flax seed (Recommended but not required)

1/4 tsp salt

2 apples coarsely chopped

3 tsp cinnamon

Somewhere between 3-7 cups flour-getting the texture right is more important than trying to measure an exact amount. 
Enough Earth Balance or oil to grease the pan.    

Inside of bread

1. Combine the water and yeast.  Stir and then allow to sit for a few minutes.   

2. Add the flax seed, salt, apples and cinnamon and stir.  

3.  Add flour one cup at a time and possibly slower at the end until the flour can form a ball that you can almost pick up.   

4.  Allow to rise for about one hour.  Half way through preheat the oven to 375 degrees.   

5.  Give the dough a quick knead.   That being said, despite many people saying kneading is an absolute must, I have a times skipped this step and things turned out okay.   

6.  Place in an earth balanced or oiled pan.  I prefer a fitted round baking pan to help give the bread shape.  Bake bread for about 50 minutes.  Check at 30 and 40 minutes. 

                                   

My car-free trip from Washington DC to Charlottesville

By Noah Kaufman

On June 7, I used public transportation to go from Washington DC to Charlottesville, VA to attend my 20 year reunion.  While the reunion was wonderful, memorable and exceeded my expectations (much like the UVA basketball team), the transportation was difficult and below my frankly low expectations. 

I took the metro to Union Station, which was fine.  The next part of my journey was by Greyhound bus.   I went to the bus area of Union station, which was on a top floor. The signs were a bit confusing, but I did get to my bus.  I took a bus to Richmond. 

After Richmond, I needed to get to a bus to Charlottesville.  The gap between buses was about a half hour, so I should have been fine.  After getting on the bus in DC, the bus driver claimed that the bus would get to Richmond 30 minutes early.  The bus trip was tolerable. The wifi did not work, which was frustrating.  We experienced heavy rain, so the bus was actually about twenty minutes late.  The bus driver stated that when we arrive in our station, we should pay attention to signs, and that we might miss our transfer.  The bus driver told us that he informed Greyhound of the late arrival; it would be reasonable to postpone some connecting busses (similar to connecting flights), but that did not occur. 

After I got to Richmond, I rushed to get to the terminal where my bus to Charlottesville was leaving.  The next bus to Charlottesville was many hours later.  The bus was about to leave, not making any delay despite the fact the prior bus (DC to Richmond) was late.   The bus driver asked why I was late, and I mentioned that the other bus was delayed.  The bus driver gave me a very hard time, though eventually allowed me on the bus.  Other passengers were also stressed and needed to convince the bus driver to let them on the bus.  The trip to Charlottesville was OK, though the bus driver had us wait several minutes for the bus driver to complete paperwork. 

In Charlottesville, there was no connecting bus, trolley or other form of transportation at the bus station itself.  I walked several blocks to a bus station, where several bus riders helpfully told me the proper bus to take to get to the UVA Campus (known as the “Grounds.”)  I then took the bus to the UVA Grounds, where I got a key for the room where I would be staying. 

Overall, it was a stressful and substandard experience.  Also, it was unnecessarily long, taking over six hours to take a trip that should take a bit over two hours. 

Getting back on June 9 was simpler, as I walked from UVA to the train station (about 1.5 miles – would have been difficult if I had any mobility issues) and then took an Amtrak to Union Station.   The train was smooth, had a mediocre wifi, and was spacious.  Still, the train only runs twice a day, and I would have liked more options.  

Noah Kaufman is the author of  Business Ethics of Our Fathers, Running Through Arlington History, and Lessons from the Wrestling Mat.   Noah has been to 45 out of the 50 states.   

                                       

In case anyone needs an e-scooter survey or email response...

Thought I would share this one I put together and used.  Feel free to copy it and use it:   

E-scooters only have a positive impact on my life, because they decrease the number of cars and especially SUVs which have a very negative impact on my pedestrian life.  You know what the number one thing I see on the sidewalk that obstructs it and doesn't belong here?  SUVs.   Why don't we do a study on SUVs blocking sidewalks and if they even belong in xxx County to begin with (they don't).   I'd face a whole army of  e-scooters, if it got rid of one SUV.  In fact, e-bikes and e-scooters are actually quite beneficial to our community and only make it better, so actually let's have whole armies of them.    And if you look at statistics you will quickly realize they don't kill people either-unlike cars and SUVs.   

Additionally, some places have made it illegal for those under 18 years old to ride e-scooters, so it is worth adding in the line and asking the question "Why can a 16 year old drive a giant deadly SUV, but not an e-scooter?"

Rachelle Kaufman is the author of the Kaufman Green Guides Series, plus several other books including Now I Know My European Language Colors and An American Jew in Budapest.  

                           


  
                                     

We are looking for guest bloggers!

So here is a great opportunity for those of you who are looking to spread the name of your business, your name or your message.   

Guest blogging! 

And if we use your post, we will also allow a write up with a link about your business, blog, social media account/group, etc.   Free advertising! 

Here are some suggested topics:

• Anything related to veganism
• Anything related to car-free spaces and creating car-free cities
• Cycling (practical, not competitive)
• Why we should more strongly regulate or ban suvs
• Travel experiences that do not mention non-vegan food or driving (They don't have to be focused on veganism or car-free spaces though)
• Public Transportation
• Walking
• Jewish culture (That doesn't have anti-vegan content or isn't focused on driving)
• Geography Trivia (again no anti-vegan content or car-centered content)
• Book Reviews (same agains)

We are also open to other ideas!   Feel free to run them by us.   We are also considering doing interviews.   If you would like to be interviewed please let us know and we can send you some questions if we are interested. 

Please make sure blog post is mainly topical and not just a giant advertisement for your business (a quick mention of your business is fine if relevant). 

If interested please reply in the blog comments with a way to reach you, send either a DM on Facebook or respond in comments on Facebook, or respond in comments on Twitter. 

Court House Protected Bike Lane

I recently had my first experience trying the protected bike lanes in Court House in Arlington VA.

I found it much easier and safer to bike with the protected bike lanes than other sections of Arlington.  I was able to very easily bike through the Courthouse area.  I even was able to cycle during rush hour having no issues.  Frankly, I am not the fastest cyclist, so any help is much appreciated. 

Arlington has made this helpful change within the past year: https://www.arlnow.com/2018/08/01/new-protected-bike-lane-coming-to-courthouse-this-month/. 

Protected bike lanes provide a helpful solution that helps cyclists greatly. 

Arlington also offers nice “Bike to Work” day events.  Arlington has many “pit stops”, where vendor and organizations offered giveaways and food, including t-shirts, snacks, and beverages.  

Noah Kaufman is the author of  Business Ethics of Our Fathers, Running Through Arlington History, and Lessons from the Wrestling Mat.   Noah has been to 45 out of the 50 states.   

                                       

We tried most of the menu at Earth Burger!

We visited Mall of America again this year and got to have the excitement of Earth Burger now being open.   As we had previously, tried much of the other vegan food at the non vegan restaurants at Mall of America we decided this time to stick with Earth Burger and go through the menu trying almost everything! 

Here is how we ranked it from our favorite to least favorite!

Fishless Sandwich-I was very pleasantly surprised with this one.   I generally am not a big fan of vegan fish.   My omni-husband also loved it and even said it tasted like the real thing.   The sauce is amazing.   It is coated in breading and sauce so probably not the healthiest option, but what a tasty treat! 

Coconut Soft Serve- This was also delicious and amazing.   It actually tasted better than I remember non-vegan ice cream ever tasting.    Omni husband was also a huge fan! 

Earth Shake-Another amazing treat.   Very very tasty.   Probably not healthy though. 

Fries- Tasty fries with a classic feel. 

Southwest Veggie Bowl-Unlike the options above which are probably not that healthy, this option is actually quite healthy.   I don't know how healthy the dressing is but it was very tasty.   The salad itself had a lot of tasty mostly healthy items that complimented the more healthy items. 

BBQ Pulled Jackfruit- I have heard a lot about jackfruit recently, but had yet to try it.  As prepared by Earth Burger it was actually quite good and the sauce was good. 

Roasted Quinoa Burger-I also liked this burger.   It wasn't really an imitation meat burger.   It is more of a classic veggie burger featuring healthier items. 

Spicy "Chicken" Sandwich (vegan imitation chicken)- I also thought the spicy "chicken" sandwich was good. 

Earth Burger- Although the signature burger, I actually thought it was just okay.   This is more of a imitation meat burger versus the quinoa burger which is more of a classic veggie burger. 

Plant Protein Bowl-This was also just okay.   On a positive note however it does seem healthy.  That being said I'm not really into the whole promoting the "protein myth". 

Grilled Chik-n Protein Wrap-This was also okay.   But I feel like I probably could have easily made something like this at home and it would be about the same.   Did also seem somewhat healthy, although I feel like the salads are probably healthier. 

Kids Menu

First I will actually say, I found it exciting that they did have a kids menu.  How exciting for kids, when so many restaurants don't have any vegan options on the kids menu to have a completely vegan kids menu.   So here it is from a kids perspective (with my assistance with writing it up): 

Earth Burger-This was actually the kid favorite and was actually more popular from a kid perspective than an adult perspective and got well eaten.

Chick-N-Tenders-These were decent/okay.   Reminded me of the freezer ones kids like. 

Grilled "Cheese"-Honestly, this was the one thing that nobody liked.   We just weren't a fan of the cheese. 

Will also mention these can come with fries or apple slices, along with a drink.   The fries were a real hit and very kid popular.   Although the apple slices were also popular too. 

Will also note that Earth Burger has kosher certification. 

Rachelle Kaufman is the author of the Kaufman Green Guides Series, plus several other books including Now I Know My European Language Colors and An American Jew in Budapest.