Why You Shouldn’t Kill Cows

What other animal on earth gives as many varieties of foodstuffs as cows? 

Pictured here are milk, yogurt, whey, ghee, buttermilk  and paneer or fresh cheese. All are used in many ways for delicious and nutritious preparations. Not forgetting the uses of scrumptious butter and cream!

Mother cow is so generous that she provides plenty of milk for humanity as well as for her calves.

In fact, there was a cow here who gave us milk long after she had any calf! Treat her well and she reciprocates.

Oxen and bulls are valuable too, as work animals or for producing more cows. And let’s not forget that all these beautiful creatures also provide very valuable dung for use in the garden to grow so many other foods in abundance!

Now, if that’s not enough to consider sparing their lives in gratitude, think about how, if protected for life, these valuable bovines still can provide even after their death such things like leather, gelatin and fertilizers such as blood and bone meal. And if there were to be any food shortages in the future- a daily supply of milk products can be had indefinitely compared to a dead animal for meat. 

So tell me, which animal on earth is more valuable! And you want world peace? Protect cows!

Cloth japa beads

 A friend of ours was in jail a couple of days for distributing books. “How’d you chant your rounds?”, he was asked. His method was a strip of cloth that he tied to make “beads” 

Some years later I had no japa beads and so tore a strip of cloth from an old sari. I decided to give the description I had heard before, a try. Funny that the colors of that particular sari make the “beads” look wooden from a distance. 

Rangoli

Got a sidewalk? Or a smooth deck on your porch? Some chalk?  This video is so inspiring. Traditionally made with rice flour, rangolis  are auspicious designs to be drawn in front of one’s front door or on the altar. There’s lots if info on the web as well as patterns. Here’s a sample:

I hope to get my own attempts posted. To be continued!

Hand laundry tip

Let’s say you dread hanging up that huge pile of saris that pile up in the laundry and would rather wash one by hand each day, so there’s less to disentangle or hang up by the end of the week . 

Or say you are taking a trip and have to travel light. In that case, you need to wash clothes more often. And sometimes there’s no washing machine available. 

So here a tip: hand wash the item(s) as needed, wring it out as usual, and then to wick away more water, roll the item up into a thick terry cloth towel and give it a good squeeze. 

Then hang both the washed item and the towel to dry. Because there’s less water, your cloth will dry faster. 

With a thick kitchen towel, this technique is good for drying washed lettuce, too!

 

Japa

 Japa takes surrender. Japa means surrender. Every. Day. So practice surrender every day via japa!

Saatvik Salad

The highlight is grated paneer. None of that old super hard cheese that passes as cheese. And don’t forget avocados! Always buy them unripe because ones that were squeezed by customers will come out bruised. Store a couple days in a cabinet or drawer to soften just right. 

INGREDIENTS:

Lettuce, avocados, grated paneer, walnuts sautéed in ghee, raisins, lemon juice, salt and pepper . Easy! Now offer the Lord a big helping. Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu says, “My devotees’ offerings are never small!”.

VARIATIONS: next time throw in some grated up carrots and beets for more color! 

Fresh Food

 If you want health, Ayurveda says eat freshly cooked food. No leftovers. Prasadam is meant to be shared, so eat nothing that was cooked more than four hours before. You can honor a little if it’s prasada, of course. And especially avoid pre prepared foods sitting on a grocery store shelf. Here are some samples of what should be taken instead:

Fresh food requires a cook, however. Too bad so many women are brainwashed to think about having a career outside the home! There is no job on earth more important than family welfare. 

Something to think about.

Root Vegetables

 

Ever since MH went on a nightshade free diet, I have been using more sweet potatoes. They make an excellent side dish, especially in breakfast offerings. Also great for Ekadasis. Two ways to prepare them are:

1. Split in half and place face down in a gheesed pan. Bake at 400 degrees until tender.

2. Slice in rounds about 1/2" thick. Crowd as many as possible lying flat in a heated up, gheesed frying pan. Fry a few seconds on one side before turning to the other. Lightly salt and cover and lower heat. Keep covered on low heat until tender.  

These methods can also be used for other root vegetables such as beets, carrots and daikon radishes. ‘Tis the season! Well…down south anyway. 🙂

Book Cover

My Bhagavad-gita cover was badly worn. I couldn't find the exact video tutorial I had used, but this one is close enough:

 

Garden and landscape 2021

Things planted and grown this year included:

Kale

Broccoli 

Brussels sprouts 

Cauliflower 

Carrot

Beets

Lettuces 

Radish

Daikon radish

Green beans 

Lambsquarter

Turmeric 

Bitter gourd

Peanuts

Corn

Cucumbers

Zucchini 

Okra

Yellow squash 

Spaghetti squash

Cantaloupe 

Watermelon 

Asparagus 

Tomato 

Chilies 

Eggplant 

Taro 

Luffa

Curry trees 

Basil

Oregano

Thyme

Rosemary 

Mint

Marigolds 

Jasmine bush

Curry trees

Camphor tree

Banana trees

Another loquat tree

Nasturtium 

Dahlia

Echinacea 

Violet

Iris

Pansy

Butterfly bush

Crocosmia 

Milkweed 

Barley bread

Undoubtedly, there’s something special about barley. Not only is it an ancient grain, but a barley corn is one of the signs that can also be found on the lotus feet of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Lord Krishna. So it must be good! Barley flour contains no gluten, so some arrowroot was added rather than eggs to hold things together.

 For original recipe click here:  

INGREDIENTS:

3 c barley flour 

1 1/4 t salt

2 T baking powder (opt)

1/2 t baking soda  

2 T arrowroot 

3 T sugar

1/4 -1/3 c ghee

1 1/2-2 c buttermilk 

PREPARATION:

Combine dry and wet ingredients then mix together just enough to moisten everything. Do not over stir and add enough buttermilk or a little water to get a nice batter.

Pour into a gheesed baking pan.

Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes or so until firm at the touch and beginning to lightly brown 

Figs

 Figs from our three year old fig tree were produced twice this year. 

 

Added some to the yogurt offering pictured here.

Venusian Virgo

Libra rising with Venus, Moon, Sun and Mercury in Virgo makes an interesting astrological chart, especially because Venus is debilitated in the sign of Virgo.

Makes sense because Venusian Libra (Libra is ruled by the planet Venus) has an eye for beauty, but Mercurian Virgo, (Virgo is ruled by planet Mercury) says to forget the flourishes, we want practicality! She makes use of what’s available. Like that clay pot made by her granddaughter. Or that small, empty honey jar. Or that fancy plate and cow shaped cookie cutter someone gave her, so he won’t be reminded of his ex. 

But dear Venusian Libra doesn't have to just go along for the ride and keep quiet. For a happy union, she arranged the above for photos (especially since Moon is transiting Taurus today, another Venusian sign):

Another important happy meeting between Venusian Libra the beautician and Mercurian Virgo the work-a-holic is housekeeping...Yes, housekeeping. 

But why on earth would lovely Venus indulge in housekeeping? It's because cleaning things beautifies them! So in this way neat freak, Mercurian Virgo and hopeless romantic, Venusian Libra can have a happy relationship.

If you like this kind of stuff and want more click here and here.

Cattail stuffing

 Working on a deity mattress using stuffing from cattails. It’s super soft, fluffy and economical, since I got it from a nearby pond over a year ago. Finally doing something with it. 

 

Lemon Rice

 INGREDIENTS:

1 c basmati rice, washed and drained

4-5 T ghee

1 t mustard seeds 

1 t cumin seeds

1 t turmeric 

Juice from 1 1/2 lemons

Water

Fresh parsley, finely chopped 

PREPARATION:

Heat the ghee and add mustard seeds when hot. Let them pop with a cover over the pot

Add the cumin and let it roast until brown

Add the turmeric followed by rice.

Give a couple stirs then add the water

Bring to a boil. Lower heat, cover and simmer 15 minutes .

Turn off the heat and let stand 5 minutes more still covered 

Add the lemon juice.

Add the parsley for garnish before offering to Krishna 

Glimpses of New Talavan

 

To be continued