" Vegetables ... "

If you brought a big brown bag of them home
I'd jump up and down and hope you'd toss me a carrot ...

I tried to kick the ball but my tenny flew right off
I'm red as a beet 'cause I'm so embarrassed

I know that you'll feel better
When you send us in your letter
And tell us the name of your
Your favorite vegetable

~ Beach Boys ~ Vegetables

***

I have to start off with my amazement ... finding song lyrics about vegetables, so cool!  Anyhow this post does not have the intention to sway anyone to become a vegetarian ... just wanted to find out more about this choice of a meatless path.

Where vegetarianism originates ... The word vegetarian is derived from the Latin world vegetus which means lively or vigorous ...

Historical records show a long tradition of ethical wrangling with respect to animals.  Some time between 4000 and 1500 BC and within the four sacred Indian texts known as the Vedas, the wondrous power of the natural world was explained and set the stage for vegetarianism.  The concept of the transmigration of souls with Gods taking animal form and human beings having past animal lives.  All creatures harbored the Divine so the idea of meat on the dinner plate was less palatable.

Also, many yogis follow the practical guidelines within the Bhagavad Gita, religious book of Hinduism.  It specifies that sattvic foods such as milk, butter, fruit, vegetables and grains promote vitality, health, pleasure, strength and long life ... whereas bitter, salty and sour rajasic foods such as meat, fish and alcohol cause pain, disease and discomfort.  Vegetarianism is the spirit of the Indian tradition.

The idea of nonviolence towards animals even dates back to ancient Greece in the 5th century BCE.  Yet following the Christianisation of the Roman Empire, vegetarianism disappeared from Europe only to re-emerge during the Renaissance in the 19th and 20th centuries.  The first Vegetarian Society was founded in the UK in 1847.  In the Western world, the popularity of vegetarianism grew during the 20th century as a result of nutritional, ethical, and more recently, environmental and economic concerns.

And thankfully, scientific endeavors in the area of vegetarianism have shifted from concerns about nutritional adequancy to investigating health benefits and disease prevention.  Vegetarian diets are being used to support treatment for chronic illnesses and avoid the transmission of a number of diseases from animals to humans.

In many socieities, there is controversery over the ethics of eating certain animals.  These objections are based on the consideration for animals, the act of killing and the opposition to certain agricultural practices surrounding the produciton of meat.

Personally I have been vegetarian for 2.5 years now, being vegan for 2 years of that time.  I will never again eat anything that has parents.  Just doesn’t work for me ... and it is a personal choice.  Some feel they can’t live without their burgers and steaks, others love their tofu and soy.  Do the research and make an educated decision but in the meantime if you were wondering where you will get your “protein” ... check out this delicious list of foods ... 

1 avocado - 10 grams

1 cup broccoli - 5 grams

1 cup spinach - 5 grams

2 cups cooked kale - 5 grams

1 cup boiled peas - 9 grams

1 cup cooked sweet potato - 5 grams

1 cup soybeans - 28 grams (1 cup tempeh - 30 grams)

1 cup lentils - 18 grams

1 cup refried beans - 15.5 grams

1 cup garbanzo beans (and hummus) - 14.5 grams

1 cup pinto, kidney, black beans - 13-15 grams

1 oz peanuts - 6.5 grams

1 oz. cashews - 4.4 grams

1 oz. sesame seeds 6.5 grams

3 tablespoons of tahini - 8 grams

1/4 cup (2 oz.) walnuts - 5 grams

1 oz. pistachios - 5.8 grams

2 tbsp almonds - 4 grams

nut butters - peanut butter, almond butter, cashew butter - 2 tablespoons has about 8 grams of protein

Soy, almond, ancient grain. 1 cup gets you 7-9 grams of protein.

Quinoa is versatile and delicious. 1 cup - 9 grams.

Oatmeal - 1 cup = 6 grams.

Sprouted grain bread products - 7-10 grams

Hemp - 30 grams of hemp powder ~11 grams of protein

" Better ... "

No one ever told me when I was alone

They just thought I'd know better.. better...

The hardest part

this troubled heart has ever yet been through now,

Was heal the scars 

that got their start inside someone like you now,

For had I known or I'd been shown back 

when how long it'd take me,

To break the charms that brought me harm 

and all but would erase me.

Now I know you better, You know I know better ...

~ Guns ‘N Roses ~ Better ~

***

Some say life is a game and some of us have been dealt a “good” hand and others a “bad”hand.  And this hand will determine the inevitable outcome.  Yet what if we don’t have to play this game where there’s always a loser and a victor.  What if we decide we are all winners?

Fortunately, we have been given the gift of consciousness.  We have learned and created means to better express ourselves ... and these different forms of expression have been born in a communal effort to materialize our hopes, aspirations, morals, ethics, inspiration, and dreams.  How we understand this truth has everything to do with what we see manifested in our everyday perceptions of reality.

So depending on the hand dealt to us determines our individual experience of this communal creation ... or does it?  What if it depends on how we play the game instead ... similar to making our own path, we would have an equal opportunity to succeed, regardless of our cards.

Consider creating a new game together by changing the rules and stakes ...

So where’s the problem ... well some of us have no idea we have the option of creating a new game.  We feel we have to do the best we can with what we got, and that’s how we live.  We take in a situation, which might not be the best for us as a given, and don’t question it.  Just deal with it, in the best possible way.

Yet, there is so much power within us - once we realize our own potential, we decide how we play our hand, our own path, our own reality.  We decide better.  And this won’t come by anyone telling us we can, but by trying it out ourselves.  

We cannot change the cards we are dealt, just how we play the hand ~ Randy Paush