World Animal Day 2014
Dear Animal Friends,
It is the 7th year in a row that Animal Friends Croatia take part in the global event World Animal Day with its official ambassador Anita Euschen. This year WAD had also named a celebrity ambassador in Croatia - animal rights rapper IFEEL. So together we write to you today and invite you to do something for the animals on October 4, the World Animal Day.
The main theme is less animal abuse on World Animal Day - so our suggestions are:
- Clear out your closets - got leather or fur left in there? Donate it to the homeless and go cruelty-free!
- Do you still have products tested on animals? Testing on animals for cosmetics and household products is so unnecessary - check out our cruelty-free shopping list here.
- Eat vegan today! Attached you will find a recipe for a lovely vegan World Animal Day Dinner with your friends or family. And in our "Vege vodi�" (in Croatian) you can find all the ingredients you need and ideas on how to avoid products of animal origin and replace them with alternatives in the future.
- Offer to help out at a local animal shelter by volunteering, donating or adopting an animal and do the World Animal Day Challenge! Read the Challenge that our celebrity ambassador IFEEL put together for us.
- Become an activist for the animals. Spread the word about animal rights!
Don't forget to:
- Sign the World Animal Day pledge board and make a personal promise for the animals - in whatever language is suitable for you. Share what you did with others who took the Challenge!
- Share your experience (what you did and how you felt) in words, video or pictures on your social media channels: facebook, instagram, twitter, google+ and make sure to add the hashtag #worldanimalday to all your posts.
- And if you are in Zagreb, join us at the Bundek lake on October 4! The city of Zagreb organizes a huge event there with many stalls and a fun, rich program. We will print our vegan World Animal Day Dinner recipe and World Animal Day Challenge for you, so you can just come by and pick it up.
Let's make World Animal Day a great day for the animals, for the environment and very much for your personal health and the health of your family.
Your World Animal Day ambassadors,
Anita Euschen & IFEEL
RECIPES
Pumpkin soup
This soup is very simple and quick to make and has a deliciously sweet flavour.
Serves 2-3.
Ingredients:
1 small butternut squash or small pumpkin, cut into chunks, 1 small onion, roughly chopped,
1 TS Vegeta, salt and freshly ground black pepper.
Preparation:
Heat a little oil in a large saucepan and fry onion and squash for a couple of minutes, until starting to brown. Pour in boiling water (until vegetables are almost covered) and stir in soup mix. Simmer gently until the squash is cooked through. Blend until smooth. If the soup is a little thick you can add a little more boiling water. Season if required. Serve with your favourite crusty bread.
Filled veggies
A popular dish in both Greece and Turkey, "gemista" in Greek or "dolma" in Turkish are delicious baked vegetables stuffed with a seasoned rice mixture.
Ingredients:
Vegetables for stuffing: Eggplant (1 or 2), tomatoes (5 or 6), large zucchinis (2 or 3), red and/or green peppers (3 or 4)
Rice Filling: White rice (about 2 cups, more or less depending on how much you want to make), olive oil (about 2 tablespoons), fresh herbs (1/2 to 3/4 cup) - dill, mint, parsley (finely chopped), spring onions (chopped) (1/2 to 3/4 cup), salt and cayenne pepper (add other spice depending on your preference)
Preparation:
Cut the tops of the tomatoes, eggplant, peppers and zucchini. Scoop out the insides with a teaspoon leaving about 7mm thickness for the walls of each hollowed vegetable. Cut the scooped out parts into small cubes and set aside. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius
Heat the olive oil in a medium saucepan. Add the spring onion and cook over a medium heat, until soft but not browned. Add the tomato pulp and scooped out veggies to the pan, increase the heat slightly, and simmer vigorously for almost 10 minutes, stirring occasionally until the mixture is thickened. Make sure that there is some juice still in the pan. Stir in the rice then cover and leave to cook over a low heat for 10 minutes, until the rice is half-cooked. Add salt and cayenne pepper. Turn off heat then add the finely chopped herbs and mix well.
Place the hollowed out tomatoes, peppers, eggplant and zucchinis into a slightly oiled baking dish and fill with the rice mixture. Replace the tops of each. Cut potatoes into wedges, slightly salt then and arrange them between the stuffed veggies. Drizzle olive oil over the veggies and potatoes. Bake in the oven for 40-45 minutes, until the veggies and tomatoes are tender and the rice is cooked through.
Chocolate Chip balls
Oats, Banana, Coconut and Chocolate Chips make these almost raw (no-cook) cookie dough balls a sweet but healthy treat. Vegan and Gluten-Free.
Serves: 12 balls.
Ingredients:
1 cup oats (use gluten-free oats as required), 1 ripe banana, ½ cup grated dry unsweetened coconut, 2 tbsp sugar, 2 tbsp coconut oil or other, 1 tsp vanilla extract, ½ cup vegan chocolate chips or roughly cut vegan chocolate/cooking chocolate
Instructions:
In a food processor, add the oats, and pulse for 20 seconds in order to break the oats down slightly. Add the rest of the ingredients (EXCEPT the chocolate chips) and pulse until fully combined. Stir-in the chocolate chips. If the dough is too soft/sticky, refrigerate for 10 minutes to harden it slightly, then roll into 12 balls and refrigerate for 1 hour. Then they are ready to be served.
