It's All About the Dog!

Hallo Readers,

Have been away in the lush green organic countryside of Northern NSW, enjoying some great vegan restaurants in Lismore and Byron Bay. If you are looking for animal friendly vegan eating, then "Sweet Peas" is a great place in Lismore to eat with a friendly relaxed vibe as well as "Cardamon Pod" in the centre of Byron Bay! We stayed at an eco resort which I read about here on Veganera www.byronecobeachretreat.com where our pooch was allowed to roam freely right behind a dog friendly beach. It's a great place for families with dogs to holiday...so much so that our "Odie" is now officially depressed, after spending a week living right on the beach.

Dogs have feelings...and he really is a very sad city dog this week...just lying around with a look on his face like, I have no beach, I have no sand, I have no sticks, I have no surf, no nothing, my life is over!! This is a dog who gets walked at a leash free 3 km creek bedded park at least once a day, played with in the backyard constantly and pampered to every stretch of the word, but he is just in dog heaven at the beach! When he arrives, he runs up to strangers barking madly in excitement, as if to say, "I AM AT THE BEACH!! CAN YOU SEE ME...I AM AT THE BEACH!!"

People become frightened of his excitement mistaking him for a viscous hound, understandably not realising he is trying to tell them only of his fortune! After he calms down from the mere arrival, he then finds the biggest stick he can possibly find, and digs it around in the sand, carries it to the water, pushes it back out to the sand...over and over! When my partner surfs, he is not sure who he likes the most, so he runs between myself and my book and the edge of the water...of course "Bottom Feeder" as Odie and I like to refer to my partner, both know he loves me the most, however we like to humour "BF" into the illusion that he may be "Top Dog."

Enough said of my little family idiosyncrasies, here is a new recipe for the week for you all to enjoy. It is a vegan pooch recipe this week, that my Odie loves.

1 cup cooked Brown rice

1 Grated carrot

1 flower Broccoli cut up very small

1 fat clove of garlic

1 can (400gms) bortelli beans, or chick peas, or lentils

1 zucchini grated

handful fresh basil

1/2 cup pinenuts

Smash pinenuts, garlic and basil in a mortor and pestal. Add 1/4 cup olive oil and warm in a frypan.

Lightly fry broccoli and carrot until soft, drain beans in collander then add beans and raw zucchini. Mix around and add rice at the end. Serve in your animal friends bowl with a blessing of love!! hehe

It's all about the dog!!

Over and Out

Renata