hand-made, high-nutrient, low-carbon fresh!

http://www.animalrightsblog.com/ Vegan New York

Posted in June 16th, 2008
Submitted by An Animal-Friendly Life

Quick trip with my spousal unit to Manhattan this weekend. We only had limited time in the city, but managed to finally try a Dosa from N.Y. Dosas at Washington Park before eating at Sacred Chow.

I enjoyed everything from both places, though none of it was really hot. We caught N.Y. Dosas just as they were wrapping up, so we didn’t exactly get fresh food, but it still satisfied my craving until we went to an Indian restaurant in Jackson Heights the next day.
I got the feeling that Sacred Chow reheats food, at least at the time of the day we went (about 5ish on a Friday afternoon), because our orders did not come out very hot, and they cooled off rather quickly. The orange blackstrap bbq seitan was terrific, though, regardless of the temperature. If the sesame greens had just been hotter, they would have been awesome. Instead they were just fine. Though more than each of the tapas plates at $6, the Gym Body smoothie with soy milk was totally worth the money (not that I would have complained about a little vanilla extract and/or agave nectar in there).
No pictures of food, probably because I was too hungry to do anything but start eating immediately. At least I had the presence of mind to take those two location photos above.

chow response!

hi, i am sacred chow's neurotic main man. just to edify the possibilities of your experience with the cool temp food issue. working with plant proteins isnt exactly like cracking open a "right-out-of-the-nest" egg from a chicken, duck, pigeon... tofu and seitan could never be as "fresh" as her egg. to make tofu you gotta boil soymilk and extract the soy curds from the whey. this is when tofu is freshest, but not a major culinary experience per se. although many would disagree, myself included. the same applies to seitan, an extraction process that removes all the carbs from the wheat's protein. from its raw state it needs a lot of attention in order to make minor masterpieces, major for many folks. it requires a balancing act of hard work, spices, liquids, root starches and sea vegetable stabilizers. like soup, it needs to cook (boil or roast first) in order to marry texture and flavor, and it's usually best the next day. fresh? well yes, but not like "fresh" sunny-side-up eggs fresh. you cant crack a plant protein into a skillet and fry it up with a little butter or olive oil and presto. there's a bit more added science to the process in order to make the plant protein first respond texturally to heat, and then to further take form and structure through a cold process. the protein reacts and abracadabra you have bbq seitan.
what you didnt have was an expediter that properly griddled the seitan, and he* probably held your sesame steamed greens a tad too long before service. but fresh they were! not right-out-of-the-nest "fresh"- no, no, no! hand-made, high-nutrient, low-carbon fresh! come back to sacred chow another time to have your meal at its proper food temp. you'll love the grilled western tofu especially on toasted w.w french bread w/ dill-mayo & steamed collards. my personal favorite! i like it with lots and lots of pickles!

oh, and thank you for your piece because it was a nice one, and the slight problem can be easily fixed. also, know that you can return anything, no charge, and request your meal exactly as it should be. you will not get an ounce of attitude!
love, cliff

*proper pronoun used.

eagles and wolves

his skin smells like the freshest cold water.

i drink, i wash my face.

a river swiftly moving in the remotest of places.

northern alaska perhaps. falling snow,

wild earth, caribou, eagles and wolves.

my boy, asleep, in the vast expanse.

amazing food. best sammies ever!! yuuuum! insanely good!!! fit for a king!

peacebypastries.blogspot.com

Monday, June 2, 2008,

Posted by Laura

That night for dinner...Sacred Chow.

Little place, big portions, amazing food.

We both had big sandwiches for dinner...mine was the black olive roasted seitan sandwich, with melted vegan cheddar, lettuce, and a dijon vinaigrette...very unique and sooooo savory. one of the best sammies ever!!

Steve opted for the classic "meat"ball sub with spicy marinara and melted vegan mozzarella...this could have passed for it's omni alternative for sure! yuuuum!

We were stuffed, but decided to gorge ourselves (haha) on some chocolatey goodness for dessert.... I had the chocolate cake, which was two layers of their homemade chocolate brownies, with strawberry filling, chocolate frosting, and chocolate-covered pralined nuts. insanely good!!!
Steve had the brownie sundae...probably due to jealousy of the one I had at Candle 79 :) This was an enormous brownie topped with vanilla soy ice cream, hot fudge, and chocolate sprinkles...fit for a king!

just 25%!

we must, absolutely must, be mindful of our extraordinarily high-carbon consumption in order to lower it. we need to drill it in, over and over, into action. we can, indeed MUST, consume less.

first. stop. this very moment.

think about the best mom in the world, and i can tell you to think of mine for sure, and maybe yours too, if you are as lucky as i am.

stop again. now think about the brutality of the starving mother and her new born child. their lives, right now, and ours in this very same moment. the mother! the child! no access to any consumption, high or low, not even breast milk! and you and me?

think, and think hard, let's exercise our brain power, our thought energy. focus! the mother, the mother, the mother. fill her breasts with milk. but she is empty! a vassal! starvation! the reporters report from their cars, military men drive in their trucks; our wheels of privilege. focus! focus! the mother, the mother, the mother. fill her breasts with milk. how?

i am embarrassed by the political dementia everywhere, and our endless banter through the wires in light of our inhumanity. focus! here in nyc, and other "westernized" high-consumption societies, we can take action. we are truly blessed to have this capacity, and choice. yes, it's amazing to be able to have these multitude of choices: electronic devices and accessories, taxis, cars, long showers, air conditioners, t.v., newer pants, sugary sodas and diet ones too, plastic bags galore, and pizza, ice cream shakes, chicken and shrimp parmigiana, hot dogs w/ the works and bacon-cheese-burgers!

high-carbon choices! the mother! focus! consume 25% less animal protein and balance in 25% plant proteins! just 25%! 25% will change the carbon imbalance for the generations, the earth, our hearts, creation, and the mother.

take action now, right now!

strong as a horse.

"you know what i mean jelly bean? i wanna, wanna, wanna go to mexico! watch this, this is cool, this is magic. do you like the way i did it? cool right? that's my phone! hey daddy come on out here! what? did you take my barack obama book? well, i cant find it!"

i was so exhausted from putting in so many hours at sacred chow. it had been a real busy wednesday night, order after order. and i was the sole expediter, and after we closed down we had to put together orders for wholesale for thursday am. so we left sacred chow @ 1:30am. i felt as strong as a horse, so i walked home, no, galloped home. read until 5 am. huxley, my most amazing son, had half a day of skool, and grandma, our guardian angel, picked him up @ 12pm. from the kitchen, while in deep, deep sleep, i over-heard their conversation from above. it echoed in and out of my head like: wha, wha, wha. it pulled me out of sleep, i washed my face, kiss, kiss, mom and hux, and off to sacred chow i walked, no, galloped like a horse.

f.y.i.: Never use ice to soothe a burn.

since i routinely get burned at sacred chow while i am baking, roasting, searing, steaming, grilling... i knew that this painful experience must happen to you too. i know for me, my first thought is to cool it down with ice. ah, but should i? an enlightened answer for all of us to follow.

The Claim: Ice Is Good for a Skin Burn.

By ANAHAD O’CONNOR

Published: June 10, 2008

THE FACTS
Like a cup of tea for a cough, a batch of ice for a sunburn may seem like the perfect remedy for millions of Americans who will spend a little too much time in the sun this summer.
But many home remedies that seem like common sense are less than helpful, and the old ice-for-a-burn technique is no exception. It can help soothe some initial pain, but in the end it will slow the healing process.
That has been borne out over the years in various studies of simple treatments for minor scalds and sunburns. In one randomized study by Danish researchers in 2002, 24 healthy volunteers were inflicted with first-degree burns and subjected to different treatments. Those who received a cooling treatment similar to ice did not experience reduced pain or inflammation compared with those who received a placebo treatment.
In another study in the journal Burns in 1997, another team of scientists compared easing burns with ice cubes for 10 minutes with other remedies and found that ice caused “the most severe damage.” “Using an ice cube immediately after injury,” the authors added, “is harmful in some instances.”
According to the Mayo Clinic, putting ice on a burn can cause frostbite and damage the skin. For better results, try running cool water over the area and taking a pain reliever. Then cover the area with gauze but no ointment. Most minor burns heal without further treatment, the clinic says.

THE BOTTOM LINE
Never use ice to soothe a burn.

sounds like it's sacred chow time!

Sticking to the Mediterranean diet — rich in olive oil, grains, fruits, nuts, vegetables and legumes, and low in meats and dairy — may lower the risk for diabetes.

Scientists followed 13,380 healthy Spanish university graduates for an average of four and a half years, tracking their dietary habits and confirming new cases of diabetes through medical records. The study was published online May 29 in The British Medical Journal.
The researchers ranked the strictness of adherence to the diet on a 10-point scale, and found that those with the highest scores reduced their relative risk of diabetes by 83 percent compared with those with the lowest.
The authors acknowledge that the number of cases of diabetes they found was small, which limits the statistical power of the finding, and that the nutritional information is based on self-reporting, which is not always reliable.
Still, the large sample and the finding of a dose-response relationship between stricter adherence to the diet and lowered risk of diabetes give the study strength.
“There are good fats, like those in olive oil, nuts and avocados, that are quite healthful,” said Miguel A. Martínez-González, the lead author and a professor of epidemiology at the University of Navarra. “We have to change this belief that a low-fat diet is the key to good health.”

red, red wine, or a glass of white

this is a great report! and just so you all know sacred chow has some exceptionally amazing kosher, sustainably harvested red and white wines. so come swirl and sip a glass and cheers to our increasing lifespan!

Recent reports suggest that red wine is a potent force in increasing lifespan, and a new study offers still more good news for wine drinkers. A glass a day, whether white or red, may reduce the risk of developing the nation’s most common liver disorder, nonalcoholic fatty liver disease.

Researchers studied 7,211 nondrinkers, and 3,598 people who drank a glass a day of wine, beer or liquor, testing them for elevated blood levels of alanine aminotransferase, or ALT, a finding that indicates liver damage.
They found above-normal levels in 3.2 percent of nondrinkers, 3.5 percent of beer drinkers and 2.3 percent of daily hard-liquor drinkers.
But among those who drank a glass of wine a day, the rate averaged only 0.4 percent.
Even after adjusting for other risk factors, the association of modest wine drinking with lower blood levels of ALT persisted.
The authors, writing in the June issue of Hepatology, suggest that wine’s nonalcoholic components may be responsible for the findings.
“While one glass a day seems helpful, these data do not support the use of larger amounts of alcohol,” said Dr. Jeffrey B. Schwimmer, the senior author and an associate professor of gastroenterology at the University of California, San Diego.

miracle-worker ingredients

if you've been unsuccessful in losing weight around your middle, listen up! these miracle-worker ingredients hold the power to truly transform your body and specifically target hard-to-lose and dangerous belly fat. the secret is their magical "mufas" pronounced moo fahz (aka mono-unsaturated fatty acids -- a healthy fat!). f.y.i.: no moo fahz in moo cheez. a recent study published in the journal diabetes care found that eating a diet high in mufas can help reduce accumulation of abdominal body fat. bear in mind: no other nutrient can do this. couple these fabulous foods with a reduced-calorie eating plan, 30 minutes of exercise a day, more or less, if you are physically able, and not only will you slim down, but you'll lose weight where you want to -- your belly, while increasing your brain strength, heart health and the planet's too.

peanut butter. a serving of mufa peanut butter has 3 mg of the powerful antioxidant vitamin E, 49 mg of bone-building magnesium, 208 mg of muscle-friendly potassium, and 0.17 mg of immunity-boosting vitamin B6. research shows that eating peanuts can decrease your risk of heart disease, diabetes, and other chronic health conditions.

olive oil. olive oil is the best all around for cooking and salads because it contains mostly mufas, which lower "bad" LDL cholesterol without affecting "good" HDL cholesterol. olive oil is also rich in antioxidants, which may help reduce the risk of cancer and other chronic diseases. the greener the oil, the more antioxidants, so go for extra-virgin.

sunflower seeds. sunflower seeds are packed with B vitamins and mufas, which play an important role in protecting against inflammation. they are also an excellent source of vitamin E. sunflower seeds are also great for curbing hunger.

almonds. the mufas and vitamin E in almonds work together to cut cholesterol. almonds are also a great source of vegetable protein and fiber.

avocado. avocados are a great source of heart-healthy mufas. these delectable green orbs also contain more of the cholesterol-smashing beta-sitosterol (a beneficial plant-based fat) than any other fruit. beta-sitosterol may reduce the amount of cholesterol absorbed from food. the hass variety, grown principally in california, contains more mufas than the florida variety.

dark or semi-sweet chocolate chocolate or more specifically, cocoa powder made from ground, defatted cocoa beans -- contains compounds that have the potential to protect against heart disease, stroke, cancer, and diabetes and contains substantial amounts of antioxidants. dark chocolate -- not milk or white -- contains as much antioxidant capacity as red wine.

flaxseed oil flaxseed oil is the best plant source of omega-3 fatty acids and helps reduce systemic inflammation, which researchers believe may lead to heart disease, cancer and alzheimer's disease. flaxseed oil should never be heated, so use in salad dressings or smoothies or as a condiment drizzled

walnuts like seafood and flaxseed, walnuts contain omega-3 fatty acids, which help protect your heart and preserve brain health.

below i have listed just a few of the many menu items that are available at sacred chow, all organically grown. you can eat and drink these fabulous mufas in many different shapes, sizes and forms.

come chow down sacred chow! moo fahz! moo fahz! sounds like moove fast, moove fast, which we must, for the planet and creation's sake. eat more mufas now!

and here's where we salivate and lose weight, gain heart strength, lower global warming...and enjoy a great mufa filled meal.

well there's creamy mufa peanut butter in the charles brown smoothie along with dark chocolate sauce, it's rich, custardy, and superb in every way. and you'll find a nice dose of peanut butter in the silky cold soba noodles.

the ethereal gym body smoothie, toasted mufa almonds and omega-3 flax oil make this a truly nutrient rich elixir and a heavenly delight to drink. oh, and you'll find some ground flax in a delectable wheat free brunch waffle too. it's scrumptious!

sacred chow makes so many chocolaty mufa things that you'll just have to come and taste these luscious sensations. but just to whet your appetite, i'll tell you about three especially ridiculous treats, halva chocolate pie, brownie sundae, and THE sinner bar, drip, drip, salivate, oh yes you will. gluten free too!

and real yummy, our toasted walnuts, brain food indeed, are turned into perfect walnut pralines dipped in dark chocolate. oh man, they are too good to be true.

mufa-packed sunflower seeds are sprinkled in a few incredible salads, an amazing sugar free jam dot cookie called, you guessed right, the jammie, is loaded with oats and these miracle seeds, and the smooth, velvety, peerless lentil pate is made with ground toasted sunflower seeds.

and it's almost summer, so there's loads of mufa-packed avocados, from chilled soups to smoothies and pies.

oh my, the king mufa, olive oil is in just about everything from small to large doses.

so enjoy, heal yourself, the planet and your palette asap!

and how? sacred chow!

born of faith

Saint Theresa's Prayer.

May today there be peace within. May you trust G-d that you are exactly where you are meant to be. May you not forget the infinite possibilities that are born of faith. May you use those gifts that you have received, and pass on the love that has been given to you. May you be confident knowing you are a child of G-d. Let this presence settle into your bones, and allow your soul the freedom to sing, dance, praise and love. It is there for each and every one of us.