I will not be eating turkey or any other meat this Thursday, but I’m 99 percent sure my sister will be serving turkey and maybe ham on Thanksgiving. I love my sister and I’m thankful for her and her hospitality.
The other night my wife and I watched a Woody Harrelson documentary film, Go Further. In it Harrelson and his friends take a bus powered by hemp oil from Seattle to Santa Barbara, and along the way Harrelson stops at colleges and gives lectures on how humans can shrink their carbon footprints. Others ride in the bus. The bus is also where their raw vegan meals are made. Harrelson rides his bicycle. The bus is his support vehicle.
Some of the ideas he presents are in no particular order:
- Eat a vegetarian/vegan diet. Meat production is highly inefficient and uses lots of land.
- Encourage energy companies to use renewable energy sources — the sun and wind.
- Use paper made of hemp rather than wood.
- Use worms to fertilize your garden
The film was made in 2003, and many of the problems Harrelson points our are still with us today.
Trivia time: Harrelson is originally from Indiana (my home state). What other “Cheers” actor/actress is also from Indiana?
Now for today’s Meatless Monday idea: Stuffed Acorn Squash
First cut the squash in half and clean out the seeds. (Save the seeds for eating later; they’re a real nutritional powerhouse.) Then bake it open side down on a cookie sheet at 350 degrees for about 30 minutes, until it’s soft.
While the squash is baking, make a pilaf. This is where you can let your imagination run wild. I suggest taking a cup or two of uncooked brown rice, a half-cup of lentils, some raisins, a half-cup of frozen peas or corn or both and cook it altogether until the rice as absorbed all the water, about 40 minutes.
Then take your pilaf and stuff it into the cooked squash and serve. If you have leftover pilaf, you can serve that too, or save it for another meal.
Running dangerously 