Meeting Notes for Jan. 14

After discussing the upcoming Dining Advisory Board meeting and the collaboration with dining services on constructing a vegan station in the AYCE facilities, we touched on our plan for this semester. Here is our tentative schedule (though we will be researching some other ideas such as protesting), which will also be supplemented by doing events with SAVE:

January
Get Involved Fair (24th, 11-3, Olscamp 101)
Bake Sale (29th, 11-3, Union Tables; bake night instead of meeting TBA)

February
Ditch Dairy Day (26th?, 11-3, Union Tables)
Kindness to Animals Day: Pledge to do something kind for animals & get free food
Eat together at Aladdin's

March
SASHA Trip
Bake Sale (International or candied goods?)
Eat together somewhere

April
Rabbit Sanctuary Trip
Bake Sale (donuts???, in the Union Oval??)
Final potluck/party! :)

Vegan Donuts

These mini-donuts are super easy and fun to make... but be careful not to set the smoke alarm off heating the oil like the person who created this recipe did! Makes 10 donuts and a lot of leftover frosting.

Ingredients
Donuts:
1 roll Pillsbury French Loaf
2.5ish cups vegetable oil
Frosting:
1 cup powdered sugar
1 tbsp vegan butter, melted
2 tbsp vegan milk
Topping (very approximate):
.5 tbsp brown sugar
.5 tbsp cinnamon
.5 tbsp vegan sprinkles

Instructions
     1. Heat vegetable oil in a sauce pan (use enough for donuts to be able to float in) over medium-low heat; it is ready when it makes small bubbles around something you stick in it.
     2. In the mean time, tear the dough into 10 equal pieces. Form them into balls, flatten them a bit, and use your fingers to create a hole in the center. Set aside on a tray.
     3. Mix frosting ingredients in a bowl. Mix topping ingredients in another bowl. Feel free to experiment with other toppings or adding flavoring to the frosting!
     4. When the oil is ready, simply toss one or two donuts in at a time and flip over with a spatula, counting about 20 seconds on each side or until slightly golden brown. Set finished donuts on a tray lined with a paper towel to absorb excess oil.
     5. Hand dip one (or both if you wish) side of each donut in the frosting. Use a spoon to sprinkle topping on the donuts (or dip in the topping if you wish).
     6. Eat within a day and enjoy! :)

Screening of 'Fowl Play'

This past Thursday, Veg Club showed Fowl Play, a short documentary about the egg industry. The film was well-received and showed a lot of footage straight out of our very own Ohio. The movie's summary by Mercy for Animals is worth a read: "Fowl Play takes viewers on an unforgettable journey behind the closed doors of some of the country's largest industrial farms. Propelled by touching interviews with animal rescuers, undercover investigators, veterinarians and animal behaviorists, Fowl Play brings us the inspiring stories of the kind and courageous people fighting to save the modern day hen--perhaps the most abused and exploited animal on earth. An eye-opening exploration of factory farming, Fowl Play leaves viewers with a powerful message of personal responsibility and the potential each of us holds to change the world--one meal at a time."

Autumn Stew

This autumn-inspired dish was prepared by one of our members for our vegan potluck on Sunday.

Ingredients
For the stew:
1 cup onions/bell peppers (frozen mixed bag)
1 cup celery, chopped
5 large carrots
2 large red potatoes
1 butternut squash
1 zucchini
1 apple, peeled
1 cup lentils
3 vegan 'chicken' stock cubes
Oil (olive or vegetable)
Spices to taste (salt, garlic salt, paprika, several tablespoons cumin & cinnamon)
Optional accents served on the side:
2 large avocados, cubed
1 bunch kale, chopped finely
1/4 cup brown sugar

Instructions
1. In a large pot, put 8 cups of water and the stock cubes on high heat (boiling). Prepare ingredients, cutting them into chunks.
2. Stir-fry vegetables in a pan with oil over medium-high heat to brown them a bit and then add them to the pot. This will take several batches. Do it in the following order: onions/peppers/celery, lentils, carrots, potatoes, squash, zucchini/apple.
3. Add spices, taste and test the stew, and potentially add more water if needed along the way. Lower the temperature a bit and allow the stew to cook until you feel it has reached perfection!
4. On the side, offer guests (or whoever's eating this) avocado, kale, and brown sugar as potential (and super yummy) additions to the soup. Enjoy!

Apple Yam Yums

This was one of the sweet dishes prepared by one of our members for our vegan potluck on Sunday! It is traditionally called Apple Mallow Yam Yums but we could not find vegan marshmallows in time for the potluck so a homemade frosting was drizzled on top instead. Enjoy!

Ingredients
2 apples, sliced (we used honeycrisp)
1/3 cup chopped pecans
1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
1/2 tsp cinnamon
2 17oz cans yams, drained
1/4 cup vegan butter
about 1 cup powdered sugar
about 3 tbs water or vegan milk

Instructions
1. Toss apples, pecan, brown sugar, and cinnamon together. In a casserole dish, alternate layers of this apple mixture and the yams. Dot with butter.
2. Cover and bake at 350F for 35-40 minutes.
3. Prepare a simple frosting by putting powdered sugar in a bowl and adding very small amounts of liquid (water or vegan milk) at a time until you reach the desired consistency. Drizzle this on top of the dish when finished baking.

Rock Painting, Tornado Potluck, Adopt-A-Turkey Bake Sale

On November 12th, Veg Club painted the Rock at BG. It was so freezing and we didn't really have enough paint, but it was a fun experience and we got to write cool veg things! 

On November 17th, Veg Club gathered together for a vegan potluck at the Common Good... at the same exact time a tornado warning was issued. Some of us braved the weather anyway, enjoying each other's company and stuffing our bellies until we couldn't take another bite. Everyone brought delicious food! We had autumn-inspired stew and soup, bread rolls with vegan butter, hummus with chips and pretzels, chocolate pumpkin pie, apple yam yums, and Green Goodness to drink. Stay tuned for recipes!


The week of November 18th, Veg Club and SAVE (Saving Animals from Violence and Exploitation) each held vegan bake sales on campus with the goal of saving turkeys. We combined the funds we raised and donations from members for a total of $90, enough to sponsor three turkeys to live their lives out in peace on a farm sanctuary! Great job and thank you to everyone who helped out and showed their support for our turkey friends!

Meeting Notes for Nov. 5

At last night's meeting, we tie-dyed our adorable new Veg Club shirts; we can't wait to see how they turned out and rock them everywhere we go! We also discussed upcoming events:

• Nov. 7th @ 8:00pm in the Business Administration building 1002, SAVE will be showing the film Happy Feet.
• Nov. 12th @ 7:30pm we will meet at the rock in place of a regular meeting. We chose the colors green, pink and blue to paint with!
• Nov. 13th @ 5:30pm at the Oaks a guest chef will be giving a vegan cooking demonstration in honor of National Vegan Month. All are encouraged to attend!
• Nov. 17th @ 5:30pm we are having a vegan potluck at the Common Good, so bring vegan food! We will be meeting at Starbucks @ 5:15pm for those who want to walk there together.
• Nov. 19th @ 7:30pm we will meet at Starbucks to walk to the Common Good for a bake night in place of a regular meeting. On Nov. 20th, we will have a vegan bake sale 11am-3pm.
• Dec. 5th @ 8:00pm we plan to show the short documentary Fowl Play; details to come.

There will be no meeting on Nov. 26th, so the next regular meeting that we will have in our usual room in Olscamp will be Dec. 3rd. Most likely we will hold officer elections that day (though this was not discussed at the meeting) so that the new terms can begin in January. This semester is really flying by and we are certainly keeping busy with lots of fun stuff!! :)

Peanut Butter Ice Cream Pie w/ Oreo Pretzel Crust

The name pretty much says it all... A DELICIOUS creation by one of our members. Seriously, YUM.

Ingredients
For the crust:
2 cups Oreo crumbs (about 16 Oreos)
2 cups pretzel crumbs
1/2 cup vegan butter, melted

For the filling:
1 8oz container vegan cream cheese
1 cup peanut butter
1 1/4 cup powdered sugar
1 cup vegan vanilla ice cream
2 tbs vanilla extract

For the topping:
1/4 cup vegan chocolate chips, melted
Also try pretzel and Oreo crumbs

Instructions
1. Find a method of crushing Oreos and pretzels. If you have a food processor, great! We used a hammer and some creativity...
2. Mix Oreo crumbs, pretzel crumbs and melted butter and press into a pan (we used an 8x8 square pan). Bake at 350F for 15 minutes. Then refrigerate.
3. Mix cream cheese, peanut butter, powdered sugar, vanilla, and ice cream. Fill the cooled crust with this mixture.
4. Decorate the pie either before or after freezing, drizzling melted chocolate, sprinkling Oreo and pretzel crumbs on top... go wild!
5. Place pie (covered with plastic wrap or aluminum foil) in freezer for at least 2 hours. Keep (and store) in freezer. Serve with vegan ice cream!

Happy Badger, Epic Bake Sale, Amazing SASHA Trip

On October 3rd, Veg Club met for lunch at the Happy Badger in BG for delicious, veg-friendly food! The atmosphere of the Happy Badger is really unique; glass jars are used for drinks, and there are all sorts of little knick-knacks and interesting decorations (including a functional record-player/juke box). We found a stuffed badger too and we just had to take a picture! After lunch, we ended up roaming around downtown and shopping (a little too impulsively and excitedly...) at Ben Franklin's. It was a really fun afternoon. :)

On October 17th, Veg Club baked together at the Common Good in preparation for today's bake sale. It got a little messy and chaotic, and we had a couple baking mishaps but this just made it more fun! We made so much food: brownies, no bake cookies, chocolate chip cookies, sugar cookie sandwiches, puppy chow, Oreo cupcakes, and cookie dough pretzel bites/sandwiches (an invention by one of our members). The recipes we used (although we halved many of them) can be found here. On October 18th at the bake sale, we actually sold out of all of our items and ended early! Based on our tallies, we made $62! Great job and thank you to everyone who helped out and to everyone who stopped by to taste just how delicious vegan food is! :)
  
(Guest written:) After waking up on an early Sunday morning (October 20th) and trugging along the road for two hours, the Veg Club made it to it's destination to SASHA in Jackson, Michigan. After arriving, and signing a liability waver of course, our crew went to the pastures. Here we were left with the task of cleaning up after the horses, which we didn't mind! But the day could of turned for the worst when one the donkeys pushed it way past us and out of the pasture. Luckily, due to two great members, the donkey was retrieved and put back into the pasture. Thank goodness! So, we continued with our work. After about two hours, and making the pasture more green than brown (LOL), we decided it was time for a break. First came pictures that I (Ciara) had the honor of taking and it went really well. We had alot of fun and decided we wanted to take a tour of the farm before eating our lunch. This resulted in seeing our the animals that the farm had taken in to take care of, from goats, horses, mules, donkeys, cats, sheep, dogs, chickens, emus, birds, and cows! 

Speaking of cows, we had quite the experience with them. I, was butted by one and so was someone else but then we had one poor member be actually thrown to the ground from an unfriendly, injured cow. But she's okay and we were able to laugh about it! Although after seeing the cows so up close, I am a little bit intimidated by them! We had alot of fun with all the animals and then we ate our vegan lunch we had packed while petting Fearless who was a very friendly dog that was just roaming around. I managed to get a picture with him and one of the members. He was such a magestic dog! After eating our lunch, we helped the man running the farm with some walnuts that needed to be disposed of. By then it was close to three and we decided to head back to Bowling Green. But we were really thankful to be able to volunteer (and even hear about a possible internship!) and help all the animals. It was wuite the experience and we hope to be able to do it again soon! :)

Experimental Granola Bars

These granola bars were an experiment by one of our members. The beauty of granola bars is that there is no perfect recipe and it is open to creative modification... so go wild and have fun, using this as a simple guide.

Ingredients
1.5 cup oats
0.5 cup roasted pepitas
0.5 cup raisins
1 large overripe banana
2 tbs syrup
2 tbs oil
1 tsp salt
0.5 tbs vanilla
1 tbs cocoa powder
2 tbs cinnamon

Instructions
1. Preheat oven to 375 F. Toss oats in oil and salt and toast the mixture in the oven on a cookie sheet for 15-20 minutes.
2. Mash the banana in a bowl with a fork until nearly liquified. Add to the mixture syrup, vanilla, cinnamon, cocoa, raisins, and pepitas.
3. Add the finished oats to the bowl, mix, and pour into a small brownie pan, pressing the mixture down to pack it tightly.
4. Turn the oven down to 300 F and bake for 35-45 minutes. Cool for 10 minutes and then cut into bars. Sprinkle extra cinnamon etc. on top if desired. Store in a container in the fridge. Enjoy!