Dia de los Inocentes

We're in the midst of the Día de los Muertos holiday. The Day of the Dead holiday, as Wikipedia puts it: "focuses on gatherings of family and friends to pray for and remember friends and family members who have died. ... People go to cemeteries to be with the souls of the departed and build private altars containing the favorite foods and beverages as well as photos and memorabilia of the departed. The intent is to encourage visits by the souls, so that the souls will hear the prayers and the comments of the living directed to them." In most regions of Mexico, November 1 (today) honors children and infants, calling that day mainly as Día de los Inocentes ("Day of the Innocents"), while November 2, referred to as Día de los Muertos or Día de los Difuntos honors deceased adults.

So I was wondering, what about deceased animals?  Maybe the ancient indigenous cultures that first practiced the Day of the Dead traditions did not believe that animals had souls.  Besides, people don't typically pray about and discuss dead animals that much. (Except pets.  We all have stories about our dead pets.  Prayers for their souls though... that's another story.)  Or maybe they thought that the souls of dead animals might be wrathful because of how humans treated and used them.  

Or maybe there is there some Dia de los Vacas y Bueys I don't know about?

Really, think of all the angry cow and chicken souls that could potentially be out there seeking vengeance for the atrocious feedlots and cages they were forced to live in, the hormone-packed and at times cannibalistic feed they were forced to eat in order to fatten them up cheaply, the often brutal way their lives ended in a slaughterhouse, and the heartless dismemberment of their corpes--cut into pieces, the undesirable carcass parts dispersed for use in pet food, soap, cosmetics, gelatin, and fertilizer, while the prize bits are cleaned, packaged, and sold for further defilement in the name of dinner.  No, maybe these are not the type of souls you want to encourage to visit come All Soul's Day.

 Do those look like soul-less eyes to you?

The highly undesirable meat processing methods in the United States and my concern for all living creatures are two of the reasons why I wanted to dedicate a month of Operation Consumption Liberation to not consuming meat.  I am not a vegetarian.  I've never been a vegetarian. While I've gone months without eating meat at times, that diet was not mindful or intentional; more likely, I couldn't afford meat on my student budget, or I didn't feel confident I could cook meat properly, or maybe I was staying with vegetarians and eating what they ate.  In the last decade, I've become more mindful about what kind of meat I eat, where I get it from, how the animal was raised, and how often I eat meat.  I try to buy and eat locally raised, organic, grass-fed, free-ranging animals most of the time, and limit meat meals to 1-2 a week. But the fact is, I don't always succeed.

At some point this month, I'll probably throw out some numbers and arguments about the ecological impact of eating meat, as American meat-eaters currently eat meat, and the ethics and economics, etc.  But for now, here's my November guidelines:

1. I will not eat meat.
2. I will define meat as the flesh of anything with a heart.  So mammals, birds, reptiles, fish, shellfish, bugs--I won't be eating them.
3. I will not knowingly eat food that contain meat products, like chicken/beef broth, lard, and fish sauce. 
4. I will eat dairy products.  I also will eat eggs.  I will eat honey.  I know these are a little controversial, but I'm sticking to my flesh/heart line for now.  I'm not going vegan.

As I cut meat from my consumption habits this month, I need to add something to prevent the inevitable feeling of deprivation I'm sure to feel as I watch a date chomp down on his steak or spicy tuna rolls.  This isn't terribly exciting, but I would like to make a conscious effort to eat more protein and iron-rich vegetables and whole grains this month.  But I need to do that anyway. So I may just eat more apple and pumpkin pie. Sounds awesome to me!

I made that!  With help, but really, I did!

Lastly, I am looking for awesome vegetarian recipes to make my belly happy this month. In particular, easy, fast, and--above all else--filling recipes would be great. Send them my way!