Cockroaches are Desired by Humans???

 I will admit that bugs seriously gross me out. I don't want them crawling on me, but I also don't want them to all die slow painful deaths of chemical cocktails. I enjoy having the convenience of grocery store shopping where I can pick up my fruits and vegetables. However, the more I learn, the more disgusting I feel. I'm beginning to feel more disgusted by humans than by cockroaches and such.

As I said, I don't want these creatures I find repulsive to be pained. But, I feel that we are doing the same. In the article I've linked, it is suggested by scientific experimentation, that by grinding up cockroach and locust brains we can destroy the icky e.coli bacteria. Yay! Right?? Wrong...

I may or may not be some sort of Misanthrope, but if I am, I'm must be a misanthropic humanist :) I don't think it's a good idea to do this. I'll try to be simple about this. First we find land to build our cozy safe homes. We take the land from the creatures who live there. We begin to see that we're living in unsafe territory. There are dangerous animals running about, killing! So we get our guns and we shoot them. We are then overrun by the prey animals like deer. So we get our guns and we shoot them. Then we find that we are overrun by bugs. They're everywhere! So we make chemicals until we find just the right one to kill the bugs. We then begin to notice these weeds and unpleasant looking plants. So we put chemicals on them too and they die. Now we're safe right? Well, no. Now we're all sick, we have cancers, we have diseases, our air is polluted, our water is polluted...

There are certain insects that pollinate the flowers, there are flowers that support plants, plants that cleanse our air, prey animals that eat the plants. The prey animals are killed by predators, the scavengers clean up the dead carcass. It's a cycle that repeats. It's beautiful. It's normal. It's how the Earth wants it run. Yet, here we are interrupting the cycle. We think we're doing a good thing, we don't mean to do harm... but we are. And this is where the problem lies. We keep searching for answers. How can we fix these issues? How can we stop the deer from overrunning us, from running out in front of our cars? How can we stop our food from being overrun by e.coli and other harmful viruses?

In recent years, we've had a large issue in America with e.coli. It's been in our meat, our eggs, our peanuts, and vegetables. We begin to think we must find a way to stop this; we immediately jump to stronger chemicals, and when that isn't working, we jump to inhuman practices... Like this cockroach idea. Yay for us. We've found a way to get rid of the e.coli! Except, I don't agree with the celebration.

 I don't want cockroach brains on my food or near my food unless they are inside the little things head. This is wrong. We need to step back. We need to see where these problems are starting from. I don't believe it is because everything is becoming stronger. I believe it is because we are disrupting the cycle of nature. If we really truly want to fix the issues we find so upsetting, we need to restore the Earth. We need to allow the Earth to fix the mistakes we've created. Yes, we can help, we can speed up the process... But it's going to involve inconveniencing ourselves for a change. And in truth, we've inadvertently been inconveniencing ourselves all along.

Humans don't mean to be so destructive. It just sort of happened to us without our knowing. In some aspects, we are incredibly smart and vigilant. However, it seems when it comes to the simple things, we completely miss the point.

We can't continue to destroy predators, spraying endless chemicals, grinding up insects, testing products on animals, taking the land, destroying the soil, polluting the air, and dumping toxins into our lakes, rivers, and oceans. EVERYTHING CYCLES. We're looking for convenience, to live the easiest lives we can... But all we're doing is making it harder on ourselves.

In a way, I feel we are truly the caretakers of the Earth. We are intelligent and we could make the Earth better! We are the only ones who can communicate through voice, we are the only ones who have the bodies and the tools to better our lives. We have time to turn the damage we've done around... We must all learn to take responsibility if we wish to succeed.

I believe we can all be happier if we learn to live with the other creatures of the Earth. If we could only realize that we are all equal, that none of us are more important than others, that we all have the right to belong here... We could all be happy. We could all be free.

http://www.sciencenews.org/view/generic/id/63286/title/Cockroach_brains,_coming_to_a_pharmacy_near_you

Making Chocolate!

(Picture to Come)

When I made this I kind of went on a guess by guess basis but the round about measurements are:

1/4 Cup Cocoa Powder

1/4 Cup Agave (probably just a little more)

1/2 Tsp. Vanilla Extract

1/2 Tsp. Virgin Coconut Oil

A Dash of Ground Cinnamon

You may need to make an adjustment depending on the thickness. It should be a smooth melty consistency! And it tastes great. This is so easy to make and tastes so much like what I was used to eating as a vegetarian!

Vegan Chocolate Brownies

(Picture to come)

These can be made into a brownie dish or muffins! Either way, they are a super tasty treat X a billion!

Supplies:

A muffin rack (8 tray) and muffin cups OR bake ware/pan and greasing oil for the pan

1 Tsp. Canola or Extra Virgin Olive Oil

1/4 Cup Almond Meal

1/2 Cup Whole Wheat Flour (or 3/4 Cup if not using almond meal)

1/3 Cup Unsweetened Cocoa Powder

2 Tsp. Baking Powder

1/2 Tsp. Baking Soda

1/2 Tsp. Sea Salt

1 Tsp. Vanilla Extract

1 Tsp. Ground Cinnamon

 1/4 Cup Turbinado Sugar (or you may use brown sugar)

1 Tsp. Agave Nectar

1 Tsp. Virgin Coconut Oil

1 Cup. UNSWEETENED Apple Sauce

 1/2 Cup VEGAN Chocolate Chips OR Make Your Own Chocolate

BAKING:

Preheat your oven to 350. Insert muffin paper if you are using or grease pan. Mix your ingredients together. It doesn't really matter if you mix all of them at once or if you mix the wet and dry separate. I mixed the dry separate from the wet and then combined. You can do whatever is easier :)

Now your oven should be just about ready. The batter will be pretty thick, don't worry, this is normal. Fill your muffin tins or pan and set your timer for 20 minutes. Check and see if they are firm on top with a little springiness. If so, they are done. If you think they need more time, don't put them in for anymore than 5 additional minutes. Once they are finished, let them cool for about 10 minutes and enjoy!

These were a hit even with my meat eating family.