Homemade Tomato Paste: Quick and Easy To Make Sauce/Dip

I have been wanting to make a tomato paste at home with spaghetti in mind

but never been able to do so for various reasons. 

One, I don't have a regular use for it (referring to tomato paste). 

Two, I am no longer fond of it (not the spaghetti per se, but the processed pasta).

Three, neither does my husband (doesn't like both at all).

But I saw a facebook post of Vegan Afritada, a dish made of potato, garbanzo beans, and bell pepper with TVP and seasoned with tomato paste, garlic, etc. That propelled the "trying things out" in me. And so finally, for the first time in my life, I made my own version of tomato paste.

It really turned out delicious. In fact, a much sumptuous than the regular tomato paste that I have tasted before.
Even B (my husband) says, "It's not bad at all" and "Yeah, quite good".
And when asked if it can be made again.
"Yes", he said. And that is the cue because he generally says "not bad at all, but cannot be made again and again". Yet this one, among a few, made it across his line of "can be made again".
(Just a tip, my husband will rather eat raw food than cooked ones. Unfortunately, there isn't enough variety of fruits and vegetables than can be eaten raw here in our area, so, we made a deal to manage what raw items we can get with 1 meal-cooking a day).

Plus!
(Referring now to the tomato paste)

It's homemade so it's preservative-free!

And you really know what's in it.

~Picture 1: 

pureed tomato, black pepper powder, 

garlic, palm sugar, olive oil~

So, here's the recipe. It's so simple, quick and easy to make
that there's no need to make it bulk.
 (Now I realized)
Just make it whenever there is a need for it.

Ingredients:

• 6 tomatoes, ripe and red
• 2-3 cloves garlic
• 1/2 tsp. black pepper powder
• 1 small cube palm sugar
• 1 tsp. olive oil
• a pinch of salt

Instruction:

• Wash tomatoes properly. Make a cross slit at the bottom and boil to soften them. The tomatoes are ready once their skin starts to peel off. Keep them cool. 
• Once cooled, keep them in a blender and make a puree. You can do this in batches and make sure that everything is well-churned.
• Once the puree is done, pour into a deep pan. Add a little water to the blender to remove the remaining traces of tomato puree.
• Add crushed and minced garlic, palm sugar, black pepper powder, a pinch of salt and olive oil (see picture 1).
• Bring to a boil. Simmer till it slowly becomes drier. You can cover and stir occasionally.
• Once desired consistency is achieved, check the taste. Adjust if necessary. 
• Turn off the stove and let it cool. The tomato paste is ready!

NOTES:

~Some people boil the tomatoes and then peel and discard the skin. I prefer to leave it on.

~I tried churning the tomatoes immediately once (meaning, I didn't boil them) and I couldn't make out any difference. The main reason I boil them is that our blender is not a heavy-duty one. So if your blender/mixer's performance is excellent, you might as well try this method.

~Others strain or sieve the puree and only the juice is used for the making of paste, but my version includes the pulp.
~Instead of crushing and mincing the garlic, you can churn the cloves along with the tomatoes.

~I have not tried making much of it for later use because there is no need to do so. The next time that I will be using a tomato paste will be 15-20 days later, or even 1 month.

The Day of Compassion: An Essay For Social Psychology

The Day of Compassion is an invitation to use social psychology for the greater good by living 24 hours as compassionately as possible and by reflecting on the experience. This was introduced by Professor Scott Plous of Wesleyan University as part of the Social Psychology class assignment at Coursera. Professor Plous also includes this activity in his regular Social Psychology class at the Wesleyan University.

Here's my essay on it, written in August 2013.

~lend a hand when needed~

I see myself as a compassionate person and I saw it not only to my fellow human beings but more to the non-human animal population and to the environment as well.

Compassion to me means two things. First, it is choosing to help in any way I can even though helping may cause interference in my life. If I see a man somewhere on the street who looks to be in pain I will cautiously approach him and ask if there is anything I can help him with and try to do something about this need even though I have to be someplace else. It sometimes even costs me money or time but it is nothing if it’s worth it. And second, it is choosing not to harm even though I may stand to gain from harming. I adopted a vegetarian diet to allow a sentient being lives its own life even though I could gain nutrients from eating its meat. Our fruit & vegetable peelings go back to land as fertilizer; bottles & cans are saved for recycling; plastics that are non-recyclable are burned because they get the same fate in dumping areas and, most of the times, are thrown into the river. I might as well ensure that they are disposed of well enough not to cause any injuries to others, especially to other animals that forage in such areas.

Compassion, therefore, is about choosing to live a life that helps more and harms the least possible. Sometimes it works well with participation, other times with non-participation.

Behaving compassionately is letting go of my inconsistencies, biases, and prejudices and try to make my attitudes relate to my behaviors, to embrace a newer better self. When I saw a glitter of tears in an old woman’s eye while listening to her story, even though I didn't understand the whole of it, I knew it was happiness. When that reaction made me smile, too, I knew I did something right. The sight of animals grazing freely in the hills is an image that reminds me of peace. And I don’t want to take that away from them. I know because I wanted the same for myself –freedom and peace. The feeling that my actions are in harmony with nature feels so wonderful that I would want to experience it again. Consequently, to me, behaving compassionately is the reward itself and its benefits are priceless and certainly outweigh all costs. It must be true because I love the self that has come out of that realization.

~loving one but eating another isn't compassion~

Encouraging others to be compassionate is not easy but not impossible. Thus, if I were to encourage others I would use the same or similar techniques like the central and peripheral routes of persuasion. For example, showing a 5 or 10-minute video featuring flood or cloudburst victims getting helped by numerous people to school children, most of whom don’t have TV at home, can lead to a discussion on disaster preparedness, ways to extend help or even ways to avoid such occurrences. This in itself is compassion to avert suffering. Another is using salience. A colored print out of The Healthy Eating Plate¹ was posted in a conspicuous area of the hospital where my husband works to facilitate awareness about people’s diet and lifestyle choices. The idea was effective! Some people requested for copies, others talked about it, and a school teacher, who came for a consultation, asked for the source so she can print it herself and post it on their school bulletin board. It is an indirect way of showing compassion but it could lead to behavioral change. If they act accordingly, it may benefit them, their family members, the non-human animal population and the environment as a whole. A foot-in-the-door technique is another. A request was made to a neighbor to keep their empty bottles and cans separately to be collected later was also successful. This was one step up to making them agree for a bigger request –making them segregate their biodegradable and non-biodegradable wastes instead of throwing them all together near the river –a terrible sight around here.

Empathy & Role playing is another technique that was successfully used by my husband in one incident when we caught kids throwing stones to a family of monkeys (I understand Hindi a bit but can’t converse). He asked them,

“Should I throw stones at you, too?”

“No”, they answered.

“Why not?”

“It hurts”, they replied.

“Then why are you throwing stones at them?”

They couldn’t answer.

And so, he went on to say, “Mat karo! (Don’t do that!) If they try to attack you without reason, grab a rock or stone and show it to them like you are going to hit them but don’t hit them. They’ll get the message and leave you alone. Theeki (Okay)?”

They nodded.

I really hoped they learned something that day.

One of the best ways to foster a more compassionate society is through education and social psychology is providing that. By conducting studies and researches in order to understand how people behave and how this behavior influence self and others, social psychology provides opportunities to evaluate our attitudes and behaviors, criticize our self-schemas, test our locus of control and know our selves better. This course itself is a means for sharing and exchanging knowledge, information and experiences among each other, to learn from each other. But these opportunities will continue just as opportunities unless we choose to be educated. We, too, have personal responsibilities to take.

Like taking the third side and acting like the hummingbird, behaving compassionately is an everyday gift that can be given in many ways to everything that surrounds us if we so choose it. Through education, anything is possible and is more likely once we accept that we are ALL connected. What we do, no matter how little, affects others directly or indirectly in a positive or negative way. We might as well affect others in a more positive way.

As for me, I am going to be as compassionate as I can be to my fellowmen; to the animals that I call friends; and to my only home –Earth, not only today but every day of my life. 

Update: When I wrote this essay, I wasn't vegan yet. But in another assignment, I promised to go vegan soon. And yes, a year later I become one. Everything is in its proper place now, and I am not only happier than ever before but I am also leaner and healthier physically and mentally.

Source:
(1) http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/healthy-eating-plate/

Top 15 Vegan Dont's: Explained The Way I Understand Veganism

There is only one reason for going vegan -the animals. They, in any way, should not be deliberately harmed. Their freedom to live a fulfilling life should not be taken from them. The rest of the reasons people speak about: for health, for world hunger, for the planet, are just the expected results of veganism.

This post talks about vegans and veganism the way I understand them.

1. Vegans don't consume meat, honey, eggs, milk, and dairy. They see to it that they ask for the ingredients of a dish when they eat out in a non-vegan or vegetarian restaurants. As much as possible, though, they find and dine in vegan restaurants only. Also, they don't allow any non-vegan cooking in their kitchen nor any non-vegan foods to be served in their own house. 

2. Vegans don't buy packed or wrapped or canned foods without reading food labels. Many food items in grocery stores contain animal products such as milk solids. They educate themselves about unfamiliar terms in product labels. Although many vegans are fond of "veganized" foods, many are also avoiding such stuff and trying to follow a lifestyle that is nearest to nature.

~even chipmunk reads label~
(image via iquitsugar.com)

3. Vegans don't ride horses, elephants, buffaloes, mules, or horse-drawn carriages, etc. for whatever purpose. Using their own two feet is better for health and best for the animals. Animals are not beings to carry human goods or belongings. Cement and bricks on a mule's back are just an example of human exploitation. Poor animals, they have no use of those things and yet they are burdened with such heavy loads. 

Vegans treat animals as friends. And friends are not used.

~just because we can, we should?~

4. Vegans don't support circuses, zoos, and other forms of entertainment that enslave or cage animals. They are rather involved in campaigning against these types of abuses and trying to liberate captive animals. In other words, they entertain themselves in other ways like playing/listening to music, chatting with fellow vegans, writing, etc. Instead of "enjoying" at the expense of animals, they rather view it as sad and pathetic for obviously there are other means of enjoyment without the need for animal abuse.

5. Vegans don't wear leather, fur, silk, or wool. They make sure that the goods they're buying have no history of torture and death. If they own one or two of these products before they went vegan, some give them away to homeless people, some continue to use them until they wear out and choose to never buy them again.

6. Vegans don't eat honey. Honey is food for bees who work very hard for it and not for some humans who purposely destroy bee hives for food and money.

7. Vegans don't drink animal milk. Cow's milk is for its calf, cat's milk is for its kittens, goat's milk is for its kid. What this means is that vegans don't take milk whether it's in their tea or coffee, bread or pastry. No butter, no ghee, no cheese, no paneer, no curd or yogurt. Well, you got it, right? Zero animal content in any food.

No animal milk means vegans use coconut milk, soy milk, almond or cashew milk, instead. Ice creams, cakes, and other products are made nowadays with plant-based milk, and they are delicious.

8. Vegans don't litter around. Veganism and protecting/conserving the environment is highly synonymous with each other that if one is an environmentalist and not vegan, he or she is a subject for a huge joke...a joke with empty humor. So vegans segregate wastes, recycle, reuse, and reduce consumption of unnecessary things that are a bane to the planet. They reduce their carbon emission, too. Instead of driving their own car, they choose public transport or instead of motorcycling often, they do it when in needed basis.

9. Vegans don't breed. Unless they already have a child before going vegan. If they have, they make sure that they don't contribute anymore to the human population. They rather adopt another human being or a non-human person like a dog or a cat or a pig or a calf. Vegans have a wider concept of family. Their concept of a family no longer stays in the four corners of their home where their biological connection starts. It is extended towards non-human beings as well -the animals.

Veganism and not breeding are interconnected. Vegans realize that the root cause of all our problems, especially hunger, poverty, and climate change goes all back to people -too many people emptying every inch of our natural resources. 

10. Vegans don't have a religion. Religion, throughout history, has abused, exploited and treated animals so viciously that anyone who opposes violence and exploitation, in any form, towards the innocent has to ponder deeply and try to understand once more the brutal role of religion, not only to human beings but more to animals. When a religion adheres cruelty, it is time to reject that religion. Goodness, kindness, or compassion knows no religion. It is intrinsic in each of us. 

If the one thing that prevents you from doing a heinous crime is because it is not allowed in your religion, then we have to analyze your character immediately, for whether you agree or not, you don't wrong others purposely because you know well yourself that rape, robbery, or murder is wrong! And to realize that doesn't need any religion.

11.Vegans don't support capitalism. Meat consumption is just one of the symptoms of a larger evil that pervades our society, which is capitalism. 

The disease of capitalism erodes compassion and makes humans see, not only other creatures, but also other humans, as commodities which only have value for the profit that they may fetch in the market, regardless of all other considerations. A capitalist mind-set, not only prioritizes profit, but also terminates everything else that it sees as not marketable. Since values are arbitrarily set by the market, in a capitalist system, a large proportion of the planet’s beings, both living and non-living, are arbitrarily discarded, as the market sees no value in their existence. And the ones that are seen as valuable are most often seen as valuable only for their final value of profit, thereby leading to horrific holocaust-like conditions for all their existence until their ruthless extermination in the name of generating profit.

This is why, as what I have understood about veganism, vegans don't support capitalism.

By the way, the first two paragraphs are excerpts from my entry to "I Am a Vegan" contest, which will be included in a book by Ms. Butterfly Katz.

12. Vegans don't exploit other human beings. Vegans don't exploit animals, hence the word vegan. But just because they don't exploit animals, they can be allowed to exploit other human beings. No! They can't and they shouldn't! Some vegan businesses are owned and managed by vegans. Their products are highly priced, as high as the Himalayas. 

To price a small layer of strawberry cake for Rs. 800 is ridiculous. A liter of soy milk costs Rs. 95 is, obviously, overpriced. That's exploitation and it is contemptible! And it must not be empowered!

13. Vegans don't have non-vegan partners. Vegan for animals is a core value. It is something that cannot be sold nor bought. It is one of the many moral values that people in a relationship should hold on to for a great relationship to blossom. Otherwise, that reason for being vegan is very weak, it can break anytime or the vegan partner has not really understood what veganism is and is not.

14. Vegans don't use the term "vegan diet" when referring to a "plant-based diet". Veganism isn't a diet. It's a philosophy that rejects the commodity status of animals. 

When a man follows a diet without animal products for health reason, he is into a plant-based diet and not a vegan diet. 

When you say, vegan diet almost killed you because you found out that you were not getting enough nutrition, do not blame it on "vegan" diet. Blame it on your lack of interest to know proper nutrition. A diet with meat and animal products can also kill you, without even a warning!

A plant-based diet can kill you, too. You can consume all the pasta in the world, add plant-based noodles or bread or ice cream or burgers or pizzas with it. It's a plant-based diet but a very unhealthy plant-based diet. It is the kind of diet that you should take if you are in a hurry to join with your worm friends 6-feet underground. 

15. Vegans don't feel alone. Veganism is still unknown to, and if known, is ignored and resisted by the majority of the world's population. If you are a vegan and you feel alone because none of your family members or friends understands your awakening or enlightenment, don't be. You have to change that mentality. Don't focus on yourself. Think about a homeless cat or a dog who may not have had food today. Think about the animals in zoos. Even though they are in numbers, they are caged, no escape! Remember that your family just got extended. You have fellow vegans all over the world. Proximity doesn't matter anymore these days. And of course, you have the animals with you, literally or figuratively speaking.

It's okay to feel sad, but not alone. The cause of your sadness is based on reality, the state of affair when you want to do something for the animals but you couldn't. When the reason for going vegan is so clear for you but seems so dark for others to see. It's okay. It is a reality that you have to overcome. Our present world is like that. Instead,  be strong. The animals need your strength and valor. 

"The world is vegan if we choose it".

Vegetarians vs. Vegans: Who They Are

Believe it or not, there are still many people who think vegetarian and vegan are the same people. Well, they are not!

The topic seems so old to discuss that we assume everybody gets it already. But no! Many are not even familiar with the word "vegan", and since the word resembles (a little) with the word "vegetarian", they conclude that the two are one and the same. Some have not even heard that word (vegan) at all.

They have one thing in common, though. Both don't consume meat!

Time to know the difference.

Vegetarians. Though they don't consume meat they are okay taking eggs, milk, honey, and their by-products such as curd, cheese, ghee, paneer and other food items that contain eggs, milk, and honey such as ice cream, cakes & pastries, etc. They may also have no issues with wearing wool, silk, leather, or fur. They may also not think or believe that using an animal for recreation or for carrying goods is wrong. They just don't want to eat meat -all kinds of meat, including fishes. Yes, fish is meat and if you call yourself vegetarian but eat meat and other water/ocean creatures, you are a non-vegan person, not vegetarian. It's really a fact, confessed by a few I know, that some people think vegetarians eat fish.

Note: Some vegetarians don't eat eggs but drink milk and by-products of milk.

Vegans, on the other hand, don't use or consume animal or animal products. Compassion is their key reason for going vegan. They acknowledge the fact that all non-human animals are sentient, they have emotions. They are sentient beings. And since they are sentient beings, they feel pain and suffering. And since eating meat and eggs, or drinking milk, or taking honey is not possible without harming or causing the animal pain and death, vegans refuse to participate in that. They reject all kinds of animal exploitation. For them, it is wrong to take a life of another sentient being.

Animals, therefore, are not food, not clothing, not for human entertainment, not a commodity to be used for human benefits. Vegans, in other words, view non-human animals as friends and company.

Vegetarians are vegetarian for various reasons. One is health, another is religion. Could be both or something else.

Vegans are vegans for ethical reason.

The picture below discusses the misconception between the two.

~uploaded by Maribel Salmon @ Pinterest~

Immorality: Which One Really Is Immoral?

~via wholelifemagazine.com~

Once upon a time, there was a situation when I have to question what immorality truly means. 

For most people, especially those who follow Christianity (being a Christian doesn't mean one has the characteristics of Christ for I see the big difference between the two), they concentrate its meaning base on sex (intercourse, pre-marital sex in particular) and they couldn't see anything else. I am not that sure about the views on this from other religious sects but I believe they share the same. 

Anyway, I see immorality differently.

This once upon a time happened when a woman employee was kicked out of her job because she got pregnant out of wedlock. What? Yes! The management specified the following: get married and you get to keep your job otherwise, you have to resign! Why, if you ask? Because according to some company policy (this company particularly), pregnancy out of wedlock will ruin its image, its reputation! 

As simple as that! 

You might agree with what the policy entails but it is wrong and heartless!

Sex out of marriage is not an act of immorality, and definitely, a woman is not immoral if she gets pregnant with a runaway father!

When a single woman employee gets pregnant and the boyfriend refuses to marry her, does she need to lose her job? Kindly also tell me whether the company is "not" immoral when it denied its employee the job she needed the most, denying her child the comfort her salary can give?

Sex is private - between two people - and as long as the employee is doing her job properly and efficiently, the company has no right to interfere with her personal life. It's a personal choice. 

Sex becomes immoral only if one is against in doing it or if one is forced to do it.

Do you know what's more immoral than having sex out of marriage?

• Throwing garbage anywhere is immoral. It simply puts yourselves at the center of the world because for you, getting rid of your waste is more important than anything/anyone else thereby forgetting your waste could bring harm to others!

• Killing animals for food or simply being the reason for these animals to be butchered so you'll eat is immoral and inhumane. It, again, puts yourselves in the center, for you don't value any other live beings apart from yourselves forgetting that they, too, are creations of god (if you believe so) that have rights to share the earth as much as you do.

• Cutting trees, bulldozing the earth for the so-called development is immoral. This, again, makes you forget that by doing so you make all the birds and other animals that depend on them homeless.

Is it moral to dip innocent beings in boiled water?
He or She didn't harm you in any way!

Examples could go on and on but one thing is clear, immorality does happen most of the times and that we should be ready to discuss many things about it other than claiming that sex is immoral. And that we should never agree to one thing and condemn another thing just because it doesn't apply to our liking.

But if having pre-marital sex is immoral, is getting married after doing it makes you moral? How about the man who got his girlfriend pregnant but refused to marry her, is he immoral? What if it's the mane employee got his girlfriend pregnant and refused to marry her? Will he lose his job, too?

I don't think there is a valid justification for firing an employee because the company believes that pregnancy out of wedlock is immoral.

The irony of this situation is that the company is into providing livelihood projects to communities, helping men or women, married or single become self-sufficient. How hypocrites and blind can the people in this company be when they could not even provide a decent livelihood to their own employees, and yet they talk about immorality? They better take care of their own first rather than showing some things to others and do different things on the other side.

~chopped trees as if no one lives on them;
as if it's so easy to grow one single tree;
as if felling has no consequences~

I saw how merciless the said policy is so I questioned it, not because the person concerned is a neighbor or a friend or a family member. I just refused to stay silent. That part of me just couldn't tolerate it anymore. I don't expect that after I brought their attention to this I could change them. No! Far from that. Because for change to happen it has to start from understanding what is right and what is wrong.

This case is just one of the many injustices, inequalities on earth that need change and change is difficult, even harder having people with such kind of mentality!