By Joe Yonan Food and Dining Editor February 2 at 7:00 AM

Heres the rap on wraps (sorry): At some point they became so ubiquitous and theyre often so boring that they turned into the poster child for bad sandwiches everywhere. For those of us who strongly prefer corn tortillas over the flour ones often used in wraps, it was especially grating to see their growth, and all too easy to condemn them.

But they dont have to be all that bad. One of the reasons they became common, in fact, is their upside: a functional design, especially for brown-bagging. And when you fill them wisely, they can be as satisfying to eat as they are to tote.

One key is to make sure theres enough moisture in there. The wrapper a flour tortilla, lavash bread or generic roll-up is super-sturdy, which is what makes them good for transport and what also often makes them dry. You can be generous with condiments, or you can make sure the bulk of your filling includes enough wet ingredients. In the case of a wrap recipe that caught my eye recently, it was the latter, and the ingredient that I think made all the difference was avocado.

In her charming book But I Could Never Go Vegan! (The Experiment, 2014), Kristy Turners take on a wrap combines mashed avocado with mashed white beans in a mixture made tart and a little spicy by the addition of vinegar and canned green chilies, respectively. When it gets spread on lavash, topped with tomatoes and baby spinach leaves and rolled up, the result is something thats more than just functional enough to take to work. If youve dipped into the filling while making it, you might not be able to wait until you get to work before you open up that bag and take a bite.

Link:
Weeknight Vegetarian: And thats a wrap, with avocado and white beans

The owner of a popular Canberra vegetarian restaurant was morally opposed to wiping out a cockroach infestation because it would have involved "killing little insects".

Kingsland Vegetarian Restaurant was fined A$16,000 ($17,000) on Thursday for eight food safety breaches.

ACT Health inspectors discovered the live and dead cockroaches in the kitchen of the eatery in April 2013.

The threat to public health through contaminated food meant the inspectors shut the "unhygienic" restaurant the next day.

But on Thursday the ACT Magistrates Court was told thatthe restaurant, which is still trading, has since fixed the problems and won awards for its vegetarian and vegan fare.

Kingsland Vegetarian Restaurant owner Khanh Hoang was originally charged with 12 breaches of the Food Act.

He pleaded guilty to eight offences and appeared for sentence in the ACT Magistrates Court last Thursday.

Court documents said the eatery - which specialises in vegetarian cuisine - had been granted an operation certificate in December 2012.

Inspectors raided the restaurant four months later after a public tip-off to discover the breaches, which included a cockroach infestation, incorrect food storage, a dirty kitchen and equipment and obstructed and faulty handwashing facilities.

Court documents included pictures that show a number of live and dead cockroaches around the kitchen, including close to cooking equipment.

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Vegetarian restaurateur refused to kill cockroaches

ORGANISERS of the Clarence Valley's latest flagship event, Feast In The Field have taken up the challenge set down by Tourism Australia's latest campaign, Restaurant Australia, to ensure tourists also learn just how great the native, local and organic food is coming from the Clarence Valley.

Mike Smith, whose farm Organic Matters is hosting the event, said to embrace the tourism food theme Restaurant Australia we need to first have a conversation with our chefs, producers and suppliers to ensure a sustainable supply chain.

"To have this important business conversation we decided to host an industry session. This event will happen before our afternoon feast, where chefs can have the opportunity to meet and greet with local growers and suppliers, and establish their own business networks and relationships.

"It makes so much more sense to bring everyone together at the farm so chefs can learn first hand how and what to use to be creative in their new tourism food adventures".

Piggybacking on Tourism Australia's pitch to the world of a quality food experience using Australian cuisine, organisers of Feast in the Field promise food tourism will become just as an important part in the Clarence Valley tourism agenda as sport and culture.

"We positioned our food event during the Clarence Valley's plunge Festival because we know this event has a really good reputation and our committee see that month long festival going from strength to strength," Mr Smith said.

"The Clarence Valley has an extraordinary opportunity to be a unique food bowl and food destination because of our clean green image, but before that can happen we need to train up and inspire the chefs, and put in place a reliable framework for that to happen."

Feast in the Field head-line chef Clayton Donovan has his own TV series, is world-travelled and is Australia's only hatted indigenous chef.

He is a Gumbaynggirr man and has family ties in the Valley so is familiar with local food sources.

"Connecting him to the Yaegl primary producers will be an exciting opportunity for them too and in the long run everyone will benefit," Mr Smith said.

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Feast In The Field to make food tourism a big Clarence player

Swami Prajnanananda Theerthapada, president of the Theerthapada Ashram at Vazhoor, inaugurated the 103rd Ayroor-Cherukolpuzha Hindu religious meet at a ceremonial function held on the sandbed of river Pampa at Cherukolpuzha on Sunday afternoon.

Inaugurating the meet, Swami Prajnanananda said the very understanding of the fact that God is omnipresent would lead to peace and harmony in the world.

He said the aim of human life was self-realisation by practicing a disciplined life rooted in spiritual values. He said the dharma of a human being was to seek the cosmic entity which alone could provide everlasting happiness.

According to him, religious meets are aimed at cultural upliftment of people and the society at large.

He said dharma is the path of righteousness and living ones life according to the codes of conduct as described by the Hindu scriptures.

Delivering the keynote address, Deputy Chairman of the Rajya Sabha, P.J. Kurien, said truth is what reside in all living beings. He said different religions are like the rivers that flow into the ocean which signifies God the ultimate reality..

Delivering the benedictory speech, Sri M, founder of the Satsang Foundation, said all souls are potentially divine. He said nowhere in the world one could see a philosophy which is richer than the Hindu philosophy.

N.K.Premachandran, MP, and T.K.A.Nair, former advisor to Prime Minister, also spoke. T.N. Upendranatha Kurup, president of the Hindumatha Maha Mandalam (HMM) that organises the week-long event, presided over the function.

The meet began with a soulful prayer by Ms Sandhya Sreenivasan.

Swami Satchidananda and M.R.Gopalakrishnan Nair, religious scholars, delivered religious discourses in the evening session. Swami Chidbhavananda Saraswati, Jayasuryan Pala, and Anilkumar, all religious scholars, will deliver discourses on Monday afternoon.

Originally posted here:
Cherukolpuzha Hindu meet begins

Examining the Fundamental Differences of Buddhism vs. Christianity

The popular appeal of Buddhism today is one of coolness,tolerance, and non-dissention. Its a belief system that many feel can help them detach, maintain neutrality, and find peace in a world of injustice and suffering. Some even say that Buddhist teachings and Christianity are compatible, and that one can be a Christian and at the same time adopt Buddhist teachings.

The truth is, although one can findmany truthsin Buddhist teachings,Buddhism is in many points incompatible with Christianity. Upon examination of fundamental Buddhist and Christian beliefs,it quickly becomes obvious thatthere is a clear contrast between the teachings of Buddhism and those of Christianity.Although you may hear some Buddhists claim that we believe the same things; there are many paths to God, many fundamental Buddhist teachings are in factdiametrically opposedto those of the Biblical Christianity.

Examining Buddhist Beliefs

The following is a list of Basic Beliefs of Buddhism, along with an answer for each from a Christian point of view. The list is of Basic Buddhist Beliefs is taken from Buddhanet,http://www.buddhanet.net/e-learning/snapshot01.htm.Please note that this is a response to these published Buddhist position statements, based on what the Bible says, and my own experience as a Christian.

Lets take a look at each of these Buddhist assertionswhich I have listed from the above Buddhist web site, and consider how they compare or contrast with what the Bible, and Christians believe. Then examine the evidence yourself pick up a Bible and read the passages I refer to. Look at the scientific and other evidence I refer to. Research and see what Buddhism teaches. And ask God to lead you, for as it says, the Lord is found of those who diligently seek Him.

1.There is no almighty God in Buddhism. There is no one to hand out rewards or punishments on a supposedly Judgment Day.

In contrast to this Buddhist assertion, the Bible asserts, and modern science supports, thatthere is indeed an almighty Creator.

According to modern physics the Universe did not always exist, but hada definite beginning of space, time,and all matter(14.5 billion years ago). Popularly known as the big bang, this theory is the most widely accepted, and best attested to theory in science.That first Cause indeed had to have been almighty to have created everything all matter, space and time out of nothing, in an instant, in order to have what we have today in this marvelous finely tuned, highly complex creation we live in.

Consistent with modern scientific evidence, the Bible also asserts that there was a First Cause to all things, thatin the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. (Gen 1:1). Indeed, the Bible proclaims we have an awesome God. Science now proclaims we have an expanding universe, but the Bible revealed long ago that He stretches forth the heavens like a curtain (Psalm 104:2). Time and ago God has shown that there is nothing too hard for Me, if we will only believe and place our trust in Him.

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Buddhism vs. Christianity | Evidence To Believe