Sep
13
2008
When it comes to black bean veggie burgers, they typically run a pretty dry taste. That is, until now. What’s the secret ingredient to moist, delicious veggie burgers? ZUCCHINI!
My husband’s coworker keeps giving us Zucchini, so I’ve been been cooking Zucchini recipes nonstop. We’ve had Zucchini Chicken casserole, Zucchini soup, baked Zucchini, and now Zucchini veggie burgers.
I have to thank Mango Power Girl for her fabulous recipe! This recipe is simple and very useful. She first made stuff zucchini with the outside(firm) part of the zucchini and the next day she made these veggie burgers with the insides of the zucchini.
The outcome is very delicious and it’s very possible to alter the flavors. I skipped most of the spices and put in sweet salsa. It’s best to put in your own creativity!
Here is the recipe! Yum!
It’s by far the best veggie burger I’ve ever had!! Mmm… eating less or no red meat helps reduce our carbon footprint and improve our health. Now doing that can taste very yummy!
Sep
12
2008
Why don’t fast food restaurants recycle?! I find it incredibly annoying and even guilt causing to throw away 3 cardboard boxes, and paper wrappers and menus. Fast food restaurants have no laws about offering recycling bins for customers. There seems to be very little progress on this issue too.
It was all the way back in 1989 that McDonald’s fast food restaurants switched “from non-recyclable Styrofoam to recyclable paper wraps and cardboard boxes.”1
McDonald’s itself has improved its recycling. They claim :
| During the 1990’s alone, we: |
- Recycled 2 billion pounds of corrugated cardboard.
- Purchased more than $3 billion in products made from recycled materials
- Eliminated several million pounds of packaging.
|
While those are good numbers, but they are still causing their patrons to waste paper and cardboard. :( Internal changes aren’t enough– recycling in the back of the kitchen and not in the store seems like a simple and quick fix; one without a lot of inconvenience.
Of course, Taiwan has already began recycling programs inside fast food restaurants like this in 2004… and McDonald’s, KFC, and Taco Bell are all board!
Sep
11
2008
Have you heard of Aptera? Probably not. They are an up-and-coming hybrid company hoping to displace the current hybrid car attempts with their upcoming Aptera Typ-1 car. This electric, three-wheeled car (actually classified as a motorcycle) claims a remarkable 300 miles per gallon driving 100 miles.
The car/motorcycle/thing’s MPG has to be figured out on a sliding scale accounting for distance because, as they explain best, “As battery energy is depleted, the frequency of the engine duty cycle is increased. More fuel is used at 75 miles, the MPG might be closer to 400 MPG. Again, we’re using battery energy mostly, but turning the engine on more and more.”
You can find your car’s MPG with this handy website: mpgbuddy.com.
The Aptera (Greek for “wingless”) has high hopes. According to the SF Chronicle , “It will have an acceleration rate of zero to 60 mph in 11 seconds (a second slower than the Prius) and retail for less than $30,000. The Aptera will come in two versions: an all-electric that is expected to go 120 miles on a charge and a hybrid that will have a 600-mile range on a full charge and full tank.”
The two working models, mentioned above, are the Typ-1e (electric) and the Typ-1h (plug-in hybrid). The safety of these models has been questioned. Aptera has so far only displayed simulated crash tests, but claims to have exceeded safety regulations: “We decided not just to meet many of the specs for passenger vehicles, which are set above and beyond the requirements for motorcycles, but we chose to exceed them whenever possible.” Their website claims the door strength and the roll-over strength of the Aptera exceed that of passenger vehicles. (Undoubtedly what they are afraid of must be SUV owners who don’t get with the program and plow into the tiny airplane/car/hybrid motorcycle.)
Sure, the Aptera has all the old technology- like seat-belts and airbags (which come combined), GPS, a DVD player, etc.- but this barely recognizable transformation of a car/motorcycle/hybrid brings together an impressive team of engineers. They hope that the hybrid’s release in early 2009 will turn over a new leaf in green cars. For a $500 deposit, California residents can even reserve their own Aptera now. If electric/hybrid cars make it onto the market, they promise a new era of hybrid and electrical vehicle development!
