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Writer's pictureDon Lichterman
Oct 23, 20204 min read

Recipe of the Week is Three Bean Chili & Maple Pumpkin Cheesecake!

Three Bean Chili

  • 20 MIN Preparation

  • 60 MIN Cooking

  • 80 TOTAL TIME Total Time

Hearty, creamy, and a little spicy, this protein-packed chili has us excited for fall weather. Garnish with some tangy, refreshing, cilantro lime crema for an added kick. Grab a bowl and load up!


25 INGREDIENTS Check out the recipe ingredients to build your shopping list!

  • 2 Packages Impossible Burger

  • 1 White Onion

  • 1 Carrot

  • 2 Ribs Celery

  • 1 Red Bell Pepper

  • 1 Green Bell Pepper

  • 1 Yellow Bell Pepper

  • 2 Jalapenos

  • 4 Cloves Garlic

  • 1 Tablespoon Olive Oil

  • 2 Tablespoons Chili Powder

  • 1 Tablespoon Cumin

  • 2 Teaspoons Coriander

  • 1 Teaspoon Paprika

  • 1 Teaspoon Cayenne

  • 3 Bay Leaves

  • 28 Ounces Can Of Crushed Tomatoes

  • 2 Cups Vegetable Stock

  • 1/4 Cup Apple Cider Vinegar

  • 15 Ounce Can Of Great Northern Beans

  • 15 Ounce Can Of Black Beans

  • 15 Ounce Can Of Kidney Beans

  • 1 Cup Sour Cream

  • 1 Lime

  • 1/2 Bunch Cilantro

5 STEPS

PREP YOUR INGREDIENTS INGREDIENTS USED

  • 1 White Onion

  • 1 Carrot

  • 2 Ribs Celery

  • 1 Red Bell Pepper

  • 1 Green Bell Pepper

  • 1 Yellow Bell Pepper

  • 2 Jalapenos

  • 4 Cloves Garlic

Dice the white onion, carrot, celery, bell peppers, and jalapeños. Mince the garlic.


START THE VEGETABLES INGREDIENTS USED

  • 1 Tablespoon Olive Oil

In a medium stockpot, heat the oil over medium heat. Add all vegetables (onion, carrot, celery, garlic, bell peppers & jalapenos) to the pot. Season with salt and cook until soft, about 4 minutes.


COOK THE CHILI INGREDIENTS USED

  • 2 Packages Impossible Burger

  • 2 Tablespoons Chili Powder

  • 1 Tablespoon Cumin

  • 2 Teaspoons Coriander

  • 1 Teaspoon Paprika

  • 1 Teaspoon Cayenne

  • 3 Bay Leaves

  • 28 Ounces Can Of Crushed Tomatoes

  • 2 Cups Vegetable Stock

  • 0.25 Cup Apple Cider Vinegar

  • 15 Ounce Can Of Great Northern Beans

  • 15 Ounce Can Of Black Beans

  • 15 Ounce Can of Kidney Beans

Crumble Impossible™ Burger and add to the vegetables. Stir until cooked through. Stir in the dry seasonings. Add the crushed tomatoes, vegetable stock, and apple cider vinegar. Bring mixture to a boil, then drop to a simmer. Drain the canned beans and add to the pot. Cook for approximately 30 minutes, or until reduced by 20%.

MAKE THE CILANTRO LIME CREMA INGREDIENTS USED

  • 1 Cup Sour Cream

  • 1 Lime

  • 0.5 Bunch Cilantro

Finely chop the cilantro. Combine with the sour cream, lime juice and zest, and chipotle chili powder in a bowl and stir until well-combined. Serve chili in a bowl and top with crema. *Make it 100% plant-based with plant-based sour cream.

SERVE, SHARE, AND ENJOY Makes 16 servings of chili.

No-Bake Maple Pumpkin Cheesecake

  • Dairy Free

  • Grain Free Recipes

  • No Refined Sugar

  • Vegan

Ingredients For the Crust:

  • 3/4 cup pitted dates or raisins

  • 1/2 cup almonds

  • 1/2 cup pecans

  • 1 teaspoon cinnamon

  • 2 tablespoons water, if needed

For the Filling:

  • 2 1/2 cups soaked raw cashews

  • 1 cup pumpkin purée, no sugar or salt added

  • 1/2 cup coconut oil, melted plus 1 tablespoon coconut butter, melted

  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

  • 1 tablespoon lucuma powder

  • 1/4 cup unsweetened non-dairy milk

  • 1/2 cup maple syrup or coconut nectar

  • 1 teaspoon pumpkin spice, plus more to taste

For the Topping:

  • Mulberries

Preparation

  1. Prepare the crust by processing the dates and nuts in your food processor. Add the water if needed until you have a sticky consistency. Transfer mixture to a cheesecake pan and leave in the refrigerator while you make the filling.

  2. Blend the cashews, pumpkin, maple syrup, milk, vanilla, and spices until you have a very creamy consistency. Add melted coconut oil and blend again.

  3. Spread mixture over the crust and freeze for at least 12 hours. Once ready, leave outside the freezer for 15 minutes and remove from pan while still frozen. Take back to the refrigerator and leave for another 8 hrs before slicing.

  4. Top cheesecake with mulberries, your favorite fruits, or any other topping you want.

Priscilla Soler Easy raw vegan desserts with the occasional Mediterranean-inspired lunch. Priscilla is a certified health and detox coach from the Institute of Integrative Nutrition and holistic nutrition student at Pacific Rim College. She has a certificate in Plant-Based Nutrition from Cornell University and certified in raw cuisine from Matthew Kenney Academy. She shares her passion for health through her different social media Gastrawnomica, where her followers can learn more plant based recipes, nutrition tips and detoxification practices. She also works with clients all over the world as a holistic nutrition consultant and detoxification expert.

Our companies are known for creating products that enhance people's lives. Through Sunset Corporation of America and its companies, we’re equally dedicated to improving lives.  Our commitment extends to helping local communities, fostering better educational systems, supporting the arts and culture, helping disadvantaged youth, protecting and improving the environment, animal welfare, wildlife issues and encouraging employee volunteerism.

The Sustainable Action Network (SAN), A Don Lichterman non-profit organization dedicated to building a global community raising awareness of corruption, injustice and the need for action across a full range of issues impacting people and animal/wildlife welfare around the world, such as conservation, climate change, campaign law, lobbying, government action and rescue work. SAN’s vision is to create safer world, free from political, environmental, and social oppression, where all the inhabitants of Earth can live in harmony within their own natural environments. Our commitment extends to helping local communities, fostering better educational systems, supporting the arts and culture, helping disadvantaged youth, protecting and improving the environment, animal welfare, wildlife issues and encouraging employee volunteerism.

CORPORATE RESPONSIBILITY
ANIMAL RESCUES WELFARE, CRIMES & ABUSE
PROTECT OUR WILDLIFE

Writer's pictureDon Lichterman
Oct 23, 20205 min read

Death Penalty Focus, Pervis Payne, Julius Jones, Conservatives Concerned About the Death Penalty...

Pervis Payne

Pervis Payne is a man who has been on death row for 32 years-over half of his life. He has maintained his innocence and the same story this entire time. He is set to be executed in the state of Tennessee on December the fourth 2020.

When he was given the death sentence in 1988 the DNA evidence was not tested in this case. Multiple times Payne has asked for the finger prints to be tested too and he was denied.

He also has an intellectual disability and in the state of tennessee the supreme court has ruled twice that they have, “No business executing people with intellectual disabilities.” It is also unconstitutional due to the 8th amendment.

The details of the crime are as follows. Payne heard his neighbor cry out in her apartment and went to go help. He found her and her daughter stabbed almost to death. He removed the butcher knife from her neck and attempted to revive her. When the police came he fled for fear that they would kill him on cite because they would assume he was guilty because of his race. He saw another man flee the scene as well.

None of the DNA on the crime scene was tested and there is virtually no evidence proving his guilt. His execution is not only unconstitutional, but it will also be an execution of an innocent man.

Julius Jones is innocent. Don’t let him be executed by the state of Oklahoma. 6,052,299 have signed Cece Jones-Davis (Julius Jones Coalition)’s petition. Let’s get to 7,500,000!


Sign now with a click. When Julius Jones was 19-years-old, he was convicted of a murder he says he did not commit. I need your help to save his life.


Julius has lived on death row for almost 20 years, and is held in solitary confinement for 23 hours a day. He is allowed one hour of sunlight a day, and three showers a week. Every minute we wait to take action, Julius is suffering. Every second that goes by brings Julius closer to being executed for a crime he didn’t commit. 

At the time of the crime for which he was convicted, Julius was a 19-year-old student athlete with a promising future, attending the University of Oklahoma on an academic scholarship. It is clear that Julius’ lawyer did not adequately defend him, and that explicit racial bias played a significant role in the process.. For example:

  • Eyewitnesses place Mr. Jones at his parents’ home at the time of the murder, miles away from the crime scene. 

  • Mr. Jones’ co-defendant admitted to being involved in the crime and is now free after testifying against Julius. He was heard bragging that he “set Julius up.” Mr. Jones’ co-defendant matches the only eyewitness description of the shooter based on the length of his hair.

  • Newly-discovered evidence shows that at least one juror harbored racial prejudice that influenced his vote to convict and sentence Mr. Jones to death. One juror reported telling the judge about another juror who said the trial was a waste of time and “they should just take the n***** out and shoot him behind the jail.” 

I learned about Julius’ story through Viola Davis’ docuseries “The Last Defense.” As a person of color and a person of faith, I knew that I couldn’t stand by while an innocent man was killed. I am an Oklahoma taxpayer and the idea that my money will be used to kill Julius makes me sick. 

Sign now with a click...Visit petition page...Every day an innocent man is forced to sit in solitary confinement, awaiting his death. Recently, a grassroots movement successfully pressured Texas to stay the execution of Rodney Reed, another black man sentenced to death for a crime he says he didn’t commit. If we can save Rodney, then Julius has a chance. Please join me and demand justice for Julius.

Conservatives Concerned About the Death Penalty

Despite many new barriers, our work continues to press forward as we gear up for legislative campaigns in several states come January. We hope you’ll continue to contact your lawmakers about pressing and needed criminal justice reforms in your state. While the national level may feel hopelessly divided, we continue to see significant bipartisan action at the state level – where conservatives are leading in the fight for individual liberty, limited government, and pro-life policies. Take heart!


As we head into election season, it’s important to remember the significant role local politicians play in the battle for criminal justice reform. District attorneys hold almost unilateral power in determining which cases move forward and what sentences are sought, and most are rarely challenged for re-election. Attorneys general command significant influence over the law. Elected sheriffs and mayors, who appoint chiefs of police, are vital figures in our system. State senators, state representatives, and governors determine which bills become law. And city councils play a big role in setting local policies.


These are elections that are often overlooked by the general public but that have far more influence on our day-to-day lives and laws. It’s imperative that we pay attention to and participate in these races.


Recently, I covered the ongoing corruption in the Breonna Taylor case out of Louisville, Kentucky. This case is a perfect example of the reasons why so many conservatives have lost faith in the justice system and why we believe in limited government in the first place. Government is prone to error, corruption, and inefficiency. This case highlights those aspects and, importantly, points to the reasons that the government should never be trusted with the power of life and death. You can read the full piece here.

“The Libertarian Christian Podcast”

We joined “The Libertarian Christian Podcast” to discuss the reasons both libertarians and Christians are turning against the death penalty. In this in-depth interview, we talk about theology, political science, and even philosophy. Join us for this deep conversation. You can stream the episode here.

Our companies are known for creating products that enhance people's lives. Through Sunset Corporation of America and its companies, we’re equally dedicated to improving lives.  Our commitment extends to helping local communities, fostering better educational systems, supporting the arts and culture, helping disadvantaged youth, protecting and improving the environment, animal welfare, wildlife issues and encouraging employee volunteerism.

The Sustainable Action Network (SAN), A Don Lichterman non-profit organization dedicated to building a global community raising awareness of corruption, injustice and the need for action across a full range of issues impacting people and animal/wildlife welfare around the world, such as conservation, climate change, campaign law, lobbying, government action and rescue work. SAN’s vision is to create safer world, free from political, environmental, and social oppression, where all the inhabitants of Earth can live in harmony within their own natural environments. Our commitment extends to helping local communities, fostering better educational systems, supporting the arts and culture, helping disadvantaged youth, protecting and improving the environment, animal welfare, wildlife issues and encouraging employee volunteerism.

CORPORATE RESPONSIBILITY
ANIMAL RESCUES WELFARE, CRIMES & ABUSE
PROTECT OUR WILDLIFE

Writer's pictureDon Lichterman
Oct 23, 20202 min read

Explore New Jersey, Happy 7th Anniversary Marriage Equality, Humane Society, Cosmetics Act, Drive In

Pictured above is the first same sex wedding in New Jersey between Marsha Shapiro and Louise Walpin on October 21, 2013 at Senator Lesniak's home in Elizabeth NJ.

Drive In Concerts with Twiddle. Railroad Earth...

Plans to Sue The State in Order to Protect NJ Wildlife

Raymond Lesniak, the former Democratic state senator from Union County, used a Zoom press conference to announce that a coalition of animal rights activists plans to sue the state over the statutory makeup of the state fish and game council. The council currently consists of 11 members: Six sportsmen, recommended by the New Jersey State Federation of Sportsmen’s Clubs, three farmers recommended by the state agriculture convention, the chair of the state’s Endangered and Nongame Species Advisory Committee and one person with expertise in land management and soil conservation. Brian Hackett, the state director of the Humane Society of the United States’s New Jersey branch, argued its unfair that a council with such a make-up gets to decide how wildlife is managed in the Garden State. “Nobody is allowed on this fish and game council except for pro-hunting hunters, and pro-hunting farmers and some mysterious person who needs to know about soil,” Hackett said. Lesniak echoed that sentiment, and said the council should include scientists, hikers, bird watchers and other people who use New Jersey’s outdoors for activities beyond hunting. He also argued the state’s bear population belongs to all residents, and should be protected by the public trust doctrine in the same way that access to waterways and beaches is protected.


California, Illinois, and Nevada recently became the first states to ban the sale of most cosmetic products and ingredients that have been tested on animals. New Jersey could be next!

Urge your state legislators to support the New Jersey Humane Cosmetics Act (A.795/ S.1726) today. Take Action Now...


Countless animals, including rabbits and mice, are suffering needlessly in experiments to test cosmetics like shampoo and eye shadow. Not only can safe cosmetics already be made from existing ingredients, but there are new technologies that are more effective and more reliable for testing product safety. These methods are often less expensive and faster than tests that use animals.

New Jersey has always been a leader on this issue, previously enacting a law to limit product-testing on animals where alternative non-animal tests are available. The state now has an opportunity to remain at the forefront by passing a bill which would prohibit the sale of cosmetics that were developed using animal tests on or after January 1, 2020.

Please contact your state representatives and urge them to support and co-sponsor the New Jersey Humane Cosmetics Act (A.795/ S.1726), championed by Assembly Members Verrelli, Swain, Zwicker, Tully, Rooney, Mejia, Reynolds-Jackson, Benson, Jasey, Murphy, Stanfield, Conaway, Catalano and Senators Lagana, Pou, and Turner.

Your outreach could make New Jersey the next state to ban the sale of cosmetics that were tested on animals!


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