Center For Living Peace

Good Happens

Archive for the month “May, 2012”

Algalita Marine Research Institute Makes Good Happen!

Here at the Center for Living Peace, we are always on the lookout for people and organizations trying to embody peace in their communities. One of our partners, The Algalita Marine Research Institute, has been doing just that and we wanted to share some of their efforts with you.

The Algalita Research Institute is a non-profit research and education organization that aims to protect the marine environment. Members of this organization conduct research on plastic found in oceans, and how this type of pollution affects the world and human health.

Take a look at their video below to learn more about their research and what they are doing to help preserve our precious marine life.

Find out more about Algalita here.

What can you do to reduce your plastic footprint? Share your thoughts with us- we are always looking for new ideas and perspectives on sustainability!

Good Happens.

Peace Grl Out!

Meatless Monday: A New Look at Rice

We all know that brown rice is the healthier option when paired next to white rice, but we don’t always go with what’s best for us. Here is a new recipe that blends the flavors of white rice and benefits of brown rice all into one!

Aside from being higher in protein and vitamins, brown rice is much more sustainable since white rice requires about twice as more land, water and nutrients to grow.

The recipe below is comprised of half brown rice/half white rice – this way, we can still enjoy the flavor and help the earth out at the same time.

Ingredients:

1 cup long grain brown rice (or substitute Bhutanese red rice if you’re feeling fancy)
1 cup basmati or Jasmine white rice
3 cups of water
1 teaspoon of salt
Optional: a slice of fresh ginger for flavor and a half teaspoon of turmeric for color

Directions:

1. Combine the water, salt and brown rice in a non-reactive pot. Bring rice to a boil, lower heat and let simmer on low for 15 minutes.

2. When timer goes off, add the white rice and set the kitchen timer for 20 more minutes. When it goes off a second time check your rice for tenderness and your water level, and add a quarter cup of water if necessary. If the rice is close to being done to your liking but you can still see a little water near the surface, try turning the heat off, leaving the lid on, and letting the rice steam in residual heat for an extra 10-15 minutes.

3. Serve with your favorite combination of vegetables and/or protein.  (I always make at least a serving or two extra since cooked grains can last in the fridge for as long as a week.)

* This blend is especially easy because quinoa requires the same exact cook time that most long grain white rice does.

Recipe originally posted on Grist.

We hope you enjoy this new recipe and helping out the environment!

Good Happens.

Peace Grl Out!

Center for Living Peace Turned 2!!!

Can you believe it’s been two years since we first opened our doors? We can’t! What an amazing two years it has been– here are some highlights from over the years…

Taiko drums at our grand opening in May of 2010!

Our peace tree from the grand opening… So strange seeing it so bare!

Chuck Jones Center for Creativity hold a workshop at our grand opening in 2010

Have you seen chalk mandala mural by artist Melanie Stimmell? It’s hard to believe it’s been 2 years since she created it for us.

Read for the Record in 2010

Buzz Lightyear visited us on Halloween in 2010!

Artful Eating with OCMA

Artful Eating with OCMA!

Team Kids Youth Council Servathon!

Good Happens Veggie Grill vegan carrot cake from our 1st birthday celebration!

Rocking out at New Earth Drumming to celebrate our 1st birthday!

Storytime with Cynthia Callard!

Human peace sign at 2011 International Day Peace!

Insights from Africa with Eugene Cooke!

Homemade Cleaning Products with The Ecology Center!

C-Jam with Anibue from UCI!

Peace in Motion Café movie nights!

Here are some highlights from our 2nd Birthday! So hard to believe that it’s been 2 years since we first opened our doors!

New Earth Drumming!

Sneaky Sea Snacks with Algalita!

Can you believe the things found in birds tummies? Thanks for sharing this with us, Algalita!

Abstract drawing with OCMA!

Smiling Monkey Yoga!

Smiling Monkey Yoga!

Kids made cards for a Card Quilt for people in need

Card Quilts!

Fun with the Chuck Jones Center

A visit from Teddy the tortoise, courtesy of Inside the Outdoors!

Buckwheat the Bunny, courtesy of Inside the Outdoors!

Seedlings with The Ecology Center!

Kids’ Qigong with Ryan Lee!

Fun in Kids’ Qigong!

Miniotics Dance Crew!

Kelly kickin’ it with Miniotics Dance Crew

Enjoying a birthday cupcake!

Look at our Peace Tree now!!! 2 years of wishes for peace!

A special thanks to our photographers, Ashley Strong & Megan Hartley. Thanks for celebrating with us! It’s been a wonderful 2 years!  Can’t wait to see what the future brings!

Good Happens.

Peace Grl Out.

Meatless Monday: Vegetarian Taco Salad

Happy Monday! We hope you are ready for our weekly Meatless Monday statistic and recipe.

A study entitled “Red Meat Consumption and Mortality” was recently released from Harvard and explores the possible effects red meat may have on how long a person lives. The study’s two main authors and a preventative medicine resident took a look to specifically quantify how much giving up meat one day a week could lower the risk of death.

Among the many numbers that were crunched, the study authors discovered that if a person removed one serving of red meat a day and replaced that same serving amount with legumes, whole grains, or nuts, then the person would have a reduced risk of death. Legumes reduce risk by 1.5%, whole grains offer 2.1%, and nuts offer 3.0%. You can learn more about this study and the exact numbers here.

To improve our health and help with the environment, let’s take a look at this new recipe: vegetarian taco salad.

Vegetarian Taco Salad

Vegetarian Taco Salad Recipe

Ingredients:

  • 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
  • 1 large onion, chopped
  • 1 1/2 cups fresh corn kernels or frozen, thawed
  • 4 large tomatoes
  • 1 1/2 cups cooked long-grain brown rice
  • 1 15-ounce can black, kidney or pinto beans, rinsed
  • 1 tablespoon chili powder
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons dried oregano, divided
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro
  • 1/3 cup prepared salsa
  • 2 cups shredded iceberg or romaine lettuce
  • 1 cup shredded pepper Jack cheese
  • 2 1/2 cups coarsely crumbled tortilla chips
  • Lime wedges for garnish
Preparation:
  1. Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add onion and corn; cook, stirring, until the onion begins to brown, about 5 minutes. Coarsely chop 1 tomato. Add it to the pan along with rice, beans, chili powder, 1 teaspoon oregano and 1/4 teaspoon salt. Cook, stirring frequently, until the tomato cooks down, about 5 minutes. Let cool slightly.
  2. Coarsely chop the remaining 3 tomatoes. Combine with cilantro, salsa and the remaining 1/2 teaspoon oregano in a medium bowl.
  3. Toss lettuce in a large bowl with the bean mixture, half the fresh salsa and 2/3 cup cheese. Serve sprinkled with tortilla chips and the remaining cheese, passing lime wedges and the remaining fresh salsa at the table.

Recipe originally posted on Eating Well.

Good Happens.

Peace Grl Out!

Living Peace Series Speaking Event with Queen Noor

What a whirlwind couple of weeks it’s been here at Center for Living Peace! We were so lucky to have Her Majesty come and spend time with us– we had so much fun! The weeks just flew by. We hope you’ve enjoyed seeing photos from the VIP fundraiser and the Living Peace Projects service day. We wanted to share some photos with you from the speaking event on May 2nd, 2012.

Here is a behind-the-scenes photo from the green room at UCI! UCI’s Chancellor Michael Drake, Her Majesty Queen Noor, CLP’s Kelly Thornton Smith and UCI’s 2011-2012 XIV Dalai Lama Scholar Armaan Ahmed Rowther gathered together before the speaking event for a few quick photos.

Isn’t the Queen stunning?! And check out her bracelet! It’s from our very own Live Peace store!

The speaking event was moderated by Armaan Ahmed Rowther. He is the current Dalai Lama scholar at UCI.The Queen spoke about how she feels education is fundamental to the process of interfaith, and how she believes reaching out to one another is an incredibly grand gesture of peace, that is sometimes over looked. She explained that instead of branding people of other faiths with the idea of “other,” we need to make them a part of us. So inspiring!

Before leaving the stage, Her Majesty gave Kelly a hug…

Such a great image. What an amazing event it was! If you missed the speaking event, you can watch it in it’s entirety here. An edited, and better quality version of the video will also be on our site in the next few days!

 

A giant, special shout out to our lovely photographers: Alex Abercrombie, Ashely Strong Photography and Jason Niedle. We also wanted to thank UCI, all the students, staff and faculty that came out to the speaking event, helped set eveerything up to make the event possible, Apples & Oranges for filming the speaking event and Orange County Films for streaming the event for us! We are so grateful to have such an amazing team of individuals helping us make peace real!

 

Good Happens.

Peace Grl Out.

Meatless Monday: Bean Burgers with Spicy Guacamole

Happy Monday! Once again, it’s time for our weekly statistic and tasty meatless recipe!

In the United States, 80% of aquatic habitats in streams have experienced harm and negative impacts due to the grazing of livestock. Let’s help aquatic life by trying out this delicious recipe!

Bean Burgers with Spicy Guacamole

Bean Burgers with Spicy Guacamole Recipe

Ingredients

Bean Burgers

  • 1/2 cup water
  • 1/4 cup quinoa, rinsed
  • 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided
  • 1/2 cup chopped red onion
  • 1 clove garlic, minced
  • 2 1/2 cup cooked pinto beans, well-drained
  • 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground toasted cumin seeds
  • 3 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
  • 3 tablespoons cornmeal, plus 1/3 cup for coating burgers
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • Freshly ground pepper to taste
  • 6 whole-wheat hamburger buns, toasted
  • 6 lettuce leaves
  • 6 tomato slices
Guacamole
  • 1 ripe avocado
  • 2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh cilantro
  • 1 tablespoon lemon juice
  • 2 teaspoons finely chopped red onion
  • 1 clove garlic, minced
  • 1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper, or more to taste
  • 1/8 teaspoon salt

Preparation

1. Bring water to a boil in a small saucepan. Add quinoa and return to a boil. Reduce to a low simmer, cover and cook until the water has been absorbed, about 10 minutes. Uncover and let stand.

2. Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a medium skillet over medium heat. Add 1/2 cup onion and garlic and cook, stirring occasionally, until soft and fragrant, about 3 minutes.

3. Add beans, paprika and ground cumin and mash the beans to a smooth paste with a potato masher or fork. Transfer the mixture to a bowl and let cool slightly.

4. Add the quinoa, 3 tablespoons cilantro, 3 tablespoons cornmeal, 1/2 teaspoon salt and pepper; stir to combine.

5. Form the bean mash into 6 patties. Coat them evenly with the remaining 1/3 cup cornmeal and transfer to a baking sheet. Refrigerate for 20 minutes.

6. To prepare guacamole: Mash avocado with a potato masher or fork. Stir in 2 tablespoons cilantro, lemon juice, 2 teaspoons onion, garlic, cayenne and 1/8 teaspoon salt.

7. Preheat oven to 200°F.

8. Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a large cast-iron (or similar heavy) skillet over medium-high heat. Reduce heat to medium and cook 3 burgers until heated through and brown and crisp on both sides, 2 to 4 minutes per side. Transfer to the oven to keep warm. Cook the remaining 3 burgers with the remaining 1 tablespoon oil, reducing the heat as necessary to prevent overbrowning. Serve the burgers on buns with lettuce, tomato and the guacamole.

Recipe originally posted on Eating Well.

 

Good Happens.

Peace Grl Out!

Living Peace Projects: Leap of Faith Day of Service

On Saturday, April 28th, Center for Living Peace hosted its fifth Living Peace Projects day! This time, we partnered with Leap of Faith at UCI, a student-led movement promoting interfaith engagement and community service based on a project from the 2011-2012 UCI Dalai Lama Scholar, Armaan Ahmed Rowther.

The day started off with CLP’s very own, Lauren Quijano, who was the Day of Service student chair welcoming the crowd.

Then UCI’s Vice Chancellor, Thomas Parham thanking the students for their commitment and passion to serve those in need.

Then Armaan said a quick hello and introduced the Queen!

Her Majesty took questions from the audience…

Then the students split up and took buses to Share Our Selves:

And the Islamic Center of Irvine for Uplift Charity

Some students stayed at CLP to make sandwiches to be donated to the homeless through Vineyard Church in Anaheim.

As well as OC Catholic Worker, Isaiah House (no photography was allowed at this site due to the privacy of the individuals who live there).

All in all– it was a fantastic day!

You can also watch a video from the Living Peace Projects with Leap of Faith at UCI! Thank you to all who participated and made this event a huge success!

Good Happens.

Peace Grl Out.

2012 Human Security Award: Jessica Jackley

The Center for Unconventional Security Affairs will honor social entrepreneur Jessica Jackley with the 2012 Human Security Award on Thursday, May 10 at the Arnold and Mable Beckman Center in Irvine at 7 p.m.

Jessica is focused on empowering other entrepreneurs  by creating new ways and resources for them to succeed. She is the Founder and CEO of ProFounder, a Venture Founder with Collaborative Fund and the co-founder of Kiva.

JJackley

Learn more about Jackley’s innovative and inspiring work by attending this great event! More details and information on how to RSVP can be found here.

We hope to see you there!

Good Happens.

Peace Grl Out!

Meatless Monday: Macadamia Nut Pesto Fettuccine

It’s Monday once again, so you know what that means… time for another delicious recipe and fact about how eliminating meat can help the world around us.

According to a United Nations report in 2006, raising animals for food generates more greenhouse gases than all the cars and trucks in the world combined.

To help decrease greenhouse gases, why not try this tasty pasta dish below?

Macadamia Nut Pesto Fettuccine

Macadamia Nut-Pesto Fettuccine

Ingredients:

  • 1 (9 ounce) package fresh fettuccine
  • 3 cups fresh basil leaves
  • 1/4 cup half-and-half
  • 3 tablespoons roasted macadamia nuts
  • 3 tablespoons grated fresh Parmesan cheese
  • 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
  • 3/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Preparation:

  1. Cook pasta according to package directions, omitting salt and fat.
  2. While pasta cooks, place basil and remaining ingredients in a food processor; process until smooth.
  3. Combine basil mixture and pasta in a large bowl, tossing to coat.

Recipe originally posted on Cooking Light.

Good Happens.

Peace Grl Out!

Living Peace Series Presents: Her Majesty Queen Noor

This past Wednesday, April 25th, we were proud to host a fundraising event with Her Majesty Queen Noor of Jordan to raise money for the King Hussein Foundation.

We were so lucky to have this amazing cellist, Philip Sheegog, a 16-year old prodigy play for us.

Her Majesty Queen Noor with Honarary Chair, Christy Walton…

We were so incredibly honored to have Dr. and Mrs. Deepak Chopra attend the event!

Her Majesty with the Dalai Lama Scholar, Armaan Rowther, (who will be moderating the speaking event on May 2nd!) with CLP’s Kelly and UCI’s Vice Chancellor Thomas Parham…

Her Majesty with CLP’s awesome board of directors!

Peace warriors…

The Center for Living Peace staff had a blast at the event too…

Thank you so much to the incredible, hard work of: Upon Request, Ashley Strong Photography, Starrshine Productions, Nikki Thornton, Tethos, Coast Magazine, Pascal, Neiman Marcus Fashion Island, Lindblad, XO Jet, Magic Johnson Foundation, Jessica Grant handbags, Evita on Broadway, Magic Bird on Broadway, Aureole Restaurant, The Chatwal Hotel, Lululemon Athletica, Om My Soul & Kelly Lam, Ritual Cleanse & Marra Okola, Christie Frazier, Shelby Coffman and The Hood Kitchen Space, The Mars Group, Sup ATX paddleboards & WIng Lam Still Mind & Body, Virgin Unite, Christian Dior South Coast Plaza, B. Toffee, AK Johnston, Jim Nye, Paul Fenner Floral Design, Details paper design, Montage Laguna Beach, Miner Family Winery, Morrison Hair, Philip Sheegog and Christy Walton.We couldn’t have pulled off this event with out your support!

More posts to come about the Living Peace Projects and the speaking event!

Good Happens.

Peace Grl Out.

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