Our First Ever Saturday Menu!

DETROIT URBAN CRAFT FAIR Saturday, November 15th at the Fillmore Theater Our First Ever Saturday Menu! That's right! When we were doing daily lunches many folks were left out because they worked out of town during the day. Well, you now ALL have your chance. This Saturday's Detroit Urban Craft Fair features an entirely Vegan Menu by Detroit Evolution Laboratory! We're the exclusive food vendor for the event and we are honored have this opportunity to share Angela's award winning food with you all! This event will fund many of our coming projects and, more so than ever, we really need your support to keep the Lab going! Please come down and help us grow! If your already set to attend DUCF, please plan lunch into your budget and help to support our work in Detroit. If you're just looking for lunch please swing by and pick it up. The event is Free so you can easily get in and out. Of course, you should plan on being wowed by the incredible crafts at tables in the Lobby where we'll be set up. To get you is the mood, here's a sneak peak at the menu. (It'll be up on the web page soon!)

DETROIT EVOLUTION LABORATORY'S
DETROIT URBAN CRAFT FAIR MENU
Saturday, November 15th at the Fillmore Theater (formerly the State)
We will be open in the Lobby between 11 am and 6pm
if you have any questions please call 313.316.1411

Our food is lovingly hand-crafted with intentions for your good health using non-GMO, organic and/or local ingredients. Our packaging and potato cutlery is 100% biodegradable from Michigan GreenSafe Products.

All items are available Ala Carte or you can create a Combination Meal:

Your choice of 1 Main and 1 Side for $8
OR
your choice of 1 Main, 1 Side and 1 Dessert for $10.

The $10 combo comes with our first ever swag, a Detroit Evolution Laboratory Button! You can get extras to send to your friends in Portland for a buck each! :)

Main Dishes $5

Vegan Pulled "Pork" Sandwich
Tender and juicy Seitan slow roasted in our special Sweet and Spicy BBQ Sauce, topped with fresh Coleslaw and served on a Whole Wheat Bun
Contains Wheat & Soy

Grilled Portabella Wrap with Cajun-style Cashew Spread
Grilled Portabella Mushrooms, Zucchini and Red Onion with Baby Spinach and our Cajun-style Cashew Spread wrapped in Whole Wheat Lawash Bread (Cajun-style Cashew Spread is made with raw cashews, tomato paste, horseradish mustard, parsley, green onion, celery, sea salt and black pepper)
Contains Wheat & Nuts

Roasted Tempeh and Vegetables
Chunks of Tempeh, Eggplant, Zucchini, Broccoli, Cauliflower, Butternut Squash, and Onion roasted to perfection with Olive Oil, Garlic, Oregano, Parsley, Thyme, Sea Salt and Black Pepper
Contains Soy

Side Dishes $4

Roasted Sweet Potatoes
Roasted Sweet Potatoes and Butternut Squash with Chili Powder, Paprika, Cinnamon, Nutmeg and Maple Syrup
Contains NO Wheat or Soy

Vegan Mac-n-Cheese
Penne Noodles, Broccoli, fresh Garlic and Paprika tossed with our incredible rich and creamy Cashew Cheese Sauce
Contains Wheat & Nuts

Brown Rice Pilaf
Long grain Brown Rice, Onion, and Carrot seasoned with Garlic, Oregano, Sea Salt and Black Pepper
Contains NO Wheat or Soy

Mixed Greens Salad with Your Choice of Dressing
Crisp Baby Greens and Red Leaf Lettuce with Cucumber, Tomato and Red Onion with your choice of dressing, either our Green Detroit Ranch or Lemon Garlic Vinaigrette.

Green Detroit Ranch: tofu mayonnaise(panda soft tofu, apple cider vinegar, dry mustard, sea salt, sunflower oil), oat milk(oats, water, sea salt, brown rice syrup), fresh parsley, fresh chives, dill, fresh garlic, apple cider vinegar, sea salt and black pepper
Contains Soy

Lemon Garlic Vinaigrette: sunflower oil, red wine vinegar, lemon juice, fresh garlic, oregano, sea salt and black pepper
Contains NO Wheat or Soy

Desserts $3

Raw Fruit and Nut Energy Nuggets
Pecans, Walnuts, Almonds, Raisins, Cranberries sweetened with apple juice, Agave Nectar and Raw Cashew Butter
Contains NO Wheat or Soy - Contains Nuts

Gingerbread Boys and Girls
Made with Spelt Flour, Oat Milk, Black-strap Molasses, Ginger, Cinnamon, Nutmeg, Cloves and sprinkled with Cinnamon Sugar
Contains NO Wheat or Soy

Chai Spice Cupcakes with Buttercream Frosting
Made with Spelt flour, Coconut Milk Yogurt, Raw Cane Sugar, Black Tea and Spices, topped with our fluffy Buttercream frosting made with Earth Balance Vegan Butter and Vegan Organic Powered Sugar
Contains Soy

Vegan Brownies
Delicious cake-like brownies made with Spelt Flour, Cocoa, Organic Fair-trade Dark Chocolate, Oat Milk, Raw Cane Sugar and Walnuts
Contains NO Wheat or Soy

Low-Fat Pumpkin Spice Bread
A wonderfully moist bread made with New England Cheese Pumpkin (that's just the name of the pumpkin, there's no cheese!), Spelt Flour, Coconut Oil, Apple Sauce, Agave Nectar, Spices, Pecans and Raisins
Contains NO Wheat or Soy - Contains Nuts

Activating Ahimsa

The Fall edition of PLAY Magazine is online and we're blessed by the fact that it's thick with Detroit Evolution Laboratory information. I'm including my piece on Ahimsa here and encourage you to check out Angela's companion piece on Ahimsa in the Kitchen at PLAY. Please explore the many sections of PLAY, there is sure to be something that resonates with you. Shelley Smith, who teaches our Saturday 10 am yoga class, is the editor of PLAY and we encourage you to support this incredible online resource. Thanks, Gregg

Meditating On Ahimsa
As Angela and I were preparing an Ahimsa focused workshop, I found myself meditating on an aspect of teaching that I once struggled with a great deal. In the West we tend to be fairly set in our ways when it comes to our eating habits. Many of us, often due to media created and manipulated concerns over body image, are also extremely sensitive about diet.

When contemplating Ahimsa or non-violence, we often have a tendency to focus on the lives of Gandhi and King and gloss over the immediate himsa, or violence, surrounding us. We are all connected to human and animal slavery and slaughter. We avoid this frank discussion because the information is so incredibly hard to look at. It can reach deep into core belief systems and many people, with good reason, rigorously defend their core.

I meditated seeking wisdom that would empower the self and shift those core beliefs that no longer work into more open, yet sincere, values. I sought a new path to activate Ahimsa in my students and myself. In this culture external and internal forces scrutinize us daily and the decision to gaze inward isn’t trite. It takes courage to look inside and great fortitude to internalize Ahimsa.

Reducing Ahimsa To Fit On Our Mat
In the past, to be more socially acceptable, I glossed over the rough stuff with my friends, family, students and even myself. Being a fan of liberty and choice, I didn’t want to appear dogmatic in any way. When sharing the concept of Ahimsa with my students or translating it from yogic scripture, I focused upon the importance of non-violence towards the self in physical practice and left it at that.

I also glossed over the importance of Ahimsa to my health. For over 20 years, with a few lapses, I was a poorly nourished vegetarian. I looked at food as a very mundane aside to a focused spiritual path. I was eating processed, microwaved and even fast food meals and, by doing so, I declared war on my body. By reducing Ahimsa so it would nicely fit on my mat, I turned my eyes away from the fact that, no matter the discipline, at its root yoga requests a humane and healthy diet.

Growing Ahimsa Through Diet
Meeting Angela changed all of this immediately. Food became the center of our life together and this brought a balance unknown before. It reconnected me to the root meaning of Ahimsa and a direct intimate knowledge of the violence our actions can inflict upon our bodies and, in turn, the world around us.

With Angela’s guidance, I began to change my diet. Letting go of processed foods and switching to 100% organic and/or local produce created an instant shift in my awareness and perception. It added depth to my physical practice as well. I continued to practice Ahimsa on my mat and strived to be firm yet supple in body and mind. But it became clear that a side effect of the shift in my diet was the opening to an essential understanding of non-violence.

Change Your Food, Change Your Mind
Our food intake influences not only our mood but also our perception. As we begin to lessen our intake of chemicals and increase our intake of nutrients, things come into focus and we see the world a bit more clearly. A clean diet cleans up our lenses and lightens our load to the point that we can process Ahimsa as it applies to the self in subtle but life changing ways.

To parse a biological metaphor, at every orifice, where the external meets the internal there is a protective layer of mucous membrane. This mucous is a blessing for it collects toxins and protects us from harm. But, the more out of balance our health, the thicker our mucous becomes. On the physical plane, practicing Ahimsa in our diet reduces the barriers between the external and the internal. We become slightly more sensitive to toxins, but more importantly we become hyper-aware of awe and joy.

Self-Love Begets…
This increase in sensitivity blows opens the doors of Ahimsa. Now looking inside finds a heartfelt awe for the processes of life and possibly that divine spark the ancients wrote of. The internalized path of Ahimsa has the potential to lead from non-violence on the mat and in our diet to a deep self-love. Self-love begets physical, mental and spiritual healing that tends to turn the gaze outward.

As we become the needle that threads itself, by pulling Ahimsa through our core and then outward, we become not only awe-filled by our internal systems and divine light, but by the systems and brilliant light around us. When we give ourselves to awe, we become filled with reverence for all life. If we are able to even slightly conceive of the miracles going on inside of us, how can we not be nearly dumbstruck with awe about the miracles going on outside? As we deepen our self-love we can deepen our appreciation for the processes that facilitate our existence. Our love transcends the self and Ahimsa begins to radiate through us into our world.

Ahimsa Finds A Way
Though I glossed over Ahimsa in my attempts to be non-confrontational and non-dogmatic, it found a way to permeate my life nonetheless. By not forcefully removing the blinders that have been set up to protect us from direct knowledge of the violence around us, we actually find a peaceful path to an Ahimsa that first fortifies the self. Though this world is thick with violence, a perspective fueled by self-love offsets its immensity and begins to whittle away at its foundation. Activating Ahimsa through any means is vital in this day and age and it is my intention with this musing to assist it in finding a way to activate for and through you. My Blessings to you and yours..

The Lab is Hiring for Detroit Urban Craft Fair!

Be a part of the largest VEGAN catering event Detroit has ever seen!! Evolve Detroit Catering, LLC is putting together a paid staff for the Detroit Urban Craft Fair - Saturday, November 15th, 2008. We are looking for individuals who have kitchen experience to work on food preparation/assembly the week of the event, November 10-14. We will be working on food production approximately 4-5 hours each day and will work with your existing schedule if it's a fit. We are also looking for a few friendly, out-going vegans (preferred, but not required) to work the day of the event, between the hours of 7:30am - 7pm.

A heartfelt passion for food and dedication to the health and service of others is requisite. Our intention for this event is to provide 1000+ people the opportunity to experience the power of vibrant healthy & humane food. Call Angela at 313.316.1411 or email angela at detroitevolution dot com if you are interested.

Voted the #1 Vegetarian in Metro-Detroit, this is a great opportunity to be a part of serving Detroit healthy and delicious vegan food, as well as getting out the message of a cruelty-free, sustainable lifestyle!