Pickled Treats Last Longer

I'm moving...

2006-11-17T09:56:00.000-05:00

...The blog, that is.

I've been thinking about it for a while, because blogger hasn't allowed me to move my blog to beta, but it allowed me to set up a beta account. Now I think I'm left with two different accounts, but I can never merge them.

I'm in the process of editing my new blog and will let you know when it's ready, but in the meantime, please update your links, bloglines, etc. with the new address:

http://thenewpickledtreats.blogspot.com/

I know, I know...I couldn't come up with a better name and I liked my old one.

This new blog isn't going to be anything really new, just more of the same in a different place - I hope you'll join me!

Also, I haven't updated the links of the "blogs I read" section in a while - if you're not on there, please comment and let me know so I can move it to the new one.

Rachel Ray Show

2006-11-15T10:34:00.000-05:00

I'm at home - skipping class again and not studying for this crucial Spanish quiz (the reason I told myself to skip class in the first place) - and the Rachel Ray show is on. I don't have cable, so I have some limited TV options. I usually just watch PBS, but it's cartoon time right now.

RR replaced Dr. Phil on ABC at the 10 a.m. EST slot and it's such a weird show. The only parts that seem natural or not forced are the cooking segments, but now that it's in front of a live audience, she's starting to act like Emeril, which annoys the CRAP out of me. Everyone starts cheering when she drenches some butternut squashes in maple syrup...and she makes weird noises while adding seasonings..it's really bizarre.

Although, her butternut squash thing seems kind of interesting. She greases cut-in-half butternuts with tons of softened butter, but us veggies could use EB, then she pours maple syrup over them, salt, pepper, and grated nutmeg. Then I guess she bakes them, cut side up. Sounds like it could be interesting.

But everything else she makes is gross and drenched in chicken broth or bacon. I do like how quickly she makes everything. I'd love it if she was vegan.

What celebrity chef would you love to see go vegan?

Food of late...

2006-11-13T10:54:00.000-05:00

I'm sitting at home right now skipping class (I am going to my Spanish class, though).

I don't have any pictures right now, but I have been cooking. However, I had some unfortunate cooking mishaps.

I tried making the Tofu Vindaloo recipe from Robin Robertson's "Vegan Planet" book and was super pissed off. I tried frying up the extra firm tofu after I pressed it extra good, but I guess my cast iron skillet isn't seasoned well enough, so everything stuck. Then the tofu tasted really weird, and I think it was because it was in the fridge prior to "the freezing" that occurred before we got the new fridge..and I think it may have ripped open. I didn't realize the tofu problem until after I added it to the stew. This was a total disaster - and I won't be making it again!

I did take a picture of it, but I don't even want to remember it..haha.

I did make some super quick and easy chili from "Vegan Planet" that was a great success. It was gone in two days, because it was that good. I also made Wolffie's cornbread from "La Dolce Vegan." I still have a ton of it in my fridge, so I'm thinking about making more of that super quick and easy chili. Next time I'll make it in muffin tins and just freeze a few of them for later.

An awesome lunch idea? I heated up some of the chili and put it in my thermos. Then I crammed a big hunk of the cornbread down into the thermos with the hot chili. This was awesome! If you love to drench your cornbread in chili - this is for you!

I think I made something else, too, but I can't remember.

I've got plans to make more chili tonight, as well as make some potato cauliflower soup because I need to use up this head of cauliflower. I'll save the potato soup for later in the week. I'm also going to make some tahini dressing (VWAV), blend up some stale WW bread for some breadcrumbs, and maybe make the alfreda sauce from VwaV for later in the week as well.

I went to the farm market this weekend and got two great butternut squashes (I'm brainstorming how to use these) as well as some sweet potatoes, onions and apples.

Well - I'm off to class, then to work until about 5:30, then the gym, THEN some of this bulk cooking that I'm talking about. I really want to get into the habit of cooking things for the week and I think trying out some sauces for the week is the way to go. I'm loving this "packing-my-lunch-everyday" thing, because I plan out my pre-workout snack along with it. Wish me luck!

And I promise - I'll post some pictures.

This weather....

2006-11-11T12:29:00.000-05:00

...is absolutely beautiful!

It's making all of my errand-running and housework a little more bearable. I've got all the windows open and the blinds cracked to get as much light in as possible.

It's 77 degrees here in Norfolk, VA!

(yeah, I know, it's global warming...but let me bask in the sunshine in the middle of November, okay?)

Blah to blogger...

2006-11-09T21:46:00.000-05:00

I tried to post this two nights ago....

I have to admit, when I first bought "Vive le Vegan" by Dreena Burton, I thought the recipes looked too difficult, or sounded too bland, or (a popular reaction on my part) contained too many ingredients that I didn't have pantry-ready.

However, I have changed my tune for sure! As part of the November cookbook challenge over at Veggin' Out, I was determined to make use of this still-fresh-looking vegan cookbook.

My first recipe, which I'll admit isn't that easy to do in a blender (even if it is a Vita Mix), was the Sunflower Lentil Pie.

I had one mishap - my lentils absorbed all the water sooner than I realized and burned to the bottom of one of my pans - total mess! But I managed to get it cleaned up quickly. However, once the lentils were done, the food processor/blender does the rest of the work. Be prepared for many stops and starts, as this is a very sticky mix. Many different things season the pie, including ketchup and tamari (I used Bragg's).

I had some steamed, haricot vert green beans (frozen from TJs) and some mashed sweet potatoes - my favorite! - along with the meal

The pie was absolutely delicious. It also makes a wonderful, week-long meal. I've been cubing it up and putting it in my lunch box. I swear it tastes like meat loaf, minus the meat. Although, I think the similarity comes from the sweet, ketchup looming in the background. This still keeps some good crunch to it as well.

Here's a picture of my lunch. I've been taking something simliar every day this week.

I made the recommended sesame mustard dressing for the pie - and it was perfect. A tangy dressing featuring tahini, dijon mustard, agave nectar, garlic and apple cider vinegar really added to the mellow flavors of the pie. Also, I used my immersion blender for the first time in a while - I've been missing out!

I also made a dessert - the Pineapple Lemon Bars. These were yummy! Although, I can't seem to find unsweetened, shredded coconut, so I had to use some with sugar - I should have just decided to make something else, but I really wanted these. I may look into ordering coconut online, because I like baking with it. I didn't post any pictures of this because I didn't get any good shots.

I've also been getting creative with my side salad plate presentation. It's fun to make simple things pretty for yourself. I'm in the process of using up this bagged salad from TJ's - and I'm not getting it again. It's the herb salad mix and it just had too many flavors mingling for my taste in a salad.

In other news - as I mentioned in my previous post - we got a new fridge! I'm getting used to the shape. It's a little thinner than our previous one, but sticks out more. Look at how much more ridiculous this makes my kitchen look:

I like the way the fridge part is arranged:

But the freezer is a little tight:

Okay, really tight.

I'm very intrigued by the extra space this gives me to the left of the fridge. It's completely hidden from view, which has its pluses. I bought two cheap, particle board cubby shelves and put them together over the weekend. It fit perfectly and still offered some space for the recycling bags. I hate seeing unused space.

This is a crappy picture, but the cubby shelf is almost as tall as the fridge and I'm planning on placing my small appliances (mini processor, immersion blender, etc.) along with some other stuff. Haven't quite figured out exactly how I'm going to organize everything. My goal is to get my kitchen organized and as efficient as possible, because it's very small, which makes for crazy cooking sometimes.

Another update - my gym habit is going well. Although, just as I was keeping to my promises, which include going to the gym every day after work and packing a healthy, vegan lunch everyday, I came home after work today and bought some Thai spring rolls (veggie, of course) from my favorite spot and a soda - ack! I'd done very well for the past week, but it's time for my period, which makes me weak for fried spring rolls. I didn't go to the gym tonight either, because I'm so sore from a workout yesterday. I tried working out with one of those blow up balls that you balance on, and lemme tell ya, it's not easy. I have new respect for the balance ball.

Whew...that was a very long post, but I had plenty to update. I may have some more exciting news soon, as well as more food posts - stay tuned!

Grocery shopping - new fridge!

2006-11-04T08:11:00.000-05:00

So, if you've been reading my latest posts, you'll know that we've been without a refrigerator lately. For almost two weeks. The fridge had turned into a giant freezer ruining and freezer-burning lots of produce.

Well..they brought me a new one! David just happened to be here when the two, sixty- or seventy-something men, tried to move our giant fridge and move another (bigger) one into the apartment. David said they probably couldn't have done it without his help...plus they just showed up and he had to go through our freezer and move everything.

Needless to say, it's a very nice fridge. the freezer is a little tight, but so was the last one. I just need to make a dent in all of my frozen fruit and bananas. It's a GE, white fridge, and I like the lucite shelves rather than wire shelves. I'll post pics later, because I want to show how absolutely ridiculous it looks in my little kitchen.

Also, David and I were eating out a lot because of the lack of food around here. We couldn't store leftovers, so we didn't want to cook anything, but that's over! I went to Trader Joe's with David last night (he did some separate shopping for things like garlic oven fries, frozen pizza and waffles) and got some much-needed produce and pantry staples. I've been trying to always buy organic, but it definitely takes a toll on my budget - if you can call the way I managed my money a "budget." Also, I wasn't even able to get all the things I "needed" for the things I want to cook this weekend. Oh well, I'll make do.

I have plans to cook the following this weekend:
- potato cauliflower soup from LDV
- coconut lime cookes from VLV
- sunflower lentil pie (VLV)
- sesame mustard sauce (VLV)
- basic chocolate cupcakes from "Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World"
- vegan fluffy buttercream frosting (VCTOTW)
- twice bakes potatoes or scalloped potatoes from VLV
- pineapple coconut bars (VLV)

Why so much Vive le Vegan? Well, there's a Dreena Burton cookbook challenge over at Veggin' Out. Check it out!

I still need some ingredients, but hopefully I'll be avoiding a grocery trip for a while. I still have to get some pricey ingredients - like protein powder and my acidophilous vitamins!

Midweek Munchies: What Mary is contributing this week

*an asterisk denotes organic!*

TJ's Grade B maple syrup
cocoa powder*
confectioner's sugar*
stone wheat crackers (these are for a co-worker)
Barbara's Spoonfuls cereal
bagged salad*
canned artichokes
canned black beans*
head of cauliflower
celery hearts*
whole carrots*
limes*
lemons*
3 plain soymilks
2 cherry tomatoes*
basil
parsley
apples*
5 Lara Bars (I've got to make my own cashew date bars)
bananas*
soft whole wheat bread*
whole wheat pizza dough
corn tortillas
Dixie peach juice (a new flavor we're trying)
4 jugs mango passion juice (the old standby)

David's stuff:
plain yogurt (he mixes it with honey)
garlic oven fries
vanilla soymilk
frozen pesto pizza
uncrystallized ginger candy
chile pepper dried mango
2 boxes blueberry waffles
12-pk blueberry beer (he likes blueberries)

TOTAL Spent: $112.00
That's with both of our bills. Even though this is high, I'm attributing it to things like Lara Bars, maple syrup and cocoa powder plus all the organic finds!

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PURPOSE of Midweek Munchies: Put together by a small group of Veg Women, we hope to spread the word about healthy vegetarianism while obtaining idea starters for meals, recipes, learn about new products, and meet other female veg*n bloggers. Visiting and commenting on other participants lists are encouraged but not required.
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A goodbye to Milo....new cookbooks

2006-10-30T19:19:00.000-05:00

I went to visit with my mama earlier this evening. Our family dog, Milo, died this past Thursday night. He was an 11-year-old miniature doberman pinscher and he was the runt of his litter. He started out being my little brother's buddy, but Milo really adopted my mom. When he was a puppy, my mama would put him in the pocket of her house dress and he would sleep while she did stuff around the house.

He went quick. We've never been the kind of family to put our animal buddies on life support. We've been the same with our human family members, so Milo was no different. Of course, if he was in pain, we would have taken him to the vet. When my mama and step dad realized he was going, my mama wrapped him in a blanket and sat with him on the couch and kept him warm. She said he sort of drifted off into what looked like a coma. After being in this unconcious sleep for a while, he went.

My mom said he went the way he wanted - in her arms! He would always whimper at her feet to be held. I'm looking for some pics of him to scan, because I really want you to see him. He was so cute. My mom, of course, is really sad. Unfortunately she had to go out of town to DC the next morning and she really really didn't feel like it after the night she had with Milo.

But I've had a good cry and I know Milo is in a much better place.

I engaged in a bit of retail therapy this afternoon after I left my mom's house. It was much sadder looking at his little bed with his blanket that he's had all his life...I needed to get my mind off it, so I went to the bookstore.

I picked up "Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World" for some reason. I don't even really like cupcakes (eegad!), but I really want to make and decorate them...does that make sense? I called David and told him about it, and...luckily....he told me he likes cupcakes more than cakes, cookies and pies. So...someone will eat them!

My worst fear is that they are really delicious and I fall in love with cupcakes suddenly...good thing I got that gym membership.

I also picked up "The Mediterranean Vegan Kitchen" by Donna Klein. The real draw for me on this one was the statement that none of the recipes call for things like soy, tofu, soymilk, etc. I love things that don't require meat or egg/dairy substitutions and I adore Italian/Mediterranean food...so this seemed like a logical purchase for me. She also has a book called Vegan Italiano, but I wanted to start with her first book. If I like the stuff, I'll definitely pick up the Italian one.

And the last one (yes, I bought three cookbooks tonight - good thing I have a discount card) is "Real Vegetarian Thai" by Nancie McDermott. Another impulse buy, I think, because Asian food really scares me in the kitchen, but I'm determined to try some of the recipes. I'm just worried about unique ingredients. There's this great Asian-American market in Virginia Beach, but I'm never sure if I'll find something when I get there. I'm going to ask the folks at my favorite Thai restaurant where they shop for ingredients.

And...I lied...I actually, technically purchased four cookbooks this week. Jennifer McCann, of The Vegan Lunchbox blog fame, just opened her cookbook up for preorder. I already ordered mine (www.veganlunchbox.com) and can't wait for it. I think it should show up sometime mid to late November. I mean, I don't have kids, but who says I can't have an awesome lunchbox?

Read on - this is my third post of the day - I've got lots of food pics below.

Baking - hits and misses

2006-10-30T19:09:00.000-05:00

As part of a cookbook challenge over at Veggin'Out, I picked up VwaV a little more and for some reason I was just drawn to the sweet stuff.

Here's a bit more food porn...

That there's black gold on dem cookie sheets...I swear. These are the sparkled ginger cookies from VwaV and they are delish. Also, it's really fun rolling them into balls and pressing them into sugar (that's where the sparkles come from). This was a huge hit at work and my favorite recipe from the book so far.

BEFORE

AFTER: These are the Lemon Poppy Seed muffins from VwaV and lemme tell you...I was quite disappointed. Before I started this attempt at veganism, I made a mean lemon poppy pound cake, so I guess my expectations are sky high. However, I added extra lemon zest and these were still quite bland. Maybe it was the lemons? They don't taste bad...they just don't taste much like anything.

These are the chocolate chip cookies from VwaV. Again...so so. I took these to my public speaking class this morning as part of a "how to" speech on vegan baking. I used carob chips, because I was worried about possible allergies in the class, so I guess that effected their outcome. These were good...but I had some from La Dolce Vegan that were better, albeit way oily. I guess my search for delicious vegan cookies continues...I'll try it next time with chocolate chips and not carob, I really think that was the issue.

Read on below for more cooking pics!

It's been a while...but I'm back!

2006-10-29T17:16:00.000-05:00

Sorry my posts have been sporadic. As I've mentioned a million times over, this is my last semester of undergrad, so I'm doing that on top of work and it's tough.

Plenty of other things have been causing me undue stress, though. Like my refrigerator problem. No, it's not broken. It's actually turned into a mega super effective refrigerator and it's freezing all of my food. So, I've effectively got one freezer and one deep freeze. It sucks - I didn't catch that it was freezing everything until it was too late and all of my produce is ruined. I've turned the temperature guage all the way to "OFF" position, but it's still freezing. It's more than a bit disconcerting - it's like taking the key out of the ignition but your car's engine still running. Maybe it's a ghost?

I've called the landlord...lets hope they turn out to be good folks, not slum lords. I want a working fridge - this week! I dreamed they gave me a big, side by side one...wishful thinking.

Also, I got a gym membership and I've been trying to do some sort of physical activity every day. I've started walk/running and I love it. My new iPod really helps with the boredom..it also motivates me to go out. It's sad that I need some sort of technology to get me active, but whatever works..

Another purchase - granny cart! The grocery store and laundromat are within spitting distance of my apartment, but I always drive there because I hate carrying the stuff back...problem solved! I used it for the first time Sunday morning at the laundromat and it worked beautifully.

I also found out that my favorite Thai dish - that I eat all the time - may contain fish sauce. WTF??? I should have checked, but I just never realized. I'm going to call my usual restaurant and ask...I've got my fingers crossed.

Now, onto food. There was a lot of baking. Some hits...some misses. I'll be brief with each one.

This is Leslie's pesto...and oh - my - god is it freakin' delicious. It has both walnuts and pine nuts. I literally ate this every day the other week until it was gone.

Yummy breakfast. This is what I was eating before the juice froze. And the fruit spread. And the EB. Oh, and those are my vitamins back there.

Some thin spaghetti with more of Leslie's pesto. I'm drooling thinking about it.

And sometimes it's the simple things....organic cherry tomatoes with sea salt and balsamic vinegar. I don't know if I've ever told you this before - but tomatoes are my favorite fruits...and vegetables.

Basil tofu ricotta from VwaV...I never even got to taste this. The fridge froze it....It's still sitting there. I kind of like how time is suspended in my fridge.

Yet another simple dish - zucchini grilled in my new grill pan with a bit of oil and some creole seasoning - that tasted terrible. I think I put too much seasoning on it.

This is just one post of a few. I'll be posting my baking hits and misses next!

Lots of stuff to update...

2006-10-25T08:05:00.000-05:00

...but I can't do it now.

I've had a wild ride over the past couple of weeks - including a hospital stay because of my heart, crazy stuff at work and class (of course). But I've been taking pictures of the things I've cooked (even though most of it is boring pasta shots!).

I don't know if I've mentioned this before, but since this is my last semester of undergraduate work, I'm taking ridiculously easy, freshman gen-ed classes. The only "real" class I have (for my major) is African-American lit and I love it more dearly than any class I've ever taken in my life!

Although the other three - art history, public speaking and spanish - are a little less exciting compared to my lit. class. Nothing seems to measure up to literature classes in my opinion.

But! For my public speaking class, I decided to do my second speech on vegan baking. I figured it would be super easy to do. I've got a quick power point explaining easy substitutions (with nifty pictures of soymilk, EB and Ener-G) and also details about why vegans avoid honey, refined sugar, etc.

I'm also going to bake 2 things and bring them to feed the class. That still gets cool points even when you're in college, right?

I'm not sure what to bake though. I mean, cookies are an easy one, but I also thought about doing a muffin of some sort. The class is at 9 am, so some folks may not want cookies in the morning. What do you think?

Also, if you think of a perfect, omni-foolin' baked good recipe, tell it to me! I have most of the mainstream vegan cookbooks. I'd appreciate the help!

Thanks - and I'll be back soon (hopefully) with food porn from the last 2 weeks!

Midweek munchies...a little late

2006-10-20T18:11:00.000-05:00

I went grocery shopping at Trader Joe's last weekend (thank goodness, I was going through withdrawls!), but figured I'd post about it anyways.

Midweek Munchies: What Mary is contributing for the week

Write your delicious contributions here
[* denotes organic)

5 lara bars - cashew cookie
cherry tomatoes*
Sausage-like breakfast patties
4 bags frozen strawberries
1 head cauliflower
1 bag frozen edamame (in the pod)
1 bag frozen peppers (red, yellow and green - these will be food for fajitas!)
1 package 3-grain tempeh
2 bunches bananas*
1 box frozen jasmine rice*
1 small bagged salad
parsley
4 oz. basil
1 bottle papaya nectar (64 oz.)
1 bottle mango nectar* (64 oz.)
4 bottles mango passion juice (64 oz.)
carrots*
4 Qts. organic, unsweetened soymilk
2 Qts. plain soymilk
1 bag russet potatoes
5 heads garlic*
whole wheat pizza dough
whole wheat english muffins
whole wheat pitas
6 ciabatta rolls
1 lb. extra firm tofu
Terra chips ($$, but delicious!)
1 Indian dinner package - punjab eggplant
2 tubs Earth Balance - Soy Garden

Total - $93.42 - A little high, but I got some expensive stuff (like those lara bars! I swear, I'm going to make my own date bars, soon, soon...)

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A tour of my itty bitty apartment kitchen...

2006-10-14T10:44:00.000-05:00

A couple of other bloggers have done this in the past, and I've always enjoyed the posts. Maybe it's because I'm nosey, but I love seeing other people's kitchens! So, here's mine. I live in a one bedroom apartment in the Ghent section of Norfolk where the buildings are very old and creaky, so you can imagine the antiquated kitchens. But I love them because they almost always have gas stoves (a must for me).

This is a step up from my last apartment kitchen, which had no counter - I swear.

ABOVE: This first photo was taken from the doorway to my kitchen. The kitchen of a little apartment is usually always busy and it's no different for me. Little sugar's food and water bowl are here, we keep brown paper bags full of recyclables, the back door (which we use most often - that leads to our parking lot) is here. So yeah - it's busy. This is a great stove, because it's a full-size one (not an efficiency stove). I also just got around to nailing my skillets to the wall. This is also where I keep my strainer (I use it ALL the time). At the top left is a shelf that was there when we moved in and I use it to dry my dishes. To the left of the sink is really the only counter space. I made a little more with a cart that I bought at target. It works well and covers up an awkward space with peeling linoleum (ew). I keep my pepper grinder, cooking utensils and Vitamix here.

BELOW: A shot of my "counter space" if you can call it that. I keep my knives and cutting boards over here because it's where I do most of my prep work. I've got a window that looks out onto an iron fire escape, parking lot and more buildings, haha...so I don't open the blinds often.

BELOW: This is a shot of the right side of my kitchen, or the cramped/awkward part. I love the shelving unit, though. It goes all the way to the ceiling and I use it to store dishes, my utensils (because my organizer doesn't fit into one of the two drawers), and small appliences like my immersion blender and mini Cuisinart. I store cookware in the bottom cabinets, cooking utensils and measuring stuff in the left drawer and foil/parchment paper/Ziplocs in the right drawer. I guess you could also call this counter space, but it's too awkward for some things. I usually just get dry ingredients together here from the pantry and store my oils, vinegars and vitamins/meds.

BELOW: My behemoth, antique refrigerator and "recycling center." I secretly hope this fridge breaks down so they will get me something better - something more energy efficient since I am paying the power bill. Plus it gives off a ton of heat, which sucks in the summer. The door leads to my pantry - my favorite part of the kitchen!

The pantry - It goes deep behind both walls and has wrap around shelves. You can't tell from the photo, but the pantry is so big I could lay down in the floor and still have room. I keep my step stool here (I'm short!), paper bags and everything else. I also have a butcher block cart - like the one next to the stove - that my aunt gave me one year for Christmas and I use it to store cooking dishes, like pyrex stuff. The place also came with the nifty paper towel holder.

BELOW: Here's the last shot of a strange wall in the kitchen. These two shelves came with the place, too (lazy landlords=lots of cool shelving left over). They're kind of shaky, but useful sometimes. I place all my produce that doesn't need to be refrigerated here. I also keep the trashcan in the corner and Sugar's water bowl and food are also on the floor. That cord snaking around leads to my microwave cart where I also keep wine and margarita glasses, and more pots and pans in the bottom cabinet.

So there you have it! That's my itty bitty kitchen that somehow works - in an organized, but slightly chaotic way. I'd love to see all of your kitchens, so if you have some extra blog time, bring it on!

Curried Lentil w/ Sweet Potato soup - from Nava Atlas' book

2006-10-14T10:29:00.000-05:00

So, I made this two nights ago and I wasn't as thrilled as Vicki over at Vegetarian Family, who also tried the recipe recently. It's from a newly published vegetarian soup cookbook by Nava Atlas - actually, all the recipes are vegan.

I guess my problem with the soup was that it didn't have enough flavor for me. I was expecting pungent curry, cinnamon and ginger flavors, but I didn't get that. I'm not sure what the problem was, but I suspect it's because I thinned the soup out a bit with some water and it might have diluted the flavors. I dunno, but there are a lot of leftovers. I may just freeze it and when I try it again add some more seasonings to it. I also subbed arugula for the greens called for in the soup, which didn't add much flavor. I only used it because it's all I had on hand. You really need some stronger greens for this soup to hold up to the other flavors - arugula is just too delicate.

Here are some pics - not really necessary, but I got my camera up and running again, so I wanna show off!

Here's a shot of some red onion sweating in my new enamel cast iron soup pot, which worked wonderfully! I love the stuff - everything wipes off practically after you cook it.

Here's a shot of the soup stewing - I think the strongest flavor here was the cinnamon. Also, I used even more of the fresh, grated ginger than it called for, but still couldn't taste it too much. By the way, there has got to be an easier way to grate ginger. I used a nice microplane grater and just scraped it off the back, but it's really one of the things I hate to do.

I've got some stuff to do today and I want to stop in the health food center around the corner from my house. I need some more acidopholous capsules - I love that stuff! This is the first time I've been on a long course of antibiotics where I didn't have icky side effects. Well, I can't truly say that, because I did barf a few times when I first started taking it and it gave me wicked heartburn, but I think that's mild compared to some of the side effects of antibiotics I've experienced.

Also, I'm feeling much much better! Finally...I felt like the sinus infection/cold would never go away. Although I'm sick this morning in a different way (see: hangover). Like I've mentioned before, even the slightest bit of alcohol gives me a hangover in the morning, but I love beer! Not the drunk part, but just the flavor. I'm a beer aficionado and despite the reaction, sometimes I just go ahead and do it. Maybe one day I'll learn....

Bloglines vs. Blogroll

2006-10-10T07:20:00.000-05:00

I think I really like bloglines. I've been looking for a good "feeder," and this seems to be it. Although, I think I'll keep my blogroll just to update my page with links I read.

My only issue with bloglines is that the photos aren't showing up for me? Anyone else have this problem?

PS: I'm finally not feeling completely terrible - this is the first day I've been able to say that, but I'm thankful!

Hooray!

2006-10-08T12:34:00.000-05:00

I found the charger for my camera's battery! I haven't been posting pictures up here because the battery finally died and I couldn't find the charger, but no more!

I think it was Ava's second birthday party that really pushed me to frantically search for it. I got her some adorable clothes from Old Navy and a book called "In the Fiddle, there is a Song." It's a flip-up book all about potential and confidence - in a child-friendly, metaphorical way, of course.

The party was a success - and there were lots of cute little ones running around. Everyone got her toys, but I got her clothes. Little Ava wasn't exactly excited about the clothes, but her mom was thankful!

Sinus infection update: Still giving me trouble. This is a tough one, and it's making me miserable! I had all sorts of plans for today, but I think I'm going to have to put a lot of it on hold to rest up a bit. Not to mention I can't really bring myself to do much.

Although, I was looking for something to do with some bagged, baby arugula I have and I think I'm going to sub it for the spinach or chard called for in a soup recipe and I'll also make some....pesto! I found some arugula pesto recipes online and I'm going to try them - minus the parmesan, of course.

But I digress, pictures are coming..

Nor'easter

2006-10-07T07:04:00.000-05:00

Well, much like when Ernesto paid a visit, I'm hanging out inside with lil' Sugar. David had to be at work today at 8 a.m. Of course I have big plans to get organized and unpack some old boxes - like I do every weekend! A transformer blew last night right near our apartment and I actually saw the bright lights from the two explosions outside of our windows. Ironically (or luckily) it cut the power to the other two sections of our building, but our power stayed on! So we watched Alien 3 on VHS while we fell asleep.

I still have this cold/sinus infection thing - and unfortunately I feel like it's going to get worse before it gets better, only because it's already starting to. I've got to refill the prescription, because the doc only gave me three free samples.

On another note, I plan to get some cooking done. I really want to cook the following this weekend:

- Basil Tofu Ricotta (from VwaV)
- A pesto recipe from Eat Peace Please that calls for walnuts AND pine nuts (yummm..)
- A soup of some sort..probably Curried Red Lentil w/ Sweet Potatoes and Greens - from Nava's book
- Garlicky Kale with Tahini Dressing (from VwaV)
- marinated and baked tofu (prob. from VwaV)
- grilled zucchini and squash with some sort of sauce
- roasted eggplant (for the bhartha recipe from LDV, probably) - I may save this for Monday

I know I mentioned these same recipes a post ago, but this cold has been kicking my ass. At least I don't have classes on Monday, but instead I'll be heading to the office early to catch up on work. At a weekly publication, I swear, I always feel that the sand is slipping through my fingers...

I was going to make this kale, sweet potatoe and squash soup from Nava Atlas' soup book, but I realized it may not be so great refrigerated/frozen then reheated. I'm going to flip through the book again to find something, but I think the lentil one will hold up better.

Some of this can get done today, but most of it will probably get done on Sunday. I really want to use the basil tofu ricotta for some manicotti - a big Sunday dinner for David and I. He doesn't like kale, but maybe he'll enjoy it better with the dressing. I'd like to serve it with the manicotti.

In addition to everything, I need to get my laundry done ASAP. I may drive to the laundromat, which is lazy of me because it's so close, but there is a 40 mph nor'easter out there. My underwear might blow away.

And on top of THAT! My good friend Ashley's daughter, Ava, turned 2-years-old a few days ago and we're having a birthday party for her today. I still haven't gotten her a present, so I need to do that. Then Ashley got a babysitter so she could relax and go out for a couple hours after the mayhem that will be a terrible twos birthday party. I think we're going to head to a fancy tapas/wine bar near my apartment called Bardo - lots of yummy, vegan tapas out there.

I need to head to the grocery store, even though I made an expensive trip to numerous grocery stores last weekend. I just need some basic items for the recipes above, including:

- BASIL! Lots of it...
- Flat-leaf parsley
- more garlic
- some spinach (gasp! it's for the soup)

I'm really bummed about not having any of my TJ's mango passion juice - David and I are addicted to that stuff. We don't even use cups - just chug it to the head! Also, I'm kind of a wuss when it comes to taking pills and vitamins with water - I gag on the taste for some reason. Gotta have mah juice!

Well, I just finished my breakfast:

- toasted English muffin with EB and orange-apricot spread on one half, and raspberry on the other
- my favorite smoothie (VegLife protein powder, fresh ground flax seeds, soy milk, one frozen banana, frozen strawberries and frozen raspberries).

I really need to get started on my chores, but part of me wants to stay and watch Christina Cooks on PBS at 9:30...oh the choices of a Saturday morning. Here's a cute picture from lil' Ava's first birthday party:

MMM...cake....

A quick update...

2006-10-04T19:24:00.000-05:00

So, I made the macaroni and cheese recipe posted on Yeah, that Vegan Shit, and I have to be honest, I didn't like it as much as I thought.

I think I needed to add more seasoning to it, but at first I was worried it would be overpowered with seasoning, and held back a bit. Damn second thoughts!

The other bad thing about it is there is a lot of it left. I'm still eating it, and I even took a chunk of it to work yesterday, but I have a feeling there are going to be some wasted pieces. Casseroles like this are tough for one person to handle.

But, in other news! I went to the doctor last night because of this summer cold I've got, and the doctor put me on a strong (according to my mom) antibiotic called Avalox. I always hate being on antibiotics, because they screw with my body in a serious way. I'm still taking my acidophilous supplements, so hopefully they will keep my probiotics going. I started the antibiotics this morning, but they won't kick in for a few days.

I was interviewing someone over the phone earlier today and I started coughing like crazy! The kind of cough where you can't catch you breath, but when you do, it makes you cough more! It almost drove me nuts, not to mention it was embarrassing on the phone.

I'm trying to catch up with work, but because of the cold, I've gotten behind. I've also got plans to cook more. I bought lunch today, but I'm really trying to cut that out - it's a serious waste of my money.

I came up with a sandwich idea yesterday (well, it's probably a compilation of lots of blog postings I've seen) and I want to make it using some sourdough rolls I got a few days ago. Here's what it entails:

- a thin tofu cutlet, probably with Italian marinade - grilled! (gotta use that new grill pan)
- thin sliced tomatoe
- arugula
- basil + vegenaise OR a pesto spread

I've also got some baby eggplants and squash and zucchini to use, so they might make it into a sandwich. I just need to get to marinating that tofu...

I think I'm going to use the VwaV marinade and recipe for Italian Baked Tofu, because I have all the ingredients AND it fits the October Cookbook Club challenge over at Veggin' Out. I've already got one recipe under my belt - the pumpkin muffins - and they disappeared quickly.

Off to clean the kitchen - and drink some green tea (hopefully it will get my immune system pumping).

Kitchen maintenance + some cooking

2006-10-02T11:53:00.000-05:00

So, as I mentioned, I'm getting back into the groove of things. I've caught a cold (most likely when I was in the tiny, packed bar watching Buckethead Friday night), and I'm at home right now in my PJs trying to do some work from home. I think this is the first day of work I've missed at this new job. I even skipped some classes, because I was exhausted.

I'm contemplating a doctor's visit if it gets worse, but I'll avoid antibiotics at all costs if I can (ick).

But yesterday was very productive in spite of my feverish headache. I was absolutely determined to get some things done! As you can see from my previous post, I did some grocery shopping. I went to FIVE different places to get the items I needed. The health food store for some organic produce and spices, a mediterranean shop for some locally made tahini and spices, an Indian spice shop for some toor dal, regular grocery store for some items the others didn't have and to top it all off - I visited The Fresh Market for the first time for more produce.

I was completely unimpressed with the Fresh Market - it's produce was about the only positive thing, because they carry a lot of organic stuff, but it's all terribly overpriced. Plus the store is cramped as hell and sooo dark - what's up with that? It was like a seedy bar minus the choking smoke. And...they didn't have tofu!!! I will not be going back there, but I at least had to try it since it's the only one in Hampton Roads. (Sigh) There's nothing like Trader Joe's, I don't know why I even try...

Earlier yesterday, though, I had to get to work on my disgusting kitchen. There were all sorts of dirty dishes in there. While I worked on getting my dishes clean, I cured my cast iron skilled. Thanks Catherine!!

Catherine over at FOODSNOB described a quick and easy way to cure a cast iron skillet and got me thinking about how it was probably time for me to do it as well. She also discusses some great tips about using the skillet.

Once I got some cleaning done, I drove to my local hardware store and got my chef's knife sharpened. Curing the skillet got me interested in more kitchen maintenance. And it was only a couple bucks for a real quality job. And I needed my serrated knife done as well, because it's got a dent in one of the serrations, but they don't do that at the hardware store. I might check into a place that sharpens saws...if anyone has any ideas, I'd love to hear them!

Then! I started the real shopping. My first stop was Target. I picked up some small, clear plastic containers for my craft stuff that is still strewn around in boxes. I also grabbed a new litterbox for Sugar, because her other one is disgusting with a crack. I've filled it completely with Feline Pine, so we'll see how it goes. I'm crossing my fingers that she doesn't decide to "think outside of the box" - if you know what I mean.

While I was at target, a clearance item caught my eye. I picked up a cast-iron soup/stock pot covered in red enamel. It's great! Similar to a dutch oven, but not oval-shaped. I'm sure it has a name, but I don't know what it is. Imagine this, but more round...

I'm so excited about it! It was on sale for $40 bucks, which is pretty cheap for enamel cast iron. Well, since I was on this cookware kick, I treated myself to another cooking item I've been eyeing for months - maybe years now. Grill pan! I picked up a Calphalon hard anodized grill pan at Bed Bath and Beyond.

I'm very excited to start using them. I'm going to be donating some cookware that I've collected over the years. Some were gifts, some were hand-me-downs, but I've managed to collect the kind of items I like and want. The first things to go - teflon, ick!

I wanted to take advantage of my clean, somewhat organized kitchen. So I made the best pumpkin muffins from VwaV. I still can't find my camera charger, so no pictures, but these were delicious! I ate one, warm from the oven, with some Earth Balance. I will definitely be making these again. And my dollar store muffin pans held up as well :)

I also steamed some edamame for lunches this week. I've got plans to cook the following this week:

- Toor Dal w/ Kale - this is a recipe from FatFree Vegan Kitchen that I can't wait to try.
- Mac n' Cheese - this is a vegan recipe from Yeah, That "Vegan" Shit. I might do this one tonight for some comfort food - maybe it'll cure my cold.
- Basil Tofu Ricotta from VwaV - I'm going to save this for some manicotti later in the week.
- Kale, Squash and Tomato soup from Vegetarian Soups by Nava Atlas*

*I picked this book up, as well as Vegetariana, for $13.50 with shipping! I got the tip about the deal from the FatFree Vegan Kitchen. Nava Atlas has a blog called Veggie Talk Check it out!

PS: I got a blogroll account going - on the right - and tried to update many of the blogs I read often, but if you read my blog and don't see yourself, leave me a comment and I'll add you.

Grocery shopping!

2006-10-01T19:17:00.000-05:00

Midweek Munchies: What Mary is contributing for the week

Write your delicious contributions here:

2 jars Santa Cruz organic lemonade
1 can pumpkin puree
7 Larabars (cashew cookie, lemon, banana)
allspice
saltless mexican seasoning
FYH vegan mozzarella cheese
2 organic slicing tomatoes
1 organic red onion
2 organic yellow squash
1 organic zucchini
1.7 lbs raw cashews
4 sweet potatoes
1 bag arugula salad
2 bunches organic kale
bananas
2 baby eggplants
ginger root
organic basil
2 packets taco seasoning
blackstrap molasses
2 cans cannelini beans
mrs. dash
macaroni
cavatappi
garlic-stuffed green olives
calamata olives - pitted!
sourdough rolls
tahini
dry mustard
ground fenugreek
toor dal

This was a super expensive day of shopping - around $120, but a lot of the things I got this time were $$$.

Links to other Midweek Munchies
(If you participate, leave your link in the comments and I'll post it below; or, you can post in the comments)

Click here for the Midweek Munchies code
Click here for Harmonia's blog

Trackbacks, pings, and comment links are accepted and encouraged!
Technorati Tag: Midweek Munchies

A special thanks to Running2Ks and Rift for all of their help with coding, graphics, and encouragement for this project.

i'm not dead!

2006-09-30T21:34:00.000-05:00

Just tired and busy - I'll post soon. I plan on cooking tomorrow, but I've yet to find the charger for my camera battery. I'll do some cleaning and (hopefully) box unpacking tomorrow and maybe it will turn up.

For any of his fans out there in vegan blog land, I saw Buckethead last night at The Jewish Mother in Virginia Beach. Tiny deli/restaurant - only a little over 100 people there. It was great!

A quick, prepared food dinner..

2006-09-23T15:56:00.000-05:00

So, my kitchen is dirty.

You know how it is. There are just one too many dishes to make you clean it up before making dinner. I mean, I never want to cook when my kitchen is dirty, because that means I have to clean, then cook, then eat, then clean again. So what is a girl to do?

Trader Joe's to the rescue.

All ingredients are from Trader Joe's

- Punjab Eggplant (pretty much the same as eggplant bartha..my fave Indian dish) and it's vegan!
- jasmine rice
- naan
- mango passion fruit juice

If you've never tried the prepared Indian meal packets from TJ's, now is the time! They're super easy to prepare. Just boil some water and immerse the pouch in the water for about 5 minutes.

The rice is also great. Each pouch of rice serves two and all you do there is snip a corner and pop in the microwave.

Ahh..and the naan. As i've said before, these are not vegan. I'm awaiting the time when TJ's comes out with a frozen roti bread - that'll be the day! Just turn the oven to 425, pop the naan onto the rack in the oven and 5 minutes later you've got warm, crispy naan! I swear, I've never seen any non-restaurant/homemade naan taste as great as the TJ's naan. They also make a garlic herb naan, which is great too.

And the mango passion juice - lets just say David and I go through hundreds of ounces of this a month.

And this isn't expensive, even though it's prepared stuff! The Indian meal pouches run 1-2 bucks a piece. The frozen rice boxes are around 3 bucks and come with three pouches, or 6 servings. And the naan is about 2 bucks for four pieces...okay, that's a little expensive, but delish! The juice is pricy..at 3 bucks for 64 ounces...but it's 100 percent juice and 100 percent delicious!

So there...I know it's lazy, but this is a lazy day full of chores.

I ate spinach!

2006-09-20T21:03:00.000-05:00

Holy shit!! I mean, here's the story....

I had one of the worst days I've ever had in a looonng time. No, I don't turn to spinach on my tough days or anything, but I do turn to convenience foods when I'm swamped. After classes, I rushed over to work because I was on crazy deadlines this week. There is a Sbarro pizza in the mall near work - I was walking past it around lunch time, knew I wasn't going to have a free second unless I pounced - NOW!

So, I bought a slice of veggie pizza - with cheese (like I said, convenience food...I was a bad wanna-be vegan today, but enough apologies), broccoli, mushrooms..and SPINACH!

And you know what the terrible part was? I've been ranting about the spinach thing, listening to sad stories on NPR about what it has done to farmers, watched the stats of how many people are crapping their brains out across the country (sorry for the mental image)...and I didn't think twice! Matter of fact...I didn't even THINK about it! I just bought it!

Now, I heard that if it's cooked spinach (this was, in fact, cooked), that it's "okay." I put that in quotes, because who knows what is okay anyways. And one of the worst parts is, I've risked my intestinal fortitude on a slice of Sbarro pizza!

Well...I guess I'll let you know what happens after the incubation period. This is a baaad day.

I'm a bad runner...but I want to run

2006-09-18T20:25:00.000-05:00

I'm back! For those of you that knew I was gone...the business writing workshop in D.C. was great. Boxed lunches were provided and lemme tell ya...the vegetarian option was delish. It was actually vegan if you didn't eat the brownie! I tasted a corner of the brownie and it was absolutely terrible.

The lunch they provided was anchored by a great veggie sandwich with roasted eggplant, squash, mushroom and carmelized onions. I would have loved a sauce of some sort, but I guess they were too worried about allergies and the like with dressings (I don't blame them!). It also contained an apple, pasta salad and some potatoe chips.

I also met up with my best friend Marie who was in Hawaii for a month working on an organic lettuce farm. Her stories were wonderful and I know she misses it, but says she's glad to be back home.

Also..my laptop lunch box came in, but I haven't used it yet. I figure most of my lunches will be on Tuesdays and Thursdays, because I've decided to start coming home after my classes on MWF and eating something quick in front of the TV. It's a good break for me and gives me a chance to veg out and relax, even if it's only for 30 minutes or so. Today, for example, I ran to Subway after class and picked up some subs for David and I. We both relaxed for a bit, ate some lunch together, talked and then we were both on our ways to work! I'm glad I decided to start doing this.

Although, I'm still on the market for some super quick, super easy, super filling and super nutritious lunch ideas - oh, and tasty would be good as well. If i had to settle on a few of those, I'd focus it on super quick and tasty. Any ideas? I'll take 'em. Oh, and I got a thermos for the warm stuff!

Now...on to this running thing. I've realized that eating healthy isn't the way to stay fit. I mean, I knew this all along and just ignored it, but I'm really trying to get into some sort of routine here. And while I'd love to just be "happy" with my body and content eating my little veggie meals....I want washboard abs just as much as the next girl, but what I don't want is to be 55 sitting on my couch dialing up infomercials for weird machines and diet pills that promise to do the work for me (yes, I can feasibly see myself doing this).

So tonight, I took the first step. How did it go? Terrible. Five minutes into it my heals were rubbing, because I went out in some new shoes and very old socks (bad combo). Top that off with a history of a rapid heart rate, smoking menthol cigarrettes like a chimney and childhood asthma and allergies, and you've got yourself a pretty bad running candidate! I was barely out there for more than 5 minutes. I started by just walking around the block. I walked on side, fine, walked the next, fine, then I got brave...or impatient. I decided to jog the next two sides of the block. That's when the shoe rubbing got pretty bad, so I came inside.

I really want to keep doing this, though. I've had gym memberships in the past, tried yoga, and I really can't get into anything. I'm sick of throwing money at the filthy rich world of gyms and workout videos. I just want to do something on my own, then, if I'm interested, I'll start the weight aspect of it all. I just want to prove to myself that I can do something consistently - like walk/jog for a month. If I can do that, then maybe a gym membership is worth it.

I know some of you are runners - others bikers - yoga-ers (not a word) - if you're a runner, how did you start doing it? What are some tips? I definitely need to do the walking for a while. Also, I feel like I uncontrollably run fast - I mean, how do you run slow (AKA jogging)? I hope you can help with some ideas!

For now, I'm off to apply a bandaid to my exercise-inflicted wound...but it's not going to stop me! I want to do some sort of exercise every day. Maybe just a little bit. Now I'm off to do some dishes...

Veggie Planet attempt

2006-09-13T07:04:00.000-05:00

So, the other night I cooked from Veggie Planet for the first time. I've been salivating over all the great recipes, and this time I settled on the Sweet Potatoe and Red Bean Curry. I didn't take any pictures, but David and I ate it over some jasmine rice and with some naan (sorry - not vegan, but it was in the freezer). The jasmine rice is from Trader Joe's and they're microwavable pouches with enough rice for two. The naan is also frozen from TJ's.

The verdict....ehhh. I don't know. It tasted a lot like vegetable soup. It was good..but it wasn't curry to me. I also tried to make it creamier by taking a couple of cups and blending them, then pouring back in. This is probably something I won't make again.

However...I also made the Cucumber Mint Raita...and it was absolutely delicious! Raita is a creamy Indian dressing made with yogurt, usually, but I used soft silken tofu. The recipe didn't call for me to blend it, but I'm soo glad I did. I like a nice creamy raita and blending made the cucumber taste even more prominent. The mint was chopped last minute and stirred in. We both loved it! It's so refreshing to know that something as dairy-laden as raita can be made vegan, and actually taste good!

Well...sorry there were no pics, but I may not have anything for you for a while. I'm going out of town tomorrow to DC. I'm going to a one-day business writing workshop at American U. with some folks from work. Then I'm meeting my best friend, Marie! She was down in Hawaii working on an organic farm for the last month just south of Kona in Hawaii. We're going to catch up over the weekend. So, if I don't see ya, have a nice week!

Fun without a car...

2006-09-10T07:45:00.000-05:00

So yesterday was a beautiful day in Norfolk, and what did I do? Cooked and cleaned! Turns out my car isn't ready to be put to sleep, but rather needed (desperately) a tune up and among other things. I borrowed David's car early in the morning to get some quick errands done before he went to work. I grabbed some more underbed storage containers from Target and got some food:

- plain 'ole sliced whole wheat bread (it's not that great for you, but I need something for PB &Js)
- bananas (for freezing in my smoothies)
- more kale! (I'm obsessed with it now)
- another sweet potatoe
- tortillas
- one white onion
- Morningstar veggie crumbles
- 6 avocadoes (I picked these up at Costco - they sell the bag for around 5 bucks, which isn't bad considering the grocery stores have them for $1.50 ea. on sale!)

After David left for work, I got to work on my guacamole. Luckily the bag of avocadoes contained perfectly ripe ones (not to soft...just gives a little). I made a huge batch of guaca from all six avocadoes! I couldn't think of what else I wanted to use them for and they were at the perfect stage for guaca. I just stood in my kitchen with the screen door open, nice breeze coming in and my cat hanging out making this delicious treat! I never post recipes, so here's one (sort of):

Mary's Guacamole (since everyone has their own)
6 avocadoes
3-4 little tomatoes (like Roma)
a third of a large white onion, minced (I used my cuisinart mini for this job)
2 cloves of garlic (while you're at it with the onions, put the garlic in there too)
salt
fresh cracked black pepper
1 lemon or lime (I used these Persian limes - sort of a mix of the two)
hot sauce (I used Melinda's Habanero sauce and it's perfect)

And just go for it! I like to leave big chunks of avocadoe in there and mash just a little bit, but you can do it however. I also go crazy with the hot sauce. I also squeeze the whole lemon or lime into it. Another tip, I seed the tomatoes. It keeps the guaca from getting too juicey, but if you like it that way, by all means..

I made this big batch for some tacoes! I sauteed up some Morningstar crumbles with taco seasoning, minced more onion, chopped more tomatoes, opened up cans of corn and veggie refried beans, and warmed the soft taco shells I got. And of course, topped them with guacamole! Here's what I got:

I had two of these for lunch....and two for dinner! Washed it down with some mango passion fruit juice, and it was a damn-near perfect day. I also got some cleaning done - just a little - in the form of scrubbing the kitchen and bathroom floors.

Smoothie update: I'm getting much better at it. At my simplest smoothie moment I'm doing the following:

1 scoop Peaceful Planet soy protein powder
1 Tbsp. flax seed (which I grind before adding to the blender)
Almost a cup of plain soy milk
*I whiz these three ingredients together first to get out any lumps!

Then I add a frozen banana, already chopped, some frozen strawberries and raspberries. I just haven't been in the mood for citrus smoothies lately - and this one is nice and creamy.

As I was having my morning smoothie and reading the Sunday paper, I came upon this in the Flavor section (a weekly food section):

It's this "cooking class" feature they have going on. People write in with some kind of food they'd like to learn how to cook and others write in with things they're good at. The paper pairs people together. This story was about a Navy chief and his vegan wife. He wanted to prepare her a Jamaican-style meal. And they included all the recipes! The "teacher" wasn't necessarily a cooking instructor, but rather a seasoned vegan cook, and many of her recipes were adapted from the Millenium cook...but regardless, a fun story! It also contained some useful bits of info about veganism, how far it goes for some people, etc.

Off to enjoy the last day of the weekend before my week gets terribly hectic...lots of stories to write this week, classes and homework on top of it all, and leaving for DC Thursday afternoon for a weekend. I may or may not be blogging!

Sweet potatoe wraps + KALE!

2006-09-08T21:12:00.000-05:00

Fall is upon us! And I'm trying to get with it and forget the sadness that comes with the end of summer and move onto some stick to yer ribs type food.

Tonight, I made the Indian Sweet Potatoe Wraps from The Student's Go Vegan Cookbook. These were absolutely delicious!!! And if you have your shit together before you start cooking (something I rarely do), the dish comes together rather quickly. You can get a lot done while the diced sweet potatoes are roasting in the oven. The ingredients are fairly simple, diced sweet potatoes, sauteed onions and garlic, a bit of cinnamon, salt, dash of Tobasco (I used the chipotle Tobasco!) and soft silken tofu to give it some creaminess. After you're done mashing it, fold in chopped fresh tomatoes and green peas.

This was my first time using silken tofu and i enjoyed it. Not really sure I could tell a difference, but I saw it, and it looked pretty!

This recipe also calls for topping the filling with chutney. The book does give some homemade recipes for chutney, but that's way to time-consuming for me. David's mother bought us some mangoe chutney from a gourmet food shop and it was perfect atop the sweet potatoe filling. I wrapped it in chile peper flour tortillas from Trader Joe's.

Ah! And the kale! David said it's not his favorite green, but he still scarfed it down with his wrap. I've never cooked it before, but I just put some water in the bottom of a skillet and pressed two garlic cloves into the water. Sort of a "garlic sauna" for the kale. Popped the top onto the skillet and it was done in 5 minutes. We ate the kale with some apple cider vinegar, but I'd love to try it with a tahini dressing or some squeezed lemon juice - next time! I'm definitely going to keep the kale going at my house. It's such a quick and nutritious side dish.

This was a perfect two-person meal, which is why I love that student's cookbook. It's geared toward one hungry college student, but it works well for two young college grads (or near grads - I'm done in December!).

I bought Vive le Vegan by Dreena Burton with the gift certificate from my friend Thalia. I've yet to dig into it, but I'm dog-earring pages right now. I'm going through all my cookbooks looking for a recipe that calls for soft silken tofu so I can use the rest that's sitting in my fridge.

Also, an aside note, rotten chick peas have to be one of the worst smells...maybe second only to rotten potatoes!

polenta...a plus!

2006-09-04T21:09:00.000-05:00

So, in case you were keeping track from my last posts, I STILL haven't made that cold coconut curried noodle salad from La Dolce Vegan yet. Maybe I'll forget about how much I wanted to make it and then rediscover it later. Do you ever do that? Have your heart set on making a recipe, but then when it comes time, you just want....spaghetti?

I've also been going through the new cookbooks, slowly but surely, and dog-earring all the recipes that piqued my interest. I really want to try the alfredo style cheese sauce in The Ultimate Uncheese Cookbook. There are also a ton of recipes in Vegan Planet that I'm dying to try, specifically the curried dishes.

Speaking of Vegan Planet, did you know that Robin Robertson is from the city right next to mine? She lives in Virginia Beach and our local paper did a piece on her new book that she wrote with her husband called Apocolypse Chow. During hurricane Isabel a few years back, Hampton Roads (the name for our region) got hit hard. I was still living with my mom, I think I was a freshman or sophmore in college, and we didn't have power for almost 10 days. This book, I believe, was conspired while Robertson and her husband sat in the dark during Isabel.

Also, there is an Indian restaurant in Hampton Roads called Nawab and they have the best, most spectacular mint chutney I've ever tasted. When I go out to other Indian restaurants, I'm constantly disappointed by the mint chutney. So imagine my surpirse when I find a recipe for mint chutney in Vegan Planet with an intro from the author about how Nawab in Virginia Beach is her favorite Indian restaurant, too! I'm just going to have to make this. I've had a couple of goes at mint chutney in the past, but I like to forget them since they were awful.

The third cookbook I bought recently is The Student's Go Vegan Cookbook by Carol Raymond. It's an unsuspecting little book with recipes geared toward, quick, easy, cheap and 1 or 2 servings. It's perfect for me! I've dog-earred tons of recipes. It looks like the perfect gift for a young vegetarian or vegan, so look into it!

I used the polenta recipe, which, isn't really a recipe at all but rather some cooking instructions. Tonight for dinner I roasted some little white potatoes with pressed garlic, dried rosemary, EVOO (I hate Rachel Ray, but the abbreviation is helpful) and salt and pepper. I always seem to undercook roasted potatoes, because I never want to let them cook long enough. They were still tasty, though. David ended up dousing them in Melinda's mango habanero sauce, which I did too because it was so good.

Our main dish was polenta covered in organic marinara from Trader Joe's and some TJ's meatless meatballs. It was great! I hate making pasta and sauce all the time, but it's so easy. This was similar, but gave us a much-needed dinner twist! Now, I don't mean to freak out any polenta purists or get anyone riled up about the dangers of using the microwave, but I made my polenta in the microwave! I got the idea from the Student's Go Vegan book and it worked really well! It was actually the perfect consistency. And I know, I know...microwaving destroys a lot of nutritional value, but I'm on a tight schedule, so it's my friend for now. Here's a pic:

I also have plans to make some of the quick recipes from the student's book, including some bean mixture wraps for protein punches at lunch. I'll post more about those later.

Also...just tried the Morningstar veggie crumbles when I made tacos with my friends Stasia and Thalia last night. They were awesome! We sauteed it up with plain taco seasoning. I'll definitely be picking some of this up soon. I'd love to hear from TVP taco recipes, because I'm not really down with the other (ahem, processed) ingredients in the Morningstar pack.

Hope everyone enjoyed the labor day...back to the grind!

Updates!

2006-09-02T12:30:00.000-05:00

I'm in the process of updating my sidebar menus to better reflect the blogs I read all the time. There are a bunch that I've been just too lazy to put on my own list - I just go to all the other blogs I read and link up with other blogs that way.

But if you look to the right, I've made a few changes. If you don't read these blogs you're missing out!

I'm so excited about tonight! My best friends and I are going out to dinner for my birthday (Indian, of course!). I can't get enough of the eggplant bartha. I think I'm going to learn how to make it on my own. There's nothing better than spicy smashed eggplant with pretty little green peas folded in. Maybe I'll even take a picture!

Stasia is coming into town from Richmond. Thalia lives here in Norfolk but I don't nearly see her enough. Ashley is getting a babysitter for sweet baby Ava so she can come out and do some grown up stuff. The only one missing is Marie - my sweet sweet Marie! She's on an organic farm in Hawaii, just south of Kona, picking lettuce and living in a tent...eating mangoes and strawberry papayas. ahhh....but she'll be back mid September. Here's some pictures of my best friends, just because I love them so much (and I'm procrastinating going to the laundromat, got my windows open and I'm blasting Paul Westerberg).

Stasia (short for Anastasia..also goes by Mama Stash)

PS: Those are all half-full beer cans...it was amazing!

Thalia!

Ashley and Baby Ava

Terribly missed but not forgotten....
Marie!

I'm going to take more pictures...up to date ones!

Weekend plans

2006-09-02T08:10:00.000-05:00

Well, I saved that last post as a draft yesterday and forgot to post it. I didn't end up making the cold coconut curried noodles from LDV, but I think I might do it this morning and chill it. I did, however, make the roasted red pepper pesto and at first I was a little suspect. I LOVE my pesto to be chocked full of garlic and toasted pine nuts, however this recipe called for one clove of garlic and walnuts. Hmmm....but I tasted it and it's pretty darn tasty!

It also calls for parsley in addition to the basil. It's really mild and allows you to taste the yummy roasted red peppers. If I haven't told you this already, I'm obsessed with roasted red peppers. They're soooo good! I don't even like the raw stuff.

Also, has anyone tried the cashew cookie Lara Bar? It's awesome! All it contains is raw cashews and dates, but it's quite filling. I'm going to look through the split cases this week at the Organic Food Depot and see if there's a cheap case I can buy.

I'm cooking some pasta with the roasted red pepper pesto, obviously, but before David and I went to sleep he said "I don't really like whole wheat pasta." Hint...hint. Haha..so I'm making regular old pasta, because he's not a fan of the tougher WW stuff. I'm also going to toss some sliced tomatoes with some Annie's goddess dressing and call it a quick lunch!

I gotta get back in the swing of taking photos of this stuff, but it was the summer, and I'm lazy! I'll keep you posted on if I FINALLY make that noodle dish from LDV. I also saw a split pea soup recipe in Vegan Planet I wanted to make and freeze portions of.

Oh! And I ordered a laptop lunch box! I also grabbed a thermos with it. Hopefully this will allow me to cut down on the nasty tupperware I use and lose all the time. My goal is to use this every day and get used to preseving my food better (like freezing things more), because I hate wasting things but I end up doing it ALOT!

And one last question....I bought some soymilk creamer/cream and was thinking I could use it like cream...maybe to make that split pea soup a little creamer :) Does anyone have any good ideas for the soy creamer? Is it just for coffee?

Oh, Ernesto

2006-09-01T12:30:00.000-05:00

Well, classes were completely cancelled this morning, which is a plus, but I work at a newspaper so I knew there would be no trouble avoiding that this afternoon.

But! I also live in a city that's already a couple feet below sea level and I live in an area even lower than the city's level....so, I was going over where I could drive my car in trying to get downtown to my job. As I was doing this, I noticed all the places that I could drive were being shown on TV completely flooded. All the underpasses are flooded and closed and it's about to be high tide.

So annoying - you think a tropical storm isn't going to do much, but then it moves so slowly that it ends up flooding everything.

Oh well! So I'm doing what I can from home. It doesn't matter anyways, because all the people I'd interview aren't in the office anyways. I spoke with my editor and the HR folks are encouraging everyone to go home now anyways.

David works at Lowe's and, well, you know retail - they never close! So he had to go into work at 1:30 :(

So what am I going to do? Well cook, of course! I'm going to make some things I've been meaning to from LDV as well as try some recipes in Vegan Planet. If anyone has any good recommendations from Vegan Planet that are tasty and will make good left overs, bring 'em on! Kleo, I'm sure you've got some since this is your fave veg cook book. I never get a chance to cook these days, so this is what I think I'm going to do:

- make some red pepper pesto from LDV
- make cold coconut curry noodles from LDV

I'm also just hangin out with my main homeslice, Sugar! She also goes affectionately by other nicknames like Choogie and Chicho. Here's an older picture, but she hasn't changed a bit since last year. Right now she's playing with string on my ID badge from work. She's so cool! This is in my old apartment:

Grocery/book/chair shopping

2006-08-28T20:57:00.000-05:00

Here I am Kleo!

I know I've been totally slackin' on the blogging, but I'm trying to get around to each each or every other night, because it's the only "leisure" writing and reading I get around to with classes and work lately :)

So, for my birthday, my mom and I went the practical route and she bought be two very cheap (24 bucks a piece!) dining room chairs from a discount store and took me to Trader Joe's. It was so fun and useful too!

Here's a sampling of what I got at TJ's:
organic bananas
bartlett pears
organic garlic
organic green grapes (they're teeny!)
frozen, organic fruit: strawberries, raspberries and peaches
some soy sausage (probably a wasteful impulse grab, but we'll see...)
organic blue corn chips
10 2-gallong jugs of mango passion juice!!!!! (we love the stuff around here)
white bean and garlic dip
pitas
hummus
little potatoes
basil
parsley
bread
meatless meatballs
two blocks of firm tofu, organic

And I think that's it!

And I bought three new cookbooks. I figured, it's my b-day, might as well grab some new cookbooks. I got Vegan Planet, which looks like it has a lot of lenghty, ingredient heavy recipes at first, but I've found some quick fun ones I want to try. Then I got the 10th anniversary edition of the Ultimate Uncheese Cookbook - looking forward to that! And I found this interesting one called "Student's Go Vegan Cookbook." It's all quick, easy recipes that don't have a lot of fancy schmancy ingredients, but the authors offers up some easy ways to priss up the recipes just in case you do want to go that route.

I'll offer up some more when I get the time, but I just started my last semester of classes this morning, plus I'm working the new job. It's going to be tough, but I just have to give myself a week to get used to the new juggling act! I'm thinking about doing some cookbook reviews when I finish up cleaning the kitchen - gotta clean dishes before I can make them dirty again!

Mm...Cooking, finally!

2006-08-22T20:54:00.000-05:00

So today was a stresser...my car is pretty much done for (initial diagnosis: transmission). I'm borrowing my mom's car, which is a stick, and I don't know how to drive a stick. I cooked David a nice, big dinner and asked him to help me learn how to drive it. I understand the concepts, I'm just really really bad at moving into first gear. And I'm frustrated easily + think I should "get it" right off the bat, which = terrible combo.

So, we did that for a while, and decided I'm not ready to take it out on the road. He's a sweetheart and is going to let me borrow his nice Honda and he'll take the truck until I figure it out.

Now! The dinner....I cooked a spinach and tofu ricotta manicotti recipe from vegweb.com that turned out pretty good. My only issue is that it should call for a 10 oz. package of chopped, frozen spinach, because the leaf is too stringy. I liked this recipe, which is a relief, because whew! Finally a tofu recipe I enjoy!

I usually can't stand tofu, but press on and experiment anyways. I also made a salad of spinach, tomatoes, carrots, chick peas and Annie's Goddess dressing. I threw some bulbs of garlic in while the manicotti was baking and roasted those so we could spread it on the fresh baguette.

Our favorite thing to do is smear the roasted garlic on warm bread, then dip it in a mixture of olive oil, balsamic vinegar and pepper. We even had some garlic-cured olives! Those came from the olive bar, though.

We've been kind of freaked out about green olives ever since we watched the Alton Brown "Good Eats" episode. Evidently green, or unripe, olives are soaked in formaldehyde to get the bitterness out before they're cured. Doesnt' that sound gross?

confessions and sea turtles...

2006-08-19T14:25:00.000-05:00

I just teared up watching a bit on PBS about this turtle hospital on the Florida keys. It's amazing! I never imagined turtles could be so interactive and...dare I say it...cuddly! It was awesome..

And I have to admit...I'm struggling with the vegan thing lately. I've been eating cheese, ignoring labels and just being a "lazy vegetarian." Unfortunately, when my period comes to town I get awful cravings for quick, easy, not-so-good-for-you food. I know that the whole vegan thing takes a while...and I am not going to consider myself a "vegan" until my entire life is free of animal products (meaning food, clothes, toiletries, etc.). I would like to point out...however...that a little over three months ago I was eating meat, cheese and everything else that's bad for me, animals and the environment.

It's strange, because when I was in high school I tried desperately to go vegan. I made intense, concious efforts because I loved animals and hated the idea of someone murdering them for me...but then I just couldn't. Being in high school with a non-veg family that buys the groceries is tough, so I just let it go. I was vegetarian on and off for a few years, but somewhere along the way I found myself just like any other American.

Until, as I've mentioned in previous posts, I read "Mad Cowboy" by Howard Lyman. I've been trying ever since I read that book a few months ago trying to get my life, body, mind and conscience back on track. And I'm enjoying it! I'm enjoying seeing how I make the decisions, how I get frustrated and lazy and eat things I don't really want, and how I think about it later and wonder why. I'm not guilt-tripping myself, but by arming myself with more and more knowledge, I give myself less excuses when I do eat cheese or egg-products.

Also, I had fun yesterday afternoon on my BIKE! I finally took it out (for the first time in a while). I rode it to a restaurant (a very non-veg restaurant) called Dog-n-Burger to meet my buddies Lee, Lil' Mike and Brian. I got a yummy pink lemonade before making a much-needed ride to the gas station to pump up my tires. And the air was free!

Things are very well with me, but I just felt a need to vent! Thanks!

the vitamix is fantabulous!

2006-08-18T19:35:00.000-05:00

I mean, I know you didn't expect anything less...but I'm serious!

I've only made two smoothies in it, but according to David, they were "the smoothest smoothies of his life!"

The first one we had was just fresh mango, frozen raspberries and some ice. delish! This one was just for me and it was an awesome, quick breakfast. Although, not much nutrition...next time I'll add some protein powder or flax seed

The second I DID add a ground tablespoon of flax seed, added two fresh mangoes, frozen pineapple and fresh organic strawberries and a bit of ice. Whew! This one was also great and it gave David and I our Omega-3s.

I'm thinking about baking some bread (I know! It's cooling down a bit here) and using the Vita-Mix to knead it. Anyone ever done this? Know a tasty sandwich bread recipe? I have NEVER baked bread, so...I need some help!

Ahh...loving the weather!

2006-08-13T07:53:00.000-05:00

It feels great here in Norfolk today. I spent the night out in Chesapeake with one of my oldest friends in the world. Her bf is a firefighter and works 24-hour shifts, so it gets pretty boring. She's got some cute anipals over there!

Sam - pittbull/lab mix that has a mean growl, but is just a big pushover
Rowdy - 10 week old german shephard! She's insanely cute...her ears are just starting to pop up
KiKi - a little black kitty that isn't enjoying the puppy love...she's kind of a snob

It was fun! But...I ended up barfing! Here's the story...we drove to Virginia Beach to go to this great (delicious!) Chinese restaurant and ordered some veggie tempura. I ordered Yu Shan Broccoli and she got chicken (eck) and broccoli. I just felt like the food never went down - like I had some heartburn! It was terrible...but I think I know why.

A confession - I've been ignoring the vegan side of things since I had the teeth out. Shamelessly eating eggs and cheese, because they're soft and easy to eat. However, it's done a number on my bod. I've definitely been able to tell a difference in my mood and energy level since I had the teeth out. Not to mention I've been suffering from carb unconciousness - - basically eating pounds of pasta a week out of laziness.

I've also been missing my vitamins - just practically ignoring them, drinking soda, etc...and whew, I've definitely missed my acidopholous. I'm trying to get back on track, but it's been so busy. I can't wait to get some energy! Like I said, I'm looking into recipes to make in the Vita Mix, but the first thing I know I want to do is start making smoothies for breakfast. I'm very interested in the "green" smoothies, but also nervous about them.

Thanks for all the nice comments - I'm stoked about having time to blog again, too! And boy, I'm excited about some of the food in my fridge: fresh brussel sprouts, portabello mushrooms....I'm planning on making some things from La Dolce Vegan, like dijon brussel sprouts, cold coconut curry noodle salad, and some granola that I can keep for breakfast.

But a question...what's the difference between rolled oats, rolled oat flakes and quick oats?

oh yes....it has happened

2006-08-12T11:58:00.000-05:00

I have an announcement to make!

My mother, purchaser of a Vita Mix, has decided she would rather have the counter space than the large master of blending and pulverizing that is a Vita Mix machine.

She asked if I wanted it...I didn't even have to think about it! I'm picking it up from her today. She only wants to borrow it if she's making "mixed drinks," haha! She was mezmerized at a Cosco show for Vita Mix and, being the sweet little impulse buyer that she is, purchased it.

Now...what to do with it?

I'm not sure yet, but I'd appreciate any ideas! I need something great to christen this mega-blender. I sure hope it doesn't mutilate my food beyond recognition...I read an angry, Amazon.com review from a guy that seems to take the power of the Vita Mix personally. But I've mainly heard just positive reviews.

Also! I got some great deals on produce at Cosco. Unfortunately, they aren't organic, but they sure are cheap and tasty:

4 lbs of kiwi fruit ($6)
9 mangoes! ($6)
3 lbs of almonds ($12)
giant jar of marinated artichoke hearts
huge jar of capers
2 bottles of riesling*
persian limes (I split the big bag with mama)

Honestly...everything added up to barely 50 bucks. I love bulk! My mom also got a clamshell thing of fresh figs, which she loves. However, the other day my Greek girls and I went and raided one of their YaYa's gardens, because they are in Green for 2 months, and we stole tons of fresh figs off the tree and I made off with a big bucket of warm, sun-ripened grape tomatoes. They've been great on the salads!

After trying both the figs off the tree and the "too perfect" Cosco figs...I realized I don't really like figs at all. (Gasp!) I know, everyone thinks I'm crazy. I wish I enjoyed them, but they're too bland for me. I also don't like any kind of melon :(

I wish I'd gotten a bag of avocados while I was there, but I didn't feel like it. I usually have to want something really bad and have some uses in mind (other than guacamole). Well, I've got to get started on cleaning and organizing, because I want to be ready when the Vita Mix gets here...I feel like a baby is coming home!

Okay...that's a little ridiculous, but I'm a little ridiculous

*Funny story about the riesling..I shared the bottle with a couple of girlfriends last night and I broke the cork off. What did we do? We jammed it down into the wine with a pencil and picked the cork off our tongues!

Also, another side note...I betrayed Trader Joe's and went shopping at the conventional grocery store. Wow, what a mistake. I've never been more disappointed...especially with the juice selection.

Whew! So much to update!

2006-08-03T21:16:00.000-05:00

Well first off, thank you all so much for all the words of encouragement last week when I was dealing with annoying oral surgery. I had no laughing gas, just novicaine, so I was awake for all the crazy pushing, pulling and yanking. It was fun, lemme tell ya.

However...lots of exciting other things to update! Since I'm in a hurry, like usual, I'm going to list them here and update later. By the way, it has been too hot to cook. The only thing I've done is cook pots of pasta and hang out in the AC while it boils. I swear I ate a pound or more of past a last week, disgusting (talking about carb unconciousness). But I think I was just excited to eat something that had some bite to it. I hate not being able to eat what I want - dental work is such a hassle in that way!

Here's what's been going on with me:
- Finally made some orders through the Organic Food Depot. It was quite easy - and cheap! I've actually decided to write a story about it since one of my new beats is..tada! Retail! And it has a small business bent to it, of course, because I believe it's a certified organic farm in Virginia Beach that started the company. Check out their website! While it's only in Hampton Roads, it's still an interesting concept that could be, or is probably already, duplicated in another region.

- As I mentioned above, beats! I'm now going to cover retail, education and workforce development issues mainly at work. I'm excited about the last two, and nervous about the first. We'll see how it goes!

- My last apartment stress is over - I'm outa-that-lease!

- I bought La Dolce Vegan: Vegan Livin' Made Easy by Sarah Kramer. I'm quite excited about making some of the recipes, specifically this peach crumb cake, sandwich bread and some of the salad dressings. I'll keep you posted about this as well!

- Tonight was the all vegan and vegetarian buffet at Rajput (Indian place near my apt.)...absolutely delicious tofu vindaloo. We went there with the whole family for my little brother's 18th birthday and, bless his little heart, he got the veg buffet too and loved it!

- Just put an order in with Cosmo's Vegan Shoppe for the first time. On my list? Beauty Without Cruelty (BWC) mascara, recycled and recyclable razors, some refills for the razors, and Advanced Vegan multivitamins. Surprisingly my order only came out to 38 bucks - 45 after shipping was calculated. I recommend everyone check out those razors, because they are surprisingly cheap. I'll let you know how this first run in with Cosmo's works out - I'm excited!

I think that's it for all my craziness, but you never know. I'm just glad to be well on the way to recovery with these teeth. Right now there are little (or big, at least they feel really big) holes in my mouth where the teeth used to be getting food caught, but I'm dealing with it. I'm pretty much brushing and eating like I used to - it's great!

Well, off to bed...I have to go cover a panel discussion on pending maritime legislation that STARTS at 7:45 a.m.....what is wrong with these people?!?!?!

I miss blogging...

2006-07-22T12:21:00.000-05:00

The last week I've just been swamped, as you know, with tons of things. This weekend I'm hoping to get my old apartment over and done with, so I can do a walkthrough with the landlord and hopefully get my deposit back (because man, do I need it!). I also need to get some grocery shopping done, although I really don't feel like going all the way to Trader Joe's (gasp!). That's how tired I am.

I have to get everything done this weekend, because I'm getting my 12-year molars removed on Thursday. I'm sure you're thinking "hey, aren't people supposed to have and keep their 12 year molars?" Well, yes, that's true, but mine just aren't working for me. Being a kid that had 3 years of braces, countless oral surgeries and dentist visits just to get my teeth pretty straight, I'm used to this. During my orthodontic journey, the doc realized that my 12 year molars (the ones all the way at the back) weren't "rupturing," or breaking through and coming in. So, I had a surgery to "expose" these teeth. That was over eight years ago. To make a long story short and without grossing everyone out, let's just say they never moved and I just have these sunken teeth that I'm afraid will become a breeding ground for tooth infection stuff. Not to mention it's hell to eat - tons of stuff gets stuck back there.

Geez, I probably grossed you out. Sorry. Well, I'm getting the teeth out on Thursday and I'm taking off work Friday - hopefully I'll lose the swelling by Monday. But...what am I going to eat? I was thinking smoothies, but I know it's not a good idea to suck through straws after dental work. I want to try smoothies with some silken tofu, maybe. I definitely don't want to be stuck with just ice cream! But for a sweet thing, I was thinking about getting some of that Mori-Nu pudding mix that you blend with tofu. Ideas appreciated!

Also, I need some more ideas. I really want to make my own seitan for the first time, but I'm scared. 1.) Will it be gross? and 2.) What will I do with it when I make it?

Oh! And another open question...what's the positive/negative of using vitamins without iron? Some of the veg vitamins I've seen don't have vitamins in them...why? I'm confused, I don't know what I need, but I need some answers! Haha...

Procrastinator Extraordinnaire

2006-07-16T13:35:00.000-05:00

I don't even know if I spelled that right, but it's true! Plus, this past weekend has been full of non-veganness, well, not full, but one too many concious slip-ups out of laziness that I can't seem to get my mind off of. Regardless! I'm trying...as I said before.

These things must get done in the next week:

1.) Put little old computer table together.
2.) A prerequisite to number one: get some new screws that aren't completely covered in rust to put the desk together...this means going through countless little drawers at the hardware store in search of the perfect fit.
3.) Sort things at the old apartment!!!! Separate into two piles: shit I'm bringing and shit that's going to the dump.
4.) Clean, clean, clean that old apartment! Like you've never cleaned anything before! (As you see, I need that security deposit since my new pay won't kick in for a while).
5.) Do my homework (?) As you can see, all my life homework has been placed on the back burner, which is a problem, but I'm happy with my mediocre grades! After this summer class, only four more classes to go in the fall, then I'm done!

Sigh..I'm getting tired looking at the list already. STRESSSS!

Some good food...and good news!

2006-07-11T20:14:00.000-05:00

First off - thank you all so much for all the great advice / words of encouragement about my last couple of posts. I appreciate it! This blog community has been better than I could have imagined and has become an awesome net of support in my first weary steps into veganism. Thanks!!

On Sunday I cooked some yummy food after the World Cup. I cooked some sloppy lentils. I got the idea, like a lot of other people I read, from the Jennifer Schmoo post, which was a post about another sloppy lentil recipe. Either way, here is the link: Sloppy Lentils!

I made the lentils in the full-sized recipe, because I've been taking them to work - I've had some long days where I've been bringing lunch AND dinner. I don't know how I really feel about the recipe. On the one hand, I think it's really bland. I added some kick to it with chili powder and red wine vinegar at the end, but even then I didn't think it was very immense, flavor-wise. But on the other hand - they're addicting! I just warm 'em up and slop them onto some whole wheat sesame buns. Mmmm.

I also cooked some sweet potato fries from VwaV, and didn't really enjoy it - I dunno why. They never crisped up for me. My mom always told me dunking potatoes in ice cold water before you fry them makes them extra crispy, but these were oven fries. So I don't know what my problem was. But one complete success! Asparagus with earth balance and garlic - these were delicious!

David didn't know I was making dinner, so he went out after work to play disc golf - unfortunately I had to eat ALL the asparagus :)

The good news? I got a job!! And not the restaurant type - the career type! Just a bit of background, I'm currently on the way out of my undergraduate. I'm receiving a Bachelor's in English with journalism emphasis and a minor in political science. I've been interning at a local business journal called Inside Business and last week the editor offered me a job! She gave me the hiring paperwork today and all the pay info - exciting! I never imagined I'd get a staff writing job before graduation. And they're going to work with me while I finish my fall classes - it's perfect!

PS: Sorry I've been out of the loop lately...I'm swamped with work and I just don't feel like sitting on the computer AGAIN when I get home lately - I just conk out and go to bed. My period is coming up, which is probably the issue. Also, this past weekend I ate some cheese - ugh...my stomach didn't like me for it. Oh well...it's really my only instance of non-vegan stuff since I started this whole thing a couple months ago. Pretty cool!

Feeling better today...

2006-07-09T11:02:00.000-05:00

So, after my rant, some cleansing food and a movie, I feel much better!

This morning I made the scrambled tofu recipe from Vegan with a Vengance for David and I. I followed the recipe exactly, because I'm always a little wary of tofu. I don't know why - I'm just more comfortable with my veggies, fruits and beans!

After following the recipe, I added some salsa in at the end (which moistened it up a bit). I served it with some sprouted grain bread with earth balance, sliced avocado and juice. It was...hmm...okay. I probably won't make it again. David said he liked it, but it wasn't mind blowing - and that's how I like my food - mind blowing.

Yesterday, to cleanse my body of all the crap I'd done to it the day before, I had my ole standby wrap. I also had a salad a couple hours later very similar to the wrap w/ spinach, sprouts, artichokes, tomatoes and balsamic vinegar.

The movie I watched yesterday was Super Size Me. I'd never gotten around to seeing it, but I thought it was very good, funny and the music choices were great. The movie did make me feel a bit guilty, because even though I don't eat the McShit they sell at the golden arches, I am part of that 60 percent of America that gets no form of exercise. I plan to change that - soon, I swear.

I've really wanted to make some sloppy lentils, another thing I've never done, so I'm going to do that later. But now - world cup finals! I started out going for Trinidad and Tobego - they were canned - then I wanted Portugal to go all the way - they were canned - so now I guess I'll just go with the team that feels the best to me when I turn the tube on. I have no preference between Italy and France.

Oh! And I finally got the pictures to work on that post - so if you want to see a pic of my cookies, wrap and pasta salad - scroll below!

Look away if you don't want to read my complaints...

2006-07-08T12:27:00.000-05:00

So, I know what happens when you drink alcohol - the good and the bad. At the time it's fun, getting a little buz on, whatever....but for me, no matter the amount of alcohol I consume (2 beers or 5), I get sick. I mean, really sick. My entire next day is a drag - and it's enormously depressing to just be dragging when you want to be doing more. And the worst part of it all? I did it to myself!

What a slap in the face.

And the more I think about it, the more I want to just cut alcohol out of my life completely. I mean, don't think I'm some crazy alkey or something. I just enjoy the taste of beer, specifically. I love tasting different ones, finding some good favorites and having some drinks with friends, but it does a terrible number on my body.

This morning when I was laying in bed, writhing with a mix of heartburn / headache / nausea, David sort of put me in my place while he got ready for work:

"Don't pretend you're healthy because of the whole vegan thing, because you go and do stuff like this to yourself." (meaning drinking)

He's right! I mean, as much fun as the little buzz is and getting to taste some great beer, in the end I know what's going to happen to me. And, to be brutally honest with everyone, when I do get a bit drunk I do something awful - I smoke cigarettes! I couldn't do a worse thing to myself, I know. I quit smoking over a year ago, but when I get a few drinks in me, I'll bum one or two off friends. So, even with the pollutants from the alcohol, I do a double whammy to myself (and everyone around me) with the smoke.

And, yet another downside of drinking. Much of the time, beer is NOT vegan! A lot of them have honey or other animal byproducts in there. Also, many breweries send the grain byproducts of the brewing process to, guess where? Feedlots and cattle ranches!!! There is a great site to figure out what beers are vegan, Vegan Vanguard.

I'm pretty sure I have an allergy of some sort to something in beer, because like I said, one glass of beer can have a terrible effect on me. So, I'm not guaranteeing that I'll swear beer off forever, but I just need to take a serious look at myself and my habits. The main reasons I went vegan (only a couple months into it - still phasing in!) was 1.) for the health benefits and 2.) because of ethics.

So why do something to myself that undermines my attempt at being a healthier person completely plus support companies that profit, in a roundabout way, from factory farming and animals-for-entertainment operations (see: Anheuser-Busch, Inc.)?

Just part of the going vegan process. It's a tough ride full of self-reflection and acknowledgements of hypocrisy, but I'm still up for it!

ack! baking mishap!

2006-07-05T19:42:00.000-05:00

I mean, it's not too bad...

...I just put 2 1/2 cups of chocolate chips into a batch of cookies that called for 1-1 1/2. Ha! I put 1 cup, then 1 1/2 cups...hyphens must be more visible!

Oh well, they'll just be super chocolate chip cookes. This is a recipe from How It All Vegan. Here are some pics of the cookies cooling - and oozing chocolate chips - almost double the recommended dose! Oh well, it pays to pay attention to your recipes.

And people loved it! There are only 2 left right now - David ate them, my good friend Lee loved them, and I even took a few to work and they were gobbled up quick. Many people were amazed when I told them there were no eggs and no butter in the recipe.

I also made a pasta salad recipe from VegCooking.com with pasta, artichokes, basil and veganaise. I also added some crushed red pepper flakes, garlic powder and plenty of cracked black pepper, because the original recipe is a bit bland. I took some to work with my ole standby wrap: chile flour tortilla, organic hummus, spinach, artichokes, tomatoes and alfalfa sprouts. I don't always put the same veggies in, because I don't always have them all. Sometimes I'll stick some avocado in there and some habanero hot sauce - mmm! It was a good lunch.

I also have plans to make the scrambled tofu from Vegan with a Vengance as well as some sloppy lentils (kind of like sloppy joes) and a great pasta recipe from Moosewood Cooks at Home with capers, tomatoes, basil, artichokes and a bunch of other stuff I have laying around that needs some cooking. It should be a fun weekend! Hopefully David will come home after work to eat with me...but he's on a disc golf kick right now, and anytime it's not raining and he's not at work, he's out on the course.

Oh, and I swear I'll be posting some pics of the new apartment - I finally got my pantry in order and restocked with a grocery visit. One complaint - the kitchen is insanely hot - the mix of the gas stove, giant fridge and being cut off from all the air makes it a sauna, but I love cooking in it anyways!

Imagine my amazement when I could fit two (TWO!) cookie sheets in the oven last night!

Post-move grocery stock-up...

2006-07-05T16:33:00.002-05:00

Midweek Munchies: What Mary is contributing for the week

Since I didn't move far, I was able to bring all my food - frozen and refrigerated - but I still needed to stock up seriously. This was a Trader Joe's trip, of course :)

* organic

Barbara's Spoonfuls shredded wheat cereal
* Blue Salted organix tortilla chips
frozen cilantro cubes (never tried these before)
frozen basil cubes
fresh basil
3 packages ready-to-eat edamame (for my mama)
sliced cremini mushrooms - little ones!
* roma tomatoes
lemon italian soda (for david)
orange italian soda (for david)
6 cans of artichokes (expensive, but i love them!)
vanilla soy milk
plain soy milk
organic tomato basil marinara
2 jars of organic marinara
marinated artichoke hearts
smokey peach salsa
* 4-packs of avocados (2)
meatless meatballs
balsamic vinaigrette
* 3 lbs. spaghetti
* 2 tubs hummus
3 grain tempeh
extra firm tofu
* brown rice (frozen heat and eat)
complete protein sprouted bread
whole wheat hamburger buns
chile flour tortilla
corn tortillas
bagged baby spinach
* fusilli pasta
* penne pasta
whole wheat pita
bag of yellow onions
2 jugs mango-passion juice

TOTAL = $100.88

I know, steep, but I needed to stock up. TJ's is about 24 miles from my house, so stocking up every month is good for gas mileage. I have plans to scramble some tofu, make some quick lentil sandwiches, pasta salad, guacamole and bake some stuff this weekend. Also, that peach salsa is absolutely amazing! It's listed as medium heat, but it's not too spicy. It's sweet with just a little kick - I love it and regret not grabbing another jar!

Links to other Midweek Munchies
(If you participate, leave your link in the comments and I'll post it below; or, you can post in the comments)

Click here for the Midweek Munchies code
Click here for Harmonia's blog

Trackbacks, pings, and comment links are accepted and encouraged!
Technorati Tag: Midweek Munchies

A special thanks to Running2Ks and Rift for all of their help with coding, graphics, and encouragement for this project.

I'm here!

2006-07-04T08:56:00.000-05:00

Well, the move was awful - like moves usually are. The temp with the heat index on Sunday was 102. We got all the heavy stuff in from my old place and now there are just little things in there I need to go through and toss or donate.

The kitchen is a bit smaller than my old one, because I have a full size gas stove, a giant behemoth of an antique refrigerator (that occasionally makes a noise like a sick puppy in the middle of the night and it drives me insane), and a really large pantry. I'm going to post pictures soon - I just have to get the cord from my old place.

I cooked for the first time here last night. I made some quick rigatoni w/ organic marinara from TJ's and some TJ's meatless meatballs. I used the new cookware I bought about a month ago for the first time. It's the chefmate brand from Target - stainless steel with copper bottom. It was very nice.

I'm not going to do much of anything today - I"m not very patriotic anyways. I am, however, going to boost the economy with a trip to Trader Joe's, but then offset it by polluting the air with the long drive from Norfolk to Newport News. My fridge is giant! Meaning...I can fit so much stuff!

Well, I'm off to get that errand done and deal with the numerous "cookout" requests I'm received. I don't really feel like doing much, because I think I'm getting sick + I don't feel like making myself anything to take to a cookout. Talk to you soon!

Ooo, and I can't wait to catch up on everyone's blogs!

My internet is still on...

2006-07-01T14:00:00.000-05:00

Well, I haven't got much of anything done but get annoyed since I signed the lease and got the keys to the new place yesterday afternoon. Not really packed AT ALL! Here are a few things that are stressing me out, just to vent:

1. I specifically asked/told the power company to have my power on yesterday. Well, I get to the place to check it out and whaddya know? No lights! Well, I called the emergency number (ha) to report an outage, because it was too late to speak to a real person after five on Friday, of a holiday weekend no less. Well, a woman called back and they thought it was my current address I was reporting. I explained my situation and was slightly less than polite (I know, I know). I said the power "had to be cut on" yesterday. So, she checked my account and whaddya know? The power was on! She said "check your breakers." And that was that.

2. I don't know where the hell the breakers are. I've never lived in this place - and I've never had to do this at my current place. So, risking annoying my new landlord 4 hours after signing a lease, I call the emergency maintenance number, type in my phone number (it was a digital pager), and hang up. At that point I went and got a few beers from the local convenience store (start of another bad thing...will get to that later). A few minutes later I get a call from the property manager, the head guy, and he was so sweet. He said that building had fuses, and he would go check it out and get it going for me. Then, he provided me with this bit of unsettling advice:

"Now, I'll get this goin fo ya, but once you settle in you may wanna get one of the old timers in the building to take you down to the basement and show you how to fix tha fuse. You're gonna have ta get to know ya building, now, and figure out what blows fuses and what don't. This an ole buildin, ya know."

!!!!! I don't really mind, it's just that I'm worried I'm going to blow fuses all the time. I'm not the best at conserving electricity - I run tons of shit at once - and what happens when everybody else has stuff running? Anyways, we'll see. David thought someone should have told us that before I signed, but oh well. All of these Ghent buildings have character, and I should be thankful.

3. None of my utilities have been fixed like they're supposed to. Obviously, the internet is still on. I won't get gas for the stove until next week (ACK!)

4. Moving over the 4th of July holiday sucks - nothing is open, no one answers your calls and it's HOT! Enough complaining.

The pantry in the kitchen is so awesome!! I'm going to post pictures soon - or maybe just a link to my fotki.

Also, I haven't cooked anything yet, but I think I'm going to use Jennifer Schmoo's Magic Loaf Studio to cook some dinner once we get settled in. I have at least one ingredient in all the categories - plus it's a good way for me to use some things I have but have never used (quinoa, raw cashews, polenta to name a few). I've also got some red potatoes I'll mash with some garlic and then steam some broccoli. That's a good, rustic, comforting meal that should put us to sleep after the move.

Well...right now I'm using all the brown paper bags I always save for my newspaper and packing up the pantry. I've got a lot of stuff - and it's a shame I don't have time to cook as much as I'd like. I'll be taking all that over. Honestly, moving the kitchen is always the worst part of the move. There is so much stuff! Food, appliances, dishes, etc.

Hopefully I'll talk to you all soon - I love reading all your blogs - so inspirational!

Ha! I lied

2006-06-29T07:41:00.000-05:00

I know I said I wouldn't be posting for a while, but my internet is still on this morning - they haven't cut it yet.

Has anyone heard of something like this?

It's called the Organic Food Depot. I think you buy things in bulk, or can split things with people. I'm really suspect of the whole thing, but if someone has experience with something similar, let me know!

There is a location right near my apt.

Thanks!

Just a quick post...

2006-06-28T17:51:00.000-05:00

Like I said in prior posts, I'm moving! (That was pretend excitement - it's actually horror and frustration)

So that means food choices are less than great. I can't get the gas cut on at my new place until next Thursday - ack! That means I'm pretty much stoveless for a week. Right now I'm hardly cooking.

Today's menu:

B: banana nut granola w/ soymilk, orange juice
S: soda, bbq peanuts [nasty convenience store buys]
L: orderd a 6 in. veggie sub into the office - I asked for all the veggies and when I opened up the wrapping, guess what I got? Lettuce, tomato and onion. Whoopty doo. Oh well, I added some mustard and it was enough to keep me going. At least it didn't show up with cheese or mayo.
D: More leftover and quick snack type dinners for the rest of the week. Tonight I had some leftover spaghettini w/ organic tomato sauce, a chopped tomato with balsamic vinegar...I thought that would be enough, but it wasn't. So I sauteed some organic broccoli w/ leftover garlic chile sauce and threw in some of the leftover marinated tempeh.

I'll probably end up munching on more stuff later, but probably only a bowl of cereal or something. After Friday, posts will be scarce. They're cutting my internet off tomorrow at this apartment, but I won't be settled into the new one until next week (even though the internet will be there). I'll try to post while I'm on campus (my second summer class just started) or at work.

But I'll probably be reading everyone elses blogs...so keep on with the great ideas! Also, does anyone know of a good RSS program for Mac OS X? I just keep consulting my page then going to the blogs I like, but I'd love to use all the RSS feeds. Thanks!

Nutrition?

2006-06-26T17:08:00.000-05:00

Well, I'm frustrated about my diet and supplementing it with vitamins. I need someone to tell me what I should do! I mean, I'm sure if I read and read and read all there is to read I would eventually understand how to handle my diet, but who has that kind of time?

This is exactly what I want, but I'm not sure if it exists and I'm pretty sure it's expensive:

- A consultation with a dietician/nutritionist to talk about my lifestyle, diet, what I do now, what I should be doing.
- A blood test to figure out what my levels are (A while back, when doctors were trying to figure out what was going on with my heart, they found that I had low potassium levels) and maybe half-yearly blood tests like this.
- An in-home consultation with the dietician/nutritionist to look at my grocery shopping habits, pantry stock, etc.

I know this sounds crazy and I should "know" all this already if I decided to do something as "severe" (as my family calls it) as switching to a completely plant-based diet, but I couldn't wait! It's hard doing something for ethical reasons and knowing it has so many health benefits, but not knowing if you are doing it in the right way so that you reap those great benefits efficiently.

I go to an endocrinologist for my hypothyroidism (low thyroid activity). His office is part of the medical school's diabetes center. I noticed on one of my visits a little kitchen where studying dieticians and nutritionists show newly diagnosed dibetics how to eat for their conditions. I want that...but I want it for newly diagnosed vegans!

I know a lot of things - like what things I should supplement, and how flax is a good source of Omega-3, etc. But there are things I don't know...like how do I use flax seed oil or ground flax seeds? Doesn't that stuff have a really short shelf life? I hate stuff like that - because I'll forget to use it and then get pissed that I bought something expensive and didn't finish it. (can you tell this has happened to me before?).

Any thoughts on this? Anyone have the same "frustrations"? Maybe I'm just concerned with being the 'healthiest' vegan diet-wise (definitely not fitness wise).

It's just that the muscle spasms I had freaked me out a bit - the "definciencies" that can occur if you don't supplement correctly - etc.

I did find a great article from veganhealth.org called "Staying Healthy on a Plant-based Diet by John Norris, RD. It's the first article listed.

But articles don't talk back and answer my questions!

Great food!

2006-06-26T07:24:00.000-05:00

No picture, though. David and I gobbled it down before I remembered I wanted to take a picture of the dinner. But it was delicious!

I sauteed the marinated tempeh up first, becuase I knew it would get crowded in the pan with the veggies. Before I did that though, I made an awesome garlic-chili sauce from "Get Saucy" by Grace Parisi. I used Braggs instead of soy sauce, it also had dried red chilis, garlic, shaoxing (chinese cooking) wine, little bit of corn starch, and some sugar. I think that's it - but it was awesome! I made it extra spicy and cooked the veggies in it.

The veggies I used in the stir fry - broccoli, water chestnuts, snow peas and zucchini.

We put it all over a bed of TJ's frozen, microwave jasmine rice. It was delish! None left when we were done, and David said he liked the tempeh.

the world has stopped spinning...

2006-06-25T09:39:00.000-05:00

...I finally opened the package of tempeh that has been haunting me from my fridge for the last couple weeks.

I decided last night that I would make a stir fry, because I have tons of freezer stuff and need to cook it. Well, again, the tempeh haunted me, whispered in my ear "you know, mary, you can add me to the stir fry...i'll be like little bits of meat in there...you'll like it!"

So right now there are tempeh strips marinating in my fridge. I used a marinade from Vegan Vittles. I'm also going to add water chestnuts, broccoli, green beens, zucchini and onion (i have to buy an onion - i guess this isn't comletely from the fridge, but i love onions - gotta have 'em).

I'm having a late father's day lunch with my dad and brother today, so this will be dinner. I'll post the final product later tonight - I'm keeping my fingers crossed that it will work.

Here is a pick of the tempeh marinating...

Oh! And this was my dinner last night. Again, I can't begin to rave about how awesome the haricot vert green beans are from TJ's. This is some olive oil, sauteed garlic and curry powder. Then I just toss the beans in until they warm up. Sometimes I add chopped tomato, but this is at its simplest.

I'm trying Midweek Munchies for the first time

2006-06-24T10:57:00.000-05:00

Midweek Munchies: What Extra Sappy is contributing for the week

I went to two different farmer's markets this week. Like I said, I'm moving, so grocery store trips are scarce and chinese takeout is flowing. Here's what I got from each market:

5 Points Community Farm Market:
- organic bananas
- 2 tomatoes
- 1 cucumber

TOTAL: $4.17

Virginia Beach Farmers Market:
- red potatoes
- 2 sweet potatoes
- local plums (so cute and tiny and sweet!)
- 2 zucchini
- 2 green tomatoes *free! mama gave me these

TOTAL: $8 bucks, maybe? I can't remember

I'm saving money right now - or trying to - but as soon as I move, I'll post another one of these with a big list of Trader Joe's spoils.

Links to other Midweek Munchies
(If you participate, leave your link in the comments and I'll post it below; or, you can post in the comments)

Click here for the Midweek Munchies code
Click here for Harmonia's blog

Trackbacks, pings, and comment links are accepted and encouraged!
Technorati Tag: Midweek Munchies

A special thanks to Running2Ks and Rift for all of their help with coding, graphics, and encouragement for this project.

Wow! Vegan firefighters!

2006-06-24T10:00:00.000-05:00

I found a link to this from The Vegan Club. Check it out!

These four vegan firefighters from Engine 2 in Texas have started promoting a healthy, vegan diet through their Website. They even list fun recipes that you can make in a jif (they're firefighters - they don't have time to fancy gourmet dishes with 2,000 ingredients).

Here's the link:

Engine 2 - The Fantastic Four!

It's really refreshing to see normal, everyday guys promoting this healthy and guilt-free diet. It's taking over - only a matter of time!

quick update...

2006-06-23T16:50:00.000-05:00

There's a wild thunderstorm blowing through the city right now that interrupted my trip to the recycling center. The drop-off site is near a construction waste site. Needless to say, once the wind picked up and the clouds got dark I hopped in my car, because the dust from that construction dump is intense. And who knows the chemicals that blow around. (shudder).

Thanks to the storm, I'm inside updating some stuff on the blog. If you look to the right, I'm updating all the sites I like. My bookmark list has grown since I started this, but I've been too lazy to list it here. I'm still adding, but go check out these wonderful blogs by wonderful vegans and vegetarians - they're thoughtful, useful and fun to read!

When I get up in the morning, when I have time, I sit down with a cup of tea and some toast, check my e-mail, then get to blog reading. Lots of food blog posts are short, sweet and inspirational. Make it part of your day!

I'm on a break..

2006-06-23T14:17:00.000-05:00

So, I finished that paper, presentation and final exam all in the midst of my grandmother's death, a funeral and my full-time job - and let me tell you, I'm so happy it's all over.

So what am I going to do?

Well, yesterday I went to the farm market in Va. Beach with my mom, got a few sweet potatoes, little red ones, some local plums (they're tiny and sweet!) and zucchini. I know, pretty boring, but I was trying to get some things that could survive without being cooked right away. Like I said, I'm trying to pack up and move, and the constant chinese takeout has already begun. I'm just dreaming of the new kitchen in this apartment. It's nothing to look at, but it has about 2 ft. of counter space...that's 2 ft. more than I have now!

I also got a great, sturdy old potato masher from the thrift store for 40 cents! Tip to the wise, you can get wonderful sets of dishes, kitchen gadgets, pots and pans from the thrift store. I'm sure I will even into my old age. I don't even want new dishes, really. If I ever get married, do you think you can get a bridal registry with a thrift store. How fun would that be?!

And tomorrow I'm going to the beach. Luckily, I live about 20 minutes from the north end of Va. Beach. Just to relax, but I love having snacks when I'm at the beach. I can't think of anything, though. Not without going to the grocery store. I'm going to another community farm market early tomorrow morning downtown. It's new - I'm excited!

Anybody have any quick, easy and delicious recipes for sweet potatoes or little red potatoes? I also nabbed two green tomatoes from my mama's basket to fry later on tonight. I'm going to coat them in a bit of water then dredge it in a mix of flour and corn meal. That's all I can think of - anybody have any good ideas for frying green tomatoes without the usual egg coating to make the flour stick? I'm just using water.

Lazy day..sort of

2006-06-20T20:06:00.000-05:00

It was sweltering in Norfolk today. Pushing ninety and humidity like crazy, I was regretting switching to a non-antipersperant. Ha!

Anyways, food is getting scarce around here because I'm poor and I'm moving.

(I'm going to steal Harmonia's FLOG format, out of time)

B=Wheat toast, soy butter, juice
S=hummus wrap on chile tortilla
L=Mixed veggies with garlic sauce and white rice (ordered take out with mom), then some left over cabbage
S=tofutti cutie
D=? maybe im still full from the chinese...

Tomorrow I'm turning in a paper and taking my final - ugh. Not looking forward to it, but I can see graduation approaching for sure!

Whoa! TJ's soy nuggets...

2006-06-19T22:22:00.000-05:00

I rarely buy vegan junk food, because I usually get it when I'm in a weird or hungry mood while shopping (never a good idea). But I picked up some Trader Joe's soy nuggets last trip. I've been putting off trying them, because I regretted getting them in the first place, but tonight, in the last minutes of the Stanley Cup, I tried it. Just two...and dipped it in a mix of ketchup and chinese chili sauce. It was a great snack! The nuggets are breaded in stoned wheat flour - I think.

I'm getting ready to move in the next two weeks, so I'm not doing any grocery shopping. I'm just getting creative. Although I don't know how often I'll be able to post about my creative cookings, but they probably won't be that impressive anyways.

I must say, though, the TJ's frozen haricot vert green beans are my favorite! I can't get enough....I'm such a Trader Joe's whore.

Oh, and thank you all so much for all the condolences - you've been the best! It's always nice to find words of encouragement out here!

Later this week, when I get a breather after my final exam in this summer class, I'm going to list what I have in my freezer and you get creative on me. K?

I told you so...

2006-06-18T10:04:00.000-05:00

Going to the funeral yesterday was tough, but the service was nice. Seeing the cost of a funeral though definitely solidifies my desire to be cremated with no fuss - the cheapest thing possible. The bill for my g-ma's was almost 8 grand!

But I told you remaining vegan while visiting these southern belles was going to be difficult if not damn near impossible. I just ate vegetables, but I know a lot of them were cooked with butter. Once I did that, I gave up and decided to eat a slice of pie that I knew wasn't vegan, but it was comforting nonetheless.

I'm tired and getting sick...and I have a ton of work to do. I have a big project due for my summer class and a paper tomorrow, then I have lots of articles due tomorrow for the newspaper, but I'm just going to hole myself up in the house and get it done. I just ordered some chinese food...I got a small thing of hot and sour soup (impossible to make vegan at this place)...It's not vegan, but I think this weekend is a wash anyways. I pick around the rare bits of pork I find and the eggs, forget it, there's no picking around that. I also got hunan mixed vegetables - extra spicy!

I did make some tasty guacamole with my buddy Stasia for our friend's graduation party last night. I had some organic avocados getting pretty soft - it was extra chunky and delicious!

I may not post tomorrow, but I'll be back with avengance later this week to tell you about my new apartment (god, I hate moving), the new kitchen, and any fun recipes I throw together.

Wow...out of touch

2006-06-16T17:04:00.000-05:00

Well, the reason I haven't been posting is my g-ma died this past Tuesday. I was the last one to get to talk to her and be with her Monday night, and for that I'm grateful. She taught me some awesome, definitely not-vegan recipes and made me love eating with a pan of brownies waiting every time I went to visit.

The funeral is tomorrow morning, so I'll be out in the country looking for things that don't contain animals (I'll tell you how it goes - I may end up eating lettuce all weekend).

Aside from the sadness, my lunches this week have been pretty good. I've been trying not to eat out and I've succeeded! Here is today's menu so far:

Breakfast: slice of sprouted multigrain toast w/ soy butter, mango passion juice, banana

Lunch: veggies w/ garlic sauce and white rice (my mama bought me some chinese food), some cucumbers

Dinner/Snack: chile flour wrap w/ chopped artichokes, organic hummus, organic avocado, organic mixed greens, habanero hot sauce....mango passion juice

I probably won't be able to update until the week starts, but you've got to check out this book I just bought! It's called Green Clean. It's a guide to cleaning naturally, without all those awful carcinogens. And usually...green cleaning is much cheaper than the Procter and Gamble garbage. Talk to you soon!

My tooth!

2006-06-11T09:22:00.000-05:00

I've got some weird tooth ache that has been forcing my eating habits to chill out, but I think it's getting better. I'm sort of a day behind in my food blog (a flog, as some would say), but it's fine. Having that delicious chocolate chess pie around is no good - I've been eating a couple slices a day! Oh well...it's an experiment.

My best friend is coming into town for the day and she's allergic to eggs and was never able to eat the pie, but now she can! It's lovely how a vegan diet can be so much more!

Yesterday's Menu:

Breakfast: a slice of pie, cereal bar, water [see! the pie is killing me!]

Lunch: rigatoni w/ meatless meatballs, artichokes with balsamic dressing, lemonade.

Dinner: My friends from the band Pash were in town last night, and as usual, we went to Domo Sushi before their set. I ordered a tall Sapporo, a big bowl of edamame and some miso soup - delicious! Later, after I left downtown, I went to Cogan's and had another beer.

Midnight Snack: Pie and lemonade!

Lots of good things done...

2006-06-09T20:07:00.000-05:00

So today I made a donation to the local thrift store, recycled tons of stuff and dropped off some things at the local foodbank....awesome! I'm quickly falling in love again with the weekend I gave up for scant pay at a burrito bar.

I baked my grandmother's chocolate chess pie today, but made it vegan. The recipe already called for margarine as opposed to butter, then i sub. the evaporated milk with vanilla soy milk and the eggs with egg replacer. The pie needs to be refridgerated a bit after cooling down for everything to set up properly, but it did this before with the animal by-products, so it's nothing new. I also think I may have put a teeny bit too much margarine in, but who knows. It tastes great! The vanilla soy milk actually made it a bit sweeter than regular evaporated milk.

This is something I've adored since a child and I feel great about being able to cook it for myself and my friends that have come to adore it so.

I also cooked a delish dinner! TJ's sells some delicious, frozen Haricot Vert green beans. I sauted those in some garlic and oil, added some hot curry powder and some mustard seed and right at the end tossed in some chopped tomato. It was great! I'm not a chef, and I'm not sure if those flavors go together, but I loved it. I also chopped up some canned artichoke hearts and drizzled them with some TJ's balsamic dressing and cracked black pepper.

Today's Menu:

Breakfast: Leftover spaghetti and meatless meatballs (it was great at 10 am this morning!!)

Dinner: See above - curried green beans, artichoke hearts w/ balsamic dressing

I don't know where lunch went - or snack for that matter, but I'm still full!

Check out this awesome forum for female vegans... Veggin Out ... It's awesome!

Looking forward to a weekend of baking

2006-06-09T10:08:00.000-05:00

So, I quit my weekend job at the burrito bar...and I feel great about it! I was getting so stressed and tired with the internship, the burrito place, 8 hours of class a week, plus trying to live a life and eat healthy. All in all it added up to over 60 hours of work a week, including class, and never any time to relax/think/take care of myself. Let this be a lesson from the person that constantly tortures herself by biting off more than she can chew: sometimes, you just have to stop and relax. And if that means quitting a job that, really if you think about, was only your spending money anyways? So be it!

And so i finally have some time to read (I think I'm going to check out Diet for a New America by John Robbins, unless someone has a better idea), bake (I"m going try and veganize my grandma's chocolate chess pie) and get ready to move. Yes! I found an apartment and David and I will be moving in next month. It's a block from the Health Food Center, so if I need anything quick I can take a stroll up there, and from the Naro Video Store. It will be nice living so close to Colley + the unit is on the first floor, making taking the bike the street much easier than it is now. And this place has a big pantry, something I was going to miss from this apartment.

I just learned something new in my vegan research - that white/refined sugar is sometimes whitened with animal bones? I was annoyed in reading some cookbooks, because they kept telling me not to use refined sugar, but not telling me why. Now I know thanks to The Vegetarian Resource Group.

Also, I use powder sometimes when I go to work and I need some more, but I can't figure out which brand to buy. I was thinking about getting Almay (owned by Revlon, doesn't test on animals), but the thing I'm struggling with is finding out what's in the Almay makeup. There's nothing on their website, but I'm getting ready to call. I just want to make sure I'm not buying cow brains or cod semen, which I'm sure isn't in the powder anyways (it's usually in lipstick and creamy stuff), but I don't want ot buy from a company that uses it in any of their products regardless of whether I buy them. Can someone help me?

Yesterday, food wise, it's hard for me to remember, but here goes:

Breakfast: sun dried tomatoe bagel w/ margarine, apple juice

Lunch: some greens from Harry's BBQ, some yams and sweet tea - both the yams and the greens probably weren't vegan, but most southern food isn't anyways

Dinner: spaghetti, TJ's meatless meatballs simmered in TJ's roasted garlic marinara, fake parmesean [i made this a while back - nutritional yeast, toasted sesame seeds and kosher salt all blended together], soda (ew!!)

i need good, vegan hang over food

2006-06-04T14:58:00.000-05:00

This may be my most embarrassing food post to date. I'm now going to tell the secret of what I eat when I'm hungover. Most people when they're hungover couldn't stand the idea of eating strong flavors, but it's what I always crave. Needless to say, this decision to keep from losing my cookies included a very nonvegan meal. Here goes..

So I go to Subway and ask for a pizza sub...it usually has salami or pepperoni stuff on it, but I got mine without the meat on the italian herb and cheese bread. Then I had them slather it with garlic spread (which I think has butter in it), then marinara sauce, then provolone, then mozzarella, then it hits the toaster. Before the sandwich artist finished, I had her spritz it with a bit of parmesean and oregano. To make matters worse I got some bbq chips, which had egg powder in them...and a soda!

Honestly, this disgusting concotion I figured out always manages to save cure my hangover (the very few times I get out and go wild enough to end up with a hangover). I need some good, hearty vegan alternatives to cure my hangover. I know I could just make the same thing at home, but this was an emergency and I didn't have the necessary ingredients. To Subway's credit, they started offering plain marinara sauce. They used to just get it out of the meatball stuff.

Here's the menu:

Breakfast: toast and water

Lunch: see above, very unvegan sub, chips, soda

Dinner: a moe's tofu burrito, but then i had some ranch on it and some cheese - gah! my worst day yet.

Only up from here!

Another note, I'm almost done reading "Mad Cowboy" by Howard Lyman. I've really enoyed it - he makes a ton of statistics, study results and health findings into an interesting read - things that have the potential to bore a person. Also, it's a great resource to start with when it comes to animal and earth conscious reading because he references so many other authors it gives you a pretty awesome reading list. Everyone needs a little nonfiction once in a while.

ugh....got too busy

2006-06-01T21:07:00.000-05:00

So there, I missed some days. It's because of all these hospital visits and work load that's beginning to press like crazy.

But! Score!!! Thursday was my bf's birthday (23!) and we decided to hit up Rajput. And guess what? As we walk in there is a dinner buffet set up...aaaand....it's all vegetarian and vegan entrees! They do this buffet on the first Thursday of every month and it was delicious. I'm so glad my first visit there was this awesome, veg friendly buffet. There were two vegetarian entrees and the rest were vegan....the mango tofu was deeelicious. Also, roti bread isn't bad. I thought I would miss the naan, which is much more moist thanks to yogurt and butter, but the roti is a good substitution. Another plus? This place is 2 minutes away from my apartment!

My food choices have been less than great, and I ate some cheese at work the other day, but it's understandable. I'm swamped with work - I mean really swamped. I took off work tomorrow, which I shouldn't do because I need the money, but I value my sanity a bit more. Here are my choices for yesterday, which is as far back as I can remember:

Breakfast: mango passion granola w/ soy milk, water

Lunch: three pieces of multigrain bread w/ margarine, three kiwis, water

Snack: chips and cheese (NV!)

Dinner: tofu burrito w/ vinegarette and hot sauce

Hopefully I'm back in the swing of things!

Things have perked up!

2006-05-30T20:30:00.000-05:00

My grandmother is responsive - and all she needed was her hearing aid! The poor lady wasn't responding to anything because she couldn't hear. She still has everything else, a tube draining her brain, numerous IVs, respirator and feeding tube...but she can hear and understand, which is the first step!

We asked her to hold up two fingers, squeeze our hands and wiggle her feet and she did it all! I could have burst into tears when she grabbed my hand - it was amazing.

Plus, I've been vegan all day!

Today's Menu:

Breakfast: one slice of multigrain toast w/ non-butter, water

Lunch: falafel wrap w/ extra tahini from Azar's, some pita w/ hummus, diet pepsi (ew, I know!)

Snacks: some purple grapes (free at the office!), lots of water

Dinner: My dad, aunt and I went out to Fellini's tonight - not the most vegan-friendly place, but I got some angel hair pasta and marinara sauce. Although, I asked for no butter on the bread and they did it anyway. I could have eaten it, but I didn't! Oh, and I had another nasty soda...I've needed the caffeine lately.

And I've started taking B-12 pills....good, right?

memorial day?

2006-05-29T14:52:00.000-05:00

Despite the depressing health of my grandmother, im in decent spirits. My food choices were pretty good today.

I went and did the cookout thing with my mom and stepdad for a bit, but the SmartDogs I brought were awful. Maybe I just need to cut out all attempts at trying to enjoy hot dog and sausage replacements. Even slathered with sauerkraut, ketchup and mustard they were awful. Although, my mom (being a considerate sweetheart) bought some veggy baked beans and doctored them up - maple syrup, sauteed onions, ketchup..who knows what else...it was wonderful. You'd never miss the bacon and pork fat. Although, must confess, ate butter on some corn-on-the-cob. My mom doesn't mess with margarine - she thinks it's sacreligious.

Today's Menu:

Breakfast: Mango Passion Granola, mango passion juice, slice of multigrain toast w/ non-butter

Lunch: Pad Ka-na w/ Tofu from Bangkok Garden [the tofu was not done very well...ick....but the broccoli was great!], water

Snack: TJ's cereal bar (NV!)*, normal veggy refried beans, sour cream, guac and blue corn chips, mango passion juice [i ran out!! i knew i should have gotten more!]

Dinner: corn on the cob w/ butter (NV!), veggy baked beans, veggy dog, a soda (yuck!), and two beers

*I'm just finishing these not-vegan-cereal bars - a couple more left.

whirlwind day...

2006-05-29T00:34:00.000-05:00

This is going to have to be short, because my day (Sunday) was insane. I'm still up, so the date is going to say Monday, but this is a food update for Sunday. My grandmother was flown by helicopter to the hospital near my house for emergency brain surgery - I've been dealing with draining hospital atmosphere and macabre doctor chats - so naturally my food choices were less than superb, but I managed.

Breakfast: half of a bagel slice w/ Tofutti herb+chive cream cheese, mango passion juice

Snack: chips and guac at work (no queso! yay!)

Lunch: Usual tofu burrito

Snack: Lots of organic grapes, a few orange slices, TJ's Strawberry Cereal Bar (Not Vegan!)

Dinner: Falafel wrap from Azar's (delish) w/ a Mountain Dew from the hospital vending machines (needed some caffeine)

UPDATE: I found some raw cashew pieces at another natural foods store, Terra Nova, and I bought what little they had left (a pound or so)...so if I get time tomorrow, I'm going to make a cheese block of some sort! But sick relatives always come first, so I may be munching on snacks at the hospital.

My first nap in a while

2006-05-27T17:59:00.000-05:00

I tried to eat some carbs this morning before I went out to run errands and work at Moe's, but I still needed a nap. Most times I just barrel through the exhaustion and do some dishes (which I definitely still need to do), but this time I just ate my free burrito and laid on the couch until I fell asleep for a few hours.

I called the Heritage this afternoon after work, but they were still out of raw cashew pieces. I'm trying to make some of this vegan block cheese, but the recipe calls for raw cashews. I already bought some agar agar, in whole form, from an asian market. This is the last hard-to-find ingredient on the list. By the way, anybody ever tried some of these vegan block cheese recipes? More specifically, any from the Uncheese Cookbook by Joanne Stepaniak?

Also, WARNING! In my Trader Joe-induced euphoria, I bought some shredded soy cheese - and didn't read the label! It contains casein (milk protein) and I'm pissed. I'm going to eat it and just learn my lesson, because I'm not going to toss it, but let it be a lesson to us all!

Must admit, I cheated on the line again with some chips and queso and a chocolate chip cookie melted in the burrito steamer. Slowly but surely! I tried to snack on some chips and guac on the line, but the queso is like a wicked tractor beam for me.

Monday - the holiday! - I have plenty planned. I'm going to clean that damn kitchen and cook a bit. I'm not sure what, but I'm going to cook some stuff. I was hoping to have these cashew pieces for some cheese blocks, but oh well. Maybe I'll try my hand at some animal-free baking.

Today's Menu:

Breakfast: Trader Joe's Organic Mango Passion Granola* w/ TJ's Vanilla Soymilk*, handfull of organic green grapes, slice of TJ's multigrain bread toasted w/ non-butter

Snacks: chips + queso (Not Vegan!) and guac, chocolate chip cookie (NV!)

Late Lunch: Tofu burrito w/ salsa, guac, grilled veggies and pinto beans

Snack again: lots of grapes

Libation: two tall margaritas, mmm

* This is a great cereal! Granola is usually way too rich for my taste, but this one is great. Although, the mango pieces are super-sweet. I'm about to run out and got another flavor from TJ's to try - Banana Almond Crunch. Should be good.
* I tried vanilla soymilk this time and I love it! Leave it up to me to reach for the sweetened stuff.

it started out good...

2006-05-26T16:13:00.000-05:00

So this morning I was feeling really positive about my food choices. I went to Trader Joe's last night with my mom and we got some great stuff...although, my mom got some Tuna Jerkey and I can only imagine how awful that was. The highlight of my purchases? Some meatless meatballs and some kiwi fruits...but I got tons more.

I had a sad realization yesterday as well that I wouldn't be able to eat naan from my favorite Indian places anymore...they usually have milk products and are always finished with some butter on top. But a lot of places have breads called roti or allo pratha (stuffed with potatoes, cilantro, etc.) that are whole wheat and I'm excited to try those soon. Also, it is a bit sad sometimes when you realize the extent of going vegan, but soon after you realize that it forces you to try new things (and if you're like me - someone who gets the same thing over and over - it's a relief to have someone/something/somedietchoice decide for you) you'll get excited and feel better about the choice.

Now, to admit, today wasn't that vegan of a day. I said before that I work at Moe's Southwest Grille (a franchise burrito chain) and sometimes on the line I get hungry (starving) if I haven't eaten a big enough breakfast. Well, all it took was a little chip with some queso blanco and I was gone. I ate a bunch of those "little bites" on the line. Then I ate a chocolate chip cookie. But that's it! Like I said, I'm writing this to stay honest and real about the whole "going vegan" thing so maybe other people slowly phasing the life change in will say "yeah, it is tough at first, not just for me."

Today's Menu:

Breakfast: Half of an everything bagel w/ earth balance spread and tofutti BT Cream Cheese (herb and chive flavor)*, blood orange soda*

Snacks: chips with queso(NV!), chocolate chip cookie (NV!)

Lunch: My free burrito: Tofu, guac, grilled veggies, pinto beans, pico de gallo, raw onions, soda (I know! It's my weakness)

A dinner of snacks: blue corn chips, veg refried beans, guacamole*, tofutti sour cream, blood orange soda, Tofutti Cutie

* This is my first run-in with Tofutti Better Than Cream Cheese and this was the only kind available - the herb flavor - and it's not too bad. I will probably finish the whole tub (which is a good sign - not all meat/dairy/egg product replacements can say the same in my book), but I think I might try the plain next time.

* What?! Soda for breakfast!? I know, it seems bad, but it's the Trader Joe's blood orange soda and it's delicious. It doesn't have caffeine or phosphoric acid or anything..it's basically just juice concentrate with soda water. It's great! And they just came out with a lemon soda. I usually have some mango orange juice, but I forgot to put it in the fridge last night and I hate it warm.

* This guacamole is quite possibly the tastiest I've found at the grocery store. I had it first at a friend's house figuring, yeah it's good, but it came from the grocery store, who know's what's in it? But it's all natural! Not organic, of course, but no preservatives. And it comes sealed in plastic that you squirt into the tub - this is to prevent the oxidation of the avocados. Pretty cool. It's called Santa Barbara Guacamole

foods can trick you!

2006-05-25T09:31:00.000-05:00

So, I'm slowly beginning to realize how many things contain animal by-products. This morning I ate a piece of pound cake without even realizing, then I got some chex mix..the chex mix has whey! (see: milk).

I'm super tired and worn out this week, which has made me a little nonchalant when it comes to the label reading. Only after I've been munching for a bit do I check the label - but I'm still practicing this new, more conscious way of eating. Plus, I did better on the second half of the day

Today's menu:

Breakfast: Raspberry soy yoguts w/some mango granola mixed in, orange mango juice

Snacks galore: 3 pieces of pound cake (Not Vegan!), Chex Mix (NV!)

Lunch: Walked to Zero's for the Cosmo Deluxe (veggies+ broccoli, zucchini and peppers) w/ mustard, oil and vinegar - look ma, no cheese or mayo! Then I had some baked lays and a soda. Quick story, speaking of labels, my favorite potato chip is the barbeque baked lays - sooo good - but I found out after some reading it contains eggs, unfortunately.

Dinner: Welcome to Moe's!!! I stopped by the Moe's in N.N., outside of Trader Joe's tonight after some awesome shopping. I must say, the Moe's I work at is much better + this place wouldn't give me my employee discount!! I got the usual - tofu burrito w/ grilled veggies, another soda!

beautiful day

2006-05-24T16:54:00.000-05:00

So, I did a little better in my attempted vegan endeavor today. I ate at Machismo - a burrito bar downtown - for the first time! I felt a little dirty since I work at Moe's on the weekend (a watered down chain version of Machismo)...but I was interested to see how they do it.

My burrito was delicious. You have a choice on the rice! I got bright, yellow saffron rice instead of the typical (and in my opinion, not very delicious) brown option. I also went for the pinto beans. I also got Boca (meat substitute) for my meat choice, but next time I might just go all veggie. Another beautiful thing? You have a choice on the tortilla, too! I got a sundried tomato one. As for the rest: nondairy sour cream, soy cheese, medium salsa (not very spicy at all), onions, guacamole (costs extra, fifty cents!). Watch out - my burrito ran me more than 7 bucks - another reason I'll probably always hit up Moe's (employee discount!). But Machismo is worth it as a rare treat, despite the price. It took me a while to down, but I did it sitting in the comfort of my little gray cubicle.

Another positive, I'm really enjoying Tofutti brand things. I bought the sour cream and some herb/chive cream cheese. I've tried the sour cream, and am loving it! Now, being a former dairy fanatic, I'll admit it's never going to be the same as some Helluvagood or Daisy, but on top of some nachos or a potato and you'll never know. It's only in the full, naked spoonfuls is the difference noticed.

Today's menu:

Breakfast: Trader Joe's Organic Mango Passion Granola + TJ's Soy Milk + lots 'o vitamins (I've missed a bunch of days on my vitamins, so my stomach is wrecked, but i'm trying to get back on track)

Lunch: Boca burrito from Machismo! + 20 oz. Diet Coke (yuck, I know)

Snack: Veg Refried Beans + organic blue corn chips + nondairy sour cream (this is quickly becoming my favorite snack..hence the reason I'm running out of sour cream already), orange mango juice

Dinner: Veg baked beans (I ate these as prepared, but I think they definitely need some doctoring) + Tofurky Kielbasa w/ mustard, ketchup and sauerkraut (i'll probably never get these again - and have trouble eating the rest - maybe I didn't like kielbasa in the first place and didn't remember?) + Tofutti cutie + orange mango juice

Also, thanks P.Waldo for the tips! I'll have to check out Dragon City. I'm not that big of a chinese food fan (gasp!), but I do adore hot and sour soup.

After work tomorrow my mom and I are taking a Trader Joe's trip. My mom and brother became obsessed with edamame a few days ago and now can't get their minds off the little, salty pods. TJ sells frozen edamame in the pods, or they even have them shelled, but the best part is sucking the salt of the furry outside anyways.

the very first day of this...

2006-05-24T15:44:00.000-05:00

For the past week I've been in a funk...never getting enough rest, when I do I've fallen asleep propped up in bed with a book on my chest until i wake up with a terrible kink in my back, tooo much soda, beer and wine all weekend....and the list of body torture continues.

This is the first post of a daily (hopefully) where I list what I ate/drank. I'm attempting to cut all animal derived products out of my life and I'm starting with the food and drink part. I'm also purchasing cruelty-free products when the times come. Looking to the future, I plan to lead a life free of anything produced at another living thing's expense (even humans!). I'll also list interesting trips to the grocery store / farm market / health food store and my purchases.

Why did I decide to do this? It's a long, deep seeded and typical explanation, but the real impetus for the life change is a few important books. I'll list them soon, but they've really allowed me to see things differently and forced me to recognize my currently cruel lifestyle. You can't un-know things, so you might as well react.

I'm also going to acknowledge that this is not going to be a quick change - I love meatball subs just as much as the next person, and the cheese melted on those meatballs even more - but I hope this blog will serve as an accurate, real and humbling account of what it's like to go vegan from food, to clothes, to cleaning supplies and tampons. But I have cut meat out of my diet for a while - minus a piece of calimari at Greek Fest this past weekend. Now I'm tackling the dairy, egg, by-product stuff.

I guess what I'm saying is, don't go veggy police on me. I still have butter in my fridge that I'm not going to just throw away (I'll either give it to my mom, or use it until it's gone....then go for the vegan version next time I'm at the store). Also, there's no reason for me to toss half of my wardrobe right now. I'll wear the clothes and shoes until they fall apart or don't fit me anymore - at which time I'll donate/toss them and purchase a vegan option.

And what is the sad part of this day? The food I ate...I plan on going out for a few beers tonight, so I may edit this, but it's bad enough as is:

breakfast: Trader Joe's Strawberry Cereal Bar (NOT vegan), bottle of water

snack: can of Diet Pepsi, package of Cream Cheese and Chives crackers (NOT vegan), two little peanut butter cookies from a co-worker (NOT vegan)

lunch: half a tray of fettucini alfredo from Gusto's (NOT!!!!), half of a half loaf of garlic bread w/ butter and herbs (NOT vegan)

*THEN! Instead of getting a bottle of water, I bought a 20 oz. bottle of diet pepsi, but I barely drank a third of it.

dinner: hummus wrap from the Heritage, Kiwi Berry Nantucket Nectar

Not a very vegan day at all, but I'm working on it. Once I get a good trip to the grocery store in I'll start packing my lunch rather than blowing a bunch of cash at a place downtown. This is just the beginning - wish me luck!

UPDATE! Last night I ate some veg refried beans, blue corn chips and some tofutti sour cream, drank some organic mango/orange juice....then i went to the bar and had 2 Edinger Hefeweizens...mmm