I love summer, the sun, the green, the food...
How can you NOT love summer foods?
Anywho - I've been working on a few meal plans for the sabbats and yesterday got to try my hand at Peach & Blackberry crisp. AWESOMENESS. I will post the recipe in July after my article about celebrating Lammas is published.
Right now I'm enjoying some good ole comfort food... You're all going to think I'm crazy. I probably am. Instant mashed potatoes + edamame + nutritional yeast + black pepper + bac'n bits + a white sauce (almond milk, margarine, flour) turned gravy (half a cube of fake chick'n bouillon & a splash of tamari). I'm in heaven. I think it could have done without the tamari because of how salty the bouillon is - but it tastes so awesome.
Sunday, June 26, 2011
Wednesday, June 15, 2011
June 15, 2011
Today is Michael & my 10 year anniversary. TEN YEARS!!! I am so blessed to have him in my life!
Anyway - I don't know about all you folk, but cooking is low on my "to-do" list. I'd rather be (outside, in yoga, playing on the computer, chatting on facebook) than writing a blog about cooking when I'm not cooking. HOWEVER. I did recently sign up to write a series of articles, celebrating the Sabbats as a vegan. I started off with the following article which I did NOT re-read OR edit. So... yeah. :D
Vegan
Most people think of “vegans” as those people that don’t eat meat. However, the definition on Dictionary.com states a vegan is “A person who does not eat or use animal products”. Veganism is not only a dietary choice, but a way of life in which someone chooses to not only NOT eat animal products but also not wear them or use them in any way. For the sake of my discussion here, I will only touch on veganism as a dietary decision, versus as a way of life as that would prompt a much larger discussion than what I have room for.
I always assumed it was a widely known fact that people knew vegetarians didn’t eat meat. When telling someone I was a vegetarian I always received an inquisitive look, however they almost always had an idea already in their mind of what I would say next. However, when I became vegan April of 2011, I received an overwhelming amount of puzzled looks followed by “What’s that?”.
Well… a vegan is someone that doesn’t eat meat, dairy, eggs, often honey. However – there are other things that they don’t eat that people are less familiar with. Some breads for instance contain milk or egg. Some beers have been processed with gelatin, and while we’re speaking of gelatin that crosses jello and marshmallows off the list. What is gelatin? You know when you cook a turkey and the liquid in the pan cools & hardens up a little – like jello? Yes. That is gelatin, but it can come from many sources, not just turkey.
Some sugar is processed with bone char, so it is often considered to be not vegan. Even some food dyes are made by crushing beetles, you know that strawberry yogurt you love so much? The red dye? Yeah. NOT strawberries. Even salad dressings can have an animal based product in them to keep the oils from separating. Honestly, what is a vegan supposed to do?
I did not take my decision to become vegan lightly. There were many reasons to decide to remove the last remaining dairy and seafood products from my diet. There is more scientific data out there that fish are sentient beings, capable of thinking and feeling. I had a pet goldfish once… it was dumb. However when he was hungry and saw me coming his way he got all excited and started swimming back and forth to get my attention. He KNEW seeing ME meant food. We also know that chemicals found in seafood, especially the larger fish, such as PCBs build up in their bodies are transferred to OUR bodies when we eat them. It wasn’t a hard decision to take them out of my diet.
It was also not at all difficult for me to remove egg from my diet because… well, because raw eggs gave me the heebee jeebees. Also, because I knew that it probably came from an abused chicken that had never known freedom and also that the moment it stopped producing eggs, would be one of the last moments of its life before it became cat food. I didn’t want to be the reason one more chicken was stuck in a tiny cage without fresh sunlight, fresh air or freedom.
When it came to dairy products such as milk and cheese… I had a MUCH harder time. I love cheese. I could sit down and eat a whole 8 oz block of almost any cheese in one sitting. This is what ultimately pushed me to become vegan. I had no sense of self control & it was the reason I was overweight. Also, while delving further into educating myself on what I was putting INTO my body I came across information discussing the hormones put in our milk products which are being accused of causing human bodies to change dramatically from a time when there were no added hormones to the things we eat and drink. So there were a lot of different reasons coming from different places. Even more, as I began to grow in my spiritual beliefs, I real have become to believe that eating animals is not right for me.
Some pagans believe animals are also protected under “An it harm none”. I would never claim that everyone should be vegetarian, as I honestly don’t believe it is right for everyone due to dietary needs, etc. However, for ME I believe that yes, they should be protected, at least in my practice. Especially with the way they are treated in modern farms and factories.
Now, having that said, I would like to continue this as a series, discussing how I incorporate my vegan dietary choices into my practice, especially around the sabbats by giving recipes and meal suggestions. I have found thus far that finding recipes to suit the sabbats and my dietary needs has been increasingly difficult, and I suspect that there are others out there with similar problems. So I think it would be awesome give some ideas for new ways to celebrate the old ways. Let’s drink and be merry without the sacrifice of animals this year!
Anyway - I don't know about all you folk, but cooking is low on my "to-do" list. I'd rather be (outside, in yoga, playing on the computer, chatting on facebook) than writing a blog about cooking when I'm not cooking. HOWEVER. I did recently sign up to write a series of articles, celebrating the Sabbats as a vegan. I started off with the following article which I did NOT re-read OR edit. So... yeah. :D
Vegan
Most people think of “vegans” as those people that don’t eat meat. However, the definition on Dictionary.com states a vegan is “A person who does not eat or use animal products”. Veganism is not only a dietary choice, but a way of life in which someone chooses to not only NOT eat animal products but also not wear them or use them in any way. For the sake of my discussion here, I will only touch on veganism as a dietary decision, versus as a way of life as that would prompt a much larger discussion than what I have room for.
I always assumed it was a widely known fact that people knew vegetarians didn’t eat meat. When telling someone I was a vegetarian I always received an inquisitive look, however they almost always had an idea already in their mind of what I would say next. However, when I became vegan April of 2011, I received an overwhelming amount of puzzled looks followed by “What’s that?”.
Well… a vegan is someone that doesn’t eat meat, dairy, eggs, often honey. However – there are other things that they don’t eat that people are less familiar with. Some breads for instance contain milk or egg. Some beers have been processed with gelatin, and while we’re speaking of gelatin that crosses jello and marshmallows off the list. What is gelatin? You know when you cook a turkey and the liquid in the pan cools & hardens up a little – like jello? Yes. That is gelatin, but it can come from many sources, not just turkey.
Some sugar is processed with bone char, so it is often considered to be not vegan. Even some food dyes are made by crushing beetles, you know that strawberry yogurt you love so much? The red dye? Yeah. NOT strawberries. Even salad dressings can have an animal based product in them to keep the oils from separating. Honestly, what is a vegan supposed to do?
I did not take my decision to become vegan lightly. There were many reasons to decide to remove the last remaining dairy and seafood products from my diet. There is more scientific data out there that fish are sentient beings, capable of thinking and feeling. I had a pet goldfish once… it was dumb. However when he was hungry and saw me coming his way he got all excited and started swimming back and forth to get my attention. He KNEW seeing ME meant food. We also know that chemicals found in seafood, especially the larger fish, such as PCBs build up in their bodies are transferred to OUR bodies when we eat them. It wasn’t a hard decision to take them out of my diet.
It was also not at all difficult for me to remove egg from my diet because… well, because raw eggs gave me the heebee jeebees. Also, because I knew that it probably came from an abused chicken that had never known freedom and also that the moment it stopped producing eggs, would be one of the last moments of its life before it became cat food. I didn’t want to be the reason one more chicken was stuck in a tiny cage without fresh sunlight, fresh air or freedom.
When it came to dairy products such as milk and cheese… I had a MUCH harder time. I love cheese. I could sit down and eat a whole 8 oz block of almost any cheese in one sitting. This is what ultimately pushed me to become vegan. I had no sense of self control & it was the reason I was overweight. Also, while delving further into educating myself on what I was putting INTO my body I came across information discussing the hormones put in our milk products which are being accused of causing human bodies to change dramatically from a time when there were no added hormones to the things we eat and drink. So there were a lot of different reasons coming from different places. Even more, as I began to grow in my spiritual beliefs, I real have become to believe that eating animals is not right for me.
Some pagans believe animals are also protected under “An it harm none”. I would never claim that everyone should be vegetarian, as I honestly don’t believe it is right for everyone due to dietary needs, etc. However, for ME I believe that yes, they should be protected, at least in my practice. Especially with the way they are treated in modern farms and factories.
Now, having that said, I would like to continue this as a series, discussing how I incorporate my vegan dietary choices into my practice, especially around the sabbats by giving recipes and meal suggestions. I have found thus far that finding recipes to suit the sabbats and my dietary needs has been increasingly difficult, and I suspect that there are others out there with similar problems. So I think it would be awesome give some ideas for new ways to celebrate the old ways. Let’s drink and be merry without the sacrifice of animals this year!
Friday, May 20, 2011
Easy artichoke pasta salad - soy free.
From what I've read there are lots of reasons to eat soy, and lots of reasons to NOT eat soy. I've decided to stop eating as much of it as possible - but its mostly because, well... my body doesn't like it :P So I've been kind of bummed because I've been unable to eat one of my favorite summer time foods, artichoke salad. Until now. I found a recipe for mayo-free artichoke salad and I added to it. I not only added FRESH basil & parsley, but I also added a tiny bit of thyme & oregano (or is it marjoram?!) ALL FROM MY GARDEN!! I also diced up a few radishes and tossed them in. I used the tri-color rotini pasta. It is AWESOME. Honest! I'd be posting a picture but once again have misplaced my camera cord. So you'll just have to believe me for now (or make it!). The colors are beautiful and it would add a bit of flair to just about any meal. :) GO TRY IT!
Thursday, May 5, 2011
Red potatoes. YUM!
So, last weekend was Beltane & on Sunday I decided to celebrate with a little fire out back. I made myself a little meal of boiled red potatoes SMOTHERED in a herb "butter" sauce & then grilled zucchini & red pepper over the fire. It was AWESOME!!! Not exactly healthy, but still AWESOME!
So this is the sauce:
I poured maybe 2 TBSP of safflower oil into a medium sauce pan and heated it over medium heat. I then dropped a sprig or three of both fresh oregano and thyme into it. Followed by a dollop (maybe 2 more TBSP) of margarine into it, took it off the heat and let it melt. Add to potatoes. Eat. *heart* The second time I made this sauce I added a PINCH of powdered dry rosemary since it can be so overwhelming. It was equally tasty. Wish I had taken a picture. *edit to add* I DID! I DID TAKE A PICTURE!
Thursday, April 21, 2011
Pesticides and organic foods.
Came across this Yahoo link I wanted to share, listing the top 12 foods to eat organic because you can't rid them of pesticides.
Sunday, April 10, 2011
What's for dinner?!?! Kulbyaka & Blackberry Peach sorbet
Oh My Goddess.
So, earlier int he week Kathy came across a bunch of dill and couldn't pass it up. She loves dill. I happen to love dill too! Yay! One of her favorite recipes is Green Lentil Kulbyaka which can be found in this awesome awesome cook book. Unfortunately, its not vegan. So we make a few adjustments. For starters, we skip the eggs. I'm SURE that it would have more body if we added tofu or something, but to be honest... with all the flavor that is already in this... its unnecessary. Maybe I'll try it some day. The second "change" was vegan margarine versus butter. No big surprise there. The third change... we used a crap ton of dill. It calls for 2 Tbsp fresh, we probably used 3 or 4. We also used less parsley because we had MORE dill. Fourth change... instead of using a max of 8 sheets of filo pastry, we used a whole roll. Maybe... 12 sheets? More? Super extra crispy nom. Overkill? Maybe just a little.
Oh, yeah, we definitely added more mushrooms too.
All in all this is one of my all time favorite lentil dishes.
Ok, ok, i'm rushing to the sorbet, relax already!
We had this baggie of frozen blackberries in the freezer - these are NOT store bought, but either picked fresh or picked up from a farmer's market. Kathy is so freaking awesome about buying TONS of fruit and freezing it for to make the long winters more bearable. So I came across THIS recipe for blackberry sorbet and adjusted it by adding 2 cups of frozen (thawed) peaches. I did not add any more agave or water.
This... is... the... shiznit... and by THAT I mean it is SO WONDERFUL! YAY! What a feast! "Feast of kings" maybe :)1
Saturday, April 2, 2011
Yay for almond "feta cheese"! Again!
I think I've posted about this before, and probably shared a photo. However, after reading a review saying it was ok not to,I decided it wasn't worth it to peel the almonds before making it. It still turned out FABULOUS. I made a double batch, forgetting just how big a single was... silly me! Anyway, currently eating it on EVERYTHING. Right now I'm eating a flour tortilla with tomato, avocado, white rice, refried beans, black olives and the "feta" with a little hot sauce on top, yum! I didn't think ahead of time, but I guess I could have sprinkled it on my steamed kale too! Oooh.
Tonight Kathy is going to make a vegan pizza with the feta, tomato and mushrooms. I'm so excited that I can hardly contain myself. :P
YAY! PIZZA!!
Tonight Kathy is going to make a vegan pizza with the feta, tomato and mushrooms. I'm so excited that I can hardly contain myself. :P
YAY! PIZZA!!
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