A Change of Heart

No, no worries about me having turned back from veganism! Just a decision to turn back to a focus on vegan food, its tastiness, and nutritional benefits within this blog. In a web search to find out the history behind the word, "vegan," (my in-laws wanted to know more), I found some rather crass (and uneducated) anti-vegan posts. (I'm warning you now - don't go there unless you're in a good mood!) It got me to thinking, "Wow! There are still a TON of people out there who think that vegans are undernourished, sickly....freaks!" The comments led me to realize that many people have no idea about the horrible ways that animals are treated, the disastrous effects to our planet, and the multiple health hazards they are posing to their own body.

I have reached the vegan lifestyle by reading articles and books and watching videos (like the ones linked to, above), and cannot ever imagine eating meat or animal products ever again. I often wonder how people can stop being vegetarian or vegan. How do people have their eyes opened to the truth, and then decide to ignore what their conscience has told them is morally wrong? I suppose that many "used to be vegans/vegetarians" initially switched for health reasons, and never saw the animal rights or environmental side of it.
Actually, I just read a great book (Making a Killing, by Bob Torres, author of Vegan Freak) about how our consumerism, capitalism, and social hierarchies are permitting these inequities and horrors to continue. He also points out how people can continue eating meat, even though they "know" where it comes from, because of this hierarchy that causes us to view animals as "lesser" beings. But at any rate, I figured it's time to return to the roots of this blog (teaching people about how healthy, delicious and varied vegan food is!) because there are apparently many people out there who are rather.... confused. :)
My sole post for this week is the Chickpea Cutlet, from Veganomicon. My husband and I have been on a nice spring break vacation in Florida, so I have not been cooking or baking at all! My lovely mother-in-law managed to make several delicious dishes from La Dolce Vegan, including a Mexican Casserole, Oatmeal Cookies, and stuffed sweet potatoes. And I didn't gain a pound! I whipped up these cutlets in about 35 minutes (about 5 minutes of work and about half an hour of oven time). They were chewy, dense, and rather like seitan! The flavor was a bit bland, but when I chopped my cutlet up and threw it in with the tri-color rotini and organic pasta sauce (ok, and I added the peas - why make more work to eat?), it was delish. The protein in the wheat gluten and chickpeas (in the cutlet) was the perfect portion size, with zero cholesterol and the only fat from the heart-healthy olive oil.

So, the rest of my post just consists of a couple of pictures of our trip. We saw so much wildlife there - it really felt like a vegan vacation! We saw these pelicans on the docks of the marina and they were funny creatures - almost like penguins in their walk. We went down one evening to watch the sunset, and ended up watching the pelicans diving for fish! Now that is a natural diet and habit.


Later in the trip, we visited a wonderful bird sanctuary, home to animals as exotic as the bald eagle, and as common as the crow and seagull. Staffed by volunteers and funded by donations, the Peace River Wildlife Center is an extraordinary place. It was clear how passionately the workers cared about these animals. With the way that visitors cried in delight at their beauty and sadness at their losses (many birds there have only one wing, leg or foot), it made me realize just how much I am glad to be vegan. I don't take the leg, foot, or wing of any animal, for any reason.

The Ups and Downs of Spring

I always take a chance when I try a new recipe (which is every week), but when it comes from a reliable source (a good cookbook or awesome blogger), I am usually confident that it will turn out quite well.

Unfortunately, even in good cookbooks (for example, I have made several not-so-great recipes from Everyday Vegan and Candle Cafe Cookbook), there are bound to be recipes that just aren't worth making.

I wouldn't say that this recipe sucks, since that's a pretty strong word, but let's just say I was really, really disappointed. Chocolate and coconut have to be two of the best combinations ever, and when you throw in maple syrup, agave nectar, and oatmeal, what could go wrong? Well, these Choco-Coco-Oat Bars from the Urban Vegan's blog sounded soooo good and soooo easy, I thought I would whip them up to serve at my recent Sierra Club meeting. I don't know if it was the pan that I used (you can see it was a glass pie plate - my regular metal pans were all dirty), because a lot of times the pan can make a huge difference in baking. However, I measured everything very carefully, followed the very easy directions, and made sure my oven thermometer was reading the correct temperature (the gauge that came with the stove is often a little off).
The results? A topping that was sublime and decadent. And a bottom that was crumbly, under baked, and completely ....well, inedible. The top and bottom parts didn't mesh at all - they were two separate and disappointing entities. I ate some of the topping out of guilt (what a waste of ingredients!) but had to throw it out in the end. Did anyone else make this with better results? I really want to make it again, but don't dare until I figure out what went wrong.
Meanwhile, these Maple-Pecan Sticky Blondies from Eat, Drink and Be Vegan, were the complete opposite. Easy, decadent, and they came out completely perfect! One of the best desserts I have made in a loooooong time. Kind of reminded me of Isa's Macadamia Nut Blondies from Vegan with a Vengeance!





Last, but not least, I whipped up some Ethiopian Chickpea Wat from Veg News this week for dinner. It was super, super easy and soooo comforting! A kind of good-bye meal to winter, as we welcome spring....thank god!!! Not that winter was terribly hard for us this year. But as a teacher, I only got about two days off - if that! We usually get several days and enjoy the snow. I think the only major snowfall we had (beyond a dusting) was back in December! For someone who hates winter, I was pretty disappointed in the lack of pretty, white snow! So, at any rate, we're full into spring already here, so here are some non-food photos of what I am feasting my eyes on!

Hemp, Vegans, and E-Magazine

Argh! I am totally frustrated with the little snippets of incorrect information being fed to the mass public about vegans and vegetarians! Take, for instance, this recent article in E-magazine. (http://www.emagazine.com/view/?4109) (It is funny that I subscribe to this magazine, as the most environmentally-friendly magazine would not use trees, but I thought I would try it just for a year, after reading some good articles in an issue I picked up. Also, they have just online subscriptions, too).

At any rate, the article states crazy things like, "to get omega 3 from a protein plant source is far less efficient than eating a piece of fish or fish oils," and that hemp, "can be part of a diet that contains fish and lean proteins. I don't rely on plant proteins as a full energy source because they are not complete." I was baffled, annoyed, and angry. Hence, the following letter to the editor. Hopefully, this will inspire people to check their facts, and if you already know them, to write in and correct the facts, even in random magazines like Better Homes and Gardens because...people believe what they read!

Dear E-Magazine Editor,

At first, I was excited and encouraged to see your article, “The New Super Foods,” in your March/April 2008 issue. As a longtime vegetarian and vegan, I know a lot about foods like the Goji berry and hemp seeds/oil, and other seemingly, “exotic” foods. I was glad to find that other magazines are seeing the connection between healthy eating and the health of our planet. Going vegan is actually better for the environment than switching from a standard American car to a Prius! (UN Report- Livestock’s Long Shadow). However, I was quickly dismayed and angered by the incorrect information given by Esther Blum, an apparent registered dietitian, and by the author of the article, a student at Vassar.

Blum stated that hemp, “can be part of a diet that contains fish and lean proteins. I don’t rely on plant proteins as a full energy source because they are not complete.” This is complete and utter nonsense. Search any health site, speak to any knowledgeable doctor or nutritionist, and they can tell you that hemp is in fact a complete protein, containing not only the perfect combination of essential fatty acids omegas 3 & 6, but also all 20 essential amino acids, including the nine that the body cannot produce. In fact, it has higher amounts of these amino acids than egg whites, tofu and whole cow’s milk. A small amount of hemp seeds provides all these things in a form that is extremely digestible, especially compared to soy and dairy, which many people have difficulties with. In addition, all hemp products do not contain THC (your article stated that they do). Manitoba Harvest, one company recommended at the end of your article, is one such company that produces non-THC hemp. Other non-meat complete proteins (for vegans) include: amaranth, quinoa, soy, Spirulina, Red Star nutritional yeast and buckwheat. Of course, vegetarians who eat dairy and eggs can obtain non-meat proteins through these products. Fish and seafood are not vegetarian.

I also found it disturbing that Blum stated, “to get omega-3 from a protein plant source is far less efficient than eating a piece of fish or fish oils.” This is a vague and incorrect statement, according to a doctor I contacted and several other sources, as there are too many factors which affect the efficiency of omega fat absorption. In fact, fish obtain their omegas through algae! Thus, the most direct, “efficient,” route would be to eat the seaweed or algae yourself, as many people in the world do. In addition, fish products and fish oil can contain contaminants such a mercury, heavy metals, and PCBs, while plant products do not.

For years now, even the FDA and USDA acknowledge that vegan and vegetarian diets are completely healthful and provide all the necessary nutrients, including protein. Contrary to past belief, it is not necessary to eat plant foods in certain combinations in single meals, to acquire the complete protein benefits, though it is easy to do so. For example, vegetarians and vegans should combine legumes with seeds, nuts, or whole grains. This is as easy as eating hummus with whole wheat pita bread, a veggie burger on a bun, or tortillas and refried beans. In fact, you don’t even have to eat these foods at the same meal, to acquire the full nutritional and protein benefits, just in the same day.

In the future, please get your nutritional facts straight and double check such information, especially when authors are not experienced in the field.

Thank you.

Now I leave you, dear blogger, with something to brighten your day: vegan food pics!

Banana Date Scones from Veganomicon (a little dry, but good when fresh or reheated!)

Slow-Cooker Vindaloo from Vegetarian Times (spicy, quick and good!)




And easy, oh-my-god delicious and moist, Swirly Berry Brownies from Sinfully Vegan (raspberry flavor).

Mmmm..... cookies.... although these Chocolate Macadamia Nut cookies sound fancy, they were super easy to whip up for my scrap booking (Stampin' Up) afternoon last weekend. I hate to go to someone's house and not bring something!
They were really, really good straight out of the oven, but after a couple of days they got kind of hard. They aren't very sweet - but good and chocolaty. Oh, and they came from the Candle Cafe Cookbook. I thought the book deserved a second chance after last week's tabbouleh debacle. I'm giving the book yet another chance to prove itself (after all, it has given me incredible dishes and that yummy Power Porridge, which I've been eating hot all week) with a Lentil Vegetable Soup tonight. Wish me luck!

Meanwhile (back at the ranch), my lunch this week was pretty tasty. I found some lavash bread at BJ's, of all places (that's one of those large volume discount stores with membership dues), so I thought some wraps were in order. I'm kind of hummused out.... So here's what was inside these Lentil Veggie Wraps from The Everyday Vegan: red lentil spread, green leaf lettuce, shredded organic carrots, red bell pepper strips (alas, not organic) and cucumber strips, topped with a Sweet Red Wine Vinaigrette.
Here it is, all neatly wrapped up! I further wrapped it in some parchment paper and aluminum foil, which I was able to reuse several times during the week. Unfortunately, the lentil spread left much to be desired. It was a bit dry (ok, I could have fixed that) and bland, despite my having added extra seasoning. The texture was a bit off. At any rate, I won't make that spread again, but the whole wrap was yummy, yummy! I'm using the rest of the lavash bread this week for similar wraps, this time with Dreena's very successful and delicious Cannelini Yam Hummus, from Vive Le Vegan. This particular hummus had got to be my favorite sandwich spread ever! It is slightly sweet from the yam (sweet potato- whatever!), mild from the white beans, with a great kick from the hot pepper sauce and fresh zest from the lime juice! I can't wait :)
Now, I have to end this blog with a thought about what has been nagging me for a day or so now.... because of my personal goal to lead a more peaceful life, and to make life more peaceful for those I interact with, I am attracted to news stories and discussions where peace and non-violence are the message. I was really struck by what Nicholas Burns, a top U.S. Diplomat who has just left his current job, had to say about peace, the United States, and our foreign relations. Basically, he stated that we must meet other countries halfway, show respect and interest, and rebuild our alliances, because globalization has made it impossible to solve certain problems on our own (I hate to reference Iraq here, but isn't that a good example? Imagine how much more progress we could have made by now with worldwide assistance and/or support??). A lot of fear-mongering and hatred has been aimed at foreigners, immigrants, etc, and has not helped the world's perception of us. Some people might say it shouldn't matter what others think of us, but unfortunately, if we want to get things accomplished (or get what we want) we often don't have the luxury of being the Lone Ranger.
It is funny because at the UU (Unitarian Universalist) church I have begun attending, today's sermon was "Non-Violent Communication." Timely, huh?

Happy Vegan Anniversary!

I was dying to blog about this last week, but didn't have much energy....so, here's a huge catch up!

In celebration of my birthday (remember, last year we went to New York City and The Candle Cafe?), this year was spent in our nation's capitol (we just call it, 'DC') to visit the Holocaust museum and the modern art museum (the Hirshhorn). I guess it was appropriate that we finally went to Sticky Fingers Bakery and Cafe, since I realized it was also my two year vegan anniversary! Hard to believe I've been without real cheese for that long- jk! I don't even miss it anymore. The horrible treatment of cows in the process to give me something that's not even that healthy for me, is worth missing every bite. So anyway, here is a famous sticky bun (which I ate ALL BY MYSELF - what a hog! - no, really, I rarely eat sweets, so I deserved every bite! Besides, I didn't get a cake this year :( so this was my cake...) alongside my husband's choice, which happened to be a wicked awesome Cowvin Cookie (oatmeal cookie bars with creamy filling).

This was after I had scarfed down most of this sandwich (well, I only ate one half of the bread - white bread is so low in nutrients!). This TLT (tempeh bacon, lettuce, tomato) sandwich was perfectly crispy and salty with a toothy bite, crunchy lettuce, and perfect layer of Vegannaise.





Here's my husband's choice: a Reuben (vegan, of course). He thinks it would have been better heated up (they do have a microwave right there for you to do so) but I still think it was really good - perhaps better than my TLT?? Doesn't look as pretty, though... :) The best thing about Sticky Fingers was walking in and looking at all the food and thinking.... I can have ANYTHING here I want! It was overwhelming to have so many choices, when I often barely have one in most chain restaurants.

Speaking of pretty, here is a shot (a pretty good looking one, if I do say so myself) of my lunch for the week: Eat, Drink and Be Vegan's Peanut Sesame Hummus with seaweed rice crackers. I laugh when I think about how different my lunches are from everyone else's that I work with! And they are different every week. I enjoyed this with organic baby carrots, celery sticks and snap peas. Neat flavor and twist on the traditional hummus!

But for some reason, I couldn't stand the taste of the raw snap peas! They were acrid tasting - maybe even bitter?- and I couldn't eat them even with the dip. So, I used up some rice noodles and cellophane noodles I had kicking around, along with some frozen veggies, edamame, and fresh veggies I had leftover, to make The Everyday Vegan's Ginger Hoisin Noodles. Yum! I loved this dish. I was so proud of myself for thinking to use up so many things and not waste moola.
In the spirit of trying to use up leftovers and not spend money, I tried to use up my fresh parsley with the Candle Cafe Cookbook's Tabbouleh. It contains very healthy bulgar wheat, as traditional tabbouleh does. Unfortunately, the cost of the tomatoes (even though I used canned because good fresh tomatoes are nowhere in season), onion, garlic and bulgar completely offset the cost of the 99 cent parsley bunch because.... it sucks! I really hate to say that, and honestly, the taste is great. It's just that the taste LINGERS........the red onion, even though I cut it down from the recipe, is just too much to take. I couldn't stand my own breath after eating this dish for lunch today! I don't know what I'm going to do with it. Pick out all the onion, I guess? I've had this problem before with too much onion in this cookbook's recipes.... watch out if you're making a savory dish from there! I've had lots of tabbouleh in my lifetime, but never as pungent as this!

Next up, I made some Blueberry Bounty Buns from Vive Le Vegan for a friend who just had a baby. With almost no sugar but an incredible sweetness due to the blueberries, I knew these would be good for her and her little one. They have lots of ground oats and whole wheat flour, and very little oil, which is as healthy as you can get! My only complaint was how flat they were (more like muffin tops) and how delicate. I also made Vive's Apple Hemp muffins, which as usual, were moist and nutty and goooood! I think that this cookbook is one of my favorite vegan cookbooks ever - everything comes out great!















Last but not least are these Rosemary Tofu Balls from TEV. Don't they look beautifully golden? I had a craving for spaghetti sauce this week, and wanted something to go with it. I had some fresh rosemary to use up (here we go again!) and the rest of the ingredients were easy to pull together. Because it only used half of a container of tofu, I cubed and stir fried up the rest of it to eat with my ginger hoisin noodle leftovers this week.

And here are the results. I was a little disappointed in the tofu balls, as I thought they would taste like non-meatballs (I've made seitan ones before that are great!), but they had a different, curious flavor to them. My husband said they tasted like this sandwich meat spread he grew up eating. I don't think he cared for them much. I thought they were nice and crispy on the outside, but a tad pasty in the middle. Overall not bad, but I probably won't make them again anytime soon. However, the sauce was the real kicker. A nice organic, tomato-basil sauce from Bertolli.... and it sucked! It was watery, too sweet, and not very flavorful. I will make my own next time or use my standby - Del Monte's canned sauce - only 99 cents! And the money comes full circle, I guess.... Happy eating this week! And happy vegan anniversaries to everyone else out there celebrating.

Finger Food

This week involved lots of finger food! I love eating with my hands (that's why I enjoy Ethiopian, Indian, and other similar foods so much!). I've been overwhelmed with all my new cookbooks (not that I have stopped purchasing them!), but trying to make a dent in the recipes I want to make. Here are the treats I made for my friends on Valentine's Day and for our recent Sierra Club meeting. They are the Peanut Butter-Chocolate Squares (or were they bars?) from The Joy of Vegan Baking. They actually made more than the recipe called for (I cut them pretty small, since they taste so rich!), but they were so completely easy! I used up some rice krispie cereal I had (it was still good, don't worry!) and there was no baking involved, so it was a win-win situation all around. They were smooth, a little crispy, and completely yummy! One of my favorite vegan desserts ever, due to their Reese's Peanut Butter Cup flavor!
Here is another shot, take more from the side, so that you can see that they really are pretty thin. I wonder how they'd be in a smaller pan? Anyway, not healthy one bit but soooo very good! So, I had to move on to some healthier grub.







Like I said, it was the week of finger food. I was still on a sandwich kick this week, and trying to save some money, so here was the cheap and easy (ha, ha) Eggless Salad Sandwich, from The Everyday Vegan. It reminded me so much of the egg salad sandwiches I devoured every week when I was a kid! I used to make my own lunch every night before school the next day, and I always made egg salad sandwiches at least once a week. It amazes me how many children (at the school where I teach) have their entire lunches made for them every day, when they are in the upper elementary grades! Get kids into the kitchen, get them involved in their food choices, and let them do some work, for goodness sake! These were filling and flavorful. Tofu has a ton of protein and calcium, and it's perfect for 'faking' egg textures.
Also for the Sierra Club meeting, I made the Roasted Red Pepper-Almond Hummus from Eat, Drink and Be Vegan. I am trying to make as many of her hummus and dips as possible - there are so many! This was excellent, too, and pretty quick to make. Great with pita bread and veggies sticks. The only problem I had was when I was roasting the red pepper. It calls for jarred peppers, but I can't afford those and it's so easy and healthy to roast your own! However, I hadn't done it in a while, and I used Veganomicon's recipe for roasting peppers. In the past, I have used high heat until they are black, then you throw them in a baggie and wait for the steam to loosen the skins for peeling. However, the book doesn't call for getting them black or peeling them, so the temperature was much lower. I had to keep them in the oven so long, they almost completely dried out and I couldn't peel them. So, I threw the pepper into the hummus batch with the burnt skins and all.... and it was still good!
All in all, it was a great week for vegan finger food. Tonight, I move on to make The Everyday Vegan's Black Bean and Millet Patties (I have lots of millet to use up!) and for the week's lunch, Peanut Sesame Hummus with rice crackers and snap or snow peas. Loved reading everyone's posts this past week! I still laugh when people ask me, "what do you eat?" My answer....everything and anything I want!

Happy February!

Growing up in New England, February was often the dreariest month. By then, we were sick of snow, sick of the cold, and ready for spring! These days, in Virginia, I can't say we've had enough snow yet, but I am certainly getting a hankering for a new season! There are changes abound in my little family, but like Urban Vegan, I am still cooking and baking up a storm. Here's what I was up to last week....
We had a baby shower for a good friend at work, and I volunteered to make the cake. Well, I ended up making a chocolate cake (recipe from Sinfully Vegan) with vanilla frosting and then FOUR DOZEN cupcakes! There was plenty to go around, but I sure was ready to yack at the smell of confectioners sugar by the end of the week! It took me two nights to bake and frost them all. (That's a baby's bib on the cake, by the way).





Here are the Pistachio-Rosewater cupcakes from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World (VCTOTW) that I have been meaning to make for quite some time. I was easily able to get the pure rosewater at my local grocery store. They cater to a wide variety of clients! I did use regular vanilla frosting, though, as I wanted to make them pink and do some baby girl-type decorations.






By far the favorite sweets were the Lemon-Macadamia cupcakes, though. They are a bit strong with the lemon flavor, but still amazing. Recipe also from VCTOTW. I've made these before.









Of course, I had to have plain vanilla cupcakes, to satisfy those less-adventurous eaters in the crowd. These are topped with cute (but expensive!) candy pacifiers. Not a single cupcake or slice of cake was left.... After this week of sweets, it's no wonder I turned to something tangy and salty for dinner this weekend....








Here are Cold Udon Noodles with Peanut Seitan (or something like that) from Vegan with a Vengeance. This would have been perfect, had the seitan not crumbled a bit (and burned) in our new cast iron pan. Although we both thought this was very yummy, I think we would have enjoyed it more had it been summertime! The flavors and textures were great, the sauce was perfect, and we buckwheat soba noodles we used instead of the udon were perfect. But still, this would be a better dish in warmer weather.



This was a great dish to use up the seitan I had made a month or so ago and put in the freezer. I froze it in the cooking liquid, in one pound portions. I actually used my mother's old scale to measure this out, which is really a very old postal scale! But, like most things made "back then" it is still very accurate. Here is a shot of the meal after I mixed it up a bit, so you can see the yummy whole grain noodles. It also contains bean sprouts, red pepper strips, cucumber strips, lime wedges and beautiful black sesame seeds. I love eating with chopsticks! Now, I am feeling almost normal again. The sugar has almost worked its way through my system....