Day Two

So, I've already messed up by eating some baklava, which is made with honey. Oh well. Progress, not perfection! I did my first juice. Still drinking it. My juicer is fabulous. It makes what I call "chuice" because there's enough pulp still in it that I have to chew on it. :-D It was a mix of apple (Fuji and Granny Smith), lemon, ginger, parsley, celery, carrot, green pepper, and radish. Not bad, actually.

I also had a bagel and some vegan cream cheese alternative, which was nice. Still on the soda.

I'm also hungry. I'm going to have to make myself a little something. Hopefully I don't go too nuts this time.

Day One

Today was Day One as a vegan. I didn't do particularly well on the eating front. I had the Sweet Greens juice at Starbucks, along with a banana. I had my typical two diet Dr. Peppers, which I really need to stop doing. I had a salad with sesame ginger dressing (Metropolitan Market). I ate about three servings of homemade split pea soup. It was delicious, but a surfeit. 

While I was at it, I went to the fruit stand to buy fruits and vegetables for juicing. I have three juices to make tomorrow. I'm a bit afraid. 

I'm trying to decide whether to toss my dairy and eggs or give them to a friend. They're open, so I can't donate them. I might just make something tasty and bring it to my friends at the wine tasting, but... temptation! We'll see how I feel by next week. Also... cute boy is coming to the wine tasting! I will be bringing my seduction bread and wearing something cute. 

I've been thinking a lot about food, farming, and health. I think I have a good idea for legislation proposal. In order to keep their subsidies, farmers must produce food that is used (not thrown away). Any subsidies lost by the corn/wheat/soy industry fund an addition to the food stamp program. I vote for having a food stamp program that can only be used on fresh produce. Doing so would help people dealing with food scarcity get food that is nutrient dense. 

Holy Documentary!

So, I've apparently been away for quite awhile. Yikes.

In addition to my work and life in general, I have two projects for November: Nanowrimo and the Get Veducated Challenge. That's right, folks, I'm going to try to go vegan for a month. I'm somewhat dubious, but we'll give it a go. Wish me luck.

I'm going to pull out my vegan cookbooks, especially the raw ones. I recently watched Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead as well. Holy crap! Those men are AMAZING. I will definitely be doing some juicing. (I'm a bit afraid, but hopefully we'll get 'er done.)

Right now, I'm drinking tea with milk. I am probably going to be getting rid of the milk (and eggs) in short order. Yikes. Juice recipe to follow.

Project Sweet Sauce: Love Water 2

I've continued with Project Sweet Sauce, albeit with somewhat less enthusiasm than I should. Lacking a beneficiary, I have a bit less motivation than I might otherwise have.

Today, I made my second love water. This one is based on a recipe in Josceline Dimbelby's Practically Vegetarian. The original recipe is for a mousse (very non-vegetarian, courtesy of the gelatin), but what I was after is the flavors: orange, plum, and cardamom.

For my love water, I used two thick slices of orange, one red plum, quartered and pitted, and three cardamom pods, very slightly squished. I'll report back on the results soon.

Project Sweet Sauce Works!: Update 1

I wish I could tell you that I taste like sunshine and berries, but I can't. Lacking a mate, I haven't yet found someone to be my taste-tester. This works on a different level.

After setting my intention and taking steps towards reaching my goal (buying ingredients, making love water, beginning my damned blog), I started to get excited about it. While I'm obviously not telling strangers about it (or the creepy guys at the wine shop who are crushing on me), I'm blabbing about it with great relish to my friends.

The single male variety are generally fascinated. Like, pupils dilated, creeping flush up the cheeks, ever-so-slightly learning forward, talking faster, etc. My conclusion is that whether they taste your goods or not, knowing what you're up to will probably make them want to, even if the thought had never occurred to them before.

Sweet Sauce: Love Water #1

During Project Sweet Sauce, I will be trying to stay well-hydrated. The jury is out on whether or not I will be able to kick the soda habit, but I'm going to be working very hard to drink more water. In order to kill two birds with one stone, I'm going to focus on infusing my water with ingredients that should theoretically start to improve my own personal love juice. This recipe is inspired by one I found in Martha Stewart.

Fresh pineapple (about 3/4 c. large chunks)
Fresh mint (1 small sprig, leaves only)
Water (use distilled or spring if your tap water tastes funny)

Put the chunks of pineapple into a stainless steel bowl. Gently bruise 6-10 whole mint leaves and toss them in as well. Add half a gallon of water. Put in the fridge. You'll be straining it into the pitcher tomorrow.

Bonus points:
Take another quarter cup of pineapple and cut it into small chunks. Put one chunk into each section of an ice cube tray. Add a small mint leaf to each section as well, then pour water over. Pop in the freezer.

Project Sweet Sauce

Despite my current lack of a lover, I've decided to embark upon a romance-oriented self-improvement project. Namely, I plan to try and improve my taste. (No, I don't mean get better taste in men. I mean become more delicious.)

Most of the men who I've "known" have been rather partial to my natural flavor, and having smooched them shortly thereafter, I can say that it is quite inoffensive. It's usually salty and otherwise nondescript, like very mild goldfish crackers. On occasion, it's a bit tart (but not puckeringly sour), like lemon shortbread.

I remain dubious as to whether or not I can totally change the way I taste. However, I suspect that I do have some control over the "range." Based on my research (a blow job workshop at Toys in Babeland many years ago, a cursory glance over the internet, and some of my own personal experience), I have gleaned the following:

1. What you put in your mouth absolutely affects what comes out of you elsewhere. It affects everything from the smell of your breath to the smell of your sweat. Given the number of sweat glands you around your sugar dish, diet can have a pretty big impact.

2. Being well-hydrated helps everything. Think about how much more your pee smells when you haven't had enough to drink. The same goes for sweat. More water = more dilution. Drink more water.

3. Being healthy is essential. Aside from the obvious benefits of a healthy diet, it's good news for your muffin. Balanced pH, lack of overgrown natural flora, etc. It's good sauce. Don't eat crap.

4. Stuff that smells or tastes strong is probably going to affect your taste, for better or for worse. With that in mind, avoid eating things from the cruciferous and allium families. Cut back on beer, coffee, and cigarettes. Don't eat stuff that makes you gassy (while you don't fart out of your vajayjay, you don't want to thank a lover for performing cunnilingus by tooting in their face). Don't eat anything highly spiced, and stuff yourself with delicious fruits, especially those that are highly enzymatic. Tropical and citrus fruits seem to win across the board. Herbal teas, sweet liqueurs, wines, and sweet spices were occasionally mentioned in my sources, so I'll have to let you know.

5. Obviously, good hygiene is essential. Bathe regularly, wear clean clothes, and stay away from any sort of soap or detergent that irritates you.

Strawberry-Rhubarb Jimmies

You may think that jimmies are the oblong sprinkles that you enjoy putting on your ice cream sundae. And you'd technically be correct. However, Jimmies are what I call pâte de fruits. (I've also seen them called gelées.) The first jimmies I made were plums. Some neighbors gifted us with about twenty pounds of plums. I made plum pie. Granny made plum grind-grind (pretty much just what you'd imagine). I also decided to try my hand at confectionary.

This time around, Mom ordered some rhubarb from SPUD (a local grocery delivery service specializing in organic, locally-produced foods). I stole a bunch, along with a lemon and the rest of her strawberries, to try again with another fruit. Clean and trim the fruit and put it into a pot. I wound up with about three cups each of strawberries and rhubarb.

Add the juice of one lemon and 2-3 T. of sugar. Right now, you're just making the puree, so it's okay if this is quite tart. Bring it to a simmer until everything gets mushy. 

Pour the mixture into a strainer that you have set over a large bowl and begin to press it through. If you have a Foley mill, this will be significantly easier. It will probably also be easier if you stick it in the blender and then strain it. (Note to self: don't use your giant, heavy copper pot for this if you don't have a buddy to scrape the pot out while you hold it.)

When you're done pressing it through, you'll wind up with a wad of fiber in the strainer. The bowl will be full of deliciousness. 

Throw this goo away or toss it into your compost bin. If you have a worm bin, you can try it, but worms generally don't appreciate things that are acidic or pure fiber. (They also don't like scalding hot fruit mush, so if you do try it, make sure you let the goo cool.)

Put your puree back into the saucepan, and cook it over medium-low heat until it thickens to an applesauce-like texture. 

Once it is thickened, measure the puree. Put it back into the pot with an equal amount of white sugar. Turn it on over low heat and give it a stir every once in awhile. You have to reduce the heck out of it. It will take at least an hour, probably two. You'll know it is ready because it's really thick and sticky. If you drag your spoon or spatula through it, it will take a few seconds to re-cover the bottom of the pan. 

Pour this mixture into an 8x8 pan that you have lined with parchment or plastic wrap. You will need to smooth it out with a spatula. (It isn't going to spread out that far on its own.) Cover it with more plastic wrap and pop that bad boy in the fridge to set. 

Do a quick check to make sure that nobody poisoned your puree while you weren't looking. 

I later checked the saucepan as well. 

After the stuff is set, you get to do the sticky, messy part. Pull the wrapped Jimmies out of the baking dish and set on a cutting board. Get some white sugar ready on a plate. 

Flip the Jimmies over into the sugar. You want to cover the top with sugar as best as you can. This will help prevent the Jimmies from sticking to the cutting board and making you curse. 

Ta-da! It's a lot like flouring a surface that you will use for kneading. Next, make your sugar sack. You'll be using it to toss the candies around in. It's an easy way to coat them. 

Hello, sugar!

Flip your Jimmies over onto the cutting board so the sugared side is down. Cover the top with a fairly generous coating of sugar as well. This will cut down a bit on the sticking-to-the-knife thing. However, you will still want to have a wet paper towel and a dry paper towel (or a damp sponge and dry dishrag if you are eco-friendly) on hand to clean your knife up when it gets gummy. 

Cut a slice about one inch wide off of the big cake of fruit paste. 

Next, cut that into squares and place them on a plate onto which you have sprinkled some sugar. (These guys will absorb more sugar than you expect them to.) As you set them on the plate, try to make sure they aren't touching. Having room for the air to circulate around them is a good thing.

You'll notice that I have a fairly deep sprinkling of sugar. I wanted to make sure that all sides of my Jimmies had a bit of sugar on them before they went frolicking in my sugar sack. Speaking of which. . . after you've cut all of your fruit paste into squares, drop them (3 or 4 at a time) into your sugar sack and toss them around. Fish them out and put them on another plate. 

After this, wait a few hours (overnight is okay, too) before giving them another toss in the sugar. Repeat once or twice as necessary. Jimmies are done when the sugar coating is not absorbed and the Jimmies stop being sticky to the touch. These Jimmies (above) aren't quite ready yet. 

Ellen's Yummy Spread

My mom used to work with a lady named Ellen, who was a darned good cook. She taught me how to make this spread. Now, I give it to you.

You need:
Cream cheese or neufchâtel (I used the latter. . . one block)
Sundried tomatoes, either packed in oil or soaked in hot water until soft
Capers
Pine nuts
Garlic, minced

Spread the cream cheese or neufchâtel in the bottom of a pie plate or other shallow serving dish.

Peel and press two or three cloves of garlic. If raw garlic is too much for you, put it in a small bowl with a sprinkle of water and zap in the microwave for 30 seconds on high. Sprinkle the garlic onto the cream cheese and spread it around as best as you can.

Now, chop up a big handful of the soaked or oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes. 

Spread them evenly on top of the garlic and cheese, then sprinkle with pine nuts and capers. You can also drizzle it with some of the tomato oil if you'd like. 

That's it! It's delicious on bread and crackers, but keep in mind that it's pretty sturdy, so you'll need a knife to spread it. (It will not work as a dip.)

Roasted Tomato and Fennel Sauce for Pasta

Roma tomatoes, garlic, fennel, pine nuts, basil, kalamata olives, capers. (Olive oil, pepper, salt, and crushed red pepper not pictured.)

Preheat the oven to 375. Halve and seed the tomatoes. 

Slice the fennel. Put it all into a baking dish or pie tin.

Put 1/4-1/2 clove of garlic into each tomato half, top with a piece of basil. Drizzle everything with 1 T. of olive oil and 1 T. of balsamic vinegar. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. 

If you want to have toasted pine nuts and capers, put them into a separate oven-safe receptacle. 

Hello, froggy oven mitt!

Check on the tomatoes and fennel after fifteen to twenty minutes or so. When the fennel has started to get toasty-looking and the tomatoes are soft, flip everything over. 

It's okay if stuff is a bit browner for you. Just toss it back in for another five to ten minutes. 

Peel off the tomato skins and put the tomato flesh, all of the yummy stuff that was in the tomatoes, and the fennel into a small saucepan. 

Here are the toasted pine nuts and capers. The capers will survive up to 25 minutes in the oven, but watch the pine nuts or they will burn. 

Deglaze the roasting pan with water. Add the water to the pot, along with a tablespoon of pine nuts if it sounds good. Let it simmer slowly for about ten minutes. 

Whir with your favorite handheld blender (or do it carefully in your regular blender). Season to taste with salt, pepper, crushed red pepper, fresh basil, olive oil, and balsamic vinegar. Add a generous handful of chopped kalamata olive. 

Put the sauce on whole wheat pasta and top with the toasted capers and pine nuts. It is also quite nice with nutritional yeast, or fresh basil, or anything, really. 

Cabbage "Soft Taco"

This is a good, easy snack or meal.

You'll need:
- a whole green cabbage
- a batch of your favorite taco-style TVP or ground tofu (I used Fantastic Foods boxed mix)*
- pico de gallo
- nutritional yeast

Remove a leaf from the cabbage, keeping it as whole as possible.
Put a couple of tablespoons of the taco mix into the middle. Top with an equal amount of pico de gallo and a teaspoon of nutritional yeast. Wrap it up like a little soft taco and eat it.

Yikes!

I really dropped the ball on this blog. More than two months? Shame on me!

I've had a lot going on: brand-new responsibilities at work, Granny in town (93 years old and still the Energizer Bunny!), and Mom getting ready to sell her house and move back to Minnesota. (Happy for her, but sad that I'll be missing out on seeing her every week.)

Anyway, I've managed to gain somewhere between 5 and 10 pounds, which is not joyous. So, for the next few weeks, I'm going to focus on being somewhat more healthy. You'll be seeing more posts, some of which will include misadventures, I'm sure, as I venture into the world of smoothie-making and raw-food-ing.

My plan is to consume smoothies with some regularity, along with upping my intake of raw fruits and veggies.

Pro tip #1: Try sundried tomatoes on your salad instead of whole tomatoes. Yes, they are higher in calories and lower in water. However, they add textural contrast and extra flavor.

Pro tip #2: Try sprinkling nutritional yeast on your salad. It adds an interesting toasty flavor that I found delightful. Next time, I'm going to put it in the dressing and add capers for something Caesar-y.

Cole Slaw

Cole slaw is complicated. People argue over it. Should it be sweet or tangy? Should it be creamy or vinegary? If it's creamy, do you use mayo or sour cream? Yogurt? What vegetables go in? Should you put in purple cabbage along with the green? Do you need carrots? What about onions? What spices go in? Mustard? Horseradish?

I don't wish to enter the fray. I haven't yet figured out how to replicate my two favorite cole slaws (the one from KFC, which I obviously haven't had in years, and the one from Noah's bagels, which disappeared from the menu when they became Einstein Bros. . . . sad sauce).

Anyway, my plan is simple. The version I show here is ova-vegetarian, but it can be made vegan quite easily. Here is what you will need:

That's a head of cabbage, half an onion, half an apple (Gala, I think), apple cider vinegar, Grey Poupon, and regular mayo (this works just fine with Vegannaise as well). You'll also need sugar and perhaps salt and pepper. I normally do this with a whole apple and a whole onion, so the proportions are a bit off.

First, grate the apple and the onion into a bowl. If you're sensitive to onion fumes, do this under the vent hood or on your patio.

Add a good blob of mustard (there's probably 1.5 T there) and a nice big schlorp of mayo. I'm guessing that's somewhere around 1/2 c.

Stir it up. It will be thick. Add about two tablespoons of sugar and stir it in. Then, begin adding apple cider vinegar. Start with 2 T., but you will almost certainly need more. You want this quite wet.

At this point, you probably have the right texture and volume. Give it a taste. Salt? Pepper? Sugar? Vinegar? Set it aside to relax.

Shred your cabbage as finely as you can manage with your knife. I like to have the longer pieces, so I don't grate.

Dump the sauce over the cabbage and mix it in until everything is completely coated. If you take a bite now, it will be yummy have quite a bite to it. It mellows and develops covered in the fridge.

Fried Pecan and Cheese Balls with Pear Ketchup

This is delicious and fussy, and not very wholesome.

You may be wondering what in the heck I mean by pear ketchup. I'd never heard of it, either. I had heard of mushroom ketchup and walnut ketchup, but I'd only ever eaten the tomato ketchup. In fact, for most of my life, ketchup always meant tomatoes. For most people, it still does. You can look up the history behind ketchup easily, but for the purposes of this discussion, ketchup is a thick, spicy, sweet, tangy sauce made out of vinegar, sweetener, spices, and stuff. (Mushroom? Fruit? Nuts? Some sort of veggie, perhaps?) I first made mine out of pear to accompany some roasted parsnip chips (pear and parsnip = classic). It was delicious, so I started dreaming up other stuff I could do with it. Blue cheese immediately came to mind. I've seen many pear, blue cheese, and walnut salads, so I decided to do something inspired by that. Let's start with the ketchup.

You'll need 2-3 pears. You can use any variety, but make sure they are ripe so there is a lot of pear fragrance and taste.

1. Peel and chop the pears, removing all seeds and the stem. You should wind up with a cup and a half or two cups, depending on how big the pieces of pear are.

2. Put the pears into a saucepan.

3. Add a generous 1/3 c. brown sugar (don't pack it) and 1/3 c. apple cider vinegar. Add a few shakes of ground ginger. If you have fresh lying around and it isn't too fibrous, put in a small piece about the size of an acorn. Add a sprinkle of salt and a few good shakes of ground cloves (1/16-1/8 t.).

4. Bring to a simmer over medium heat and cover. Give it a stir once in awhile and let it simmer until the pears are totally mushy. If it looks like it's going to go dry, add some more vinegar.

5. Once the pears are mushy, put it into a blender and process until smooth. (If you used a small enough pot, an immersion blender might work here as well.)

6. Pour back into the saucepan, turn the heat down to the lowest possible, and taste. You might need more sugar, vinegar, or spice. Let it thicken to the desired consistency.

Now, time for the little fried cheese balls. Initially, I wanted to put this filling into little phyllo squares, but I forgot to pick up the phyllo and I couldn't find a recipe in the Joy. So I did what anybody would do and fried the heck out of 'em. I'll get back to you if I find phyllo and make it happen.

You'll need:
circa 1/2 c. blue cheese (Mom bought me some from a local dairy that doesn't use animal rennet)
1 T. cream cheese
1 shallot, minced and nuked on high for 30 seconds (takes off the raw edge and releases some of the moisture)
about 1/2 c. minced pecans
salt and pepper and a whisper of cinnamon
flour and/or breadcrumbs, to coat
oil, to fry

1. Let the cheeses come to room temperature.

2. Put the minced, nuked shallot into a small bowl. Add the blue cheese. Mash them together.

3. Add the pecans. Mash together until blended. Do the same with the cream cheese if it isn't sticking together well. Salt and pepper to taste.

4. Roll into small balls about the size of plump cherries. You should wind up with somewhere around ten.

5. Coat the balls in flour and/or breadcrumbs.

6. Heat about 1/4 inch of oil over medium. I used a non-stick skillet for this. The oil is ready when a breadcrumb sizzles as soon as it hits the oil.

7. Add the balls. Let them cook for a minute or so until brown on the bottom, then roll. Repeat until they are brown on all sides, then remove and let drain on paper towels.

To serve, make a small circle of ketchup (it will be pretty thick) on a plate and top with a few cheese balls. That is all. It is delicious.