Alert, alert! Giveaway: your input needed!

Whoa, whoa, whoa. Hold the presses! It’s nearly October?! When did that happen? April may be the cruellest month (and that’s debatable), but September sure feels like the shortest. I know people (including me) say that all the time, but honestly? September flew by like a hummingbird on speed.

And that means that October fast approacheth. And that means that my one-year veganiversary fast approacheth!  I made the “official” switch to veganism on the first of October last year, just in time for VeganMoFo. I’d essentially been vegan for a while, but I came out of the closet, went public, and stopped with the very occasional consumption of eggs or dairy (which had mostly been to appease people and not make waves).

As I’ve said recently, making the official switch was by far one of my best decisions. So I’d like to celebrate! And what better way than by embracing my inner hobbit and giving away presents to all you wonderful folks? I haven’t yet decided what I should give away, so here’s the fun part – you can tell me! Do you like giveaways with food as the prize? A cookbook? An eclectic mix of fun ephemera? Let me know! I’ll take all your input into consideration and have the official giveaway post up in a week or so.

And just so this isn’t a text-only post, here’s a photo of some cookies.

Choco-chippers!

I’m pretty sure this was from a more successful attempt at making Dreena’s cookies than that last time I tried ‘em… hehe.

Swappin’ and Eatin’, ‘cos That’s How I Do

Hello, all! Hope your weekends are going well – mine has been really excellent. Yesterday I had the pleasure of receiving a package as part of the vegan care package swap that Lindsay organized. Lindsay paired me with the wonderful Lisa, who blogs over at Vegan Cookbook Critic. If you’re unfamiliar with Lisa’s blog, you really ought to hightail it over there and check out all the delicious, mouth-watering, and mostly raw recipes she creates and so kindly shares.

I had a great time scouring Madison for local goods to send to Lisa, and I was absolutely thrilled to receive her package! Check out the loot:

To the swapper go the spoils.

I’m spoiled, I know. Here’s what Lisa sent:

• Three boxes of vegan cookies – Double Chocolate, Ginger Snappers, and Momints (chocolate-mint, obviously!)
• A handful of delicious maple hard candies that I might’ve devoured already, because I’m a maple fiend
• A package of some gorgeous pink rice
• A package of vegan muffin mix
• A little packet of hemp seeds
• A container of berbere spice (!)
• A sweet little “eat cake not carcass” pin
• A packet of Artisana’s Cashini Butter
• A People Towel!

Seriously, this is an amazing box full o’ goodies. I love everything! I’d never heard of People Towels, but goodness gracious – what a wonderful idea! Small, personal, quick-drying hand towels you can throw in your purse so that you don’t have to waste paper every time you use a public restroom. Genius! After visiting their website and learning that a couple of stores in Madison sell the towels, I now have an idea for some Christmas presents for friends & family.

Will do.

Lisa – thank you so much! You’re an A+ swapper in my book.

Although it was tempting to eat nothing but those cookies for dinner tonight, I opted for something easy – if not quick – instead. Check it – roasted acorn squash and Averie’s Sesame Maple Ginger Tofu.

Cross-hatched tofu?

I know my plate has a distinct lack of greenery, but I have a moratorium on grocery shopping at the moment – it’s CSA day on Wednesday, so right now I’m just using up crisper drawer stragglers. This was still a really filling dinner – the tofu was yummy and sweet, and I topped the acorn squash with a little bit of coconut oil and garam masala and it was heavenly. Look, Ma – I’m slowly but surely overcoming my squash aversion AND my dislike of mixing the savory and the sweet!

What was the best part of your weekend?

Out of the Closet: My Feelings Re: Daiya

The search for a “realistic” vegan cheese, one that approximates all the hallmark characteristics of dairy-based cheese – meltability, stretchability, the-odor-of-old-socksability – is a quest shared by many new vegans (and some grizzled veterans of the veg world). Cheese is often the one, ahem, sticking point when it comes to making the transition from vegetarian to vegan; most people can’t fathom giving up their monterey jack and their mozzarella. We’ve all heard it a thousand times – “I thought about going vegan but I LOVE CHEESE!!1!!!11!” and, “OMG but cheese is so good! How do you do it?! LOL!” and my favorite, “…but how do you eat pizza?!” Because pizza ain’t pizza unless it’s got globs of oily, congealed pus on top! Them’s the facts, girlz and boyz!

Many – if not most – of us have been there. I loved cheese; I enjoyed sharp, tangy cheddars and soft, spreadable bries. Heck, I spent one memorable spring break in France with one of my closest friends, subsisting off hardly more than chevre and baguettes (…and creme brulee). I played the “cheese is too good to give up!” card for a while, but once I stopped eating it, I found I didn’t miss it. Easy peasy. I’ve been vegan nearly a year now, and I can count on one foot the number of times I’ve craved cheese. This might not be the case for everyone, but I’d argue that many – if not most – vegans have a much less difficult time ditching the cheese than they’d anticipated.

But somehow the idea of a vegan cheese intrigues me. Every so often I get a craving for something creamy and rich, and inevitably this leads to me making a vegan mac and cheese dish, since I’m too cheap to go out and purchase vegan cheese. And, inevitably, I end up eating too much and feeling uncomfortably full. I don’t care for too-rich foods, and most vegan mac and cheese sauces are heavy on the Earth Balance. Yick.

Knowing that, you might wonder why I made a [rare] spontaneous grocery store purchase a while back. Why on Earth would I purchase Amy’s new Daiya-based mac and cheese, when even homemade dishes of this sort leave me swearing off mac and cheese for good? Yeah, I don’t know. Once in a while I fall prey to hype, and the Daiya hype – well, it got me. I’d had it once before on a vegan pizza at a veg meet-up, but the delicious veggies on the pizza overwhelmed the Daiya and I couldn’t really make a judgment one way or the other. So I tried the mac and cheese.

Cheese-tastic?

My verdict? BLECH, BLECH, DOUBLE BLECH. I could barely finish it, for the following reasons:

1. It was way too rich and fat-laden for me.
2. The cheeze-to-pasta ratio was WAY off – I am NOT a fan of heavy-handed doses of sauces; I like a light coating and that’s it.
3. It tasted a bit like melty plastic.

Seriously, I did not enjoy this dish. I felt vaguely nauseated the entire time I was eating it, but I was determined not to waste [too much of] it. The bottom line, I think, is that my body just doesn’t tolerate fatty foods well. I’ve always been this way – as a kid, I’d wake up with stomachaches after eating something like buttery popcorn or creamy alfredo sauce. I’d sit in front of the porcelain throne with my oh-so-patient Mommy, sweating it out and miserably counting the tiles on the floor until my stomach gave up and I had to vomit. Even now, when I eat heavy foods, I get stomachaches and I can feel my heart racing faster. If that’s not a sign that I’m not meant to eat fat-laden meals, I don’t know what is. So I stick to cleaner, lighter meals and get my fat in the form of avocados and nut butters and the occasional sweet treat.

This can be problematic – I’m a naturally skinny gal, and when people see thin folks forgoing a burger and noshing on salad instead, they automatically assume the person is on a diet. Incorrect, sirs and madams! I’ve never dieted, and I never intend to do so. I just like – need – to eat the foods that make me feel good. It’s not weight-related whatsoever; it’s all about my health. I do not feel healthy when I eat very fatty foods. That’s the bottom line.

I liken this to the way some people are slightly intolerant of various fruits and vegetables. Certain members of my family who Shall Not Be Named get rather gaseous from bananas and broccoli and spinach, even though they enjoy those foods. Others don’t do well with wheat. And that’s not even taking into consideration major food allergies or something like Celiac disease.

The upshot of all this? Next time I’m in the mood for a spontaneous food purchase, I won’t reach for this mac and cheese. I might give the Daiya shreds a try in a quesadilla or something, but I’ve no immediate plans to do so. I don’t crave cheese, so why fix what ain’t broken? More for all you Daiya-lovers out there, right?

Have you tried Daiya? What do you think? Can you tell that your body just doesn’t deal well with certain types of food?

Five Minute Photoshop: Know Your Onion

You know those disorienting moments between wakefulness and sleep when the line between dream and reality blurs and you can never quite tell what’s real and what’s not? I tend to have a lot of those, mostly because I’m a bit abusive and like hitting my Snooze button a couple of times before getting out of bed. This morning, as I waited for my alarm to go off one final time at 5:45, I found myself in that nebulous stage of half-awake, half-asleep. And suddenly I had a panic-inducing thought:

“MY ALARM’S GOING TO GO OFF IN ONE MINUTE AND I HAVE TO DICE THREE ONIONS BEFORE THAT HAPPENS!!!”

…yeah. That got me up and out of bed before I realized that, no, I had no pressing need for diced onions at 5:45 AM. Still, I feel like it’s indicative of something: food is always on my brain, even when I sleep!

To sleep, perchance to dream of onions.

Anyone else have a funny half-awake, half-asleep dream lately?

Image taken from here and then lolcatized by me… obviously.

Bears. Beets. Battlestar Galactica.

Spoiler: This post contains only one of the nouns in its title. Double spoiler: It ain’t a bear or Battlestar Galactica (though I do love me some BSG). Triple spoiler (for the slow-minded): It’s a beet!

You know what’s sad? Up until maybe a year or two ago, I don’t think I’d ever eaten beets. Despite the fact that most people make a scrunchy-face of dislike when you mention beets, I didn’t particularly have any preconceived notions about them during my childhood. They were just one of those foods neither of my parents used. When I finally tried them, the first beets I met came from a can. And that first meeting was… well, it wasn’t great. Frankly, I was underwhelmed. If it had been a first date, I would have been reluctant to agree to a second, y’know? But hey, I like to give food – and people, for that matter – a second chance. First impressions might be hard to change, but not impossible. So when my CSA share earlier this year included beets, I gamely sliced one up and ate it raw. And you know what? That second, can-free meeting was a life-changer. I was hooked.

Since then, I’ve felt like hitting myself for not striking up a relationship with these gorgeous veggies sooner in my life. They’re so versatile! Delightfully crunchy when raw, they’re also wonderful cooked. Last month, my roomie and I made vegan borscht, and its rich, satisfying, hearty flavors absolutely blew me away. Then, a few nights ago, I roasted them with some potatoes and felt like I’d died and went to a veggie-full heaven when I tasted the sweet, intense flavor of the jewel-toned beet-bits, what with their perfectly roasted, tender interiors and their slightly crispy, almost caramelized exteriors.

And then I piled the beets and the taters on a small mound of brown rice, arranged that on a bed of sauteed beet greens and tatsoi, drizzled the whole shebang with a tangy agave-Dijon sauce, and confirmed the fact that I was in veggie heaven.

Beet-o-riffic!

I know this photo ain’t pretty. I know it’s got some shiny spots, and the lighting’s bad, and the beets look burnt (they’re not). But I’m sucking it up and posting it anyway, because it was damn delicious. DAMN DELICIOUS, I tell you.

I’m officially enraptured with these finger-staining root veggies, and I’m eagerly awaiting our next meeting. If there were a beet fan club, I’d join it. Clearly I should have been born a Schrute.

Any favorite beet recipes out there? Or do you not like beets (you sad, unenlightened soul)?

Ch-ch-ch-chili!

Man, my internet connection is le suxxorz. I suppose I shouldn’t complain, as I don’t pay for it – it’s included in the rent for our apartment. At the same time, though, if our complex advertises free internet as an amenity, it should probably be usable internet, right? As in, it shouldn’t take eons for a single page to load, and I shouldn’t have to budget a century if I want to watch online TV, right?

Oh well.

Anyway, that’s the reason my posts are a bit sparse – my internet connection is spotty at best, and it takes me ages to write up a photo-heavy post. Sometimes WordPress won’t load the photos or Flickr doesn’t care to cooperate… it’s a tough deal. Occasionally I’ll take a small break at work and put something together, but it’s crunch time for the writers at my company and I don’t have all that much free time during the work day.

Enough complaining. Here, have a photo of some chili.

Comfort food, y/y?

I love chili because it’s so damn accommodating to whatever the heck’s chilling in your fridge waiting to be eaten. This specimen include the dregs of a CSA share and some assorted hot peppers from my plants; in fact, other than the beans, the spices, and a can of fire-roasted tomatoes, everything here is local. Hooray for corn and onions and garlic and hot peppers and more tomatoes!

Chili’s also great because it’s embarassingly easy. You sauté the garlic and onions, add some spices, throw it in a pot with your veggies and beans, and let ‘er go. You come back an hour (or a couple of hours) later, and you’ve got a spicy pot of warmth and yumminess ready for your eating pleasure. It’s almost impossible to go wrong! Although I do have a coworker who swears that his mother makes the absolute worst chili in the world – apparently elbow noodles, cheap beef, and kidney beans do not an edible substance make. I’ll take his word for it, I think.

What’s your favorite chili recipe or combination of veggies? Personally, I’m digging the addition of corn – the plump kernels are a nice contrast to the rest of the veggies, which tend to get soft and rather homogenous in texture.

The Cat’s Out of the Bag[el] Now!

Look what I had for breakfast!

Labeled for easy identification.

Homemade bagels, straight outta Vegan Brunch. I made 6 plain bagels and 6 of the sundried tomato variety – I rehydrated a couple of sundried tomatoes, chopped ‘em up, and added them to the dough before I letting it rise. I haven’t sampled a tomato one yet, but I’m optimistic.

These were super easy to make, although I found the dough a little dry, and it didn’t rise very much or seem very pliable – maybe I accidentally didn’t add enough water to my water + yeast mixture? I definitely didn’t add too much flour. As a result, the bagels are a little on the diminutive side – the one pictured here is probably the biggest of the bunch. But they still taste good, even if they are small and a bit lumpy. I put some organic blueberry preserves on half of this guy, and it was quite scrumptious.

If this looks like a light breakfast, you’re right – I wanted to leave a little room in my belly, because I’m going out for lunch with some vegans from work! I joined a vegan interest-type group earlier this week, and by some marvel of serendipity, they’d been planning a lunch meet-up at The Green Owl today. The Green Owl is Madison’s only fully vegetarian restaurant, and pretty much all of their menu is veganizable (if it’s not vegan already). And it’s all delicious. And they have an adorable owl motif throughout the restaurant! It’s almost too much awesomeness in one place.

Confession: There was mold in my blueberry preserves when I opened the jar this morning – guess I hadn’t eaten any in quite a while! But I performed some surgery and excised that shizz, and then proceeded to use the non-moldy preserves on my bagel. Is that gross? Unsafe? I got rid of all the mold and any jam that touched it, and I hate wasting food. What do you do when you encounter mold? Call it a day and throw your food away? Or do you clear off the offending bits and move on with your life?

P.S. Bonus points for anyone who can identify the quote in this post’s title! …and by “bonus points,” I mean I will think you are equally as silly as I am.

Chocolate Overload?!

My last post focused on fresh, local, organic, simple, and healthy produce, the kind of food that makes you feel nothin’ but wonderful after finishing a meal. My body craves whole foods; I feel my absolute best after eating a nutrient-rich meal that’s abundant with veggies, veggies, and more veggies. I know this to be true; my body and I have been pals for 23 years now, and I understand what she likes and what keeps her going strong.

And yet.

And yet, once in a while I crave something that is in no way, shape, or form whole. I crave something rich and decadent and – let’s face it – unabashedly unhealthy. Being the chocolate lover I am, more often than not this craving manifests in a lusty desire for some sweet, rich, dark chocolaty treat. Like, perhaps, brownies, possibly the oddest named dessert when you really think about it. So you say brownies, and I’ll say “fudgy, dense, craving-fulfilling squares of delight.” Or maybe “chunks o’ heaven.” ‘Cause that one’s really elegant, y’know?

Anyway, when my craving for fudgy-squares-of-heaven struck about a month or so ago, I turned to my modern-day, lazy-girl equivalent of a recipe file: a Pages document called “Crap I Want To Make,” my repository for links to recipes that catch my fancy. A quick search revealed a promisingly-titled – and appropriately unhealthy – recipe for “The Best Vegan Brownies Ever.” Oh baby.

Retro brownie?

Now, here’s the thing about these brownies. Although you mightn’t be able to tell from that photo, they *looked* a little strange, sort of flat and sandy. But right out of the pan, they satisfied the exact desire I had set out to fulfill – I wanted to recreate that feeling of intense chocolate satisfaction I used to get as a child when my mom made brownies and I ate a piping hot square right out of the oven and was overwhelmed with waves of chocolate bliss. And, dear reader, I felt that joy once more. Unfortunately, it was followed by the aftermath – a heavy, rather disgusting feeling in my stomach, a vague urge to vomit, and the solemn vow that I’d never, ever, ever do that again! …the same set of feelings, of course, I’d experienced every.single.time. I ate brownies as a child. Chocolate overload for the lose!

When I finally recovered from my chocolate coma the next day and tentatively tried a small bite of another brownie, I have to admit that I was disappointed. Once they’d cooled, the magic seemed to disappear – they were chewy and dense, but oddly unsatisfying. Disappointed, I threw the remainders in a container and popped them in the freezer, shoring up for days of a chocolate dearth. And then I promptly forgot about them.

Until a couple of weeks ago when I rediscovered the brownies in my freezer as I rooted around for a snack. With a little trepidation – given the disappointment with my last encounter – I tried a bite of the still mostly-frozen treat. And – by God! – it was magical again! The frozen brownies are ridiculously delicious, chewy and intense and the absolute perfect summertime treat. I’ve savored one every week or so, and now – sadly – there’s only a solitary square left in my freezer. Ah well – so it goes.

Any favorite brownie recipes out there? I think I’ll go for one of those trendy black bean varieties next, because Lord knows I’ve fulfilled my cHoCoLaTe OvErLoAd!1!!!11! quota for at least another month or two, and I could go for a healthier brownie variety until I (inevitably) crave that painfully pleasurable experience yet again.

CSA: Community Supported AWESOMENESS

This summer I’ve been positively swimming in fresh, local, organic vegetables. The roomie and I have an every-other week CSA share from Primrose Community Farm, and it’s been totally worth the investment (especially since my HMO paid for $100 of it!). We pick up our shares right at work because so many of our company’s employees take part in Primrose’s CSA program. It’s often the highlight of my week; even though Primrose sends out a newsletter letting us know what we’ll find in our share, seeing the beautiful veggies in the flesh (as it were) is always a treat. And then there’s the added drama – will my share fit in one reusable bag, or will I have to stuff some veggies in a paper bag? Will the paper bag tear?! Will my veggies make it home in one piece so that I can chop, slice, roast, sauté, and devour them?!?

Somehow, they always do. And somehow, I always find myself surprised – over and over again – at how delicious simple meals can be when fresh-from-the-farm produce is the star.

Share and share alike.

Although the pictured share might be a little smaller than our average box, it’s still fairly representative of the variety of produce we receive. Mmm, heirloom tomatoes.

Post-roast.

There’s almost nothing easier than chopping up a bunch of veggies, throwing them in a pan with some spices, and settin’ them in the oven for an hour or so until they’re tender and ready for devouring.

Spirals in the sun.

Except, perhaps, tossing some pasta with chopped tomatoes and a handful of basil for a light, clean lunch.

Goodness greenness.

But then again, sauteing a generous portion of green beans with cayenne pepper and various other spices is also not going to wear you out.

Holy pink, Batman!

And neither will savoring with a sweet pink watermelon slushie on a hot day.

…I’m going to be oh-so-sad when this growing season ends and my shares stop comin’. Mighty, mighty sad indeed.