Christmas Baking

Since this is my first vegan Christmas, I have been very busy planning holiday meals and trying out holiday cookie recipes.  I'm using this as the excuse for my recent blogging hiatus.  But I am back to share the fruits of my labor! 

I began my Christmas cookie baking bonanza with some good old sugar cookies.  And they turned out fine.  Nothing to rave about, but then, they were your basic sugar cookies that the kids just can't live without.  I used a recipe from The Joy  of Vegan Baking by Colleen Patrick-Goudreau (http://www.joyofveganbaking.com/)

Then I decided to try something a little different.  For some reason I got biscotti into my head and I went searching for recipes.  I found a very good one in Veganomicon http://www.theppk.com/books/veganomicon-the-ultimate-vegan-cookbook/.  I chose one of the variations, and made an absolutely fabulous cranberry pistachio biscotti.  These cookies just scream Christmas with their red and green colour scheme.  They were so great that I ended up making two batches.  In the first I used all whole wheat pastry flour, in the second I used half whole wheat and half white flour.  Both were very good, but the half and half ones had a slightly nicer texture.  I brought these to my yoga potluck xmas lunch and they were popular!

Since the cranberry-pistachio biscotti was such a hit, I moved on to a gingerbread biscotti.  I found the recipe on fatfreevegan.com (http://blog.fatfreevegan.com/2007/12/fat-free-gluten-free-gingerbread.html).  If you go to the blog post you will see that she had some issues with the gluten free version, so I used whole wheat pastry flour and white flour.  I accidentally added too much cinnamon to mine, but they turned out pretty well.  Not as good as the aforementioned cranberry-pistachio delights.

I moved on to peanut butter, since my son wanted to make some for his dad.  I had a recipe hanging around for peanut butter quinoa cookies, so we gave those a go.  This is the recipe I used:  http://www.suite101.com/content/vegan-quinoa-peanut-butter-cookies-a138244.  I doubled the recipe, and cooked them for longer than the 10 minutes they called for since they came out quite soft.  But they were still pretty good, and they have a unique chewy kind of texture from the quinoa.  A bit of a modern twist on the traditional peanut butter cookie.

And last, but definitely not least.... a traditional Canadian Christmas favorite.  I made Better Than Butter Tarts from the How It All Vegan! Cookbook by Tanya Barnard and Sarah Kramer (http://www.amazon.com/How-All-Vegan-Irresistible-Animal-Free/dp/1551520672).  This was one of the first recipes that I have tried from this book, but I have to say these tarts were SUPER EASY and SUPER yummy.  I have the 10th anniversary edition of this book and it says that this recipe is 'new', so it may not appear in earlier editions.  But it worth hunting it down.

Since there are only  a couple of days left before Christmas, and I still have much cooking to do (lentil, wild rice and mushroom timbales with mushroom gravy, sweet potato-pecan casserole) to prepare for Christmas dinner and Christmas Brunch (pumpkin waffles, fruit salad, and various muffins), I wish you all a very joyous and peaceful holiday season.

Dispelling the Milk Myths

I never considered myself to be much of an activist, but on this topic I just might have to step into the ring.  There is so much misinformation out there about calcium intake and milk consumption that I just have to set the record straight. 

My daughter came home from school yesterday after learning in health class that we need milk to make our bones strong and prevent osteoporosis when we`re older.   My brilliant daughter piped up in health class and said "My mom says that milk can leach the calcium out of your bones."  (I love that she is actually listening to me sometimes!!)  and nobody in the class believed her.  Her health teacher asked to see where I found my information. So I took this opportunity to put together a little 'informational packet' for her health teacher.  This incident along with people who have told me they are careful to drink their milk everyday since they have a history of osteoporosis in their family, have inspired me to dedicate this post to dispelling some of the milk myths that we are taught practically from birth.

First of all does calcium intake prevent osteoporosis?  No.  A study conducted in 1992 revealed that populations with the highest calcium intake had higher, not lower, fracture rates than those with more modest calcium intakes (Abelow. BJ et al. Calif Tissue Int 1992: 50:14-8). 

It follows therefore, that milk does not prevent osteoporosis.  In fact, it has been shown that high consumption of animal proteins, including milk can leach the calcium out of the bones (Science 1986;233,4763).  This is because animal proteins contain more sulfur containing amino acids, namely methionine.  The sulfur converts to sulfates and weak forms of sulfuric acid in the body.  In order to neutralize the acid, the body takes the calcium from the bones.  Calcium losses from the bones can be increased by the consumption of animal proteins, salt, caffeine, the use of tobacco and by physical inactivity(http://milk.elehost.com/html/why_does_calcuim_leave_the_bon.html).

The consumption of milk has also been linked with insulin-dependant (Type 1 or childhood onset) diabetes.  Women consuming dairy products may have higher rates of infertility and ovarian cancer than those who avoid dairy products.  Milk consumption has been linked to heart disease, prostate cancer, type II diabetes, muscular dystrophy and other auto-immune diseases, teenage acne and susceptibility to cataracts.   Don't take my word for it.  Check it out for yourself.  Read 'The China Study" (http://www.thechinastudy.com/), check out this website:  http://www.pcrm.org/; the Physician's Committee for Responsible Medicine.  All the information is there, in black and white.

So why do doctors still tell us to consume dairy products to prevent osteoporosis?  Why are our children learning in school that milk is good for us, that milk makes your bones strong?  Why when my daughter raises a perfectly legitimate point in health class does the health teacher not believe her?  Why are so many people completely misinformed about the health effects of milk and the best sources of dietary calcium?  Ok.....  deep breath......

So where do we get our calcium, if not from dairy products?  From vegetables of course!  Where do cows get their calcium from????   Grass.  Though, I do not recommend eating grass...  Try green leafy vegetables (broccoli, spinach, kale, collard greens), beans (chickpeas, soybeans, pinto beans, kidney beans), dried figs, tofu, oatmeal, calcium fortified soy milk, calcium fortified orange juice.  And as a bonus, the calcium from these plant based foods is more efficiently absorbed by the body. 

Did you know that one cup of butternut squash contains 84 milligrams of calcium??  On that note, here is a totally delicious and dairy free way to get your daily calcium:  Roasted butternut squash soup!!

I adapted this recipe from 'Vegan with a Vengeance' which, as you know, is one of my favorite cookbooks.  Here it is:

Roasted Butternut Squash Soup

Cut about 2 medium butternut squash in half lengthwise and place cut side down on a cookie sheet and add about a 1/2 cup of water (to keep it from sticking).  Bake at 350 degrees for about 40 minutes.  Remove and cool until you can handle comfortably.

Meanwhile in a large stock pot, sauté 1 diced medium onion in 2 Tbsp. olive oil for 5 minutes.  Add 1 minced jalapeno pepper and sauté 5 minutes more.  Add 1-2 Tbsp grated ginger, 3 cloves minced garlic and a tsp. of salt and sauté for 2 minutes more.  Remove from heat.

Remove the skin and seeds from the cooked squash, and cut into cubes.  Add to the stock pot with the onion mixture.  Add 4 cups of vegetable broth (OR 4 cups of water with 1-2 bouillon cubes).  Use a immersion blender to purée until smooth OR purée in a blender or food processor and return to pot.  

Heat through then add 1Tbsp. maple syrup and the juice of 1 lime.  Serve warm.

Enjoy!!

Meatless Mondays and Vegan MoFo

Just in case you haven't heard about it, I want to bring your attention to a project called Meatless Mondays.   This is a movement with the goal to reduce the consumption of meat by 15% in order to improve personal health and the health of our planet.  You may have seen Paul McCartney promoting this movement.  Bob Harper from 'The Biggest Loser' is also a big supporter.  Many restaurants and universities are supporting the movement by providing meatless meal options on their menus on Mondays.  I was happy to hear that even McGill University is a participant!

They also have a great website with tons of recipes and articles on healthy eating.  So check it out at http://www.meatlessmondays.com/.   You can even follow them on facebook and twitter.

Did you know that more than 10 BILLION animals are slaughtered in North America EVERY YEAR??   So by reducing meat consumption by 15%, that would save 150 MILLION animals every year!!   Another dirty little secret is that livestock produces 16 kilograms of waste for each 0.3 kg serving of meat.  That's alot of Sh*t!!  Where does it all go??

With all the blogs describing their Thanksgiving meatless feasts on Vegan MoFo, I am getting anxious to try some of these holiday meal ideas during Christmas.  November is the Vegan Month of Food.  This idea is the love child of the diva of the Post Punk Kitchen, and one of my favourite vegan cookbook authors, Isa Chandra Moskowitz.  There are hundreds of vegetarian and vegan blogs participating in this event and tons of amazing recipes and meal planning suggestions.    You can check them out at http://veganmofo.wordpress.com/. 

I would love to hear about any meat free holiday dishes you may be planning.

Where do you get your protein?

When people consider veganism, they may have some questions about protein.  It seems to be a common misconception that the main source of protein is animal products, namely meat, eggs, fish and dairy products.  So this week's post is devoted to the topic of protein.

What exactly is protein and why is it so important to our bodies?  Proteins are complex structures made up of building blocks called amino acids.  There are 22 different types of amino acids, 9 of which the body cannot produce itself, and therefore must be obtained from the diet.  These 9 are called the 'essential amino acids'.  Proteins make up much of the structure of body cells and are related to many bodily functions.  All of those little messengers running around the body, hormones, enzymes, and antibodies, are made up of proteins.  These messengers are produced by the body by assembling the different amino acids into specific configurations.  So if one building block is missing, the proteins cannot be put together properly and this interferes with the functioning of the body.

All living things contain proteins.  Plants, animals, even bacteria.  In fact all the amino acids in animal protein originally came from plant sources.  The cows get their protein from eating the grass.  Fish get their protein from eating smaller fish which ate the water plants.  The 10 'essential' amino acids are produced by plants and bacteria.

So how much protein do we need?  That depends on several factors.  We need protein to maintain our tissues.  Protein requirements may increase when tissue growth is required, like when we're growing, or pregnant, or lactating, or healing following surgery.  But the average adult requires 0.9 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight per day.  This is based on the US Recommended Dietary Allowance for adult protein intake.  So if you weigh 61 kilograms (135 pounds) you would need to consume 55 grams of protein per day. 

Just to get an idea of how much protein is in different foods, I have listed some below.

1/2 cup firm tofu                     19.9 grams
1 cup cooked chickpeas         14.5 grams
1 cup cooked kidney beans    15.4 grams
1/4 cup almonds                      7.4 grams
1/4 cup pumpkin seeds            8.5 grams
1/2 cup mushrooms                 1.7 grams
1 cup bean sprouts                  3.2 grams
1/2 cup cooked oats                3.0 grams
1/2 cup brown rice                  4.5 grams
1/4 cup whole wheat flour        4.1 grams

1/2 cup 2% milk                      4.0 grams
1 egg                                       5.5 grams
2 ounces chicken                   15.3 grams
2 ounces ground beef            10.6 grams

So is it definitely possible to get enough protein in a whole foods, plant based diet.  But a vegan diet needs to include a variety of legumes, tofu, seeds, nuts and whole grains to reach the target protein levels.  And by getting our protein from plant sources instead of animal sources, we cut out much of the fat and ALL of the dietary cholesterol and add lots of healthy fibre to our diet!  So there is my little biochemistry lesson for today.  If you would like to know more check out the book 'Becoming Vegan' by Brenda Davis and Vesanto Melina.

Now here is a tasty way to get some of your daily protein requirement: 

Old-fashioned Lentil Loaf from The Vegan Table by Colleen Patrick-Goudreau.  This is one of my favorite cookbooks.  And the 'meatloaf' was totally delicious.  It was great in a sandwich the next day as well.  I'm planning to modify this recipe to make a Shephard's pie this week.   I'll let you know how it turns out!

Look for Colleen's next cookbook, Color me Vegan, which is coming out soon.  You can order signed copies on her website:  http://www.compassionatecooks.com/

Cheers!

Tofu - It's What's for Breakfast!

What a beautiful weekend!!  It has been sunny and warm enough to almost make me think winter is not just around the corner!  But we have been curled up with our books in front of the fire anyways!

Saturday night we watched the movie "Earthlings".  Wow.  It is an excellent film on the meat, poultry, leather and fur industries and animals used in scientific experiments and how the animals in these industries are treated.  It is narrated by Joaquin Phoenix.  My daughter watched it with me, but it is quite graphic, and I would caution against letting your young children watch, even though it is an important message that I personally think everyone should hear.  It definitely made me think about some things in a different way, and I think it opened my daughter's eyes as well.  You can watch it for free at http://www.earthlings.com/.

On a lighter note, this morning we had a fabulous breakfast tofu scramble.  This is so amazing.  At first I thought breakfast was going to be the toughest part about cutting animal products out of my diet, but like everything else, the way we eat is just a habit.  But this scramble, is so good that I will never miss eggs again!  And it's as easy as making scrambled eggs! 

After chopping the veggies, it took about 10-15 minutes to make.  I minced 3 cloves of garlic, chopped one medium onion, some mushrooms, half a zucchini, half a red pepper, and asparagus.  I added the garlic, onions, mushrooms and zucchini to the pan and sauteed them in a little margarine.  Then I crumbled up a block of tofu (I used Wildwood sprouted organic tofu that had been frozen and thawed and squeezed out as much moisture as I could).  Then I added this to the pan and stir fried for about 5 minutes.  Then I added about a 1/4 cup of nutritional yeast and some soy milk (this gives it a creamy texture).  I added some cumin seeds, turmeric (this gives it that yellow 'egg' kind of colour), salt and pepper and some powdered garlic.  Then I added the asparagus, red pepper and a bunch of spinach and stir fried for about 5 minutes more.  And viola!

Today is my son's actual birthday (Happy Birthday Kenny Bo!!), so it was cupcake making day.  We needed 25 for his class and then the rest will be for our family's birthday celebration tonight.  He picked out Cookies n' Cream Cupcakes from the Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World Cookbook, and they turned out smashingly.  The cupcakes themselves are chocolate and there are ground up Oreo cookies in the icing.  And I found the little snack sized Oreos to garnish the top.  We got to lick the beaters after making the frosting and I can hardly wait to taste the cupcakes after dinner!

Tonight for dinner I'm trying out a lentil "meatloaf" recipe from Colleen Patrick Goudreau's The Vegan Table.  With mashed potatoes and some roasted Brussels sprouts from the market it's sure to be irresistible. 

Is it dinner time yet???

Happy Sushi Day

This weekend was my son's 8th birthday party.  I don't know what I was thinking to let him have a sleepover party.  I did this with my daughter, but having little girls sleep over is VERY different that having little boys sleep over.  But, I guess you live and learn. 

I have been wanting and planning to make sushi for quite a while now, and I finally got around to it on Friday!  It was a smashing success on many levels.  First it was fun!  Second it was tasty.  Third, my son helped me make it, and as such was inspired to try it!!  I'm not sure it was full blown love at first bite, but getting him to actually put it into his mouth is a HUGE step! 

So how does one go about making sushi?  First we must hunt down the supplies.  This is actually the hardest part.  You have to use actual sushi rice, and rice vinegar.  Then you need nori papers.  And to me, sushi isn't worth eating without pickled ginger, wasabi and soy sauce.  Many people assume that sushi must contain raw fish.  This simply is not so.  There are so many options.  Just some fish free suggestions are:  shitake mushrooms (fried), avocado, carrots and cucumber (cut in match sticks), and asparagus.

You can find directions to make sushi all over the place.  First cook your sushi rice according to the directions on the package.  Mix rice vinegar with sugar (1Tbsp vinegar and 1 tsp sugar for each cup of rice) and add to your rice.  Stir it in.  Then place your nori paper on a sushi rolling mat, spread rice over it, leaving an inch or so at the top free of rice (tip, this is easiest when your rice is hot).  Add your stuffings in a line near the bottom, then roll it up into a log using the mat to help.  Then with a sharp serrated knife you can cut your log into slices.



If you're lucky enough to have a friend who goes to Japan on a regular basis, perhaps you can get some sushi beautiful sushi plates like these (thanks Suzanne)!!  Doesn't that look tasty??!!  Well, it was.  We stuffed ourselves.

And what birthday party would be complete without cupcakes??  In this case peanut butter cupcakes with chocolate frosting.  I got the recipe for these beauties from Isa Chandra Moskawitz and Terry Hope Romero's cookbook "Vegan Cupcakes Take Over The World"  (I love love love this cookbook).  They were to die for.  So super amazing, even the kids loved them.  I didn't bother to tell them they were vegan.

My son's actual birthday is next weekend.  He has already picked out Oreo cookie and cream cupcakes for me to make for his class.  So perhaps I will wow you with more cupcake pictures next week!

Until then.....  happy eating!

Brussels Sprouts Grow on Trees!

Happy Halloween Everyone!

We woke this morning to a blanket of snow on the ground.  And it's early enough in the season for me to say that it was beautiful walking the dog in the fresh snow.  I'm sure I won't be quite as enthusiastic about the snow a couple of months from now, but today it was lovely.

We went to the local Farmer's Market yesterday and I bought this:

A Brussles sprout tree!!   Yes, this is how they grow, not acutally on trees but on long stalks.  Isn't that neat??  I remember my grandparents growing them in their garden.  So we got it home, I cut all the little sprouts off the stalk, washed and trimmed them.  Then I roasted them with some olive oil and salt and pepper.  Absolutely delicious.  I LOVE Brussels sprouts.  And if you've only ever had them boiled until they are mushy, you really must try them roasted.  Brussels sprouts get a bad rap because they are all too often improperly prepared.  Roasting brings out the sweet nutty goodness.

 So once your sprouts are roasted there are any number of things you can do with them:  toss them with some maple syrup and nuts and serve as a side dish, or pop them in your salad while they are still warm....  Today I decided to serve them on top of some ginger fried rice which I cooked with baby Bok Choy and the last of the Swiss chard from the garden.   I topped the whole dish with some toasted pine nuts.  Marvellous!!

I also attempted to make some potato knishes this weekend.  And I am sorry to say that it was not a happy ending.  Armed with a recipe from Vegan with a Vengeance (from which I have gotten some really great recipes), I prepared the stuffing for potato knishes and sweet potato knishes.  The filling was very tasty; however, the pastry destroyed the whole dish!  It was flat and tough and hard and just not nice.  I double and triple checked that I hadn't missed any steps or ingredients.  I kneeded until the dough was smooth, I rolled and floured....  How disappointing!  I love love love potato knishes.  Unfortunately they are not easy to find around here.  This is my second attempt at home made knishes, and both were flops.  I guess I will have to continue my recipe search.

I have the brand spanking new issues of Vegetarian Times AND VegNews to peruse.   And since American Thanksgiving is coming up, there are several meal suggestions for holiday dinners.   Too bad it's too late to help me with my Thanksgiving menu, but I just might find some smashing ideas for Christmas dinner!!!

Hohoho

Dumplings

Greetings Fellow Foodies!! 

It has been a very busy weekend and I have been cooking up a storm.  But I'm going to keep it short.  I just have two dishes to share today.  One is my Couscous Salad that is becoming quite popular!  With it's light, fresh taste, it's really not surprising.  I never get tired of it.  The couscous is cooked with some spices and broth.  Then I throw in some chickpeas, peppers, zucchini, shredded carrot, raisins and apple and toss it with a citrus vinegrette.  I used to chop the carrot, but it's much nicer shredded.

The second dish is a recipe that I recieved from a friend:  sweet potato and butternut squash dumplings.  I picked up some vegan wonton wrappers at my favorite Chinese grocery store in Ottawa, so I decided to give these a go.  They are pretty fun to make.  The filling is just mashed sweet potato and butternut squash that I had roasted, then I added some grated carrot, ginger, garlic and cilantro.  Then place the stuffing in the middle of your wonton wrapper and fold it up.  I like to braise mine in a little oil, but they can be baked, fried or steamed as well.   My friend says they are also good in a soup.  But that is an experiment for another day.

My teenaged daughter and my boyfriend both gave these a 9 out of 10.  The only thing to get a perfect 10 so far has been my spanikopita.   I have a recipe for potato knishes that I am anxious to try.  Perhaps that will be next weekend's experiment!

Also just another little tidbit...  my daughter's acne seems much better since we have eliminated all the animal products from our home.  But, shhhhh......  that's our little secret.



Multigrain Pilaf

It's a beautiful sunny October day, well it was....  the perfect day for a savory multigrain pilaf.  This version is chock full of my special brown and wild rice blend, lentils, kidney beans, black beans and quinoa and is flavoured with my homemade blend of garam masala.  All four of the kids that were hanging around at dinner time wolfed it down along with a side salad with balsamic vinegrette.  The ideal dinner for a cool autumn day.

And for desert, pumpkin spice muffins fresh out of the oven.  Heavenly.

Both of these items happen to be on the Zengarry Foods menu for this week, and both are true kid pleasers. 

Now after all that hard work, I think I deserve a nice glass of wine.

Cheers!

Portabello Madness

As you may have guessed from the title, I have become obsessed with Portabello mushrooms lately.  Portabello sandwiches hold a particularly dear place in my heart.  There is nothing better than frying up a marinated portabello with some onions and slipping it on a nice multigrain Kiaser roll with some fresh spinach, sprouts and hummus.  I'm drooling just thinking about it.  I recommend it highly.

Another great thing to make with these babies is Vegetable Strudel.  Fry them up with sliced peppers, button mushrooms, zucchini, and onions.  Add some oregano and basil, and at the end, a splash of balsamic vinegar.  Then roll out some vegan puff pastry and stuff it with your vegetable mixture.  Fold it up and over your veggies and score nicely.  Bake according to the directions on the box.  Here's a picture of mine fresh out of the oven. 

I also have plans for a mushroom barley soup.  My kids are thrilled with my latest obsession.  Mushrooms are on their list of the worlds most disgusting things.  Oh well, all the more for me.

It has been a very exciting week over here.  I have picked up two followers (Thanks gals!!)  and I have launched my new business venture:  Zengarry Vegetarian Cuisine.   Zengarry's goal is to deliver healthy vegan food to those who don't like to spend every waking moment thinking about, dreaming about and cooking food.  I think that if more people had easy access to healthy, delicious vegan food, they would eat better! Wish me luck and place your order at zengarry@gmail.com!    Our website is currently under construction by Francis the Great. 

I also want to mention the upcoming release of a new documentary called Forks over Knives.  Check the trailer out at ForksOverKnives.com .  This film promises to reveal the truth about the benefits of a plant based whole foods diet, and the dangers of consuming animal proteins.  It is narrated by Dr.Caldwell Esselstyn and Dr. T. Colin Campbell (one of the authors of the China Study). 

Now run out and get yourself some portabello mushrooms and let me know how you cook them! 

Cheers!!

Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving!!!!  Let me begin by saying that I am thankful for having the opportunity to try so many new and amazing recipes and for being able to share it with so many fabulous friends and family!  I am truly blessed.

We had our family Thanksgiving dinner at my mother's home this year.  Seeing that this was my first Thanksgiving as a vegan, I brought lots of food with me.  I made Muhammara, a roasted red pepper and walnut dip and a pumpkin curry, both of which I found in The Vegan Table.  Unfortunately, besides myself and my boyfriend, only my uncle chose to try any of it.  I suppose it was a start.

My crock pot is becoming my best friend!  It has sat unused in the cupboard for months, but I have discovered that it is very handy when you are bringing food with you everywhere!!  Now I just have to figure out a better way of transporting it.  It tends to slosh around a bit in the trunk.

I have to rave about  a couple of recipes that I found in Vegan with a Vengeance.  Her 'Best Pumpkin Muffins' really are THE BEST!!  My advice is to stock up on pumpkin puree while it is on sale and make lots of these.  I can't keep them around.  The kids and all their friends love them!! The second one is her vegan Spanikopita.  I took them to a girl's night party and they were hugely popular, even with the teenagers!   And I remembered to take a photo of them before they disappeared!!

Not only were they delicious, they were fun to make!  I've never made anything with phyllo dough before, so I was a bit nervous about it, but now I want to wrap everything in phyllo dough!   These are stuffed with a beautifully seasoned tofu and spinach mixture, but I can imagine a tofu mushroom mixture or a tofu sun dried tomato mixture.  I have another batch of phyllo dough in the freezer, so I'll let you know how they turn out!

One Month In

It has been almost a month now since the beginning of my 'Vegan Experiment', and I am no longer thinking of it as an experiment.  There have been some challenges, some slip ups, and some cravings, but over all I'm going to call it a raving success!!

The challenges were finding new foods to replace some of the old go-to foods, being invited to meals at the homes of non-vegans, and eating out.  I have learned about tofu, and nutritional yeast.  I have tried several new recipes, bought new cookbooks, watched cooking videos on the internet, and found some great websites.  Just this weekend I was able to throw together a tofu scramble without guidance and my boyfriend and I were thoroughly impressed!  Brunch is a meal that I was sure was going to be a thing of the past, but it may just become my favorite meal of all.  I have been spoiled by a friend eager to try out a vegan dinner menu, and I have eaten out successfully on several occasions. 

There have been some slips as well.  Realizing there were eggs in my favorite Pad Thai, and lactose in my potato chips....  But listening to Colleen Patrick-Goudreau's podcasts where she admitted that even she slips up every once in a while was very comforting.  Nobody is perfect.  But this has increased my confidence in adhering to my newly vegan ideals. 

As for the cravings, they are becoming less frequent.  I do sometime still crave the creamy texture of dairy products in my food.  But I have found some very satisfying ways to feed them.  Hummus has that nice creamy texture, and it is my go-to snack food at the moment.  I discovered a tasty dip called skordalia prepared with potatoes, almonds and tons of garlic which is a nice replacement for my beloved tzatziki.  I have tried some cheese replacements, but I don't think they will become a diet staple.  In my opinion, nutritional yeast has more potential to fill that cheesy void.  But it's nice to have the option of enjoying some familiar food like pizza and brochetta.

I prepared an amazing salad this weekend with the rainbow beets and fresh organic greens from the market.  I roasted a bunch of rainbow beets with some chunks of carrot and halved new baby potatoes with olive oil, thyme and salt until they were tender and browned.  Then I served them warm on a bed of fresh greens with a drizzle of balsamic vinegrette.  It was absolutely delicious!!  I only wish I had taken a picture of it to share.  I think I'll keep my camera in the kitchen from now on.....

Thanksgiving Meal Planning

The leaves are falling, the geese are migrating and Thanksgiving is just around the corner.  And with Thanksgiving comes..... the family meal.  This year, I am dreading it.  My mother has a way of making me feel like I am being a pain in the butt with my refusal to eat like a normal human being.  She has absolutely no idea how to feed me.  She can't even imagine a meal without animal products of some kind.   And I think she feels I am somehow depriving my children, so she brings them over chicken wings and cheese slices! 

I know it's not her fault.  She grew up with a diet rich in meat and cheese.  She was taught that you had to get your protein from animal products and your calcium from milk.  She has given up trying to convince me that a vegetarian diet is not healthy, but when it comes to family meals, she is at a loss.

I suggested a potluck style meal and told her I would bring some dishes.  And she has agreed to put aside some mashed potatoes without dairy.  Fair enough.  So now I need to find some festive holiday vegan dishes that will convince my family that food can be tasty without animal products.  I can rise to the challenge!  I'm thinking sweet potatoes, stuffed squash, spinach dip in a pumpernickle loaf, vegetable strudle...  I just checked the label for frozen puff pastry and it is vegan!   Heck, I just finished making chocolate chip cookies!!  And they are mighty tasty if I do say so myself.  The test will be whether there are any left at the end of the day tomorrow!!  All those new cookbooks will come in mighty handy!

Dinner at Denise's

We were fortunate to be invited to dinner this weekend at the home of a fantastic hostess and friend.  Since hearing of my recent dietary changes, she stepped up to the plate and prepared a fabulous Persian vegan feast.  The menu consisted of a roasted eggplant dip apetizer followed by a main course of sweet potato stew and an absolutely gorgeous tri layered pilaf.  Unfortunately the pictures don't do it the justice it deserves.  I can only begin to imagine how labor intesive it was to prepare.  The bottom green layer was flavored with green onion, the middle orange layer was carrot and the top red layer was beet.  It was garnished with pistachios.  A work of art almost too pretty to eat.  Dessert was chocolate banana mousse.  Delicious and light.  I believe the recipes, as well as the menu, came from one of the Moosewood Cookbooks.

I am truly grateful to have friends that are so supportive of my not always easy to accomodate dietary choices.  But for someone to go to the effort to cook a gourmet vegan meal....  that's special.  Thanks Denise!!  Next time it's my turn.  I'm already scouring my cookbooks.

Speaking of cookbooks...  I picked up two new ones this weekend:  Vegan with a Vengence by Isa Chandra Moskowitz, and Vegan Table by Colleen Patrick Goudreau.  I was also looking for The Joy of Vegan Baking, but they were out!!  Both look great, but I haven't tried any of the recipes yet.  I have made several dishes from FatFreeVegan.com though.  I made the lentil soup :  http://blog.fatfreevegan.com/2006/02/rainy-day-lentil-soup.html  and it was really tasty and easy to make.  I get new recipes every day on facebook!  How great is that??

And while in Ottawa I went to Rainbow Foods and picked up some of that Vegan cheese that they were raving about in VegNews....  I was not overly impressed.   I also picked up some nutritional yeast.  I'm not quite sure what to do with it yet, but I'll figure something out.....

Giant Zuke

I was given a zuchini the size of a watermelon from someone's garden this week.  Now I had to figure out what to do with it.  So I spend an entire day planning, searching for recipes on line and then cooking. 

The first project was a roasted vegetable soup that turned out so well that I just have to share the recipe.  I cut about a third of the moster zuke into chunks removing the tough skin and seeds, peeled and cut 2 sweet potatoes, two and a half red peppers and one and half red onions into chunks.  I added a head of garlic peeled and drizzled the whole bunch with olive oil and salt and roasted them until they were soft.  Then I blended the whole batch with a carton of vegetable broth until it was smooth.  I dumped the whole mess in a stock pot and added some water to thin it out.  Then I added 1teaspoon each of curry, cumin, cinnamon, salt and paprika and about a quarter teaspoon of red pepper flakes and two bay leaves.  I simmered it for a while and voila!  My daughter had 2 bowls and my cubicle neighbor commented on how good it smelled! 

Next I attempted 2 kinds of zuchini muffins, one with raisins, the other chocolate.  Neither turned out great, but I didn't bother to peel the zuchini and the peel was very tough.  I'm still on the look out for a good vegan zuchini muffin recipe.  I've read good things about 'The Joy of Vegan Baking' by Colleen Patrick-Goudreau.  Perhaps I will check it out.

Luckily it was my daughter's day to do the dishes!!!

Propoganda at School

My son came home from grade 3 today with propoganda from the Dairy Council.  It's a sticker that says that milk helps your kids stay healthy, alert and ready to learn.  This is a pet peeve of mine....  why is the Dairy Council allowed to advertise their products in schools?  And who gave them the responsibility of educating our kids on a healthy diet?  I try to tell my kids that we're not going to eat dairy products because they're not good for you, and at school they are learning that dairy products are one of the 4 basic food groups.  If you contradict the school on this particular issue, does this give the kids the right to question the school on whether or not math and science are important to learn?   It's good for kids to question authority sometimes, but how do you disagree with the teacher on this issue without undermining her/his authority? 

On a lighter note...  I made a chickpea masala for dinner with salad and my 15 year old daughter and her friend ate every bite!  I'm just happy that I got her to eat something other than bagels and tomato soup.  It almost makes up for her not being willing to try my green smoothy this morning.  If only the little one hadn't spilt the beans about the spinach hiding in there!!

The Beginning

This little experiment all started in earnest soon after reading "The China Study".  It's difficult to continue to eat animal protein after reading the scientific reasoning presented by Campbell and Campbell.  The fact that a diet of animal protein causes heart disease, diabetes, some cancers, and osteoperosis.  And so my motivation is health related, even though some of the animal rights reasoning is pretty compelling too. 

I decided to begin my vegan transition on September 7th, the day after Labor Day.  Why?  Because the kids are back in school, vacation is over  and I could squeeze in one last trip without hunting down vegan restaurants.   Besides, how could I possibly go to Paris and not eat my body weight in cheese??? For some reason, I forsee eating out as one of the more challenging aspects of maintaining a strict vegan diet.  I suppose it's just something to get used to. 

So, it's been a whole week and it has been pretty easy!  Despite a potluck lunch and a meal at a restaurant.  It does take planning and preparation.... and some will power.  I gave up meat years ago, but I have had a long and lingering love affair with cheese.  From what I have read, this is common.  Something I read said that casein (the protein in dairy products) acts like opiates in the brain and is therefore addictive! I'm not sure I buy that, but I do love cheese.  Not surprisingly there are several vegan cheese substitutes out there.  I have tried one soy cheese that was pretty good, but the ingredients included trans fats and casein. Sigh.....   Besides, the little town I live in only has one grocery store, which I'm lucky carries some soy milks and meat replacements. 

But it's nice to know I'm in good company.  I found a list of celebrity vegetarians on the Happy Cow website and I was surprised at the length of it!  Some were not too surprising...  Alanis Morisette, Alicia Silverstone, Deepak Chopra, the Beatles...  But Socratese, Plato, Aristotle, and Einstein were also on the list!  Lots of big brains!