Today was fun. I went with Jess and Jonathan to the Ron Paul rally in Townsend. We got honked at and flipped off; fingers were wagged and hands were waved in our direction. I took a few pictures. I got the tiniest piece of lint the inside of my camera. Jess made me vegetarian chili. I had a great time.

Then I decided to make soup for dinner. The Jan/Feb issue of Vegetarian Times has a bunch of soups that are pretty tasty. I’ve been looking for comfort foods and today I made myself some vegan comfort stew if there ever was one. It is very loosely adapted from the Greek Avgolemono Soup with the biggest difference being no eggs and no onions.

Vegan Orzo Stew

• 2 tbsp Olive Oil
• 1 handful baby carrots, diced
• 4 stalks celery, sliced
• 1 clove garlic, finely diced
• 6 cups no-chicken broth
• 1 cup orzo pasta
• mint
• parsley
• oregano
• generic mrs. dash: garlic and herb
• lemon juice (this is totally optional and the soup is just fine with or without it)

1. Heat oil, add vegetables and garlic, sautee until slightly tender. I like my veggies to have a little tooth to them once they’re done so use your best judgment here.
2. Stir in broth. Season with salt/pepper/mrs dash. Bring to a simmer, reduce heat, cover 10 minutes
3. Add orzo, heat for another 10 minutes.
4. Remove from the heat. Let sit 5 minutes.
5. Garnish with mint, parsley, and oregano. Add a few drops of lemon juice at this point if you’re feeling brave.

The mint was probably what did it for me and it would have been better if the mint was fresh. If someone handed me a cup of this when I was sick….i’d probably hug them and cry.

Share This

It’s a lot to fake but pay no mind
Because this is how we’re made.

I’ve been obsessed with my camera (again) since the new lens came. Those things are expensive but worth every penny. It is a Canon 50mm f/1.4 and it is photographic sex.

I am selling my Cobalt. I have another more efficient and utilitarian car to drive now (and pay for) so I gotta get rid of it. Probably going to put it in the paper next week after I have it detailed. 06 purchased in Sept 05, 28k miles, Black on black, 2.4l SS.

I had my hair color touched up on Friday. It’s black with red areas; I wouldn’t necessarily call them highlights. Eyebrows had to be done too since Coco chewed up my brow pencil and I had been without eyebrows for a slight eternity. After she did my brows i was like HOLY HELL i need to wax…so I went home and did that. Ow.

Tonight my mother and I baked vegan bread together and it was GOOD. Evidence:

We baked at her house because she has a bazillion kitchen gadgets. Evidence: I would have totally forgotten that you needed to grind the flax seeds and would have had no way to grind them. My mother had a coffee grinder handy and it worked like a champ. Thank you, Colleen.

Tomorrow I am going to make about a 3 dozen vegan peanut butter cookies. There is life after cupcakes and it is delicious.

What do I miss most about my old habits? Being able to run out and grab any old food without thinking twice. How much do I miss it? Not that much, really. I’m not 100% vegan yet…I oscillate still…but it is always on my mind.

A cool thing: Kroger’s Premium Selection Organics are labeled right on the front if they are vegan or not. Have I mentioned today how much I love Kroger???

Share This

“You expected to be sad in the fall. Part of you dies each year when the leaves fell from the trees and their branches were bare against the wind and the cold, wintry light. But you knew there would always be the spring, as you knew the river would flow again after it was frozen. When the cold rains kept on and killed the spring, it was as though a young person had died for no reason.”

comfort

yesterday was cold and it was made that much worse by how shocking it was. one minute, tweeting birds and fiery trees and the next a 4 hour thunderstorm followed by the first cold day of the season.

When it comes to this time of year I start to flounder as a vegan. Where are my comfort foods? The stews, chowders, casseroles, and heaps of flesh that used to satisfy me have been shelved. Yesterday our new pressure cooker arrived in the mail and I made soup. Sadly, I had no bullion no veggie broth. So what did I do? I dug through the pantry and found organic chicken broth that was going to expire in January.

Do you know what chicken smells like to me now? A wet dog. Hugo wasn’t going to use it. I wasn’t planning on using it. It was going to go to waste if I didn’t do something with it and soon. So….in it went.

I put in about a half of a cup of mixed lentils, a full cup of pearled barley, 2 cups of broth, vegan butter (keeping up appearances), mrs dash, salt, and 4 cups of water. It took about an hour in the pressure cooker which was rad. Normally that would take about 3.5 hours to cook. I wasn’t able to eat much of it because it was still reminding me of wet canines. The dogs really enjoyed it though. At least now I know I can make some sort of decent soup without blowing up the house.

I was tired and not thinking…I’m going to donate the other two cartons to my family’s thanksgiving preparations. I need to get back to the mindset of october where I was actually challenging myself and not sort of floating through the house going vegan…notvegan…vegan…notvegan…

shy

Yesterday I met a SAHM who makes and sells soap. It’s not vegan, but her entire house smelled lovely. I asked her where she sourced her tallow because I was curious how she could stand to render it. She tells me she buys it pre-rendered and asks why. “Uhm. I read a lot of vegan blogs and was just curious.”

“Are you vegan?”

For some reason this question really embarrassed me because i wanted to say YES. I don’t feel like I can yet, though. I’m still making a lot of mistakes and still have moments of laziness brought on by too much work and not enough shopping/planning.

thanks

My extended family doesn’t know about my vegan aspirations and thanksgiving is rapidly approaching. I bought Colleen Patrick-Goudreau’s new book “The Joy of Vegan Baking” and I am very excited to have things to make and take. I tried a new stuffed turk’y loaf the other night and it was ohsogood. I will be making a German Applecake, French Onion Pie, Rosemary Drop Biscuits, Butternut Squash Risotto with Sage, Mashed Potatoes, and Mushroom Gravy. You can guess where I have been looking for recipes if you’re a scenester like me.

Lots of photos coming soon.

Share This

I can’t say this month has been easy, but it wasn’t difficult either. I’ve gotten better at cooking.

I won’t say I did a perfect job, because I didn’t.

I gained about 5 pounds…in cookbooks. My body weight hasn’t budged.

I’m disappointed in myself for the lack of posting in the last 2 weeks. In the preceding post I said that I was randomly feeling quite poor. It turns out that I was very slowly coming down with the plague.

Which brings me to…..going to bed and hoping my voice is back by tomorrow.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN

Share This

Jumpin edamame, i don’t know how I got this far behind. Not too much has been going on around here. The Project is done. I am getting both better and worse at veganism; I’m a paradox like that. There have been several moments in the last 7 days where I have unleashed strings of profanity towards strangers in the food industry and I feel like I should publicly apologize to them. Sorry, for calling you all those nasty things guys. I do still feel I have a point, one you may agree with, in that a “negligible amount” really depends on who you’re dealing with. The American Cattle Farmers Association annual meeting: using “negligible” and “animal based ingredient” is acceptable with this crowd. Vegan Society Potluck Dinner: NOT ACCEPTABLE.

I asked about Hemp Protein powders at a new health foods store in town and had to spell hemp for them. That doesn’t bode well… so if they can’t/won’t get it for me, I’ll check out apple tree and if THAT doesn’t work….I’ll order it online. dot dot dot, indeed.

I have stopped working out right now. I feel like I am constantly on the verge of being very sick only to suddenly bounce back with oodles of energy. It feels like I have the flu some days and others I feel like wonder woman.

I’m feeling pretty conflicted about taking the vitamins we have in the house right now, so I haven’t taken any in a while. I have ONE supplement that is vegetarian and it’s my “Go To Freakin Bed Already” pill. My flax supplement has a gelatin outside. It might be silly to feel this way, but I’m not sure if I should keep taking them till they’re gone or if I should invest in alternatives. One is wasteful, one feels like lying. My lack of a multi and other assorted things I take is probably contributing to my general malaise. Thoughts anyone? Now that The Project is over, I’m going do Yoga before bed time again starting tonight.

i’ve looked into getting an indoor bike trainer so I can strengthen my heart a little more. I can go and go and go and go on the elliptical but I get on the bike and I have a heart attack after about 3 minutes. My Trek bike has hybrid tires on it so it’s been a little tricky finding one I can afford that will accommodate my tires. It was recommended to me that I consider a spare rim and a cheap road tire to put on my bike while it’s on the trainer because it can be pretty hard on them. Money Money Money. Why does everything cost so much, eh? It’d be nice if the USD wasn’t in the toilet right now. I went to order some books from the UK and it was going to be 175£ which is $385.60; I almost shat myself.

Blitzkid, David Gray, and iiO are in heavy rotation this week. The forecast is calling for steadily cooling temperatures this week which makes me pretty darn excited. I didn’t include Halloween in my Vegan plans so I’m coming up with ways to deal with the looming candy extravaganza. The pie…it’s so ready to be eaten but I’m holding back. Now, I’m off to return Blades of Glory and pick up Saw 3. Tschuß, y’all.

Share This