Mel's Vegan Food Blog

Power Breafast of Brown Rice Grits

2009-12-11T13:07:00.006-05:00

So I'm now having the most yummy and warm "power" breakfast that's just perfect for this cold weather. Today it's supposed to be in the low 30's. Brrrr! So not the kind of weather that motivates me to do anything, but eating my brown rice grits I feel better. I start off using Bob's Red Mill Organic Brown Rice Farina. I follow the basic prep direction of 3 cups water, 1tsp salt, and 1 cup grits/farina (if anyone knows the difference feel free to comment). I myself added a small amount of vanilla extract and stir for about 5 minutes.

Here's the best part, because you can add whatever you want! I added a few broken up walnuts, 1 cut up date, 1 tsp. of coconut oil (so many health benefits!), a splash of non-dairy milk (I use hemp milk), and a touch or a couple of touches of maple syrup. The I top it all off with a bit of cinnamon. Voila! Super yummy, amazing, tasty, and healthy. I hope this inspires a few people to try their variation of this relatively cheap cereal. If you can go to a market where you can get it in bulk, even better!

The sewing machine hates me.

2009-09-13T22:20:00.006-04:00

I've almost broken my Brother sewing machine twice tonight. Well, actually, it's Elie's sewing machine. I bought it for his birthday a couple of years ago. He's great with repairing rips in my clothing, making us curtains, and customizing his own hats with horns and patches. We can have pictures of that later. But I want in on the action too now! I'm trying to fix the pleats on a Tracy Reese dress that is just perfect for this fall weather. A friend of mine walked me through it about a year ago and I'm trying so hard to remember what she said about threading the machine.

Yes, people I struggled for an hour trying to thread the damn thing. I finally did it and trimphantly tested it out with a piece of stray chiffon. Is that perhaps a dangerous choice? Well, thank heaven that I did test it first, because the machine looked like it was eating the clothe! So, I cut it out, reathreaded everything, and tested again. Apparently, the machine is hungry, cause there goes the chiffon!!!! I've put everything away for the night and will have my lovely man-wife show me how to work the expensive Brother tomorrow. But not all is lost. Nick Cave is going to be in Union Square at a book signing tomorrow! EEEEEEEK!!!! Yay, I'm excited! Here's to Cave and then dinner at Curly's Vegetarian Cafe. If anyone has any advice on the whole sewing machine thing, well feel free to leave comments...Please!

Mmmmm stuffed peppers and muffins

2009-09-03T22:20:00.011-04:00

Had the best freaking lunch today! A beautiful red bell pepper stuffed with awesomeness. The stuffing is made of brown rice, silken tofu (that's been sauteed in red wine and tomato juice), dried cherries, walnuts, black pepper, and fresh ginger. So yummy! Then I shove all this into red and green bell peppers and bake for about 15 mins. So easy and soooo good. This comes to us courtesy of a great book called Vegan Meals for One or Two, by Nancy Berkoff. The book has been great so far with lots of simple recipes for everyday vegan cooking. Perfect when you're pressed for time. They turned out so good!

Another item that always turns out great are the carrot and raisin muffins form Vegan with a Vengeance. These are Elie's favorite and I can tell why. Now, I'm a big fan of the quinoa muffins from the Veganomicon, but these muffins are so soft. The carrot and raisins make them so naturally sweet. The nice thing is that this recipe is easily modified. I can use agave to replace the white sugar and it doesn't really alter the texture much. Love that! These muffins are perfect for all the time, especially cause they're so easy to make. But the nutmeg and cinnamon in them makes me think so much of the fall. I have a feeling that I'll be having these a lot more from now on.

Healthcare reform

2009-09-03T13:58:00.002-04:00

Obviously, this a huge topic of debate and hopefully productive discussion. I read an interesting article on the subject by the CEO of wholefoods. Some things I agree with and some things I find questionable. What do you think?
Read and leave a comment.

Vegan Marshmallows!

2009-08-25T22:39:00.008-04:00

I want to die a delicious death where I'm smothered in these vegan marshmallows. I must be the last person to find out, but these marshmallows come from and awesome company called Dandies. I have been, thus far, so dissatisfied with my vegan marshmallow experiences. They always have a weird texture, or are way too sugary, or are sometimes brown (which I guess matters to me more than it should). But the most awesome thing about Dandies marshmallows is that they are sweetened with Beet sugar. This means so much to those of use who try to stay away from white sugars (which aren't really vegan) and who try to avoid evaporated cane juice.

Here's the ingredient listing:
Vanilla Dandies Vegan Marshmallows Ingredients:
Corn Syrup, Vegan Beet Sugar, Corn Starch, Corn Dextrose, Water, Carrageenan, Soy Protein, Natural Vanilla Flavor

Dandies claims that Rice Krispie treats come out exactly as if you were using evil marshmallows (obviously, not vegan).

So exciting!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I recently discovered these on an awesome blog, Vegan Eats & Treats, when Amey posted about making S'mores. I can't wait to make my own! Thank you, Amey.

I'm back and with Biscuits.

2009-08-25T21:57:00.007-04:00

What?! It's only been about 4 months since my last post. Alright, I promise. I'm trying to be a lot better about doing this consistently. I promise!

I have to post about these awesome biscuits I've been baking. They come from Vegan with a Vengeance, an awesome vegan cookbook. They're baking soda biscuits. The recipe is soooo easy, that's why I love them. Anything that's easy to make I'll do over and over again. The best part is that you can modify them to whatever flavor you enjoy. I wanted a savory biscuit, so I added fresh rosemary and dried oregano, sage, and thyme. It was a freaking Scarborough Fair biscuit. They go so well with soups and chilis. I paired them with white bean patties that also came from VWAV.

So yummy!

A Work of Art and Dirty List

2009-04-01T23:56:00.008-04:00

I need to share this beautiful nutritious meal. So beautiful you could have an orgasm just looking at it. Look at it! It's kale and chanterelle mushrooms (yes, those ridiculously expensive ones, but I got mine for free when the man came home from a camping trip in California) sauteed with garlic. I don't know if that's best way to prepare those mushrooms, but I liked it. My grain was a tomatoey quinoa and chick pea mix that came from the Veganomican. Topped off with a few sesame seeds for a pleasant crunch, the meal was perfect. I've been big on the kale thing lately. But it's important to know that recently that mighty leafy green has been named one of the most pesticide ridden vegetables. Refer to this list, known as the "dirty dozen," to get the low down on the other most highly pesticide riddled fruits and veggies. These may be worth spending a little more money on to get organic. I know it's a lot, but since I've been having kale a couple of times a week I'm gonna try to get myself the cleanest I can.

Soup with Mac and Cheese. Yay Comfort Food!

2009-03-25T01:27:00.004-04:00

Another yummy meal was made thanks to my never-ending roving of vegan and veggie blogs. This time I made a lovely tomatoey roasted garlic and white bean soup. Found in the Veganomican, the best thing about this soup is that there was just so much left over. It fed us both for a week! I loved the taste of two whole bulbs of roasted garlic. Even roasting them was a pleasure. I love the smell of it wafting around the house.

To accompany the soup I made vegan mac and cheese found on the Vive Le Vegan blog. Such a great source for easy vegan recipes. This pasta was really intriguing due to its "cheese" sauce made of brazil and cashew nuts. When following this recipe trust what is said about the pasta. It won't look like you have enough, but you will. The soupy consitancy of the sauce thickens and soaks up in the oven. But as you can see here I way overdid it on the bread crumbs. I think this would have been a fantastic Mac and Cheese, but unfortunately the bread crumb overload made it super dry. After brushing some off though I really was able to enjoy the nutty tast of the sauce. You will enjoy this! I'm so grateful to all the blogs written by vegan chefs out there. They provide an endless amount of nutritious and usually tasty meals. I can't wait to go online and find out what the next culinary experiment will be!

Sanskrit 101

2009-03-23T13:59:00.007-04:00

Well, it's been a while...A couple of weeks ago I spent an amazing weekend learning the Sanskrit alphabet. Sanskrit is one of the oldest languages and today is mostly visible in Hindu and Buddhist texts. But was also used widely in scientific and medical texts as well. It is the language of yoga and yogic mantras. I shared a glorious 3 days with friends of mine from the Breathing Project, the school where we take certification classes, getting familiar with the sacred sounds.

Jo Brill, who was trained at the American Institute for Sanskrit, was our guide through the beautiful ancient language. I can't praise her enough as a teacher. She broke down our ego-ridden barriers and helped us open to the joyful experience of pure sound. With unfailing patience and grace, Jo taught us to recite the Sanskrit alphabet (a beautiful mantra in itself) and read a little out loud. I was transported to the excitement I felt as a child when presented with something new to learn. To facilitate this process Jo did not allow us to take notes. We had no choice but to focus entirely on the sounds/knowledge being transmitted to us. I have to admit to having some anxiety about note taking. I thought, "I don't know how else to learn."

Perhaps this is the one lesson I am most grateful to Jo for teaching us. I never realized how limited I thought my capacity for learning was. I also never saw how instead of bathing in the present moment of enlightenment when learning something new I sought to greedily capture the words that I thought represented that wisdom. Capture them in a book, as if that would keep them with me forever. As I look back on all the books and papers I've kept from College and try to remember everything in them I realize how false and unhelpful this method has been. Don't get me wrong. I will continue to take notes, but will also trust that I have the ability to learn and retain information on multiple, previously undiscovered levels. Thanks Jo!

It was a little bitter sweet also. I was reminded in this weekend how much I would love to go back to school and get my doctorate in Religious Studies. But as a wise friend pointed out, "Why waste so many years in school if you don't want to teach?" So true. I'm learning to keep my academic passions and turn them into personal hobbies. See? All better...well, maybe someday I'll go back to class. Regardless, it was a most lovely weekend I shall treasure forever!

Thoroughly Disgusted

2009-02-19T23:58:00.002-05:00

I really don't have words for this. Read about this and speak out!

I want this now!

2009-02-15T22:30:00.004-05:00

I don't know why I'm enjoying Tool Academy so much. It's pretty bad. Anyways, I need to have this Zombie board game. WTF! I could probably play this shit for hours. HEAR ME NOW: IF YOU KNOW ME YOU KNOW I LOVE ZOMBIES. It's my dream one day to write an awesome book explaining the profound understanding zombie movie makers have of our psyches. An accredited academic zombie theses if you will. It's true! Shut up! You don't know!

V-Day Activities and Food

2009-02-15T21:53:00.009-05:00

So here's how Valentine's Day went down. Elie got a surprise night off of work, which was so nice. I made roasted red pepper pesto from the Healthy Hedonsit. It came out way good! I even hand roasted the pepper over the a flame on the stove. I'm impressing myself (except for setting the chopstick I was using as a skewer on fire, two forks is better).
This picture may not look the most appetizing, but this is after I had been eating and pushing it around the plate. I was happy to have it again the next night for dinner. We also had a small salad to go along with it. But this time I had taken two baby cauliflower heads and sauteed them with a little bit of olive oil, fennel seeds, and garlic. I added those to the salads for a super flavorful crunch amongst the verdant greens. Of course, this was accompanied by my favorite beverage of organic green tea steeped with freshly grated ginger. Yes, that is my Smith College mug. I must always be representing the ivory tower 'cause that's how I role.
After that awesome meal we spent the evening watching T.V., eating some more, and playing Zombie Fluxx. What's Zombie Fluxx? Only the best zombie card game I've ever played!!! Whatever, all in all it was a lovely day.

Most Awesome Brownies Ever!!!!

2009-02-14T00:49:00.008-05:00

There's a never ending battle between me and my sweet tooth. One that I am perpetually destined to lose. So that means I have to find many, many healthier alternatives to satisfy my endless cravings. That being said, I will be bringing you some of my favorite recipes from books or blogs. I present to you now some of the most amazing brownies I've ever had. The recipe comes from the fabulous culinary blog 101 Cookbooks, definitely worth your time to explore. But here's the best part, other than the fact that they freaking rock. They are completely flourless and use 2 cups of cooked black beans. Yes folks, BLACK BEANS!
Of course, everyone is completely grossed out when I tell them about these. But let's just say I didn't have that many left over for myself. People at my job were eating two at a time. They're small, but rich. So worth a try. I don't know what else to say about it other than just go make them. I posted the link to the recipe below. I made them completely vegan by substituting the eggs with a flax/hazelnut milk mixture. If you want more details about that let me know. Have at it!
101 Cookbooks Black Bean Brownies.

Eco-knitting

2008-05-01T22:14:00.004-04:00

April, the official Earth month, is now over. But what I love is that these magazines, many of which are still available, have a green theme. Amongst my favorite are the knitting magazines. Both Vogue Knitting and Knit1 have excellent patterns, articles, and yarn reviews pertaining to environmentally safe crafting. What's cool is that you can go to the Vogue Knitting website and download free patterns using organic fibers. In fact, there's a myriad of sites that keep up the earth-friendly knitting all year round. Check out PurlSoho.com. They offer yarns thatare soy, silk, and bamboo derived. Do-it-herselfer, Quircky Knit Girl, refers readers to a pattern that shows you how to recycle plastic shopping bags and knit them into a bag you can use at the market. Knitters all over the Net are learning to take the power of their needles in hand and use them to make the earth a happier, healthier planet.

Staying on the Paperless Path

2008-04-29T21:40:00.005-04:00

So I've seen Kindle, a digital reader from Amazon, and devices similar to it a lot lately. Amazon came out with their product back in November. I didn't think it would really catch on, but I read on their homepage today that they're having to work hard to keep up with orders. For book lovers everywhere, it's definitely exciting to know that one day we could carry many books at once in a small hand held device. Obviously, this device takes energy, but it uses a rechargeable battery. This kind of technology could be an enormous development in the fight to save trees and eliminate paper.

But there's a romantic spirit in me that is beckoned by the smell of an old book. This spirit thrills at the odyssey of exploring dusty shelves with 100's of faded bindings in a strange used book store. Think of not rushing out and getting that shiny new copy of whatever you were so breathlessly anticipating to add to your library.

I'll start crying if I think of not going to Strand again!

Maybe there's some sort of compromise. Remember the library? That's a great way of not wasting paper in the production of books. One takes out a book, enjoys it for free, and returns it for someone else's reading pleasure. You're basically recycling. Or maybe book publishing should be once of the last sacred institutions that are allowed the privilege of using our planets trees? Maybe publishing houses should be green and actively participate in reforestation?

Does anybody own one of these hand held digitals readers? Do share!

Go Paperless: Digital Magazines?

2008-04-28T21:54:00.007-04:00

In honor of Earth Day both the Yoga Journal and Vegetarian Times have recently come out with "paperless" issues. Paperless meaning that you can digitally access and view the issue online. I applaud their efforts, great idea! Using Zinio, a company that specializes in digital magazines, one can zoom in, flip through, and see all the pages clearly. Sponsors are happy, because their ads are still visible just as they would be in the 3-D version.
Sounds like this could really catch on.

I'm all for saving paper and using this medium more often. My only hang-up was that it took a while to load and sometimes there would be a delay in responding to my "flipping" a page. I'm sure the quality of this experience is contingent upon many things, i.e. speed of your Internet connection, how long it's been since you've defragged your computer recently, etc. Check it out for yourselves and let me know what you think. Eyestrain, anyone?

Link for Yoga Journal

Link for Vegetarian Times