A Work of Art and Dirty List

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!

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

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

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

I want this now!

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

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!!!!

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.