Meat Free Mom

K is for Keeping Up with the...

2011-12-10T18:13:00.000-09:00

I have been searching for tips on how to handle two little monkeys, and one of the sites had a very good piece of advice: Don't compare yourself to other moms. This is SOOOO hard to do, but such good advice. I'm lucky to be surrounded by such amazing moms, many of whom now have two kiddoes. They all seem to be handling it so well, they keep their cool, they find time to do all these things while I haven't bathed in a week. All things being equal, it's great to learn from and look up to your peers, but things are not equal.

First of all, not all parents are the same. Maybe some moms can handle lots of loud noise/big messes/etc with just a sigh, but not all of us can. Loud noises bother my husband much more than me, so I see it in my own home where I am able to keep my cool much longer with noisy play than he does. It's not that he's more short-tempered than I am, it's that he's more sensitive to noises. Each parent has their own stuff that pushes our buttons, and each kid makes their own kind of mischeif. Sometimes this works out, sometimes it doesn't.

Second, not all kids are the same. I was in denial for the first two years that Violet is a "spirited" child, but now I realize that she is more energetic, kinesthetic, and needy than many children. When other moms watch her they return her to me with wide eyes and ask how I do it... So the fact that I can get through the day is pretty good, right?

Third, unless you are going to actually ask for advice on how to improve your own parenting, making comparisons based on what you see doesn't really help you, it just makes you feel bad about yourself.

Finally, it's important to remember that what you see of other people's parenting is usually them at their best, and yet we usually compare that to ourselves at our worst.

I've been really struggling this week, feeling like PPD is swallowing me up, and feeling lost and alone. I just keep reminding myself that this too shall pass, and nothing needs to be perfect, it needs to be the best I can do.

J is for Jackfruit: Fruit Made Savory

2011-12-03T12:41:00.000-09:00

The first time I heard about this jackfruit thing was when I was watching the second season of The Great Food Truck Race because I heard there was a vegan food truck participating. The Seabirds truck was known for it's "jackfruit tacos" and they kept talking about them.

I looked up recipes and found two basic ideas:

1. Jackfruit "pulled pork" made by slow cooking jackfruit in BBQ sauce.
2. Jackfruit "carnitas" made by cooking jackfruit with onion, garlic, and spices.

I went right out and got three cans of jackfruit. As soon as I got home, I looked at the recipes closer, and saw that I needed GREEN jackfruit, not the ripe jackfruit I had purchased. Of course. I went back to the store and there was no green jackfruit, just the ripe kind. The store I was at is largely Asian goods, so I was worried I wouldn't find it anywhere. Everything I read said to look in Asian groceries though, so I tried another shop and found some. I got two cans to try each method.

First I made the "pulled pork." I sautteed the jackfruit with some garlic and got it a bit browned, then put it in the crock pot with a generous covering of my favorite BBQ sauce. Straight out of the can, the jackfruit has a mild flavor that reminds me of a lychee, but not nearly as sweet. The floral flavor still reads as sweet though, and I felt like with my sweet BBQ sauce it was just not right. The texture was good though. With the right sauce, it would probably be good.

Next, I made the "carnitas." I had a "carne asada" spice pack that I had been wanting to use. It was a late night snack, because my hubs wanted some nachos. He heated up some black beans and cheddar daiya, while I made the jackfruit. I rinsed the jackfruit and sauteed it with some oil and garlic. Once it started to get browned, I mashed it up with a potato masher. It's almost unsettling how the texture looks like shredded meat. I then added the spices and continued to cook it until it got nice browned bits, and is mostly crispy. I put these crispy, spicy, tender bits on top of the nacho dip and it added great texture and flavor. The sweetness didn't come through for me, so it was perfect. No, it's not meat, and frankly I don't really want something too much like meat anymore.

I liked it so much that I sent my darling husband to get some more jackfruit for me... A lot more. The thing is, with two little ones, it's impossible to go into a small Asian grocery store. So I texted Gordon while he was out running errands and said, "Could you get 10 or more cans of jackfruit?"

Apparently, a white guy buying 10 cans of jackfruit in a tiny Asian grocery store isn't odd enough to even warrant asking what he was using it for or why he liked it so much. I wish I could read the cashier's mind and know what she thought of this purchase.

Sorry I don't have pictures, but I will try to update with some next time I make this.

I is for Imagination

2011-11-21T08:49:00.000-09:00

Now that Violet is talking, the things that go on in her imagination are becoming more apparent to me, and it's so exciting getting this window into her creativity.

We got Violet this great little play stove at the Salvation Army. It's so adorable, and even better now that daddy added a "sink" to it. He cut a hole and inserted a metal bowl then added a faucent attachment so it looks like a sink. Super cute, and knobs to turn. She already had some play pots and pans, plus we got some plastic bowls while we were at the SA anyway, and she has her tea set. All "cooking" toys now live within Violet's kitchedn, and she likes to play with it.

The great thing about this toy, for me, is listening to what she "makes." Sometimes she makes what I'm making. So I make her toast and give it to her, and she takes it over to her kitchen and "cooks" the toast and breaks it into pieces to put in her bowls and serve. Other times she just cooks on her own though. The other day she was cooking and bringing me plates. I asked her what it was.
"Butter."
"Mmm... Butter? Is the butter on anything?"
"Tofu."
"Butter and tofu, okay, that sounds good."
Then she brought me a cup and said it was soup.
"Butter and tofu soup?"

She also plays with her baby dolls, and mimics things I do with her little brother, but also does her own things. Last night my husband went in to check on her after bedtime when we heard noises. She has recently learned to turn her light on and was playing by herself very contently in her lit up bedroom. She had one baby doll sitting on the potty, and she was "feeding" another from her straw sippy cup of water before laying it down on an unfolded changing mat.

And finally, the cutest conversation as of late. I had never talked to her before about what she wants to be when she grows up or what that even means. I decided to give it a try without explanation and see how it went.
"Violet, what do you want to be when you grow up?"
"Ummm... grow up... AIRPLANES!"
"You want to fly airplanes when you grow up?"
"YES!"
I thought that was so cute that I called for my husband and asked her agian.
"Violet, what do you want to be when you grow up?"
"Ummm... grow up... MOMMY."
"You can be a mommy when you grow up."
"Yeah. Mommy."

What a fun and exciting age 2 is! I'm really loving this stage.

H is for Happy

2011-11-17T13:55:00.000-09:00

Joy is something we really wanted to give our children, and I have to say that in that respect we have been great parents. Violet is a HAPPY child. She smiles, laughs, and has fun all the time. One of my favorite things she says right now is, "HAPPY!"

Twinkle, twinkle, little star...

"It's flying Mommy!"

G is foe Gym: Taking Time to Recharge My Own Batteries

2011-11-14T14:29:00.001-09:00

Anyone who has ever flown knows the rule, and yet ever mom forgets it (and probably most dads do too).

"Secure your own oxygen mask before helping others." That even goes for children, infants, and those who are otherwise impaired. You must secure your own first, or you are no good to anyone else.

So, I joined a gym. I guess I should mention that I'm very overweight (obese is the term that I'm trying not to use there, but it's the medical term for how overweight I am...) and part of being a good mom means being a healthy mom. This isn't to say that I put much stock in the BMI, but it is a reality that after two kids in two years, I've let my muscle tone lapse. I'm actually a few pounds lighter than I was when I got pregnant with my first baby, but I'm not feeling as healthy as I did then. I am exhausted, first of all, and then I have noticed that I get tired from activities easier than I would like.

Also, to be honest, the idea of being able to do anything, even work out, unencumbered by children, sounded a little too good to be true. So I joined a gym with child care. My son is only 7 weeks old, which is horrific to the same mommy who didn't leave her daughter with a sitter (or anyone for that matter) until she was over a year old. I just had to face reality though, and the reality is that I needed some time just for me. I wanted to take a yoga class here and there, get strong, get leaner...

Of course, since a gym is there to make money, they signed me up for an intensive 6 weeks with a personal trainer working out twice a week with her and then having a homework day of workout and taking all manner of measurements and weighing me. Ugh. I was just trying to RELAX!

That said, after only one week I am already sleeping better, feeling good about myself and remembering what it was like to be strong.

When I was in high school, sophomore PE was co-ed and we would do warm-ups each day. Part of those warm-ups included doing push-ups. I remember while many of my fellow females were doing "girl push-ups," I took pride in my strength and did the standard version. One day, the teacher was getting exasperated with the lack of effort put forth by many of the boys, and she said, "Guys, just look how Erin is doing her push-ups! THAT'S what I want to see!" I also enjoyed running in high school, which was another daily task with a weekly mile and a half. I loved mile and a half days. In college, I tried to keep running, but without the daily practice, the longer runs left me sore and with shin splints. I did finally work up to a nice running routine, but then started dating someone and I just couldn't find the time. There was never time to say, "this is for me."

Well, now I have an extremely amazing and supportive husband, whose oxygen mask has enabled him to reach over and help me, and he's supporting me in this effort to help myself. I have 5 more weeks, and then the training wheels come off and we see if I can stick to my routine, and not let life get in the way. This IS life. This IS my health. No matter how much I may dislike those pesky BMI numbers, I admit that I'd love to just be "overweight" instead of obese. I'd like to see my waist again.

Wish me luck and happy health.

F is for Freezer

2011-11-06T14:19:00.000-09:00

My sweet husband got me a beautiful freezer for the garage as a "You Gave Birth Again" present.

Now, this isn't like when a husband buys his wife a new stove or vacuum, this was something I specifically requested. You see, with two little ones, dinner time is hard. Really hard. I have a two year old who keeps me out of the house most of the day, and an infant who needs nursing as soon as we get home. So, the solution for me is to have easy meals that are prepped and can be thrown in the oven if we'll be home for a while or in the crock pot if we are going to be out all day.

Use the crock pot for more time for this.

Now I got the Vegan Slow Cooker recipe book so that I could do the slow cooker recipes, and the freezer so I could pre-make things like casseroles. Well, some genius of course came up with a way to utilize both for perfection!

Cook a pre-frozen casserole and have more time for this.

I found this on Pinterest, and while I can't use her recipes, I love her idea. Basically, you do everything you would before you put stuff in the crock pot (except you make multiples), and then you put it in freezer bags instead of the crock pot. Then you just pull out a freezer bag and throw it in the crock before heading off for your fun-filled day. I'm thinking sledding :)

Another trick that I came up with was inspired by another new cookbook I got called Vegan Family Meals. She has a recipe for lasagna that calls for rolling up the noodles and filling instead of laying them out flat. If you want to try the recipe, but don't want to buy the book, I found it posted here. I thought that would be a great way to keep them in single servings. So I froze them in a cupcake pan, without the sauce, then just pull out a few rolls and toss them in the crock pot with some sauce and they are ready by dinner time. The last time I did this I also chopped up kale and eggplant to cook in my sauce while the lasagna was cooking. It turned out great and was a complete meal.

E is for Elimination Communication

2011-11-03T17:59:00.000-08:00

I talked about using EC with Violet in this post when she was about 7 months old. Since then, we have had a long road, and we have had very few poopy diapers. In fact, even when Violet got a horrible stomach flu (this has happened twice now) and had really bad diarrhea, she still didn't poop in diapers. That is control. The peeing... well, that's another story.

So Violet has been almost exclusively pooping in the toilet since she was 3 months old, and peeing in the toilet as long too- just not exclusively. At 26 months, she still pees in her diapers. We are working on it, but don't feel a huge urge to pressure her. We do a lot of naked time at home (mostly because she doesn't want to wear clothes, not because of some structured naked time). We got her cute panties that are not for peeing in, but accidents still happen in them (although she is more prone to tell us she has to pee if she's wearing panties). We try not to make a big deal of accidents, and we try to stay positive. Anyway, that's where we're at with her.

If nothing else, we've giving her a comfort with the toilet, which many children her age don't have. Many parents I know face the issue of a child afraid of or confused by the potty. By offering the option without pressure early on, you solidify that connection between our bodily waste and the toilet.

At 6 weeks, my new baby Desmond is making leaps and bounds. He's gone pee over the toilet about 5-6 times now, and pooped about 3 times. I'm using the same method I used with Violet; I just hold him over the toilet during his diaper change. I've also taken him in just after a feeding and had good luck that way too. Unlike Violet, who screamed if you held her over the toilet (which is why we gave up until 3 months when she was more comfortable with it), Desmond is content to be held over the toilet, and looks up at me happily while we wait for nature to take its course. We will see how he progresses, but so far I'm optimistic.

For more inforamation about EC, check out Diaper Free Baby or just do a search and see what appeals to you.

D is for Detox: Savory Sweets and a Little Macrobiotics

2011-11-01T14:58:00.000-08:00

Ugh, the day after Halloween. What a nightmare on the tummy. Lucky for us, some trick-or-treaters liberated all our candy when we put the bowl out last night. We had intended to pass out candy, but by the time we got home we only had a few little monster who braved the blizzard (only a slight exaggeration). While I was nursing and Violet was getting her bath from daddy, I put the bowl of candy on the front porch and it was gone within a half hour. Well, as my husband reminded me, the BOWL wasn't gone, just all the candy.

So we are not in a sugar overload in our house. Sorry folks. But I feel for those who are. I do, however, end up in an over-sugared state often enough due to my baking addiction that I have some tips that hopefully the whole family will enjoy.

My first suggestion would be to make the dill waffles with beet compote featured in VegNews this month (November/December issue). They are SOOOO devine. The best part is, you make breakfast and it looks like you've made a pillowy waffle with strawberry topping and a dollop of whipped cream, then you bite in and even though the taste isn't at all what you expectred, it's such a wonderful surprise it doesn't matter. We had these on Sunday for our "Sunday waffles" and they are now my favorite and topping the charts for Violet too. She wasn't as interested in the compote, but gobbled up dill pancakes with Tofutti sour cream. No, I'm not posting the recipe. Go out and support this vegan publication that has bounced back after the photo scandal of 2011 and needs our support.

My second suggestion in from the world of macrobiotics. I've read a bit of The Hip Chick's Guide to Macrobiotics and The Kind Diet, both of which encourage a macrobiotic plant-based diet. Now, I'm no expert or even novice at the world of macrobiotics, but I have gleened a bit of advice that really makes sense.

Brown rice just makes you feel good. It's healthy, nutty, and filling. It can be a vehicle for whatever you are wanting, and it's a great alternative of a heavy pasta when your body is already feeling weighed down by pillowcases full of candy. If your kids are like mine, brown rice isn't too hard of a sell, especially with a yummy sauce they like. I make microwave "rice pudding" the next day with leftover rice and soy milk with a little maple syrup and cinnamon and it's V's favorite. Rice goes great under a stir-fry, but it also works in less typical ways, like tossed with pesto or with a "cheesey" sauce. It's wonderful in soup as well.

Miso soup can be more than that thin savory bowl of deliciousness you get at the sushi bar. I buy my own miso paste, wakame seaweed (you buy it dried at Asian groceries or maybe in the ethnic foods aisle of your regular grocery store. While you are there, check out hijiki and arame, other delicious seaweeds. Then buy some dried kombu to cook with your beans and help the "digestive" properties). There are a few different kinds of miso paste, and I buy different ones. I particularly like red miso because the flavor is the strongest, but in many vegan "cheese" alternative recipes they call for the mild flavor of white miso. Try out different ones and see what you like. When I was recovering from a stomach bug, miso soup with brown rice and flax oil was what sustained my unborn baby and I and kept us nourished. It's very "healing" based on most readings. Miso is fermented, and good for the body. Even those who avoid soy often say that miso is a healthy way to get soy.

Beyond the typical miso broth with wakame seaweed, you can add mushrooms, bok choy, and any other vegetables you like to make it more of a hearty stew. The wind and snow are making me prefer that idea over a simple broth. The broth alone is great for recovering from tummy troubles, or just warming up after being out in the cold too long though. For kids, it's salty and umami in a way that they like, plus it's got protein to boot. Pefect snack to refuel before heading back into the cold, and a nice alternative to the cup of hot chocolate standby (although I believe moderation is key, since I brought a thermos of cocoa to our snowy park playdate this morning- however she didn't have any candy yesterday).

C is for Candy (sorry Cookie Monster)

2011-10-31T08:08:00.000-08:00

Happy Halloween!

While I'm not keen on taking my 2 year old trick-or-treating, I do enjoy passing out candy to other little kids for their parents to deal with at 10pm while they still run in circles from a sugar high... But I digress. My kid eats candy on occasion, and specifically will eat candy tonight. She also eats enough fruit leather to constitute candy- that stuff is SUGAR. Again, I digress.

Last month we went to an event held here in Anchorage called Trick or Treat in the Heat. It's for Alaska kids to get a chance to go trick or treating before it snows (cue snow yesterday morning- bummer). They can wear their costumes without the snow suits, and it's fun. Basically an entire subdivision pretends it's Halloween. They decorate their houses, pass out candy, and there's music and fun. You buy tickets ahead of time and the proceeds all go to children's charities, and it's done in honor of a boy who lived on the street years ago. I can't go into more detail without sobbing, so here's the link if you want to learn more: http://www.totith.org/

Anyway, when we went to this event, we needed to know which candies were vegan friendly, and which are not. I found two handy lists from PeTA kids and Veg News. I just kept both lists pulled up on my phone, and we would help our daughter pick the vegan option if there was one. Otherwise, she had one of those plastic pumpkin buckets, and since she's a little young to discuss not having certain candies, we would steal her chocolates while she wasn't looking and trade them with her friends for hard candies and taffys. It worked suprisingly well, and I'm impressed with my husband's stealth. If we ever fall on hard times, he may have a future as a pick pocket.

Since we founds these lists, I've been happily enjoying chick-o-sticks like crazy. If you haven't had them, they are like a Butterfinger without the chocolate. They would be easy to dip in chocolate for your own vegan Bart Simpson experience. I've also recently discovered that my local health food store is carrying Go Max Go candy bars, and that has changed my waistline for the worse. I won't lie. We were also lucky to find a combo pack of Swedish Fish and Sour Patch Kids for passing out to the little goblins that come to our door.

From PeTA Kids :
Airheads taffy
Brach's Cinnamon Hard Candy
Brach's Root Beer Barrels
Brach's Star Brites
Chocolove Dark Chocolate bar
Chocolove Cherries and Almonds Dark Chocolate Bar
Chocolove Crystallized Ginger Dark Chocolate Bar
Chocolove Orange Peel Dark Chocolate Bar
Chocolove Raspberry Dark Chocolate bar
Chick-o-Sticks
Cry Babies
Dots
Dum-Dums
Fireballs
Hubba Bubba bubblegum
Jolly Ranchers (lollipops and hard candy)
Jujubees
Jujyfruits
Laffy Taffy (some varieties)
Lemonheads
Mambas
Mary Janes (regular and peanut butter kisses)
Mike and Ike
Now and Later
Panda Licorice
Smarties (U.S. Brand)
Sour Patch Kids
Super Bubble
Swedish Fish
Sweet Tarts
Twizzlers
Zotz

From VegNews:

Airheads Taffy (website)
Allison's Gourmet vegan caramels (website)
Annie's Organic Bunny Fruit Snacks (website)
Azure Chocolat Beauty Bark (website)
Biona Organic Wine Gums (link)
BoomChocoBoom! Ricemilk Bar (website)
Brachs Fruit Slices (website)
Charms Blow Pops (website)
Charms Pumpkin Flat Pops (website)
Chick-o-Sticks (website)
Chuao Chocolatier Spicy Maya (website)
Clif Kid Organic Twisted Fruit (website)
Crispy Cat Candy Bars (website)
Crows (website)
Cracker Jack (website)
Cry Baby Candy (website)
Diivies Super Stars (website)
Dots (website)
Dum-Dums (website)
Endangered Species dark chocolate (website)
Endangered Species Dark Chocolate Halloween Bug Bites (website)
Ginger People Ginger Chews (website)
Go Max Go candy bars (website)
Goody Good Stuff Sours (website)
Hot Tamales (website)
The Humphrey Company Original Popcorn Balls (website)
Jolly Ranchers hard candy (website)
Let's Do Organic Gummy Bears (website)
Mamba Sour Fruit Chews (link)
Mary Janes, regular and peanut butter kisses (website)
Newman's Own Licorice Twists (website)
Now and Later (website)
NuGo Organic Chocolate Bar (website)
Panda Soft Licorice (website)
Peanut Chews, Original Dark (website)
Pez (website)
Q.Bel Double Dark Wafer Bars (website)
Saf-T-Pops (website)
Seitenbacher Gummy Candies (website)
Sjaak's Organic Chocolates (website)
Smarties (website)
Sour Patch Kids (original variety) (website)
Stockley's Cinder Toffee Candy (link)
Super Bubble (website)
Surf Sweets Fruity Bears, Gummy Swirls, Sour Worms, and Super Sour Bears (website)
Swedish Fish (website)
Sweet & Sara Marshmallow ghosts and bats (website)
VerMints (website)
Whizzers Chocolate Beans (website)
YummyEarth lollipops (website)

B is for Beans: A Sweet Surprise

2011-10-29T13:02:00.001-08:00

Beans Two Ways

Here I go again trying making the Vitamix recipe for black bean brownies. The first time I followed the recipe and overblended my dough into something so gross and glutenous that it was inedible. This time I only mixed my wet ingredients in the blender and then added them to the dry ingredients in a bowl. I think they would be better with a little oil and more sugar. Either way, I really think the Vitamix recipe just isn't great.
There are lots of black bean brownie recipes out there though, so if you have a tried and true one that works, post it in the comments.

What is great, and easy, is that I had made a huge crock pot of black beans and stored them in 2 cup servings in Ziplock bags and froze them. This has worked so well and is so cheap! What a great way to save money and have beans on hand. I freeze them flat too, and that enables you to defrost quickly and easily. On Thursday we had to take Violet to gymnastics in the evening, so I was able to throw a frozen block of beans, some water, taco seasoning, frozen corn, and frozen roasted peppers in the crock pot before we left for easy burritos when we got home. I love my frozen beans!

From ChocolateCoveredKatie.com found via Pinterest

I also had leftover garbanzo beans this morning and made what my husband and I are calling "Desert Hummus," but is called "Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Dip." I made this this morning for breakfast for my daughter, and she loved it. I didn't even tell her it was supposed to be cookie dough, but as soon as she tasted it she said, "Cookie!" I left out the chocolate chips and it was yummy breakfast. Violet oddly wanted to pour a little milk over her bowl of it and ate it with a spoon. She thought she was eating a treat, I thought she was getting a great amount of protein from both the garbanzos and almond butter. Win win with beans.

So those are our beany sweets today. Strange but true. I think I'll dip my black bean brownies in my garbanzo dip and feel weird but healthy... Really weird.

A is for Alphabet

2011-10-28T13:50:00.000-08:00

Since I have a degree in English Education, and the emphasis of my degree was on how people learn language, I thought I would write about how I'm teaching Violet her letters. I don't claim to have the best way, but I can offer my method and reasoning.

First of all, it's been child-lead. We have the alphabet strung up in her room in the form of cute flash cards and a giant stuffed catapillar with the alphabet on it. Of course, we also read with her lots and have since before she was born. We got her a foam alphabet for the bath when she was about 18 months old, and she has wooden flash cards that she has played with on and off. The point is, her environment is "text-rich." The idea is to pique her interest in reading and writting without explicitly teaching it.

I introduced letters with what they spelled. So A was "A for apple" and B is "B for baby." We began this when she got her foam letters just playing in the bathtub. She would pick up a letter and we'd tell her what it was for, or we'd ask her to find that letter. She learned about half her letters that way, but only as what they stood for. As we read alphabet-themed books, we'd say introduce the idea that A is for apple, but the book also has an airplane, because A is for airplane too. This took a while to really sink in, and is still mulling around in her mind. She asks us to write her favorite words out for her. She'll say a word and then we write it and she loves that.

When her textual literacy increased, I noticed a marked increase in her image literacy as well. She began pointing to airplanes in a book and saying airplane, etc. She was "reading" the pictures, which in my mind is just as valid and important of a step. She even has a Curious George book that combines pictures with the text to tell the story.

Once she was recognizing letters, she started trying to sing the alphabet song more. So now we sing the alphabet fairly often, and she calls it "ABC." As she's taken more interest in the song, we've noticed that she notices "ABC" out in the world. We went to Bed, Bath, and Beyond yesterday and she kept saying, "ABC ABC ABC, up there!" She was pointing to the B,B, and B sign. She also points to the words in her books with only a few words and more pictures and specifically wants to know what they say. Other times, we just look through and name the things we see in the pictures. I got her a book that is like I Spy that has a key on one side of the things to look for and then the big picture. She can "read" that herself, and it gives her confidence.

I've always felt that the key to success in school is risk-taking, which stems from confidence. The most important tool we can give our children is the confidence to ask questions, try new things, and explore their world. Then it's just a matter of presenting opportunity as often as possible.

My goal at some point is to make a book in a binder or something with each letter and then for that page have pictures to reflect the words that begin with that letter. Some day.

Trying to Get Blogging Again: The Alphabet

2011-10-27T17:02:00.000-08:00

The alphabet is big in my house right now. My two year old is trying so hard to learn the song, and she's learning her letters, and I thought it's a cute way to keep me blogging and give me topics to write on.

For 26 days (or 26 posts if I lag and can't keep up every day), I'll focus a post around the next letter in the alphabet. If you have ideas for something you'd like me to write about on a certain day, feel free to put those ideas in the comments here (X is for???).

I'll try to post later today with the letter A.

He's Here! Another Vegan Born

2011-10-02T17:21:00.000-08:00

Well any concerns from family and friends (and strangers) about the health of my vegan pregnancy can vanish. On September 23rd I gave birth to a NINE POUND two ounce little boy who is healthy as can be.

This birth was definitely different from the last. With Violet's birth, we spent a long time in early labor and a long time in active labor. We were probably in the tub for 6-8 hours with Violet, and I was fully dilated when I got in the tub... It had also been over 12 hours since I had realized I was in labor when we got in the tub. Now this may sound horrific to some, but in many ways we really enjoyed our slow labor. Even in the final stages, Gordon and I were sleeping in between contractions and things moved slowly and easily. This was a drawback too, though, because by the end of it I was exhausted and depleted. I passed out the first time I went to the bathroom after giving birth to Violet, but I was so tired I honestly thought I had just fallen asleep on the toilet.

Anyway, this time was not the slow and mild process of last time. On Thursday evening, Gordon and Violet took the dogs the lake by our house for a walk. I stayed home to rest. I went to the bathroom and while I had been passing bits and pieces of my mucus plug for weeks, what came out that night was the largest "chunk" yet. I texted Gordon and said that I must love him because I opted not to save or photograph the mucus plug. I was having semi-strong contractions here and there, but I had been for weeks. We had had so many false starts, I tried not to let this big signal give me too much false hope that Dez would be here soon.Thursday night I felt crampy, and woke several times in discomfort. At 3am I had to really focus on my breathing and relaxation in order to get back to sleep. I was excited the next morning to find pink-tinged mucus when I went to the bathroom. I told Gordon that it wasn't an exact rule, but that I had had my "bloody/birth show" and I thought I would be having the baby that day.

Unfortunately, because of the several false starts we'd had, this wasn't the first time I had said this, and we both took it with a grain of salt.

We went to Arctic Playgroundz so Violet could run off some energy, and I noticed that the surges were stronger. I didn't try to time them at this point because I didn't think they were coming regularly, and again I didn't want to falsely get my hopes up. A woman at the playground asked how far along I was, and I told her 40 weeks and 2 days. She and the woman next to her looked shocked, and she exclaimed, "And they aren't inducing you?!" As if treating my healthy pregnancy as such was cruel and unusual torture... I just smiled and said, "Well, I think I'm having him today, so it's not really an issue." They both looked at me like I was crazy for thinking a full-term baby was normal and for crawling around on the floor with my toddler on the day I was going to have a baby. Oh well. I was still smiling.

When we got home, Violet went right down for a nap and I made a big hearty lunch. I made kobocha squash soup from scratch and tempeh BLT's with avocado. I had a feeling it might be my last meal for a while, and I wanted to fill up. My labor with Violet was so long that I didn't eat or drink for far too long, and I ended up passing out after labor. I really didn't want that to happen again.

I started timing my surges, and from around 1:30-2:30 they were between 7-4 minutes apart. I decided the best thing to do would be to take a bath and see if they stopped. With my false starts, changing my activity had stopped what I thougth was labor. I got in the tub and continued to track it. The surges continued at about 4.5 minutes apart. I had a scheduled appointment at the birth center for 3:30, so I called at 3 and asked if I could skip it as I felt I was in labor. My midwife called me back and said she would come by and set up, and if I felt like I needed more time, she could leave for dinner or something. I was still trying not to get my hopes up, but that sounded like a good plan.

My midwife and her two apprentices got here around 4, and we were just getting done setting up the birth tub. At that point I was pacing, swaying, sitting, or otherwise working through strong surges. They were coming frequently enough that I wasn't able to help much and needed to focus on my breathing and visualization. We put my HypnoBirthing affirmations on in the background, and that helped me focus. My friend Natalie came to entertain Violet, and that made it so much easier. They went in Violet's room to read, and I continued to pace as things picked up speed. I realized then that this was the real deal, and that things were happening much quicker than Violet's birth. I started to wonder if I was going to get a break. I felt the urge to get in the tub, and it was finally full around 5pm.

The tub soothed a lot of the discomfort of the surges, but they were still very strong. I felt a lot of pressure, and this time I noticed a radiating warmth like when you hold a stretch for an extended period. I knew my uterus was doing it's job as a strong muscle, and I knew my baby was getting closer. Unlike Violet's birth, I really felt my uterus pushing downward and moving my baby. About this time, Gordon finished cooking dinner for Violet and he got in the tub with me.

I used my surge breathing, a long breath in followed by a quick breath out, and low groans through each surge. At some point, my body felt different, and I felt the need to breath OUT and DOWN. I couldn't imagine that I could already be in the "pushing" phase, but my body was telling me to breath that baby down, and I could feel my natural expulsive reflex moving Dez down. My groaning became an all out woman warrior scream at points. I tried to keep my vocals low and always focused on keeping my mouth open as a reflection of my cervix and vagina. At this point, I had a funny sensation. I felt unbearably tired, like I just COULDN'T stay awake for another minute. I wanted to tell my midwife that I just needed to get out of the tub and take a nap really quickly, then I could finish this later. I knew how ridiculous that was, and I didn't say anything, but the urge was incredible at the time.

As my vocals and surges got louder and more intense, I couldn't really respond to anyone around me. Gordon suggested I lean over the edge of the tub, and I liked the sound of that. I had just been thinking the same thing. This position felt productive, and as Desmond moved down strongly, my bowls took the pressure and released. That's what the fish net is for. Natalie had put Violet to bed, and was standing in the hallway keeping watch. I couldn't believe that Violet was sleeping through all the noise I was making!

I reached down and felt what was in fact the head, but I couldn't believe he was that close already. When the midwife asked if I felt the head I said I didn't think so. Of course, when that same head crowned just minutes later, it was obvious that it was in fact his head. I crowned three times, the final time getting so close that the midwives seemed a bit startled that it went back in. Gordon said, "No, it went back," and I knew he was remembering the hour (at least) that we spent with Violet's head emerging and retracting. On the fourth surge though, it came out completely, and my yell that time was as much of shock as the sensation of stretching. "Is his hair red?" No, he's a brunette, but we love him just the same. We quickly yelled to Natalie to get Violet, we wanted her there. So Violet got in the tub with us, and after 3 minutes the final surge arrived and Desmond made his full entrance. Gordon's hands were on him and he was put right on my chest at 7:30pm.

Violet kissed his head and patted him right away, and Gordon and I just basked in our children. I believe I said something like, "He's here!" and I know Gordon understood how much that simple statement meant. Violet was so excited that she started jumping in the tub and trying to swim in between petting her new brother. After she submerged a few times, we asked Natalie to take her out of the tub, and she went right back to sleep without protest. We bonded in the tub for probably close to an hour, and then the midwives offered to let me birth the placenta in my bed so I could lay down. That sounded perfect, so we made the somewhat awkward trek down the hall to the bed. Eventually, I was assisted in birthing the placenta and I felt a surge of relief and the remaining soreness and cramping I was feeling subsided. I said that I didn't think I was torn, but was checked anyway. There was a slight tearing not worth a single stitch. I lost very little blood this time, and have continued to lose very little blood.

Desmond had his first medical check-up right on our bed, and shocked us with his weight and length. He's a big boy! He's also "fully cooked" and just wonderfully developed. Those extra days and weeks beyond when we thought he would come really paid off. He's already proven to be very calm, but with a strong set of lungs when he has something to say. He's an equinox baby and full of balance. He not only has a good latch, but a great strong suck as well.

We couldn't be happier with another fabulous homebirth, and the wonderful support from friends and care providers. We are so lucky and grateful.

I May Have Gotten Distracted

2011-09-16T15:00:00.000-08:00

Well, the third trimester of this pregnancy threw me for a LOOP and a half! I got food poisoning/a stomach flu at 35 weeks and all the puking started causing contractions... I had to be put on bed rest, my mom flew up to help, and it's been pretty crazy since then. Once I hit 37 weeks, I was given the okay to resume normal activities, and I kind of expected baby Dez to come soon after. He had been trying to come so much over the previous two weeks, and it seemed he was destined to be early.

Family Portrait on lovely hike.

Of course, in true Murphy's Law form, as soon as it was okay to have the baby, the contractions mostly stopped, or at least got irregular. I went for a walk the other day and ended up having contractions every 2 minutes on the dot for an hour, but then as soon as I got home they stopped completely. It's just been a lot of start and go.

As for going, I've been doing what I can to get things moving: hiking, rowing, and biking at 38 weeks. I'm 39 weeks now and sticking mostly to walking, especially after the incident with the biking. It turns out, when you ride a bike while pregnant, the relaxin in your joints and ligaments can enable your pelvic bone to actually shift out of alignment. That doesn't feel great, but luckily I have an amazing chiropractor and I realized I needed to call her. I thought it was just the pelvic pain of the third trimester... No, that is not normal.

I finally realized that there was something I had been forgetting, like any teacher has experienced. The thing that I impress upon my HypnoBirthing students is one of the most essential aspects of the program I let slip to the wayside. I forgot to do a fear release. So today I had my husband guide me through it, and I was surprised by how it went. In visualizing myself and my true inner being, I actually saw myself at Violet's age, running through the surf on the beach in Hawaii. There is a picture of me like this that I drew from, but then as I was asked to go deeper, I found that the image of Violet and I had become interchangeable, and that who I am at my core is made up of who she is as well. My mother was also there, when I was told to tap into my inner wisdom about birthing, my "birthrite."

Another surprise was that when I had to face my fears, the first thing that really loomed for me was an image of my friend's birth who just had a baby. While she and the baby are fine now, there was some time just after the birth where the baby required oxygen, despite being concious. When my friend told me the birth story, I didn't realize that I had internalized that outcome, but clearly it was right there in my mind once I allowed myself to face my fears. I'm so glad I did that and am feeling much better about the birth and anticipate it any day/moment now :)

For you viewing enjoyment, here are some videos of what my little munchkin has been up to:

Here's Violet demonstrating just how effective the Tuffo Muddy Buddy Rain Suit really is.

Violet's Vegan Cupcakes: Pretending to be a Work at Home Mom

2011-06-25T22:46:00.000-08:00

Some of my best tasting work, but not my best decor. I was given less than 24 hour notice on this order though, and Violet was up until midnight, so I will cut myself some slack if you will too.

Sometimes, just for fun, I pretend to work. People email me (honestly, I'm not even sure where they get my email half the time), and they ask me to make vegan cupcakes or cake for them. Then I usually do and they pay me.

It's all very glamorous being a WAHM, instead of my day job, SAHM (which is of course a misnomer since I can't remember the last day I spent at home... but I digress). I also get this sense of accomplishement when I am teaching my HypnoBirthing classes and need to prepare materials, review information, etc.

For a few hours, I marvel at what it must be like to ACTUALLY work from home on a regular basis. Kudos to those who do it. I don't know how they do. I have a million and one business plans rolling around in my head, and I'd love to bring them all to fruition, but as it is, I'm afraid to advertise my baking because I couldn't deal with the fallout.

As it stands, I'm the only vegan baker in town that takes orders. There are a few cafes that will on occasion have a vegan option available, but there is nothing for the special occasions of vegans in this town. Nothing but me. By association, I'm the only game in town for those with dairy or egg allergies. I should probably advertise, build a better website, etc. I just don't feel ready to work that much, and I'm okay with that.

I made $35 this week, though my profit was significantly less (fun fact, if you are going to sell your baked goods as vegan, you need to use organic sugar to make sure you don't have something processed with bone char). It all adds up, especially when I use fine ingredients and lots of care. Not to mention driving around town to get a cake box the right size, for crying out loud...

Teaching my classes ends up being a similar issue with timing and supplies and scheduling and ugh...

My job as mom, especially for the two weeks of the month that I am a single mom, is really consuming. Being the sole provider for a toddler 24/7 as I enter my 3rd trimester is taking it's toll on me. I'm getting tired, irritable, and I'm experiencing a super-fun shortness of breath lately as my big boy grows and stretches within me. I know women have come before me and done this and women will do this after me, and quite frankly it's the norm to have a toddler when you are pregnant with your second, but I still need a quick gripe fest.

Child-Lead Potty Learning

2011-06-12T22:52:00.001-08:00

When my daughter weaned, it was mostly a mutual choice, but not the child-lead situation I had anticipated. At 18 months she was pulling on my shirt, throwing fits if I made her wait, and still wanting to nurse 5-10 times a day. It wasn't a healthy relationship for either of us, and it had to come to a stop. So I cut her back to 3 times a day, somehow, and after that I would only nurse her if she asked. The more I kept her distracted, the less often she asked to nurse. Eventually, we were just done, and after a week I refused when she asked again. Of course, four months later she's trying to nurse every now and then, but I'm comfortable denying her now and she understands.

Still, part of me feels like we missed out on something that would empower her and make me feel like I wasn't pushing her. Luckily, potty training has filled that void for me. Of all the things that I have chosen to let her figure out on her own, I will admit that I didn't anticipate potty training being one of them.

Here's what we've been doing, and how it's been going:

0-3 months: We began trying to look for "cues" that she had to go to the bathroom almost at birth. We read about Elimination Communication, and found ourselves feeling frustrated and like failures.

3 months: As much as we looked for cues and patterns, we finally found one- she started peeing every time we took off a dirty diaper. So, we started holding her over the toilet at each diaper change. Hazzah! Success! She still had wet diapers often, but she went in the potty each time as well, and seemed to save up her poops for when we took her to pee.

3-5 months: We had less than a handful of poopy diapers during this time. She began giving us a look when she had to poop, and seemed to really enjoy not sitting in her own waste. Pees still happened both in the diaper and in the toilet.

5-21 months: As she became mobile, letting us know she had to poop became less and less important. We had a few poopy diapers here and there, but it was still less than once a week or even every two weeks. Around 10 months she began pointing to her diaper when she needed to poop, and that helped. Now that she is vocal, she will say, "poop." We introduced a potty chair, which was okay, but she was still more comfortable with the toilet and a seat on it. During this period of time, she peed on the floor approximately 1 billion times (it's laminate), but learned to get a towel and clean it up herself.

22 months: She has begun taking off her own pants and diaper at times, so that she can sit on her potty chair and do her business. She brings the little insert, and seems to enjoy the independence and privacy of using her potty chair by herself. We went camping a few days ago and we learned that she would be potty trained if we lived exclusively outdoors (she would also probably be inconsolably happy if we lived exclusively outdoors, but until we find jobs in Hawaii this is not an option). We were on a hike and didn't bring extra diapers, so we just took off her wet one and hoped for the best. She watched me pull my pants down and squat to pee once and she was HOOKED. She kept squatting down and and peeing and not getting any on her pants. Then one time she walked off the trail a ways, and I found her squatting and pooping! That's right, just like a dog does, she instinctively knew not to just poop in the middle of the trail! We wiped with a leaf and moved on to more pees. It was a great hike. As soon as we were back in our cabin she immediately peed her pants. You win some, you pee on some.

At this point, she's really impressed me with they way she has guided this change. Yes, we support it and give positive feedback, but it seems her biggest factor in change is intrinsic motivation.

Who knows how much longer we have in diapers, or what will be the deciding factor to her making the crossover, but for now we're happy that we aren't forcing it and it's still happening easily and fluidly (like pee running down your leg). We got You Can Go to the Potty by Dr. Sears and it really reinforces what we've already been doing without pressure or a timeline. We have been reading that some and she seems to like it. I feel like this is something that we've all found our way on together, without following any one program, and that's what I like best about Violet's potty learning, it's not something that some book or website had to teach us about, and not something that we had to teach her, it's something that has happened naturally by doing what we all feel makes sense and makes us each comfortable.

"Vegan Meatballs" Lie on Children's Menu: My Expose

2011-06-06T14:32:00.001-08:00

There's nothing better than a great local restaurant that serves up delicious vegan fare. For a place like that, I give good ratings on Urban Spoon, Yelp, and Happy Cow. A place like that I tell my friends about. I tell the people who ask me about going vegan and tasteless food, and "how do you go out to eat" to go to that restaurant so they can see for themselves.

In Anchorage, we don't have any all-vegan restaurants (at the time of publishing this post I have not yet opened up my own vegan cafe, sadly). We do, however, have a few that are "vegan-friendly" and even more that are turning that way. The local brewpub, Bear Tooth Theatrepub and Grill, now has an entire section of their menu dedicated to vegan items, though they have denied my offer to share recipes or even come in part time so that they could have some awesome vegan deserts to add to the fun. The busiest breakfast diner, where Drew Barrymore ate quite often when she was shooting a movie in town, Snow City Cafe, now has an icon on their menu indicating which items can "easily be made vegan" and instead of just leaving things out and charging you the same price, they even let me sub avocado for the eggs they are leaving off. Middle Way Cafe, a personal favorite of mine, almost always has a vegan baked good in addition to both savory and sweet vegan breakfast items and the most amazing avocado melt you can imagine for lunch. Although I'm not usually the type to order a salad as an entree, I have been known to literally drink their lemon tahini dressing because it is so amazing. There are many more that I really should take the time to list, but instead I will launch into the madness.

In Anchorage, there is one restaurant that is known for catering to vegans, vegetarians, and flexitarians looking for free range buffalo burgers, organic lamb gyros, and wild Alaskan halibut wraps. That place is Organic Oasis. Oddly, while this particular restaurant is known for it's extra enlightened menu, the waitstaff is not always as well-informed as I would like. They often don't know what they are serving, but have always been polite and quick to ask the chef about any of my questions. In addition, the chef has always been great about altering a dish to meet my needs. Unfortunately, it is neither the waitstaff or the chef writing the menu.

Rather than rehash the scenario and then post my letter, I will just post the email I sent to the owner after a very unpleasant circumstance. I know there are typos, but I want to be honest about what I said and honest about my response, so I posting it as is:

The first time I went to Organic Oasis was about three years ago, when we were new to Anchorage. At that time we were omnivores, but both my husband and I are allergic to dairy. We were so pleased to see vegan carrot cake on the menu, and even mentioned that part of our excitement was because of our dairy allergy. To our confusion and surprise, our cake was served to us with a scoop of Humboldt Creamery ice cream, which according to the menu is not included and actually costs extra. We are pushovers and instead of raising a fuss, we just at what wasn't touching the ice cream, tipped our server despite this poor service, and figured there were no other options for us in Anchorage, so we might as well grin and bear it.

As the years have passed, we have enjoyed the food at Organic Oasis greatly, although again and again we were faced with servers who were very polite, but often didn't know what had dairy (or in several cases what "dairy" meant. In answer to my question, "does the chocolate you use to make the mochas have milk in it?" The reply I got was, "We can make it with rice milk." When I reiterated that I meant the actual chocolate used to make the mocha, not whatever milk or milk substitute was use, I got a blank stare and the words "It's organic."

In spite of these disappointments, the food is always tasty, and again, the service has always been friendly, if poorly informed about what they are serving. I have my CSA box delivered there, and so at least once a week I eat lunch there with my daughter and we always have a good time. We are now vegan, and there are so few options for us in Anchorage that we have put aside these mishaps in favor of being able to order food that we can trust to be vegan.

Last week, my husband, daughter, and I came in for lunch and we were thrilled to see spaghetti and vegan meatballs on the Children's Menu. Eager to try the newest vegan item, we ordered it for our daughter, who has been vegan since birth (as such, we would have no idea if she is allergic to dairy or eggs, but when ordering vegan items that shouldn't be an issue). What she didn't finish, I ate the next morning. The vegan meatballs had a texture that I thought was really interesting, so I looked at the menu online and found that they were made from "myco-protein." After a quick search, the only sources of myco-protein I could find were Quorn products, which any vegan knows contain egg whites. Even the wikipedia definition of basic myco-protein says that it contains egg whites. I held out hope and posted on your facebook page and attempted to call 3 or 4 times without ever getting through. Today I went in and asked the waitress if the "vegan" meatballs had egg whites. I was standing at the counter, so I saw her ask the chef, who pulled out a bag of Quorn meatballs and read the label. "Yeah, there are egg whites in these," he said. The waitress relayed the information with no apology or explanation other than, "they were just added to the menu."

The waitstaff without an understanding of what vegan means is one thing, but it is inexcusable to put children at risk for potentially dangerous reactions to a fairly common allergen- eggs. It's also in excusable to try to dupe vegans with a product whose packaging clearly states that it has eggs and does not in any way claim to be vegan. As many claims as Organic Oasis makes about it's products, "free range" "organic" "grass fed" "corn syrup free" etc, and you can't read a simple list of ingredients? I find it hard to believe that any of the statements you make about your food has any credibility at this point, and this has finally been the tipping point to turn away this customer.

I am also a member of the Alaska Veg Meetup, with about 150 members, and I have shared my concerns with them, as well as several local mothers I know with severely allergic children. At least two of those mothers were previously very loyal customers, but I doubt they will be any longer.

I truly hope you find a way to fix these inconsistancies, to reassure the local vegan and vegetarian communities, and to let parents know that you are not trying to put their children in harms way with your Children's Menu items.

Doesn't say vegan here.

This was the response I got:
I am sorry for your poor experience and for believing we are reckless & duping our customers with our offerings. I think you are a bit harsh here. We are on the frontier of food service. We ask for and expect a little latitude. We will take the vegan icon off the meatball dish. I have had so much headache trying to help special diet people. I owned & operated a vegan juice bar and cafe in this town for 8 years. That was 19897 to 1995. Special diet food is always a hard sell because the number of people is so small. There are hundreds of people who come through Organic Oasis each day. About 5% are special diet people. I try to facilitate them from a space of compassion. If we make a mistake out here on the food frontier, please try to be gentle with us. We try and sometimes we succeed, This is how a movement is grown.

People who come to work for me have little experience in this "special" menu world called Organic Oasis. It is difficult for these servers to retain information. It is endemic across the industry. I fish from a shallow pond when I advertise for help. It is the biggest tragedy at Organic Oasis. Most servers have two jobs or are going to college making it difficult to conduct meaningful training sessions. You expect too much from people who make 8 dollars an hour. I come from a different work ethic where we would claim ownership of our jobs. It just is not that way now days. Sure you can find good servers, but about 80% of them are deficient in basic skills and have cavalier attitudes. It is sad. Most people have no idea how difficult it is to offer on a daily basis all of these foods made from scratch.
I am grateful for you taking the time to give honest feedback. But threatening to not come in anymore, you only hurt your options for dining out. Supporting places that pay attention to GMO, corn syrup, preservatives, etc, only helps the movement grow. I am sorry we will not see you anymore and even sorrier that I let you down. I take this seriously and will undoubtedly spring forward with action due to your feed back. Again, thank you for taking the time to care.

Quorn has the decency to warn consumers with allergies that this product contains eggs, as should any resaler.

I would first like to note that he has in no way addressed the issue of why a prepackaged item with a bold face warning below the ingredients list indicating that this product contains egg whites was put on the menu as "vegan meatballs."

The second thing I would point out is that while he indicates that of the "hundreds of customers" that come through the restaurant a day, only 5% are those with special diets, the menu is designed to cater almost exclusively to special diets of one sort or another. It seems highly unlikely that of those hundreds, more than 5% don't eat a special diet of "mostly organic" foods, or a special diet that includes the avoidance of farmed fish/meat/GMO foods. Wheatgrass shots a big seller at this restaurant, but I don't see the general population consuming a lot of wheatgrass.

Finally, I would like to point out that making a claim that something is vegan for no apparent reason other than to appeal to a broader audience calls into question all the other claims they make about their menu. Are things labeled "organic" really organic, or was that just an error on the menu as well? What does GMO-free mean if the menu author can't even read the ingredients on a package of Quorn meatless balls? How carefully are they regulating their promises to their customers and the claims about what they are selling? For me, it calls into the question the integrity of the entire establishment.

Where do I go from here? That's the question. I have been advised by more than one friend to write a letter to the editor of our local paper, especially because they were serving and incorrectly labeled item that contained a common allergen- and on the CHILDREN'S menu no less. I'm not sure how far I want to take this, but I do feel that more should be done. For now, I will publish this little rant and move on for a bit.

**UPDATE** Well, last week, about two weeks after my initial email, a friend went into the restaurant and it was STILL on the menu. Not only that, but when he said something to the waitress she had no idea, so it hasn't even been mentioned to the staff (only about 10 people work there). To me, that means the owner is DELIBERATELY misleading customers and putting children at risk for a bad egg reaction. It would cost nothing to put a sticky note next to the register or next to the schedule in back that says that the vegan meatballs aren't vegan, just let customers know.

Taco Thursday!

2011-05-26T20:40:00.000-08:00

I saw this video on Tuesday, and I really liked it.

I love that it shows how people really do go about transitioning to a meatless lifestyle. It often takes lots of different sources of different information, and it starts as simple as one meal.

I really wanted tacos right away after seeing it, but I had leftovers then, so I decided to wait for Thursday so I could be catchy. I had some Gardein Beefless Tips in the freezer that I had no idea what to do with, and luckily the Gardein website had this great taco recipe.

Dinner on the porch. Such a beautiful night.

It's a little confusing in the format, but made sense once I read it. The ingredients other than the tortillas up to the words "avocado salsa" are the marinade ingredients. This meal comes together VERY quickly and easily and tastes so fresh and delicious. I used slightly less green salsa than in called for in my avocado salsa, and I still thought it was too much, personally. I also used a little more corn and will double the corn next time. For defrosting, I defrosted the beefless tips in the microwave by cutting open the bag and cooking them for 1 minute, the corn I put in for about 40 seconds in a microwave safe bowl (because I used frozen corn). For my cheese, I used just a touch of cheddar daiya.

Oddly, this is her "smile" of approval.

I Just Want a Cupcake

2011-05-25T22:37:00.000-08:00

When I first read that Natalie Portman stopped being vegan during her pregnancy because she was craving cakes and cookies, I scoffed. I mean, she's Natalie-FREAKIN'-Portman. She doesn't live/work near a vegan bakery? She can't hire a personal chef to lavish her with amazing vegan baked goods?

Is there a movie out this year that she's NOT in? Seriously?!

So it was annoying, and frustrating, and saddening because she became a vegan after reading the same book that changed my life to veganism, Eating Animals by Jonathan Safran Foer. The worst part for me is that she's looking to buy these products from regular bakeries, which I have a feeling aren't getting their eggs from more humane farmers. The same goes for butter/milk in those products. So she's going from omitting these ingredients completely based on her ethics to purchasing products from likely the worst of the worst (see: lowest bidder). I can understand making hard choices for your baby's health, but laughing about her choice really makes me wonder if we read the same book. This article discusses the choice she and other vegans have made to give up veganism through pregnancy and the needlessness in most cases for indulging those cravings.

As a young girl, I looked up to Drew Barrymore for a million reasons and one, so she was my first vegetarian role model. I remember as a teen being devastated when I read an article that she had started eating meat again so she could lose weight for Charlie's Angels. What a beautiful woman, who felt she had to lose THIRTY POUNDS to look good enough. She was gorgeous before, and now I just see a thin girl who doesn't know who she is anymore. When she filmed a movie in my town this summer, one of the local articles said that she was reading a copy of Eating Animals in between takes, which gives me some hope. But maybe it just doesn't have the same effect on others as it does on me. Maybe reading it in the wake of a beautiful birth made me more receptive. Who knows?

It's not like I don't remember just over a year ago when I was buying products and eating food without any regard for their origins or who was hurt along the way, so I understand the people out there still eating meat and choosing their battles. It's a common excuse we tell ourselves that they, "just don't know," because the truth is that many people don't care about the suffering of animals.

But all that aside, the point of this post is that I want a cupcake. There is nowhere in Anchorage for me to get a vegan cupcake, unless I spin the wheel of fate and one of two cafes that have once in a blue moon had vegan cupcakes just happen to have them on a day when I can get into a cafe. I can make my own though, and that's my only choice. The thing is, I'm over halfway pregnant, I'm cranky, my cravings are so strong I just ate 4 Tofutti Cuties, and I still want a cupcake. But I'm not going to surrender my ethics because of that. I'm not going to go down to the grocery store and get the gross bakery cupcakes. I'm not going to say, "Oh, well I'm pregnant, so this doesn't count."

I'm not better or stronger or anything else than Natalie Portman, I'm just making a different choice. I don't want to prove that I can do something she can't, I just want to point out that I can, and I do, and in the end it's not that big of a deal. Like I said, I can make my own. My cupcakes are better than most I've had store-baught anyway, thanks to my PPK girls and their Bible/cupcake cookbook Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World.

So for any preggies out there: here's the recipe for a delicious chocolate cupcake.

Mother's Day: A Short Diary

2011-05-16T15:06:00.000-08:00

Sunday May 8th, 2011 (Mother's Day)
2am-ish: Violet woke up crying in a way that said she was scared of something. Both my husband and I tried to take her back to bed, but were met with more fear. So, we brought her back to our bed. She snuggled in with me in my awesome pregnancy pillow and we fell asleep.

7am: I woke up in the most perfect picture of motherhood. I had my right arm around my beautiful todder, and our foreheads were touching. My left hand was on my belly, over my unborn child who shifted with us as we all woke up together. I wish I had a photo of this, but the image is so clear in my mind. I said to my husband, "This is what it is to be a mom."

Wednesday May 11th, 2011
2am: We hear crying from Violet's room, so my husband goes in to check on her. I hear him say, "Oh no!" and take her to the bathroom. Then he calls to me and asks that I change her sheets. She had thrown up in her sleep. She threw up again in the bathroom (on her daddy of course, not in the toilet or sink). When we brought her back to her room, she just wanted me to hold her. The massage I had gotten the day before as a Mother's Day present faded away as I sat in the position most comfortable to her and least comfortable to me. She threw up on me, then after I had to change my shirt I put a towel over my chest and got in the rocking chair with her. It was clear she was not interested in getting back in her bed or leaving me for a second. I spent the rest of the night in the rocking chair with my darling on my chest sleeping, but waking every half hour or so to moan and then throw up. Luckily, it was in that order and I was able to catch it/shield myself in time.

Noon-ish: The doctor has told us not to give fluids until she stops vomitting and she is begging for fluids. She refuses to be not touching me, specifically enjoying being on my chest. As a result, I can't drink or eat anything except if I sneak away for a minute to hide in the bathroom. She is exhausted and is getting no calories, so she sleeps in tiny cat naps on me and throws up periodically.

This is what motherhood really looks like.

Thursday May 12th, 2011
10am: We finally go to the doctor's office because it's been over 24 hours and she can't even keep small sips of water/tea/coconut water down. When we were getting ready, I set her on my bed so she could still see me since she refuses to let me out of her sight. She slept in her own bed last night, but as soon as she woke up it was back to the lap. While I have my back turned to get clothes out of my dresser, I hear, "wa wa!" I turn around to see she is chugging out of the water bottle I keep next to my bed. She throws up on herself on the way to the office. The doctor suggests a popsicle, which Violet has never had before, and she loves it. The puke on the car ride over turns out to be her last.

8pm: She's asleep. We have been giving her 5ccs of Pedialyte at a time through a syringe (by mouth) and she isn't throwing up at all. She nibbles a bit at some food.

Friday May 13th, 2011
8am: I drop my husband off at the airport for his two weeks at work thinking that we are out of the woods and she will start eating and feel fine now. She ate a lot of oatmeal this morning, as well as some of Daddy's cereal. She's fine, finally.

10am: She falls asleep for a very early nap, but of course she's tired.

11am: She wouldn't stay asleep for more than a few minutes, so I get in her toddler bed with her. She wakes up at 11 and starts moaning. I think she is going to puke on me, so I grab a towel. Instead, I hear an erruption in her pants. I change her diaper and it's horrific and totally liquid. The virus has moved south.

8pm: She spent the rest of the day in good spirits, but with explosive diarrhea. After that first diaper incident, she tells me first and goes in the toilet. She is drinking a lot of water, but she's losing a LOT of water. It's unbelievable that someone so small can poop so much. She's not very interested in eating.

Saturday and Sunday
A blur of trips to the bathroom. On Sunday she still wasn't eating much, but she was drinking soy milk and at least getting some nutrients with her fluids. I try again and again to mix acidophilous with yogurt or apple sauce and she turns it down. Finally she began eating some yogurt, then I started making her her usual morning drink which is a container of yogurt and about a cup of soy milk mixed together in a straw cup. It's like a smoothie but without all the fruit.

Monday May 16th, 2011
11:30pm: I put her down for a nap but she cried, so I checked on her. She said she had to poop and I prepared sadly for more explosions. Instead, she pooped a solid turd. Never have I been so happy to see a turd! She was eating and drinking well today, and I had given her soy yogurt mixed with soy milk to help the cultures in her gut replenish.

Baked Vegan Cheesecake: I Have No Idea What New Yorkers Eat

2011-05-07T13:58:00.001-08:00

I like a good baked cheesecake as much as the next girl, but I hesitate to call this "New York Style" cheesecake the way so many big companies will do just because it's baked. I'm just saying that it's baked, and that a New Yorker may or may not enjoy it.

My husband was a bit ho hum about my yummy no-bake vegan cheesecake ventures, and I finally got out of him that it's because he prefers the baked cheesecake. Well that's no problem darlin', I just needed to know so I could create accordingly! This recipe fills the bill of dense richness that he wants, and has a tang that reminds me of my grandmother's cheesecake which always included sour cream. It would be great topped with cherry pie filling (canned or homemade) or a caramel and chocolate topping, but I decided to be a purist for this one.

This filling goes all the way to the top of the crust.

Plain Baked Vegan Cheesecake
1 premade/storebought graham cracker crust (I haven't had a hard time finding vegan ones, just watch for honey)
2 tubs Tofutti cream cheese
1 single serving container of vanilla or plain soy yogurt (this is where that great sour cream tang comes from)
1/2 cup sugar/ evaporated cane juice
1/4 cup arrowroot powder (I get the big bag of Bob's Red Mill and it's cheaper than bottled)
1/2 cup soy creamer vanilla or plain
1 tsp vanilla

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. I use my standing mixer and combine everything but the crust until it's smooth and creamy, but I suppose this could be done by hand, so long as everything is combined well. It helps to mix the arrowroot with the creamer separately, then combine in. Arrowroot doesn't clump much, but it's still easier this way. I haven't tried it with cornstarch instead of arrowroot, but I think it would yeild similar results, but maybe a slightly chalky taste.
Pour mixture into crust and smooth out the top and bake for 30-45 minutes. The top should puff up all the way to the middle and turn slightly brown in patches. Once it's all puffed up, turn off the oven and let it sit a few minutes so it can naturally sink without too big of a heat change. Take out, let it cool, and then refrigerate overnight for best dense results. Before it's cold it has an almost custard-like consistency, which isn't bad, but isn't that nice rich cheesecakey feel either.

Vegan Pregnancy: Part 4

2011-05-03T14:51:00.000-08:00

It's a BOY!

Yesterday was the big 20 week ultrasound and we quickly discovered that we've got a little man on the way! It's hard to say goodbye to my daughter's adorable little cothes, but I think it's probably best for our family. We only wanted 2, so we'll get to have one of each and never wonder "what if we wanted to try for a ___."

I think Violet was on to the truth for a while though, as were we. We get a monthly book through a program called Imagination Library. It's free and fun, for the most part. There have been some books I wasn't too fond of, but they were free, so I'm not complaining. Anyway, a few months ago, we got Big Sister, Little Sister in the mail and we thought Violet would be really into it. It's a great book for siblings and has all pictures of real siblings doing different fun things and the text is in fun rhymes. Violet let me read it to her all the way through one time, and then ripped one of the pages and won't get more than a page through it anymore.

Then the next month, we got Big Brother, Little Brother, which I figured she'd have the same lack of interest in. I didn't really push it and I put it with her other books. It quickly became a bedtime favorite and is sometimes repeated. It's the same style, with pictures of real brothers playing together and rhymes to go along. One night after we read through it and she was so excited, I told her that no matter what the baby turned out to be, she could be a big brother if that's what she wanted.

We also had a name picked out for our boy long before we knew he was a boy. We had been throwing names around and around, getting too narrowminded by our desire to have it fit into a certain box or style. We wanted a name of something in nature, like Violet Rose. Then we wanted an Irish name. Then I was stuck on names that started with Q for a while and only wanted to discuss Q names for a boy or girl. Then one day, we were listening to the Beatles and Obla Di came on and the first word is Desmond. As soon as we heard it we both turned to one another and said, "What do you think of Desmond?" Since then, I've been calling this baby Dez and trying to decide if I would be willing to call my daughter Desdemona if it turned out we were having a girl (the answer was no).

So we went into our ultrasound with all three of us expecting a boy, and lo and behold, we were right. The evidence was clear as soon as the baby came up on the screen, and all my fears about having a small penis in my life came true. How will I clean it? Will he pee directly into my mouth while I'm changing him? Will people treat him strangly because he is intact? Will he knock up some girl that I don't like when he's 15? I'm sure the answers will all come in time though, and I'm so excited that Violet gets a younger brother to play with and to be her brother for life.

We also had another nice surprise at our ultrasound. Despite the fact that I have only gained 2lbs in the first 20 weeks of my pregnancy, Dez is measuring a little big. This is great news, because it's a sign of health and strength. What a lovely surprise. No worries about him growing. I was starting to wonder because until recently I didn't feel like I was showing much and I wondered how a whole baby was fitting in there. I'm all round and robust now though, and it's good to know he is too.

Some day I will find time and energy to post some recipes again. Until then, my boy and I are going to rest while big sis sleeps.

Artichoke Love

2011-04-24T14:52:00.000-08:00

Our local store has some JUMBO artichokes the other day. I just have to share the joy they brought my family.

Mama, am I dreaming?!

Don't bother cooking it, I'll just eat it like this.

It's as big as MY heart.

Sharing that artichoke heart with my husband and daughter was truly a loving and magical experience.

In answer to your questions:

Yes, I have seen bigger when I lived near Castroville and when I lived in Humboldt County (they are really good at growing their greenery LARGE in Humboldt).

Yes, it did fit in the pot whole, we only ate one for all three of us.

Yes, I went back and bought more the next day! They are out now.

I steam them whole, simple. We dip in either vegenaise or melted Earth Balance and garlic salt. I also sometimes make an aoli of sorts out of vegenaise, capers, lemon zest and juice, and salt and pepper.

No, I do not feed these peels to my worms. Though I'm sure they could handle it over time, the waste is so great that I don't want to overwhelm them. I have an outdoor compost this time of year without worms that I put them and all my yard waste in. It works out nicely that artichoke season is when I can finally compost outside.

My Vegan Pregnancy: Part 3

2011-04-11T10:36:00.000-08:00

Well, I am 16 weeks and 5 days pregnant today. This is pretty significant for me, because with my last (omnivore) pregnancy, it was only here that I was ending my severe food aversions and constant nausea. While I felt like I had pretty bad "morning" sickness this time, in retrospect, I was able to eat a LOT more. During my first pregnancy, I would eat breakfast and just hope that I could eat again at some other part of the day.

This time, maybe because I also had to feed a toddler, I ate three meals a day through my whole first trimester. I am still having tummy troubles after I eat, and am not as regular as I'd like to be, but I am able to eat complete meals- what a nice change!

During my last pregnancy, by 16 weeks I had lost 15lbs. This wasn't horrible, but it's certainly not the goal while growing another human. This time, my starting weight was 15lbs lighter than my previous prepregnancy weight, and I haven't lost more than a lb or two which I've already gained back, so I'm right where I started. The baby is only a few ounces, plus some placenta and amniotic fluid, so it's completely fine to have not put on weight yet. Because I started out overweight, it's not dangerous for me to not gain until midway through my second trimester.

I think the biggest difference between my last pregnancy and this pregnancy in regards to eating enough is that my big food aversions are no longer a part of my diet. Eggs, chicken, and fish no longer smell up my house when I eat. I can remember going downstairs into our family room and hiding while my husband would cook chicken for us during my first pregnancy. I could still smell it cooking from there and I would dry heave at the faint smell. Now when I cook, most of the smells are good to me, and I've become an adaptive enough chef that I can alter recipes to exclude certain items when I'm having an aversion. Sometimes the smell of onions or beans or kale bother me, but it hasn't been consistent.

In addition to my steady lack of growth, the baby is measuring exactly to the date when it should, so that's great. We have our "anatomy scan" ultrasound in three weeks, so we'll see again then how each particular limb and the major organs are growing. I've requested a B12 blood test when they do some other tests at 28 weeks, and my midwife suggested a vitamin D test as well because in Alaska nearly everyone needs more D. I have just switched midwives to one who will attend my home birth, and so after seeing two midwives I'm pleased to say that neither had any concerns about a vegan pregnancy. In talking to me, neither even felt the need to suggest changes in my diet. They both said that a balanced vegan diet gave them no cause for worry. What a great reassurance, especially when you see silly stories in the media about previously vegan starlets giving up their vegan ways "for their baby." It's a shame that an innocent unborn child takes the blame for animals to be harmed.

Dr. Cow Tree Nut Cheese

2011-04-06T12:24:00.000-08:00

Photo taken from The Healthy Happy Life blog. See her review here.

While I hate to just give away free advertising when other companies have been so generous to donate items for review, I can't let this go without saying; Dr. Cow Nut Cheese is rocking my socks off. Instead of the usual vegan cheese that is made by using seasonings to mimic the aged flavor of animal milk cheese, Dr. Cow makes his own nut cheeses and ages them like you would a traditional cheese.

The results? OMG I'm in nut cheese heaven. Now, this isn't cheddar or American cheese. This is some strong tangy cheese reminiscent of when I used to go to a little cheese shop in Carmel, CA and they would give you tastes of the most fancy and exotic stinky cheeses from around the world. I'm fairly certain that shop is what nailed the coffin on my ability to digest dairy. But that's okay, I don't want dairy in my diet anyway. I do, however, enjoy a little tang now and then.

I ordered the sampler pack from Dr. Cow's website as a birthday present to myself, along with a few other items I'll review later ;)

The cheese is small, but pungent, and I've only tried two flavors so far. Both were cashew cheeses, one with dulse and one with hemp seeds. I didn't mix them into anything, just ate them on crackers or pretzels, and enjoyed every bite. They are VERY strong tasting, and if you don't like those intense cheeses, these aren't for you. The texture almost reminds me of a triple cream brie with a fairly soft center and a firmer rind around it. The cheese is completely creamy, with no grit or other indication that it was once a fresh nut. The flavor is more like an extra sharp white cheddar. I will say that despite the strong flavor, my toddler was all over that. I guess it's true that kids love cheese.

I highly recommend this product for someone looking to indulge, and who is willing to spend the money for it. At $80, it's a lot of flavor and worth the price, but it's not a huge amount of product. If you really love your vegan friends a LOT, you could have a wine and cheese party with these and everyone would be amazed.

Indoor Composting

2011-03-21T14:06:00.001-08:00

I am very lucky to be a part of a moms group with many cool moms with different backgrounds. One of the moms hosted a tutorial in her home on how to make an indoor compost, since in Alaska we can only compost outdoors for a small portion of the year.

The materials we used were:

2 18 gallon plastic bins (dark in color because you don't want light getting through)

enough torn up cardboard to cover the bottom on the bin

about a gallon of basic potting soil

100 red worms, found in the composting section of the local feed store

enough newspaper torn into shreds to make a thick (3 inch-ish) layer

We drilled holes in both bins on the bottom, upper sides, and ONE of the lids. Then you place the undamaged lid on the floor to act as a barrier in case anything seaps out. Luckily, this has not happened to us. Then you put one of your bins down and layer the cardboard, then the soil and worms (mix and make sure soil is moist), and finally the newspaper. We feed our worms once a week by pulling back the paper shreds and digging a hole to bury the plant matter we have collected during the week. Since I save a lot of scraps for making vegetable stock, we are able to keep this all in a large plastic salad container. It's important to cover everything with soil to avoid mold.

Yes, Kids Do Like Green Veggies

2011-03-15T20:42:00.000-08:00

This is the leftover kale puree from my super green mashed potatoes. My girl likes her kale.

St. Patrick's Day: Corned and Green

2011-03-15T19:59:00.000-08:00

My name is Erin, which actually doesn't make me as Irish as most people think. I also have an lovely amount of freckles and a red headed daughter, though, so I'm earning my green. For as long as I can remember though, I've always love St. Patrick's Day. When I ate meat, I loved corned beef, I love potatoes and cabbage and carrots. I like a good sweet and spicy mustard as a side. I like playful green food and a holiday that doesn't require anyone to buy a present for anyone else, but you get to dress up.

I like this holiday.

Last year, I made my first seitan corned beef using this recipe. I liked it a lot, but what I forgot until this year was that it goes a little heavy on the fennel and caraway. Anyway, for this year, I decided to try to make my soy curls taste like corned beef, and I just used the same seitan recipe. I mixed all the seasonings, dry and wet, with 4 cups of water and 2 cubes of "not beef" bullion. I blended it all well and poured it over about 1lbs soy curls. I let them soak for a good half hour before baking them at 350 for about 20 minutes in a covered pan. I uncovered them and baked then about 10-15 minutes more turning them a few times.

Meanwhile, I boiled potatoes in more "Not Beef" stock and sauteed some kale with garlic and olive oil. I blended the cooked kale with some of the stock so that it became a bright green sauce that I mixed in with the potatoes when I mashed them. These are the greenest mashed potatoes I've ever made.

My toddler danced in circles and begged for more of the green puree. What a funny girl.

My final additions to dinner were to quarter a cabbage and chop some carrots to cook in the potato water. A friend made a spicy slaw and another batch of mashed potatoes and kale, not knowing I was bringing cabbage and potatoes. She also made a delicious soda bread that was the perfect sweet addition to the meal.

I'm glad we celebrated early because I'm hoping someone else will be able to make the greenest mashed potatoes ever or a great vegan corned beef.

Soy Curls: Texture and Flavor WIN!

2011-03-10T18:59:00.001-09:00

Dinner is soy curl tacos with mango salsa, "cheezy" nooch corn, and steamed chard and sprouted lentils with a cilantro lime dressing. I'm really ready for summer here in Alaska- or a trip South!

I have been seeing these "soy curls" at the local health food store for a while now and wondering about them. Then, I suggested them to a gluten-free vegan on a message board and she came back with a stunning review. I knew I had to try them for myself.

Well, today as I read through Viva Vegan! by Terry Home Romero (half of the PPK duo of vegan goddesses), I found a recipe for homemade corn tortillas and decided to try it out. The soy curls seemed like the perfect chewy, savory topping for my tortillas. I got a nice big bag from the prepacked bulk (what a weird concept) and some masa harina for my tortillas. I made flour tortillas often enough to feel comfortable with them, but these corn ones were my first attempt- I'm reminded of the expression "the first pancake." Oh well, they tasted good, I just didn't get my dough right.

As you can see, it doesn't even look like I put a dent in the bag, but I made enough for two adults and a toddler.

My soy curls, on the other hand, were everything I was hoping for and more. I soaked them in a mixture of Lawry's fajita seasoning and water, but didn't really measure. I just made sure there was enough to cover most of them and kept tossing them by hand over the next few minutes while I fixed other parts of the dinner.

After about ten minutes, they have absorbed most of the liquid and are soft but firmly chewy.

Next, I made an aluminum packet with red onion, pasilla pepper, and cilantro chopped at the bottom, I poured my curls and leftover liquid on top and sealed it up. I bake that at 350 for 15 minutes, then opened it and cooked for another ten minutes or so, turning once during that time so that the exposed parts wouldn't dry out.

Right out of the oven, the liquid has reduced to almost a glaze.

These turned out so amazing I can't wait to try other seasoning and cooking methods. As much as I don't really like to think about meat so much anymore, I would compare the texture to a pulled pork or very moist pot roast. I'm thinking it would be great with BBQ sauce or in a stir fry. The actual flavor of the soy curl is very mild and the texture makes it perfect for absorbing whatever marinade is put on it. I look forward to many dishes with this versatile soy product.

My Vegan Pregnancy: Part 2

2011-03-03T14:15:00.001-09:00

It's not easy being green. Kermit is right. Not only have I been "green" in the sense that I've been highly nauseous lately, but I'm having trouble being green as a result of that... and I'm not saving the green I used to.

Green is tough.

The thing is, the first trimester of pregnancy can be very difficult. I have been sick, tired, and hormonal. On top of that, my personal chef/maid/partner had to leave the country for three weeks for training with his work. So I've been all by myself- except for a toddler who wants to play play play and make messes and wear away at every last nerve. Plus, the toddler is not nauseous and doesn't have aversions to the smell of food, so she wants to eat. Blarg!

The answer I came up with is not as green as I would like, but I feel pretty good about my choices: vegan convenience food. There is so much more available now than in the past, and you can still eat delicious and balanced meals without cooking in your own home.

Here are some of my favorites:

Kashi Frozen Entrees
Kashi makes wonderfully balanced meals with lots of veggies, grains, and often legumes. The Black Bean Mango, Mayan Harvest Bake and Tuscan Veggie Bake are all vegan and delicious. My favorite is the Black Bean Mango, but Violet really liked the Mayan Harvest Bake. I like these because of all the grains and veggies, rather than just carbs and proteins like many frozen meals are.

Amy's Kitchen
Amy's has long been seen as a great source of vegetarian and vegan foods. I have not tried all the vegan options, but I did just today enjoy some rice mac and cheeze (made with Daiya). It was so ooey gooey and tasty. My daughter gobbled it up after she got over the fact that it was a bit hot out of the microwave and had to cool down first. The texture and flavor have the wonderful comfort feel for someone like myself whose grandma use to make her special recipe- Marie Calendar's mac and cheese. This is one I'll definitely be buying again.

Ethnic Gourmet
There are way more options than I have tried, but I had the tofu pad Thai the other day with some egg rolls and Violet and I loved it. The pad Thai wasn't as veggie-rich as the other brands, but I still thought it was a good side with some steamed veggies.

Other ways to avoid the smell of food:

Steaming: I found that steamed broccoli or greens was done quickly enough and with a mild enough smell that it didn't bother me. I also discovered that a steamed red potato is perfect in it's starchy comfort and lack of cooking smell. It also doesn't need to be sliced or wrapped and is ready for topping.

Boiling: I have tried making chickpeas and black beans, and both had a bit of smell while boiling even with salt and water. It was still much better than when I tried to cook veggie stock from my leftover veg though.

Broil: It seems that if I season and then broil/bake tofu then I don't smell it as much and I can eat it more happily. I prefer broiling because it's quicker and after a while the smell of baked tofu will fill the kitchen.

Blend: I got a Vitamix, and will post about about that too, and it's a lifesaver. When I blend everything up, I don't smell it and can get all those veggies that I just couldn't stand the smell of.

Other tips for avoiding the nausea that have worked for me: I can't tell you what will help you, it's different for everyone, but these have helped me.

1. An apple a day. I get my CSA box from Full Circle Farm out of Washington, and I've been getting the most delicious variety of apples every week. When I start to cook and smell foods or I get that nausea that only needs to be fed to subside, I eat an apple. The crisp, sweet, and tart combination is the perfect solution for my nausea most of the time. I also have been eating oranges for their tart and sweet flavor.

2. Eat out. If I don't have to cook it, I can eat it. Usually, we try to really limit our restaurant meals, but I have given myself a break for these few weeks and it has really helped. Especially breakfast out seems to really make a difference for me. My favorite breakfast? I got to Middle Way Cafe and order the eggs Florentine and sub tofu for the eggs and lemon tahini dressing for the hollandaise. So we end up with an English muffin with sliced fresh tomato, fresh spinach, and then grilled tofu and a side of breakfast potatoes with a nice little cup of dressing on the side. Violet and I love this breakfast.

3. Snacks. It seems that nausea is worse when you have an empty stomach, and everything I've read agrees with this. My favorite snacks are Veggie Booty, pretzels, walnuts, and carrot sticks.

4. Be realistic with cravings. Sometimes your cravings can get so strong you will overeat, and that just makes you feel bad. Just because you are craving mashed potatoes with such a fierce urge that you think you could eat 7 potatoes mashed up does not mean you actually should eat that many. As long as it's something healthy, there's no reason to avoid the thing you crave, but you don't want to overdo it. If you are a pregnant vegan and crave animal products, try making a vegan version or think about the nutrients and try to get those in another way. I craved a hamgburger the other day, but the idea of a hamburger actually made me physically nauseous, but then I made a yummy loaded Boca burger and it completely cured the craving.

5. Vinegar. I have been eating a lot of broccoli. Broccoli is so good for you, it's green, it's got protein, it's yummy. Since dealing with this nausea, I've found that I like it best with Dijon mustard mixed with a little vegenaise. Any time I can put a sauce or dip that is vinegar-y on my foods, I find that they are much less offensive to my tummy.

6. If all else fails, pretend you are a picky toddler. Hide the veggies if you have to. Veggies and fruits are so good for a pregnant woman, so if it just doesn't seem edible, blend it into what you do like. You can puree spinach and mix it in with mashed potatoes, make a soup with lots of veggies chopped small enough not to notice. You can also make spaghetti sauce with many veggies mixed in without ever noticing a difference in taste.

7. Eat what works and take prenatals. I hate to use my prenatals as my only source of vitamins, but sometimes it's better to not eat things that will make you throw up anyway. Throwing up is no good. When I was pregnant with my daughter, I could eat breakfast and not get sick. So I would eat oatmeal, mix in raisins and walnut butter for extra nutrients, and eat as much as I could.

Sorry I don't have more advice. I wish I could take away everyone else's nausea and fatigue, because I wouldn't wish this on anyone. If you have a partner available, have them cook out of range of your nose and try to rest as much as possible. It's hard to get the rest you need when you are playing single parent to a toddler who doesn't nap for long, but if you aren't in that boat, ask for help and take assistance when you can.

Okay, I just used up another nap time that I should have slept through!

The Amount of Soy Yogurt That is Just Right

2011-01-29T19:36:00.001-09:00

My daughter is going through a yogurt phase. She goes over to the refrigerator, points until I open it, and grabs the yogurt and runs as soon as she sees it. This is a good snack for her, and I'm not complaining, but she's not interested in being fed much anymore. She wants to hold the yogurt cup herself. She wants to feed herself. Of course, with a full cup of yogurt this is a recipe for disaster, so I have devised a method for feeding her yogurt that is both easy and effective.

This would be too much yogurt for my 18 month old to carry around without spilling.

So I peel back the top only half way, pour about a tablespoon or two into an empty yogurt container I have washed out, and place the top back over the first yogurt and return it to the refrigerator.

Then I can let the munchkin roam free with her yogurt and if she does spill it, it's only a few tablespoons. She asks for more when she's done and will eat anywhere from a half cup to an entire yogurt using this method.

No muss, no fuss, no fancy toddler feeding dish.

I also use these yogurt cups for snacks that she can carry around since she seems to have outgrown the snack traps. She wants an open cup of her snack. So I give her just a few raisins, or freeze dried peas, or pretzels, or whatever snack she is having, and she can ask for me. The fact that she has learned to sign more has helped in the development and success of this method for sure. It's fun that she understands when she points to something she wants and I say, "Get your cup and I'll give you some." She runs and finds her snack cup and I give her whatever it is she is pointing at or what I am preparing.

This method is a great idea for older kids too. I would always want a BIG bowl of cereal or a BIG cup of juice, and then so much gets wasted because just like so many people, my eyes were bigger than my stomach. Teaching early on to just eat a little and then get more if you want it keeps you from wasting food or overeating past when you are full.

Home Insemination: A More Natural Approach to a Less Natural Situation

2011-01-19T20:42:00.000-09:00

When we found out that my husband and I could not conceive a child together, we were not surprised. We had actually ruled it out before we got married. We said we would adopt, or we would enjoy traveling and our dogs. We got a puppy the year before we got married, when we first moved into our house, and Clover was our baby.

It was about a month after we got married that we both started talking about wanting a child. We both realized that although we thought we were completely happy without one, we suddenly had the urge to procreate. My husband had already had a sperm analysis, and as we suspected, it was zero. 99% of men with cystic fibrosis have CBAVD, congenital absence of the vas deferens. Basically, his testes make sperm, but they don't have an outlet, so they don't mature and reabsorbed into the body. We discussed our options with my OB and his CF specialist. The long and short of it was that we could spend an inordinate amount of money on a procedure with a fairly low success rate and serious discomfort, or we could use a sperm donor. I was opposed to being juiced up with hormones and having my eggs harvested with a massive needle. My husband was opposed to having his sperm harvested with a needle. We didn't want to spend that kind of money unless we were going to adopt, and I very strongly wanted to be pregnant and give birth to a child.

Once we had decided to use a sperm donor, we knew we were entering into a less invasive medical procedure to make a child, but it still felt out of our hands. Then we talked to my doctor. She was so amazing. She laid out our options, talked to us about donor selection, helped us pick a bank, and then gave us an option we never imagined.

"Would you like to do the insemination in your home or in the office?"

Well that was a no-brainer for us, we were so happy to be able to take back some of the power of this child's creation, and to make it more natural and personal. We felt like it was us doing this, and the vial and syringe were just extra things that helped us along the way and the two of us made a baby in the most natural way we could.

For those thinking of a home insemination, the basics are very easy. I tracked my ovulation using ovulation predictors that you buy right next to the pregnancy tests. You pee on a stick and when you are ovulating you inseminate that day and maybe the day following (that's what we did for this second one). To inseminate, you defrost your vial according to the bank's instructions and then use a syringe to draw up the semen. Once it's full, you take off the needle and insert the syringe as you would a tampon, press down on the plunger, and then lay on your back with your butt elevated for 20 minutes. And that's making a baby! I'm not sure how common it is for sperm banks to deliver to your home, but the one we did had no problem with it. I'm not comfortable sharing the bank we used, but you can ask around and you can search for different banks until you find one. If you are using a friend as your donor, you do the same thing without the defrosting.

I share this story because I never knew I would have that option, and I want others to know how easy it is to have a more personal experience even if you need assisted reproduction. Even if you are given the news that you can't conceive "naturally," that's no reason to think has to be wholly unnatural process in a lab or a petri dish or on a medical table. You can light candles, have romance, and make your baby in your home with your partner in a loving and calm environment.

I hope this helps someone out there, and doesn't gross out the rest with the details.

Flying With a Toddler

2011-01-18T20:12:00.000-09:00

My daughter still qualifies as a "lap infant" because she is only 1.5 years old. My husband still qualifies as a penny pincher because he happily takes advantage of the "lap infant" price to my general discomfort.
We recently flew from Alaska to California to visit family. There are always two legs to this trip, Anchorage to Seattle or Portland, and then on to San Jose or Sacramento. The total travel time is no less than 8 hours of pure bliss.

The hardest part for me is that when my daughter is in my lap, she would like to be nursing nonstop. And when I say "she would like," what I mean is that she will scream and cry and kick if that's not what's going on. She's very pleasant, but when told she can not nurse right now, she becomes a different creature all together. This particular probably can't really be helped though, so I chose to focus on the things I could control.

Food
It's hard enough traveling with an adult on an airline these days and making sure you're fed. It's harder with a child. A vegan family traveling is really left to their own devices. So I bring plenty of good stuff.
When Violet was younger, I would make up tiny tupperware with mashed yam, avocado, peanut butter, dates, pretzels, and such all individually wrapped and ready to feed. Of course, now that I have two extra hands without complete motor control, deciding what foods I want flung around an airplane is a difficult task. Here's what I came up with:
1. Lara Bars and Cliff bars (mini versions of both!): Cliff Bars are my go-to when we're out and I have to grab something to feed the munchkin, but they are pretty big for a tiny girl, so I end up giving her some of it and wrapping the rest and then it dries out and I try to feed the rest to her later, but it's not chewy anymore... Anyway, I found these minis when I was at Target on Christmas Eve after realizing that my homemade pajama pants were not going to be a good present for anyone because they were hideous and didn't fit right. I like Lara Bars as well because they have few ingredients and I like all the ingredients in them. Frankly, if we were at home I'd be giving my daughter dried fruit anyway, so add some grains and nuts and I'm happy.
2. Edensoy Soymilk in the juicebox containers. It's over three ounces and I was all ready to say, "That's for my baby," but no one even asked. You CAN bring them on the plane though for your child, you just have to set them out and explain if they ask. I like Edensoy anyway because the only sweetener they use is malted barley.
3. Edamame. These are great for snacking, but not for all babies as they can get messy. Luckily, we eat them enough that V is a pro and didn't make a mess with them.

We got through our flights without starving and on our flight back we were even able to get a nice tofu stir fry and veggie sushi made fresh at SEA/TAC.

Entertainment
Violet has been going through this adorable artistic phase, but she's also going through a crayon-eating phase, so there was no way I was bringing crayons on the plane to be eaten and thrown everywhere. Painting is her favorite, but I would hope that the reasons this was out of the question would be obvious. So, in a flash of genius that can only come in the shower the afternoon before your red-eye flight, I screamed, "MAGNADOODLE!" I dried off and went right out and picked one up.
For the record, I was so right. The Magnadoodle has a hand handle, the pen is attached so it can't be thrown, and my toddler can draw on whatever surface she wants with it and it will still only mark on the screen. It's not an electronic device, so it's fine for take off and landing, and it was cheap. This really was my crowning glory of ideas. I could retire now.

We also brought along her favorite doll, an anatomically correct boy doll that she will not allow to wear clothes and whom we've named Dickie for obvious reasons (don't be gross, Dickie is one of the few words she can say at this point).

Our final entertainment was to bring a couple of her favorite books and ours. She didn't get that into reading on the plane, and I couldn't get comfortable to read, but they have come in handy in the past.

As far as getting through the airport with our sanity, I wore Violet in the Ergo (had to take her off through security), we gate checked her car seat even though it was a PIA to carry around (would it have been so hard to design it with some kind of hand hold?!), and I brought her diaper bag as my carry-on (although you can bring a diaper bag in addition to your carry-on, I just didn't want to carry more). It all went pretty smoothly. She slept on every flight for part of the time, nursed for hours, and didn't cry. She didn't drive anyone too crazy, and she got to see both sets of grandparents.

My Vegan Pregnancy: Part 1

2011-01-17T20:05:00.000-09:00

Well, first things first, I'm PREGNANT!
We are so excited after a few months of expensive trying. That's another post that I'll save for later though.

This is my first vegan pregnancy, because it wasn't until my daughter started eating solids that we decided to go vegan. I'm going to sound really irresponsible and say that quite frankly, I'm not concerned... bum bum bum bum of ominous music...

The thing is, when you're pregnant you need to eat healthy and be aware of getting a bit more of certain nutrients. To me, a healthy vegan is the perfect person to do this.
Breaking it down:

You should really take a prenatal vitamin (even though I'm not a fan of getting your vitamins from pills). This isn't a vegan thing at all. In fact, vegans usually get more of their vitamins from their food than most omnivores I know. No matter what your diet, unless you are really well versed in nutrition, this shouldn't be skipped. For me, it's not an issue becaues I am breast feeding, so I never stopped taking prenatals after I had my daughter. I've been on prenatal vitamins for 2 years. so that's taken care of.

Omegas, protein, folic acid, and calcium are particularly important and should be consumed in food form as well.

Omegas- since I have a toddler, I'm already conscious of adding omega-rich foods to her diet, and since beginning trying for another I've been adding these things to my diet as well. Our favorites are avocado, hemp seeds, and walnuts.
Protein- Based on my own diet before and after going vegan, I would guess that I get more protein now. Who knows... I do know that I eat a good amount of protein from soy, legumes, grains, and vegetables.
Folic Acid- The prenatal vitamins have a good amount of folic acid, but it is also found in dark green veggies, which I eat daily.
Calcium- Since I am also breast feeding, this is especially important because both breast feeding and pregnancy drain your body of calcium. I eat tofu, drink enriched soy milk, eat sesame seeds just about daily (I keep a jar of raw sesame seeds on the counter and add it to foods all the time), and eat broccoli. I am also taking an extra calcium supplement because I have bad teeth anyway and I need all the help I can get to keep them from falling right out of my head.

In early pregnancy, you should try to eat balanced meals while avoiding the foods that you have aversions to so that you don't get sick. This one is what I'm so excited for. With my first pregnancy, my aversions were all meat, but especially chicken, eggs, and fish. Basically, I needed to be vegan. My weird aversions were coconut milk and anything containing coconut milk and spinach. I can't explain either of those, but they both went away happily because they are two of my favorite things. I had some peanut curry quinoa last night and I think that's the last time I'm having coconut milk for a while. Sad, but that's how it goes. I haven't had the spinach aversion this time, so we'll see how that goes.

There's also the stuff about avoiding lunch meats, soft cheeses, hot dogs, sushi, etc that I don't need to worry about. Nice.

So I'm only 4+ weeks along so far, and I'm just starting to get my "morning sickness." Just like last time, mine seems to be worst at dinner time. I'm having cravings, but they are funny: carrot sticks, tahini dressing, and Daiyadillas (quesodilla made with Daiya cheddar shreds). Other than the Daiyadillas, it's pretty healthy stuff, not the brownie madness I had last time... although I could go for some brownies right now, and I did plow through some mint Newman's O's with pretty impressive speed and agility.

That's my part 1. As I progress I'll update with my experience as a pregnant vegan- a pregnant, breast feeding, vegan at that!

Delicious Vegan Restaurants

2011-01-07T14:06:00.000-09:00

I have so many things to post about, but I'l start slow and easy with some restaurant reviews. We just did a whirlwind trip to California to visit family, and were met with amazing support and consideration for our diet from both sides of the family.

We first went to San Jose and stayed with my in-laws. They suggested we go to a vegetarian restaurant that my mother-in-law had seen downtown. It's called The Vegetarian House (no extra points for creativity, but that's okay). They have an amazing menu with foods ranging from sushi with red quinoa in it to vegan cheesecake. We were overwhelmed by choices and ate family style. We had the quinoa sushi, some stir fry stuff, stroganof, and tiramisu. I'm conflicted about the restaurant. The food was pretty good... I loved the sushi, and enjoyed the eggplant dish we got. My toddler loved the stroganof. There were just a lot of fake meat stuff that seemed excessive. One of the dishes I ordered turned out to be just fake meat. When I got to a vegetarian house, I expect some vegetables- maybe that's just me. It just seemed that the point of all the fake meat is to appeal to omnivores, and my in-laws didn't like any of the fake meat items. The tiramisu seemed like it would have been good except that it was still frozen solid when it was served. Overall, I would go again and choose differently, but it wasn't my favorite.

Next we went to Cafe Gratitude in Oakland. FYI, since it doesn't say so on the website and seems noteworthy to me, it's inside Whole Foods. Sadly, this location doesn't make the mochas that I had read about online and was drooling for before we went. The prices were a bit high and my evil husband wouldn't allow me to get the tiramisu with lunch for comparison purposes. Boo. We got the bagel with nori lox and a tamale. Both were amazing! I loved the idea of nori for lox and the cashew cream cheese was perfect. Also, as a Jew, I loved the red onions, capers, and onion that topped it as well. It was a bagel just like Grandpa would make. The tamale had the perfect moist masa that I have such a hard time finding. Even with the high price would highly recommend this place. I would go to the Berkeley location next time, just to get a tasty drink.

After Oakland, we headed to Sacramento and to the magnificent Sugar Plum Vegan Cafe. We have been here for dinner before and for lunch. We've never had a bad bite. They have the tastiest sweets and savories for reasonable prices and a fairly good variety. They aren't totally elaborate or ritzy, but that's not what we're looking for. This is just good wholesome food. So this time we met a friend and her daugther for brunch, and we discovered the bottomless brunch menu. Even my hollow-legged husband was filled by this plate. It's a sample brunch plate where you start with a bit of everything, bisquits and gravy, cinnamon roll, tempeh bacon, tofu fritata, and I think a pancake. Then you just go back and say what you want more of and they will keep giving you servings of what you like. In all honesty, while I love this place and the kind people who work there, I was disappointed in the cinnamon roll and the gluten-free pastries we tried. They began as a bakery and are well-known for their baked goods, but I just wasn't impressed with a few things this time. On the other hand, I got whoopie pies and took them back to the home of my omnivorous friend and her omni family and they were all surprised at how tasty they were. The whoopie pies were are the best.

So those were our vegan-only restaurants we visited. Pretty good. We also had good luck supplementing that all with stores and other restaurants. In the area of San Jose where my in-laws live the grocery stores had very few vegan or organic options. We were able to get tofu and some produce though, and I made a vegan lasagna that my father-in-law claimed to like. We also found some Daiya shreds at The Vegetarian House's front room, and when my mother-in-law made vegan chili we had chili cheese nachos that were to die for!

In Vacaville, we went to a Trader Joes that had very few lunch items that were vegan. It seemed that every salad had chicken in it, the wraps were mostly meaty, and I was bummed. In the end, I found a grilled eggplant wrap that was awesome, so it worked out. I picked up Daiya shreds somewhere else, so I bought pizza dough from TJ's for that night. I also found candy cane oreo-like cookies, which for me made up for the lack of selection. Cookies, chocolate soy milk, and board games with the family is priceless.

In Placerville, where my family lives, I was able to get a great meal at Golden Dragon. We brought a feast to my mom's house and everyone was shocked to find that the protein in the orange sauce was tofu and the crispy nuggets of perfection were crispy cooked eggplant. Their seasonal specialty was simply cooked fresh green beans with some spice. This is definitely the best Chinese food in Placerville- in case you are ever on your way to Tahoe to ski. We also got out staples at Noah's Ark, a small health food store that has great local produce in addition to great vegan pantry staples. They always have vegan sandwiches for lunch time. *Full disclosure, I used to work there when I was in high school. We also had a great meal at Teriyaki Junction, a Placerville favorite since I was a teen. In fact, the owner use to know my name- well sort of. Every time I came in he would yell, "ERICA, how have you been?" My name isn't Erica, but it was still sweet. They have Japanese food made quickly and fresh. My mom ordered ocean salad, their special of the day, and Violet devoured it. It's always fun to watch the reaction of people around me as my one year old devours seaweed in any form she can get. She a sea monster.

Sorry I don't have pictures, I'm a bad blogger when I travel. Next time.

What Babies Want

2010-12-20T23:24:00.000-09:00

I know E.R. was always the TV show for the hottest men to be all medical and hot, but I never watched it, so I never fell in love with any of the "doctors." Well, I'm in love with Noah Wyle now. I just watched What Babies Want for maybe the 4th or 5th time. It just gets better. This film addresses the way pregnancy, childbirth, and early bonding imprint our children permanently. There are some really amazing stories in this film, and there is heartbreak too.

As a former teacher, this film reminded me that there is so much we can't do for one another when the damage that has been inflicted is so basic and so early. At the same time, I was heartened by the way hypnosis and therapy were used to heal pain that in some cases had gone on for decades. It really inspires me to not only continue my HypnoBirthing teaching, but to some day expand my hypnosis training. Hypnosis has such healing powers, and I'd love to explore that further when my life opens up the time and energy for that.

For now, finding the energy to do the dishes is a challenge some days, but films like this reenergize me too. There were so many things that I instinctually did, and can't imagine doing otherwise, that were explained. It seems so basic that you would not want your child taken away from you, isolated in a nursery, and left to cry alone in the first hours or days of life. I am so grateful for my healthy pregnancy and birth that allowed me to be at home and never out of sight of my daughter for the first several months of her life.

I particularly loved the idea that being close with your child early on and then allowing them to explore the world when they are ready leads to them being more confident and outgoing when the time comes. No one else held my daughter other than my husband and I for at least the first couple months, and some people expressed concern that she would be a total mama's girl. Yes, she loves me plenty, but she is one of the most outgoing children I've ever seen.

I'm rambling in the afterglow of the lunar eclipse, but I wanted to add a post and definitely wanted to let others know about this film. Such a great positive look at pregnancy, birth, and beyond.

Raw Fruit for Snacking

2010-12-02T21:38:00.000-09:00

Lately, I have been putting a fruit bowl on the table. Honestly, the reason is because my crisper is full- but imagine I was smart enough to realize the good this would do and that I did this as a clever parenting strategy.

Can't suspend disbelief that I'm a clever parent? That's okay. You can learn from my mistaken misfortune and be a clever parent.

So I put the fruit bowl on the dining room table, and Violet saw it at dinner. She wanted the bright and pretty things. I kind of thought it was just a visual thing. Then, I gave her an apple. She LOVED it! Now, I will admit that my 16 month old does not eat an entire apple on her own, so giving her a whole one is not the clever part. I need to either accept that I will be washing off and eating an apple I find on the floor or in the toybox at some point in the hopefully near future, that my dogs will be eating an apple later, or that it will be otherwise disposed of. I've found that Violet won't eat apple slices most of the time. She likes to eat it off the core, but not in slices. She will nibble on the slices if I put We Can't Say It's Cheese cheddar spread by Wayfare, but really she's going more for the spread than the apple.

I moved the fruit bowl to the counter that Violet can get to (though I really don't like her climbing on it, so I probably shouldn't put bait there). As a result, she's eaten ripe persimmons, pears, and oranges (she tries to eat the peel and I help out). Yesterday she ate all five satsuma oranges that came in our CSA box by herself. I was impressed and fearful for the reprecussions. The only result is that her cold that has been lingering finally seems to be on its way out.

The moral of this story is that fruit in plain sight is a good idea.

I also keep grapes and baby peppers on the lowest shelf of the refigerator so she can grab them when I open it. I give her celery or carrots out of the crisper if she's at the refigerator door asking- which is often lately. She's all about the raw produce, and I can't complain about that. It's great to watch her eyes light up as I put away the produce from our weekly CSA box, and the joy in her exploration of each new taste is a real treat for me just as much as it's a treat for her.

When good fruit goes almost bad?
Make fruit leather. I have been making my own fruit leather with whatever is about to turn, and it's worked out great. I chop and quickly cook whatever fruits I have left over or about to go bad, and then I puree them and spread them on a cookie sheet with parchment paper. About four cups chopped fruit is just right for one cookie sheet. I bake it overnight at 170 (or if I had a dehydrator I would use that), and in the morning I have a huge sheet of fruit leather. I break it up and keep it in a ziplock bag in my Ergo pouch and we have fruit to go no matter where we are. When I forget snacks or we just need a quick something, this has saved me many times.

My next trick will be to try to make some veggie/fruit leather. We'll see how that goes...

Teese Vegan Cheese

2010-11-30T22:51:00.000-09:00

Violet and I had the pleasure of sampling some of Chicago Soydairy's Creamy Cheddar Teese this week and I just have to say it: ooey gooey. When my teese arrived in a sausage tube (sorry, but that's the image I have with this particular packaging), I was a little concerned. It felt liquid in the tube and I was sure it was going to be a watery and flavorless sauce. I can now say, with a bit of a scoff at my preconceived notions, LOL.

In the interest of purity, I followed the instructions on the tube to make a special treat for my poor little health foodie baby who gets mac and cheese only in the form of Jerusalem artichoke pasta or homemade pesto. I got out the quinoa elbow mac and cooked it up right with some cheesy sauce.

The first thing I noticed as the sauce warmed with the pasta is that it not only thickened like my homemade cornstarch-based sauces, but it was stretchy and gooey like dairy cheese. Also, the flavor had a great tang that I think I recall cheddar tasting like (it's been a while, so forgive me if I'm off). There's definitely a tang different from other vegan cheeses though, of that I am sure. It was delicious, and I highly recommend it.

But you don't have to take my word for it (I home Reading Rainbow doesn't have that trademarked...). Violet was a huge fan. I haven't seen her eat anything so voraciously since I gave her her first cookie.

Carefully using the fork. After she tasted how good it was, this quickly was replaced by fist fulls to the mouth.

Right after a fist full. Note the lovely orange all over her face.

Quinoa mac for added protein with green beans and apples. It was a good meal.

Vegan Potlucks

2010-11-28T22:17:00.000-09:00

As a vegan parent, I try not to segregate myself and my daughter from those around us who eat animal products. I smile as I chase my daughter around at every play group, as all the other parents pass out cheese, yogurt snacks, gummy candies with gelatin, and other treats that I don't want my toddler having. It's just a necessary part of caring about what she eats. I'm sure it's much harder for parents of kids with severe allergies, and I know that at the end of the day it might happen that Violet gets a taste of something I don't want her eating. It's not the biggest deal in the world, it's not something I can really control, and it wears on me without me knowing.

For Thanksgiving Violet and I were on our own, so we went to a potluck hosted through our local vegetarian meetup group. The group has vegetarians, vegans, and veg curious members, but our potlucks and events are all vegan. So not only did we get our first vegan Thanksgiving, but we still got to be with other people and have fun.

There were so many people at the potluck that we ended up all eating in the living room, on the couch, the floor, on pillows. It was wonderful and open and free. Violet and her friend Rakim played while the adults chatted. It wasn't until we started eating that I realized how much energy and stress occurs when we eat in mixed company.

Violet is a mooch. That's just her way. She loves food, loves feeding others (much to the dismay of the parents of tiny babies who Violet tries to share with), and she loves being fed (though not from a spoon like a civilized child). Since everyone was low to the ground, Violet simply wandered around the room and people fed her. She didn't want to sit with me and be fed, she wanted a taste from everyone. I felt a familiar pang of anxiety when I saw her approach a plate, and saw someone feed her from their plate...
until I realized- Everything was vegan.

Peace.

Everything was vegan and everyone was feeding Violet and she was having such a great time and I was able to sit back and watch her interact with her new friends, asking for a bite or snack. I didn't have to pull her away from someone else as soon as food was around. I didn't have to load her with her favorite foods so that she wouldn't want to eat what others had. She was free to sample and interact in the way she felt most comfortable.

I highly recommend vegan potlucks for any vegan parent. I would add to that, if you have a child with allergies, I would suggest a potluck without those allergens, and maybe with those with similar allergies. As your local bounce house if they would do a "peanut free" day, or host a playgroup in your home with no gluten allowed.

We don't want to teach our kids to just eat anything that someone gives them, but we also don't want to teach them not to try new things. It is liberating to be able to interact with others through food, and I believe that one of the most isolating things about being vegan is that you lose part of the social aspect of eating. Either it's hard to sit and watch your friend eat a side of ribs, or you can't have people over without worry that they won't like what you are making. You can't just go to someone's house without a list of things that you don't eat and finding a neutral location to go out to eat can be just as challenging. It's lonely and it perpetuates both the stereotypes and realities of vegans not wanting to interact with others. My grandpa always said that food is love, and I believe that. Losing the part of your life where you dine with your friends and family in the same way you always have is one of the hardest parts of veganism. The easiest part is when you feel the love of eating great foods that don't support the cruelty or killing of other living beings.

I wish I had pictures to share of the two vegan potlucks I went to this week, but I don't, so I'll post the menus for both instead. Feel free to drool.

Thanksgiving:
2 Tofurkeys
Mashed pototoes
Gravy
Homemade rolls
Sweet potato casserole with prailine pecans
Green bean and mushroom casserole with almonds
Hazelnut and cherry stuffing made with homemade cornbread
Homemade and canned cranberry sauce
Acorn squash soup
Salad
No Bake Pumpkin Cheesecake

Thanksgiving Part 2:
Pesto pasta with fresh tomatoes
Brussel sprouts with pine nuts, capers, and raisins
Salad with spicy chipotle dressing
Fresh peppers with a pea puree hummus dip
Leftover acorn squash soup
Southwest tabouli
Homemade vegan fudge
Molasses ginger cookies

Last Minute Lazy Vegan No-Bake Pumpkin Pie

2010-11-23T20:58:00.000-09:00

Okay, I know this is such a cop-out and a lame recipe for someone who loves to bake as much as I do, but I don't care- it's DELICIOUS! And as much as I love to bake, I love to grub on some tasty pie.

I got the ingredients by cruising the "I Can't Believe It's Vegan" list that PETA put out. I love this list for when I'm being lazy.

This recipe is what to make when you realize you have an hour before heading to a Thanksgiving potluck and you need that hour to include shopping time.

Ingredients:
1 store-bought graham cracker crust (read the ingredients, but most are accidentally vegan)
1 small/regular box Jello vanilla pudding mix
1/2 cup soy creamer or soy milk
2 cups pureed pumpkin (not pumpkin pie mix, it will be too sweet)
1 tsp pumpkin pie seasoning (could this be easier? no.)

In a stand mixer, or with a hand mixer, or with serious energy and a whisk, mix everything but the crust for a couple minutes until it's a little fluffy, a little creamy, and firms up a bit. Transfer mixture to crust and refrigerate for an 1-3 hours (you can make it and throw it in the fridge while everyone's eating, then have it ready for desert).

It tastes a little like pudding, a lot like pumpkin pie should, and the consistency is amazing. I am going to try this with some tofutti mixed in for a cheesecake-like pie, but I don't want to vouch for the results until I've tried it.

Miso Soup Gravy

2010-11-23T20:45:00.000-09:00

I recently received some Miso-Cup vegetable soup. I was thinking about those packets of gravy mix, and when I saw the instant miso soup mix, I thought that would make a great gravy base. I already had a stuffing in the oven, and while a gravy made with the same Not Chick'n bouillon that I had used in the gravy would have been fine, the umami of miso gravy sounded even better. This was so easy, but had a really great complex umami taste that paired perfectly with stuffing.

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups hot water
1 packet of Miso-Cup Delicious Golden Vegetable Soup

2 Tbsp Earth Balance Buttery Spread
2 Tbsp flour

pepper to taste (you do NOT need salt with this, just add the pepper)

In a sauce pan over medium heat, melt the butter and then mix in the flour to make a roux. Combine the packet and water and add a bit at a time while stirring constantly. Stir and let simmer for another 5 minutes or so and you have your gravy. I like mine peppery, so I added freshly ground black pepper. This isn't a thick gravy, but if you like yours thicker you can add a bit more flour.

Stuffing/Dressing with Chickpeas, Yams, and Just a Little Bread

2010-11-23T20:37:00.001-09:00

I love stuffing. I LOVE STUFFING. I really love stuffing. Thanksgiving is my most favorite holiday, because stuffing is so much a part of that day. Much more than a dead bird, stuffing is what people look forward to.

I started my festivity early, and made this great "stuffing" last week. I didn't stuff it in anything other than my mouth (and is there anywhere better to stuff stuffing?), but you could use this recipe to stuff a homemade tofu turkey like the Healthy Hip Chick's recipe. Or any other tofu turkey recipe you like. I have no idea how it would turn out within a ball of tofu, but I personally like a beautiful browned top, so I make it in my pretty stuffing pan. Yes, I have a special pan that is for stuffing (but I let other things cook in it throughout the year). I got it many years ago when I began my stance that stuffing would always be my Thanksgiving day potluck item.

I think the thing that really makes this stuffing is that I roast the yams, apples and turnips. You don't need to use turnips if that's not your bag, baby. You could just sautee everything with the rest of the veg, but you'll be missing out a bit.

Ingredients:
1 yam, cubed
4-5 baby turnips (or 1-2 medium/large turnips), cubed
1 apple, cubed

1 cup hot water (or garbanzo cooking liquid) + 1/2 cube Not Chick'n

1 1/2 cups cooked garbanzos (or canned, but wash them off so there's no slime)
1/4 cup tapioca flour

2 stalks celery, sliced thinly
2 carrots, chopped into cubes or half circles
1/2 yellow onion chopped
1 tsp garlic granules
1/2 tsp dried thyme
1/2 tsp dried rosemary
1/2 tsp dried parsley
(or use fresh herbs for better flavor, use twice as much)

3 slices Dave's Killer bread, Sprouted Good Seed

2 Tbsp Earth Balance buttery spread

First, preheat your oven to 400 degrees. Cube the yam, turnips, and apple. Toss them with salt and pepper oil (your choice of oil), then spread them out on a baking sheet and roast for about 30 minutes. You want them all delicious and roasty, so wait unti they are beautiful and brown to take them out.

Next, mix your broth up. I used the Not Chick'n, which I really like, but you could use whatever veg broth you like. Just make a cup of broth. It shouldn't be too hot when you mix in the tapioca flour and I would make a small slurry and then mix it in so you don't get lumps. *Slurry- your powder and a small amount of water make a watery paste to add to larger quantity of water to avoid lumps* Set this aside.

Then, sautee your veg and herbs until they have that great smell. When it smells like Thanksgiving you are ready. Cook it on high heat to get some carmel to your onions and other veg. Stir in the garbanzos once it's got the color.

Finally, spray or whipe oil on the inside of your most beautiful baking dish, and toss everything in there and mix it around. It's going to be hot, but your hands really will be the best tool for this. Once everything is in, make sure to press it all down so all the bread is soaked through. Sprinkle with 2 Tbsp melted Earth Balance, or leave little bits of it around the top to make pretty brown and buttery flavor pockets.

Turn your oven down to 375 and bake for about 30-40 minutes. It should be bubbling, and not dried out. Serve with miso soup gravy.

Coconut Flour Blondies with Chocolate Chips

2010-11-19T07:41:00.000-09:00

I got a bag of Let's Do... Organic Coconut Flour and could not wait a full day even to try it out. They have coconut cream too, which has the wheels in my head turning. I'll definitely post about that later. I have been experimenting with gluten-free recipes, and saw this recipe in Living Without a few months ago. I decided to adapt it and make it vegan. I also decided not to do gluten-free for this one, because I wanted all the other flavors to be familiar except the coconut flour. It tasted nutty and coconut-y just in the powder form, so I figured in a blondie it will be perfect.

Here's the recipe the way I did it.

Ingredients:
1/2 cup SOFT dates (it took 6 for me)- if your dates are not soft, soak them in about 1/2 cup warm water, and use that water for your flax eggs
3 Tbsp flax mixed with 1/2 cup water (let it sit and gel)
1/4 cup agave nectar
1/2 cup extra virgin coconut oil
1 tsp vanilla extract

1/4 wheat flour or whole wheat pastry flour
1/2 cup coconut flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt

1 cup chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line an 8X8in pan with parchment paper. Spray oil over the parchment and pan. Put all the wet ingredients in a food processor and blend until smooth. Try not to drink the resulting liquid (this may be the hardest part of this recipe). Blend the dry ingredients in a large bowl (not including chips) with a whisk or fork to break up any coconut flour clumps. Pour wet ingredient liquid into THE BOWL, not your mouth, and combine completely. Add chocolate chips and give it another spin with your spoon. It will look like cookie dough and taste like awesome. Don't eat it all, but go ahead and taste that. It's got hints of macaroon flavor, but the texture and chips bring you back to memories of chocolate chip cookies. Now fight the impulse to form this into balls and press it down into your pan evenly and bake it for 25-30 minutes. It will leave your hands feeling luscious with coconut oil, which is a really good moisturizer. You may lick the bowl now. And the spoon. And the inside of the food processor (watch for blade). Let them cool a bit before pulling it all out in your handy dandy parchment paper and cooling competely before cutting. The original recipe says this makes 16, but realistically, I'm going to get 9 portions from this.

These had a great chewy moist texture, a perfect flavor that just hinted at coconut, and a pretty slightly browned top. I think next time I'll use a little more agave and fewer chocolate chips, but overall it was a success! My husband who isn't a coconut fan ate them up and said they didn't have the coconut flavor he doesn't like. I, on the other hand, got my hints of maccaroon flavor without it being overpowering. I think these would also be great with shredded coconut and macadamia nuts instead of chocolate chips, because they already have a slight island flavor.

Yam Au Gratin

2010-11-17T20:01:00.006-09:00

I love potatoes au gratin, but I had some yams that needed eating. Usually with potatoes I make a gravy-like sauce with herbs and veg broth and flour, but I wanted a creamy au gratin this time. I looked up some recipes and of course they called for heavy cream, like I make heavy cream with my dismal mammaries. Luckily, I had a little box of Mimiccream that I've been looking for a use for. It says it can be used in the place of heavy cream. The nice thing about this is that it doesn't have any sweetener or flavoring like soymilk, and it's made from cashews and almonds. I love making sauces with almonds, so I figured it should work fine.

This is all that survived to be photographed

Ingredients:
2 medium sized yams sliced thinly
1 1/2 cups unsweetened Mimiccream
1 Tbsp tapioca powder (I hadn't used this before, but it says to use in place of cornstarch, so I gave it a try)
1 tsp Lawry's seasoned salt (or less if you aren't a salt fiend)
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes (or less- it turned out good and spicy)

cooking spray and salt and pepper
Nutritional yeast for topping

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Spray an 8X8 inch pan with cooking spray and line the bottom with yam slices season your layer of yams with salt and pepper. Combine mimiccream, tapioca powder, and seasonings in a bowl and pour half the mixture over your yams. Add another layer of yams, salt and pepper and the remaining sauce. Cover with a thin layer of nutritional yeast and spray with cooking spray to get a browned top. Bake for 30-40 minutes (until yams are soft).

This turned out so delicious and creamy. My husband said it was the texture of a cheese sauce. I loved it and will use Mimiccream for this again. I used Let's Do... Organic Tapioca Powder from Edward and Sons and it didn't leave an odd aftertaste like cornstarch sometimes does.

Sour Cream is Back in my Life

2010-11-17T17:05:00.000-09:00

I got a coupon for Wayfare products, so I headed off to the store ready to get some cheddar spread. Wayfare makes these awesome cheese-like spreads in Cheddar, Hickory Cheddar and Cheddar Sauce. I have had the Hickory and Cheddar and both were awesome. It's not hard like a block cheese, but it has a great flavor without any weird aftertastes. That's because it's soy-free, gluten-free, and still manages to be vegan! I love soy, but in analogue foods I taste it and it's a little off.

Right when I was about to grab that cheddar and run, I saw "We Can't Say It's Sour Cream." Hmmm... I have had Sour Supreme by Tofutti, and the aftertaste just kind of ruins it for me. I looked at the ingredients. Lima Beans, Rice, Oats, Vegetable Oil Blend (Safflower and Coconut Oil), Sea Salt, Citric Acid, Onion Powder. Those things all sounded good to me, but not like sour cream. I figured I might as well take a chance and try it out.

I came home and whipped up some quinoa pilaf with zucchini and bell peppers, black beans with homemade mole, and spicy baked plantain chips. This kind of meal requires a cooling element. Usually I would make a lemony guacamole, but my avocados were all underripe, and I had something sour and creamy to try out. I tasted a bit right out of the container and I wasn't sure I would like it. Then I thought about a bite of sour cream on it's own. Ew. I put a dollop in the middle of the plate, and my bites contained a little of each thing. It was the perfect cool, tangy, delicious addition with my plantain chips, and tasted just as great with my beans.

The next day, I was thinking that large container was just too big for my needs... I mean, I don't eat spicy Mexican food every day! Then, I remembered the other thing that goes well with sour cream- horseradish. I roasted some beets and served them over my leftover quinoa with toasted hazelnuts on top. To make it perfect, I mixed horseradish and my We Can't Say It's Sour Cream and added a hefty dollop. PERFECTION! No one needs to be eating prime rib and creamy horseradish when you have this.

Then I though I had really exhausted the possibilities. I mean, I had Mexican food and a classic American diner taste, how much more "sour cream" flavor did I need? Well, I had some precooked falafal from Costco and needed a quick lunch. They have okay flavor, but are unbearably dry. I mixed up the last of my We Can't Say It's Sour Cream with some vegenaise and dill for a perfect cool dip to balance the heavy cumin and spice of a falafal.

I will definitely be getting this spread again, even without a coupon!

Iditerod Baby: Putting the Pups to Work

2010-11-13T06:41:00.000-09:00

When we first got out puppy, Clover, people told me time and again that her breed (she's a mystery mix as far as I know...) needed to pull. They said she's a work dog who would take pleasure from pulling a sled or person on skis (aka skijorning). So when the baby came along and the snow came out, I figured it was as good a time as any to give it the old college try.

Last year, Clover pulled my tiny Violet all through the dog park for a month or less. We didn't buy our sled until March, so it was just the last of the snow we got to enjoy. This year, we had the sled from day one, and Clover has been making the most of it.

We use an infant sled that we got at the Great Outdoor Clothing Store next to REI in Anchorage. It has a pull rope, so we attach a retractable leash to the pull rope. Then, the split leash is also attached to the pull rope using the clip from the retractable leash. The dogs wear regular harnesses and are attached to the split lead, and the baby goes in the sled (in case this is hard to follow). The adult, or safety brake, holds onto the retractable leash.

Most days, Violet loves her sled and Clover loves her pulling. Some days one or the other does not. I'm not trying to make anyone unhappy, so we just take those days off. It's great fun though, and for my little dog-loving baby, there's not much cooler than being pulled along by your dogs.

Follow Your Heart Vegan Mozzerella

2010-11-04T14:02:00.000-08:00

I haven't eaten cow's milk cheese in about 4 years (maybe longer...), so go ahead and take this post with that particular grain of salt.

When you can't eat cheese, you find great alternative pizza toppings, because giving up pizza just isn't an option in our home. We have made some amazing pizzas with cheese-free pesto, hummus, spicy peanut sauce, bbq sauce, and all other manner of medium to cover the top of the pizza and bring it all together. These are all great replacements.

But... An ooey, gooey, cheesey pizza is another story. A story I like to hear every once in a while. When I discovered Daiya I was thrilled and made many pizzas with it. However, there is a slight aftertaste with Daiya, and the cheddar is cheddar-y, but I don't get the white Daiya's flavor as much as cheddar-less.

Then I tried Follow Your Heart Mozzerella. Again, it's been years, but it actually has that luscious mozzerella flavor. A tiny tang, a mellow and rich flavor that just makes you want some fresh basil and ripe tomatoes.

Night before last, we went out to dinner and got a "vegan greek" pizza with pesto, kalamata olives, sun dried tomatoes, and spinach... then it had little cubes of tofu for the "feta." Well, looking like cheese and tasting like cheese are not the same. So last night we had to remake the pizza ourselves and use follow your heart shredded on top instead of cubes of tofu. Yes, we ate pizza two nights in a row.

I tried out a new "pizza crust yeast" that worked pretty well. I know it's great because I didn't have to wait for it to rise, and it did get a great chewy/fluffy texture with a great crisp to it too- it just doesn't seem right to me that it could do all that. It literally took longer to preheat the oven than to have the dough completely ready for the oven! You should definitely try out this yeast though, if you get the chance. This is the stuff. I wouldn't buy it on Amazon, but if you buy it from my link I get a few cents, so why not post it that way?

I've heard some people say they don't like Follow Your Heart because it doesn't melt, but as you can see from my picture, it not only melts, but after a couple minutes on broil it browned. I've never had melting issues with it on pizza or in grilled cheese (garlic sautteed greens and this mozzerella make an AMAZING grilled cheese to go with tomato soup).

My Little Puppy

2010-10-28T20:13:00.000-08:00

The only word she has consistently said has been dog. This is her new word.

DIY Heated Neck/Back/Chest Pillow

2010-10-27T22:55:00.001-08:00

I'm in such a DIY mood! I am sick, and pretty miserable. I don't really get sick often... almost never. I remember when I was in high school I got a cold (or flu, or whatever people get from mass exposure to other sick people). I thought I was dying. I was this close to giving away my possessions and saying goodbye to loved ones. It was unbelievable to me that most people went through this every year, if not every season.

I get sick about once a year now, sometimes every other year. I was a teacher for almost five years, and that ensures you get sick. Now I spend at least 5 days a week with several toddlers and their parents. I might as well get used to this stuff.

Anyway, my neck is sore and I used to have this great heated neck pillow thing that I would put in the microwave and then lay on my neck. It was the kind of thing that you get at some girly shoppe (yes, a shoppe with an extra p and an e) for more than it would cost to make ten of your own. I made one of my own because the good old gift one has disappeared.

There are many tutorials for this online, and if I had an ounce of energy I would have at least fired up the sewing machine, but this is bare bones simple for anyone else who might be sick and in need of a quick fix.

What you need:
1 old sock, the longer the better
about 2 cups of rice (I used the small bag of rice that my husband used to dry his cellphone in after our daughter put it in the toilet. He put it BACK IN THE CUPBOARD like it hadn't been used to leach toilet water, so this was a good use for it instead of a revenge dinner for him.)
1 rubber band
optional: tea bag of chamomile, dried lavender, etc. (I used a bag of Tension Tamer by Celestial Seasonings).

Put rice and contents of tea bag in sock, secure open end of sock with rubber band. Microwave for about 1- 1.5 minutes and you have a nice warm neck pillow. The tea bag helps offer some calming aromatherapy to the mix. Sure, you might feel dirty using microwave aromatherapy, but when you are sick you make exceptions.

DIY Snack Carrier

2010-10-27T20:34:00.000-08:00

Today I was looking everywhere for Violet's Muchkin snack catcher. I love how easy it is to hand off some o's cereal, berries, or peas in this device and let her feed herself. But today I am sick and tired and not interested in going on the hunt that will likely lead to the back yard because the dogs also love this clever little catcher. We have lost many to dog destruction, and keep buying more. While they are affordable, I just didn't want to go buy anymore today, so I made my own. Mine doesn't have handles, so Violet had to sit on the floor to enjoy her snacks, or hold it with her arm, but that wasn't a problem.

To make this, I used an old margarine container and my kitchen scissors. And thin plastic container with a lid would work, and it would probably be nice to have different shapes and sizes for different purposes.

I like the way the curved slits on the Munchkin Snack Catcher fit together better than those I've seen with straight across slits, so I imitated that shape and cut my own slits with a similar curve.

Once I had added the o's cereal, I passed it off to Violet for some product testing. She discovered that this larger container could fit both her hands, and like she does with her Munchkin Snack Catcher, she promptly pulled out a handful for the dog before feeding herself.

She didn't take off the lid though, so it served it's purpose well. I have some grapes and blueberries in the refrigerator, and tomorrow it will go to good use because I can give her berries that way without ending up with purple feet from the mess of giving her an open container (which I did this morning- call me Smurfette).

High Calorie/High Protein "Cookies" for Toddlers

2010-10-27T08:02:00.000-08:00

I was hiking with a group from my parenting meetup, and I mentioned one of the snacks I give Violet to help pack on the calories. As a vegan, I do often find myself making a very conscious effort to get lots of healthy fats into my girl. Protein isn't as much a concern of mine because Violet loves beans and hummus and drinks both soymilk and breastmilk regularly, but it is a concern of many parents both veg and omni alike as kids go through picky stages.

I am happy to share some ideas for snacks that Violet likes, but I'd love to hear back from my readers to know what kinds of foods their children avoid. When we went vegan, we had to learn to eat in new and diverse ways. As a result, our diet has so much variety that I don't really notice Violet being picky yet. She could be avoiding certain things, as she throws many meals almost completely on the floor, but since he have few repeats it's not obvious to me. Anyway, my point is that if there are things your child doesn't like, I might have some suggestions of things that have similar nutrients or qualities.

One of Violet's favorite snacks right now is "cookies." Basically it's a raw vegan cookie, the quotes are just because I don't add sugar or bake it. I take quick oats (although I'm sure it would be healthier for me to use rolled oats or other grains- spelt in particular has a nice flavor and is higher in protein), walnuts/almonds/pecans/whatever nuts I have on hand, and dates and blend in the food processor until it's fairly fine and a bit sticky. For extra protein and fat I add flax meal or whole raw sesame seeds (sesame seeds are a really good source of calcium as well). I sometimes add a little cinnamon, cardamom, or other spice to give it some nice flavor. Lately we've been going without spice. Finally, to get a smooth consistency, I blend in some coconut oil. The perportions are different every time and I really just add a little of this and that until it's a gooey consistency. I scoop it out with my little cookie scoop and put it in tupperware in the fridge. These become "cookies" full of protein, vitamins, and healthy fats. It's sweet from the dates and seems like a treat to my little darling. I joke that these are my insurance on those days when it doesn't seem like she's eating anything because I know she's getting a good protein and calorie boost even if she won't eat the other food I try to give her.

Meat Free Mom: The Class/Tutorial!

2010-10-25T22:12:00.000-08:00

Obviously, with my blog and all, cooking healthy food for my family is my passion. I have offered to do a class/tutorial for some of the parents in my parenting group. I'm realy excited to share compassionate, healthy recipes that should please the parents and kids.

I'm looking for ideas though, because I'll be teaching people who aren't vegan, and I want to know what the common parent is looking for. I am thinking I'd like to do something with quinoa, probably a simple pilaf. I'm going to make Violet's "cookies," which I just need to add a picture for and I'll post that as well. I want to have some one pot meals that appeal to the parent on the go or with limited prep and cleanup time. I'd also like to have something that children can help with. That sounds crazy, but just last weekend I let Violet mix the dry ingredients for our Sunday waffles (yeah, we have waffles every Sunday). She can also press the button on the blender or shake a jar of dressing. Getting kids and parents in the kitchen together means not having to worry about the kids distracting you while you cook.

So here's your chance readers, tell me what kinds of foods you wish you knew how to make. What dish takes you a long time, and you'd like a quicker version? What meals do your kids love? What veggie have you never cooked but always been curious about? I want some inspiration! I'll share all the recipes on here that I share with my group, so there's an incentive to put in your requests.

Vegan Smores Brownies aka I Love Dandies

2010-10-17T22:02:00.000-08:00

I hosted a vegan cookie swap last weekend to kick off the holiday season early and start getting ideas for what to bake for friends and family gifts. I wanted to do something unique for the exchange, and I recently discovered that my local natural foods store has Dandies vegan marshmallows. I had only had Dandies once before, and they were well beyond dandy. Oh sweet mother of all that is campfirey and delicious...

You see, conventional marshmallows are made with ground up animal bones, which doesn't sound like candy for anyone, but especially not vegans. I'm not really sure who's idea is was to make candy out of ground up bones, but it certainly wasn't a sweet kid sitting by a campfire, and it wasn't the kick ass creators of Dandies, Chicago Soy Dairy. Dandies taste like a real candy, fluffy, sweet, no guilt ridden aftertaste, and just a hint of magic. I say magic because I've tried to make my own vegan marshmallows twice to such hideous failure I don't even want to go into it. I'll just say that if you plan on making your own vegan marshmallows, get a candy thermometer.

So since I had some Dandies (I bought three bags as soon as I saw them- I was so overcome with excitement), I decided to make a 'smores brownie. I have a favorite brownie recipe that I used quite often while pregnant, and I have a favorite vegan graham cracker, Health Valley. I made a simple graham cracker crust, added marshmallows, topped with brownie mix, added more marshmallows, and then topped with graham cracker bits.

Another excellent feature I discovered with the Dandies is that they puff up and brown just like the marshmallows of my childhood. When the brownies were done, they not only had the components of the classic smore, but the browned and crisp-on-top marshmallows had been baked to really taste like roasted treats! These were the favorite of almost every guest at the cookie swap (she says modestly).

The other cookie I made was the pumpkin whoopie pies from Vegan Yum Yum with a double batch of filling to make them extra decadent.

Here is a picture of the leftovers from the party:

Not a single type of cookie was repeated and there were no duds in the bunch! I would call this swap a success!

Recipe Sources:

Vegan Cookies Invade Your Cookie Jar

Viva Vegan

Vegan Yum Yum

ERGO Changed My Life

2010-10-17T19:15:00.001-08:00

I can't believe I finally caved and spent over $100 on a carrier for a baby! Everyone in my meetup group has one and they all sing it's praises, so I obviously decided to make my own. Har har. That was funny. It was really cute and more of a Mai Tai style. The thing is, the Ergo can't be replicated. I even tried out a knock off made by Infantino, who may be maligned for their slings recently, but whose frame backpack I adore. Alas, nothing would cure my thirst for the Ergo.

When I went to try them on, I should have known it was meant to be. I tossed Violet on my back and she just sat there, perched on my back, while I figured out the straps. I thought I was going to have to pick the sales woman's jaw off the floor. She said, "She's helping you." I guess most babies don't take to being tossed on their mother's backs like mine does. She knew we were in for something special.

Within a half hour of purchasing my lovely cranberry organic cotton Ergo, I was walking through the dog park with my lovely on my back. The cool thing about the Ergo is that when my toddling toddler wanted to get down and play with the dogs, I just unsnapped the chest snap and put her down to play. I could comfortably continue to wear the carrier strapped around my waist, and as soon as the little legs got tired I tossed her back in the saddle. We go to the dog park every day, and we had been having quite the conundrum of her not wanting to ride in her backpack the whole time, and not being able to do a full loop on foot (at least not at a pace that works with only 12 hours of daylight).

After we left the dog park, we headed home. Home is where many things go to be destroyed by the dogs during fits of separation anxiety and other angst of unknown origins. I quickly put a hook up in the kitchen and hung up the Ergo away from sharp teeth and prying claws. No sooner was a hot pan a-poppin' with oil that Violet wanted to be held and would not accept no for an answer. Easy peasy lemon squeezy, and no one handed cooking or oil splatter burns required. I grabbed the Ergo off the hook and wore my little lady while I cooked. It was at that moment that I realized my life had changed.

It's been about a month now, and I use the Ergo no less than three times a day. I use it for hikes, chores around the house, and unloading the groceries from the car (that's right, I can strap the baby to my back and unload the car in ONE TRIP). Violet doesn't even cry half the time when she wants to be held, she just goes over to where the Ergo hangs and points at it. Yesterday she actually fell asleep while I wore her on my back, and I was able to unclip her and lay her on the couch where she continued to sleep for another half hour.

And speaking of sleeping, since we moved up to a big girl car seat, there's no more grabbing the bucket seat and letting her finish a car nap in the grocery cart. With the Ergo, I just strap it on my front and I can transfer her without waking her and just let her sleep through a shopping trip. She did that just today to my delight. I was able to peruse the vitamin isles and find what I needed without a single bottle being thrown off the shelf. That's a treat.

Anyway, I just wanted to share this great product because it really has changed my life and I wish I had gotten it sooner. Even though I waited a year though, I still think it was worth every penny.

For more information, visit the Ergo website. If you are lucky enough to get next year's calendar, I'm in the December picture.

How to Make a Fleece Overcoat for Babywearing

2010-10-16T23:45:00.000-08:00

I have been looking over some friends' great jackets that go over baby while baby is in a carrier (quite frankly, everyone I know wears an Ergo, so let's just say Ergo). One friend has a jacket that is a fleece layer that she can wear when it's chilly but not dead-of-winter-in-Alaska, then there's a waterproof cover she can wear over it. It has slits in the front and back for baby's head to pop out.

I'm cheap, and a bit crafty (I own scissors), so I decided to raid my closet and see what I could come up with. First, I considered cutting into a very nice, very warm jacket that my husband got me for Christmas a few years ago. Luckily, I wasn't drunk, so I didn't have my scissors handy. Next, I started looking at all my husband's fleece jackets. They aren't super-warm, but they sure do the job. If you had a tiny warm body pressed to your back, they would be even warmer... Again, I thought better of mangling one of his jackets also. Then, in the back of my closet, I found a fleece jacket that I haven't warn in years, and that I got for free when I taught at a middle school. It's really big because that's the only size they had left when I made it to the office to pick up my free jacket. Perfect. A large sweater/jacket fits over a baby and me quite easily. Hmmmm...

So I put on the sweater, then the Ergo, then the baby. Once the baby was secure, I asked my husband (who was just happy I wasn't eyeing his favorite jackets with scissors in my hands anymore) to pinch the fabric right at the base of the baby's neck. He held on while I took off the jacket and I cut a slit about 7 inches long where he had held. I didn't worry about slits in front, because if I'm wearing my daughter in front I can just wear a zip front jacket and not zip it all the way... Not rocket science here, but somehow I have now saved hundreds of dollars and spent ZERO dollars. If you count the cost of the scissors you are ridiculous.

We tried it out on a very crisp day when we went hiking in Glen Alps in light snow. I was sweating like an animal that sweats a lot (most people say pig, but pigs don't sweat- that's why they hang out in the mud). The baby was so cozy she slept for the entire hike, including some serious scrambling up a mountain when I was literally on all fours at points.

Hands and feet were tucked in snug as a bug in a rug.

Getting Outside With Your Kids

2010-09-27T22:08:00.000-08:00

My daughter is so happy lately, and so in love with the outdoors.

We've been going to the lake at the dog park every day, and she's been walking out to the lake, throwing sticks for the dogs, and being the happiest kid you ever saw.

Raised by wolves.

Purple rubber boots- perfect for my little Violet.

She's been saying "stick," and "dog" and trying to say "trees." I should also mention that she doesn't say anything else. Not Mama or Dada (okay, she says both of those, but not to us, not because she knows their meaning). Violet has a particular tree she can stop and just stare at for 5 minutes mesmerized. She will pick up a leaf and inspect it with reverence. Today, she picked up a stick and promptly began using it as a walking stick to go up a hill. No one taught her that, she just did it like John Muir's ghost is her imaginary friend.

When I was pregnant and my mom told me to start walking, I did. I wanted to stay healthy and strong and comfortable. It became more and more of a compulsion to go out and be in nature. I didn't want to jog on my elliptical machine. I wanted to hike, canoe, kayak, and swim. I felt this urge as strongly as other women crave pickles and ice cream (I ate a few pickles along the way too, I'm not going to lie).

Once Violet was born, I continued walking when I could, and when she was 6 months old, I started a mom's meetup group and one of the members started a regular hiking meetup on Thursdays. Another member started a Tuesday morning outdoor playgroup. It's easy to say these are too early or it's too hard to get out of the house with kids. It's easy to say that it's not going to make that big of a difference. It's not easy to teach a toddler to have reverence for a tree or leaf. That's something that is taught over time. That's something that happens when you genuinely love nature, and you SHOW your child that you love nature. That's something that comes from letting them play in the dirt, eat the stick, taste the rock, and feel the texture of the bark on a tree. I saw Violet laughing as she ran her hands over the papery trunk of a birch today and knew all that dirt she ate went toward making something great.

For recommended reading, I am suggesting a book that so far I have just skimmed, but glad I baught. Many of the moms in my group have taken a class with Jennifer Aist, and were inspired by her assertion that getting your kids out in nature is essential. Her book, Babes in the Woods, is a staple of most Alaska moms, and relevant for any climate.

My second suggestion is for a book I haven't read yet, but is on my list and will hopefully be a book club book for us. Last Child in the Woods has inspired many moms I know to take action and get their kids outside. The premise has been described with this question, "Did you climb trees and build forts when you were a kid? Do your kids do those things?" A must read especially for parents who worry about the dangers of the outside and forget how much good is out there. Again, all that dirt my daughter has eaten has made her who she is- an awesome kid.

Teriyaki Nori

2010-09-22T21:47:00.000-08:00

All my baby wants in Teriyaki Nori. I'm talking about little snack sheets of seasoned and toasted sea vegetables (seaweed). Obviously, teriyaki nori is delicious, and a favorite snack of mine... But this is just crazy. Violet goes to the cupboard where she knows the nori is and does her happy dance while pointing. The happy dance is when she steps back and forth from one foot to the other.

As soon as I get out the container of nori, the dance takes on a new energy and she begins smiling and laughing. This is her greatest pleasure.

I have been taking this snack to our playdates and it's been hilarious the way the teriyaki nori craze is spreading among the toddlers. They all want the nori. Kincaid wants the "fish." It is like tasty vegan fish snacks.

A note on the vegan quality of this snack: Most brands include bonito and shrimp, so it's important to read labels on this as with everything else. There are also some with more sugar and sodium. While it's still a little high, it's actually not more than most crackers or other snacks I'd give to the baby, so it's okay by me.

I don't know what else to say about this, but it's just too funny not to mention.

What Do You Eat? Day 7

2010-09-05T08:24:00.000-08:00

One week of recording everything I ate and I'm exhausted from it all!

Breakfast was multigrain oatmeal with some flax meal, coconut milk, and maple syrup. Sweet and decadent!

I didn't really eat much of a lunch. I tried to eat some leftover chili verde, but the bitterness got worse overnight. I finished a container of vanilla coconut yogurt that Violet hadn't eaten the day before. I grazed on snap peas and raspberries in the garden.

Dinner was angel hair pasta made with Jeruselem artichoke flour. I tossed it with some nutrtional yeast and added pesto. The baby didn't get pesto on hers because I think it was too spicy for her (although she's usually a big spice fan). Mac and cheese, even vegan kids like their version of it. For sides I roasted baby cherry tomatoes and some rapini. That was my first time cooking rapini and I wouldn't roast it again. Next time I'll try a sautee or steam method.

The baby's appetite was back in full force though, and she ate every last noodle, pea, and grape off her plate. It really makes me happy to see her eating so much again.

What Do You Eat? Day 6

2010-09-03T15:16:00.000-08:00

Second to last day!! It's getting hard to keep up with this, so I'm kind of glad it's almost over. Again I'm posting the next day because I just didn't have time yesterday.

For breakfast I made a stir fry, just like I said I would. I used yummy big soba noodles as a base with my veggies. I used onion, garlic, ginger, zucchini, baby bok choy, Yoshida's Gourmet Sauce (a favorite of mine, even though it has high fructose corn syrup), and lots of toasted sesame seeds.

I ate a nectarine after my hike, then came home and had toast with jam and a cup of tea because it was cold out.

By the end of the day, it was gorgeous, so the baby and I spent a lot of time in the yard, and consequently we both enjoyed many raspberries. Dinner was a homemade chili verde with homemade seitan. I make my chili verde by roasting garlic, onion, tomatillos, and zucchini and then blending it. It had a bitter taste this time, and I'm not sure what the cause of it was. I served it over brown rice.

I finally ate my last Almond Joy cereal bar last night, sadly, and had a cup of tea after dinner.

What Do You Eat? Day 5

2010-09-01T23:21:00.000-08:00

Okay, I know it says day 4 was today and nothing was yesterday, but there was just no time yesterday and I had to post both today.

For breakfast I finally cooked up some more of those great potatoes from my garden. I chopped them small and cooked then in oil with mushrooms and sweet peppers. Unfortunately, my wrist got splattered with oil and it's horribly painful. There's a reason they tell you to test a bottle on your wrist, it's very sensitive. I topped my breakfast creation with chopped up baby cherry tomatoes and nutritional yeast.

Lunch was just grazing... I made an ear of corn, ate a nectarine, then picked and ate raspberries and snow peas from the garden. Lazy afternoon. I also baked chocolate raspberry muffins with some of those raspberries. I used the recipe from Vegan Brunch.

I picked up my CSA box today too, and got a huge bag of basil, so homemade pesto was in order. I toasted some almonds and pureed them with the olive oil, garlic, and basil. Then I zested a lemon and added the juice as well. I froze half the pesto and will use the rest over the next few days. It should keep for a while.

For dinner I made quinoa and added the pesto and nutritonal yeast to make it cheesy good. I steamed an artichoke as well, which the baby enjoyed even more than the quinoa. I'm still working through those tomatoes, so they topped my cheesy pesto quinoa.

I splurged after a run on my elliptical tonight and had two muffins because they were so tasty. I froze most of the rest so I won't eat them all with the excuse, "I don't want them to go bad." I've eaten many cupcakes for that reason...

While the baby and I were having some pre-dinner wading and splashing at the lake by our house I heard someone talking about ordering Chinese food for dinner. I have some great thick soba noodles from Costco in the fridge that popped into my mind immediately. I don't want to alarm anyone, but tomorrow morning I'll be having a stir-fry. Just so you are prepared when you see "stir fry" as the first meal. It's crazy, but I can't justify eating white flour noodles at night. I'm planning on going on a good hike tomorrow though, and if I eat them before the hike I figure it's okay.

What Do You Eat? Day 4

2010-09-01T14:05:00.000-08:00

A friend of mine made pancakes for dinner yesterday and posted pictures on facebook, so breakfast was pancakes with fresh raspberries from the garden. I added some maple syrup for the full effect, and they were just as lovely as I had imagined all night long. I use this recipe, but I only use 2 teaspoons of baking powder, not two Tablespoons. I also add a tsp of vanilla and use maple syrup instead of sugar.

Lunch was leftover hoisin beets with brown rice wrapped in nori. For a little tang, I cut up an umeboshi plum and addd that. Yummy yum yum. I snacked on an extra sheet of nori a bit later too. I followed it up with a cereal bar for lunch desert (they are almost gone- I'm addicted to these things!).

For dinner I made a deconstructed pasta. I have never been one of those, "my food can't touch!" people, but for some reason I always liked my pasta with just some oil and salt and pepper, and I like my veggies on the side. The real irony is that I then take bites with a little of each thing on the fork. Go figure. I sauteed the zucchini and mushrooms with some garlic in olive oil and salt and pepper, then I tossed my whole wheat rottini in that same pan with the leftover oil and added nutritional yeast to get in all those great curly folds. For the "marinara" effect, I cut up adorable baby tomatoes and ate them fresh.

Like any kid, my daughter loves her mac and cheese (even if the variety I give her is someone unconventional) and the rottini with nutritional yeast were a big hit. She hasn't been eating much lately, but that did the trick!

I had a little caffein in the form of green tea in the afternoon, but drank decaf Earl Greyer in the morning. Later at night I had some chocolate coconut milk which was not as tasty as I had hoped. Back to soy once I finish this carton.

What Do You Eat? Day 3

2010-08-30T22:14:00.001-08:00

Ugh. It's been a tough couple days. Last night the baby was up quite a bit, and finally at 6am I just brought her into my bed and let her nurse away to her heart's content. Her heart desires a LOT of nursing lately. With two molars coming in, she has very little interest in solid food, but her appetite doesn't match her lack of desire to eat.

As a result, I didn't actually get out of bed until an hour before I needed to be at the sing-a-long playdate I go to each Monday. Oops. Baby got a snack trap of multigrain Cheerios and I had two pieces of Dave's Killer bread toast with Earth Balance spread and my mom's homemade blackberry jelly. 12 grams of protein pretty easy. That extra sleep I got by bringing the baby to bed seem to have allowed for a seemless transition away from coffee, which I have been wanting to do but haven't seen as a possibility. I've actually been having headaches lately, and thought maybe a day without coffee would help. I had no headache or stomach ache today, and no coffee. We'll see how this continues.

Lunch was most of a yogurt (SoDelicious coconut yogurt in vanilla flavor) that I tried to feed the baby. She ate some, but even non-solid solids don't interest her. I also had leftover curry chickpeas and later a plum.

Dinner was a bit of a disconnect. I just didn't know what I wanted. I chopped up half an onion and some mushrooms and started to sautee them without a clear plan. I had started beets roasting in the oven and didn't know what their final destination would be either. I ended up slicing the beet greens and adding them to the pan along with some five spice. I chopped up the roasted beets and tossed them with a mixture of tahini and hoisin sauce then put them over the hash of other veggies. I cooked up a couple of the potatoes from the garden (just microwaved them) and topped them with Bragg's Liquid Aminos. For some color and to try to entice the baby to eat, I opened a can of mandarine oranges and just put them cold on the plate. Nothing fancy, but it was really tasty. I will have leftover hoisin beets tomorrow in some form... Not sure what yet.

I had a tall glass of chocolate soy milk and an almond joy cereal bar this eveing for a sweet treat.

What Do You Eat? Day 2

2010-08-29T23:14:00.000-08:00

Today's breakfast was the same as yesterday. Still loving those fresh raspberries from the garden. I also did some more harvesting, and pulled up my first potatoes of the season as well this morning. Violet and the dog ate all the snow peas, but that's okay. I'll take a kid that loves snow peas.

For lunch I made a soup with the carrots from the garden and one of the potatoes. I added fresh ginger, peanut butter and sriracha- spicy goodness! I also made a sandwich with Yves salami and lightly crisped kale. I used my favorite bread, Dave's Killer Bread Good Seed. This bread is crazy good and made with only the best ingredients.

Dinner did not get a picture. The poor baby is teething something fierce and it was all I could do to cook and eat dinner.
The menu was:
Roasted chickpeas with curry powder
Steamed artichoke with vegenaise
sauteed zucchini and onions

Desert was a yummy cereal bar I made with multigrain cheerios, brown rice syrup, almond butter, roasted almonds, melted down chocolate chips, and coconut flakes. I call it my Almond Joy Cereal Bars. I didn't measure anything, so I can't post a recipe, but I do have a picture (I ate way more than the tiny piece in the picture!).

What Do You Eat? Day 1

2010-08-28T19:19:00.000-08:00

This is a true account of what I ate today, and will continue to be true accounts of what I eat. I am only human, so I will admit that I might be eating better while I record than if I wasn't.

I started my morning with my homemade multigrain oatmeal. I make my own blend from bulk grains. I use oats, rye, kamut, barley, and spelt. Two parts oats and one part all the rest. I blended in almond butter and fresh raspberries from my garden, along with a splash of maple syrup. I drank coffee with soy creamer and liquid stevia. My one year old had the same cereal breakfast, but she had much more almond butter blended in to hers.

For lunch I got a special treat because we were in Girdwood for the Fungus Fair. We went to Jack Sprat, one of my favorite restaurants. I had never seen their brunch menu, but I was pleased with the chia muesli and yam fries without the aoli. The little one liked the muesli, but hardly touched the fries (leaving way too many fries to me).

I didn't get pictures, but if you look at the menu, the muesli is the stuff in a cup, and the yam fries are stacked all pretty. The yam fries are always a favorite of mine, but I have to say I also liked the muesli a lot. Homemade almond milk really makes a difference!

I took some in a box and snacked while we did Fungus Fair stuff (mostly putting Violet in her Muddy Buddy rain suit and letting her go wild in the awesome park while it rained).

When we got home, I roasted eggplant and cooked brown basmati rice. I added peas to the rice and mushed the eggplant with finely minced garlic, tahini, lemon juice, paprika, and salt and pepper. I roasted some small sweet peppers and stuffed mushrooms with the eggplant mixture. In my meat/cheese eating days, stuffed mushrooms were a favorite of mine, but eggplant stuffed mushrooms are a million times better! Violet disagrees and only ate the rice and peas, but she was feeling yucky tonight, so don't trust her judegment.

For desert I'm having this cowboy cookie from Vegan Cookies Invade Your Cookie Jar. I made a big batch to send to work with my husband and this one is just for me. For those without THE book, it's a cookie with oats, toasted pecans, coconut, and chocolate chips. It seems a bit fancy for a cowboy to me, but what do I know?

Girls Night

2010-08-27T23:30:00.000-08:00

Tonight was just the girls (my daughter and I), so I made what I would consider "girly food." I'm not sure why, but our dinner just struck me as very feminine.

Angel hair pasta tossed with nutritional yeast then topped with sauteed asparagus and garlic in olive oil. I topped it all with lemon zest and juice and toasted almonds.

YUM!

Is that girl food?

My husband was in the land of manliness and ate a burger and fries, so maybe there is something to this gender specific food idea.

Travel Travel Family Family

2010-08-27T11:44:00.000-08:00

Since my husband lost his job in May, we have been having family and travel time extreme. I feel bad not keeping up with my bloggy blog, but I wouldn't trade the last few months for anything! I have been cooking all our meals and loving a varied and cheap vegan diet. It is amazing how "beans and rice" can be so many different things. One night we'll have chickpea Indian food over brown basmati, and another we'll have spicy pintos over short grain brown rice. We've also been enjoying cannelini beans and pasta or black bean salad on a summer evening. These tight times have been a reminder that vegan eating is much more affordable than meat and milk. My dried beans and case of soy milk don't spoil, and the farmer's market and CSA keep me in fresh veg.

I have so many blog posts in my head that I want to share, but I might have to do a miniseries because of a questions I kept getting while visiting family, "What do you eat?" Many family members and friends want to accomodate us, but honestly just can't fathom what we eat. Our diet is so varied that it's a hard question to answer. We eat a huge variety of legumes, veggies, fruits, grains, and some processed products, so I never know how to answer that. Many meat-eaters think we must eat like them, but with the meat replaced by something else (most imagine tofu), but we just don't eat that way often. Vegetarians often rely so heavily on cheese and eggs that it's even harder for them to imagine our daily diet.

I plan on starting tomorrow morning and at least listing and hopefully photographing everything I eat for one week.

Naked Baby Party!

2010-07-30T21:23:00.001-08:00

I started a parent's group on MeetUp.com that has turned out really great. I was talking to one of the other moms in the group and telling her that I had some clothes that might fit her daughter, then I realized that we probably all had clothes that would fit one of the other kids in the group. So today I hosted a "Naked Baby" party, inspired by the Naked Lady party concept. I put out a lovely vegan spread of lemon blueberry muffins, oatmeal cookies with chocolate chips and pecans, hummus with homemade rosemary foccacia and celery, homegrown tomatoes brought by another mom, cherries, plums, and "candy" (that means dates in our house).

We all brought boxes of clothes and everyone went home with something. The leftovers are going to be sold to a local consignment shop to help pay the dues for our MeetUp group. Overall, a great success.

The best part was probably having a house full of babies and toddlers. My little Violet is almost one and already such a social little hostess. She was in her room with the other babies showing them her toys, playing with all the new stuff that was out, and munching on good food.

I recommend joining or starting a MeetUp group for any parent of a young child. It's a great way for the babies to interact, but it's also such a good opportunity for parents to get out of the house and spend time with their kids AND spend time with adults. We have a weekly hiking group, Taiga Trekkers, Monday music at the zoo, and outdoor play group, and various other MeetUps to welcome all different interests.

What a joy for my little social butterfly to get out and have fun!

Swimming Baby!

2010-07-24T22:00:00.000-08:00

I can't remember a time in my own life when I couldn't swim, and I have always felt a need to be close to water sources. When I was deciding on a college, I chose mine for two water-based reasons. First, I saw a poster for Humboldt State that featured a fountain in an open area with people sitting on the edge studying. The fountain was not pretty (I have since seen a documentary about it called "The World's Ugliest Fountain"), and it seemed like the kind of fountain you could get in and dance around without anyone minding. This was essential to me, especially after I had attempted to dance in a fountain in Rome only to be yelled at by police. So the fountain was the draw. Then, when I went to visit, I took a tour. I saw the fountain and it seemed to fit the bill. I saw the campus and the town and everything about both fit my needs and personality perfectly, but I still wasn't sure. Finally, I asked the tour guide for directions to the closest beach, about 5 minutes away. As soon as my feet touched the water of the Pacific I knew I was home. It was that simple for me.

So, for me, it was important that my daughter be connected to water as well. I swam in the lake while pregnant, and was kayaking as close as 5 days before I gave birth. Sometimes I joke that I paddled her right out. We had a home water birth, and the three of us bonded in the tub for a good half hour before she left that warm water. She bathed with me the next day, and instantly loved being in water. When she was old enough, we signed her up for swim classes, and it has been so amazing to see her fall in love with swimming.

As soon as she sees the pool, she starts smiling and waving her arms. Once she's in the water it's all smiles and splashes. And even when she goes under water, she smiles there too!

I highly recommend swimming classes for infants. One of my baby books says that they don't suggest swimming classes for infants and toddlers, but that seems silly to me. You can't treat it like it will train a baby to swim on their own without supervision, but you can get water safety, skills, and comfort through classes early and often.

I am including two videos of my daughter Violet swimming, and one of a child who is far more advanced using the ISR method.

Violet Swimming 1

Violet Swimming 2

ISR Method, taken from YouTube. Our instructor doesn't teach this method, but I am interested in it and love the results seen in this video.

The Uncheese Cookbook

2010-07-16T20:26:00.001-08:00

I have to say this is one of my favorite books late. Yes, I have been making cookies and cupcakes as usual, and I have Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World and Vegan Cookies Invade Your Cookie Jar to thank for that. Sometimes, though, you want something savory, tangy, cheesy. The uncheese cookbook takes *nooch to a whole new level and uses ingredients like miso, umeboshi paste, lemon, and nut butters to replicate the smooth and piquant flavors that we associate with rotting cow's milk (I mean cheese). I love Daiya, but there is a laundry list of ingredients in Daiya and at the end of the day I'd rather feed my family something I made. I recently made a great pizza using shredded "Brie" uncheese from this cookbook and I liked it better than Daiya as a pizza topping. Of course I also had roasted eggplant as my base, so this pizza had a leg up on the competition to start with.

I don't want to share any of their recipes, because I feel that is unfair to the author and since I would someday like to write my own cookbook, I have to put out all the good karma I can into the cookbook author world.

I will, however, share a recipe I adapted from reading many of these recipes and combining methods and flavors to create something all my own. This recipe makes a hard cheese, or "block cheese" that can be sliced, grated, of chopped up and eaten in cubes. It will melt eventually, and melts best if grated and then broiled. A spray of cooking oil will help if you want a browned top. It will not get stretchy melty, so try to have realistic expectations.

Slightly Smokey Cheddar
4 small red peppers or one large red pepper, sliced and sautteed until soft.
1 1/2 cups water
1 Tbsp agar agar powder (NOT FLAKES)
1/2 cup raw almonds (or blanched, they are just expensive so I used regular raw ones)
1 Tbsp tahini
1/2 cup silken tofu
1/4 cup fresh squeezed lemon juice
1/4 cup nutritional yeast
1 Tbsp onion powder
1/2 tsp garlic powder
2 Tbsp smoked paprika (you can used unsmoked for "not smokey cheddar")
1 tsp light miso (light color, not low-fat... I don't think there is a low-fat miso)
1 tsp salt

First you will want to sautte your peppers. You could substitute roasted red peppers from a jar for this and it would be good as well, just not as sweet, which is fine. Boil the water in a small pot and add the agar agar. Stir vigorously and reduce heat to a simmer. You want all the powder to completely disolve. Then add ingredients to a food processor and blend until smooth. Once it's fully blended, put in a plastic container that has been sprayed with cooking oil. I used a cleaned out Earth Balance tub and it was the exact right size. Chill for at least an hour and then slice/shred/enjoy.

*nooch= nutritional yeast or a sauce containing nutritional yeast. Red Star nutrtional yeast is a great way for vegans to get a healthy dose of B12

HypnoBirthing and Parenting

2010-07-10T07:26:00.001-08:00

I have recently been thinking more and more about doing the training to become a HypnoBirthing educator. The woman who taught the class I attended changed my entire pregnancy, she changed my life. HypnoBirthing, I can say with complete confidence, changed my life.

When I was about 18 weeks pregnant, I was reading one of those pregnancy books that follows your weekly progress and tells what might be going on with you. Well, one week there wasn't a lot of new information about baby, so the book had a not about appendicitis. It explained that at that particular part in my pregnancy, if I had to have an appendectomy, it would be a major surgery instead of the laproscopic procedure that is common now. I was up for nights, restless, worried about having major surgery. Of course, there's nothing you can do to prevent appendicitis. The worry worry worry was spreading to all aspects of my pregnancy. I got into a fear cycle, and I felt trapped. The pinacle of this fear was that I was going to deliver my baby in a hospital, which terrified me.

Luckily, I had a great midwife (who has since become a HypnoBirthing educator) who recommended I look into HypnoBirthing. She said it might help a bit. Understatement. After my first class of HypnoBirthing, I felt confident and fearless. I knew what I had always known- that my body was designed to make and birth this child. My confidence was wonderful, and highlighted by the confidence my husband had in me as a result of the class. He then knew that I was going to birth our child gently and calmly. In addition, I knew that he was going to support me and be my partner in this birth. It brought us closer, reduced our stress, and brought joy and calm to our home.

I have shared my birth story with many friends and family because I feel like positive stories like mine need to be out there and spoken about. We hear the horror stories, but so often the gentle birthing mothers gently keep to themselves about their stories. There are many reasons for this, not the least of which being the envy from others that leads them to treat a gentle birthing mother like she is either a liar or a trickster. My father-in-law said that when he hears women talk about their birthing experiences, it unites them like soldiers who have been through the same war. The "horror" of it seems to be what they feel makes them closer. He says that although his wife had two children, he was in the other room and totally detached from the experience, so he can't relate in any way. I reminded him that his son was who "caught" his granddaughter and was there for every aspect of the birth. There is a whole generation of men who are experiencing the birth with their partners and have their own stories to share. Let's share our positive stories. Let's not scare pregnant women. They are too busy peeing to be scared.

So now I am seriously considering taking this course so that I can teach HypnoBirthing to other moms and share this gift of calm and gentle birthing. The only thing that is holding me back is that it is a 4 day course in another state. I would have to be away from my daughter for 6 days including travel time. Last night was the first time I was away from her for more than two hours. The other option would be for my husband and daughter to come with me so that I would just be away from them during the day. This is my preference, but might not work out monetarily. We'll see.

I'm trying to take the calm and gentle birthing skills into the rest of my life, into my parenting. I remind myself of what we are capable of as a family and as individuals, and not be fearful of those things that we can do. My daughter will be 1 year old at the time of the class, and she can handle 6 days with just dad. I can do this to give her a better life. I can do this to help other mothers. My husband can care for her with love and joy. It will just be hard.

Grilled Pepper Caprese

2010-07-07T07:34:00.004-08:00

One time I made it with orange slices too. I like it better without.

I used to love caprese salad with layers of perfectly ripe tomatoes and mozzerela cheese. Last night I was thinking about caprese as I made dinner, and I kept coming back to my perfectly ripe avocados. The avocado has such a rich and fatty flavor, and I realized it's not unlike cheese in many ways. I recently made a pizza with a layer of thinly sliced avocado as a base and it was amazing. So, I just needed my pairing. If I had some fresh herbs, tomato would have been great, but I didn't. What I did have was a bag of sweet mini peppers in yellow, orange and red. I sliced the peppers along one end and spread them out flat then tossed them with salt, pepper and olive oil. Then, I placed them on a foil covered sheet pan in a 375 degree oven for about 15 minutes, flipping them over half way. They would have been great on the grill too, but I didn't want to fight the fire.

I layerd the peppers hot out of the oven with the cool thinly sliced avocado (three slices fanned in between each pepper) and let the avocado cool the peppers and the peppers slightly warm the avocado. It was the perfect starter with the sweetness of the pepper fully released in the cooking and the decadence of the avocado balancing it perfectly.

Strawberry Rhubarb Short Cupcakes with Whipped Coconut Cream

2010-06-30T23:16:00.000-08:00

I have been dying to try one of Chef Chloe's recipes since seeing her whoop the butter right out of the Food Network's Cupcake Wars. It was such an inspiration to see a vegan being highlighted on such a meat-centered network. I had been wanting to make her Raspberry Tiramisu cupcakes that won, but I didnt' want to go to the store and buy amaretto and raspberries. My garden will be full of raspberries in another month. So, I decided to mix it up a bit and take a little from here and there and put my own twist on it.

Let me just say that although there is no orange in the title of this recipe, orange is a key component to the flavor of this cupcake. Just like the PPK girls think raspberries and chocolate should get married and have beautiful little raspberry chocolate deserts, I think orange and rhubarb are soul mates. Their love is sercret love though, due to the well-established relationship between rhubarb and strawberries. I'm not trying to break up a happy home, I just think a third party really spices things up.

For this cupcake I used Chef Chloe's vanilla cupcake recipe from her Rapsberry Tiramisu cupcake. I also added about a half teaspoon of valencia orange zest to the batter. While the cupcakes were baking, I made my strawberry rhubarb filling (with orange).

Strawberry Rhubarb Jam
2 stalks rhubarb finely chopped
5-6 strawberries finely chopped
the juice and zest of half an orange (I used whatever zest was left after I had added a tiny bit to my batter)
1 cup sugar (I could have used less, I realized after tasting, but it's still tart enough)
1 Tbsp cornstarch

I mixed this all and cooked over medium high heat until it was bubbly and gooey and then simmered it a bit longer. I used a wooden spoon to stir it, and while I don't know that this is a crucial element, I kind of feel like it might be. I set it on the back porch to cool and took my cupcakes out to join it.

While things were cooling out back, I made the whipped coconut cream from Chef Chloe's Berry Cobbler recipe. I would strongly recommend using one of the brands of coconut milk she suggests. Mine didn't have a thick cream on top so I had to fiddle with freezing it and such to harden it up so it would get fluffy-ish. I'm sure it works if you do it right, and the flavor was awesome anyway.

For the assembly, I used a grapefruit spoon to scoop a little hole out of the top and saved my scooped out part. I filled each cavity with jam and had a little jar left over for toast. Then I placed the removed part back on top and topped the whole thing with whipped coconut cream. I served it in an ice cream dish without the wrapper and we ate it with a fork. So fancy-like, the person you share them with will feel so special (bonus if you cut a strawberry slice to look like a heart and put it on top).

Bread Pudding: Really? I Love This?

2010-06-30T10:49:00.000-08:00

I vaguely remember not liking bread pudding as a child, so I figured that was probably still true. But I got this great loaf of cinnamon raisin bread at the farmer's market last week, and after one round of fantastic French toast, I really wanted to make bread pudding with the rest. I figured, it would be French toasty, but also like a spongey cake. MMMmmmm... It was heaven.

Here's how I made it:

Ingredients:
half of a loaf of cinnamon raisin bread, cut into cubes (the bread I had was already pretty dry, but you could dry it out if you have moist bread to start with)

1 cup soy creamer (I know, right?)
1 1/3 cups soy milk
1/4 cup cornstarch
1 tsp vanilla

2-3 Tbsp Earth Balance butter
about 3 Tbsp maple syrup
1/4 raisins (I recently discovered the O Organics brand from Carrs/Safeway that come in the ziplock package are the juiciest raisins I've ever had)\
Cinnamon for sprinkling

Preheat oven to 350. Grease a 10 by 10 pan (I use spray coconut oil and it works great for nonstick and doesn't leave a strong flavor). Toss cubes of bread into pan. Whisk the wet ingredients (not butter and syrup) until completely combined. Sprinkle the raisins over the top of the bread and then pour the liquid on top. Press your bread down with your hands until all the bread is moist. It should bounce back when you let go, but it will be wet. Drizzle the maple syrup over the top. Place pats of butter in about half tsp amounts over the top and then sprinkle with cinnamon. Cover with foil and bake for 30 minutes. Then remove the cover and bake for another 10-15 minutes depending on how crispy you want the top.

This was an awesome desert and we had leftovers for breakfast. If, like me, you aren't a regular bread pudding fan, this might convert you.

Sugar Free Brownies

2010-06-28T15:06:00.000-08:00

I wanted a super moist brownie with sweetness and chewy texture that didn't have sugar. I try to limit my sugar when it's tasty, and I have been thinking about dates lately and how sweet and great they are.

Usually, when baking, I say follow a vegan recipe or modify a vegan recipe because it's so hard to get ratios and measurements right. It's science, chemistry, not the intuitive stuff of cooking. This time, I wanted something that called for eggs that I could use my dates to replace. I found this recipe on cooks.com that sounded right, then I went from there.

Here's what I used:

10 dates large dates equalling 3/4 cup when pitted and squished down
1 cup hot water
1/4 cup maple syrup
2 Tbsp flax meal
1 tsp vanilla
1/4 cup canola oil
1/3 cup cocoa
1/2 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt

First off, I feel it's important to use great moist dates. I'm not sure how this would turn out without very plump and juicy dates that blend well and are super sweet.

Preheat oven to 350 and line a 9 by 9" pan with parchment paper. Put pitted dates and hot water in food processor and blend until smooth. Transfer into a bowl and add maple syrup, flax, vanilla, and oil and stir until smooth like a carmel. Then put in dry ingredients in a pile on top, finishing with the baking powder. Stir from the top of your pile down so that your dry ingredients mostly blend before they get mixed into the wet completely. The alternative is to stir your dry ingredients together in an different bowl or to sift them inot the wet to combine them well. Once everything is a gooey combination, spread it into your pan and bake for about 25 minutes. Test at 20 min and then go from there. A toothpick inserted should come back mostly clean. It might still stick a little, but there should be no goo. Let cool and then slice into small squares. I did 16 squares and that made my brownies 160 calories each. Not bad, if you ask me.

Vegan Burgers Two Ways

2010-06-23T19:58:00.001-08:00

I saw a picture of cupcakes that looked like hamburgers and was inspired! I must have looked through 20 or more images of this style of cupcake, each a little different, and I made a simple one just to try it out.
I added color to fondant for the cheese, used a vanilla cupcake recipe and made 6 cupcakes and then added melted chocolate to the rest of the batter and made 6 more chocolate cakes to make my burgers. I experimented with frosting and coloring, but the coloring gave it a weird taste, so I opted for Wild Salmonberry Jam spread on each side of the vanilla cupcake.

The other burger is just tempeh marinated with BBQ sauce, then topped with sauteed mushrooms and fresh tomato on toast. I also made sauteed collard greens and onion and carrot roasted "fries" with mustard maple glaze.

Who says vegans can't have great burgers?

You Can't Eat Tofu Scramble Every Day: Potato Mushroom Breakfast

2010-06-18T10:49:00.000-08:00

I just can't afford to eat tofu scramble every day. Plus, I had quite a bit of tofu in dinner last night, and I try not to eat tofu for every meal. This morning I made a skillet breakfast with potatoes and mushrooms and some lovely smokey spice.

For two adults and one tiny baby portion:

2 small yellow potatoes microwaved while wrapped in a wet paper towel for 2 minutes, then chopped into bite sized pieces

1/2 yellow onion diced

about 5 large crimini mushrooms cut into wedges

2 sweet peppers cut into slices

1 clover garlic chopped

not pictured: potatoes in the microwave.

I tossed this (and potatoes) all into a medium high pan with enough oil to cover the bottom. I continued to toss these until they started to get browned on the edges. Then I added salt, pepper, smoked paprika, and some nutritional yeast. I continued to toss these with the added spices until it was well browned. I turned off the burner and threw in a handful of fresh cilantro and gave it one more toss. It was a delicious breakfast and a hearty alternative to the tofu scramble.

Basic Lasagna Canvass

2010-06-18T10:31:00.001-08:00

This was my first vegan lasagna, and I'm no lasagna expert anyway, so I made it a very basic one. My husband and baby both loved it as is, but I think it needs a little something for next time. It's a great jumping off point though. You could add layers of roasted veggies, fresh basil, Italian style TVP, or lots of garlic for more flavor. For a simple lasagna, feel free to just use this easy recipe.

Ingredients:
Enough lasagna noodles for your pan (only you know how much this is)
2 packages soft tofu
1/4- 1/3 cup nutritonal yeast, to taste
5-6 cloves of garlic
1/2 yellow onion
Italian Seasoning dry spice mix
about 2 Tbsp olive oil, plus some for sauteeing onion and garlic
2 cans chopped stewed tomatoes (I get the S&W organic from Costco, so I always have some on hand)
1 bunch kale (or spinach, or chard, or other greens of your choice)
salt and pepper to taste
1 cup shredded mozzerella daiya cheese

1. Get a large pot of water boiling for the lasagna noodles, this will take a while, so I put it first. Salt and oil the water.
2. Smoosh the tofu into a large bowl until it is the consistency of ricotta. Add salt, pepper, nutritional yeast, and Italian seasoning to taste.
3. Dice your onion, but leave garlic cloves whole and sautee lightly so that they are not browned, but the sweetness in them developes. Chop half of this sauttee finely and add it to the "ricotta" and put the other half in the blender.
4. Taste check your "ricotta" and add what is needed
5. Add the two cans of tomato to the blender and blend until course, not totally smooth. Add Italian seasoning until the flavor is how you like it.
6. How's that pasta water doing? Boiling? It should be by now. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Add the pasta to the water and once it's softened enough to sink down a bit, add the entire bunch of kale (or greens of your choice).
7. Pull the greens out as soon as they are blanched, drain, then chop them while the pasta finishes up.
8. Your pasta should still be al dente (firm) because your other ingredients are wet and the noodles will absorb that liquid. Pull them out and lay them on a cookie sheet or large plate.
9. Pour a bit of your tomato sauce right from the blender into the bottom of your baking dish and spread around (might as well just wash your hands and get right in there quite frankly, it's going to get messy).
10. Put down a layer of noodles (trimming and adding half sheets if needed for full coverage) and then a layer of your "ricotta," then sprinkle with about a third of your greens, and finally finish with some more sauce. As you are spreading these layers, get your hands in there and really make things even. Repeat these layers two more times, then top with a final layer of noodles, sauce, and sprinkle your daiya on top. I add a bit more Italian seasoning over my daiya. Cover the pan with foil and *cook for an hour and a half, then uncover and finish another half hour (you can do about 5 minutes on broil at the end for that crispy top crust). *Once it's covered, you can refrigerate for up to a day before cooking.

As with all lasagna, I think it's even better eating the cold leftovers the next day.

Edited later: This was such a hit with my darlings that I had to make it again! For my second round, I only did a bottom layer of pasta, a middle layer of pasta, and a top layer. I left out the daiya for cost reasons and just poured marinara over the top and sprinkled it with flax meal/nutritional yeast/salt combo. For the tofu, I used one package of silken and one package of firm and that made a much better ricotta consistency. I doubled the amount of onion and garlic too.
All my changes made for an even better lasagna that my little family adored.

It's Not a Vegan World

2010-06-17T00:00:00.001-08:00

I went into Costco yesterday and I was overcome with a deep depression that took the entire rest of the day to get out of. Normally, I try not to think about meat-eaters too much. I try not to focus on the animals I am not consuming, but that others are. But in Costco, I walked in and smelled meat. I haven't had such a strong aversion to that smell since I was pregnant (I'm not now pregnant. I'm sure of it). By the time I got to the back of the store where all the meat is, I was just dreading it. People were buying these huge chunks of meat, pieces I used to buy and parcel out for the month. It reminded me of all that meat that I ate, and all that meat that others are eating. I was hormonal (I am not pregnant) and I had this sadness like I just can't even interact with meat eaters anymore. My friends and family are one thing, but strangers who want to question or criticize me just make me crazy. I don't want to have to justify what I'm doing. I'm not killing or torturing animals as a means to nourish myself or my family... How is that a problem?
Bah!
I know this too shall pass, but it was such a hard day. I saw this hilarious bingo card today though, and it made me laugh. It's so true of every meat eater who has rubbed me the wrong way with their questions (mostly, the people that respect your choices don't have a lot of questions or concerns).

My favorite part is "Preaches to you about how preachy vegans are." The only time my eating habits come up are when I bring something to a party (I mention that it is vegan, and I answer what that means by saying there aren't eggs or milk products in it), or if I am ordering or eating food with a group of people I don't know well. For some reason, people I have just met often feel it is there duty to "defend" their right to eat meat simply because of my presence. I don't push or preach to them, just try to listen and say, "Yeah, a lot of people feel that way. That's not what I do."

I guess I needed a place to vent. My hormones are reregulating and I'm feeling better today. I still wish I had a bigger vegan community to be a part of. My local vegan meetup group may be disintegrating because the organizer is stepping down. I haven't really utilized the group anyway. Some day I will have a vegan cafe and there will be a wonderful community of repeat customers.

Part of my depression is that we have been seriously looking for cafe locations all over the country and have found a few promising sites, only to find that they have already been leased out by the time we contact someone. We don't know anything about starting our own business, only that we have passion and aren't completely without reason or math skills. Today, as I was feeling down, I said to my husband that I know it's never going to happen. He tried to reassure me that we just need to contact a small business association and draw up a business plan so that we can make a wise decision. My fear and lack of faith are worse than the failure that has already happened in my head.

Whole Foods and Baby

2010-06-13T22:16:00.000-08:00

My daughter just turned ten months and has been a voracious eater from the start, so I'll freely admit that this is not necessarily normal child behavior...

But my baby girl love eating WHOLE fruits and veggies. It began when she was getting her teeth (she got six in the course of just over a month, so they kind of all came at once for us). I would give her a cold stalk of celery out of the fridge and she would chew to her heart's content. It was a great tool for teething. As her teeth came in, she was actually chewing the celery and eating it. I would watch her like a hawk, but celery is cool because all those strings keep it together well. So she could get off bits, but it didn't come off in choking chunks.

Now she has six teeth, and she eats everything- plus, she wants it whole. Even when I cut up avocado in little chunks she smears it around like a cranky pants. She likes spears of avocado- or, as I've learned from leaving our CSA box on the floor, whole avocado with the skin on. A few weeks ago we were at the weekend market and got roasted corn and she was a champ eating it right off the cob. She likes a whole strawberry that she can bite into pieces rather than slices of strawberry. I cut her grapes in half, but only after she had to cough one back up that got stuck. She recently discovered the joys of eating an apple off the core- and that's just what she does! It's maddness, but it's her maddness, so I allow it.

Here's what she's had so far today:

Breakfast
Freeze dried apples, strawberries, and blueberries
One toasted slice of Dave's Killer Bread (covered in seeds and full of protein)
Bites of my oatmeal with soymilk
water from her straw cup

Lunch
mum mum crackers
cucumber in slices
bites of my veggie sandwich
blue corn chips that came with my sandwich
vegan African peanut soup (she is not allergic to peanuts)
water from my glass with a straw

Snack
most of an apple cut into slices without skin, then she grabbed the rest and ate it off the core
4 snap peas
3/4 of an avocado in slices
6-8 grapes halved
a few bites of my vegan chocolate beet cake
another slice of toasted bread

I guess I should be honest. She also ate a couple handfuls of dirt from the garden while I was watering and attempted to eat three rocks that I retrieved from her chipmonk cheeks. She tried to bite into the spaghetti squash I just bought while I was putting away groceries.

I share all this because my daughter's eating habits make me so happy. I love that she loves veggies and fruit and wholesome bread. As her biting improves, it's amazing to see her eat more and more and take delight in all the glorious flavors of nature's bounty. We shared a mushu veggie wrap with tofu the other day because she was able to take bites of my wrap and share with me that way. There was so much flavor for her to experience in that, and she wanted more and more.

Someone asked me, not too long ago, "My son won't eat vegetables, how do you think that vegetarian thing will work out when she gets pickier?" I know many babies love veggies and then go through an antiveggie stage, but it's not like she's going to ask me to cook up some chicken one day. She is already an adventurous eater, she eats with her eyes (she obviously chooses colorful foods over bland ones), and she will try anything and has obvious preferences. She has a healthy relationship with food, which for a woman of any age is such an asset.

I think many adults tell children that children don't like veggies. I was always told that vegetables were delicious and good for me (so much truer than the other things we tell children). I remember as a child that my favorite food was brussel sprouts. My family thought this was the funniest thing ever, but they were just so good!

I will finish with a story of a recording that my grandmother made of me as a child. She loved to get out her tape recorder (am I old for saying this?) and record conversations with me. We had just gotten Chinese takeout, and she was asking me about what I was eating. My grandmother was not an adventurous eater, and had ordered chow mein. I was having mu shu.

Grandma: "What are the little black strips in your food?"
Me: "That's fungus."
Grandma: "Ewwwwwwwww!!!!"
Me: "I LIKE fungus!"

I didn't let an adult's view of what a kid should like or my granmother's food hang ups get to me. I can't wait for my daughter to grow and learn to choose foods she enjoys and be able to express preferences. My hope for her is that she can follow her palette and always love the veggies like she does now.

Non-Vegan Family

2010-06-05T23:51:00.000-08:00

Awww... I love my family. We just spent almost 2 weeks visiting family (mine and my husbands) and it was our first visit since becoming vegan. I should point out that before vegan, we were meat-eaters, not just vegetarians who recently gave up eggs.

As much as each person is well-meaning, it's nice to be home and away from that.

My mom, who is totally supportive, seemed to get defensive and in what I felt was out of nowhere decided to try and come up with a product I use that harms animals. I could have easily helped her by pointing out that the effects of my consumption of most mass-produced items is harmful to wild animals whose habitats are destroyed to build factories and the like, but I didn't really want to help her out. Instead I assured her that my soap and shampoo are both vegan (Dr. Bronners and Pureology).

My grandfather believes everything should be enjoyed in moderation and doesn't seem to have any sympathy for the plight of animals, so a complete elimination of animal products just doesn't make sense to him. He wanted me to admit that I would eat the neighbor's eggs raised humanely and with plenty of space to roam. I just don't want to eat the neighbor's eggs. Sorry. Also, those same neighbors were clearly neglecting their cow who I almost climbed the fence to milk after I saw her two days in a row completely engorged and barely able to walk because her calf was in a seperate field.

My in-laws come from cattle ranchers and just don't get it. When my husband told my mother-in-law that we weren't eating animal products (he used the word "meat") anymore, her response was, "People need protein, you know." My father-in-law is not a fan of most vegetables, and refused to eat them when he came to visit us last summer, so I figured this would be interesting. My mother-in-law suggested that if I want my husband to gain weight (he is underweight due to his inability to absorb fat), I need to feed him meat. I pointed out that eating meat hasn't worked in the last 15 years or so, and we're trying something different.

The surprises of the visit were when my husband's aunt, who raises cattle for a living, had us over for lunch and made a great green salad and a fruit salad. She even got bread that she had carefully read the label on to make sure it would be okay for us. It was the easiest meal we had with anyone else and she didn't make us feel like a burden at all. The other surprise was when my low-carb friend whose diet includes quite a bit of meat directed us to a great vegan cafe. I think these two examples prove a theory I have been tossing around for a while: the people who are anti-vegan are those who are insecure about their own diets. Those who feel confident in their own eating habits respect the choices of others and are happy to accomodate those they care about.

Speaking of vegan cafes, we first visited Sugar Plum Vegan Cafe in downtown Sacramento, Ca. What an amazing little place. We had sandwiches on our first visit and got whoopie pie to eat later. I got a sweet potato sandwich that had perfectly melted daiya in it. So amazing and very comforting. My husband got a great tempeh reuben. The second time we went was for brunch and I got the tofu scramble and was startled by how much better than mine it was. It was otherworldly. We got a chocolate chip sandwich cookie with peanut butter cream filling. When I ate the cookie later that night, my husband actually laughed out loud because he said the expression on my face was so blissful it was hilarious. Peanut butter and chocolate causes bliss.

We also found a place in Sonora, Ca called Toukies. It was weird because they didn't say vegan anywhere on the menu or in the restaurant, but when I asked about the "soy cheese" in the shells and cheese, the waitress said, "Oh, everything in the restaurant is vegan." It makes me wonder why they don't just say so, but I didn't ask. The shells and cheese were outstanding and the cheesecake we had for desert was unlike any other vegan cheesecake I've tried. It was light and fluffy and had a similar consistency to the no-bake cheesecakes- but better!

These two cafes left us feeling like a vegan cafe is far from a crazy idea. Both seemed busy and successful despite being such a specific type of food. We were inspired and have begun a search for a venue to open our own. We stayed up late asking my grandfather about his experiences as a small business owner and what it was like to start out with a baby and such an uncertain job. He opened his own second-hand store in downtown Sacramento when my mom was just a baby and they had my uncle on the way. He was able to provide for his family with that store and started with just three items out on the sidewalk in front of a small store front that he leased from a very nice man who let him defer the first three month payments until he got going. He still has the first two dollars he made (on a push mower that he had paid a dollar for) framed in his living room. We want our daughter to have a family business to grow up in, and to learn from our example that it's a good thing to follow your dreams.

Great Grandma Leila's Banana Cream Pie- Vegan Style

2010-05-08T09:45:00.000-08:00

Happy Mother's Day. I miss you Grandma.
My great grandma was once one of those women who baked her own bread and didn't know what a microwave was. Once she got a microwave, and a taste for convenience, she loved it. Long before my time, my grandmother was a nurse in mental hospital and worked nights. Her husband worked for PG&E (the electric company). They also had a cattle ranch. Grandma Leila never would have considered complaining about this schedule, but this is what she used to do: Work all night, come home, make breakfast and pack a lunch for Grandpa Lee, hay the cows, go to sleep for a minute, do any other ranch tasks, make dinner, keep the house clean, go to work for a full night shift, repeat.

If anyone deserved a microwave and food that came in boxes, it was my Grandma. There are flavors that I miss that come with her cooking but come from packaged things that have ingredients I don't eat, and it makes me miss her and the experiences of being in her kitchen.

Then I discovered PETA's I Can't Believe it's Vegan list. I couldn't believe that Jello pudding and Keebler pie crusts were vegan! I headed right to the store to get what I'd need to make Grandma's banana cream pie!

Banana Cream Pie

1 Keebler cookie crust (or make your own with vegan graham crackers and buttery spread)
3 Bananas
1 large package Jello vanilla pudding (not the banana flavor, it's too fakey)
2 cups cold soy milk
1 package soy whipable topping (this and the soy milk are all I changed- she used to use Dream Whip)

This couldn't be easier. Slice the bananas and line the bottom of your pie crust with a single layer. Reserve the other slices. Feed a few slices to a baby if you have one, she'll love it. In a stand mixer or hand held mixer, combine the cold soy milk and Jello pudding package. The stand mixer is easy because you can just kind of walk away and play with the baby while she eats banana slices. You want that gelatinous consistancy that you expect with pudding. Add the rest of the bananas and let it mix some more. They will stay chunky, but also get mixed in. Pour the pudding into the pie shell and refrigerate for about three hours. Whip your soy whipable topping until it is light and fluffy, and then spread over your pie. You can then refrigerate and it will keep for a few days- but it probably won't last that long!

Cooking, Cooking, Cooking, Worrying

2010-05-04T18:08:00.000-08:00

I have been making so many delicious meals lately and yet I haven't had time to take pictures, upload pictures, or write down recipes. My husband just lost his job and has rightly commandeered the computer for job searches and emails. Another result of this change is that I have been making elaborate home meals using what we have so that we are not even tempted to go and spend money on prepared food.

Here is a list of some of our meals lately:
*Pecan and Mushroom Burgers with fresh peaches on sourdough bread and sweet mustard. Served with crispy chard and maple butter carrot matchsticks.

*Vegan sushi with wakame, tempeh, wasabi peas, macadamia nuts, and my secret recipe "salmon."

*Calzones with homemade oniony dough filled with spinach, roasted peppers, artichoke hearts, and Italian Field Roast Sausages and homemade sauce.

*Black bean, taco-flavored tempeh, zucchini and mushroom burritos with homemade tortillas.

*Various tempeh and tofu scrambles with every scrap of "leftover" veggie bits from other meals.

*Corn and potato chowder with arame and fennel.

*Homemade chocolate and maple glazed donuts.

*Oatmeal with dried cherries and almonds.

There's more, but I can't think of it all now. As a stay at home mom, my husband's job loss has lead me to want to do my job outstandingly (not that I think I'm going to get fired).

As far as the unemployment goes, we are trying to look at things in a positive way and are hoping this is our push to move on from Alaska and either closer to our families or off to Hawaii. As one of my friends says, "What is your problem with the contiguous United States?" I don't know. I think we just like extremes. If you know of any geology jobs anywhere (we are extremely open-minded right now), feel free to pass them on.

My grandpa's reaction was definitely the sweetest so far: He immediately asked if we needed money, and I told him we would be fine for a while and will hopefully not need to borrow from him (he has so little as it is, that makes the offer all the sweeter). After we hung up, he called back and said that when my uncle was a baby he was going to be called back by Army reserve and my grandmother became so stressed that her milk "turned sour." He said that milk is so important to my sweet daughter that I just have to think positively and not stress out. He ended up not having to go to war, and he assures me that this will turn out being a good thing for us in the long run. I can't help but smile with a grandpa so wonderful.

Some day I will post recipes again, and tell the great fish-tales of my swimming baby. For now I have to pass off the computer for a bit.

Short Book Review... Good and Bad News

2010-04-27T22:57:00.000-08:00

Well, I wish I loved this book more, because it's one of my birthday books...

I started going through The Spunky Coconut Cookbook and have had a mixed response to it.

On the one hand, it does have some yummy recipes. I made the chocolate silk pie (the base is avocado!) and my darling husband is totally in love. We hadn't even finished it before he was asking when I was making it again. The recipe turned out creamy and delicious and I will definitely be making it again. There are some other great recipes that I am sure I will like as well for savory dishes like "Funa" fake tuna salad made with tempeh and a raw carrot cookie recipe that uses the leftover pulp from when you make carrot juice (I love that because I hate wasting all that fiber when I make carrot juice). In addition to these recipes, she has instructions on how to make your own nut milks and store them, which I think is really awesome.

However, I am a bit put off by the author's ideas about what constitutes "healthy" or "environmentalism." I have read again and again lately how big an environmental impact factory farmed meat has, yet she advocates the use of "beef gelatin" in her ice cream recipes. I know. I can skip those or substitute a plant-based gelling agent. So other than that one thing I guess I am okay with it. Also, there are recipes that use eggs and other meats (primarily chicken) that I am ignoring for now but might look at to veganize at some point. Mostly I think I was disappointed because it's not what I expected. I thought it was going to be all coconut recipes with coconut oil, coconut flour, coconut milk and shredded coconut featuring predominantly. This is not the case. Coconut oil is the preferred oil in these recipes, but is not present in all of them. I also thought it was a baking book, so I didn't realize that even though it didn't specify that it was meat free, I just figured it would be. I know what happens when I ass-u-me.

All in all, there are some good recipes, and if you do eat meat and/or eggs, you might love all the recipes. Lately I don't like a cookbook that I can't pick anything from and just make, but that's why I have Veganomicon, Vegan Brunch, The Complete Vegan Kitchen, The Uncheese Cookbook, Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World, Vegan With a Vengeance, Vegan Cookies Invade Your Cookie Jar, The Flying Apron's Gluten-Free and Vegan Baking Book, Skinny Bitch in the Kitch, Skinny Bitch Bun in the Oven and This Crazy Vegan Life.

Wow, writing and linking that all out make me realize I have to stop coveting other cookbooks and start getting to business on the ones I have. I have thought about doing a Julie/Julia project type blogging miniseries where I pick one of my books like Veganomicon or even one of the desert books and cook through the whole thing within a time frame and blog about my experiences. Might be fun.

Vegan Donut Cupcakes: Challenge Accepted

2010-04-19T15:43:00.000-08:00

Okay Christina, here is my best attempt!

I used this recipe and cut it in half and veganized it with direct replacements. Next time I think I want to make these with cardamom and put powdered sugar on top of them. I don't know why, but the texture just makes me want them to be cardamom-y.

Ingredients:
1/2 cup Earth Balance buttery spread
3/4 cup evaporated cane juice (sugar)
1 cup soy milk
2 tsp apple cider vinegar
2 Tbsp flax meal
1/4 cup water
1 tsp vanilla
1 Tbsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
3 cups flour

Method:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees and spray cupcake pan with coconut oil or whatever spray oil you like.
In the stand mixer, I creamed the butter and sugar together at medium speed. While that was going, I mixed the flax and water in a small cup so that it could get gelatinous. I also mixed the soy milk and vinegar so it could curdle (like buttermilk). After the butter and sugar were well mixed, I added both mixes I had just made and then the vanilla. I let that all mix on medium while I mixed together my dry ingredients. I mixed that dry mixture in 2 batches and mixed only until it was combined (next time I think I would hand mix in the dry ingredients just to make sure it was combined but not overworked). I used an icecream scoop to fill the cupcake pan and made them really big and ended up with 11 instead of 12. Oops. The dough was very sticky, so the texture made it hard to get level scoops.

Bake for 20 minutes.

Next I was left with topping decisions. I ate one directly out of the oven just to get an idea of what I was dealing with. Ohhh... I could eat them all like this. Instead, I decided to dress up three of them.

Chocolate Icing:
1/4 cup chocolate chips (I use Tropical Source)
1 Tbsp maple syrup
1 Tbsp soy milk

Microwave these ingredients for 10-20 seconds then stir until smooth and dip cupcakes into glaze.

I personally like them better without the glaze. If I had some strawberries I would macerate them with powdered sugar and cut the cupcake in half and cover it in sugared strawberries.

Anonymous...

2010-04-18T23:21:00.001-08:00

I will admit, I get pretty excited to have "followers" of my blog, because it's pretty easy to feel like I'm spending my precious minutes typing for no one other than myself, which is entirely possible. That said, having an outlet to in any way publish my writing is reward enough.

Anyway, I just saw that a friend linked his blog on facebook, so I decided to take a look and became a follower. I had the option to "follow publicly" or follow anonymously. It made me wonder, do I have anonymous followers? Seven is a great number, and I'm thrilled with each of you, but I can't help but question who else in the intertubes is reading this.

If you feel so inclined, you can let me know anonymously if you are out there. In fact, to encourage comments on this post, I will ask if there are any requests. I have been wanting to write about my experiences with my daughter's infant swim class and infant swimming overall because it is fascinating to me and other people often are shocked that the class is for babies as young as 4 months old. I also would love inspiration for a recipe. If you have a meat recipe that you would be interested in a veganized version of or if you have a vegetable that you don't know how to tackle, see if I can help. I like problem solving in the kitchen and pretty much pretend that every meal is an episode of Iron Chef or Chopped.

Okay, it's late at night and I have a silly book to read on the nightstand and I would hate to neglect it.

Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution

2010-04-18T12:36:00.000-08:00

The night that the preview episode of Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution aired, the show was interrupted to announce that the health care bill had passed. My thought, "Get back to the REAL change in health care that Jamie Oliver is trying to start!"

I am very focused on nutrition, I'll admit it, and even though universal healthcare (not the health care bill that was passed) is a dream of mine, I don't see that happening any time soon. When I see an actual change, then I'll be interested. Better nutrition will also happen the same way I suppose though, because it's not something that can be changed overnight or with one British chef and his adorable accent (I just want to pinch his cheeks and muss up his hair!).

Sadly, as the show has progressed, I'm seeing that even this "revolution" is really just tiny baby steps in the right (?) direction. At first, Jamie condemned the fried chicken, pizza, and french fries being served up in the school of Huntington, WV and I was right behind him. But when his solution was chicken drums made from scratch, spaghetti and meat sauce with cheese on top, and most recently sloppy Joes (made from scratch and therefore much healthier), I wondered what Jamie's understanding of "revolution" really was. Am I just a crazy Yankee for wanting a revolution to mean huge changes, a complete overhaul, and raucous cheering? Probably.

I understand what Jamie is doing. I do. I taught ESL (English as a Second Language) and I studied the educational theories of Stephen Krashen. His teaching of Comprehensible Input is that the teacher must use the i+1 model of giving the learner the vocabulary they already know, plus only 1 (meaning a limited amount of new information) so that they learn it completely and add it to i, their existing knowledge.

So what Jamie is doing makes sense. You take "chicken" as the children know it, and alter it just enough so that they now understand that "chicken" means the meat rather than a breaded and fried food item. He's changing "sloppy Joes" from something completely sugar laden and filled with preservatives, ad showing the lunch ladies that "sloppy Joes" can be cooked meat and a homemade sauce (presumably still containing a large amount of sugar, but not the same types or levels as the processed sloppy Joes). It's hard for me to watch this and imagine how this change is really going to change things long term. Now, you have a bunch of kids who think sloppy Joes are a healthy food. Add some mashed potatoes, a salad covered in homemade ranch (but still fatty ranch) and you have a "healthy" meal. That kind of crap makes me crazy!

But then in the next scene, there Jamie is getting flavored milks out of the elementary school. He is arguing with "the powers that be" who believe it's more important that kids drink the milk with more sugar than soda so they get their calcium, than they risk having kids not drink the milk because it's not sweet. How about giving them something like fortified orange juice (I know, still full of sugar) or soy milk? How about not only preventing diabetes, but heart disease too!?

I know everything takes baby steps, especially when you have the warped nutritional values of the USDA to contend with, but it's not fast enough for this mother. I am so grateful to be able to provide nutritious food for my daughter, but not everyone had the resources or priorities to do that, and it's not fair for children to suffer the consequences. As usual, the lower income children are punished for their parents' situations.

My point in all this is that I suppose we should all sign Jamie's Petition for healthier school lunches, but we should also support the Healthy School's Act that many members of PETA are also promoting. There is a lot left to do, but let's do something.

Food Abomination Challenge: Vegan Pancake Wrapped Sausage

2010-04-15T16:39:00.000-08:00

I was catching up on my Vegan Porn today and Jason made a good point: If that disgusting junk food was vegan, would we still be so appalled? In the video, he describes a sausage wrapped in a pancake. Mmmm.

I'm always up for a challenge, and after walking the dogs and doing dishes I didn't have much to do while my darling napped this afternoon... So the creation became a reality.

I started out with a sausage. I thought about following a recipe, but figured I could just wing it. Right. Good idea, Erin. I looked at a couple recipes from Vegan Brunch and got an idea of the basics, and made my own.

Apple Sausage
Ingredients:
1/4 tsp fennel seeds
1/4 tsp caraway seeds
1/8 tsp ground nutmeg
pinch ground cloves
1 tsp salt
1 Tbsp onion powder
1 Tbsp nutritional yeast
1/4 tsp molasses
1/2 cup water
1/3 cup apples that have been chopped and boiled until soft then smooshed
3 Tbsp TVP
*combine these ingredients and set aside while you set up a steamer, get the water boiling, and get 2-4 sheets of foil out (depending on how big you want your sausages)

1 Tbsp oil
3/4 cup vital wheat gluten

Mix in the final two ingredients and then form into sausages in the foil and wrap them up like candy. Steam them for about 40 minutes and then you are ready to make your pancake mix.

For the pancakes, I used this recipe that is my regular pancake recipe but I used maple syrup instead of sugar and I added a tsp of vanilla.

I then browned the edges of a sausage.
Next, I spread out a layer of pancake mix in the bottom of my pan and let it sit for no more than 5 seconds before placing the sausage in the middle of the pancake and wrapping the pancake around the sausage through a series of flips.

It turned out kind of pretty.

I had mine with some maple syrup, after cutting off a nice big piece for the baby to enjoy. She was unsure if she liked it or not- although it was a little saltier than she's used to and I didn't give her maple syrup.

As you can see, she's not sure she loves it. She kept eating it though (along with her carrots and strawberries).

I wouldn't eat this every day, but I think it turned out pretty good. The fennel in my sausage had a strong flavor and I could have used more apple, but it was a successful first attempt at sausage. It's "junk food" but made entirely from scratch with minimal fats. The real problem is that there's no veggies in it. I'm having a big bowl of broccoli and seaweed for dinner, that's for sure!

If you too make this abomination, please enjoy it! You could make apple pancakes to make this extra apple-y or add blueberries just to get more fruit. You could also make nice small sausages and have them along with some smaller pancakes and it wouldn't be bad.

Tofu Scramble

2010-04-15T11:51:00.000-08:00

On Easter morning I made my first tofu scramble. It was dedicated to all the eggs being hunted, colored, and eaten that day and the chickens who laid them. After one bite I couldn't believe I had waited this long for a tofu scramble! It's so good and easy. I didn't really follow a recipe, and haven't for the subsequent scrambles I've made since. They all turn out great. I tear my firm tofu (I've been using nigori tofu this week and enjoying it) into little chunks and toss it in a bowl with some nutritional yeast, salt, pepper, and onion powder (and paprika if I'm feeling a little smokey goodness is in order). Then I cut up and start sauteing whatever veggies I'm using (we like scrambles with all kinds of veggies) and once the veggies start to brown I toss in the tofu and let it brown slightly and warm through.
Some veggie combos we like:
*green onion and mushroom
*yellow onion, roasted red pepper, and smoked paprika
*zucchini, mushroom, yellow onion, and tomatoes (added after it's cooked)
*any veggies you have on hand :)