Artichoke Love

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

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

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

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

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

St. Patrick's Day: Corned and Green

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!

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.