One Month Vegan, One Day Meatan

I went into this whole vegan-thing with the plan that I would do my best to stick to an entirely vegan diet. It's been a little over a month now and I have to say that I really like the way vegan-eating makes me feel. I found that as a result of restricting my diet to mostly plant-based foods, it's caused me to look at the world in an entirely different way...and amazingly I don't feel that I am missing out on anything by not having meat or dairy products. I by NO means have followed veganism perfectly, but I do try to make more responsible choices every day about what I'm putting in my body--and this idea has extended into other areas of my life as well (which I can talk about in a different blog).

In the last month I have done the following:

1. Discovered an entire world of grains that I didn't know existed: millet, wheat berries, farro wheat
2. Stopped relying on caffeine in the mornings to get me going and happy
3. Maintained my level of fitness-- AKA: I haven't become one of those anorexic-looking malnourished emo veganites that I was a afraid of before.

On to other news: Last night I went to a dinner party where the host made spaghetti with homemade meatballs-- cooked in bacon fat. I ate them. They were delicious! Does this make me a vegan no more? For the night, maybe. But, one of my goals since the beginning in taking on this lifestyle was to never inconvenience anyone else or place judgment on others for their diets. Had I rejected the meatballs, I would have been implying that my ideas of a diet are better than theirs. Even though I would never think that, it's still the way it would come across. I then followed the meatballs with a slice of non-vegan applesauce cake. It too was delicious (though I bypassed the ice cream).

Was it worth it? Well, I paid for this sudden change in my diet at work today. I had a few extra trips to the bathroom (except during the two-hour lock down we experienced...that was pure torture!) and I woke up feeling sick to my stomach this morning. But, it was worth it.

It was worth it because I shared a great night of food with friends that was untainted by the particularities of my diet.

As for tonight's dinner, I found my farm box veggies nearly gone. So, I improvised and came up with a pretty good mishmash here. We'll call it...

Out-of-Fresh-Produce Mishmash (Serves 2)

1/4 C cooked millet
1/4 C cooked red quinoa
1-2 C veggie broth (add as needed to cook the grains)
1/2 C garbonzo beans
1/2 C frozen peas and carrots
1/2 C onion, finely diced
1/2 C savory tofu. diced
1/2 C tempeh, diced
2 T soyaki (from Trader Joe's)
salt & pepper to taste
fresh or dried herbs to taste (I used some fresh marjoram i had in the fridge)

In a medium sized pot cook the millet and quinoa in the broth with spices. When the liquid is nearly gone, add the peas and carrots, garbonzo beans.
While the millet and quinoa are cooking, saute the onions until almost browned, add the diced tempeh and tofu and brown. Add the soyaki and stir for 1 minute. Then, stir this into the millet and quinoa mixture for a couple minutes--allow the flavors to fuse.

Ginger Essence

If you haven't been to the Westgate Hotel's Plaza Bar yet on a Saturday night to listen to Gregory Page and the Make Believe Orchestra-- you need to do it soon. And I'm not just saying that because my husband plays drums for him, I'm saying that because the waiting staff has had a significant change for the better recently and I now feel comfortable recommending it as a pleasant date night (or girls night out...or just for good listening/drinking/dessert). They're drinks are expensive, but each one I've tried is delicious.

Observe last night's Ginger Essence Martini. Delish.

absolut citron vodka, home made ginger syrup, fresh lime, soda water $14

Westgate Hotel, Plaza Bar
1055 Second Avenue, downtown
619.238.1818

Chocolate Zucchini Cookies

Oh. my. gosh. I just discovered and sort of made up the BEST cookies ever. Ok. Not ever. Cookies with real butter and real sugar and lots and lots of chocolate chips are the frickin' best ever. But these cookies are awesome if you 1. Are trying to cut out dairy and 2. Like cookies, but are trying to watch your sugar intake.

Here's the recipe:

1/2 C vegan butter, softened (I use Earth Balance)
1C maple syrup (Ok...it's sugar. BUT, it's a much healthier sugar with more nutrients than white sugar.)
1 "egg" (This is about to blow your mind. Take 1 T flaxseeds + 3 T water and puree. That is equal 1 large egg and way more healthy for you!)
2 C whole wheat flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 t ground cloves
1 C grated zucchini
1/2 C chocolate or carob chips (optional)

In a medium sized bowl: Cream together the syrup and butter until smooth. Beat in the "egg." Stir in zucchini.

Combine flour, baking soda, salt, and spices. Stir into zucchini mix. Fold in chips.

Cover and chill for 1 or more hours.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

Drop dough by teaspoon fulls onto greased cookie sheet. Bake 8-10 minutes at 375 degrees.



Enjoy these guilt-free!

Dandy Drink

I got dandelion greens (among other fun things) in my farm box on Wednesday. All I know about cooking dandelion greens is that you can boil them. And the only reason I know that is because I read it in The Autobiography of Malcolm X (his mom used to make that and only that for dinner some nights because they were so poor). Well, two things: 1. I did not boil them for dinner and 2. I didn't store them in the crisper and now they are wilty and sad...(like the rest of my garden). Soooooo. Since I've been on a green smoothie kick lately, I decided to improvise and made a....

Dandelion Pumpkin Smoothie:

1 bunch (about a handful) dandelion greens
1/2 C cooked pumpkin (or canned will do)
1/2 C frozen berries
1 banana (because a smoothie just isn't a smoothie without one)
1 T chia seeds
1 scoop protein shake mix (soy or whey protein shake mix will do.)
1-2 C hemp, soy or almond milk
some ice if you want (I like it chilled just from the berries)
oh. and I added a scoop of almond butter just for fun.

It was good.
But I just realized that the protein shake mix I used has ingredients that are derived from milk. So much for a vegan shake. Cuss.

3 Green Farm Box Meals

Literally green. In color... not "earth-friendly green." Though I'm sure they're that too. So here they are... and oh, they're tasty. If they weren't, I wouldn't be posting them. Duh.

Summer Squash and Broccoli Soup


1 medium head of broccoli
1 medium summer squash, cubed
3/4 c green onion
6 fingerling potatoes
2 garlic cloves
cream or soy creamer (to taste)
1/2 c water or broth of choice
Salt and Pepper to taste

In a medium sized soup pot, saute the garlic, onion, squash and broccoli in a little extra virgin olive oil for about 8 minutes then add 1/2 cup water or broth and cover until everything is nice and mushy. Add salt and pepper and any other spices you might like. Add more water or broth if it begins to dry out. Will probably take about 15-20 minutes. Once everything can be smooshed down with a hand-held potato masher, it's ready to mill. Turn off the heat. Using a blender or hand-mill puree the hot veggies. Add the soy milk creamer or cream and puree more until it's the consistency you like.

Next up... Farm Box Surprise



1 small head of broccoli
1 baby bok choy
1 small eggplant
2 delicata zepplin squash
2 c collard greens (or more if you want...they cook waaaay down)
fresh basil (to taste)
fresh cilantro (to taste)
1-2 cloves chopped garlic
1-2 each of red ruffled pimentos, corno di toro and antohi sweet peppers, finely chopped
salt and pepper to taste
Optional: 1 link of chopped spicy Tofurky or 1 c tempeh

Chop everything. Throw all in a big saute pan with some extra virgin olive oil and saute until everything is al dente. DO NOT OVERCOOK it will turn into a big, pile of ugly black veggies. I ate this over Trader Joe's Three Grains Blend: rice, barley and spelt with some black and kidney beans thrown in. It was delish!

And finally... Kale Berry Smoothie


3-5 fresh leaves of kale, roughly chopped
1-2 cups frozen fruit (I like mixed berries, but peaches are good too)
1 banana
1 tbs organic chia seeds (by Navitas Naturals at Henry's)
2 tsp maca powder (also by Navitas)
1-2 cups almond milk, sweetened or unsweetened
agave nectar to taste
ice

Throw it all in a blender and let 'er rip until it's nice and green and smooth... unless you like chunky.


This is the summer squash from the first recipe. I took the seeds out, salted and baked them at 300 degrees for about 15 minutes. They were really tasty and I felt good for not letting them go to wasty.