Pamela's Stuff

Smoothies

2007-04-22T11:59:00.000-04:00

I have consumed a 16 ounce smoothie nearly every day for the past two years. Originally they were made from just fruit, juice, and flax seed oil, but now I've added in greens (usually spring mix, sometimes spinach or wheat grass juice), soy milk, and VEGA every day.

The smoothie pictured here contains about two cups of mixed greens, 1/2 cup soy milk, 1/2 cup juice, 7-8 strawberries, half a banana, 1/2 cup mixed berries, and 1/4 serving of VEGA.

Smoothies are a great way to get in nutritious stuff that you might ordinarily not include in your diet.

Raw almond pate wraps

2007-04-21T21:23:00.000-04:00

OK well the wrap itself isn't raw, but it could be if one was so inclined (i.e. using collard leaves).

I have discovered that I absolutely LOVE almond pate. Some recipes say it's like salmon pate, but I've never eaten salmon in my life so I have no idea if it has any similarity.

I started by using a recipe I found online, but it was no good so I just kept adding seasonings and cayenne pepper until it was absolutely delicious. Wrapped in a fresh whole wheat pita from a bakery downtown with carrots, spinach, and green onions, it's fabulous!

Spicy Almond Pate

* 1/2-2/3 cup unblanched whole almonds

* 2 stalks of celery

* 3 spring onions (green onions, scallions)

* 1 carrot

* lemon juice from half a lemon

* 1/2 tsp. dulse

* 1 TB cayenne pepper powder (or start with 1 tsp and add to taste)

* sprinkle of sea salt

* 1/2 tsp. raw apple cider vinegar (optional)

1. Soak the almonds at least overnight, changing the water every 12 hours.

2. Drain the almonds

3. Chop the celery, onions and carrot. Put these and the almonds into a blender or food processor, and process until smooth.

4. Add lemon juice to taste, and mix dulse/seasonings.

5. Use as a dip for fresh veggies or crackers, or as a wrap filling

Tu-no sandwich

2007-04-06T17:12:00.000-04:00

This is another Natasha recipe (www.simplyraw.ca). This is raw Tu-no, made primarily of walnuts and a number of seasonings and vegetables. I used hemp oil instead of olive oil. Also on the sandwich is spinach, tomato red onion, and a bit of Vegenaise. I only used one piece of bread because two pieces is too many.

This was great, and only took about five minutes to make the Tu-no. I think we will eat this fairly regularly.

Raw kale and collard salad

2007-04-06T16:49:00.000-04:00

This recipe is from Natasha of Simply Raw (www.simplyraw.ca) It's very simple- kale/collards, salt, lemon juice and an avocado dressing.

Also pictured is a marinated tofu sandwich, with alfalfa sprouts, tomato and red onion slices, and mixed greens.

Tofu "bento bowl"

2007-03-30T16:11:00.000-04:00

This dish was adapted from a recent vegetarian times which called for cow's milk yogurt (I used soy) and some vegetables I'm not crazy about. It consists of rice on the bottom, topped with mixed greens, green onions, red onions, and marinated tofu, and sprinkled with sesame seeds. It was a bit too salty, but i know what to do to make it less so for next time. It was very good. Vegetarian Times calls it a "bento bowl."

rawsome!

2007-03-30T16:06:00.000-04:00

So I am going to a raw vegan pot luck tonight and had to figure out how to "cook" something raw. Yeah, I eat raw veggies and fruits and salads, but I've never done raw per se. After an hour or so of fruitlessly looking online for recipes I could make on only a few days notice I gave up and just started thinking in terms of what I had in my fridge and came up with this. It's diced carrots, red bell peppers, and red onion, with avocado/garlic sauce wrapped in collard leaves. So far my taste testers say they are good! I'll see what the pot luck goers tonight think. I don't think it's terribly creative, but I am still pleased.

baked quesadilla

2007-02-22T20:20:00.000-05:00

I just made this up off the top of my head. It's a whole wheat wrap topped with black beans sauteed with garlic and jalaepeno pepper, diced tomato, green onion and vegan gourmet montery jack cheese. I put it in the oven on broil for a couple minutes until the cheese bubbles, and then I added the guacomole and folded it over.

Even though it doesn't look fabulous, it was actually really good! The wrap crisped up nice, but I was still able to fold it without breaking it. It had a nice flavour and was just the right size for dinner.

Tippy's fort

2007-02-22T09:15:00.000-05:00

As most rabbit parents know, there's little a bunny loves more than a good box to rip to shreds.

At my work they were getting rid of this really big, 3 ft by 4 ft by 2ft tall lidded box, so I brought it home and Xactoed a few entry holes.

As I expected, Tippy has adopted it as her own fort. She now spends much of her out-of-cage time in this box, ripping it apart. If you look in one of the "entrances" at her, she hops over to push you out of the way. It's HER BOX, dammit.

The cats like it too, but I think Tippy discourages them from using it. She really calls the shots around here.

Here's a photo of Tippy in her box.

banana walnut muffins

2007-02-05T19:11:00.000-05:00

Even though I wasn't posting, I have done a lot of cooking over the past seven weeks. Pictured here are banana walnut muffins from Extra-vegan-za, a cookbook Cherie gave me for my birthday. It is of course modified a bit. I reduced it from 1/2 cup of oil to 2 T of oil and the rest applesauce, and they turned out fabulously. I also used quite a bit more banana than the recipe called for, to add some more nutritional punch. They have lovely little muffin caps, which I love. These are absolutely delicious.

happy Pesto and dinner experiment

2007-02-05T19:03:00.000-05:00

She's a little on the chunky side, especially since her medications have made her very hungry, but Pesto is definitely a happy little girl.

In this photo she's clutching one of her favorite toys, a little stuffed fish. She will flop around on the floor for ages playing with it. :)

Tonight I tried a new dinner experiment, inspired by Fresh in Toronto. We've eaten there about a half dozen times, including last week when we were in Toronto for Pesto's consults. What's pictured here is brown basmati rice smothered in Fresh's coconut curry sauce (with chick peas), topped with raw spinach, carrots, red peppers, green onions, and toasted nuts (sunflower seeds, almonds and walnuts). It was very satisfying. The verdict here is it's something we'll definitely eat again sometime soon.

No brain tumour!!

2007-02-03T22:31:00.000-05:00

The MRI showed that Pesto does NOT have a brain tumour. Thank goodness!

There were a few abnormalities, but the neurologist said she's not sure we can attribute any clinical significance to them, and that if you did MRIs on 100 healthy people there's a good chance most of them would have some sort of abnormalities.

That being said, something caused her seizure. It might have been a stroke, but since more than 6 weeks have passed, most evidence in her brain would be gone. She had a small area that has some inflammation, and that could be related to a stroke.

She also has a tiny cyst that is commonly found in dogs. It is generally harmless and definitely not something that gets operated on. The neurologist says she has never seen one in a cat MRI. So, while it's a bit disconcerting that we still don't know what the cause is, it's wonderful to have eliminated the worst possible outcome. T

he neurologist says aside from the minor abnormalities, all of her bloodwork, behaviour etc. indicates a very healthy and normal cat.While examining Pesto, the neurologist did notice that Pesto's thyroid gland is slighly enlarged. This would not be a seizure cause, and it is something that is not uncommon in cats. It may require some medication or possible removal, but for now we just need to monitor it and have a thyroid test done at our local vet.

The neurologist was absolutely wonderful, and gave us a discounted rate for her stay at the hospital. I am very happy we went to her. Thank you to everyone here who has cared about Pesto and sent us good thoughts. It's not over yet, but knowing it's not a brain tumour is a huge load off of us. We sort of feel like this whole ordeal might have just been a cosmic kick in the ass for us.... but who knows.
__________________

It's been a while...

2007-01-26T12:38:00.000-05:00

Wow, it has been a solid month and a half since I posted anything here. I’ve been taking photos and stuff, but my heart just wasn’t into posting. I'm not sure if anyone besides my best friends are even checking here anymore. :)

Pesto’s still alive. She’s doing pretty well actually. You wouldn’t even know she was sick just by looking at her. We’ve really re-focused our priorities since her seizure, and have enjoyed our time with her and our other little ones. The picture is of Pesto on Jan. 15.

We are taking her to Toronto next week for an MRI. Unfortunately while our animal hospital did have an MRI machine, they got rid of it the same day we decided we wanted to have one done. So that really sucks. So off to Toronto we go. It will tell us if she has a brain tumour, or if we can write her seizure off as plain old epilepsy. We hope it’s the latter, but we’re preparing for the former. If it’s a tumour, we’ll have some tough decisions to make.

But for now she’s doing pretty good. She hates taking her medication and makes it somewhat difficult for us, but we’ve done really well at getting it into her. She doesn’t seem to hold a grudge over it, and has been sleeping with me every night for the past couple weeks. It’s actually been kind of idyllic at our place the past while. We know beyond a doubt what’s really important now.

please think of my little girl

2006-12-13T10:05:00.000-05:00

Last night my little girl cat Pesto (she's 7- the black cat in the picture) suffered an unexpected and extremely severe seizure. She basically ran up and down a few flights of stairs and then collapsed in the living room, slobbering and convulsing and screaming. It was a horrifying noise, I thought it was a three-way cat fight or something. This is a cat who has never even had to take medication, who has always been as healthy as can be. We rushed her to the emergency vet clinic where they gave her valium, which put her into a resting state.

Blood tests didn't reveal anything, same with blood sugar test. She is awake and moving around this morning, even purred and talked the vet techs tell me, but we still don't know what happened and why she seizured so violently and prolongedly. She will be examined by an internalist today, with more tests to see if she has epilepsy, a tumour, a virus, or whatever. There's a good chance they won't even get the answer.

I am so frightened for my little girl. The vet is supposed to call soon and let us know when we can see her again. She must be so scared, she really doesn't like anyone except us. Her brothers are very concerned and agitated. I don't know what's going to happen and I'm so afraid of what decisions may have to be made. I love her so much, she's the first animal we adopted, six and a half years ago. She's the sweetest, most loving little girl. We are both very broken up about this.

Please send positive thoughts to us and our baby girl.

Tippy gets a treat!

2006-12-11T09:02:00.000-05:00

Tippy's grandma Judy sent her a treat only a bunny could love... fresh grass in a wood crate! Tippy had a great time snacking on it.

someone baked me a birthday cake!

2006-12-08T22:26:00.000-05:00

and was it ever yummy!

Our friend Scott baked this for my birthday. It's a chocolate cake with chocolate all over the top and a peanut butter layer too. It also has coffee flavouring in it. It was so good we each had two pieces!

squirrels and cupcakes

2006-12-03T12:28:00.000-05:00

I love squirrels. This little guy was just in my back yard. Fortunately since our cordo corp doesn't use pesticides, we have an abundance of squirrels at our place, almost entirely black squirrels. We used to have more grey squirrels and once I saw a red squirrel.

Last night we went to a little vegan pot luck with two other couples we know. I was put in charge of dessert! I couldn't decided between cupcakes and cinnamon buns, so I made both... and with only one exception, everyone had one of each! The cupcakes I made were a modified version of the low-fat vanilla cupcakes in VCTOTW... basically I modified them to make them low-fat chocolate! Then I toppped them with the peanut buttercream icing. They were great. The icing is possibly among the most delicious and decadent things I have ever eaten in my life. I kept "accidentally" getting it on my hands so I could eat it off!

most people don't have a clue

2006-12-02T12:31:00.000-05:00

This is a few years old, but I thought it was interesting given the recent spate of food poisonings in N. America. Most people I have encountered don't seem to have a clue, and since many of the more publicized recent outbreaks have occurred with vegetables, people are even more confused. Of course they don't realize most of their vegetables are grown in manure generated through factory farming.

[b]Chicken and beef may be infected with feces [/b]
- health notes - Brief Article
Nutrition Health Review, Summer, 2002

A new study shows that 84 percent of adults have no idea that the primary source of Salmonella, Campylobacter, Escherichia coli, and other foodborne pathogens on poultry and meat is animal feces. The survey of 1,000 men and women was completed during July 2001 by Opinion Research Corporation International on behalf of the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM). Foodborne illnesses are at epidemic levels in the United States; the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that there are at least 76 million cases each year, usually from consumption of animal products.

"Our findings show the vast majority of Americans do not understand there are feces on in meat and poultry," says PCRM staff attorney Mindy Kursban. "In fact, there's a major disconnect in the public consciousness between the foodborne illnesses that sicken so many of us and their originating cause--animal excrement."

Survey respondents answered the following question: "When Salmonella and other disease-causing bacteria are found on meat and poultry, which of the following do you think BEST describes where these bacteria originally came from?"

The answers were as follows:

* They came from animal blood 10 percent
* They came from dirty hands 19 percent
* They are naturally present
in the meat 17 percent
* They are naturally present
in the animal's skin 9 percent
* They came from animal feces 16 percent
* They came from dirty air in a
slaughter house 15 percent
* Did not know/None of the above 13 percent

Statistically, respondents with college degrees, a household income equal to or greater than $50,000, or a metropolitan area residence were more likely to know that feces are the originating source of disease-causing bacteria.

PCRM proposes that all poultry and meat products carry a biohazard label (shown above). Such a procedure would be similar to how medical waste is treated.

Jerk seitan

2006-12-01T20:24:00.000-05:00

Another good recipe from Vegan with a Vengeance. I like this one better than the ethiopian seitan and peppers, but Todd likes that one better.

on weight loss and lifestyle change

2006-11-30T13:53:00.000-05:00

The before pic is me in July 2005. The after pic is me at the end of October, 2006.

The secret? I didn't starve myself. I didn't base my food choices on what has the lowest calories. I focused on packing in nutrient density, portion control, and above all, ENJOYING MY FOOD and making every bite count. I also exercise five times a week now on my elliptical trainer. My goal was to change my lifestyle, not to lose weight (although I suspected it would be a side benefit). I eat a reasonable number of calories, exercise nearly daily, and I still eat dessert most of the time. You can see how well I eat just by looking at this blog.

tofu veggie stirfry with garlic sauce

2006-11-27T17:10:00.000-05:00

This was ok, but WAY too salty. And I didn't even use as much tamari as the recipe called for! I am going to try it again sometime and adjust the ingredients a bit. It looks nice, but it was so salty I couldn't finish it.

chana saag aloo

2006-11-17T17:46:00.000-05:00

I haven't made anything new or interesting lately. However, I also haven't posted a pic of this yet. It's modified from a recipe I found online. It's a coconut curry with light tomato, potato, chick peas, and spinach. I serve it with white jasmine rice (yeah I know, brown is better, but it's just not the same!!) It also contains nutritional yeast, which makes it nice and creamy (not to mention really nutritious!)

tiramisu cupcakes

2006-11-02T19:02:00.000-05:00

mmmm these were another hit at our house. I subbed the vegan butter cream frosting for the cream cheese frosting (I don't believe cream cheese has any place in desserts!!) and that's a chocolate covered peanut on top. Another excellent recipe from Vegan Cupcake Take Over the World!

vegan freaks!

2006-10-31T11:26:00.000-05:00

This weekend I had the pleasure of meeting Jenna Torres of Vegan Freak fame. We met in the small New York state town where she and her co-freak are professors and had lunch at the only place in town that has a single vegan item on its menu. Jenna let me ship a bunch of stuff to her place that would cost a fortune to get over the border via mail, which is much appreciated. Check out Jenna and Bob at www.veganfreaks.net and http://veganfreaks.org/

s'mores cupcakes

2006-10-25T20:26:00.000-04:00

These were really nice. I was finally able to make them when I located vegan graham crumbs. No crackers though, only the crumbs, so my cupcakes lack the piece of cracker stuck in the top. :)

vegan cupcakes really ARE taking over the world...

2006-10-23T21:52:00.000-04:00

at least mine!

Tonight we had the Hazelnut Cupcakes with Mocha Hazelnut Mousse filling and rich chocolate ganache topping. They were wonderful. Todd prefers the cookies and cream, but I liked them equally. They are so different, you almost can't compare.

We had cappuccino ones last night. Again, delicious, but they weren't much to look at.

Note the special Halloween cupcake papers. ;-)

Nothing special for dinner lately, just repeats.

cookies and cream cupcakes

2006-10-20T21:20:00.000-04:00

As Todd said, "Vegan cupcakes are going to take over our kitchen!"

I got my copy of Isa's "Vegan Cupcakes take over the world" yesterday, and tonight when I got home from work I made my first recipe from it, the cookies and cream cupcakes.

I wanted to eat them really fast so I wasn't very artful about icing them. It's sort of blobby. The picture in the cookbook looks WAAAAY better. But they tasted sooo good. I took some over to my neighbours and they absolutely loved them. So did we.

cookie outreach

2006-10-15T10:37:00.000-04:00

Last weekend I made a whole pile of cookies for my husband to take into work. He has a coworker who has demonstrated some interest in veg*nism so I thought it was a good time to bring on the cookies. (Todd also took him in a tofurky sausage but I really don't think that warrants a photo on here :-D ) So, from left to right we have: Homestyle Chocolate Chip cookies (from Dreena's Viva Le Vegan), Maple Pecan cookies (from VWAV) and Chocolate Macadamia Nut cookies (from Candle Cafe cookbook- HEAVILY modified since the recipe does NOT work as printed). Apparently they were quite popular.

pizza

2006-10-15T10:20:00.000-04:00

We hadn't had pizza in maybe six months or so. The reason is because pre-vegan, our favorite food in the whole world was plain pizza with double cheese. There's just no way to emulate that in a vegan way.

We tried eating cheeseless pizza, and experimenting with vegan gourmet, but we just weren't ready to accept something that was so different from what we were aiming for. It has been more than two years since I've eaten cheese pizza.

So we let six months pass and Todd agreed to give the vegan gourmet another shot. Recently he gave Sour Supreme another shot and now loves it, so I guess he's coming around.

This pizza has a wheat/spelt homemade crust, and is topped with spaghetti sauce, homemade pesto (basil, garlic, almond, nutritional yeast, olive oil), vegan gourmet mozzarella, tomato slices, spinach, red onion and red pepper. It was absolutely delicious. I am so pleased! It even passed the Todd test, and he's been a lot more stubborn when it comes to liking some of the "replacements."

Now, I definitely DON'T think that veganism is about finding replacements to all the omnivorous foods; vegan cuisine is in a league of its own, is unique, and is far superior to omnivorous "food." But we really wanted to find a pizza we could get on board with, and this is it. It doesn't taste like double cheese plain pizza, but it satisfies us with its own unique and wonderful flavour.

my first apron

2006-10-14T17:41:00.000-04:00

Today my friend Gen gave me an awesome early birthday present: this cool stripey kitchenaid apron, which she knew would totally match my beloved stand mixer. It's also the first apron I have ever owned. It's a pretty awesome gift.

Thai night

2006-10-14T15:02:00.000-04:00

We had our friends Jo and Scott over for dinner last night. I made red coconut curried vegetables, spicy peanut noodles with kale and spring rolls with dipping sauce. Scott made a blackberry pie for dessert. I think we were all extremely full when we finished eating.

cuter by the minute

2006-10-14T14:59:00.000-04:00

MY thanksgiving dinner

2006-10-09T13:58:00.000-04:00

Normally we don't care to celebrate holidays, but my dad and his wife were up over the weekend, so to mark the occasion I decided to make a vegan thanksgiving dinner. I also invited my elderly neighbours, one of whoms favorite food is hamburgers. I made the nut loaf from veganmania.com, kale and garlic mashed potatoes, gravy, ratatouille (chick peas, red pepper, zucchini, red onion and spices simmered in tomato sauce), red quinoa, mixed salad with soy feta and sundried tomato and basil dressing, and as the finale, a pecan pie (from Bryanna Clark Grogan). It went over very well, and everyone asked for the nut loaf recipe. The pie was like a giant butter tart, so sweet and rich. I've been looking to veganize butter tarts for years so this is great.

Thanksgiving

2006-10-09T13:50:00.000-04:00

This weekend was canadian thanksgiving weekend. I definitely mourned the deaths of all the poor turkeys who turned up on people's table this weekend. Here's some info about the turkey industry from http://www.adoptaturkey.org/industry.htm. Disturbing photo: http://www.adoptaturkey.com/gallery/turkey1.jpg

Between 260 and 300 million turkeys are slaughtered annually in the United States, according to USDA statistics. Of these, approximately 45 million are killed for Thanksgiving, and 22 million are killed for Christmas. Per capita turkey consumption, which has increased steadily in the United States, averages just below 18 pounds per person. In 1970, turkey consumption per person averaged just 6.4 pounds.

FACTORY FARMING
Crowded by the thousands into huge, factory-like warehouses, female turkeys raised for slaughter in the U.S. are typically allotted 2.5 square-feet of space per bird, while toms are given a mere 3.5 square-feet of space each. The typical 50’ X 500’ factory farm warehouse holds approximately 10,000 hens or 7,000 toms. The overcrowded birds, who are unable to comfortably move, or exhibit natural behaviors, are driven to excessive pecking and fighting. To reduce injuries, factory farmers cut off the ends of their beaks and toes, practices know as debeaking and detoeing. These painful mutilations are performed without anesthesia and can result in excessive bleeding, infections and death.

GENETIC ENGINEERING
Today's turkeys have been genetically altered to grow twice as fast, and twice as large, as their ancestors. Putting the growth rate of today's turkeys into perspective, Lancaster Farming reports, "If a seven pound [human] baby grew at the same rate that today's turkey grows, when the baby reaches 18 weeks of age, it would weigh 1,500 pounds." Although this rapid growth poses a serious threat to the animals’ health and welfare, the turkey industry continues pushing to grow bigger birds.

Between 1991 and 2000, the weight of the average turkey raised commercially in the U.S. increased by 20 percent, from an average of 21.5 pounds to an average of 25.8 pounds. Overweight turkeys are susceptible to heart disease and their legs have difficulty supporting their unwieldy bodies. An industry journal laments “...turkeys have been bred to grow faster and heavier but their skeletons haven't kept pace, which causes 'cowboy legs'. Commonly, the turkeys have problems standing, and fall and are trampled on or seek refuge under feeders, leading to bruises and downgrading as well as culled or killed birds.” (Feedstuffs)

To meet consumer demand for breast meat, commercial turkeys have been anatomically manipulated to have abnormally large breasts. As a result, the birds cannot mount and reproduce naturally, and the industry now relies on artificial insemination as the sole means of reproduction. Unlike their wild ancestors, modern turkeys are white. The turkeys’ natural bronze color leaves pigment on the carcass, upsetting consumers, and so the birds’ natural color was removed through genetic engineering. Click here to read an eyewitness report from a turkey breeding facility.

TRANSPORT
Turkeys reach slaughter weight at 14 to 18 weeks, at which time they are transported to the slaughterhouse. Workers roughly grab turkeys by the legs and literally throw the birds into crates which are stacked on the back of trucks. The crates have open sides and do not protect the birds. During transport, the birds are exposed to extreme weather conditions and may die of heat stress in the summer or freeze to death in the winter. Turkeys and other farm animals may be legally transported up to 36 hours without food, water or rest.

SLAUGHTER
The fully conscious turkeys are hung by their feet from metal shackles on a moving rail. The first station on most poultry slaughterhouse assembly lines is the stunning tank, where the turkeys' heads are submerged in an electrified bath of water. Stunning procedures are not monitored, and are often inadequate, leaving fully conscious birds to continue along the slaughterhouse assembly line. Some slaughterhouses do not even attempt to render turkeys unconscious, as turkeys and other poultry are specifically excluded from the Humane Slaughter Act, which requires stunning.

After passing through the stunning tank, the turkeys' throats are slashed, usually by a mechanical blade, and blood begins rushing out of their bodies. Inevitably, the blade misses some turkeys who then proceed to the next station on the assembly line, the scalding tank. Here they are submerged in boiling hot water, and turkeys missed by the killing blade are boiled alive.

ethiopian seitan with red peppers

2006-10-09T13:46:00.000-04:00

It's been a while since I posted last. I haven't really been doing much new cooking, except this weekend I went on a bit of a rampage.

This recipe is from Vegan with a Vengeance. We also made the curried split pea soup from that cookbook, let it thicken, and served it over quinoa.

old favorites with a new twist

2006-09-24T17:24:00.000-04:00

Tonight we had the Juice for Life Green Goddess rice bowl (brown rice topped with steamed swiss chard, kale, and broccoli, with lemon tahini and ginger soy sauces), which I have posted here before. But tonight instead of marinated tofu or tempeh, we decided to be brave and try out the frozen vegan "fish" we bought back in June at King's Cafe in Toronto. It's quite good... but kind of spooky. It isn't going to fool anyone, but it's a reasonable subsitution. We had the "tuna steak."

Tomorrow through Wednesday we will be eating Indian. I made a big pot of curried Indian vegetables (cauliflower, bell pepper, potato and onion), which I have posted about before. But this time I included half a pound of seitan strips (green cuisine) that we need to use up. We will also cook up some frozen dosas we bought at the Middle Eastern food market.

pick of the crop!

2006-09-17T16:05:00.000-04:00

Our little tiny garden is churning out fresh fruit and veggies right now. Todd is making salsa right now to use up some of the tomatoes.

A little background for those who may not know: our yard is about 18 by 20 feet in size, and about 1/3 of it is planted with edible plants. We have a large raspberry bush (there are raspberry pictures elsewhere on this blog), and several spaces along the fence where we have stuff planted. Except for the raspberries, we have maybe 50 sq. ft. of garden.

We also have two composters which we use to enrich the soil. We practise "veganic" gardening... no pesticides, herbicides, animal-based fertilizers (or commercially-produced fertilizer PERIOD), etc.

Bunny feet

2006-09-17T16:03:00.000-04:00

I was sitting on the couch and looked over towards Tippy's cage, and this is what I saw. For some reason her little feet and legs all stretched out like that struck me as really really cute. :-)

Tofu kebabs and spinach feta salad

2006-09-13T19:32:00.000-04:00

We bought this black bean marinated tofu after tasting some at the veg food fair. Tonight we made kebabs with it, using the tofu, zucchini from my dad's garden, cherry tomatoes from my garden, and red onions and pepper. I had a bunch of leftover spinach (can't feed much of it to Tippy!) so we also had spinach salad with VEGAN soy feta (garlic and tomato flavoured), red onion, and a homemade tomato basil vinaigrette. I LOVED the feta, and so did my dad. My husband wasn't crazy about it, but I don't think he's very open-minded. I am so happy I have leftover salad fixings for tomorrow! We had oatmeal cookies for dessert.

speaking out against foie gras

2006-09-12T19:20:00.000-04:00

I got this action alert from Farm Sanctuary today:

Support Needed to Prevent Repeal of Foie Gras Ban in Chicago!

A ban on the sale of foie gras (French for "fatty liver") recently went into effect in the city of Chicago, and in response, a group of chefs has initiated a campaign to repeal it. Opponents of the humane ordinance assert that serving the cruelly produced appetizer should be their "choice." Two Chicago Aldermen have introduced an ordinance seeking to repeal Chicago's foie gras sale ban, denigrating the council's compassionate stance and calling it "silly."

It is critical that they hear from us. Chicago's foie gras sale ban is humane and upholds societal values. It restricts cruel and unacceptable behavior. We cannot allow the abuse of children or animals to be a "choice." Foie gras is a product of extreme cruelty, and selling it should not be a "choice."

Please contact Aldermans Bernard L. Stone and Burton F. Natarus and tell them that compassion is not "silly," and cruelty should not be a "choice." Urge them to withdraw their unprincipled proposal.

1. Alderman Bernard L. Stone, Ward 50

Ward Office:
6199 N.Lincoln Ave.
Chicago, IL 60659
bstone@cityofchicago.org
Phone: 773-764-5050

City Hall Office:
121 N. La Salle
Room 209, Office 20
Chicago, IL 60602
City Hall Phone: 312-744-6855; 312-744-6106

2. Alderman Burton F. Natarus, Ward 42

Ward Office:
121 N. LaSalle St.
Room 306
Chicago, IL 60602
bnatarus@cityofchicago.org
Phone: 312-744-3062; 312-744-3065

So I decided to send the jerks an e-mail. This is what I said:

Hello

My husband and I are Canadian, have money to spend,
and love to travel to North American cities to shop
and eat. Chicago moved up on our list as a
destination when we heard that foie gras had been
banned in the city. We thought, "What a progressive,
compassionate city," and decided it would be somewhere
we should travel to and spend our money.

However, I hear you are involved with a movement to
repeal the ban. I thought you should know that should
you be successful with this, Chicago will not be of
any particular interest to us any longer. It's
shameful to hear the comments being made, about the
ban being "silly" and people deserving to have the
right to "choose."

I'm sorry, but that's total bullshit. NOBODY should
have the right to choose that that sort of torture be
inflicted on another creature. It is NOT akin to
choosing to wear red shoes instead of brown shoes, or
coke versus pepsi. Foie gras is a symbol of
everything that is shallow, self-righteous and
self-centred in this world, and Chicago is much better
off without it. I don't need to tell you the kind of
torture that those poor birds endure to produce this
"delicacy;" I'm sure you already know. Which is what
makes your desire to repeal the law all the more
bizarre and incomrehensible. But, in case you aren't
fully aware, I highly recommend you view these videos:
http://www.gourmetcruelty.com/videos.php

Perhaps you should consider channeling your energy
into a cause that is actually worthwhile... say,
homeless animals, sick children, or maybe volunteering
to help elderly people. I don't think that the taste
buds of the elite, and the fat cat restaurant owners
really qualify as a "cause."

Please do not reply and tell me that I should become
"educated" on the subject, as so many politicians are
fond of doing. The purpose of this e-mail is to
register my disgust with your actions, and to implore
you to please consider dropping your campaign to have
the law repealed. There's no valid reason why this
ban shouldn't stay in place, and it's shameful that
you have made this your own personal cause. Please,
find another cause, and leave the ducks alone.

yes, it's vegan!

2006-09-12T19:14:00.000-04:00

Tonight we had a dinner guest, my dad. I made spicy peanut thai rice noodles with kale, homemade spring rolls (filled with tofu, vermicilli, red and green onion, bean sprouts and red pepper), and our usual smoothie with flax oil. I topped the noodle dish with some faux shrimp that we picked up after the food fair on the way home. I cannot speak as to their authenticity, having never consumed a real shrimp, but they certainly smell and look like shrimp! Since I haven't eaten any shrimps before, I enjoyed these faux shrimps on their own merits. They're chewy and quite tasty. They're something I expect we'll only eat occasionally.

We had cinnamon buns for dessert: http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/8169/3253/1600/sticky%20buns-%20omfg.jpg

Urban Herbivore

2006-09-10T18:57:00.000-04:00

We just got back from the Toronto, where we went to the Vegetarian Food Fair (Saturday) and the Kensington Market (Sunday). We had a really good time! We spent about three hours at the fair itself, and met a couple of people who I know from online.

For lunch in the market we went to Urban Herbivore. There we had these massive sandwiches... BBQ tofu with sprouts, mixed greens, tomato pesto, and tahini sauce, on fresh-baked multigrain buns. It was absolutely delicious! More than six hours later I'm still full. We also each purchased an apple walnut muffin, which we each nibbled on during the drive home.

rabbit gourmet

2006-09-01T07:18:00.000-04:00

I'm not much of a salad person, but Tippy is! Part of a healthy rabbit diet includes fresh greens, so I have to give her a salad every day. Usually it's mostly leaf lettuce, but sometimes I can add other things like zucchini, green pepper, cucumber, kale, chard, spinach etc.

For this particular salad I remembered we hadn't given Tippy any carrots for a while (she loves them) so I artfully placed one on top of her salad. Of course the first thing she did was rip it off the top of the lettuce and eat it beside her plate.

ducks

2006-08-31T11:12:00.000-04:00

My house fronts a creek, and in the creek live 250 ducks. I enjoy looking out my window and seeing them happily floating along in the water.

Unfortunately they're a bit of an unnatural construct. I think years ago it started out with a handful of them. My next door neighbour began to feed them (that's why most of them reside right in front of our houses). Now there's 250, and she still goes out every day with a bucket of seed and feeds them. She loves those ducks, and they love her. She spends thousands of dollars each year on their food.

But I worry about what will happen one day down the road when she is too ill to care for them, or worse. It's like a snowball rolling out of control... feeding is what caused them to become such a large colony, and they depend on being fed for their survival. I worry it will fall to me, as I know my neighbour has no succession plan and she's getting quite elderly. It's a human-made situation, the kind I'd rather not continue perpetuating, but to discontinue feeding them would equate to killing them. So that's not an option either. I care very much for them, and want to do what's best for them.

I feel like the fate of these beautiful ducks may be in my hands someday, and it scares me.

Nursing my bunny back from surgery

2006-08-31T10:52:00.000-04:00

Tippy underwent a spay procedure on Tuesday, August 29. Her attending surgeon was Dr. Thom of the Glebe Pet Hospital.

I was worried sick for days leading up to her surgery. I did all kinds of reading about the process, and what to expect with Tippy's recovery. I was braced for the worst, as I tend to be in most situations. It's different for rabbits than it is for cats, and there aren't many doctors who are qualified to perform the spay on rabbits. Dr. Thom is qualified.

Fortunately Tippy seems to be well on the road to recovery. She scared the daylights out of me by not eating in front of me for well over the 24 timeframe within which she should start eating again. I think she was sneaking a few bites here and there while I wasn't looking. Now she's anxious to get out of her cage and hopping around with her feline brothers and sister. They were very concerned about her well-being, taking turns watching her as she recovered.

As much as I felt terrible for putting Tippy through this experience, the reality is that female rabbits have an extremely high chance of getting cancer of their reproductive organs, in the neighbourhood of 50-90 per cent. Spaying, while it is painful and uncomfortable for her for a few days, eliminates that risk, and should allow Tippy to live for 7-10 years.

I should also add that we used a spay/neuter voucher that we purchased from the Humane Society. It cost us $100, but I learned that it would cost closer to $200 without the voucher. I am grateful to vets who participate in these programs.

father and daughter

2006-08-17T16:40:00.000-04:00

Tippy shares a snuggle with her dad.

Brownie goodness

2006-08-15T20:00:00.000-04:00

This is a Nature's Path brownie mix brownie topped with Peanut Butter organic Soy Delicious, Santa Cruz chocolate syrup and Soyatoo whipped cream! We just got the soyatoo in my city. It was pretty good, but expensive ($6).

My three little angels

2006-08-12T17:15:00.000-04:00

It's not really fair to only have pictures of Tippy on here.... here are my three little kittens, L-R Mooey, Chewy and Pesty Girl.

Tippy Switzer: carrot inspector

2006-08-12T17:10:00.000-04:00

So things are going well with Tippy. She's really come out of her shell, and loves to hop around her little play pen (it's attached to her cage) and throw things around. We're doing all kinds of reading about rabbits and fashioning toys etc. for her that will keep her entertained. She's still in isolation in a spare bedroom, but we're beginning to introduce her, one at a time, to the cats. They are dying to know what's in the room! She's really cute, and we love her.

Indian feast

2006-08-12T17:03:00.000-04:00

I actually made these dishes the same day of the seagull attempted rescue, but it didn't seem right to post them immediately afterwards.

One thing I like to do is take a couple hours and make 3-4 dishes that can be easily reheated, and a pot of rice, and then eat them "buffet style" over a few nights so I can have a few nights off from making dinner. I bought a new cookbook called Indian Vegetarian Cooking at your House and made four recipes from it. We loved three and weren't crazy about the fourth (the black eyed pea curry- bottom dish). The three we loved were a curried vegetable recipe (first), chana chickpeas (second) and curried potatoes (third).

my heart is broken

2006-08-07T21:39:00.000-04:00

tonight around 6 pm my friend Gen called me, frantic, because she had just found an injured seagull in the parking lot of Home Depot. His wing was almost fully detached. Her car is dead, so she needed me to come and get him, and take him to the bird sanctuary. Unfortunately it was closed though, so I would have to leave him there in a box. But his wing was so badly injured I knew he couldn't wait.

I went and picked him up (she lives about half an hour away) and called my neighbour Pat who called some other people and got the name and phone number of the founder of the sanctuary. When I got home we called Kathy, the founder, and she agreed to take the gull in and see if there was anything she could do or if he would have to be euthanized. At the very least she would take him into her care.

So we drove there (another half hour away) and took him in, but sadly, he had passed away during the car ride there. She said his wing was so badly injured there would have been no way to save him; he was likely run over by a car. He was such a sweet gull, didn't make a peep through all of it.

I just got home, and I am so sad tonight for him, but glad that he at least died in the presence of somebody who desperately wanted to save his life. I quickly took his picture before we left for Kathy's because I never want to forget him.

the latest addition to our family

2006-08-04T09:17:00.000-04:00

Meet Tippy!

We adopted Tippy from the Ottawa Humane Society on Monday. She was submitted as the shelter's "Pet of the Week" for the pet guide column I do as part of my job. The minute I saw her picture I loved her. We decided if she was still available for adoption after we got back from our Farm Sanctuary trip, we would adopt her. Sadly AND happily, she was still at the shelter, so we brought her home with us!

She is in isolation for two weeks as per the shelter's orders, and is settling in quite well. The first two days she spent most of her time inside her log hutch, but now she's out and about and exploring, enjoying her nightly salads and dried apple treats. We gave her a toilet paper roll filled with straw and she has a ball with it.

Farm Sanctuary

2006-07-30T10:32:00.000-04:00

Todd and I sponsor a sheep at Farm Sanctuary (www.farmsanctuary.org) named Louise. The main reason for our trip to New York State was to meet Louise. We met her and her best friend, Thelma, and of course we saw the other animals. We went last year as well, but that was before we sponsored Louise. Here are a few of my favorite pictures from this year's trip.

ABC Cafe

2006-07-30T10:30:00.000-04:00

These are two very nice dishes we had at the ABC Cafe in Ithaca. Burrito and tofu and veggies in a peanut satay sauce.

Amazing Thai food

2006-07-30T10:25:00.000-04:00

We just got back from a trip to New York State, where we ate like royalty. We went to a restaurant in Rochester called "The King and I" and it was among the top 10 best meals of my life. Here are some pictures of the food we ate.

homemade ravioli

2006-07-26T17:40:00.000-04:00

Well... sort of. The pasta is actually store-bought vegan won ton wrappers. The filling consists of silken tofu, firm tofu, sundried tomatoes, basil, nutritional yeast, ground almonds, and roasted garlic. It's in a tomato sauce with garlic, olive oil, red onion, red bell pepper and spinach.

Farmer's market haul

2006-07-22T11:54:00.000-04:00

Every Saturday we go to the local all-organic farmer's market to buy most of our produce. We buy most of it from the same guy, because his stuff is always picked the night before, or that morning, and it's so beautiful and fresh.

"mexican" feast!

2006-07-22T09:50:00.000-04:00

OK where to start. This is one of the more "dependent on specialty product" meals I've made recently... we try not to use too many of them in general.

Firstly, the smoothie in the background is strawberry, banana, mango, pineapple and flax. We drink one every night with dinner.

Then we have flexible sprouted corn tortillas from "Food for Life" brand, and they're layered with purple leaf lettuce, homemade refried beans, and 5 layer dip comprised on guacamole, beans, salsa, sour supreme, and more beans, and finally topped with melted Vegan Gourmet nacho cheese.

Then on the right is a kamut wrap, filled with more refried beans, nacho cheese and five layer dip.

Old favorites

2006-07-22T09:31:00.000-04:00

I was looking through my old photos and found some more dishes to post.

At our house, we tend to eat things in phases. We'll rotate the same half dozen things for a few weeks, then switch one out and replace it. Eventually after a bit we're eating six entirely different things on a rotation. We don't do it intentionally, we just "lose our flavour" for things after a while.

1. Seitan, chickpeas and jyoti masala sauce on brown basmati

2. Soy ginger marinated veggies and tofu on rice stick noodles

3. Homemade falafel with tomato, green onion, alfalfa sprouts and vegenaise in a whole wheat pita

Thai coconut curry

2006-07-21T17:58:00.000-04:00

Red curry and coconut sauce with broccoli, red pepper, snow peas, spinach and chick peas on brown rice, topped with scallions.

This one makes my nose run!

mmmmm, pasta

2006-07-20T14:39:00.000-04:00

This is a modified recipe from a 1995 Vegetarian Times. It's rice pasta rotini and chick peas, with tomatoes, sundried tomatoes, spinach, red onion, red pepper, garlic and nutritional yeast. A nice well-rounded meal! (and gluten free)

Vegan Pot Luck

2006-07-20T14:35:00.000-04:00

Sorry I've been so delinquent with keeping this up!

Here is a picture of the table from the vegan pot luck I held at my house.

Raspberries

2006-07-12T11:43:00.000-04:00

These are from my backyard raspberry bushes. It's the first "crop" of the season! I am going to eat them for lunch.

manning the grill

2006-07-07T17:20:00.000-04:00

We're having the same thing for dinner tonight, so instead I'll post a picture of my husband "working the grill." :-)

Tomorrow we're hosting a vegan pot luck so hopefully that'll mean some good pictures!

more grilling

2006-07-06T21:19:00.000-04:00

Sandwich with the same ingredients as yesterday, only more of them on a smaller bun!

Plus, we did skewers- tofu, grape tomatoes and red pepper. Only one of them caught on fire.

The tofu on the skewers tasted eerily of chicken. But no chickens had to die for this meal!

grilled tofu and veggie sandwich

2006-07-05T21:42:00.000-04:00

So we went out the other night and bought a BBQ so we could do grilled veggies etc! Pictured is: grilled red and yellow bell pepper, zucchini, and red onion, tomato, marinated tofu (Juice for Life marinade plus lemon juice) and vegenaise on a whole wheat bun.

ratatouille

2006-07-03T18:16:00.000-04:00

This recipe is from Dreena Burton's Viva la Vegan. It's called Chickpea Ratatouille, and has chick peas, red onion, yellow pepper, zucchini (my addition) and tomato, and is on a bed of inca red quinoa. It's great to make it the night before and just pop it in the oven the next day for dinner.

best. cinnamon buns. ever.

2006-07-01T22:24:00.000-04:00

These are one of the most addictive things I've ever tried. Recipe from "oneness."

Green goddess

2006-07-01T22:15:00.000-04:00

Green Goddess rice bowl- brown rice with steamed kale, swiss chard, bok choy and broccoli, with two sauces: ginger soy and creamy tahini. Marinated and grilled tofu patties.

cheezy broccoli casserole

2006-07-01T22:10:00.000-04:00

Yes, it's vegan! Brown jasmine rice topped with steamed broccoli and a special nutritional yeast based cheeze sauce. From www.randomgirl.com

veganized standard north american diet fare

2006-07-01T22:07:00.000-04:00

Marinated and grilled tempeh, with garlic sauteed broccoli and zucchini and spicy potatoes (cumin, ginger, cayenne, flax oil, cilantro etc.)

Sesame ginger tofu and veggies

2006-07-01T22:04:00.000-04:00

I haven't made this in a while. It's cubed tofu marinated in a sesame-soy-ginger marinade, and then crispy fried with sauteed veggies that have had the marinade added to them. On rice stick noodles.

asian smorgasboard

2006-07-01T22:01:00.000-04:00

This picture is from May, but I figure it's worth putting up.

Included on the platter are: homemade spring rolls, deep fried tofu and peanut dipping sauce, and cold szechuan noodle salad. Definitely not the healthiest thing going, but it was delicious!

cookies galore!

2006-07-01T18:51:00.000-04:00

Sparkled Ginger and Chocolate Chip cookies from Vegan with a Vengeance. Both were delicious!

nachos

2006-07-01T18:40:00.000-04:00

Salsa, tomato, green onion and red onion on organic unsalted nacho chips.

Burrito with refried beans and salsa.

I have no idea what i am doing

2006-06-27T15:18:00.000-04:00

I am just creating this so I can post on Cherie's blog.