More Time Cooking = Less Time Shit Disturbing

The school year is winding down. Classes are done. Just exams left.

Thank you God.

Idiots rioting in Vancouver last night. People need to be slapped.

Hard.

Time for some Kind Diet recipe catching up (which I've totally neglected in the last couple of weeks of classes because school has been SOOOO STOOOOPID BUSY...but now it's almost over and life is good again).

Tuesday 18.0: Christopher's Cauliflower Steaks (p. 271) / Hot Rice with Cold Lemon, Basil and Tomato (p. 151)

These cauliflower steaks (Christopher, incidentally, is Alicia's husband) were one of the first recipes to catch my eye when I first started looking through The Kind Diet. I never really felt motivated to make them, though, because they seemed pretty simple and boring. As it turned out they were indeed simple, but definitely not boring.

I wasn't in a rush to try this recipe because the cauliflower is only seasoned with some olive oil, salt and pepper. It really didn't seem like it would be that interesting. Here's the thing about cauliflower though...it is so incredibly flavourful when it is cooked, you really don't need any elaborate seasoning. Roasted cauliflower compared to raw doesn't even taste like the same vegetable. The recipe also includes fennel, which is also ridiculously flavourful when cooked. The fennel turned out to have a pretty bold, sweet flavour that I wasn't really a fan of, but Rob the Husband loved it.

This recipe, therefore, works out perfectly for me...I'll eat the cauliflower and Rob will eat the fennel and we'll live happily ever after.

It's like when I used to eat fruit juice berry gummy bears with my bff (before realizing they were made of horse hooves, of course)...she liked the citrus flavoured ones and I liked the berry flavoured ones, so it always worked out perfectly.

Because you can't just eat cauliflower and fennel for dinner (or can you?) I made the Hot Rice with Cold Lemon, Basil and Tomato to go with this meal. I absolutely loved this rice dish the first time I made it, but I think I screwed something up this time around, because it was way too lemony for me and definitely did not impress me like it did before. This just means I have to make it a third time now to see which version (the delicious one or the not delicious one) was the anomaly.

Monday 19.0: Azuki Beans with Kabocha Squash (p. 241). 

This was the first meal I made for my sister after she saw Forks Over Knives and decided to go Plant Strong. This is by far the "healthiest" tasting quintessential macrobiotic Kind Diet recipe I've tried thus far. That's not a good thing.

I'll be honest...this dish was a bit hard core healthy for me. And by hard core healthy I mean boring as shit. I actually found myself unintentionally making faces while I was eating it. It's not gross or anything. Just...boring. Sooo sooo boring. I know it's crazy healthy and stuff, and therefore perfect for my tube-fed sister who doesn't have to taste how oh so very boring it is, but this was really not one to brag about.

I will be making it again though. Why? Because both my mom and Rob actually liked it.

I was alone in my face scrunching. Go figure. Their palettes must be a lot more grown up than mine.


Thursday 19.0: Ginger Pasta with Zucchini (p. 238)

This was my second attempt making this pasta, as the first time I tried it I had to use asparagus since I didn't have zucchini. I liked it a lot the first time and I liked it a lot this time. This is a great dish. The tofu provides more layers to the texture (and throws in a punch of protein) and the zucchini adds a nice firmness. I just love love love ginger, so of course flavour-wise this one is a winner with me...it gives off this great zing that just tastes really fresh.

The salad was pretty kickass too...at the suggestion of my veggie buddy Heather I tried Little Creek dressing, and it is just delicious on salads. I love busy salads (the more stuff you put in it the better), and I find they are a great way to use up a lot of the veggies you may have sitting around in the fridge. Needless to say, the salad complimented the pasta perfectly.


And that brings us to this week, and Tuesday 21.0 (don't even ask about what I had been eating during week 20.0...it was the last week of school and I was desperately trying to finish marking a whole crapload of assignments and input marks before classes were over...there wasn't much sleeping going on, let alone cooking).

I wanted something totally superhero but NOT totally boring, so I made Nabeyaki Udon (p. 231). This looked like it had a lot of leafy green goodness going on, and lately I have been noticing myself craving leafy greens, of all things (bok choy, collards, you name it). It's really weird, actually. It's like my body knows when it has been deprived of Green. Better craving that than fruit juice berries, I guess.

This is a really mellow dish...it has subtle flavours and is super healthy tasting (but not boring like the azuki beans & kabocha squash dish).

It kinda reminded me of Alicia's Magical Healing Soup, which is totally subtle in seasoning and lets the flavours of the veggies shine through. I loved it. As per Alicia's suggestion, I added tofu cubes to the broth, and was just really satisfied with how nicely everything went together. Rob commented that it was a little bland, but the dipping sauce that goes with it (in the little bowl) took care of that and added the burst of flavour that he found lacking (the sauce is just shoyu, ginger juice, lemon juice, and mushroom broth).

Rob's rating: 
Nabeyaki Udon - 4 Happy Tongues

***the previous dishes didn't get a Happy Tongue rating because it had been so long since we had them that Rob couldn't remember them well enough to give an accurate rating. I guess I just have to make them again...including the azuki beans. Frack.***

Well, considering what went down in Vancouver last night, and considering that everything that could possibly be said about rioting idiots has already been said, I guess I'll just end off with a brief thought.

I think if people spent more time cooking and figuring out how to live Kind they would have less time and less inclination to be anarchists and shit disturbers.

And if I was Supreme Ruler of Vancouver I would definitely institute punishment by cheese grater for all rioting shit disturbing assholes.

Just sayin'.

Love and Other Blogs

Sometimes, to mix things up a bit because we're crazy like that, Rob the Husband and I venture outside of The Kind Diet cookbook and take our chances with vegan recipes from other sources. Blogs are an awesome, awesome place to find some kickass (and sometimes not so kickass) recipes. As much as I love making my way through The Kind Diet recipes (and I estimate at this point I've tried about 2/3 of them), every so often I'll come across a recipe from another blog that looks pretty friggen kickass. With a bit of tweaking, even the non-vegan recipes can work out just swell...

Recipe #1: Soup. Black Bean. Hot. from wilwheaton dot net in exile.

Ah, Wil Wheaton. Seriously, what high school girl growing up in the 90's who happened to be a huge fan of Star Trek: The Next Generation didn't just adore Wesley Crusher? He was completely non-threatening, had the most gorgeous kissable lips (as Ashley Judd was lucky enough to experience for herself...lucky bitch), and could totally rock not only a Star Fleet uniform, but also 24th Century sweater.

Alas, after his Star Trek departure, I went on with my life, only to wonder several years later what had happened to my dearest Wesley. I was thrilled to discover during my internet roaming, that tv's Wil Wheaton had a blog (even though I wasn't entirely sure what a blog was back in 2002) that he maintained himself and updated rather frequently. I've been an avid reader of his ever since, and every so often we get a precious snippet of his home life, which interests me verily. ....holy crap, verily is actually a word...I didn't get the dotted red underlining thing under it like I was expecting as I wrote it. Whadayaknow?

So it was in one of Wil's awesome posts about the every-day little things that go on at home that he shared this recipe for black bean soup. Aside from the clever title (an homage to the great Jean Luc Picard and the way he ordered his tea)...

...Wil's recipe was totally vegan and required no tweaking.

The soup was hearty and delicious. It had a very tangy limey flavour, which was pretty refreshing, and a bit of a contrast to the overall warmth and heartiness of the dish. If sour is not your thing, you can always cut back the lime juice a bit. This soup was definitely a win and will be making a reappearance in my kitchen come cooler weather...definitely a good one to break out in stew season.

The same day I made Wil's soup, Rob the husband was busy experimenting with a recipe he found online as well (I love when he gets all domestic like that). We had been seriously missing mac n'cheese. I mean, seriously. So much so that when we stayed overnight at the Fairmont Pacific Rim for a cheerleading competition in April, we totally cheated and ordered some room service real dairy mac n'cheese because we are weak, weak people. Thankfully, we discovered Daiya and our vegan journey took a very pleasant turn in the direction of even more awesome awesomeness.

Which brings us to Recipe #2...

The same day I was making Wil's soup, Rob found this recipe from a Vancouver vegan blogger for Mac n'Cheese with Daiya, and he proceeded to make it all by himself :) And it was awesome. No, really, I'm serious...this mac n'cheese was AWESOME.

Now, let's be clear...this is not your traditional mac n'cheese...oh no no, this is much more sophisticated. This shit has curry powder in it.

That's right...CURRY POWDER. It's like, Indian-inspired incredibleness.

This dish is so ridiculously addictive and has all the essential properties one would expect from an excellent mac n'cheese dish...the gooey cheesy goodness (thank you Daiya), the slightly crunchy breadcrumby texture (thank you nutritional yeast...which btw is supposed to be crazy good for you), and the satisfaction that comes from eating a truly delicious comfort food. I will bust out this dish for anyone and everyone (as we did at our last very vegan dinner party)...it is that good.

Needless to say, this was indeed a day of good eatin'...

And now Recipe #3...

When we started the process of our adoption in 2007 I came across this blog...Owlhaven.net. This is written by a mom of ten kids...4 bio and 6 adopted (4 adopted from Ethiopia, which is where we are adopting from). I've been following her quite regularly since then, and in addition to blogging about parenting and frugal living, she is also quite the cook and has even published a cookbook on frugal cooking.

I came across this West African Sweet Potato Soup on her blog and had to try it...I mean, it has PEANUT BUTTER in it. So weird, right? Yah, it was. Weird but good.

This is definitely a more adventurous dish, and probably won't appeal to everyone. It took a bowl or two for Rob the Husband to get on board, but it is really worth trying. The only adjustment I had to make was using Earth Balance instead of butter, so it was an easy recipe to veganize. The peanut butter lends a really rich, deep, unique flavour to the soup, and it is truly unlike anything I've tried before. If you dig Thai peanut sauce, you should appreciate this dish. I'm not sure that I'd make it for company because it is pretty weird, but I will definitely be repeating it for my family as the weather cools down again come fall. It's a really funky soup (funky in a good way!) to have in your arsenal if you want to expand the horizons of your palette.

Her picture is so much prettier than mine :(

Now THAT looks like an appetizing soup. Mine just looks like orange mush. Why did my soup turn out so orange compared to hers? Her veggies are also much more chunky and prominent than mine. Hmmmph. I will definitely be working to try to make my soup look more like this the next time I make it.

Recipe #4...Lentil Cookies.

One of my co-workers has recently started blogging about her journey to healthier living, and she told me about these lentil cookies a couple of months ago. I've had quinoa cookies before, but never lentil...so of course I was really interested in trying them. I mean, friggen lentils in a cookie? Hells yes. I was definitely thrilled when she posted the recipe on her blog. 

This recipe was also easy to veganize...I once again used Earth Balance in place of the butter, egg replacer instead of the egg, agave nectar instead of sugar, and raisins in place of the chocolate chips (I could have just used vegan chocolate chips, but I didn't really feel like putting chocolate in what was ultimately a breakfast cookie...not this time anyway). When I was mixing all the ingredients together I thought it was all a bit much...a whole cup each of nuts, pumpkin seeds, raisins? But it worked beautifully...these cookies have sooooo much good stuff going on. And like my lovely health-conscious co-worker says, you can do soooo much with them, adding whatever tickles your fancy in terms of nuts & dried fruit. I love the chunky texture...and my mom ABSOLUTELY loved these too. She's not a big fan of anything too sweet, so because this is more of a breakfast cookie instead of a dessert cookie, she gave them a huge thumbs up. 

So there you have it...sharing some yummy stuff from the blogosphere.

Speaking of yummy stuff from the blogosphere...

And now, if you'll excuse me, I'm off to watch the Canucks win the Stanley Cup.

***edited at 7:20 pm to add...

or not.

My U2-Vegan Connection (a bit of a stretch, but there is one)

I really want to blog about my U2 concert experience...but this blog is supposed to be about my Kind Diet journey, so blogging about U2 would be totally off topic. Unless I found a way to link U2 and vegan livin'.

Which I totally have :) So now I'm free to talk about the Seattle show on June 4th. Score. 

Only for U2 can you line up at 5pm on Friday for a concert that doesn't start until 7pm on Saturday and be number 120 in line. 

But it's worth it. 

Rob the Husband, Kathy the Cousin, Ryan the Cousin-to-be and I spent our Friday night going back and forth between the line and our hotel. Luckily we had the comfiest chairs and the weather was cooperative for queueing outdoors. 

This was an odd GA line for me. I've now been to 8 U2 concerts (queued for 7 of them), and we've always been expected to put in our time in line...meaning that once you show up and get a number, you are there for the long haul. This time around people were able to show up and get a number and take off until the morning (which was pretty uncool). But whatever...I wasn't running the show and I'm not confrontational, so we just went with it. By around 5am, most of the 119 people ahead of us (and about 180 after us) were at Qwest Field ready to be moved onto the premises for the "official" GA line. True to their word, at 7am the Qwest staff moved us onto the property. 

After settling in, we headed back to the hotel to shower and check out, and then returned to the line for a day of basking in the sun and U2 fan camaraderie. 

One may wonder, what does one eat over the course of the day queueing for a U2 concert if one wishes to stay true to the Plant? Well, our  breakfast was Perfect Oatmeal from Starbucks, lunch was a veggie dog (there might have been dairy in the bun but I wasn't being picky), and dinner was nonexistant...we didn't want to leave the line after 4pm and I figured the less stuff in my system, the better. 

I also made sure to wear my cutesy vegan propaganda shirt because it's awesome.

The anticipation for the show was building up over the course of the day, and became even more intense when Lenny Kravitz started his sound check. Qwest being an open air stadium, we could hear absolutely everything, and it was INCREDIBLE. And then when U2 started their soundcheck the excitement built up even more, so much so that I may just pee myself if I attempt to describe it. 

Once they let us in it was a mad dash to score a spot on the rail, but we managed to secure our real estate.

Knowing we were there for the next six hours or so, I realized that water (in small quantities of course) might be a good idea. When I went to get a drink from the kiosk they had set up on the floor, however, it turned out that they didn't sell anything non-alcoholic there. 

??? 

Who doesn't have water available at a beverage station? Seriously.

Because the girls working the kiosk didn't direct me anywhere else, I assumed there was no place close by that was selling water, so I settled for a Mike's. 

Which they wouldn't sell me because I didn't have ID. Frack. 

Pet Peeve: People who are CLEARLY younger than me asking me for ID when I'm friggen thirsty and there are no non-alcoholic beverages available. 

Fail Qwest Field. Fail.

It all turned out ok though, because my cousin-to-be Ryan scored me a Mike's, and all was right in the world again. All became even more awesome in the world when Lenny Kravitz took the stage. 

Holy shit this guy can rock it out. I was never an OMG I LOVE LENNY KRAVITZ AND I WANNA HAVE HIS BABIES AND BRAND MYSELF WITH A LENNY TRAMP STAMP superfan, but it's hard not to feel that way when he's giving it his all on stage right in front of you. What an amazing performer.

Lenny's set was over all too quickly, and we soon found ourselves listening to Ground Control calling Major Tom, and then the moment of truth...

I love these guys. So. Much. Ima shut up now and let the pics do the talking.

They even had a message recorded from a space station. Outer SPACE! For a rock concert! And then the astronaut piped in some lyrics during Beautiful Day. From OUTER SPACE. Did I mention this was just for the rock concert? 

Only U2 man.

An incredible concert, an inspiring message from Bono raising awareness for Amnesty International and the ONE Campaign, and worth every second in that line up to score an unobstructed position on the rail.

And the U2-vegan connection? Well, aside from me sporting my Eat Vegies Not Friends t-shirt at the concert, Bono endorses the book Veganist by Kathy Freston, who is the wife of Tom Freston, Chairman of the Board of the ONE Campaign to Make Poverty History. 

I love this man. 

So much. 

:)

The One Where I Once Again Talk About Forks Over Knives After Seeing It For The Third Time Because I'm Obsessive Like That

I think it's safe to say I'm no longer fanatical over this movie.

After seeing it three times I have officially transitioned to totally batshit crazy.

And here's why...

The first time I saw it I was overwhelmed by the magnitude of the message. I was so compelled by the reasoning of the argument and the strength of the evidence and the simplicity of the solution that I got completely absorbed by the excitement of it all and wanted to share it with the universe.

So I started with those who would still love me in spite of my impassioned enthusiasm for this film...my mom and my sister.

They came along. They saw it. They were sufficiently impressed.

On the ride home my sister decided to go vegan, so long as I was willing to cook for her. Considering she is a quadriplegic and is tube fed and relies on others to prepare her food, I guess this was a reasonable and practical request.

My mom was quick to swear off meat, but wasn't ready to forego fish, eggs, and all dairy (although she claims she won't be buying cow's milk any more), so she was prepared to take a step into the world of pescetarianism. She walked in these shoes for about 12 hours before succumbing to the lure of Polish sausage for breakfast. She said she wanted to use it up. I suggested she give it to the dog. Galahad was thrilled to help Rob the Husband and me purge our freezer of meat when we officially went veg, and I'm sure he will be willing to lend a hand (or a happy tongue) in my mom's efforts too.

We shall see...all in her own time.

The main feeling I came away with after seeing this film for the second time was empowerment. It really came through to me just how much control I have over my health and well being. I control the food that comes into my house. I control the food that goes into my body. I control which industries I support. I cast a vote with each product I choose to buy (hello Food Inc.).

As it turns out, food is a MAJORLY HUGE leading man in the ongoing soap opera that is our health. Food directly affects everything that goes on inside of us. If you have an unstable leading man, he will slowly but surely sabotage the entire production, regardless of his charm and mass appeal.

Let's try it this way: Charlie Sheen is meat.

Lindsay Lohan is dairy.

They certainly had their appeal back in the day, their time to shine, to bask in the adoration of the Western world and beyond... 

Now...

Don't get me wrong. I'm still a Charlie (meat) fan. I still think he's incredibly talented (tasty) and charismatic (mmm...prosciutto). But the consequences of associating with him (high cholesterol, cancer, heart disease, diabetes, digestive issues, etc...) outweigh his charm and appeal (mmmm...Keg filet mignon wrapped in applewood smoked bacon).

But it's not worth it. We should know better.

We SHOULD. But many of us don't. Why? Because our government subsidized meat and dairy industries have been ramming dangerously misleading information down our throats all our lives. Of course it will be difficult to challenge a way of thinking that is ingrained in us.

This is why after seeing Forks Over Knives for the third time last night (with Rob the Husband and my long-time-pescetarian-but-recently-gone-vegan friend Maggie), I felt kinda angry.

I am angry about all the lies about our health and well-being that we are expected to absorb as truth.

I am angry over a system that teaches children that you need to eat and exploit animals to obtain optimum health when modern evidence seems to state the exact opposite. 

I am angry that Susan Sarandon is encouraging us to drink cow's milk so we don't get osteoporosis, when the countries with the highest dairy consumption also have the highest rates of osteoporosis. Really Susan Sarandon? Really?

The truth is delicious? The truth is soooo far removed from this ad I want to take her stupid skateboard and break something with it. 

Got milk?

Got bullshit.

Bill Maher appears briefly in FOK and makes a good point....there's no money in healthy people and there's no money in dead people, so you gotta keep them in between. Yup, our Western diet is doing a superduper job of that, no foolin'.

Information, and our access to it, is so very very important. We grow and evolve as intelligent beings through our perpetual quest for information. We are reasonable (or so we like to think), and reason and history should tell us that new information will come along to challenge what we think we know. And when it does we need to open our minds, analyze what we learn, and make choices accordingly.

It does ultimately all come down to choice. But people can't make choices if they are not open to informing themselves.

Last night two different couples left the theatre during the movie...one couple about a quarter of the way through and the other about halfway through the film. I'm a frequent movie-goer, and I don't normally see people walk out of movies (except for Magnolia back in 1999...holy Frank TJ Mackey that movie was long...people were leaving in droves before the end). Now, I don't know why these two couples left Forks Over Knives...maybe the babysitter needed to go home early, maybe they developed a spontaneous case of explosive diarrhea, maybe they wanted to get a head start getting in the GA line for U2 in Seattle this weekend.

Or maybe they didn't like what they were seeing.

Maybe they didn't want to know.

Maybe they didn't want to think about the evidence linking meat and dairy to cancer, heart disease and diabetes when eating their next burger and milkshake, so they figured they would get out before it hit home too hard.

But I totally get that it could have been the explosive diarrhea.

It all comes down to choice. Choices made based on knowledge. We're free to make choices that we are comfortable with, but we can't close ourselves off to the knowledge.

We had a speaker come to our school this year to talk to all of our students about sex. She had spent years counseling young people who found themselves dealing with the consequences of decisions they made when it came to sex. The vast majority of these young people had never made the effort to inform themselves about these consequences, and were completely in the dark when it came to what they THOUGHT they knew about sex.

Not a huge surprise, I guess, that teenagers make decisions about sex without getting all the facts first. But the really tragic thing for this speaker, was having to give them life-altering test results and then hear them say, over and over again, "I didn't know."

It really sucks having to say, "I didn't know." Especially when it comes to matters of our health. We have more access to information now than we've ever had before, and we need to take advantage of it. We can spend hours and hours researching a vacation destination or analyzing a hockey game, but it means nothing if we don't have our health. "I didn't know" can't cut it any more.

My very Polish, meat and dairy and egg loving mother opened herself up to the info. She's willing to make some changes based on what she learned. She feels empowered to take back some control over improving her health. But she's not comfortable committing to a plant-based diet. Yet.

That's cool. That's her choice. I'm just happy she opened her mind to a film that totally challenged 60 years of what she thought she knew about nutrition, and didn't dismiss it just because it threatened her beloved steak. She can never again say that she didn't know.

**One thing I've noticed since embarking on my Kind journey...holy crap are people ever defensive when it comes to their meat. And cheese.**

This is how society evolves...through our constant quest for information. Ignorance can indeed be bliss, but knowledge is power. This movie will empower you. The choice is always yours to make.

See Forks Over Knives. Open your mind. Challenge your preconceptions.

And then make your choice. Whether you go Plant-Strong, don't change a thing, or fall somewhere in between.

Just don't ever allow yourself to say, "I didn't know."



Here's one thing I do know... THE CANUCKS ARE AWESOME!!! ESPECIALLY WHEN THEY SCORE IN GAME 1 OF THE STANLEY CUP FINALS WITH 19 SECONDS TO GO HELLS YES!!!!!!!!!!!!



Edited June 2, 2011 to add...


I've been surfing around reading arguments against the claims of the movie, calling the science and results into question. These tend to be followed by some intelligent (and some not so intelligent) debate from both sides. I'm trying to take my own advice and keep an open mind in spite of my admitted batshit crazyness, and not close myself off to information in spite of my very obvious biases here. Unfortunately, a lot of the seemingly really good stuff (both the arguments supporting and refuting the harmful effects of eating animal products) is way too technical for a mere mortal to wrap her head around without getting some serious education in statistical analysis or biochemistry or epidemiology. 


Is there one perfect diet? I don't know...it seems that no matter what you put out there, someone will always come along and claim otherwise. 


I love FOK because it presents its info in a very accessible way, from sources that are experts in their respective fields. I get it. I trust it. It makes sense to me. 


That being said, if there are legitimate arguments against the claims of FOK, I'd love for them to be presented in an equally accessible way, from sources that are also experts in their respective fields, in an effort to, as the movie encourages, continue the discussion. 


Because, let's face it, ethical arguments aside (which, btw, are enough for me anyway...the health stuff was just the agave glaze on the cherry on the coconut milk based sundae, but not one of those nasty maraschino cherries that will survive the apocalypse), when it comes to our health, we are in crisis. And we should be working together to find a solution. 


Kum ba yah and all that stuff.