Yemeni Shitake

Garlic

I forgot, here is a picture I took Saturday of my garlic.  I love how crazy it looks, like a pack of birds.  I dig it up and use it all summer.  It is small and different to peel but seems to work the same.  Garlic is super easy to grow.  I just bury some cloves in the fall and you will have new heads late next summer.  As soon as the tops dry up I dig them up and let them dry in the shade, then keep them in a basket under my sink, where they were still fine when I finished them in February.  After the first year, I pretty much rely on the ones I miss harvesting for next year’s crop.

It looks like my camera clock is off again.

For lunch today I microwaved some tofu and broccoli (separately) and tossed it in leftover Peanut Sauce.  That and the last of the strawberries made a good lunch.  Had cherries and almonds as a snack.

Yemeni Zuke & Shroom, Zukes, Tofu, Rice, Lentil Chili

For dinner I defrosted what I think was Lentil Chili.  One taste reminded me it would be too hot for the kids, so I microwaved some tofu for them.  We also had leftover brown rice and microwaved zucchini.  I decided to spruce up my serving of zucchini, so I sauteed it in oil with shitake mushroom, salt, and some Yemeni spice my neighbor gave me – her mother-in-law sends it from Israel.  I’ll have to ask her again what it was called.  The spice reminded me a bit of Garam Masala, but like I remember it from college days, not like the stuff I just bought recently, which was cinnamony.   The mushroom especially was awesome in this.  I can still feel the Chili burning a hole in my stomach.

We had Banana Bread for afters.

Torn

Here is my pick for this week’s Zen Speaks comic, “Torn”:

“There once was a nun named Eshun who was very beautiful, and one day during lecture a young monk secretly fell in love with her.  He wrote her a love letter in which he said that he wanted to meet with her in private.  The next day, as soon as the master ended his lecture, Eshun stood up and said to the monk who wrote the letter, ‘If you really love me, then come up here right now and embrace me.’”

The narrator continues, “If your mind is torn by two conflicting desires, the contradiction will destroy your mind’s unity and tranquility.  Just remember, when you should grab something, grab it.  When you should let it go, let it go.”

I drive down the road and I know that I should obey the speed limit, but the speed limit is ridiculous.  My desire to be a good citizen and follow the laws that We the People enact, and my desire to go a more reasonable (faster) speed, cause me conflict, and not only inside my mind.  My kids sit behind me, looking from the speedometer to the speed limit sign, and somehow I have to  explain myself.  The justifications take quite a bit of talking.

When I was considering going vegan, I agonized over the decision.  I was torn between the food I wanted to eat and the suffering I knew it was causing.  I twisted and turned, I rationalized, I whined.  “I don’t eat that much,” “It won’t make any difference,” “I buy ‘humane’ products and how can I be blamed if they aren’t?” and all the rest.  But the answer always returned, the answer I didn’t want to hear, squashing my excuses.  Finally I realized that this epic battle going on inside of me was between unfathomable, obscene suffering and… restaurant cake.   And I laughed out loud at myself.

A short time after becoming vegan, I realized how much that disconnect had broken my spirit.  I only became aware of it when it healed.  For the first time in my life, I could fully embrace my compassion.  I didn’t reign it in, or shackle it with rationalizations.  I didn’t wall it off like in an Edgar Allen Poe story.   I didn’t allow people to make me feel ridiculous for loving Bambi and Wilbur.  I was free.

I know that even friendly people look on my food and my lifestyle with pity.  They feel that I am restricted by self-imposed rules about what I can’t eat, that I am cut off from many foods which form the basis of their own diets.  From the inside, being vegan is not about restriction, it is about freedom of spirit, and the wholeness of a mind that was once Torn.

Now I can look at you in peace; I don’t eat you any more. – Franz Kafka

Food I Threw Away Today:

I hate to throw food away, but with summer here and school out, we are about to be away from home a lot, and it was time to say goodbye to some stinkers.

A hearty farewell to the chili I made about 9 months ago.  Due to no fault of my own, it was not good.  It has been back and forth between the freezer and the fridge several times, and this last time I swore it would not go back to the freezer.  So today I tasted it to see what was wrong with it.  Probably the biggest problem is that it was 80% crushed tomatoes.  So I put it in a colander and washed that away.  I’ve never washed chili before.  The remaining corn and beans tasted kind of like lemon.  So I covered that up with some cilantro and cumin, put it in a skillet and served them as burritos.  The remainders went in the compost.

The Chili Mole sauce I made a week ago.  Not good.  I had some more on my burrito and was strengthened in my resolve to wash it down the drain.

A quarter block of tempeh leftover from sushi-making.  I don’t eat things with fur, and old tempeh is no exception.  Gonzo.

I had to throw away a good portion of the few strawberries in the fridge.  We picked them last Tuesday and I froze most of them, but half a quart remained.

Cherries don’t last long.  We are eating them as fast as we can, but have to pitch some, too.

It’s fruit season, and sometimes it’s hard to keep up: half a peach didn’t make it.

One piece of French Toast with tears on it.  See below.

Ridiculous things I have not quite resolved to throw away, and may perhaps pack up and transport 100 miles:  2 Tablespoons of gravy – hey, soup base!  1/2 c of peanut dressing – it’s probably still good.  That tomato basil dressing I forgot about until just this minute – it must be in there somewhere.

I play short-order cook for my kids for breakfast and lunch, so I might as well tell you what they had.  One had mini whole wheat bagel and soy cream cheese, then started on her leftover restaurant french toast, but the tears slid silently down her face when she saw me eating a peach.  That was what she really wanted.  I was happy to compost her egg and dairy french toast and give her a peach.  For lunch she had fresh strawberries with soy yogurt and another peach.  She and I had about a billion cherries for a snack.  Think she likes fruit?

My other child had toast with margarine for breakfast and calcium-enriched OJ and bagel with margarine for lunch.  He pestered me for pretzels but I said he had to have fruit or veggie first.  Think he likes bread?  He reluctantly chose apple with peanut butter, and then moved on to pretzels.  It is a struggle to get him to choose vegetables away from the dinner table, and fruit? – pretty much forget it.  He used to love fruit when he was a baby.    One time when he was about a year old, he ate an unusually large number of blueberries, which I had cut in half for him.  The next day he refused them, and has not eaten one (or any other berry) since.  So for the past few years he has celery and peanut butter for lunch almost every day, and that is the best I can do.  Thankfully they both eat the veggies I serve at dinner, as long as they’re plain.

For lunch I had a burrito with the last of the refried beans, some rice, some shitake mushrooms, and the loathed chili mole sauce.  That and a peach, eaten dripping over the sink, and veggie juice.

Rice, Beet Greens, Chili?, Corn Cake

Dinner was the refurbished chili, brown rice, and the despised chili mole sauce or salsa in a tortilla, Corn Cake without corn kernels because I didn’t want to generate more leftovers by opening a can, and steamed beet greens.

Whole Wheat Banana Bread

In order not to throw away 3 bananas, I helped my daughter make Banana Bread.

If you made it this far, you are indeed a dedicated blog reader.

Sunday

Well, I didn’t screw up any meals today because I didn’t cook any.  I managed to toast my Raisin Bread without burning it.  I pieced on cherries, peanuts, and a peach for lunch.  I successfully microwaved oatmeal for my son.

Dinner was Panera Bread.  I got half a Mediterranean Veggie sandwich, a cup of black bean soup, and baked chips.  And beer.  Wonderful.

Ice Cream

For dessert I had So Delicious Mint Marble Fudge.  This is the same company that makes Purely Decadent.  This mint was not spearmint, like I expected, but peppermint.  It had a good texture and flavor, though I think I prefer their premium line.

Uninspiring

My life is not all glamor and gourmet dining.  We’re at my parents’ cottage.  Due to lack of careful packing, lunch today was peanuts and freshly picked cherries.  The cookbooks here are not helpful for me, so I brought along three cookbooks I seldom use at home, to leave here and cook from for the summer.  So today I’m posting two recipes similar to previous ones.

Dinner was Burned Focaccia, Whole Wheat Spaghetti with Over-Salted Fresh Tomato Coulis, and Over-Steamed Zucchini and Green Beans.

Dessert was Cold Burned Hot Fudge Pudding Cake.  At least the wine was good, Marechal Foch straight from wine country.

I have just enough pride that I did not take any pictures.

Mexican Pizza

Ice Cream

I forgot to mention that with Wednesday’s cake we had Purely Decadent Mint Chip ice cream, and it was REALLY good.  Some of their flavors, such as vanilla, have a strong coconutty taste, but this did not seem to.  Most brands of vegan ice cream I could take or leave, but I have liked everything I’ve tried from this brand.

I made pizza for dinner using yet another dough recipe.  It came out very thin, but I liked it with the toppings I chose.  I am trying to clean out my fridge a bit, so after last week’s Sushi Pizza, I went with a Mexican theme this time.  I used some canned tomatoes I had open, some of that Chili Mole sauce I made, some globs of refried beans, zucchini, jalapenos, and shitake mushrooms.  Olives would have been good too.  I especially liked the refried beans.

Happy Birthday, Dad

I think I figured out what is strange about those Thomas’ 100% Whole Wheat bagels.  They have the texture of white bread.  They have the whole wheat grainy flavor, but they sort of squish in my mouth, instead of having “tooth,” and are kind of melty and gummy.

Lunch was the last of the Lentil Soup, leftover Corn Sticks, a banana and veggie juice.

My parents came for dinner and I made Shepherd’s Pie, Biscuits, gravy, and fresh microwaved green beans.  I couldn’t find the Shepherd’s Pie recipe, even after I looked it up here and discovered what cookbook it was from.  I could not find it under anything you would expect in the index: Shepherd, Potato, Pie.  I eventually flipped through the book and found that it was named “Savoury Shepherd’s Pie” and looked up “Savoury,” but still no.  Determined, I found it listed in the index under “Entrees, Rice.”  ???  I notice I have penciled in several entries into the index of that book.

I added 1/2 t sage to the biscuits but I couldn’t taste it.  I was busy today so no homemade gravy; I bought a packet of Hain’s Vegetarian Brown Gravy.  It seems to be a pretty good product: fat free, all natural, vegan, ingredients are recognizably food.  No sugar, but sodium is of course up there: 420 mg for 1/4 c.  Also it’s extremely easy to make.  Whisk it into 1 c water and microwave 2 min – you’re done!  Very tasty too.  I think anyone would like this.  Next to it on the shelf was Simply Organic, but it was based on beef broth, so no.  Also at the store I got no-salt-added canned corn.  It is not difficult to find canned corn without sugar or salt added – I just had to look.  The sugar was still 4 g, from the corn itself.

Special Chocolate Cake

It is my Dad’s birthday tomorrow, but we planned to celebrate today.  I asked him what he wanted for dessert and he requested chocolate cake with chocolate frosting.  This is the Special Chocolate Cake I save for birthdays.  The frosting came out good, but I don’t have an actual recipe to give you.  For years I made my Mom’s recipe:

• 6 T margarine
• 1/2 c cocoa powder
• 2-2/3 c powdered sugar
• 1/4 c milk, more as needed
• 1 t vanilla extract

You just beat this, adjusting milk for the consistency you want.  This will cover two layers.  Delicious, but never really worked as a vanilla frosting.

Then I had some of my friend’s Vanilla Frosting and it was better than mine.  I think it may have been the technique, of really whipping the first two ingredients a while.  I think that might only work because there is so much fat in it.  I tried to make the vanilla frosting into chocolate by adding 1/2 c cocoa, but it tasted greasy.  I decided it needed less margarine, so I added more of everything else, especially sugar.  But I didn’t keep track of how much I added; it was just “to taste.”  I think next time I will make my Mom’s chocolate frosting, but will try putting in the first two ingredients and half the sugar and letting it whip up before adding the rest.  When I work it out I’ll post it.  [Just do it like Mom did - here's the page.]

I’ll have plenty of chances to practice – it’s birthday season, with a birthday every month until November, and everybody picks this cake.

Not Dog Roast

Breakfast was a Thomas’ 100% Whole Wheat mini bagel with soy cream cheese, and grapefruit juice.  After eating my homemade bagels, these taste kind of fake.  But in a decadent way.  I got a bunch of them free for spending $100 over time at the local bakery outlet, where I get 100% whole wheat sandwich bread and 100% whole wheat Thomas’ Muffins for my family.  As usual, my choice was between raisin bagels or whole wheat bagels, as if no one would ever want the combination.  If I want whole wheat bagels in any flavor besides plain, I have to make them myself.  I have also been unable to find vegan raisin bread commercially, though again, it’s all white bread so I’m not that interested anyway.  I just make my own by machine or hand.

My child’s school Hot Dog Roast was today.  Sigh.  In the past I have cooked up veggie dogs at home and rushed them to school so that we could eat the same thing as everybody else, only kinder.  At this point, I couldn’t care less about “fitting in.”  My daughter wanted to buy a lunch, which is a once- or twice-a-year treat, so she ordered a PBJ on whole wheat, which they had to search high and low for but did eventually find.  Because the USDA feels PBJ is so inadequate nutritionally (as opposed to, say, mozzarella sticks and tater tots – I’m serious, that is a school lunch) they make the kids take a sandwich and a half.  Now what first grader can eat three halves of a PBJ?  I can’t imagine my daughter eating more than one.  With this was served a container of Peach Fruit Cup.  My daughter loves fresh or canned peaches – she will pick them as a dessert.  This fruit cup was so disgusting she took one bite and was done.  They pureed the peaches and added sugar.  Why??  Also making up this USDA-approved lunch was a cookie, a bag of chips, and a small carton of lemonade that had 28g of sugar.  I understand that there are 4 grams of sugar in 1 tsp, so they put 7 tsp of sugar, over 1/8 cup,  in this tiny carton.

Sushi and Nutty Noodles

This is what I brought: leftover Spicy Tempeh Sushi with soy sauce to dip, and Nutty Noodles.  No recipe for this, I just cooked the Japanese noodles like I did yesterday, microwaved some tofu and some broccoli, and tossed it in Peanut Sauce.  I was going to make the same peanut sauce I did before, but I couldn’t find it without turning on the computer and looking up my blog, so I just picked the first one I found.  It was good but was not spicy – what’s up with that? – so I added chili oil.  It was good!  I also brought some of the iced tea I made yesterday.  So, yes, I sat there with my chopsticks eating sushi and nutty noodles while everybody ate their hot dogs and drank their sugar.  I was not jealous.

Oh, I should mention, I do like sweetener in my tea.  I usually put in a teaspoon for a pot, but to save my teeth, since I often drink that pot all afternoon, I’ve been using Splenda.  I just switched over to some stevia packets I had lying around, and I really like them.  I had stopped using them because they gave an odd flavor to things, but I think they’re OK if you don’t use too much.  I feel a lot better about using stevia since no party-pooper has told me it causes brain damage or destroys the universe… yet.

Had a snack of a few whole-wheat pita chips mid-afternoon.  This was a treat – I don’t usually buy this kind of thing, but it was leftover from the Chex Mix the kids wanted to make.

Burrito Stuff

Dinner was do-it-yourself burritos.  I opened up a can of fat-free refried beans, and a can of corn.  I glanced at the corn label for the first time and noticed that they add sugar and salt to the corn.  Now why do they have to do that?  In 1/2 c there were 4 g of sugar, which might have come partly from the corn, or at least I hope so.  It was labeled Golden Sweet, which takes on a new, less-satisfying meaning if it’s only sweet from added sugar.  Also 310 mg sodium.  I thought the refried beans were kind of bland.  I used to cook with these a lot, but mostly buried under cheese, and I am used to more flavorful food now, I guess.  Also to go in the burrito was brown rice and a Chili Mole Sauce, which wasn’t great enough to post here.  And on the side was Corn Sticks and steamed Swiss chard.

My daughter and I went strawberry picking after dinner and picked 7 qts of no-pesticide strawberries for $10.

The Gates of Heaven

Another comic from Zen Speaks:

There was once a general who asked the zen master Hakuin, “Are there really such things as heaven and hell?”

“What do you do for a living?”

“I’m a general.”

“Ha, ha, ha!  What idiot asked you to be his general?  You look more like a butcher to me.”

“What?!  I’ll cut you to pieces!”  And the general raises his sword to strike, enraged.

“Here lies the gates of hell!” shouts Hakuin.

The general bows penitently.  “Excuse me… Please forgive my insolence.”

“Here lie the gates of heaven.”

The narrator pipes up, “Heaven and hell aren’t places that suddenly appear after death.  They exist here and now.  Good and evil involve just a single instant of thought, and the gates of heaven and hell are ready to open for you at any time.”

Sartre said, “Hell is other people.”  I think hell is ourselves.  We make our own heaven and hell on earth, mostly for ourselves, but also for anything under our power.

This makes me think of a line from Dickens’ A Christmas Carol.  Ebeneezer Scrooge, a very hard employer himself, was moved by the kindness his boss had showed him: “He had the power to make us happy or unhappy, to make our work a pleasure or a burden.”

We all have that power every day.  We can make our own lives, the lives of those we meet, and the lives of those who are or are not on our plates, a heaven or a hell.  It is completely up to us.

Asian Noodles

Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins

This morning’s breakfast was two Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins with grapefruit juice.

Lunch was Lentil Soup and vegetable juice.

Southeast Asian Greens and Noodles, Broccoli

For dinner I decided to make Southeast Asian Greens and Noodles.   I decided to add tofu to it.  It was pretty good, and my son really like it.  With it I served microwaved broccoli.

Tomato-Basil Salad Dressing

I have found that since cutting back on dessert, I am hungrier in the afternoon.  I decided to have some raw broccoli, and I made Tomato-Basil Salad Dressing to dip.  This would have made a very good and super easy dressing, but was a bit too watery to be practical as a raw veggie dip.  You would think I would know that.  I had it on my dinner broccoli too, in place of balsamic vinegar.

Spicy Tempeh Sushi

Also while making dinner I whipped up some more sushi, Spicy Tempeh again.  I think I am getting hooked.  It’s not hard and makes a really great snack.  Being me, though, I looked in vain for brown sushi rice at the natural food store today.  I was able to get the right number of sushi rolls from the given amount of rice this time, but they were quite small, smaller than the picture here, which I have clearly lazily copied from the first time I made it.

With dinner we had tea from my new Bodum Ceylon iced tea pitcher, a tag-sale special.  This was my first pitcher of decent tasting tea since I had been following their directions and used WAY too much tea before.  2 T, not 7!