Vegan Lunchbox

What a great book. Whether you are vegan, or going in that direction, or a total carnivore, this book is a great one to have on hand. Great recipes, good ideas, all sorts of good.

I personally recommend the Quick Peanut Sauce and the Black Rice Pudding.

One thing that I didn't like about the book. There was a lot of fake foods. For me, healthy eating isn't cutting out meat and dairy to add in soy meat, soy milk, and soy dairy. Those foods are just as processed as Kraft Dinner... and often just as bad for you. She doesn't put them in every meal. There were many recipes that I couldn't wait to try. And of course, these foods were included to make the child's meal more 'normal'. I totally understand the motivation. I, of course, don't send my children to school at all... so it is easy for me to say that it shouldn't matter while the children in my 'lunch room' all eat the exact same stuff and don't have to worry about fitting in at school. But the fact remains, I would rather find a humane way of eating chicken nuggets than getting nugget type foods made from soy products.

My favorite section was in the front where they had she put down several menus for all different types of lunch packers. That was brilliant. There is a bit for those of us who pack lunches the night before, a section for those of us who are early risers, and a section of quick and easy for those of us who like to have things on hand and don't think about it till morning. Great idea! I think more cookbooks should learn from her organizational ways.

I can't wait to try her Savory Autumn Leaf Pies. They sounds so good...

Inspiration

For the next 54 days, I am going to follow Michael Pollans philosophy of food.

Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants.

I am doing this because I am inspired. Inspired by this woman's blog:

Unhappy Meals

She has a wonderful idea... but a limited palette. Hopefully we can banter back and forth good ideas and recipes that both of our great grandmothers would recognise. ;)

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Today so far, I have had a Delicata Squash, cooked in it's skin with the seeds in, in some salt and topped with brown sugar. Baked at 400* last night for 45minutes. The skin is eaten, the seeds are not.

Oh and I scored a tomtato out of my garden basket of saucing tomatoes.

Market Work

Working the market has been interesting. People in Seattle are dedicated enough to eating organic that they just don’t think about the price… but wow. Our stuff is SPENDY. $2.50/lb for potatoes (damned good potatoes which are COMPLETELY worth it, but until you spend the money to try them, who would know?) $1.50/lb for the biggest cauliflower you have ever seen (and they are pretty and delicious too) but that means spending $6 for a cauliflower that is three times bigger than you really wanted, and then of course, $4/lb for the best green beans and peas you have ever tasted. What it means to be beyond organic is pretty amazing. The industrial organics can sell the ¼ of their stock (which are probably the ones that don’t quite fit into the mainstream idea of what the veggie is supposed to look like….) And they sell them to soup companies that want to claim ‘organic’ and still have plenty for every single whole sale order they have. We don’t have that luxury. We have to sell the 5lbers, right along with the 2lbers that we know everyone will buy.

Anyway… it has been interesting.

Yesterday I came home with a big box of food from the farm. I had one huge cauliflower, a 2lb bag of green sugar snap peas, 5 cukes, two bunches leeks, 5 onions, 4lbs potatoes, a bunch of carrots, a bunch of red chard, two tiny romenesca, two bunches cilantro, one bunch dill, one bunch mint, and a half lb wild Chantalle mushrooms. At the end of the day, the guy next door to us at the market traded for two half pints of fresh local ice cream, (one of which will be gracing my kids bellies after lunch), another neighbor traded for some bone broth for me and some fresh cows cream cheese which Hannah took home. And yet another neighbor traded for pastries for a snack. And on top of all of that, I got sent home with an entire case of sunflowers that we had left over, and wouldn't last until the Tuesday Market, which Cyan graced all of our neighbors with bouquets before we ate dinner.

This is an abnormal weekend. I normally get about half this much... but even so... I got paid on top of that (considering the time I spend and how long it takes to get there, my wages work out to under $7 an hour), but when you count all of the trades/veggies from the farm on top of it, well, it is a really good deal. I feel strange when people complain about jobs like this. I feel as though I have a special advantage as I can get as much as I want for my family for a week… and I guess when you are a single gal, the appeal of a weeks worth of veggies isn’t that high because you don’t need near as many of them. The veggies and trades I got were worth quite a bit more than I got paid in cash. I work my menu for the week around what we have at the market. This means that we have had potato-leek soup twice in the last two weeks and I am going to make it again this week. It means that I have peas the entire season, and by now, my kids are sick of them and I am forced to freeze whatever we are bringing home. But it also means that nothing has ever sat anywhere (no truck, fridge, box or shelf) for more than a day. I don't know... maybe I am weird... but that just has to be good for you.

Local Living can be easy

It isn't always. But in September, local living is easy. Farmers markets are packed to the brim with ways to get everything you need, from fish, veggies and fruits for dinner, to toys for Christmas, and flowers for your dining room table, along with other necessities like soap and fresh baked bread. The amount of local bounty I see go past my stand every Sunday just amazes me! I got a lot of my things local before. But I had no idea how much was out there, processed or grown within 200 miles of my house is everything I need from home baked pies to fresh peanuts from just over the mountains.

The omelet above? Eggs from my chickens (of course) with Pico De Gallo made from tomatoes from my garden, onions, garlic, and cilantro from the farm, and a token jalapeno pepper from the neighbors farm stand at the market.

The above is not 100% local. The organic, single ingredient pasta that I have come to depend on for my husbands dietary 'needs' comes from Italy... and the balsamic vinaigrette came from California, but the rest? The goat cheese, the tomatoes (my gardens only real produce this year), and the beautiful golden beets from the farm are all amazingly from within 40 miles of my house.

Sweet and Tangy Pasta Salad

1/4 lb golden beets (red beets will do, but I don't like the way they stain everything pink)

1 lb tomatoes (plum or cherry work best)

2/3 cup balsamic vinaigrette dressing (I use Paul Newman's)

4 oz soft goat cheese

1 lb rotini pasta (WW would work well here)

Directions:

Cook pasta until al dente. Drain and douse with cold water reduce sticking.

Steam beets until fork tender. Slice tomatoes into bite sizes.

Add in the cheese and dressing, saving veggies for last. Toss with veggies (feel free to add others too! Baby spinach would be good tossed in, as would a host of other greens).

Eat cold.

Serves 4

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A surprise in the garden! You remember that volunteer pumpkin that I was ranting about a few months ago? Well, it looks like we may actually get two jack-o-lantern pumpkins out of it!

Gardening is always a journey.

In Defence of Food by Micheal Pollan

I am becoming a die hard Michael Pollan fan. He is a wonderful writer (as most journalists are), but the information he gives answers SO many questions!

In the book "In Defense of Food" he attaches on to something he only touched on in "The Omnivore's Dilemma"... What to actually eat.

Oh yes, you can look at a food pyramid or an FDA guideline, based on sketchy facts, and supported by the industrial food industry. But when you know enough not to trust that 100%... where do you look to know what to eat?

This is the question he tackles. The rules he gives are not based on scientific evidence, but by the thousands of years that people have survived without the current eating disorders of the 'Western Diet' and the diseases that go along with it.

The 'rules' are fairly simple, once you understand what is meant by them:

"Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants."

By "eat food", he means 'eat food that your great-great-grandmother would recognise'. There are not many industrial food products that would pass that test. Oatmeal? Corn meal? Yes. High fructose corn syrup? Go-gurt? Not so much.

"Not too much" is pretty self explanatory.

"Mostly plants" is the rule that is backed up by literally hundreds of years of meat being a side dish, or condiment instead of the main course and how our health has deteriorated from meat pushing the veggies right off our plates. This part also talks about the way our food chain has moved from 'leaves to seeds' and how this has effected every bit of that food chain, from the health of our meat cattle, to the health of our hearts.

Notice how he didn't go into vitamins, or 'nutrients' in his rules? In fact, in the book, he goes into those scientific specifics in great detail.... but not to the expense of the rules. You don't need to know how much more vitamin C is in your gardens romaine lettuce than the lettuce shipped from a thousand miles away to benefit from eating it. Taking food rules out of mom's kitchen and into the laboratory did more harm than good.

All in all, it is a light, if a bit scientific, read that has answered all sorts of questions I had about our culture and what the years of scientific nutrition study have done to our food habits. And, as with most of his books, In Defense of Food brings to the forefront a need to think about food differently. Bringing it from a place for overindulgence and nutrient specifics, to a cultural artery, so to speak.... to a place where eating is a relationship that will last a healthy lifetime.

Chili Rellenos

Recipe

Tutorage

One of the guys from the farmers market gave me a bunch of Anaheim Peppers on Sunday. My plan was to make taco salad tonight out of the lettuce, cilantro, and organic beef from the farm and then tomatoes from my own garden. I thought the Rellenos would make a wonderful addition to my local, but completely delicious meal with my chickens egg and cheeses from Oregon.

My process:

Broiling.

Charred pepper ready to peel.

While I was peeling the peppers, I whipped the egg whites.

Peeled peppers.

Egg yolks, whipped.

Sliced and deseeded peppers.

Stuffing with cheese.

And a token bad pic of me, but I look happy. So I will leave it in the line.

I used a toothpick to keep the peppers together after stuffing.

Floured and ready to be battered.

Mixed fluffy egg whites and beaten egg yolks.

Dipped in the batter and placed in a 1/4 inch of olive oil (I know that olive oil isn't really authentic, but it was in lieu of lard or canola oil).

Results:

Oh, and it was really really good.

The big food budget debate

Once again, our budget was overrun by the food budget. We spend WAY too much on food. It is insane considering that we get half our food for free and I make enough that we really honestly shouldn't EVER be eating on Don's paycheck at all. But yet, we did. YIKES!

So in comes the budgeting, and the recipe filing, and the planning with ways to save in that area.

I have gotten some really wonderful ideas from these two ladies.

Delicious Wisdom

This is a whole foods website that does about 4 recipes a week. Each and every one is whole foods. Many are dairy free and vegan as well. She does a great job posting the shopping list for the following week at the start so you don't have to wonder whether or not you have enough Agave Nectar to make all four recipes this week. Many recipes are "out there", but I find myself very compelled to try them out. It is a wonderful format and I can't wait to search through her recipes and find new favorites, which I am sure to with beauties like Walnut Banana Muffins.

Life Ventures

This lady is very special in my life. Not only is she constant inspiration for me in many ways, but she also happens to be my best friend. :) She and our other dear friend Heather came up with this amazing binder idea for food recipes. I think it is brilliant! I haven't yet tried to figure out how to do this on a local diet, but it is worth a try as it would make meal planning SO much easier!

I also just got the book "In Defense of Food" by Micheal Pollan (the author of "The Omnivore's Dilemma") from the library and I can't wait to dig in and get back into food on the intellectual level as well. The first line makes a great start for a good conversation:

"Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants."

Yep.

Pasta with bell peppers, bacon, and kale

1 pkg bacon

1 cup heavy cream

4 tomatoes

4 cloves garlic

1 bunch kale

1 red bell pepper

1 cup grated Parmesan

2 red onions

2 pkg linguine

In a very large saute pan cook the bacon (chopped before into small peices) until crispy.

Reserve 3 Tbs of the bacon fat to saute the kale and onion in and put the bacon aside.

Slice the onion in very thin slivers, and add the garlic cloves sliced thin. Place in the same saute pan as the bacon was cooked in. Saute in a bit of the bacon fat (it is best if uncured ham is used) until clear. Toss kale in and if things start to stick to the bottom of the pan, add a bit of the pasta water. Toss the bacon back into the saute pan and add the pepper (also sliced thin).

Once everything is crisp-soft, add the heavy cream, tomatoes (chopped small), and parmesean and mix well. Toss with the linguine and add salt and pepper to taste.

This would be a great dish to substitute the fresh tomatoes with sundried tomatoes.

It was so very good... It would easily serve 8 as a main dish with these proportions, but for us, we ate it tonight and I will keep it for lunches later this week for Don at work. Lucky bugger. ;)

Lemon Tahini Dressing

My favorite local eatery, which also has a fair trade market attached to it, has this amazing salad. They serve it heaped with brown rice, on top of a bed of romaine lettuce and then tomato slices and cucumber to top it all off, and usually next to this amazing panini sandwich made with roast tomatoes and tons of provalone cheese! Yum!! The dressing they use, they gave me the recipe for years ago... but to make a gallon. lol... so I rarely bother figure it out. And because I make so much at one time, I never have written it down in smaller quantities.

I have been reading about food again. Seriously, it is beginning to be a real, full-on, life long, obsession. I have also been following my diet very closely, and documenting what is working for me and what is not with the nips and twitches that my picky body puts out. The book I am currently in is Sally Falon's Nourishing Traditions. Amazing book. Brings to life everything I have ever believed about food. Partially I love it because it backs up much of my instinct and knowledge, and partly I love it because the recipes are GOOD! And all real food, made with real fat, real ingredients, and really 'from scratch'. Many are even easy. She doesn't shun things like food processors, or crock pots, she just uses them as our ancestors would have... to make 'real' food. I found a recipe in it for a half quart of Tahini Salad Dressing, that reminds me so of the dressing from that eatery I love so much I am nearly sure that is where they got the idea. Theirs has more salt, and a bit more lemon juice and celery than she calls for... but adjusting for taste, it is the same thing. So here it is... This yummy dressing is great over cucumbers right out of the garden for those of you a few months ahead of us (my cuke plants are 2 inches tall) or even as a dip for cuke slices. It is also great as a dressing inside a wrap loaded with yummy veggies and perhaps some light cheese as well. Use your imagination... it could go with anything crisp and satisfying these dog days of summer.

Lemon Tahini Dressing

1 small onion

1 stalk celery

2 T soy sauce

fresh juice of 2 lemons

1/2 c Tahini

4 T olive oil

1/8 cup water

Chop onion and celery coarsely, and put in a food processor or blender until finely chopped. Add remaining ingredients and process until well blended. Thin with a little water to achieve desired consistency.

Oh, and I still adore my bowls. I love getting them out of the cupboard and using them, I love planning things to put in the serving bowl. All of it. I know, I am a dork, but I really really love them. :)

Books to look into

I have a few book recommendations:

Emergency Food Storage and Survival Handbook by Peggy Dianne Layton

Encyclopedia for Country Living by the late Carla Emery

The Complete Tightwad Gazette by Amy Dycyzen. (Her last name sounds like 'decision')

These are three books that will really spell it out for you in very easy terms how to live as frugally as possible. Which is usually the best for the planet as well. :)