Tuesday, October 25, 2011

Puppies and Glam Chowder make me happy

Look who we adopted into our busy family from Eleventh Hour Rescue! 


Introducing the amazing five month old (we think) lab/terrier mix brothers: Owen and Ted!


Ted's name was going to be "Yaz" after Carl Yastrzemski, Ed's favorite baseball player, but the kids vetoed it, discouraging us from giving our puppy the same name as birth control. I had no idea. So, we opted to name him after Ed's other favorite baseball player, Ted Williams. Turns out that he looks more like a Ted than a Yaz anyway! His brother was already named Owen and it fit him so well that we decided to keep it. 

Owen and Ted are the sweetest, cuddliest, cutest puppies I've ever had. I get up extra early in the morning to take care of them, I miss them during the day while I'm at work and I look forward to seeing their wagging tails that help me find my smile again when I get home.

Even though I wanted to spend my evening cuddling with the puppies, I managed to squeeze in some time to indulge in an amazing soup from Isa Chandra Moskowitz's Appetite For Reduction cookbook for dinner tonight.

"Manhattan Glam Chowder" is Isa's vegan nod to Manhattan Clam Chowder and it does not disappoint. Nori provides a subtle ocean flavor while the shiitake mushrooms do a wonderful job replacing the clams and I loved how the yukon potatoes just melted in my mouth. When you're craving a fresh tasting, hearty soup, do yourself a favor and give this recipe a try. It makes just enough to feed four people and the kids enjoyed eating a few pieces of thickly sliced crusty bread with it as well.


My only complaint is that I didn't make enough chowder to have leftovers for lunch tomorrow. I'll probably double the recipe next time I make this and then freeze single servings of it so that I can have a quick bowl any time I want.

One more puppy photo to close out the post because they are so darn cute. This was from the night we fell in love with and rescued the puppies:


My kids are spreading the word: it's cool to rescue!

Saturday, October 8, 2011

Pet adoptions

Quick post about day one of our attempt to find dog and cat companions at a local shelter. We wanted to find a young adult dog that was medium sized to fit our current postage stamp sized backyard, small house floorplan, and busy schedules and a young adult cat that's dog friendly.

It's always tough going to the shelter because we fall in love with animals instantly and want to take them all home with us. Sadly, we didn't bring any new forever friends home today and when we left it felt as if we were leaving our hearts behind. I think Jakob and I even shed a few tears on the car ride home.

While our search was unsuccessful today, we're going back tomorrow, filled with hoped and excitement.

If you have the capacity to take care of a pet, please consider adopting one from an animal shelter. Rescuing animals is truly rewarding. For those of you who live in the Seattle area, the Seattle Humane Society is making it easy by offering free adoptions this weekend!











Thursday, October 6, 2011

My crush on the 30-Day Vegan Challenge + chocolate cake!

My family has fallen in love with Colleen Patrick-Goudreau's The 30-Day Vegan Challenge book. More than just a collection of some of her best recipes, it's a manifesto for vegans, ultimate guide book for the veg-curious and must-have resource for anyone who wants to eat well to feel well and live compassionately.

We love the easy to follow recipes and I enjoy giving the book away to friends and clients. If you know someone who would like to be vegan but says they don't have enough money/time/patience to stick with it or "just can't give up cheese", The 30-Day Vegan Challenge is for you (and them!). It addresses these concerns plus many more in a non-confrontational, encouraging, compassionate manner.

This fantastic book is organized into three primary sections:

"get ready!"
  • Simplifies what being vegan means and what to expect from the book
"get set!"
  • Encourages readers to understand their current state of health, find a support system, and to set clear goals and intentions
"go!"
  • Offers 30 days of support, ideas and information on sustaining a vegan diet. I can't say enough about the valuable information contained in this section. Some of my favorite topics include:
    • Stocking a healthful vegan kitchen
    • Eating healthfully affordably
    • Discovering that there IS life after cheese
    • Putting to rest the great protein myth
    • Strong like Popeye: increasing your iron absorption
    • Skipping the middle fish: getting omega-2s from the source
    • Finding harmony living in a mixed household
    • Keeping it in perspective: intention, not perfection
    • Easy and convenient recipes
It's easy to get overwhelmed by all of the options available in a vegan diet when you first get started. The meal planning guide in this book makes it tremendously easy for you to plan three quick and easy meals a day plus snacks. There are even helpful tips on what to eat at restaurants!

While the information is easily digestible, the recipes are delicious, and very easy to make, with ingredients available at your local grocery store. For example, my 13 year old son was inspired to make Colleen's Chocolate Cake with Chocolate Frosting recipe all by himself while I was catching up on some work after dinner. He did a fantastic job and even cleaned the kitchen afterwards! Unfortunately he had already sliced up the cake and served it to the family before I could take a picture, but trust me on this one, if you need a quick and easy recipe for cake or cupcakes, make this one your no-fail, go-to recipe.

CHOCOLATE CAKE with CHOCOLATE FROSTING
by Colleen Patrick-Goudreau

Chocolate Cake Ingredients:
  • 1-1/2 cups unbleached, all-purpose flour
  • 3/4 cup granulated sugar
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
  • 1-1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 1/3 cup canola oil
  • 1 tablespoon white vinegar
  • 1 cup cold water
Chocolate Cake Directions:
  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly oil a 9-inch springform pan or cupcake tins.
  2. Combine the flour, sugar, salt, baking soda, and cocoa powder in a bowl until thoroughly combined. Create a well in the center of the dry ingredients, and add the vanilla, oil, vinegar, and water. Mix until just combined.
  3. Pour into prepared pan, and bake for 30 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. If making cupcakes, check for doneness after 15 minutes.
  4. Cool on a wire rack. To remove the cake from the pan, run a sharp knife around the inside of the pan to loosen the cake. Cool completely before frosting with Cocoa Frosting. You may also dust with sifted confectioner's sugar and top with fresh raspberries.
Frosting Ingredients:
  • 1/2 cup non-hydrogenated margarine, softened
  • 3 cups powdered sugar, sifted
  • 1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder, sifted
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla or 1/2 teaspoon peppermint extract
  • 3 to 4 tablespoons water or non-dairy milk
Frosting Directions:
  1. With an electric hand mixer, cream the margarine until smooth. With the mixer on low speed, add the sugar, and mix for about 2 minutes.
  2. Add the rest of the ingredients, and beat on high speed until frosting is light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add 1 or 2 tablespoons more non-dairy milk if it's too dry.
  3. Cover the icing with plastic wrap to prevent drying until ready to use. Store in a covered container in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks, and re-whip before using.
If you would like to own a copy of Colleen Patrick-Goudreau's The 30-Day Vegan Challenge , you can purchase it from your local bookstore, get it at a great price on Amazon, or you can enter to win a copy for free right here!  Just 1) leave a comment telling me how you will use this fabulous book to promote a vegan lifestyle, and 2) tweet this blog post to help spread the word about the book and how easy it is to be vegan.

Now if you'll excuse me, I'm off for a second piece of that cake...

Here's to your good fortune and health!

Wednesday, October 5, 2011

Keeping warm in the city of rain

It was another cold, wet day in Seattle, and I was thoroughly chilled to the bone by the time I got home from work, so it was easy to decide what to make for dinner: Colleen's Split Pea Soup and Drop Biscuits from The 30-Day Vegan Challenge! Once you make these biscuits, you'll never go back to purchasing a mix or tube o' biscuits again. This recipe is quick with minimal clean up - my kind of recipe! The soup on the other hand needs to cook for an hour so grab some carrots and hummus as a snack (or tortillas and salsa) before dinner to tide the family over until it's ready and then freeze leftovers so you have a quick meal the next time you need it!


Split Pea Soup

INGREDIENTS

2 cups green (or yellow) split peas
6 cups vegetable broth
1 medium yellow onion, diced
2 creamy yellow potatoes, diced
2 or 3 garlic cloves, pressed or minced
2 carrots, diced
2 stalks celery, diced
1/2 teaspoon: dried marjoram, dried basil, dried parsley, liquid smoke
1/4 teaspoon ground cumin, black pepper
Salt, pepper and nutritional yeast to taste

DIRECTIONS

Rinse the split peas, checking for any impurities, such as stones or residue.

Place all of the ingredients, except the salt and pepper, in a soup pot, and bring to a simmer. Cover loosely and cook until the peas are tender, 1 hour or longer. Check it every so often to make sure the liquid isn't evaporating too quickly. The flame should be low-medium.

The resulting soup should be thick and creamy, with the split peas quite broken down and mushy. Add salt and pepper to taste, and serve hot.




Drop Biscuits

INGREDIENTS

1 2/3 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking paper
1/2 teaspoon salt
2/3 cup nondairy milk (I used almond milk)
1/3 cup canola oil or nondairy butter (I used Earth Balance)

DIRECTIONS

Preheat the oven to 475 degrees. Lightly grease a baking or cookie sheet.

In a large bowl, mix together the flour.baking soda, and salt until combined. Add the milk and butter and stir just until the dry ingredients are moistened. It will be very sticky and thick, not smooth like cake batter. Scoop 2 tablespoons of batter onto the cookie sheet for each biscuit, spacing the biscuits about 1 1/2 inches apart.

Bake until, the bottoms are golden brown, about 8 minutes. Serve hot.

With warm, stick to your ribs soup and melt in your mouth biscuits, all that's left is a little cuddle time in front of the fireplace.

As if cuddling by a fireplace could actually happen on a weekday...HA! Sadly, I had work to do and the rest of the family had Sports Center, Facebook and Madden commitments to follow through on but at least we had warm, full bellies to sustain us.

Here's to your good health!

Monday, October 3, 2011

Soup season is upon us

When I read IIN's blog post for Terry Walter’s Autumn Harvest Soup, I mourned summer for a brief moment and then celebrated the undeniable fact that soup season is upon us. There is something soothing, comforting and satisfying about enjoying a warm bowl of soup on a cool fall day. I glanced at the weather forecast and committed to making this soup for dinner.

The recipe below is an adaptation of Terry Walter's recipe from her cookbook Clean Food. The original was a little bit too acidic for my family's tastes so I substituted walnut oil for toasted seasame oil and added nutritional yeast, vegetable broth, garlic powder, salt, nutritional yeast, and Better than Boullion vegan chicken base (to appease my son).

Autumn Harvest Soup

Ingredients:
4 dried shiitake mushrooms
6 cups water
3/4 cup vegetable broth
4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 large onion, diced
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger
3 carrots, diced
4 cups chopped kale or collard greens
2 cups cooked cannellini beans
1/4 cup mirin
splash tamari
splash apple cider vinegar
2 tablespoons walnut oil
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon Better Than Boullion chicken base (vegan)
3 tablespoons nutritional yeast
sea salt
ground black pepper
vegan croutons

Preparation:
Place dried mushrooms in medium pot with 6 cups water. Bring to boil, then reduce heat and simmer 15 minutes. Remove from heat and set aside to cool slightly. When mushrooms are soft, remove from broth and cut off and discard stems. Dice caps and place back in pot with broth. In large pot over medium heat, sauté onion, garlic and ginger in oil 3 minutes. Add carrots and sauté 3 minutes. Add kale, beans and mirin and sauté until greens are deep green and tender. Pour broth and mushrooms into pot with kale, vegetable broth, bouillon base, tamari, vinegar, garlic powder, walnut oil, stir and simmer 5–7 minutes. Add nutritional yeast, salt and pepper to taste and garnish with vegan croutons.

Here it is!


I chose to add kale for my leafy green vegetable because it's one of the most nutritious foods you can eat. Kale contains dietary fiber, which promotes regular digestion and curbs overeating, helps prevent cancer and helps regulate the body's inflammatory process, among many of its other health benefits.



If kale isn't currently a staple at your table, here are a few ways to start adding it this week:
  • Chop it up and add it to broth based soups (like the one below!)
  • Toss it with nutritional yeast, cayene pepper and olive oil and then roast it at 275 for kale chips
  • Steam it
  • Sautee it with olive oil and garlic
  • Add it to a smoothie
  • Tear the leaves into bite size peices and massage fresh squeezed lemon juice, olive oil, garlic powder, salt and a tiny bit of chili powder to them. Add chopped tomatoes and avocado for a tasty salad or sandwich wrap.
Vegweb.com has an extensive library of kale recipes. Browse through them, pick a few that highlight some of your favorite ingredients and give them a try!

Here's to your health and coziness!

Sunday, October 2, 2011

It's time to sit down and enjoy a healthy dose of Celebrity Vegan!

Special guest post by (my daughter) Kaela Palmer


 


Being a vegan isn't something new to most of it's avid followers, yet it seems to be the latest trend on the Hollywood Boulevard. One of it's newest contenders? Lea Michele.

If you don't recognize the name you must a.) live under a rock, or b.) not have a television or internet of any kind. Lea has the starring role in the hit Fox show Glee. She plays the character of 'Rachel Berry', a snobby fame-seeking high school student, determined to gain stardom by any means necessary.
Lately, the 23 year old singer has been accused of being 'too skinny', but amid the blatant tabloid rumors, the healthy actress claims that her new love for nutrition is making her well, not sick. So why is it that when someone denies a hamburger, and instead goes for a salad, that they MUST have body issues? Has anyone from the carnivorous spectrum ever stopped to ask about why vegans make the switch?

For Lea, it's all about living a healthy lifestyle; in order to that, she had to change her eating habits as well. In a recent interview with OK! Magazine, she stated that she chooses a "vegan diet for integrity and energy". In order to play the spunky Miss Berry on set, you need a lot of energy, and this eating habit is the best alternative she has found to feeling so in character.

On top of already being a healthy eater with balanced nutrition, Lea is also an avid exerciser. Her must? Yoga. Yoga and veganism. A solid pair made in plant-based heaven.

For young fans and viewers of her show, and those who follow her every move, she is a proud and prime example of a celebrity doing good for not only herself, but the community as well.
The animals thank you, Lea. And so do we.

Kaela Palmer

Catch Kaela Palmer here every Sunday for a healthy dose "Celebrity Vegan". You can also find her at http://kaelapalmersdayoff.blogspot.com/


Saturday, October 1, 2011

Vegan in Las Vegas


It's day 1 of Vegan MoFo and we're celebrating Ed's birthday with friends in Las Vegas. Due to the insane amount of hours I've been working lately, and the very laid back demeanor of my partner, I didn't have time to do any planning before we arrived in Sin City. I figured that my happycow.net app would guide me safely through the mecca of steak houses and buffets. Unfortunately, the app had very few options listed and I starved my way through the first day with only a plate of bok choy in my belly. Not a good start to the weekend. This girl likes to EAT!

What's a vegan girl to do?

Immediately after rolling out of bed this morning I hit the computer and did a Bing search for Vegan in Vegas. Thanks to a few great posts by Quarrygirl , I was able to locate several options that satisfied my requirement for finding tasty vegan food while also accomodating my omnivorous friends. Finding her posts was like betting it all and being dealt a Royal Flush. Money baby!

Lesson for today: when you are in pursuit of vegginess and traveling with non-vegan companions, it's worth the extra effort to research local options that can accomodate both of your dietary choices. We need to eat well to feel well!

Turns out that every restaurant at the Wynn has a vegan menu available. Surfing through all of the menu options made my salivary glands go into over-drive. Lucky for me, the Wynn is only a monorail away from MGM.

If I had access to car, I would also drive out to visit  red velvet cafe and ronald’s donuts . Ronald's promises to be the best vegan donut shop ever. I happen to think that Mighty O donuts in Seattle has the best donuts in the world so I might have to take a taxi out there and give them a try. I'm not a big sweets eater but I'm for this challenge.

I've got my soy latte in hand, list restaurants to conquer and am ready to venture out into the Las Vegas heat. I will happily report back to you with reviews and photos from my culinary experiences in the very near future.

In the meantime, enjoy this "Viva Las Vegas" video from the Dead Kennedys!



Sending you extra vitamin D from the Vegas sunshine,