Polar vortex

1/27/2014--I don't think I've mentioned it, but we are in the second round of a winter phenomenon called a "polar vortex." If you live in a news vacuum or in Florida and haven't heard of this, it is when cold air which usually resides in Santa's workshop decides to visit the rest of the country. As a result, we have been living through record or near-record low temperatures. And that means we have spent a lot of time at home. I am thoroughly enjoying this forced retreat (and living in complete denial that as educators and students, we all will be enjoying an extended school year to make up for these lost instructional days). My husband and I have been venturing out on our cross country skis, in part to make up for missing daily runs, and also just to get outside and try to pretend that winter can be fun, too. Yesterday, the temperature hovered around 30 without windchill and we were able to spend about an hour and a half exploring the woods and canal near our house. I have to admit the woods were lovely. And dark. And deep. We came back refreshed and invigorated.

So today, we tried it again. Except today was not as kind as yesterday. The wind was bitter, and the snow was so dry, we just slid around on top of it instead of gliding. I'm not even going to add "gracefully" because nothing I do on skis looks graceful. But there was definite gliding yesterday. And not today. We made it about 5 or 6 blocks from home and then had to admit defeat and turn around because we were so cold. My hands hurt so badly by the time we got back, I was kind of whimpering and shaking. My thumbnails still hurt as I type this almost 7 hours later so hopefully I haven't done permanent damage. We got inside and my husband announced that he was going to walk to our corner drugstore while he was still dressed because he wanted to get a few things. "Oh, I'll come too!" I chirped. Because I'm a quick learner. So we bundled up again. This time with boots, winter coats and hand warmers. It was much more pleasant the second time around. We got to CVS and immediately headed for the liquor aisle. Because we have found that comfort food is necessary during a polar vortex. I will say that I when I was a little girl picturing my life as a grown-up it didn't include me in the CVS liquor aisle asking Siri whether cake flavored Smirnoff is vegan.  It is. Or probably it is.

Unfortunately, the chocolate chips at CVS were not vegan, and since it was only one block away, we decided to extend our walk and visit our town's natural food co-op. I have the same reaction walking in to this store as I did walking into Whole Foods. I found the Japanese sweet potatoes that I'd been looking for, vegan chocolate chips and a new creamer to try in my coffee (soy milk, since I have discovered that I really like the soy cappuccinos at Starbucks).  I also finally decided to become a member of the co-op since I see many more shopping trips there in my new vegan future.

Home again, with a cup of coffee with my new soy creamer. I am loving it, although I will have to wait till my morning cup to decide whether that is because of the creamer or the shot of Smirnoff that I added to it. But for now, life is good, the house is warm and I am enjoying planning my comfort mushroom risotto for dinner.

Two (Vegan) Gentlemen of Verona

01/21/2014--We don't do an excessive amount of entertaining at our house. We have entertained my family for many holiday meals and occasionally we have had friends over for meals. But most of our entertaining takes place outside in the summer around the pool. And the food consists of salads that I make and meat that my husband grills. I tend to be a little overambitious when cooking for guests and end up trying dishes that I've never made before. This does not always equal success. I mean, I can always learn from the mistakes I made with that meal and modify and improve it for the next time we have it, but that doesn't help our guests who unknowingly served as the guinea pigs in my little experiment.

That's just a little anecdote to explain why cooking for guests is a little nervous making for me. Because we just had guests last night. We, with a group of former students/now friends having been meeting once monthly on a Sunday evening to read through Shakespeare's plays. It all sounds very high-brow, but it's mostly just great fun. There's a theme, there's food based on that theme, and alcohol. The alcohol helps with the fun. And Shakespeare, the bawdy old bard, just gets sassier and more innuendo-filled as the night progresses.

But this isn't about the Shakespeare; it's about the food. This isn't the first event that I've cooked a vegan offering for. I've done it on at least one other occasion. And I've always offered a vegetarian option. But this was the first time, I've cooked AS a vegan. It felt different. Also, it was the first time, I tried to mimic a meat based food. Let me explain. My husband was cooking crab cakes to go along with the theme, so I decided that I would offer chickpea "crab" cakes. I found a recipe that offered the taste of crabcakes (mostly due to Old Bay seasoning) without the crab. I started this venture as I start most of my cooking adventures with a great deal of excitement and optimism. I love Old Bay seasoning. I love chickpeas. I hate onions so I left them out (that may have been a mistake). I must say that my enthusiasm waned considerably as I worked my way through the preparation. I cannot blame this on the recipe. I tried to take several shortcuts, which why? Why would I take shortcuts with an untried, untested recipe? This is impulsive behavior that seems to only show up in cooking tasks. So it could have been that I didn't soak the beans long enough, or put the mixture in the refrigerator long enough (who am I kidding? I stuck it in the freezer to make it get cold faster. It made sense to me at the time). Or it may have been the missing onions that would have made the cakes hold together. I don't know. But it was kind of disaster.

I will say that they didn't taste bad. At least to me. But they just had no structural integrity. They were supposed to be pretty little cake shaped alternatives to the pretty crabcakes my husband had cooked. But instead they looked liked sandy balls, with loose sand around them. People bravely tried them. At least the vegetarian and the person allergic to shellfish did. And of course me. Only, I inhaled part of chickpea and ended up coughing so hard that I had to excuse myself to the upstairs bathroom where I lost not only the part of the cake I had eaten but also most of lunch. Good times. I don't remember hearing any compliments on how surprisingly good they were, although like I said I thought they tasted okay. And I will try to make them again. Probably following the recipe more closely this time. Although still without the onions. But my Shakespeare friends will not benefit from my hard won knowledge. And so I feel like I've failed vegan entertaining. At least this time. After all, there is always another play next month.

Coffee

01/17/2014
Vegan life continues. And mostly it's pretty good. Honestly. Most of the time, I am very happy with the abundance of choices that I have, and the new tastes that I've gotten to try. Also, I'm enjoying the nuts. I won't lie and say that the day my husband slow roasted a pork shoulder in the oven my nose lusted after that pig. But when I saw it on the plate, I had no desire to eat it. Even though I'm sure it was delicious, honey, and you did a great job cooking it! And occasionally, I wouldn't mind popping a chunk of hard Parmesan in my cheese hole (that doesn't have any meaning I'm unaware of does it?) or sprinkling goat cheese on my salad, on the whole it's been easy and enjoyable to eat without animal products. Except for one thing. And granted, it's a small thing. Probably 1% of my day. Or more. Or maybe less. I didn't do any actual math. But it takes up a lot of my brain space. Because it's become a puzzle I can't solve. Something that I haven't made better yet. And that's my morning cup of coffee.

I know. No one needs to hear another praise song about coffee. We live in a coffee saturated, Starbucks is my church kind of world. Or if you're the rebel type--my local coffee house is my zen garden. So yes, I agree. Coffee talk. We're over it. But, BUT I need to say, that I love my morning cup of coffee. It's whole bean that we grind at home and then use a French press to get a strong, delightful coffee flavor. Then I add sugar and creamer (just typing that word kind of makes me sad) and enjoy the heck out of that cup. And often that is my only cup of coffee for the day. So I'm not addicted. Just in love. I could give that cup up without side effects of caffeine withdrawal, but when you're in love you want the loved one to stay with you. You don't just toss it aside because you're trying something new. You don't treat friends that way! And I know that I could just add a little creamer to my coffee without the vegan police coming to take my card away. They'd never have to find out. It's already in my house because of my omni husband. The cow has been milked already. No giving it back.

But I would know. And I feel committed to this eating lifestyle. I've been very diligent in how I prepare my foods, and I feel disappointed in myself if I realize that I've accidentally used an ingredient that isn't fully vegan. So I'm on a quest to find a substitute for my half and half. It's not going particularly well. I've tried a variety of almond milks--white and chocolate. No. I've tried coconut milk-eh. I've tried a coconut creamer. I guess it has more fat in it than regular coconut milk? I don't know and don't really care. It doesn't taste like dairy creamer. I've tried non-dairy creamers. These are probably the closest to my regular creamer.   But I have to avert my eyes from the ingredients list so I can't see how bad they are for me. So, again, no. The best thing I've tried thus far, is vanilla coconut milk. I can drink my coffee that way. And almost enjoy it. Maybe I'll learn to love it that way. Or maybe I'll just switch to tea. But I'd love to find a better solution. One that lets me keep my good friend and my new lifestyle. Surely that's not too much to ask.

Out to Eat

01/11/2014--So this new eating lifestyle is going pretty well. I have made the transition over the period of about two weeks of getting rid of foods that contain animals or animal byproducts (and by getting rid of, I mean "eating") and have replaced them with plant based foods. And it's going okay. I've been surprised by how little I miss the foods of my old life. I don't miss meat at all; I only miss cheese occasionally and I've been enjoying the new foods and flavors that I've been trying.  I won't say that I don't miss creamer in my coffee because that would be a really big lie. I do miss it. I really, really miss it. And I am on quest to find something that will be an adequate if not perfect, replacement. But for now, I'm dealing. And even more than dealing; I'm enjoying the experience as a whole. As long as I am at home.

At home I am in control. I decide what. I decide how. I decide when. You get the idea. There are no big suprises at home. But today we got a call that I've been dreading because I didn't know how to handle it. Friends called and asked if we wanted to go out to dinner with them. "No!" I shouted when I listened to the voicemail. "I'm not ready. I'll have to tell them, and then they'll know that I'm a freak. We don't know them well enough yet, for them to have this kind of information about me."  It went on like this. Finally, we (I) decided that if they asked where we wanted to eat, we would give options of places that we knew had vegan friendly menus. If they offered suggestions, I would just deal. This was going to be my life from now on, I might as well get started today.

Fortunately, they were very open to a place we suggested and all went well. My new eating choices even showed up in the conversation very naturally and they didn't judge openly. And if they judged later when they got home, at least I'll never know. And I was feeling so good after my initial victory that we stopped at Starbucks on the way home and I ordered my first soy cappuccino.  And it was good.

Vegan Cooking: The Big Debut

1/05/2014
So the day has come. It is time for me to cook my first vegan meal for the fam. Up till now I've been eating a vegan pizza I made while everyone else cleaned out the holiday leftovers and their own pizza. Speaking of which, I must admit when this pizza came into my house I was a little tempted to take a bite of it:





My pizza was tasted good and I enjoyed it, but it didn't have quite the same mouth feel as that first bite of hot cheesy pizza does. I mourned my old life a little bit. But I digress. Onward to impressing my family with how delicious vegan cooking can be.

My first recipe came from my Great Vegan Bean Book. It was called Super Easy Lentil Biryani. I chose this because it was full of things I like--lentils, rice, raisins, apricots, nuts and Indian spices and sounded like a fairly non-threatening way to introduce my new life to my family. After all, I've made biryani before for them. It was just a slightly meatier version with shrimp and probably chicken broth. But I also confess that I chose this because it gave a version for cooking it all in the rice cooker. For some inexplicable reason, this really appealed to me. I mentioned it several times to my husband. "Can you believe, I just throw all this in the rice cooker and turn it on?"
"Wow," he said. Maybe not quite as amazed as I was. Whatever. I was excited enough for the both of us. Actually I was probably excited enough for the four of us.

When the time came, I threw everything, into the rice cooker, just as promised. Including what I now recognize as a large amount of a wide variety of spices. But, I don't want to get ahead of myself.

The rice cooker performed like a champ and cooked the rice and lentils beautifully. Everything was cooked thoroughly, but was still slightly chewy--al dente, if you will. But of course, the question I know you're all asking is how did it go over with the family?

Well, to be honest, reactions were mixed. I loved the feel of it, the chewiness of the nuts and raisins, mixed with the lentils and rice was very pleasant. It was slightly overspiced--all right, maybe more than slightly--but I definitely enjoyed it. My husband, as usual was kind and said that it was "good." He did not help himself to seconds, however. I watched my older son as he took his first bite and then grimaced. "What was that for?" I demanded, ever the patient, non-defensive mother. He shrugged and mumbled some half words (he's sixteen) but when I calmed down a little and asked for more information, we teased out that the raisins were an unpleasant surprise of texture and taste. He picked those out and ate the rest of it. My younger son does not like rice (a fact which I conveniently block out on many occasions) so really what was I expecting? He tasted it politely and then picked at it quietly until I thanked him for trying it and gave him permission to have leftover pizza. That is an issue we will obviously continue to deal with as this thing I'm doing evolves.

Overall, not a raging success. But definite components of success. I loved the ingredients in this meal and the ease of the rice cooker. I will happily eat the leftovers for school lunches and during carnivore dinners. I will also most like make it again, but will cut back on the coriander and cardamom as both seemed strong in the overall tasted of the dish. 1`22221`2333333333

Cooking and serving this dish caused many of my worries about sustaining a vegan lifestyle among non-vegans to come to light. What if I never make anything that my family likes? I don't want them to be eating leftover pizza or peanut butter sandwiches everytime I cook. They are already fairly wary of the foods I serve since I tend to be an adventurous cook. Now, not only will they have to endure new ways of cooking torture, but what will their memories of a home-cooked meal be? That makes me feel a little sad.

But obviously not too sad, because tomorrow night is my turn to cook again, and I've already got a new meal planned that I'm very excited about!

Shopping Take Two: This Time It's Serious

1/04/2014  We live in a small town in Northern Indiana. It's a conservative area surrounded by farms and Amish crafters and Amish farmers. It's not quite the same as being vegan in Oregon or Northern California. I am fortunate that the town we live in is home to a large group of neo-hippies who pride themselves in living simply and in peace with the world around them. That means there is one small food coop in town where I might find vegan friendly items such as bulk lentils, Indian spices and maybe even nutritional yeast. And it is only 4 blocks from my house.
Today though, was about another store. Approximately 45 minutes from our house is the town/city of Mishawaka (very close to Notre Dame, which most people have at least heard of) and home to a Whole Foods store. We decided to spend a few hours on our last Saturday of Christmas Break in Mishawaka getting new running shoes, going to Barnes and Noble, and visiting Whole Foods.
I had Chris and the boys drop me off at Whole Foods before going to the running store, thinking I could pick up a few things while Chris got new shoes. But then I went inside.

And oh, the wonderland that is Whole Foods. Here were my people. Here I could be a vegan. I marveled at the bulk bins of colored rice--not just white and brown, but black, and green and purple! I touched the friendly cases of lentils--multiple cases. I caressed the containers of nutritional yeast, something which I had yet to find in Goshen. I smiled at people as they passed knowing that we were kindred spirits. And I bought. I bought the nutritional yeast, and coconut creamer for my coffee, and a $20 bottle of grade B maple syrup, and harisa (which I needed for a recipe a year ago and couldn't find near me). And of course, more nuts. Then I got a text from my husband saying that they were done and in the parking lot. So I invited him in to experience the glory with me. He patiently listened to my evangelizing and didn't complain about the bill as we left. But I'm pretty sure he didn't have the same religious experience I did. I'm pretty sure he's glad that Whole Foods is a whole 45 minutes away.
Heathen.

Shopping!

1/02/14 One of the most exciting parts of a new venture whether it be a new hobby, a new sport or a new way of eating is the research that goes into how to incorporate the new activity into my life. I've done this whole heartedly in the past with knitting and running, and now I have a new venture! So, I've been researching vegan websites, vegan cookbooks, vegan people (my brother and his wife both decided to become vegan in the last few months). And the researching inevitably leads to buying. Yay!
I've looked at a lot of vegan recipes and pictures of food on the internet (cough*Pinterest*cough). It's always hard for me to commit to just one cookbook. So I bought two: The Great Vegan Bean cookbook by (because my kids will usually eat beans, and hey! protein) and Isa Does It! because the recipes sounded good and used a wide variety of ingredients. Also it had some Indian recipes, and I love Indian food.
I also went to the grocery store to shop for the first time as a vegan. I bought a lot (A LOT) of nuts. I guess I'm having a little bit of anxiety about not getting enough protein in my diet. I also bought chocolate almond milk to try in my coffee as a creamer substitute. I didn't buy yogurt, cheese or meat, but my husband did. I don't know that eating vegan is going to be any cheaper than being a carnivore was. But I reassure myself and my husband that I'm still in the "getting set up" stage and that maybe next time I won't need to buy so many nuts.