While I get that up and running– at the pace I move it will probably be ready around Christmas!– I’ll continue to blog here. I’ll also be working on organizing all of my recipes and moving them over to their “new home.” This is something I’ve been thinking about doing for a long time and I’m really excited that I’ve finally (1) committed to doing it, and (2) have started the process. I’ve been blogging here for so long that everything is already set up the way I want it and the thought about starting over completely from scratch is a little overwhelming. Time to get started!

I love this quote and have been looking long and hard for something that has this on it for my kitchen.   I know, it’s a weird thing to want in one’s kitchen, but I want something to keep me on track, a constant reminder of how I want to live.  It’s also the message I’ve been trying to instill in Emma who, whenever we walk by the meat or fish counter at Whole Foods, makes some comment about wanting to tell people not to eat meat.  In simpler terms that she can understand, I explain to her that the best way to do that is to lead by example.  It’s a difficult concept for her to understand since she’s never eaten meat.

After what seems like hours spent combing through various websites that sell wall art, I came across this piece and it was perfect.  It’s exactly what I’ve been looking for and is also artsy and interesting.  Other wall plaques I’ve seen with this quote on it are drab and ugly.  I was so excited to have found it, but was a little freaked out when I saw how much it was.  Well, I had been telling Matt how much I wanted one and when I told him that I had found the most perfect one, he bought it for me as a Valentine’s Day gift.

And I love it!!  Besides his unconditional love and my two girlies, it’s the best Valentine’s Day gift ever.  Isn’t it so pretty?!  I hung it up first thing this morning, about 5 minutes after opening the box.  It’s hanging right above the sink and I get to admire it every time I’m cooking or washing dishes.

And in return, I’m trying really hard to get the house cleaned up… okay, you caught me.  I’m not trying all that hard since I’m sitting here writing this blog post.  But, I have folded and put away the laundry.  Next I’m going to tackle the mess on my desk.  And maybe I’ll even make it to the kitchen before Amanda wakes up from her nap or before I need to leave to pick up Emma from school.  Not likely, but it’s the thought that counts, right?

I have a couple of announcements to get out of the way first:

1. We’re moving! Same city, just different house. I know some of my local friends read this and it’s so new that I haven’t told many people yet, so there you go. We’ve been wanting to move for a while now and saw this house on a Friday, decided we liked it on Saturday, put the deposit on it on Monday and now we’re just waiting for the lease to come through. That means January will be very busy for me and I probably won’t get around to blogging very often (so really no change in my blogging pattern, but now you know why!). We need more space and the elementary school that I want Emma to go to is in that district and will be easier to get in to (hopefully). It’s a Spanish Immersion school and she’s in Spanish Immersion pre-K now and really likes it. I figure I can teach her everything she needs to know (reading, math, etc), but I can’t teach her Spanish.
2. My second big announcement is that I’ve decided to go gluten-free. I’ve been toying with the idea for a few months, but didn’t want to do anything drastic while I was pregnant and couldn’t really handle anything that major in the first few months following Amanda’s birth. I have mentioned a couple times on here that I was considering it and now I’m ready to take the plunge. With our upcoming move and just dealing with life in general, this will be a gradual transition and I don’t suspect I’ll be fully gluten-free until probably February. My kitchen and pantry are not equipped to handle gluten-freedom yet and I don’t want to go out and buy a bunch of different G-F items just to pack them up and move them. And having priced out different G-F foods at places like Whole Foods, I suspect that I’ll be able to buy things online in bulk for much cheaper. When I’m ready to buy them, I want to have them shipped to the new address.

I bet you’re wondering why I’ve decided to cut out the gluten.  Well, I read that book up there and it suggests that hypothroidism can be helped by eating a gluten-free diet. I’ve had hypothroidism now for about half my life and just recently was diagnosed with Hashimoto’s, an auto-immune thyroid disorder. According to this book, people who suffer from Hashimoto’s are also gluten intolerant and because gluten and thyroid “look” similar to the body, it goes on a rampage destroying everything resembling gluten. Something like that. So, to prevent further damage to my thyroid, I’m going to give it a try. Besides that, as the title suggests, I do have thyroid symptoms despite my labs being “normal.” And I can’t help but think that I have more than I realize because I’ve lived with it so long that I’ve come to accept it as feeling “good.” Know what I mean?

Anyway, I haven’t finished reading the book yet, but it’s certainly an interesting experiment. For the record, my Celiac test was negative, but it’s still possible to be gluten intolerant and not have Celiac. I’m still working on getting some more blood tests done and I’ll report those once I get them done. I’ve also read that soy is not good for the thyroid, so I might go soy-free too. One thing at a time, though, but in the meantime I will work on reducing my soy intake and totally avoiding foods that contain super processed soy.

I also have some food to blog about, but Amanda’s awake now and I don’t have time to get the photos off the camera. The quiet was nice while it lasted, but now it’s time to get to Target.

What is one food you thought you’d miss when you went vegan, but don’t?

I thought I would miss cheese the most and, indeed, it was the thing I did have the hardest time giving up. I’ve tasted cheese since going vegan, just to see if I still liked it the way I did when I thought I was addicted to it, and it was so gross. It’s amazing how your taste buds change when you don’t have something for a long time.

And interestingly, it is possible to be addicted to cheese, as I thought I was and as I’ve heard many of my friends tell me that they are:

Well, in 1981, Eli Hazum and his colleagues at Wellcome Research Laboratories in Research Triangle Park, N.C., reported a remarkable discovery. Analyzing samples of cow’s milk, they found traces of a chemical that looked very much like morphine. They put it to one chemical test after another. And, finally, they arrived at the conclusion that, in fact, it is morphine. There is not a lot of it and not every sample had detectable levels. But there is indeed some morphine in both cow’s milk and human milk.

Morphine, of course, is an opiate and is highly addictive. So how did it get into milk? At first, the researchers theorized that it must have come from the cows’ diets. After all, morphine used in hospitals comes from poppies and is also produced naturally by a few other plants that the cows might have been eating. But it turns out that cows actually produce it within their bodies, just as poppies do. Traces of morphine, along with codeine and other opiates, are apparently produced in cows’ livers and can end up in their milk.

But that was only the beginning, as other researchers soon found. Cow’s milk-or the milk of any other species, for that matter-contains a protein, called casein, that breaks apart during digestion to release a whole host of opiates, called casomorphins. A cup of cow’s milk contains about six grams of casein. Skim milk contains a bit more, and casein is concentrated in the production of cheese.

If you examined a casein molecule under a powerful microscope, it would look like a long chain of beads (the “beads” are amino acids-simple building blocks that combine to make up all the proteins in your body). When you drink a glass of milk or eat a slice of cheese, stomach acid and intestinal bacteria snip the casein molecular chains into casomorphins of various lengths. One of them, a short string made up of just five amino acids, has about one-tenth the pain-killing potency of morphine.

What are these opiates doing there, hidden in milk proteins? It appears that the opiates from mother’s milk produce a calming effect on the infant and, in fact, may be responsible for a good measure of the mother-infant bond. No, it’s not all lullabies and cooing. Psychological bonds always have a physical underpinning. Like it or not, mother’s milk has a drug-like effect on the baby’s brain that ensures that the baby will bond with Mom and continue to nurse and get the nutrients all babies need. Like heroin or codeine, casomorphins slow intestinal movements and have a decided antidiarrheal effect. The opiate effect may be why adults often find that cheese can be constipating, just as opiate painkillers are.

So off-topic, I know, but pretty interesting.  Read the full article here.

What is a food or dish you wouldn’t touch as a child, but enjoy now?

As a kid, I didn’t like most green vegetables and probably still don’t now.  I’ll still eat them to set a good example for my kids, but I wouldn’t say I ever crave broccoli or asparagus.

What vegan dish or food you feel like you “should” like, but don’t?

I’m agreeing with Jennifer and going with tempeh.  I’ve had it in dishes that were prepared for me and I very much liked them, but can’t seem to figure out how to like it in something that I make.  It’s supposed to be super healthy for you, but I just don’t have a taste for it.

What beverage do you consume the most of on any given day?

Water.  Lately, I’ve been drinking a lot of decaf and herbal teas, but I drink more water than anything else most days. I also really like flavored coconut waters, but those are expensive and I only buy them occasionally.

What dish are you “famous” for making or bringing to gatherings?

Dessert of any kind, but mostly cake or cupcakes.

Do you have any self-imposed food rules (like no food touching on the plate or no nuts in sweets)?

I will say that I don’t like it when my food touches on the plate, but it’s more of a preference and not a rule.  I also prefer to not mix cold and hot foods in one meal (e.g. hot soup with a cold salad); it hurts my teeth, but again is more just a preference.

What’s one food or dish you tend to eat too much of when you have it in your home?

Anything sweet or baked.  I have a horrible sweet tooth, which seems to have gotten worse after having Amanda.  I don’t really care for candy or anything like that, but if there are extra cupcakes around, I can’t stop eating them.

What ingredient or food do you prefer to make yourself despite it being widely available prepackaged?

Bread because my bread machine makes it so easy and it tastes so good.  The problem is that my bread machine makes such a small loaf that it only lasts us a day or two, so I don’t really make it myself that regularly.

What ingredient or food is worth spending the extra money to get “the good stuff”?

Coconut oil.  It’s expensive, but lasts a long time so I only buy the organic, raw, unrefined kind.  The funny thing is that I don’t ever cook with or eat it.  I use it as lotion, put it in my hair and on my scalp, rub it all over Amanda’s dry skin and cradle cap (it really makes a difference), but I have yet to ever cook with it.

Another interesting tidbit: coconut oil is naturally antifungal (and antiviral and antibacterial) and I’ve been treating Amanda’s thrush with it.  When I took her to the doctor a couple of weeks ago for her cold, she had a moderate case of thrush and her doctor said that I could continue treating with coconut oil since I was going to be back in the office for her two month visit within a week or so.  When I took her back this week for that checkup, her thrush was much better and even though I was prepared to get a prescription for it, he said that it wasn’t even worth treating with a prescription since it was so improved.  Coconut oil is amazing stuff!

Are you much of a snacker? What are your favorite snacks?

No, not really.  Crackers and hummus is one of my favorite snacks.

What are your favorite vegan pizza toppings?

Daiya cheese, veggie pepperoni and olives like when I made it here.

What is your favorite vegetable? Fruit?

My favorite vegetable is salad, which I understand is a mix of lots of different veggies.  As I mentioned above, I don’t really like most vegetables, but I really like salad– oh, and eggplant.  I’m addicted to eggplant right now.  I also like any kind of fruit, my favorites being warm weather fruits like mangoes, peaches, and nectarines.

What is the best salad dressing?

My balsamic dijon is my favorite homemade salad dressing.  Annie’s Goddess dressing is the best store bought one I’ve tried.  These two happen to be Emma’s favorite salad dressings too.

What is your favorite thing to put on toasted bread?

Earth Balance (soy free) and jam.

What kind of soup do you most often turn to on a chilly day or when you aren’t feeling your best?

I love vegetable soup, so long as it’s homemade.  I hate canned soups of any kind.

What is your favorite cupcake flavor? Frosting flavor?

My favorite cake and frosting combo is vanilla cake with chocolate frosting, but I don’t discriminate.  Any kind of cake with any kind of frosting (so long as they’re both vegan) are winners in my book.    I actually just made some really delicious gluten free vanilla cupcakes last week and those may be my new favorite.

What is your favorite kind of cookie?

Oreos.  I never buy that brand specifically, but I’ll buy the Trader Joe’s brand sometimes.

What is your most-loved “weeknight meal”?

Anything that can be made in my slow cooker.

What is one dish or food you enjoy, but can’t get anyone else in your household to eat?

Eggplant.  Matt hates it.  Emma won’t touch it.  I could eat it at every meal and still want more.

How long, in total, do you spend in the kitchen on an average day?

Maybe 1 or 2 hours.  Depends on what I’ve got going on.

How many fingers am I holding up?

Uh… none?

What kind of things are you doing for VeganMofo?

I’m trying to blog more regularly, which also means cooking more regularly.  I also added the Vegan Mofo blog bundle thingy to my blog reader and have been trying to keep up with everyone else’s Vegan Mofo blog posts.  It’s not going well and I’m very behind, but it does give me something to do when I’m up in the middle of the night with Amanda.  I’ve also been reading lots of books on vegetarianism to Emma since she’s older now and I plan to dedicate a post to that soon.

Happy Weekend Everyone!!

We have another little princess, Amanda, born Sept. 12. I haven’t been doing much cooking since she’s been born, but am slowly getting back into the kitchen. I have a few new posts on the way… just have to get them finished. I’m starting to find more and more time to myself and I’m not as sleep deprived as I was, so I will get those up soon.

Seriously, anyone still out there?

I came across this and thought I’d share for those who enjoy Turtle Mountain products as much as I do.  Save your UPC codes from the package and mail it in.  For every one that gets mailed in, Turtle Mountain will donate $1 to Farm Sanctuary up to $5,000.

Criteria for me to link to you:

(1) if I currently link to you and you still blog, no need to do anything.  I’m only deleting links to blogs that have been inactive for 6 months or more.

(2) your blog does not have to be vegan or even vegetarian, but does have to offer some recipes that are veg*n (or that can easily be made vegan or vegetarian).

(3) your blog/website can be about anything related to veganism– animal rights, vegan recipes for your pets, vegan cosmetics/sweaters, whatever.

(4) you must link back to me once I’ve linked to you.  Hey, it is a two-way street, y’know?!    If you already link to me, I probably don’t know it, so leave me a comment here and I’ll reciprocate.

Chocolate Chili

Serves 4 to 6

What you need:

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 yellow onion, chopped
1 carrot, minced
3 garlic cloves, minced
3 tablespoons chili powder
1 teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1 (28-ounce) can crushed tomatoes
2 canned chipotle chiles in adobo sauce, minced
1 ounce unsweetened chocolate, grated
4 cups cooked or 3 (15.5-ounce) cans beans, drained and rinsed
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup strong coffee
1/4 cup pumpkin seeds

What you do:

1. In a large pot over medium heat, heat olive oil. Add onion, carrots, and garlic. Cover and cook until softened, about 10 minutes.

2. Stir in chili powder, paprika, cumin, oregano, sugar, salt, and pepper. Add tomatoes, chipotles, and chocolate, and stir until well blended.

3. Add beans, water, and coffee, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer uncovered, stirring occasionally, until chili thickens and flavors have time to develop, about 45 minutes. Add a little more liquid if chili becomes too thick. Sprinkle with pumpkin seeds before serving.

Homemade Tortillas

Serves 4

What you need:

2 cups flour
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1/2 cup water
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder

What you do:

1. In a large bowl, combine all ingredients and let stand for 20 minutes.

2. Form dough into a ball, then place onto lightly floured countertop. Divide into 1-inch balls. Flatten each ball into a round, and, with a rolling pin, roll out lightly on one side.

3. Over high heat, place cast-iron skillet. Cook tortillas in ungreased skillet for 2 to 3 minutes, then flip once and cook other side until lightly browned, about 2 minutes. Serve warm.

Cashew Fondue

Serves 4

What you need:

1 clove garlic
1 teaspoon salt
2 cups raw cashews
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1/4 cup filtered water

What you do:

1. In a food processor, pulverize garlic and salt. Add cashews and process until finely ground.

2. Add lemon juice and mix well. Slowly add water one tablespoon at a time until a smooth, creamy consistency is reached. Serve with fresh veggies, cubed bread, or thinly sliced apples.

Acceptable topics:  recipes/cooking, shopping tips, animal welfare, vegan diet and climate change, vegan diet and health, or any interesting news articles that you come across related to any of these topics.  If you have an idea for a post topic not related to any of these ideas, send me an email!  Any takers?!??!

If you already run your own blog, you can reuse a post from your blog so long as it fits here.  Of course, I will make it super obvious that I didn’t write the post by putting in big bold letters who did and I’ll link to your blog, if applicable.