My World and Welcome to It......

ב"ה

Today was one of those days. I basically devoted most of the day to cooking for שבת (Shabbat -- the Sabbath). I started this morning by readying the beans for soup and cholent. I took out 6 kinds of beans -- garbanzos, adzuki (little red beans), soy, kidney, pinto and black (I needed to go to the local health food store to pick these up -- I had run out) -- and barley (unhulled, not pearl). I put 1/8 cup of each (2 tablespoons or a coffee measure) in a pot for soup and the cholent pot (I put 2/8 or 1/4 cup of barley in the cholent pot and also 1/8 cup almonds). I quick soaked the soup beans (that's boil up the beans, turn off the flame, cover and let sit for an hour). I left the cholent beans for tomorrow (I'll soak them from early morning for 6 hours and then set up the cholent pot -- aka my slow cooker -- by draining the beans, putting them and the veggies I left for them -- I'll explain that later -- 1/8 cup each of wild rice and black lentils and spices and a pitcher full of filtered water on "high" on the slow-cooker until it boils, then put it on "keep warm" (the lowest setting) -- and then Friday morning, I'll make kugel for the cholent -- I take 1/8 cup of mixed chopped nuts -- I chop them up once a week and usually use cashews, almonds, walnuts and pecans -- 1/8 cup whole spelt flour and 1/8 cup whole rye flour, some filtered water (enough for the consistency you like -- I like very stiff kugel, so I often add more flour after the water) -- form into balls (or spoon in if it's very loose and that's how you like it) and put into the cholent and turn it to high until it boils and then turn it down to "keep warm".)

Anyway, back to the soup. Once the beans were "quick soaked", I drained the beans, added 1/8 cup each of wild rice and black lentils, filled with filtered water, and added a package of frozen winter pureed winter squash. I also added 1 teaspoon each of turmeric, coriander, paprika and garam masala, and about 1/2 teaspoon each of cumin and chili powder.

In the meantime, I cut up (julienne) 4 medium to large onions and sauteed them in a large frying pan with olive oil. When they got soft, I added frozen shiitake mushrooms. I also added some dried crimini mushrooms (after breaking them up between paper towels with a hammer) -- the liquid from the other veggies helps rehydrate them. I cut up two small, skinny eggplants and one nice size zucchini and added them next. I also added some frozen chopped kale (I get fresh organic kale and chop it in the food processor, then I put it in small snack bags and into the freezer -- it stays very well and this makes it easy to add to all sorts of things) and I hand chopped one branch (lots of leaves) of broccoli rabe.

When all the veggies were done, I took about 1/4 of what was there and put it into a container to put in the refrigerator for tomorrow to use in the cholent, took another 1/4 of the veggies and put in the soup (still cooking). Into the rest of the veggies, I put one package of tempeh, cut into small pieces.

I also wanted to put some beans into the tempeh/veggie dish. I took 1/4 cup of adzuki beans and "quick soaked" them. Then I drained them, added 1/4 cup wild rice and the same spices I added to the soup. Tomorrow, I'll add the same spices to the cholent. When the beans and wild rice were done (about 30-40 minutes simmering on a low flame in a covered pot), I added them to the tempeh/veggie dish and stirred the whole thing together and simmered until all the ingredients melded together.

After the soup finished cooking, I made some compote in the same pot as the soup and earlier I had made some cookies.

So now, for Shabbat, I have soup and a main course, cholent for Shabbat afternoon, and compote and cookies for dessert.

Check out my other blogs:

Israel and it's Place in the World
Jewish Singles
Strong Jewish Women

Check out some of my squidoo lenses (articles):

Strong Biblical Women
Strong Biblical Women 2
Why Be Vegetarian
Vegetarianism: Getting Started 1
Vegetarianism: Getting Started 2
Why be Vegetarian?
Rosh Hashana
Quick Vegan Cooking
Creating new recipes from old
Hanuka
About the Jewish Calendar
Witches and Morality
Math Hints 1 -- Adding Fractions
Presidents1: George Washington

C is for Cookie, That's Good Enough for Me

ב"ה

I was in the mood to create some cookies tonight. So I got out my spelt flour (took 1/4 cup) and my almond flour (also 1/4 cup), added some crunchy peanut butter (also 1/4 cup), and some cacao nibs (ok, I know this is getting monotonous, 1/4 cup) and mixed it around a bit. I added stevia (to taste) and then added 1/2 cup vanilla almond milk and stirred it until all the ingredients were well mixed together.

After blending all the ingredients together, I put the dough on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. I made 15 cookies with the above recipe. I baked them at 245 degrees for about an hour, then checked them and baked longer in 15 minute increments until they were to the desired "doneness".

I figured out, based on the above ingredients, that each cookie has about 100 calories.

A Note about Stevia: Stevia, which is an all natural tea leaf that is sweeter than sugar but has no calories and actually is an adaptogen (which means it helps other nutrients and herbs work better), is safe for diabetics and doesn't have the same issues that artificial sweeteners (like aspartame, saccharin and sucralose) have. It comes in different forms -- liquid and powder being the most common -- and some versions have added erythritol (which is also calorie free and safe for diabetics and naturally occurring, but, like other "sugar alcohols" -- like sorbitol, mannitol and maltitol -- can cause digestive issues). The reason I don't usually give quantities with stevia is that it depends on which stevia you use. For the most part, liquids sweeten at the rate of 60 drops is equivalent to on cup of sugar, whereas stevia powders with no additives it takes about 1/4 teaspoon to sweeten like a cup of sugar. Stevias with erythritol (like some currently available in grocery stores) often take more -- one I used for a while takes a bit over 2 teaspoons.

Check out my other blogs:

Israel and it's Place in the World
Jewish Singles
Strong Jewish Women

Check out some of my squidoo lenses (articles):

Strong Biblical Women
Strong Biblical Women 2
Why Be Vegetarian
Vegetarianism: Getting Started 1
Vegetarianism: Getting Started 2
Why be Vegetarian?
Rosh Hashana
Quick Vegan Cooking
Creating new recipes from old
Hanuka
About the Jewish Calendar
Witches and Morality
Math Hints 1 -- Adding Fractions
Presidents1: George Washington

Who Wants to be a Vegan?

ב"ה

So my Mom and I went yet again for me to try out for "Who Wants to be a Millionaire". This is my 7th time trying out, the 5th time going to take the test while also going to be in the audience. It seems as though whenever we go to be in the audience I, ב"ה, pass the test. But I hadn't been there in the audience for three years -- this having to do with Jeopardy! -- I took the Jeopardy! test on line, was called into an interview, was called to be on the show (twice -- the first time they asked me to be on was חול המועד פסח Hol HaMoed Pesah -- the intermediate days of Passover when I couldn't make it, so they called me back on ערב יום כיפור Erev Yom Kippur -- the day before Yom Kippur -- to come to California to be on Jeopardy!, taping in November, airing in early 2009).

From Jeopardy!, I was told I couldn't be on another game show for 6 months; "Millionaire", on the other hand, required me to wait a year before taking the test again. And, since they tests aren't given all year long, I couldn't go back to take the test again until this year.

Ok, so let's call that one long diversion. Whenever my Mom and I go to NY (or anywhere else) we like to sample the food. But, for the most part, I haven't had the opportunity to eat at a good vegan restaurant because of the geography of most of the vegan restaurants on the Jewish Database on Shamash.org. But today, after not finding a good enough geography for us, I looked again, using a map that showed where on the map the restaurants were and found a vegan restaurant very near Penn Station called Loving Hut.

I have to tell you, though I think they do most of their business by take-out (besides being near Penn Station, they are also quite near the Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT), where, BTW, I went Part Time for three years before going back to college Full Time) because there aren't many tables (and the tables only seat two) but the food is delicious and the service is first class. I had a delicious lentil soup and a tofu and vegetables dish that they redid to accommodate my diet. I also had some lemon water to drink and a banana smoothie. My Mom had a bowl of tofu and udon noodle soup with sea vegetable (I love sea vegetables, so I used the chopsticks to pick the sea vegetable out of the soup) and a vegan burger with a side salad. Both were delicious. (My mom took the house dressing, a ginger and carrot dressing, on the side because she wasn't sure she'd like it -- then she asked for seconds).  Also, when the check came, there was no sticker shock. The prices were very reasonable.

I heartily recommend this restaurant to anyone who enjoys good, healthy vegan food.

Check out my other blogs:

Israel and it's Place in the World
Jewish Singles
Strong Jewish Women

Check out some of my squidoo lenses (articles):

Strong Biblical Women
Strong Biblical Women 2
Why Be Vegetarian
Vegetarianism: Getting Started 1
Vegetarianism: Getting Started 2
Why be Vegetarian?
Rosh Hashana
Quick Vegan Cooking
Creating new recipes from old
Hanuka
About the Jewish Calendar
Witches and Morality
Math Hints 1 -- Adding Fractions
Presidents1: George Washington

Avocado's Number

ב"ה

There's nothing like the holidays to make one come up with new recipes. I was supposed to go to a friend for supper last night (but the heat kept me home) and I wanted to make something to bring with me to eat, so, because it was יום טוב (Yom Tov -- holiday days) and I could cook, I decided I was going to make a salad that would be an entire meal in one. I also decided to try to put in all the colors of the vegetation rainbow.

I boiled up 1/2 cup dry whole spelt orzo. While I was doing that, I also sauteed up an onion and some frozen shiitake mushrooms. In the meantime, while the food was cooking, I started cutting up the "rainbow" -- for red: Apple (one whole, chopped), tomato (1/3 to 1/2 container of grape tomatoes cut into four), and dried cranberries (cranberries with apple juice and sunflower or safflower oil -- 2 Tablespoons) -- for orange/yellow: carrot (one-two coarsely grated) -- green: cucumber/Kirby (three Kirbies or one small cucumber diced) -- blue/purple: dried blueberries (see the comments on the dried cranberries -- 1 Tablespoon).

After the orzo and onions/mushrooms were cooked, I cooled them (in a room with a fan -- that helps it cool faster) and added them to the "rainbow". I also added 1 Tablespoon organic extra virgin olive oil and 2 Tablespoons white wine vinegar or balsamic vinegar. It came out so good that the first time I made it, I ate just about all of it in one sitting. The most recent time I made it (ok, this was tonight and it was only the second time) I also added 1/4 of a 10 ounce package of frozen broccoli florets. I love the way broccoli tastes in salads.

I also made a buckwheat pasta and sauce dish for Yom Tov. I opened a small can (not the really small can, but not the really larige can) of whole tomatoes. I sauteed up an onion and some mushrooms as above. I also added quartered, sliced zucchini and eggplant (the long skinny type). When the veggies were done, I added the can of tomatoes and then I added my favorite spices -- turmeric, coriander, cumin, paprika, chili powder, and garam masala (and sometimes brown mustard seed) -- 1/2 teaspoon of all except the cumin and chili (which I used 1/4 teapoon of each). I cooked 1/2 package of buckwheat soba noodles. When that was done, I added the pasta to the sauce and served. It was delicious.

Check out my other blogs:

Israel and it's Place in the World
Jewish Singles
Strong Jewish Women

Check out some of my squidoo lenses (articles):

Strong Biblical Women
Strong Biblical Women 2
Why Be Vegetarian
Vegetarianism: Getting Started 1
Vegetarianism: Getting Started 2
Why be Vegetarian?
Rosh Hashana
Quick Vegan Cooking
Creating new recipes from old
Hanuka
About the Jewish Calendar
Witches and Morality
Math Hints 1 -- Adding Fractions
Presidents1: George Washington

A Little Q and L

ב"ה

Lately I have become convinced that the major problem with with the American diet is that people let too many other people cook for them. Instead of starting off with fresh ingredients or ingredients like unprocessed grains and beans, most Americans either order out or "cook" by warming up frozen meals or mixes. But there are always ingredients in these foods that can cause health issues, whether it's unhealthy saturated or trans fat or mono-sodium glutamate or some chemical that didn't exist in the 6 days of creation.

I have been reading a few things about diet. One of them was a link that keeps popping up on my Facebook page and the other was a Rodale Press (Prevention Magazine) book I just bought called "Diabetes without Drugs" and I decided that I'm going to make some changes in my diet by eating less processed food. I can still eat "Food for Life" sprouted corn tortillas since they are made only from organic sprouted corn, water, sea salt and lime. But the veggie burgers I've been eating have a problem -- they have canola oil which is one of the things that I am trying to phase out of my diet. So I made some burgers for myself last week with organic oatmeal, frozen mixed vegetables, some sauteed veggies (like onions and garlic), some water and a bit of whole rye flour to hold it all together -- then I sauteed/fried them in olive oil (which I sprayed from an oil spray bottle that one of my best friends bought me for a birthday present a number of years ago). After that, I wrapped them in aluminum foil and put them in the freezer. I put them between two of the sprouted corn tortillas in my sandwich machine for about 30 minutes.

So tonight, I decided to make something simple but different -- I took 1/4 cup each of red quinoa and red lentils. I carefully washed the quinoa (to remove the bitter natural substance that acts as a natural pesticide), put it with the lentils and 1 1/2 cups or so of filtered water. I added my favorite spices -- 1/2 teaspoon each of turmeric, coriander, ginger, garam masala, and 1/4 teaspoon cumin, paprika, fenugreek, and cinnamon. Meanwhile, I slivered up an onion and sauteed it in olive oil, also slivered up a few cloves garlic (which I let sit for 1/2 hour because that's supposed to release the good stuff in garlic). After the onion was soft and a bit caramelized, I added 1/2 cup sliced, frozen shiitake mushrooms and sauteed for a few minutes. After the garlic sat for 30 minutes, I added the garlic (I had turned off the onions and mushrooms to keep them from burning, so I turned the flame back on then added the garlic) and cooked for a bit, until all the veggies were cooked through. By then the quinoa/lentil mixture was done, so I added the veggies. It turned out delicious! I hope you all like it.

I would just like to add that I did a variation of this recipes where I used 1/4 cup each of red quinoa, wild rice, red lentils and black (French) lentils. I also added sliced zucchini and skinny eggplant to the veggies. Other than that, this was pretty much the same as before.

Check out my other blogs:

Israel and it's Place in the World
Jewish Singles
Strong Jewish Women

Check out some of my squidoo lenses (articles):

Strong Biblical Women
Strong Biblical Women 2
Why Be Vegetarian
Vegetarianism: Getting Started 1
Vegetarianism: Getting Started 2
Why be Vegetarian?
Rosh Hashana
Quick Vegan Cooking
Creating new recipes from old
Hanuka
About the Jewish Calendar
Witches and Morality
Math Hints 1 -- Adding Fractions
Presidents1: George Washington

The Rice is Wild!

See merchandise with this design at

http://www.printfection.com/compugraphd/Other/_s_357110

B"H

I thought it would be nice to tell you all how it is that I go through the process of coming up with a new recipe (well, at least the sort of recipe I get by getting ideas from other recipes).

Today, I had a bit of extra time with nothing much to do and no one to compete with for the kitchen, so I decided I was going to try two recipes from last month's issue of Prevention.

One was a recipe listed in an article in the August 2010 issue where they collected "no-cook" recipes from readers. For me this was not exactly "no-cook" since it called for onions and I have a reaction to raw onions (I can't even touch raw onions, so I wear plastic gloves when I peel and chop onions) so I sauteed the onion in a bit of olive oil (I have an oil spray). I used some of the onions for the other recipe, too, but I'll talk about that later. This was a recipe for Chilled Cucumber-Avocado Soup. It called for 2 unpeeled cucumbers, 2 avocados, a cup of vegetable broth (I used filtered water), 2/3 cup each yogurt and milk (I used 1 1/3 cups almond "milk"), a couple of tablespoons chopped onion (that's where I used the sauteed onions), a tablespoon lemon juice (I just used the juice of one nice sized lemon), chopped mint (I used fresh basil), a teaspoon of vinegar -- I used white wine vinegar. I skipped the "pinch of cayenne". I pureed the whole business in a food processor (it didn't puree smoothly -- there are still some lumps, but it's good).

The second recipe I made was Spanish Style Rice Salad. But, since I'm not a huge fan of rice, I used 1 cup wild rice (which I love and use often) -- cooked about 45 minutes in 2 to 2 1/2 cups filtered water. I also used half the olive oil, basil instead of oregano, used a mix of white wine vinegar and balsamic vinegar, used 1 container of orange cherry tomatoes instead of grape tomatoes, 1 small can (drained) sliced black olives instead of 1/4 cup pimiento stuffed olives, sliced, used 1/2 the olive oil (1/8 cup instead of 1/4 cup), and didn't add garlic (I would have sauteed that also, with the onions, if I had had some in the house). I cooked the wild rice, let it cool, added the cooled chopped onion, quartered the tomatoes, chopped up the cucumber, dumped in the can of black olives, chopped up the basil, added the oil and the vinegar, and mixed it all together until the ingredients were mixed well. I put it in a container to put in the refrigerator.

I liked the way both of these recipes came out and I think I'll try them again.

Check out my other blogs:

Israel and it's Place in the World
Jewish Singles
Strong Jewish Women

Check out some of my squidoo lenses (articles):

Strong Biblical Women
Strong Biblical Women 2
Why Be Vegetarian
Vegetarianism: Getting Started 1
Vegetarianism: Getting Started 2
Why be Vegetarian?
Rosh Hashana
Quick Vegan Cooking
Creating new recipes from old
Hanuka
About the Jewish Calendar
Witches and Morality
Math Hints 1 -- Adding Fractions
Presidents1: George Washington

Smoothie Operator

ב"ה

A few weeks back, my Mom and I went to "the city" (in our neck of the woods, that means New York City, a place where both of us have lived at some point in our lives) and after taking care of what we were there for, we walked from the West 60s to Penn Station to take the train home. It's been a few years since the two of us went together and my Mom has slowed down a bit, so it was harder for her to do the walk than the last time.

We stopped at a wonderful health food store on 8th Avenue, but we didn't sit while there, so my Mom wanted to stop some place we could sit. So we stopped at a Starbucks. Because I'm vegan (and diabetic, so I can't have sugar or sweetened soy milk), they made me a smoothie with bananas and strawberries. It was delicious.

So it got me to start making my own -- I take 2-3 bananas, a bag of frozen strawberries, 1 1/2 to 2 cups of unsweetened almond milk, sometimes I add 1/4 to 1/2 bag frozen mixed berries or frozen mango, and then I add stevia to taste (or your sweetener of choice, or no sweetener if you think it's sweet enough without it) and whir it together in a blender. (If it's too thick, I add some filtered water to help it whir better.)

This is a good start -- if there's anything else you'd like to put in (other fruit, some nuts, etc.), experiment. With the summer heat (we've had temps in the high 80s to the high 90s), this is very refreshing. It's also very filling.

Check out my other blogs:

Israel and it's Place in the World
Jewish Singles
Jewish Sandwich

Check out my squidoo lenses (articles):

Don't miss my latest Veg*n Themed "lens" -- If you love animals Don't eat them!

Strong Biblical Women
Strong Biblical Women 2
Why Be Vegetarian
Vegetarianism: Getting Started 1
Vegetarianism: Getting Started 2
Rosh Hashana
Quick Vegan Cooking
Creating new recipes from old
Strong Biblical Women Part 3
Hanuka
About the Jewish Calendar
Witches and Morality
Presidential Trivia Quiz
Christmas and the Jewish Single
Math Hints 1 -- Adding Fractions
Presidents1: George Washington
Passover: Holiday of Freedom
Ruth and Naomi
Why I'm a Red Sox Fan