My Salad Days

ב"ה

I'm not a huge salad person. I know that's probably a bit surprising, since I've been a vegetarian for 33 years, but for me to like a salad it has to be easy to make and delicious (as in well worth the trouble).

But I've gotten myself into a salad routine these days -- I take 1/2 container of grape tomatoes, 1 medium or 1/2 large cucumber (or 2 small Kirby cukes), 1 avocado, 1 can of sliced black olives (small can) and 1-2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar and a few sprays of olive oil (I use a pump spray).

Cut up all the veggies, add the olives (drain them first), add the vinegar and oil, mix everything together.... It's good with a sandwich (or without) and I also like it with my smoothie.

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Israel and it's Place in the World
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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
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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

Giving Thanks and Passing the Mashed Potatoes (et. al.)

ב"ה

People have a tendency to associate Thanksgiving with a huge Turkey. But when one is vegetarian (which I've been for 33 years), Thanksgiving takes on a new meaning.

Stuffing that omnivores look forward to actually stuffing into the rear end of a dead turkey, I, as a vegan, look forward to baking in my oven and eating with vegetables.

I made two stuffings this Thanksgiving -- wild rice with chestnuts and cranberries and bread stuffing. The wild rice stuffing was wild rice, spices (turmeric, coriander, cumin, paprika, a little chili powder), one small bag of chestnuts (I get them pre-cooked and pre-peeled in a plastic/aluminum pouch), and some dried fruit juice sweetened cranberries. I also put in a bit of onion/garlic/scallion (sauteed in a bit of olive oil). I cooked the wild rice (I started with 1/2 cup raw), with the spices. After the wild rice was cooked (about 45 minutes) and cooled a bit, I added the chestnuts (which I cut into smaller pieces) and the cranberries. I mixed it all together and stored it in a container in the refrigerator (I made it on Sunday) and heated it up on Thursday before the guests came.

The bread stuffing (which I currently have a batch of in the oven) I made by cubing the bread (I made 4 cups of cubes with 6 pieces of Ezekiel bread), toasted them in the oven (at 245 degrees for a long time -- until they were all toasted nicely) after which, I put them in a paper back for anywhere from a few hours to a couple of days.

I then take the bread cubes, add 1 cup vegetarian vegetable stock, 1 teaspoon coriander, 1/2 teaspoon cumin, some chives and cilantro (if you don't like those herbs and spices, substitute your own -- I don't like the "Scarborough Fair" spices, except parsley ("parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme") -- and a teaspoon of arrowroot. I mixed in some sauteed onions, garlic and scallions and mixed all the ingredients together in a bowl, then transferred it to an 8X8 pan and put it in the oven at 245 degrees until the top was crusty. (It can be stored in the frig and warmed up before the meal.)

I also remade a soup I had originally made the week before when I had a mild bronchitis. I sauteed up onions, garlic and scallions (the garlic I let sit 30 minutes after cutting up to release the medicinal substances) and shiitake mushrooms in a bit of olive oil (I use a spray). In the meantime, I took 1/4 cup each black and red lentils and green split peas, along with 1/4 cup of wild rice, and put them in a pot with filtered water, veggie stock (1-4 cups -- according to your taste and sodium needs*) and 1 teaspoon each turmeric, coriander, paprika, garam masala and 1/2 teaspoon cumin and chili powder. Boil it up and let it simmer until the beans are tender and then add the veggies and cook a bit longer until the flavors meld.

* boxed veggie stock has a lot of sodium. I happen to need more sodium in my diet -- I hate salt and I was told I need 2000-2500 mg of sodium because I drink a lot of liquid, but most people do not need more than 1500 mg per day, so keep an eye on the sodium or make your own vegetable stock

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 -- part two

ב"ה

I've been making the cookies from C is for Cookie, That's Good Enough for Me and I have found that the way I've come up with doing them now is the best and quickest cookie recipe I have found -- my friend Michelle Nevada thought I should call them "Haifa Cookies" because I was telling her what I put it -- 1/2 cup of 5 different ingredients -- so she said, "Haifa cup of this, Haifa cup of that...". Her 5 year old son was nearby and he started singing "Haifa cup of this, Haifa cup of that..." over and over again, so I told her if I ever sell these (or maybe just to get people to link to "Bayit and Garden") that he should make a YouTube video for me.

In any case, the ingredients that I use "Haifa cup" of are: Spelt flour, almond flour (or meal), organic crunchy peanut butter (no added sugar or fat), cacao nibs, almond "milk". In addition to this, I put in stevia to taste. I use a powdered stevia which I put in with the flours and nibs, then add the peanut butter (and blend them all together as well as I can) and then I add the almond "milk" (if it's still a bit stiff, I put in a bit more "milk" until the consistency is as I like it.

After I get all the ingredients together, I line a cookie sheet with parchment paper. Then I either wet my hands and shape the cookies with my hands or I drop then on the paper with a couple of spoons. I bake them at 245 degrees for an hour, flip them over, than bake for another 30 minutes. Then I put them in a container. I love them so much that I make them whenever I can (they are easy). They make a good nibble.

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

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