tofu scramble and other goodies

as a winter break project i checked out the book Vegan Brunch by Isa Chandra Moskowitz from the library. besides giving me an excuse to buy nutritional yeast, the results were delicious.  pictured above is her recipe for basic tofu scramble (with some added peppers, onions, and spinach that were on their last legs).  it was an excellent “clear-the-fridge” recipe and gave us a scrumptious breakfast for only 3 bucks.  thrifty, healthy, and YUMMY! if you’re not in the market to buy the book (because brunch is scarce in a working world) check the library or enjoy a selection of recipes from the book available on her website: Post Punk Kitchen.

i was also lucky enough to be gifted another of Moskowitz’s cookbooks by b’s aunt J for christmas.  The Veganomicon provided us with a delicious manzana chile verde this week, a sweet and spicy tomatillo soup with hearty potatoes and cannellini beans.  it was a one-pot, one-hour meal that made for fantastic new year’s day leftovers.  you can find some of the Veganomicon recipes on Post Punk Kitchen, as well.  however, i would suggest investing in this book immediately if you enjoy vegan cooking peppered with sassy commentary and a lack of veggie-burgers.

and did i mention that Moskowitz has relocated from Brooklyn to Portland?!  neat!  all the hip food cats know portland wins, hands fown.  no offense, nyc.

found family

as i pulled out of my apartment complex two days ago, it was snowing.  the snow was beautiful but it was doing that pesky midwestern thing where it blows at a 45 degree angle due to the wind.  as i stopped at the stop sign, i saw a little blob of brown frolicking through the snow, a tiny dog!  since the snow was up to its chin and it was hovering dangerously in front of cars, i decided to pull over and check its tags.  i called the dog and it came over readily, laying down in the snow asking for a belly-rub.  no tags to be seen.

i couldn’t leave the little thing there, so i picked it up and put it in my car.  the humane society was closed so b and i called the two local police departments to report a found dog.  as we were doing this we realized she was in heat (cue: s and b taking a trip to buy newborn-sized diapers…..for a dog).  we took took her back to our place where we discovered she is the friendliest little dog ever, even the cat was convinced (to an extent).

we’ve since put out a sign at the local grocery store and reported the find to the humane society in town.  for now, little dog is being fostered at my parents and my sister is forming an attachment.  she says she’ll take her if no one claims her.

this made me think about family and how some of the most important people/animals are the ones that come into your life by accident because you were there at the right time.  this christmas eve i am thankful for all the people that have found me when the time was right, and i know one little chug that’s thankful for it too.

chicago diner

this week, bt and i ventured into downtown for some bonding time.

for a long while, b has had a book entitled walking chicago, a purse-sized guide to some of chicagos best neighborhoods.  each tour covers between 2 to 5 miles of sidewalk and points out interesting facts about everything from bars to architecture.  b and i tried one of these tours this fall and were so impressed with the beer and food it led us to in wicker park, that i suggested bt and i try another.

i suggested the lakeview/wrigleyville 3 mile tour because (a) it was cold and (b) i figured we’d find more delicious food and beer, a major priority for my foodie self.  while many of the tour’s sights were bars (which i would like to revisit, at night and sans book), we did find some gems along the way.  the main find being a restaurant called the chicago diner located at 3411 N. Halsted

this wonderful little diner has a lot of charm (not tomention a catchy slogan).  wooden booths and retro tables fill the space and the staff is friendly and tattooed.  they served a variety of veggie and vegan options, down to kale (nutritious and seasonal!!) juice and quinoa/avocado tostadas.

and while i am a sucker for anything tasting remotely like mexican food, the tostadas were excellent and bt commented that the mushroom ravioli was also delicious.  i even got a 22oz. fat tire, my current beer of choice which helped with the chicago weather for the rest of the tour.

all in all it was a fantastic spot for lunch with an old friend and i’m anxious to go back again.

if you’re in the chicago area and are into delicious veggie fare, i’d suggest you check it out.

eating animals

i am an avid reader of nonfiction.  i have a bad habit of borrowing more books from the library than i could possibly conquer in a single 4 week check-out period. when i read about the jonathan safran foer’s new book, eating animals, on npr.org in november, i was intrigued.  despite my track record, my intrigue continued across every page of this masterpiece of one man’s personal experience with food.  since i am a regular nonfiction reader and foodie, i didn’t expect this book to move me like it did;  i found myself so emotional that i, regularly, had to put the book down and take a break.  books don’t do this to me, but it hit me like a ton of bricks.

this month marks my sixth in my foray into vegetarianism and, as my recently physical results prove,  my iron and triglycerides are at a fantastic level.   while i had flirted with the idea throughout most of my adolescent and college years, my final transition was fairly abrupt.  i had read all the prerequisite anti-commercialized food books (animal, vegetable, miracle being a particular favorite) but something about seeing food inc. in portland last summer ended my weakness for a quality cheeseburger or taco bell. There, in a one screen movie theatre called cinema 21, i knew i was finished.

i figured that the venture into foer’s book would not be uncharted territory.  i was surprised as i encountered a story not much different than my own fence-riding past, a man who sought out information on a dietary staple and fell down the same rabbit hole i’ve been tumbling down since i received a PETA pamphlet outside a saves the day show in chicago when i was 17.

any vegetarian will tell you that most people do not respond favorably to the vegetarian in the room, often feeling judged for being meat-eaters and preemptively responding in an awkward or defensive way.  there are, of course, those that’ll respond “well, i’ll eat twice as much for you, then” or “i’m a meatarian”, trying to one-up you with a bravado that makes little sense in context.  there are those that claim they share the value but like meat too much to give it up and, honestly, i don’t blame them.  meat is delicious and they probably don’t realize how far-reaching the implications of their chicken sandwhich reach.   while vegetarian, i come in peace in this respect.

i walked away from this book realizing that my commitment to vegetarianism is not because i am opposed to eating animals, it is because of the way those animals are raised and treated.  the way that the land is perverted and polluted as a result of our desire for meat that is cheap.  in constant search for a deal,  some meats seem cheap up front but the price we pay comes in our taxes and medical expenses.  we are forced to clean up what the CAFOs are doing to the land simply to have safe drinking water.  we are adding cholesterol and fat to our diet because our meat is not as lean as it could be if it were fed a natural diet of grass.  we are raising the price of water and grain because animals consume more of it than we do, putting an enormous amount of calories and resources into an animal that produces a small amount of calories on our plate as a steak.  we are breeding superbugs and flu viruses like H1N1 through the close confinement of multiple animals with compromised immune systems allowing for mutation and pandemic.  once pandemic ensues, we are unable to treat infections because the complications of these bugs are immune to the antibiotics we imbibe daily, brush our teeth with, or wash our hands with.  we are exposing children to chemicals like chlorine by using them to clean the meat and then wondering why issues like autism are so rampent and unexplainable.

i think the saddest thing is that none of the above expenses need to occur if we were willing to eat meat in a proportion similar to our hunter-gatherer roots and pay the actual price it’s worth; downsize the farms and allow the price of meat to inflate just as other commodities have.  feed animals a natural diet and allow them to fatten up naturally and healthfully.  allow heritage breeds to come back, eliminating breeds that are genetically unable to live past adolescence or mate without artificial insemination.  unfortunately, all of these things require time and we are not a patient people.  our health and environment don’t seem to be enough collateral for people to make the change.

no one needs to give up meat if we give up the idea that meat is necessary at every meal.  we can create it responsibly and slaughter it with reverence for the fact that we are them and they are us.  we are dependent on them and they on us and that deserves respect and compassion.  no animal is just a commodity or a vessel for human sadism and exploitation, not even to mention the exploitation of workers in meat production lines. the end, in this case, most certainly does not justify the means and my vegetarianism is a stand against that. this is central to my value of compassion and respect, this is why i give up the crunchwrap supreme and tuna salad.   this is why i will be transitioning to vegan before i am 26.

while foer’s book focuses mainly on the animal and human abuse suffered due to the production of cheap meat, the problems do not end there.  the environmental and medical effects are far reaching and we are only aware of a fraction of the foundation we are making with every bite we take.  while giving up meat can be difficult, i think it is something to think about this holiday season.  if not for the animals, for the earth, for your bank account, for your health, or for your (or your future) children’s health.  if you’re not ready to take that step, at least consider minimizing your meat purchases, or educate yourself on the facts of our food production system.  at least then you can say you’re making an informed decision.

a few books i would suggest:
1. Eating Animals by Jonathan Safran Foer
2. The Omnivore’s Dillemma by Michael Pollan
3. Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver
4. Fast Food Nation by Eric Schlosser
5. Food Matters by Mark Bittman

a few DVDs to consider:
1. Food Inc.
2. King Corn

also consider:
1. slow food movement

happy holidays all.

by the mighty mississippi

i would dare to suggest that my college campus does fall better than any other campus in the midwest.  

planted on the rumored site of prehistoric glacial activity, the hills of augustana college make for a winter nuisance (read: my car sliding perpendicularly down  a street bordering campus, my attempts to pump the brake useless) and an autumn indulgence.

b and i made the trek back to rock island for a halloween extravaganza, fitting in a short walk on campus before heading back to the  northland on sunday.  the experience brought about a nostalgia that i never expected to feel while enrolled as a student there.  always anxious for movement, i figured i’d run screaming into the adult world.  i’m not sure what i expected to find there, but it is definitely a horse of a different color.

the beauty of the college experience is that we are such a living, breathing part of it, that it is nearly impossible to see it or appreciate it, while it is happening.  if we were to get metacognitive about it, we’d likely ruin the purity of our trudge out of teenage angst and into our looser, grownup skins.

watching the few students that were up and about at 10:30 on a sunday, completing their “walks of shame” or heading out for breakfast, you realize how that place goes on without you.   suddenly your place belongs to someone new, little changed but everything different.  they are skipping class, staying up late, drinking too much, struggling with literary analysis, finding themselves, cramming for finals, questioning their faith, enjoying a quiet moment in the library, and falling in love.  they, like yourself at 19,  are unaware at how fortunate they are to be inundated with information and opportunities.  under the pressure cooker, they are never the same people for long.  as adults, we are often more shelf-stable.

while my desire to return to college life is starting to dull to a throb rather than sting, the quad cities still make me homesick.  a chicago suburbanite from birth,  i had no idea that four years in the QCA would have me in tears when i packed my u-haul for the move to wisconsin.  local color is everything and the quad cities has it.  while the QCA is not without its grit and closedmindedness, i have yet to find a burrito that compares to la rancherita’s for the price, a coffee shop with a blues guitarist like Ellis Kell, or a microbrewery with the “live and let live” atmosphere of Blue Cat or Bent River.  i am hard pressed to find the  cast of characters i encountered daily while i lived in the QCA full time. i cannot find a vendor with dirt under his fingernails at the farmer’s market downtown.   i cannot ride my bike along one of the biggest rivers in the united states to work from wisconsin.

the mississippi has a deep, melancholic feel.  standing on its banks you feel instantly connected to every place it has been and is going. you are huck finn, lewis and clark, and a riverboat captain.  i’ve been low-income citizens near the dam, reeling in polluted fish to 5 gallon buckets while the pelicans stand by.  i’ve seen it flood the first two blocks of the city of davenport after heavy snowmelt.  i’ve seen it still like glass at dawn and rippled by the wind midwinter.  i’ve dunked my feet and chased huge farm geese under the I-74 bridge.  i’ve thought about how that river helped build the midwest region i know so well.  i’ve biked (unintentionally) through a riverside swarm of mayflies in august and waited 30 minutes for a barge to pass through the arsenal bridge.  i’ve crossed it daily and absorbed a new perspective like a sponge.

i am a young soul in love with old things.  i am anxious, unsettled, progressive, and temperamental but i am always grasping helplessly at the past.  trying to hook a history place context to this personality i know.   context is important to identity, so are rivers.  langston hughes knew his shit.  while i cannot identify with him from a racial perspective, this poem never fails to make me feel more connected to humanity.

The Negro Speaks of Rivers by Langston Hughes

I’ve known rivers:
I’ve know rivers ancient as the world and older than the
flow of human blood in human veins.

My soul has grown deep like the rivers.

I bathed in the Euphrates when dawns were young.
I built my hut near the Congo and it lulled me to sleep.
I looked upon the Nile and raised the pyramids above it.
I heard the singing of the Mississippi when Abe Lincoln
went down to New Orleans, and I’ve seen its muddy
bosom turn all golden in the sunset.

I’ve known rivers:
Ancient, dusky rivers.

My soul has grown deep like the rivers.

open mic nights

i find open mic nights fascinating.

for some amount of weeks, b and i have been attending open mic night at the nook.  this small coffee shop is one of the few places in the area that provides filling, nutritious options for the vegetarian/vegan crowd as well as beer and mighty leaf tea.

recently, the bathroom of the nook underwent a creative remodeling.  the bare walls were equipped with a variety of sharpies and an invitation to decorate.  while the majority of the graffiti is scribbled by teens content to adorn the wall with their brilliant musings about how tall people are the only ones that can reach above the mirror, there are a few nuggets of wisdom that leave you feeling better about your trip to the ladies.

i dig that gatherings like open mics draw such a diverse audience.  i think people, regardless of age, are hungry for community.  we are so used to our technological interaction that we rarely realize we are in need of eye contact and bodily warmth in a space.  there are a few teens who warble their angst and a vietnam vet with a large beard who reads poetry, heavy with couplets.  there’s a fantastic mandolin/guitar player who accompanies multiple performers, a man who reads his short fiction, and a few couples performing songs by johnny cash.  the other night, a drunk man asked me if i was indian before he began to sway and wave his mug in the air, demanding to hear joan baez.  while unusual, i loved that he was a happy and friendly drunk.  the room was dim, i warmed my hands on a steaming glass of coffee, enjoyed that caffeine buzz i get since i stopped drinking coffee all day, and felt part of that small family of strangers.

i think there’s something comforting about rough edges.  while  great performers amaze me, i think i have a softer spot in my heart for those who fumble over a few words, need to start over, or have a quake in their voice.  it reminds me that we are all human, just trying to find a way to express all that junk we carry around.

delicious chili dip

this dip comes courtesy of k and k’s halloween social.  very simple, but incredible. excellent for cold weather, parties, and (i imagine) sporting events.

delicious chili dip

1 package neufchatel cheese
1 can vegetarian chili
shredded mexican cheese
baked tortilla chips

• let neufchatel cheese soften.  spread into 8 x 8 casserole dish
• layer can of vegetarian chili on top of neufchatel cheese
• sprinkle shredded cheese on top of chili
• bake at 350° until cheese is melted and heated through
• dip tortilla chips vigorously

black bean tostadas

black bean tostadas

6 baked corn tostadas
15 oz can black beans
1 lime
1 tsp. cumin
1 avocado
3 roma tomatoes
1/2 white onion
1/2 medium jalepeno, minced
1 clove garlic, minced
shredded cheddar cheese to taste

• preheat broiler
• petite dice tomatoes and onion.  squeeze juice from 1/2 lime over mix and add jalepeno and garlic.  let flavors mingle for ten minutes.
• rinse black beans and combine with cumin, salt and pepper to taste, and juice from 1/2 lime.  pulse in food processor until pastelike.
• smooth black bean mixture over tostadas, top with cheese and place under broiler for about a minute until cheese melts
• top tostadas with sliced avocado and pico mixture.
• enjoy with corona

 

my breakup with shampoo.

i have quit washing my hair. before you jump to conclusions and get all disgusted with me, let me clarify.

while i have never considered (nor do i now) myself an outdoorsy person, my interests (and b) have been steering me toward all things natural and sustainable in the last few years.  i still don’t like dirt under my fingernails.  and i would probably have an aneurysm if a tick ever got on me.  but i am now a tentative geo-cacher, a proponent of the ‘let it mellow’ philosophy, a vegetarian, and an explorer of natural alternatives for chemical cleaners.  the latter bringing me to this blog post.

recently, i read an article about phosphorous and its effect on wisconsin water ecosystems.  anyone that had seen a bright green, stagnant body of water has witnessed the effects of an excess of phosphorous in water.  algae blooms feed off the chemical  pollution and overgrow, preventing much needed sunlight from reaching underwater plant life, destroying the oxygen content of the water and creating “dead zones” such as the one at the mouth of the mighty mississippi.  the algae overgrowth can be remedied by aerating the water but the chemicals still need to be removed before to prevent water toxicity from harming animals or people that come in contact with the water.  phosphates can be found in anything from dishwasher detergent to fertilizer.

while nothing in this article was wholly related to shampoo, it sparked my interest in pursuing natural cleansers for both my dishes and my body.  i switched to natural dishsoap and bought arm & hammer laundry detergent. i began doing more research that led me to shampoo.

sodium lauryl sulfate, shampoo’s magic ingredient, is under increasing attack for its role in eliminating hair oil and creating the luxurious lather we so crave.  while no one likes a greasy scalp, this chemical is also used to degrease engines and clean floors as well as lyse (read: destroy their membrane in order to extract DNA) cells.  so, i got to thinking: i’m putting a chemical on my head daily that could be used to destroy my cells and then paying to clean that chemical from the very water that i will put back into my body in food and drink.  i wouldn’t usually think of bathing in, or imbibing, any chemical from my dad’s garage, so i decided to go SLS-free. this brought b and i to j.r.liggetts, a biodegradable natural shampoo bar made entirely of natural oils.

despite its earth-friendliness, it left my hair dry.  so i immediately began looking for a natural conditioner and found that apple cider vinegar works to close off the cuticle of the hair, naturally smoothing the shaft and adding shine.  i, hesitantly, decided to try it but ,upon feeling the  silky smooth effect, i am a convert.  my naturally wavy hair is incredibly soft and shiny and i’ve only shampooed it twice this week.  i also, fortunately, don’t smell like a pickle.  while i’ll be sticking with the shampoo bar, b has been using baking soda as a replacement.  i’ve listed her proportion below.  enjoy!

baking soda shampoo

2 Tbsp to 2 cups of water, dissolve well, massage into scalp.

cider vinegar conditioner

1/4 cup of ACV to 2 cups water,  pour over head after shampooing, rinse well.