Sugar Withdrawal

I ordered the book Eat To Live by Dr. Joel Furhman. I have been re-reading posts from last year and decided it is time that I take a serious look at healthy food and living. Of course when it comes to holiday time again (once a month or bi-monthly) I will do something that makes life a treat, but I am really wanting to make a change and lose a little flour. Geish! I can't believe I said that, I was a whole grain organic baker for a living for 5 years before going into teaching (health and life skills/ occupational family and consumer science) and a cooking mom before that.... freshly milled whole grain flour IS HEALTHY right! Yes, I cannot deny, but I think I need a little break from wheat and easy going more with the whole grain. Now I will not give up all that I enjoy, just not make it daily or even every week habits.

I don't have my book in yet, Thursday is the big day according to amazon. I will also get my circular knitting needle on this day so I can knit two socks at the same time. I am looking forward to this, but I know it will be a slow process!

Here's a food report:

I have been taking meal ideas from both Bryanna Clark-Grogan and Dreena Burton cookbooks for meals. I know there are some new cookbooks out, but I just need to stick in my personal comfort zone for awhile.

BRYANNA's Sharp Chedda' Cheez

Bryanna has some nice cheez recipes in the previous Vegan Feast newsletters. I was impressed with their goodness when the original recipes calling for Emes vegan gelatin came out, then we went through the fall of the company and the wonderful cheez recipe needed a new ingredient that would give it the perfect texture. IRISH MOSS powder was one suggestion and it is what I have available, as stinky as it is. I had to order a pound of the green powder and was asked by other coop members how I intended to use it. When I told them it was for vegan cheez making, I think they thought I was losing my mind and when I first made the cheez using it I wondered whether it was a mistake also. As you can see in the picture below it is green inside the glass measure..... it also smells pretty fishy. But once all is added and cooked the way the recipe says, the green goes away and it doesn't smell or taste the way the Irish moss powder does.

Here is the cheez topping the Mexican Lasagna in Dreena Burton's latest book Eat, Drink, and Be Vegan. You can see the chedda and the frozen block of cheez in the background. It even browns beautifully, however Dreena's recipe says to cover for the main baking process and then uncover for the last few minutes, I left the casseroles uncovered the entire baking time. Here's "close-up", it appears to me that the peice I ate is a little blurry. It was delish though and I, for the first time in my entire life, ate avocado.
Next up is the enchilada casserole that I tried from Dreena's Eat, Drink, and Be Vegan Cookbook. I had it for supper and then again for lunch and the last of it will be for lunch today. I like it and again a new avacado experience. The bad thing about avacado is the $1.84 price for one.

Lasy quick picture is of a lunch salad and homemade croutons using the innards of the red pepper sage bread that I made for the muffaletta awhile back. Hope your lunches are healthy and nutritious.

Ice Ice Baby

The ice storm on the first of December was followed by another storm system that left a mess of broken tree branches in our yard. Here is the view walking out of our back door onto the porch, the tree still had some leaves left on it. This branch also fell on the roof of my car, but fortunately no damage was done.

In February this year we had a similar storm that caused power outages across our state, to the point our county and many surrounding us were considered at the level of federal help. We were with no electricity for almost two weeks. This time 6 hours (We were worried!), but relieved when the electricity came back on.

In the mean time I got pictures of the stocking DD and I made. Her's is a black velvet with some fancy painting decoration on it and is in the shape of a feminine high heel. We got the idea from a book about Christmas by Martha Stewart. I wanted mine to look more like a teacher's stocking as this has been a big event in my life this year. The guys stockings ended up being purchased ... yes they "cheated", but they did work on them for a few hours with us and we still have the material cut and ready to turn into a stocking someday. Matthew wanted a more complex design though, something with a symbol of a bear or resembling the renassance time period. I was lost as to how to preceed with this without a pattern and instructions.

BREAKING CRAFT NEWS!

Knitting is a popular past time recently revived in popularity, so I learned to knit recently. After mastering the lessons in the teach yourself how to knit book my sis gave me a while back I was mesmerized by the idea of a warm pair of socks to make for my feet, but didn't want to spend any money on a pattern that I did not know if I had the skills for. I surfed the net and found a free sock pattern to try and I created one knit sock (pictured above) and yes, it has a few mistakes, but I think I am hooked ... no "needled". I know that if I try to make another sock like my first it would not turn out the same becasue I would want to correct my mistakes so I decided to turn that one into a stocking for a special "my first sock" memory. After running around the house with one sock on showing all I could find who were thrilled with me (one dog and a cat that decided I could talk all I want as long as she was petted) I knew what I wanted for Christmas... tools to pursue my sock hobby. Come Dancer, come prancer, come donner come .... Amazon.com. I found what will be my Christams present, but I'll get it after Christmas. The book is KNIT TWO SOCKS AT THE SAME TIME by Melissa Morgan Oakes. I like knitting because it relaxes me, but it is hard for me to set it down before a project is finished.

ON THE FOOD FRONT

Busy at work still, but not as much as it has been over the past few months as I am adjusted to my new schedule and organized my class room in a way that works for me. A few things that have been cooking at my house include recipes from Dreena Burtons new cookbook called Eat, Drink, and Be Vegan.

Dreena's Palak Soyabina Panira p. 137. I really liked this dish, but since I am the only greens fan here I am the only one who ate this dish, but this was fine because I really did like this!
Blackened tofu (p. 121) served with baked squash and a romaine salad with pomegranate seeds. This tofu has a spicy bite to it, but I liked it well enough. I had never tried blackened anything before trying this dish, so it was a new experience for me.

Dreena's white chocolate chip with macadamia nut cookies p. 202. DH's favorite! I made the five spice almond cookies also which were my favorite and DH ranked them his second favorite.
Then a few Bryanna Grogan recipes...

Rosemary red potatoes from her Italian Nonna cookbook (yummmmmm).



Neetballs that are baked dry and ready to add to a savory sauce. The powdery substance on the outside is whole wheat flour and these actually stay together when put in a sauce to cook. They swell up while taking liquid from the cooking sauce making them a treat that iI have served at previous holiday functions. I am planning on using them to make a saucy crockpot style neetballs sometime during the holiday. They take some hands on prep time, but they can be made ahead and frozen to have handy for the day I am ready to cook.


I have also been enjoying hot soymilk cappuchinos using my soyajoy soymilk maker. I like these with a little carob powder, stevia, vanilla, and instant decaf coffee granules. CHEERS and I hope everyone is staying warm, we are trying to.

Weight Loss and Lunch

HALF OF ME BLOG

Check out the entry from the link, a great
testimony of what diet and exercise can do.

I was browsing around on some other sites, checking out other blog links. Although I really wasn't looking for anything special I did find a humorous blog that mentioned certain words in her post just to up the site meter count, unfortunately she joked that it was only perverted teen boys who would probably look. However she did discuss healthy food and weight loss and mentioned Pasta Queen who has lost a lot of weight. I checked out Pasta Queen and am pretty impressed with her computer skills. Her pictures turn when you click them and one picture shows her at a very obese weight and then today, she also has an overlay of a 10 pound weight loss - you can really see the difference!

I am so excited that my lunchbox came in. I have been browsing the pages reading about how much our disposable lunch packaging costs the environment. I love the little sauce dipper and silverware - FUN! There is even a tag on the front in which I can write my name. I can't wait to begin using it.

I now have the perfect reason to pack my lunch. I will be working extra hours in a unique opportunity to act as a "home school mom" (what I call it) for a student who needs the service for the rest of this tri-mester, it is in addition to my current work and is paid separately. My role will happen in a public library although the situation is very complex unlike my mention of it here, I am very happy that this is an option that the school/ parent could opt for.

Also concerning school, Matthew just finished his first semester in a college computer class (CISCO I). He is really a high school senior, but is earning these credits through a post secondary enrollment option. He made it through with a 72%, 70% is passing. As a previous homeschool student he needed to learn some study skills, which he did under pressure of finals week. When asked what he would do differently next semester he said he would take better notes and actually study from them. He'll be taking CISCO II next... he has Monday and Tuesday off so you'll probably see some more great cooking from him.

He is thinking of Bryanna's 20 minute seashell casserole with a salad. I think is also time to make a seitan roast and to make some good European bread. I'm going to have to pull out my crockpot again also, because three days a week I won't get home until 6 pm and will desire to have supper ready to eat. I'm also getting hungry for some of the basics, like red beans and rice or a simple black bean stew over a sweet potato. It is super cold as of yesterday, below zero kind of cold which is normal for us. We finally got our fist snow and it is expected to snow 3-6" tonight which is also normal. It is not normal that we have had autumn kind of weather up to now. Besides lots of warm herbal teas and hot cocoas here is some of the food we have been eating...

Dreena's Vive Le Vegan Stork Muffins, DD made these as her breakfast recipe of choice. The muffin portion was not very sweet, but when you get the pieces of the chopped date and cranberries - delish! Made with oat flour, ww pastry, and barley flour. I am a little bit of a stevia fan, so I would add just a tad bit of that to these muffins for the family's sweet tooth. DD says the coconut in them make it hard to eat with her braces.

I love Dreena's hummus and have had some on hand for several weeks now. This was a "salad" plate I made before a meal this week - - - yum! I cooked up about 3 lbs of chickpeas not long ago and froze them in 2 cup quantities as well as made two batches of hummus so that I could pull it out and use it as needed. I could have canned the chickpeas, but will wait a bit longer.... I really need to stock up on my home canned soups again. I miss having it ready to grab and go.

Yesterday when I was in a hurry for something quick I made this dish of Pasta and Greens over Mueller's multigrain pasta. The recipe came from Bryanna's 20 Minutes to Dinner cookbook. My picture doesn't give this recipe much glory, but I really loved the flavor. I ended up mixing the turnip green and beans topping which offered a strong flavor in with the spaghetti. I served a side of cooked cauliflower to go with it. The veggies were from my garden, both came from the freezer.

Here is a little review I found on the Internet (here) about the pasta ...."a box of Mueller's Multigrain Pasta, an 80 percent whole-grain pasta that cooked up chewy and dense like a great semolina pasta. The flavor was surprisingly full but not distracting or overpowering. I suspect the reason this pasta is more tasty than other whole-grain pastas is that it's made from a mix of rice, oats and wheat. The pasta is made by the American Italian Pasta Company. The pastas come in penne, rotini and spaghetti shapes."

DH's birthday is the 14th (today). I made him flaming breakfast muffins (they are Dreena's carob chip made with 100% barley flour) frosted and complete with candles, fresh sweetened hot soymilk and oranges.

Have a good week!

THIS WEEK AT OUR HOUSE . . .

THANK YOU COMMENTER'S:
I would have given up on blogging for this month too if I did not have such wonderful blog land friends who leave me nice comments making me feel truly valued. As I have briefly mentioned before I have been working towards my master's degree with a secondary teaching license in family and consumer science. I have been student teaching for the past six weeks and have six more weeks to go, I have been working well over 60 hours a week doing all that has been required of me (4 credit hours of classwork) as well as handling a full time teaching load (6 credit hour state requirement). December 13 I will have completed the work for a teaching license. Because I have so much paperwork to complete in order to prove that I understand and can demonstrate my state teaching standards in addition to the laws pertaining to the national no child left behind legislation and several more things in addition to teaching all day and planning for the next day classes with a written lesson plan that demonstrates my understanding of research based teaching methods......whew. I am lucky to catch a few winks!
But I grin and bear it. I can endure for six weeks more, I want the license.

ON TO FOOD!
I teach two sections of foods classes as well as three other classes. The junior/senior foods class is in the middle of the grains unit. I had them cook up a variety of grain dishes on Friday to assess their understanding of differing grain cooking methods learned throughout the week. Here is a picture of the few leftovers. Carrie, I read your request for more bread.... next week my class will be making big mall style yeast bread pretzels. I love this time of year with Thanksgiving coming up, although I won't be able to do as much as I would like this November, come Christmas (I'll have four wonderful weeks off) and I am looking forward to sharing I will share more bakehouse goodies.

All of my lab recipes came from Bryanna Clark Grogan's Fiber for Life Cookbook. I cannot say they were ALL loved by ALL students, but the majority said they liked these dishes. All students tried them and had the opportunity to evaluate to think about how they might change the recipe to suit their personal tastes. These recipes were also all vegan, my classes know this about me. Sure I have to tell them about non-vegan foods, but according to research based teaching method results they remember 10% of what I tell them and 50% of what I show them and 75-85% of what I have them discover for themself. I did say I only TELL them about some food products and others I have them discover for themself others.

Grains used:
CORN - Quick Chili "Beef" Pie. I pre-made some vegetarian "beef" crunbles to be added to this dish. My students all know I am vegan, which is cool with them. This dish was second favorite. This dish is basically a medium thick chili in a pan with dallops of cornbread muffin mix dropped in the top. The pan is covered for 12 minutes while the muffin mix expands and cooks. Spoon up like a casserole.

RYE - Oriental Noodle Salad made with 100% rye rotini pasta. They said this tasted like a stir fry but with noodles. The dark color of the rye noodles was judges as unappealing by half the class, but they liked the flavor. Suggestions included using a lighter color rotini noodle and leaviong out the brocooli to improve.

BROWN BASMATI RICE (long grain) - Fruited Brown Basmati Rice Salad. Many said yum, but this sweet and savory salad that I have taken to many potlucks was evaluated as more pretty than delish. Several students said they were a bit freaked out by the peas and raisins in the same dish together. Instant brown rice could be used to speed the prep time, but a rice maker can make this just as easy when you have the extra time.

ROLLED OATS - Oatmeal Vegetable Soup. This one surprised many students, they liked it and the rolled oats puffed up making it seem like a soup with little alphabet pasta noodles in it (not pictured, because it was eaten up).

SHORT GRAIN BROWN RICE - Dreena's Evan-illa Rice Pudding... except we used Arrowhead Mills organic short brown rice that I cooked one hour the night before. This dish was not liked, but loved by every student.

In class this week as we learned about grains I taught the students how easy making fresh pasta is as we made Bryanna's Homemade vegan Pasta recipe from the cookbook, Nonna's Italian Kitchen. I have an ATLAS hand crank pasta maker that I picked up from a consignment shop for $8 which I took in to crank out their homemade noodles. The students made white rice (time constraints for brown rice) on the stove to demonstrate their understanding of the process of making rice, while I made brown rice in my rice maker for them to sample the difference between brown basmati and regular long grain brown rice. They ate this sprinkled with cinnamon sugar and loved it.... cheap and easy eating. In an intro class we made fresh apple crisp in the microwave to orient them to the kitchen and allow them the opportunity to demonstrate their cutting skills.

I really enjoy what I am doing with the students and I have heard many students say that they made what we made in class at home and they really liked it from several students... these comments are SO gratifying!
FAMILY LIFE ...
She sticks out like a sore thumb, but is on the mend. Poor thing shut her thumb in the car door before 7 am jazz band practice (half a sleep I guess) and broke the bone in between the joint and her knuckle.

And the other patient... gosh darn it. His was not an accident, but an ingrown toenail on both sides of his big toe that had been clipped twice in the past six months. The ingrown portion causing infection was deep within his toe, unreachable except by an experienced podiatrist. He is on the mend also and said even though what was done hurts, it is nothing like the pain he had before the treatment.

On the mend, but doing well. Life is busy for all of us and I miss the opportunity of eating together regularly... thank god for the weekends and that we make Sunday a family day in addition to the knowing that my kids still like to have watch at home movies with mom and dad on a Friday night.

Want to check on our life as a feline foster family... click on the link below!



FELINE FOSTER FAMILY BLOG