The Summer Post

This has been a crazy hectic summer for me!

I got a summer job doing 911, gah shift work! We fixed up a car, to share with Sissy #1, her name is Chaaaarllliiieeee! Anyone who's seen All Dog's Go To Heaven will know how to say her name :) The car..... not my sister Sissy #1...

Justin was very compassionate to the night shift zombie Meaghan and we rewarded our hard-working-asses with probably the best camping trip ( food wise) ever!

This Summers trip was 1 week long at Bridge Lake Provincial Park in the Kootenays

* BITCH RANT ALERT *
On the provincial web site it says that there is a pump available that will deliver drinking water when pumped. THAT IS FALSE! A LIE! A SHAM! I was very pissed off by the fact that we were left to perish. Add the fact that the neighbouring campground, COTTONWOOD BASTARDS [Oops, I meant "Bay"] wouldn't share some of their water because "there wasn't enough water for both campgrounds" all led to a not-so-happy-camper. Cottonwood had a grand total of 15/ 50 sites occupied and the Provincial Park was filled with an average of 6 people..... Yes yes I can see the campgrounds are sooo full... ya stingy greasy wentch!
We were just lucky we came prepared with a flat of bottled water, Oh well, its all water under the bridge... or lack there of! Hmph!

*Please resume reading the perfectly coherent blog about food that you checked in for*

For some reason camping for long durations as a vegetarian still seemed like a daunting task.... silly Meaghan!

Here is my list of Staple Camping items/ dry goods:
PEANUT BUTTER!!!!! ( I type that with such enthusiasm because oh how I love it so!)
Seeds + Nuts + Dried chunks of fruit = Trail Mix
Squirlly bread, think polar opposite of White Wonder Bread
Granola bars
Quinoa
Oatmeal
Potatoes
Sweet potatoes

So what did we feast upon to make this trip hit the #1 position?! I'm glad you asked...
Pizza's! Pasta's! Fresh Lake Trout! Curry with Naan! The Best Goddamn Sweat Potato Mush Ever! Marshmallow Madness! Hamburgers & Hot Dogs (of the veggy kind)! Hash browns! Hell of a lot of good eatin'!


Oh! Our BBQ also decided this was the appropriate time to call it quits RIP. Thankfully, BC Provincial Park fire pits come with a cooking grill attached, so most of our food was cooked over an open fire :)

 

 

Pizza

Ingredients:

Pita Bread

Pizza Sauce

Desired toppings (I used broccoli, peppers, onions, shredded cheese blend)

Directions:

Make an Aluminum foil plate to rest to pizza on over the grate.

Chop all toppings

CHOOSE to cheese or not to cheese!

Fire away to your hearts cooked desire

 

 

Veggie Curry w/ Naan

Ingredients:

*Store Bought bottle of Butter Chicken Sauce*

Potatoes

Broccoli

Peppers

Onions

Tomatoes

Directions:

Cook Potatoes in Fire ( Wrap in lots of Tinfoil, stick in middle of fire, cover in embers. takes about 45 min)

Chop Vegetables

Skin ( they will be burnt) and cube potatoes

Heat Sauce, add all Vegetables

Cook till vegetables are tender.

Heat Naan on grill over fire

This would have been a good served over boiled Quinoa but there was so much food we didn't bother cooking it!

*keep the potato cubes a good chunky size otherwise they will cook faster in the sauce and become soft*

Best Goddamn Sweat Potato Mush Ever!

Prep:

I chopped the potatoes small enough to be fries to help them cook faster... pain in the ass!

Tin Foil Boat

Ingredients:

2 Small Sweet Potatoes

Salt

1/2 a stick of Butter [ i didn't know! :'(  ]

Directions:

Through it all into the tinfoil boat and close it up to help cook faster (and protect from flying ash!)

Check periodically, and mix

Monday Night Marshmallow Madness!!

*WARNING* the following may result in a sticky hot mess....That's what she said!

Smores: Roasted Marshmallow with a piece of chocolate between 2 graham crackers

OreoMellows: Roasted Marshmallows between a split open Oreo, cream filling included

MarshPastryMellows: Marshmallow wrapped in pastry dough, then roasted

Breakfasts for me were largely composed of  instant oatmeal, granola with soy milk, fruits, juices and toast. We froze what foods we could but inevitably had to keep buying more ice, it was hot! Fruits were bought so some could be eaten right away and others would ripen throughout the week. Vegetables did well kept in the cooler and any questionable bits got tossed in the fire!

 Shout-Out to Momma J-Man for a delicious bean salad, which was a meal in itself!!! Overall this trip was a step up in the healthy eating department and another Vegetarian success story :) Delicious food was made, drinks were flowing, love was in the air and all around good times :)

Stuffed!

Journey update: I've had 2 cave in's with red meat :( The first time was with a Philly cheese steak sandwich, and I got through half of it before I was overwhelmed but what I knew was a cow.... my stomach was also a little unsettled  by the onslaught of cheese and meat.

And then there was last night :( the food was delicious (please see below for recipes!), but I had been red meat free for over a month! Then J-man brought out a cheese burger and I.... ate.... half.... of.... it..... I went to bed very disappointed with my self.


Other then that I'm still having fish every now and then and I'm sure there have been animal products in a few dishes. Overall I think I'm doing alright. I've lost a few pounds and my skin stays clearer longer. Ya plant power!

Harvest Stuffed Tomatoes

Ingredients:

2 Large Tomatoes

1/2 Cup Onion

1/2 Cup Zucchini

2 Mushrooms

1/2 Cup canned Corn

1/2 Package stuffing mix

2 t Olive oil

Directions:

Cut off the tops of the Tomatoes, scoop out the insides and save the juices.

Place upside down on a plate and let drain.

Dice Onions, zucchini and mushrooms then saute in olive oil with corn, cover till tender.

Mix in stuffing with seasoning and add some tomato juice .

Spoon mix into tomatoes and bake at 425 for about 8 minutes.

There was also rice with some peppers sauteed in salt and pepper and baked potatoes with a side of....

Cod

 Ingredients:

Cod

3 cloves of garlic

Oil

salt and pepper

lemon pepper

Directions:

Press cod between a paper towel.

Marinade with minced garlic, oil, salt and pepper.

 Make extra marinade to baste with every 5 minutes.

Sprinkle top with lemon pepper.

Bake at 350 for 20 minutes.

And I am proud to announce the tomatoes got a 10/10 and the Cod got an 8/10 !!!!!
I'm going to point out the veggies got the higher score :)

Simple Blue Martini

Equal parts,
Blue Hypnotiq:Coconut Rum

Shaken over Ice by the most handsome bartender ;)

Dinner time!

The boyfriend now has a new name so appointed by my little sisters, he's the "Monkey Pizza Boy"! When I asked how they came up with such a colorful name the explanation was " because he's strong like a monkey and Italians eat pizza!"

What is the catholic school system teaching these girls?! He laughed but I don't know if its juuuust right.

Anyways, last night he/pizza/boyfriend came over and I made him dinner! His first course revolved around a chunk of flesh and for soooommme reason he wasn't full! I wonder why...

*Biology Lesson: You have stretch receptors all around your stomach that once stimulated send a message to your brain that you are full and should stop eating. You can count calories all you want but it means nothing if you're not filling up on the right kind of calories.... class dismissed! *

So for dinner we had

Yam Fries

Ingredients:

1 Large Yam

Oil and salt to coat

Directions:

Preheat oven to 450

Wash and Cut fries

Mix in a bowl or bag (think shake n' bake) with a little oil and salt

spread evenly over baking pan 

bake for 15 minutes on each side or until desired crispiness

Vegetable Samosas, Grandma's recipe I shall acquire. 

Brown rice boiled in half water half vegetable stock.

Chapati.

The brown blob on the left side of the blue plate was pickled chillies...Justin's tongue died last night ;)

Vegan Vanilla Cupcakes w/ Vanilla Frosting, Take 1

I have a mouthful of sweat teeth, luckily most of Mother Nature's fruits are super yummy just as is or over some soy ice cream! However there is nothing to be done about my sweat, ooh-eey gooey cravings and I've been searching up a few cupcake recipes.

One website I've always liked is http://www.allrecipies.com/. They have a huge variety including a wide selection of vegetarian and vegan dishes. I also appreciate the nutritional info that comes with each recipe. So here is my very first vegan cupcake experience...

Vanilla Vegan Cupcakes

Ingredients:

1 T Apple cider vinegar

11/2 Cups soy milk

2 Cups All purpose flour

1 Cup white sugar

2 t Baking powder

1/2 t Baking soda

1/2 t Salt

1/2 Cup Coconut oil

11/4 t Vanilla extract

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 and prepare (grease or line with cups) 12 cup muffin pan.

Measure Apple Vinegar into a 2 cup measuring bowl, then fill with "milk" to 11/2 cup line.

Let stand and curdle about 5 minutes.

In a large bowl mix together flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt.

In a smaller bowl whisk curdled mixture, oil and vanilla extract together.

Slowly pour wet ingredients into dry ingredients while stirring.

Stir until just blended.

Spoon batter into prepared cups till about a 1/2 inch below the top.

Bake 20-25 minutes and let cool before slathering in your desired Vegan Frosting!

yields 12 cupcakes

Calories:152   Total Fat 6.4g

My personal review:

I found them to be very moist, almost to the point where I was kinda worried because noticeable dark wet spots appeared on the top of a few cakes during the cooling process. I did use canola oil instead of coconut oil so maybe that had something to do with it?

Next time I would use a little less canola oil. I also used vanilla flavoured soy milk instead of plain soy milk which added to the overall vanillaness. I attempted at making an icing, without icing sugar which I'm calling a fail. But it did the job of forming a creamy sugary substance that sat atop a cupcake. Due to the moisture I refrigerated them, separate from icing, until they were finished.

Turns out the whole shebang was a huge hit! 

The Family gave the cupcake and icing-that-shall-not-be-named [Bye Harry :( ] a 9/10

I'm starting to think there might be a bias...

I'm giving just the cupcake a 6/10

Enjoy!



Vegan Tofu Patties

I've been away camping with my boyfriend and friends at Cultas Lake. I knew this was going to be an interesting weekend, being my first trip since the change, and tried to be as food/alcohol conscious as possible.
Unfortunately on the first night there was a big batch of pasta made with ground beef in the sauce, the second night was salmon and there was copious amounts of booze consumed, all in all a successful camping trip!

 For Lunch's I did get in my Veggie Dogs and Veggie Burgers

This was a vodka watermelon to be apart of a watermelon eating contest, so every one's hangover came with a full serving of fruit! BONUS!

Here everyone got a lesson on Yves Veggie Burgers! I was very confused when I first bought the burgers as to why it said 8 per package when there were only 4 individual vacuum sealed patties. Only after my burger caught on fire did we realize there was a piece of paper separating the two patties that we failed to notice! Live and learn :)

Once back I realized I had some tofu in the fridge and had no idea what to do with it. So I went online and found a site called the Savvy Vegetarian. They had a recipe for "Delicious gourmet baked tofu patties" that I loosely followed with what I had available in my kitchen. The following is the recipe I ended up baking with.

Vegan Tofu Patties

Ingredients:

1 package (350g) Extra Firm Tofu

1 Cup of corn

1/2 Cup celery, diced

2 cloves of garlic, minced

1 Cup cooked brown rice

1/3 Cup flour

2 tsp Masala spice mix

1 small yellow onion, diced

olive oil, to saute

salt & pepper, to taste

bread crumbs, to coat

Directions:

Allow oven to preheat to 350 and cook rice. 

Cube tofu and mash with potato masher.[I need a food processor so if you have it, use it!]

In a small pan add onions and olive oil to coat and allow to turn brown and soft, stir to prevent burning.

In a larger pan add oil to saute garlic, then add celery, corn, and masala spices, again stir to prevent burning.

Add all veggies to mashed tofu, mix in rice and flour.

At this point I used my hands to mix everything[ needs food processor!].

Form fist sized balls and flatten to patty formation

Coat in bread crumbs and arrange on tinfoil lined cookie sheet.

Bake for about 25 minutes until the outside is firm and golden crispy!

**NOTES** these quantities yielded 10 patties. I found them to be a little bland and dry but my little cousins loved them! Granted, one of them slathered them in ketchup and they other, vanilla icing.... but they came back for seconds! Next time I'll try adding some tomatoes for flavour and moisture.

Once refrigerated they loose some crunchiness so I fried them up with a little oil. The original recipe calls for a mixture of different spices that are generally used in Indian Curry. The Masala mix was a perfect premixed substitute.

I'm giving this recipe a 5/10 for healthy tofu punch! The boyfriend(who needs a name...hmmm) said it resembled crab cakes without the taste of crab "and I like crab cakes, so not bad!" and crazy cousins came back for seconds!

Enjoy!

Now, what to do with my soft tofu?!

*~*~*~*~*~*~*

"The animals of the world exist for their own reasons. They were not made for humans any more than black people were made for white, or woman created for men."

                                                                                     -Alice Walker

Party @ Central City!

First of all

HAPPY 19th BIRTHDAY COUSIN MATHEW!!!!

Yay the cousins are all growing up :) Unfortunately I was driving tonight so I missed out on all the rounds people were buying, gerrr! But my dear cousin was still up and about when I left, something I'm sure the Uncle's were about to rectify with more tequila.

Our unofficial family pub is the Central City Brewing Company. It has both a restaurant side and a pub side, live bands (Jon & Kate!), great food and friendly staff who by now can recognize aaaaaallllll of my family. This is thanks to my dad, the social butterfly, who knows almost every waitress in that joint! He's so proud to call that place home ;)

Since the diet change I've had their Margarita Pizza which was a delicious, hand spun, thin crust vegetarian, and their Veggie Burger.

Yum Yum!

I've had other veggie burgers before of the Presidents Choice variety and didn't like them as much as this one. So far I've found that the orange tinged patty's tend to be to dry and somehow mushy at the same time. This burger was a well appreciated change for the better that I'm going to classify as being Vegan-ish due to the bun. With BBQ season coming up its good to know that there are vegan burgers that don't taste like paper!!! I now have a few different variety's of vegan patty in my freezer that will be going camping with me. Once those are tackled I'm thinking I'll have a better idea of what works in burger form and will make my own!!!

A polite dose of reality... you're a herbavore!!!

I've been talking about my diet transformation with friends and family for the past few months. My loved ones are very open minded, especially once I've explained the health benefits, and that I'm getting all the nutrients I could possibly need.

However they do still ask lots of questions. My boyfriend (a pure bread Italian who loves his steak) and I have had many discussions, on the pros and cons of a plant-based diet. Co-workers, who I am still getting to know, are starting to comment on my lunch's. Again, most of them are open-minded but there are a few guys who just plain ignore the pure facts I put before them and move on to their next ignorant comment.

So to anyone reading this blog that is a newbie like my self to the plant-based diet, here is the arsenal I've discovered you will need to handle the uneducated.

Humans are biologically herbivores
	Carnivores	Omnivores	Herbivores	Humans
Facial muscles	Reduced to allow wide mouth gape	Reduced	Well-developed	Well-developed
Jaw type	Angle not expanded	Angle not expanded	Expanded angle	Expanded angle
Jaw joint location	On same plane as molar teeth	On same plane as molar teeth	Above the plane of the molars	Above the plane of the molars
Jaw motion	Shearing; minimal side-to-side motion	Shearing; minimal side-to-side motion	No shear; good side-to-side, front-to-back	No shear; good side-to-side, front-to-back
Major jaw muscles	Temporalis	Temporalis	Masseter and ptergoids	Masseter and pterygoids
Mouth opening vs. head size	Large	Large	Small	Small
Teeth: Incisors	Short and pointed	Short and pointed	Broad, flattened and spade-shaped	Broad, flattened and spade-shaped
Teeth: Canines	Long, sharp, and curved	Long, sharp and curved	Dull and short or long (for defense), or none	Short and blunted
Teeth: Molars	Sharp, jagged and blade-shaped	Sharp blades and/or flattened	Flattened with cusps vs. complex surface	Flattened with nodular cusps
Chewing	None; swallows food whole	Swallows food whole and/or simple crushing	Extensive chewing necessary	Extensive chewing necessary
Saliva	No digestive enzymes	No digestive enzymes	Carbohydrate digesting enzymes	Carbohydrate digesting enzymes
Stomach type	Simple	Simple	Simple or multiple chambers	Simple
Stomach acidity with food in stomach	≤ pH 1	≤ pH 1	pH 4-5	pH 4-5
Length of small intestine	3-6 times body length	4-6 times body length	10-12+ times body length	10-11 times body length
Colon	Simple, short, and smooth	Simple, short, and smooth	Long, complex; may be sacculated	Long, sacculated
Liver	Can detoxify vitamin A	Can detoxify vitamin A	Cannot detoxify vitamin A	Cannot detoxify vitamin A
Kidney	Extremely concentrated urine	Extremely concentrated urine	Moderately concentrated urine	Moderately concentrated urine
Nails	Sharp claws	Sharp claws	Flattened nails or blunt hooves	Flattened nails
From The Comparative Anatomy of Eating (PDF), by Milton R. Mills, M.D.

The above is a table noting all the physical differences of Humans VS Omnivores VS Carnivores. For any passionate meat eater that has read this far I can hear you racking your brain for the best refute ever. Let me just say, that its ooookaaayyyy, calm down and take a few deep breaths. Right now you are going through a very natural process. When confronted by the realization that our current choices may not be the best choices, it can be unnerving.  This leaves us with two options, 1) We admit that we are wrong, which for some people is very difficult to admit, or 2) We reaffirm our beliefs with any excuse that comes to mind until we are in a more comfortable position. So if you are currently finding yourself in such a position its OK, it has a name : Cognitive Dissonance


Now that we can all move on lets take a look at some common misconceptions...

"Humans were made to eat meat."

In some form, this is usually the first point made when discussing the plant-based diet. It covers so many topics that first I'm going to reference the table above. As it describes there is nothing about us that screams KILLER!!!  I've heard humans being compared to Carnivores! I figured I wasn't talking to the sharpest tool in the shed. Just to clarify a carnivore is defined as a flesh eating animal. Now I've never seen another person start to salivate when they saw road kill or go running through a field to a grazing cow and start gnawing on it. If they did I don't think that person would be defined as Carnivore, but as a deranged lunatic!


"We have Hydrochloric Acid in our Stomachs"

Yes, HCL is an acid that is secreted by out stomachs to aid in the digestion of protein. This acid believes in equal digestion for everyone! Whether your an animal source of protein or a plant source of protein, it will not discriminate. How great is that?!
It's also important to note that your stomach secretes this substance in small amounts, such as the amounts in a plant based diet.... what a coincidence!


"I have canine teeth"

Those four teeth at the front corners of your mouth are canines in name only. The do not function in the same way as your pet cat's. If you so feel the need, give the mirror a nice big toothy grin :D nope, no razor sharp canines in there! As the table so well describes it, human canines are short and blunt.
While on the subject of teeth, its important to notice that the majority of human teeth are molars, the perfect shape for grinding down plant matter.


"Humans have always ate meat"

This comment was in reference to the cavemen days... personally I don't let cavemen influence my crucial life decisions!  But the point was raised so I shall address it.
Our Furry Friends are born knowing what is and what is not food. Humans act through learned behavior or even guesswork, but rarely on instinct.So even if our ancestors did eat meat, it's no argument explaining that we should eat meat. Just because some people choose to eat McDonald's everyday doesn't mean they should.

"We've evolved since caveman days to eat meat"

No we haven't.
We've grown a liking for the taste of a "well prepared", cooked piece of animal protein. We have grown a liking for the taste for a lot of things that are unhealthy. Take cigarettes for example, 50 years ago doctors were testifying to their amazing health benefits!!!
We were brought up to believe that a healthy balanced diet included eating Furry Friends, chicken gametes, muscle fibers and drinking lots of newborn baby cow formula. Do I sound like a baby cow to you?!

~~~~~~~~



This is the majority of what I'm hearing. I'm positive there will be future funny ignorance's to come and I will be sure to update this page so you can be better prepared. As a nursing student I do have some education in Human anatomy and physiology. However if you need more proof it is all available and highly abundant for everyone to read. Just remember to look for credible sources and that anything I have to say is not to contradict your personal doctors advice.

Starting Fresh w/ Vegan Shephards Pie

Alright so a new store just opened up called "No Frills" and that's where I went with my extensive shopping list! I wasn't sure how difficult a task I had set for my self but it turned out to be super easy!

For some reason I thought it would be difficult to complete, and there were a few exceptions but other wise my fridge and pantry are stuffed!!!!

So with all my new ingredients I am going to make....

Vegan Shepherd's Pie

Ingredients

12 Potatoes

2  Veggie Ground Original (340g)

1 Green Pepper Chopped

2 Cloves Garlic

1 Small Yellow Onion

2 Cans Creamed Corn

375g Tomato Sauce

Salt 

3 Tbsp Vegan Butter ( I used Becel`s Vegan Brand)

3 Tbsp Vegan Sour Cream ( I had to use regular *sad face*)

Directions

- Preheat oven to 450*C

-Boil potatoes till they are soft enough to mash

-Mash'em and add in butter, sour cream and salt

-Saute onions then add pepper,garlic and tomato sauce

-Chop in Veggie Ground

I used an 8X8 Dish 4 Inches deep

the bottom layer is veggie,

a middle layer of creamed corn

and a top layer of potato

Bake until the potato looks golden and crispy!

Dig In!

These proportions will easily feed 8-10 ppl

The family gave this meal an 8 / 10 while the boyfriend said for a vegan meal it was "really very good!" but in comparison to a Keg steak it would have to be a 5...

Some Introductions are in order!

Hello! I'm new to this online community so there's a good chance you'll get to see me embarrass myself due to lack of blogger savvy. Read on to laugh at the newbie!

On a recent chaperoning excursion to Disneyland (!!!) I got to room with the Lovely Lady Yola! I found her passion for the Vegan lifestyle enticing and wanted to know what she was on. Turns out she had a stash of Vegan Gummies, Vegan marshmallows and most inspiring Vegan cupcakes complete with Icing and Vegan brownies.This wasn't at all the cardboard food I'd imagined a Vegan would eat! My sweet tooth was satisfied and I found myself wanting to know more. Eventually I found my FB news feed flooded with praise to a documentary called Forks Over Knives.

AAAAAaaaaAAAAHHHHhhhh!!!!!

That was my rendition of angels singing from on high.... not a crazy person....ANYWAYS

(Just watch the preview on the website to get a sample of the mind boggling awesomeness it encloses!)
This documentary approached the whole-foods plant based diet from a scientific perspective and explained its findings in layman's terms. Some critics said the film was to biased.... If I was putting thousands of my dollars into supporting my cause why would I, the little guy, give the bigger guy an extra leg up?! Silly

Now the way I see it there's 2 main reasons people change diets to such "extremes" as vegetarian or vegan. First there are the health benefits that FOK covered splendidly ( I will touch on these points throughout the blog).  Then there are the moral reasons that include being Eco-friendly and upholding animal rights. Personally I am no David Suzuki but I do love the outdoors and recycle every chance I can! On this topic my views are not so black and white and could change as I divulge further into this journey. Animal cruelty is wrong, and when large numbers of animals are being processes as in slaughter houses across North America, its next to impossible to claim that not a single animal will be treated poorly. I'm not sure if I am 100% against the consumption of meat or not. If, for example, somewhere in the world there was a happy cow that had lived out its natural life and was then recyclable as a food source, does that go against my moral compass? Such a scenario is probably to improbable and unprofitable to farmers for me to have to worry about right not. However this is just one situation that plays in the back of my mind when I ask myself, where do I draw the line? Because I find myself at a cross roads I don't think its necessary at the moment to identify with any one "ism" and you may watch me slip in between "isms" or even fully succumb to my previous carnivorous ways. However I am trying to avoid as much animal product as possible.

Currently I'm living at home with my family where there is 7 mouths and 1 furry friend to feed. There's also a boyfriend in this picture so including myself there will be 10 judgements given with each recipe!

And with no further introductions I give you, Happy Bellies Happy Friends!