Favorite Cereal

Hey everybody! I've been lazy these past few weeks! At least as far as posting any recipes. I've been cooking plenty, and experimenting with new recipes, but I guess I've just been a little too busy living life to stop and take a few pictures. Between juggling a job that I love, yoga, and cooking, I've been a very busy (vegan) bee. But I have been trying new recipes and I wanted to perfect them before photographing and sharing them. So, I haven't been entirely lazy! Upcoming recipes I'll be sharing are: Yogi Bhajan's Onion Soup recipe, Vegetable Beet Casserole, and some more German/Yugoslavian/Croatian traditional dishes that I've veganized. Can't wait to share!

My stereo was on, and somewhere between listening to The Cure and Depeche Mode, the idea of making a blog entry about my favorite cereal combination popped into my head. I love to mix Nature's Path Organic Flax Plus with their Organic Hemp Plus Granola cereals. So delicious! And the soy milk adds that extra zing that makes this my preferred breakfast item.

I hope everyone's Memorial Day weekend is going great!

OC Veggie Meetup @ The Veggie Grill

Saturday, May 17 was the first Orange County Veggie meetup that Alia and I have organized. This group was previously the OC Vegan meetup, but the meetings were lackluster and in the past month since the last meetup, 4 organizers came and went.

Alia and I jumped at the opportunity to take the lead and make sure things are done right. There was a lot of confusion about when and where the meetup would be taking place, but mostly due to Alia's work on this, everything was straightened out and I must say, yesterday's meetup was a HUGE success.

Everyone met at The Veggie Grill in Irvine, and the food and atmosphere, as well as the service was awesome! We had been hoping for 5-10 people to show up, but instead, 30 people attended! It seems there is a lot of latent veggie energy in Orange County. We met at 5:30 and everyone had such a wonderful time socializing, talking, hanging out, and eating that we didn't leave till 10:30 at night! And we would have been there longer if the restaurant hadn't closed. It was really a fun time, and I'm really excited for future meetups.

I was so hungry that I started eating my food, completely forgetting to take a picture! I remembered halfway through, so I got a shot of at least one half of my chick'n sammich. Once again, the food was absolutely phenomenal.

Celebration Roast

Another semester draws to a close. The rush of final projects is finished, for two blessed weeks until summer classes start. Haven't had much time to cook anything decent, much less post anything, but now that I'm on a bit of a break, I'll be cooking and posting plenty!

To celebrate the toils of the semester ending, I made a Tofurky roast, with mushroom "giblet" gravy, broccoli, cauliflower, and mashed potatoes. This is a favorite of mine, and so it is a fitting meal to celebrate with.

The recipe for cooking the roast can be found here.

Haitian Beans and Rice

This is a most awesome recipe that my buddy makes, and keeps me with a steady supply. It is really tasty and hearty, yet not too filling. It'll definitely hit the spot when you're hungry, though. Ask me what my favorite part about this dish is? The beans! The garlic! The rice! The cloves? Yes, even the cloves! Its all just so wonderfully delicious. This may very well be the one and only recipe that I post to this blog that I haven't cooked myself. The great thing about this dish is that a batch will last several meals, so its great to take to work for lunch, or nights when you don't feel like cooking. Obviously, this is a fairly simple recipe and I could cook it myself, but I had to give credit where credit is due. Thanks Matt!

Ingredients:

• 1pound dried kidney beans


• 3tablespoons vegetable oil


• 2cloves garlic, chopped or pressed(I love garlic so more is always better!)


• 2cups white rice


• several whole cloves

Directions:

1. Soak the beans for about 8 hours before cooking them.


2. Drain the beans and set the reserved cooking water aside.


3. Add the oil to the pot & fry the beans with the garlic for a few minutes. Try not to stir too much or the beans will get mushy. (Add more oil if needed).


4. Return water to pot of beans & garlic and bring to a boil. If necessary add more water to make 4 cups.


5. Add rice & cloves, and stir. Cover and simmer until rice is cooked(about 25 to 30 min).

**I add about a teaspoon of curry powder and Mrs. Dash seasoning when I'm about to eat it, but that's just how I like it, try your own favorite seasonings to get the perfect flavor, this dish is very customizable!**
Prep time:1/2 hour
Cooking time: 2- 2 1/2 hours
Soaking time: 8 hours

Ginger-Lemongrass Curried Asparagus Stir-Fry

I finally found the time to make this delicious dish! I can't remember who's blog I found the initial recipe on, so if it rings a bell, please let me know so I can give proper credit! I took many liberties with the original recipe, as its easy to do with stir fries. This turned out quite delicious!

Ingredients:

• 1 block extra firm tofu, cubed


• 3 garlic cloves, minced


• 2 tbs. rhubarb, diced


• 1/2 onion, chopped (as much or as little as you like)


• 6 or 7 stalks of aparagus


• 4 carrots, sliced


• 1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper


• 1-2 tsp. dried oregano


• 1 tsp. dill (fresh or dry)


• 1 jar Ginger Lemongrass Curry

Directions:

1. Heat oil in frying pan over medium-high heat. Add chopped garlic and diced rhubarb, cook for two minutes.


2. Add in tofu, cayenne pepper, oregano, and dill; cooking until the cubes start to brown (8-10 minutes).


3. Toss in carrots and onions, cook for about 2 minutes.


4. Add asparagus and cook for another 10-15 minutes. The asparagus can go in sooner if you like it softer, I prefer mine crunchy so I add it last.


5. At this point I added the curry. You can add it a bit sooner if you like, and some curries (especially the simmering curry) should be added much sooner so it can "simmer".


6. Enjoy!

Kill Your Lawn! Ars Terra Permaculture Workshop

Ars Terra hosted their second permaculture workshop on April 20, and I was excited to attend, despite the 2 hour drive to get there! This time my friend Alia came along to join in the fun!

This was a fun and informal workshop: we started the day with a screening of "Gimme Green," a film on the water-wasting/ecologically harmful nature of the American Domestic Lawn. As the credits rolled, we were all charged up with purpose and ready to go.....

Alia and I rolling up a strip of grass while Geoff looks on:



We wrapped things up with a delicious Thai dinner and some good camaraderie.....and a lot of lovin' from the resident dogs of Ars Terra! Alia and I said goodbye and stopped at Animal Acres on our way home to visit all the rescued animals. They were lovable and adorable as ever, and this time I got to pet some Emus, a first for me. All the animals are just wonderful, but the turkeys will always be my favorite....they are SO happy to have some attention and a good scratch under their wings. I always have to fight back a tear when I see their clipped beaks and toes. All in all, it was another unforgettable permaculture experience!

The coos at Animal Acres enjoying the sod we tore up from the Ars Terra homestead.....cute overload!