New Year's Resolution

Today is my birthday and I want to thank all the well wishers - all 800 million of them, wow Facebook, rock on... Now as I take inventory of my life I see that a couple of things are not where I would like them to be. While I try to take care of myself I haven't been doing such a great job of it - so with the purring kitty on my lap as my witness

Yeah, I know I am just looking for excuses to take her photo

I will now take care of me. I did have a wonderful facial today at Eden Organix in Highland Park, NJ. If you are in the area I highly recommend it. They are running a fall harvest special and the pumpkin masks and moisturizers are divine!

Interior from their website: http://www.edenorganix.com/assets/images/interioreden.jpg

That top row has the 100% Pure Organic line that I live and die for. That's what I really like about Eden Organix, they use natural and organic skincare lines. We expose our bodies to so many chemicals day in and day out. There has to be a better alternative and there is! Do your research and find products that that don't contain parabens, pthalates, artificial coloring, hydroqinones... you get the picture. Go to the Cosmetics Database to see how your skincare AND haircare products rate.

Getting the skin covered is easy but what about the weight, UGH!!!!! I really really wanted to be about 10lbs lighter today.  I was half way there 2 weeks ago but it's been a crazy ride at work so I have been eating a lot of comfort food. My weakness is Alternative Baking Company cookies - oh my!! Those of you that are dairy-free and/or vegan and have not discovered these cookies I suggest you stay far far away!! They are sooo gooood but sooo fattening. An entire cookie is about 400 - 500 calories. Granted they are large so it could be a meal, but that's never the case for me. I've had about 5 - 6 of those cookies in the last two weeks. I ALMOST got one today for my birthday but will maybe bake cupcakes instead.

I did have a great lunch, not a cupcake lunch like I was fantasizing about at Papa Ganache but at The Orchid in Metuchen, NJ. They are a Kosher restaruant they are not open Friday evenings or on Saturdays so it was a real treat to be able to sit at a table and have the combo platter with Hummus Spread, Baba Ganoush and Quinoa Salad. Since it was a special occasion I even had a caffeinated chai spice tea, I'm just breaking ALL the rules today!

It can't be a New Year's resolution without committing to exercise. I can't believe I said that... I've taken a bit of a hiatus on the workout and it's obvious - everything is a big mush and I can't walk up a flight of stairs. No more Ms. Softy. This morning I did one of my Kathy Smith step DVDs on the BOSU and I've asked for a new heart rate monitor and the P90X workout system. I've contacted my beachbody coaches for a vegan diet plan and will probably buy The Engine 2 Diet book in the near future (unless I get it as a gift - another subtle hint...)

I know what you are thinking, what about work, mental, school - well I can only do so much. I'm a vain creature so let's work on looking good, because as Fernando used to say "it's better to look good than to feel good"

Last of the Harvest

Well all of our veggies plants are dead with the exception of the greens, which will hopefully keep going for a while. Here's a shot of the last of the tomatoes I picked today and the two butternut squashes we got.

Here's a collection of Lemon Boys, Brandywines, Romas and Yellow Pear tomatoes. Oh and the mystery tomato that was the only seedling to survive was a Black Krim. The yellow ones in the bowl were ripened on the counter so I hope we can get most of these to ripen as well.

We got a dehydrator this weekend AND a copy of Diet for a Small Planet, both are hand me downs and boy am I excited! I have some portobello mushrooms going, this model is apparently a very slowww going dehydrator, it will take about a day to dehydrate the shrooms. Looks dehydrating will be more of a weekend thing since we won't keep this on while we're away from the house.

I have the thermometer to see how high the temp goes. It's at almost 120, raw foodies don't like their food cooked over 118 or so. I have a feeling this might go a bit higher. It's been going for about four hours.

I think Lola likes it too...

NYC Veg Fest!

I was lucky enough to attend the Veg Fest at Union Square Park on October 16th. I met up with my girlfriend and we checked out all of the cool booths.

First off we got a goodie bag at the Supreme Master Ching Hai booth, it included a booklet with animal activist literature and recipes - shame they weren't giving out samples from Loving Hut - YUM I highly recommend their veggie burger with the guac, it's delightful.

Then we got some hemp seeds from a vegan athlete how cool is that!

We also got to meet THE Pamela Rice, that was the best! She was great and let us know to look out for the 2011 Veggie Pride Parade on May 22nd. I became a fan of Pamela's listening to the Vegan - Vegetarian Solutions for a Sustainable Environment podcast.

                                                         Yes that is my @#$%%# thumb...

The next stop was the olsenHaus sample shoe sale - alas my financial future is uncertain so I didn't buy anything and well let's face it 50% off of $200 is still $100. But I have to give credit where credit is due, the shoes are gorgeous. So those of you that think you have to sacrifice style to be cruelty free, well it just ain't so.

The Mercy for Animals table was next. The girls working it were really nice and informative. I look forward to getting their e-newsletters.

AND they were right next to an amazing brownie sample from the Bhakti Cafe. Talk about kismet, discussing saving animals and the environment and eating your cruelty free cake too.

There was also a Sea Shepard and PETA table:

After hitting all of the tables we took a walk through the farmer's market 

The radishes and the carrots looked so beautiful I couldn't not stop to take a photo.

Once we were though the farmer's market we went back to the VegFest to see Latina vegan chef Terry Hope Romero - yippee!! She's the co-author of Veganomicon, Vegan Cookies Invade Your Cookie Jar  and Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World. She is also the author of Viva Vegan! a Latin cookbook and one that's on my Amazon wish list (subtle hint)...

She's totally cute and tiny and put us all through a veg trivia contest, wow we really sucked. But we did get the pleasure of meeting Rachel from Rachel's Cakes and her two adorable daughters, they really helped with those tough questions.

Finally, we were able to go to lunch. We ended up going to Purume Organic & Local Kitchen, our dishes were very nice, I had a pea soup and a roasted veggie platter, my girlfriend also had the soup and a stuffed pita that was really good. I will be going back and having drinks and dessert too!

Recipe of the Month: Butternut & Mushroom Risotto

OK let's face it, I don't have a recipe every week so it makes no sense to have a "Recipe of the Week"... So now I will post recipes monthly.

This month's recipe is a butternut squash risotto, unfortunately, I don't have a photo of but I promise the next time I make it I will take one before I gobble it up as is what usually happens! Here are some photos courtesy of Google Images to give you an idea of what it should look like.

I love risotto, however, it's a labor of love: pour and stir, pour and stir, repeat for the next 30 min. For me it's well worth it, the delicate flavors the comforting texture. Yum I'm getting hungry!

 

Ingredients

Extra Virgin Olive Oil, 4 tbsp
Butternut Squash, 1 small
Portobello Mushrooms, 2
Onion Red, 1 cup
Garlic, 1 bulb
Vegetable Broth - Use Low Sodium! 8 cup
Arborio Rice (Risotto Rice), Dry, Uncooked, 2 cup
Earth Balance Natural Buttery Spread, 1 tbsp
Celery, raw, 2 stalk, large (11"-12" long)
Shallots, 4 tbsp chopped
Colgin Liquid Smoke, 1 tsp - Use as much or as little as you like
Salt - Iodized Sea Salt, 1 tsp

Directions

Preheat oven to 400

Cut Squash in half

Brush 3 Tbsp of olive oil on backing sheet, squash (place squash cut side down), mushrooms, onions and garlic - do not peel onion or garlic.

Bake for 40 min

While vegetable are roasting heat the broth. You can also add a bullion if you want to give it more flavor.

In a heavy pot add 1 Tbsp of olive oil and 1 Tbsp of Earth Balance

Saute celery and shallots until soft.

Add 1/3 cup broth

Lower heat and take out roasted vegetables

Peel, seed and chop squash, mushrooms, garlic and onions and put aside

Add the rice to celery and shallots

Add 1/3 cup broth and stir until it is absorbed

Repeat until half the broth is used

Add vegetables and Liquid Smoke

Keep adding broth 1/3 cup at at time and stirring until it is absorbed

Add salt and pepper to taste

Add more Liquid Smoke if desired.

Number of Servings: 6

Garden Update - It's been a long hard summer

As many of you know we lost Pippin a month ago. I've been very sad as she was a very special kitty. It was hard to get back into the garden as she had quite a few favorite spots and would always run to me from them when I would go into the yard. It's still a little hard for me not to get teary eyed when I go out there.

This has been a tough summer, it began with my mother's death, with a drought in the middle then closed with the death of Pippin, let's just say that 2011 will be a much better year for the garden



So... Today was my first day back and was pleasantly surprised at what I found. We had lots of Kentucky Wonder Beans and I have to say they are absolutely delicious. if you come across any seeds they are a definite go.

We also decided to pick the peppers we had since it's now getting cold. These beauties were grown from seed. And while we only got about 4 -5 peppers all summer, I still feel a little proud that we were able to grow them.

In addition to the peppers, we also picked all of our tomatoes, all the green tomatoes, including a few that were from seeds, if any of you have recipes, please share! I picked some dandelion and sauteed it with loads of garlic, shallots, peppers and green tomatoes. I also added some earth balance to thicken it up and boy was that yummy. Ha, we ate it before we could photograph!

I did manage to pick a couple of ripe tomatoes but the pickin's were slim

I also was able to get seeds off of our radishes and the collards that went to seed. It's fun to let something go to seed because now we'll have for next year. It makes so much sense to save seeds. So when you are eating a great vegetable that has seeds, save them! It's always worth a try to see if they will sprout. You can put a few in a moist paper towel and if they sprout then you will be good to go. We store our seeds in airtight containers in the fridge and they keep pretty well.

Radish & Collard seeds in pods

The collards and Swiss chard we planted this year were from seeds we kept last year.






Lemongrass makes me very happy and our lemongrass that we planted in the yard has done beautifully. But now with temps dipping into the 30s we need to bring it in. Jared was inspired and has started making lemongrass tea. WOW! I have a new love, and it's lemongrass leaves steeped in hot water, so simple yet so delicious. I highly recommend it.

From lemongrass bush comes lemongrass tea







Last but not least, we can't forget that our little Lola has been such a saving grace during this difficlut time. And while she's starting to do a lot of things Pippy did she's got her own sweet personality. Here's a phot of her hitting jackpot with a nice big pot of catnip.

Have we got a VIDEO??

OK that's one of the few Young Ones references I can remember...



So I decided to make this entry a video blog... a VLOG! Welcome me to the 21st century!

**IN MEMORY OF PIPPIN** 

 WE MISS YOU PRINCESS

MAY 2004 - SEPTEMBER 16, 2010

What EGG-zactly is going on??

There's been a lot of hoopla over eggs these last few weeks. There is a ginormous recall due to a major salmonella contamination which is nothing to sneeze at.

Source: http://www.salmonellablog.com/2005/05/

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC),

Salmonellosis is an infection with bacteria called Salmonella. Most persons infected with Salmonella develop diarrhea, fever, and abdominal cramps 12 to 72 hours after infection. The illness usually lasts 4 to 7 days, and most persons recover without treatment. However, in some persons, the diarrhea may be so severe that the patient needs to be hospitalized. In these patients, the Salmonella infection may spread from the intestines to the blood stream, and then to other body sites and can cause death unless the person is treated promptly with antibiotics. The elderly, infants, and those with impaired immune systems are more likely to have a severe illness (1).

Salmonella contamination in eggs is fairly common with about 40,000 cases annually (2). So what is it about this outbreak that makes it noteworthy. The fact that there are half billion eggs implicated and they come from just a handful of factory farms in Iowa (3). The notion that eggs come from farms all over the country is a misnomer. Like the beef and pork industry it's the large few that control the market.

Source: http://www.treehugger.com/files/2009/01/battery-eggs-sold-supermarket.php

The main theory for the widespread cases of salmonella is keeping chickens in battery cages.It's compelling because according to a Pew study conducted in 2008:

Animals in such close confinement, along with some of the feed and animal management methods employed in the system, increase pathogen risks and magnify opportunities for transmission from animals to humans. This increased risk is due to at least three factors: prolonged worker contact with animals, increased pathogen transmission within a herd or flock, and the increased opportunities for the generation of antimicrobial resistant bacteria (due to imprudent antimicrobial use) or new strains of viruses (4).

In the 1990s the European Union banned battery cages, with complete compliance due by 2012 (5). Thus with the reduction of batter cages there has been a reduction in pathogens (6). What does this mean for us here in the US? Nothing, unless steps are taken to improve the conditions of the chickens. 

Source: http://www.chickenout.ca/alternatives.html

Even if you don't care about animal welfare you should care about human safety. It's obvious that the food producers won't police themselves it's up to the consumer to demand a safe product - remember money talks. While it's unrealistic to expect people to stop eating eggs, it is realistic to demand a product that is not a bio-hazard for you and your family. The cheap cost of food in this country is not so cheap when you factor in the costs associated with pollution, resource depletion and human health. 

References:

1. CDC website: http://www.cdc.gov/nczved/divisions/dfbmd/diseases/salmonellosis/, 2009
2. CDC website: http://www.cdc.gov/nczved/divisions/dfbmd/diseases/salmonellosis/, 2009
3. FDA website: http://www.fda.gov/Safety/Recalls/MajorProductRecalls/ucm223522.htm, 2010
4. Pew Charitable Commission, Pew Commission Says Industrial Scale Farm Animal Production Poses “Unacceptable” Risks to Public Health, Environment http://www.pewtrusts.org/news_room_detail.aspx?id=38438, 2008
5. EU bans battery cages Richard Hardy. The Animals' Agenda. Westport: Sep/Oct 1999. Vol. 19, Iss. 5; pg. 8, 1 pgs.

Health in Swiss layers after a ban on battery cages.Veterinary Record: Journal of the British Veterinary Association; 2/14/2009, Vol. 164 Issue 7, p198-198, 1/5