Rebecca's work

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Our daughter is working in a bakery and making the most wonderful looking pastries and cakes!

We are very proud of Rebecca!

Peaches for breakfast

Ornamental front yard space doesn't always have to be made up of plants that don't produce more than just good looks.  A peach tree is beautiful and look, free breakfast in August!

Organic fruit for breakfast without any cream or sugar, just homegrown peaches.

Every tree has good and bad characteristics to consider when designing a landscape. Naysayers will point out that a fruit tree is messy and more work to mow around when the fruit is dropping, but I think the good things outweigh the bad things and I look forward to many years of enjoyment watching the spring blossoms peak out and now the fruit as it ripens.  In the fall it will turn a lovely color. (I don't plant apple trees anymore because a good organic farmer can do it so much better. My apple trees are always buggy which is bad for the local farmers as my problems can spread to become their problems.)

But peaches, now those seem to be something I can grow without chemical sprays and they have not had a pest problem. Knock on wood.

New kitchen gadget review

This is a nifty little gadget that I bought even though I was a bit skeptical because I hoped it would work, it was fairly inexpensive and the entire gourmet kitchen shop has been having a 30% off sale on everything!
I like oranges but find I tend to avoid eating them as often as I probably should because I dislike peeling them and getting all that peel gook under my fingernails. Cutting into wedges just isn't the same.

Zeelpeel review

I used it for the first time last night while making a simple fruit salad for dessert and it worked great! The first step is to slice through the skin of the orange with a little hook on the back side of this gadget.  Then slide the point of the cut skin through the window and drag the gadget down the side of the orange.  It lifts the skin away from the fruit, all without getting orange peel under your fingernails.   Yay!
I give the Zeelpeel a thumbs up, and now I am wondering what other awesome inventions this company sells.  I will be looking at more items from Chef'n soon.

Pan Roasted Beets over Wilted Kale

Acorn Squash with Pan Roasted Beets over Wilted Kale and Brown Rice

We have a new cookbook:
Vegetable Literacy: Cooking and Gardening with Twelve Families from the Edible Plant Kingdom, with Over 300 Deliciously Simple Recipes
by Deborah Madison
There is a recipe for Beets over Kale that we tried out tonight—it was very good.  (I used less oil than what it called for, for heart-health.)  I replaced the goat cheese with nutritional yeast and some of the walnuts with flaxseed meal.

Culinary School!

My daughter is going to Culinary School, starting tomorrow on her 22nd birthday!

Here she is a few days before her first class.  Happy as a clam.

I am so happy for her!  We wish her the best and can't wait to see how she can apply what she learns at culinary school to what she knows about nutrition.  She already has completed the E-Cornell University Certificate in Plant Based Nutrition, so this year at the culinary institute will be a wonderful experience to layer with that.
She will be a smart chef, and know exactly what it means when asked to prepare a plant-based meal for someone.
That's my girl.

The Plant-based Diet for a Heart Patient

I work for a corporation with many employees and we have what is called a Non-business bulletin board as part of our e-mail system.  Every once in a while I will post a link to the NutritionFacts.org web site or information about the book, "Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease" by Dr. Caldwell Esselstyn in hopes that my fellow employees will also be convinced by the research and as struck as I was by how most of us are walking around with heart disease if we eat meat, cheese or fats, diagnosed or not.
One fellow employee wrote to me recently about his heart attack, 6 stints and what happened after.  His progress is truly inspirational.  He is a very nice man and I hope he lives a long healthy life.  Here are some excerpts from our email correspondence, although I removed some personal data such as names of others and the corporation:

Since going on the vegan diet:         weight:   246# to 180#,    Cholesterol:   248 to 171,    LDL:  180 to 101,    HDL:   38 to 43,    Triglycerides:   180 to 80.

I started taking 10 mg of Pravastatin to try and further lower the Cholesterol but 10mg didn’t do anything,   so now I’m trying 20mg of Pravastatin per day

I’ve been running 4 miles 3-4 times a week.

I feel good.

For me,   I had a clear view of my mortality after my heart attack.    I started cleaning up my house,  and trying to make it easier on my children after I would die.    Each night,    I didn’t know whether I would survive the night to see a new day.   

The absolutely amazing thing about heart disease is that you can  control it through your diet.    There are lots of other diseases where you have no control,   you are at the mercy of the surgeon, medication, radiation;    

I felt extremely compromised after my heart attack and felt like I might not live for another day.      I knew about the vegan diet and the reversal of heart disease.     In 3 weeks of being on the vegan diet,    the fear and imposing thoughts of death vanished.     I felt stable.       As time went on,  I felt better and better.    I started walking.     Walking progressed to walk/jogging.      Which ended in running 4 miles     3 – 4 times a week.       Today I feel good.       If I were to eat one high fat meal,   I would feel exactly like I did on day one,  and would be in a perilous situation.    It would be like committing suicide,    suicide by fat.      Why would I ever want to do that ?

I guess unless one is in a perilous situation and feels the grave,    perhaps it is hard to change.      Problem is,    many people don’t get the second chance that I had.      For some people, the one time (heart attack)  is the last time,   there is no opportunity to learn.

The truly intelligent,   recognize these factors and make a proactive decision.      I was not intelligent enough.     I had to be backed in the corner before I changed.      I was fortunate to be given a second chance and have a disease that is self controllable.

One friend and coworker at work, John Dxxxx, just retired from Axxxxx,   but several months before retirement I lent him Esselsteins book on Reversing Heart Disease.    John Dxxxx had high blood pressure and he was impressed by the weight I lost and how good I looked.   So he bought his own copy of the book and started eating vegan.    His wife started cooking it for him.    I’m not sure he was strict on the diet because I couldn’t really tell that he was losing weight,   but at lunchtime he did eat home prepared vegan dishes.   I also have an influence on two women that I know and both have partially modified their diet with emphasis on weight reduction,   although neither is more than 10 lbs overweight.     So there are some people who pick up on it and follow suit.

I like you have some downfalls.    I think it’s somewhat human to crave some things.    For me its French bread or Italian bread (white breads),    but I’m going to make an honest effort to switch over to whole wheat bread.      When I eat tofu vegetable dishes at Asian restaurants I also eat their white rice.    But that is rather infrequently (once every few weeks).    I did eat a bag of red vines on  a recent road trip a week ago,   it had zero cholesterol and fat but tons of sugar.     But mostly,   I’m a beans/rice/salsa guy.    With oatmeal/oat bran in the morning with ground flax seed meal (2 tbs) and nutritional yeast (1 tbs) with some unsweetened soy milk.     I drink mostly water.    However maybe once a week I make a homemade margarita with tequila, lime concentrate, triple sec.     Sometimes I drink 3 margaritas……on days where I need alcohol therapy……..I think I crave the sweet lime concentrate and the triple sec (the tequila isn’t bad either).    But these are infrequent occurrences.

I used to eat at Atlano’s Mexican burrito place on 3^rd and Post St.     And after going vegan I stayed away.   But one day I thought…..I bet they can make a vegan burrito.     They actually had one on their menu,   but I make them put whole beans instead of refried beans (lard in refried beans),   and not put the cheese or sour cream on it.     I still let them put the avocado on it  ( although its high in fat,    it’s only a small amount !!!).     And then I fill that puppy up with their salsa bar chunky salsa and mild green sauce, pouring additional green sauce on it at every bite !!!!    That is my treat !!!    Sometimes they have big whole halopino (spelling ?) peppers at the salsa bar and I’ll eat 3 of those whole while waiting for the veggie burrito.     They only have flour tortillas and I know there is probably some lard in that,   but…..it’s a small quantity compared to the mass of the entire burrito.    I asked for corn tortilla instead but they don’t have big corn tortillas…..just tiny ones for tacos.

My cardiologist was knocked off his feet !!!    He said very few people can even cut back their “smoking” much yet do this type of dietary modification.     He said:    “whatever you want to do…..I’m with you”.

I have 3 places where I can eat out:

Atlano’s Mexican --  Veggie Burrito $4.60

Boots Vegan Restaurant --  Triple entre plate $7.50

Huckleberries on Monroe --   Bowl of vegetarian soup and a bagel,   sometimes with a green tea or unsweetened soy milk,  but mostly just water to drink

Other than that.   Its cans of black beans, envelopes of Uncle Bens Quinoa & Brown Rice with Garlic,  and Costco Pico de Gallo sauce.    Sometimes Zatarains red beans and rice out a package.    I drink coffee on Friday mornings only, with non dairy creamer.

I’m single and I eat pretty Spartan.   One day if I retire,  and have some time,   I’m going to cook some things off your cooking blog.     I opened the book this morning and the page was:    Chocolate donuts !!!      But,    I also found an eggplant dish that sounds delicious.     You have so many incredible recipes.      I just won’t cook elaborately for myself in my present lifestyle.     In retirement,   I would.     If I had a girl friend to hang out with,    I’d cook for her and myself (in retirement when time permits) in between snowboarding, hiking and horseback  riding.

Your blog is an inspiration,  in letting us know what “is” possible.

Boots restaurant 24 W. Main St.     Next time you are in Spokane,   let me know and I’ll treat you to lunch there.     It’s a vegan restaurant,   with lots of gluten free items also.    You would have to check out the items closely for any food items you are allergic to.

One of my women friends who eats vegan with me occasionally and sometimes cooks a vegan dinner that I can share,   had a good friend who this past Monday had a Lap Band procedure.     My friend told her that she could accomplish weight loss without surgery by going vegan.     Her response was:    “I can’t do that”.       6 weeks prior to the surgery the doctors made her go on a very restrictive diet to reduce the fat in her liver (?) prior to the procedure.     And of course after the procedure,  she will be very limited in what she can eat.          My thoughts are:    Why have a procedure that forces you to a restrictive diet……why not just go on the restrictive diet without the surgery ?      But,   in her case,   she wanted a “magic bullet”,    a pill,    a surgery,   a one hour cure.     She could not fathom the thought of taking self control.

OK.    I’m going to stop preaching to the choir.

John M 

Plant-based Kitchen Gadget: NexTrend 3rd Generation Clear Garlic Twist

This is another nifty new kitchen gadget I found while on a recent trip to Walla Walla where I visited the Providence Fine Living Kitchen Shop.  I have been using it a lot and it cleans up well.  I tend to not want to waste even a smidgen of the nicely minced garlic and so after I shake as much as possible into whatever extradinary dish I am preparing, I add a tablespoon of water to the cup part to rinse the remainder into my recipe.  Then it goes into the top rack of the dishwasher and presto—it's clean!

Once the clove of garlic is inside, just turn each end in opposite directions.

Freshly and perfectly minced garlic in seconds

My letter to the Olive Garden Restaurant Chain

I am so annoyed with news headlines about the Olive Garden trying different things to increase their sales.  Today the news is about experimenting with plate size.
REALLY?
So I decided they needed a wake-up call and wrote them a letter on the "connect" portion of their webpage. (I am known around here for writing notes to implement change.)

Here is what I wrote to them and I hope someone in charge actually reads it:

We stopped going to Olive Garden Restaurants when we stopped eating meat and dairy and oil.  Our plant based diet with no added fats is the trend moving forward and if you want to survive as a successful restaurant chain you will need to be the leader in providing vegan, low fat options on your menu.  We do this for heart health, to prevent cancer and diabetes and dementia.  If you do this, you won't have much competition for a while and people like us will finally have a place to go and eat out and socialize.  We still drink wine—a money maker for you.

If you are eating a plant based diet, and hopefully you are if you read my recipes, then please consider writing to restaurants you used to like going to.  If we all start raising awareness in the marketplace maybe we will have more choices.  We will be better off, they will get more business and the whole planet will benefit.

Plant-based dining out at the Bonsai Bistro, Coeur d'Alene, Idaho

We had the pleasure of visiting my brother and sister-in-law over the weekend and dined at the Bonsai Bistro in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho.  They bought us a wonderful plant-based lunch:

Isn't this wonderfully colorful?

Concrete paver project with compass progress photo

This is how far we were able to get over two weekends on our paving project.

Tumbled concrete pavers with granite inlay (scraps from a kitchen and bath dealer)

Progress, another weekend of work

Side view, succulent planting bed

Still a little work to do but getting close.  The ship's prism in the center catches the sunlight nicely.

Succulent planting bed

Concrete Paver project with compass

Concrete Paver project with compass, a photo by CeCeJewell on Flickr.

Who knew it is so easy to engrave concrete pavers with a Dremel? Use a grinder bit coated with diamond dust, it costs about $20.  I printed a letter in a large font and used spray glue on the back of the paper to hold it in place on the paver, after carefully cutting out the letter to make a stencil.  A stone sealer really brings it out after you finish carving.
I found that while I was carving, keeping the paver damp speeded up the process, but don't start wetting the surface until you have scratched in the outline of your letter, or use plastic film instead of paper for the stencil.  Once the paper gets wet, well...you know.

Concrete Paver project with compass

Concrete Paver project with compass, a photo by CeCeJewell on Flickr.

Our current weekend project! No time to blog....

Scouring non-stick pans

We cook without oil so sometimes the vegetables that we brown leave a bit of residue even though we use nonstick cookware.    You may already know this but in case you don't....

A very handy way to scour non-stick pans without scratching the surface when food gets really stuck is to use a little spray oil and table salt, then wipe with a paper towel (you may have to push hard).

Pan that has been through the dishwasher or washed with soft scrub brush but it didn't get fully clean.

Spray pan with oil and then sprinkle with table salt.

Wipe out with paper towels, push hard in circular motion.

You may have to repeat the process for stubborn bits.

In the end you will have a pan that is better than new--it is all seasoned and ready to be used again in your next fabulous creation and look, no scratches.

Beautiful Sunset Rose

Beautiful Sunset Rose, a photo by CeCeJewell on Flickr.

Rebecca's rose is still going strong in November!

Woodland Birdhouse and Blue Mist Spirea

Blue Mist Spirea

The other day as I was leaving the house I noticed how pretty the Blue Mist Spirea looks right now with the burning bush behind it.  I reminded myself to stop once in a while and take in the sights.

What has been going on at our house?  I volunteered to build a birdhouse out of a portion of retired utility pole for charity.  Boy has this turned into a big project.

Utility Pole (no longer in use due to condition)

Trying to hollow out the core for the birdhouse.  Did I mention I smashed my thumb?

I have been planning to learn woodworking for many years now and we have been building our tool collection for our entire marriage--30 years, one tool at a time.  Finally we have a space to set up a small workshop and so I volunteered to do this little charity project, thinking, "I have the perfect book showing me how to do this and I can hollow it out with our bandsaw".

The book is titled, "Enchanting Woodland Birdhouses" by Lucinda Claire Macy.  She now has a shop on Etsy where you can buy her marvelous birdhouses.  They are so pretty.  Anyway her book is wonderful for photos and instructions.  It has been on my mental to-do list, to build one of these some day.

So I brought this chunk of utility pole home (I work for a utility company) and discovered the diameter was too large to use any of our power tools safely (remember, my skills are limited) so I sawed off 12" with a japanese handsaw.  This wasn't as difficult as it might sound since the wood was nice and dry.  Then it wouldn't fit under the bandsaw even to saw off the 45 degree gables so I again used the japanese handsaw.  By now I was working up a sweat.

Since I couldn't follow the tidy instructions in the book for using our bandsaw to cut the center out (it only has an 8" clearance), we tried a few creative ideas.  My husband pointed out that Native Americans used fire to help hollow out canoes so we tried burning out the center which worked until the fire decided it wanted to burn the whole thing up and I quickly put it out and started drilling holes and using a chisel and mallet.
A round log is difficult to set up so it doesn't shift around while drilling and hammering (just file that one away for future reference....) Of course as I neared the bottom of the log, the entire thing split into several chunks.  This actually made it easier to finish coring out the center.  I then glued the outer shell back together, held it together with rubber bands while the glue set and turned out the light for the day.

It took two weekends but I finally finished it yesterday.  I like it.  I hope the charity gets more than a few dollars for it!

My Woodland Birdhouse for the upcoming Women of Waterpower Scholarship Fund Craft Fair.

The windows have colored glass panes!  

What I have learned from this:  although the patina of the aged pole looks really great, a younger piece of wood may have been easier to work with for a beginner like me and the 1" forstner bit was the most efficient way to get rid of the core.

Maybe I will just buy it back from the craft fair?

Books!

The only cookbooks I left on my "go-to" shelf  besides my home-made binders that I keep in the pantry of my own recipes for daily use.  What's on your bookshelf?

Well, it is time to find a new home for our old cookbooks that call for eggs, meat, oil, butter, cheese, etc. in almost every recipe.  Out of the several dozen cookbooks I have collected over the past 30 years or so, these in the photo are the ones I am keeping in a convenient location.  I haven't decided where to store the others--I want to keep them just a little longer as reference.  Like in an attic or basement (neither of which we have).  But honestly, I haven't opened one up in the past year or more since I developed most of the recipes on the blog.  Usually I can find what I need on the internet when researching how to make something like Corn Chowder and then fix it to be plant-based.  Is that what you do?
You know what really annoys me though?  Most vegan cookbooks have recipes with a lot of fat.  Geez Louise.

In Memory of Darwin

Darwin as a pup in 2006.

Darwin stayed a pup in spirit.  2006-2012.  We will miss him.

What the heck is Essence of Chicken Drink?

Sorry for the blurriness, but while on vacation we came across this displayed in a store window in Chinatown, Chicago.  I have nothing to say really, but my mind is conjuring up all sorts of images.

Before we left for home we found a vegetarian restaurant in a neighborhood called Oak Park near Chicago.  The name of the restaurant is "Munch".  The food was delicious and they even offer vegan desserts (although not fat-free or low sugar).  Most of the items on the menu were vegan.  I forgot to photograph the food!

Munch

We also visited Waterloo, Iowa and had dinner one night at a beautiful restaurant named, "Galleria de Paco" where the chef made me an entree without meat, dairy, onions or peppers.

Pasta with mushrooms, basil and garlic

Visit their website for more interesting information about this restaurant with a ceiling painted to look like the Sistine Chapel:  http://www.midwestwonder.com/index.html/#/home/

Pantry Items

Sometimes information is worth posting twice, so this is a repeat:

Here is a list if items that you may want to have on hand in your pantry for a plant based diet, some of which may be unfamiliar if you are new to this (in no particular order, just how they came into my head for this list):

Nutritional Yeast Flakes
Flaxseed Meal
Oatmeal, Old Fashioned Quaker type or bulk
Chia Seeds
Quinoa
Brown Rice
Beans, all kinds canned and dry (use soy beans less often since they have the most fat)
Whole wheat flour
Oat flour
Whole wheat pastry flour
Frozen berries, frozen cherries, mango chunks, etc.
Yeast (for making your own bread and pizza crusts)
Grape-nuts Cereal
PB2 Powdered Peanut Butter
Freeze-dried fruit of all kinds from Honeyvillegrain.com
Walnuts (keep in freezer, you will use them sparingly)
Sunflower seeds (keep in freezer, you will use them sparingly)
Vegan Worcestershire Sauce
Bragg Essential Amino's (liquid) and Bragg 24 herb spice mix (dry)
B Vitamins, Complex or at least B12
Real Maple Syrup
Date Sugar (which is just ground up dates--considered a "whole food" instead of processed sugar)
Egg replacer powder
Vegan Custard Powder
Vegan Fat-free mayo by Walden Farms
Mustard, pickles, ketchup, hot sauce
TVP Textured Vegetable Protein (use once in a while)
Vital Wheat Gluten
Keep a steady supply of Kale, spinach and other dark leafy greens in the fridge, use them every day
Fresh vegetables for salads and stir-frys, and well just about everything
Cocoa powder (use instead of chocolate in recipes)
Canned pumpkin puree to replace fat in baked goods
Whole grain pastas, all sorts
Non-dairy milk such as rice milk or almond milk (fat free soy is best if you can stand it)
Soy Curls (made by the Butler family in Oregon)
Apples, fresh and crunchy plus applesauce to replace fat in baked goods recipes
Bananas, oranges, other fruit you like
Extracts and spices you like, make sure they aren't older than 18 months
Garlic, fresh and powdered
Non-fat broths, mushroom and vegetable
Bouillon, vegan type but flavored to taste like chicken or beef
Canned tomatoes, diced, pureed, sauce, look for low sodium versions
Enchilada sauce (or use the recipe published by The Happy Herbivore, Lindsay Nixon--it's good)
Smoked Paprika
Mori-Nu Soft and Firm Tofu
Extra Firm tofu from the refrigerated section of the market
Miso Paste
Vegan Oyster sauce (made from mushrooms)
Liquid Smoke
Tortillas--look for the very lowest fat content! We keep corn tortillas and whole wheat tortillas on hand.  (I like the spinach wrap tortillas even though they are not fat-free because they are so large and convenient and still healthier than eating out).
Panini Press--we use ours every day for grilling vegetables, warming tortillas, grilling tofu, etc.
Ice Cream Alternative--Dr. Greger's recipe on Nutritionfacts.org is one we make often.  It uses frozen cherries, cocoa powder, vanilla and date sugar among other things.  It's really good!

My Dad

In the same month we lost my stepfather-in-law, my own father passed away.  These two men were born in the same month in the same year and died in the same month of the same year.  They were about as different as night and day but both will be missed so much.

http://www.einansfuneralhome.com/_mgxroot/page_10780.php

Cliff Edwards Haines
May 16, 1928-February 29, 2012