Alright, so "the wedding" has been occupying my brain a lot lately... and although it seems forever away (279 days I believe...) I feel overwhelmed at what has to be done, and at the same time... feel like it's too far away to do anything... oh well. One thing I have decided is the colour scheme that I like. I was sort of wishy-washy on it... and I have it picked out.. FINALLY! We're all going shopping tomorrow (Jenny, Allie, Theresa, Cady, Katy, Charlotte, Mom, and Grandma) and now that I have a scheme of sorts, at least we can look for dresses along those colours, and it won't just wandering around blindly in shops... which is my fear.
I'm horrible at planning things. Absolutely horrible. If you know me very well, you know that I don't much like to take charge in these sorts of things, and don't like to make everyone do what I want to do. Getting married seems to have a lot of situations where I have to take charge of planning things, and get people to do what I want them to do... (bah). I love it all the same though, and I hope that it all goes well.
NOW.. that the wedding stuff is over with...
oh wait.
I want to mention that Katy's little baby Charlotte and my sister Theresa's babies Taylor, and Lexington are going to be the cutest gnome fairies around and I can't wait to see them with their wings and flowers, and balloons, and face paint. (at the wedding)
and my adorable mad-hatter ring-bearer.
Alright moving on.
A lot of people have been asking me recently why I'm vegan, and even though it seems like I'm always blogging about it, I thought I'd put it into a few simple statements that make sense to me. Also, veganism is not a religion of any sorts, and I don't believe that spiritually I'm "awakened" or any of that mumbo-jumbo, I just feel, healthier as a vegan.
Here's my reasons.
1. It's better for the planet. If less cows/pigs/chickens were produced we'd have way less pollution (raising them, feeding them, cleaning up after them, and transporting them). That's not saying, get rid of all the animals, but there's absolutely no need for the mass production of them, they're not products.
2. It's better for my body. North Americans put SO many chemicals into their bodies daily, not only through animal products, but through most packaged foods (hi-fructose corn syrup anyone?) and I feel a lot better about my diet when I watch more closely as to what goes in. At the end of the day, if I can list (or at least try to) all the ingredients in my food, I feel healthy, and better. Also, it's better for your immune system, your heart, your skin, your weight.. (the list goes on). For more information check out The Kind Diet , Food Rules , The China Study or many many others.
3. It really inspires me to get into the kitchen and create. I love cooking, and I love it even more as a vegan. I feel empowered, and excited at the prospect of a new recipe.
(for those of you that are still fuzzy on the vegan issue it's no meat, no fish, no dairy, no eggs ... and as much as that sounds like deprivation, I actually enjoy food more now!)
Alright, some recipes for you. I said I would post my dragon bowl recipe earlier on Facebook, but I got uninspired to write it... so here goes. It's long because there's a lot of components, but it's really mixy-matchy, so usually whatever you have in your kitchen will work. Oh! and if you find any alterations that are super tasty, post them so I can try new things!
alright.
DRAGON BOWL! (the recipe)
So dragon bowl is a really popular interchangeable vegan dish, and it usually compiles of three parts, brown rice (or other whole grains), tofu (or other vegan protein), steamed veggies, sprouts, and a fabulous dressing. The rice I've found is quite time consuming, so I like to make up a huge batch and keep it in my fridge, then to heat it up, I just put as much as I want in a bowl, put about a Tbsp of water in it, and put it in the microwave. The tofu takes about a day to marinade, and can continue marinating for up to two weeks, SO you can make a whole bunch and use it in other recipes, or just eat dragon bowl for two weeks straight (you may want to)! The veggies/sprouts/dressing are easy and can be prepared right before you eat! (well unless you're growing your own sprouts.. I have this really cool sprouting jar, and it usually takes me about 3 days to grow fabulously tasty sprouts! you can buy the jars and the sprouting seeds at the health food store!) If you want to know why I'm so enthused about sprouts click here.
part 1. TOFU skeptics listen up! This tofu recipe blew the socks off of me! I hated tofu, like gagged when I smelt it.. and then I tried this recipe, and I'll never go back. It's so good that even Tal loves it! (anything that is fiance approved is got to be yummy!) I found this recipe at Everydaydish.tv.
(this is what the tofu looks like)you will need:
1 1/2 to 2 pounds of extra firm (or firm) tofu cut into strips (good for burgers, or a yummy side to mashed potatoes) or chunks (good for kebabs, dragon bowl, stirfrys ..etc)
1 and 1/2 cups water
1/4 cup soy sauce
3 tablespoons nutritional yeast flakes
2 teaspoons dried sage leaves, crumbled (or 2 T. fresh, chopped)
1/2 teaspoon dried rosemary (or 1/2 T. fresh)
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme (or 1/2 T. fresh, chopped)
1 small onion diced very fine.. basically minced
Cut up the tofu however you want it, or maybe do some strips, some chunks.. however you like.. Oh! but I should mention, it's good to blot some of the water out of it before you cut it up! Then mix together all of the other ingredients and put it into a large shallow dish that has a lid (I used a casserole dish) and put your tofu in. Make sure they're all covered, and stick it in the fridge (these can stay marinated for up to two weeks so you can just pull out whatever you need to cook).
When it comes time to cook the tofu you will need:
1 -2 Tbsp of extra virgin olive oil
1 cup of whole wheat flour (or any type of flour)
1/4 cup of nutritional yeast
Mix together the flour and the nutritional yeast in a shallow dish. Dredge the marinated tofu in the flour mixture and fully coat it. While you're doing this, heat the oil in a large skillet. When the tofu is coated, place on the skillet with the oil, and cook on either side until it is golden brown and delicious!
Alright, so now that the tofu is marinating, you can make a big ol batch of brown rice. A good ratio for brown rice is 1 cup of rice for 1.5 cups of water. For a big batch I use:
3 cups of brown rice (long grain or short grain)
4.5 cups of water
Put the rice and the water in a big pot and place on the stove. Bring the rice and water to a boil, once it's boiling, cover and simmer for twenty minutes. Do not! I repeat do not OPEN THE LID OR LET OUT ANY OF THE STEAM! This will ruin your rice. Once the 2 minutes is up, keep the lid on, and fight off any temptation you might have to peak at it, and let it sit in the pot for another 20 - 30 minutes off heat. Then, finally after all the waiting, check out your perfectly cooked rice. If you have a gas stove like me, you may want to use a flame deflector while it's simmering for twenty minutes... you don't want the heat to burn the rice. Once the rice is cooked, put in large containers in the fridge for future use. Earlier I mentioned how to reheat the rice when you want to eat it!
So, you've prepared the tofu, you've grown your sprouts, and your rice is ready to go. Now all you have to do is cook the veggies (not too much.. it's better if they're still a little crunchy.. in fact I usually shred the carrots or beats and don't cook them at all) so here's a list of veggies that work in dragon bowl:
shredded carrot
shredded beats
sprouts
bok choy
kale
chard
broccoli
cauliflower
mushrooms
pea shoots
bell peppers
(or basically any other veggie that you can think of.. although tomato or potato I don't think would work.. neither eggplant of zucchini.. no night shades..)
and last but not least.. the most amazing dressing I have ever made! It's good on basically anything that could possibly ever need a dressing! It's from a book called "How it all Vegan" which is full of absolutely delightful recipes! This one's called "Sarah and Tanya's You must-make-this-dressing"!
You will need:
1 stalk of green onion
2 cloves of garlic
2 Tbsp of maple syrup
4 Tbsp of apple cider vinegar
1 tsp of Dijon mustard
1 tsp of fresh chives
1 tsp of fresh dill
1 tsp of fresh parsley
1/c cup of extra virgin olive oil
1/2 tsp of salt
Basically chop up the onion, mince the garlic, and throw them and everything else into a food processor or blender. Blend until smooth and delicious. It should make about 3/4 of a cup.
TIME TO ASSEMBLE!
Start with a big bowl of brown rice (that's been reheated), add your cooked (and not cooked veggies), then you're pan-fried tofu, your home grown sprouts, and top with the most amazing dressing you've ever tasted! Ta-da! Dragon Bowl!
Alright, I think that's all I'm going to post for now! Have a fantastic Sunday! (try dragon bowl (or some sort of variation of it!)
Peace.
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