The 99%

Whatever your feelings are regarding the Occupy Wall Street movement, you should check out the site We Are the 99%. Moving stories and images like the one below.

Vegan Challenge

Confession time: For the last three weeks Dave and I have been...vegan. Not just vegan, but no-booze vegan. No booze, no meat, no dairy for three weeks. I am prepared to say that the no meat and dairy has been easier than the no drinking. Turns out I really like that 5 PM glass of wine while cooking dinner. Dave was not especially surprised that giving up beer was harder than giving up animal products in our food.

Why did we do this? Well, I had been feeling just gross at the end of the summer. Bloated, tired, grumpy, with a side dish of frequent migraines and indigestion. So I wanted to do a kind of "cleanse" but not the kind that involved drinking only lemonade and cayenne pepper like Beyonce. Veganism seemed like a good, and not completely unreasonable, choice. When I broached the subject with Dave and said I was "thinking about trying it," he responded, with less snark than I probably deserved, "Whenever you say you are 'thinking about' something like this, we are totally doing it."

So we jumped in. I invested in quite a few vegan-friendly products. The beans, greens and tofu have been great. And I love the coconut milk hazelnut coffee creamer I found at Whole Foods. The vegan "cheese" was a little scary, however. Which leads me to a couple of realizations I have had over the past three weeks:

-Being a rookie vegan has been a challenge. Not so much because I felt deprived of previously beloved foods, but because I have had to cook in a totally different way. When a bean product becomes your protein source, you have to really mix it up or you will go crazy. And since I am incapable of cooking less than 8 servings of beans at a time, apparently, I have had a lot of leftovers in my fridge.

-If you are going to go vegan, you gotta go all in and you can't rely on vegan alternatives of animal based foods. Vegan meatballs are pretty good. Veganaise is fine on a sandwich. And I could learn to like non-dairy milks. (Again that hazelnut creamer rocks.) But vegan cheese, sour cream, cream cheese...icky gross.

-Being vegan, and dry, has actually made me feel "cleansed" in many ways. I certainly feel less bloated. I did lose a few pounds. And for the first time in years, I have had none of my typical indigestion issues,.

So what now? We are breaking our vegan/booze fast on Saturday when we celebrate Josh's birthday at one of our favorite spots, Earth Bread & Brewery. Phenomenal beer and pizza - if you in the Philly area, check it out. After than, I will remain booze free during the week. But it is playoff baseball, so I think it is legit to have a beer on the weekend while watching the game. Also, Dave and Josh brewed amazing pumpkin beer which I am dying to have on a cool fall night. I will maintain many of the vegan ways we established these past three weeks, as well. I have learned to really like lentils and come up with more than a few ways to serve tofu. If nothing else this cleanse has re-affirmed my commitment to only eat humanely raised meat and dairy. I had sort of gotten away from this vow in the interest of time, money and convenience, but I am back on track. Now I know that if I can't get chicken or eggs or cheese from a sustainable source, I have lots of vegan recipes up my sleeve.

The New Dirty Dozen

Each year the folks at Environmental Working Group find new ways to scare us and/or protect us, depending on your mood and/or perspective. This independent, nonprofit organization is dedicated to:

1. To protect the most vulnerable segments of the human population children, babies, and infants in the womb from health problems attributed to a wide array of toxic contaminants.
2. To replace federal policies, including government subsidies that damage the environment and natural resources, with policies that invest in conservation and sustainable development.

One of the ways they work to achieve these goals is by creating a list of the dirtiest and cleanest (in terms of pesticide contamination) fruits and vegetables. Spoiler alert - Apples are at the top of the "Dirty" list this year. They even have a handy dandy pdf so you can print out the list for your shopping trips. (They really need to make a smart phone app for this, too.) A great resource.

In addition, they maintain a database of the best and worst beauty products. Check out Skin Deep before your next vacation  for some excellent choices in non-toxic sunscreen.

No Fear Fish

Did you know that Trader Joe's sells frozen fish? Probably. I knew they did too, but I had sort of forgotten until recently when I was lamenting the fact that we don't eat enough fish around here. There are several reasons for this gap in our diet. First, fish can be kind of pricey. Second, my kids generally wont eat it. Third, I feel daunted by the task of purchasing sustainably caught fish.

I can't do anything about the first two factors, but I can try to be an educated consumer. To that end, I printed out the Monterey Bay Aquarium's pocket size Seafood Recommendation Guide. They also have this guide as an app for iphones or Android phones which I will have to purchase when I invariably lose the paper version of this guide.

Consulting my little guide, I was able to choose some lovely Haddock in the freezer section of TJ's. I still felt the need to grill the manager about how TJ's acquires their fish, however. She was super friendly and assured me that they do their best to only purchase sustainably raised fish etc. I hope she was for real. But if not, I had my handy dandy guide to help me make a good choice without having to rely on the manager's knowledge and/or integrity.

Once I had my Haddock, it was simply a matter of  defrosting it in the fridge during the day and sauteing it up with a little butter, lemon, salt and pepper. I served it with the remainder of our Cilantro Lime Sauce. This combo would be great for fish tacos too.

Oatmeal Revelation

Last week Mark Bittman wrote his New York Times opinion piece about the abomination that is McDonald's "oatmeal." Like most things that come from McDonald's, it is more than likely that the oatmeal tastes good. I may be a local-eating, Michael Pollan-loving mom, but I also think that a Quarter Pounder with cheese is delicious. Despite the yumminess of its foods, there is really no arguing that McDonald's produces some of the least healthy food products on the planet; not only is that burger really bad for you in terms of fat, calories and sodium, you can be sure that meat was grown in a manner that was harmful to the environment and workers. But I digress...Bittman's piece points out just how strange McDonald's oatmeal is - it contains over 20 ingredients, for example.

Since Bittman didn't need to sell me on avoiding McDonald's food, I was more interested in the link to a blog called The Simple Dollar that provided an analysis of how much money one could save by making your own packets of instant oatmeal. Very cool.

And all of this discussion about oatmeal led me to consider some ways to make oatmeal for breakfast more do-able in our house. See, everyone in my family loves oatmeal. But I don't really like to purchase the instant packets - I suspected they were a rip-off, which turns out to be true, and I knew that they were far less healthy than what I could make on the stove. But I live with a toddler and a five year old who are not always the picture of patience in the morning, and I am not typically the picture of organization as we are getting ready to for our busy day. Given these variables, how could we have homemade oatmeal without the fuss?

Consulting the Google, I came up with a solution: soak the oats overnight. I am sure this is completely obvious to most people, but it was news to me. Friday night I gave it a try. (Have I mentioned that we have a thrilling social life?) In a glass bowl I put about a cup of rolled oats, a few shakes of salt and cinnamon, and poured about 2 cups of milk. I didn't really measure the milk; I just poured in enough to cover the oats. I covered the dish and put it in the fridge. In the morning, it was a creamy bowl of breakfast happiness. I added raisins and warmed it up on the stove. Since everyone liked it so much, I made a larger batch on Sunday night. This time I used half milk and half water to cover the oats. And on this rainy Monday morning, everyone got their own bowl to microwave for about a minute. (Why I used the stove the first time is a mystery to me.) Delicious!

My internet "research" indicates that you can easily add other grains like quinoa or millet to the mix. Also a good application for added flax meal or wheat germ if you are looking to up the fiber. Any dried, fresh or frozen fruit would be a nice addition. Finally, you can do the same type of overnight preparation with steel cut oats. Here is Bittman's version of this variation.

One last oatmeal tip: If you like oatmeal, definitely try to buy it in bulk. Even at Whole Foods, not known for low prices, the bulk grains are way cheaper than buying a branded product.

The Minimalist's Exit

Last Thursday, Mark Bittman who writes "The Minimalist" column for the New York Times announced that he would be exiting the Dining section of the paper. In his farewell column, Bittman discusses the history of the article and announces that he will now be a regular contributor to the Opinion pages where he will explore the politics of food in our nation and the world at large.

I love Bittman's columns, and his cookbook, How to Cook Everything, is one of the most-used references on my cookbook shelf. (A great gift for any cook at any level.) He is the master of the non-recipe recipe, focusing on basic techniques and ingredients that all cooks can use to produce good food.  I also love the fact that Bittman uses his platform to unabashedly advocate for more sound eating habits (less meat, less processed food, more locally/sustainably produced food). I can't wait to see him in his new role at The Times.



A few Bittman links for your cooking pleasure:
The Minimalist's 25 Favorite Recipes
101 Grilling Recipes
101 Summer Recipes

News Flash! Food = Community

If you don't get it at home, or haven't had time to read it perhaps, I encourage you to look at the New York Times Magazine from yesterday. It is their "Food Issue" and focuses on the myriad ways food helps to build, rebuild and sustain communities. Plus, the cover is fun to look at with your kids.