I'm back

Iknow it's been a long time, and I will explain after I tell you about this new dish I discovered tonight. I saw a link for tofu recipes on my MSN homepage, clicked it, and found a recipe called Spice-Crusted Tofu. It's really simple--tofu dredged in coriander, cumin, and paprika, then sauteed, and then drizzled a sauce of boiling water, lemon juice, and honey. But since I don't use honey, I subbed agave nectar instead. Agave is a little thinner than honey, but just as sweet, and I think the next time I get a cold (right about when it starts getting cold), I might try agave nectar in my hot tea instead of brown rice syrup (which has the texture of honey but is not nearly as sweet). I also didn't have the pine nuts the recipe calls for, but I did have some slivered almonds, and I used those instead. I heated up some leftover pilaf (a box mix from Seeds of Change) and some frozen haricot verts, and as soon as I get done with this, there's a carton of Purely Decadent Pomagranate Chip calling my name.

I guess it's been mid-July since I posted. I turned 39, attended the Taking Action for Animals conference the next week, went out of town to visit my family where we celebrated my grandmother's 90th birthday, what else? I've had a bit of a health crisis the past couple of weeks, and I have not felt like cooking anything blogworthy, much less actually blogging. It began with some mild chest pains, so I eventually went to the emergency room, had a bunch of tests, including two EKGs, which all came back normal (thank goodness). They took blood from me three times! They had to take it from my lower left arm after one vein on my outer elbow area did not cooperate, and the bruise has finally faded. Can I just say that being in the hospital sucks out loud and in stereo? After all my tests were done and the docs were saying I could probably go, I waited hours for them to spring me. A doctor had to take the IV needle (pro forma when someone's on a cardiac monitor) from my arm after it was clear I probably wouldn't need it.

A nurse friend says that when patients my age have chest pains, it's usually GERD (gastroesophageal reflux disease), and my internist, who I just started seeing before all this happened, also thinks it might be that. I'll know the results of the last test, an upper GI scan with barium (ick!), for sure on Tuesday. If it isn't, I don't know what I'm going to do.

But I figured it was time to start blogging again, even if what I cook isn't the most exciting stuff on the planet. Heck, I should write about this new line of analogues from Germany called Viana. It's truly awesome stuff. Both Vegan Essentials (www.veganessentials.com) and Pangea (www.veganstore.com) carry the six varieties: Chickin Fillets (delicious! My favorite!), Chickin Nuggets (they're decent--get them for kids), Cowgirl Veggie Steak (needs something with it for flavor), Spicy Veg Kabob, Cevapcici (Yugoslavian sausage), and Veggie Gyros, the latter three I haven't tried yet. They use mostly organic ingredients and ones you can pronounce, too! The stuff is pretty easy to cook; I just toss it in a frypan for about five minutes total, and it's done. It also looks very much like the image on the box, always a good thing.

So if you're looking for a new analogue, check out Viana. Yes, it's kind of expensive, but it's worth every penny.

Veganizing is so much fun!!

Okay, I got a little overenthusiastic there. But I do love taking cruel recipes and making them animal friendly. If you make your own seitan--and as I've said before, I recommend that you do--you can adapt just about any recipe that calls for boneless pieces of meat by using seitan. So I dragged out my American Heart Association cookbook, found a recipe for rosemary turkey with mushrooms. The only changes I made? Instead of turkey, I used seitan. Instead of chicken broth, I used vegetable broth. And since I was out of the shallots the recipe called for, I used half an onion. Oh, and since I didn't have cornstarch, I used arrowroot instead. I made the Seeds of Nature Seven Grain Pilaf, heated up some frozen green beans and had myself a tasty little dinner. Depending on how the leftovers go (sorry to say, but sometimes it's best when it's freshly cooked), I may just make this again. It would go best with a grain pilaf instead of potatoes, so I'll have to make another make some more.

And if you don't subscribe to Ms. magazine, check out the latest issue. In the banging-my-own-drum category, I had my letter published. Their last issue, in the spring (it's a quarterly magazine), had an article on global warming. After reading the articles, I was chagrined to see there was no mention of how what we eat affects the state of the planet. I found several big stats that would hopefully make people think and fired off a letter. Sadly, most of those stats were excised, but I'd like to think my point will get across to the readers. When I checked the website early this week--it just came out on the newsstand Monday--the new issue hadn't yet been put up. But, really, buy the magazine. Better yet, consider subscribing!

And when you see an article in a magazine or newspaper that affects you, that angers you, or an issue comes up that you feel needs to be addressed, write a letter to the magazine/paper. If you don't feel confident about the letter, get a friend to review it before you send it off. And even if your letter doesn't get published--and many letters I've written haven't, although a handful have in various magazines on various issues--editors (hopefully) have taken your views into account. I have read that for every letter the newspaper or magazine receives, there are dozens of people who feel the way you do.

So get writing!

'Bobs on the Barbie

Okay, so it's not really a barbecue, but "Grilling Kabobs" would have been a really dull title, don't you think? I bought a container of mixed up chopped onions and peppers (and a couple of mushrooms--what's up with that? I want more shrooms, dammit!), threaded them with some tempeh chunks on leftover skewers from the last kabobs I bought, brushed on some Annie's Naturals Paradise Marinade and grilled them in my lovely grill pan that I so adore. I had way more veggies than I had room for on the skewers, so after the skewers were done, I just tossed the unthreaded veggies in the grill pan and stirred them around for a bit until they had cooked up some. I also had some Lundberg's rice pilaf and cooked that up, for a nice, healthy (I hope) dinner. The rice could use a little more flavor--maybe next time I'll use half broth and half water to cook it or toss in some seasonings. But it's still pretty good, and I'd get it again.

Earth Day was yesterday, Sunday. And everyone talks about global warming and how to be environmentally friendly. The local paper was asking its readership for their tips, so of course, I wrote in. I said, go vegan and gave a few stats on just how wasteful the animal products industries are and how horribly they pollute the earth. And yes, I backtracked a bit; I realize not everyone can or will go vegan. But just sharply reducing your consumption of animal products will help. And to my suprise and delight, they published my letter, although a little hacked up. The EPA itself states that runoff from factory farms pollutes groundwater more than all other industrial sources combined, and the UN states that raising animals for food generates more greenhouse gases than all the cars and trucks in the world combined. Don't believe me? Know a skeptic? Have them Google "animal products global warming" and see how many hits you get that say, yes, meat production causes some serious environmental problems. And just because meat production is worse than SUVs, that doesn't give you a pass. If you must own a car, find a more fuel-efficient one. The supply of oil on the planet is finite, and your monstermobile isn't helping matters.