tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-244268922011-04-21T16:19:10.922-04:00An experiment in mindful eating. Vegan/vegetarian. Local/organic.Rachelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14316997252895382891noreply@blogger.comBlogger361100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24426892.post-77881096198075875392007-03-14T13:58:00.000-04:002007-03-14T14:27:20.651-04:00

Well, after more than 2 months of not posting, I think it's time to declare this blog officially dead. However, our Seattle Cooking Club is alive and well, and eventually I'll catch up on posting all photos and descriptions of our recent exploits over at Wordpress. Much veggie goodness is going down on Monday nights, thanks to Kristy, Jay, Chevon, Traci, Zeb, B. and myself.

Rachelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14316997252895382891noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24426892.post-45320485489620236682006-12-31T19:40:00.000-05:002006-12-31T21:09:10.158-05:00

It seems that U.S. consumers can expect to see more experimental technologies gracing their dinner plates, this time in the form of meat and dairy from cloned animals. Yes, thanks to the FDA, corporate lapdog - er, government watchdog - these products will likely appear on supermarket shelves without special labeling.Does this make you uncomfortable? It should. As activist Jeremy Rifkin has

Rachelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14316997252895382891noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24426892.post-60923544695165518982006-12-04T01:41:00.000-05:002006-12-04T03:07:58.937-05:00

It's been a while since my last post, but I'd be remiss if I didn't mention the Anti-Turkey Day feast at my friends' house in Seattle a couple Thursdays ago. Our friends Kristy and Jay played host, preparing veggie chili, enchiladas, and salad with homemade dressing. I made two kinds of potatoes, hummus, and tofu pumpkin cheesecake from Sarah Kramer's latest book. Jackie brought stuffing, pink

Rachelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14316997252895382891noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24426892.post-86432562735571855982006-11-16T00:28:00.000-05:002006-11-16T00:54:14.856-05:00

The weather, it's not. The asparagus fajitas we had tonight, however, were (see previous post for recipe). B added an extra serrano pepper to the mix, and I danced around the kitchen, swigging my bottle of New Belgium's summer seasonal Skinny Dip and listening to Ella Fitzgerald sing the Cole Porter Songbook (did I mention we found our first record store in Tacoma today?). Too Darn Hot,

Rachelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14316997252895382891noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24426892.post-78990652076205684362006-11-11T00:01:00.000-05:002006-11-11T15:37:44.494-05:00

Forgive the quality of this image, but I just had to illustrate the sorry state of our refrigerator earlier this week shortly after we moved into our new apartment. Let's see: on the top shelf we have soup (tomato as well as potato and leek) and sriracha. And on the bottom we have Newman's Own Chunky Roasted Garlic Salsa and Roasted Garlic Tomato Sauce next to Kirkland Plain Organic Soymilk.

Rachelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14316997252895382891noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24426892.post-37919088338333428852006-11-02T01:18:00.000-05:002006-11-02T01:45:06.129-05:00

We are currently on day three of our move, spending the night in Bozeman, Montana. So far the trip has been uneventful. In fact, we're all in suspiciously good spirits.We spent our first night with my brother in Minneapolis. We picked up my sister and, on her suggestion, went out to dinner at Khyber Pass Cafe, an Afghan restaurant in St. Paul. I got a vegetarian combo plate, with very yummy

Rachelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14316997252895382891noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24426892.post-45551167115605163842006-10-27T10:27:00.000-04:002006-12-06T21:32:58.617-05:00

So my friend Roanna both decided to do IDA's World Go Vegan Days, today through Sunday. She was vegan for several years, including several during which she was a server at a nonvegetarian restaurant; I just went vegetarian at the beginning of this year. Update: Sunday evening, taking a break from the last of moving/cleaning. With the exception of Melissa's delicious chocolate cherry pecan

Rachelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14316997252895382891noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24426892.post-26602722786490374052006-10-21T11:31:00.000-04:002006-10-21T12:37:34.784-04:00

I'll admit it - I only picked up our library's copy of The Good Good Pig after I found our that its author is a vegetarian. I'm glad that I did, though, and am now recommending it people who've enjoyed or are waiting to read John Grogan's Marley & Me.When Sy Montgomery decides to adopt the sickliest runt out of a friend's piggery, she's not sure if Christopher Hogwood (named after a well-known

Rachelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14316997252895382891noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24426892.post-732459255914184062006-10-13T15:20:00.000-04:002006-10-15T15:48:46.905-04:00

In the past few weeks, I've received not one, not two, but three excellent cookbooks (thanks Sarah, Ali, and the staff and the Wyoming library). It's always fun to pore over new recipes and see what's going to lure me into the kitchen.Right now we're trying to use up most of the ingredients in our pantry so we'll have less to pack (though I've given some stuff to a local food pantry, and what's

Rachelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14316997252895382891noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24426892.post-21340223024512876482006-10-05T19:58:00.000-04:002006-10-05T20:32:22.234-04:00

I went out gleaning in an apple orchard in Ada today. We picked 1,860 pounds of Red Delicious and Gala apples. I wish I could have done more gleaning this summer, since it feels good to get outside and do something, but I was busy driving to Detroit and Lansing for classes.This past Sunday I cleaned out my vermicomposting bin for the first time. I ended up with about 13 pounds of worm poop,

Rachelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14316997252895382891noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24426892.post-15184820153699768712006-09-30T00:45:00.000-04:002006-09-30T01:05:18.854-04:00

Well, I seem to have fallen pretty far behind in my blogging exploits. And I haven't posted any food photos in over a month (owing to the fact that, unlike everyone and their brother, I still do not own a digital camera). As many of you know, I've been quite busy lately, what with a new job and upcoming cross-continental move to deal with. So here is a soup recipe to tide you all over.Red Lentil

Rachelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14316997252895382891noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24426892.post-32596423540356457102006-09-20T10:35:00.000-04:002006-09-20T10:53:01.754-04:00

All this coverage of the E. coli outbreak that's been linked to fresh spinach has defenders of traditional (i.e. corporate) farming pointing the finger at organic farmers, saying their products are less, not more, safe than their conventional conterparts. But is that really the lesson we should be taking away from the recent E. coli outbreak?Of course not. The lesson we should learn is not that

Rachelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14316997252895382891noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24426892.post-82118234972419492642006-09-04T13:27:00.000-04:002006-09-04T13:32:50.487-04:00

September 10 - 17th!Check out these events:Sunday, September 10 - Organic Harvest Festival at the Blanford Nature Center, with proceeds to benefit Mixed Greens' food literacy programs in Grand Rapids Public Schools.Monday, September 11 - A Preservation Party sponsored by the Greater Grand Rapids Food Systems Council (GGRFSC) Want to learn how to can or freeze the summer's bounty? Email Cynthia

Rachelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14316997252895382891noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24426892.post-458060484046471042006-08-29T14:57:00.000-04:002006-08-29T15:37:02.864-04:00

I've been reading two interesting, if frightening, books that critique our current system of food production and distribution. In The Long Emergency, James Howard Kunstler, author of a scathing indictment of suburbia entitled The Geography of Nowhere (which I haven't yet read), asserts that we have already reached peak oil production and that the westernized world, which is overly reliant on

Rachelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14316997252895382891noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24426892.post-66952876041776698322006-08-21T20:29:00.000-04:002006-08-21T20:44:10.445-04:00

You may know her from films like Splash and... well, okay, if you're like me, you're really only familiar with her because of Splash. But did you know that Daryl Hannah is also a vegetarian and environmental activist? Now she can add video blogger to her credentials. What does this have to do with food? Well, in the third episode of her enviroblog, Daryl profiles a funky vegan eatery. I also got

Rachelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14316997252895382891noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24426892.post-34635656671855673202006-08-19T17:53:00.000-04:002006-08-19T18:20:31.588-04:00

Brandon and I biked to Cherry Deli one sunny evening the other week. They've expanded their vegetarian options, and I had a hard time choosing which sandwich to sample. Luckily, the girl behind the counter recommended the Giddings, an awesome veggie reuben sandwich featuring squash and zucchini. It was a three-napkin sandwich, and I kept wiping at what I imagined was a ring of Russian dressing

Rachelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14316997252895382891noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24426892.post-1155566107720565612006-08-14T10:18:00.000-04:002006-08-14T10:35:07.733-04:00

Sometimes I am amazed at how much waste two people can generate. I recently threw away an entire head of organic broccoli because I didn't get to it fast enough. It's been so bad lately I've been avoiding feeding my worms because I feel like there's just too much waste food for them to process. And I'm not alone - a study conducted by an anthropologist at the University of Arizona revealed that

Rachelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14316997252895382891noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24426892.post-1154924072743951312006-08-06T23:12:00.000-04:002006-08-07T00:17:22.626-04:00

Pattypan Squash Stuffed with Cajun White Beans Apologies for not posting these past few weeks. You could chalk it up to:1) Our library system's Summer Reading Club winding down2) Graduating (thank the good lord I didn't fail cataloging)3) Preparing for an interview in the Emerald City... or a combination of all three.Regardless, I've still managed to have some exciting culinary experiences these

Rachelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14316997252895382891noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24426892.post-1153541328327994342006-07-21T23:31:00.000-04:002006-08-06T22:44:01.023-04:00

It's only mid-July, but already the amount of food we're getting from our CSA is getting ahead of me. Here's a list of what we received this week:BasilBeetsLettuce (Escarole and Romaine)SorrelSquashTomatoes (just 2 this week - but I think many more are on their way)This week we got a patty pan squash, which I've never tried before. I wasn't much of a squash lover as a kid (This is a gross

Rachelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14316997252895382891noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24426892.post-1152779172529659522006-07-13T03:12:00.000-04:002006-07-13T04:26:12.596-04:00

Canal Street TrolleySo I'm going to indulge a little off-topic post here and put up some pictures of New Orleans. I wish I had more (and better) pictures, but I'm still holding off on purchasing a digital camera. Brandon and I went to look at digital SLR camera bodies the other week -- mighty expensive, I tell you. These were taken with a cheap disposable camera, since I didn't feel like lugging

Rachelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14316997252895382891noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24426892.post-1152400088753363642006-07-08T18:43:00.000-04:002006-07-08T19:12:22.686-04:00

Step 1Get up early and go eat a blueberry scone from Wealthy Street Bakery. Do not skip this step! Realize that it's almost blueberry season and decide to find a place to pick.Step 2Since your internet connection isn't hooked up yet, grab your laptop and head over to the public library. Compile a list of local blueberry growers and start making calls. While you're at it, grab a bunch of books on

Rachelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14316997252895382891noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24426892.post-1151932403200291112006-07-03T08:31:00.000-04:002006-07-08T18:43:28.300-04:00

As you can see, I have two good reasons for not updating this blog often enough these past few weeks. Now that we're settled in to our new apartment, upstairs from Jen and Seamus and around the corner from Wealthy Street Bakery, it should be easier to share my latest culinary adventures.So, what's it like being a vegetarian in New Orleans? In two words, not easy. After five days it the Big Easy

Rachelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14316997252895382891noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24426892.post-1150731184854573542006-06-19T11:16:00.000-04:002006-06-19T11:33:04.876-04:00

I've never been to California, but that's where the nectarine I had as an afternoon snack a few days ago came from. The nectarine was delicious, but as I was eating, I couldn't stop thinking about the events that led to its cross-country trip. Who grew my nectarine? When had it been picked? And by whom? How much were they paid? (The nectarine cost a paltry 18 cents, and I can't help but

Rachelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14316997252895382891noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24426892.post-1149465771694973702006-06-04T19:40:00.000-04:002006-06-10T22:51:53.840-04:00

Turn them... Into this!Lebanese Potato Salad... you could make plain old lemonade, or you could try one of the following dishes: Lebanese potato salad, light and luscious lemon bundt cake, or lavender lemonade.I've been buying lots of organic lemons as of late. For a while, they were sitting in a bowl with some grapefruit, looking pretty. But then I decided to put them to work.I first tried

Rachelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14316997252895382891noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24426892.post-1148855715029566262006-05-28T18:18:00.000-04:002006-05-30T21:52:53.283-04:00

So in lieu of cooking a lot lately (it's too darn hot right now for that), I've been reading about food. Here are two of the latest books to grace my shelves:Chew on This: Everything You Don't Want to Know About Fast Food by Eric Schlosser and Charles Wilson. At first glance, this seemed like a scaled-down version of Schlosser's 2001 expose, Fast Food Nation. However, this book is more than just

Rachelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14316997252895382891noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24426892.post-1148571633684828492006-05-25T11:09:00.000-04:002006-05-25T11:42:27.863-04:00

Since Mary asked about my worms, I thought I would give everyone an update on my vermicomposting efforts. Having left them alone for almost two weeks, I ventured down into the basement a few days ago with a small bucket of kitchen scraps (mostly banana peels and coffee grounds, but also asparagus, potato skins, and a few other tasty things) and a feeling of trepidation. Had I managed to kill my

Rachelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14316997252895382891noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24426892.post-1147743335192937202006-05-15T21:06:00.000-04:002006-05-15T21:38:23.140-04:00

Whenever I work from noon until 8:oo, I end up eating really early in the evening, usually around 4:00. It's not quite lunch, and too early for dinner, I've decided to call this meal linner. Whatever you call it, the result is the same: by the time I get home I'm ready for another meal. But I'm not willing to put much effort into whatever I make, which usually means I end up eating tofu dogs.

Rachelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14316997252895382891noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24426892.post-1147233456899031052006-05-09T23:36:00.000-04:002006-05-14T10:48:07.086-04:00

It's a happy time for those of us living in West Michigan, since the Fulton Street Farmers Market opened last week. I decided to stop by on Saturday afternoon, and although there isn't much produce yet, I found a bunch of lovely rhubarb for $1.25.Now I'd never cooked rhubarb before, even though it grows in my parents' garden. So I decided to make the easiest thing I could think of - rhubarb crisp

Rachelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14316997252895382891noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24426892.post-1146948896194671922006-05-06T16:17:00.000-04:002006-05-09T23:34:42.680-04:00

What Lovely Presentation!These fajitas are a staple in our house, and since May is asparagus season, what better dish to bring to my friend Melissa's Cinco de Mayo party? We started making this from a recipe in Kitty Morse's now out-of-print 365 Ways to Cook Vegetarian, but our fajita recipe has undergone a few revisions and is spicier and tastier than the original.Asparagus FajitasFilling:1

Rachelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14316997252895382891noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24426892.post-1146238625709415502006-04-28T11:19:00.000-04:002006-04-28T11:38:38.930-04:00

In the interest of reducing my ecological footprint, I'm finally getting around to making my very own vermicomposter. What does this have to do with food, you ask? Well, according to the EPA, food waste accounts for almost 12 percent of the garbage generated annually. Add lawn clippings to that, and we're up to one-quarter of the municipal solid waste stream.So, I bought two 35-quart bins and

Rachelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14316997252895382891noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24426892.post-1145403042413885492006-04-18T18:34:00.000-04:002006-05-03T00:50:25.960-04:00

I have made this cake several times and am never disappointed. Its texture is rich and fudgy, sort of like a brownie, and it is sweet without being too-sweet.This recipe was originally published in the March 2005 issue of Cooking Light magazine, but I've made a few changes to it.Chocolate-Walnut-Cranberry-Cake1 2/3 cups unbleached all-purpose flour1 1/2 cups natural sugar (I use Florida Crystals)

Rachelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14316997252895382891noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24426892.post-1144944210877729582006-04-13T11:53:00.000-04:002006-04-16T23:54:44.206-04:00

Like many of my veggie friends, I watch Food Network despite the fact that the hosts often make food I cannot eat (my friend Jacob describes Giada DeLaurentis' recipes as "a brick of cheese with pancetta wrapped around it, served with sauce"). Flipping through the channels recently, I watched in amazement as Rachael Ray crowned a turkey and pork meatloaf with a layer of bacon. Am I the only one

Rachelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14316997252895382891noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24426892.post-1144123348329592892006-04-03T22:42:00.000-04:002006-04-16T23:58:39.393-04:00

"We're running toward the edge of a cliff at 200 miles an hour," says Howard Lyman. "What we're doing; it's not sustainable." The former cattle rancher turned vegan activist should know. He took his family's farm from a small, organic operation to a $5-million-a-year agribusiness with seven thousand head of cattle. Having been schooled in "better living through chemistry," Howard made sure his

Rachelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14316997252895382891noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24426892.post-1144025514638601582006-04-02T20:25:00.000-04:002006-06-04T20:39:01.486-04:00

Cauliflower is a vegetable that deserves more respect. Having recently returned from the librarian karaoke challenge (I was actually at a three-day conference, of which the karaoke was a small but entertaining part), yesterday I made myself a lovely Indian meal of yellow rice, flatbread, and cauliflower pakoras. Apparently, true pakoras are vegetable fritters made with chickpea flour, but my

Rachelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14316997252895382891noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24426892.post-1143432337614811012006-03-26T22:16:00.000-05:002006-03-27T00:25:15.186-05:00

I struggled with whether to make something safe for my first cooking post, or to go all-out and try something a little more difficult, maybe even daunting. I had happened upon some recipes for yummy-looking maki rolls over at the Post Punk Kitchen, and decided that this was exactly what I needed. Since I had never attempted to make sushi before, off I went to purchase a long list of ingredients.

Rachelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14316997252895382891noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24426892.post-1142900173865771962006-03-20T19:04:00.000-05:002006-03-20T19:16:13.876-05:00

Since I don't have any pictures for my inaugural post (owing to the fact that I don't as yet own a digital camera), I'll just wish everyone a happy Great American Meatout day. Later this week, expect some awesome vegan food pictures as well an explanation of what I'm trying to accomplish with this blog. Right now I'm going to reheat some asparagus fajitas.

Rachelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14316997252895382891noreply@blogger.com1