cody bear’s friends

well, the weekend went well, so it was hard going back to work today. but….it didn’t turn out badly!  my boss was funny and even though i screwed up for a bit, he was cool about it…and….my coworker was hardly annoying at all!

it helps knowing that my boss is seeing his bad habits, too.

i will admit, much of my mental energy was spent wondering why i haven’t heard from the border collie rescue group.  i totally smothered cody bear with attention after work because he has acted so depressed lately.  it made all the difference; he was SO CHEERY. so…i know a play mate is a good idea.

besides…there are way too many dog toys in this house for one dog!

i don’t have any thing juicy to talk about tonight.  ‘cept maybe the super tasty meal i made myself.  some sort of green bean tomato onion dealie in a mixture of seasonings and white wine served on this mixture of rices.  i have to say….it was scrumptious! exciting….? no, but scrumptious.

hopefully i’ll have something silly to post about tomorrow.

 took the canon to my friend’s organic farm to get some shots of veg!  i am going to do their website and they’re going to pay me with vegetables!

they have tasty organic veg.  my favs: their chards. YUM.  the okra.  the cucumbers. the tomatoes. the garlic.  the turnips.  it is all so yummy!

and pretty.  eat your veggies….they’re pretty!

guess which newby vegan has developed a soy allergy….

yes…me.  bummer, huh?

in late november i met with a quirky and upbeat nutritionist who was excited about my leap into veganism and urged me to stay away from soy.  for the first few weeks, i cooked fresh veg and whole grains and i felt GREAT!  more energy during the day….woke up without having that congested feeling.  for convenience sake i needed to fall back on tofu, soy sauce, soy products.

i started getting sicker and sicker and (DUH) didn’t even think about the soy.  well, there it was…. a nasty and inconvenient allergy that just kept getting worse for over a month.  (i wasn’t putting two and two together).  i have been without ANY soy now for exactly 7 days and am remarkably better.  truly, the symptoms were gross and i am so much happier.

back to the drawing board on the vegan diet though…can’t fall back on the mock meats and the soy sauces flavorings.  damn…me lovums my soy sauce…

no editing photos tonight people: the food is ugly and the pets are cute.

once again, i rushed home to be with cody bear as he ran hell-on-paws through the back yard…

the dog was cute and spunky for about an hour.  naturally i won’t post all the pics, just know, ….cody bear can run and cody bear can smile!

next, off to a friend’s to visit, then to a local puppy class to take fuzzy pictures!  off to grocery store for a bell pepper and some mushrooms!

that was a close up of bell peppers, spinach, baked tofu and mushrooms with a super yummy rice mix and a spicy sesame-soy marinate.

after stuffing myself with the vegan spicy food, i took cody bear for his third walk of the day.  he’s such a good bear!  we get back and the cat was feeling sooo neglected, so…here is here best shot with the new camera:

i think she looks mad.  big and mad.

i blogged alot today. that’s what happens when you oversleep…you have to make up for missing an hour of life by posting extra.

things have calmed down now,….so let’s review:

in food AND dreams:

last night i dreamt i was in a restaurant with my friend, m. i was telling her about how i have become a vegan. we continued chatting. then dinner arrived. pizza.

in the dream i sat there chowing on pizza and m. never called me on it.

so…here’s the actual vegan lunch i had:

hummus, toasty warm pita, hidden under the fresh cucumber and tomato is a sassy tabouli and a couple dolmas. (i HATE dolmas….but the rest was great.)

and then….sunset:

as i mentioned in an earlier post this evening, we romped in the sand.

why was this so nice? soon we deal with cleaning for my sister visiting, updating websites, testing teams this weekend, and ultimately…mom’s surgery. you need to frolic sometimes….to build you up so you’re ready for the tough stuff….

regarding my quest for a yummy vegan pizza….i’m getting closer. two weeks ago i had yummy toppings and a weird crust.  tonight the crust was good, the toppings were great.  i needed more though.  didn’t sautee enough spinach or garlic and should have used more olives.

but the real problem…i still miss the cheese.  tonight i missed the cheese because i didn’t have anything gooey holding the toppings on.  i kept having to replace the rosemary, olives, garlic, etc because it just rolled off.  oh well….at least we’re gettin closer.

i am really getting used to having a nice little side dish with olive oil and balsamic handy.  it is tasty…

here’s what is good about this dish:

1.  when you come back into the house from walking the dog, (or whatever you do) the smell of toasted cumin is still there and it is SO comforting!

2. the quinoa(keen WAUGH) - oh man - it is packed with protein because it is a whole WHOLE grain and it just POPS in your mouth, which is fun fun fun.

3.  totally vegan, but packed with nutrients and protein.

4.  a nice change from hot spicy meals without being bland.

roasty toasty veggies with quinoa

1/2 tsp. ground cumin

3-4 tbs. olive oil

2-3 large cloves garlic, chopped

1/2 large yellow onion, diced

1 bunch rainbow chard, torn in 3-4 inch pieces

7-9 medium mushrooms (whichever mushroom you prefer) , sliced

1/2 water

1/3 cup white wine(i like a plucky chardonay)

salt & pepper to taste

3 cups cooked quinoa (cooked in a rice cooker is great!)

1 glass wine of choice or 1 beer, for sipping

in large hot deep dish skillet,  toast cumin 30-60 seconds over medium heat.  add olive oil, and mix with cumin.  add garlic and yellow onion to hot olive oil in pan.  saute till tender, not burnt.  add mushrooms, mix, cover and simmer for 3-4 mins.

add water and white wine, bring to boil.  add rainbow chard and salt and pepper to taste. ( i heap the salt in!)  saute till greens are nice and tender.  serve over quinoa.

note…i use freshly prepared quinoa. i do not like left over quinoa,….its kind of funky.

another note….try using fresh, locally grown veg!

housework….not going so good.  here are some old stand-by procrastination moves for avoiding housework and organizing on a saturday:

1.  (an obvious one, and who would fault you for this walk the dog…

2. entice cat to play with cheap xmas toy…

3. (now we’re really getting bold)…experiment with yams….

(since becoming a vegetarian years ago, i have always wanted to try them, but for some reason, i would just buy them, let them age, then toss them away.  so, i had one laying around.  result: it was bland, but i’ll try again.)

and 4. ….

…blog.  turn on pc and blog about how to procrastinate.

ok, back to work.  (maybe the dog needs another walk….)

preface….before you say: “oh here she goes baggin’ her vegan food again…”

hear me out:

1.   sometimes, after a seriously bad day, i want comfort food.  it is usually a couple slices of a nice white pizza.  that’s all.  not a whole cake or anything.  that was my comfort food.  but day 27 of vegan and….i had a bit of a crappy financial trauma.  for reals.

2.  i grew up with dairy, so this has been a big switch for me.

but….i didn’t cave.  i wanted to, but i didn’t.  so…the noodles i settled for:

they have the technology to fake the moon landing but they can’t make a fake cheesy goodness!? (just kidding….i know the moon landing wasn’t fake)

anyway….it wasn’t good.  and i’m sorry to be negative, but i am still learning.  and since i started blogging, i have gotten some good tips from fellow bloggers.  (thanks everyone!)  it was road’s end organics dairy free shells & chReese.  ( don’t know why they spell it chReese…but…whRatever) mustard is the substitute for the cheese.

but, these noodles, dear goodness.  i’ m still stressed AND i still need something yummy!

anyone have a yummy fake cheese recommendation???

i love mustard…i do….as mustard…but is this my new cheese?

well, as some of you know, it has been heartbreaking for me to say good by to cheesy gooey pizza. my last vegan pizza, a trader joe’s deal, was VERY disappointing. but! back to the drawing board…and a good result!

i bought the prepared crust (brown rice crust), but i sauteed the veg. mushrooms with basil, garlic, spinach and fresh tomato.

the toppings were amazing!! the crust wasn’t totally tantalizing. it was crunchy, which is good. but kind of a funny flavor. more toppings would have helped there.

all in all, a definite improvement from the last vegan pizza.