Yummy Yummy Quinoa (Vegan/Vegetarian)

I love eating this by itself but I'm sure it'll be delectable if you add in some okra to your veggie mix in addition to leafy greens.

Ingredients:

quinoa (any kind!)

water

vegetable bullion (and/or spices-- have fun with the flavors!)

olive oil

peppers (sweet bells and hot ones are awesome!)

onions

cooked/frozen white beans (or another bean of your choice)

garlic

[how much you'll need veggie wise is determined if you are making this as a meal or a side. I love to just go ahead and do quite a bit]

Helpful notes: 

Keep to the ratio of 1 Cup Quinoa to 2 Cups water. Don't be stingy with the water, you'll need it.

Remember, quinoa expands quite a bit.

Directions:

Rinse your quinoa.

The only way this is actually possible without losing half the seeds is to use paper towels (or a fresh clean dish towel) and a colander. Set the towel(s) down in an even layer so as not to let anything slip out. Hold the edges of the towels as you pour running water over the seeds.

Let them sit for a bit then, hold the towel over and in the pot you will be using to cook. Use the water you are going to actually cook with, wash the quinoa off the towels and into the pot.

Add your bullion cube and/or spices. Bring to a simmer and cover.

Cook your quinoa on low heat for 15-20 minutes (I prefer 20 minutes but keep an eye on it).

While that's cooking, cut up your onions, peppers, and garlic. Toss it all together with the beans in a frying pan with olive oil. If the beans aren't frozen, you can put them in closer to when your veggies are done.

When your quinoa is done, turn off the heat. [The seeds should be very soft (Alex says like mashed potatoes). If they are still tough, add a little water and let them cook longer.]

Stir it up with a wooden, not slated spoon. Add in your veggies, add a little oil to keep it all from sticking. Add salt & pepper and more spices if you like!  

Rosy Turmeric Soup

Ingredients:

4-5 small to medium potatoes cut into about 2 inch pieces

2 large carrots

1 package of extra firm tofu

1 medium yellow onion

5-6 cloves of garlic minced

3 large leaves green cabbage

4-5 large leaves red (or yellow/white) chard

3 Vegetarian bouillon cubes or 3 cups vegetable broth

turmeric

cayenne pepper

rosemary

salt & pepper

Directions:

1) Cut the onion into fairly thin pieces;

Just put this here to ward off any arguments over what I mean (ahem Colie and her German).

Put into a large soup pot with coconut oil and turn heat on low and cook until soft and starting to caramelize.

2)While onions are cooking, cut the carrots in half then half again. Cut as thin as possible unless you want thicker carrot pieces.

3) Clean and mince the garlic cloves.

4) Clean the cabbage and chard. Remove the thick centers of the leaves and cut into small pieces. Chop the leaves into small pieces as well.

5) Put the carrots, garlic, chard stems (only), and all the cabbage in. Stir, raise the heat to medium. Stir occasionally.

6) While those are cooking, drain and dab dry the tofu. Cut into inch pieces then spice with a generous amount of turmeric, salt, and cayenne pepper. Try to get both sides but if not it's okay-- more spice will be added to the soup later.

7) Add in the tofu and let cook with what's in the pot for about 5 minutes.

8) Add water so that it covers everything with about an inch of water above. Bring the heat to high. Add a few dashes of turmeric and some cayenne pepper. You can also add more salt but if you're worried about it being too salty, wait until the end when you're ready to serve to taste and decide.

9) Roll three large pinches of rosemary between your fingers to break up the leaves (if fresh, do a quick chop, just to help release the oils more into the broth).

10) While waiting for the water to boil, peel and cut the potatoes (you can use any kind though I used just regular 'ol Idaho potatoes). The smaller the piece, the faster your soup will be done. I recommend 2 inch chunks.

11) When the water is boiling, add in the potatoes. Stir and lower the heat to medium/medium low and put the lid on. If you don't have a lid, no biggie, just keep the heat on a higher setting. It should take about 20-30 minutes to finish the potatoes. Do the fork test at 20 minutes and decide.

12) When your potatoes are done, remove the lid and lower the heat. Add in the chard leaves (you want to do this last because if you leave them in the whole time, they'll get bitter from being over cooked). Stir and allow to wilt.

13) Enjoy!

This May Be the Best Thing I've Ever Made

Ingredients:
About four cups dry black beans cooked and liquid kept
5 roma tomatoes (pureed, blended, or chopped as small as possible)
3/4 medium red onion (pureed, blended, or chopped as small as possible)
1/2 red bell pepper (pureed, or etc.)
1/2 hot red pepper of your choice (pureed, etc.)
4 big garlic cloves (pureed, etc.)

I got happy with my Kitchenaid tool that i got from my wonderful older brother for Christmas.

1/2 a package of MorningStar fake beef crumbles
1 Tbsp chili power
1 Tbsp cumin
pinch of cayenne pepper
tsp black pepper
3 Tbsp salt
canola oil
water

I'm going to let you know right now that this dish takes quite a while to make; it's one you'll be nursing for nearly the entire afternoon but, trust me, it'll be worth it. What chili dish that takes the afternoon isn't worth it?
To make this magnificent pot of deliciousness, you start with the very essence of the dish: the beans. Soak them over night for at least 8 hours (if you have noticed issues with excessive gas from chili before, try changing the soaking water at least once within the 8 hour soaking period).
Drain and rinse the beans, discarding any randoms that look abnormal.
Place in a large pot (that has a matching lid) with water-- enough to submerge all the beans beneath about an inch of water. Set the water to boil then lower to a hot simmer and mostly cover with the lid (I mean leave it cracked). Keep it at the simmer for at least 1 1/2 hours.
It's best to set a timer and forget about it for a while but if you're worried you didn't put enough water, check on it every twenty minutes or so to make sure you don't lose all your water.
Then, when that timer finishes, head back to the kitchen to work on your vegetable prep work. Do not turn off your beans, just lower the heat. If you don't have a fancy tool like me for the prep work, just choose one of the other options. The most important thing is to get everything small enough to create the thick texture of the final product.
Then when your prep work is done, cook on low heat with oil: your onions, peppers (hot and red), and garlic in a medium pot or pan. Add in the 1/2 to 3/4 bag of Morningstar crumbles (frozen or thawed) and let cook with the veggies for no more than five minutes. You may need to add more oil. Turn off heat after heated throughout.
Now, turn back to your beans. Drain out liquid ONLY IF the liquid exceeds a level more than 1/4 an inch above the beans.
Add the butchered tomatoes, your veggie-fake-crumble mix, and spices to the pot. Mix everything in, continue to cook for twenty minutes on low, with lid fully on.
Add a pinch of cinnamon when it's done if you like even more of a smokey flavor (I didn't add it though).
Let the pot sit for at least fifteen minutes so that way you'll actually be able to eat it in your bowl.
Pair with rice or just enjoy by itself.

Breathing and Showing

After finally getting settled, I've done my first morning of yoga. Yes, reader, it's been a while. My gosh I've missed it. I shouldn't be surprised; yoga is beneficial to the mind body and spirit. The flow of the breath and body, the concentration and relaxation of the mind-- it's all utterly and magnificently tiring yet energizing. Because it's been a while, my arms and legs continue to shake after my practice. It's addicting, this soreness, and I don't see why I ever allowed myself to blah out of it. Probably the unsteady work schedule of the movie theater. Now that I can nearly make my entire schedule, I can fit it in when I need to.
As for being mostly vegan, it's going okay... minus the ice cream, fish, and eggs. Okay, so I'm the world's worst vegan but at least I admit it. I make an effort to get protein in other ways, it's just tough when all those processed vegan burgers/patties/crumbles and hummus get me gassy. It's not pleasant so I try other routes like almond milk, peanut butter, peanuts, sometimes almonds (but those are expensive and I'm a broke college student again), as well as legumes. I'm trying new recipes so we'll see how it goes.
So you've all been waiting to see my new apartment and I've been wanting to show you but, unfortunately, I'm very much like my mother and prefer to only show my home when it's clean and tidy. Now that's it's finally okay to display to the public, here are the pictures you've all been waiting for.

Hehe, I caught Capn' Merrica.

Mostly Vegan-- Mostly.

I was going to finish writing a post on flatulence and how I've been having some pretty stinky ones since I made the switch to veganism. It does take time for the body to adjust but I'd say a week of gassing my boyfriend is enough to determine two things: (1) he's a keeper for leaving the room but still willing to come back and kiss me and (2) something needs to be done so I don't kill him or anyone else. I was going to discuss how and why the body produces -ahem- flatulency but after today's overwhelming hunger and exhaustion-- and boredom of tofu-- I've determined that I'm going to try for a mostly vegan lifestyle.

It's pretty much what I've been doing for the longest time, just with less eggs, chocolate, and fish. Not too hard after this past week but eggs are much too yummy to ban from my breakfast forever. Vegan pancakes are awesome but tofu scramble can't entirely replace the yumminess of eggs. So there will be eggs, just not every morning like it used to be. I need the variety in my diet and, being a person who loves food, I just can't say no all the time to my perky, little, unfertilized embryo. So hello again to Freddies and Eggies in a Basket!

After a Google search on veganism I found this NYTimes article on how common it is for people to be vegans most of the week or month but then they have a day or so for them to not be vegan. Still a lovely effort towards more veggies in my opinion. 

http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/05/21/why-im-not-a-vegan/?ref=veganism

Oh, and in case you were wondering, mint teas and real mint/extract help a little with the stinkies. 

Recipes for the Veggie-Savvy

Hey there! Just wanted to share this awesome vegetarian website. They have recipes for all sorts of special diets: dairy-free, gluten-free, vegan, etc.

http://www.vegetariantimes.com/recipe/