Sweetness Divine

So... It's been awhile!

I won't mention what my current diet is at the moment but I found the most divine VEGAN bakery! It's mostly online and at weekend fairs but SO DELISH!


It's called Sweetness Divine and you can find them here!

Egg Nog

It's that time of year again.

At least it is in Canada already. We've already had our Thanksgiving holiday (Oct 13) and the Egg Nog comes into stores right afterwards.

Ahhhh, egg nog...

Most definitely not vegan.

Or is it?

After enjoying a glass of completely unvegan egg nog, I got to wondering if there were alternatives. There seem to be vegan alternatives to everything! So I looked online.

Sure enough, vegan egg nog.

I haven't tried this out yet, but here's a link that looks promising.

Any other fav holiday recipes or tips out there?

Prego Vegetarians

Any tips out there for a prego vegetarian? :D

Cheesy "Chicken" Pot Pie

I love Kraft Kitchens.

I get a free magazine full of recipes about 4 times a year from them.

The recipes are usually easy, tasty and normal. Those are all things that matter to me.

This evening, I "vegetarian-ized" a recipe they featured in their latest publication called "Cheesy Chicken Pot Pie" and it turned out fabulously!

All I did was substitute chopped chick'n breasts (fake chicken) for the meat and use cream of celery soup instead of cream of chicken.

Delish!! I highly recommend.

Eggplant

Eggplant is one of those hardly-used vegetables, like turnips, parsnips and rutabagas. I mean seriously, it's purple and has the word egg in the name. Hardly things one associates with veggies.

The truth is, eggplant is pretty ordinary. It's a great filler, like potatoes. I have no idea of the nutritional value, but it doesn't take much to beat potatoes.

So I've tried a couple of recipes involving them. Nothing spectacular, but they got me more familiar with the properties of the unusual thing.

This eggplant recipe, however, looks quite promising!

Back on the Wagon

Okay, I had a rough spot there. About a week long. I intermittently partook of meat.

I made some phyllo-wrapped lean ground beef and cheese rolls for the family and indulged myself.

Can't remember my other indiscretions right now, but I'm happy to report that I've caught up with the wagon and hopped back on.

I prefer a meatless diet because then I feel I can indulge in other naughty fat sources. Some chips. Or, my ultimate weakness, pastry. Plus, I like to irritate my in-laws (and others) by not eating meat. ;)

My weight seems to have stabilized and so I feel that I will have to make some fitness goals to get my body more toned. Unfortunately, I do not feel like doing so at the moment. What can I say, I'm a slacker. ;)

Repugnance

I may have joked before about eating pasta cooked in chicken broth, but today I seriously fell off the boat.

Not only did I indulge in eating chicken, I indulged in the worst possible chicken in existence. Well, maybe the 2nd worst.

I had me some Chicken McNuggets. That's right... From McDonalds.

I seriously disgust myself sometimes.

Ew. Gross.

Not to worry though... It's not like the boat has left me behind.

Almond Milk

Someone commented on a vegan group on Facebook that they didn't drink soy milk, they drank almond milk.

I've been meaning to try it for ages. Especially in consideration of the soy controversy. It's been difficult to find though I know I'd seen it before.

I was relieved when I finally found some at the supermarket. You see, I've decided I don't really care for soy milk. I haven't been drinking much in the way of milk at all.

Almond milk is waaaaaaaaay better! I highly recommend it to any aspiring vegans!

Listeriosis Outbreak in Canada

Need a motive to become vegetarian? Chew on this.

On August 23rd, Public Health of Canada and the Canadian Food Inspection Agency confirmed the link between a Maple Leaf meat plant and an outbreak of listeriosis. The article mentions 4 related deaths but since then, the number has risen to 12!

Symptoms of listeriosis are:

• nausea
• vomiting
• cramps
• diarrhea
• severe headache
• constipation
• persistent fever

Manifestation of these symptoms may not appear until 70 days after contaminated food consumption!

Those at greatest risk are:

• pregnant women
• newborns
• the elderly
• people with weakened immune systems

I can honestly say that I am acutely relieved that my family is highly unlikely to be at risk from this. The majority of contaminated products are, I believe, cold cuts/deli meats and smokies. Being vegetarian, I rarely, if ever, purchase these things. I don't think my husband really appreciates this... He's currently craving large meat dishes. *sigh*

Chicken Broth

I recall one specific time when I was helping my sister-in-law make supper at her house. I was making couscous and didn't really have much experience on "how." My sis-in-law instructed me to use chicken broth. I don't eat chicken broth. But resignedly, I cooked the couscous in chicken broth.

For supper that night, I was limited to the vegetable side dish. My sis-in-law quite politely refrained from mocking my vegetarian preferences. After all, I had prepared the meal. (In retrospect, I could obviously have used vegetable stock, if she had even had it.)

Last evening, I participated in a meal where I provided the location and someone else provided the food. I turned down the entrée of phyllo pastry-encased chicken, spinach and red peppers, despite the natural salivary reaction to the word "pastry." That left the orzo pasta, carrots and asparagus. I overheard the cook say the orzo was prepared with chicken broth. I weighed my options. I decided I didn't give a crap. I ate the chicken broth-soaked orzo.

I'm not saying this was bad. I'm not saying this was fine. Perhaps I justified it because I didn't prepare it. Whatever.