Greenling

I feel as though I need to confess something.  Its something that you have probably noticed and something I am ashamed of:  I have not been cooking as much.  Working at a restaurant does that too me because I get free food every shift I work there.

I am so ashamed.  I hate not cooking my own food.  So in an effort to remedy this I have turned to a source that a friend recommended to me:  Greenling.com .

Greenling is a website that brings the local farm to your doorstep.  Forget that for a moment the whole organics argument.  I hear from people all the time that they are just to busy to go to farms markets and support their local agriculture and food economy.  

Well, that is just plain not an excuse anymore!  Greenling is a website where you can place an order of fresh everything (Including dairy and meat if you are so inclined), they will go to the local farms and pick it up, package it for you and then deliver it right to your doorstep!

Now I know what you're thinking.  That there must be something wrong with it.  Its not totally cheap but if you've already graduated over into the health world you know that no matter where you go nutritionally dense food is expensive.

But could it possibly be good quality?  When you're at the super market you get to pick what looks good and what you're going to skip on. I don't know about you but if I walk into the market ans see something I don't like, even if it was on my list I skip it.  And I'm pretty picky.

So lets get to my review.   Here is a picture or two of my box when it arrived.

As you can see the box stuffed with yummys.  The van was refrigerated so everything was cold and crisp and the brochure said it would keep everything inside cold for up to four hours if you were not there to pick it up.  The man that dropped it off was named Robert and he was so nice!

The box itself is ten dollars when you order added on but they are recyclable.  When another order is made you leave the box outside of your door and they will pick it up.  Even if you are not going to be using them again you can schedule a free pick up for the containers.

The food inside it was packed perfectly!  I was so impressed.  Nothing was crushed or under anything it shouldn't have been.  the mushrooms were in a brown paper bag exactly like they should be.  I am so excited to eat it all!  The Kale was still crisp and perfect along with the lettuce.  I am very picky about my leafy greens so it says a lot when I say that they are perfect.

Also in the box since it was our first delivery were two bumper stickers and a welcome brochure.  I know that this is a marketing thing but you can be sure that I will be putting the "Beets Driving" on my car because it is so darn cute!

Also, on the back of my packing slip was a note saying "Packed with Kale :) Jamie."  I found this so sweet and personal that I cant help but feel a personal connection to this company.

All together I am more then satisfied with this order and I will be using this service again. I would recommend it to everyone.  A huge thanks to Jamie and Robert who made this all the more personal and won huge brownie points for this company.

Starting a Veggie Lifestyle

I got one of the worlds greatest pleasures today. A childhood friend contacted me today and asked me for help in going veg! I love this and jumped at the chance to help another person move towards a plant based diet. Like so many of us though she has no idea where to start. She asked me to help compile a list for here and a few tips that would help her start. I have decided to share it on here for everyone! Please feel free to add any additional tips for her to start out with!

I have made a list of books with the things I like about them. Also there are tips to start out at the bottom.

Books:
- "Crazy Sexy Diet" By Kris Carr.
This book is the one I am reading right now and I am loving it! She really gets to you and gets you thinking about your body. I love her approach to making "healthy vegans." However I would not be as include to recommend it for a starter. Going Veg is hard enough. Going from a Mc Donald's chomping westerner to a Raw Foodist? Harder. However, I would recommend the 21 day cleanse in the back as a detox plan. Note: Has a web community

- "Vegetarian Beginners Guide"- Vegetarian Times
This is one of the first books I bought when going veg all those years ago. It teaches you how to stock a pantry which is one of the hardest things to do in my opinion. It also has list of ways to get all of the nutrients and proteins you need, including veggies with high sources of protein and iron. It addresses common myths. The things I am not so fond of? I don't really like the recipes that they used in this book. Their Magazines are full of yummy recipes but the book...not so much.

- "The Kind Diet"- Alicia Silverstone
You will recognize this women from you childhood which makes the book more convincing. And this happens to be one of my Fav books of all time. Alicia is understanding, compassionate and sweet in the way that she writes. This has some of the best recipes I have ever made, veg or omnivore. She gives you the reasons why you should be a veg for your body, for animals an for the planet without making you feel like you have lives the past how-many-years of your life in sin. One of the things I love the most is that she teaches you how to "Build a Meal" without meat. This is something most of us forget how to do without meat. Note: Has a web community.

-"The Kitchen Shrink" Natalie Savona
This is not a veg book, thats what I dislike. But I recommend it for everyone. It teaches you how to deal with mental issues like depression or any other physical sickness using your kitchen as a pharmacy. It teaches you which foods promote which feelings and what problems can be solved with what.

-"Eat, Drink & Be Vegan" Dreena Burton
This is a pure cookbook. 100%. If you are going to be a veg then you need to learn how to enjoy your food. That is why I looooooove pure vegan cookbooks. This one in particular has a great deal of breakfast and sweet recipes.

-"Vegan Lunch Box Around the World" Jennifer McCann
Variety is the spice of life and I love international food. This teaches you to make many kinds of international food. It also all happens to be able to be packed up in a lunch box and taken to work, school, or just out with you. I dont know about you but I have to work! Note: Author has a web community.

Other Books On My Shelf:
-The Urban Vegan
-The Compassionate Carnivore by Catherine Friend
-Beans and Rice by Williams Sonoma
-Raw Food by Ani Phyo
-Vegetarian Kids Cookbook by Roz Denny
-Vegetarian Cooking by Nicola Graimes
-Eating Animals by Johnathan Saffron-Foyer
-In Defense of Food by Michael Pollen
-Food Rules by Michael Pollen

Tips:
- Beware of soy: Most of all if you are becoming a veg for health reasons or to loose weight. Soy is highly processed and as fatty as some meats. While it digests a bit easier I would not use it as its labeled "As a meat substitute".

-Immerse: Veg is just like any other subculture. The more you immerse yourself with the community the stronger your commitment to your new healthy life style becomes. Twitter has a huge veg community and there are many boards that go along with books to go to for advise (Along with my blog of coarse.) Seek out like minded people.

-Support: Having a supporting roommate or spouse is essential. Its hard to stay out of trouble when someone across from you is eating a burger in front of you. Cook together, try new things together. Its nice bonding, cheap dates and fun!

-Shopping: There are so many tips that you can use for shopping and many of the books above have them. I have this one piece of advice that I believe more then anything. Stick to the outer portions of the super market. That and the bulk. Stay away from the sugary crap on the inner parts of the market. Most supermarkets are mostly designed the same way; fruit and veggies on the outside. Thats where you should be shopping.

-Farmers Markets: They are tons of fun and full of good people and good food!

-Eating Out: My first instinct is to say dont. But it is a social obligation and a corner stone of our culture. Look up the menu first online and find out if they have any veg dishes or think about how to turn them into veg.

-Dairy: You will read a lot about this in every single book that I recommended but I feel the need to state it now because my friend is very into weight loss. When I dropped Dairy I also dropped 15 pounds. Enough said. Each persons body is different but dairy is nasty. We are the only creature that drinks milk from another animal. Over 70% of the population is born lactose intolerant but we are weened onto it and fast. Give it up and you'll taste things better and digest like no ones business!

-Google is your friend: Or bing or any other search engine. There are many new things to be learned along the road to a plant based diet. New words will stump you. Alien ingredients will taunt you. Luckily we live in the information age and googling can be done in the blink of an eye. Dont be afraid of the information highway.

-Detoxing: Its not just for coke addicts. Do it and you will find the bad things easier to resist. I recommend the 21 day cleanse from the Crazy, Sexy Diet.

There we are! Please comment with the things that have helped you along the way. Sometimes I think that we forget how hard it is to start out a new life.

I love you Lauren!!!!

Steele Cut Oats

Steele Cut Oats are one of those amazing foods that everyone should eat. They have 4 grams of fiber and 5 grams of protein, with 150 calories and 2.5 grams of fat per every one cup serving. Oats are an excellent source of manganese and a good source of phosphorus, thiamin, and magnesium. Plus there is a lot of evidence that everyone has heard that oatmeal can help regulate blood sugar (Almost everyone I know says they are hypoglycemic so maybe everyone should think about this) and lower risks of heart issues.

Amazing and oh so tasty! Plus at 99 cents a pound in the bulk section who can say no?

Ingredients:
-2 tablespoons non dairy butter
-1 cup Steele Cut Oats
-1 cup non dairy milk (I like hemp milk to keep it nice and thick, plus its naturally sweet!)
-1/3 cup brown sugar
-3 cups boiling water

Melt butter in a heavy-bottomed saucepan over medium heat. Add oats to butter and stir for 2 minutes, until lightly toasted.

Add 3 cups boiling water to oats in saucepan. Stir and reduce heat to simmer. Simmer gently for 25 minutes, stirring once or twice.

Stir 1 cup of hemp milk into oatmeal. Continue to cook for another 8 to 10 minutes, or until most of the milk has been absorbed. Make sure oatmeal is not sticking to the bottom of the pot.

Remove oatmeal from heat. Cover and let stand for 2 minutes. While you do this, stir in brown sugar so that it can caramelize. Feel free to add your choice of nuts too! I particularly like eating Walnuts in oatmeal!

Leftovers will keep in the fridge for up to three days. To reheat, stir in a little milk and heat on high in the microwave for 1 to 2 minutes, stirring midway through.

Bikram Yoga

I had heard so much about this "Heat Yoga" from friends and have been wanting to try it for a long time. Sadly the only studio for a while had been all the way across town and took nearly an hour to drive to most times of the day.

Lucky for me (And for Will)one finally opened with in walking distance of our apartment! I know! The luck! So for the first time yesterday we went in and signed up for our ten day unlimited trial. It was only 20 dollars for 10 days and the drop in class was 15 dollars. It just made sense. We went again today to ease our muscles and continue the practice.

I happen to like it a lot. Mind you not as I like vinyasa yoga. Still it literally gets you soaking in sweat within several minutes. It seems to be wonderful for rapid weight loss and injury. It is certainly challenging. I just don't seem to have the same emotional connection that I do with Flow style. Perhaps because it is more for pure fitness then it is for the ease of the soul and mind body connection, or maybe I have just not been practicing it as long.

On that note I would highly recommend it to anyone who wants to try it or get physically fit. It is challenging and fun at the same time. You can feel your body releasing its toxins instantly. It has practitioners of all shapes and sizes, all levels and all ages. It was also recommended in the top ten Bikram Yoga Studios in America by 'Details'.


On a personal note, I think that this is one of the best places that could have expanded their franchises in our city. Like it or note San Antonio is not the healthiest place to live. Still places like this, resources like the newly launched Fitness portal, supplies by the Mayors Fitness Council and a variety of free activities have the potential to help San Antonio healthy and happy!

Italian Day- Basil, Rosemary & Garlic Infused Olive Oil

This is a great gift or just something to have hanging around for bread and dipping. These are normally sold for fifteen to twenty dollars at stores. And all that you need is a few simple things that can be picked up or grown.




Things you need:
-One pretty bottle
-Olive oil
-Several sprigs of basil
-Garlic
-Dried rosemary

Take the rosemary first and fill it to about a half an inch above the bottom. Next push in your desired amount of garlic in full pealed cloves. Carefully slip the basil in so it stands straight (Pretty).



Take a funnel and slowly pour in your olive oil. Plug up with a cork and let it sit for a week to...as long as you would like.

Heres To Yum!

I know not all of you are in San Antonio but I still wanted to share this for the people that are.

Yesterday Rachel, Alyssa and I went to a small new restaurant owned by Charles and Renee called creativity "Here's to Yum." It is a small space and they are both still starting out so they cook, buy the produce from the markets, wait on tables and everything else. They cook all of their yummy food and deserts from scratch. I would just like to encourage everyone who is in the area to check it out and support this new place! The food is amazing and fresh. Their "tea house tea" is to die for. The have a basil leaf and orange mixture on the bottom then they pour an iced tea over the top.



Alyssa had the gnocchi with chicken, tomato and goat cheese and Rachel had a beautiful chicken salad on the crissoent with an heirloom tomato salad. Obviously for those of you that are just eating healthier, this is not an all vegan place. But it is very good, very fresh and very veggie focused!



I tried to stay with the tradition veggie of coarse. It was a beautiful day, beautiful space and beautiful company so I didn't want to feel all bloaty and...lets face it with my lactose intolerance, stick the place up. I had the Pea soup one of my new fav things with a slight mint topping. It was amazing!


Now I know that it is being a bad girl but the deserts were not vegan. All the same I tried a tiny bite of each and they were out of this world! Renee makes them himself. One is a lemon tart, one of a fruit tart and one is chocolate moose so deep and dark it is almost sour! Just the way chocolate is meant to be! Each is plated beautifully and will seriously make a vegan girl debate wolfing down a whole one of them despite the tummy ache, the heart attack and the weight gain after! Yum! (Unfortuntly I couldn't get a picture of the lemon tart (My personal fav) because we just devoured it too quickly.




SO really, everyone needs to go and check this place out. Help support a local bistro who are supporting local farmers, who both have amazing food!

10 Things I Have Learned in the Kitchen

So there are a few things that I have learned in a short life time of cooking. Some of them are common knowledge, others warning, and still more are notes. Of coarse these are all my opinions, and while I hope that they are helpful, I'm not going to say that they are essential.

1. "Yes, it's meant to make that noise." Some people get freaked out when oils, vinegars and sauces begin to "scream" as I like to call it. It happens and please don't get scared. Getting nervous is only a hindrance in the kitchen and could lead to unfortunate panicking...ultimately leading to idiotic mistakes. Leading us to number two-

2. "Getting burnt is not a mistake, but an inevitable event." My boy friend works full time in a restaurant kitchen. He comes home daily with burns, cuts and missing chunks of flesh (I tease him that its karma for working in a place that serves unhealthy portions of animal flesh). The truth is most of the time (though not all) it has nothing to do with carelessness. Its just what happens when you work around gas stoves, grills and boiling oils. Resolve yourself to the fact that you might get a scratch here and there. You are not made out of glass. Heck, today I had a bit of sesame oil pop up at me but I'm alive and dinner was great. My mother had to go and have physical therapy because she severed part of her finger separating apart frozen hamburger patties. It can hurt but you will not die. (FYI if you do die it probably is from a stupid mistake.)

3. "There is a reason Mom let me lick the cake batter." Always, Always, ALWAYS taste your food as you go. Does it need more salt? Should you water it down? Tasting is the only way to tell. It is the Golden Rule of cooking. Gosh I wish I could make this longer because it is such a big deal...it's just so simple!

4. "Spices of life." Spices are the most important part of any dish. They are the thing that could make or break it. Many people are scared of using spices but dont be! They are the best part of cooking. Use ones besides salt and pepper. Try mint, thyme, basil, rosemary, cilantro, parsley, lemon grass and anything else you can get your greedy little hands on!

5. "Hippy Foods rock!" There are so many different ways to eat these days. In any city you go to you will find so many different nationalities that it can be hard to choose. Even staying with regional foods, there is nothing wrong with raw food or vegetarian food. Its not "new age" or "dirty hippy" stuff anymore. Its positive and healthy nutrition!

6. "Experimenting isn't just for science class." There is nothing more fun than making something for yourself. Even if you're working off of a recipe feel the freedom to add some of your favorite ingredients to it or some that you have no idea how to use. Even if you don't have a recipe and just want to toss together something that is in your pantry you do have that right! Afraid? Try google, vegweb.com, or any of millions of cooking blogs.

7. "Children are starving in Africa." We've all heard this before but what does it mean? It means that millions of people all over the world don't have food. I know, I know. I am getting dangerously close to revoking my statement that this is not an activist cooking blog. But really? If these people don't have food, why should you toss yours out? If you don't want your left overs I guaranty you some of your friends or neighbors will take it. Don't throw that meat in your fridge away if your going veg or vegan. Give it away. Just remember: food has real measurable value.

8. "Quality means you do have to make a little investment." Good reading takes an investment in books. To be good at cycling you need a good bike. To make good and tasty food you need the proper tools. Here are some basics that I think people should have. A citrus nester, pans (Obviously but you should have two of each in a large and small size in case you are making sauces), a good SHARP set of knives, mixing bowls, food processor (best investment ever for mincing...will save you a ton of time),a nice big cutting board, and a steamer for your grains and veggies. I think that these are the best most basic things to have around. Oh, and don't forget tupperware! A lot of it will make storing and labeling dead dates.

9. "If you can't Stand the heat...check you oven." I have learned this the hard way. In the last point I outlined some of the basic items that are used in the kitchen. But we are not all rich and some of us live in crappy apartments that will not allow us to change the most important part of our kitchen: the stove (Can you tell I'm bitter?) I do not have a gas stove but I want one. Until that happens I am stuck with an uneven electric stove. I learned the hard way to check your food every seven to ten minutes. Do this and you have a better chance of not over or under cooking.

10. "Let food be thy medicine and thy medicine be thy food."- Hippocrates (father of western medicine) I know its hard to think this way when so much of our illness comes from food. E-coli, salminila not to mention diabetes are constantly looming over us. But why do we shove a pill down our throats instead of taking in some healthy, healing food? I believe that food is the best medicine (Even as I sit here with a sinus infection I eat oranges, melons, steamed Kale leaves and drink herbal tea. Food, including herbs, has the power to heal us in a safe and natural way. I am not saying to forgo western medicine but just to look at it as the way that Hippocrates did. If you are feeling under the weather or just are in a glummy mood try picking up The Kitchen Shrink by Natalia Savona. It helps.

A Note on Salt

Alot of people have been saying to avoid salt these days. However sodium is an important part of your diet. Its vital for systems like digestion, muscle function and muscle contraction including that of your heart. It is however a natural part of all food matter and we only need a tiny bit in our food. Good quality sea salt is the best sorce of this (sodium chloride). Because it is a crystal it needs to be dissolved so best put it into your food while cooking and not at the dinner table.

To much can result in water retention, bone loss and high blood pressure. Processed ionized salt as been stripped of its balancing minerals... so theres a no go right there.

Alot of sodium can be found in miso, soy sauce or shoyu.