Jicama-Apple-Apricot Porridge: WARNING DELICIOUS

Be Warned: This is delicious!  The sweetness of the jicama really adds to the recipe.  Additionally, the lightness of the jicama allows you to eat more of it without the added fullness and calories.  Its wonderful!  Another thing that it great about it is that its such a flexible recipe and can be made a million different ways.  This recipe is packed with nutrients!  Let me know how you feel about it! 

Jicama-Apple-Apricot Porridge

1 cup jicama rice (Explained below) 
1/3 cup dried apricots cut into small pieces
1/4 cup chopped nuts (I used cashews) 
1 small apple diced 
1 cup nut milk (I used almond/coconut milk)
1 teaspoon cinnamon 
1 tablespoon brown sugar 

1. Remove outer coating of jicama and cut jicama into small pieces
2. Place jicama into a food processor until finely chopped and rice like in texture
3. Scoop 1 cup of the jicama rice on to a clean towel/cloth and ring out all of the moisture 
4.  Place all of the above listed ingredients into a pot and heat until warm

* I used a masher and mashed the apple pieces into smaller pieces once the apple warmed up.  I also added more nut milk as I saw fit to get the texture and thickness  I desired in the porridge.  Feel free to play around with different measurements and ingredients.  Next time I plan on putting a banana into the mix and maybe raisins instead of apricots! Its a very flexible recipe.

Recipe to Try: Carrots Dogs

Carrot Dogs!

April 23, 2009 by ritasroots

The carrots are growing like crazy and even starting to shoot up their flowers stalks due to all of our ups and downs in temperature.  This recipe comes from the Savory Market on James Island and we LOVE them.  They can hang out in your fridge marinating for two weeks, but are ready in an hour too.  Eat ‘em just like a hot dog, but with no meat or soy!  Top with braised mustard greens or fresh lettuce.

You need:

6-10 meduim sized carrots, those about the size of a traditional hot dog, washed and with ends cut off.

For the marinade, whisk together

1 cup soy sauce or tamari

1 cup water

1/2 cup rice vinegar

1/4 cup sesame oil

1 tbsp chopped pickled or fresh ginger

1 tbsp chopped fresh garlic

pepper to taste

Directions:

Boil 5 cups water in a large pot.  Cook carrots until al dente, not to mushy ’cause they are nice with just a little snap.  When tender, drain boiling water and run cool water over them to halt cooking process.   Transfer carrots to storage container.  Pour marinade over carrots and refrigerate.  The longer they sit, the more they taste like a hot dog!

To be understood....

One of the best feelings is the feeling of being understood and accepted.  Sometimes I feel that part of being vegan means NOT being understood but continually striving to be understood.  Last night, I did not feel that way.  A few months ago, I told my best friend that I was vegan and from the second I told her she was purely accepting, understanding, and interested... even if she herself wasnt vegan.  We used to have dinner together on a pretty regular basis and I would generally bring some of my own food because she didnt really know how to cook vegan because she is very much a meat eater.  Yesterday, I went over to her new apartment and was going to eat dinner over there and she said, "Don't bring anything with you... I bought spinach and garbanzo bean patties and made cous cous for dinner for us".  To most, that might seem like a small gesture, but for me... it meant the world.  I constantly seek to be accepted in my lifestyle and rarely find people that will not only ACCEPT it, but ACCOMMODATE it.  I was so thankful for that.

We spent the next several hours talking about life, love, politics, and everything in between.. and it just flowed.  It was wonderful! I'm thankful for accepting and understanding people, even if they don't have the same views as me.  Its my mission in life to express love and compassion, understanding and acceptance, to those who are different than myself.  I may not always understand WHY someone values something, or WHY they do it... but I must remember to respect their decisions and accept them.  My being vegan is a constant reminder that though my views may differ from the general public, I still yearn for respect and acceptance on the most basic level.  

Proud Vegan

I'm sort of at a loss of things to say these days, but what I can say is that I am proud to be a vegan.  I finally have a couple days off from work and I'm excited to continue reading "Eating Animals" in my free time!  I am constantly looking for new books on veganism to educate myself and renew my decision.  I think because we live in such a meat centered world, its especially important for each of us to take the time and energy to devote ourselves to educating ourselves about our lifestyle on a moral and health basis.  I have read a couple books already and I have learned so much that helped me to take the first steps into being vegan.  The two best books I have read so far are: Skinny Bitch and Veganist.  I am currently reading Eating Animals and Dominion is next, then I plan on reading The Lean by Kathy Freston who is simply amazing.  

I think another part of being vegan that is extremely important (even though I have yet to do it) is to get involved in some sort of vegan social group!  Im so excited to finally have the time to get involved in a group of passionate vegans now that I have the time to do so.  I also highly recommend investing in a couple of good, reliable vegan cook books to learn what lovely and amazing things you can cook vegan and still enjoy food.  A lot of people think that being vegan is so limiting and restrictive, but I would beg to differ and offer that being vegan actually opens up our pallets to a wider variety of foods and flavors that we would have otherwise avoided.  I can honestly say that had a not gone vegan, I probably would not have tried eggplant (which is amazing), or jicama, or kale... and some of these are now my favorites.  I find pride in enjoying the food I eat AND knowing that what I am eating is good for me!  What a great feeling that is!  

Dont forget to get some stellar recipes for vegan desserts too!  Unfortunately, there are not a lot of "accidentally" vegan desserts sitting around the grocery store, so much of the vegan desserting is totally on YOU.  But thats ok because baking is fun and Pinterest has all sorts of vegan baking ideas to try!  Dont be worried if you make something and its a total flop, that happens to the best of us!  Keep trying new recipes and I promise that you will find something you like! I have found so many wonderful recipes that I would love to recreate!  One of them is the Shepards Pie from Skinny Bitch in the Kitch!  Woah! I never wanted that to end!  

Another very important thing to note is, learn basic nutrition.  Fad diets THRIVE off of people who dont know basic nutrition and who will believe anything that anyone who "looks" or "sounds" important tells them  about nutrition.  I would stick with the line "if it sounds too good to be true, it probably IS to good to be true", but that line lost its effect when I ran across veganism..... the benefits are endless and its not even hard..... so, my next best advice is to know and understand how basic nutrition works and not to fall for anything.  Be sure to check the facts.  nutrition isnt as "easy" as taking a pill or as difficult as some make it sound.  All sorts of foods can fit into a healthy diet!  

Lastly, understand why you are vegan.  Ask questions.  Read books.  Subscribe to blogs.  Meet vegans!  

Thai on the go

This Just In: Trader Joe's "Vegetable Green Curry"

Just ate this vegan deliciousness and I am pretty impressed.  While the veggies aren't crunchy like they are in a homemade curry, this canned ready-to-go green curry definitely curved my thai curry craving!  I thought it was delicious and an absolutely awesome quick lunch!  I got curious about the ingredients and was really impressed that I was able to identify all of the ingredients in this soup!  (I didn't even have to check them out at the store because Trader Joe's already gave it the beautiful stamp of Vegan ("V") approval during production.  Here is the lovely ingredient list: 

Water
Coconut
Cauliflower
Baby corn
bamboo shoots 
carrots
green curry paste
palm oil
chili
basil 
salt

Boom! Thats it! That's my kind of soup!  Head over to your local Trader Joe's and grab some of this stuff! you wont regret it!

Homemade Apple Chips

Homemade Apple Chips

use as many apples as you wish.... 

olive oil

cinnamon 

1. Cut apples into as thin of slices as possible (dont worry about coring the apple)

2. Throw apple slices into a gallon size bag

3. Mix apples in bag with a bit of oil until all apple slices are coated

4. preheat oven to 225 degree F

5. Spray cooking sheet with cooking spray 

6. Line apple slices one by one on cooking sheet (do not overlap apples and leave a little space between apple slices) 

7. Sprinkle apples with cinnamon 

8. Bake apples for 1 hour then flip

9. Bake apples for another hour or so

10.  Remove from oven and enjoy crispy apple chips! 

*feel free to leave apples in a little longer if the chips seem to need to be more crispy! 

This is why I'm vegan....

There are two very important components of being vegan that are especially valuable in regards to being successful as a vegan: 

1. Education
2. Passion

         For many different reasons, it is especially important to focus on educating yourself on veganism throughout your vegan journey.  Most importantly, education is important in order to keep yourself healthy and to nourish your body properly.  Because most of us did not grow up vegan, it takes a completely new level of education about the matter to adequately nourish our bodies.  We must learn what sources of food bring us what sources of nutrients and focus on including each of those foods in our daily diet in order to meet out body's nutritional needs.  We were taught that cows milk is an excellent source of calcium... if we are not consuming cows milk, we must learn what sources of a plant based diet supply us with adequate levels of calcium for our body's needs.... (green vegetables, non-dairy milks, etc).  We were taught that we receive protein through consuming animal protein (meat).  If we do not consume meat, we need to educate ourselves on the sources, outside of animal products, that supply us with the protein our bodies need.  Some possible protein sources are beans, nuts, seeds, legumes, etc.  Since we are not consuming red meat, we must learn plant-based sources of iron.  Many legumes, green vegetables, beans, and seeds have significant sources of iron in them.  Education is important for keeping ourselves healthy and well balanced.

          There are three main paths we can take after deciding to become vegan: healthful eating, junkfood vegan, or dropout vegan.  A healthful vegan makes educated and informed choices about his food intake and eats both for pleasure and for health, assuring that he gets all of the adequate sources of nutrition his body needs through a plant based diet.  A Junkfood vegan does not do much research on veganism and resorts to limited and restrictive processed vegan foods which do not completely meet the needs of the human body.  A drop out vegan is one who does not do research on being vegan and feels extremely restricted and hungry while eating vegan because he is not adequately nourishing his body with nutritionally dense plant-based foods.  He discontinues being vegan because he does not have the passion, education, or skillset to maintain his own body on a vegan diet.  

       I am committed to being an educated vegan so that I can nourish my body and maintain good health and wellness.   Being vegan is not what most would call a "popular social decision".  The majority of people we will interact with are not vegan nor would they ever desire to be vegan.  While we may be on our own journey, many people may become upset and offended by our decision to go vegan even if we are not pressuring them to change their lifestyle choices.  Especially in the western diet, being vegan goes against the grain of what is "normal".  This can bring up strong feelings in the hearts of those who continue to eat meat.  While you may not be trying to bring up tension in a situation involving food, just BEING vegan may be enough of a source of tension to do so.  In such situations people may become defensive, hostile, and rude towards your personal decision to become vegan because it challenges their own lifestyle choices and path to wellness.  It is in these moments that its important to be well educated and knowledgeable about your decision to go vegan.  Not necessarily to defend yourself or to convince other people to go vegan, even though those are definite benefits of being educated, but to be sure that you are not broken down by the opinions of others.  Being well educated on your decision to go vegan means that what others think and what others believe will not change your personal path.  Its important to personally OWN your decision to go vegan and to recognize that it is your path.  Through education, you are making an investment in making your veganism your OWN.  

       Passion, passion is important for making the initial dive into becoming vegan.  It is with passion that we make the first move toward changing to a vegan lifestyle.  Passion is what keeps us vegan when things get difficult.  Without passion, education would do nothing.  As I previously stated, being vegan is definitely a decision which goes against the grain of our society.  If we are passion about one or all of the benefits of going vegan, we have passion.. whether it be the environmental impact, the impact is has on animal cruelty, the impact it has on the global poor, or for the health benefits.... we have passion.  Personally, i am drawn toward each of the benefits of going vegan equally as I believe in a socially just planet!  When I am needing a renewal of passion for my vegan lifestyle, I look at a few different things:

 The poor: those in need of food, water, and clothes.  I cannot justify food, money, and time going towards making cattle "plump" enough to eat instead of feeding the most vulnerable of people.  The land we use to grow crops to feed animals in order to feed ourselves is inexcusable as it should be used to grow food edible for human consumption to feed the global poor.  THIS is my passion.  

When I lack passion, I look at the world outside of myself.  My lifestyle choices impact those in most need.  We are so separated from the origin of everything we have, being vegan prompts us to understand the origin of what we own and what we use.  I refuse to belittle someone or devalue someone for my personal pleasure.  Animals and humans, alike, I will not devalue life which God has so graciously given us to protect, value, and love! 

The environment: This world is separated by oceans, but we are responsible for the planet as a whole.  Choosing vegan helps me to realize that this entire planet is mine to protect and value.  The animals on it, the people in it, and the land that comprises it.... all of it is to be protected and valued.  I am passionate about being vegan because I make an effort toward preventing our planet from looking like this.  

The animals.  I value the dignity and respect of animals.  I believe that the "dominion" God gave us over animals is to protect and cherish them.  I do not believe that God intended for us to devalue them and to abuse them.  These beautiful creatures are certainly here for us to value, be inspired by, and cherish... but abuse and torture are not a method of valuing life.  I believe the word "dominion" means that we have a responsibility to protect and care for the animals of this planet as each of them has a very important purpose in our world. 

My health.  A plant based diet is able to supply me with all of my nutritional needs without any ethical controversy. And its delicious! 

The environment: going vegan helps me to make an effort to protect what has been so graciously given to us by God himself.  The mountains behind me are a gift for our eyes to behold.  Being vegan and making environmentally conscious decisions helps to protect this gift of beauty for all to see!  I LOVE traveling and seeing the beauty that comprises this planet.. without regard for our planet and for the world outside of our front door, beauty like this will cease to exist.  THIS is my passion!

       Live for passion. Live for truth.  Life for justice.  Live for peace. Live for dignity. Live for health.  Live for love.  Live for life. These are the reason why I live vegan.  Through a personal choice to educate and live in passion, I continue to feel more fulfilled by my decision every day! The word that I constantly keep in the back of my mind to keep my passion alive is "suffering".  I seek to live a life that does not bring suffering upon another living being on this earth.  I do not wish to contribute to the suffering of the global poor.  I do not wish to contribute to the suffering of the planet.  I do not wish to contribute to the suffering of animals.  And i do not wish to contribute to the suffering of my body and nutrition.  Educate yourself and live a life of passion... in this way you will be fulfilled!