More Pie?

Yup. Friday we had Shepherdess' Pie. Veganomicon has a Tempeh Shepherdess Pie, but I didn't have tempeh so I combined the Vegan Planet and Veganomicon recipes to make my Shepherdess' Pie. The key ingredient...

Better than Bouillon! This is my plug for the Better than Bouillon. I haven't made my own stock in a while so the Better than Bouillon is great to have on hand. It made a great sauce base for the pie.
db suggested we try it since I was a bit disappointed in the veggie bouillon cubes and powders.





Here's how it looks with my veggie base (carrots & broccoli) for the Shepherdess' Pie. Once in the casserole I added crumbled up Sol veggie burger and ground hazelnuts (hey something locally grown! Actually so are the broccoli, mushrooms, carrots, potatoes and garlic).





End result...yummy. Our salad had tomatoes from our garden which was nice.






***

Today we went to the Gourmet Warehouse. Everyone at work kept telling me I had to go. Since I'm not originally from this part of Canada I don't know about such places and whether they're worth going to. Plus I was a little suspicious of such recommendations from co-workers who think that Wendy's is a good lunch. To each her or his own, right?

I intended to take my camera, but I had no batteries charged so you'll have to use your imagination.

From the outside the storefront is very unassuming. I've gone past that stretch of Hastings St. and never even noticed it (probably because the big white Crappy Tire building looms into view). There's no big showy windows or shiny displays, however, the entrance is marked by a sign and once you enter all the treasures are there.

It has good quality pots, pans, baking dishes, wine glasses, dishes and coffee machines. There are short rows jam packed with spices, hot sauces, rices, pastas, salts, mustards, tea, coffee and everything else. There's a little baking corner with baking chocolates, sugars, extracts, molds, decorating supplies. There is every kind of kitchen utensil invented. I draw the line at onion goggles and asparagus tongs (aren't tongs just tongs?). You get the idea; the selection is very good.

db and I had a good time. I picked up some supplies that I know I can't get near home. We even found organic brown sushi rice.

After picking up the rest of our supplies for tonight's dinner (you'll have to wait and see what it is) at drive Organics we headed home.

Back at home db made us tomato sandwiches (more garden tomatoes) while I made a batch of wheat-free chocolate chip cookies from Veganomicon.

They're chewy and crumbly goodness. The picture doesn't really show the chocolate chips, but they're in there. They kind of melted down in the baking since this is a fairly thin cookie.

I think these cookies might be good with a little soy delicious in between or maybe a little of my own homemade sorbet. I'll have to wait and see.

So what will the vegan eat now?

So today is Day 4 of my diet. I start reintroducing the forbidden foods on Friday when I can eat one type of food two times a day for two days and record how my body reacts. By then I should be over the caffeine withdrawal and will be able to tell how my body reacts. At first I thought coffee would be the first thing I’d want back, but now that I’ve weaned myself off it I don’t think I can go back. I’ll go back to decaf eventually but I think caffeine is something I should do without. If you read about my days below you’ll understand why I’ve come to this decision.

Shopping has been relatively easy since I have pretty specific foods I'm craving that I know I can eat (avocados, rice crackers, hummus). db and I shopped on Sunday and spent even more time reading labels than usual and once again I was reminded how prevalent corn and soy are in our diets. Fortunately I don't have much of a sweet tooth so I'm not really craving or missing sugar at all. The fruit I eat is sweet enough.

How spoiled we are in North America to have so many choices. Really we have limitless choices of foods and this just amazes me even more when people still ask me "what do you eat?" when they find out I'm vegan. It's astounding the number of bad foods that are on grocery shelves that are so much a part of the industrial food production. I can find any variety of chips, frozen dinners, colas or sugary cereals, but I don't want those I just want to get more than one or two choices of apples when I know there are probably 15 or more varieties grown in BC alone.

As for reintroducing the food, I think I’ll start with corn since I suspect that will be fine and I can get back to snacking on tortilla chips and making enchiladas.

So this is how my diet went so far:


Day 1

I want my f***ing coffee!!!

Gone is my morning ritual of turning aromatic beans into a fine grind and measuring it into the espresso machine handle that automatically applies the perfect pressure to produce just the right crema atop my shot of espresso. Instead I made herbal tea that turned out to be a bit too ginger strong for me. The rice cakes with almond butter, hemp seeds and sliced banana were delicious. I started my supplements as prescribed by my ND and was feeling okay.

Two hours later the headache started and I knew I was well into caffeine withdrawal. I thought I’d go out for my 11 k run anyway and would probably feel fine once I got going. Wrong! I’ve never felt worse running. Chugging along I felt like someone was pulling me back and I was fighting the resistance. My legs ached and I felt like I had no strength in my hamstrings to get me up any slight slope. Usually I look forward to the hills, but the hills became impossible. I turned back and ran and walked home. Not a stellar performance.

I was worried about the evening because I was meeting Wandering Coyote and Red Jane for dinner. Even though we were going to a vegetarian restaurant I knew that I’d have to let go of the rules of the diet. That was fine. I can live with that. I tried to find solace in my steamed brown rice. The food was good and it was great to see both WC and RJ, but I was in my caffeine withdrawal fog and didn’t feel fully present (sorry WC and RJ). I think my energy was pretty low, which is part of Adrenal Fatigue and then being sans caffeine on top of it pretty much put me in the fog.

The upside? I slept a deep sleep. I had one of the best nights sleep I’ve had in a long time.

Day 2 (really Day 1 of the diet because of Day 1’s dinner)

Still no coffee??? And I have to go to work?

Again I felt fine for the first couple of hours in the morning, but the headache returned. It wasn’t as severe as Day 1 but it was still there and again I felt like I was walking in a fog, not fully present. Granted I can feel that way at work on the best of days, but Day 2 on Saturday was a fog with time standing still. I finally broke down and took advil that contains caffeine, but it took the edge off. I still had a headache, but at least it was quieter.

My commute home seemed endless and I’ve never been happier to arrive home (okay there was the time I had to spend the night in the woods and that may have been the one time I was happier to be home).

db made an amazing pizza with a rice crust. It was heaven.

Again I slept soundly.

Day 3

Latte time?

We discovered that db could not make me the tea latte because almond milk contains soy lecithin.

It’s true I’m an addict in withdrawal and am feeling so messed up without my daily shot of espresso I don’t know how long I’ll have enough energy to do anything.

I accepted the fact that there would be no latte and watched db delight in one of his peaked perfections of creamy soy latte excellence. That was satisfying enough. I did make us a nice brunch with home fried potatoes to go with my almond buttered rice cakes and hemp seeds. I watched db load up the earth balance and realized I didn’t miss wheat I missed the stuff I put on it, the earth balance buttery spread, the vegenaise and all that good stuff.


Of course I love db’s bread and it’s delicious, but I’m okay without it.

Still feeling foggy and as the day went on I tired out quickly. I spent some time at a friends place learning how to turn a pen (making a pen out of a wood blank using a lathe). Unfortunately the wood I chose was a bit prone to chipping out and that’s what it did. The first time I was able to salvage it, but the second time I realized that it was over and I’d have to start over, but next week since I already spent a couple of hours on this one pen. It doesn’t usually take so long, but I was learning and we did have to try and fix my initial chipping before going on. Anywho…I enjoyed using the lathe and turning a piece of wood.

db made rice pasta that was very good. It breaks down a little easier so db missed being able to twirl his durum semolina spaghetti around his fork. I think the rice pasta would work better in a short pasta like a penne or a fusilli.

Why These Moments?

I've been thinking about blogging. I'm thinking about it right now. It's become such a part of my regular everyday...what's the word? Exercise? Hobby? Does it matter? Perhaps not.

I thought about blogging when I discovered I work with a Don Quixote scholar. Once a university temp professor, he taught European Literature and taught a whole class on Don Quixote. Are you kidding me? What luck! This has helped me stay with the book even though I've often thought about putting it down and opening the last Harry Potter book that sits on my desk, carefully wrapped in a LV plastic bag since it's a loaner from a co-worker. But no, I'm sticking with Don Quixote and now all the questions I have I can discuss with a Don Quixote scholar. Unbelievable. Talking about the book with this co-worker has also given him reason to pick up the book again after fifteen years.

I also thought about blogging when I saw Crimson Cabaret, a show that was raising money for a local women's centre. There was a wonderful opening to the show of traditional Japanese drummers who were all women, I think the first and maybe only in North America? With the same powerful force the show was closed with Coco Love Alcorn. She was absolutely brilliant.

Sunday we hit Commerical Drive to do our grocery shopping because there is just a great selection of foods and we thought it'd be a nice change from the usual stops in whoville. While there, I stopped into the used bookstore Bibliophile and met the resident cats, Oscar and Chaucer. Chaucer is a rather huge Norwegian Forest Cat who absolutely filled the chair in the sunny window. His companion, Oscar, a dark gray tabby, was curled into Chaucer's furry belly. Oscar looked a little curious, but Chaucer really couldn't be bothered with me or anyone else since he was in full nap mode.

Backpack overstuffed with groceries and in transit, I thought about blogging. All of these moments made me think about blogging. It's often while I'm in transit that I write on my blog even if I'm not actually doing it. If I'm not reading on the bus or skytrain then I'm thinking about writing. However, I don't always get the chance to sit down, and even now I'm running short of time, but making the time is somehow important and relevant for me.

Why these moments? I'm not sure I have an answer for that yet, but I'm working on it. Maybe while I'm in transit tomorrow morning I'll try to answer that, but more likely I will have moved on to something else.

Christmas wish

True, my family doesn't really buy gifts for each other at Christmas. We sort of stopped that a while ago. We do make gifts for each other though or we do something like give the gift of a wine press so that we can make something in the future. There's been donations and adopt-a-chimp gifts and I think all of us have made each other something at some point (I apologize to family members for my early knitted socks before I knew how to really make them).

Nonetheless I'm taking the pledge because there is a gift here and there that I might buy (if I can't make it in time) and with Circle Craft coming up I may find a little something there for sis or whoever. I guess the point is if you have to buy, buy handmade.

"What would Jesus Buy"

I see that the BBC world news has caught wind of the film, What Would Jesus Buy, produced by Morgan Spurlock who brought us Super Size Me. I can't wait to see this film. I've been a Rev. Billy fan since he started preaching to the public about the sins of Starbucks. He's an inspiration. You can check out the "surfing" column for the Church of Stop Shopping if you want to find out more about his congregation.