Quesodilla Night

Melted cheese isn't just for between two slices of bread or on top of some baked pasta. Sometimes it comes in quesodilla form that includes veggies and topped with salsa. Tonight was such a night. When I first saw the quesodilla makers in the store, I laughed. We did fine without one. Then somehow we ended up with one and tried it out. Its not one of those kitchen necessities, but it can be nice. Quesodilla Night is one of those where a spread of filling options are laid out and everyone makes what they want. I like to saute up sliced mushroom and a bit of onion with a touch of taco seasoning, using a sprinkle of water to really let everything start to meld together, then add my mushroom mixture with black olives in between the flour tortillas and shredded cheddar, then topped off with homemade salsa after cut. Of course, the great thing is you can add pretty much anything you want and even put the salsa on the inside.

We are still in discussions on what to do for my family birthday dinner. It really shouldn't be this much of a discussion. For some odd reason I seem to want to go somewhere that includes more than grilled cheese and the occasional salad that is meat-free. I want more, especially since it is supposed to be for my birthday. At this point I think I'd be happy just with ordering in from someplace I like and enjoying a lone bottle of wine or something sparkly. This area doesn't have the greatest restaurant choices (a lot of steakhouses and "homecooking") for those vegetarians, and I don't know how open they'd be to some of those options as it is. Looking at something maybe more 'ethnic'- based like Mexican or Italian. We shall see.

'I venture to maintain that there are multitudes to whom the necessity of discharging the duties of a butcher would be so inexpressibly painful and revolting, that if they could obtain a flesh diet on no other condition, they would relinquish it forever." -- W.E.H. Lecky

Roasting Veggies Make my Night

There is something almost magical and lovely about roasting vegetables and I love love love making and eating them. Tonight one was of those such nights. Most people have made or at least eaten roasted potatoes, but I will pretty much roast anything I can. It turns plain vegetables into some kind of lovely carmalized tasty bit of yum. Tonight I roasted up some seasoned potato cubes with some onion and bits of garlic, as well as some carrots and broccoli with onion and garlic bits. The garlic melts on down around and the onion peices carmalize throughout. I have never been a fan of steamed broccoli, but roasting fresh broccoli in the oven is something wonderful. While my family chowed down on pork chops I sauteed up some onion and mushrooms to put atop of a Morning Star mushroom lovers veggie burger with cheese on a toasted kaiser bun.

"Vegetarians taste better." -- Author Unknown

Stir Fry Night

It was another stir fry night at our house. It's becoming pretty much once a week. We lay out a selection of vegetables and sauces (my meat-eating family usually chops up some sort of meat to go with it). It's a mix of what you like, what sounds good, and what is on hand. Mine usually consists of onion, garlic, shredded carrots, mushrooms (tonight was a mix of button and sliced portabellas), green onion, and broccoli. Depending on the season and what is in the fridge there may also be snap peas, lima beans, corn, green beans, asparagus, peppers and/or marinated tofu. Sauces and spices are all done to taste and changes depending on what's on hand. (My mom often will take scoop of my veggie filled stir fry and some of my brother's mostly meat stir fry to combine the two.) Served over some plain brown rice with a vegetable egg roll I have a meal fit for a queen. Of course, I have such a weakness for decent vegetable egg rolls and try (try being the key word) to keep them in the freezer most of the time.

Picked up some veggie burgers while getting veggies for tonight's stir fry. Between the veggies, the veggie burgers, and what's in the house I should be good for awhile. Although we so seem to be dangerously low on homemade salsa.

"Support you right to arm bears." -- Cleveland Armory

Quiet around here the last couple days. The new puppy is keeping us on our toes. I have been working on braiding rag rugs and have just discovered my new copy of "Vegetarian Times" (Feb 2010 edition) in the stack of mail.

"God loved the birds and invented trees. Man loved birds and invented cages." -- Jacgues Deval, Afin de vivre bel et bien

New Additions

It's been rather quiet around here the last couple days. The snow is starting to melt and it's all slush, muddy spots, & icey patches. Happy January, right?

For Christmas I go a new set of pots and pans from my mom- all black with colorful butterflies. I am determined to keep them meat-free, but haven't found the inspiration to break them out yet. It's coming, but I have barely felt like even cooking lately. Their time will come.

Most of the excitement around our house has been the arrival of a new puppy. She's a black lab mix & spends her time sleeping or chasing around the other dogs. At just over six weeks she is already bigger than my elderly pom. He tolerates her in his typical way; unconcerned, as long as she isn't laying on top of him. Our dogs really are a part of our family and serve as a constant reminder that I have chosen the right lifestyle and diet. We have three now (my sister has another two). Two are shelter dogs; my 4 lb. mini pomeranian (who is about11-13 yrs old) and our bull boxer (originally said to be a boxer/beagle mix when we brought him home). The newest addition is the first girl dog I think we have ever had and the product of a golden retriever mix farm dog who spent some time with a neightbor's pure black lab. She cuddles and chases the bull boxer. It's amusing for me to watch my brothers melt over her, clicking pictures and taking turns cuddling with her.

We have always been an animal family. Hamsters, birds, a guinie pig, and couple of rabbits, a couple of goats, 2-3 frogs, and cats. What is strange to me is that growing up we were always a cat family, starting with a stray runt born in our garage that couldn't keep up with his mother and siblings. He was so small when we found him that he had to be fed soaking a peice of rag in milk and letting him suckle. After him there were years without a cat or anything until one December my sister brought home a bischon puppy. Between my siblings and I, we are now up to five dogs and two cats, mostly rescues. I can't imagine not having them in our lives. Sometimes I hear stories though and I wonder how people can possibly hurt this beautiful, loving companions that enrich our lives so completely. My pom was abused and it took him and I years to work on undoing some of the damage. He's missing all of his front teeth now and his eyesight is going, but I'm glad to know that for the last six years he has a comfortable and sometimes spoiled existance.

"Would you kill your pet dog or cat to eat it? How about an animal you're not emotionally attached to? Is the thought of slaughtering a cow or chicken or pig with your own hands too much to handle? Instead, would hiring a hit-man to do teh job give you enough distance from the emotional discomfort? What animal did you put a contract out on for you supper last night? Did you make sure that none went to waste and to take a moment to be grateful for its sacrifice?" -- Anonymous

Bites of the day

I actually cooked today. I'm slowly getting back into the swing of things. I made a baked pasta primavera with leftover Alfredo sauce from the other night, rotini noodles, carrots, spinach, sauteed mushrooms, some grated parmesan and a lovely provolone cheese melted on top and a sprinkling throughout. Seasoned, mixed together, and topped with cheese; it baked to lovely golden browned top. More a decadent treat than an everyday occurrence. I'll probably stay simple for dinner like a salad. Yum.

Plans for my birthday have been in discussion. Since we were little birthdays have always been celebrated with a family dinner of our choosing. Sometimes we go out, sometimes it is something more at home. My birthday dinner discussions often include a sometimes heated discussion about meat being included. I get the whining about being fair to everyone else and how you can't have a family meal without meat, blah, blah, blah. I'm not really surprised. It would just be nice if once there was a sit down meal where I didn't feel like I was eating around everyone else. Somehow, my brother's dislike of spinach is the same as my not eating meat in their eyes. Oh, to live in a world where I'm not the exception. We seem to have come to an agreement (no one else in my family has to negotiate their birthday dinner) of a fondue night complete with grilled kabobs (so I can have vegetable ones and they can have their meat) and a salad.

We're still in the midst of hunting season. Bah! I asked them to be respectful of me by not hunting on our own property (they have a list of family and friends with more property than we have), but this request was denied out of "respect for them." I try to take comfort in the fact they are not great shots and they are down to just bow season (no more deer being chase by guns). I recently had a friend, who is once again a vegetarian (she's been on and off for years now), who tried to lecture me about hunting. Of course, no one in her family hunts and she doesn't come from a 4-H or agricultural/farming family, therefore not understanding how ingrained in the culture it becomes. What some people don't understand is that I am never going to change them. I just really, really wish that they would be a little more understanding and compassionate about my place in the middle.

"I ask people why they have deer heads on their walls. They always say because its's such a beautiful animal. There you go. I think my mother is attractive, but I have photographs of her." -- Ellen DeGeneres

Another day, another bite.

I haven't felt much like cooking the last couple days. My big cooking accomplishment was fixing alfredo with mushrooms last night. I went an easy route today with a salad for lunch and a less than healthy dinner of cheese pizza bites. They were easy, they were there, and I just haven't had the inspiration for cooking something.


For a treat (or punishment, depending on how you look at it) I decided to chare a poem I wrote about my beloved lima beans.

"Lima Beans"

Green I am & from pods I came, the life of a lima bean is never done.

From the ground I come, towards the sun I grow.

Plucked from pods 7 either fresh, frozen, canned, or dried.

A lot of people dread my appearance.

A lot of people turn up their noses.

Bit I am the bean most over-looked.

Love me, eat me, make me yours.

I ho,d more magic than you may evern know.

Doesn't make you wish you were a lima bean all green and purdy and yummy.

January Blahs

The January snow is piled up all around and I've been scanning the web and other blogs trying not to feel so isolated. It's a mixture of the winter blahs and an impending birthday (a birthday that serves as a reminder that my twenty-something days are numbered). I'm not sure which is lending more to the feelings of isolation today... the snow and cold, the birthday thing, or the feeling of being socially isolated as vegetarian. I have a large, loud, and usually supportive family... all omnivores. I have an interesting and at times eclectic mix of friends... mostly omnivores. I even have a very sweet, very thoughtful significant other... most definitely an omnivore.

Here I sit, contemplating a new year, and new age, and the desire for an early spring. It's too early to be playing in the dirt and getting dirt ready for planting (it's all covered with that cold, white stuff). It's totally the wrong season for locally grown produce and farmers' markets (they just make me happy). The snow keeps piling up and I, not liking the snow, am forced to wear socks and shoes and all that winter gear. I know part of this is just spring fever and the January blahs, but I think I need to find something, somehow... just not all together sure what that is.

Isolation is a strange thing at times. I've been a vegetarian over seven years now and can barely remember what it was like before. It affects so many things in everyday life. I check food labels at the grocery and at home, even when I am looking at clothes. Leather? I don't think so. Fur? Absolutely not. Yet, everyday there is it blaring in my face - "You are the family freak." It doesn't have to yell, it just is. My brothers hunt. Guns, bows, ammo, and clothing sporting camo and orange are all around. A camo coated doe skull sits in the dining room as my brother's dog chews on a roasted deer bone (gotten from the guy who processors their kills). Somehow our mailbox is an interesting combination of hunting magazine and catalogues and vegetarian magazines. I guess on the plus side, my brothers don't seem to be very good shots. In all the years my three brothers have been hunting; with shotguns, bows, and muzzle loaders they have only brought home two deer (without counting the one my sister took out when it ran into her car). They eat everything they kill and it has to be better for them than the factory farm crap that comes from most groceries.



I just sometimes wish there was more than me nearby. I hear myths about vegetarian romances, but I don't know if I believe in them. I hear stories about like-minded vegetarians getting together regularly to share foods and culture. I hope these exist. Maybe one day, I'll better understand them. Maybe I need to plant something inside, like an herb or something.

"When man wantonly destroys one of the works of man we call him a vandal. When he destroys one of the works of God we call him a sportsman." --Joseph Wood Krutch

It's been kind of nice having a freezer and pantry full of home preserved goodies. I made a big pan of black beans and rice today, using a jar of black beans my aunt canned for me and corn my mom and brother froze this summer. I usually use tomato sauce or a bit of tomato paste for a tomato base, but instead took a can of diced tomatoes and ran them through the belnder for a bit. It was just long enough break down the peices more, but to leave some pieces through it. Topped with a sprinkling of shredded cheese and sliced black olives, served along side a handful of tortilla chips it was a very nice lunch. In honor of celebrating my family's canning and freezing, I even thought about pulling out a bag of frozen raspberries and using them to make some raspberry pina coladas later. (Yum yum!)



There is already a plan set for next year's canning as far as what we need to make more of. For instance, this year two batches of homemade salsa were made, and the plan is to at least double that for next year.

"It is just like man's vanity and impertinence to call an animal dumb becuase it is dumb to his dull perceptions." - Mark Twain

Been Awhile...

In the words of 'Monty Mython,' I'm not dead yet. I just got otherwise distracted which ended up with me living for a season out of the regulalr internet zone in the middle of pretty darn near nowhere. Now that life has somewhat settled down post holiday season, I'm baaa-aaack.

Life in my world has been full of its rather typical ups and downs. Over the summer season I shared a communal kitchen with a bunch of non-vegetarians. I started seeing someone, who like most of the people I meet around here, is also not a vegetarian. He's considerate of our difference in eating habits, but also rather comfortable in his omni ways. the seven year mark of my meat-free lifestyle quietly came and went. The holidays came and went and now the new year is upon us.

There is something about the start of the new year that gives so many people inspiration and energy that can help us get through the rest of the chilled winter months yet to come. We see promise and potential, not only in ourselves, but in the world around us. For myself I am somewhat relieved for the holiday season to be over, not only does it mean a calm to things, but it also means a break from the heavy holiday foods, the regular family style feasts, and all the snacks and treats that threaten to bury us alive during this season. I am now onto a new challenge. During the summer and fall months when my family (and extended family) was in the midst of canning and freezing my aunt canned a box of assorted beans for me. Black beans, lentils, split peas, one I'm not excatly sure what it is, and a combination of all of them. I use black beans pretty regularly, but feel the need to branch out big time and take advantage of the pantry full of home-canned goodness. I've never really worked with lentils or split peas, but I intend to find a way. I'm just not sure how, yet. Inspiration will come... eventually. Wish me luck.

"The animals of the world exist for their own reasons. They were not made for humans any more than black people were made for white, or women created for men. " - Alice Walker