Spinach Mushroom Quiche

And Easter Tradition!

1 (9 inch) deep dish pie crust
Butter
1 c. chopped raw onion
small splash balsamic vinegar (for caramelizing, optional)
8 oz. fresh mushrooms (I prefer the Baby Bella's)
8-9 oz pkg. frozen spinach
1 c. shredded Swiss
1 c. shredded cheddar
1/4 c. shredded Parmesan (optional)
4-5 eggs, beaten
splash or two of milk
salt and pepper, to taste

PREP: Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Caramelize onion with touch of butter, a pinch of pepper, & optional splash of balsamic vinegar (just a light touch). Lightly saute sliced mushrooms in butter. (I cut back on the butter use by added a touch of water if needed.) Heat or thaw frozen spinach.

COMBINE caramelized onion, mushrooms, spinach, & cheeses. (OPTIONAL to save some of cheese for top once in the pie shell.) Mix well.

BEAT eggs, season, & add splash of milk.

ADD egg mixture to mushroom mixture. Combine well. Season to taste with salt & pepper.

POUR egg & mushroom mixture into pie crust.

BAKE in 400 degree oven about 35 minutes until brown and bubbly.

Ugh!

This is a picture of the ad my brothers found so awesome, they felt the need to display it on the refrigerator for a long time. Oh darn, I think it disappeared.

Family Gathering

We had a delayed family Christmas and due to circumstances, it wasn't until today. As mentioned before I am the only vegetarian in my family and this year, since my grandpa's recent death, I had not one to cook for but myself. I had frozen extras of both my Thanksgiving Vegetable Wellington and my Christmas spinach mushroom pastry for just such an event, and I FORGOT IT at home. I tried to call home and ask my brothers to grab one of them out of the freezer, but they had already left. Instead I was left with a few choice from the appetizers (spinach artichoke dip, cheese, olives, and pickles), corn, rolls, and a green bean casserole that was somehow not quite right and undercooked. The potato casserole included cream of chicken (yeck!) and the baked beans (which I never was much the fan) had bacon. I keep waiting for the day when they remember that there is a vegetarian in their family, but eight years hasn't let to much improvement. Oh well, it was otherwise a decent day and a good reminder for next time to take something.

Freezer Stock 2011 - The Soup Tour Continues: Frenchie Onion Soup

My soup stocking tour for this chilly January continues as today I made a lovely homemade French Onion soup using a vegetable stock, onion, garlic, a touch of vegan Worcestershire sauce (for richness), and seasoning, topped with some toasted multi grain bread and cheese under the broiler. The onions sweated and then the soup simmered for a while. After topping it with the toasted bread and cheese under the broiler, I served it along side some beautiful roasted veggies (carrot, broccoli, mushroom, onion, and a bit of garlic). I love it when a good meal comes together. Unfortunately, for my family no one else partook in the yumminess and they continue to find it "weird."

For those out there that don't believe that a vegetarian can still be a "foodie" I say to you, "HA!." There is something so marvelous about good food that is cooked slow and with care and without a lot of crap thrown into it.

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

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

Vegetarian Culture

“Vegetarian Culture” -- a phrase heard in regarding restaurants and people understanding and embracing the ‘vegetarian culture.’ How does the concept of a “vegetarian culture” change in regards to geography, environment, family situation, upbringing, etc? Vegetarian culture in regards to internet, community, religion? Groups? “…Because they understand the vegetarian culture…” is a phrase I recently heard in regards to a restaurant and the offerings in their menu. I, like I am sure many others living a meat-free life, live in an area that does not offer a lot of like-minded individuals in this area. How does the vegetarian culture as whole affect the lives we lead with little personal interaction from other vegetarians?

This is sonething I have been thinking about a lot lately, along with the feelings isolation that is connected to loving in my house and in this part of the country. I've only a few friends who don't eat and most of them have gone back to those meat eating ways or it is a Lent thing. Once in a local grocery store I had someone ask me about my preferred type of veggie burger while I was shopping in that area. My brother, who was with me at the time, was floored. There are others!!! For a moment my lifestyle suddenly seemed almost normal to him as he met a rather normal woman who shared in this journey, but overall this has been the exception. On the whole I feel rather detached from the whole of "vegetarian culture." It's something I am a part of, but also something that seems so far away.

I meet people occassionaly who claim to be vegetarian... but they eat chicken, seafood, and attack others for choosing not to. I occasionally meet people who at least try to respect it, but I also meet a lot of people who just end up attacking me for it or puzzled over the "sacrafise." Sometimes, it feels like a rather isolated journey in a world that thinks I am nuts. Sometimes it would be nice to not feel way.
I did a net search... in hope of finding some other thoughts on it.

* "The Importance of Vegetarian Culture" http://www.vrg.org/journal/vj97sep/979cult.htm
* "Good for the Gods: India" http://www.veggieheadonline.com/india.html
* http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Building-Vegetarian-Culture/
* "Vegetarian & Vegan Diets" @ 'Home Chef' http://www.chefhome.com/Cookbook/Vegetarian.shtml
* "The Vegetarian Channel" http://www.thevegetarianchannel.com/directory/News/Publications/213.html
* "Becoming a Vegetarian" http://becoming-a-vegetarian.blogspot.com/

"Man is the only creature that consumes without producing. He does not give milk, he does not lay eggs, he is too weak to pull the plough, he cannot run fast enough to catch rabbits. Yet he is lord of all the animals." ~George Orwell, Animal Farm

Food TV

There are a lot of people who believe that watching the cooks on TV work their culinary magic can have a calming effect. It seems to be something about watching someone prepare food. I have an uncle in a higher stress career that watches it to “veg” after work and grandparents who are HUGE fans of cooking and food shows. I’m a huge fan, even back to the days before an entire network and channel was created for it. I still sometimes catch episodes of Julia Child on public television. I guess for me part of it and extension of watching my family members cook in their home kitchens and being a part of it. This love that has continued from childhood is not always easy when you don’t eat meat, don’t cook meat, and don’t like the sight or smell of meat. I still watch the cooking shows- I just tend to look towards the side dishes and ways to adapt recipes to a meat-free mindset (sometimes that is as simple as using a vegetable broth or stock instead of chicken, beef, or such). I have been known to channel surf during things I would rather not see, such as roasts, steaks, etc.

There always seem to be reminders that we are a part of the few… that we, the vegetarians and vegans, are the minority. If restaurants and the meat counters at our local grocers were not enough, TV is yet another one of the ever-present reminders. On the plus side there is a growing awareness about the existence and growing numbers of people like me, the average (more or less) Americans who choose a meat-free lifestyle. While watching the food and cooking shows there are more and more meat-free meal ideas or even suggestions for cooking for vegetarian friends and family. It is slow, but positive.

http://www.vegtv.com/
(Traveling Vegetarian) http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=travelingvegetarian (or check out on my listed favorites)
http://www.delicioustv.com/aboutdelicioustv.shtml

"I am not interested to know whether vivisection produces results that are profitable to the human race or doesn't.... The pain which it inflicts upon unconsenting animals is the basis of my enmity toward it, and it is to me sufficient justification of the enmity without looking further." ~Mark Twain

Snow and Stuff

It's been one of those days... well a couple of those days. The cold streak in Ohio is getting old, the temperatures dropped so much w had to bring the goats in from the barn. Unfortunately, we lost one of the from the frigid tempteratures. It is a small barn and just isn't enough protection aginast the severe wind chills. (The other is in a large crate/cage in the spare bedroom with plastic covering the floor.) He seems mostly content, even laying up against the bars to be closer to the dog. I think we will all be ad when the temperatures let up and the risks go back down (he may not be a large goat, but I know he would prefer to have more room and be back in his barn and yard).

This may surprise some people who know that I have lived in Ohio all of my life, but really, REALY am not a big fan of snow or ice or cold. It' aggitates my joints and makes me achy. This is my quiet weekend before the business to come is upon me. No one in my house felt much like cooking for lunch so we went out... a local place that has Chinese and other Oriental type foods. I've often found Ethnic food places to have meat-free options that are not always as readily available in other places (Oriental, Italinan, Mexican, etc). It was alright. My mom made dinner, forgetting about me, she put meat in all of it. I ended up making a mushroom noodle soup for dinner for myself, nothing fancy or great, but the warm both was probably for the better. I think sometimes it really just gets to me when I get forgotten when it comes to family meals. Me being meatless is not a recent, new, or on again/off again thing. It's just me, but sometimes that still doesn't seem so easy for the people around me.

I keep having this fantasy of living in a vegetarian house (more than just me and a small scattering of friends, mostly sometimes vegetarians at best), with vast connections to other vegetarians, and living in a more vegetarian world- where meat-eaters are in the minority and not me. It seems a far away fantasy, but I will keep it.

"Tongue - a variety of meat, rarely served because it clearly crosses the line between a cut of beef and a piece of a dead cow." ~Bob Ekstrom

Thanksgiving Ponderings

Five Thanksgivings as Vegetarian have passed and I am welcoming number six. Gives me a chance to take a look back and then towards the present. The first year was probably the most daunting. I was still new to the whole vegetarian thing only by a couple months. Outside of my immediate household the rest of my family still did not know the scary, dirty secret of my vegetarian decision (and yes that is how my mother treated it). At the family gathering, I ate around everyone else, without anyone paying any attention to my plate. No one noticed what was on my plate or what I wasn’t eating… until the car ride home where an argument ensured about me offending my unknowing grandmother because I did not eat any of her turkey. (By Christmas the rest of the family has been told, but is a whole different story.)

In the Thanksgiving that have followed I have added foods with my own meat-free twist, including my mushroom gravy and dripping-free gravy. This year I am ready to take the next step in the whole vegetarian feast… a meat-free alternative to their turkey thing. I’ve been playing with a few ideas. The first, and probably most obvious, is the whole tofurky idea. I’ve looked into the pre-made kind (by ordering or finding a store nearby) or by homemade, but I continue to have my doubts. I am hesitant to the idea of making something to look like meat. I even contemplated the idea of using my own stuffing/dressing recipe in a pumpkin and roasting (seemingly another popular idea). Of course a simple net search brings about all sorts of recipes and ideas of casseroles, roasts or whatever else. They got me thinking.

At a wedding over the summer they included “Vegetable Wellington” as the vegetarian option. Mystified and curious I did a net search to get a heads up on what we would be eating. My interest was piqued further. At the side down reception it was a surprisingly nice and savory entrée’ for ones who are accustomed to eating around salads and side dishes as such events (or the ever-present pasta). I’m contemplating my own version for Thanksgiving (and/or Christmas). Sounds like a yummy option for my and for my semi-vegetarian grandparent (the doctor has severely limited his meat consumption for health reasons.) Oh, the near endlessness of my options.

"Vegetarian: A person who eats only side dishes." ~Gerald Lieberman

Bow Season... Bleh!

I try to ignore that fact that in this area it is bow hunting season for deer. Of course, then I get those reminders like someone kicking you in the shin or somewhere else. My brothers hunt, my family hunts, and then there is me... the vegetarian and definatly the none hunter of the family. I try to keep my mouth shut, since it does no good otherwise. It just leads to fighting and arguments and that which does not good for anyone. So, I sit and I listen and I bite my lip as I hear them talking on the phone to the processing place regarding the deer that have to pick up and the talk about how the woods were this morning when my brother took his crossbow out, and to my sister calling to find out if anyone got one because she wants venison. I sit, trying not to listen and trying to keep my mouth shut, as I munch on my spicy thai peanut noodles wondering how I managed to become the person I am in this bunch.

"The fascination of shooting as a sport depends almost wholly on whether you are at the right or wrong end of a gun." ~P.G. Wodehouse

Have you ever grilled your peanut butter?

A lot of kids grew up on grilled cheese, my family was no exception, but that was not the only grilled sandwhich that we know from childhood. For me there is another comfort food from childhood that comes in the form of two peices of bread grilled and often served along side tomato soup... grilled peanut butter. It was often grilled up along side of the grilled cheese sandwhiches my Mom made, but was something seemingly unique to my family. It's the same basic process as a grilled cheese sandwhich, but takes a little more finess when it comes to getting the butter on both of the outsides of the bread and peanut butter on the inside. Once grilled there is the nice toasty outsides so many of us remember from childhood with the oohy, gooey, melty insides of the peanut butter (crunchy peanut butter has always been my favorite). The white bread from younger days has been replaced with a multi grain oat bread, but crunchy peanut butter melting from the inside has lovingly stayed the same. For me it is a taste of childhood, a comforting blast from the past. We all have something to turn to from those childhood days, something that helps give us comfort on the bad days and during those trying moments when simplicty of days is sought. Maybe next time I get the urge to grill up some peanut butter I might even add some fruit, such as some sliced apples or bananas or something else I come across in the pantry. I was never one much for jam or jelly intruding on my peanut butter, but some might be up for it too.

Thanksgiving is coming and dinner lists are being made. Are you ready?

"Nothing spoils lunch any quicker than a rogue meatball rampaging through your spaghetti." ~Jim Davis

Holiday Preperations Underway!!!

It was a rather simple day meal-wise. I made a pasta with olive oil and herb thing for dinner, adding some fresh sliced mushrooms and spinach, then a touch of parmasan. A lovely meal with a peice of oat bread. I was talking to a friend of mine that used to be a vegetarian online while I ate and she talked about how she has been really thinking about going back. (Her vegetarian days were in high school and she started eating meat only when she was accepted as a foreign exchange student and she worried about food options.) Now past college, law school, married and into the real world the draw seems back. The numbers nationally are growing, but more so in cretain areas and the options out there are in constant growth. The options for vegetarian and organic foods are so much easier to find than they once were... even in the last six years.

The holiday food planning has begun. I spent awhile this evening on the phone working my way through the potluck list for the big family Thanksgiving. (And I mean it'll be a big one.) We are working on balancing a feast for for vegetarians, semi vegetarians, and meat-eaters alike. At a minimun that puts us at around three different types of dressing/stuffing to uphold various traditions and dietary needs. This means regular poultry inspired stuffing, oyster dressing (a family tradition), and my very yummy mushroom dressing (depending on whether or not I decide to stuff in inside of a pumpkin and roast it). The one thing with me doing the organizig is that I get to make sure there are enough vegetable type dishes and salads. At least one other fmaily member is limited on his meat consumption and it is important that there are options for both of us.

In the words of Jeremy Bentham: 'The question is not, "Can they reason?" nor, "Can they talk?" but rather, "Can they suffer?" '

Pet Peeves

It was a mostly decent weekend (We had a good opening weekend, Halloween, some dancing, some hanging out with friends, all good things); but one full of some fairly annoying attacks to my way of being and eating and the whole vegetarian thing. We all have those peeves that just want to send us over the edge of just wanting to lash out at people and struggling not to.

Firstly, a friend of the family farms and their family all hunts (much like my own), they called to ask my mom and brothers if they wanted the meat from the deer one of the boys just got. (If they are going to hunt at least they use the meat or know people that will.) So since yesterday all I have heard around the house is about feild dressing, how long it can safely hang in this weather, getting it processed and butchered, finding a place to process, and what they are getting done with this meat (bologna, steaks, burger, etc.) and possibly the hide as well. There were phone calls, debates, conversations, gloating. I try to just ignore it... it doesn;'t do a bit of good to say anything, I just wish I did not have to hear it constantly. That was the start of yesterday.


Then came part two... the real point of my aggravation. It was Halloween weekend as well as an opening weekend for our show. This, unsurprisingly, means going out both night. (Halloween night I dressed as Mother Nature in a flowly, sheer, autumn inspired dress.) Well last night and into the wee hours of this morning we ended up at Denny's (after everything else was closed) and some of the group were still under the influences of alcohol (which probably did not help). Everyone had ordered and the food had just came. As the one girl (one that I had just met had already found myself shaking my head at more than once) began to dig into her chicken strips announced something about her being a vegetarian. I looked across the table at her plate then up at her, "Um, no your not." (This is probably one of my biggest pet peeves of people.) "Yes, I am. I'm just a vegetarian that eats chicken and seafood, I don't eat all things like beef or pork. You know there are all kind of vegetarians and vegans." She continued one babbling and raiing my blood pressure as she was going to lecture me about how a true vegetarian could still eat chicken and seafood and still be a true vegetarian. I don't think she liked my reference to "vegetarians" or eat such as semi-vegetarians. Finally she took a breath (I was getting more and more annoyed and just flat out aggravated) and something was said about me being a vegetarian (two fo the others at the others at the table know that I don't eat meat) and that I really didn't need her to tell me what one was. She asked what I ate and I explained as patiently as I could that I didn't eat anythign that had once had a face, that included chicken and seafood. So she started in on me about being a fake vegan... I don't claim to be a vegan and never had. She also started bragging about how good seafood was and how tasty her chicken strips are. These are the types of people who help make life harder for the rest of who us who actually do not eat meat. She kept at me about how good her chicken tasted and how I was a pretend vegan. I tried to explain why semi vegetarians who still eat some meat make it harder for the rest of us... when we go places people actually try to use chicken breath as "vegetarian" and fish as a "meat alternative." She was too caught up in her idea of always being right to even listen. I can't help it, but it just seems far worse to have pretend and fake vegetarians stirring up trouble than the meat eaters who just don't understand. It also confuses the meat eaters who think we can and do still consume things like that.

Check out these links:
http://www.theveggietable.com/articles/whatisavegetarian.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vegetarianism
http://www.vegetarian-restaurants.net/OtherInfo/VegetarianTypes.htm
http://vegetarian.about.com/od/vegetarianvegan101/tp/TypesofVeg.htm

"To my mind, the life of a lamb is no less precious than that of a human being. I should be unwilling to take the life of a lamb for the sake of the human body." ~Mahatma Gandhi

Food on the run... welcome to another tech week

I'm moving towards the opening night and weekend of my current show, which makes things a little hectic, especially when it comes to things like meals. Tonight I ate on some potato bake thing my mom made to go with dinner (she made baked beans too, but there was bacon in them and hard to tell what else) and grabbed a banana on my way out the door to eat at rehearsal. It was enough to sustain me until we got home. We stopped at my sister's on the way home a bit, while my brother raided her refridgerator. I've given up on raiding my sister's fridge for such for me... she eats very few vegetables and puts meat in pretty much everything. When I came home I heated up some frozen ravioli and topped it with some jarred sauce (spiced up a bit) with a peice of wheat bread.

It promises to be a busy week and thankfully I have plenty of fruit on hand.

Why does Sea World have a seafood restaurant? I'm halfway through my fishburger and I realize, Oh my God. I could be eating a slow learner. ~Lynda Montgomery

Live, let live, and be grateful always... Veggie Style

A lot of times vegetarians get a bad reputation for being pushy, demanding, militant, and extremists. I am a firm believer in not doing these things. I live my life the way I want to be treated by others... simply I am who I am. I want to be treated respectfully for my lifestyle and I try to treat others the same way. I know it's not always easy, especially when you are surrounded by meat-eaters nearly everyday and in many cases live with them. As many know, I am the lone vegetarian in my family, and over the years this has ofen caused tension and conflict. My brothers are still extremely bothered by it and often use names like "vege-terrorist." I really try not to turn around the attacks when meat is pushed in my face or when the comments sometimes come in wave after relentless wave.

I've done the research, I have the information at my fingertips, and I am willing discuss my diet and lifestyle in a respectful manner with those who are truly interested and curious. I see no point in attempting to push my ideals onto others and instead try to live more by example. We've all heard the line about attracting more flies with honey, than vinegar... well, it is more along those lines. No one wants to be lectured at or attacked, not me and not anyone I know. Over the past few years I have been approached to speak to my college biology class as well as interested friends and family, mostly as result of my not aggressive tactics. My cookbooks are usually free range for those interested that are close to me and I have to three-ring binders that are packed full of information, history, facts, quotes, and any other vegetarian bits that I have come across along the years. They have been a great resource for me and for those are are genuinly interested.

There is one thing I have found to be one off the greatest aspects of importance to living this life the right way is to be grateful to those who actually try to be respectful of this life. This means making an effort to thank those who take the extra steps to make it easier whether it was cooks at camp who made me something seperate (even if it meant heating up an veggie burger two), my caterer for the rehearsal dinner who made me a special fruit plate, or a family member or friend who remembered me (like Grandma who make snack plates for the wedding party the mornign of the wedding or the green beans that do not include bacon).

We vegetarians and vegans are not freaks of nature, but we will be treated likes ones more often if act like ones. There is nothing good to come of trying to life a peaceful diet while going out and attacking those who do not agree. Live, let live, and be grateful to those who try to undestand that which may still seem very foreign to them.

The woods were made for the hunters of dreams,

The brooks for the fishers of song;

To the hunters who hunt for the gunless game

The streams and the woods belong.

~Sam Walter Foss

Joined myspace and Attended Wedding

Yesterday was my cousin's wedding (I was a bridesmaid). The night before at the rehearsal dinner the caters made a special fruit plate for me to go with the few thigns I could eat and my grandma made a seperate plate for me the morning of the wedding (she made snack plates for the wedding party to snack on before the wedding). The dinner was good, what I had of it; a roll, relish type stuff, and potatoes. Although, when we left after the clean up was mostly done I was ready for something a little more meal-like.

The recent heat as made it almost too hot to really think about eating or cooking much of anything. Eating on leftovers, but nothing too special.

In other News Apple-A-Day has joined myspace. http://www.myspace.com/greenapple4life Feel free to come and visit me.

I hope everyone is staying comfortable and enjoying the summer weather. Smile!

As quoted by Sri Aurobindo - "Life is life - whether in a cat, or dog or man. There is no difference there between a cat or a man. The idea of difference is a human conception for man's own advantage."

It's another day in my veggie paradise (or as near to paradise as I have so far found) and my entire family seems in a tizzy about the upcoming weeding this weekend. There seem to be a number of weddings this weekend, involving both family and friends. To top off the excitement I am in the wedding party of the cousin's wedding that is this Saturday and I am the only known vegetarian. The wedding food wasn't much of an issue (I was told), but the real "excitement" came when I asked my aunt about the menu for the rehearsal dinner (a mixture of simple curiousity and thought process about bringing something for me). As she went through the menu she started to come to the realization that there wasn't really anything for me... once again the token vegetarian as this family event. She was planning on calling the restaurant who is doing the catering for the rehearsal dinner and have something ordered for me. I hate adding extra work to people when it comes to stuff like that and I try to not only be especially appreciative when they do make special plans for me, but also to be willing to adjust as needed without giving up my ideals. (Much of the wedding dinner is being made by family members and my mom is making seperate pasta salad for me, minus the pepperoni she put in the pepperoni she put in the rest.)

In other news I ran across some interesting news on Oprah. If you get a chance check out her 21 day Cleanse blog and about how she's doing vegan. http://www2.oprah.com/foodhome/food/cleanse/blog/blog_main.jhtml

"The fact that man knows right from wrong proves his intellectual superiority to the other creatures; but the fact that he can do wrong proves his moral inferiority to any creatures that cannot." ~Mark Twain, What Is Man, 1906

Welcoming the Summer Season

The Memorial Day weekend is over and I made it through one of the biggest cookout weekends of the summer. Being like many families across the country my family joined in the BBQ, grilling, picnic festivites.

Even the vegetarian (me) was able to join in and enjoy my fill of grilled yumminess (of course grilled in a manner as not to touch any of the meat or meat juices). At last Sunday's bog family gathering I grilled up some mushroom veggie burgers for me and my grandpa (his doctor has limited his meat-intake by a lot and he has been embracing a semi-vegetarian diet now in the seventy year range). Despite the surprise to some family members it wasn't a big deal. On Monday, we grilled out again, this time at my mom's aunt house, my grandparents also attending. We grilled up some potatoes and onion, then I grilled some marinated portabella mushrooms for my grandpa and myself. (He likes the veggie burgers and mushrooms.) I love to to cook on the open fire and eating meat-free does not have to be a limitation.

The warming weather seems to have brought my desire to cook back. Although it could also be that the show i was involved with is now over and my stock up of frozen meals dwindled during that time. In the last week I made my favorite corn chowder and a rich and spicy vegetable stew. Hard to say what I might make next, especially if it can meet the dietary guidelines my grandfather's doctor set for him.

"I have no doubt that it is a part of the destiny of the human race, in its gradual improvement, to leave off eating animals, as surely as the savage tribes have left off eating each other...." ~Henry David Thoreau, Walden, 1854