Jamie's Take on Food

Another of Life's Simple Pleasures

2010-06-05T15:12:00.000-07:00

I am sure if you are reading this you know we eat a healthy diet at the Dietrich house. However, this morning I woke to find the most beautiful white box with that lovely royal blue writing that says "The Donut Hole" on my kitchen counter. (Let me interject, I love those white, cardboard bakery boxes, especially the plain ones. They bring a smile to my face & flood me with fond memories of my childhood.) Yes, my sweet husband, while out making an early morning run to the hardware store, stopped by The Donut Hole, waited in a long line & came home with 2 of my favorite pastries! (Of course, Mr. Healthy had none!) I have 3 favorites: chocolate cake doughnut, blueberry cake doughnut & apple fritter (their apple fritter is the size of 2 of my fists!). I realize this is not the healthiest breakfast. However, in the 3 1/2 years we have lived here, I have never once stopped by The Donut Hole to get myself a doughnut & this is only the second time Sean has done so. So no worries of me falling into that trap! I sat & had my morning coffee all the while pinching off sweet, apple cinnamon chunks of goodness. Even more than the "treat" of having doughnuts for breakfast, the fact that my husband found a small way of showing me that he loves me is today's simple pleasure.

Life's Simple Pleasures

2010-06-03T13:09:00.001-07:00

Today for lunch I fried a whole grain pita in my iron skillet with a little Earth Balance margarine & then, using a serrated knife, gently sliced all the way around the edge of the pita so that I had something more reminiscent of a sandwich. Next I slathered Veganaise on both sides of the pita (Yes, both sides!) & added thick slices of homegrown tomatoes & a sprinkling of salt. I did not grow the tomatoes, nor are they local; tomatoes in this area are just now starting to ripen. These came from south Florida, but were still homegrown, you could tell from the inconsistencies in the skin & such. They aren't as good as the ones that are yet to come, like the ones from Slocomb, Alabama (Those are the absolute best! Sean & I have actually driven the nearly 2 hours to buy some before.), but they were good enough to put a smile on my face. After I was done savoring every last mayonnaise dripping bite, I ate half of a sweet, ripe cantaloupe I bought on the side of the road somewhere between here & Dothan, Alabama on Saturday. I know that summer is not officially here, but these are some of the simple pleasures of summer!

I can't say it's cheese, either, but it sure is good!

2010-06-01T08:13:00.000-07:00

I was introduced to the "We Can't Say It's Cheese" products at my local health food store, For the Health of It. I was perusing the cool vegan products when I came across it; I like to look but don't typically buy any of them. I was studying the container when Ed, the owner, asked if I'd like to try some. Free food? Of course I'd like to taste it! He gave me a yummy garbanzo bean chip to dip in it, which was very good, too, but I digress. I was amazed at how good this "cheeze" spread was! I ended up purchasing the Hickory Smoked Cheddar-Style Spread. Sean didn't seem as impressed as I was with my new love. I practiced self-control & came home & only ate half the container. The next day, I ate half of the half that was left. All the while giving Sean ample opportunity to have some. Finally, the third day (okay, maybe it really was the second day) I polished it off! When I mention this spread now, Sean will say he didn't have a chance to eat any--whatever!

The biggest surprise to me? The main ingredient to this thick, creamy dream of a "cheeze" spread is oatmeal. Of course I saved the container as a reference to the ingredients used. I have since been playing around with a recipe, I have made it 3 or 4 times with great success. Saturday I tried to make queso dip or what I grew up calling Rotel dip; basically Velveeta cheese melted & mixed with Rotel tomatoes. This was the dip of my youth; I no longer make Rotel dip, but I must admit, if there is some at a party, I do have a dip or two or ten! I haven't mastered the consistency of the original Rotel dip, yet; but I was in a hurry to get to a cookout, so didn't spend too much time on it. I ended up pureeing the batch with the Rotel tomatoes with a plain batch; the result had a wonderful spicy, smokey flavor. I didn't hoover over the bowl as my husband did at the cookout(he has developed more of an "interest" in this spread since his first taste), but I do think that my "cheeze" was enjoyed by vegans & non-vegans alike (I came home with an empty bowl). Next batch, I'm adding fakin' bacon bits! They can't say it's cheese & neither can I, but we sure do love it at our house!

Where, oh, where has Jamie been?

2010-04-21T15:18:00.000-07:00

I'm not sure if I have mentioned this before, but my husband, Sean, tried to get me to take an oath to blog three times a week! And he was serious! I must admit that blogging takes a lot of time for me. I don't just slap some words on the screen, overlook the grammatical errors & move on. I put lots of thought & care into my blogs. However, they do come out quite wordy & very lengthy. Today I am turning over a new leaf; I am attempting to blog more & less...more often, but less words.

So, now to answer the question, where has Jamie been? Being that we live in a seasonal tourist community, winter is my slower season for my private chef business. I do have clients that come into town throughout the year, but I am not as busy as in the summer. This winter Sean & I have worked hard on the Airstream. I should really say that Sean has worked hard on the Airstream. I am so grateful to have a husband who believes in me & loves me so much to work as hard as he has to make my dream a reality. We are converting the Airstream into a commercial kitchen & plan to open a natural foods cafe next month! However, for the record, I will DEFINITELY continue my private chef business; I love it!

In the past several months I have catered some weddings and large charity fund raising events, such as Walton County Habitat for Humanity's Christmas party & Paint A Difference, as well as participated in some cooking demonstrations. (I will include some photos from some of those events.) I have also been developing & testing my recipes for the cafe. It's all very exciting, but lots of hard work. Today was a very exciting day, I finally submitted my building permit application to Walton County! Now I will anxiously await their response! We do have a website for the cafe & Sean has been blogging about his progress in the 'Stream (my loving nickname for the big, silver bullet). Please check out the new cafe website. And for any of my regular clients or potential clients who may be reading this, don't hesitate to give me a call or send me an email, I am still very much in the private chef business.

And to the foodies out there, more food posts to come soon.

(Obviously a cooking demonstration!)

Ratatouille, polenta & seeing red

2009-10-06T15:10:00.000-07:00

My Daddy went to the curb market last week & called me while he was there to see if I wanted anything. Twenty-eight minutes later (that's how long we were on the phone discussing the selection) he had me a basket full of goodies from the "clearance" area! I got eggplant, zucchini, red bell pepper, tomatoes, cauliflower, sweet potatoes, corn & bananas (the latter three were not from the clearance area). One night I made tempura tofu & veggies, very tasty! A couple of nights ago I decided to try my hand at ratatouille, being that I had all the vegetables here & they needed to be eaten. (We made ratatouille nightly in the restaurant that I did my internship, but it was a quick skillet version.) This was a labor of love & well worth every second! I used Julia Child's recipe which I found online (I just added more eggplant & zucchini than called for, I later read she had increased the amounts in another printing of the same recipe-- my measurements are listed below). I wanted to serve it as a main dish, so I also made polenta to go with it (I added Parmesan to mine, but left some plain for Sean). Next time, there will definitely be a next time, I will leave more juices; seeing as I was serving as a main course & over polenta--more juices would have been good soaked into the polenta.

Sean was working, so when he got home I was excited to see what he thought about it; he loved it, he ate 3 bowls full! I saved a little to try the next day, to see how the flavors melded overnight. I had an appointment yesterday morning & didn't get home until well after lunch & was starving. I went to the refrigerator & pulled out the polenta & started searching for the ratatouille. Frantic, I couldn't find it, I went to the sink & to my horror there was a small container with what appeared to be the remnants of my beloved ratatouille in it. I was on the phone; I told my Mother that I would have to call her back, she quickly hung-up, not wanting to hear my wrath. I called to Sean in his office, indeed, he had mindlessly eaten my precious leftover ratatouille while talking on the phone & not thinking of my request for him to leave it alone. What ensued is not printable! I had to go to him later & apologize for being so angry. It had taken me a couple of hours, or longer, to prepare this dish! He was sorry that he had eaten it & all was well...except I had not gotten to taste my day-old ratatouille...that he informed me in the middle of my screaming "was even better today"! Thank you very much!

Ratatouille

1 lb. eggplant
1 lb. zucchini
1 t. salt
7 T. olive oil, divided
2 c. thinly sliced onion (I used yellow)
2 green bell peppers, thinly sliced into strips
2 garlic cloves, pressed
1 lb. firm but ripe tomatoes, peeled, seeded & cut into 1/4 in. strips
3 T. minced fresh parsley

Peel eggplant; cut lengthwise into 1/4-inch-thick slices, then cut into 3-inch-long, 1-inch-wide strips. Cut zucchini into same size strips. Place vegetables in large bowl; sprinkle with 1 teaspoon salt. Let stand 30 minutes. Drain; dry with paper towels.

Heat 4 tablespoons oil in large skillet over medium-high heat. Working in batches, add eggplant and zucchini to skillet; sauté until light golden, about 1 minute per side. Transfer to plate; reserve.

Add 3 tablespoons oil to skillet; heat over medium heat. Add onion and peppers; sauté until just tender, 10 to 12 minutes. Stir in garlic. Season with salt and pepper.

Place tomato strips atop onion-pepper mixture in skillet. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Cover skillet; cook over low heat until tomatoes begin to juice, about 5 minutes. Uncover; baste vegetables in skillet with juices. Boil until juices are almost evaporated, 2 to 3 minutes.

Transfer 1/3 of onion-pepper-tomato mixture to 2 1/2-quart pot; sprinkle with 1 tablespoon parsley. Top with half of eggplant and half of zucchini, then remaining onion-pepper-tomato mixture; sprinkle with 1 tablespoon parsley. Layer remaining eggplant and zucchini over; sprinkle with 1 tablespoon parsley. Cover; simmer over low heat 10 minutes. Uncover; tilt pot and baste with accumulated juices. Increase heat to medium; simmer uncovered, basting several times with pan juices until only 2 to 3 tablespoons juices remain in pot, watching closely to avoid scorching, 10 to 15 minutes longer. Season with salt and pepper. DO AHEAD: Can be made 8 hours ahead. Cool slightly. Cover; chill. Serve at room temperature or rewarm over medium-low heat before serving

I have very much been enjoying corn lately; in different forms, though. A week or so ago I prepared food for a very casual lunch & had some Mexican cornbread muffins left over. A favorite lunch of mine last week was a fried egg, Mexican cornbread & a tomato; very nice combination of flavors & textures. Today, I reheated a piece of polenta & ate it with a fried egg & tomato--again, delicious! I think I may be onto something!

I realized a couple of days ago that this month is Vegan Month of Food or VeganMoFo; it's basically to bring awareness to veganism & vegan food bloggers commit to blogging about vegan food 5 days a week for the entire month of October. I love the concept & even considered making the commitment. However, I just don't have the time; the Airstream is rolling right along (pun intended!) & is requiring much of my time & energy. I am looking forward to reading so many vegan food posts by so many talented cooks & funny bloggers!

Speaking of the Airstream, we received some very positive news last week regarding the location we are trying to get approved to open our all-natural, slow food, organic, mostly vegetarian cafe. As a result, we are working towards obtaining a building permit & finishing out the inside of the 'Stream as quickly as possible. We have set some goals & a timeline & are very excited about all that is happening! It will give me an outlet to cook the food that I am passionate about, healthy food, & also, a kitchen to prep for my personal chef jobs in. Speaking of which, I better head to the kitchen & get busy with some prepping that I need to get done for another job!

The "Good Time"

2009-09-21T19:07:00.000-07:00

I love snowballs, you know, shaved ice. My sister lived in New Orleans for years & it was just a short walk from her house to Pandora's in the City Park area. I would go visit her in the summer & would have to make at least one trip to Pandora's while I was there, even as an adult. When you eat a snowball the ice begins to melt & eventually you have a cup of slush, this is what I named the "good time"; it's the best part of the snowball. Well, the term has bled over into many other things, like when you order a pizza & after several pieces have been taken out of the box & there is a huge glob of cheesy goodness stuck to the cardboard, this is the "good time". Or the brown crust at the bottom edge of a pound cake that sometimes wants to break off, that is definitely the "good time". Or when you are eating spaghetti & there is just a little sauce left in the bottom of your bowl & you have a small piece of garlic bread left & you use the bread to sop up the last bit of sauce, that is the "good time".

I imagine you are getting the point. Well, tonight I was actually at home, not cooking or prepping for clients & decided to cook for me & Sean. I made a delicious stir-fry with fresh vegetables & lightly fried tofu. I had not eaten much today so I served myself a very generous bowl of brown rice & stir-fry. Did I mention that I love tofu; really, I eat it straight out of the package. Well, I ate & ate & ate, all the while saving some "good time", which tonight happened to be the chunks of tofu; I wanted to savor them at the end. The problem was that I got full before I got to my "good time". Don't fret, I ate it all; as my assistant, Donna & I say, I made a happy plate (Can you tell I taught preschool for almost 5 years?). But my "good time" wasn't quite as good as it could have been had I not been so full. I have always loved food & loved to eat. I can remember being a child & eating so much that I would be chewing a bite & have to spit it out because I knew that if I swallowed it I would be sick to my stomach. Okay, I admit, that was not healthy! But it does prove that my love of food runs deep & long!

On to my stir-fry, it took me about 5 years to perfect the stir-fry. I have considered getting a job in a Thai restaurant just to learn their techniques & sauces & such. In the early days, I would add too many ingredients to my stir-fry. Then even when I simplified my ingredients, my vegetables would come out overcooked. I have some tricks, which make things much simpler. I admit, I would still love to learn from the owner/chef of Benjarong in Mary Esther, he is the former chef at Royal Orchid in Miramar Beach. His vegetables come out with just the slightest bit of char & his cucumber salad is something I dream about. However, Sean did say tonight that this was the best stir-fry he can remember having in a long time. Here's what I do...

Stir-fry:

For the sauce:

2 T. sesame oil
2 T. vegetable oil
6 scallions or 1/4 onion, chopped
2 T. minced garlic
1 T. minced ginger
1 1/3 c. vegetable stock
1/4 c. soy sauce
1/4 c. sugar (I use sugar in the raw)
a couple pinches crushed red pepper (or to your taste)
2 T. white vinegar
2 T. cornstarch
2-3 T. cold water

Heat oil in skillet, add ginger & onions, saute until tender (if adding mushrooms, add them with the onions & let them soften). Add garlic & saute about a minute. Add stock, soy sauce, sugar, red pepper & vinegar. Mix well. In a small bowl combine cornstarch with cold water & mix to dissolve cornstarch. Add cornstarch slurry to the skillet & stir to thicken. You may need to add a little more slurry depending on how thick you want your sauce.

For the vegetables:

Choose whatever combination you like; my favorites are green beans, mushrooms, cabbage & broccoli. I prefer to just use 2-3 vegetables at a time. Steam your vegetables for a couple of minutes, not until they are done, just until they are crisp tender. Tonight I used cabbage, green beans & mushrooms. Again, for the mushrooms, I sauteed them with the onions. Then I steamed the beans & cabbage together, about 5 minutes. Add your vegetables to your sauce just to heat.

Sometimes we just have a vegetable stir-fry over brown rice, but tonight I added tofu. (For frying tofu, I use extra firm.) I have often read to toss tofu cubes in cornstarch prior to frying. I have never tried this method & decided to try it out tonight. I only used about 1/2 an inch of oil in my skillet & added the cornstarch covered tofu chunks & lightly fried them. The cornstarch did give them a nice crisp exterior that they would not have had otherwise, very nice result. I added this to my vegetables & sauce & tossed it all together. Typically my last step would be to add chopped cilantro to my stir-fry; unfortunately, we are out of cilantro. (Note to self, add cilantro to grocery list.) Even without the cilantro, the stir-fry was delicious! (The lighting wasn't the best for the picture, the colors were much better than they appear.)

I had half a pineapple left over from making a pineapple upside down cake for clients last night; so I decided to make one for us. Of course I had to veganize my recipe. I also added coconut milk & shredded coconut to the cake batter. Just a few minutes ago I went back into the kitchen to get a little bite of the "good time" from the cake--the crusty edge, but the cake was already completely gone! I ate so much tonight that my stomach hurts--just like my childhood days! I guess that's one way to know that dinner was a success!

Cut or twirl and twirl and twirl and twirl?

2009-09-17T22:13:00.000-07:00

Tonight on Facebook I posted the question "Am I the only adult that still cuts their spaghetti?". Oddly enough, my question generated quite a bit of discussion. I'm not used to this; I see other people's clever posts & the many responses they conjure up & always wish I were so clever! Here's what I found. My cousin's wife reported that he (my cousin) cuts his pasta; so we got to thinking that maybe it was a family thing. Evidently not, read on. One friend admitted to being a cutter until her husband made such fun of her that she quit cutting; now she twirls and twirls and twirls and twirls & then it still hangs out of her mouth & gets all over her face. A mother says that she cuts...for her six-year-old! One oh-so-clever friend told me there is no need to cut when you just break the pasta in small pieces before boiling them. Another, who must have jewel of a husband, says he often cuts hers up for her! (She also admitted to loving it when he does this because it is so much easier to eat! How sweet!) More people admitted to cutting their spaghetti than I ever would have anticipated; not that my "study" was scientific or anything!

I am sure the Italians would have a fit at me cutting my spaghetti into bite size pieces. I don't just half-heartedly cut my spaghetti, mind you; first I cut across really well, making sure to cover all the noodles with at least one stroke of the knife, then I turn my plate 90º & make several more knife strokes, lastly, just to make sure I haven't missed any noodles, I turn my plate 45º and do another round of cuts. This assures nice bite-size spaghetti. This whole discussion got started because I made spaghetti for dinner & as I was cutting mine, I thought how if Sean were home, he would make fun of me cutting my pasta. But as it was, he had a gig & I was eating alone; well, not really alone, if you count my virtual friends. With Sean working I normally wouldn't have made a "real" dinner, but since I have been cooking a lot for clients lately, I haven't gotten to eat as much "real" food, for example, last night's dinner, once I got home, unpacked & relaxed, consisted of a piece of cinnamon toast, so I decided to cook some dinner for us tonight. (Whew, that was a run-on sentence...sorry!)

Eventually Sean got home & was very excited to find spaghetti waiting for him. He thought tonight's spaghetti was especially good. I don't follow a recipe & I never make it the same. However, I will share with you my general recipe for spaghetti sauce. I make ours using TVP (texturized vegetable protein); you can use whatever you like: meat, tofu, beans, mushrooms, what have you. In a glass bowl I mixed 1 cup of TVP with 1 cup of water, covered it tightly with my new friend, Glad Press 'n Seal & heated in the microwave for 5 minutes. Let me make a disclaimer, I very rarely use plastic wrap & even less frequently do I use plastic storage bags; I try to take care of the world we live in the best I can. However, there are occasions, especially in my profession as a personal chef, that I need to use plastic wrap & I must say that Glad has done a great job!

Succulent Spaghetti

1/2 onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup TVP, reconstituted
28 oz. can crushed tomatoes
14 oz. can diced tomatoes
small can tomato paste
1 1/2 T.garlic powder
1 T. onion powder
1 T. dried oregano
1/2 T. dried basil
1 t. dill
1 t. white pepper
2 small pinches cayenne pepper
1/2 T. smoked paprika
1 T. sea salt
1/2 t. thyme
2-3 dashes balsamic vinegar
1 T. sugar (I use raw)
1 1/2 T. vegan butter

Saute the onion in olive oil until soft, add the garlic & saute for about a minute. Add the crushed tomato, diced tomato, tomato paste & your "filler of choice"--in my case, the TVP. Mix this well. Add all your seasonings, except the butter. Mix well. Add water if too thick. Let simmer while your pasta cooks. Right before serving stir the butter into the sauce. (Sorry I didn't get a picture tonight; my photographer was working!)

Sometimes I add spinach to this, or I saute mushrooms with the onions. I particularly like serve with broccoli on the side & let the broccoli mix in with the sauce a bit. I always toast a piece of whole wheat bread slathered with vegan butter & a sprinkled with a generous amount of garlic powder. That way, when your bowl is almost empty, you can use the bread to get the very last bit of sauce!

No matter whether you are a spaghetti cutter or twirler, this is an easy, delicious recipe that is less expensive than buying bottled sauce. Enjoy!

A Day at the Spa

2009-09-12T08:31:00.001-07:00

Each year for Christmas, my Daddy gives my Mother a gift certificate to Serenity by the Sea, a spa at Sandestin Beach Hilton. My Mother loves going; however, she does not like going by herself. Back in June I was cooking non-stop for clients & there were a couple of days where my Mother came & helped me prep. She really got to see what it is I do as a personal chef (part of it at least, she didn't get to experience where it all comes together in my clients' homes, which is really the magical part). But she did see how much I love what I do, but, also, how hard I work. (She was exhausted at the end of each day!) That week she told me she wanted treat me to a massage soon since she still had her gift certificate. It didn't happen in June, but it did finally happen yesterday.

We met in the parking lot of the spa where before we could go in, I had to trim her toenails! Yes, you read that right! That is a job that has fallen to me, her youngest daughter. I don't love the fact that I have to wear glasses, however, when I have to trim her nails, I am thankful for the extra barrier! I often tell her I am going to invest in a hard hat & a pair of safety goggles! What she told me was that she could not have a massage with toenails that so desperately needed to be trimmed (cut, I should say, trim sounds so dainty, there is nothing dainty about those nails!) Also, she told me she just couldn't bear the thought of walking in the spa without any makeup on, so she applied full makeup before going for her massage, which she would have to wash off before getting her treatment. These are the ways of a lady who grew up in the 40's & 50's.

I hung my robe outside the sauna & left my flip flops there, too. When I came out of the sauna my shoes were still there, but my robe was gone. No problem, except my glasses were in the pocket (yes, I said I don't love having to wear the dreadful things, but I am not fond of contacts, so glasses it is if I intend to see anything.). I checked the pockets of the robes hanging there & we started asking people to please check their pockets. I had a good idea who may have accidentally grabbed my robe. So when I went back to the dressing area, I found her drying her hair...with only panties on! I really wanted to wait until she was finished & dressed, but I was afraid I would miss her & she would throw her (my) robe into the dirty laundry & then my glasses would be lost forever. Don't get me wrong, I am not a prude nor am I overly modest. However, I never took PE past elementary school nor was I invlved in team sports & I don't go to the gym; I am just not used to women hanging out in the nude. I asked the other lady in the dressing area, but they were not in her pockets; I was forced to ask the topless lady. She stopped drying her hair & searched the pockets of her robe, which took longer than necessary it seemed, but sure enough there were my glasses in the pocket of her (my) robe! It was akward for me & my oh-so-southern-belle Mother, but not for the topless lady, interestingly enough!

Our massages were wonderful & we had a fabulous day. And I will encourage my Daddy to continue his tradition of giving my Mother a gift certificate to the spa every Christmas if it means she shares the love with me since she doesn't like to go alone!

Starlet

2009-09-10T14:44:00.000-07:00

Sean is working on a new website for me. I think my current website is just grand, but as a perfectionist, he is always looking to improve on the exisiting, whether it be his piano playing, his running, his painting or my website. So, this past weekend we went to my hometown of Brewton, Alabama to shoot pictures at the house where my Mother grew up, which now belongs to my aunt & uncle. We chose to take the pictures there because the house was built in the early 1900's & really has a lot of southern charm.

First of all, the house is located on one of the two main roads in the town, so when people ride by & we are on the front porch shooting pictures--people notice! Sean got a good taste of Brewton when a huge truck on "jacked up" wheels came revving by with an enormous rebel flag flying on a full-length flag pole somehow attached in the bed of the truck, with 3 shirtless guys in the front! Mind you, Sean grew up in Kansas.

While there, we decided to take advantage of the kitchen & shoot some cooking video, too. I brought some food with us, but still needed to buy a few things to cook what I had in mind. I needed tofu. Brewton is small; they have about three grocery stores. It was getting late, so I decided I should call & find out if any of the stores carried tofu. I thought my best bet would be Wal-Mart. Here is how the conversation went after the associate answered the phone...

Me: "Hi, I was wondering if you all carry tofu."
Associate: "What kind of food?"
Me: "Tofu."
Associate: "Please hold."
Pause
Associate: "What is it you're looking for?"
Me: "Tofu, t-o-f-u. It's a soy product. It is typically found in the refrigerated section."
Associate: "Ohhh, tofu! Please hold."
Pause
Associate: "Yeah, we carry tofu. It's in the produce department, so when you come, just head on over to produce."

Wow! What an ordeal; but they had it & were open until 11:00 that night. So I was able to make my scrambled tofu. I was trying to make very simple dishes, nothing fancy.

I guess I had never thought of how difficult it would be to cook while being filmed & attempt for my personality to come across. I am cooking away, lost in my thoughts, Sean is nearby in the kitchen behind the lens of a camera & it is difficult to be chatty, but not too chatty, funny but not cheesy. However, we finally got into a rhythem & got some good footage. Really I just want my potential clients to be able to see me on my website & get a feel for who I am; I have a very outgoing personality & am likable, in my oh-so-modest opinion!

So for just a couple of days this weekend, I was a starlett in my own right! And do you know what? I liked it!

White Chocolate Oatmeal Bread

2009-08-31T09:01:00.000-07:00

I have been cooking for clients a lot this week, you know my real job as a personal chef. So not too much cooking on the home front, at least not too much interesting cooking. Sean cooked one night, so that was a nice treat; we went out with friends one night, another treat. Last night my mother-in-law came for dinner; I wasn't feeling too great when it came time to plan & shop for dinner. I had some pinto beans soaking, so we had simple beans & brown rice last night. However, I did make some quick bread for dessert, white chocolate oatmeal bread.

My original thought was to use chocolate chips, until I realized I didn't have any. My sister was visiting from France back in the spring; when she visits she normally brings everyone small gifts. Mine & Sean's gift was a bag of chocolate bars; nothing fancy, nothing from one of those ridiculously expensive shops in Paris where they place your chocolates in a box & tie it with a ribbon, just chocolate from the local grocery store, I believe. But, they were amazing, all the same! All different types, hazelnut, crème brûlée, and others that I can't recall since we (okay, mostly I) ate (okay, devoured) them months ago! Anyhow, there was one white chocolate bar. I am not a white chocolate fan, so it was still left in the bag on the shelf. Last night, in my search for some sort of chocolate to put in my bread, I found the lone, last bar. I decided to send it home with my mother-in-law for her to give to my sister-in-law. But I thought I should at least taste it before I parted with it. What I had not noticed before is that on the package there was pictures of coconut next to the white chocolate, evidently indicating that it contained coconut. This white chocolate was amazing! It had crunchies in it & was so smooth & coconuty! I decided to ditch my original plan of goodwill--I would hoard my last chocolate bar, keep it all to myself! But first I would use a little in my bread. Thus the creation of white chocolate oatmeal bread.

White Chocolate Oatmeal Bread

2 cups whole wheat flour
1 cup oats
1 cup sugar (I always use Sugar in the Raw)
2 t. baking powder
1 t. baking soda
1/2 t. cinnamon
1/2 t. salt
1/2 cup nuts
1/2 cup white chocolate chips or cut into small pieces (as was my case)
1 3/4 cups soy milk
2 T. lemon juice or vinegar
2 T. milled flax seed
1/4 cup melted margarine

In a bowl mix the soy milk with the vinegar & set aside.

In another bowl mix flour, oats, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, salt, nuts & chocolate.

To the soy milk add the milled flax seed & the melted margarine.

Add the wet to the dry & mix well.

Bake in a well greased 9x5 loaf pan at 350º for approximately 50 minutes or until a knife inserted comes out clean. Enjoy!

Now, I have no idea if my white chocolate was vegan because I did not go to the trouble of looking up the translation of all the ingredients, being that they were written in French. The bread was moist & delicious! However, I must say, I was not able to taste the white chocolate too much; I probably should have added more white chocolate, but then I would have less to eat later! I think next time I will go back to my original plan make it with Ghirardelli semi-sweet chocolate chips instead, in hopes of more flavor. But this loaf will not be wasted. In fact, I think it may be calling my name right now....

Cheezy Potato Squash Soup

2009-08-20T16:11:00.000-07:00

I recently ordered 'The Ultimate Uncheese Cookbook' by Joanne Stepaniak from Half.com. I really wanted to try my hand at making "block" cheese; I haven't tried any of her recipes yet, though, because the ones for block cheese all call for agar flakes or powder & I don't have any right now. But this afternoon I decided to try her Philly Potato Chowder. Well, I didn't have enough potatoes, so guess what? I got to use some more of my squash stash! I have modified her recipe enough that I have made it my own, so I am posting it; but for the record Joanne's recipe was my base.

Cheezy Potato Squash Soup

8 cups water
3 cups peeled, diced potatoes
2 cups diced squash
2 large onions, diced
1 cup plain soy milk
3/4 cup cashews (all the cheeze recipes I have ever made call for raw cashews, I actually use regular salted cashews & it always turns out)
1/2 cup nutritional yeast
1 T. salt
1 T. onion powder
1 T. garlic powder
1 T. dill
1 t. white pepper
2 t. lemon juice
3 pinches citric acid
fakin' bacon bits

Combine water, potatoes, squash & onions in a large soup pot. Bring to a boil, lower heat, cover & simmer until potatoes are fork tender & begin to break down, about 30 minutes.

Remove 2 cups of the soup broth with some vegetables in it, place in a blender with remaining ingredients, except the fakin' bacon. (I tried to pick out most of the squash & add to the blender so that they consistency of the final soup would be more smooth.) Process until completely smooth. Return blended mixture to the soup pot. Cook & stir over meium heat until thickened. Garnish with fakin' bacon bits.

***I am sure I used more garlic powder & onion powder than listed above, probably more salt, too.

As I am typing this my husband went & tasted the soup, from the kitchen I could hear him say (and I quote) "What is this soup?". I was nervous that he didn't like it, so I asked "Do you like it?", Sean said "Yes; what is it? You didn't use real cheese did you?" I have been cooking completely vegan for my husband for over 3 years now & he still asks, "Is this vegan?" I want to say, "No, Sean, I added bacon grease just for kicks & giggles!" Well, at least he likes it! I will finish this post after I have tried it....

It was alright; but what I will do differently next time is this...While the potatoes & squash cook saute' the onion with diced celery & then add some minced fresh garlic. Add this to the blender & puree with other ingredients. I think this would add more flavor.

On a random side note, I had been out running errands one day & came home to find this on my porch...

Yes, that is my goofy husband, Sean, the one who started us on this vegan journey, in a box with his keyboard. I really don't have any words & I certainly didn't on that particular day, either. His explanation was that he thought to sit down on the box, but it didn't really hold him up; he slid into the box & just decided to stay a while...with keyboard in hand, mind you!

The 'Stream

2009-08-18T21:46:00.001-07:00

Well, I suppose it's time to introduce you to my 'stream. Blog, this is my good friend, 1969 Airstream Globetrotter--AKA 'Stream; 'Stream, this is Blog.

Sean & I bought the 'Stream several months ago. We have slowly (thanks to the extreme heat) been remodeling it. By remodeling it I mean we gutted it & are in the process of converting it into a commercial kitchen for me! Sean has replaced the floor in the areas where it needed it. I am hoping to go look at appliances today. The electrician needs me to pick those out so he knows how much electricity the trailer needs--or something technical like that.

What am I going to do with a commercial kitchen in an Airstream, you ask? We feel that it will open me up to more cooking gigs & different venues. And who knows, down the road I may even be able to open a natural foods cafe' from it! For now, we will keep working on the conversion & I will keep cooking for clients in their homes--which I love! I will keep you posted on the progress.

Squash, squash & more squash

2009-08-16T13:16:00.000-07:00

It's the age old summer dilemma...what to do with all the zucchini you have grown or been given. I see magazine articles, television segments & blogs about the many uses for zucchini. I recently read where a city declared "leave some zucchini on your neighbors front porch" day! I thought that was clever, but didn't really solve the problem. Sean & I have been splitting a box of local, organic produce with another couple every other week from a local company called Off the Vine. Yes, we have gotten a lot of squash, all different sorts of squash, but being that we split this with another couple, I haven't had too much. However, a few weeks ago a good friend of mine (the wife of the couple that we split the veggies with) & her son picked me a huge bag of yellow squash & cucumbers from the community garden in Calhoun, Georgia. I immediately started slicing the cucumbers & adding to jars of pickle juice that I had saved for just that purpose--what I call lazy "homemade" pickles; they are actually pretty tasty, however, you can only use the leftover juice for so long before it becomes diluted. But what to do with all that squash?

First, I fried some, which is very unusual at our house; even though I cook a lot of southern food, I very rarely fry anything. They were delicious! However, my eyes burned the rest of the day; I am assuming it had something to do with the temperature of the oil--not a good sign. This past week I was thinking of other ways to use some of the squash. I wondered that if I can make zucchini bread, why can't I make squash bread? So, I did & it was yummalicious! This is completely vegan & full of healthy flax seed! The batch in this picture has the nuts on top because I forgot to stir in the walnuts, so I just added them to the top. I also had some grated carrot leftover from making fresh rolls & threw them into the mix, added some nice color & extra nutrients!

Lemon Squash Muffins

1 1/2 cup grated squash
3/4 cup sugar (I use Sugar in the Raw)
1/4 cup oil
3/4 cup + 1 T. milled flax seed
3 T. soy milk
1 T. vanilla extract
2 T. fresh lemon juice
2 T. lemon zest, chopped (if you don't have a zester, use a grater)
1 1/2 cup whole wheat flour (I use pastry)
1/2 t. salt
1/2 t. baking soda
1/4 t. baking powder
1/4 t. cinnamon
1 cup chopped walnuts

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Grease a cupcake pan (or 8x4 loaf pan if you want a loaf).

Mix squash, sugar, oil, flax seed, soy milk, vanilla, lemon juice & zest in a bowl.
In another bowl sift flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda & cinnamon.

Stir the dry into the wet. Stir in the walnuts.

Bake for 25-30 minutes longer for a loaf. Let cool 10 minutes & the turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely.

Enjoy!

Coconut chocolate pie

2009-07-15T14:46:00.000-07:00

I am sure that most of you vegan foodies have all tried the chocolate silk tofu pie by now. I have made it countless times for vegans & non-vegans alike & it is loved by all. (Except my Mother, who would have loved it had we not all been staring at her anticipating her reaction! She is one of the pickiest people I know & if she even thinks it has something she deems as "weird" in it, she turns her nose up.) I typically make a chocolate peanut butter version, which is yummalicious. Back in the spring I was doing a cooking demonstration for Walton County Earth Day & was asked to use local ingredients. Well, Earth Day is in April & not much is growing in Northwest Florida in April, except for strawberries. So, I attempted a strawberry version of this pie; I made the crust from coconut cookies & was planning on filling it with a mixture of silken tofu, fresh strawberries, & coconut milk (note: planning). Let me assure you, it was a complete disaster, so much so that I had to pour the tofu mixture down the garbage disposal. Strawberries are not a strong enough flavor to mask the gluey flavor of the silken tofu. Don't get me wrong, I love tofu, I eat it straight out of the package before even cooking it, but that is firm tofu; silken tofu tends to lend itself to a glue-like flavor, in my opinion. I added an entire jar of strawberry fruit spread, no use. I ended up cooking a vegan green bean casserole for my demonstration instead of strawberry pie--not necessarily in season in April, but they do grow abundantly in this area.

However, I still had a coconut pie crust prepared; when handed a coconut pie crust, make coconut chocolate pie--which I did. Here's my recipe:

Coconut Chocolate Pie

2 or so cups finely crushed coconut flavored cookies
1/4 cup Earth Balance, melted
2 cups Ghirardelli semi-sweet chocolate chips
1/3 cup coconut milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract (or coconut would be awesome, I just don't keep it on hand)
1 package silken tofu
1 tablespoon honey (or agave nectar or whatever sweetener you choose to use--I know honey is not considered vegan, but we eat it.)
1 cup toasted, shredded coconut
toasted, chopped walnuts or pecans
toasted, shredded coconut

In a blender or food processor blend the cookies until finely crushed. Mix cookies & butter together. Spread the cookie mixture into the bottom & part way up the sides of a well greased springform pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes. Allow to cool.

Melt chocolate & coconut milk in double boiler over simmering water. When the chocolate has melted, stir in the vanilla extract.

In a blender or food processer puree the tofu, honey/sweetener, 1 cup coconut, and chocolate mixture until smooth, stopping to scrape down the sides. Pour this into cooled pie crust; smooth the top. Sprinkle the nuts around the edges of the pie & then add the remaining toasted coconut to the center. Or, just mix the nuts & coconut & sprinkle over the entire pie.

Chill for at least 2 hours. Enjoy!

This turned out wonderfully! My sister, her husband & son, who are all vegetarians, were visiting from France & my brother, his wife, their three boys, me & Sean were all having dinner at my parents' house & I brought this pie--everyone loved it (yeah, yeah, everyone but my Mother!), there were no leftovers that night! I served this again this weekend to some friends who are definitely not vegans & they loved it, too. I would love to hear other variations that you may have tried with this recipe.

Cookin' Up Some Love

2009-07-14T07:39:00.000-07:00

My Daddy loves to cook. He shows his love through cooking. We are not a lovey-dovey family with lots of hugs & kisses & "I love you"'s. He cooks, we eat & all is well. He is what I call a "feeder". He truly enjoys to see people eating. (Mind you, this is no longer simple since Sean & I have alternative diets. My Daddy is a southern cook who likes to use bacon grease--really, I should say, my Mother likes for him to cook with bacon grease. As usual, I digress.) I have discovered over the years that I have inherited this trait.

Sean & I went to help a friend, Bala Boyd, film a video for his production company, Gypsy House Productions, & we had to be there at the crack of dawn (actually at 8:00am, but dressed, ready & out the door that early is the crack of dawn for us!). I decided I would bring some homemade monkey bread using a great new whole wheat bread recipe that Bala's wife, Joni, had shared with me. I also made a salad to go with lunch. As I was loading all my yummalicious goodies in the car, I thought "I come bringing love.". I have really been pondering this ever since. When I cook for people it is out of love & the food is love. Whether it is for family & friends that come over for dinner, for clients, or just for me & Sean, it is done out of love.

Speaking of clients, I have been cooking like crazy! I recently cooked in a home in Destiny by the Sea that has been under construction for years (literally); the group that I cooked for were the first people to stay there & the last, from what they had heard, because a member of John Mayer's band bought the house. Pretty cool! It was enourmous & had a great kitchen! You would be amazed at some of the not-so-great kitchens I have cooked in; the smallest one so far was several weeks ago at Sandestin--great family, tiny kitchen. I normally cook for omnivores, but I had the pleasure of cooking for a group at Alys Beach, three of which were vegetarians; that was a lot of fun! Currently I have some clients in town that own a second home at WaterSound, I have been cooking for them for over a year, when they are in town; it is so nice to go into the home & "know the kitchen" & the family. All of this cooking is a form of love...not necessarily love for the client, because I usually don't know them; but love of the food & of the experience.

So as an end note, I am leaving you with a photo of a chocolate peanut butter pie that I make & my clients love.

Taking Chance

2009-06-30T20:42:00.000-07:00

Well, tonight Sean had a gig & what's the fun in cooking for just me? So, I just ate a bowl of cereal—really good cereal, though. Publix had buy one get one free on their Post cereals; so yesterday I bought four boxes of much fancier cereal than we normally eat. I digress. Since I wasn't in the kitchen cooking, I decided to watch TV. With Sean gone, I could pick whatever my heart desired to watch! I had DVR'd a couple of movies that I knew he wasn't interested in & was waiting for the perfect time to watch them—I don't watch very much television & when I do it is usually one of our “regular” shows such as Lost, Samantha Who, or The Office. Tonight I chose to watch “Taking Chance” starring Kevin Bacon.

“Taking Chance” was shown at the Sundance Film Festival in January. Click here for a brief description of what the movie's about. (They do a much better job at summarizing it—I'd write a novel just trying to explain it!) I am not really vocal about politics and this movie wasn't either. It wasn't really pro or anti-war. What it did was really remind me that each week people lose their lives for something they believe in, for our country, if you will. Whether you agree with the war or not is irrelevant. What matters is that there are mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers, husbands, wives, and children experiencing great loss all around us; and I for one, have become so numb to hearing about it on television that I have lost sight of that.

This movie was incredibly poignant to me. If you haven't seen “Taking Chance” I highly recommend it. It isn't light & happy, but it's real & it's happening every day.

For the love of bacon

2009-06-29T13:35:00.000-07:00

I love bacon...the crispness, the saltiness, the smokiness, the wonderfulness! However, I choose not to eat meat any longer & that means bacon, too. In the summertime one of my favorite things to eat is BLT sandwiches--I mean, I eat them year-round, but they are especially tasty in the hot summer months--Sunday afternoons with a BLT & fresh corn-on-the-cob, it doesn't get much better than that! I used to purchase a meatless bacon & cook it in the microwave & add to my sandwiches. But that is expensive & is processed. But then I discovered homemade bacon bits at justthefood.com; thank you, thank you, thank you, Joni Marie! Here is the recipe. I don't add the optional food coloring & instead of cooking in a skillet I bake them in the oven at 375-400 degrees on a well oiled cookie sheet & stir them every 15 minutes until desired crispness. I should add, they tend to get quite dark in order to get them really crunchy.

First I made some bacon bits to add to the BLT burger recipe on her site; they were great. Then I started getting all sorts of ideas on how to use them; aside from the obvious idea to add them to every single sandwich I ever make. I cooked brunch for my husband's family one day & made bacon cheese (nutritional yeast) grits as part of the menu. My sister-in-law's new husband, who isn't used to eating our vegan fares, loved the grits so much he wanted the recipe! (This photo is not the best of the grits, but it's all I've got.)

Next, it occurred to me that I could go back to making this potato salad that I used to make many years ago that was unbelievable, but also unbelievably unhealthy. It was layers of new potatoes (you may know these as red potatoes), chopped green onions, shredded cheddar cheese, homemade ranch (I use the term "homemade" loosely in this reference, what I actually mean is mayo & sour cream mixed with the envelope of ranch seasoning), and of course, BACON! Yummalicious! So, I veganized this by making my own vegan ranch (for the record, I do not like the type of vegan mayo I can purchase in the area where I live, but once I jazzed it up into a ranch, I could actually eat it), I left out the cheese & added tons of my new love--fakin' bacon bits! It was to die for! Sometimes, when I think dishes are great, but then wonder if it's just because I am so used to eating healthy, I invite over Bala, my friend's husband who will eat anything & give me his honest opinion about it. This is just what I did with the potato salad--he asked for seconds & if I remember correctly, thirds, too! It was definitely a hit!

Then I got to thinking about a dish that some people, particularly women, love--broccoli salad. I have never been a huge fan, but I wondered how it would turn out veganized. My version consisted of broccoli, dried cranberries, finely diced red onion, sunflower seeds, vegan mayo & the star of the show--fakin' bacon bits! We ate this, but again, we are not lovers of this salad. However, it was good, especially for the broccoli salad crowd.

One night I made stuffed poblano peppers & at the last minute decided to sprinkle them with...you guessed it, fakin' bacon bits! I love these things!

For anyone who loved bacon in their past life, this recipe is so easy & yummalicious--you must try it! I make a double batch & keep them in an air-tight container on my counter--easy access at all times! If you try Joni Marie's recipe for these bacon bits & come up with more exciting ways to use them, please let me know so I can try them, too!

Please Help! What is your favorite waffle topping?

2009-03-31T07:55:00.000-07:00

This Saturday morning I am going to be making waffles out as Seaside, Florida (this is where The Truman Show was filmed). Here's the deal, there is this chick, Jen, who owns a juice bar in an Airstream trailer, called Raw & Juicy & they are celebrating their 1-year anniversary this Saturday. During the summer she normally has a farmers market set up around the trailer, along with other vendors who sell things likes sprouts, handmade bags, baked goods, preserves, eggs, etc. This week for the celebration Jen wanted to have fresh waffles, so she called me! I am really excited about it!

Here is my quandary, I eat waffles the plain old way, with butter & syrup. I don't add any toppings, I am a purist if you will. So, my question is: What do you eat on your waffles? I don't want to take a whole ton of toppings, maybe just three or so. Please help me figure out the most popular toppings for waffles! Inquiring minds want to know! Thanks!

Ole'--Quick & easy Mexican dinner

2009-03-26T12:18:00.000-07:00

Last night I didn't get home from my parents' house until after 7:00, Sean wasn't home from school yet & I wanted to cook a quick dinner. I decided on the way home to make some Mexican food. About a year ago when I learned about the evils of hydrogenated oil, I went on a mission to find a whole wheat/grain tortilla without any hydrogenated oil. What I found was Tam-X-icos; they are in the refrigerated section at the grocery along with the dairy products. I know, I know, I should just make my own, my mother-in-law does, but that takes more planning ahead than I normally do.

Typically when we have Mexican food, I make Spanish brown rice, refried beans, and then the entire array of fillings: lettuce-finely shredded, diced tomatoes, sliced black olives, sauteed onions & peppers (if I have a pepper on hand--not something I keep stocked), sometimes lentils, homemade salsa & guacamole. This is all quite time consuming & then a lot of clean-up because everything has to go in it's own bowl & then to the table for assembly. Last week I didn't have a lot of ingredients or time, so I decided to make quesadillas. That's when I discovered that my George Foreman grill is a great tool for making quesadillas.

I use the beans like cheese, to hold it all together. I spread refried beans on the entire tortilla & then on one side I add spinach, chopped cilantro, tomatoes & sauteed onions & fold it (for Sean's I actually make him a whole one using 2 tortillas). Into the Foreman grill it goes, no worrying about it burning or sticking; while they cook, I can clean up. Sorry this is not my best picture, but is the best picture I had of last night's meal...we were hungry!

Last night I served plain brown rice with our quesadillas; I topped mine with salsa & guacamole. I used 3 cans of tomatoes in the salsa & it was completely gone by the end of dinner--Sean was hungry when he got home from school! I only had one avocado, so the guacamole was...not enough!

We have recently started getting together once a month with 2 other couples & we rotate houses; everyone just brings appetizers & beverages. Now, they request my salsa. But I have a confession, it's not my recipe, it's Sean's. When I make it, it's my salsa, but I have to give credit where credit is due & that goes to my sweet thang, who happens to be an incredible cook. This is one of those recipes that has no exact measurements, you just taste & go. I'll call it Dietrich Salsa since I have added my own touches to it; 2 additions I made last night & man, it was great salsa!

Dietrich Salsa

1 can rotel tomatoes (I use mild, but I don't like things too spicy)
2 cans diced tomatoes (or if tomatoes are plentiful, tasty & cheap, use fresh)
3/4 bunch of cilantro (that is of a large bunch, add more or less to taste)
1/2 fresh jalapeno, seeded
1/2 medium onion
lime juice
salt
cumin

Using a blender (or a food processor, if like me, you don't currently own a blender--mine broke--so sad), puree the can of rotel tomatoes, cilantro, jalapeno, onion, lime juice (start with about 1/4 c. & add according to your taste), a couple dashes of cumin (you really should not be able to taste the cumin) & a generous amount of salt. Puree until smooth. Add the 2 cans of diced tomatoes or fresh tomatoes, and pulse until they are mixed in well, but not smooth, you want it to be chunky.

This is delicious & is my most requested party food; people ask for it all the time. Now for the guacamole...again, it's not really about measurements, just the right ingredients & your taste preference.

Jamie's Great Guacamole
(Not too clever, huh? It's a rainy day, what can I say, I am not too sharp this afternoon!

avocados
homemade salsa (see above, 2-3 T. per avocado)
grated onion (I use a small grater, 1/2-1 T. per avocado)
lime juice (I have no idea, I measure using the cap on the bottle, about 1/2-1 capful per avocado)
cumin (just a dash, again, not so you can taste it)
salt (be generous)

In a bowl, mash the avocado with a fork, just a little. Add all other ingredients & mash until well incorporated, but not completely smooth. Taste & adjust seasonings accordingly. The onion is the most important part of this recipe, without it or without enough, it just doesn't do the guacamole justice.

A nicer chain/franchise Mexican restaurant opened just near my house a couple of years back. Everyone was raving about how great the food was, especially the guacamole; they make it table-side. Well, Sean & I went to try it out. We paid the ridiculous $9.00 for our table-side made guacamole & I have to honestly say, this recipe is better! I am usually pretty humble about my cooking, but mine is better than theirs. Okay, I am done being arrogant! I hope you give my (our) salsa & (my) guacamole a try--if you do, let me know how you like it! Enjoy!

General Tso's Tofu

2009-03-24T11:51:00.000-07:00

I have a huge file saved in my "favorites" of recipes I want to try & another named "tried & true" of ones that are keepers. Night before last I was starving, which is a bad thing to be that hungry & have nothing cooked. I have been wanting to make something like the tofu lettuce wraps from PF Changs, but I didn't have any lettuce. But that thought process made me hungry for Asian food. I was looking through my "to try" file & came across a recipe for General Tso's Tofu on VegWeb.com. (They call it General Tao's Tofu.) I read some of the reviews & decided to give it a shot...with modifications.

First off, I started a pot of brown rice. I decided not to fry the tofu, too messy & I just wanted it to be a little healthier. So I cut extra firm tofu into thin strips & baked them in the oven sprinkled with some garlic powder & white pepper at 400 degrees for about 20 minutes, flipped them & cooked an additional 10 minutes. Next I blanched my broccoli. Sean & I have tried so many times to make stir-fry & it never comes out as good as when you order it from a Chinese or Thai restaurant. We have discovered that the secret is to blanch your vegetables & then throw them into the stir-fry just to warm & coat them. I know this is not the method they use in the restaurants, but it works at the Dietrich house! So I brought a pot of water to a boil, threw my broccoli in for about 2 1/2 to 3 minutes, drained it & immediately put it into an ice bath to stop the cooking process. Next I sauteed an onion that I had chopped into a large dice; in the same skillet with the onion I made a double batch of the sauce. The changes I made were: I used lite soy sauce; I reduced the sugar by half & the sugar I did use was turbinado, plus I used Stevia to sweeten it to my liking; I didn't have any sherry, so I didn't add it; and I used arrowroot to thicken instead of cornstarch, but I didn't double that, just added a little extra than called for (when you make this substitution you need to use more arrowroot--3 t. arrowroot for every 2 t. cornstarch).

I added the broccoli & tofu & stirred to coat really well & served over brown rice. It was delcious! Sean doesn't love ginger, so he thought it was a bit too ginger-y, (and I don't even think I used the full amount, I was just eyeballing it). But I thought it was fabulous & will be making in often! The addition of cabbage or mushrooms or whatever vegetables you like in your stir-fry would be good, too. However, do note, the only things I added to a DOUBLE recipe of the sauce was a package of tofu, an onion & a head of broccoli, if you add even more vegetables, you will definitely need to triple or quadrouple the sauce. It was a bit spicy, my nose was running, (but I am a whimp when it comes to spicy foods), but you can adjust the crushed red pepper to your taste. Enjoy!

Addendum: I made this again tonight with cabbage & carrots. I didn't have any more fresh ginger, so I used dried & less of it (to make Sean happy) & it turned out great! I ate it over brown rice & loved it...I actually have another little plate in the kitchen right now waiting for me.

I have one question, though...does anyone else find that if you cook more than the smallest serving of brown rice (I think it says it serves 5, it's 1 cup of raw rice), do you find that it gets sticky? If I ever use the chart & make a double batch, the consistency isn't nearly as good as just a single batch. Just wondering if it's just me or if other have the same problem.

Bragging Rights

2009-03-16T23:18:00.000-07:00

This short little entry isn't about food at all (this will probably the first & only time you don't even see a picture of food or mention of food). Tonight I am going to brag about my husband, Sean. I have been tempted to give him a "name" like other bloggers do, there are many I have thought of..."Red-beard" as my Daddy calls him; "The Hippie"; "The Vegan"-being that he is vegan & I am not; however, in my blogs I just call him "Sean", in real life I call him "Bay". I digress--what's new?

Sean & I just returned from a long weekend at Lake Martin in Alabama. More on that later. On Friday he was at his keyboard practicing away & I was sitting on the couch reading a magazine. In the magazine was a calendar which reminded me that today was THE DAY! You see, Sean is a jazz pianist & is currently in college at Northwest Florida State College near where we live. He recently submitted a CD of his playing to be considered for the Kathleen T. & Philip B. Phillips Jazz Piano Competition in Pensacola, Florida. Players from really prestigious music schools like Berkley & Julliard enter; only 5 participants are chosen. The deadline was March 6 with the promise that if you are chosen you would be notified by March 13.

So, as I sat on the couch & had the realization that today was THE DAY (March 13), I got very nervous & anxious. I didn't want to mention it to Sean, I didn't want him to be nervous, too; it's bad enough for one of us to be nervous. Instead, I suggested we get dressed & go to the little boutique grocery store, Katherine's. As I was getting ready, Sean's phone starts ringing & the caller ID says "UWF", that stands for University of West Florida, the college that hosts the competition; I start yelling for Sean that UWF was calling! Needless to say, my talented husband has been chosen to compete in the Phillips Jazz Piano Competition on April 3! Only 5 were chosen & Sean was one of them! I am so proud & wanted to share our news with all who are willing to read my oh-so-(too)-detailed blogs!

For the record...

2009-03-03T13:51:00.000-08:00

Just to clarify, I am a vegetarian (there are so many classifications, it does not actually matter to me what type I am) married to a vegan. I work as a personal chef. I do cook meat for my clients, please do not flame me for this statement. I would love to cook without meat if the area that I live in supported it; unfortunately, it does not. I must earn a living; I know there are those out there who would argue with me that I should get into another line of work, DON'T! I do not want to discuss my values versus yours. This is my life & I will live it in a manner that I am comfortable with. All of this is to clarify for any potential clients who ended up on blog via my website, that most of the content of my blog is about vegan cooking. However, I do cook meat & cook it quite well; please do not let my vegan ramblings throw you off. And for my vegan friends, I hope this has not offended any of you; I am currently looking for a local source to purchase hormone/steroid-free, ethically raised meat to use in my business.

Now, let's get on with it! Yesterday my mother-in-law, Sue, came over for a visit & to see some of the ultra-tight budget redecorating we have been doing...think classic southern antiques meet the Brady Bunch! I'll save that for another day. I had soaked some pinto beans, so when Sue called to say she was coming over, I put them on to boil. Since she has issues with wheat, I decided a good dish to cook would be a rendition of red beans & rice.

Anyhow, I cooked those darn beans for what seemed like forever & I will have to honestly say, they didn't get quite as soft as I would have liked. I would have cooked them in the pressure cooker...but, just last week I burned some beans in it & I have to ask, have you ever burned beans in a pressure cooker? If not, let me tell you, it smells strangely like marijuana. No matter how much I have scrubbed that pot (no pun intended), it still smells like, ummm, well...pot! Okay, enough of that, because my mother will end up reading this & calling me up & in her oh-so-southern drawl saying, "Now, Jamie, how on earth do you know what marijuana smells like?" Anyhow, I better get back on track before I get in trouble! In the mean time I put some brown rice on to cook. I don't have exact measurements, but a loose recipe follows. What I ended up with was delicious & I have eaten it two more times since, it will end up being three times if I don't get this typed & get into the kitchen to cook dinner.

All in all it was a fun day, we got to visit with my mother-in-law who completely missed the idea that we liked that our $5 chairs (yes, that was for the pair, not each!) are Brady Bunch gold & that we don't mind that they are severely worn & that we were trying to match them with the couch we inherited from my parents who had it since before I was born (I believe I have blogged about this before) & that by recovering our Brady Bunch chairs they would no longer match the 70's couch we have....we are trying to tie our hand-me-downs together! Sue loves to sew & wanted to recover everything in our house yesterday! I say all of this tongue-in-cheek. I have heard horror stories from other women about their mother-in-laws; I am happy to say that mine is wonderful & when we get tired of our Brady Bunch chairs (which may be sooner than later!), then she will gladly help us recover them!

Jamie's Pinto Beans & Rice
1-2 C. pinto beans soaked overnight (or any bean of your choice)
3 bay leaves
1 onion, diced
3 celery stalks, small chop
6 cloves, minced
olive oil
6 oz. tomato paste
1 T. (or more) vegetable base
water
1 C. TVP
oregano
basil
onion powder
garlic powder
black pepper
white pepper
salt
ground thyme
sage
dash of liquid smoke
dash of turbinado sugar
brown rice, cooked

Cook beans with bay leaves & any leaves you may trim off the celery.

Saute the celery & onion in olive oil until translucent; add the garlic & saute, don't burn garlic. Add tomato paste, vegetable base, seasonings & about 2 cups of water. To this add your drained, cooked beans & TVP. Add more water to obtain desired consistency...the TVP will absorb a lot of your liquid. Adjust seasonings to taste. Let simmer for about 15-20 minutes. Serve over brown rice.

Please forgive the lack of measurements of the recipe, I just typed it from memory, which was just a little of this & a shake of that. Enjoy!

Oh, one more random item to note. I was reading tons of great blogs today all about vegan food & I came across a link on someone else's page to a blog called "One Frugal Foodie". Well, those are two of my favorite things! Food & frugality! Of course I had to check it out & when I did, I came across a gigantic giveaway! So, check it out & enter to win...really, by me telling you this only diminishes my chances of winning, EXCEPT for the fact that I get entered again just for linking her site here! Good luck & if you win, remember who told you about the giveaway--share the goodies!

Tofish sticks with cauliflower & cheeze

2009-02-25T10:00:00.000-08:00

I have been out of the blogging world for a while, but I find myself back today. I make no promises. I can't just type a little "blip" & post it & go; it's just not my personality, I am a perfectionist...which is a curse & a blessing.

I typically mill around other vegan blogs & get inspiration or ideas or recipes. A while back I saw a recipe for tofu fish sticks & thought it sounds great. I love fish & still eat it; remember, my husband is the vegan, not me. But I also love to play around with making faux meat & all things vegan, it is a complete challenge to me & I love it. It took me a while to remember to pick up some kelp granules at the health food store; but I was there a couple of weeks ago, saw some & purchased them. So, the night before last, I decided to try the tofish sticks. I sort of combined the recipes found on Tofu Mom's blog & the Shmooed Food blog. I didn't have any almonds, so I used cashews. I also steamed some cauliflower & served it smothered in homemade cashew cheeze. I don't normally care for cauliflower unless it is smothered in something & this something really was delicious!

I asked Sean to make himself some tarter sauce using his vegan mayo; I have not been able to make that switch yet...so I was planning on making my own tarter sauce using Duke's real mayo. But, I did tell myself I would try Sean's version before making my own. However, as I watched him add ingredients that I did not deem necessary nor at all appropriate for tarter sauce--I am from Alabama & my Daddy did used to raise catfish, both of which make me an expert on the ways of tarter sauce--I had resigned myself that Sean's version was going to taste like something other than tarter sauce. Lo & behold, when I tasted it, it actually tasted like tarter sauce & I wasn't even bothered by the "wang" of the vegan mayo! Sean is absolutely brilliant at recreating flavors & mixing things together to make a wonderful flavored anything! I will have to post about his popcorn sometime...it is to die for!

So, my critique of my tofish sticks is that they tasted great, but really just tasted like fried tofu; the tarter sauce was the only indication of "fish". Next time I will use more of the kelp granules; I am assuming that some are stronger than others & maybe I just got a weak batch. It was a great meal, very filling (i.e. very fattening--but I never worry much about that sort of stuff, however, we don't normally eat fried foods & when we do, they sit heavy on the stomach). I was planning on having a "fish" sandwich with the leftovers, but Sean ate most of those before I had a chance to make a sandwich. Have I ever mentioned the fact that no matter how much of something I make, Sean usually eats it all before he goes to bed? He is very thin & you would never guess that about him. Sometimes when I wake up in the mornings there is a sink full of dishes from where he has had another full meal after I went to bed! I don't know where he puts it all!

Until next time...

The Campout

2008-08-05T20:10:00.000-07:00

On Sunday I was very depressed. I don't get this way often, but when I do you don't want to be around. Part of this mood stemmed from the fact that Sean & I didn't have anything to do. I sometimes wish we lived in a big city where there were things going on all the time, but at the time, I'm not sure how I would deal with big-city life. You see, I grew up in a small town in south Alabama, called Brewton. I believe the population, including all the little country communities on the out-skirts, was something like 9,000 people when I graduated high school. I would run into the grocery store & leave my car running! People didn't lock their doors at night. I was only 5-years-old & would ride my bike by myself from my house to my grandparents' house about 2 miles away! However, we also didn't have a theater, a mall, a bowling ally or much of anything. In high school our fun was drinking beer down at the creek. Anyhow, I digress. The point is I would like entertainment & culture that comes with a big city, but I don't know how I would handle all the other things that come with it. And on Sunday, I needed some entertainment; particularly, I wished to be invited to a cookout with lots of people where I could chat & drink a beer. However, neither of our phones was ringing off the hook with invitations!

I sat on the couch in utter depression & Sean urged me to get up & get moving. I decided the first step should be a shower; I felt cleaner, but not any happier. While I was in the shower, Sean had planned for us to go "camping". He wanted to run into town to get an air mattress, being that our sprung a leak after he laid on it 24/7 for about 2 weeks after his back surgery...that is another story all together! For some reason he was more comfortable on the pull-out bed in the den with an air mattress under the horrible, pitiful excuse of a mattress that comes with a sofa bed. Thus, we didn't have an air mattress. We decided that it would take too much time to go into town to buy a new one; so, we decided to deal without one. I did, however, run to the store to pick up some beer at Sean's insistence. He said that part of our cookout/campout was for me to have some beer. Sean hates beer. FYI: I don't drink much at all, but I just had it in my mind that we needed to cookout & drink beer.

When I got back, Sean had set up a "campsite" in the backyard! It was so sweet & the set-up was so cute! He is so artistic, I mean, even the way he set it all up looked great! Like something out of a magazine! (Aside from the blue rain flaps that appear in the left-hand side of the photo.) He had the tent with bedding (blankets & comforters on top of our dogs' beds!), 2 chairs, his MP3 player with these little speakers all hooked up so we had music, a weed that had planted itself in a pot that looked really pretty, a cooler for my beer, tiki torches & bocce ball. Plus, he had made vegan mac & cheese. I made some pita sandwiches & we ate outside. Not really a bar-b-que or cookout, but it was still really nice. Plus, it really cheered me up!

Sean is really into the flute at the moment. He is a pianist/vocalist, but plays many instruments. Lately, it has been the dreaded flute! Don't get me wrong, the flute is a beautiful instrument; we had a flautist at our wedding. But it is different when you live in the same house with someone who tends to be a little compulsive about things, especially practicing an instrument. I hear the usually high-pitch of a flute for hours on end. Thankfully, he has been very consumed with designing my brother's website & hasn't had quite as much time for the flute in the past week & a half. He takes one in the car with us, he plays one during the commercial breaks while we are watching TV, he plays while he eats his dinner (I am not kidding!)! Part of his current obsession with the flute is Irish music. Again, don't get me wrong, I like Irish music in small doses. However, our campout Sunday night felt like we were in hills of Ireland! He had his Irish gigs playing as we ate, when we finished, he started whittling on his flute. Oh, did I fail to mention that? Oh yes, he makes flutes, too! The first one he made while we were married was made from PVC pipe; currently he is perfecting the bamboo flute. However, the best bamboo he can find happens to be attached to my tiki torches! I used to have 4, now I have 2 regular ones & 2 "miniature" ones!

When it came time for bed, I tried to convince Sean to go inside where it was cool & comfy. He wasn't having any of that! I didn't want to hurt his feelings, so we went to bed in the tent, but only after coming inside & getting my sound machine & finding batteries for it & taking it back out to the tent. (I must have my noise.) Like I mentioned, Sean had removed the rain flaps to help with air circulation; we do live in Florida & it is still quite warm at night. As a result of the flaps being removed, the bedding was quite damp. I forged ahead & tried to be a "camper" about it (get it?). At around 2:30 in the morning, Sean says "It sure is humid, isn't it?", Jamie says "Sure is.", Sean "Wanna go inside?", Jamie "Yep.", Sean "Let's go." Needless to say, I was out of the tent in a flash! We were back in our own bed with the sound machine plugged back in, the AC turned down & the fan on all in a matter of minutes! We slept so good, in the bed, that is!

It really was a lot of fun! The best, though, was Sean going to such lengths to make me feel better! I looked out in our backyard & saw what he had done & was so thankful to have a husband like him!

I cook again...

2008-07-28T19:21:00.000-07:00

I finally decided today that I would cook, at home for US that is. I had every intention of getting started this morning, getting my cooking done, then cleaning the house some. Well, needless to say, things didn't go as planned. You might be starting to get to know me a little by now & see a trend here. At around 11 am in the middle of cleaning the kitchen, I decided that I needed to Skype my sister in France. (Skype is where you call another computer using your own computer, like talking on the phone but through the computer instead of the phone--for those who don't know what Skype is.) It was 6pm there & they were home. They moved the beginning of July & this was the first time that I have talked to her. Therefore, our conversation lasted over an hour. Then I was hungry & needed a late breakfast. Thank goodness I still have a few waffles in the refrigerator from the last mega batch I made. As I was finishing my waffles, it occurred to me that I needed to go online & pay Sean's tuition. Then I realized there was some paperwork that needed to be filled out for his college, too. As I sat doing that, I saw some bills that needed to be paid. Then I remembered I still hadn't sent in our Alltel rebate, so I proceeded to fill out all that paperwork & gather needed UPC codes, etc. Needless to say, I didn't get into the kitchen to start cooking until close to 5pm! Yes, I know, I have some time management issues when it comes to me getting things done at my own home! When I am working, it is a different story; but there are so many things to distract me at home.

I had first planned on making pizza for dinner. I got as far as mixing the dough & letting it rise. But in the mean time I decided to make a few other things, so I ended up putting the pizza dough in the refrigerator & will have it for dinner Wednesday night (Sean works tomorrow night, so I don't really cook much on those nights).

I made a batch of tofu burgers, this time I didn't have quite enough sesame seeds, so I threw in some sunflower seeds, too. I will see how we like the extra crunch. I have one packed for my lunch at school tomorrow. I then decided it was time for me to try Vegan Dad's corned beef. I have been thinking about making it & his veggie lunch meat; but seeing how I love reuben sandwiches, I went for the corned beef. I must say I was a bit skeptical; I have not had too much luck with seitan recipes. I had to substitute a couple of things (didn't have any allspice, so I made my own mix & didn't have any dried mustard or smoked paprika--so I substituted). But it turned out really good! I wouldn't want to eat this all by itself, but on a sandwich it was great. I worked in a deli, The Pickle Barrel, in my hometown, when I was younger. I came up with my own variation of the reuben & people started ordering it & calling it "the Jamie". So tonight's dinner was "the vegan Jamie". I slathered whole wheat bread with Earth Balance, put dijon mustard on one side of the bread, put the corned beef next to the mustard, then sauteed onions on top of the "meat" & sauerkraut on the very top, I closed it up with the other piece of bread & put in my George Foreman grill & grilled it. It came out all nice & hot & yummy! Sean added some yellow mustard & said it reminded him of bratwurst. I thought it needed some more moisture; I would have used vegan swiss cheese, but I didn't have any. I would have used regular swiss cheese, but what I found in the freezer was at least 2 years old & funky! Of course, Sean wouldn't have any part of that anyway. To make mine more moist, I ended up soppin' mine in my leftover salad dressing Sean made for our salad. Hey, I'm from Alabama, after all! I sop everything! A good friend of mine, a guy friend, once saw a pretty girl & exclaimed "I'd sop her up with a biscuit!"! I love it!

I have been wanting something sweet around the house & I had some silken tofo in the refrigerator. So I decided to make some chocolate peanut butter pudding. I heated 1/2 cup cocoa & about 4-5 tablespoons soy milk in a boiler. I only heated this enough to make it all mix together smoothly. I added the chocolate & the package of tofu to the blender, I added some vanilla, a little honey, some stevia, a dash of salt & about 1/2 cup or more of all natural chunky peanut butter. I blended this all together & checked for sweetness & adjusted to make it as sweet as I wanted. I then poured it into a dish & refrigerated. We had this for dessert. It was very good, the texture was a little different from normal smooth pudding, due to the fact that I only had chunky peanut butter, smooth would have been better. But, hey, I'm not complaining; I made a healthy, almost sugar-free (in a good way--no artificial sweeteners that will you) dessert & it's got protein! Sean just came back in with his bowl & got a refill! (Sean was on the phone when I wanted a picture of the pudding, so I attempted this myself, bad idea! I must take after my mother when it comes to picture taking! Anyhow, there wasn't much to show, just a bowl of brown yum-a-liciousness!)

Well, the floors still need to be swept & the bathrooms cleaned & the furniture dusted. But as I am trying to teach myself, those things will still need doing tomorrow....just go to bed now & think about that tomorrow.

I finally made it to the....End of the Line

2008-07-21T08:45:00.000-07:00

Well, we finally made it over to Pensacola yesterday for lunch at End of the Line cafe. Sean & I drove over & met our friends, Fred & Cynthia, for a late lunch. Cynthia is pregnant & looks adorable! The cafe itself would be better described as a "dive", but the food was great! I have been working a lot lately cooking for other people; it was nice to be waited on & cooked for, even better that it was all completely vegan! On Sundays they have a set menu. Yesterday our meal started with a bowl of corn & potato chowder; this was favorite dish of all.

Then we were brought a plate full of food. There was a bowl of "cheddar cheese" grits topped with red peppers, tempeh bacon & green onions. These didn't really taste very cheddar-y to me, but I suppose cheese made with cashews might not taste exactly like cheese as I know it! There was TVP sausage on a biscuit with white gravy (I must say their TVP sausage did taste much better than my TVP meatlessloaf I made a couple of months ago!), mole beans, a salad with a basil-honey vinaigrette & a wedge of watermelon. Of this, the salad was my favorite. I wish the "main course" would have been tofu; we have been eating a lot of beans at our house lately!

After I was completely stuffed, I managed to polish off a piece of carrot cake with cream & topped with dried cranberries! I was so full! We thoroughly enjoyed our meal & will be making the drive over as often as we can to enjoy this treat. It's a great bargain, as well!

After lunch Sean & I stopped by a co-op natural food store, Everman. I could have bought lots, but I restrained myself & just bought some much needed laundry soap & some vegetable base powder. Then we decided to stop by the flea market on the way home. Flea markets aren't what they used to be. People don't sell their junk anymore, they sell new junk; stuff that you would find at the Dollar Tree. I want your old junk, not "Made in China" new junk. It was close to closing & extremely hot & a lot of vendors were packing up. We didn't find anything we couldn't live without. However, we did see an interesting set-up & had to take a picture. Have you ever see so many VHS tapes in all your life? Much less all in one place?

I haven't been cooking quite as much here at my own house lately since I have been cooking for other people. But if Cinderella gets all her chores done today, she might just have a trick up her sleeve for dinner tonight! But first, I am off to clean the house & hopefully either the boys or the yard after that!

It's been a while, friends; but I've been busy

2008-07-18T17:43:00.000-07:00

What good is a blog when you don't blog? Good question. I don't suppose I am one of those people who can do something day after day after day. Take journaling for instance; I think it's a great concept & very therapeutic & can be healing & helpful & insightful. But who has the time for sitting down to write every single day? And what would it say? "Dear Journal, Well, today I woke up & was hungry earlier than usual. Sean didn't seem like he was going to make a move to cook us anything, so I made us some bbq veggie sandwiches. Then I watched TV, since I had appointed today as my veg-out day. Sean & I went to the "ethical" thrift store, where I bought a nice Pampered Chef rubber spatula for a dime (can you believe that deal?!), a pair of pj bottoms & a cute pair of light blue pants. Sean bought more books, of course. Then home we came. I took a 2-hour nap & then woke hungry. I convinced Sean to make me a pita pizza, it was delicious! I ate all of mine & a quarter of his. Then we watched some more TV. Sean went to work, I went for a bike ride & now I am back home & hungry all over again. All in all it was a good day. Good night, Journal." Would that really serve me a purpose later? Oh, I am sure there would be some interesting entries, where I vent & rage on. And I am sure that I really would benefit from it, but I just don't have time.

Exercise, that is another thing. Sean loves to run. He had 2 herniated discs & couldn't run for about 4 or 5 months, but he had surgery in April & is back to running & is actually training for another marathon. Me on the other hand, I hate to exercise. Let me rephrase that, I hate to exercise alone. Before I got married & again when we lived in my parents' rental house, my friend, Donna, lived just down the street & we would walk together in the mornings. That was nice, we talked & caught up on what was going on with each other & the time flew by. However, we only did this the 2 mornings I actually got up early to go to work; the rest of the week, I just found that there was no time. The truth is, I get bored. "Take your iPod", people tell me, "What iPod?", I say. (I actually just had to look up 'iPod' to see how the weird capitalization went...if that tells you anything!). As odd as it sounds, being that I am married to a musician, I am not really into music. Okay, there, I said it! It's not like music would make me any less bored during exercise. I need human interaction. I have attempted to listen to books on cassette while I walk or bike, but I am easily distracted (aka: A.D.D.) & I find myself constantly having to rewind to see what was just said & that slows me down when I am walking & is virtually impossible while riding a bike. I am trying to to start exercising now, though. I can't think of it as a weight-loss tool, I have to think of it as a mental-health tool. It is good for my mind & stress & longevity. But that is just another thing that is hard for me to do every single day.

I only go to my preschool job 2 days a week; I think if I had to go every day, I would get very bored. That is why I love being a personal chef. I don't have a set schedule, I meet different people each time, I am at different houses, I cook different meals. It's great, no monotony.

However, on the flip side of this coin, I am a homebody & don't mind going days (usually over the weekend) without actually leaving the house. That probably seems monotonous. And it is. But I am busy while at home, thus not having time to blog or journal or exercise!

Actually, I have been quite busy with my personal chef business. Plus, I have been working on new recipes for that, too. Not vegan recipes, but yummy recipes, nonetheless. I am sorry I have been absent for over a week. I solemnly promise that I will try to do better.

Mm Mmm Mediterranean Sandwich

2008-07-09T15:11:00.000-07:00

Last night Sean was working, so I didn't "cook" a meal. I found 3 veggie "meatballs" in the freezer, I heated them in the microwave & put them in some tomato sauce that I made from tomato paste, water & seasonings (we are trying to save money). I then toasted a whole wheat bun & melted some veggie mozzarella (left over from something I made months ago. That's the great thing about veggie cheese, it doesn't turn green!) on it & put the meatballs & sauce on it. Man was it good! I just wish it had been a big hoagie bun & that I would have had about 6 more veggie balls! When Sean got home, I was hungry again; I convinced him to make some of his world-famous hummus. We pigged out on with lightly toasted whole wheat pita bread...I love pita bread this way, the edges are slightly crispy & the center is soft. The hummus hadn't been in the refrigerator yet & was room temperature....just the way I like it. Sean has been working to perfect his hummus recipe for a couple of years now. I recently found a recipe for Sabra hummus at www.topsecretrecipes.com (a website where the guy attempts to duplicate recipes from restaurants & popular things you buy at the grocery store) & we found that the ingredient that they use that we don't is citric acid. So now when Sean makes his hummus, he adds some citric acid. Last nights batch was probably the best yet, in my opinion; he made it with roasted red peppers. Boy, can I ramble on about some food!

Today I had a huge load of stuff to take to the local thrift store. Let me go off on a sidebar here, many thrift stores, even "well-known" ones, throw so much of their donations away into their dumpsters. They don't put it out front with a sign "FREE" or sale it for a dime; they throw it in the dumpster! How do I know this? Well, it is because Sean & I have a little-known-about, dirty hobby, dumpster diving! I will save all the glorious details about this for another post. But, the point I am making is that I tell everyone who will listen that they do not need to take their donations to these "other" thrift stores, only take them to the one near my house. The problem is, the "ethical" thrift store is not in Destin, it is out a ways. My solution to those who don't want to drive that far? I volunteer to take everyone's "stuff" to the "ethical" thrift store. My garage ends up looking like Sanford & Son! (Thus the need to clean it out a couple of days ago.) There is, however, an up side to this situation, I get to rummage through everyone's "stuff" before it actually makes it to the "ethical" thrift store & keep what I want. Didn't I mention I was a pack rat? Yes, I love other people's "stuff" almost as much as I love food!

Anyhow, I digress...We took a load to the "ethical" thrift store & of course you can't just drop off, you must shop. They had all their books 1/2 off; Sean came home with a bag full, plus a tripod, a cool bag, a great wooden beach chair & a pair of shoes. Notice, all of this was for Sean (maybe not the chair, but all the rest). Before we checked out, we realized neither of had much cash on us, to be exact, we had $6.82. Our total came to about $6.90, they let us slide. But we felt pathetic standing there counting out our change at a thrift store! But can you believe we got all that for less than $7? What a deal! We then stopped by an antique store to look for a bench to go with an old, old table we have in the garage that we are thinking of using as a dining table. We found a really cool old church pew that I would really like. But first I need to sell the table we have so that I can justify buying the pew.

When we got home I decided it was time to cook an early dinner. I was going to do the BBQ Tofu & Grilled Corn Salad out of Vegetarian Times, but was afraid it wasn't going to be enough food & didn't really feel like making too much more. (I was starving at the time!) So, I opted for the Mediterranean Pressed Picnic Sandwich from that same magazine. However, I couldn't find any healthy ciabatta bread or any healthy hearty bread for that matter; I used my regular whole wheat bread. I also didn't use the fresh mozzarella called for. I made my own pesto & tapenade, instead of using store bought. I put the veggies on my George Forman. I didn't "press" it being that I didn't use the ciabatta bread, nor was I planning on eating it later. We devoured them right after taking the picture! Again, I wish I would have had more of it! They were delicious! A little later, I melted some dark chocolate chips, chopped some peanuts & dipped a banana in the chocolate & then in the peanuts; what a yummy, easy, always-on-hand dessert!

Well, our plans to go to Pensacola for dinner tomorrow night have been changed. I think we may go over on Sunday. I will be sure to take pictures & report back to you with all the details! I am really looking forward to that; I have never been to a vegan restaurant. Can you say "not very progressive/metropolitan"? Yes, Sean & I are living in an area that is not very conducive to our lifestyle. Oh well, grow where you are planted, right? Ha, what a cheesy, cheesy phrase! I actually remember that from my days, long ago, of trying to make friends & got the bright idea to join the Junior League! Don't get me wrong & please don't let me offend, they are a great organization & do many good projects in the community. But I am not quite the type that "fits" into a mold very easy. It's like when my mother insisted I go through "Rush" to be in a sorority in college. It's just not me. On "Squeal Day" night (the day that you "get in"), when they asked you to tell something about yourself, I announced to all the girls that I didn't shave my legs & hadn't in a year & a half! That was 16 years ago & I still haven't shaved my legs! Are you getting where I am coming from? Again, I have nothing against these organizations, they just aren't my thing; I hope I haven't offended anyone. Enough rambling,....Good night!

Projects

2008-07-07T17:29:00.000-07:00

I love projects! Is it just me? Does it have something to do with one’s personality or birth order or is it genetics? My parents are always working on some sort of project, many of which I think are complete wastes of time…but who am I to judge? My husband, Sean, thinks I am busy, just like my parents. He likes for me to just chill out & hang out with him when I am off from work & he is home. But I feel a sense of accomplishment at the end of the day after I have completed a project.

Last week, when I was thinking of what I was going to do with my 6 days off from work, I had decided that one day I would clean out the garage. I wanted to do it yesterday, but Sean wouldn’t have it; yesterday was “our” day, so we hung out. But I clarified to him that Monday would be garage day. I woke up this morning ready to go. However, I got a call about some personal chef work & I had to work up a quote, etc & then got into paying bills & the necessary things that have to be done to keep a household running. I didn’t actually get into the garage until about 2pm. It was an absolute mess! We are such pack rats; I must admit, I am more of a hoarder than Sean. Nevertheless, there was much to be done. After I had been out there for about an hour, here comes Sean with his swim trunks on & no shirt. I assumed he was coming out to help me with the mess & was dressed light to combat the sweltering Florida heat. But, that was not the case, I had come to ride the stationary bike that sits in the midst of the wreck of a garage….while I cleaned! (I suppose he didn’t have any running shorts clean, thus the swim trunks.) As he was riding & I was working, it occurred to me how good I felt cleaning out this awful mess. And I told him as much, trying to make him understand this about me, why it is I love projects. He just looked at me & said “That’s good.”. No epiphany there!

My parents got a new couch & are giving us their old couch, that is why I needed to clean out the garage, that & the fact that you couldn’t even walk through it without having to catapult yourself over bags & boxes. Why you might wonder am I putting the new couch in the garage. Well, it isn’t exactly a new couch. They have had it since I can remember, since the 70’s. Are you starting to get the picture? My mother calls the fabric “FLAME”, if that isn’t the 70’s I don’t know what is. It is a flex-steel couch & has a lifetime warranty--I have heard my mother say this countless times over the years at the prospect of getting a new couch. Just because it has a lifetime warranty doesn’t mean you HAVE to keep it your entire life! Anyhow, we are inheriting this couch. Our couch & 2 matching chairs came from a condo that was being remodeled after Hurricane Ivan did so much damage in Destin. They certainly aren’t the prettiest pieces of furniture, but they aren’t “FLAME”. However, the Boys, actually just one, Boone, has some separation anxiety issues & has chewed holes in every cushion on the couch & both chairs. He is alright as long as he is on his Prozac. (Speaking of drugs, the other one, Hurley, had to be on Xanax for a while! Crazy dogs!) So, our furniture is pretty gross. So the “FLAME” couch is going in the garage until we can find a fabric we like for Sean’s mother to make us slip-covers. All of this to say, I love projects! Is it just me? Or are there others who feel the same as me? I am sad that my 6 day break is over (I only work 2 days a week most of the time, I don’t know what I am complaining about!), because I had more projects planned that I didn’t get to, like bathing the Boys, fertilizing the yard, working on my garden & cleaning out the guest room closet. Oh well, I am sure I will get to those soon….

Since Sean wasn’t exactly helping me clean out the garage, he cooked dinner. He made tofu & refried bean burritos with homemade enchilada sauce & brown rice. They were delicious! I was ravished from working all afternoon & scarfed my food like a wild animal! Plus, there was enough left over for my lunch tomorrow at school.

And as promised, I am attaching a photo of the tofu burgers I made for the 4th. I found the recipe at http://www.johnrussell.name/recipes/burgers.htm It's the one that was the "Judge's Choice". I have made the 3 times now, this last time they turned out the best. I was sure to squeeze lots of the juice from the tofu. Also, I processed the potato & onion for a bit before adding the tofu so it didn’t get too smooth. Don’t make the same mistake I did the first time I made them; I added all the other ingredients & processed. These must be added & mixed by hand. I also cook them longer than the recipe says to, I like for them to be a firmer consistency. I took these to the cookout at my parents’ house & my daddy reheated them on the grill. I didn’t have one, but Sean & his mother both enjoyed them. By-the-way, that is a homegrown tomato in the picture, thus the spots. I can’t complain, I love homegrown tomatoes! Sorry I still haven’t figured out how to do that “thing”, highlight a word & make it link to the website that I want it to go to; Sean is on the phone & won‘t show me now, but promises he will soon.

Well, I am nasty from fighting the dust, dirt, grime, spiders & silverfish all afternoon. I will shower & get a good nights rest for work tomorrow.

BBQ Baked Bean Bliss

2008-07-05T20:27:00.000-07:00

We celebrated the 4th of July on the 5th at my parents' home; they live just a few miles from us. They decided to grill hamburgers & called me to consult on what we would eat. I had spent much of Friday in the kitchen cooking, one of the things I made was a veggie burger of sorts. So I was put in charge of bringing our veggie burgers, whole wheat buns & baked beans. I am sure my mother was not excited at the prospect of me bringing the beans...no bacon in them. She is quite picky & the last time I brought homemade baked beans, her serving went uneaten. This time I was determined to make some beans that tasted like what she was used to. (I must admit, my other recipe is a little different, they are white beans & the sauce isn't very dark. Remember we are from the south & are used to sweet, thick, dark baked beans.)

I found a recipe that claimed to be "The Best Baked Bean Recipe Ever". It sounded promising, so I gave it a shot. I only made a few minor changes (what's new!)...I added a green bell pepper, substituted pinto beans for the kidney beans, 2 T. prepared yellow mustard for the 2 t. dried mustard, used sugar in the raw instead of brown sugar & used mostly BBQ sauce with a little ketchup instead of all ketchup. Okay, maybe that was more than just a few changes, but they were all minor! I must say these beans were delicious! The addition of veggie crumbles really made them feel like real southern "meaty" beans. I am attaching the link below of where I found this recipe. (I haven't quite figured out to make a word highlighted & be able to click on it & it take you straight to a different website & Sean is not here to help me--he is definitely the computer-go-to-guy, along with being the eye behind my photos--thanks so much, Bay!)

http://viewfromthemountain.typepad.com/david_sobotta_weblog/2005/12/the_best_baked_.html

My parents live on the Choctawhatchee Bay, so our cookout took place on the pier yesterday. My brother, his wife & my 2 nephews (5 & 2) were there, along with my mother-in-law & my aunt. They all had regular burgers, Sean & his mother had my veggie burgers, I just had a bun with melted cheese, mayo, lettuce, tomato, pickle & onion. My parents had made potato salad, we my beans & my aunt brought a relish tray for the burgers with some delicious homegrown tomatoes.

Sean had to work last night; he is a jazz pianist/vocalist & plays at local restaurants. Some friends of ours from Pensacola, Florida (about an hour & a half away) stayed with us last night. They are both musicians & had a late gig & didn't want to drive back home. They were telling us about a vegan restaurant in Pensacola that they had just discovered call End of the Line (it is by the railroad tracks). They called us today to say there were eating brunch there & how fabulous it is. They have a regular menu with sandwiches & such, but for Sunday brunch & on Thursday nights they have a set menu. The invited us to drive over Thursday to try it out--we are really excited! We don't have any vegan restaurants here in the Santa Rosa Beach/Destin area.

I think Sean did take some pictures of those veggie burgers, I will post them soon. Oh, I made another batch of the banana muffins. This time I had several bananas on the counter about to go completely bad, they were very soft, so I threw them in. The muffins are so moist & delicious! They taste like banana bread! Some nuts would have been delicious. Speaking of which, I think I will go heat one up right now!

Beautiful Bran Muffins

2008-07-04T12:32:00.000-07:00

Sean & I went on our first cruise together a little over a year ago. Needless to say, it can be very difficult for a vegan to find things to eat on a cruise. For breakfast Sean would eat these bran muffins & tell me how delicious they were. I am thinking, "Yeah right, they are bran muffins, you just have funny taste buds--anything remotely healthy tastes wonderful to you!". Finally he asked me to just try one, well, no wonder he loved them so much, they were chocolate chip bran muffins! How can you go wrong when you add chocolate chips? When we came home he wanted more of those bran muffins. So, being the loving, devoted wife that I am, I made it my mission to create the perfect vegan bran muffin recipe.

And now I am sharing it with you! My favorite way to make these muffins is with the addition of dark chocolate chips & chopped walnuts. I have also made them using: fresh blueberries, bananas & walnuts, frozen mixed berries, & raisins. The possibilities are endless. What I normally do, like this morning, is quadruple the recipe & make a dozen at a time & store the rest of the batter in the refrigerator until I need to bake some more (which is usually about a day & a half later!). However, I don't add the extras (like chocolate chips, nuts or fruit) until right before I make them.

Today I just made plain bran muffins. Enjoy!

Vegan Bran Muffins:
1 ½ c. wheat bran
¾ c. soymilk (less 1 T.)
1 T. lemon juice or vinegar
1/3 c. vegetable oil
1 T. milled flax seed
3 T. water
½ c. honey
½ t. vanilla
2/3 c. whole-wheat flour (I use pastry flour)
1 ¼ t. baking soda
1 t. baking powder
1 t. cinnamon
½ t. salt
1 c. dark chocolate chips (optional)
1 c. chopped pecans or walnuts (optional)

Preheat oven to 375°.

Grease muffin tin.

Add the lemon juice to the soymilk.

Add this mixture to the wheat bran & mix well.

Let sit 10 minutes.

Mix the milled flax seed with the water.

Add the oil, honey & vanilla to the flax mixture; mix well.

Add this to the bran mixture. Sift together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon & salt.

Stir this into the bran mixture until just blended. Fold in the chocolate chips & nuts, if using.

Spoon the batter into muffin tin. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean (this is hard to tell with the addition of the chocolate chips!). Yield: 12 muffins

Scrum-Didly-Umptious Whole Wheat Waffles

2008-07-04T09:54:00.000-07:00

Today is July 4th & while most people are cooking out with family & friends I have been in the kitchen all morning baking & cooking. My family has decided to cookout tomorrow instead of today. So I decided to take advantage of the time & bake up some of our favorite treats to have on hand. I made bran muffins first & then I moved on to whole wheat waffles. My husband named these waffles this morning--funny name--but an accurate description! I quadruple this recipe, too, just like the muffins. However, it used to take me forever to make that many waffles with my waffle iron that makes 2 waffles at a time. Finally I got the bright idea to borrow my mother's waffle iron, so that I could cook 4 waffles at once. That worked much better & really sped things along. Then a couple of weeks ago I was in New Orleans helping my sister & her family pack up to move to France & she offered me her Cuisinart waffle iron that make 4 beautiful, perfect waffles at a time. Now, I can knock out 8 waffles at once! I can cook 40 waffles in about half an hour!

You are probably wondering who am I feeding with all those waffles. It's just me & Sean, we don't have kids. But I put about half of them in containers & put in the refrigerator & layer the other half with wax paper, wrap in aluminum foil, stick in a freezer bag & freeze them. Then when we want one or two or three, we pop them in the toaster oven & have yummy waffles for breakfast. It's great for the mornings that I have to be at work & Sean eats them throughout the day. I love waffles & pancakes, but I can cook waffles so much quicker than I can pancakes, that I cook them much more often.

Once I finished with the waffles I made veggie burgers so that we will have something to eat at the cookout tomorrow. But I will blog about them later. For now, I think I will go relax in front of the TV & read other blogs about what all the rest of you vegan foodies are doing on the the 4th of July. Enjoy!

Vegan Whole Wheat Waffles

1 1/3 c. whole-wheat flour
1 c. soymilk
2 T. milled flax seed
¼ c. + 2 T. water
¼ c. canola oil
2 T. honey
1 t. vanilla
2 t. baking powder
¾ t. salt

Mix together the milled flax seed & water. Add the soymilk, canola oil, honey & vanilla.

Combine the flour & salt.

Add the flour mixture to the wet ingredients & mix well. Sift the baking powder lightly over the mixture & quickly fold in.

Bake according to your waffle maker.

Chickpea cutlets with caramelized onion gravy

2008-07-03T18:45:00.000-07:00

Because tomorrow is the 4th of July, I had today off from work, making me have a 6 day weekend! (I only teach preschool on Tuesdays & Thursdays) I love being at home piddling in the yard & cooking. I push mowed our whole yard today. Sean had back surgery 3 months ago & still can't do things like push mow. We have been looking for a good used riding mower, but haven't found one. So for now, I have the grueling task of push mowing. I said I like piddling in the yard, not slaving in it!

We invited Sean's mother & my parents for dinner. Sue, Sean's mother, was planning on coming, but she was too tired from work. My mother's question was, "What are you cooking?", when I told her, she said they were too busy! My mother is extremely picky & is not into vegan food at all! Since I thought my mother-in-law was coming for dinner, I had planned on a nice big dinner. When she cancelled, my husband was still hoping I would cook the meal, so I did.

And boy am I full! It was delicious! I made the chickpea cutlets from Veganomicon for the second time & they were just as delicious tonight. I told Sean that Isa & Terry suggest serving them with mustard sauce & he thought that sounded good & said he thought that would give it an Asian flair (not sure why). I told him I wasn't going for Asian, I was going for Southern & we were having gravy with ours! I also steamed some broccoli & tossed it in Earth Balance butter & lemon zest. I cooked some brown rice so we would have something to really soak up the gravy. I topped it all off with fresh tomatoes from my garden. Yummy! It was delicious! I doubled the recipe for the chickpea cutlets, it made 8; we have 2 1/2 left! Sean kept coming back for more! (Sorry my picture isn't better, my sister-in-law is in Wales & borrowed our camera & we are using hers, the quality isn't what I had hoped for.)

I don't always have dessert, but being as how I thought my mother-in-law was coming, I had decided to make homemade vegan peach ice cream. My timer just went off signaling that it is time to dish it up. I used a can of coconut milk & soy milk, I think the combination of peach & coconut will be tasty. I'll let you know how it turned out.

Let me introduce myself...

2008-07-01T16:48:00.000-07:00

My name is Jamie Martin Dietrich & I love food! I live in Santa Rosa Beach, Florida, just a few miles east of Destin, in the "Florida Panhandle". However, I was born & raised in Alabama & am a southern girl through & through. I married a fella from Kansas named Sean. We have a cat named Rascal Lovebug Sassy Martin Dietrich (or Rascal for short) & 2 dogs, Boone & Hurley, who we refer to as "the boys". Sean is a jazz pianist & vocalist. I am a personal chef & preschool teacher.

As I said before, I love food! I love to cook food, talk about food, eat food & read about food...which brings me to where I am now. Let me explain...

When I graduated from high school, many years ago, I had no idea what I wanted to do. I wasted a lot of time & a lot of money trying to figure it all out. I knew I loved food & always had; so I finally decided to go to culinary school. After graduating with my degree in culinary arts, I went on to get my bachelor's degree in business management. Then I met my wonderful husband, Sean. He had been into body-building for many years & ate a low-fat diet. This would not do! I love food, we could not live on canned tuna! So he started eating junky with me. When we first got married we lived within a very short walking distance of Chick-fil-A, Shakes, Wendy's, Waffle House & Pizza Hut! Boy, did we gain some weight our first year of marriage!

Then Sean decided it was time to quit eating junky & get fit; so we did, sort of. Then we watched "Diet for a New America" by John Robbins & Sean decided then & there that he was going to be a vegan! Me, Jamie, who loves food so much, married to a VEGAN?! Needless to say, I did not get on board. I agreed that in theory it was a good idea, but giving up my precious meat was harder than it sounded. That was almost 2 years ago & I now eat what I call a 95% vegan diet. Am I a vegan? No, but I cook only vegan food for me & Sean at home.

Sean's decision to be a vegan has greatly challenged my culinary skills. I can remember one of my first attempts at vegan cookies...they were supposed to be pumpkin cookies, they came out more like pumpkin puffs; but Sean ate them & liked them! I had never really liked baking much before, but now I really enjoy baking for him & changing recipes to be healthier & vegan.

As a result of wanting to cook some new dishes & be more adventurous, several months ago I began reading vegan blogs (before that, I don't think I had ever even read a blog!). As a result of my obsession with vegan food blogs, my husband has encouraged me to start blogging myself...so here I am! I am excited to share my experiences & thoughts & recipes & adventures with you. I'm Jamie; it's nice to meet you. Enjoy!