Tag Archives: new york times

It’s that time of year, cucumbers are flooding in and I sit staring into my fridge wondering what to do with all of them. My big problem is that I can’t eat too much cucumber without my stomach getting upset. Even still, so many recipes that use cucumber seems to use such a small amount anyways. It isn’t until very recently that I learned you can apparently cook cucumbers.

So here I am this year, trying to make a list to work with. And truthfully, I’ll probably using cucumbers a lot more this year since our CSA has experienced quite a bit of crop loss from flooding. And if you are wondering why there aren’t any pickle recipes, well that is easy. I make plenty of pickles, they just use a different kind of cucumber. So these recipes are for your average joe-smoe cucumber. Also, if you are like me and have tummy troubles with cucumber, simply peels and seed your cucumber before eating. It will make life bittersweet, I like the skin, but you can eat it with less pain.

Drinks

Cucumber Cooler
I love a great drink. Sadly I feel like we lost it when big soda took over. We now just guzzle overly sweet drinks that lack subtly. This is probably why I love a cocktail, more thought and care have been put into it to balance flavors. But not everyone wants booze, whether it is for religion, health, or personal preference. So this drink is a nice drink without the alcohol. If you must use booze, you could always use a spiked ginger ale,

Cucumber Coupe
Gin, cucumber, and sparkling wine? Yes please.

In the Weeds
I enjoyed this drink and it is pretty cheap if you have all the good on hand. Just need some cheap vodka and a bitters container that will last you forever.

Juke Cup Cocktail
This drink is a little bit of a pipeline dream. It seems like it would be a little too expensive as it uses some very specific types of liquors. But a girl can dream because it sounds super yummy.

Milk Maid Cocktail
I am debating if putting this on the list is a good idea. It is vegan, so that’s good. The issue is the cucumber, it’s just garnish, so does this really qualify it to be on this list? I don’t know, with this political climate I will use any excuse to drink more. So on the list this goes.

Cucumber Mint Fizz
This is a drink that has booze but I can’t help but feel like it shouldn’t. It just looks so inviting I could sip on it all day. It contains gin, and you could easily sub a non alcoholic gin and tonic for the fizz. Or you can quickly google non-alcoholic gin and get a bunch of results. You couldn’t skip the gin because of the yummy botanical flavors it brings to the table.

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Wasabi Cucumber Ice Cream
This sounds crazy enough to be delicious! I might want to alter the recipe a little, but worth giving it a go.

Cucumber Basil Granita
This seems simple enough, but I like the flavor combo of basil and cucumber together. Sounds pretty dreamy, but it makes sense. Lots of people like to pair cucumber with mint with sorbets, and basil is a close relative to mint.


Avocado and Cucumber Sorbet
Avocado sorbet was one of my favorites at Capogiro’s (RIP) I love how the avocado adds fat to the sorbet making it more like ice cream in texture. So this combo sounds pretty magical.

Cucumber Celery and Gin Sorbet
My mind is racing about this one. So many savory flavors waiting for me to enjoy in an ice cold form. *drools* And if you don’t want booze and don’t want to miss out google non-alcoholic gin. I would link to some but there are available to different countries and that would make a mess. But the alcohol probably helps keep the sorbet soft in the freezer.

Salads

Spicy Smashes Cucumber Salad with Brown Rice
I’ve actually already made this recipe. It technically isn’t vegan, and it calls for labneh not greek yogurt. Whatever. I used almond yogurt and maple syrup and it was super good. Pretty much the recipe calls for smashing the cucumbers which makes them better at absorbing flavors. Totally worth the time to make, and it is pretty filling with the brown rice and croutons.

Cucumber and Wakame Seaweed Sunomono
Asian styled cucumber recipes use to be my favorite. I would do a quick pickle cucumber with some thai flavors and be in heaven for lunch. So this dish looked delicious. I love the idea of mixing cucumber with a deep flavored seaweed.

Green Beans and Cucumbers with Miso Dressing
Double whammy recipe right here. I am CONSTANTLY trying to get rid of green beans as well. My green bean problem has died down more recently as deers have found the beans consistently every year at my CSA. But there was a point where we would get practically a bag full of green beans, and it would make me angry I would have to trim all of them. But hey, I think miso tastes amazing with everything so this might make a great side dish.

Dinner Time

Green Cucumber Tomatillo Gazpacho
Technically speaking this isn’t vegan. But you could easily sub the yogurt with a vegan one, and use agave or corn syrup for the honey. Yeah, I just suggested you use corn syrup, deal with it. But the soup is easy to make, and uses a grill making for a very cool house.

30 Minute Cucumber Noodle Pad Thai
Maybe my beef with cucumbers is that it gets pushed to the side. A cold salad, a pickle, a cold soup, a delicious drink. This recipe pushes it right in the front by spiralizing it and coating it with a sauce. Sounds good to me.

Green Gimbap
This was a little twist to a Korean classic. Think of it like sandwich flavors in sushi form. You can really use whatever you want in it, traditionally there are weird things like spam or cheese wrapped in, so get creative and go nuts, just keep the cucumber because that is what this whole post is about right?

Cooked

Let me start this section by saying, WHO KNEW YOU COULD COOK CUCUMBERS?! It is always cold, which is fine in some ways, but totally limiting on the other hand. I am excited to try these out because I want to see if cooking helps with the digestion aspect.

Sautéed Korean Cucumber Side Dish
This is a simple recipe. Just “burp” the cucumber and sauté. Pretty simple and barely takes any real time. Sure you need to wait for the first step but it it largely down time.

Sautéed Cucumber
Apparently Martha Stewart knew about this whole hot cucumber thing too. I mean this is hardly a recipe. Just chop and sautee for 5 minutes, but it gives a jumping point for any hot cuke noobs.

Julia Child’s Baked Cucumbers
Julia Child even knew about this thing! Only she bakes her cucumbers, and I am thinking an hour of baking might be too long. But I am not Julia Child, and therefore know even less than she does about cooking cucumbers, so what do I know?

Fried Cucumbers
You know, I was at first shocked to hear about this, but honestly, why not? I mean there are fried pickles? This recipe is just for those who are too lazy and want to skip the whole pickle step.


Cucumber Cake with Gin Icing
If there is one thing I have learned about obsessing over cake recipes is that there is no end to what one can do with vegetables and flour. This recipe sounds like it uses some interestig flavors to work with each other. The recipe isn’t vegan, but hell, why not try it out anyways?

Cucumber Walnut Bread
And finally we close with a much more practical cake for the everyday. Both cakes are really getting me excited but I know I will most likely NOT be trying them anytime soon because of lack of central air. Or perhaps I will just go for it and see what happens. *crosses fingers*

So what is your favorite ways to eat cucumbers? Has anyone tried baking it?


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These past two weeks…. oh man have they’ve been something. My blog was being hosted by my lovely friend Jamie. Sadly she decided that she wouldn’t be able to keep her hosting services since of various things including money and poor hosting service. I stress the poor hosting service because it has been causing a headache for me. The company she used is slow to reply to help requests, goes down often (which I think more international readers have been at the end of that stick), and general crumminess. The server went down, no big deal, except I freaked out that it was 100% gone forever since Jamie mentioned getting rid of the hosting service (I know I was being irrational, but couldn’t shake that thought.) Then when I came back up, I backed my XML posts, and tried to connect to the FTP… and just couldn’t get it to connect. Turns out, my password was wrong, and the program I used wasn’t compatible. So my IP was blocked, and I couldn’t see anything from my computer. Worse it seemed all Mac FTPs were being blocked as well. So weird. So I had to ask so many favors from Jamie about backing up my files, sending them over, etc. And I felt bad because I had over 2 GB of images for the blog!

Good news? We are moved to our server, and has given my husband a boost in interest to help my blog out more. He is helping me compress my photo files, which means faster loading times for you guys. I am also hoping to improve my search engine crap and work on a new layout that won’t be too boring, but a little more mainstream. Bad news? If you go into our older posts you might find some broken images. I am slowly fixing that

But since it has been so long, I have a bunch of links to share. Some are quick reads, some are opinion pieces, and some are total fluff. Hope you guys enjoy them and I will have more new posts coming up soon next week.

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Laura Izumikawa on Instagram

Let’s start with the fluff! I am not going to be one of those people who will flood you with ooey-gooey Mom stuff, but I need to share this. Even if you don’t like kids, you’ll love these photos. Laura Izumikawa takes photos of her cute baby while she’s asleep. There are some athletes, cartoon characters, anime, nerdy stuff, and pop stars. If you haven’t already seen all the news articles featuring her photos, check out her instagram.

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Black Health Matters

Nothing makes my blood boil more than hearing people make gross racist remarks like “oh black people don’t exercise” or “people on welfare just eat garbage.” What makes it worse is they never seem to care to make a change about that. So when I read about grassroots movements of trying to get free exercise and wellness programs for low income or people of color, I get really excited. If you want more inspirational reads you can check out this Mosaic Podcast episode about the diabetes epidemic in Harlem.

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The best 100 films of the 21st century, according to 177 film critics around the world

I don’t talk too much about it but I am a film nerd. I love movies, and I rarely get off my butt to watch them. Why? I am not interested in blockbusters… like at all. In fact my husband and I have lots of debates over stuff because I think his “greatest films” are kind-of just fluff. *cough* steven spielberg *cough* If you didn’t already picked up that I am pretentious art school student graduate, you now officially know. Anyways, even people who love blockbusters are getting sick of all these sequels and “reboots.” So if you are looking for something new but different, check out this list. I am wanting to watch the ones we haven’t seen before… which is a lot. I’ve only seen about a quarter of the list but here are the films I think everyone should check out (when you have night to really watch a movie) Note- these are my favorites from the list or ones I think that are a little less known, so you know keep that in mind.

  • Moonrise Kingdom (Wes Anderson, 2012)
  • Let the Right One In (Tomas Alfredson, 2008)
  • The Pianist (Roman Polanski, 2002)
  • Her (Spike Jonze, 2013)
  • A Serious Man (Joel and Ethan Coen, 2009)
  • City of God (Fernando Meirelles and Kátia Lund, 2002)
  • Oldboy (Park Chan-wook, 2003)
  • WALL-E (Andrew Stanton, 2008)
  • The Master (Paul Thomas Anderson, 2012)
  • The Grand Budapest Hotel (Wes Anderson, 2014)
  • Synecdoche, New York (Charlie Kaufman, 2008)
  • Children of Men (Alfonso Cuarón, 2006)
  • Inside Llewyn Davis (Joel and Ethan Coen, 2013)
  • No Country for Old Men (Joel and Ethan Coen, 2007)
  • Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (Michel Gondry, 2004)
  • Spirited Away (Hayao Miyazaki, 2001)
  • There Will Be Blood (Paul Thomas Anderson, 2007)
  • In the Mood for Love (Wong Kar-wai, 2000)

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Vegan Mofo 2016 Returns

Vegan Mofo will be returning this year! The announcement was made while I was blocked from my server and transferring files so at first I was overwhelmed with the thought of doing it again. I think I will be trying it out again this year with Alexa’s help. But truthfully we will see how often a post since it will be during the 9th month of pregnancy (yikes!) But I had so much fun doing it in 2015 and 2014 that I just had to.

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These Folks Went Vegetarian Back When It Was Way Uncool

This is a brief look at the first vegetarians restaurants in the world. It is interesting to see how vegetarianism have evolved over the years, and how Hitl has stayed the same. I would love to visit it sometimes, but I wonder if they have many vegan options (it seems to have a lot of eggs and dairy in the recipes). Still a fun slice of history.

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Exercising Regularly Saves You Money, Assuming You Don’t Have ClassPass

I’ve always been one to recommend people go out and get some exercise. I don’t think you need to go to a gym, but I know some people thrive with the direction (especially early on.) This study shows that maybe health insurance companies should cover gym classes. It does show to save some money. Even still, walking 30 minutes a day still does the body some good.

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Women Who Eat Full-Fat Yogurt Are Happier, So Don’t Believe the Smug Lady in Yoplait-Light Commercials

Okay, so I find the title of this article more interesting than anything else. A quick summary is that women who eat full fat yogurt have less depression than women who eat the light stuff. There isn’t any direct correlation with fat consumption and depression. It could be because there is more sugar added to the low-fat stuff or could be that women who are depressed are more concerned about weight gain. I take it as better body image equals better mind. 

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Why Fidgeting Is Good Medicine

And if you made this far- congrats! This is a surprising article about fidgeting. We all know sitting down for long periods of time can be bad for our bodies. So scientists wanted to see if fidgeting would help counter the negative effects. And it kind-of does! Sure it better to not sit down for several hours, but it is a great way to counteract it if you have no choice. 


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Another week has gone by and I feel like nothing has gotten done. I blame the weather. I’ve just been so unmotivated. I just want to stay glued to the first floor where the air is the coolest. At some point it will get cooler and I won’t have that excuse anymore. Bummer. 

desk

Actually my husband has been busy working on our new computer table. He and his Father have been working together on making a custom desk for our oddly shaped third floor (or rather our normal room with an oddly shaped exercise equipment). Our current desk is 43 inches (109 cm) by 20 inches (50 cm), and doesn’t have much space for our computer. The monitor takes up 25 inches, which is pretty much half the length of the desk top, leaving little room for office stuff. So we are making a desk that is 6 feet (72 inches/182 cm) by 24 inches (60 cm), so MUCH bigger. We are most likely to stain the desk, and are looking for some matching shelving so we can get a pinterest worthy work area (yeah right.) Naturally I will be making some posts about our home updates of our finally finished bedroom, office/workout room, and hopefully nursery. Why? Because I assume you guys are just as interested as I am about looking into other people’s homes, best part of looking for a new house btw.

Anyways, I forgot to post this yesterday, so I hope everyone enjoys these articles for the week.

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When Community-Supported Agriculture Is Not What It Seems

I’ve written about CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) before, and if you aren’t familiar with the idea, I recommend you quickly read my post before this article. To do a quick summary, it is when the consumer has a direct connection with the farmer, and pretty much pays a share/pays up front for the produce for the year. This New York Times article talks about how the term CSA is being used in situations that is very far from the original definition. If you are thinking about joining a “CSA” it is important to read this article as it helps educate people about what they are actually signing up for.

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Go Fund Me for Hillary Lawson

I’ve been reading Hillary’s blog My Cat Loves Daiya for awhile now. She is very active on many vegan blogs, usually commenting under the name Vegan Peace. Basically, after a bunch of circumstances, Hillary found herself loosing her apartment, and having to share space with a person who doesn’t want to keep her cats around. She brought her cats to an animal shelter and is scrambling to find money for a new apartment (you know, down deposit, first and last months rent, all that stuff.) She has a great connection with her cats, and have been writing about them on her blog. Basically, she took in a stray cat who was pregnant, and kept all the kittens. If you have a few bucks spare, that would be great. Hillary has already been overwhelmed by everyone’s generosity.

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Beer Bottles Will Soon Include A Reality Check: A Calorie Count

I’ve got so many emotions about this. I love booze. I love the history and complexity of the flavors. I know so much about alcohol that I think many people who meet me think I drink often (not really, more like 3 drinks a week overall? usually less.) As a vegan, I get really annoyed by the government’s viewpoint that alcohol shouldn’t be required to list nutritional information as that would imply it is food. Well, that makes for a lot of confusion for people with dietary restrictions. I had a friend who was allergic to hops, and drinking new beers was a little bit of Russian roulette. But it seems that focus is just on calories, and I don’t like that. It really doesn’t paint a full picture of people are drinking, and unlike hard liquor, beers can have nutritional benefits. Am I saying you should have a beer just to get some b vitamins? No. But there is probably more in a beer than a Kool Aid.

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Watch: Bubbles and balloons pop at 10,000 frames per second

And now for something fun and visually awesome. There is a short video of scientists filming different kind-of bubbles being popped with a high speed camera. Yeah I guess there are facts in there, but let’s face it- it is mostly just cool to watch.


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Hello everyone! I am a little late for posting my Sunday Reading post, but oh well. I am good at ignoring self made schedules. I’ve slowly gaining some control in my life again. The last two months have felt a little bit like I had been running in slow motion. I would try my hardest to get certain things done but next thing I would know, hours would go by and I didn’t seem to get much done. But I am finally working on some posts that I started drafts of a while ago, and reading tons of books that has been on my to read list for awhile.

Tomorrow is my birthday and this weekend my Mother and Father in Law invited my husband and I over for dinner. I might of specifically requested for certain vegan meals, and my Father in Law made me the pad thai dish from The PPK. It was pretty yummy, and made the perfect amount for 4 people. My Mother in Law surprised me with vegan chocolate cupcakes. Apparently she found out of the recipe from Mayim Bialik‘s appearance on The Rachel Ray Show. The cupcakes were pretty yummy, and what I like about them is that it is easy for non-vegans to make. You can check out the recipe over here. There was some confusion from her end of which tofu to use (which took awhile for me to figure out too) but the frosting still worked out.

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What’s Behind Slovenia’s Love Affair with a Salamander?

I forget where I’ve first heard about the olm, but it is a cave dwelling salamander that has no eyes, and is only found in a cave system in Slovenia. They are really interesting and beautiful looking. So when I saw this article on my news feed I got pretty excited. The New Yorker talks about the cultural investment the Slovenian people have with this salamander, along with their folklore.

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33 Rescued Circus Lions Airlifted from Peru to South Africa

Here is some happy vegan news! A lot of people argue what would happen to all the animals if we adopted a vegan diet. Although it seems unlikely that the world would go vegan overnight (causing an over population of farm animals) some more complicated cases are wild animals bred in captivity. It is nice to see wild animals get closest to living in the wild that they can. It takes time, money, and effort from humans, but I think the results are worth it.

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Are Humans Smarter Than Animals? Honestly Who Knows?

I love this article. I get very frustrated when we talk about animals and intelligence, because it gets complicated. I remember joking about my cat was smarter than my nieces when they were little tiny babies. Yeah humans are suppose to be smart, but my cat has object permanence, does your baby? Joking aside, there are many things that animals do everyday that is amazing. There is even a squid that can change it’s color AND control it’s shadows. We might not be able to comprehend what that would feel like, how much active thought process does a squid go through to control it’s color changing? It is hard for us to think of walking as something we need to learn since we learned it at such a young age, but it is part of our intelligence.

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After ‘The Biggest Loser,’ Their Bodies Fought to Regain Weight

This article is one that sums up most of the body love movement. I have heard some crazy fat-phobic people say things like “just eat less food,” and hey I understand where some people come from. Weight and health are two things that are deeply embedded in our minds. But one thing is for sure, weight is more complicated than we think. We are finding that weight can be controlled by more than just calories, including epigenetic, gut flora, and much more. We get so set into the mindset that our weight is “our fault” that when I tell some people about these studies they defend their original thoughts on other things. I remember citing a study that said that people from the 80s were thinner with the same amount of exercise and calories than people today. What did I hear? About whole fucking grains. Really? I then asked that person if they ate more whole grains in the 80s than they do today, answer no. So this is a much more high profile study that shows that rapid weight loss might be more complicated than “sucking it up” and having lots of willpower.

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Making an Informed Transition to Veganism

I am a little bad about helping people with nutritional information. Veganism is easy, really, but it does require us to rethink the rules of nutrition. We have so much programed in our minds as kids- x amount of protein (meat), x amount of grains, x amount of dairy, x amount of fruit, etc. But things get really complicated with a plant based diet. This might partly because a lot of these foods merge into the different categories. And I think since long time vegans get so use to this new way of thinking we tend to ignore newbies, who might not know all the basics. I am always stressing that I still taking vitamins, largely vitamin B12, but still pointing out that meat eaters can be low on the vitamin since animals don’t make the vitamin. It’s created by bacteria. 

Gena has written a great outline of things to look for in a vegan diet. You might need to think about your protein sources for the first year, but it’ll become second nature. Concerned about calcium? Pay attention and you will eventually learn enough information that you won’t need to think twice about your daily choices.


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Hi everyone! Sorry I’ve been a bit of a bum lately. I have been pretty busy… sort of. It is mostly a case of I haven’t had much a chance to be on the computer, and when I did, I wouldn’t be in the mood. I am much more interested in snuggling with a blanket on the couch, which has really given me lots of reading time. If I had a laptop, I probably would be blogging just as much as I did before. But until the day someone just hands me their laptop, I will be using the one I have in my office.

I’ve fallen behind with my links for reading, so some of these article might seem pretty old, so sorry guys! XD I am rarely on top of these things lol. Well hopefully I will be writing more again this week and will get back into the swing of things.

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Members of the U.S Women’s National Team File Federal Equal Pay Complaint

It is about time this happens. I really enjoyed the recent women’s world cup, but I was also a little sad hearing about how little these women were being paid. When complaining, someone replied with “well these girls won’t have to worry anymore with all their endorsement deals” like that solves the root of the problem. My biggest regret is not being able to support the Women’s Soccer League more since there aren’t any teams nearby.

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What I Learned From Tickling Apes

I have been finding a lot of article lately about animals and how science treat their emotions. I get why scientists are so hesitant to say if animals feel pain, have emotions, and have similar problem solving skills to humans, but it seems equally naive that they wouldn’t have any. 

 

Consumer Reports in the Age of the Amazon Review

I first was introduced to Consumer Reports by my Father in Law. He suscribed to the magazine, and I liked their rating system. They didn’t just go with the “best” they also took in practical things like money into consideration. In fact, a lot of the time the Walmart brand foods often would be ranked the best for the price (for things like ketchup.) I now rarely pick it up since the subscription is a hefty chunk. Instead I learned to use online product reviews, whether it be Amazon, Modcloth, or Target. This article brings up some great points like online reviewers are only reviewing one item. For example the person probably bought one TV, not 12 different ones to compare to each other. And they point out something I wasn’t aware of, which make sense, people being given free products to review on Amazon. The person still can say they live the product, but overall are less likely to take price into consideration.

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Do Insects Have a Consciousness Ego?

Bugs get the short end of vegan stick. I sometimes have a hard time getting the warm and fuzzies for a fly. But it seems science is slowly starting to defend bugs as conscious creatures that deserve a little more respect. Although the article isn’t claiming much, it is an interesting step in the field to assume bugs are running on a little more than 100% automated instinct.

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How the Media Got a Study About Vegetarianism Really, Really Wrong

Another case of bad journalism snowballing out of control. Apparently articles about how adopting a vegetarian diet put you at risk for heart disease and colon cancer. It’s udder crap. How much crap is it? Well apparently the authors of the study had to release a statement saying that wasn’t what they found in their study. To put it simply, the scientists found that societies who had adopted a vegetarian or near vegetarian diet developed a way to produce their own omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids. If they then adopt a meat eating diet, their bodies will be flooded with too many fats, and will have health issues. Most writer confused hundreds of years of a vegetarian diet with a few years within ones lifetime. Nor does producing your own omega-3 and omega-6 make you sick, if you stick to a vegetarian diet.


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Alexa is ready for the snow!

Hi everyone. I feel like I am failing blogging in 2016. The main two reasons is that one week I went to go visit my Grandfather in Florida. He hasn’t been in the greatest health lately, and even has been in a hospital for most of December with a bad case of clostridium difficile, which I read about in this article about feces enemas. Anyways, we booked a trip for the weekend to visit him once he got better. Let me tell you that trip was EXHAUSTING! I kid you not when I say it was non-stop socializing affair. It also was a humbling experience, I am so picky about the quality of my food but I had to take a deep breath and think about why I was there. I did NOT do any research about vegan friendly places. And I messed up. I eat out so little I forget what things are usually not vegan, like onion rings. But mistakes will be made, and I am just glad I don’t need to eat (crappy) salad again for lunch AND dinner.

All week I was trying to catch up on things from the previous weekend, and then the weekend after I went into NYC to celebrate Alexa’s birthday. It was tons of fun, except the karaoke bar that Alexa booked didn’t put in her reservation for the right day. So we had to book it to someplace different that wasn’t BYOB. Our bottles of soju got opened, and confiscated. No big deal, it was like $10. I was tipsy, and doing fine, then when we leave the guy hands me an open bottle of soju back… which was nice but I had no idea what to do with it. I was drunk enough to think chugging it would be a good idea. Uh… wrong. I quickly got super drunk, I am so glad Jon was with me because I don’t remember much from that night. And I had the worst hangover all Sunday, it even lingered into Monday morning. So let’s just say I was pretty frustrated with my very stupid decision. I should of asked that nice guy to just dump the stuff.

So I have a bunch of articles that I wanted to share over the course of several weeks. So sorry that the list is so long. But I need to break the silence on the blog. I hope everyone had a better weekend than me! I will also have some reviews on some restaurants from Disney and NYC.

Health

A cool study on the effects of ultra marathoners

Women’s health is being ignored because of fat-shaming

I have to agree with this article- don’t join a gym.

I was thinking about making an exercise post like this, but this person got it so right.

People are surprised that I am not anti-GMOs. This article kind-of breaks down why, it is hard to define GMOs.


Extreme health diets are not new. Not saying everyone doesn’t have a grain of truth to their statements, but always use your brain. There is a lot of room food various types of food in your diet.

Veganism

Gina from the Full Helping has some great tips on how to transition to a vegan lifestyle

Scientists Have Found Evidence That Fish Have Feelings Too

There is a Buddhist monk in South Korea making the most amazing looking vegan food

This is an interesting article about some of the not so great representation of veganism.

Other Stuff

If you already know that tardigrades don’t care, then you will find this article about tardigrade stealing DNA cool

I have totally forgotten to share this awesome blog post about ethical fashion by Annika.

Here are some badass women you probably didn’t hear about in 2015

This house is crazy awesome

Rolling Stones released this bizarro interview with David Bowie and William Burroughs


This video makes me so sad to see all this wasted food.


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It if funny reading blogs and hearing people be bummed out about the cooler weather. I am loving it. I love layering clothing, I like snuggling with blankets, and I love a big bowl of soup. Plus I am getting excited about the holidays since we are probably able to enjoy it a lot more this year. I am no longer working with retail, though the framing business does get a little more jobs during Christmas. So all the holiday planning is happening, which is a little less stressful. 

I am also starting to think about what to make for Thanksgiving dinner, which is stressful because I started to plot it in my head then my Mother In Law was like “oh I can make this!” and it brought my plans crashing down. Not because it is us competing to make food, but because I forget there are certain foods that people expect in Thanksgiving foods. Which makes me think, does anyone have any good carrot side dishes? My Father in Law LOVES carrots, but it is just cut boiled carrots, and no one wants them. I don’t think any of us like sweet carrots, so that rules out orange juice glazed carrots. If anyone has any ideas, please share!

Today is all about catching up on posts, and getting a few things done around the house. Yesterday was, ugh, weird. My husband had me buzz his hair and the machine kept making a painfully loud noise. Sure it was working but it sounds like it might explode mid-cut. This led to us fighting right before spending the day with his parents. This worked out in the end, but I think if our hair cutting buzzer whatever you call it breaks again, I am throwing in the hair cutting towel. I don’t know, it just seems wasteful if we have to buy a machine every three years to cut one person’s hair. Though I did get Jon to agree to cut his hair with me next time I make an appointment at Talking Headz. So that will get a post here at some point.

Food

What is neurogastronomy? A new branch of science is emerging on how to study food.

Some of you might of read a study that found animal and human DNA in veggie dogs. This article from Vox pretty much reassures us to not freak out

I would really like to make this black bean cake. It just looks so ooey gooey and yummy!

Apparently there is a growing demand for natural dyes. I have mixed feelings. Yes, natural coloring is better but at the same time it feels weird looking for plant sources for something superficial as coloring.

I am not huge on The Kitchn recipes since most are not vegan, but this one with beans and greens look pretty tasty.

I love gingerbread and pumpkin flavored things! So I am excited about these pumpkin gingerbread spice muffins! She uses a gluten-free mix, but I might do a blend of regular flour with other flours. 

Maybe since my husband and I have been watching the Great British Bake Off, we have been more interested in sweets. This sweet potato cake looks super nice, maybe something to make for a Christmas get together?

I love learning about movements for urban gardening. There are a bunch springing up teaching lower income family how to garden, teaching farming to at risk teens, and more. Bite Size Vegan does a quick video covering some movements that are more exclusively vegan.

Veganism

I found this article about how most coconuts are actually harvested by monkeys! It is an interesting read since the article basically come to the conclusion that isn’t enough information about the topic. I have to say that it doesn’t look like direct animal abuse, but then begs the question, are coconuts vegan?

There is a vegan soccer team? Okay that is a little misleading, more like a stadium that serves vegan food for a team.

Need another reason not to each chicken? How about adult diapers? Yup, this website is all about human rights for people working in the meat industry.

Health

I think I might of posted an article about how honey is just as bad a high fructose sugar, and now I have to bust my own bubble with this article. *sigh* I can’t argue with it because it is true, we shouldn’t jump to conclusions about tests, and if anything the study just is proving that the SUGAR in honey is just as bad as high fructose corn syrup, which is still important I think. 

I’ve fallen behind on my workout routine, and this article about the connection between lifting weights in brain function gives me even more motivation to get my shit together.

I spent time when I should of been working (at work) reading about sports bras. It is surprisingly interesting.

Winter Coats

I know that winter coats that don’t have wool can be a hard task. Well, I was browsing on Modcloth an found some cute coats. I love coats, I would love to have 10 different ones to choose from but I know that is impractical, and I still many pre-vegan wool ones. I would donate them, but some have ripped lining or are too cute. I have one vegan winter coat, and it is actually just a blue version of this coat. I love how bright it is, especially when I lived in the city and everyone just had a black coat. Having a colored coat is cool since most of the time you can only see your jeans or black leggings underneath. There is a fuchsia coat by the same company that is vegan as well.

If you are looking for something retro try out this plaid cape! I am thinking about writing a post about getting hand-me downs and thrifting and how it falls in a vegan lifestyle. Sometimes cool throwback things get you to buy vegan.

Any EGL fans out there? Well there are three different cute coats you can get in the clothing style! I love the style but I am much too lazy to wear it, and too cheap to put together an outfit. This coat looks pretty cute, and it even has some little heart pockets! The winnipeg coat has a little bit of faux fur on it! It comes in a pastel blue with white fur or red with black fur. Both are cute, and I kind-of want one. Ugh! I want those and the yellow coat!


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I hope everyone had a happy Halloween. I think Alexa and I sure did. Alexa had to work but still got dress up as Ariel. Then changed for a spooky Halloween party. This year Jon and I wanted to the whole give away candy thing in our new home. We got a good amount of kids. While waiting we made vegan mummy dogs, brussel sprouts and sweet potatoes (scary to kids). We watched episodes of Simpson’s Tree House of Terror, seasons 2 to 7. When we finished we watched Ichabod Crane and The Brood. OMG, was The Brood good! I know who I’m going to be for Halloween next year- Nola!

Anyways, we have a big list of articles, probably because I’ve been all about Apple News. I’ve been reading so much more. I probably should take a break because some days I think I do feel a little overwhelmed by facts.

Food:

Not sure how many people will be able to read this, but New York Times wrote a profile on Smarties. I loved them since I was a kid but I love that they are vegan friendly. They also are based in New Jersey and Liz Dee is vegan herself! So I really try and support the company!

I really want to make these!

The New Yorker NAILS the almond milk versus cows milk debate. Okay not all the points! But brings up an important one about our food. We need variety, and we need to know how to handle our waste!

I first heard of savory oats from Oh She Glow’s cookbook with her red lentil oats. Now The Full Helping gives a lot of suggestions, which I should try taking up, especially for pre-run breakfast.

Two good videos from Eat Your Kimchi- one is a 3D chocolate maker! OMG gotta make these chocolates. The other is a dakgalbi recipe which makes me want to veganize it.

http://www.eater.com/2015/10/19/9553471/what-is-neurogastronomy

Spoopy Reads:

The New Yorker profiles several different black cats.

Alexa and I were super happy to try these out! They are like creamsicles.

Veganism:

I love this article by The Atlantic talking about taxidermy displays. I feel a similar feeling about zoos. There is this weird contradiction that zoos and taxidermy isn’t helping the animals directly and can be cruel. But at the same time it sparks interest and gets the average person concerned about the well being of the animals. And there is the fact that animals are beautiful, and it is amazing to see an animal that isn’t native to your area and marvel at it’s existence. Anyways, I hope you enjoy that read.

Apparently parts of India are banning cow meat and it isn’t making vegans happy. They have excellent reasons why this is problematic, which is also a reason why I feel like if you ditch meat, you need to ditch dairy as well.

One of my husband’s favorite Simpson’s episodes is the one where Lisa becomes a vegetarian, here is an article praising it.

This episode of Bite Size Vegan made me really happy. She has been trying to document the history of veganism, and found that people have been making the same arguments over time. If you have the time, I suggest watching it. The quotes are really beautiful.

I love learning new “ethnic” foods that are made vegan. This one is a cinnamon spiced milk drink from Puerto Rico.

Don’t go to these type of wildlife attractions!

Health:

I totally back up the Body Positivity Movement. Yeah, I think there is a link between obesity and health, but I think it is more complicated than “I’m fat therefore I’m sick.” I don’t like when people just chalk it up to “dieting” because there are some health habits that we picked up on in the USA that might be BETTER for our health overall (for example we consume more whole grains!) So I was happy to see yet another study that supports that there is more to weight than calories and calories out.

There is an interesting study focusing on the amount of words spoken to a child, and how it effects their ability to learn.

 


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Got an old comforter from the basement, and Toulouse is quick to nap on it.

This week has been pretty busy. Lots of cooking and prepping, and I’ve been working longer hours at the frame shop. Then this weekend I thought I would catch up on posts, but I have a busy k.o. punch- my husband’s birthday. We aren’t the type of people to do lots of things for our birthdays. It is pretty simple, choose a dessert and choose a dinner whether it be eating out or a specific meal. Well, then my in-laws thought it was a good weekend to hand off a bunch of Jon’s stuff they’ve been keeping in their basement. It is helpful, but it feels like taking a step back in the moving process. So we have tons of new stuff to figure out what to do with, and I am not very sentimental so I am looking at half this stuff and thinking “my god this needs to be thrown out.” So this should be interesting to see what Jon doesn’t with half this stuff.

The good news for Alexa is that we have been collecting all the “doubles” of things so she might get some freebies when she moves out her house, like an iron, espresso machine, air conditioner, and maybe a pot or two. Oh and wrestling action figures. Jon apparently kept all his old 90s action figures.

Things at the farm are really going. I think this is the time of the year where I get my biggest bang for my buck. I think I remember last you figuring out that I pay something like $27 each week for my share at the farm. It has gone up since then. But the price of some this produce that’s organic is insane. Jeff, one of the farmers, said he had a friend who sold an organic heirloom tomato that was $15 because it was so big and heavy. Wow. I saw that regular tomatillos were $3 a pound, so that means those tomatillos would of cost me $12 in the supermarket alone! I can’t even begin to think how much I would be paying for all the tomatoes!

Farm Round Up:

What I got:
1 quart sungold tomatoes
1 pint blackberries
2 large cantaloups
1 spaghetti squash
1 lb red plums
1 lb MacIntosh apples
13 lb yellow peaches
oregano, basil, cilanto, mint
4 lbs tomatillos
5 lbs cherry tomatoes
1 quart ground cherries with husks
1 quart green beans
10.5 lbs slicing tomatoes
2 roma tomatoes
2 heads of lettuce
1 eggplant
1 yellow onion
1 bunch of radishes with greens
2 poblano peppers

What I’m cooking:
Tomato Sauce for future cooking
Tomatillo and Berry Crisp
Freezing peaches for storage
Yogurt, granola, and ground cherry/blackberry bowls
Grilled “Cheese” and Tomato Sandwiches
Side salads with sungold tomatoes and radishes
Jungle Curry with Seitan Curry
Sri Lankan Red Lentil Curry (using the roma tomatoes) from Vegan Eats World
Spaghetti Squash Yakisoba Style

Reading for the Week:

Apparently the old living cat is 26 years old?!

I am sure many of you have heard about the Animas river turning yellow. Wall Street Journal has more details.

I really want to read this comic, but it isn’t actually released yet!

I like this guide on how to order vegan at any restaurant. There is a really great break down of what to look for and what to ask. From my experience working in the food industry, if you are nice, the servers will be nice back. Also, keep in mind accendents happens. It might not be your waiters fault so don’t flip out on them.

Apparently there is a book written about why millennials so foodies. I liked this interview on The Atlantic, but I think there are some points missing. One is yes, millennials have less money, but I think that is why we spend money on food. It is a short term reward that might not cost a lot right now. And another point that I think is missing is that there is a lot of political statements being said about the food we eat, and in some ways a revolt against the system we are forced to get jobs in (aka big corp America)

And this one is for any tattoo junkies- a 2,500 tattooed Siberian princess is found. Still reading the article, but the tattoo design is amazing!


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Alexa is going a little cray-cray with the little bub app

Yesterday was a really good day. We woke up early, drove to the farm and picked up our share. We also picked up our parent’s share which meant I took some double shares for the food they normally don’t eat- like ground cherries and tomatillos. So that was pretty nice. We also then drove to the orchard and picked up some (okay a lot) of peaches. We also picked up some shiro plums, but they are SUPER ripe. I was so distracted about them being ripe I didn’t even think to make anything fancy with them until I was trying to find a page about them. Well, it looks like I am up to my neck in ripe fruit. Cantaloupe, blackberries, ground cherries, peaches and plums. Mmm…

Then we ended the night by hanging out with my friend Chrissy. She was house sitting for her sister, who lives in the burbs like us. So we made some burritos, she supplied the drinks, and talked for 5-6 hours. It was really nice considering we don’t hang out with people our age that often (at least when they aren’t related to us)

I think the overall crazy thing about keeping track of what I got from my CSA share is that I am very aware I eat it all. I never would of expected that. It also makes sense, I mean I am slashing out usually $30 from our grocery bills every week from all this produce. But we do eat things that don’t use farm produce, like bagels and oatmeal. So I wonder if I can eat everything up this week again. Though the red onion we got just looks too perfect to use.

Farm Round Up:

What I got:
11 tomatoes
1 large spaghetti squash
3 jalapenos
2 green bell peppers
14 beets
1 red onion
1 cantaloupe
1 pint blackberries
1 quarts green beans
1 quart ground cherries w/ husks
2 quarts purple tomatillos
1 quart sungold tomatoes
2 quarts cherry tomatoes
2 eggplants
16 pounds peaches
2 pounds shiro plums

What I’m cooking:
Kung Pao Style Beyond Chicken
Burritos with black beans, brown rice, baked tomatillo tofu, and salsa verde
Veganized spaghetti squash bake
Eggplant “Mac & Cheese”
Spaghetti and homemade cherry tomato sauce
Beet Bistro Burgers aka Quarter Pounder Beet Burgers
Possibly a peach pie or cobbler
Peach Smoothies
Shiro Plum Rye Smash

Reading for the Week:

So I’ve been looking for a fun Ghost Town to check out and found this story of Ong’s Hat. I don’t know about you guys, but I LOVE these type of stories, urban legends. Do I believe it? Uh… not really, especially after reading the Wikipedia page about Ong’s Hat.

I tend not to love these “I’m a vegan hear my roar shirts” (should that be made into a shirt?) But I really like this Vegans are Magical Unicorn shirt.

Jezebel teaches us about types of nipples. Puffy winkie nipples represent!

A friend posted this article about a couple who are saving up majority of their income for retirement. I have to say, many things they do we do, and I find the article a nice reminder that we all don’t need so much “stuff.” Granted, they aren’t really “retiring” just saving up to pursue a slower lifestyle.

Speaking of spending money, I recently just bought some air plants for my wedding gift (air plant planters!) They shipped, so I am pumped to get them in the mail!

I love hearing about how different cultures are from each other. I guess it reminds us that we aren’t as globally connected as we like to think, I mean even within small communities age differences even creates cultural gaps. So I found this blog post about raising a baby in Spain really interesting.

Oh resting bitch face