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balkanradfem · 4 years

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Okay so here I am, poor and determined to figure out how to survive on food I can grow on my own, with the resources I have. That would be: a spot in community garden, seeds I've gathered by collecting and sharing, anything I can forage, and determination (no gardening experience tho). I realized right away that for a survival you need to have a stash of grains, legumes and potatoes (or similar). Since I don't have garden space to grow large scale grains or legumes, I had to source them from the store, for now. Oil as well, as I didn't get edible sunflowers yet.

But then, for everything else, would a garden be enough? The answer is yes, if you're filled with crazy defiance to buying stuff.

I found that as long as I have grain and oil at my disposal, I can easily go thru summer eating from garden. Last summer I was drowning in tomatoes, peppers and green beans, I had much more than I could eat so I canned a lot of salsa, dried plenty of basil, made some tomato sauce. I got enough garlic for entire year, plenty of herbs to eat and dry, I even attempted to sun-dry tomatoes and failed, but I know how to do it for this year. I froze a lot of green beans and some berries. I had also foraged for, and conserved a lot of fruit! Had a stash of walnuts as well.

I had trouble growing carrots, and my few potatoes got eaten by pests, so I was really missing them that year. I also couldn't figure out how to grow cabbage and cabbage savoy correctly, these crops did badly. Swiss chard and peas got destroyed in road construction. (Which I will never forgive.)

So autumn comes, and tomatoes all die, but peppers are thriving all the way until December. I'm still getting some green beans so I am doing just fine. I re-plant cabbage, cabbage savoy, and broccoli. This time they do better. I also plant lots of onions, garlic, celery, parsley, onion greens. I got a stash of potatoes and lots of swiss chard from friends so I am having a good time. And it's time to harvest all the winter squash I've been growing so now my basement is filled with food.

(Note that I'm still buying beans, rice, split peas, chickpeas, soy, oats and flour, I wasn't trying to survive without protein, only refused to buy vegetables.)

So the winter is here and I'm slightly worried because the garden doesn't seem to produce much, onions and cabbages mostly stopped growing, only thing that's doing well are my two broccoli plants! And those broccoli plants were amazing. I was able to harvest broccoli from them from December all the way to March. I was surprised with every visit that the broccoli just grew new florets and they're all tasty. Hell, I'm still eating it now in May because their seeds grow in little edible pods! And they take a bit of effort to harvest but taste awesome stir fried. Broccoli is a winter friend! (I left enough pods on the plants to still be able to get seeds. They grew thousands of them.)

I found out lots of people were able to grow cabbage, lettuce and other cold-hardy crops by making little greenhouses, just with some sticks and a cover. Keeping them little protected from cold and frost will enable them to grow. I was not yet up to trying that before seeing just what happens if you leave them as it is. Will go for covers next year.

So with the power of broccoli and my food stash, I actually bought next to no vegetables during winter. I think I got some onions and carrots once. Butternut and hokkaido squashes were eaten by March and delicious. Eating salsa was beyond satisfying and eating all the preserved fruit made me feel super fancy. Nothing got spoiled, which was incredible because I'm a first-time cannner.

Spring brought me onion greens and I love them so much I'm satisfied just having them. I can't make myself like lettuce no matter what. Cursed green. I start taking celery, accidental carrots and parsley home and make soups. I can't wait for peas. Strawberries are first to give me fruit. Foraging brings me nettle and dandelion greens and I finally get some calcium into my system.

I get some extra garden space and plant extra potatoes, green beans, squash and even summer melon. I will have zucchini and ground cherry and kale this year. I was trying to get okra but my seeds never arrived in mail. I'm also planting leek, and finally got swiss chard to grow.

I feel greatly optimistic about being self-sustainable with food! The first year was a little rough and I did lose weight when I didn't want to lose any, I was sometimes struggling to make meals because of ptsd, and during crisis my nutrition was awful. But overall, it was great. I got to know how sweet baby peas taste! I got to taste home-grown food all year and eat fresh from the garden. I learned so many recipes, and created lots. If I had soil to grow some corn, wheat, beans, chickpeas, soy, oats and potatoes, I would be all set. Having soil, is in fact, priceless. Soil and seeds. All we need to live.

I still need to figure out how to make salt, sugar and oil, or make replacements for them. I don't think I would need a big amount of them if I had lots of legumes and vegetables, but salt and sugar are necessary for conserving. I found many videos about processing wheat at home and they seem doable! I could have flour for sure. How are oat flakes made tho? I did not find that out.

I don't know if it's just bc I'm out of touch but there wasn't many foods I missed at all. I missed chocolate, but I did have cacao powder and made lots of sweets. I missed bananas but could definitely live without them. I can't think of any other food I lacked. Joy of defying capitalism is greater than joy of having bananas.

When I build a cob house, I'll have tomatoes growing under every window so I can just reach out and grab them for a snack. Strawberries will be covering every bit of available soil. I'll have sunflowers growing in circles, creating shade for me to nap in. I'll lie in the grass and watch tomatoes grow. All as it should be.

#growing food #food security #separatism planning #surviving on garden food #gardening #eating habits #food stash #long post

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aestheticvoyage2019 · 5 years

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Day 146: Sunday May 26, 2019 - “Garden Salad”

I remember early on, when planting seeds, if I could ever get to a point where I could eat a whole salad made entirely of stuff from the garden and tonight, after all those mornings taking a time out to go care, water and organize, in just under 3 months, thats what I did. Lettuce, spinach, mizuna, arugula, pea greens, a sweet banana pepper, a yellow bell, a red onion chive, and those meaty flavorful beautiful tomatoes that have now produced us almost 20 treats with so many green ones hanging out waiting to ripen. The last month has been so cool and temperate and this first year of our big garden has been a real success. Tonights salad where everything was grown (aside from the zesty italian dressing!) felt like a filling and healthy trophy - a blue ribbon in permaculture. Like I had done a small part in providing for myself. Would anyone have imagined that I could grow a garden like this in the desert? I guess Im officially a gardener if I can pull that off! Now if only I would get around to learning to brew my own kombucha too!

Song: Tom Petty - Room At The Top

Quote: “The greatest change we need to make is from consumption to production, even if on a small scale, in our own gardens. If only 10% of us do this, there is enough for everyone. Hence the futility of revolutionaries who have no gardens, who depend on the very system they attack, and who produce words and bullets, not food and shelter.” ― Bill Mollison

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doberbutts · 5 years

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kaoticspoonie replied to your post “kaoticspoonie replied to your post “kaoticspoonie replied to your...”

I got diagnosed with my meat and shellfish allergies a few months after going vegan so it was more of a 'huh that's why going vegan made me feel better' instead of being sad about not being able to eat them. Disliking the foods could be Conditioned food aversion. Most of the time I've heard it talked about is in regards to food posioning, but I think the term still applies to allergies

According to my mother, we knew most of my allergies during weaning, because most of my family is not allergic to most of the things I’m allergic to, so when they fed me the food they typically eat, I would have some pretty dramatic reactions. Of course, I was a baby, so I don’t remember any of that, but it is an interesting theory that perhaps these foods that I hate are from a bad first impression.

Let’s see...

>all fruit is bad, but Very Bad Fruits are berries, cherries, grapes, and citrus fruits.

>anything that’s not a specifically green vegetable is guaranteed to make me cough at least. whether you include tomatoes, squash, gourds, peppers, etc as “vegetable” or “fruits”- they are bad no matter what. I don’t know why only green colored veggies are okay but whatever I guess.

>dairy??? so I’ve been tested as Not Lactose Intolerant and yet dairy very much Kicks My Ass and lactaid sometimes doesn’t work so I’ve been told by doctors to just... call myself lactose intolerant. this is one that developed later in life though I always had a weird digestive reaction to milk- I was not formally told to call myself lactose intolerant until I was in my 20s but was tested many times for it because of my reactions since I was 5 or 6.

>shellfish is Very Bad And Will Actually Kill Me, but regular fish is fine

>corn is bad. soy is bad. gluten we thought might be bad but turns out that’s just fine go figure. mushrooms are bad. nuts/seeds are fine but I don’t digest them unless they are in butter form? like literally they come out the same shape they went in, even if they’re chewed very much, so they rip up my intestines which is bad.

>chocolate and anything similar is bad

>so idk if I’m allergic to caffeine but between ADD and POTS and MCAS I have always had a very terrible reaction to it and so nothing with caffeine in it at all ever

>caramel coloring- which is in things like dark sodas (Pepsi, Root Beer, etc), imitation vanilla or molasses, etc. Also cannot have actual caramel? Same reaction? Dunno why?

>whatever that artificial sweetener is in McDonald’s ice cream, sorbitol maybe? man that kicks my ass. anything with those sorts of artificial sweeteners are not nice to my stomach which doesn’t bode well for me, because if they’re not using those sweeteners they’re probably using corn syrup which is... still bad... and then if they’re actually using real cane sugar then there’s a whole cartel and black market and illegal activity and such involved with that and... there’s no winning, is there?

Things I eat anyway even though they’re Kinda Bad For Me include:

>apples, bananas, sometimes watermelon- because I’m afraid of scurvy

>carrots, potatoes (fun fact: eating too many french fries make my tongue numb), radish, cauliflower (I assume that’s bc broccoli is safe and it’s The Same Damn Plant But Specialized), pumpkin

>things with corn or soy in them because I’ve given up trying to avoid them at severe cost to my wallet but I do try to avoid straight up corn or soy, just if they’re down further on ingredient lists I’ll grit and bear it

>dairy because fuck you cheese and ice cream and butter are delicious and I really miss simple things like eating a bowl of cereal for breakfast or being able to spur-of-the-moment go get ice cream without worrying about the fallout from not having my lactaid on me at that given moment and playing Medicine Roulette of will it work today or will I be stuck in the bathroom for 6 hours again

>sometimes I just wanna munch on sunflower seeds and then I will cry the next day when they exit my system completely undigested

so... as said, my diet is meat, and grains, and little else. Sometimes I sneak other planty things in there that I really shouldn’t be eating but do anyway. I take a daily multivitamin because otherwise I’m afraid of scurvy and other deficiencies that happen when you completely cut two (and a half) major food groups out of your already-limited diet.

Anything not on the “I eat this anyway” list? Tastes bad to me. Honestly all of those things either taste bland, bitter, or like... rotten food? Some of them even set off a gag reflex. But most of those things are things that other people love eating, and I just don’t understand why they don’t taste good to me. Did I learn to hate it from a young age because eating them actively hurt me? Is it conditioning from being told they’ll make me sick? Are they “acquired tastes” aka “food that everyone knows tastes bad but pretends it doesn’t”? I dunno.

#kaoticspoonie #replies #text post #for a long time I really wanted to be vegan #but I can't #I just can't #look at all the foods that I can't eat and tell me that I could be vegan easily and cheaply #and I'll call you a liar #so instead I'm like #a weird cast-off paleo diet lol

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jessaadventures-blog · 6 years

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Week Five: Craziness!

Sunset at the water tower!

Wow. SO much happened this week! It ended up being full of adventures and unexpected surprises!

P.S. I’m going to start posting on Mondays permanently because I rarely have time to write the post for Friday and we generally don’t have much wifi over the weekend! This post includes both last weekend and this past weekend.

The EcoHouse

Isa and I with our new sign!

We’ve had some more change over in the house this week! Isa left on Friday after being here for two months, and it’s definitely weird without her. She was my cooking buddy, so now I’ve gotta find a newbie to help me make food (or convince the guys to help me make their huge portions of food haha). Isa is off to Lima for a few days and then she’s heading to Cuzco and Machu Picchu before going home to her second year at Florida State. A pretty impressive trip for her first time out of the US!

Brady left this Sunday, and it’s weird without him here too. He was our funny southern fix-it guy and he definitely had a big presence in the house! He’s heading home to study for the LSAT and then (hopefully) heading to law school in Vermont. He’s a super intense skier and really wants to come ski at Mt. Baker, so maybe I’ll see him someday soon!

We also had two new arrivals this Saturday! Orianna goes to Northeastern and just finished her second year there in engineering. She’s going to be helping out with renewable energy and restarting an aeroponics project using solar panels to grow herbs super fast! She seems great, and we’ve already gone out surfing together, she seems like a go-getter.

Seth is from Indiana University and did his bachelor’s in environmental science and is doing his master’s in energy, so he’s also here for renewable energy (we have seven volunteers right now and six are here for renewable energy, so a lot of awesome energy stuff is going to be happening)! He’s starting a project called Hole in the Wall, where a computer is put in an outdoor wall in a public area and protected so the screen can’t be touched (basically cemented inside a concrete wall with a thick plastic barrier over it) and there is a keyboard stuck outside and the computer is given internet access and powered using solar panels and left there. Then the community (especially kids) can use the computer at any time to teach themselves various things, but they have to figure it out on their own. At other Hole in the Walls there’s apparently been a really impressive rate of learning by the kids that use the computer; they’ve taught themselves English and complicated science concepts and other cool things. We’re going to try to create Peru’s first Hole in the Wall!

We also have a volunteer coming today, Claudia, and I’m excited to meet her!

Other than the volunteer change overs, we had some good food again this week. We did our classic taco tuesday and made some vegan cookies for dessert, which we ate while playing Secret Hitler (our favorite board game) and drinking pisco sours. On Wednesday night Isa and I had a lasagna-off (we had a ton of lasagna noodles to use) and she made a non-vegan lasagna while I made a vegan one. Both turned out really good and not many people could tell that mine was vegan! I’m getting better at improvising recipes, and I really liked the way I made that lasagna (although I only had sweet soy milk to use, so it turned out a little sweet but it would be amazing with unsweetened almond milk).

Isa and I also made her a crazy vegan going away cake that was pretty damn amazing (and super rich). It was two layers; the bottom layer was vanilla chocolate chunk (Andres found vegan chocolate in Talara) and the top layer was vanilla with strawberry puree. We made vegan chocolate ganache and put it between the layers with fresh strawberries and drizzled it on top as well. Everyone agreed that it was delicious! We also had a bunch of pears going bad, so Andres made a sugar-less pear crumble one morning that really didn’t need any sugar; it was really good!

Our yummy vegan layer cake :)

I also tried to make a lentil curry this weekend, which kind of worked but we didn’t have all the spices I needed so it mostly just tasted like slightly spicy lentils. I’ll try again soon and hopefully it’ll turn out better!

Work

An EcoTeam jumping selfie from our hike day! (See the adventure section)

Work this week was pretty chill, but we still got a lot done! We had friends join for planting day again, a guy named Connor from Ireland who is staying at La Casona came and helped out and there were some friends of one of the members of EcoSwell’s UK team that were visiting so they helped out as well! Our veggie garden is half planted and we transferred some seedlings and planted more seeds for germination! Most of planting day was spent removing invasive tree stumps from the front yard though. We hacked away at those things forever and ended up removing two huge stumps and a few little trees that were springing up. It was a fun planting day with some groovy music though!

As for the distiller, we painted it with wood primer because the water was starting to damage the window frame (it was nasty, sticky stuff that got in my hair and is still in my hair a week later…) and I fixed the door handle and we found some bigger water jugs to distill the water into. We’re getting more silicone today, so this week we have to seal up any little cracks and make the whole distiller as air-tight as possible to keep the heat and the water vapor in! We’re also working on some really cool components that should increase the efficiency even more, stay tuned! We tested the distiller again this week and got similar results (about 10 liters out when we put 40 liters in) so hopefully our next test, after all the improvements, will give us a higher yield!

On Thursday morning we all went hiking in Piedritas, a nearby town! See the adventure section for the story.

Other than that, I’ve been organizing social media posts three times a week and have finally started lining up facebook posts and instagram posts, so there’s been progress there! Isa and I also painted a cute sign for the EcoSwell entrance, because before you could only tell that this is the EcoSwell house coming from one direction. I think we did a pretty great job and it was a fun creative outlet!

Adventures

The interns grabbing a beer in Mancora!

There were a lot of adventures this past week! I’ll try to make this section short-ish, but there’s lots to tell :)

Last weekend was Peruvian Independence Day and, coincidentally, Brady’s birthday. All of the volunteers decided to go spend a night in the famous beach/party town of Mancora to celebrate! Mom and I had gone for a quick day trip the weekend before, so I was the only one that had spent any time there (Isa had bussed through Mancora, but that was it). We headed out after an early lunch on Saturday, caught the combie to Talara and a van to Mancora and checked into our hostel, Palosanto Backpackers, as soon as we got there. There were seven of us, so we got a whole hostel dorm room to ourselves! The hostel had a bar, a pool, a restaurant, and a bunch of comfy hammocks. Once we were settled we headed to the beach to check out the town and the crowds (there were TONS of people ready to celebrate Peru’s independence). Music was blasting all along the beach, and we found a restaurant on the beach to grab a snack and a beer while we people watched. There were banana boats and crazy water hover boards speeding around just off the shore, and it was fun to watch some of the beginner surfers trying to stand up. After some yucca fries and our beers (have I mentioned that the beers here are 650 ml and about $2 USD and quite good?), we wandered around the booths for a bit before stopping at a convenience store to stock up for our party night. We got some Pisco, of course, because you have to drink Peru’s national liquor on their independence day! We weren’t allowed to bring the alcohol into the hostel, so we went back to the beach and hung out watching a soccer game and sipping our drinks. Isa and I bought a coconut to drink, in classic tourist fashion. The guy who sold us the coconut told us to make it a “CocoLoco” by adding some of our Pisco, which was a wonderful recommendation ;) Once the sun had set, we went and played some games in our room to pass the time and then went to find some veggie burgers for dinner. We ended up in a place that was only playing the Red Hot Chili Peppers and had a funny bartender in a big chef’s hat. The food was okay, and we wandered around afterwards trying to find the best place to celebrate. The beach was crazy, there were lights flashing and so many different bars playing different music and lots of drunk people taking pictures. There’s also a famous hostel called Loki that apparently has the craziest parties, but the line was huge so we ended up back at our hostel, which was also throwing a party. However, the party didn’t start until 1am and didn’t pick up until almost 3am, by which time most of us were fast asleep (we usually go to bed at 10 in the EcoHouse). Most of us made it until around 2 and got a bit of dancing in, but only Ale and Brady saw the true Mancora party scene, and they were out until 5am! In the morning we got our free breakfast at the hostel and hung out on the beach for a bit before gathering our things and grabbing lunch at the Black Sheep (the really yummy vegan restaurant that Mom and I went to the weekend before) and hopping on the Eppo bus home. Needless to say, the rest of that day was very chill and everyone went to bed early that night, but it was a fun adventure that brought us all closer together!

On Monday night we hiked up to the water tower for the sunset, which was nice but there was a marine layer blocking the lower part of the sunset that you could just tell was amazing! That night, a group of us had gotten back from dinner at Tranqui’s and were talking when Andres noticed a fire up the hill. A nearby house had caught fire (they figured out it was an electrical fire) and people were gathering trying to put it out (Lobitos doesn’t have a fire department). We ran to help out. It was pretty scary because this area is very dry, so the fire could have easily spread and destroyed much of Lobitos. Luckily, the community really rallied, bringing fire extinguishers and carrying buckets of water and shoveling dirt on the flames, and the fire was put out and no one was hurt. I was impressed and inspired by how many people drove from all corners of town to help fight the fire, it shows how close-knit the Lobitos community is.

On Thursday the Directors decided to take us on a work outing to Piedritas, the little town between Lobitos and Talara, to show us the hiking trails that EcoSwell is trying to develop into an ecotourism and education destination. We spent four hours hiking the rough trails in the dry forest, spotting cool birds and other wildlife, identifying plants, jumping across a muddy stream or two, and admiring the view over the dry forest from the highest point on the trails. It was a really fun day and showed us the beauty and the potential of the area. The trail project is about to take off, so I may get to help a little with that before I leave! Maybe my trail work experience will come in handy :)

Heading out on the hike in Piedritas!

On Friday morning we had the opportunity to go jump off one of the abandoned offshore oil rigs, and most of the volunteers decided to go (including me)! Tullio, the same guy that took us fishing, loaded us and a bunch of other people from nearby hostels into his boat and we puttered off to the platform. When we got there there were two huge sea lions lying on the stairs, so we had to scare them off by yelling at them until they sleepily rolled off the platform. The oil platforms have three levels, one four meter (13 ft), one eight meter (26 ft), and one fourteen meter (46 ft). We got to choose which to jump off of, and almost everyone went off the tallest one. It was high!! But the adrenaline rush was great and no one was hurt worse than a couple of tight muscles and bruises from landing wrong (I landed well and was perfectly fine!). I’ve done a lot of cliff jumping, and it was different to jump into the big ocean waves but nice to not have to try to avoid rocks when I jumped. It was definitely an experience and took some nerve, but it was a lot of fun and now I can say that I’ve jumped off the top of an offshore oil rig!

The oil rig we jumped off of (those stacks of tires at the bottom are about as tall as me, for reference).

I also went surfing twice in the past few days, and I’m determined to start going more often! It was a lot of fun, and both times I got up on the board at least four times. Also, the water has been really warm lately, so there’s no need for wetsuits! I’m ready to become a surfer girl :)

Finally, we went out to El Cuartel (a restaurant/hostel mom and I went to) for the first time with the EcoTeam for Isa’s last night and it was delicious! Most of the guys got veggie burgers (Ale is going vegetarian for August, yay!), I got a quinoa salad, and Isa got what looked like an amazing seafood risotto! On the way home it was pitch dark and everyone was admiring the milky way and the constellations. It was a fun night with everyone, and El Cuartel is becoming my favorite restaurant in Lobitos (though it is the furthest away from the house).

Phew! I think that covers all the adventures this week. This past weekend was really nice and chill; I spent most of the time reading (I’ve moved on to rereading the Harry Potter series), hanging out on the beach, surfing, and cooking. I’m looking forward to the next four weeks and what adventures they bring!

Looking out over the Piedritas dry forest :)

It’s been the craziest and most fun week yet, but I also have been missing home more than ever. When I can get online, the pictures of the mountains and green trees remind me of all the hikes I love in the summer and the mountain views that I love so much. I’m sad to be missing summer traditions, but this is truly an incredible experience and I’m trying my best to live in the moment! I’m sure I’ll have my fair share of mountains, trees, and views in my three weeks in Patagonia at the end of summer!

That’s all for now, miss and love you all! Look for another update next Monday :)

#EcoSwell #summer2018 #Lobitos #Peru

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loadedliterature-blog · 6 years

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Recipes to follow at the bottom.

Roasted Chicken with Oranges, Brussels Sprouts, and Green Olives

Stuffed Artichokes

Butternut Squash Soup

Fruit Salad

Macaron Tree

Can-died Pears

Crimson Thread and Menage Trois wines

Reading The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood, I was a bit daunted by how to create a menu in theme with the book. In a dystopian society, what do they eat? How do they eat? How do they cook? Thankfully, Miss Anya Spector came to my rescue. “Why don’t we do a Birth Day Party?” Duh. A Birth Day Party. Though this is an oppressive society, they seem to splurge when it comes to the day their Handmaid’s gave birth. This fact opened up options for me. Here, I want to explain my research, as well as my choices for the menu for this week. The three stages in this process are as follows: research, prep, and cooking.

1. Research

The background of the book is a bit vague. We don’t really learn what happened to the US until page 174 of the Anchor Books edition. I tried to mark down any mention of food, but I also found a list on the website Bookmenus.com. There were many foods mentioned, but the most mentioned were oranges and coffee. Because Anya Spector and I live on coffee, this would automatically make the menu. It is now tradition to begin a recording session with a strong cup. Oranges, however, stumped me. I knew we should do a luncheon, but what savory options would be included?

That’s when I found an interview with the production crew of the new Hulu TV adaptation. A lot of research went into making decisions of what to include in grocery stores like Loves and Fishes in the show. Production designer Julie Berghoff said to a Marie Clare writer visiting set, “Every piece of fruit had a thought process behind it—when she gets oranges, the implication is, ‘Okay, they conquered Florida.’ If they had artichokes, it meant they conquered California. The evolution of Gilead was always in mind.” So that was it. Oranges and artichokes were enough inspiration to start a menu.

In Gilead, there seems to be a black market where rich wives can find luxury gifts, from cosmetics and lotions, to exotic cheeses and canned goods. Following the logic of Berghoff, assuming Florida and California had been conquered, and the Marthas had access to their agriculture, as well as some black market items, they could create a bountiful Birth Day banquet, fit for a Gilead luncheon.

One thing that stood out to me in the books was that cooking had become a bit more pure. No longer are there processed, pre-made foods in Gilead. Everything is homemade, so that was something that we wanted to emphasize in our own work… Not that we’ve actually served anything store bought other than the Harry Potter Candy. However, the homemade bread from P&P, and homemade macarons are very different. Everything to follow is made by us.

2. Preperation

Because I agreed to make quite a big spread for this book, my preparation began days before our actual recording. Quick tip: most soups can be made in advance and frozen! Almost all soups have a base that can be separated and frozen, while garnish can be made the day-of.

So I made the soup first. Butternut squash is hard, so make sure you have a sharp knife, sharp peeler, and strong grip. When roasting, make sure you dice vegetables as uniform as possible for even cooking. Metal spoons work wonders at scraping out squash. Save the pulp for a squash bread, especially pumpkins. The seeds can be roasted and salted for a healthy snack! When roasting the squash (see recipe below) toss roasting vegetables in the combination canola oil and EVOO. This mixture lowers the smoke point and help avoid over caramelizing the vegetables. Then I place a small piece of butter at each end of the roasting sheet for the nutty browned butter flavor. Finally, just barely cover the roasted vegetables with vegetable broth. You can always add more, you can’t take it out. However, if your soup becomes more like a puree, thin with more broth. Remember the more you thin, the less seasoning it will have so be sure to continue to taste. Separate into servings and freeze for freshest taste. Thaw the morning-of.

Next I prepped the artichokes. Artichokes have a low yield, so we try our best to avoid cutting the yield down further by wasting much of the plant. Cut the stems off to make the artichokes sit flat on a cutting board. Next cut tips off, at least an inch and a half down the artichoke. Trim the other untrimmed leaves with kitchen sears. Soak in water with fresh squeezed lemons, and be sure to rub the leaves and stem in lemon to prevent discoloration. I’m soaking mine for half a day. When they are done, I will steam them until the are tender, around half an hour. The day of the book club meeting, I will stuff them and roast them.

For the chicken, the oranges can be sliced the day before. Beware! You will smell like oranges all damn day. The Brussels Sprouts can also be cleaned. I tear the outside leaves off the sprouts, cut the stems off, and slice them in half. Store in water and lemon to prevent discoloration. The chicken can also be cleaned and trussed the night before. Run under cold water, and pat dry. Stuff with garlic cloves, onion halves, lemon and orange halves. Truss chicken to prevent the stuffing falling out. Rub in butter. Salt and pepper the chicken just before it is cooked. Pan sear for a beautiful golden brown color. For the gravy, make sure you pre-make the veloute base (blonde roux with stock, reduce until thickened. Skim the scum it creates to reduce floury flavor!). Mix veloute base with drippings and reduce.

Finally the fruit. For your fruit salad, make sure you have a good arrangement of fruit. Too many tart fruits together will make your mouth turn inside out (i.e. pineapple, oranges, grapes, green apples, raspberries…). Instead, mix with softer flavors like strawberries, red apples, melons, etc. For the “can”-died pears, we’re using canned fruit so it is already soft. Don’t overcook these, or they will turn to mush. You only want to heat these up. Immediately mix in the butter with spices. Finish with the whiskey. Be careful! Any time you are cooking with a high-alcohol content liquor, there is a chance it will go up in flames! This is called flambe. Don’t panic if it happens. Enjoy the pretty colors! Alcohol burns off very quickly. As long as it stays in the pan, you are safe. If you try to fling it into the sink, you risk spilling it on something that will actually catch fire. Instead, tend it carefully and it will go out.

**Macaron vs Macaroon

Okay let us get one thing straight. There is a difference between these two cookies, so let me educate y’all. For this podcast, Hale graciously cooked us macarons and we put them on a painted foam tree for pictures. However, many people will think they are macaroons, which would be untrue. Many of you may know the double-O Macaroon. This meringue cookie is popular in the US during Passover, and to understand that you need to understand the history of the cookie and how the French macaron became the coconut macaroon you find in cookie tins.

So the “French” Macaron actually came from Sicily (shout out to my fellow Sicilian co-host Hale). Macaron is actually related to the Italian word ammaccare, meaning “to crush.” This relationship probably refers to the act of crushing almonds into powder, the process necessary for your perfect French Macaron. However, until the 18th century, the cooks in the United States could not get their hands on many nuts or nut powders. Instead they substituted potato starch for a bit of texture, and substituted coconuts for almonds or other nuts, which were more perishable. Because the cookie has no leavening agent, they are considered acceptable for Passover! Thus, we have tins of chocolate dipped coconut macaroons for Passover in the US! However similar in history these cookies are, in the 18th century with the rise of French cuisine, these cookies deviated from each other. Though both are egg white meringue based cookies, the “flour” used is quite different. The French style is said to be more tedious and particular. Below you will see the difference between the coconut macaroon and the French macaron, respectively.

3. Cooking and Final Product

Roasted Chicken with Oranges, Olives, and Brussels Sprouts:

Ingredients:

Whole chicken (for 3-4 people)

3 Oranges

2 Cans Olives

1 lb Bussels Sprouts halved

1 Small Onion

Butter/Oil

Salt and Pepper to Taste

Process:

Preheat oven to 400

Clean, stuff, and truss chicken, salt and pepper to taste with a bit of butter rubbed over it

Line greased pan with oranges, halved Brussels sprouts, and green olives

Place chicken on top

Mix orange juice and honey and pour over chicken and everything on roasting tray

Roast in oven until done; start checking around the hour point.

When the chicken comes out of the oven, save drippings.

Mix drippings with veloute sauce. Reduce to desired thickness. Season with salt and pepper, orange juice if needed.

If the sauce isn’t thick enough, add a corn starch slurry

Fruit Salad

Banana, Papaya, Oranges, Grapes, Watermelon, Honeydew, Cantaloupe, Mango

Cut uniformly and serve

Butternut Squash Soup:

Cubed squash oiled on a roasting tray with salt and pepper, nutmeg, cinnamon, allspice, rubbed sage, rosemary, and thyme

Roast at 400 until tender, about 30 mins

Puree with warm vegetable stock to desired thickness

Season to taste

Garnish with bacon lardons

“Can”-died Pears:

Canned pears quartered sautéed with butter and cinnamon/nutmeg

Saute in butter until they turn golden, mix in brown sugar

Finish with honey whiskey–flambe

Top with ice cream

Stuffed Artichoke:

Ingredients:

3 large Artichokes (for 4-6 people)

Lemons

1 cup Italian Style Bread Crumbs

8-10 Garlic Cloves, chopped

1/2 cup Parsley, Basil chopped

1/2 cup Grated Parmesan Cheese

1/2 cup Grated Romano Cheese

Butter/Oil

Process:

Clean artichoke, soak, steam until tender (see tips above)

Mix together breadcrumbs, garlic, herbs, cheese, and melted butter or oil

Spoon mixture between leaves of artichoke

Roast until brown at about 375 degrees

Macarons (not Macaroons. See note)

For the macaron shells:

300g ground almonds

300g powdered sugar

110g liquefied egg whites (see below)

+ 300g caster sugar

75g water

110g liquefied egg whites

Liquid food dye to splatter: pink, blue and yellow

Frosting:

1 batch fluffy vanilla buttercream frosting

1 drop each of yellow, green, blue, purple, red and orange food gel

Process:

For the process, use the directions the creator of this recipe uses. Follow the link below.

https://www.thescranline.com/yay-gay-macarons

For a butter cream recipe, look to our Harry Potter themed birthday cake from last months’ recipes: https://loadedliteraturepodcast.com/2018/07/04/unicorn-blood-and-candy/

Macaron vs Macaroon; or Forever Smelling of Oranges Recipes to follow at the bottom. Roasted Chicken with Oranges, Brussels Sprouts, and Green Olives Stuffed Artichokes…

#Birth Day #Butternut Squash #Butternut Squash Soup #Candied Pears #Fruit Salad #Handmaid&039;s Tale #Macaron #Macaroon #Recipes #Red Wine #Roast chicken with Brussels Sprouts #Roast Chicken with Green Olives #Roast chicken with oranges #Stuffed Artichokes

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thecoroutfitters · 6 years

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Written by Guest Contributor on The Prepper Journal.

Editors Note: Another guest contribution from valknut79 to The Prepper Journal. As always, if you have information for Preppers that you would like to share and be entered into the Prepper Writing Contest with a chance to win one of three Amazon Gift Cards with the top prize being a $300 card to purchase your own prepping supplies, then enter today!

Composting is a natural, effective way of improving your soil quality – a must for any preppers who plan on doing any kind of gardening. As it stands, it’s possible to hit your local hardware store for a few bags of compost that you can integrate into your soil to help improve it, but post-collapse, this “black gold” of gardening is going to be in demand if you plan on creating bountiful crops. In addition, compost is also a highly effective method of ridding yourself of garbage without relying on the local garbageman.

Setting up a composting system is super simple, and is an easy project you could completely set up within two hour’s time. Following through with your system is an ongoing process, but only slightly more complicated than separating your garbage between regular and recycling piles.

What is Compost?

Compost is, essentially, decomposing plant material. When you toss out your leftover lettuce stumps, carrot heads, or onion skins, you’re wasting valuable compost material – simply burying or speed-composting this leftover vegetable mess could take all of the beneficial nutrients that are stored in the food and gift them back into the soil, to be pulled out in next year’s radish or broccoli crop.

The plants that you grow must take their nutrition from the soil around them. If your soil has been drained of nutrient resources, your crops may struggle to take root and get off the ground. Compost is part of the magic that keeps our natural life cycle running by taking the leftovers you wouldn’t use anyways and putting their nutrients back into the system.

Compost looks and acts just like a regular soil – it’s simply a little denser than normal soil, and a lot healthier than a chemical supplement like Miracle Gro.

How to Create Compost

At our house we have a variety of composting areas, because over the course of the year, we create a lot of vegetable garbage. When cooking, we dispose of our leftover pieces – the greens of cauliflower, the tough ends of asparagus, and the rinds of watermelons – and we put them in a bowl to be placed in a composter at some point later in the evening or the next day. Once the garbage is disposed of, you just need to wait for nature to take it’s course.

Some gardeners simply pile their compost in an area that’s outside of view, but I think that this is not the ideal method. Depending on how fastidious you are about what you put in the pile and how well you hide or cover the material, it may attract bugs or animal visitors that you don’t want anywhere near your home. Even tied-up or bound compost piles create some danger of this, and it’s slow. Because it’s open to the air, you may have to wait a year or more to access your compost.

The simplest method that I can recommend is using a compost bin. Ours is a round black trash can with hinge and a locking mechanism on the lid. I drilled holes in the top and bottom of the can to promote air flow, and as it starts to fill, I tip the can over and roll it around on the lawn to aerate the contents. If the bin is filled with the right mixture of fast-decomposing plant material (see later in this article) we can have compost ready in as little as two to three weeks, although in most cases it takes a month or more. Nothing has yet broken into my mobile bins, and I use two or three at a time to create a balance of rotting and readiness times.

Another very simple method to create compost is to use the trench method. This is pretty much exactly what sounds like – a shallow and narrow trench running through your garden where you place your composting material, then burying it as you fill it. If you do a lot of non-vegetable plant waste (i.e. grass clippings, wood, etc), then this is a great way to improve your soil quality. Some vegetables will sprout if you bury them, so you may end up with a few eggplant or pepper plants popping up if you compost these remains.

If you have particularly large things to compost – fallen trees, logs, etc. – then a hill compost may be best. Line up the material you wish to rid yourself of, wet it thoroughly, and pile dirt or sand on top. In as soon as four to five years, you should have the material completely broken down, and have a rich pile of soil just waiting to be transplanted into your growing areas.

Materials

Compost can be created using almost anything “natural” as well as many everyday products, like boxes from Amazon, coffee cups from many local establishments, cigars or bread and pasta products. The best mix, in my opinion, is a widely varied group of materials, but certainly, there are composting superstars. I like to call them “breakfast compost” – coffee grounds, egg shells and banana peels are three highly nutritional ingredients that can help to improve your plant’s conditions.

Generally speaking, the thicker and larger pieces you put in your composter, like straw, sticks, boards, root vegetables or cardboard boxes, will be slow decomposers. They have some nutritional benefit, but if not chopped or broken down before being added, it could be a while before they rot to the point that they make nice smooth consistency compost. Things which break down particularly quickly are grass clippings, ash, tea bags, bread, weeds, and dead plant material. Fallen leaves from your trees fall somewhere in the middle – occasionally they break down quickly, and at other times they take their time.

Do not add meats, dairy products, or animal feces to your compost mix. They’ll break down, certainly, but they smell, and can attract many animals. I’ve also seen people recommend staying away from composting citrus fruits and onions, stating that while they decompose, they can potentially harm some of the beneficial bacteria that you’re harvesting in your compost, and slow down the rotting process. I have not had detrimental effects, but as I do not use these products to great excess, I can’t say that I’ve added too many of either to my composter. A few never hurts.

With weeds and fruit parts, it is particularly important that you put them into a sealed composter bin. Both contain seeds, or at least, the impetus to spread. Planting either into a trench or pit composter may simply mean that you’ve moved them from one area to your garden into an area where they can propagate more quickly and prolifically. The high heat created by the rotting materials within a sealed composter will kill off any ability for these plants to grow, and will instead break the materials down.

Using Compost

Compost is a must-have. We use it as the basis for most of the soil mixture in our gardens, mixing it into the topsoil or commercial mixture because of it’s high nutrient content. We also use it as a soil amendment if we have a group of flowers or veggies that are not growing to their potential. Simply mound up a handful of compost around the plants which need a boost, and usually after a few watering’, they’ll perk up as the nutrients seep from the compost into the soil and root systems below.

Another method for using compost, or even just the ingredients for compost, is to put a handful of finished compost into a pot, and fill with water. Let it sit overnight, and then use that liquid to water your plants. I’ve had half-dead plants come back to life completely with one watering. Banana peels, particularly hard-packed into a jar, covered with water, and left in the sun, make a super effective plant tonic

A composting system set up takes two hours or less for the vast majority of people, and is an effective way to not only help out your garden, but deal with garbage and reduce the waste you create. What are you waiting for? Go get those trash cans!

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The post Simple Summer Project – Composting appeared first on The Prepper Journal.

from The Prepper Journal Don't forget to visit the store and pick up some gear at The COR Outfitters. How prepared are you for emergencies? #SurvivalFirestarter #SurvivalBugOutBackpack #PrepperSurvivalPack #SHTFGear #SHTFBag

#SHTF #TEOTWAWKI #MARTIALLAW #BUGOUT #PREPPERBAG #USAF #USSOCOM #ARMY #NAVY #SurvivalFirestarter #Sur

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moonlogue-blog-blog · 3 years

Text

2020.11.18

i’m sitting here at 37 minutes past 4 am in the morning

just had a bowl of curry that i didn’t (couldn’t finish) last night

it was warming even though it was ‘cold’. the peppers did it.

dark chocolate is supposed to be okay and good for me. with this ovarian cyst.

and supposedly other foods with potassium. they said even bananas.

from last i heard from a friend living here on the island, there are some locallly grown bananas. but it’s definitely not an indigenous plant or vegetable or fruit here.

what is a banana?

we call it a fruit.

what is a tomato?

is it a vegetable?

how do we determine what is called what?

what is a boy?

what is a girl?

is it about genitals?

so the woman i teach english to these days (introduced kindly by my dear sister amy) is so cute.

she is like this twinkling fairy. and then i’m curious, just as she is curious, about what various ‘sides’ she has underneath those layers of shine. she is a mother. she has two sons. and she has a husband. she has a mother. and probably a father. and she has the desire and will and drive to learn english. her sons go to an international school (american education system) here in jeju island. i live close to this area called the ‘english education city’ or ‘korean international school’ village/town/city whatever you wanna call it. i mean, it is a pretty big piece of land. i mean, it’s a lot of forests that they cut down for this. and i mean, there are just way too many foreign cars rolling around here, at least, a lot more than i’m kind of comfortable seeing or passing. especially in a town like this, in an island like this, where it’s like, if you have a bmw or a porsche, you know it came by boat from the mainland or somewhere else. i’m guilty too though, you know. i order stuff alot now. i used to limit and really monitor how much i ordered stuff online. last year when i first moved here, i was almost starving sometimes because 1. i didn’t want to use the refrigerator (in the dead middle of the summer) 2. i didn’t want to add carbon footprint by ordering things online conveniently and 3. i didn’t want to make a lot of trash. but then eventually you know what i did? i went to the gs25 15 minute walk away to get beer, chips and ice cream. and wine. and sweets. and cookies. and ramyun. all kinds of shit.

trash. what is trash really anyway? it’s unwanted or un-useable parts of things that we use. things we don’t think we need or want. they have no use for us, so we throw it away.

my friend saewon sent me a youtube link to a korean guy talking about the difference between good and bad people. it was literally that - he was saying the people you can trust are the ones who will stay by your side because they have some use for you. basically, they have something that they’d be able to benefit or get from you. even gain or suck out of you, by being within your circle or keeping you in their life. but if they betray you or leave you, it’s because they have decided that you are no longer of use to them. they don’t need you anymore. there is no more juice to suck on.

i thought that was pretty intense - at least they way he put it - sounded so…transactional? calculating? impersonal? and kinda, cold. it kinda shatters the whole notion of the korean jung정. you know?

i’ve been talking about a project that i’ll be working on. or that i am working on.

i mean, it’s hard to say when an actual project starts or finishes specifically.

it could have begun years ago when some ideas started seeding within your mind and body and heart. it could have technically begun when you decided to sit down and make a proposal of the project and send it in as an application for funding. it could begin the day that you decide to go and do the first shoot or write the first draft or make the first copy or whatever you do.

how could i still think of that day?

with such memory precision, i search back and look for these clues.

i look in to details.

kinda obsessively.

but also inquisitiviely

because i am curious

do you like me?

have you found interest in me?

what do you like about me?

how can you fancy me?

what can i do?

how can i flaunt?

but then,

i see you

and i

you

so here it is, another dilemma, not particularly between two choices or anything.

but more of an existential question about ‘what is it to be human?’

‘what is it to be a woman?’

‘what does it mean to be balanced? both masculine and feminine?’

perhas we were the only two that applied

eitherway

it was meant to be

and even if there is no competititon

then even better

i didn’t have to beat someone else to get what i wanted

it was fair

we all got stuff to do

people were not applying to go outside of their bubble anyway

unless they were set on being free

and playing by their own rules

and that’s been the subject of a lot of conversation

i mean, why can’t i wear no bra to work with male coworkers?

why can’t i just be myself with my crazy hair shaved or spiking out in the most awkward growth stages?

well, i should ask myself that question

because no matter what, and even though the society has their unwritten rules and some actual outright laws and stuff,

i mean, i know what’s right for me and i know what’s true to me, right?

or i should hope so. that this is the case.

but then, we are always compromising.

always

com

prom

zing

we talked about that while we were sitting on the rock over the ocean.

the waves were so silky smooth

and the wind wasn’t too cold even after sunset

but we did eventually get up and leave before it got too dark

she was smoking cigarettes

and blaming me for it

that i had given her the most delicious cigarettes and called it ‘cloud candy’

i was just repeating what my friend in the east coast told me,

that she’d go and have some ‘cloud candy’ when she was actually going to have a secret cigarette at the corner of her yard.

she was a farmer, a builder, a writer, a - many things. a mother. a wife. a pioneer. a mover and a shaker. and she was sick too. but aren’t we all a bit sick? in heart mind and body? and spirit.

but i wonder if the spirit ever gets sick. or it just gets…stuck. or misunderstood. or angry maybe? perhaps? but it doesn’t get sick. right?

when my cousin was having her seizure like episode,

she said a few things to me that were unreal.

like how did she know about the things she was saying out loud to me?

it was as if she was possessed.

it was as if she knew something that i didn’t know,

that she saw things

and she knew things

and yes she was incredibly drunk

and she just knew things

was she and is she also part shaman?

a seer?

perhaps she was, and now she is a devout christian.

she said that before she converted to christianity, her spirit was tormented by a visciously angry resentful female ghost/spirit. also her younger sister, my other cousin, had these nightmares or night terrors or sleep paralysis kind of experiences, right before she was trying to convert to christianity. and then once she converted she said she’s been having no problems. they are both, ‘happily’ married, and doing quite alright. i guess.

i mean, who’se to say that marriage is right or wrong?

i mean, i don’t know.

i like that my parents got married, even when they hardly knew eachother, because thanks to them getting married, i was born. and my brother was born before me. of course.

and we were a family, and we are a family. for the rest of our lives, and onwards, even if we don’t want to be. it’s in the blood and there’s no denying that.

i liked many people. it was just like an instinctual thing.

with girls, we’d become best friends and then because of something, we’d get angry pissy or jealous and then we’d have the worst most dramatic fight. argument. break up.

and then with boys, i’d just crush on them. i’d be like, oooh whose that boy? i like hiiiim. and then i’d spread that to my friends and indirectly let him know that i’ve got a thing for him. that i got my eye on him. but then i’d be so shy. i wouldn’t really make a move or anything.

the first time i probably made a move on someone first, was when i was at this punk rock show in hawai’i and i asked a girl that i met there if she wanted to be a part of my love life. i mean, that’s not exactly how i started the conversation. i was dancing. and it was crowded. not my type of music but then my fellow radio station djs and friends were there. so i see this girl dancing in front of me, and she had a tattoo that was a korean letter or word or something on the back of her neck. so i was curious. and maybe a little high. so i tapped her on her shoulder and it was loud. but she turned around from the touch, and i don’t remember what i said through the noise but i must have asked her about her tattoo. and why she has it? and i think i heard through the drums and guitars that she was half korean. or something like that. we kinda tried to talk but it wasn’t working with the punk rock. but she did say something after looking into my eyes or face. and i could make out her lips or just the energy of what she said. she said ‘you’re beautiful’. and i think i embarassed her by repeating what she said. she probably thought i couldn’t hear her.

i was already smitten by crystal. they were everything. i mean, i couldn’t figure it out cos i guess i was mostly in to boys at the time. but here was this being. that just was like, unbelievable and strange and beautiful and alluring and soft and amusing and curious and incredibly attractive. i couldn’t understand this attraction. but it was real. it’s not like i ignored it, but i was perhaps waiting to see. or keeping an eye on it. or just…participating in this getting to know eachother.

i eventually went down on her. she had jeans on. we were kissing. finally. after laying in this mattress for a while. in her friend’s living room. i was wondering if we were gonna play around. fool around. but she just lay still, there. close to me. but not making any moves.

so i think i might have tapped her on her shoulder again. to be like, ‘hey, i thought we were gonna make out or do something’. haha. that was ridiculous. but honest. and straightforward. so we did. we proceeded. with soft kisses. probably the softest i’ve ever tasted. ever felt. on my lips. and on my tongue. on my skin. and she was supple. she was wet. she was soft. and then i couldn’t help but go down towards her belly, then her jeans. unbotton. and then zip down. and then off. i smelled her. it was fishy. i was surprised. the odor was so alive. so visceral. so strong. and then i think i just devoured her. i’m not even sure what i did. but i enjoyed it greatly and just allowed myself to go into it and enjoy it more. and i think, she did as well.

(i’m supposed to have written 30,000 words by today if i have kept track with writing at least 1,666 words per day since november 1st. then i’d be able to finish writiing a 50,000 word novel by the end of november. how? just writing. i mean, not even with much of a plot. just about my life. and how i’ve been living. and currently, i’m at 4,643 words. it’s day 18.)

wish me luck.

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helenavidela · 4 years

Text

Extended project: Service: Being Vegan

After watching various documentaries, I came across a hard realization… Our diets and lifestyles are one of the biggest factors that contribute to mass extinction and greenhouse gas emissions. Then I realized that affluent people are the ones least affected by climate change, however they are also some of the most reluctant to actually change the comfort of their lifestyles and diets to help our earth and the people affected by it. After my trip to the amazon and various other poverty-stricken and necessitous areas in Colombia I noticed that these people are the ones who most suffer the effects of climate change and the ones that can least change their lifestyles or do not know or comprehend about Climate change. For example, when I witnessed peoples harvest getting ruined due to the river overflowing or droughts, I understood that it is us, who have the possibility of being vegan who can make a real change in the world.

It is widely known that meat consumption is one of biggest contributors of Co2 and greenhouse gasses. According to a 2006 report by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), our diets and, specifically, the meat in them cause more greenhouse gases carbon dioxide (CO2), methane, nitrous oxide, and the like to spew into the atmosphere than either transportation or industry, that means that being vegan or consuming less meat in more effective than not using your car, and far more easy. Then I found out that it is not only meat but dairy. Cutting meat and dairy products from your diet could reduce an individual's carbon footprint from food by two-thirds, according to the Oxford study, published in the journal Science.

I have decided to go plant based because it is quite easy during quarantine and a good way to help the planet and indirectly unprivileged people who cannot access vegan products as the replacements are rare and not very accessible.

Nonetheless, I am not oblivious to the fact that it takes many people to join a cause to actually create a change, so I have decided to try and inspire people to opt for plant based diets or just try and consume less meat and animal-origin products in General. Because of this, I have decided to create a very simple and easy vegan or meat free meal recepies for people to try and ease into this lifestyle as well as spread the word of the benefits of these diets not only for the environment but our health as well. It can be as simple as stopping our dairy consumption and reducing our meat consumption, which is why I have included fish as I understand that these items are vital due to their nutrients.

I have researched and planned various meal ideas that are full in plant based protein and very nutritious.

I had to include my personal favorites which are banana Ice cream, my own Vegan mac and cheese and my favorite sugar cookies.

I am planning on starting a vegan blog where I review my favorite meals and brands and show my favorite recipies to help people get involved with this lifestyle

Vegan mac n cheese:

- Pasta (vegan or not)

- Nutritional yeast

- Olive oil

- Milk

- Flour

- Salt

- Pepper

- Paprika

- Vegan cheese

Start by making a vegan rue: on a stove heat equal parts of olive oil and flour.

Start cooking your pasta

Add to the rue plant-based milk, preferably almond or cashew. Mix until it thickens the slightest bit.

Add your nutritional yeast to make it taste like cheese. Mix until dissolved

Add your vegan cheese to make sauce.

Add sauce to pasta when done.

Add milk to taste to make sauce creamier!!

Banana Ice cream:

- Slice bananas and freeze these for 24 hours.

- Blend them until smooth

(Do not add liquid as the bananas will cream eventually)

Berry smoothie:

- Plant based milk

- Berries

- Optional: oats or chia

For a berry bowl add less milk and Frozen berries to create a thicker consistency.

Almond butter toast:

- Bread

- Almond butter (this one can be easily made at home by firstly toasting almonds for about 5-10 minutes and then blending them either in a food processor or blender. It takes a couple of tries but eventually it will butter

- Optional: Chia seeds on top or maple syrup

Vegan Pancakes:

- Flour (wheat, oat, coconut)

- 1 banana

Plant based milk

Vegan lunch ideas:

- https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/boxing-day-banh-mi

- https://www.forksoverknives.com/recipes/vegan-menus-collections/top-vegan-lunch-dinner-recipes/

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youtube

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altughuner-blog · 5 years

Photo

When you talk about the best cuisine in the world, Thai food is right up there. Along with Italian, Chinese, Indian, Japanese and Mexican, Thai food makes it to the top 10 list of popular cuisines in the world. However, most of the popular dishes include meat, often pork, chicken, beef or seafood, as an ingredient. Because of this, if you’re vegan or looking for vegetarian Thai food you need to know and plan about it during your trip to Thailand. I have got some good news for you. You can still take a foodie trip to the ‘Land of Smiles’ and feast on some delicious vegetarian dishes.

The Thai combination of herbs and spices create ‘to die for meals’ that are spicy, sour, sweet, crunchy and chewy. That’s why a lot of people love Thai dishes because of all the flavors it presents in one meal.

Read to know more about the vegetarian Thai food dishes you must try during your trip, the best places to get them and how to order the food.

Remember to travel to Thailand from India you’ll need a Thailand eVoa from India.

Irresistible Vegetarian Thai Food Dishes To Try

1. Som Tam (Spicy Green Thai Papaya Salad)

Som Tam Green Papaya salad spicy and delicious. Image Shutterstock

This is one of the popular Thai vegetarian dishes you can try in Thailand. The mouthwatering meal is prepared using, galangal, juicy tomatoes, carrots, shredded green (unripe) papaya, lime and tamarind juice, long beans, palm sugar, and peanuts. The ingredients give the meal a sweet, spicy, salty, sour and savory flavor. The salad usually has fish sauce and prawns included, so when ordering you make sure to say you’re vegetarian/vegan for these ingredients not to be included in your dish.

2. Pad Thai (Stir-Fried Rice Noodles)

Pad Thai the stir-fried rice noodles with tofu and mixed vegetables. Image Shutterstock

A vegetarian Thai food cuisine menu cannot miss this dish. It is one of the national dishes in Thailand and is also very popular among tourists. Mostly it is cooked with eggs, bean sprouts, tasty tofu cubes, onions, lime juice, groundnuts, and shrimp or chicken. However, you can ask the chef to omit the meat products. The famous Thai dish is just as tasty without them. Pad Thai is sold everywhere in Thailand from five-star restaurants to the street food stalls.

3. Pad Phuk Tong (Stir-Fried Pumpkin)

Pad Phuk Tong – the stir-fried Pumpkin. Image Shutterstock

You’re probably used to seeing pumpkins begin carved out during Halloween. In Thailand they have a much better use for pumpkins, they use them to create this vegetarian dish. Other ingredients used to prepare Pad Phuk tong are spring onions, coriander leaves, sugar, garlic, water, white pepper, celery, and soy sauce. This is one of the best vegetarian dishes in Thailand and you should try it with Thai fragrant rice.

4. Pak Boong (Morning Glory)

Pak Boong the stir-fried Chinese Morning Glory or Water Spinach. Image Shutterstock

This is one of the healthiest foods you can take while you’re on vacation in Thailand. The delicious salad which is salty, crunchy, spicy and sour has soy sauce, chilies, soybean paste, and garlic. Oyster sauce is often added when preparing morning glory, so again tell the cook making it not to include the sauce to keep it vegetarian.

5. Pad Pak (Fried Vegetables)

As the name suggests this is an all-vegetable Thai dish. Some of the vegetables used to make it are mushrooms, cauliflower, and broccoli. When you go to a food stall you’ll see the different vegetables used to prepare it displayed and you can choose what you want or don’t want in your Pad Pak.

6. Vegetable Noodle Soup with Lemongrass

Should you visit Thailand during the cold season this noodle soup is what you should have to keep you warm on a chilly day. It is known to be a good remedy for a cold or flu and is also said to help boost your mood. To make it lemongrass, several vegetables, thin rice noodles or noodles of your choice, coconut milk is needed. The soup is quite filling and can be had as a meal on its own at any time of the day.

7. Vegetarian Thai Green Curry

Thai cuisine has a wide variety of curries with Panang and Massaman curry being some of the most popular ones. A lot of curries are made with meat but this can be removed in your order. The Thai green vegetable curry, for example, has meat in it but you can substitute this with tofu or wheat gluten. Whichever you choose will be mixed with kaffir lime leaves, lemongrass, galangal, coriander seeds, green chilies, and coconut milk.

8. Pad Phak (Stir-Fried Vegetables)

This is another all vegetable meal that will ensure you stick to your vegetarian diet. It will also leave you full but wanting for more. Ingredients required to make this meal are vegetable oil, coarsely chopped garlic, broccoli florets, cauliflower florets, shallots, carrots, bell pepper, snow peas, mushrooms, soy sauce, spinach leaves, Thai pepper powder, and lime juice. These are all mixed together to give your food several different flavors. You can enjoy this meal with Thai jasmine rice.

9. Tao Hoo Song Kreung (Mixed Tofu)

If you don’t know tofu, it is soya milk coagulated to create curd. It is an excellent source of protein, iron, and calcium for vegans and vegetarians. To make this Thai meal different types of tofu are fried with the basil to make a tasty stir fry. Like most of the other dishes, we have talked about mixed tofu is usually served with some steaming rice.

10. Laab Jay (Vegan Laab)

In Thailand, most Laab salads have chicken, beef or pork but you can have a vegetarian version. Simply replace the meat with tofu and you have an amazing meal. The tofu is mixed with lime juice, Thai roasted chili paste, green onions, coriander leaves, roast rice powder, lemongrass, etc. The spices used to make this meal make it very hot and spicy, so if you don’t like spicy food ask for it to be prepared moderate or mild.

11. Thai fruit

Fruits in the streets of Thailand

If you have had enough of Thai vegetable meals on your trip switch to some fruits. Fruits are very healthy and in Thailand, you can try some of their rare fruits. You can but a bag of fruits from street vendors for 40 Baht (Baht is the official currency of Thailand), which is about $1. Mangosteen, rambutans, banana, durian, pomelos, rose apples, dragon fruit, lychee, coconut, and guava are some of the fruits you’ll find available at the fruit stand on the street corners of Bangkok.

Read More – Parallels in Indian and Thai Cuisine

There are so many more vegetarian Thai food dishes you can try while in Thailand. I’ll just list other options you can taste without going into details about them.

Heavenly pineapple fried rice. This is rice fried with cashews, peas, curry-flavored sauce and chunks of pineapple.

Thai Vegetable Spring Rolls. These make for a good snack as you travel around Thailand sightseeing. Stuffed with vegetables try them with sweet and sour or hot sauce.

Thai Mushroom Fried Rice

Khao Niew Ma Muang (mango sticky rice)

Thai Peanut Noodles

Chao Kuai. This is a Thai dessert prepared using sun-dried stems and leaves of the Chinese Mesona plant which are boiled to make a jelly.

Top Vegetarian Thai food Restaurants in Thailand

Roasted Bananas from streets of Bangkok

You can get Thai vegetarian dishes in most cities in Thailand you go visit. However, to make it easier for you here are some of my favorite vegetarian restaurants you can visit around Thailand:

1. Broccoli Revolution, Bangkok

This vegetarian Thai food restaurant located in downtown Sukhumvit was first opened in Bangkok in 2015. It now has two locations. It not only serves vegetarian dishes from around the world but also has a juice bar, which makes some of the best organic juices you’ll ever drink.

The Restaurant is open daily from 7 am to 10 pm so you can head on there for breakfast, lunch or dinner. I recommend you try the pad thai, mushrooms and basil on rice and green curry. This will cost you about 150-200 baht.

2. Greenlight Cafe & Bar, Koh Samui

This is not an exclusively vegetarian restaurant but their menu includes a wide range of Thai vegetable meals you will enjoy. Most of the ingredients used to make their dishes are organic and come from their kitchen garden.

It is open throughout the week 8 am to 10 pm. You can find the Greenlight Cafe & Bar at 3/28 Moo 1, Fisherman’s Village, Bophut, Koh Samui.

3. Atsumi Raw Cafe

This restaurant located in Rawai, Phuket is well known for its raw vegan and raw vegetarian menu. It also serves an amazing selection of smoothies, desserts, and juices made from organic ingredients. Going through its menu you may be overwhelmed by the large number of vegetarian dishes to choose from. However, the tom ka soup and zucchini pepper wrap will blow you away. Atsumi Raw Cafe is open from 9 am to 8:30 pm daily. The last order taken is at 8 pm.

4. Tien Sien

At this simple Thai restaurant, you get to choose what you want to eat as the food is served buffet style. You simply get in line and point out what you want on your plate. The restaurant has very friendly staff who will explain to you what the different Thai meals displayed on the counter are.

Meals are affordable and for about 70 Baht you can enjoy a large plate of vegan food. Situated at 439 Khwaeng Silom, Khet Bang Rak, Bangkok 10500, this restaurant is closed on Sundays but from Monday to Saturday it is open from 7:30 am to 3 pm.

5. May Veggie Home, Bangkok

Their motto is ‘Tasty vegetables amazing dishes. When you’re here, you’re family!’

The all-vegetarian restaurant food has got many tourists taking and it has been dubbed by some as the best vegetarian restaurant in Bangkok. Looking at the reviews made by those who have been there that assertion could be true.

If you visit May Veggie Home try the Tom Kha mushroom soup, yellow curry with tofu, pad thai tofu or Penang curry with tofu, I guarantee you will love these meals. For dessert, there are several vegan cakes and ice creams you can order.

The restaurant is at 8/3 (Asoke-Sukhumvit Intersection) Ratchadaphisek Road, Khlong Toei, Bangkok. It is open from 11 am–10 pm daily.

6. Ethos Vegetarian

If you’re looking for a relaxing place to grab a late supper after a long day of touring in Bangkok this is the place to go to. Located near Khaosan Night Market, the market that never sleeps, Ethos Vegetarian is open until a few minutes to midnight every day. So you can pass by here for a meal before heading back to your hotel to call it a day.

Try the yellow curry with potatoes, spicy glass noodle soup, vegetarian Thai spring rolls and don’t forget to ask for some of their fresh fruit juices.

7. May Kaidee

This restaurant has two locations, one in Bangkok and another in Chiang Mai. Both serve mouthwatering vegan and vegetarian meals, such as tofu green curry, banana flower salad, Pad Tai, and som tom.

If you would like to learn how to make Thai food, to cook for yourself or family once you get back home, May Kaidee offers cooking classes you can attend throughout the year. There are open every day from 9 am to 10 pm.

Read more – Street Food in rural Thailand

Conclusion

As you can see there are many Thai vegetarian dishes and places that sell these meals in Thailand. So you don’t have to worry that you won’t stick to your vegan or vegetarian diet when you travel to the country.

However to be on the safe side always tell the chef or waiter serving you that you are vegetarian or vegan. You can do that in Thai by saying “gin jay.” Because most restaurants prepare your food after you make an order. The chef or waiter will take extra precaution not to add meat to your meal.

For a vegan to ensure no fish sauce or oyster sauce is added to your meal say “mai ow nam bplaa” or “mai ow nam man hoy” This way you get no meat or animal products in your meal.

Let us know which of these meals you have tasted/tried during your trip. How was it? We would also like to taste them if we haven’t already done so on our next trip to Thailand.

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