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Veganomicon – The Ultimate Vegan Cookbook

30 January 2009 By Leave a Comment

But Jenn, your raw! Why yes, yes I am. Most of the time. The rest of the time, I try to eat, you know, healthy.

I picked this up from B&N today. I am a cookbook whore. I am actually really pleased with this one (I also got 30% off the hardcover new book price, so yay!).

It starts with info about stocking a vegan pantry. Eight pages or so of stuff you should have, why you should have it, and what it’s good for.

Then it moves onto kitchen equipment. That is everything from knives (and they give inexpensive tips for good knives!), a cutting board, peeler, to a food processor, mandoline, crepe pan, baking sheets, and back to basics like measuring cups. It’s a good summery of a well stocked kitchen.

They have a brief intro to proper cooking & prepping terminology. Terms like braise and roux and slurry along with grate.

Info about lower-fat cooking. How to cook a vegetable. How to cook a gain. How to cook a bean. It’s packed with something like 50 pages of (what I think should be) basic kitchen info, written for the masses in easy-to-understand-ese.

Then it moves onto the recipes. Oh. My. God. The recipes. There are about 220 pages of recipes.

It starts with snacks, appetizers, little meals, dips and spreads. Spicy Tempeh Nori Rolls. Potato Latkes (um, that is what made me buy the book. Seriously. Any book that includes latkes and calls them latkes is a winner, hands down.). Curried Carrot Dip. Hummus. Guac.

Then it moves onto brunch. Brunch now includes home fries, chocolate chip brownie waffles and blueberry corn pancakes. Let’s not forget the crepes.

Moving on to salads and dressings. Ceasar, portobello, and macaroni salads. Dressings? Miso tahini, Sesame, Raspberry-Lime Vinegrette.

Sammiches. Yep, sammies. Thanks Rachel Ray. Really. Baja style grilled tempeh tacos. Black bear burgers (always a hit in my home). Snobby joes.

Mix N Match veggies, grains, beans, and tofu/tempeh/seitan. Tons of side dishes.

There are soups, casseroles (not your grandmas casseroles either) and one-pot meals (aren’t one-pot meals casseroles?). Pasta, noodles & risotto. Sauces & fillings. Breads, muffins & scones. Cookies & bars. Desserts. Who knew cookies & bars weren’t dessert?

Then, at the very end, are two pages of simple menus in case you need a theme and don’t feel like reading from cover to cover.

Loving this book. I needed to inject my meals with something, and a lot of these I already make, so it just involves changing the seasonings up.

Filed Under: Food Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

The Image Space lightroom resource

7 August 2008 By Leave a Comment

I don’t think I ever mentioned it. In June I tried to download a PDF of Adobe Lightroom tips from The Image Space, and the PDF wouldn’t open right. Long story short, I sent an email off to the site, not really expecting to hear back, but I did! Not only that, but I was sent a new copy of the PDF and was asked what OS and browser I was using so the problem could be tracked down.

I did find the PDF useful (they tips are listed individually on the site, but it was nice to have them in one collection and easily referenced on my own hard drive) and you can find that download here: http://image-space.com/Downloads/Downloads.html

Filed Under: Photography Tagged With: , , , , , , , , ,

Ugh

23 July 2008 By Leave a Comment

I ate terribly yesterday and the day before, and I am all bloated and.. not crampy but not comfy. Definitely paying for it.

Need to go to the post today and the UPS drop box. I think we’ll go to the salad store… though I can make my down damn salad at home. The other night I had some baby greens, mushroom, sunflower sprouts, avocado and balsamic vinegar. It was tasty. I need to make some more cucumber salad too.

I really want an iPhone. Anyone out there have an older model they are willing to part with cheap? I’m on AT&T so it doesn’t need to be unlocked. I don’t need the new 3G one, and I can’t afford 400$ or 500$ to get one through AT&T anyway (I’m not up for contract renewal so I can’t even get one for 200$ + a new signed contract right now). I see them cheap on eBay, but they wind up at 300$ or so. I just want one of the old 8gig ones. I’d be willing to spend 100 – 150$ on a used one. Apple doesn’t have an refurbs last time I checked.

We’re getting the boys a swing set for their birthday this year. We’re 1/5 of the way to being able to pay cash for it (it’s a big wooden one that is a stupid amount of money but wont rust or be blown away) so I am hoping Michael can put away the rest in tips (how we have what we have so far) to get it by mid-September. I picked up a couple of cheap MP3 players (Target clearance for 15$ each instead of 60 or 70!) to give them on their actual birthday because I don’t expect to have the swingset until closer to Dorian’s birthday or possibly slightly after. So Mal gets his in August and Dor will get one in September

Filed Under: General, Mishpucha Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , ,

Summer Camp

8 June 2008 By Leave a Comment

I just panicked.

Tomorrow is the first day of camp for the boys. They are going three days a week and it’s right around the corner. We told them when we signed Malachai up he was high functioning autistic. I wanted to make sure it wasn’t a problem. They said no problem, and hey, if he doesn’t like it, we’ll refund you (not something they do otherwise, they just offer a program change). They even said they would let them hang out together if need be (with the age difference they would be in different areas). I told Dorian about that, and he said no problem.

I just panicked. What if they can’t understand him? Hell, sometimes we can’t understand him. What if they don’t give him enough notice when they change activities and he has a melt down because he wasn’t properly prepared? His visual schedule in school this past year wasn’t something the teacher typically does – but it did benefit the entire class and wasn’t a big deal.

I am probably borrowing problems. I don’t want to over manage him (and this is *really* unusual for me, because I generally don’t get like this) but I don’t want to put him in a situation where he might not be able to deal with something.

The woman in charge over there was awesome. I think we’re all going to go in tomorrow morning and as a one time thing just get him situated and introduce him to the people. I am going to make a short list of things they can do that shouldn’t be a pain that can accommodate him a little better (like a schedule and ample “warning” time that activities are about to change).

Funny thing is, I am not worried about Dorian. I guess it’s not as weird as I feel like it is… I just know he is able to handle this. They are both super excited about camp and swimming and hey, Monday is bowling day!

I don’t think I keep Mal in a bubble, and that isn’t how I feel now… I just want to facilitate the best summer he can have. So why do I feel like it makes me that hovering mom we all hate?

This is the list (for my records)

Tips to help Malachai through the day:
* If possible, a visual schedule helps greatly. We can send one in if we are given the times for activities.
* Let him know that activities are going to change at least five minutes before, but not more than ten.
* If you need his attention, get down on his level and address him by name until he makes eye contact and replies.
* If he is trying to get yor attention, you must reply to him or he will keep repeating until you do reply (such as, if he is calling your name, you have to say “what,” no other answer will get him to continue)
* He can be difficult to understand and can get frustrated if he cannot communicate.
* He can have problems with his balance and may fall down often. This is normal. Do not limit his gym activities due to this as they are actually a great form of therapy.
* In the event of a meltdown, remove him to a quiet area with little to no outside stimulation so that he can calm down. If this does not work, feel free to call.

We don’t expect any problems, but we felt you should be aware of the potential for difficulties.

Filed Under: General Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , ,

Hemp Tattoo Balm

4 March 2008 By 1 Comment

I thought I had some stuff at home, and as it turned out I didn’t. I found a tin of res-q salve from Burts Bees (which is almost identical to Tattoo Goo which I used to love) so I used that last night, but mine was old, and kind of gritty, so I stopped at Whole Foods this morning and picked up some Hemp Tattoo Balm from The Merry Hempsters.

I just put some on, and I was fine, I was fine, I was fine, MY GOD MY ARM IS ON FIRE! Mind you, I put it on with my finger tips, gentle gentle. So I washed it off with cool water and soft soap (yanno, instead of palmolive which I *just* realized reads “palm” “olive” no wonder it’s good for hands!) and put on some aquaphor which I DO NOT SUGGEST but I don’t have anything else till I pick Michael up tonight, when he will give me a new thing of Ink Fixx. Which I normally don’t like (just personal preference, it does a great job at it’s job), but it doesn’t irritate my colorful new open wound.

My poor arm.

So I don’t know if it was a reaction to me, or if this product sucks, but I certainly wont be recommending to anyone, ever.

I’ve got a good inch to inch and a half of red around my fresh ink, and a good chunk of that is from the irritation of that hemp stuff and having to wash it again so soon.

Filed Under: Body Modification Tagged With: , , , , ,
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