HAITI: miscellaney

FOOD
I'm sure all my food blogging friends out there would like to hear a little bit about what the food is like in Haiti. To be honest, it's not much to write home about if you're a vegetarian -- beans and rice or peas, plain white rice, white bread, iceberg lettuce salad with tomatoes, peanut butter sandwiches, etc. There were a few amazing things about Hatian food: fried plantains, milletant (a local squash, kind of like zucchini,) young coconuts, coffee, and fresh mangoes! Look how beautiful the mangoes were (and I ate piles of them for breakfast every single day):


GUESTHOUSE
Here is a picture of the guesthouse where we stayed for the week (there is also a pool, which is blocked by the wall in the front part of the picture):

And here is a picture of the entrance, with the gate rolled back, to give you an idea of how secure most middle- and upper-class homes are in Haiti:


CONSERVATION
Despite Haiti being a pretty dirty country in general, I was surprised at the conservation efforts I saw here and there. Gas and power are expensive and inconsistent, so folks conserve as much as possible. Most people drive diesel vehicles, which are more fuel efficient, and since most people get city power on average 4 hours a day (in fits and spurts,) lots of things are still done by hand, like laundry. Water is also scarse and expensive -- clean drinking water even more so. Some environmental messages from Haiti:
A sign in the bathroom reminding us to conserve water, and also to not clog up the plumbing:

Signs at Frere school, reminding children to respect their environment by putting trash in trash cans, by using toilets (instead of going in the woods,) by protecting plants and animals, and by not disrupting classes in session:

Solar panels on the roof of the guesthouse. Although these panels don't contribute much energy to the overall supply, they do help charge the batteries a little bit.


FANCY PLACES
We did drive through downtown our first full day in town, before the manifestations started. Rene Preval's house (i.e., the Presidential Palace):

A neighboring park/monument (forgive me, I forget to whom):


AIRPORT
We realized one of the best scenic views in Haiti is to be found at the airport:

And, yes, we're all boarding the plane Jackie-O Style!

HAITI: churches, schools, and children

COLLEGE BIRD
Since nine different Methodist churches in Port-au-Prince and Petion-Ville were having a large conference the weekend of April 6, we were unable to attend worship at St. Martin's, our sister church, in downtown Port-au-Prince. Instead, we attended the large celebration service at College Bird, the largest and wealthiest Methodist church in Haiti. A picture of College Bird:

The sanctuary:

Unfortunately, (or fortunately, depending on your view of it,) we were unable to stay for the entire service. We arrived around 9:00 AM, church began around 9:15, and we left around 11:30, because we had a 12:30 appointment to keep. I think I would have enjoyed church a lot more if I understood Creole.

HOSPITAL AND ORPHANAGE
On Monday morning, we were unable to visit St. Martin's downtown, because the manifestations had started, so we met up with another friend of the partnership, Junie, who is an ordained minister as well as a practicing gynecologist. (She is married to a surgeon -- what a family!) She took us on a tour of a large construction project she is currently supervising, which includes a hospital/clinic, orphanage, and school for the orphans, a few boarders, and day students. We toured the boys' and girls' residences first, where many of the children were having class, since the school is currently under construction. Children having lessons:



Pictures of the hospital, which they hope to open this fall (if all funding comes through in time, and all construction goes according to plan):




I also took a picture of one of the doors in the school, because I found the "graffiti" chalked on the door sort of sweet:

A translation of "Dieu est ici" is "God is here."

DUPLAN
Monday afternoon, we travelled with several of our friends from St. Martin's to Duplan, a more rural church community that has a school and library as well. Our plan is to model the library we are constructing at St. Martin's after the library at Duplan. Although it only took us about twenty minutes to arrive at Duplan, (over some extremely treacherous roads,) it felt as though we were in a different world from the bustling city! Duplan church:

Duplan school:


Students from Duplan, on their way home after school (Hatian children attend school half-days, and go home after lunch and a recess period):

The library at Duplan (the library is housed in the basement, and the upper floors are still under construction -- I never learned what their plan is for the rest of the building):




FRERE
Although our sister church is St. Martin's, which is located in downtown Port-au-Prince, we stay at the Methodist guesthouse, which is located on the grounds of Frere church, in Petion-Ville. Dan and I took a walk around the grounds on Thursday morning of our trip, and explored the church and school. Frere church:


Frere school:



And, lastly, Jessica, a student of Frere school, who lives on the grounds with her parents, Erick and Lise, who work at the guesthouse. Erick is mechanic and handyman extraordinaire, and Lise works in the kitchen, and also embroiders beautiful napkins. (I bought two napkins from her as my only souvenir, other than some peanut butter, coffee, and vanilla, which I purchased at the grocery store.)

I'm home!

We made it! Our flight out of Port-au-Prince was on time yesterday, and we were only slightly delayed out of Miami, arriving in Minneapolis about 25 minutes behind schedule. Dan's brother, Ryan, kindly collected us from the airport, so we were whisked home in no time. When I was going to bed last night, I realized I had been awake for almost 21 hours! No wonder I was so tired. :)

We were able to get outside the guesthouse grounds on Friday, thank goodness! We went to pick up Mme Florette, the director of CEPAM (the Methodist home for the aged, for whom we made the chairs,) and brought her back to the guesthouse for a short chat. She loves the chairs, and showed us pictures of the residents of CEPAM. We are very disappointed that we did not have the opportunity to meet the old ladies (and one old man!), although we learned the population of CEPAM has blossomed to 13 residents . . . we'll have to make more chairs next time!!

After we dropped Mme Florette off, we stopped at a supermarket (that was actually open!) to pick up coffee, peanut butter, and vanilla to bring home, and other essentials for a large lunch feast. Friday afternoon, many of us rode over to the Caribbean Market, another large supermarket, to pick up any last essentials we were unable to get at the other grocery store. Dan and I spent our last Gourdes on a six-pack of coconut soda -- YUM! Dan and I also walked the (very) long way home, and stopped at the largest outdoor market in Petion-Ville. We did not attract too much attention as "blancs," (which Hatians call all foreigners, regardless of their skin color,) but I think we were smart in leaving our backpacks and cameras at the guesthouse, which made us look less like "tourists."

While we were out on Friday, we noticed many signs of the manifestations from earlier in the week -- many buildings, including our neighboring gas station, had smashed windows and were boarded up, and there were tell-tale black marks on the street where the protestors had burned piles of old tires. Desptie this, things seemed to be calm and back to normal, at least for the time being. (Although no gas stations were open, which is why we were unable to drive anywhere far away on Friday -- we needed to make sure we had enough gas left to get to the airport Saturday!)

Friday evening and Saturday morning, we had a parade of visitors through the guesthouse. Many of the friends of the partnership stopped by to say good-bye, and many brought us thank-you gifts -- beautiful wooden boxes, mangoes, and young coconuts!

This morning, I've learned that the Hatian Prime Minister has been removed from his position, and some have been describing it as a beginning of the fall of the current government. We'll have to watch the news and see how things unfold. It does look like the government has put some measures in place for immediate aid, which will help drop food prices and allow people to eat again. While we were waiting for our flight out of Port-au-Prince yesterday, we were able to see Preval on television again, with the Prime Minister and other members of the government. How we wished we had an interpreter, so we could know what was going on! (Although Deidre has a basic understanding of Creole and I have excellent French that is pretty rusty, it was just too tricky for the two of us to figure out.) It looks like we got out of the country just in time -- things may get worse, before they get better, although I hope not.

I plan to post photos over the next couple of days, once I have time to organize everything! Stay tuned.

Haiti update

Electricity has been sporadic at best these past couple of days, so extended computer time has been tricky to come by! I apologize for the delay in updates. :)

Good news -- the manifestations seem to be drawing to a close, although we have not yet been allowed to leave the guesthouse. President Preval spoke on Hatian television yesterday afternoon, which we were able to view in the guesthouse office, and our manager's husband translated for us. The speech seemed focused on long-term solutions to the food crisis, which many folks found frustrating. The manifestations continued into the night last night, but fortunately we got quite a bit of rain, which seemed to send everyone indoors.

Today, we heard on the news that several Hatian senators called for the Prime Minister's resignation, as well as several members of his cabinet. This seems to have calmed things down. Life seems to have returned to normal in Petion-Ville, although a small group continued manifestations downtown today. Dan and I snuck out of the guesthouse to walk down to the end of the alley this afternoon, and everything seemed to be business as usual -- merchants selling mangoes, people out and about, a normal amount of traffic, etc. We really, really, really hope we are able to leave the guesthouse tomorrow, even if we are restricted to Petion-Ville! Reading, swimming, and playing cards is getting OLD!

Hilights from today: we ventured out into the grounds of Frere school and church today, which is part of the (very large, we discovered,) walled compound that also houses the Methodist guesthouse. Frere church is quite beautiful, although it was padlocked so we were only able to peek in the windows. Bummer for Dan, as he noticed a full drumset set up at the front of the church! Oh well. Several Hatian friends also stopped by, bringing gifts of mangoes and young coconuts, (the mangoes here are like nothing else in the world!!), and chatting about church partnership business. Finally, we worried that we would be unable to leave tomorrow, and thus not get our shopping done for Eileen's scholarship fund craft sale, so Deidre gathered a couple of our friendly neighboring merchants, and Deidre showed us the ropes of street negotiating. We were able to amass a good collection of Hatian arts and crafts, which Eileen will sell at the church for the Methodist school scholarships we fund down here. We still hope to be able to visit stores tomorrow to complete our shopping, although they may not be open yet.

We are thankful the manifestations are calming down, and hope to be able to explore Port-au-Prince a little bit more tomorrow, before we depart Saturday.

See you soon!

Hello from Haiti!

Pardon my recycling, but rather than re-type everything, here are the email updates I've sent out so far:

4/5/08:
Hello family and friends!

We arrived in Port-au-Prince safely and only an hour behind schedule at 4:00 this afternoon! Our bags were collected and transported by some very helpful Hatians, who were arguing amongst themselves about who was going to get paid for their efforts. :)

We were driven through downtown to the guesthouse, which was pretty cool -- lots and lots and lots to look at. Everything from painted advertisements on the walls of every house, to chickens and cows in the middle of the street, to UN police, to the Hatian taxis, brightly painted, looking like they are held together with duct tape and a prayer, painted like the Muppets took over, and packed so tightly people are hanging out the backside!

We've had dinner and are about to take a swim before going to bed. There is a computer in the guesthouse with free internet access, so hopefully I'll be able to send frequent updates!

4/8/08:
Hello everyone,

I attempted to send an email yesterday morning, and just as I was finishing up my message, the power quit, (in the true nature of Haiti -- city power is unpredictable, and although the guesthouse has a back-up generator, it isn't strong enough to run more than the essentials,) so I lost my message. Alas! I try again today.

First, if you have heard on the news about the "manifestations" in Port-au-Prince, know that we are tucked away safe in the guesthouse, far away from downtown Port-au-Prince, where all the mischief is happening. The government has also set up road blocks to prevent the riots from spreading, so we should be just fine. Our guesthouse management expect that the manifestations should die down in another day or two, so we hope to still be able to go downtown later in the week.

Sunday, we attended worship at College Bird, the wealthiest Methodist Church in Haiti. Nine churches were gathered at CB that weekend for a large Methodist conference, which is why we were unable to go to St. Martin's. The service was incredibly long and hot, in a mixture of Creole and French (and, boy, is my French rusty!!), and we had to leave early (after two hours - HA!) because we had an appointment to keep that afternoon. I was impressed with the Hatian congregation's singing of hymns -- they all sing at the top of their lungs, with great conviction and faith. Perhaps our congregation could take a few hymn-singing lessons from the Hatians!?!

Yesterday, we met up with a friend, Junie Hyacinthe, and toured a construction project she is heading near Aristide's university. She is working on funding and constructing a large hospital, boys and girls residences for orphans and boarding students, and a school. The children were very sweet, and excited to see their pictures on the backs of our digital cameras! Junie's story behind the beginnings of the project was very inspiring. Essentially, she exclaimed one day that she wished she could do something about all of the children living in the streets; someone overheard her and offered her two rooms in their dental clinic if she decided she wanted to do something about it! The rest is history. :)

In the afternoon, we travelled with several gentlemen from St. Martin's, our sister church, to Duplan, a slightly more rural church and school, which has a library we are attempting to model St. Martin's after. They took measurements and are going to begin building shelves this week. Unfortunately, by the time they will be ready to have us help catalog and organize books, we will be back in the States! However, they are ready to forge ahead without us.

I was disappointed our project with the library was essentially taken out of our hands, but the more I thought about it, I guess it is a good thing. Having the opportunity and the time to volunteer is really a luxury -- there are many folks in this world who cannot afford to NOT get paid for their work, and many of them live in Haiti. I suppose if we give the project over to the folks at St. Martin's, we are creating jobs, even though temporary jobs, for many people here. Once the library is complete, St. Martin's hopes to offer evening classes for adult education as well -- training folks in things like sewing, and offering part-time jobs to the teachers of those classes. Exciting!

Today, we plan to go to CEPAM (the Methodist home for the aging,) and build their chairs. I can't wait to meet the residents and staff! Wednesday, we plan to tour Grace Children's Hospital in the morning, and shop for the craft sale/scholarship fund in the afternoon. We have already seen many beautiful pieces of beaded voudoo art, as well as paintings and stone and wood carvings. If the manifestations clear up today, we will go to St. Martin's on Thursday morning and meet the school children, (my request for this trip!), and spend some time practicing our bargaining skills in the street markets in the afternoon. We also hope to visit the National Museum of Haiti.

The weather is beautiful, the food is great (a blend of Caribbean and African, with a few American rarities, like pancakes, thrown in for good measure!), and we are having a wonderful time. Thank you all for keeping us in your thoughts! I will try and write again later this week.

4/9/08:
Hello everyone,

First off, we are all still safe and locked up (behind a high stone wall) in the guesthouse. We are not being allowed to leave, to even poke our heads outside the gates, until the management/staff feel it is safe. So we are all reading, playing cards, and talking a lot. (Napping and swimming, too!) One of our neighbors gave us a little grief -- teased us about why we weren't enjoying our Caribbean vacation by the pool more! :)

The manifestations have escalated, and we've heard groups of protestors walk by the main gate on the other side of the compound, near Frere church. This morning, they were chanting, "The people are hungry -- Preval says nothing!" We have also caught whiffs of tear gas that, we believe, the UN troops are using to try and break up the groups of protestors.

Our guest house managers expect Preval to make a statement on Hatian television today, and hope after his statement, things will calm down. They will gather us when it's time to hear the statement, and translate for us.

We still hope to be able to continue our projects later this week; if nothing else, we hope to be able to fly out safely on Saturday! If not, we'll just sit tight and change our flight information. We'll keep you all posted.

Keep us, and the hungry Hatian people, in your thoughts!

(The associated press has picked up the story, so you can find more information on almost any news source, including Google News. President Preval did make a speech on Hatian television this afternoon -- we'll have to see what happens next!)

TTFN!

Ta-ta for now,

We leave for Haiti tomorrow! I'm mostly packed, excited as heck, and hoping that this day doesn't CREEP by!

Anticipate lots of pictures upon my return . . . !

Five or Less

I'm finally getting around to reading The Omnivore's Dilemma, and I have to tell you, it's freaking me out.

Corn is starting to scare me. It's everywhere, in everything, and it's kind of creepy. I'm starting to feel like, even though I don't eat meat, if I eat processed foods, and therefore corn, I'm supporting factory farms, because I'm supporting the system that creates so much corn we end up forcing it into animals. Ack!

(P.S. Know I'm not knocking the farmers, here -- they get screwed in this system just as much as the animals and the consumers do.)

I realize I may be taking a very oversimplified view, here. However, I'm going to make a few changes that I hope will minimize my consumption of #2 Field Corn. (Shudders!)

First, I'm going to try to eat as many whole foods as possible. I feel like I do a reasonably good job of this already, but there are still processed foods that creep into my diet -- breakfast cereal, condiments, crackers, junk at work, etc. With this change, I'm going to institute the "Five or Less" rule -- the food that I buy from now on will contain five or less ingredients. There may be one or two exceptions, but for the most part, I'm going to try and stick to this rule as much as humanly possible!

Second, I'm going to research participating in a CSA this summer. This may not be a feasable option for me, since they tend to produce in volume. With that understanding, I may just try to frequent the farmer's market on a more regular basis.

Third, I'm going to cut back on eating out. (And when I do eat out, I'm going to choose smarter restaurant options -- restaurants that try to use local, sustainable, organic ingredients.)

Read The Omnivore's Dilemma, if you haven't already!

less than a week!!!!!

Since we leave for Haiti in less than a week, I figured it wasn't too soon to start looking at the weather.

So excited! (So excited, in fact, I'm already mostly packed!)

I made a label cloud! (plus some food, too.)

I'm so proud of myself -- I used this link and made myself a label cloud! Woo! (I've been working on labelling previous posts, and was envious of the label clouds I've seen on other people's blogs.) It's kind of fun, looking over past posts and seeing how my blog has changed over the years, and all the silly things I've written about. It's been pretty time-consuming, since I have over 500 posts to back-label, but I've been working on it in fits and spurts, here and there, and the labels are coming together nicely. Wee!

And some food . . .

Dinner the other night:

Lentil soup (from the freezer,) half a grilled-cheese sandwich, some leftover steamed broccoli, and a Reed's ginger ale! Yum.

Dinner last night:

Yes, more sushi. :) I experimented with including some toasted sesame seeds this time, per a fellow blogger's urging, and also some pickled radish that was given to me as a gift by a former co-worker, plus my usual cucumber, red pepper, and avocado. Yum, yum, extra-yum!

And, I've realized Oliver hasn't made an apperance here lately:

He's still as sassy as ever, kickin' butt, more energetic than he's ever been, and thanks to the diet the vet encouraged me to put him on, he's quite svelte,too. Hooray, Ollie!

breaking in new bakeware, kid food

First, some random oatmeal I made for breakfast last weekend:

Actually, come to think of it, I think this was 10-grain hot cereal from Bob's Red Mill. Made with almond milk and a diced apple, spiced up with a little cinnamon and sweetened with a teaspoon of honey, this was just right -- creamy, filling, and not too sweet. Yum!

I bought two new pieces of bakeware a couple of weeks ago! First, my new muffin pan:

Wee! Blue silicone! Contents: Ruthie's 10-Grain Muffins (from the back of the Bob's Red Mill 10-Grain Cereal bag -- veganized, though. I also added vanilla and nutmeg.)

My new removeable-bottom bar pan:

Contents: another batch of Raspberry-Oatmeal Bars (well, these are strawberry,) from Joy of Vegan Baking. Yum again!

I made myself "kid food" for dinner tonight:

Mac and cheese (from the box . . . but still organic!), steamed broccoli, and a Minneola tangelo. Sometimes even I need a little white flour and gooey cheese sauce, despite my otherwise mostly healthy diet!

With that said, I'm going to enjoy my last piece of candied ginger, and start the dishes. Posts may be far and few between these next couple of weeks -- I am unusually busy, and then leave town for Haiti early April, so I'm planning easy meals and trying to clean out my fridge and freezer before I leave. Know that I'll still be reading everyone else's blogs, though!!

TGIF!

Quick funny story . . .

As many of you know, I purchased a Soyabella soymilk maker some months ago now, and have been happily making my own soy and almond milks ever since. (And one experiment with some almond-pistachio milk -- delicious, but slightly pale green in color!) Dan always gets excited when it's time to make a fresh batch of almond milk -- and always wants to drink a big glass when it's finished!

I was talking to Dan last night, and he told me that he brags about my soymilk and almond milk-making to people. Am I a nerd? Is Dan a nerd? Maybe?

But I think that's pretty funny! ("My girlfriend's so cool -- she makes her own soymilk!")

TGIF, indeed, folks. I'm SO glad it's almost the weekend!

disasters in gluten-free baking (plus a dinner and shoes!)

We have treats during our break at church choir rehearsal every week -- usually some kind of baked good (muffin, cookie, etc.,) plus fruit or veggies. The whole "treats" thing started when folks found out that a lot of people were coming to rehearsal straight from work and not eating dinner, so people started taking turns providing a substantial snack during our 8:30 break.

It was my turn to bring treats this week, so I decided to try my hand at some gluten-free baking. (One of the folks in the choir is gluten-intolerant.) Originally, I had planned on making two different kinds of mini-muffins -- a gluten-free banana, and the vegan spiced chocolate muffins I made a couple of weeks ago. THEN, I forgot to borrow Courtney's mini-muffin pan! Egads. So, I decided to just make loaves of quick bread.

Tuesday night rolled around, and I was in a time crunch -- tired, ready to sit down and eat dinner and watch a movie with Dan, I decided to just make a larger batch of gluten-free banana bread. I threw the breads together, stuck them in the oven, and sat down to dinner. Later, I smelled something . . . opened my oven and found that the breads had overflowed all over the oven floor! Crud. (The lady I talked to at the co-op said I could use the gluten-free mix she recommended in place of flour in a regular recipe . . . then I read the back of the package and learned that the mix recommended that I do that, but cut down the fat and leavening. Sheesh!)

At that point, I was ready to give up and go to the store the next day and just BUY something for choir treats. However, later Tuesday night, I decided to try one more time, and make a nice, safe, simple treat -- chocolate chip cookie bars.

Full of wheat (and not vegan -- I used an egg, although they were dairy-free,) I threw in the towel in regards to gluten-free baking . . . at least this time. I have a half-package of mix to use up yet -- we'll see what I end up doing with it.

(The bars were a hit, by the way -- only about six made it home at the end of the night!)

Ok. Enough ranting.

Dinner Tuesday night: Chinese Hot Pot!

I have to admit, I was a little worried about this recipe at first, because, honestly, it smelled a little funny. However, it was delicious, and very easy! I highly recommend this simple crock pot soup -- you start the broth in the morning, add the tofu, mushrooms, snow peas, and green onions when you get home, make some rice, and dinner is ready! Nice and spicy without being over the top, this soup is flavorful, healthy, and fantastic!

AND . . . new shoes!

So, I learned a couple of weeks ago that it's not recommended we wear sandals in Haiti -- the streets are pretty dirty, and I guess it's quite easy to pick up some kind of bug just walking around. I have plenty of closed-toe shoes, but most of them are suited to fall/winter/spring in Minnesota -- not a hot, humid, tropical climate. I do have a pair of Vans, which I will bring along, but I wanted a second pair of shoes in case we get caught in a rainstorm and/or I step in something totally gross and need to rotate out a pair of shoes. Here come the Sanuks! I had never heard of these shoes before, but found them on shoes.com when I searched "vegetarian." They are a flip-flop bottom with a light, canvas upper, cute as heck, (the color of my shoes was called "scribble,") and surprisingly comfortable. I hope they will be just the thing for my trip!

Until later . . . gotta go to work!

baking and dinners

Courtney and I got together for another baking party this past Saturday! We made two delicious things:

1. Maple-Pecan Snack Cake:

We veganized a glazed maple cake recipe from Cooking Light for this treat -- sweetened naturally with maple syrup, full of whole-grain pastry flour, and just plain tasty!

2. Carrot-Spelt Mini Muffins:

This is Courtney's own recipe, and a great one! The muffins remind me somewhat of loaded bran muffins -- dark, rich, moist, with tons of raisins, carrots, and other good stuff. (Also, sweetened naturally with agave and stuck together with some flax and applesauce!)

I've also made a couple of exciting dinners this week. Sunday Night:

TACOS! Homemade tortillas (I pressed, Dan cooked,) homemade refried beans (from my freezer,) grape tomatoes, greens, Monterey Jack cheese, tofutti sour cream, tomatillo salsa, a squirt of sriracha (Dan only,) and chips and guac on the side. YUMMMMMMMMMMM-UM!

Tonight:

A mushroom-barley risotto (from Eating Well,) loaded with TONS of arugula. Baked sweet potato on the side.

Happy eating, everyone!

cooking projects in an evening

Sometimes, I get it in my head that I need to come home from work and spend the evening in my kitchen. I may be exhausted, but that doesn't seem to matter! Last night was one of those nights -- washed a mountain of dishes, made dinner, and did a little baking. First, dinner:

I made Bazu's "Pasta alla Puttanesca" for dinner last night. Simple combination of herbs and spicy chili flakes, olives, capers, onions, garlic, and crushed, fire-roasted tomatoes. Delish, and filling when served with whole-wheat pasta. (Bionaturae is my favorite brand, hands-down.) This "recipe" that I've developed based on her suggestions is large enough for two hungry people, or leftovers for lunch the next day. (So excited for more pasta at lunch today!)

Then, I decided to bake. Chocolate Chip Cookies from The Joy of Vegan Baking:

These cookies taste great, but they didn't spread hardly at all, which I find very disappointing. I followed the directions exactly . . . grumble, grumble. I have chocolate chip cookie nuggets to bring to work today, I guess. (Sheesh!) I hate to admit it, but my recipe for vegan chocolate chip cookies is better. (And uses whole-grain flour!)

On that subject for a moment . . . I have been very pleased with the bar and muffin recipes that I've made from The Joy of Vegan Baking so far, but both cookie recipes have fallen a little below my expectations. Hm. Has anyone else had this problem?

breakfast, supper

I can't remember whether it was Monday or Tuesday, but I got it in my head that I wanted French toast. So, I sliced off some homemade bread and made some!

Basic recipe, nothing fancy. Delicious topped with sliced banana, toasted walnuts, and maple syrup! This had to have been a nutrition-packed breakfast with all of the healthy ingredients in the bread (whole wheat, molasses, flax,) and the bananas and walnuts, too! Yum.

Dinner Tuesday night:

Dan brought over some tofu, potatoes, and vegetables, and I whipped up a quick roasted tofu and veggies (broccoli, carrots, and red peppers,) seasoned with some extra-virgin olive oil, Northern Lights (from Wayzata Bay Spice Company,) a little extra salt, chili flakes, and a splash of balsamic vinegar at the end. Also, Dan requested "potato-mashed garlic." Ha. (Which translates to mashed potatoes with lots of garlic.) Side of stinky (but delicious) potatoes. :)

In other news, does anyone else think this week is DRAGGING?? Isn't it Friday yet? I don't mean to complain or anything . . . I'm just ready for the weekend. (Even though it's supposed to be FREEZING again in Minnesota! Sheesh.)

I'm also ready for spring, but that doesn't seem to be on its way quite yet.

weekend food!

Saturday night's dinner:

Yes . . . more sushi! BUT . . . more exciting this time, because I used brown rice. I found loose directions for turning short-grain brown rice into sushi rice in my most recent issue of Eating Well magazine, which I slightly edited: rinse 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons short-grain brown rice. Bring 2 cups plus 2 tablespoons water to a boil. Stir in the rice, cover, lower the heat, and simmer the rice for 50 minutes. Remove the rice from the heat and allow it to sit, covered, to steam for an additional 10 minutes. Toss the rice with 1/3 cup sushi vinegar, allow the rice to cool, then get rollin'!
(I found the rice really didn't seem to stick together all that well until it really cooled most of the way. Different from white sushi rice, in my opinion, but it still worked!)

Mango and Black Bean Salad:

I had planned this salad for lunch yesterday, but we ended up going out for brunch instead. Oh well -- now I have the salad leftover for lunches this week!

Homemade bread:

I have had, ahem, mixed results (i.e., dense and inedible) with homemade bread-baking in the past, mostly because I think it's just really difficult to get good gluten development when kneading with your hands. :) However, this loaf was an exception! This bread turned out to be light and tender, chewy, and delicious! I loosely based this loaf of bread on Mollie Katzen's "Basic Bread Recipe" from The Enchanted Broccoli Forest, with a few modifications of my own. Recipe:

Ingredients:
5 cups whole-wheat bread flour (or white-whole-wheat flour)
1/3 cup vital wheat gluten
2/3 cup ground flaxseeds
2 tablespoons active dry yeast
1 1/2 cups warm water
1/3 cup molasses, divided
1/4 cup melted Earth Balance
1 teaspoon salt

Directions:
1. Combine the flour, wheat gluten, and flax, stirring well with a whisk. Reserve this mixture.
2. Combine the yeast, water, and a teaspoon of molasses. Let this mixture sit until it begins to foam, about 5 minutes. Stir in two cups of the flour mixture, cover, and allow this (the "sponge") to rise in a warm place for 30 minutes to 1 hour.
3. Combine the melted butter, remaining molasses, and salt. Stir this mixture into the sponge. Continue stirring for 100 strokes, or until everything is very well combined.
4. Stir in the flour mixture, 1/2 cup at a time, until the dough is too difficult to stir with a spoon. Turn the dough out onto a floured surface, and continue adding the flour mixture, 1/2 cup at a time, until you have a smooth, slightly tacky (but not sticky) dough. (You may not use all of the flour mixture -- I had over 1 cup left, so I just stuck it in a container in the freezer, and will use it next time.)
5. Knead the dough for 15 to 20 minutes. (Who needs to lift weights at the gym, anyway?) ;-)
6. Place the dough in an oiled bowl, flip the dough over to coat it with the oil, cover with a towel, and let rise in a warm place, about 1 hour.
7. Punch the dough down and knead for 15 more minutes.
8. Shape the dough and place in your desired pan (make sure the pan is greased and floured well.) (I used a large, 9X5X3-inch loaf pan. You could also make two smaller loaves, a baguette, a boule, whatever.) Cover and allow the dough to rise for 1 hour.
9. Bake the dough at 375 for 30 to 40 minutes. Immediately remove from the pan and allow to cool on a wire rack.
10. Dig in!

I may be baking my own bread in the future, now that I know how to make an edible loaf! Wahoo!