Monthly Archives: April 2012

Vegetarian Restaurant Options : rant

Posted by Freedom Fro in Freedom Fro(m), Fun with Food, Musings and tagged with , ,

Veggie Burger. Mediterranean Pasta. Salad. Mushroom Risotto.

I have this qualm about restaurants in that I don’t like to order anything that I make better at home. I have this other feeling in that I get so irritated that a restaurant chef can’t come up with a more original vegetarian option on their menu than one of the 4 items I listed above (all of which I make better at home). I want my boyfriend to have great dining experiences with me and to not have to eat the same thing all the time.

Vancouver does have a number of incredible veg/veg-friendly restaurants. It also has an excruciating number of chains and chains disguised as independents that I despise going to because of how limited they are in veg options and how mediocre their veg options turn out being. There are a lot of people who can’t get creative with vegetarian food at home, and I think that this is a direct correlation to the lack of creativity in many main stream restaurants.

Anyways, I just needed to rant a little because my partner had another meh meal at what is deemed a popular and otherwise tasty new restaurant (Ensemble Tap). He said that what I had made for lunch was a thousand times tastier (Black bean carmelized onion quesadillas with guacamole).

Enjoy the rest of your Sunday. I’m suffering from a sore everything (post my first Sun Run)

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Afro Etiquette 101: Don’t Squoosh the Fro

Posted by Freedom Fro in Afro, Freedom Fro(m) and tagged with , , , , ,

I have big puffy fun hair. You don’t (unless you do, then Hi! I know you’re feelin’ me, here). While I can understand the fascination with the look and feel of my hair, it does not mean that I want your hands to squoosh my afro. In fact, to be completely honest, I have upsetting childhood memories of what happens when strangers touch my afro. They are usually taking some kind of comb to it, and are trying to separate the curls. That tearing sensation rings through my ears and yanks on my scalp. Riiiiiiiip. Not cool. Someone cut my hair a few months ago and told me I was all weird because I didn’t have a Black Gammy to yank at my hurr when I was a kid. True. I had a Cree Granny who patted me on the head and giggled.

I also have very pleasurable intimate memories of getting a good deep head scratch by a loved one. Laying on the floor in front of my Mom, she’d dig her hands into my hair and scratch my head. Cuddling beside my partner, he knows a good head scratch is very comforting for me. I do not have any desire to experience any of these feelings with someone I do not trust and love. Yet, I feel awkward saying “No, thanks” when someone asks if they can touch my hair. I need to be more witty in the moment and ask “Can I touch yours first?”…but I need something better than that, because I really don’t want to touch your hair.

There are times when so many hands squoosh my afro that I feel like it’s a bulk bin at the grocery store. People want to sample, so they sneak a little pat, a grab, a squench, a squeeze. Do I have a hand-washing station on my back so I can not be totally grossed out each time you decide to dive on in? Sadly, no.

So yes, it is my noble opinion that great hair is to be admired, not squooshed. Compliment it, Want it, but don’t touch it (and don’t even ask…unless you are okay with someone running their hands through your fine locks — that I’m sure you spent much effort adding volume to in the morning)

One love!

;-)

Roasted Vegetable Coconut Mango Curry – recipe by Mouthwatering Vegan

Posted by Freedom Fro in Fun with Food and tagged with , , , , , , ,

I made this!!!

Part of improving your ability to combine spices and flavours involves venturing out and trying others tried, tested and true recipes. This roasted vegetable fruit coconut curry turned out juicy, spicy, sweet and ridiculously flavourful.

I have made my fair share of curries, but this is the first time I’ve cooked the vegetables and sauce separate and blended the sauce. The result was veggies that had a good bite to them, and a creamy bold sauce.

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This was the sauce as it was simmering. By this point my apartment was inundated with the smell of lovely Indian spices. I didn’t have curry powder (surprisingly) or cardamom (I’m certain that I tossed some old cardamom pods a couple weeks ago…oh well) so I substituted garam masala…mine had cardamom as the first ingredient listed, and a bit of cayenne powder to get the heat.
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See? Really Good! Check out Mouthwatering Vegan. There are some really tasty looking recipes. Oh, I should mention, this makes a LOT. Because we made rice too, we could have fed a family of 6. More for lunches next week ;-)

The Best Part of “Turkey” Dinner is Stuffing! — recipe included

Posted by Freedom Fro in Fun with Food, Uncategorized and tagged with , , ,

I know how to make my Mom’s stuffing! Not many can say that, because their Mother’s stuffing is some treasured secret recipe. But I have been the special helper/slow chopper in the kitchen for years…and, when I was 21, my Mom and my Granny taught me the works (turkey dinner from beginning to end)…then laughed and told me it would be my responsibility until I ‘made’ something to pass it on to. Hand me a glass of wine!!

Mom’s cookbook. She has many, but this special cookbook came out every Christmas. The cover was torn off, the pages were all worn down, torn and bent – but I remember that it was a French cookbook and that it contained recipes to make turkey and Mom’s famous sausage meat stuffing. As I mentioned in my last post, I adapted Mom’s stuffing to a vegan-friendly equivalent about 5 years ago. Although, I have to admit that, when I have a turkey dinner with my Mom the meat comes out as an hommage.

My stuffing — and I will call it MY stuffing, because I think it’s the best and will tell my future spawn that — is so good that you don’t even need the turkey! The one problem with my stuffing, if you can even consider this a problem, is that I probably make enough for 10 people! Woops. But hey, it freezes terrifically! I made a point to keep a pen and scrap paper on my kitchen counter on Easter Sunday so I could write the recipe as I go and share it with you today.

Are you ready for the best stuffing you’ve ever had?

Freedom Fro’s Stuffing Spectacular

1 – bag of bread cubes. You don’t even need the fancy stuff
1 medium onion diced
3 stalks of celery diced
2 cups of crimini or button mushrooms diced
1 vegan Italian sausage crumbled (I recommend homemade! — so easy and I have the recipe posted here! second choice is the brand Field Roast apple sage sausage or Tofurky if you must)

1 tbsp cooking oil
3/4 cup of white wine
2 tbsp Braggs
1/2 tbsp poultry seasoning
1/2 tsp celery salt
1 tsp vegetable bouillon (or half a veggie cube)
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
1/2 cup chopped almonds
1/8-1/4 cup chopped cranberries (dried or fresh work)
1/4 cup finely chopped parsley (curly or Italian)
1/4 cup diced granny smith apple (optional)
1/2 cup water
drizzle of olive oil

Preheat oven to 375 degrees

In a large sauce pan, over medium heat sautee the onions, celery and mushrooms in 1 tbsp cooking oil for just a few minutes.

Add 1/4 cup of the white wine, Braggs, the sausage, and the spices and cook for another few minutes. You want the onions to seep out their yummy juices, but for the veggies to still have some firmness to them. The mixture will be wet.

In a large mixing bowl, pour the contents of the pan. Add the nuts, cranberries, parsley – stir. I called apple optional because if you don’t like the taste of cooked apple, you don’t need it (is good though, try it!). Add the breadcubes, stir — then slowly add the rest of the wine mixed with water and keep stirring to let the breadcubes absorb the juices. I measured my liquids exactly this time — but you may have to modify the amount of liquid depending on if you decide to use homemade breadcubes (will suck up the juices faster). You don’t want the mixture in the bowl to be soggy. The bread should suck up the flavours, but still look like cubes.

Whoa — that’s a BIG BOWL OF STUFFING! om nom nomImage

Put the stuffing into a roasting pan (non stick or else lightly oil the sides and bottom), pack down slightly – but not too firmly. Drizzle a bit of olive oil on the top. Cover and bake for 35 minutes. That’s it!

Have you ever been served toast and celery and someone called it stuffing? Offer to bring this next time (check for nut allergies. haha)

Enjoy this!! I’m telling you…best stuffing ever!!

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People Eat Turkey at Easter?

Posted by Freedom Fro in Fun with Food, Musings and tagged with , , , , ,

Ham or Turkey for Easter? Am I delirious for wondering if this happens out loud?

I honestly can’t remember making a special dinner for Easter ever…will have to ask Mom. It’s just weird to think of a Holiday dinner in Spring time because the seasonal assortment of veggies are so different this time of year. Holiday sushi? Hahaha

Well I was wandering through Safeway this morning and saw some pretty stellar looking “little green brains”, and decided that I wanted stuffing. Good news because I think I make pretty awesome stuffing. I adapted my Mom’s recipe to a vegan-friendly version about 5 years ago and it’s always a hit in my household. Since 2007, I’ve done a vegan holiday meal for at least one of the turkey days, so I have plenty of practice! I won’t be going full force because it’s just the two of us tonight, but still, I’m excited!

I’ll be sure to use my measuring spoons tonight and share some goodie recipes soon. Can’t wait!! Yum!

Recipe: Baked Grapefruit

Posted by Freedom Fro in Fun with Food, Musings and tagged with , , ,

This may seem like too simple of a recipe to do a blog post for, but, until yesterday morning, I had never tried a baked grapefruit.

Grapefruit is one of those fruits that I consider to be temperamental. When it’s good, it’s amazing, sweet, and juicy. When it’s bad, it’s inedible. I decided to check out recipes for baked grapefruit and was taken aback by how many methods there are to make something so simple. This is what we tried, because of what was handy, but we’ll mix it up next time. Oh yes…there will certainly be a next time!

Recipe:
1 grapefruit (we used a ruby red)
Dash of ground cinnamon
Drizzle of maple syrup

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

Slice the grapefruit in half and use the knife to loosen the fruit from the peel. Cut around it and through the segments so it will be easy to enjoy when it’s hot.

Place each half of the grapefruit in a ramekin and put a dash of cinnamon and a drizzle of maple syrup.

Bake for 15 minutes

The ramekins will be smoking hot, so let them sit for a few minutes before serving. If you’re serving to an accident prone loved one, dont serve in the ramekin at all. Hahaa. My grapefruit was juicy, so the ramekin did catch a bit of yummy ooze.

We enjoyed our grapefruit with a poached egg on a piece of toast (Cape seed bread from Cobbs). It got me thinking about breakfast and eating out and portion sizes. Canada isn’t as bad as the States, but we too can be guilty of using portion size as measure of goodness at a restaurant. My city has a growing Brunch culture and there are many delicious restaurants to choose from. But how often do you cook 3 eggs for breakfast + 2 toast +, +, +? It’s so not necessary. I hope that we move towards being a culture that enjoys good food…I mean GREAT FOOD… reasonably.

Enjoy your day!

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Me vs Dairy

Posted by Freedom Fro in Musings and tagged with , , ,

I write this while sitting in bed with an upset stomach. The cause: dairy.

There are a lot of old wives tales about lactose intolerance. Admittedly, some of the methods I use to control my symptoms are fabricated around tales…which is why I occasionally suffer. Here’s one:

Female hormonal cycle impacts sensitivity to dairy. Fiction?, likely. The truth is, hormones impact my sensitivity in general. If I am ill as a result of consuming too much lactose, I am likely to feel more ill at a certain stage of my cycle. I am usually pretty good to avoid dairy when I’m at the “sensi” stage of my cycle. Feeling yucky makes me grumpy. Haha

Here’s another one:

If you are lactose intollerant, you should slowly increase the amount of dairy you consume and in time, you will not be intollerant anymore. Fiction?, likely. Everybody has a different level of tolerance and it is up to that person to learn what their threshold is and to keep their lactose consumption below it to avoid having to suffer. Being a mix of Cree First Nations and Jamaican (with a dibble dabble of other stuff), I am culturally prone to producing less lactose digestive enzymes. My ancestors do not traditionally eat much dairy. If you think of what your ancestors ate, with minimal modern influence, that’s likely an indication of the kinds of things your body was created to need and use. I wonder if my future child will take after me or daddy (who can eat dairy with every meal if he wanted to). I come from very strong female genes, but my boyfriend looks like his mother! Hahaha we’ll see one day.

Here’s one more I hear a lot and know is fiction: richer dairy products make lactose intollerant people more sick. Fiction!

Lactose is primarily present in the water protein of dairy (and in additives). Skim milk has more lactose than cream. Fat-free dairy has more lactose than full-fat. Soft cheeses have more lactose than hard. Butter has very little lactose and there is likely more lactose in margarine because of all the creepy additives (do not buy margarine unless you buy Earth Balance–which costs more than butter. Just use butter or oil, unless you’re vegan). Also, lactose is not just about cow products. Goat’s milk and your mom’s milk are all full of the stuff. Most of us start out with the enzymes we need to take in mama’s milk and then they significantly reduce their production as we grow into adolescence.

I like cheese. I can do without milk and ice cream just fine. Where I get in trouble sometimes is with cheese. I have to say that the poutine we made was incredible!!! Crumbled homemade vegan Italian sausage, carmelized shallots and garlic mushroom gravy? Yeah, we did!!

This too shall pass. I plan to try baking a grapefruit for breakfast this morning. I’ll let you know how it goes.

Enjoy your day!

A week of love in the kitchen…

Posted by Freedom Fro in Fun with Food, Musings and tagged with , , , , ,

Bad, Janine. Bad, bad bad. I’ve been cooking and experimenting plenty this week, but I haven’t been posting. I habitually have fun in the kitchen, but need to put myself in the frame of mind to measure so I can share. Sorry for the lapse. Rather than bore you with excuses, I will share some snippets from the week. A week of love in the kitchen. A week of finding solace in the kitchen after sitting awkwardly in an office chair click-click-clicking a mouse on an excel spreadsheet for 8+ hours.

I am proud to say that I live in a home where we waste very little food. We have staples that we buy every week, we keep our bread in the freezer and we buy different ingredients with intention to utilize. Our fridge is not so jammed with food that we forget what’s in there. Leftovers are always put into tupperware and either eaten for lunch the next day, or put in the freezer for a later-week treat. I’m also proud to say that I live with a man who brings lunch to work every day. Over the weekend, he’ll cook 1 or 2 ‘meals’ that are for lunches and will stack the freezer with tupperware. Then, when we cook during the week, we’ll make extra so we can switch up our lunches. Working downtown, like we do, it’s so easy to fall into expensive habits.

We made some good stuff this week. I made a really tasty leek and mushroom rosemary saucey experiment and served it with rice for lunches. Rosemary. Talk about Good Stink! Rosemary and mushrooms were meant to be together…of course I think mushrooms go with anything, but yeah.

Another highlight of the week was a sundried tomato pesto gnocchi that my love made. It had mushrooms and carmelized onions in it and it was super tasty and quick to make. Gnocchi is rich, so serve it with a side salad to balance out your plate.

I was feeling really experimental by mid-week, so we made sushi. Sushi is something that I used to make with my Mom often when I was a kid. It is fun because you can pretty much put anything in it and you can make it together, then laugh at your rolling skills. Buttery shiitake mushrooms, avocado, spinach gommae, and lightly sauteed eggplant were the filling we used. YUM!

We had salad on one day, because we were having a special out of town visitor and knew we’d be eating dinner out on Friday (and drinking copious amounts of wine). We usually have salad at least one day per week. We make salad GOOD!

Tonight, I made soup with potato, yam, mushrooms, corn and cilantro. I spiced it with the same kinds of spices I’d put in a chilli (cumin, coriander, paprika, chilli powder, salt, pepper). Instead of using a veggie broth, I rehydrated some porchini mushrooms and used the water as the broth (good tip, as these mushrooms leave behind a pretty tasty mushroomy water without all of the sodium). Store bought veggie broth messes with me because the flavour isn’t anything specific. In my opinion, it makes horrible gravy, and weird tasting soup. I much prefer carmelizing an onion and adding mushroomy water, mushrooms, (and white wine, if it’s handy) and a dash of wine vinegar or balsamic to brighten it up. Someone told me about this product called Better Than Bouillon, but I haven’t tried it yet. I really want to try to make a vegetarian French Onion Soup and would prefer to do it without a simulated beefy bouillon (creepy).

Most of the time, when I make a soup, I pull out my food processor to puree some (if not all) of it. Having some of the vegetables pureed creates a creaminess in the soup without having to actually add cream. If I haven’t said it yet, I love my food processor!!

This isn’t the greatest of posts, but I guess I wanted to show that life still goes on and our tiny kitchen still gets lots of use.

Hope you are having a great weekend. I’ll be sure to pull out my measuring spoons more, so I can share ;-)