When we were shopping for our rig, high on our "must have" list was ample storage space to accommodate our whole foods kitchen. There were many things that had to be let go when transitioning from a fixed dwelling to a 5th wheel, but scaling down the kitchen was not on the chopping block (so to speak). Although the stove, oven, and refrigerator are somewhat smaller than those found in traditional homes, they still function the same way, and it is still quite possible to cook whole foods, from scratch, including using specialty equipment as desired, or required.
My whole foods RV kitchen includes a Vitamix blender; food processor; juicer; crockpot; spice grinder; and electric knife sharpener. I have two pressure cookers (medium and large) that double as soup pots and pasta cookers, as well as my life long favorite bean cooker, a cast iron kettle. I have a full set of non-stick skillets and sauce pans, a taco shell maker, loaf pans, muffin tins, cookie sheets, and two full size ceramic casserole dishes. For chopping and shredding, we have a set of chef quality knives and a mandoline.
The big deep drawer in the kitchen functions as my dry goods pantry, with dry beans and grains, pastas and lentils, flakes and granules all stored in reusable zip lock bags. My fifty varieties of herbs and spices hang on a custom made rack (thanks to my dear husband) that holds all the bottles of various shapes and sizes. Even our refrigerator is usually able to hold a week's worth of fresh foods, so we aren't running to the store every couple of days.
And although I had to reduce my cookbook library by about 75%, I still manage to travel with my 50 favorites, so there is no worry that I will ever run out of nourishing vegan recipes to prepare in my whole foods RV kitchen.
]]>When we were shopping for our rig, high on our "must have" list was ample storage space to accommodate our whole foods kitchen. There were many things that had to be let go when transitioning from a fixed dwelling to a 5th wheel, but scaling down the kitchen was not on the chopping block (so to speak). Although the stove, oven, and refrigerator are somewhat smaller than those found in traditional homes, they still function the same way, and it is still quite possible to cook whole foods, from scratch, including using specialty equipment as desired, or required.
My whole foods RV kitchen includes a Vitamix blender; food processor; juicer; crockpot; spice grinder; and electric knife sharpener. I have two pressure cookers (medium and large) that double as soup pots and pasta cookers, as well as my life long favorite bean cooker, a cast iron kettle. I have a full set of non-stick skillets and sauce pans, a taco shell maker, loaf pans, muffin tins, cookie sheets, and two full size ceramic casserole dishes. For chopping and shredding, we have a set of chef quality knives and a mandoline.
The big deep drawer in the kitchen functions as my dry goods pantry, with dry beans and grains, pastas and lentils, flakes and granules all stored in reusable zip lock bags. My fifty varieties of herbs and spices hang on a custom made rack (thanks to my dear husband) that holds all the bottles of various shapes and sizes. Even our refrigerator is usually able to hold a week's worth of fresh foods, so we aren't running to the store every couple of days.
And although I had to reduce my cookbook library by about 75%, I still manage to travel with my 50 favorites, so there is no worry that I will ever run out of nourishing vegan recipes to prepare in my whole foods RV kitchen.
]]>With so much going on during this 5-day event, it is possible to be busy from the wee hours of the morning to well after midnight, attending extensive educational sessions, going to food preparation demonstrations, exercising, stargazing, taking nature walks, meeting people, watching film screenings, meeting authors, browsing the book store and vendor booths, swimming, and socializing at the after-hours get togethers. The problem is trying to figure out what you want to do the most, as it is impossible to do everything.
Even though I consider myself a convinced and committed vegan, I also know that living in a world where most people aren't, and really don't get why anyone is, it is important to take advantage of opportunities like Summerfest. Here you get the much needed bonding with like minded people; learn the latest in scientific research; discover what's new in the animal rights arena; and come away with a renewed commitment for better health and a deeper understanding of how our food choices not only impact our health, but so too the animals, the oceans, the forests, our air, our water.
My experience only represents a fraction of everything offered at Summerfest, but I left feeling empowered and optimistic about the future of the vegan movement. It seems the scales are tipping; critical mass might truly be achieved, and maybe even in my lifetime. I learned that more and more, we are realizing that compassion for animals must extend to all animals, including other people. I also learned I need to take better care of my colon, go organic, and like Mom always said - eat my greens! Where else can you go and have all these essential lessons wrapped up in one great package?
]]>Animals were certainly part of man's diet in the past, and people will use this information to justify eating animals today. We affirm that it must be right since we've evolved for thousands and thousands of years eating meat. But really, the only criteria necessary to perpetuate any species is to live to the age of maturity, reproduce, and nurture our off-spring to the age of independence. For humans this can be accomplished easily before reaching the age of 30. If we don't die of some other cause before then, most likely we will live at least a few more years before the complications of an animal based diet begin.
But today we know that the long term effects of eating an animal based diet is devastating to ourselves, the animals, and the Earth. Our focus isn't, or shouldn't be, staying alive just long enough to reproduce. We no longer need to eat animals to survive, and in fact our survival most certainly depends on humans evolving to a completely plant based diet. We need to let go of the harmful attachment to our past, the sentimentality that lures us into justifying eating practices that are no longer valid in today's world.
]]>Today I looked at every single loaf of whole grain bread stocked in a large chain supermarket, and was unable to find even a single one free of questionable ingredients. The choice becomes, do I just skip buying bread altogether, or settle for the one loaf that seems the least offensive? It sort of ends up feeling like the choice between avoiding a known poison, or just having a drop or two at a time, hoping my body can handle it in small amounts. Of course bread isn't a dietary requirement (and in some circles is even quite reviled), and I can always return to making my own again. But for those of us who still enjoy a sandwich for lunch, or a piece of toast with breakfast, it would be so nice to have widespread healthy options available.
]]>A shortage of vegetarian and vegan cookbooks is no longer the problem! Today, I face quite the opposite dilemma. Where I once thought I would soon exhaust the limited supply of vegetarian recipes out there, I now lament the fact that I will never in my lifetime begin to scratch the surface of the 1000's of books available. I like projects that have a beginning and an end, so knowing I will never begin and end every vegan cookbook ever published does bother me just a little. As a compromise, I decided to take on the book "1000 Vegan Recipes" by Robin Robertson as a personal challenge, committing myself to preparing every dish in the book.
Since I do my best to adhere to the McDougall approach of oil-free cooking, I further challenged myself to adapt each of the recipes in this book accordingly, and document my results on a blog. I figured there would be others who could benefit from my efforts and if I could offer support and encouragement, so much the better. To date, I have tested and blogged 119 recipes, and at my current rate, I should be done around the end of 2016. That ought to keep me busy for a while.
If you'd like to follow me through this great adventure, you can visit my 1000 Vegan Recipes blog at: http://testing-1000vr.blogspot.com/
By the way - this is a great book, and a great addition (or beginning) to anyone's vegan cooking library!
]]>Living full time in a trailer with no fixed residence is unusual to most people. Just like following a vegan diet. Meld these two components, and you end up representing a very small percent of the population indeed. While this isn't a problem for me, I do understand that it can be for others, more so in certain parts of the country than others. My intention is to be the best example possible for each aspect of what some consider curious life choices. Rather than alienate people, I would like ignite a spark of interest, allowing them to explore other approaches.
Keeping this ideal in mind is crucial when trying to find your way around a new city. Everything is new, getting lost is the norm, and the local customs are a mystery. Respect and kindness become essential tools when asking for directions, visiting neighborhood gatherings, and especially when trying to derive a vegan meal from a standard menu. So when my husband and I were essentially kicked out of a local café recently after attempting to order what seemed to be a vegan option from the menu, I was bewildered to say the least.
When looking for restaurants in a new locality, we look for the most vegan-friendly, or at least vegan-possible, places to eat. On this particular day we found a small café with what appeared to be a varied menu offering soups, salads, and a falafel that would be vegan if they held the feta cheese. First we asked about the soup of the day, and were told rather abruptly that no soup is available in the summer. We decided the falafel wraps would make a good lunch, and asked for two, hold the cheese.
We were told, again, rather abruptly, that they couldn't make us the wraps because they didn't have all the ingredients available. Pre-wrapped, non-vegan sandwiches in the cooler were pointed out to us as alternatives. No thank-you, my husband said politely, we were looking for a vegan option, we'll try another place.
Things turned decidedly sour at this point. As we turned to leave, we were told in no uncertain terms to, yes, go somewhere else! Go on! Go to Starbucks! Our hostess was clearly angry and for no apparent reason other than we weren't happy with the choices they had available. The café was crowded and as we walked out the door, I felt all eyes upon us. It was hard to hold my head up, although I knew I had done nothing wrong.
Still, I'm not sorry for the experience. I know our behavior did not warrant the kind of response we got. For us, if not for all involved in the exchange, it was an opportunity to practice the art of kindness, when so sorely tempted to do otherwise. If I could, I would go back to the café and share some of my homemade Peanut Butter Oatmeal cookies with our proprietor to show there are no hard feelings.
Peanut Butter Oatmeal Cookies
1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1 cup quick oats
1 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup ground flax seed
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup unsweetened apple sauce
1/2 cup pure maple syrup
2/3 cup creamy style natural peanut butter
1 Tablespoon vanilla extract
Optional: 1/4 cup vegan chocolate chips, nuts, or dried fruit
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
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Heart's Delight is also the title of my completed, but yet-to-be published, cookbook. Not that I set out to write a cookbook. All I wanted to do was indulge my passion for vegan nutrition and cooking, and put down in writing a handful of best-loved recipes to pass along to my daughters. What surprised me was how many recipes I actually ended up with! It seemed the more I captured what I was doing in the kitchen, the more I came up with new ideas. I started looking at everything I was preparing with an eye towards recipe development. What began as a handful of recipes to print at home, pages held together by one small staple, soon mushroomed into a spiral-bound book of 85 dishes, including a table of contents, index, nutritional information, and page numbers.
As I use these pages to blog my heart's delight, and who knows what that might be from day to day, I will also share some of my recipes from my Heart's Delight. I'm hoping my efforts will be smooth sailing, so the recipe for today is my Fruit Smoothie!
Fruit Smoothie
½ cup orange juice (or pineapple, cranberry, cherry, etc)
½ cup soy, rice, or almond milk, plain or vanilla
½ cup frozen banana chunks**
1 cup frozen fruit (blueberries, strawberries, cherries, mangos, peaches, etc.)
**To freeze banana chunks, peel a medium size banana and break or cut into 3-4 pieces. Place in a zip lock bag and freeze overnight.
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