When the Olympics come to California...

Arnold will probably be a very good choice for torch bearer. At the Vancouver 2010 Olympics, however, it was a tacky move. WHAT was he doing there? He's not a proud Canadian. He's not a great Canadian. He is not a loyal Canadian. He is not CANADIAN. We have Canadians, here. In fact Canadians are made here.

While it is true that he was an athlete he is also known to have used performance enhancing drugs. Vanoc proved that B.C. has athletes and former Olympians in abundance. Surely they could have dug up one more. Just one.

Vancouver 2010 is the 'Green Olympics' and the Governor is, apparently, an eco-warrior. Good grief. You are in B.C.! You can't swing a dead cat without hitting a scientist or activist. Maybe David Suzuki was originally booked, but was cut when he gave them a 'bronze.'

Badly done, Vanoc! I am *most* displeased with you! }:-@

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So now the sad news. :-( Wasn't it SAD when the Georginan luger died this afternoon? I feel really badly for his family. There is just no sympathy large enough for people who lose a 21 year old family member.

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I've been watching bits and pieces of the torch relay for a couple of days and recognized a couple of the people. I assumed they were just working two days in a row (poor guys!) but NO! There are members of that security detail that have been with the torch for 106 days. In an interview on CTV one guy said they ran 4 out of 5 days and each day was 20 to 50 kms in two legs. He said he is 'probably in reasonable shape.' Yeah... *probably*! I think I'm a hero for walking 2 kms to work and 2 kms home- most days.

Now don't forget that when the torch went through MY city it was -30 C. The torch passed within an hour of 90% of Canadians and so did the torch's security! Say what you like, but I think that is awfully impressive. What a massive undertaking and logistical nightmare.

Like the Arrogant Worms say, "Canada's really big"

A day for soup

It's been a little warmer outside lately so it is colder inside. I know that doesn't seem right, but that is the way that it is. Brown Bear requested bread for supper and I had a pail of peels in the fridge so it seemed like a good match.

I'm trying a new gluten free bread recipe. Sunshine had to take supper when she left for work and she declared it was good. The land sharks have been circling for a couple hours so they will probably like it, too!

Sometimes it is nice when they are easy to please. :-)

Good morning, blog fans! :-)

I know everyone is waiting with bated breath! Did she keep the microwave?? I did. You should have heard the uproar! Good grief! I did reclaim that section of kitchen real estate, though, and I'm very happy about it.

Now the only thing on the counter is my vegetable bin. It's kind of like a fruit bowl, but it is a vegetable bowl instead. It is very handy for making raw vegetables every day at lunch. It occurred to me lately that they aren't refrigerated in the store so why am *I* refrigerating them?

The other thing is that room temperature veggies taste nicer than cold veggies. I've been eating a raw lunch (Usually vegetables and tahini or Cheez) so I've kind of settled into it. It is a LOT faster and easier. The kids are old enough to do their own thing. Yesterday they made brown rice pasta with tomato sauce. I put some of the sauce on Dh's veggies and they added the extra veggies to their sauce. This is a typical sort of meal around here, but it is usually me accommodating everyone's tastes and allergies. I find it very wearing.

Today I'm trying out raw hummus. Basically it is the same as any other hummus- the beans just aren't cooked. I'm hoping the flavours will blend a little because right now it tastes a lot like raw chickpeas and I don't think I'm quite THERE in my raw food journey. ;-)

Okay, I admit I'm still in a little bit of cheese and yogurt withdrawal, but I feel a LOT better without it so it balances out.

I know there are questions, though, so let me answer them.

Is it more expensive to eat so many fruits and vegetables? It's really not. The food money just goes to cases of healthy food instead of things out of a box. A box of battered fish is $7.

Are you getting enough calories? I AM! My usual breakfast is 2 pieces of fruit (about 150 calories) and a quarter cup of nuts (about 200 calories). It's probably about the same number of calories that you had for breakfast this morning. Don't forget I have 2-3 snacks a day and if I want seconds or dessert I eat them. Last night we had gluten free chocolate chip cookies for dessert, but we often have a personal apple crisp.

Since we are off the oatmeal I blend whatever nuts, raisins and seeds that we want and we have a quarter cup of the mix on a chopped up apple. Each person makes there own and does cinnamon, butter and brown sugar to taste. If you make it with brown sugar and butter it gets a little caramelized and crispy. We usually put a a tablespoon of frozen non-dairy whipped topping on for 'ice cream' too.

Snowed in

I used to get snowed in on a regular basis and I really miss it. Of course the house was always well stocked with food so that was never a problem.

It was a change of routine - we could cancel school and do our own thing. It was a good excuse to bake something nice and not catch up on the cleaning. No one is going to drop in because they are all snowed in, too. :-)

Here in the city, though, there are no snow days! The buses always run and I always go to work.

So- since I have no snow days I must be using the opportunity to catch up on my cleaning, right? Yeah, mostly. I'm doing the kitchen today. I don't know how my kitchen gets SO messy, but it does. I mean- the dog does what he can on the lower cupboards, but he is not that tall AND you probably can't call it 'cleaning' if the dog licks the spill off a cupboard door.

And I've been wondering today if I really NEED a microwave. I have very little counter space and do I really *need* it? I had the mental war- of course I need it. I've always had a microwave since I was 7 years old. We were the first people in our small town to get a microwave. Everyone in town came for coffee that month so they could SEE it and watch something get heated. When the kids came unattended my brother and I would explode eggs for them.

So having a machine that heats coffee AND explodes eggs is pretty good, but is it necessary? I don't know, but I'm going to remove it and see what kind of backlash I get. Stay tuned... :-)

It's the WEEKEND! =8-D

This weekend I'm cleaning the house and trying to get a few things done. Jam- Jam- the - cheese-eater will be here in less than two weeks and I don't want her to know that we live like pigs... :-)

On the weekends everyone usually fends for themselves. I graciously offered to grate vegetables for everyone, though, and found my offer was met with a surprising amount of resistance. Brown Bear has never been a huge fan of vegetables. He eats enough to keep himself alive, but certainly wouldn't seek them out the way the rest of us do.

When the kids were little we would always eat in buffet restaurants when we went out. You can eat immediately and everyone gets what they want. In fact- that was the rule- you can eat what you want without a parent (mom...) leaning over you and suggesting another food group. He is remembered for having said, proudly, "Look! There is no green on my plate!" :-)

So, it is not surprising that he was resistant to the idea of vegetables for lunch... even when I offered them with "Cheez." Just in case you want Vegetables and Cheez here is the recipe:

Cheez

1 1/2 cups cashews (raw and unsalted)
1/4 - 1 cup of water
1-2 cloves of garlic, minced.
Sea salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste

Soak the cashews two hours, blend until smooth with garlic, salt and pepper to taste, refrigerate overnight and keep in a covered container. Lasts one week.

Now- don't be fooled into thinking this is CHEESE (I'm talking to you Jam Tart!) because it is not cheese- it's cheez. If your family has been vegan since before you were born then maybe you would be fooled. You don't know any better! Don't get me wrong- it's good. I wouldn't share the recipe if it wasn't good- it's just not cheese. Why wouldn't I just eat cheese? I just can't digest the casein. AND for some reason that is not entirely my fault we didn't get any cheese at the grocery store last week.

We do have an enormous tub of feta, though, so the cheese eaters aren't suffering. And we'll go to the store again before Cheese-head arrives.

Vegetable 'spaghetti'

I have to give an update on the vegetable spaghetti! It was good!

The consensus was that 5/6 of us liked it and would eat it again. I informed them all that it was raw, vegan and gluten free and asked if they felt good about that. Brown Bear replied, "NO! All I've got for supper is a bowl of vegetables!" There was also sourdough buns on the side before anyone feels too sorry for him! (AND he has free reign in the kitchen to make himself more food or different food.)

I've done a raw diet before and there were some things about it that I didn't like... namely raw onions and raw garlic. Last night I cooked the onions and added them to my tomato sauce. The tomato sauce came out of a can so obviously it wasn't raw, but all the shredded veggies under it were only warm- not cooked.

It was really good and a lot more filling than you would expect.

Well, it's a new month!

And it doesn't matter what any furry, weather predicting rodent says- there is going to be six more weeks of winter and then some.

I don't exactly have cabin fever because I leave the 'cabin' most days, but I think I probably do have the mid-winter blues.

In an effort to combat the blues I'm organizing my craft supplies and making some cards our of scraps and supplies that I have on hand. While I was out today doing 15% off day at the grocery store I stopped at Micheal's on the way home. I got a very large, black stamp pad. It was not frugal, but it was exactly what I wanted and I'm glad that I got it.

The other thing I'm doing is eating all the vegetables that I want. Tonight we are having shredded vegetables with pasta sauce and gluten free sourdough garlic buns. I just really want it and the rest of the family either has to eat what I want or make their own. I gave them fair warning and they decided they didn't want meat badly enough to cook it for themselves.


I'm hanging around Split Coast Stampers and Fat Free Vegan recipes for inspiration. :-)