It's hard to get excited about spring

when there is snow on the ground. It started yesterday afternoon, snowed most of the night and has stayed all day.

The boys wanted fries, but we were out of potatoes. How does THAT happen? I was sure we had another bag in the basement. We found a bag of apples so maybe I didn't look carefully the last time I was done there.

Anyway - we made sweet potato fries with miso gravy, tofu patties and beans and rice. It was a little eclectic, but a filling supper for a cold day.

Then we gathered around the warm oven and soaked up the heat! :-)

So my head is starting to clear

The canker sore in my mouth isn't gone, yet, though. Also- I don't look all that hot, either. :-/ I ran into someone I know. She said I looked really, REALLY tired. She looked great. You'd never know to look at her that she is recovering from a nervous break down...

But I digress!

I went to the library and got The Simply Raw Living Foods detox manual. I don't think I can do 100% raw. Oh- and I'm going to eat as many avocados as I want and I'm not having ANY colonics.

Dh is going to do the detox with me (he says) and he didn't start to twitch and hyperventilate like "Shaky." That is our new pet name for Schmidt. He heard that you begin your pre-cleanse week by giving meat and coffee. Well that was all he needed to hear.

Brown Bear, however, is trying gluten free and casein free and considering veganism. Now that he is off gluten and casein he says he doesn't even care if he has meat again. How weird is that?

On page 89 she has tips for 'dealing with hunger.' Yeah, here is the thing everyone should know about me... You know that scene from Gone with the Wind where Scarlett says 'I'll never be hungry again. As God is my witness - I'll NEVER BE HUNGRY AGAIN." That really resonates with me. I don't think hunger is all that useful or productive. It is definitely not something I want to distract myself from. EVER.

Shame, Brendan Brazier.... SHAME!

Brendan Brazier is a good BC boy, iron man triathlete, vegan and bestselling author. He also has his face on the back of products that he formulated like the Choc-a-lot shake and go smoothie which is vegan, 65% raw, gluten free and casein free. It was $25 for 10 servings.

I bet his mom is VERY proud of him. Maybe she would be a little less proud if she knew his face is on the back of a product labeled gluten free that is not actually gluten free. Trust me- I know it's not and my intestines know it's not! :-) I went to the company's website this morning to check out the forums and they are all talking about how it is not gluten free.

You can bet that I'm *ANGRY* about this because *I* am sick. The Canadian government is changing the nutrition labeling laws right now. Most manufacturers are doing voluntary compliance, but apparently not all of them. No laws have been broken... but what about the ethics and morality of feeding me POISON and telling me that it is a delicious chocolate smoothie.

Well, live and learn. I guess I will just buy more delicious Taste of Nature bars, instead... They are made in a dedicated facility because they care about contamination. I wrote them a lovely thank you note for it, too!

It's end of the month.... and ...

month end at my new job. :-) I lived through it and had a moment of pride. Then I realized that when I go back to work Monday night it just starts ALL over again. That's a depressing thought!

I've been trying to get some batch cooking done, but I find it *really* hard. I probably just need to dig in and start somewhere. I've just about given up planning meals. I just cook large portions of a variety and throw it on the counter. Everyone behaves like it is a buffet... with a 'make your own egg' station. My Hutterite egg man doesn't even bat an eye when I ask him for 5 dozen eggs a week. His kids probably eat the same amount... :-)

Sunshine and I went to the health food store on the way home from the Farmer's Market. We got soap, the aforementioned eggs and a pumice stone at the market, but I was in the mood to see food in packages...

We got Brewer's yeast. I had some on my popcorn tonight. I don't know if any adult can just eat it on popcorn or if you have to be raised that way. It was definitely a taste from my childhood! I also got soy flakes and textured soy particles. The 'particles' are the secret ingredient in my 'chicken' soup.

Then we looked in the freezer... Friends... I've lately discovered gluten free doughnuts ($5.00/ package of six.) They are expensive, but really quite delicious in that 'it's all I can have' kind of way.

When I'm really stuck for something to make I use SOS Cuisine because they have a handy dandy search on their site and you can search for or exclude anything. I searched for gluten free, vegan and alcohol-free and got three pages of hits.

Well friends...

I had a cheese dream... and it was upsetting... and I'm all messed up from it! =8-o The dream went like this: I was sitting at lunch with people I knew and looked down at my plate. There were two slices of cheese on it that were the size of the plate. Imagine if you cut a 1 Kg block of cheese on the long end... TWICE. My dream self said, " I can't eat that cheese. WHY did I even put that cheese on my plate?" Indeed. Why did my dream self even bring it home from the store? Sigh... Only my subconscious knows.

What is the cheese? Is it a metaphor? I just don't know.

See, this is what happens when a person doesn't get enough sleep! They end up blogging about nap nightmares. Let this be a lesson to all of you... :-/

Vegan chili

I got the idea from here. I decided it would be more meat-like if I processed the vegetables in the food processor. And, let's face it, FASTER! Chopping vegetables for 6 or 7 people is time consuming. The inspiration recipe is more beautiful than mine, but I'm sure it is not tastier...

I fried the onions in my large pot first so they were well cooked, but all the other veggies were tender crisp. I added canned corn, leftover chickpeas and brown rice and served it with unsalted stone ground tortilla chips.

I wasn't sure the meatless chili would be a hit, but Brown Bear is beside me and chowing down on it. It is the spices and texture that make foods familiar, though, not the meat.

Sometimes it is hard finding vegan, gluten free food that the whole family enjoys, but I'm pretty happy with this! Very adaptable. :-)

The highlights of my week

I found out that the Fry's cocoa in the small can is gluten free. Imagine my sorrow when I bought the big can and found out that it WASN'T gluten free?!

And I've been perfecting gingersnaps.

1 cup brown sugar
3/4 margarine - room temperature or soft
1 egg
1/2 cup of tapioca starch
1 1/2 cups white rice flour
2 1/4 tsp baking soda
2Tbsp of ginger*
2 Tbsp of cinnamon*
1/4 cup molasses

Bake in a pre-heated oven, 350 F for about 6 minutes. They need to be soft in the middle when you take them off the pan and you have to cool them on a wire rack.

This makes gingersnaps that are a little crispy on the outside, but still chewy.

*I like it spicy. If you like it less spicy then cut back on the spices. :-)