"Frenzied", Burgers, Shelf Life, and The Vegan Project update

Why am I "frenzied", you ask?

Okay, you didn't ask but I'm going to tell you anyway : )

Because beyond operating my at-home preschool, taking care of my dogs and husband, fish and rabbit, employees and parents of the children in our program, I have to be an over-the-top conserving-the-environment crazy person who saves every plastic bag (washes it out and everything) in order to get one more use out of it before recycling.

My husband got very upset with me today because I asked him to wash out the bottles that we had excavated from our refrigerator (salad dressing, old mayo, all that expired stuff). He thought it was a waste of time...just throw it away! Well, it's not like I wash everything to recycle it, I do throw some things away (like jelly jars...jelly doesn't like to come out of the jar!). But according to me, I'm saving the planet by washing and recycling.

And this way of thinking and behaving causes me to live in a "frenzied" manner.

Burgers Yum Yum!!!

Remember these burgers? Well, I made them again tonight. Here are my comments:

1. Yum.

2. I made the "beef" wetter and they formed much nicer patties. Just a little water made a difference.

3. We decided to try gluten-free (as if we need something else to deprive ourselves of) because we suspect gluten sensitivities. Well, we suffered through the most brick-like kamut flour bread only to realize later that I made the darn burgers with bread crumbs! Duh! And we both felt very sleepy after the meal, so it made us think it was the bread crumbs. Next time I will try it with some roasted chickpea flour or maybe just more cornmeal (or quinoa flour?).

4. I replaced half of the carmelized onion for a half of a green bell pepper (roasted and diced). They were quite good.

The stack from top to bottom: gluten-free bread, mustard, baby spinach, heirloom tomato, burger, vegan mayo, bread.

One of the best things about cooking with whole foods is that almost all of the waste is compostable (or recyclable)

Side of braised garlic cloves, zucchini and shitake mushrooms (heavenly, seriously, and so easy!)

Tristan's plate...seeing him clean his plate always feels great!!!

A couple hours after dinner, Tristan felt like peanut butter cookies, so I suggested a nut butter smoothie to satiate the urge. He was very excited about it!

Contents:

1 banana

scoop of peanut butter (hey, we're transitioning here)

almonds, soaked overnight to promote digestibility

cup of almond milk

1/2 tsp. spirulina powder

3 frozen cherries

a scoop of raw cacao powder

ice cubes

love

(and yes, that is my manly hand holding that cup)

Shelf life of rice tortillas

In case it ever comes up for you, these expire after the expiration date! I ate this for dinner last night:

and stupidly checked the expiration date of the tortillas after I ate them. I didn't die. So they're still good, although they "expired" on 9/24.

See, that's why I just prefer to make stuff from scratch. I'd rather have my own mediocre home-made tortillas than have to keep wondering about expiration dates.

The Vegan Project Update

This would be my new label for my husband's vegan adventure.

1. He decided (on his own) that two weeks would be a better testament to what veganism could do for him.

2. He claims to not be eating for "taste" but for health during this time. He wants to detox, clean out his system, eat healthy, and go in for bloodwork at the end of the two weeks to see if it made a difference.

The fight is on! Stephanie vs. Tristan's Cholesterol!!!

And now I have something to focus on (a goal if you will) rather than trying to guess what wild hair made him want to go vegan.