Eggplant Hummus and S. Fla in the Summertime

Sometimes, somehow, food gets better after a night in the refrigerator. I guess some ingredients just need to mix and mingle and get to know each other better in order for their full flavors to culminate in harmonial bliss. The Brown Rice Pizza was even better this evening (much to my Mom's dismay; I sent her home with a large portion of leftovers, but my brother ate them all when she was out today).

I also whipped up some Eggplant Hummus (I get so much pleasure from saying I can "whip up" anything). I love Hummus, I love Baba Ghanoush, and I had an eggplant in the fridge that desperately needed to be used. Then I remembered this recipe over at FatFree Vegan Kitchen and the yummiest creation was born: Hummus Ghanoush! It's creamy and tangy and fat free. What more could a girl want?

In other news: I don't consider myself an especially squeamish woman. I did have 2 pet rats after all. But there are 2 things that give me the heebie jeebies: snakes and spiders. Because of this, I often wonder why the hell I live in South Florida. Last night I walked into my kitchen and came toe to toe with a HUGE spider. Not tarantula huge... but huge in my world. Tonight I walked into my bedroom and this little black thing was slithering it's way towards my bed from the sliding glass door (I live on the ground floor). It's only about the size of a worm, but in my opinion: if it moves like a snake and looks like a snake, it's a freaking snake and it might as well be an 8 foot python. But I don't kill things usually (well, except roaches, spiders, and ants - sorry, I shall pay for it my next life I'm sure), so I picked it up with a pair of tweezers, put it into a ziplock bowl, and carried it out to the grass. BUT... I'm sleeping on the couch and walking around my house with shoes on for the next few weeks. Or until I move. Whatever.

*Update* Thanks to my friend John for Googling this for me. It's a Brahminy Blind Snake... one of the smallest snakes in the world. And you'll all be happy to know it's harmless, comes out in the rain (and it's rainy season here - joy), and can reproduce without a male. Lovely. It better not be reproducing in my house!

Dreena's Brown Rice Pizza and Product Reviews

I've had a few days off from cooking in order to eat up all my leftovers. It's hard cooking for one person! And those damn Peanut Butter cookies! I finally ate the last one tonight - they were so good, and so very dangerous to have around!

My Dad is out of town for the next few days, so I invited my Mom over for dinner. She is bravely eating vegan with me while she's on the Eat To Live diet. So tonight I made Brown Rice Pizza from Vive Le Vegan! (does the Viva Las Vegas song go through anyone elses head when they hear this title?). I'm not exactly sure why I thought it was going to be more like a pizza crust; it's made with brown rice after all. So in a way, I was a bit disappointed when it fell apart after I cut a slice. Disappointed, that is, until I tried it. It's fantastic! The short grain brown rice is fragrant and crispy around the edges, and the sauce and vegan cheeze gives it that pizza-ish texture and taste. I used roasted veggies from Whole Foods, a Balsamic and Onion pasta sauce, vegan mozzarella, and Morningstar Farms Chik'n Strips.

Which leads me to the Product Review section:

• Seeds of Change Balsamic & Onion Pasta Sauce: I wouldn't normally review a jarred pasta sauce, but this is absolutely to die for. It's tangy and sweet and different from any other pasta sauce I've ever tasted.
  
• Morningstar Farms Chik'n Strips: So far fake chicken products haven't won me over, and this is no exception. I took it off my food, but Mom thought is was ok. It might be that it's too much like chicken, which I hate.
• Follow Your Heart Vegan Mozzarella: Here's the amazing thing. This cheeze actually melts. I had to put the broiler on HI for about 5 minutes, but it got there in the end. It didn't have much flavor, but the texture was spot on. And did I mention? It MELTED!
• Soy Delicious Purely Decadent Chunky Mint Madness: I'm blaming this product review on EatPeacePlease and her post about vegan ice cream. This is one of those things that I thought would never, could never, live up to the real thing. Goddess was I wrong. This shit is better than any dairy ice cream I've ever tasted.
• Tings: It's important to always know what snack foods are available to you in times of intense cravings. These ROCK!

All in all it was a lovely evening. Even Lilly was worn out from all the excitement!

It's A Lovely Yellow Day

Ahhhh Yellow. It's such an underrated color and yet so soothing and warm. The walls in my living room are yellow, and although orange is by far my favorite color (and the color of my bedroom), my living room is the coziest place in the world.

So in honor of yellow I made a delicious Smoothie:
1/2 cup fresh squeezed orange juice
1/2 cup unsweetened soy milk
1 frozen banana
1 cup pineapple
1 tbsp ground flax seeds (mmmm... fiber)

Blend and garnish with pineapple. If it's not breakfast, I would definitely recommend adding in some coconut rum. Or if it is breakfast. Whatever works for you.

In keeping with the yellow theme, I've made Dreena Burton's Peanut "Better" Cookies from her cookbook Vive le Vegan! (and yes Dreena, I made them before any other food today... Dessert 1st!) I'm almost ashamed to admit that these are the first cookies I've ever made that didn't require slicing off a slab from a pre-formed cookie roll. These are AMAZING! Everyone should go out and buy her book and make these cookies. I added a little extra PB and they are stick to the roof of your mouth delicious! But more importantly - I actually BAKED cookies. How crazy is THAT? And they're good! Added bonus to vegan cookies: you can lick the bowl with no worries of contamination or food poisoning.

So, to go along with my TiVo addiction is excessive watching of Food Network. I must say that a lot of it has been really educational because I really had no cooking experience knowledge. So I bought the Rachel Ray Furi Knife and it's awesome. And I got the bamboo cutting board, and the box grater and the citrus zester and the list goes on and one. I could open up my own store with my kitchen appliances, but that's another blog altogether. So back to Food Network. It's no wonder this country is do damn fat. Butter, whole milk, cream, meat, sugar, oil, salt. And not just in small doses, in massive amounts. Watching FN has become more of a sociological study that a how-to educational experience. I've seen the Barefoot Contessa baste beef with butter and then pound in salt. Rachel Ray is the Queen of EVOO. Giada could kill a grown man with the amount of cheese and milk she puts in everything. And don't even get me started on Paula Deen! I can barely watch her any more without feeling physically ill (and her two freaking sons are so obnoxious!). She cooks everything in sticks of butter, cream, salt, pounds of sugar. It's disgusting.

And speaking of disgusting. Thanks to Jody from VegChic for posting the link in my comments to NotMilk. Wow. That pretty much solidified any remaining doubts I might have had about being vegan. And Florida has the HIGHEST pus count. Oh... I feel ill. I was so swayed by the happy cows & chickens organic farms campaign too. I'm a smart person, so I'm not sure what I was thinking, other that I simply did not want to know or believe the truth. But that's the problem with the truth. Once you know it, you can no longer pretend it doesn't exist. I mean, I'm the girl who went into a pet store a few years ago and walked out with a 2 day old albino "feeder" rat. Why? Because I had held it in my hands and I couldn't put it back knowing it was going to die. I fed that little guy every 2 hours for a month straight and he lived a healthy and long (in rat years) life. I could wax poetic about how fabulous rats are as companions, and maybe I will in a later post, but for now, here's a picture of baby Rebel:

I was fortunate enough to be able to bring him to work for the first month so I could feed him. Everyone told me he'd never live because he was taken away from his mother to soon (at 1 day), but I don't give in that easily, and neither did he!

Ok... I'm determined to end this on a "light" note and Curried Split Pea Soup from the PPK is just the thing (and it's kind of yellow-ish)! I used ground ginger instead of fresh and I threw in a bunch of new potatoes too, which is why it might look a bit thick. A bit too thick, actually, but nothing a little veggie stock can't fix. Oh... and I blended it. Split Pea Soup just has to be blended. The spices are fragrant and vibrant without being "spicy".

Veganized Kitchen, Evil Cheese, & Chocolate Bliss

I spent the better part of this evening listening to a Vegan Freak Podcast and removing all hidden animal ingredients from my kitchen. I found milk in Vegetarian Minestrone Soup, Vegetarian Indian food thingy, and a bunch of other places. I'm still surprised with where it lurks, especially in all the "vegetarian" things. My cupboards and fridge now pretty much contain only food with stuff I can pronounce and lots of veggies and "whole" foods. It feels good to actually be taking care of myself.

I suppose I understand, from a hypothetical perspective, vegetarians that don't become vegans. I understand it, because I didn't even make the vegetarian leap for so long because it was so daunting. I don't get, however, vegetarians who are vegetarians for years without becoming vegan. I don't understand how you can be a vegetarian for dietary OR ethical reasons and condone the Dairy Industry. I'm constantly appalled by what I read about the dairy industry (organic or otherwise). I appalled with how the animals are treated, with what is allowed in our milk (pus, ewwww), with how closely in bed they are with the meat industry. Not to mention cheese. God, I know cheese is hard as hell to give up. Every time I see it, my mouth starts watering, and then I remember Rennet. For those of you not in the know:

The most common source of rennet is the abomasum (fourth stomach) of slaughtered, milk-fed new-born cow calves or other young ruminants such as camels or goats. Traditionally rennet was prepared by washing and salting the stomachs of animals shortly after slaughter. The rennet was then hung up and dried until needed. (Wikipedia)

New-born cow calves. Ugh! Even when I was eating meat I wouldn't let anyone eat baby animals in front of me, but cheese? Hey no problem! There are some cheeses made from plant derived rennet, but you can never be sure - even some vegetarian cheeses contain the animal derived type. From a health perspective dairy is just bad for you. Green leafy vegetable have more calcium than milk (and a hell of a lot less fat), and a glass of water will provide the only really valuable nutrient milk provides. Click here for more information on milk and dairy.

(Not that I'm going to get all high and mighty, having only been a vegan a few days... just some thoughts, feel free to disagree with me or enlighten me!)

Let's see. In other news, I was a little worried about my chocolate cravings, since I've always been a milk chocolate lover. Well, I found heaven in a little tub of wholesome goodness at Whole Foods. These are DIVINE! X-Treme Chocolate Fudge Bite-lettes. They're definitely too sinful to keep in the fridge on a regular basis... but I'm PMSing so hey... back off ;)

In other news: Is everyone familiar with Google Reader? I've been reading a lot of blogs lately and it's such a huge help. Basically it lets you know when a blog is updated so you don't have to keep checking. Or stalling your browser when you open 37 blogs all at once (not that I've ever done that... no never).

TiVo Addiction update: it's been 3 days and I'm staying strong. I'm still sleeping on the couch and falling asleep to Without a Trace as if it was my binky, but I'm sticking with the excuse that I'm doing it for Lilly so she doesn't feel so alone in her crate.

A Daring Neighbor & Comfort Food

I was craving this dish I used to have as a kid when I would visit my grand parents in Denmark. It has potatoes, onions, garlic, and green peppers. The non-vegan version has pork and a fried egg on top, so I made this with some vegan breakfast sausage (Publix Greenwise brand) and Tofu Scramble from Vegan with a Vengeance. Top it off with a few dashes of HP Sauce (yup... it's vegan) and YUM! It was spicy and so delish! My neighbor popped in as I was chopping and was brave enough to stay for dinner. Our dogs got to wrestle and wear each other out and we both enjoyed the dinner. At least... she said she liked it.

It seems like there's a lot of contradictory information out there on the web about veganism and what to buy and where to buy it from and what is and isn't vegan etc etc etc. I know that I won't always make the right decisions, animal ingredients will get past me, and of course, I'm not getting rid of my leather couch and shoes (I can't afford to and I still like them). Hey... it's all about progress right?

In other news... I'm addicted to my TiVo. I think I mentioned this before, but it is reaching epic proportions. I'm afraid that drastic measures are needed - like maybe it's time for me to get a job. I'm even sleeping on the couch so I can fall asleep to Without a Trace. I've turned off TiVo suggestions and thinned out my Season Passes but it's still not enough. My brain is turning to mush, I'm not reading, I have to break the addiction and it's not going to be easy. So I'm going on a TV diet. 3 hours a day... no more. It might sound like a lot, but trust me... that's extreme! I'll keep you posted on my progress!

Hidden Ingredients & Random Musings

I think one of the hardest things about embarking on this new way of life is learning to read ingredients on food. I did find this handy list over at PETA and another one over at Vegan Peace... but... man... animal products seem like they're everywhere! Even in things that are non-dairy, and other strange places.

My biggest challenge right now is what to put in my coffee. I weaned myself off of the half-and-half after a truly disgusting experience. I had some Organic Valley Half-and-Half and I'd had it open and in the fridge for less than a week. One morning I was pouring some into my coffee and this jelly-like, mucus-y-ish mass of I-don't-even-want-to-know-what descend into my coffee cup with a... yup... splash. Swallowing my urge to vomit, I pulled it out and all I can say was it was exactly to consistency of phlegm. I haven't touched milk or half-and-half since then, but I've been using "non-dairy" Coffee Mate, which has casein (a milk derivative) in it. Go figure. I tried the Silk Creamer, but it had such a weird taste I couldn't stand it. I read somewhere that Coffee Rich is casein-free, but I haven't been able to find it yet. *update* I found it... and I bought it... and according to Viva Usa it's vegan :)

The above experience certainly helped push me over to veganism, along with books I have read over the years, but the other reason stems from a new "diet" that mom and I are trying. It's called Eat to Live by Dr. Joel Fuhrman, and I suppose it's more of a way of life than a diet, but I did lose 5 lbs in the first 2 1/2 weeks. I really have to start exercising... but more about that later. So E2L is vegan, and pretty restrictive with carbs and soy and sweets and salt and basically everything enjoyable in life. But I have been dying to get rid of this post-quit-smoking weight so I'm willing to suffer for a little while. And the funny thing is... I've felt amazing! So what better time to make the switch (finally!) than now.

In other news... today I made Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins and White Bean & Roasted Garlic Soup - both from Vegan with a Vengeance. The soup was amazing, but my muffins came out a little dry... I think it was because I left them in the oven too long since I used the mini muffin pan instead of a big one. I also swapped out the oil with applesauce (in the hopes of cutting out some fat), but I don't think that would have dried them out. I also used lemon soy yogurt because WFM was actually out of plain, so I cut down on the amount of lemon zest. I was worried it would be too lemon-y otherwise, but I should have used the full amount. They're still edible though, so it wasn't a complete waste :)

Welcome to Pure Zucchini!

This is my first blog and I'm hoping that it will chronicle my experiences of becoming a vegan, learning to cook, and other various thoughts. So let me tell you a little about myself:

I live in South Florida right now, but I am hoping to relocate to Rochester, NY (I'm a masochist, I know) if I can ever get my condo sold. I'm an avid book lover, travelaholic, TiVo addict (I have to work on that too), and... oh yeah... a brand spanking new vegan! This probably isn't too great a shock to most people who know me. I've toyed with the idea for decades and I have been a vegetarian off and on, but I've had trouble committing to veganism. I own a lot of leather (shoes, jackets, bags, couch), I've never been a fan of Soy, I'm a coffee addict who can't live without half and half and whole milk latte's, and on and on and on. But not matter how hard I try, I can't convince myself that veganism is the wrong path. What I can convince myself of, is that I don't have to do it perfectly, progress is more important that anything else, and ignoring my heart and my knowledge is a disservice to everything and everyone.

What will be a shock to most people who know me is that I'm teaching myself to cook... and actually enjoying it! The blogs I've linked to on the side over there -----> have been a huge inspiration for me, as well as some new cookbooks, and other websites which I'll introduce everyone to as I go along.

So here's a picture of my faithful companion, Lilly (she's a 4 month old Schnoodle)...