Posts by Courtney:
- Leafy green veggies
- Nuts such as walnuts, brazil nuts, hazelnuts and pecans
- Seeds – just put flax seeds in anything you eat anyway. They are awesome in salads, granola, name it.
- Eggs (you know to only buy the good ones from local farmers, right?)
- Fish (I had to put this in there for pure fact)
Stylish Countertop Composting Bins
October 16th, 2009I myself have a pretty large compost bin in my backyard but I know people who live in apartments or houses without room for one that still want to compost. And composting doesn’t smell if you put the right things in there! These little countertop bins are a perfect solution.
Eat Local Challenge = Challenged no more
October 14th, 2009I hate quitting. I am extremely stubborn and when faced with a challenge I pretty much take it to the next level. I started the Eat Local Challenge because I wanted to learn more about central Texas farms (and wanting to show my support), how to eat seasonally and expand my limited culinary skills. But there was something I didn’t really think of when starting this challenge: nutrition. I call myself a very healthy and responsible vegan. October is my 2 year vegan anniversary and I have taken a lot of pride in the fact that my doctor as well as my blood work has told me I am in excellent health. All my levels are amazing and since going vegan I have increased my energy and I just feel better. I play competitive soccer 2-3 times a week and I noticed a huge improvement within the past 2 years. My diet has been very balanced with protein, good carbs and good fats and supplements. I eat a ton of fruits and vegetables, oats and seeds and get my extra protein from soy and beans (yes, I know about soy and trust me when I say I am taking the initiative in limiting it now). Recently I added coconut oil and hemp to my diet as well (total superfoods).
Forget boredom with the eat local challenge, I started feeling like crap. It really started last Thursday and I blamed it on the constant Austin rain (weird, I know) but then after several days of no energy, complete exhaustion and not being able to concentrate on anything, I realized that my diet has been lacking. I wasn’t getting my normal nutrition and I definitely wasn’t eating enough. How could I be with a limited number of veggies, some olive oil and coffee every day? I decided during the day on Monday that I had to quit the challenge. I had a soccer game right after work and I played worse than I have in years. I came home and made tofu scramble and went to bed.
However, I don’t feel defeated. I definitely learned a lot and my weekly trip to the farmers market will continue. I will still buy local over non-local if available and will tailor my meals to include as much seasonal produce as possible. And I’ll keep you posted with my attempts to make homemade granola, pasta and pretty much anything else I would rather make from scratch than buying in a box.
I think the Eat Local Challenge is awesome though and would be lot healthier if I either wasn’t vegan or lived in an area that some of these proteins were grown locally.
Incredibly bored and tired: ELC Day 12
October 12th, 2009I love food. I talk about it all day. It gets brought up in every conversation. Lately I have been surprising myself with the delicious meals I have been making but I am using the same ingredients pretty much every time. Salads are Bibb lettuce, sprouts, tomatoes and cucumbers. Everything else is make from okra, squash, potatoes, green beans, black-eyed peas, mushrooms, and sometimes eggplant with rice. There is no quinoa, pasta, bread, tofu, fruit, beans, or coconut.
Saturday farmers market finds: portabellos, red bell peppers, okra, acorn squash, yellow squash, zucchini, tomatoes, prickly pear (Matt went this time and picked some up and we both agree we don’t like it the taste.)
Wheatsville local finds: olive oil, green beans, broccoli microgreens, bibb lettuce
And I’m not feeling that great. I don’t know if it’s the weather or lack of something in my diet but if it continues I will have to modify the challenge quite a bit. I know I have been eating very healthy but I am exhausted, I can’t concentrate and I have no energy. I have a soccer game today that I am dreading. Is it my diet? What should I do?
This challenge would be a lot easier if I weren’t vegan.
PB&F? Why is there fish in your peanut butter?
October 8th, 2009
I noticed a jar of peanut butter on a co-workers desk the other day and it was obviously a Jif label but it was green. When I see green I am always intrigued by the strange ways companies are starting to package their foods to attempt to appease the “healthy” food movement, whatever that is within processed foods. I saw that the label says Omega 3 on it and I immediately thought of 2 things: 1. This is ridiculous. We are so lazy that soon enough something like peanut butter will just come with a multi-vitamin in it. 2. What in the hell are they putting in an already horrendous product to enhance it with Omega 3s? Do you know what is in my peanut butter? Peanuts. Do you know what is in a product like Jif? Roasted peanuts, sugar, Molasses, fully hydrogenated vegetable oil, mono and diglycerisdes and salt. Do you know what is in “Simply Jif”? Same exact ingredients but looks better on the outside, right? What about “Jif Natural”? Roasted peanuts, sugar, palm oil, salt and molasses. They all look the same to me. And then we get to the new Jif Omega 3:
ROASTED PEANUTS, SUGAR, CONTAINS 2% OR LESS OF: MOLASSES, FULLY HYDROGENATED VEGETABLE OILS (RAPESEED AND SOYBEAN), MONO AND DIGLYCERIDES, SALT], ANCHOVY* AND SARDINE OIL*, TILAPIA GELATIN, TOCOPHEROLS AND CITRIC ACID (ANTIOXIDANTS).
Seriously? I’m not saying this because I am vegan, but this is disgusting. Guess what? Did you know you can get Omega 3s from these other natural, whole foods?
Side note: Forget fish all-together though, the first 4 from the list will be just fine for you. Fishing practices are horrific if you didn’t know.
I can only imagine where Jif sources their sardines, anchovies and talapia for their fancy peanut butter.
What do you guys think about this?
I see green! ELC Day 7
October 8th, 2009
Farmers market finds
Yesterday was a perfect sunny day at the Austin Farmers Market at the Triangle. Funny enough, I ran into Katie again! I need to start bringing my camera to the market. I saw the first signs of green with a few collards at one of the booths. I am totally over the hump of being frustrated with finding things to cook and actually cooking it. I am someone that for years has said that I hate cooking and I just don’t do it and when I went vegan a couple of years ago I told myself I would cook more and I did. But now I am falling in love with it and I look forward to coming home and putting together whatever I have to make incredibly healthy and surprisingly delicious vegan, local meals. I bought arugula and mushrooms from Animal Farm, butternut squash and okra from Ottmars and tomatoes from Engel Farms (none of these guys have websites but are normal vendors at the Austin market).
Tomatoes are one of my favorite things in the universe. I literally have them tattooed on my arm. I bought some smoked salt a few months ago for one recipe and I always forget about it but remembered I had it last night. I sliced up a couple of tomatoes and sprinkled some pepper and smoked salt on them and let me tell you, if you haven’t tried this stuff, run to your local store that carries bulk salt (I got mine at Whole Foods) and buy some and put it on everything. A little goes a long way and has an extremely strong smokey smell and flavor. I also added it to the sauteed arugula and mushrooms. I first learned about it from reading Isa Moskowitz’s Vegan Brunch (which is an insanely awesome vegan cookbook).
Here are some photos from dinner:
Black eyed peas with arugula microgreens and tomatoes with smoked salt
Sauteed arugula with grape tomatoes, mushrooms, garlic and smoked salt
The Crossroads: ELC Day 5
October 5th, 2009
Wheatsville local finds
In the beginning of September we went to Disney World for one of my best friend’s wedding. I knew I was starting the Eat Local Challenge in October so I was paying attention to the food I eat more than normal, I had added origin to my list There was barely anything a wheat-free vegan could eat but I got a bag of apple slices and saw they were from Chile. I don’t eat apples a lot but today I was in Wheatsville Co-op and they had beautiful apples from Farwell, TX. I stood there and stared at them and thought to myself “Well, they ARE from Texas while definitely farther than 150 miles away, I could just buy some and go home and explain my reasoning on the site.” I walked around the store and passed the apples on purpose about 4 times and didn’t give in. But it was really good to know that we can get apples in Texas in October. (Side note: Custom WF vegan dinner at the wedding was insanely awesome.)
Today’s trip to Wheatsville was pretty awesome because I was craving anything green. I bought green beans and a cucumber from Pedernales, Arugula micro-greens from Bella Verdi Farms , Sunflower and mixed sprouts from New World Sprouts and hydroponic Bibb lettuce. Notice the cotton produce bag and oddly placed phallic cucumber. Therefore, dinner was awesome and I don’t call myself a cook especially since Matt went to culinary school. I started with a salad of bibb, micro-greens, sprouts, tomatoes, mushrooms and cucumber (all local) with my homemade dijon vinaigrette. I sauteed some purple long beans and green beans with shallots and garlic (all local) and added 1/4 t of Chinese five spice. We have had it for several years and never opened it. I was surprised how great an addition it was and will definitely use it more often. I also mashed up a local sweet potato with a splash of soy milk and basil from my garden. Tonight actually made me feel a lot better about the challenge, but I still need snacking ideas. Thoughts?
Local salad
Inspired by one of my favorite movies
Oh and radishes from seeds!
