I had to write about the Deep Covered Baker this week. Some of us call it The Magic Pot because what happens inside the baker when it is covered is magic. It does things like allow you to microwave a pork tenderloin in 10 minutes or a whole chicken in 30 minutes. There are entire lists of one pot meals you can make in it in 30 minutes or less and you can use it in your oven and microwave.
Because of something that happened in my life today, the Deep Covered Baker has taken on new meaning for me. It has become a symbol for me of what happens when I draw on my faith in my Higher Power. It is like magic happens. For example, how today when I was in need of an epipen, I learned there is a nationwide shortage. No pharmacy around me had one. I was going to have to delay starting a new medication. The tonight in the magic of my faith pot, the doorbell rang and a pharmacy I have never heard of nor am connected to bought me an epipen in a brown paper bag. We do not always have to understand the magic which happens in our Deep Covered Baker, we just have to appreciate the magic
Read moreI was having a Sesame Street moment as I thought the letter for this week is C. We have so many C items it was hard to choose, but I decided to pick the C item that gets the most use in my home, the Chef’s Silicone Basting Brush.
What is interesting is that I use it less for basting then I do other things. I use it to easily spread oil on my stoneware and my metal pans. It gives me an excuse to play for a moment as I paint my pans with oil. Sometimes I take a moment to let my inner child play and paint an oil picture and then I paint over it and prepare it for whatever I am putting on it next. Other times I do use it for brushing sauces, butter or oil on whatever I am cooking at that moment. There is something about having a brush in my hand that makes me tap into my inner artist. Even if what I am painting is the slices of tofu with my Maple Bourbon sauce, I can have fun painting my “canvas”
One of the features I love most is the hook on the handle which allows the brush to rest on the side of the bowl or measuring cup that my “paint” is in. I never have to worry about it sliding into the “paint” and my having to dig it out, clean it off and pray it did not slip in again. That hook sometimes reminds me of my faith. How it is my faith that allows me to hang on to my relationship with my Higher Power and know I am going to be okay.
Read moreIs it stable? Will it hold my planner? How about my surface laptop? These were the questions I was asked about our Bamboo Tablet Stand. Given that I had answered several questions about this product, it made sense I should use this as my B product as I blog my way through the alphabet. This is probably one of those products, one does not think of when they think Pampered Chef, but it is one of those products we use all the time in our house. I think we have four of them, one for just about every room of the house. In the bedroom, it holds the table, kindle or book being read at the moment. In my office, it holds a variety of things ranging from my planner, whatever documents I am needing to refer to while I am working or the book I am reading for school. In the kitchen, it holds my tablet or cookbook or pages of recipes when I am cooking. For me, and for others, it is more than just a tablet stand. It is that go to which is stable and versatile. It is like that sacred writing you think of all the time and refer to in a wide diversity of situations.
One thing I love about our Bamboo Tablet Stand is that it is made of bamboo. I have always appreciated product with a low carbon footprint and bamboo is one of those products. Bamboo is durable, doesn’t absorb moisture, and it’s a natural, renewable resource. For me, it assists me in being a good steward of the resources the Universe has entrusted me with makes me feel good.
Read moreIt has been a few years since I was part of an A to Z writing challenge. I had the opportunity to do it again. So I thought I would write my way through products and recipes from the Pampered Chef website. As I looked at the site the “A” product that popped out at me was the Adjustable Measuring Spoon Set. Perhaps that is because I use them daily and in all honesty, probably need an additional set of them for our kitchen, as they always seem to be in the dishwasher when I need them.
There are a few things I love about their design. One is that they fit perfectly in every spice container I have. In the past, I have been frustrated by spoons that are unable to fit into some of my spice containers, but these fit perfectly. Maybe this is important to me because unlike my spoons, there have been numerous times and places where I felt like I did not fit in. As I told a friend the other day, it is as if I am a round peg in a square hole, or in this case the spoon that won’t fit in the bottle. What an awesome world it would be if we all felt like we fit in the places and spaces we most needed to be.
We live in a world that is filled with binaries, wet/dry, black/white, male/female, rich/poor, etc. So often we feel like we must fit into one category or the other. So these spoons remind me that it is okay to be a combination of both or be able to fit into both categories. Being biracial I can appreciate not being just one or the other but both. Maybe that is part of what I love about these spoons. I never have to choose what I am putting in them. I can measure wet and dry ingredients with the same spoon.
Read moreSometimes you just have to go with the flow. Last night, was a great example of this for me. I had dinner all planned in my head. I was going to make a vegan egg roll in a bowl for our dinner. Love that dish because it comes together so quickly in the 12” nonstick skillet and with the addition of Chow Mein noodles, Zoe would have the crunch she likes in meals. All was going according to plan until I started gathering ingredients.
That is when I discovered that the bag I knew was vegan sausage crumble was actually a bag of frozen raspberries. I had frozen everything in the refrigerator but sausage and time was now ticking before Zoe came home and dinner was now not going to be on the table. Not that she cares about that, but I like dinner to be ready when she gets home from work.
Read moreThis is Help Whip Cancer month with Pampered Chef. However, when you are married to someone who is a cancer survivor, every month is about cancer prevention and education. When Zoe was going through chemotherapy, finding foods she would eat was the biggest challenge. Everything to her tasted like cardboard. It was so hard to get her eat anything. The greatest blessing during that time was a cookbook I found called the Cancer Fighting Kitchen. In it, the author, explained how I could make the food taste palatable for Zoe. I learned to oversalt all her food so that it no longer tasted like cardboard
Sadly, the wisdom I gained from this book is a gift I have shared numerous times with friends who are battling cancer. When a dear friend of mine was recovering from what was to be her first of several battles with cancer, I suggested to her daughter that she add acids like lemon juice and hot sauce to her mom’s food. My friend, who normally does not like hot sauce, could not get enough.
We do what we can to help our loved ones eat when their taste buds make everything taste horrible. Another friend of mine said everything tasted metallic. So I suggested her husband put peanut butter on things. He mixed peanut butter into her spaghetti and meatballs one night and she scarfed it down like crazy. Peanut butter became her best friend and they went through gallons of it, or so I am sure it seemed.
Read moreWhen we began this new vegan journey, I had no idea how much I would be learning and considering as I planned out our menu for the week. Not that I stick to it exactly, however, it helps me think through how much I am preparing and what I need and am I making sure we are getting enough of all the nutrients we need. There are so many processed vegan products and we have been trying where possible to avoid those. However, making our own seitan to make “chicken” patties and other faux meat products can be a bit more time consuming then our schedule allows.
The other challenge can be that Zoe and I have different palettes and love different kinds of food. Zoe loves foods that are crunchy, salty, sweet, and fried. As a friend of ours says about her husband, you can be an unhealthy vegan, especially when you are filling your diet with deep fried everything, ice cream, and foods that are loaded in pasta, pizza dough, etc. I tend to like more vegetables, especially the ones Zoe does not like, such as eggplant.
When we find something we both like we get uber excited, as that rarely happens.
Read moreOne of the reasons Zoe and I decided to give up animal products was that we decided to get serious about our health and working to reverse some of our health issues. Better late than never. What we have quickly learned, however, is that we fell into the trap of eating the same type of foods, just vegan style. Our quickie lunches became “chicken” patties with sweet potato fries and salad. We became quickly aware that our menu choices were become increasingly dependent on faux meats and cheeses. Yes, they were vegan but they were allowing us to be on a plant based diet with minimal eating of plants. I think there is something wrong with that
Even the recipes in the cookbook I had said I was going to cook my way through were vegan, but had minimal use of plants. Now I realize that nuts and grains and beans can be classified as plants. However, for us, we were thinking more about fruits and vegetables. So this week, we made the decision to focus on meals that were 50% fruits and vegetables and the balance could be grains and other proteins. While I may still prepare a dish or two from that cookbook, we have decided we need to make and eat things that are more plant, as we defined it, centered.
Read moreThis week I was going to reflect on what I learned about freezing from the book I am cooking my way through, The Make Ahead Vegan, but then life happened. Three people of varying importance in my life passed over and I, once again, found myself in this state of grief. I once again found myself wondering if meditations of my heart and my work in this world was making a difference. So I did what I normally do and then the signs began to pop up as they tend to do when I need them the most. Yet despite those signs I did not feel motivated to write about food. I wasn’t really feeling motivated to even cook food this week. It was just one of those weeks where I wondered how I could make eating plant based food feel junky and comforting. I haven’t been successful at that either. The the universe heard and answered my prayers in the form of the following random Facebook message from a woman and an organization I had never heard of.
Hi, Sharon--I found your blog when I was seeking inspirational words about how food is a global language. I am one of two founders of a non-profit in Austin, Texas, that is dedicated to help refugee women use their amazing cooking skills and heritage to earn money and integrate into our community. One of the things we do is host dinners--people buy tickets to come and eat food from Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan, etc., and meet these women, etc. We're about to do one with Chefugees from Syria and Iraq, and I would love to include the passage below on the inside of our printed menus (there will be one at each guest's place).
Read moreNormally when I get a new cookbook I start with the introduction, but I was in a hurry to get the menu planned for this past week and the grocery list done. Zoe and I picked two recipes from the section on Hearty Meals and took off running. I plugged them in the menu plan, into the grocery list and jumped into making them, never thinking twice again about the introduction, which I am reading now.
One of the things which attracted us to this book was that it looked like everyday food, which was one of the authors goals. What we decided I would make for us this week was the Rigatoni and Vegan Sausage Casserole and Pasta Chili Bake. One of the things I appreciated was that she shared information about storage times for both the refrigerator and freezer, not that ours will ever make it to the freezer. However, one of the things that I realized was that while these recipes were going to be exactly the kind of food that Zoe loves, they were not going to push or challenge me in the kitchen or help me introduce Zoe to new and different foods. Although it is going to help both of us develop a new relationship with lentils.
Read moreA few weeks ago, I shared that I was going to select a vegan cookbook and like Julie Powell, from the book Julie and Julia, cook my way through it. I was quite methodical in my approach. I looked at various lists of top vegan cookbooks, compiled my list of those that were on more than one top list, and borrowed them from the local library. I was not sure how I was going to discern which one I would choose, but I was clear I would be selecting one from the top ten list I had put together. Then life happened.
I had the opportunity to leave my home and physically go to the library by myself, something I had not been able to do in 7 years, and browse the vegan cookbooks. I found several which caught my attention for various reasons, so I came home with about 6 more books to add to my collection. Now I was faced with an even more difficult task of picking THE book I would cook my way through.
I had no idea on how I was going to pick THE book until I was reminded about how important family is. I was doing more then just cooking my way through a cookbook. I was going to be cooking for my wife and her selective palette. This was not just a me thing; this was a family thing. The decision of what book to use went from being a me thing to a family thing. Zoe and I began to go through the books together. Immediatel6y, some books were eliminated because there were not enough pictures for Zoe to imagine what these dishes were going to look like. Since we tend to eat with our eyes first, those with little to no pictures went back to the library.
Read moreThis morning was my first attempt to make vegan cream cheese. Zoe has been pretty happy with my getting Tofutti from the grocery store. The last three trips, however, they have been out of Tofutti. So we have tried another brand, but it did not meet Zoe’s desire for bagels and cream cheese for breakfast, her favorite. Last night, they were out of Tofutti again, so I decided I would try to make vegan cream cheese, something I had read was pretty easy to do. Yes and no.
Last night, I did as everyone suggested, well almost everyone, and I soaked my cashews over night. This morning they were uber soft and I could tell it would be fairly easy to blend them in my blender. So I began. I followed the direction that had the highest rating which had me add 1 tsp organic apple cider, 3 tablespoons lemon juice and a pinch of salt. I was supposed to add 1 tsp of water at a time to help it blend, but I thought I would add cashew milk instead as needed.
So the first tasting with Zoe and she thought it was not creamy enough. So I had it blend several more minutes. It was creamy enough for her, but I could tell by her face it was not cream cheesy enough to please her palette. Other then it not being Tofutti, it did not taste fatty enough. So back to the cookbooks.
Read moreSeveral years ago, well four to be exact, I was in the process of reading the book Julie and Julia. It was about Julie Powell’s efforts to cook her way through Julia Child’s book “Mastering the Art of French Cooking.” My goal at the time was to cook my way through the newly released cookbook by Alex Guarnaschelli. That did not go so well for a number of reasons.
This morning I was reminded it was Julia Child Birthday and it got me thinking how fun it would be to pick a Vegan cookbook and work my way through it. Unlike most people, I do not read cookbooks for the recipes. I read them for the wisdom and the spiritual lessons they offer. So now I am reviewing a list of vegan cookbooks. Not sure which one I will choose yet. If you have a recommendation from the list below, please share your comments or if you know of one I should definitely consider let me know about that cookbook as well.
Unlike Julia Powell, I am not setting a time limit, although my kitchen is not much better than the one she appeared to have in the movie. So what will I learn? Perhaps I will learn lessons about timelessness, senses, simplicity, integrity, adventure, and technique. Time will only tell.
Cookbooks under consideration are:
Read moreI almost missed this, but August is National Peach Month. I have always loved peaches, but now I have a greater understanding of why. Both in China and Japan the peach is associated with immortality and a long life. It is one of the “Three Blessed Fruits” in Buddhism and symbolizes longevity, so eating peaches may help me live longer.
That is just one reason I love peaches now. However, having lived in Georgia for several years, I came to love the state fruit. There is nothing like a good Georgia peach. I used to love making peach pies, but hated peeling peaches until I discovered the Pampered Chef serrated peeler, which makes peeling peaches so easy.
This week I thought I would share a few of my favorite Pampered Chef peach recipes and a few of my new favorite vegan peach recipes. Let me know which ones are your favorites.
Read moreSo it has been a complete week now of vegan eating and unlike my previous times of eating vegetarian, we have found ourselves going through some changes I was not anticipating. Yes, menu planning is taking more time as I realize how much of our previous meal plan was meat, cheese and egg dependent. I have also come to realize how, with my hectic schedule, I had become dependent on 30 or less minute meals. This week I have learned to slow down, breathe, and take time to think things through.
Interestingly, one day this week I was reminded to take time to do nothing. It was during that “do nothing” time that I began to gain insights into how this change was going to affect every aspect of my life. Zoe who is normally minimally engaged in meal prep and planning, has begun helping me, which is an awesome surprise. The other day she helped me grate potatoes for potato pancakes and realized just how much time I sometimes put into meal preparation.
Read moreOver the last 17 years, we have been through numerous dietary shifts in our life, including several years of vegetarian eating until Zoe went through chemo and then all she craved was meat. So back we came to the land of the meat eaters. We have been talking about returning to a vegetarian diet for a while, but after watching a documentary Forks Over Knives, we decided it was healthiest for us and our desire to lose weight and eventually be able to come off all our medication to go vegan.
It's been a slow journey, but like with anything we do, when we decide to do it, we just do it. So the past few days we have eaten as much of what we had that needed to be gotten rid of.
This morning, we started this next phase of our journey. It is not just about changing what we buy, how we prepare it, what we eat, but an inward journey to learn more about ourselves, think about what these new choices are doing for us and how much our life is going to change
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July is National Picnic Month. It is a month to celebrate and share time with family and friends. As I goofed around to see if I could find any spiritual writings about God and Picnics, I stumbled upon this song called God Shuffled His Feet by Crash Test Dummies.
After seven days
He was quite tired, so God said:
“Let there be a day
Just for picnics, with wine and bread.”
He gathered up some people He had made,
Created blankets and laid back in the shade.
What if God’s idea of honoring the Sabbath was to gather together with loved ones and have a picnic. What if we took a day each week, month, or year, to rest and gather with friends to picnic with wine and bread.
Read moreI woke up this morning to realize that yesterday was National Pick a Blueberry Day and so not surprisingly, today is National Blueberry Muffin day. While I like blueberries, they take fourth place in my list of berry favorites (raspberry, blackberry, strawberry and then blueberry. Yet my favorite way to eat them has always been in muffins.
What I have found fascinating about blueberries is the various spiritual and medicinal uses and meanings. For example, blueberries contain anthocyanin, which is good for eyesight and they contain significant quantities of both antibacterial and antiviral compounds and have a reputation in northern Europe of fighting infections. They may also help protect against heart disease. Native Americans believed that the five-pointed start on the top of the berry was a sign that they were sent by the Great Spirit to feed children and never allow them to go hungry.
Making the perfect muffin is fairly simple, it just calls for one to be patient and nor rush the process. For example, it is best to combine all the dry ingredients in one bowl and the wet ones in another. Before combining them, most baker sources I went to suggested you make a well in the dry ingredients, similar to what you do when making fresh pasta, and slowly add the wet ingredients
Read moreEvery season of the year is filled with opportunities to gather with friends and share a meal. This is true across the world. Summer is filled with opportunities to gather and barbecue. The fourth of July, in the US, is the most popular holiday for barbecuing followed by Memorial and Labor days. Barbecuing is one of those ways of cooking which transcend social and political classes. There is a history of barbecuing at the White House for example, since Thomas Jefferson. Each President has had their own favorite. For example, Lyndon B Johnson was a lover of Texas style barbecued ribs. The most popular flavors of barbecue sauce are hickory, mesquite, honey and spicy hot.
While making plans for these holiday get togethers one is probably thinking most about who to invite, what proteins to make and what beverage and vegetable to pair with them. Rarely, do we think about how spiritually rich these gatherings are. In South Africa, for example, these gatherings are braai and they are more then just a chance to gather and barbecue, they are just to celebrate cultural and spiritual traditions. Gathering with others is about more than cooking and creating memories. It is about honoring the feast, the friends, and the ways foods and wines pair up with each other. It’s about understanding how these pairings brings out the best in conversation and camaraderie for those gathered. There is a richening of community when we gather and share a meal together.
Read moreThis time of year, well anytime of year, I enjoy sipping on a cup of tea. On those cold days, I love sipping on a hot cup of tea and feeling the heat from the cup warm me up inside and out. During the summer, however, I look forward to a tall cup of iced tea. Maybe that is why June was chosen as National Iced Tea Month.
A friend of mine once told me that iced tea was created by accident at the 1904 St Louis World’s Fair. It seems a vendor was trying to sell hot tea on a hot day. People wanted something cool, not hot, so he iced it down and it became a hit. Other food scholars suggest that people were writing about iced tea in cookbooks dating back to 1842. Regardless of how it came to be, it is now something people around the world enjoy drinking on hot summer days.
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