Ubuntu is not what I expect of a vegan/vegetarian restaurant. Not only is it a restaurant but also a yoga studio… that’s not the surprising part. Given that information, I pictured a very different atmosphere. You know- bamboo mats, incense, swaths of fabric hung about as decoration, new agey music playing, yogis with their mats casually cluttered about restored furniture. I was so very wrong. This isn’t some half assed hippie operation, nope, this is conscious eating habits going mainstream. Read the rest »

This gravy heavily poured on warm home made biscuits with broiled tofu atop (open faced sandwich style) is the very definition of comfort food. Hung-over, sick, missing your Mama, frozen to the bone from riding your bike in the rain…eat gravy. Also very good on mashed sweet potatoes or oven roasted vegetables. Its just all and all fantastic on anything gravy compliments-which is everything. This is a recipe that Ive messed with and rearranged every time Ive prepared it. Ill add ingredients, change ingredients, mess with proportions and no matter because it always turns out lick the pan clean good in the end. The spices are most open to revision- sometimes I add bay leaf or sage, change out basil for oregano, throw in some nutritional yeast…a clove of garlic. This will feel good in the belly, I promise- not greasy and heavy like most. Ladle it on generously and wallow in good ol’ gravy induced comfort. Read the rest »

Sushi is one of those foods that I have never even remotely considered making myself. Its labor intensive… slicing, chopping, rice cooking, rolling, garnish, etc. This is a food that exudes precision, uniformity and elegance - I don’t do well within these boundaries. Not only are there numerous rules to mind, but the reward just isn’t that great… it will always exist to me as an appetizer- meaning all that work for not even a full meal. This is a cuisine best left to professionals. That being said, I have no idea why I decided last night was a good night to make sushi. Read the rest »

Landing in Krakow a week ago, I find myself outstandingly disoriented. Cobblestone streets and primordial architecture, street musicians harping on accordion (folks still play those…weird), horse drawn carriages and very few cars -this cannot be real…it might be a movie set. Next I expected ladies with parasols and gents donning top hats & curly mustaches. Cities just don’t look like this anymore (or so I thought). I figured the modern way of life had reared its ugly head just about everywhere,infesting every larger city with superfluous technology and capitalist brainwash. Taking a stroll into the town square is testament to Krakow’s adversity to mutate with the majority. Rynek is one of the largest medieval squares in Europe and is home to St. Marys Basilica- a jaw dropper of a church. The painted starry ceilings, the intricate stained glass, an exquisitely detailed altarpiece that took a German artist 15 years to create…all overwhelmingly stunning. Nothing, however, can trump the feeling of standing in this space… it chokes me. The smells, the air on my skin, the mumblings of prayer and the flutter of pigeons who have made their home high in the framework…I find myself unsure that I can be experiencing such an impossibility- a moment of what I feel is bona-fide history. This church stands today true to its original time…I have never been witness to anything like it. Read the rest »

Taking off to backpack my ass around Europe for a few weeks. Meaning Ill do my best to post while away but Ill be busy bumming around, eating curious foods, seeing the sights and reveling in being dirty with travel funk… so no promises. I’m visiting Poland for a week (that’s my homeland so I hope to see family) after that its all up in the air. Germany, Italy (visiting some of my Mamas old friends) and Prague are definitely in the cards but traveling to me is an act of spontaneity so we’ll see where I end up.

Went on a long bike ride yesterday- took the Burke Gilman trail from our house in Fremont to Seward Park, had pizza and beer in Columbia City then rode back home through Seattle via Capital Hill. Arrived back in our neighborhood happy and tired with a sore ass and a little bit of a sunburn. At this point we were hungry again & I was exhausted- looking to put as little effort as possible into dinner. Pasta sounded good and it’s easy to prepare. Bored with tomato based sauces, I made pesto instead. Its obviously good on noodles but also tasty on sandwiches, great as a base for pizza instead of tomato sauce, nice on rice. Go crazy. This recipe makes a generous amount (4- 6 servings at least) and its a pretty potent sauce so it doesn’t take much to flavor with.  It freezes really well so you can use it next time you’re looking to eat fast. I like to finish it off with fresh squeezed lemon and grated pepper. Next time I think I’ll crumble some walnuts on top or maybe add some sun dried tomatoes. Read the rest »

I am intensely opposed to waste (especially when it comes to food) which means I constantly fight the good fight to eat up everything around my kitchen before it spoils. Bananas are especially volatile, they seem to go from flawlessly firm and canary yellow to mushy brown and inedible in no time at all. That folks, is why I love banana bread. Seriously… that and the fact that its absurdly easy to make. Bananas are one of my least liked fruits so when I make this recipe its usually for others to enjoy… and they do every time- a lot. Usually prepared in a loaf pan and cut up into slices, I prefer it in muffin form- easier to pack for a bike ride, hike, climb, long bus ride…you get the picture. The lemon adds a nice hint of citrus and the recipe is basic enough that you can take it whichever direction you like- add nuts, seeds, dried fruit, chocolate chips etc. Just keep in mind… the riper the banana, the better the bread. Read the rest »

Took a pseudo train ride up North in to Vancouver. By “pseudo” I mean I bought a ticket to board a train but due to a problem with the railway I was ushered on to a bus instead…bummer, so much for the romance of riding the rails. Not so happy about that but I resigned myself to the journey. The weather was shitty upon arrival…I mean real shitty. My thinking, it seems, betrayed logic-I was looking forward to something different than the gray of Seattle. I wanted warm breezes, sunny skies…the reality was that Vancouver was colder & wetter than back home. The beginning of this little adventure was off to a rough start. Read the rest »

This is a link recently sent to me that I thought was informative and interesting. I like the list format- it’s easy to read and to the point. Give it a look.

http://www.nursingdegree.net/blog/19/57-health-benefits-of-going-vegan/

• Raising animals for food causes more water pollution in the United States than any other industry because animals raised for food produce 130 times the excrement of the entire human population: 87,000 pounds per second! Much of the waste from factory farms and slaughterhouses flows into streams and rivers, contaminating water sources.
• Each vegetarian saves an acre of trees every year! More than 260 million acres of U.S. forest have been cleared to grow crops to feed animals raised for meat, and another acre of trees disappears every eight seconds. The tropical rain forests are also being destroyed to create grazing land for cattle. Fifty-five square feet of rain forest may be razed to produce just one quarter-pound burger.
• Of all raw materials and fossil fuels used in the United States, more than one-third is used to raise animals for food. Producing a single hamburger patty uses enough fossil fuel to drive a small car twenty miles and enough water for seventeen showers.
• Of all agricultural land in the United States, 87 percent is used to raise animals for food. That’s 45 percent of the total land mass of the United States.
• More than half the water consumed in the United States is used to raise animals for food. It takes 2,500 gallons of water to produce a pound of meat, but only 25 gallons to produce a pound of wheat. A totally vegetarian diet requires 300 gallons of water per day, whereas a meat- eating diet requires more than 4,000 gallons of water per day.
• In the United States, animals raised for food are fed more than 80 percent of the corn we grow and more than 95 percent of the oats. The worlds cattle alone consume a quantity of food equal to the caloric needs of 8.7 billion people- more than the earth’s entire human population

- PETA Vegetarian Starter Kit