How Skin Deep is Your Beauty (Products)?

I've been interested a long time in what exactly are those bizarre ingredients listed on my health and beauty products. Of course, being vegetarian, my first concern is making sure that the products I buy do not involve animal cruelty or testing (one and the same to me). Second, I want as natural a product as possible. I have a great book of common ingredients..a dictionary of sorts of typical cosmetic ingredients. You'd be surprised how bad typical products are..even ones labeled "natural." Urea, a standard ingredient in many products is actually a derivative of urine! Ew!

A friend recently gave me a link to this site:
http://www.cosmeticsdatabase.com/index.php

What a great resource. Instead of flipping through my little cosmetic ingredient dictionary I can now just search for my products..and they are all rated by hazard. Some things have been surprising. I plan to run all my products through it this weekend when I have more time.

Loving Lululemon

I got new yoga pants for xmas...sort of. Not as a gift..I bought them for myself while shopping at the new Lululemon store at the Burlington Mall. My sister keyed me into Lululemon earlier this year while she was living in NYC but I didn't get to actually check them out until we traveled to Canada this summer. Being a Canadian company, it was easy to check them out in Montreal and Toronto. But then they made my life so much easier by opening two stores very close to me here in the Boston area. I normally have trouble with yoga pants 'cause I'm only 5'1 but Lululemon hems for free. They also offer free yoga classes in some locations..I hope to check out the classes at the store closest to me soon.

http://lululemon.com/products/womens/bottoms/pants/slalom_pant

Hail to Kale!

I am a late comer to the kale party. For the longest time I was letting the kale from my CSA go bad in the fridge 'cause I didn't know what to do with it. I was envious (and still am) of my officemate, Alex and his partner, Sharon, who grow their own kale and eat it fresh in salads. I just plain didn't like the stuff. And I found I wasn't alone as I'd find piles of kale removed from individual boxes at my CSA pickup..undoubtedly from other CSA-ers who couldn't figure out what to do with the stuff.

My husband, Heiko, is from a part of northern Germany that does include kale in some local recipes. We veganized one of them and it's pretty tasty but time intensive and of such a distinctive taste that you'd only want it a few times a winter. Actually, that's exactly what they do in Bremen, Germany. They'll cook a bit pot of oat groats, canadian style bacon and kale and then head off for a long walk and come home and eat the stuff as a winter tradition. Heiko told me that kale is notorious in the region for helping people keep healthy throughout the winter.

And it is tough stuff. Some varieties of kale actually taste better (sweeter) after the first frost. It withstands freezing and boiling for hours quite well while retaining much of its original vitamins. Dr. Fuhrman lists it as a top food for nutritional density.

So with all these convincing reasons, I really felt it was time to find some ways to enjoy kale. The first recipe I tried was by mistake..normally we'd do beans and saute greens on pasta but all we had was kale so I figured, what the heck. It was a nice surprise and quickly became a favorite. Then one day we were out of white beans and used chickpeas instead..this became a dish that I still crave on a regular basis. We saute one onion with a little olive oil until browned, add the chickpeas and brown them too. Then we heap the chopped, de-stemmed kale on top of the mixture in the frying pan and use a pot lid to press the kale into the pan. It cooks in five minutes and we top it with a little vegan pesto. Perfect meal by itself or on top of pasta or rice.

So armed now with one regular meal kale recipe, I was on the lookout for another. I had read about Colcannon on the PPK web site but didn't bother to print the recipe, figuring I'd get around to it. Well, last night, sorting through some old recipes, I found a recipe for Colcannon. With two bunches of kale and plenty of potatoes plus tons of leeks in the freezer, it was the perfect lunch to prepare on this snowy New Year's Eve.

The result was even better than I had expected. As can be expected of an Irish dish, it's savory and hearty..just what I love on a cold winter's day. It was a big hit and I think I've found another favorite kale standby!

Colcannon
10 oz. trimmed fresh kale, stems removed, or green cabbage (I have yet to try this with green cabbage)
1 1/2 pounds potatoes
6 cups of water
1 cup finely chopped leeks (I used frozen and it worked fine)
3/4 cup milk (I used unsweetened almond)
4 tbsp. margarine (Soy Garden for me)
1 to 2 cloves garlic (forgot these)
Salt and pepper to taste

Makes 4 to 6 servings.

1. Blanch kale or cabbage by submerging in boiling water for 1 minute, then remove and drain. Finely chop greens and set aside.

2. Peel potatoes and cut into 1" cubes. In 3-qt. saucepan, combine potatoes and water. Bring to a boil over medium heat. Cook until potatoes are very tender, about 12 minutes.

3. Meanwhile, simmer leeks in milk over low heat until soft. Add greens and two tablespoons of the margarine, and cook over low heat for 10 minutes longer.

4. Drain and mash potatoes. With an electric mixer, gradually beat leeks and milk and remaining 2 tbsp. margarine into potatoes, until mixture becomes smooth and creamy yet firm. Add garlic (if desired), salt and pepper.

5. Serve mixture in a mound or spoon it into an ovenproof dish, smooth the top and place under a broiler to brown (I did this).

Serve hot and enjoy!

Recipe from Vegetarian Times

A New Year, A New Focus

Wow, I suck at blogging. Not to be too hard on myself, I accept the fact that I'm pretty busy between growing a business, volunteering in my community, trying to eat healthy, and, last but not least, trying to be a good wife, sister, daughter and friend to those I love.

In the past year, I have encountered plenty of people who are interested in the fact that I am vegetarian and an environmentalist. While I claim not to be a fantastic cook or the most educated of all, I'm always happy to share what I've learned as I encounter daily situations that often test my morals and most of all, my patience! So my focus for this blog in 2008 will be more about my daily life and less vegetarian philosophy. This will hopefully help me blog more frequently and be more useful to anyone who may flatter me by taking the time to read anything that I've written!

Happy new year!

The Boston Vegetarian Festival is Heaven

If you missed it this past Saturday, October 22, the Boston Vegetarian Festival took place at the Reggie Lewis Athletic Center. It was a great day full of new products, a few familar ones, as well as some educational sessions. This was my fourth time attending and I only regret that I didn't start attending the event when it first started!

This year I found found some new products to try as well as a new veg publication called Satya based out of Brooklyn.

What I love most about the festival is similar to how I feel when I visit a vegetarian restaurant--I feel like I've found my people. I don't need to explain, I don't need to ask, I don't need to argue. I can just be as I explore and enjoy new foods, new ideas and new products.

http://www.bostonveg.org/foodfest/

Farm in a Box

For about four years now I have purchased an annual farm share, also called a CSA (community supported agriculture) from Brookfield Farm in Amherst, MA. This means that every Thursday between 3pm and 7pm from early June until Thanksgiving, I go and pick up my week's supply of vegetables. The pickup couldn't be easier-it's just a few short blocks away from both my office and my home.

Crazy enough, I often find that on Thursday I can't find time to get over there until 10pm when I wearily drag my sorry bottomski to the pickup spot where there are but a few scant boxes of veggies left. One time I arrived way too late only to find no boxes!

When I purchased the farm share that first year, in the dead of February when I was dreaming of eating better, I remember reading that one share was enough food for one vegetarian adult. I figured since there are two of us, maybe I should get two. But then I thought, nah, let's just try this out first. Wise choice. What was deemed enough for one vegetarian is was way more vegetables than either of us ever ate combined in one week.

Year One. The contents of this box is what one vegetarian adult eats in one week? I must be a very very bad vegetarian then. My usual routine the first year included cautiously opening the box each week (oh god what will I need to find recipes for this time?) to be met with surprise, delight and sometimes confusion (I still have troubles telling all those greens apart) on Thursday. Haul it all home and find some place to ram it into my fridge which is still packed with last week's uneaten veggies. On Saturday and Sunday, cook with some veggies. Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, claim I am too tired-let's eat out. Wednesday night, clean out fridge to make room for the next shipment. Cycle begins again. Oh yeah-begin compost bin to put all veggies that get yucky after being in fridge for several weeks. Sometimes referred to as my earthly pile of guilt. Wonder how anybody eats this much produce.

Year Two-finding more recipes for some of those obscure veggies that ended up in the compost bin last year. The farm has been great with providing recipes but I'm on the hunt for new cookbooks to supplement. I look for ones that include a lot of veggies so I can maximize my cooking efforts. Figured out how to make great, fast slaws and learned many, many soup recipes. Found special green bags from the local organic market that keep veggies crisp and fresh way longer than those recycled plastic shopping bags I used last year. Greens are still a challenge!

Year Three-feeling like I'm starting to get this under control. I know to expect a month of lettuces in June and how to deal with it (yummy fresh salad dressings, homemade croutons). I also know to bring a sturdy backpack in August and late in the season to deal with melons and squashes. Starting to learn canning for tomatoes and such but am too chicken to leave the finished cans out on the counter. Refrigerate everything out of fear of food poisoning!! Maybe too paranoid but at least I won't die of botulisum from my own canning. Got a recipe from a friend to deal with some greens--sauteed in olive oil and add white beans and red sauce and put on top of pasta. Yummy! Oh yeah, my goldfish eat greens too if I clip them to the side of the tank. Thanks little buddies...

Year Four-less and less is finding its way to the compost bin. It's really just the greens left to tackle. Darn kale. I've been making a lot of soups and this time actually taking the time to make a real soup stock. Soup stock I have discovered is an excellent opportunity to use up those almost too ripe veggies that I don't want to eat. I've found people who want to take my share when I'm away on vacation. I found a way to tackle the carrot issue (shred 'em on salads, one per person!). Due to the humid summer, we had massive melons. If I cut them up and put them on a pretty plate and cover it with plastic wrap, we'll be more likely to eat them.

Why do I do this to myself people sometimes ask me? Why go through all the stress and labor of preparing and cooking so much produce? I'm not going to learn to eat any healthier if I don't challenge myself to do so. I owe it to myself to eat better. So I put up with the temporary guilt of throwing away the sad veggies that turned to mold in my fridge. I'm getting there. And someday I will use them all up in one week.

Besides there's more than just guilt that I get from this. After our first farm share season found us less sick than ever before. Neither of us had a cold the entire year-a first for me after 30 years of having 2-3 nasty colds each winter. I had more energy and a tough hormonal problem that I had struggled with for years seemed to be subsiding.

Another plus which I did predict was the joy of feeling more connected to the world and the seasons by sharing in the weekly harvest. After living in Nirvana for two weeks off of our farm's organic strawberries, I vowed to eat only in seasonal veggies and fruits whenever possible. California might grow some great produce but there is NOTHING like a freshly picked New England strawberry in June.

Today is the day that I have started Gemusings. If you told me today when I awoke that I'd be starting a blog, I wouldn't have believed you. I don't care much for blogs. Honestly, I think they're kind of boring. But occasionally there are some that are amusing and entertaining. I hope Gemusings will fall in the latter cateogory!

Gemuse is the German word for vegetable and musings are thoughts or maybe if I stretch it "amusing" thoughts! So let's just say Gemusings will be amusing thoughts not just about vegetables but about vegetarianism.

But seriously, if you read this, I am honored. I am started Gemusings as a way to make sure that I'm writing on a regular basis, kind of like a literary bran muffin for my literary digestive tract as one of my two sisters (probably Michelle) might say. We are a kind of weird family.