frozen things

freezing foods is my jam. or, should i saw, i let a lot of food go nearly rotten in my fridge. so, my favourite form of food rehabilitation is the frozen route.i spent a lot of time (and money. and food) in university, throwing things in a bag, and letting it sit in a giant lump in my freezer... before finally acknowledging i couldn't break it apart - and subsequently throwing my 8lb bag of frozen strawberries in the garbage. 

when i found this SUPER easy, and almost ridiculous tip (i can't believe it took internet research to find), my life was instantly changed. no more wasting money! no more $12 bags of fruit for smoothies! no more rushing out to buy veggies for stirfry! life = changed. 

i'd like to call this a recipe, but it's literally 3 steps:

1. wash fruit or veggies (this isn't even really a step, but let's just pretend - makes me sound like i'm more complex and needed). 

2. lay fruits/veggies on flat surface to put in freezer. I'm lucky - i have a freezer that has drawers. i say lucky, because you try chasing frozen blueberries all over a freezer that doesn't have drawers. essentially, you want to cut/break up the fruits/veggies into the size pieces you will want to use. for example, frozen peppers: cut into strips if you know you'll use in stir fry. leave strawberries whole if you think you'll blend them mostly. figure out what you'll use them for, and then prepare appropriately. 

3. freeze overnight. once frozen, scoop into a ziploc. remove air, and lock up until use. 

bam. you have dreamy frozen fruits and veggies to use in your beautiful recipes.

recently, while grocery shopping with my sister, i bought a bag of yellow and orange peppers for $1. i'm talking 12 peppers, so ripe it was dangerous, for A DOLLAR. i knew i couldn't eat them in time, so i sliced them lengthwise, and laid them out (in my usual way), and froze them before adding to a large ziploc. stirfry, beware. i got peppers galore. come over for dinner - you'll see my moves.

popped rice

after almost 2 years of dealing with my body revolting against anything and everything, i finally found a naturopath who fit my needs - and who would do food testing for me. turns out, one of my FAVE snacks in the world (stove top popcorn) was essentially torturing me from the inside out (lots of crying and whining insued).
after much reaching out, someone suggested popping rice. like, popcorn. like, i can have rice, in popcorn form. life - HEAVEN. though white rice was a no go, brown and wild are ok, so i did some searching and found that i could, indeed, pop rice. so, i gave it a whirl.
starting with this recipe, i used my own supplies, and lo and behold, i have a new, crunchy, salty snack. dream. world.

popped rice
ingredients:
1/2 teaspoon of butter or coconut oil
1/2 cup wild rice

need:
saucepan with lid
stove (obvs)

heat up saucepan on high heat. when hot, add oil or butter. allow to melt, and then add the rice.  shake to coat rice in oil, and then cover the pot. when you hear the first piece of rice pop, turn heat down to medium, and shake pot vigorously. like popcorn, you will hear the rice begin to pop (much more quietly). as rice begins to slow, continue to shake until you hear only a few pops per second. after this point, rice will burn easily, so listen carefully. once finished, pour into a bowl, sprinkle some salt or seasoning (as desired), and enjoy!

my weekend in summary

this weekend was an escape from every day - into the magical lovely land that is seattle. we spent an extended weekend there, enjoying the pouring rain, and some other things too.
note: seattle has awesome food people - anyone visiting, i highly recommend simply eating your way around the city. we are now 5 pounds heavier, and very happy people.

our first coffee of the trip - needed in the dreary weather (and because coffee/espresso in seattle is divine); veggies at the market - there really is an art to display... the market is a beautiful place; flowers. everywhere flowers. i'm convinced the border patrol simply hates me, and that is why we can't bring flowers over the border; 'a poem to be worn' (by buster simpson); the market; beer and beer remnants at the pike place brewery; handled with care exhibit at the paper hammer shop; dinner at the beautiful local 360 in belltown... delicious, and exhaustively well branded; the most delicious mexican food i've ever had in my life (and that is a LOT of food) at mezcaleria oaxaca; the mariners game in the rain; coffee in queen anne, in a beautiful french bakery called le reve; pizza and salad at belltown pizza.

happy monday everyone - we're trying to stay dry.... and i'm loving the cooler weather!

dirty words and labels

i became vegan 6 and a half years ago. i was in my fourth year of university, doing heavy amounts of reading about food insecurity within the region i lived in. i was studying the environmental effects of meat eating, and i was writing about plant based diets in other countries. quoting statistics and summarizing long papers with strong conclusions about the world of meat eaters we lived in.  and then, i was leaving my dorm (where i was a student advisor), and wandering to the cafeteria to grab a chicken breast for dinner.

something didn't quite add up. 

i was reading about the world's inefficiencies in meat production, and general country to country trade (specifically the trade that leaves canada in the dust when it comes to the price of meat), and then i was consuming the same meat that presumably had been shipped from japan or britain.
and i felt like a hypocrite.
so i changed - one day, i announced that i would be vegan. there was no transition (mostly because i knew if i didn't cut cold turkey, i'd never ever give up cheese). no prep period. i decided that march 1st felt like a good day for a life change.

(via)

of course there were my own rules. i ate cow from family farms (literally - my own aunt's and uncle's kept me deep in beef for 6 years... and bless them for it) where i knew how it had been raised, knew the people raising it, knew what it was eating, and what it's life looked like. i ate eggs from a farm i visited in toronto for the same reasons. essentially, the food i ate was food that i was confident was being raised in a responsible, and respectful manner. not organic - that's a whole other discussion - but instead meat and protein that had been raised the way animals were raised in a day where people existed off of 2 meals of meat a week. i was eating meat only when i had visited a farm and truly felt like the owners and operators of that farm were honouring the farming they were doing, and respecting the animals they were farming. when they were keeping their animals healthy for the sake of the animal, and not for the sake of the profit. when they were steering clear of horomones, and feeding their animals food... not chemicals.
throughout those 6.5 years, i described myself as vegan - it was the easiest way to explain to people without a long winded conversation, that i was a selective eater. very selective. and in scenarios (like work/sales settings) where a conversation was perhaps not appropriate, vegan was simply the easiest term to describe how i ate when at a chain restaurant. was i purely vegan? not in the strictest terms - i did eat meat. about once a quarter. did i want to order a meat dish at a chain restaurant where it had presumably come from a factory farm in who know's where's-ville? not in the least. so 'vegan' it was. but that's where things got sticky.
fast forward through 6 years of mostly vegan, and trying to explain myself to every single person alive. 6 years of people defensively acting as though what i'm doing is blasphemy, and an insult towards their way of life. 6 years of defending myself against people who - for some reason - took my eating/lifestyle choices as a direct attack on their own, and therefore a perfect opportunity to pick apart everything i was doing wrong as a 'vegan'.
it was getting to the point where i was doing more justifying than conversing about my eating choices.
i then experienced a run of health issues that people thought of as a perfect opportunity to break down my eating. i was told to introduce natural calcium back into my diet, and cut out gluten. talk about criticism HEYDAY.
then. i spent 10 days in a car, to move across the country.
i had been doing pretty well with my diet, despite long work hours and high levels of stress. then, i was thrown into a car for 10 days, with little else vegan to eat than subway sandwiches. SUBWAY. bread. galore.
needless to say, i was a miserable mess for those 10 days. and i couldn't help but think - in my quest to save the planet, and the political environment of the meat industry, i was eating commercialized bread and veggies? something didn't add up.

(via)

i'd been thinking about making the switch back to 'non-vegan' for a few months, and the trip solidified something for me - i was continuing with an activity, a lifestyle, a motion, just for the sake of a label. and for the people who held me strictly to the label.
i spent some time truly reflecting on the previous 6 years, and what it would mean to retract the label people had been using to describe me for that time. would i still eat consciously, and make every effort to eat clean, with strong ties to the community i was living in - be it locally in season foods, or nearby farmers honouring the farming tradition? absolutely. would i eat meat daily, and fall back into old habits of consuming meat without thought as to its origins, or it's pathway to my dinner table? absolutely not. would i feel better about conscious choices, and reinforcing to vendors, restaurants, and friends that sustainable meat, less often, was a much better way to go about things... than the way north american culture consumes meat now?
conversely, would i have to spend my time defending myself to those who attacked, as soon as they heard the term 'vegan', or could i instead spend that time discussing food, and it's origins with those same people who were less defensive when it was clear i wasn't attacking them with my lifestyle choices. it became sort of a no-brainer.
to be clear, those who have the time, and finances for a TRULY strong, and meaningful vegan lifestyle (i.e. ellen degeneres) are high up on a pedestal to me. it is strongly proven through research that a vegan diet is not only one of the most healthy lifestyles to live, but it is also indisputably the most environmentally friendly - if people are paying attention to where their plant based foods are coming from. however, in the time of working hard hours on hours of the day, and not having the means for a personal chef, i think we've all been tempted by a veggie dog (or 108745) as vegs. is a veggie hot dog a more sustainable option than a chicken breast from a local, sustainable farm? probably not. hence, the dilemma.
that is all to say, i'm no longer vegan. do i still buy vegan margarine? absolutely. does my diet still heavily consist of homemade hummus, rice cakes, and veggies? 100%. do i still prefer almond yogurt to regular? no question (well... i'm also biased as i'm still lactose intolerant, but that's another story).
at the end of the day, all it means is that you'll see meat on my plate every now and again, and i'll have the option to choose sustainable chicken in a grocery store, over a veggie sub on my next roadtrip.

oh, the possibilities are endless. 

(also - i may pretend i'm still vegan next time i visit my aunt... she makes a KILLER tofu pot pie).

jalapeno poppers and vegan cream cheese

spoiler alert: i fried these. there. i got it off my chest. i spent so much time (3 minutes) worried that i would be judged, after pledging to myself that i would make 'healthy' (they are stuffed with cream cheese) jalapeno poppers, and bake them, and then pat myself on the back.
and then, after 30 minutes of baking, and no change in colour, with jalapenos still crunchy, i threw in the towel. fried it is.
so sue me.
nevertheless, these were a hit. think, i can't eat anymore because they are so spicy, but i want to because they are so good, kinda hit. i'll share - right off the bat - some keys to success. or, rather, things to note so you don't end up a messy, burnt disaster. same thing, right?
1. WEAR GLOVES. jeff handed me over a pair of mechanics gloves that made me feel like dexter when i was cutting apart jalepenos. apparently dish gloves work as well. either way, it is NOT worth the burning hands, and accidentally wiping your eye later on. not. worth. it.
2. this recipe is all about prep. have everything ready before you start, because you'll be in gloves, you'll be mixing, you'll be pissed at yourself when you need your garlic chopped by your hands are in gloves covered in jalapeno juices... not that i know from experience or anything (*ahem).

3. play around with the stuffing. personally, i'd like to try a stuffing made from all real ingredients - no more vegan cream cheese products. i'm thinking maybe a soft tofu, or cannellini beans?
4. this. takes. a. long. time. don't get making this half an hour before you want to eat them. the whole process is pretty involved, and goodness knows tryna rush it will likely result in jalapeno in your eye (see a recurring theme here?). just give yourself lotsa time. you CAN make these ahead of time, and then toss them in the freezer once they have been filled, and then just bread and fry when you're ready to eat.
ok. so. let's get down to business. we were over at a friends, and jalapeno poppers were made - the real kind, bacon and all. jeff got all antsy over them, and since i was jealous of everyone eating them, we combined forces to find a vegan recipe that we'd both be happy with. jeff came across this recipe, and though i wanted to avoid processed 'vegan' products, i figured once couldn't hurt. we made some adjustments, and then headed off into the great jalapeno abyss.

since the filling is the first step, i did my usual 'make sure i have everything' step, and then put everything aside, and focused on the filling. cilantro is my weakness - i love it to death, but am not willing to put up with the stems. sorry stems - you are not invited to my jalapeno parties. or any other parties for that matter. so i take my time, and i pick each leaf off of the plant. i'm sure a more efficient way of doing this is to just chop up the whole plant - but then you get stems. see where i'm going with this? let's not half ass this thing right off the bat. then, while the recipe says to combine with a spoon, i have the muscles of a small (think: 3 year old) child, and decided to class things up by throwing it all in the food processor.

have i mentioned i love garlic? and, unintelligently, i chopped my garlic before it went into the food processor. DUH! food gets CHOPPED in the processor! but, the benefit is that your garlic gets all smooth instead of chunky. so, turns out, good move jamie. the recipe called for 3 cloves, i used 3 (LARGE) cloves. this would probably be excessive, if i was not the garlic queen. literally. ruler of all garlic. so i'd say you're safe to use 2-3 small, 1-2 medium size. it's pretty potent. no vampires. or dates.
once the garlic is chopped, throw it all - garlic, cilantro, container of cream cheese (DIET JALAPENO POPPERS), and other vegan cheese (please note recipe tells me to do this after the food processor, but... i do what i want!), and hit 'on'. not 'pulse'.... 'on'. straight up blending power. when it turns this wonderful glowing green colour, it's ready.
then... are you ready?.... heaven. you could technically stop here if you have no interest in having any actual jalapenos at the end of it all. i may have eaten 2-8 large spoonfuls of the filling prior to moving forward in the recipe production. so there's your warning - these diet jalapeno poppers are dangerous addictions. you will have the most creamy and soft and fluffy and wonderful and heavenly smooth thing that ever graced the walls of that there food processor. i may make this for a spread. once a week.

one you have finished spooning out heaps for yourself, cover this, and then put in the fridge for later... it makes it nice an firm, but it also helps combine the flavours (things i've learned from watching diners, drive ins, and dives - thanks guy!).
then, you're ready to become a jalapeno pepper murderer. get out your gloves, and very sharp knife, and make sure no evidence is left behind. though there are a ton of instructions on the internet about the best way to core a jalapeno (most of which are likely WAY more correct than this), i like the easy way. not the fancy way, not the aesthetically pleasing way - the way that works, and allows me to eat my food faster. so here it is. chop the top off of the pepper, and then cut a slit down the side. all the way from where you just cut the top off, to the bottom of the pepper. again, there's probably a much classier and prettier way to do it, but who cares. this works.

then, stuff your fingers inside, and separate the insides, from the sides of the pepper. it may take a little bang after cleaning it out, just to get all the seeds out, but that's ok. no need to be gentle. i also rinsed my peppers afterwards (gloves still on!) just to make sure it was all good in the hood - ready for heaven.
(this is where you could also blanch your peppers - if you are baking, this is likely the best option).
then, fill. again, there are probably better ways to do this. perhaps fill a ziploc with your stuffing, cut a corner, and use it at a piping bag to put the stuffing in. that sounds like a much classier way to do things. me? i used my fingers, and basically manhandled the cream cheese filling by shoving it into the space in the pepper. it was messy, but i got cream cheese from top to bottom. this is key.
then, we batter.  it's a simple milk wash, so you dip into milk, then into flour. then into milk, then into panko. there's the option to do it a third time - i didn't. i was good after two. you may find that when handling the peppers, some of the coating slips off while coating. not to worry - just handle gently, and enough of the goods will stick.

 once all peppers are coated twice, you can do what i did, which is put them in the oven for 45 minutes to find they've barely cooked, and aren't crisp at all, or you can just admit defeat, and go straight to the frying pan. heat up your oil - enough to cover the base of your frying pan - and get all ready to fry those suckers up! in a very non-scientific manner, i watched each one until they were golden on one side, and then turned them. let's say it was about 4-5 minutes each of the 4 sides (you want golden allllll the way around, doncha!). careful of spitting oil, and oozing filling. and by be careful, i mean don't go sticking your hand into the frying pan to eat the filling that starts oozing out, because you'll likely get burned on both your hand, and your tongue. not that i know from experience...
if you have a deep fryer, you can heat it to 375, and then fry for about 3-4 minutes.

you'll have soft jalapenos, with filling oozing out. i always recommend two things when frying. 1. use paper towel in a bowl to absorb the leftover oil from frying. if the paper towel is transparent, that's how you know you did a good job. it means lots of oil - and let's be honest. if you're (deep) frying something, may as well go all in, right? and 2. eat slowly. it gets HOT IN HURR. oozing goo tends to go on the hotter side of 'hot as hell' and you'll end up with a burnt mouth for days. and then you won't even be able to taste the deliciousness, and then WHAT'S THE POINT?? anyways. not that i fry much, but those are my tips, for what they're worth.

Recipe adapted from hell yeah it's vegan:

Ingredients

• 15-20 fresh jalapeno peppers
• 8 oz vegan cream cheese (typically 1 container)
• ½ bunch cilantro
• 3 cloves garlic
• (optional) grated vegan cheese
• (optional) vegan bacon bits
• 1 c unsweetened, non-dairy milk of your choice
• 1.5 c flour of your choice
• 2 c panko
• Oil for frying (3 cups for a deep fryer; 1/2 cup for frying pan method)

Instructions

1. In a small bowl, beat together cream cheese, cilantro and garlic. if you have tyrannosaurus rex or weakling arms, OR if you want whipped stuffing like you could imagine heaven would be made of, then use a food processor for this step. If using bacon bits, mix by hand (to not crush). 
2. Cover, and put in the fridge while you prepare all other ingredients to allow flavours to combine. 
3. Meanwhile, core the peppers. Using a very sharp knife, cut stem off - then, slice down 1 side of the pepper. then carefully, with gloved hands, use your fingers to separate the seeds and inner membranes of the pepper from the green casing. you should be able to easily separate and clean out all innards. Don’t worry about them opening up a bit and becoming slightly misshapen; the filling will fix this.
4. Once all of your peppers are cored and cleaned, use a small spoon or your fingers (if you're classy like me) to fill each pepper casing with cream cheese mixture - make sure to fill all the way to the top. then squeeze the pepper back together, and wipe away excess filling. repeat for all peppers.
5. set out 3 bowls: one with vegan milk, one with your choice of flour, and one with panko. 
6. one at a time, dip peppers in milk, then in flour, then set aside. repeat for all peppers.
7. allow peppers to sit for a few minutes, and then dip in milk again, then in panko to coat. repeat for all peppers again. then set aside to dry (again). you have the option to repeat this step again for a third coat (i didn't... and there was plenty of batter). 
8. heat oil in a pan, and drop a bit of batter to test oil. when hot enough, place each pepper in oil - fry until golden on each side, flipping when one side is finished. 
9. Serve hot (careful of hot juices and oils!)

and, in keeping with tradition, transparency. this is what a regular jshea cooking workstation looks like, POST breading line up. not pretty (and yet, so tasty). and yes, i did lick that bowl of wonderful stuffing clean once all the peppers were stuffed. and it was worth it. 

make, enjoy, experiment, let me know how they are! once i get a real live baking sheet (i know, i know, my life is a joke), i'll try baking them again. i'll probably also try blanching the jalapenos before stuffing next time, as my research (aka. internet googling) shows that this helps in the baking process immensley. let me know how yours turn out - what you changed, kept the same, who you bribed with these delicious morsels.