Vegan Falafel. Baked. Not Fried. And Cat Report Update.

Falafel Sandwich Just like I used to get at that joint at 19 and Valencia. Ali Baba's Cave. Better because it's baked and not deep fried.











I was inspired this morning by the newsletter I got from Dr Ben Kim and just ran with it.

Instead of pita I made thin tortillas like the kind you get at the falafel place. Lavash, I think they call them.
Falafel, cucumber, tomato, tahini and a beautiful organic red lettuce that the man picked up at the natural food store, thank you, baby!
I spread tahini on the tortilla, then a lettuce leaf on top of that, then falafel and vegetables and more condiments in there.














The lettuce was really good.

The Magic Grain
















It's all about the condiments, oh, yeah. I bought a tray just for carrying condiments between the fridge and table.














On to the dinner.


First I made tortillas but with mostly white flour and just a 1/4 cup wheat. Nice and thin and just a little bit crispy.















Then:

About 5 med potatoes 3 handfuls dry chickpeas

cook the peas thoroughly and drain.
cut up and boil the potatoes until soft
thoroughly mash the two together with one finely chopped onion. The secret with this recipe, just like any meat sub is using lots of onions. Onion = Flavor + Juicy.

I used the food processor but you could mash them by hand.

Remove the chickpea potato mixture from the food processor and put it in a bowl. Set aside.
No need to clean the fp bowl, the left over chick pea mixture will help to blend the tahini sauce. It's all gonna get mixed together in the end.

In FP
2 cloves garlic
1/4 cup each sesame seeds and sunflower seeds
4 tbs lemon juice
3 tsp curry powder
2 tsp cumin
2 tbs olive oil
1 cup chopped celery heart
1 tbs nutritional yeast use the S blade and pulverize it all. add some more of the chickpea mixture to help it blend.

Mix both mixtures together in one bowl and stir well.
You could then spend a bunch of time and effort rolling walnut sized balls of the mixture, placing them on a pan, bake for 15 minutes, turn over and bake another 15 minutes or you could do like I do and...
Spread mixture into a large, greased 9 x 13" glass pan.
I baked it for 2 hours at 350F and then another hour at 400F. It could have gone a little bit longer but I'm at a high altitude, things take longer and we were hungry.

It's done when it's golden brown on the outside and still tender on the inside.














I hate rolling little balls. It's time consuming and unnecessary. You just smash the ball in the sandwich, anyway. Why not start with it flat?


I cut it into about 8 pieces and people just grabbed chunks of it out of the pan. You could use a fork, I suppose.


Thanks to everyone for the well wishes about our lovely rescue cat Minnie. She really seems to be feeling a lot better and ate some food again today. I'm really hopeful for her. She's happy and doesn't seem to be suffering. She comes to us for attention She has no problem jumping up on a lap or on the bed and loves to be brushed and petted. She was playing with a string today and I caught her sharpening her claws in the carpet. I'm pretty confident that she will live a while longer.
Thanks again for all your well wishes.

Mickey came up today with a funky eye. I put two drops of colloidal silver in each eye and it seems better tonight. Thank goodness. I have a fear of pink eye. I know it isn't that bad but my mom would trip every time I got pink eye. It guess like I got it a lot and I would hate to get it now. Everyone around me has no problem with it, just a little pink eye, it'll go away. I just need to get over my mental issue.

Good night everyone. I hope you had a good dinner and all is well with you.

I'm going to San Francisco for 4/20. Come to Golden Gate Park. I will be at the top of hippie hill, Sharon Meadow. Come see me. I'll be having a raw barbecue!

Vegan Eggplant Noodle Casserole

Yet again, I have made dinner.













The casserole is elbow macaroni, dried eggplant slices, a lovely tomato sauce I made, ground vegan seitan sausage and bread crumbs on top. Bake two hours at 350F, covered, take the lid off and let it brown up then serve immediately.
The salad is red lettuce and spinach with some sesame dressing I threw together. sesame, olive oil, water, ACV and oregano.
The things that look like Dolmas are actually collard leaves* I put about a tablespoon of seitan sausage in each one, rolled them up and baked with a table spoon of water in a small covered casserole at 350 for about half an hour. Very simple and very impressive, IMO. I would serve these at a party as an appetizer. I would. You can't prove that I wouldn't :)

I bought this book at Goodwill and have been brushing up my non-existent yoga skills.





























I had the boy take a photo but it came out blurry. That is the fish pose, Matsyasana.
From the book:

Benefits of Matsyasana: The fish stretches the spine and at the same time expands and opens the chest. It helps to regulate the four parathyroid glands in the neck. These endocrine glands control the levels of calcium in the blood. Calcium strengthens bones and teeth. It is also important for the contraction of muscles and the clotting of blood. Matsyasana corrects rounded shoulders, increases lung capacity and helps with breathing problems, relieves stress and regulates moods, increases prana** in the neck, shoulders, lungs stomach and spleen and energizes the parathyroid glands and tones the pituitary.


I find that yoga really does regulate my mood. Since I released all that weight, I have noticed that my periods affect me more than they used to. Or at least I notice it more. I gain 5 lbs every month for a week. WTF is that about. Anyway. If I am in a pissy mood, doing some poses can really change my attitude.

You might also notice I cleaned up my sidebar. I had some affiliate links but since they have been there I haven't made a dime so, bye bye useless clutter!



Footnotes:

* collard leaves are a FANTASTIC substitute for grape leaves. I got four rolls out of one large leaf. Go Collard Greens! Speaking of collard greens and greens in general. I was in line at the supermarket last Thursday, with my usual cart full of nothing but veges. The cashiers LOVE me! (not) I actually had one goth looking chick cashier say, "Oh, no! You again!" hehe. I still get a thrill out of striking dread and terror in the hearts of people. I don't think that will ever fade. Anyway there was a weird lady in front of me in line. She was buying washcloths and sweatpants and wearing very red lipstick and very blue eyeshadow. Sort of your teapot type, ya know, short and stout. She turned back to me and asked me something about some fast food restaurant in the area. I smiled and said that I hadn't the slightest idea about any fast food restaurants. I didn't go on after that, just "Sorry, I really don't know." She then started gazing into my cart. Pointing at the huge bundle of collard greens she said (wrinkle nose) "What is THAT?" Again, I smiled and said, "That is collard." She said "COLLARD? I never heard of THAT!" I said, smiling, of course, "Well, it's a leafy green. You can eat it in salad like lettuce or steam it and eat it like you would spinach." Then it was her turn at the reg and she didn't like the price on any of the stuff she chose so she left with nothing. Strange lady. Then the cashier. They dread me because nothing I buy has a barcode and they have to either know the code or look it up or CALL SOMEONE in the produce department. Fun. The young cashier was a tall blond, corn-fed type looking boy about 18 years old. He did not know what a daikon, a rutabaga, a parsnip or a turnip was. His explanation "My parents just don't buy these kinds of vegetables!" I smiled and didn't say anything to that. And this is the extent of my contact with people outside of my family here is Klamath Falls, Oregon. It ain't easy being green in Klamtucky, I tell you.

**Prana is a Sanskrit word literally meaning 'life-force' the invisible bio-energy or vital energy that keeps the body alive and maintains a state of good health. It's all about creating balance to open psychic awareness, and the nature of reality and one's place in it.

Year-Round Halloween Kitteh Does NOT Approve

Today we washed JoJo the dog. An interview with JoJo's owner

He's not a real dog. and I forgot to take a photo of him before. here he is after.














He was so filthy. I don't think he's ever been washed. His tag was in Italian. Thankfully, I have an extensive background in selling used clothes and have figured out how to read care tags in almost every language, including Chinese. He got hand washed in the sink with warm water and Borax then rinsed in clear water. I spun him in the spin cycle for a few minutes and then popped him in the dryer for ten minutes. He's now sitting on a heat vent to dry completely. For fabric softener I put coconut scented V05 conditioner on a washcloth and throw it in the dryer. The dog looks and smells better than he ever has. Good Boy!!!


Q&A with the owner of JoJo the dog (and Rusty, too).

How long have you owned JoJo?
"I was three when I got him so I have owned him for five years. he's very nice and he likes to go to playgrounds and he likes to go to the movies. His colors are white brown and black."

He sort of looks like a terrier? is he a terrier?
"Yes. His brothers name is Rusty."

What color is Rusty?
"Brown. I adopted him from my grand parents. Rusty is a playful dog, he likes JoJo. They like to play games like poker."

Just like the reindeer?
"Yeah."

Is this interview over?
"No. Actually yeah, it is over"

A Rant.

My horoscope today tells me to get out into nature. It has advice for city bound nature lovers, like me, read on...

"...if you live in a city or find it difficult to travel to a forest or the countryside, there are a myriad ways to reconnect with nature. When you step out of your door each morning, pause for a minute and close your eyes long enough to let your senses absorb your surroundings. Listen and breathe deeply, until you hear the wind rustling through branches, smell rain on damp grass, and see the reflection of leaves brushing up against windowpanes. If you have time, crouch down and closely examine any nearby grass and soil. The sights, sounds, smells, and sensations we experience that are part of nature can remind us of all the gifts Mother Earth grants us each day."

It's a lovely thought until I get to this line:

"crouch down and closely examine any nearby grass and soil."

...um.

Sister, if I crouch down and examine any grass and soil when I step outside my front door I will get (at best) a close up look at one of Mother Nature's greatest wonders, dog poop. Yeah, at best. On a Saturday morning it will probably be dog poop marinated in human vomit and I won't be able to "crouch down and examine" it because of the crowd of pigeons eating it.

I saw a beautifully preserved dead rat on the sidewalk the other day. I commune with nature all the time.

Someone else told me a good way for city dwellers to get fresh water was to lay out cloths and then wring the dew out in the morning.

Brother, if I lay some towels out in this neighborhood overnight, I will be wringing out a lot more than dew the next morning.

I can't WAIT to get out of here.

A funny story

Today at work someone told me that their lunch was stolen and he was "hungrier than TWO Ethiopians". His words, not mine.

I offered him an apple and he looked at me like I'd asked him if he wanted a bag of gravel. He did not take the apple and said, "no, I said, I'm hungry."

Oh, I forgot, apples are not delicious, nutritious, filling, life sustaining food. Sorry, what was I thinking.