Brie Even More Amazing

Most vegans will admit that cheese is the hardest thing to give up.  (Some might argue it's bacon, but spend 5 minutes on the internet seeing how those sweet animals are treated in factories and reconsider).  We think cheese is more ethical, but actually the cycle of pregnancy, kidnapping the calves for veal and enforced confinement is equally difficult to think about.

So what's a body to do when one misses the creamy, oozy, soft richness of a delicate wheel of brie?

I have the answer!!!

This is the second time I have made this recipe from Veg News, and it is fantastic.  Who knew that nut milks culture and ferment the way dairy milk does?

1 cup cashews
1/2 cup plain soy yogurt
1/2 cup coconut oil
1 tsp nutritional yeast
1 tsp salt
2 tbsp tapioca flour
1 tsp agar agar


Soak 1 cup of raw, unsalted cashews in water overnight.  They will become dense fat bombs - perfect for a creamy cheese.

Combine in a high speed blender with 1/2 cup coconut oil and 1/2 cup plain soy yogurt.  Add 1 tsp nutritional yeast and 1 tsp salt.  Add one cup filtered water and BUZZ.

Pour into a bowl and let rest for 24-36 hours at room temp.  Taste for a creamy, sharp flavour.  The more it cultures, the richer the flavour.

Add 2 tablespoons of tapioca flour and 1 tsp agar agar and whisk the mixture in a pot on medium to low heat until it thickens.  Keep whisking, and be patient.  You will be rewarded.

The original recipe calls for pouring this new dense cheese into a cheesecloth, rubbing the top with salt and letting sit for another 12 hours.  Then repeating.  I am too impatient just to create a fake skin on top of the brie, so I just pour the mixture into jars and refrigerate for about 4 hours.

Smeared on a soft baguette with a little bit of wine jelly?
On a toasted English muffin for breakfast?
A soft wedge with some crackers and pears?

Decadent, yet plant based, this brie will free you once and for all from thinking that vegans can't enjoy cheese.

Meatless Money

My absolute favourite blog belongs to Gail Vaz Oxlade.  www.gailvazoxlade.com/blog

Today, the blog was on extreme savings, so I thought I'd re-post one of my favourite blogs from our vegan experiment in 2009.  [Thank goodness my "biological imbalance" has passed, mostly due to spinach and chard smoothies blended with orange juice!]

The original post is from November, 2009.

52.8% on Meat, Dairy and Eggs??

Premise #1. Our family does not eat a lot of meat when we are at home. At least 3 meals a week at our place were already vegetarian before I began this vegan experiment.

Premise #2. On days when we did include meat, we would only consume a 4 oz portion of meat eggs or dairy per person as a part of our regular routine. It would consume no more than 1/4 of the plate.

Premise #3. The majority of my food purchases were not packaged ingredients, and rather healthy building blocks for home-cooked meals.

Premise #4. 18 months ago, I really eliminated any family reliance on packaged foods (from pre-made lasagna, to premade pizza, to any style of pre-packaged dinner). This reduced my grocery bill from approx $300 per week in half, to about $150.

Premise #5. In spite of the price reduction in premise 4, I was already paying premium prices for meat and dairy and eggs. I would rely on thigh meat (cheaper than breasts), whole chickens (making stock and stretching it for several days) and buying the smallest cuts of meat in the case. Ie: if there were packages costing $15.37, $12.49 and $11.12, I would buy the cheapest one possible knowing that I probably wouldn't even know the difference once I got it home.

Why am I telling you this??

Because, in light of all of this carefullness, I am shocked to learn that a full 52.8% of my food budget was going to things that I no longer eat on a vegan diet.

That means a huge portion of my already meat-limited food budget will go back into my disposable income!!!

Since our family likes to eat at restaurants (almost as entertainment) I grabbed four similar receipts. Foia, Swiss Chalet, Chanosos and The Keg.

In restaurants, it is almost impossible to avoid all the value-added cost that meat based food costs. At our most recent family meal, the average entree cost $24.50. Bill's and my veg option was 9. 64% less!

Our family's budget divides into home meals, lunch meals in restaurants, and entertainment meals for a date or a treat. They all roughly works out to about $350 per week on food, and I have a feeling that is extraordinarily conservative. When I entertain, that figure is much much higher. When we celebrate meals with family (baby nights, Thanksgiving, Christmas, birthdays, etc) those figures just do not hold up... (there was nothing like that in September or October...so the figures were bare bones).

How shocking would it be to literally add more than half of our food funds back into our lives, and keep them out of our bodies and arteries?

During this challenge, everyone is asking us how long we plan to "do this".

I can not ignore the fact that we feel better, have added time into our day, have dramatically slimmed, and (if we keep it up most of the time) have very likely cut our risks of cancer, heart problems and stroke. Also, we have virtually no food safety concerns (other than deadly spiders in our food, but I digress...)

What if we can add thousands of dollars back too?

Talk about an investment in the future.

Fried Taste Buds and Audible Chili Verde

My taste buds are fried.

Last night, Harrison made a Tomatillo Chile Verde on audible directions from me, from the couch.  I just finished some for lunch, and can't taste a thing.  Having said that, I can feel the sensation of having eaten spicy food - without any trace of it.  But the crisp tortillas and raw shredded green apple served with it still gave the crunch balancing off the smooth textures of the chili.

The sensation of eating a tart, crisp Granny Smith apple can sometimes be quite overwhelming to your taste buds.  Just sharp, puckering tartness.  Yesterday?  Nothing.  I could feel the taste buds pucker WITHOUT any taste.  It defies logic.

This morning, plodding through my workload, I grabbed a cup of peppermint tea.  Warm flavourless liquid, but then - the sensation of freshness and cooling.  Again - I could feel the periperal effects of what I was eating, but without the taste.

There is ALWAYS hot sauce in my vicinity (my desk, my car, my overnight bag, my briefcase...) while writing this I decided to take a tablespoon of hot sauce just for fun.  Surely I will be able to taste that!?!  I did it twice just to try to describe the sensation.  An energetic flush.  My pulse jumps up. I feel myself getting warmer (not unusual with the fever I've been fighting) but clearly induced by the hot sauce.

It is so crazy to "eat" without tasting.  Here is a great recipe for an unusual, but really great green chili.

* This recipe has been adapted from Veganomicon.  The original recipe contains cubed white potatoes, but I have skipped them here.

Audible Chile Verde

1-2 cups chopped cubanelle peppers
1 cup chopped white onions
1-2 cloves of garlic
1 jar Tomatillo Salsa (President's Choice makes a great one)
1 can (rinsed) white kidney beans
1 can (rinsed) white navy beans
3 teaspoons cumin
optional? 1/4 cup white wine
1 cup Vegetable Broth or water
2 Granny Smith Apples

In a large pot, saute peppers, onions, garlic and cumin until veggies are soft.  Add white wine, reduce slightly.    Add the jar of salsa, the two cans of beans, and enough stock or water to get the chili to the consistency you like.

Shred the green apples, and add them at the last minute.

Fresh cilantro, finely chopped jalapeno and sliced avocado are great green garnishes.  Hopefully they are a good jump start to my immune system, too.

Miso Soup Surprise

I'm quite sure that most moms think that their kids are the greatest.  I certainly think that of my son:)

Tuesday evening, I could feel like I was coming down with something.  Working in a busy building with 600 Type A personalities during flu season doesn't help.   Flu bugs and viruses were making the rounds with our entire office admin.  And yet, after going mostly vegan for 3.5 years I was quite proud to say that I haven't had one cold or flu.  At most I would feel mild " biological imbalances", puree up some greens, up my fluids and flavenoids, and come out the other side unscathed.

Until Tuesday around 1:30.

My muscles felt like I had just come through an exhausting workout - weak & sore.  I was sweating, yet freezing.  Pushing through a workload made more ominous by the vacation of my fabulous co-worker (she's getting a RED CARPET when she gets back!) I just refused to give in to it.  I worked the afternoon with my winter coat on, looking ridiculous, but certain that it would pass.

I would be arriving home much later than usual, and had telephoned Harrison several times to keep him posted.

I inhaled the smell of something homey, and comforting.  He hugged me and said "Mom, I made you some soup to help you feel better".

Red miso broth, bright green onions, some fresh garlic and cubes of soft tofu greeted me on the stove.  Miso - the fermented soybean paste that the Japanese enjoy for breakfast - is great for your digestion and internal balance.

But it was unbelievably good that night as a gesture of kindness, and nurturing.