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Wednesday, October 1, 2008

More food....

B"H

One of my favorite desserts is tapioca pudding. Before I was vegan, I used to make it with milk and eggs, when I went low fat, I made it with skim milk and egg beaters.

But when I went vegan, I needed a way to make it. So I tried a number of things, but they proved unsuccessful. So I tried going "simple" -- using just soy/rice milk, tapioca and stevia (which I had begun using by the time I figured this all out). I now use almond "milk" -- I take one container (32 ounces) unsweetened almond "milk", put it in the top of a double boiler. I add 1/2 cup large pearl tapioca and 1/4 cup small pearl tapioca and stevia that is equivalent to a cup of sugar. I boil the water in the bottom pot of the double boiler, then put the top pot on and turn the flame to low. I let it cook, stirring occasionally (to keep the pearls from sticking together) until it gets to desired consistency (keep in mind that it thickens in the refrigerator). Put it in a container and into the refrigerator.

Check out my squidoo lenses (articles):
Strong Biblical Women
Strong Biblical Women 2
Why Be Vegetarian
Vegetarianism: Getting Started 1
Vegetarianism: Getting Started 2
Rosh Hashana
Quick Vegan Cooking
Creating new recipes from old
Strong Biblical Women Part 3
Hanuka
About the Jewish Calendar
Witches and Morality
Presidential Trivia Quiz
Christmas and the Jewish Single
Math Hints 1 -- Adding Fractions
Presidents1: George Washington
Passover: Holiday of Freedom
Ruth and Naomi
John and John Quincy Adams
Television Trivia Quiz
Why I'm a Red Sox Fan

Check out my other blogs:

Israel and it's Place in the World
Jewish Singles
Strong Jewish Women

Check out my other merchandise:
my Etsy store
my ShopIt store

Sunday, September 28, 2008

Double Bummer

B"H

For the second year in a row, the Mets have taken until the last day of the season to dash the hopes of their loyal fans. I have been a Mets fan for a long time and I wonder which is worse -- when the Mets are so terrible no one even expects them to crawl out of the cellar, or something like this year and last when they dangle a carrot in front of us all season only to pull it away on the last day of the season.

To make matters worse, they're demolishing the stadium I grew up with -- Shea Stadium. I'll never again walk up those steep ramps of Shea to the "nose bleed" section. I'll never again see those orange seats or the unisphere from Shea. I'll never walk from Main Street in Queens to the Shea.

I have memories of Shea -- one was a banner day that I went to with my brother and father and I wore my banner -- I sewed a skirt and batiked a tee shirt (with the number of my then favorite player, #23, Teddy Martinez -- I remember it was 23 because I was standing in the aisle watching the game (returning to my seat from the lady's room) and I was standing in someone's way and he yelled to me "hey, 23, skidoo!"

I remember my first time at Shea -- it was a night game and I was 9 -- and from our vantage point in "general admission", the slope of the seats was so steep and the night so dark, I thought I was going to fall on the field.

I remember a time when my brother and I (and I think my sister?) were leaving the stadium and we saw Ralph Kiner and Roy McMillan (who was a coach for the Mets in those days -- he had been a shortstop and I grew up wanting to be a shortstop) and I went up to them and pointed to the former shortstop and said, "aren't you Roy McMillan?" I think I made his day -- I have a feeling Ralph Kiner was the one who was usually recognized when the two of them walked together, but Roy McMillan was one of my baseball heroes.....

Sigh. What can we do about our Met? Omar, are you reading this? We need some relief pitching! Really.... seriously.... and some starting pitching would be nice too. I think we also need a healthy Ryan Church. And Jose Reyes to keep his good attitude, and Davie Wright to be there in the clutch and Carlos-squared to keep hitting those home runs ("... knocking those home runs over the wall...") and Damian and Luis and Endy and Duanar and newbies Daniel Murphy and Nicky Evans.....

So, Mets, listen to a long time fan -- I know you all can do it. You just need to believe (just ask the late Tug McGraw, to paraphrase Archie Bunker, "Mr. we could use a man like Tug McGraw again...." -- our first best reliever....) and you need to play like you have to prove to the world that the last two years were flukes (this year might have been very different if the team didn't start out believing they were losers after last years major crash and burn.....)

Any time a team loses not just a game but a trip to the playoffs on the last day of the season it means they should have been there, should have been with the "boys of October", should be the ones looking to the World Series.

So, next April (or March???) I will be there, at the TV, rooting my team on.... Let's go Mets (2009).

Check out my squidoo lenses (articles):
Strong Biblical Women
Strong Biblical Women 2
Why Be Vegetarian
Vegetarianism: Getting Started 1
Vegetarianism: Getting Started 2
Rosh Hashana
Quick Vegan Cooking
Creating new recipes from old
Strong Biblical Women Part 3
Hanuka
About the Jewish Calendar
Witches and Morality
Presidential Trivia Quiz
Christmas and the Jewish Single
Math Hints 1 -- Adding Fractions
Presidents1: George Washington
Passover: Holiday of Freedom
Ruth and Naomi
John and John Quincy Adams
Television Trivia Quiz

Check out my other blogs:

Israel and it's Place in the World
Jewish Singles
Strong Jewish Women

Check out my other merchandise:
my Etsy store
my ShopIt store

Sunday, September 21, 2008

Food!

B"H

One of my friends (who also is a blogger and has introduced me to certain blogging things) has been bugging me to do some vegan blogging. So now that I have a blog that is a catch-all for any topic I want to write about, I think it's time to at least start with one recipe.

I have lately gotten hooked on one of those sandwich machines. What this machine does is take a sandwich and, like a waffle iron, cooks the sandwich and presses into a cute shape. I love the way the sandwiches come out. I mentioned this to the above friend at the kiddush (ablations???) at our synagogue yesterday and she asked me what kind of sandwiches I could make that were vegan. So I told her.

The first thing I have to tell you how to make is something I call "green stuff". I should probably come up with a better name -- this makes it sound like something Bartholomew Cubbins ran away from in some perverted Dr. Seuss book. But in reality, my "green stuff" is just a mixture of dark green veggies, some walnuts, some mushrooms and some spices.

This "recipe" (such as it is) calls for Kale, Spinach, other greens as available (when I can get it I add watercress), broccoli, garlic, Shiitake (or your favorite kind) mushrooms (I get them frozen, which makes is SO much easier!), walnuts, oil to sauté with, flax oil, your favorite mustard and spices (I use French's spicy brown mustard and curry powder). I take my large frying pan (with a cover), put in about a tablespoon of canola or olive oil. I add the greens (1/2 to one bunch of kale, about 1/2 bag frozen spinach, about 1/2 bag frozen broccoli and/or a few florets of broccoflower) and about 1/2 bag frozen, sliced mushrooms (sometimes I add a bit of bell pepper, depending on what I have in the house) and a few cloves minced garlic. I sauté (in a covered pan -- stirring occasionally) all this until it's soft (leafy greens are wilted, garlic and mushroom cooked through). I cool a bit, then add this to a handful of walnuts (1/4- 1/2 cup) in a food processor, add spices and mustard and 2 Tablespoons flax seed oil (for omega-3 fatty acids) and process in the food processor until very smooth. I then put this in a container and keep it in the refrigerator (it's best when used within a week -- it smells REALLY bad when it spoils).

Another thing I make that I often use in the sandwiches is sautéed vegetables. I do this with the same large frying pan, add a Tablespoon of canola or olive oil, chop up bell peppers (the more colors the better -- green, red, yellow, orange, purple -- purple's my favorite), garlic, sometimes onion or red onion, zucchini, sometimes eggplant, chestnuts (when I have them), mushrooms (see above), whatever interesting veggies I run across in my meanderings during the week (lately I've been adding purple potatoes)..... add a bit of grated fresh ginger (about 1/2 to 1 teaspoon), then add the veggies, mustard (see above), curry powder (or your favorite spices) and sauté (in a covered pan), stirring occasionally, until everything is cooked. I either eat it then or store it in the refrigerator.

So, now, back to the sandwiches.....

First, I warm up the sandwich maker. Then I take either an English muffin (I use sprouted grain bread) or two slices of my favorite bread -- I spread one side with "green stuff". If I have hummus in the house, I spread hummus on the other side. As a filling, I add either the sautéed vegetables or sliced black olives. I close the sandwich, brush canola or olive oil on top, flip the sandwich onto the sandwich maker and brush oil on the other side. Close and lock the machine (each machine is a bit different) and cook until brown.

Check out my squidoo lenses (articles):

Strong Biblical Women
Strong Biblical Women 2
Why Be Vegetarian
Vegetarianism: Getting Started 1
Vegetarianism: Getting Started 2
Rosh Hashana
Quick Vegan Cooking
Creating new recipes from old
Strong Biblical Women Part 3
Hanuka
About the Jewish Calendar
Witches and Morality
Presidential Trivia Quiz
Christmas and the Jewish Single
Math Hints 1 -- Adding Fractions
Presidents1: George Washington
Passover: Holiday of Freedom
Ruth and Naomi
John and John Quincy Adams
Television Trivia Quiz
Tamar -- Mother of Kings
Jewish Perspective of G-d

Check out my other blogs:

Jewish Sandwich
Jewish Singles
Strong Jewish Women
Everything Goes
Bayit and Garden

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Thursday, September 4, 2008

Project Walkway

B"H

My teen nieces were visiting me for the summer and they got me hooked on "Project Runway". I've really gotten hooked on it -- I supposed my years of being a closet designer (ok, not too closet -- I've shown my sketches to just about anyone who'll look at them)has contributed to my mania over the show. I know that I could never do what they do (well, at least not now) because sewing just isn't my thing (I'd like to get to know this better, but it's hard for me -- When I went to F.I.T., I tried to take "flat pattern design" (I think I still have the text for it) twice (I was so far behind after a few weeks, that I dropped the class both times) and I tried draping once (again, I fell so far behind that I knew I'd never pass the class). Maybe I should have stuck with it, I don't know.

When I was in High School, I learned how to knit (I already knew how to crochet since elementary school -- was it 5th grade???) and I started creating/designing clothing for my Barbie doll (It's about as much as I had patience for). I used to bring it to a concession store in a nearby town and sell them. I didn't exactly become rich selling the clothing, but I sold a few here and there.

I've spent the vast majority of my life trying to make a living doing things I like doing. I can design (as in draw designs either on paper or on the computer) but I can't make the clothing, shoes or purses. I can make some of the jewelry I design, but I can't afford the expense of doing more than one or two designs a year or so. I've also been doing graphic design for a number of years (20ish???).

A number of years ago, someone I knew introduced me to a woman who prints t-shirts who needed an artist to help with design, so I did some work for her. That led me to create a design, ostensibly for tees, of Strong Jewish Women (scenes from the lives of biblical women) -- I started with Miriam, added Devora (Deborah) and Queen Esther. I have since added Sara, Rivka (Rebecca), Rachael (Rachel), Yocheved (Moshe, Moses's, mother), Tzippora (Moshe's wife) ,Yael, Ruth and Naomi, Hana and Another Esther.

But I'm also working on the jewelry designs (you can see a couple of them and a couple of my doll clothing designs at my etsy shop and at my Shop-it site. Maybe that's my problem? I'm not focusing in on one thing? But I love all these things so much -- I enjoy creating and selling my artistic visions.

But when I see "Project Runway", I see myself in the rolls of the people who are there designing and making their own creations. Even the ones who end up "out" (as in going home) have a vision (even if I don't like their "stuff"). I find myself right now wondering who the last three will be and who will win. I have noticed one thing -- the people who listen to the judges and make changes based on their advice rather than constantly pushing their own agenda (though "trying to please the judges" without any vision also doesn't do it -- I knew the entire episode that Keith was "out" that he was going to end up gone because he was trying too hard to please the judges without being true to his own vision) are the ones who do the best (LeAnn -- I hope I spelled her name right -- learned very well from being in the bottom two in the second week and adjusted her work to showcase her vision without sacrificing style and advice she got from the judges -- she's won the most recent two challenges including this week's Diane Von Furstenberg challenge).

To all the designers who have left or are still on right now -- good luck in the future -- my heart is with you.

Check out my squidoo lenses (articles):

Strong Biblical Women
Strong Biblical Women 2
Why Be Vegetarian
Vegetarianism: Getting Started 1
Vegetarianism: Getting Started 2
Rosh Hashana
Quick Vegan Cooking
Creating new recipes from old
Strong Biblical Women Part 3
Hanuka
About the Jewish Calendar
Witches and Morality
Presidential Trivia Quiz
Christmas and the Jewish Single
Math Hints 1 -- Adding Fractions
Presidents1: George Washington
Passover: Holiday of Freedom
Ruth and Naomi
John and John Quincy Adams
Television Trivia Quiz
Tamar -- Mother of Kings
Jewish Perspective of G-d

Check out my other blogs:

Jewish Sandwich
Jewish Singles
Strong Jewish Women
Everything Goes
Bayit and Garden

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Other merchandise

Monday, August 11, 2008

Pitch Black

B"H

I know it seems as though this is turning into a "rant about the Mets" blog. But it's hard to not rant.

Omar Menaya -- if you are reading this --- GET SOME GOOD RELIEF PITCHING!!!! (Of course, I would add, don't do it at the expense of any of the good players on the team, like J. Reyes, Wright, Delgado, Beltran, Chavez, and the two new minor phenoms Evans and Murphy). Lately, the only semi-reliable reliever (and that includes the now injured Billy Wagner) is Sanchez.

Oh, and can we stop scoring runs only in innings that are included in the minimum official game?????

Today's game was a major case in point. Pedro (who's back!!! YAY!!!) pitched well -- he left the game ahead 5-1. It seemed as though the Mets would be coasting to a win. But the dreaded tar pit of baseball, the Mets bullpen, snatched defeat from the jaws of victory. Except for Sanchez (and why was he taken out anyway????) all the relievers contributed to the 6 run roughshod executed by the Pittsburgh Pirates today to give them a 7-5 win over the lapsing Mets.

I don't have a specific statistic for how many games the Mets bullpen has blown. But I have a strong feeling that if they Mets had won even 1/3 of those games they would be comfortably in first place.

One bright light in the dismal day -- David Wright added 3 RBIs and Jose Reyes added two stolen bases.

Check out my squidoo lenses (articles):

Strong Biblical Women
Strong Biblical Women 2
Why Be Vegetarian
Vegetarianism: Getting Started 1
Vegetarianism: Getting Started 2
Rosh Hashana
Quick Vegan Cooking
Creating new recipes from old
Strong Biblical Women Part 3
Hanuka
About the Jewish Calendar
Witches and Morality
Presidential Trivia Quiz
Christmas and the Jewish Single
Math Hints 1 -- Adding Fractions
Presidents1: George Washington
Passover: Holiday of Freedom
Ruth and Naomi
John and John Quincy Adams
Television Trivia Quiz
Tamar -- Mother of Kings
Jewish Perspective of G-d

Check out my other blogs:

Jewish Sandwich
Jewish Singles
Strong Jewish Women
Everything Goes
Bayit and Garden

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Other merchandise

Monday, June 23, 2008

Diet Advice????

B"H

I happen to like reading health magazines and books. I also happen to eat a healthy diet and actually enjoy exercise. But, because neither my weight nor my blood sugar are as low as I'd like them to be (I would love it if I could lose about 25 or so pounds and I would be ecstatic if my daily fasting blood sugar were about 20 or 30 points lower) I'm always looking for changes I can make to my diet to make it even healthier (I'm already a vegan -- this means no animal products: no meat, poultry, fish (I was never fond of fish anyway, but I digress...), dairy or eggs -- and, in addition, I eat no sugar, no grains (except sprouted whole grains), no soy (that's a tough one for a vegan, let me tell you!!), well, basically, what I do eat is beans (except soy), nuts, things like wild rice (not a grain) and kasha (buckwheat -- also not a grain), vegetables and a little bit of fruit.

But despite this diet, I'm having a tough time losing weight. I've tried adding fiber (by eating foods high in fiber -- I've been doing that for over 30 years now), lowering fat (I once had it so low that I'd say my diets averaged about 5-7% of its calories from fat -- I haven't done that in years), I even once tried the Adkins diet (boy, was THAT a mistake!) before I was a vegetarian (and, actually, even while I was ovo-lacto vegetarian -- somehow or another, I doubt I could find a way to keep to Adkins as a vegan)

So I keep looking for more ideas and more information about dieting. I read books, magazines, newsletters. I've tried eating more of this or less of that. And I still have a belly that won't budge.

So I read the latest "new thing" as far as belly fat goes from Prevention magazine. They were writing about the virtues of MUFA -- Monounsaturated Fatty Acids. These fatty acids are in things like nuts and nut butters, olives and olive oil, peanuts and peanut products, avocados, sunflower and safflower oil. And we're supposed to eat them at least at every meal. Ok, this is not an issue for me. I eat a lot of nuts and nut butters, lots of avocados, olive oil (and, occasionally, canola oil) and other high MUFA oils.

Ah, but here's the kicker. You have to eat these high MUFA foods at least three times a day, but you still have to keep your caloric intake under 1800 calories a day.

So I tried to figure this out. I also read that I need to eat one gram of protein for every kilogram of body weight. Fair enough. That means I need to eat in the neighborhood of 70 or so grams of protein. That would mean the equivalent of two cans of beans a day. Another few hundred calories.

I also noticed that I do best when I have either vegetable soup or sauteed vegetables (or both) during the day. But that's also more calories.

So how do you get by on 1800 calories a day? I guess I don't.....

Wednesday, June 11, 2008

Let's go Mets!!! (Do we need to "get out and 'push'"?)

B"H

The Mets have done it again, snatched defeat from the jaws of victory. After 3 straight losses to San Diego (who had, at the time, a winning percentage under .400) 2-1, they were ahead in the 4th game.....

Then, again, yesterday, against Arizona, they were ahead 5-1. But, again.....

So I was watching tonight (of and on -- I switch to the game during commercial breaks on nights there are shows I watch with my Mom) and I tuned in in the top of the 9th and there were 2 out, 2 on and the Mets were ahead 3-0.

Well, I had to turn back. Then I tuned over again and it was the bottom of the 9th and the score was 3-3. I felt very frustrated. (When you're hot you're hot and when you're not you're not)

Well, the end of the story (at least today's story) is that in the bottom of the 13th inning, Carlos Beltran, hit a two-run home run and the Mets are finally out of their losing streak.....

Check out my other blogs:

Israel and it's Place in the World
Jewish Singles
Strong Jewish Women

Check out my squidoo lenses (articles):
Strong Biblical Women
Strong Biblical Women 2
Why Be Vegetarian
Vegetarianism: Getting Started 1
Vegetarianism: Getting Started 2
Rosh Hashana
Quick Vegan Cooking
Creating new recipes from old
Strong Biblical Women Part 3
Hanuka
About the Jewish Calendar
Witches and Morality
Presidential Trivia Quiz
Christmas and the Jewish Single
Math Hints 1 -- Adding Fractions
Presidents1: George Washington
Passover: Holiday of Freedom
Ruth and Naomi
John and John Quincy Adams
Television Trivia Quiz

Check out my other merchandise:
Other merchandise

Friday, June 6, 2008

What this is all about....

B"H

I do have several blogs with specific subjects. But every now and then, I want to write about something and it doesn't fall into one of those categories. So I decided to start and "Everything Goes" blog -- that means it could be about anything that's on my mind.

Lately, what's been on my mind it the Mets. I'm a big baseball fan. I don't get to see the games as often as I'd like (I rarely get to see the entire game from beginning to end, but thanks to Sports Channel, I do get to see more games than I used to). I've been following the Mets since I was a little girl (about 6?) and, while I have other teams I root for (the Angels, the Red Sox and the Cardinals mostly), I don't get to see their games with the regularity I get to see the Mets (being that I live in the NY viewing area).

At the beginning of the year, everyone was saying the Mets were the team to beat. Well, I think that was right -- they were the team EVERYBODY was defeating.

I watched the games (and recalled their crash and burn from last year and this is what I came up with:

1) As Jose Reyes goes, so goes the team (this was confirmed for me last night with actual statistics). It's important for people like David Wright, Carlos Beltran, Carlos Delgado, etc. (and Ryan Church has been a pleasant surprise, though he still seems to need some TLC after the two concussions), but when Jose Reyes is "on" -- hitting, walking, stealing bases, smiling and enjoying himself, it gets infectious and it infects and helps the rest of the team.

2) Starting pitching needs to be tightened up. This is happening, to some degree, and with the return of Pedro Martinez and I hope it will tighten up a bit more.

3) Relief pitching needs to really tighten up. It does no good if your starting pitching is on the money but the relief pitching totally blows it (this happened a lot during the crash and burn from last year but hasn't totally disappeared this season).

4) And this is a biggy -- one of the things the Mets do well when the team is hot is those ubiquitous come from behind victories. They haven't done this at all this year.

5) Get over last year. It happened, it happens, life (and Baseball) goes on. It shouldn't define who the Mets are.

In the past week or so, the fog seems to be lifting (KI"H). I hope it continues.


Check out my other blogs:

Israel and it's Place in the World
Jewish Singles
Strong Jewish Women

Check out my squidoo lenses (articles):
Strong Biblical Women
Strong Biblical Women 2
Why Be Vegetarian
Vegetarianism: Getting Started 1
Vegetarianism: Getting Started 2
Rosh Hashana
Quick Vegan Cooking
Creating new recipes from old
Strong Biblical Women Part 3
Hanuka
About the Jewish Calendar
Witches and Morality
Presidential Trivia Quiz
Christmas and the Jewish Single
Math Hints 1 -- Adding Fractions
Presidents1: George Washington
Passover: Holiday of Freedom
Ruth and Naomi
John and John Quincy Adams
Television Trivia Quiz

Check out my other merchandise:
Other merchandise