Drowning. . .

A ONE MORNING HARVEST

OMG we are drowning in tomatoes! This is one morning and we are getting that much again in the evening.

Do you feel sorry for me?  I sincerely, hope not!  We have great food and our neighbors and friends love us since we keep giving tomatoes away.

Last year, our first year in this very harsh environment, we had lots of tomato troubles:  diseases, fungi and pests .  Because we got here in May, we rushed to get the garden in. Unfortunately, we did not do a good job of tracking which varieties were the best producers, the most disease resistant or the best tasting.

This year we wanted to experiment with several different varieties and to keep better records. We are tracking planting dates, problems, production and taste. The ones we are watching are: Early Girl, Celebrity, Better Boy, Black Prince, Black Krim, Big Cherry, Husky Cherry, Black Cherry, Yellow Pear, Roma and a VFN variety. Obviously we needed a couple of each types of plants. So we have ended up with quite a collection.   I am beginning to think, however, that we may have gotten a little carried away! When we finally counted all of the tomaotes plants we came up with 52!

We have some that are producing lots of tomatoes right now as you can see in the picture: Early Girl, Black Prince, Black Cherry, Yellow Pear and Roma. Some that have lots of green tomatoes; we haven’t gotten any ripe ones yet: Big Cherry, Husky Cherry, Celebrity and Black Krim.  Some plants that are still to small to be producing fruit, yet: Better Boy and VFN.

Results so far?

• Favorite eating varieties are the black ones – Black Prince and Black Cherry; the flavor is beyond belief.
• Best producer by far -- Early Girl.  The plants all have yellow leaves and kinda look bad, but they are producing great tomatoes and lots of them!
• The most troublesome -- yellow pear.  We have lost one plant and it looks like another one is one it’s way out.

No matter how you cut it we have a lot of plants, a lot of fruit and are learning a whole lot!  Bottom line for me:  Lots of tomatoes now and a whole lot more on the way so I need to get busy over the weekend and

1. Buy some canning jars
2. Read up on canning tomatoes
3. Research Dehydrators
4. Make some Gazpacho
5. Find some new recipes that use tomatoes
6. Upgrade this site: we will be down starting Friday afternoon until sometime on Saturday. Be sure to come back next week and check out our new look.

Eggplant “Non-Parmesan”

My friend Beth gave me an assignment – create a vegan (non-dairy), gluten-free, fat-free (or close too it), additive-free Eggplant Parmesan to use in Sandwiches.

You know how I am, can’t resist a challenge. So I started experimenting. Many of the recipe components can be found on the Basic Recipes Page: Tapioca Eggs, Cashew Cheese and Quick Italian Red Sauce. Please refer to that page for the specific recipe otherwise this post is going to be way to long.

The Beef of Vegetables???

Over the weekend I spent a couple of hours surfing the net. I was on a mission:  finding some good kale recipes. Almost immediately I saw an an amazing article title: Kale, the Beef of Vegetables. Of all the odd titles I have stumbled across recently, this has to top the list!

My first thought. of course, was, “no wonder I don’t particularly like it!” Then I cracked up (I do tend to amuse myself, easily). Look, I’m really, really, really trying to eat it and like it. Damn it!  It is so good for my body that I should at least eat it and hopefully, learn to like it! 

When I finally quit laughing at myself, I settled down and read the article.  It was yet one more in a long series of articles extolling the virtues and benefits of kale.  Did you know that it is full of :

A Plant-Based Diet: Slow and Easy!

There is a tremendous body of research about the benefits of eating a plant-based diet.  The numerous benefits sound almost unbelievable! A list of the diseases that eating well can prevented and/or treated include :

• allergies and autoimmune disorders (sinusitis, fibro-myalgia)
• arthritis (osteo, Rheumatoid and Gout)
• diabetes (type II)
• heart disease (high blood pressure, coronary artery disease)
• cancers (breast, prostate and colon)
• high cholesterol
• intestinal tract problems; specifically IBS and Gastro*esophageal Reflux
• obesity

And that is just for starters.

Eating Out–Subway Offering Vegan Sandwiches

Plant based eating is becoming almost mainstream! Subway is offering vegan sandwiches in the South (Virginia and Maryland).

The news made me remember a trip to the Southern US thirty years ago.  My most vivid memory of the trip is that I almost starved to death!

We were traveling and eating in restaurants. Every day, feeding myself was a challenge! The first hurdle was finding anything vaguely vegetarian on the menu.  If I found something besides salad I still had to be very careful.  Lots of added bacon (salad dressing, baked potatoes, even mac and cheese) and foods cooked in lard. Asking the server about the ingredients was a whole other problem. Mostly the people who served me and the people I ate with couldn’t get over the fact that I didn’t eat any meat.

The last time I went South, there was plenty to eat!  The winner was a fabulous Lebanese feast in Louisiana! There the server did not look at me like I had two heads when I told them how happy the menu made me: Lebanese food is heaven for a vegetarian.  The waitress lit up.  In fact, and trust me that this is a sign of progress, she  told me that she was vegetarian too – she only ate chicken and fish.  Progress not perfection!

I got my Mojo Back! Made Veggies au Pistou ( a fancy French name for a basic Veggie Stew with Pasta and Pesto)

I am GREATLY relieved to be able to report that I have my cooking mojo back!  This week everything I cooked turned out well.  In fact better than well. . . it was all downright good!

Monday morning I went out a picked a great assortment of fresh veggies. Spinach, yellow squash and tomatoes shown here.  I also trimmed a big basket full of basil and a bunch of onions. 

In the fridge there were navy beans from last week, a head of lettuce and a big cucumber that we had gotten at Farmer’s Market.  It was obviously a Greek salad day.

We are now officially in summer and menus are guided by what I pick on any given more.  This morning I had LOTS of basil that was either going to get harvested or bolt.  I harvested.

Plant-Based Diet Myth: It’s Expensive

One of the most baffling  things people say to me is “I would love to eat a plant based diet, but that is just too expensive!” I am always a little blown away but this assertion. I go to the grocery store and I watch food prices closely. . .

It was nice to find a discussion about this in The Starch Solution. Here, John McDougall states that a plant-based diet averages $4,000 savings per person per year. Or savings of  $333 per month.  You can read his discussion on pages 203-206 or search for “Food Costs” on your digital device.

For our household (just the two of us) that means saving about $650 per month. That, by the way is about what we currently spend each month.  In other words if we started eating animal based products we would double our monthly food costs.  Just in case I need another reason to stay on a plant-based diet that would work!

Bad Week at Black Rock

Just so you know, Not everything I try is a success. I know that there are friends that think I am making it up.  After all I am a proficient cook with lots of experience and knowledge.

Now, it is true that I am a proficient cook with lots of experience and knowledge.  And yet, trust me, I have very bad cooking experiences!  Last week was an great example. . .  I was on a roll!

Beans, Beans the Musical Fruit. . .

Cute poem. Uncomfortable reality.

Here is a fun factoid:  the average person passes gas from 14-23 times per day. But seriously, it doesn’t matter if you call it flatulence, farts or gas – it is embarrassing and uncomfortable.

New vegetarians and vegans complain about inordinate amounts of gas.  Which, makes sense when you think about it.  All of a sudden the body is flooded with large amounts of fiber; particularly things like beans, cabbage, kale and asparagus. Nailing down the exact cause gets a little tricky because what causes gas in one person may not cause it in someone else.

No matter what specifically causes it, the mechanism is the same. The intestinal tract is inundated with foods that do not digest easily and the result is gas.  The enzymes and bacteria needed to digest and absorb certain carbohydrates are either in short supply, out of balance or entirely absent. The result is gas: belching, farting, bloating, abdominal discomfort and sometimes real pain.

The good news is that the body will adapt as you continue to eat the vegetables that cause the gas.  Beans, however, may remain problematic.  So what can you do?

First multi-tomato harvest and garden pests . . .

The good news is that this week we have actually been harvesting and eating from the garden everyday.  We have had spinach (we are very close to the end of this batch), kale, cabbage leaves, beet greens, radishes,  zucchini, onions and tomatoes!

Tuesday morning there were actually 5 largish and 5 cherry tomatoes! We obviously got a little carried away on the whole watering thing (you can tell my the big cracks) but that seems to be a problem every year. . . takes a little bit to figure out exactly how much to water unless you invest in a moisture meter.  We, of course, wing it!

Giving Up Sugar

Admittedly, my memory about actually giving up sugar is a little fuzzy – thirty years is a long time.  I do remember, viscerally, how hard it was and how badly I craved it.

The first nutrition book I ever voluntarily read was Sugar Blues by William Duffy.  I was in a lot of joint pain. I had been diagnosed with Rheumatoid Arthritis and was feeling quite sorry for myself.

The chiropractor I was seeing at the time told me that if I alleviated my depression I would reduce my pain.  He added that the simplest way to ease my depression was to give up sugar.  He went on to say that he was convinced that cutting sugar out of my diet would have one other great benefit.  I would reduce joint inflammation and lessen the pain in my body.

Red Beans and Rice

A big favorite in our household is Cajun Red Beans and Rice.  Traditionally cooked on Monday which was laundry day because cooking beans the traditional way is an all day (and sometimes close to two) process.  Taking the time is almost worth it since the pot of beans is to die for!

Any red bean will work – small, large, kidney.  The dish tastes  almost as good if you use pressure cooked red beans.  And you can always use canned kidney beans.  Whatever beans you decide to use the basic recipe methodology is the same.

The Big Six– The Necessary and The Absolutely NOT Necessary (but wonderful) Kitchen Gadgets

For me there are three absolutely can’t live with out kitchen appliances:

• Heavy duty food processor – I wrote a piece not long ago about choppers of all kind
• Toaster oven – a multipurpose device for warming up food, toasting bread and quick heating instead of a microwave.  It is great in the summer for baking something small and not having to turn on the hot old oven!
• Crockpot– Year round convenience. It is wonderful for soups, sauces and casseroles. Start a meal and walk way.  I use it instead of the oven or stove top in the summer.

And then there are the ones that are absolutely not necessary, but sure make life a whole lot easier appliances:

Do You Know about Excitotoxins?

Four years ago David developed a gluten allergy. That began a series of radical changes in our diet. But there were more to come!

Two years ago he started having a series of “weird” problems.  He was not diabetic or even pre-diabetic but he clearly had a blood sugar problem!  On any given day his blood sugar spiked and dropped for no apparent reason.  He was alternatively shaky and moody. And eating seemed to make the problem worse.

We were at our wits end!  So in an effort to figure out what was going on we started tracking the symptoms and what he ate. The place to start was in the grocery store; reading labels.

Summertime and the Livin’ is Easy

My favorite part of gardening is watching the seeds sprout and poke up through the ground.  My second favorite part is harvesting the food. Third, is eating it.

It is immensely gratifying to actually see the results of all your hard work. Watering, weeding, keeping after pests and fungi is hard work. Never mind the transplanting and soil prep.  It’s definitely work!  But there are so few things in life where you can actually see, taste and experience such tangible and direct results.
 
Harvesting means menu planning.  Now, in the winter menus are usually about the finished product – casseroles, soups, stews and meatless meatloaves.  In the summer it is about making sure I have cooked rice and beans in the fridge, nuts in the pantry and a few things in the freezer.

Blueberry Pancakes (no gluten, sugar or eggs involved)

David is the breakfastmeister in our house.  For years he was the eggs and potato king.  Or pancakes and eggs emperor. The rice and eggs sultan. You get the idea.

As we started to eliminate eggs from our diet we (obviously) had to rethink breakfast.  Consequently, we have been eating hot grain cereals, granola and occasion gluten free pancakes or waffles topped with nut butter and fresh fruit.  The problem with gluten free pancakes/waffles is that they require an egg, use processed flour and are expensive.

Then one day David had an idea: he know how to create a decent pancake with no gluten no eggs and no processed sugar.  Long story, short, we invested in a big bag of buckwheat groats.

What’s in a Name"?

Vegetarian Diet?  Vegan Diet?  Plant Based Diet?

Over the last year as we changed how we ate, my dilemma has been what to call the “diet” we eat.  

Being a vegetarian (as in eating a vegetarian diet) is fine with me.  It is, in fact, an accurate description of my life-long dietary habits. Mostly I have been a lacto-ovo vegetarian which means I ate eggs and dairy as part of my regular diet.

Pills or Veggies?

Did you know that almost 105 million people in the United States are either diabetic or prediabetic? 

That is a staggering number.  If you figure the US population is roughly 335 million that means that roughly 1/3 of the total population is at risk!  Here is the breakdown as provided by the American Diabetes Association regarding type 2 diabetics in the US in 2010:

• Diagnosed: 18.8 million people
• Undiagnosed: 7.0 million people
• Prediabetes: 79 million people