crack the plates

When you visit Atlanta, you shouldn’t just eat: you should do things. Does that sound obvious? Maybe, but it’s something I have to remind myself, as all too often I make the mistake of travelling just to eat. I might get a museum in, but I’m so in love with food and hospitality that I write my lists around restaurants. (See NYC 2011: Kajitsu, HanGawi, Terri, Foodswings, Lula’s… I could go on. I’ll spare you.) And sure – you can totally make an Atlanta vacation out of skipping from meal to meal. But if you did that, you’d miss two of our treasures: the High Museum of Art and the Center for Puppetry Arts.

First, the High. Yeah, yeah – it’s kind of small as major art museums go.

It doesn’t have the most highfalutin’ permanent collections. But it’s our art museum, dammit, and I’m going to defend it! (With this post and my $150 Young Patron membership, of  course.) Today my oldest friend Jessica came into town with her two kids. For the first time – and without having to travel to NYC – they got to see Matisse’s Dance (I), Mondrian’s Trafalgar Square, Picasso’s Girl before a mirror, Warhol’s self portraits, Calder’s spider, and Jackson Pollock’s giant Number 1A. They enjoyed running around the giant sculptures on the second floor, and circled KAWS/Brian Connelly’s works with curiosity and appreciation.

we took MARTA cuz it's SMARTA...

a curiously small door on the second floor.

G. beholds the KAWS wall.

Spencer Finch's "Bright Star (Sirius)"; fluorescent lamps, fixtures, filters, aluminum

Without the MoMA partnership, area families would have to have the time and means to travel to NYC to see these works. A lot of us don’t have either of those luxuries. The High brings the world to us, piece by piece, year after year. We might have to do a lot of borrowing to put on a good show, but hey, it works for us! (I featured the last MoMA series, Modern By Design, in another post.)

If you can make it out on a Thursday, tickets are half-price from 4-8pm. One adult ticket, usually $18, is $9; seniors and students, usually $15, $7.50; children (6 – 17), usually $11, are $5.50; children 5 and under always free. Fulton county residents get free admission on the first Saturday of the month. Caution: the museum’s hours are fairly limited – 10am – 5pm Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday; 10am – 8pm Thursday; 12pm – 5pm Sunday. Closed on Monday. Nothing stinks more than making the trip to discover they’re closed. :-(

If you’re used to having access to a great art museum, you might skip the High. But one you shouldn’t miss is the Center for Puppetry Arts! The Center opened in September 1978, with Jim Henson and Kermit the Frog cutting the ceremonial ribbon. Recently, the Center was gifted with the bulk of Henson’s permanent collection, and the plan is to build a giant Jim Henson wing. Currently, though, the museum is split between a historical tour of puppetry throughout the world, a large Henson exhibit which features the Muppets (Rolf, the Swedish Chef, and Ernie are just a few), The Dark Crystal, Labyrinth, Emmet Otter, and more. It’s a small but fascinating place, one of my favorites for out of town visitors.

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an old picture (2008) of me with the Chef. BORK BORK BORK!

The CfPA has a regular schedule of seasonal shows, but I highly recommend one of the guided tours. The World of Puppetry tour of the permanent collection is given Tuesday – Friday at 1pm. The Life and Legacy of Jim Henson is a special in-depth Henson tour given on weekends at 2pm. There’s also a Behind the Scenes tour on Saturday and Sunday mornings at 11am. I’ve been to the first two and enthusiastically recommend both. The tour guide was approachable, well-paced, and knowledgeable.

there's an interactive area where kids can put on several different types of puppet show, including shadow with dinosaurs.

G seemed most excited to learn about Labyrinth and, especially, the Dark Crystal. He kept asking about the Dark Crystal, the issues between the Skeksis and mystics, and made up lots of whimsical extratextual Skeksis stories. :-)

horrible Skeksis

When we got home I showed them the trailer for The Dark Crystal and insisted upon ordering the DVD for them immediately. (C’mon, it’s just $7.49!) I hope it’s not too scary for the younger one. She found the skeksis appropriately disgusting, but seemed to enjoy the trailer!

Interestingly, the highlight of the day – apart from the Dulce Vegan cupcakes afterwards – seemed to be riding on MARTA. My favorite is this shot of G. lost in thought as we zoom past Streetela. Their first trip, but likely not the last!

It’s easy and wise to use MARTA to get to both museums. From Five Points (the center/connecting station for all lines), you’ll just go North on the red line to Arts Center Station. Arts Center Station is right across from the High Museum. It’s less than a ten minute walk (with kids, faster with adults) to the Puppetry Arts museum. Then it’s less than ten minutes back to Arts Center Station. Check out a map here if you’re unfamiliar.

Today I had the pleasure of meeting up with two Atlanta vegans who blog, Rachel of Former Fish Taco Fanatic and K. of Luminous Vegans. Perhaps you’ve already made acquaintance? If not, hop to it! I love their posts for their honesty, simplicity, and beautiful pictures. They enthusiastically share recipes/resources and musings from daily life. This appeals to me as a fellow vegan who seeks blogs that show lives rather than ads for veganism.

Don’t get me wrong – it’s important to demonstrate how easy, appetizing, and fun veganism can be in a world that summarily writes it off as bereft of fun, flavor, and convenience. But I’m already batting for the V team, y’all. To me, a successful blog has way more to do with cultivating community around compelling personal content and creative recipes than with proving (or selling, ugh!) something. For these reasons and others, LV and FFTF are definitely among my faves.

We met up at Takorea on Juniper Street in midtown. I was embarrassingly – ok, mortifyingly – late, and had to barter with the surprise valet to get my car parked. (Take note: arrive with $3 cash if you want to park in their lot, or be prepared to surrender your keys as collateral til you can get to an ATM.) Thankfully, R & K turned out to be total dears about my social misstep, and R even loaned me the $3 to cover parking. (I’ll pay you back in baked goods, promise!)

Our server was wonderful, waiting patiently and checking in unobtrusively as we chatted oblivious of the menu. In due time we put in orders for three tofu tacos, bibimbap, and a giant salad with sesame-soy dressing.

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I didn’t get a picture of the bibimbap, but it’s just as well – hopefully K or R will post one! I recommend Takorea to midtown-bound vegans. The kimchi isn’t veg-friendly (boo!) but the service was quick and attentive, and the food was tasty. Plus, there’s a Scoutmob for it through June 4, so you can try all the vegan items at 50% off! And if you manage to secure splendid company like I did today? Icing on the cake.

I stopped in today with my oldest pal Jessica and her two kids. They LOVED their cupcakes – M. had strawberry with strawberry frosting, while G. had banana cake with chocolate frosting. Mom and I shared a day-old (but PERFECT) slice of frosted lemon poundcake on special. My embarrassingly effusive evaluation: “this tastes like Sunday supper church lady cake!” Buttery, rich, moist… perfect. Jessica agreed.

I took a picture of the savory food menu board to share with folks who enjoyed yesterday’s post.

It’s in chalk because it changes, but many of these items have been around for a while. Given their popularity – and deliciousness – I don’t really see them going anywhere soon.

For those unable to use the photo, here’s what it says:

Dulce Vegan Lunch

• Served 11am to close
• Soup of the day: Side $2.50 Small $3.95 Large $5.95
• Simple side salad with greens, cucumber and tomato – combo $2.00 a la carte $3.45
• Walnut orange side salad – combo $2.50 a la carte $3.95
• Red pepper hummus sandwich with tomato, arugula and cucumber – $6.95 ; add tofu for $1
• TLT sandwich: tempeh bacon, lettuce, tomato, and chipotle aioli – $6.95
• Walnut Orange Salad – fresh oranges, walnuts, marinated tofu, and greens with apple cider vinaigrette – $7.50
• Balsamic Marinated Tofu Sandwich – with walnut pesto, tomato and greens – $7.50
• “Chicken” salad – gluten-free – $7.50
• Local organic ingredients / Bread baked in house

Breakfast

• Biscuit – $1.95
• Bagel – $2.25
• English muffin – $1.95
• Earth balance – 0.25; “cream cheese” – 0.50
• Breakfast sandwich – $4.95: pick two: “egg”, “bacon”, “sausage”, Daiya “cheddar”; additional toppings 0.75 each; add chipotle aioli or tomato, 0.50
• Granola – gluten-free – $4.95

Not included in this post is the drink menu or a picture of the baked goods cases, which contain cakes, scones, cupcakes, and other pastries. They also make gluten-free biscotti.

Whaddaya say? Triple A! April: Atlanta’s Awesome (Returns!)

Remember how last October I participated in VeganMoFo and shared, for the first three weeks, about how awesome Atlanta is for vegans? I featured one of the US’ most beloved pubs, our extraordinary in-town co-op Sevananda, my favorite restaurant Sauced, our Chinese vegan options, and even our bloggers! But then I stopped and promised to resume the theme at some point? Well… it has taken me four months, but I think I’m finally ready!

One of the motivating factors for the return to a focus on Atlanta is the awesome popularity of the newly-added “ATLANTA” tab at Cracktheplates.com. When a dear friend asked for Atlanta-area veg-friendly recommendations, it finally clicked: I needed to write a city-specific dining guide. Since I’d already done a lot of work to that effect just by blogging, I compiled the ATLANTA resource based on previous posts, and then added a few other places friends suggested. And I’m still adding! It’s a work in progress, so keep checking back for updates.

My hope is that by sorting through backlog of pictures on my desktop and meditating on all that Atlanta has to offer vegans this month, I’ll find a fun and easy to update the ATLANTA resource page. To me, it’s one thing to give a list of names and addresses of restaurants that accommodate vegans. What really helps me out when I venture to a new city are personalized recommendations (and pictures!) from folks-in-the-know. For example, I wouldn’t know the first thing about Memphis, Tennessee’s abundant vegan friendliness without Bianca’s exuberant documentation at Vegan Crunk. Reading through her posts not only gave me the confidence that Memphis would treat me kindly, but it inspired to start making a list of the “not-to-be-missed” places. I hope I can do something similar here at cracktheplates for my dear City in the Forest.

What will these posts be like? Some will be long, others will be short. Most will focus on food, although I have at least one post lined up that is an interview with the only area vegan I know who is a licensed real estate agent. My purpose is to help fill in the gaps of the resource page, so sometimes that might just mean offering a picture of one of my favorite things to eat at a particular restaurant. That’s what I’m up to today, so get to droolin’ over these photos of Dulce Vegan breakfast sandwiches:

Giant fluffy biscuit with bean-based sausage, “egg”, and cheese. Everything is freshly made in-house except the Daiya cheese. (My hope is that they come up with their own replacement soon. Daiya’s fine and all, but I’d love to see a totally DV sandwich.)

Another view.

Homemade sourdough english muffin with house “egg”, tempeh bacon, and chipotle aioli. Everything on this sandwich was made by the wizards at Dulce Vegan –  no tempeh bacon-from-a-bag here.

In case it’s not evident by the photos: these are GIANT sandwiches. I have a hearty vegan appetite, but one (especially made with a biscuit or bagel) will fill you up completely.

So, how do you get one of these amazing sandwiches? Dulce Vegan is located at 1994 Hosea L. Williams Dr. NE Atlanta, GA 30317. Their hours are Tuesday – Friday 7:30am – 6pm, Saturday 8am – 6pm, and Sunday 8am – 2pm, CLOSED Mondays. Breakfast sandwiches are served all day. For around $5 for a basic sandwich, choose your bread: biscuit, english muffin, or bagel. Pick two of the following: bacon, egg, Daiya, sausage. You can pay extra and add more of the first list, or do other add-ons for about .50 each: tomato, chipotle aioli, even arugula! Ingredients are locally-sourced with a strong commitment to organics – last time I checked, DV used almost exclusively organic ingredients.

Dulce Vegan is definitely a must-add to your “must-go” list when visiting Atlanta. When Isa (Queen of Veganism) and John (Lord of the Laziest Vegans) flew here last October for a visit/booksigning, it was on their last stop before heading back, and they seemed to really enjoy everything. Be cool like Isa and John – and all of us in Atlanta, of course – don’t miss DV!

Thought: I need a new camera. And a new phone. Camera: my phone doesn’t cut it for pictures, and I busted my former camera over a year ago. Phone: external sound (ringtone, notifications, speakerphone) seems to have died. Callers/texters beware: I might be slow on the return.

I can put up with the exclusive use of “vibrate”, but I’ve gone too long without pictures, dang it. Pictures help me remember. Skimming through the past two weeks, I only have about four. Were I with camera, there’d be many, many more. It’d help the blog, too. I’ll never switch to tumblr, but wouldn’t pictures liven this place up a bit? Doesn’t this one?

That’s Jenny from Chicago. She came for her annual visit last week, Wednesday – Saturday. First stop off the plane was her favorite, Soul Vegetarian West.  The daily specials were perfect: jerk tofu, greens, sweet potatoes, not-sweet cornbread, and macaroni and cheese.

Yum.

We did a lot of other fun stuff, too, but since I didn’t take any pictures, I can’t remember any of it. Just kidding. We went to Oakland Cemetery, Harmony, the Buford Highway Farmers’ Market, Village Theatre, Dua Vietnamese Noodle Shop, Criminal Records, Sevananda, Charis. She had vegan cheese grits (my recipe) for the first time and swooned. I love it when Jenny visits.

Wednesday I went thrifting with my mom and grandma. I couldn’t resist this image of a graveyard of technical books. Usually there’s a shelf or so, but three?!

Strange to think we’re solidly into generations who will never know the glorious sound of dial-up. I’m pretty sure hours spent listening in anticipation laid the foundation for a later love of noise. :16 – :26, crank it up!

In more recent news, today I gave a talk at (quaker) Meeting about my early and recent experiences with the Christian holy text, often referred to as simply “the Bible”. (I have a hard time calling it “the Bible”, since I’m so painfully aware of its brokenness as the disparate texts of communities, eras, and languages, among others. I prefer to refer, when possible, to the first or second testament, or better, individual “books”/letters/etc.) I did a really nice job and was encouraged by the moderator to write up my thoughts for the newsletter, which has a fairly wide reach. I didn’t put a lot of time into preparation because when I sat down to write, like so many other assignments, it seemed to just flow out of the tip of my pen. It might not be evident from my casual blog, but I’ve always been a fairly thoughtful, compelling writer. When it’s not about my life, I enjoy writing and find it easy. Personal blogging, on the other hand, often feels unreasonably awkward.

In other unfortunate topics, Nate’s in Arizona, which means I’m sad and lonely. We haven’t been apart since his grandfather‘s funeral last November. Of course it was easy to see him off then – he was grieving and needed to be with his family, and I would have gone too had it been financially feasible. But now he’s yukking it up with fellow programmers in Scottsdale, eating all the yums on an expense account and staying at a fancy resort. Heh. I must sound bitter. But honestly, I’m happy for him. Would I like to be there? Maybe. But we all need our “me” time, and I’m happy he’s getting the time to focus on his passion with like minds. I just hope we can rustle up the funds to go on a vacation this year. :)

So my company’s the cats, who have invaded the new bed. They destroyed the thrift store sheets we’d used for years so I splurged on a new set from Ikea. It’s sweet to sleep in purple. Now, if only I can get them to stay on the fleece blanket.

Earlier this year I started to eat more whole foods (read: less of a junk food vegan diet) and exercise on a regular basis. Since breakfast is such an important meal, I wanted to make something rich and tasty that would go the distance. Cereal is fun and all, but it doesn’t really last. Cold days made oatmeal appealing, and after years of shunning it, I finally landed on the perfect recipe.

Perfect Adrienne Oats for One

You will need:

• 1 cup filtered water
• sea salt. I’m a salt hound so I use a little less than 1/2 teaspoon per serving. Feel free to use less if you need to, but remember that this recipe was formulated to balance sweet, salty, and gently spicy flavors.
• 1/2 cup organic oats (not steel-cut)
• 1/8 or less teaspoon of pure cayenne pepper (not not NOT chili powder!) Cayenne provides pure, clean heat.
• A tablespoon of chia seeds, black or white
• 2 tablespoons hemp seeds
• 2 tablespoons of maple syrup

In a small pot – I use vintage Corningware – bring the water and salt to a boil on high. Add the oats and reduce heat to medium high, stirring, uncovered. Allow to cook for two or so minutes and then add the chia seeds and cayenne, stirring well. The chia seeds will make the oats thick and creamy. Continue cooking over medium, medium-high, (depending on how efficient your stove is or if you’re working over a flame) partially-covered, allowing the oatmeal to thicken. When it looks just about done, remove it from the heat completely and cover. Allow to sit about three minutes. Uncover (it should still be quite hot/steamy) and incorporate the hemp seeds and maple syrup. Serve!

For two people, use 1 cup of oats, 1 3/4 cups water, scant teaspoon of salt, 2 tablespoons chia seeds, full 1/8 teaspoon cayenne, 1/4 cup hemp seeds and 1/4 cup maple syrup.

Daily smoothie

If you’ve followed my food log, you know that for a while I made a breakfast of the “daily oatmeal” and the “daily smoothie”. These days my body seems to process energy so efficiently that I don’t need such a big breakfast to feel full. Either oatmeal or a smoothie will do, and since it’s heating up in Georgia, it’s more often a smoothie.

I’m not going to give a smoothie recipe because there are all kinds and you should just eat what suits you. Instead, I want to give basic instructions for making a green fruit smoothie in a non-BlendTec/Vitamix blender. Folks love these machines because they are super-high-powered and efficient. Indeed, I’ve witnessed with my own two a Vitamix quickly turn an avocado pit into puree. But at this point in my life, I can’t afford or justify a $400 blender.

Thankfully, my pal Tim Brauhn of Denver Seitan Company introduced me to the Breville Ikon a few years ago on his blog Practical Raw. He’s a big raw foods enthusiast, and covers the blender well here. I purchased a remanufactured version of the regularly-priced $179.99 in September 2010 for around $80, and the price has since dropped to just under $50.

It’s a splendid blender, one I would recommend to just about anyone – especially at the remanufactured price! Not quite two years later, it blends up smoothies with a fierceness. You honestly could throw everything in at once and hit go, but with months of smoothie-making experience, I think I’ve hit on the perfect order of operations for a basic greens & fruit smoothie:

1. First add firmer/thicker fruits to the blender. For me this usually means apples and oranges, and sometimes a banana if I don’t add the banana a little later. (Banana at some point is a MUST for creaminess.) For you it might be some other kind of thick fruit or even vegetable!
2. Pour liquid (I usually choose water, or water mixed with a little non-dairy milk) over fruits to cover. Two cups is good for one large smoothie.
3. Blend about 30-45 seconds, or until thoroughly masticated.
4. Add frozen fruit to this mixture and blend about 1 minute. Note: if using small berries like blueberries, you might need to blend 2 minutes. I like to drink my smoothies with a straw, and big chunks of anything make this difficult! Also add the banana at this point if you haven’t already (banana can be frozen or not).
5. If you like a cold smoothie, add optional ice after the frozen fruit. Blend thoroughly, about 45 seconds. If you don’t care, don’t add ice. But note that a cold temperature makes it go down easy. :)
6. Add tender greens and blend briefly, about 15 – 25 seconds. If using firmer greens, like kale, blend a little longer. But I like to add them last so that they don’t get too masticated. You just want them to be in very very small pieces, not completely liquified. My tender green is almost always spinach, as it doesn’t need to be pre-cut or gently shredded before going into the blender like kale or collards.
7. You might also add extracts (stevia is my favorite) or powders (hemp, other plant-based protein, or amla) in the final step.

My recipe usually goes like this: blend apple and orange in water 45 seconds, add frozen banana and other fruit 60 seconds, the ice 30 – 45 seconds, and finally spinach and extracts for 15 seconds. That’s one of the healthiest under-five-minutes breakfasts around!

Note: if the above smoothie directions seem too wordy or unclear, check out my twitter for the quick and dirty version. 

These are two recipes that really worked for me, but of course you should make them your own. Maybe you won’t make the oatmeal recipe to the letter, but you’ll consider throwing some hemp seeds in your bowl for a wonderful creamy nuttiness. Maybe you have a Vitamix but care to see how we who live without slum it. Either way, happy eating!

Today is the first day of the second week of my 28th year. I like New Year’s Day, but I always seem to lose sight of the fact that my new year starts on my birthday. (Duh!) Maybe it’s because my birthday feels like just another holiday – it comes round, but it doesn’t really signify a major life change. Christmas invites time for family, Thanksgiving pause for gratitude, Lent, a period of purposeful reflection. But birthday? Just a party!

And so it began, with a Cloudy With a Chance of (Vegan) Meatballs-themed gathering. The company was smaller than last year, numbers-wise, but just as quality. I was so pleased with the party that I sent off thank-you notes in record time, on the first postal day after my party. I thanked most folks for contributing food – even the elegant raspberry & chocolate mousse birthday cake was a gift! – or for joining with alacrity in the silly games Nate arranged for us: a cream cheese and jelly sandwich eating contest, an egg hunt (my fave!), and another, too weird to describe. I felt loved and grateful.

Yep, that's me wearing a felt pizza dress, chasing Manny during the egg hunt.

thank you notes and birthday cards and letters: I don't mess around.

Sunday I didn’t make it to Meeting with the Religious Society of Friends (let’s just say Friends or Quakers henceforth, okay?), but that was my choice. I wanted to sleep in after an (all things considered) tame night, and that’s what I enjoyed. I had a light workout and a memorable dinner at one of my most favorite restaurants, Sauced, where Ria treated me to a grilled pizza with oyster mushrooms, truffle oil, and arugula. We sat on the patio and gazed into the strangely sunny early evening. Thanks, Daylight Savings Time – as annoying as you were in the morning, you made for some nice pictures.

Oyster mushroom-truffle-arugula pizza sprinkled with house nut-based parmesan.

housemade seitan and kale pizza

Monday I made slow-cooked crowder peas and learned of a tragedy in my friend-family. The partner of one of my closest and oldest pals was wrongfully imprisoned over a paperwork error from four years ago. When said partner discovered that she had been robbed and called the cops to file a police report, they ended up taking her in instead. There was little I could do for her as she suffered a week of hell at the county jail, so I comforted my pal as much as possible with food and company. Tuesday she came over for a hearty meal and we went to the DMV. Standard operating procedure – two hours for a five minute appointment – but I was glad to wait with her.

crowder peas and mom's cornbread

Wednesday was special because I got to connect with three friends I hadn’t seen recently. Mel, who I’d missed since graduation in 2006, came over for curried chickpeas, basmati rice, and the laziest and loveliest three hour conversation I’ve had in a long time. You know how sometimes you get anxious when you haven’t seen someone in years? I might have had a little bit of that getting ready, but as she walked in the door it melted away. She’s just got that kind of presence.

Later Jared and Aubrey, beloveds not glimpsed in three months, joined us for a late dinner of a simple dal soup, more chickpeas, bhindi masala and birthday cake for dessert. They weren’t able to make to my party because of work commitments, so I was really happy to see them. We cawed over RuPaul’s Drag Race. For the record, my favorites are Sharon and Latrice.

Sharon Needles

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Latrice Royale

Chad is flawless, too, and I hope she makes into the top three with these two.

Thursday I got to see my friend Vic when he came over to play Dungeons and Dragons with Nate and five other local nerdy men. When I was a teen I held common assumptions about D&D-playing boys: they’re socially-awkward outcasts who likely smell a bit. I didn’t want to have any part of it. So it’s funny now to see this group of attractive, accomplished, articulate folks descend upon our house every Thursday for a bit of nerdity. Even better, Vic came with a gift of $1.50 Daiya he found on closeout.

Friday was a day of extreme highs and lows. As for the ups, I spent the day with my oldest friend Jessica, who drove down from the northeast Georgia mountains for a joint post-birthday celebration. We did gentle yoga at a local studio, had lunch at the farmer’s market, did a quick workout at the gym, got pedicures at an upscale spa, went thrift shopping, and had dinner with Nate at Burnt Fork BBQ, our favorite. Better still, my wrongfully-imprisoned friend was released!!! Sadly, I learned late that night that an older f/Friend had passed away because of cancer. It’s been very hard to talk about because she was such a fixture in the Agnes Scott and Atlanta Friends Meeting communities, and even though I hadn’t sat down for a one-on-one lunch with her in almost a year, I can feel the weight of being among hundreds, if not thousands, of people missing her deeply.

Saturday I was honored to contribute cupcakes – the first cupcakes! – for a vegan baby’s first birthday. I chose carrot cake and grated the vegetables on a microplane so that they would be extra fine and still retain a lot of moisture. I made the recipe a little healthier by, among other things, cutting the sugar by a quarter, using half applesauce instead of oil, and holding the nuts (common allergen that should not be given to children under two) and raisins (potential choking hazard). She didn’t get frosting, either – that’s way too much sugar for a baby! :) I was careful to reserve the nuts and raisins for most of the batter so that everyone else could enjoy them. It really wasn’t really a big deal to make the necessary modifications, and everyone seemed to love the cakes, baby included!

I’m sure I missed a few things, but that’s basically it for my first week. Today I went to Meeting, had a good workout, and enjoyed a scrumptious soup and sandwich lunch at home. I’ll be making another post tomorrow about my second month’s food & exercise log progress. It’s been very good, so I’m looking forward to that. Til then, here’s a picture of Perl curled up with the world:

Bawwwww.

Sigh. The time has come, and no, it’s not to lip synch for my life.

It’s time to adjust to eating less!

Remember how I mentioned in my last post that one of my goals for Feb-Mar was to be gentle with myself as I see my caloric needs and energy level change? I was worried because I knew that as I continued to work out and eat highly nutritive whole foods, I’d find that I crave less and get satisfied on smaller amounts of food. This is on top of having more energy and even needing less sleep than I used to.

When I wrote that goal I was aware that it might sound more than a little strange to some. If you’re unhappy with overeating, the prospect of getting full on less might sound really appealing. And, of course, who doesn’t want to have more energy, need less sleep, and not be as bothered by nagging cravings?

For some reason, I’m having a hard time with it. Maybe it’s based in something simple, like the fact that I just like routine. Let me explain: I’ve been eating the same breakfast now for almost two months – a bowl of oatmeal and a green smoothie – and this morning of all mornings I discovered that the 16 ounce smoothie was enough to make me almost uncomfortably full. (Important note: I started on an empty stomach.) Now I’m struggling with the bowl of oats that I made out of habit, but it’s clear I’m not going to be able to finish it. I may have to wait an hour or two.

This really disturbs me! But I’m not sure why. Maybe it’s just ruffled feathers over routine. Or perhaps it’s a worry that eating lighter meals = less nutrition? I seem to have a nagging feeling that a smoothie can’t be enough, even though it is packed with a 1/2 cup of blueberries, a whole banana, a whole orange or apple, and handfuls of spinach – enough food that, not blended into a drink, would fill a large bowl! I feel an urge to complement this great bounty with a bowl of oats.

I might also be battling some overeating symptoms. I’ve never been one to compulsively eat food for the sake of eating food, but I have definitely just kept eating (past the point of satiety) because the meal continued to delight and entrance me. Think three-hour European dinner, not binging. Lately food feels just as delicious, but the “you’re freakin’ full!” signals come so hot and heavy that I have to bury my fork.

Perhaps most of all, I fear sliding back into the same routine that caused rapid unhealthy weight loss years ago. I counted every calorie consumed and then worked every one off at the gym later that day. This is a sickness and it is called exercise bulimia. Back then, I ate very small, light meals, mostly carbs and proteins. A usual day would be high-protein cereal with soymilk for breakfast, the same for lunch, and grits with scrambled tofu for dinner. No smoothies, no big salads, no huge pots of vegetable soups. I constantly craved what I was denying myself. I lost weight rapidly.

Clearly, my early struggles with being happy on less is informed by a constellation of factors.

And yet, however much I am informed or influenced by past actions, I need to realize that this is a new day. Today, I eat rich, balanced, delicious plant-based meals. I snack when I feel like it, but I’m not bullied by insatiable, urgent cravings for sugar or fat. I work out almost every day, only now it is driven by a desire to have a strong body, rather than to look a certain way. I have more energy and need less sleep.

Feeling full on less doesn’t mean all the horrible things I think it does. In fact, it probably means a whole lot of awesome things. I look forward to the time when I see it as a blessing!

Saturday, February 18 marked one month of keeping a food and exercise log here at Crack the Plates. Perhaps one of the reasons you haven’t seen me much on this, the main page, is because 1) I’ve been adjusting to a new way of life and 2) I include so many details in the daily write-ups. But I thought it would be fun to take a look back at what I’ve accomplished in the past month.

Introductory notes: I started logging my daily eats on January 3, which happens to be the exact day we found out that our former residence was in the process of foreclosure. (Not that I need to remind, but – along with two other families – we were living in an apartment in a house owned by some guy in New Jersey.) The fact that we had to arrange an emergency move made careful record-keeping difficult to say the least. We also did a lot of eating out in that hectic time.

We spent out first night in the new place on Sunday January 8, but it took 10 days more for me to on a regular updating schedule.

Between January 18 and February 18, I logged everything I ate every day – except Valentine’s Day, when I refused to log (even though I sorta kinda did anyway).

That’s 32 days of logging!

Of those 32 days, I exercised 25. Almost all of it has been on the elliptical machine at my gym, where I’ve progressed from a resistance of 7 to 13. I exercised for a total of 24.71 hours, or the equivalent of an entire day!

I didn’t share mileage and calories statistics for every workout, but if I total what I did record, I burned 14,766 calories going 99.94 miles.

I know that the calibration systems aren’t perfect, but I’m pretty pleased with this!

I’m glad that food logging and working out have finally become habitual. I can’t tell you how many times I just refused to start because I was afraid of how long it would take to see progress. I also didn’t have much faith in myself that I would be able to do this. Posting online publicly, embarrassing though some things were to admit, was a major motivating factor. There were lots of times when I didn’t want to post, or was embarrassed by what I had to report, but the knowledge that a small group of friends and possibly strangers were keeping an eye on it motivated me to keep up with things.

Sharing these numbers helps show me that 1) it’s not useless to start and that 2) I do have the willpower to keep up. It’s so easy to tell myself that I don’t, but it’s not true. I did it. And hopefully I’ll have another update to share come March 19. (Feb 18 – Mar 18).

As for my goals, I started this project with two: 1) reducing the amount of food I ate while still maintaining a varied, satisfying diet and 2) working out regularly. It wasn’t about weight or body image. In fact, I haven’t weighed myself in months. I still have no idea what I weigh, and I probably won’t know til I go in for a check-up soon. Once I know, I might get on a schedule of weighing myself about once a month. Obsessing over numbers (weight) is a big trigger for me, and one I want to keep to a minimum.

Weight isn’t the issue – being healthy is. I realised I ate way too much (way too quickly) for the activity level of my lifestyle. I love to eat, and I knew that if I wanted to maintain my rich, delicious, varied diet I’d need to reduce my caloric intake or start working out regularly. Since I already wanted to become more active, I made that my second goal.

My goals for February:

1. Continue logging food daily without judgment or negative words (“should have” “embarrassed” “bad/naughty/guilty”). What I eat is what I eat – it makes up who I am. There’s no place for judgment.
2. Continue logging exercise when I do it, color-coded in green. Soft goal of continuing to exercise five times a week.
3. Be gentle with myself as I see my caloric needs and energy level change. As I’ve gotten into a regular schedule of working out and eating highly nutritive (high net-gain) whole foods, I am weirdly finding that I crave less and get satisfied on smaller amounts of food. Further, I have way more energy and may even need less sleep than I used to. Adjusting to these seemingly positive changes might be frustrating at first, especially for someone who is used to eating lots and lots of food.
4. Continue to resist obsessing over numbers or gains, especially with regard to exercise. Be aware of my history of “overdoing it”.

What do you think? Have you been following along? Do you find this inspiring or discouraging? Do you keep a food or exercise log?

Hopefully now that this has become less novel and more routine I’ll be able to get on a more regular schedule of updating Crack the Plates again – not just the food log page. :-) Til then!

Happy February! Do you love or loathe v-day? I’m pretty indifferent about the sentiment – I shower my Nate with affection year ’round, not just on the 14th – but I adore all the treats. One helpful thing about having been vegan for years is that I’ve been able to try a wide variety… and sporting a sweet tooth that just won’t quit, I have plenty in the off-season, too. Whether you’re buying for your vegan sweetie or just want to give cruelty-free this year, here are my tried-and-true picks for 2012:

Lagusta’s Luscious

Lagusta’s Luscious chocolates are heartbreakingly delicious and painstakingly made by hand with truly artisanal ingredients. Founded in 2003 by a passionate vegan chef, Lagusta’s Luscious artisanal chocolates combine a deep commitment to social justice, environmentalism and animal rights with the love of bold flavor of a true foodie and the obsessive commitment to artisan techniques of a chocolatier. We work closely with small farmers and producers in our beloved town of New Paltz, New York and across the country to source everything from our Maui vanilla beans (from a tiny two-acre vanilla farm) to the candy-striped beets grown by Farmer Jessica less than a mile away. From our 100% fair trade and organic chocolate to our 100% post-consumer recycled paper boxes and packing materials, we are a completely vegan business committed to sustainability without sacrifice. (from the website)

Now, from me: Lagusta is my hero. I fell in love with her tellin’-it-as-it-is style at her personal blog - found while searching for a vegan’s account of Alinea dining – and I stayed for the food. If you’ve hung around Crack the Plates for a while you know she inspired my own meal delivery, after running a successful one in New York for nine years. Now she devotes herself to the chocolate shop full-time. I don’t know how she manages it, but everything she does is perfect. Perfect. That said, her truffle flavors tend to be a bit more mature than you might be used to - beet-coriander, anyone? Sea salt seaweed shiitake? The best place to buy for the sophisticated eaters in your life, she’s also got plenty of the less-adventurous, including peppermint patties, peanut butter cups, and a pomegranate and lemon gift box. You simply can’t go wrong.

For valentine’s, she’s gifted the world with “a six-inch two-piece heart box made entirely of delicious edible semisweet chocolate is filled with nine artisanal treats, then carefully sealed with chocolate ‘glue,’ wrapped in a compostable vegetable cellulose bag and tied with a gorgeous red ribbon made from compostable vegetable fiber. Each heart is filled with two Cashew Rosewater Cream “Love” Hearts, two White Chocolate Strawberry Hearts, one Large Stone ground Cinnamon Solid Heart with cardinals with hand-painted red wings (painted with beet-derived tinted cocoa butter), one Intense Anatomical Heart with black salt, cacao nibs, coffee beans, and dried cherries, one Butterscotch Caramel wrapped in red damask paper, and Two tiny Blue Birds of Happiness—solid 60% chocolate hand-painted with blue and green wings.” $35. (Link)

Desiderio Chocolates

I was introduced to Vanessa Dione’s creations via head Vegansaur Laura’s late-2011 freak-out over Gourmellows. Gourmellows are half-marshmallow, half-truffle, all deliciousness, as Dione puts it. I totally agree, but I fell in love with the Nougatissimo. Her Gourmellows are a treat anyone could love, but the crunchy, fresh, abundant almonds, pistachios and hazelnuts bound in not-too-sweet-or-sticky vegan nougat (with the option of chocolate-covered) reduced me to a puddle. (Note to all my friends: giving me choco Nougatissimo earns you a permanent +1000. :-)) The caramels (Caramella) are also scrumptious. I recommend the vegan sampler so you can try everything and decide for yourself! At $7.50, it’s a steal! (etsy shop; her website: vegan line and inspiration.)

Sjaak’s Organic Chocolates

Based in Petaluma, California, Sjaak’s mission is to create the highest quality gourmet organic chocolates possible while simultaneously supporting a positive work environment, fair trade practices and encouraging sustainable agriculture through the use of organic, non-GMO ingredients. It is also the goal of Sjaak’s Organic Chocolates to build a socially responsible, profitable business that can be carried on for generations to come. (from the website). I’ve been happily eating Sjaak’s for years. Omnivores and dairy fiends who’ve been blessed with sampler boxes have loved every bite. Some of your v-day options include: organic raspberry bites, vegan “milk” chocolate nuts & chews valentine’s box, a giant tub – about 110 pieces – of solid fair-trade chocolate hearts, limited edition hearts of cherry box, individual hearts of cherry, nuts & chews in a limited edition handmade box, limited edition Birdie box, and the dark chocolate lavender truffles in a beautiful box. My favorites are the organic fair-trade European assortment ($9.95 for 9 pieces) and the English Toffee ($9.95/bag).

Note: If items are sold out on Sjaak’s website, look for them at Cosmo’s Vegan Shoppe, Food Fight! or another online vegan store.

What I Got for Myself: Spencer’s Market Be My Vegan Valentine Deal

I’ll be doing an entire post on my favorite Spencer’s Market soon, but the quick version is that it’s a private vegan weekly deals site offering limited quantities of small-batch vegan products at up to 70% off. Signing up is a breeze: Do so here. They just ask for your name and e-mail address and only e-mail you when new deals are out (once a week). Alas, the Vegan Valentine deal sold-out fast – but you can still get Obsessive Confection Disorder’s treats here. OR you can pick up the current Spencer’s deal – Green Tara Spirulina treats – and tell your healthy sweetie you want them around for a long, long time.

Sweet and Sara Vegan Marshmallows

Sweet and Sara vegan marshmallows are delicious! They’ve got all the gentle yielding puffy meltable sweetness of a “regular” marshmallow without all the total abhorrent yuckiness of gelatin. Despite their being made “from real strawberries”, the strawberry marshies are, in my experience, very delicately sweet and not very berry – they actually remind me more of pink cotton candy in the best possible way! This year they’re offering a beautiful chocolate-dipped strawberry marshmallow heart at $3.50 per piece.

Thoughtful Valentine Treats for a Crowd: Equal Exchange Kits

For office, classroom, and beyond, the “My Fair Valentine” kit from Equal Exchange chocolates is the perfect way to share v-day treats with a lot of friends. For $9.99 you get a kit of 24 mini chocolates and 24 cards with cute illustrations and fair-trade information. Spread awareness and love at the same time for a totally reasonable price. I’m kind of a loner these days, but if I worked in an office/was still a student, I’d definitely be snatching up several of these kits. It can be hard to just start talking to someone about the importance of fair-trade – especially if you don’t know them very well – but these precious kits make breaking the ice a breeze.

Unsweetened options

I’ve been drinking the “chocolate-covered strawberry” Valentines Tea from Adagio Teas since college. For Valentine’s this year they’re offering the Love Petals teas. Noting that they contain cream and chocolate flavors, I e-mailed the company to find out if they’re vegan. Fifteen minutes later I received a reply: ”None of our flavors contain dairy, and the chocolate chip pieces in our flavored teas are vegan as well.” Hooray!

Ways to give and give!

My dear best pal Jenny runs a small vegan baking and savory food business in Chicago called The Mixing Bowl Bakery. This Valentine’s day she’s offering cupcakes, chocolate-covered strawberries, frosted cookies, and oreo truffles at ridiculously low prices. (Think a dozen cookies for $14 and four giant chocolate-dipped strawberries for $5. Yeah.) The first two are local only (delivery and pick-up) and the last two are shippable. Ten percent of the proceeds from her valentine’s sales will go to Chicago-based Mercy for Animals.

I’ve noticed that lots of no-kill shelters and animal advocacy groups do special Valentine’s events, either by reducing the cost of adoption or simply highlighting potential future friends. Even if they don’t advertise anything, if you’re ready to adopt a friend, ASK! And if your house is full-up, it is always a good idea to donate to an animal advocacy group like Mercy for Animals (not PETA!) or a no-kill shelter. I am proudly 100% against buying animals while homeless pets are left to suffer and die. (Even if you have an allergy or feel you need to get a “special breed” there are plenty of single-breed rescues if you’re willing to do a little bit of work.) Further, non-profits like MFA and your local shelters rely almost entirely on donations for their operating costs. Every little bit counts! If you’re in Atlanta, I recommend PAWS no-kill shelter or my friend Elizabeth, who runs the wildlife rehabilitation center (specializing in raccoons) Tails from the Hart (current buddies-in-residence featured above).

for do-it-yourself folks!

I recommend the following cookbooks for making treats for your sweet: Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World, Vegan Cookies Invade Your Cookie Jar, Vegan Pie in the Sky; Vegan With a Vengeance (Nate requests the chocolate raspberry thumbprint as his vegan v-day gift); Vegan Brunch – the best way to start the day; More Great-Good Dairy Free Desserts by Fran Costigan; Ani Phyo’s Ani’s Raw Food Desserts (the chocolate fudge cake pictured here will blow your mind); Sinfully Vegan by Lois Dieterly.