EEz 'at StAke 'er ChiKin!?

“If I can't pronounce it, I won't eat it” was plastered on a billboard for an obscure steak house chain en homage to people everywhere who considered themselves a “cowboy” because they consumed prime rib and wore over-sized belt buckles with tight jeans. And homage to their apparent lack of intelligence. As a cowboy, I was offended; severely. I liked Sushi, and I could pronounce that, as-par-a-gus, I could pronounce that, even filet minon; now how many americans know what that is? That was many years ago, during one of my pilgrimages between university and home, or some combination of the two. I believe the billboard stood near Greensboro or Winston-Salem, in NC where I am from. I stopped eating red meat, among other things, in any noticeable quantity several years ago for various reasons, the most important being health, running a close contention with “setting an example” as another important reason. I am a part-full time vegan, and one could consider me an ovo-lacto-ictheo-pollo-herbivore. I eat fish about once a week, and dairy about as often, however for the most part I suppose I eat more or less orthodox vegan. It can be tough to get enough, as a lot of what I eat is low in calories and I tend to stay active. The up side is that it is Easy to stay trim; I can basically stuff my face and be fine. It pays to stay away from sugar as well; my weakness is coffee with sugar. Other than that, no soft drinks, candy, or sugar-pops. Here's what I ate today, on my vegan day:

Breakfast

Tofu Scramble with Hashbrowns and Toast

Once you make it a few times it's faster than drive in. Check it:

½ cube silken tofu, crumbled
½ onion (medium, white) diced
½ jalepeno pepper, diced (size according to intensity; larger = hotter)
½ cup fresh spinach
3 cloves of garlic, press with edge of knife & fine dice
5 baby-bella mushrooms, fine diced
½ bell pepper (red yellow or green) diced
2 tspn blue agave
2 tblspn safflower oil
2 tspn sesame oil
cracked black pepper
red pepper flakes
salt or bragg's or kikkoman
pinch of onion powder

Heat a medium saucepan to 60% setting (roughly med-hi) and add oils. Once oil is hot (test with piece of onion- it should sizzle) add the veggies less the spinach (save for last) and the tofu. Stir-fry for a bit, you may want to cut the heat to 45% during cooking. Add spices, agave, and seasoning choice. When the onions are cooked to your liking, add the spinach and serve as soon as it wilts. YUM. Serves 2.

Hazy Hashbrowns

With a stand-up grater, grate 1-1/2 med white potatoes per 2 people. (½ a spud for solo.) Start from the top of the grater and try to get good sized cuts. In medium saucepan, heat oils to point of fry-temp (med-hi.) Add the hashbrowns by picking up about 1/4-1/2 cup's worth and resting them in the pan. Keep an eye on them, don't mess with them until ready to flip. Once a nicely browned, flip those babies and do the same to the other side. Add a little cracked pepper and seasoning and you are ready to ride.



Toastem-ups

Since I'm still on a gluten kick, I've been eating regular whole-wheat toast, however it is High Fructose Corn Syrup FREE. I use a vegan spread to butter it. Cracking toast, Grommit!

Low glycemic juice; fill glass 25% with organic fruit juice; fill the rest with water. At first, it tastes like Tang. After a couple of days, I couldn't drink orange juice straight!

And my favorite, french-pressed coffee. Be sure to buy whole beans and grind them “yosef.”

That's pretty good; want lunch & dinner as well? Lunch was a stir-fry with hot tempeh and a side of quinoa. Dinner was simple rice-flour elbow macaroni with organic tomato sauce, basil, oregano, dill, s&p, and the leftover tempeh torpedoes. Want the recipe? Send us a comment with your email and you'll get it, yo!

Benny