Cover: Dixie Chick's "I Hope"

Steven's been getting on to me for not sticking to my guns about posting a song once a week, so here it is...

My screen saver came on right before the end, but I didn't want to record it again just because of that ;-)

“Democracy means simply the bludgeoning of the people by the people for the people.” -Oscar Wilde

Hearing and reading people bitch over politics makes me want to f#@%ing puke!  Present day politics and religion are making the world crazy, pushing people to extremes.  Extreme ideologies and people believing the bullsh!t these power hungry political "saints" are promising are our problems.  Unfortunately, politics is a straight-up business like any other, and has little to do with the humanitarian concerns they express.  Want to "change the world" and provide "hope" to the people????  How about shutting your pie-hole for once, and actually mail someone a thank you note, stop cheating on your wife, or hold open a door for a stranger.  Since we seem to have lost these fundamental skills, let's start there, first, before trying to push our biased "standards" on the masses.

“Politics is a pendulum whose swings between anarchy and tyranny are fueled by perpetually rejuvenated illusions.”  -Albert Einstein

Grrrrrrr...

I've been angry the last couple days.  I can't explain it; I just am.  It's pretty intense, too.  I know what little thing started it, but that's in the past, now...............so when will this emotion end?!

It finally happened...

I've had this friendship that's been teetering on existence for close to a year now.  She used to be my best friend.  I won't go into specifics or opinions regarding the decline of our relationship out of respect for her privacy.  Well, it finally happened -- she blocked me from her blog.  In this day and age, and because I know her personality, that means our friendship is officially over.  *sigh*  We don't talk on the phone anymore, or e-mail, text, or facebook.  Her blog was my only knowledge of her current life happenings.  Not anymore.

Situations like these always remind me how interesting it is when a close friendship goes sour.  Immediately, we erase them wholly from our lives, taking it to the extreme (that's not to specify this particular situation); yet, we all keep a friend list of 500 people on our facebook whom only half we actually know, and maybe a fourth we have some sort of acquaintance with, allowing them access to our every emotion and detail of life...but not that one true close friendship you had that happened to dissolve for whatever reason.

Call me narcissistic, but it's a compliment, in a way, when someone has to reciprocate with such a strong emotion in reaction to the fall of a relationship.  It's safer to hate than to fear the possibility of still loving that person.  At least you know you weren't just a passer-by in their life; you made some sort of impression, whether positive or negative, leaving a fossil behind.  Oh, believe me, I've been that scared hater.  No denying, here!  I am everyone of these cliches.  It's human nature, and I don't have an answer to it...just an observation.

As much as I really want to explode with verbal diarrhea on this whole situation, I've had quite a while to expect, and desensitize to, this forthcoming day.  It still makes me sad, though.

Teach: Claire Cunningham

It's all becoming real.  I recently finished my online observation videos for my teacher certification, and applied for a real-deal spring '11 student teaching position.  Honestly, I'm SCARED TO DEATH.  The thought of my teaching certification path going from online hypotheticals to reality is starting to make me nervous.  My nerves are not all negative; it's definitely a mixture of excitement and fear. 

Teaching is so different from what I've been doing since graduating college.  I'm excited for the switch in gears.  I'm excited to have a focus in my job that's not always centered around achieving ultimate financial success.  I'm excited to be in an environment that will provide me opportunity to use my natural God-given strengths.  I'm excited to have a community of co-workers, and not just be alone at a desk.  I'm excited to be in an academic world again, and to have the opportunity to apply my creativity and put my education to use.  I'm excited to have a possible impact on another human being.

On the other hand, I'm nervous about that impact...will I provide a positive or negative impact to the kids?  Will I like working with kids and teenagers?  Do I have enough emotional strength to be a teacher?  Will my teaching career affect my relationship with my fellow teacher boyfriend?  What if I hate it?  What if I suck at teaching?  What if teaching makes me a miserable person to be around?  What will becoming a teacher do to ME?  What if I can't handle it?!?!

Everybody wanted me to be a teacher as soon as I became an English major my freshman year in college.  I, on the other hand, was not so easily sold on the idea.  I teetered in and out of the idea, but my fear of how I would respond to working with youth always finalized my decision to simply stay away from the idea...but I've never been able to.  Fear — was it fair for me to allow my every decision to be guided by fear?  I decided five months ago to not let fear totally rule my life.  Fear was no excuse to stay stagnate.  Yes, there's a possibility teaching won't be for me, but should I allow fear to make that decision before I even have a chance to answer on my own?  No.  Now, that's not to say fear won't be present in my life just because I verbally say I won't be ruled by it.  Hell yeah, it's still there...every day...but I'm going to dry my hardest to make "fear" an uncomfortable pallet on my floor.

I think a substantial amount of people in the world think of teaching as this low-paying, easy-peasy, cake-walk job.  Basically, "you get what you pay for" type mentality.  Often, you hear people say, "I'm so tired of being stressed and overworked at my job...maybe I should turn to teaching."  Ha!  I've never thought about teaching as this "low paying = low stress" job.  In fact, it's the complete opposite for me..."Can I handle this uber emotional, often stressful, but possibly highly rewarding job?!"  *Sigh*  I don't know, guys, but I'm going to give it a shot. 

Anyone been watching Teach: Tony Danza?  As a prospective first year teacher in the making, I've enjoyed watching the show...although I think it's made me even more paranoid about the possible teacher I may make, especially that first year.  I can totally see myself pulling a "Danza", nervous talking my way through every period.  Get ready, guys; Teach:Claire Cunningham will be airing soon...

Purpose

Most of you know this, but some of you don't...I play music.  I write music (well, not as of lately), sing, play guitar, yadi, yadi.  Well, the deal is that I haven't really done anything with music in quite some time.  People ask me "why," and I really don't have a good answer to give them.  Simply put, I just don't feel any desire to do it.  Maybe it's laziness, or boredom, or lack of inspiration, or old memories held on to tangible objects...hell, I really don't know.

At the rate I've been going on, I will never play guitar again.  I don't want that; I don't want music to disappear from my life all together.  I decided I needed an audience, a gig, a purpose to play again on a regular basis.  Well, maybe my blog will be that place, that deadline, that push I need to keep it going?  I'll give it a shot.  My idea on this, as of right now, is that I'm going to try to put up a video once a week, or so, either playing my own original songs, or covering another artist's song, in hopes of bringing some purpose back to my music.

Enjoy this cover...Laura Marling's "Blackberry Stone" (sans the intro verse) 

p.s.  I think my cookies made it ;-)

-CC

*crickets chirping*

Yep, I'm still alive!  Sorry for not posting any goodies lately, but that sure doesn't mean I haven't been making any.  Basically, for the past week and a half, I have been in the lab (aka: kitchen) creating the perfect vegan original chocolate chip cookie for the Beaver Creek, CO cookie competition.  Check it out HERE.  For all your bakers out there, you know how you really have to understand the science of baking in order to be truly original.  Also, it's hard now-a-days to be truly original in anything!  After batches, and batches of cookies, I think I finally created a close to perfect vegan chocolate chip cookie.  They're pretty sick-awesome.  After I see if I made the finals, or not, in the competition, I may post the recipe....or I may not.  Haven't decided if this is to be my signature secret cookie, yet, or not ;-)  Oh, they're so good!  Here's some pics...

Here they are all nakey...

All packed up, and ready to go!

Now for the poopy part of the story...I'm actually not sure they're going to make it to CO.  Here's the deal, when you send packages to the communities in the Vail valley, some mail carriers deliver only to PO Boxes and some mail carriers deliver to physical address...or something like that.  I still don't understand it, but it's totally ridonculous, if you ask me.  I've dealt with this some when trying to mail stuff to my sister up there, but I totally forgot about that in this case.

So here I've got these perfectly Martha Stewart'y packaged cookies all dressed in their Sunday best.  I pack 'em up super tight, and head off yesterday morning to overnight these bad boys.  In typical Claire fashion, I send a text to my mom and sister to brag about my accomplishment and how much I'm going to kick-ass and take names at this contest, and my sister lays the whole "I hope you sent them to the right address according to which carrier you chose..."  Doh!  AHHHH!  Let's just sum it up by saying I didn't follow directions accordingly, and spent the next hour running all over Denton like a crazed baker chasing down my package from one post office to the next hoping to stop my cookies in their tracks, only to discover they were already in another town on their way to CO. I must say, I have a new respect for the speediness of the postal service after this experience!  

Feeling defeated and in despair, I talk to the postmasters here in Denton, Vail, CO, and Avon, CO, and the cookie competition people trying to see what my options are.  At this point, I could care less about the cookie competition...all I care about is the $30+ I spent shipping these suckers overnight all for nothing!  The postmaster in Colorado told me since the cookie competition was going on, my package had a much better chance at making the delivery due to all the similar packages that would be arriving at the post office.  Soooooo, we'll see here pretty soon after I attempt to call the Avon post office and pull another "begging-crazy-lady" to see if my package could possibly find it's proper home.

OK, that's the last time I'm telling that story.  I'm so sick of it!  I'll keep ya posted on the status of my cookies' odyssey'esque journey.  FINGERS CROSSED!

Creamy Smoked Paprika Salad Dressing

I'm convinced a lot of people don't get excited about eating salad because they're used to eating crappy commercial salad dressings you buy at the grocery store.  Guys, those dressings suck.  Have you ever made you own salad dressing?  Did you know is ridiculously easy to make your own salad dressing?!  Whether it be a creamy or oil-based salad dressing, you can easily whip something up on demand with ingredients you probably keep stocked in your kitchen.  I eat salad EVERY day for lunch, but I probably wouldn't if I had to eat the nasty dressing sold in the grocery store.

Smoked Paprika is such a great spice, and totally under-utilized in the American kitchen.  Maybe that's because it can be a liiiiittle difficult to fine, and the average Joe probably doesn't know much about it.  Well, smoked or not, you need to start using this very versatile and mild spice.  I use it religiously in my savory cooking.  

Creamy Vegan Smoked Paprika Dressing

Ingredients:

-  1/2 cup raw cashews
-  1/2 cup water
-  1 clove garlic
-  1 pitted dried medjool date (or a squeeze of agave nectar)
-  1 Tbs balsamic vinegar
-  1 Tbs. kosher salt
-  1 tsp dijon mustard
-  1 Tbs nutritional yeast
-  1 tsp onion powder
-  1 tsp smoked paprika*


*I found smoked paprika at HEB, but if you can't find it, regular paprika will work just fine, but it won't have the slight smokey flavor.


Directions:
Blend cashews, water, garlic clove, date, and balsamic vinegar in blender until creamy consistency.  Scrape down sides of carafe.  Turn blender on low, and add the rest of the ingredients.  That's it!  Store in a jar, or tubberware container w/lid, in the fridge.

Spider Web Cupcakes

Being vegan doesn't always mean you're being more healthy.  It depends on your choices.  Therefore, I call all the PETA concerned vegans to embrace these cupcakes!  In regards to the "for health" vegans, well, you'll probably wanna pass on these.  Although, I will say there's nothing worse about these cupcakes than a traditional cupcake, and they taste like a million bucks....so don't be silly, and eat 'em!

Now, I'm not going to post the recipes for these since I don't think cookbook authors like it when you post their exact recipes, but I will tell you it's the chocolate cake recipe from The Joy of Vegan Baking.  It's ridiculously simple, and the best from-scratch chocolate cake recipe I've ever made, vegan or not.  And, I don't have an exact recipe for the frosting, but it's based on this basic vegan buttercream recipe.

The point, here, is really about the spider webs, which can be found here and placed atop ANY kind of cupcake you want to make.  For fully vegan cupcakes, use non-dairy white chocolate chips.  I used regular white chocolate as I didn't really care, nor wanted to buy a whole bag of vegan chocolate chips when that little spider web could just be taken off by the overly anal vegan.  I couldn't find my icing tips in the mix of random boxes from the move, so I had to do the cut the tip off a plastic bag trick, but having the proper tip would have been better.

Go get your Halloween on!

Awesome Vegan Ranch Dressing

This recipe is spot on!  And how sweet is this photo?!  Click on the photo for the recipe's link.  Love it, love cashews, love salad, love "yummmm"...

P.S.  I used all cashews as that's what I had on hand, but macadamias would be super awesome if you have some raw ones around.  They're more expensive, too.  Worked great with all cashews, though.  Enjoy, and a big thanks to the ladies over at "Green Shakes and Giggles!"

Holiday Season Has Come..."BOO!"

NOT "boo" as in thumbs down, but "BOO!" as in ghosts and goblins and pumpkins!  When money's tight you have to find creative ways to cut pricey corners.  It's especially hard to justify spending money on "wants", instead of "needs", which is the category holiday decor falls in.  So, I went to searching the web for self-made alternatives.  I found two different Halloween DIY wreaths I like..this ribbon one (CLICK HERE), and this tulle one (CLICK HERE).  I actually like the ribbon wreath better than the tulle one, but the toulle one was less expensive to make...so that was the winner.

Now, I'm not going to type all all the instructions when you can just click on the link above, but I will share a few of my observations while making this thing.

- First, she says to cut the tulle in 18 inch long strips. I felt that was a little too long, and after knotting a row at 18 inches, I started cutting my tulle in 16 inch strips. I liked the results much better.

- Don't use the glittered tulle unless you're some kind of masochistic crafter who likes to deal with that $h!t. The glitter tulle, which was only the orange tulle for me, was such a pain! Glitter every where, and it was also stiffer, which made it more difficult to work with. As you can see, I got so sick of working with that glitter tulle, I pretty much just stopped, hahaha. Lazy crafter!

- The ten yards of ribbon will be just enough to wrap around the straw wreath, so don't waste it by it over-lapping your layers too much.

-  I used corsage/floral pins to secure my ribbon after wrapping.

If I were to do this again, I would complete the wreath all the way around (which I could do now; I just needed a break..hehe) and probably only use one color. All in all, it was fun (except for the glitter), cheap, and you could adapt this idea to any holiday or event by simply changing out the tulle color.  Honestly, my favorite part was right after I wrapped the ribbon around the straw wreath before adding the tulle.  Think I might adapt that idea with some real pretty ribbons, and different size wreaths, as a cool wall decor idea.  Hmmmm.  Anyway, the snow ball affect in my brain has started....

Creamy Dill Potato Salad

Last night, we went over to our friend's house for a birthday gathering.  It was a bar-be-que, and my friend Grace made a great traditional mustard potato salad.  It really got me jonesin' for MORE potato salad, so I decided to veganize a creamy potato salad so Steven and I could have some to much on this week.  Now I would've attempted to vegan-up a mustard potato salad, but I didn't have all the ingredients I wanted, so I went for my other favorite potato salad...the new potato dill kind.


I can not stress enough how important the use of raw cashews are to making real yummy, creamy, gourmet vegan foods.  With raw cashews, you can recreate almost any of your favorite omnivore foods...except animal proteins, of course.  Anyway, my dill potato salad came out wonderful, and we can't stop eating it.  Give it a try!

Creamy Dill Potato Salad

Ingredients:

-  About 18 small red skinned potatoes, give or take

-  Red onion thinly sliced (optional)

(Sauce ingredients)

-  1/2 cup raw cashews

-  1/2 cup water

-  2 tsp. balsamic vinegar

-  1 tsp. dijon mustard

-  1 tsp. extra virgin olive oil

-  2 tsp. kosher salt*

-  1/2 tsp. onion powder

-  1.5 tsp. dried dill

-  !/2 tsp. dried parsley

*This is quite a bit of salt, but if you use this amount, you will not need to add any salt after mixing the sauce and potatoes together.  Also remember, when you taste the sauce before you add it to the potatoes, it will taste too salty, but the sauce is responsible for salting and seasoning a whole bunch of bland potatoes, so it needs to be intense.  If you're nervous about it being too salty, back it off to 1.5 tsp kosher salt...I'm a salt fiend, so it was perfect for me, but may be too salty for others.

Directions:

Quarter the new potatoes, and boil them in a pot of water until thoroughly cooked, but still firm and hold together. Do not over cook your potatoes!  Drain, and leave to cool in a colander, etc.  Set aside.

In a blender, add the cashews and water.  Blend on high until until a creamy homogenous texture is achieved.  Next, add the balsamic vinegar, dijon mustard, olive oil, salt, and onion powder.  Blend until thoroughly combined.  Finally, add the dried parsley and dill to the creamy mixture, and only pulse to combine and distribute spices throughout mixture.  Finished sauce should be thick in consistency.  Remove from blender carafe and into a small tubberware container with a lid.  Set aside in the refrigerator.

Add the cooked new potatoes to a large bowl.  If you wish, thinly slice some red onion and toss to combine with the potatoes.  At this time, add the sauce to the potatoes and onions in hefty portions.  I say to do this because everyone's different on their preference of how wet or dry they want their potato salad.  Use your judgement; I used all the sauce.  If you don't use all the sauce, or wish to make a smaller amount of potato salad by cooking less potatoes, you can always use the excess sauce as a salad dressing on your leafy greens, or as an awesome veggie dip.  Whatev's.  Be creative.

And, that's it!  It's best to let this sit in the refrigerator for a few hours before serving so it can marinate the potatoes.

Sooooo tasty,

CC

Yin and Yang

Random Peep:  "So, you're vegan, right?"

Me:  "Well, I mean, not wholly, I guess...but sorta'ish?"

RP:  "You either 'are' or you're 'not.'  What do you mean 'sorta?'  So, you're a cheeeeeaaaater.  What's the point, then?"

I can't tell you how much this all-too-often conversation comes up and annoys the hell out of me.  Society is so obsessed with extremes!  Here's the deal, folks...let me break down my thoughts on my fascination with Veganism thus far:

1.  Ultimately, if done right, I think it's the most healthy thing we can do to our bodies, as well as raw juicing and exercising.  I truly believe in the benefits of this food lifestyle, especially Vegan Rawism...but that doesn't mean I am a 100% vegan all the time.  It's just like knowing Triathlons are probably really good for our health...but we're not all Triathletes.  

2.  Vegan baking is easier, and a lot of times, better tasting than non-vegan baked goods.  I can not stress this enough!  I almost always bake vegan now.  Plus, I don't keep any eggs, and dairy milk was only introduced to the fridge once Steven and I started living together, although he's not opposed to drinking non-dairy milk.

3.  Knowing vegan substitutes is awesome when you're in an ingredient bind!  Honestly, one of the coolest thing about veganism is the much longer shelf life of the ingredients.  No more spoiled eggs and milk!  You know how awesome it is when I want to add cream to a soup, risotto, or sauce and don't have any cream on hand....BUT I do have a butt-load of cashews in the freezer/fridge?!  SCORE!  Or, when I want to make a batch of muffins spur of the moment and know I don't have to worry about not having any of the essential ingredients because they've gone bad?!

4.  Vegan foods are good, and fun to make!  I love, love, love learning new trades!


5.  I truly believe in the cancer/illness theories stemming from the pH balance of our bodies, and a high plant-based diet and raw juicing  help bring about a more alkaline body pH.  


6.  In my opinion, there is not, nor never will be, a vegan substitute for any red meat product, bacon, or gourmet cheese.  The one and only true-blue undeniable craving I get is for red meat.  To hell with chicken, and all that other stuff; that's easy for me to leave out if I want.  And honestly, the craving really only pertains to a bleeding ribeye steak or old school pot roast dinner...not for ground meat dishes, necessarily.  So yes, I avoid eating these foods on a normal day-to-day basis, but when I NEED a steak like a pregnant woman needs a pickle, I'll eat one and not feel bad about it.  I've probably had about four steaks in the last year (which were prepared for me), and as the daughter of Jim "T-Rex" Cunningham, that's saying a LOT!


7.  For me, Veganism is MUCH more about health than it is about animal rights.  Yes, I'm all for animal rights and humane treatment, but I don't have anything against un-fenced hunting, and the slaughtering of TRUE free-range, humanely treated stock animals.  I, personally, do not feel comfortable shooting a cow, deer, or pulling the head off a chicken, but I don't think there's anything ethically wrong with that if done properly.
  
8.  I will NEVER deny the gracious food cooked for me by someone else, vegan or not.  It's rude, period.  Nor would I ever feel comfortable making a scene at a restaurant about their limited choice of vegan options, or make a group of friends change their dining place due to my restricted food lifestyle.  THIS, alone, is the main reason I could never be 100% vegan.


9.  As a culinary enthusiast, and not a nutritionist, I will always indulge in the best tasting, most creatively prepared foods when those moments present themselves.  My love for culinary art will always ride side by side with my fascination with food science and theory.  Neither fully trumps the other.  It's like the dichotomy of one's head versus their heart ;-)

                   

So, I wish I had ten reasons, but whatever.  If I had to sum up my life philosophy in one sentence, it would be: No matter the field of interest, always approach it with a healthy balance of your heart and your head.  Be a "flexitarian!"

Blurbs of a self-proclaimed hermit, both by choice and force.

Denton.  "Den-Ton" as our favorite Ukranian realtor says.  For the rest us, we'll continue on with "Dent'n."  I can't believe it; Steven and I have been here for over six weeks!  Well, not much has change since I last graced my blog's presence, but Steven is as busy as ever with football.  So, that leaves me...here...weird...and somewhat lonely...but not entirely.  Those who know me, and I mean REALLY know me, know "loneliness" really doesn't bother me in the slightest.  I'm a self-proclaimed, and proud-to-be, hermit...but, you see, it's also a curse.  My toes start to become roots, and I become all too comfortable in this hole I've created.  I literally have to force myself to leave the house.  I break up outings into town into small intervals so I can space them out evenly over the week.  I have to stay in the habit of entering the outside world at least every other day, or I'll never leave and will start creating the OCD world I worked so hard to destroy years ago.

There's also a difference between being a hermit because you can be one, and being a hermit because you're forced to be one.  A sense of pride comes with the self-proclaimed hermit; you know, the "I deserve this" mentality.  A feeling of shame comes with the latter.  I'm having a hard time finding a job.  I've applied to at least 30 various openings, both part-time and full-time, ranging on the scale from grocery and retail stores to salaried/benefits careers.  I'm calling this the "Tweener" career phase theory.

My degree's in English Lit/Comp, and right after graduation I worked as an all around assistant/office manager/bookkeeper for a one-man show.  I loved my job, and my boss.  Hell, my job entitled being skilled at a little bit of everything!  Unfortunately, I don't think it comes across like that on a resume.  PLUS, I'm in a major college town, so the competition is fierce in a little pee-didly career field like mine.  I've also realized the importance of networking.  If I were out of work in New Braunfels, I don't think it would be but a couple days before word got around and I'd have opportunities presented to me.  Here in Denton, I don't know anybody; I don't have a work networking history here, or a social history, for that matter.  There's nothing that makes me stand out from the tons of other applicants.

To add to it, I'm in the "Tweener" phase!  As I mentioned previously, I have been contemplating furthering my education towards a more specific route.  Through much research, soul searching, and blind jumping, I narrowed my options down to nursing/med. therapy or teaching.  I've toyed with both ideas for years, but to make a long story short, getting my teaching certificate came in first place primarily due to less debt, less time, ability to start certification process instantly, and wanting to be in the same world as Steven.  Passion for education?  Check!  Can work with middle and high schoolers????  Not so sure.  Oh well, we'll see.  Even if I just teach for one year and hate it, I will have easily made back the debt it took for me to get certified.  No brainer, here.  I've always seen myself in an educator/impact type role, but more on the college field instead of the middle/high school fields.

Sooooooo,  that makes it even more difficult for me to get a job!  As of result of needing to place attention on my teaching cert. program and the eventual student teaching I'll be doing, I'm just looking for a little part-time and somewhat temporary job, but apparently I'm "over-qualified" for all those jobs.  What the hell?!  I'm over qualified for the jobs my under-qualified experience is forcing me to look into!  Brother!  So, it looks like substitute teaching may be my only option, even though both Steven and I do not want me to do it because he fears it will give me the wrong impression of teaching due to how little control you have over someone else's classroom full of the most wild students because their "real" teacher's gone for the day.

What's a girl to do?!?!?....besides paint her whole house...which I already did.

Man, sorry for this whole disorganized rant, but I'm just feeing so low on self-esteem right now, and anxious with all the classic worries that come with being unemployed.  More uplifting stuff to come in the next post.

Peace out,
Claire

Vegan Summer Squash Cake

Summer Squash Sweet Cake

We all have gardening friends, right?  Right.  And what do they bombard us with ever summer?  Squash, zucchini, and tomatoes!  Frankly, I don't have any problem devouring all the tomatoes, but the squashes...well, I can admit I get tired of them pretty quick.  Steven's folks, as well as various friends, bring us squash every time we see them.  God bless them for the free food, but damn, I've got squash coming out my ears!  I feel bad just throwing it away, so I got to thinking there just had to be a summer squash sweet bread recipe out there just like there are zucchini and pumpkin bread recipes.  Low and behold, I found one and then veganized it.  

This is a very sweet bread, hence why I called it a cake, so just be prepared.  I omit the spices because I have to be in the mood for cinnamony things, but if you're looking for something more like a traditional zuchini bread then add the spices.  Otherwise, you'll have just a simple buttery, vanilla, slightly coconuty cake.  I'm pleased to introduce Steven's new favorite baked good.  He loves it!

 

Ingredients:

• 3 Tbs flax seed meal + 9 Tbs.  hot  tap water*
• 1 Tbs vanilla extract
• 1 cup canola oil or coconut oil (if you have it, use coconut oil)
• 2 cups grated yellow squash
• 2 cups white sugar
• 3 cups all purpose flour
• 1.5 tsp. kosher salt
• 1 Tbs. baking powder
• Optional: 2 tsps each cinnamon and nutmeg

*Grind whole flax seeds in electric coffee grinder to make meal.  Mix water with flax meal, and wisk to combine.  Mixture will become thick and gelatinous, just like raw eggs.

Directions:

Pre-heat oven to 325 degrees F.

Prepare flax meal/water mixture.

In another bowl, combine flour, salt, and baking powder (and spices, if using).  Set aside.

In a large bowl, add flax/water mixture, sugar, oil, and vanilla.  Beat until thoroughly combined with either hand mixture, or Kitchen Aid stand mixer.  Add flour mixture to wet mixture in three parts, or so, being careful to not over mix.  Add grated squash, and combine (I usually do parts like this by hand).

Grease either a bundt pan, or loaf pan, and pour mixture evenly to distribute.  Bake for about 55 minutes, or so, until slightly golden brown at top and toothpick test comes out pretty clean.  Let sit for about 5-10 minutes, and then release cake onto cooling rack, or cake stand, to thoroughly cool.

Claire's notes:  I've made this twice and did not have a totally clean release from the bundt pan either time.  You might want to grease and flour your pan to be extra careful.

Sorry it's been so long...but WE MOVED!

Hey guys!  Yeah, yeah, yeah, I haven't posted in forever, but seriously, since my last post life has been a little nuts!  First it was the changing of my job life in New Braunfels, to the contemplation of going back to school, then to the possibility of Steven and I moving, to....actually MOVING!

About two months ago, Steven and I were about to head up to North Texas to visit his family, and he turned to me and said, "You know, I got called for an interview with Little Elm High School..."  He told me it was scheduled for the day we would be traveling to Muenster, but he thought he would cancel it because he was pretty happy with his current teaching/coaching job in New Braunfels, and it would be a pain to try to make the interview in the midst of our traveling.  Finally after thoroughly contemplating the situation, we decided since Little Elm was on the way to his folks', it would be silly to not take the interview.  Long story short, we pulled in to a Walmart in Little Elm, he dressed into "interview attire" in the parking lot, I dropped him off at the high school, and I went to a Starbucks to kill some time...for almost two hours!

Needless to say, the interview went very well.  Steven was basically offered the job on the spot, and we went from thinking, "no, we're happy where we are" to "ok, this would be a major step in your career you need to take, so let's do it!"  Now, don't get me wrong, in between those two decisive moments there was plenty of stress and crying (well, on my part), but Steven said he wouldn't go without me, and I couldn't be selfish enough to say no, especially since my work life had become pretty insignificant the past few months.  So, the next weekend we traveled back up to N. Texas for Steven to go house hunting.  He was set on buying, so in that same weekend he put a bid in on a house, and had a contract on it by Wednesday.

The next month was pretty hectic, as you can imagine.  Me packing up my house, Steven packing his, all while trying to buy a house, start a new job, and traveling to and from Denton about 5 times in a month.  Finally, though, we made the move July 26th.

*Side Note*  Denton is about 13 miles from Little Elm


In the first day of residing in our new home, we managed to go through appliance hell.  Our hot water heater broke (and all the pains that go with no hot water), one of our toilets wouldn't flush via using the handle, no internet/cable for over a week, and the new refrigerator we bought never started working.  Fortunately, one thing that did continue to work like a charm was our A/C...THANK GOD!  As you can imagine, we became fat, stinky and stupid due to eating out, not showering for days, and being out of touch from the world; but in true Steven Reiter style, we did manage to always have two coolers filled with beer.

Finally, life is starting to get into routine again.  Steven started football two-a-days today, and I've been busy painting this whole damn house and waiting on service men.  I don't have a job, yet, and I recently found out my financial Aid for school won't be fully available until the spring '11 semester, so my world is a little flipped upside-down right now.  I'm trying to go with the flow and have a good attitude about all the new changes in my life, and so far I'm doing fairly well adjusting.  North Texas is no hill country haven, but I fully believe it's the relationships you make in life that determine one's happiness.

I'll have some "Before and After" pics to post of the house soon; it's like a whole different house from when we moved in!  Also, please make note of our new mailing address.  Both of our phone numbers are the same, but we still love some good ol' fashioned snail mail...especially birthday cards for my big 27th TOMORROW!  Our new address is:

4517 Fox Sedge Ln.

Denton, TX 76208

Love you all, and come and see us!

Claire & Steven

DIY Compost Bin...I'm hoping.

I've been wanting a compost bin real bad for a while now, but I just couldn't sacrifice the $200 they seemed to be running.  Fed up, I went to the web for a solution.  I knew I didn't want to make a compost "pile" in my backyard for a couple reasons.  First, I rent my home and don't want to put a lot of effort into anything that isn't "mine", and also, I feel like those "piles" aren't as efficient in turning over the compost as a bin is.  While surfing the net, I came across a lot of trash can DIY compost bin projects, this one in particular.  Hell, I could do that!  And so I did....

Ingredients:
-  1 outdoor strength plastic trash can w/lid
-  Drill
-  2 bungee chords

Directions:
Go to your local home improvement store, and scope out their trash can selection.  I bought an "indoor" strength trash can by mistake, and in hindsight, I would have definitely bought an outdoor strength trash can instead....so do that.  Basically, the indoor purpose trash can's plastic isn't as heavy duty...and you need heavy duty.  You'll also need a couple bungee chords if you buy a trash can without a locking lid.

You'll also need a drill, and a super cute helper, like Fred, here.  Don't ask me how big the bit was, or any of that jazz.  I just went over to my folks' house, stole my dad's drill, and he wasn't there to advise me so I just grabbed whatever I found.

"Mom, I don't know about this...."

Basically, all you do is drill a bunch of holes into your trash can for ventilation purposes.  Make sure to drill some in the bottom, too, for drainage.  I drilled holes vertically up the side panels.  If you don't have a locking lid, like me, this is where the bungee cords come into play.  Simply drill a hole at the top near the lid large enough for the bungee cord hook to go in.  Then, when you place the lid on your trash can, you can secure it with the bungee cords.  It's pretty self explanatory.  And really, the reason for locking your lid is in case you want to roll your trash can on its side so to mix the composting material.  Otherwise, you can always use a shovel, or pitchfork, to mix upright.

Alright!  Holes drilled!  I saved my juicing scraps from earlier, coffee grounds, and learned you could use fireplace ash, too.  So, here's my pot of organic goodies I'm going to add to my compost.  When starting your compost, you need to put some potting soil, maybe some dried leaves, shredded newspaper, and fertilizer in there with your organic "trash" materials.  The fertilizer helps jump start the process.  Mix it all together, and water the mixture just enough to make it  moist.  Don't place your bin in direct all day sun.  It's probably best to put it somewhere where it might get morning sun, and shade the rest.

Here's a good website listing all the material you can compost.

Well, we'll see how this project goes.  Fred's real happy about composting.  He just knows there's all kinds of trash and edibles in there hiding!!!

Updates 5.1.2010

Hello world!  It's been awhile.  'Member me?  Well, lots has been going on since I last blogged.  Hell, I can't even remember where I left off?!

Culinary.  Food, ahhh, my favorite subject.  Although you guys have been missing food here on my blog, I have NOT been missing it in real life!  I have eaten well the past couple months.  As for baking, my most favorite goodie as of lately has been those damn awesome chocolate chips cookies!  We eat the hell out of 'em, and my waist line can speak for that!  Hands down, this is the best cookie recipe, vegan or not, on the planet.  They rock.

I also made some vegan chocolate cupcakes with vegan buttercream frosting.  Holy cow...AWESOME!  Now, I'll be the first to admit there are two things that almost always come better out of a box than by hand...brownies and cake (just the cake; not the frosting).  Seriously, it's real hard to F-up a box cake, and they always turn out moist and tender.  But, I have found the best ever chocolate cake recipe ever, and it just so happens to be vegan AND the easiest damn cake recipe I've ever made.  It's ridiculous.  Non-vegan Mom approved, and everything.  I'll post the recipe for that soon.

As for the rest of my culinary concerned life, I still remain almost all vegan at my house, and eat meat when it has been prepared for me at someone's house.  Honestly, still don't miss the meat terribly.  Don't get me wrong, it is good, but the cravings are nearly as strong as they are for...DAIRY!  Yes, dairy.  Not so much on milk, but cheese, sour cream, cream cheese, and ice cream...yes, please!!!  I've been keeping some cheeses at the house, and my main "cheater food" is pizza, so I am guilty of eating on some cheese.  I'm sorry, but I just love chevre, and brie, and  manchengo, and cream cheese, and the list goes on.  Sorry vegans, there's just no substitute for that stuff.  I did, however, find some unpasteurized raw chevre style goat cheese at the Farm to Market the other day, and I was so jazzed about finding it!  I've been waiting to try some raw dairy forever, but you really have to have a relationship with a local dairy to have access to it.  It was awesome.  Sorry guys, I just can't give up my red wine and cheese.

I'm still juicing daily, and I don't forsee that habit leaving my lifestyle anytime soon.  I love juicing.  No matter what your food lifestyle is, everyone should juice.  I'm obsessed with juicing.  It's the best thing you can do for your body daily...as well as exercise.

Running.  Yep, still running.  I can't believe it's almost been a year since my first attempts at running.  Granted, I'm not in aa good of running shape as I was back in October, but I still run about 3-4 times a week.  A group of us are running the "Beach to Bay" relay marathon here in a couple weeks, and I'm very excited about it.  Each runner's leg is a little over 4 miles, so I'm not worried about meeting that goal.

In regards to running and food, I am consciously consuming more protein as I have noticed a definite correlation before the two.  When my diet was primarily raw for a while, my running did not suffer majorly from the lack of protein, but when I started moving over to a primarily cooked vegan diet, I did notice I was becoming very weak.  So, I order some raw vegan sprouted rice protein powder, and that has been working out fine.  I shake some up with some water and almond milk after a run, and all is good.  It's some really high-quality stuff, and is an easy protein on our digestive systems.  You can read more about it here.  FYI, I recommend buying the "natural" flavor version, as the other two contain stevia, which can be an od flavor.  Also, if you go with a neutral flavor, you can make it any flavor you want depending on what you mix with it.

Love:  Steven and I have been dating a year!  Can you believe it?!  Cinco de Mayo marks our one year anniversary...how goofy is that?!  On the fifth of each month, we try to make a date night and go treat ourselves to a nice meal.  We call these days our "Cincos," and this one coming up marks our 12th!  It does not seems like a year.  I love you, Steve-o!

Garden:  My container garden is rocking!  I have spinach, romaine, parsley, and tomatoes going right now, and I am proud to say everything is looking great....except for the spinach.  The spinach is just not "flourishing," ya know.  First, caterpillars attacked it, and now that the caterpillars have ceased it's like it just don't want to grow anymore.  Not cool.  So far, I've been all organic on my veggie garden, and hope to stay that way.   I'm wanting to start composting, but I really want to buy one of those compost bins that rotates, and whatnot.  Lord knows with all the juice I drink I have a ton of great compost material, and I know my veggies would like some of that goodness, as well!  I swear, I go out there and visit my veggies morning, noon, and night like they're going to run off, or something!  Ha!  I love watching them grow :-)

Well, I'll leave with that, for now.  I've also had some little trips I've been on, and my work has taken a big spin, but I'd have to write a novel to fit all that in...and who really cares about work, right?! 'Till next time....  -CC Bloom

Best Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies EVER!

Finally!  An awesome vegan cookie recipe!  I haven't had the best of luck finding vegan cookie recipes that both taste great, AND bake up well...untill I came across this recipe.   I only had to tweak one ingredient's measurement to bring this recipe to perfection (in my opinion).  Here you go.  The best chocolate chip cookies for both vegans and non-vegans...

Ingredients:

• 2 1/4 cups all purpose flour
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1/2 cup coconut oil
• 1/4 cup vegan butter (my faves are Earth Balance, and Smart Balance "light")
• 3/4 cup white sugar
• 3/4 cup packed brown sugar
• 1 heaping Tbs. flax seed meal
• 1 Tbs. Ener-G egg replacer
• 1/3 cup non-dairy milk (I use Blue Diamond's almond milk)
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 1 cup vegan chocolate chips

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 375 F

In a large bowl, mix milk with Ener-G egg replacer and flax seed meal with electric mixer until creamy and thoroughly combined.

In another bowl, mix together flour, baking soda, and salt.

Add the butter, coconut oil, sugars, and vanilla extract to the bowl with the milk/flax seed/egg replacer mixture.  Cream all together until smooth.

Add flour mixture in two parts to the creamed sugar mixture.  Combine the first flour part by electric mixer, and the second flour part by hand incorporating the chocolate chips, as well.

Drop by well rounded teaspoonfuls onto a parchment paper lined cookie sheet.  Do not drop second batch of cookie dough onto a hot cookie sheet.  Try to use two cookie sheets (if you can), and always drop cookie dough onto a cool sheet.  Bake for approximately 8-10 minutes,  or until light golden brown.  Cool on a wire rack, and end EAT!

Green Thumb

She's alive....SHE'S ALIVE!  Yes, I am still alive, hardly, but still beating.  The past month has been insane filled with changes!  Mainly, my work like has really been turned up-side-down lately due to me taking on a side bookkeeping project, which in turn turned out to result in a full-time mental project and 100% catastrophe (more on that later), all while my manager at our mini-storage complex went on a two week long vacation, my computer died at my current full-time place of work (we run a paperless office, might I add), and I was going through my Quickbooks Pro Advisor Certification.  Holy moley, the stress has been high!  Last week really brought about seeing a tiny ray of light at the end of this chaotic tunnel, and hopefully a more organized and peaceful work situation.  Enough of that, for now....

My current projects in the food world have been my garden, and discovering the perfect vegan chocolate chip cookie recipe!  Thank goodness for legit vegan chocolate chip cookies!  On to the garden, I am so excited about this endeavor!  I live in a rent house, so I decided to give container gardening a try.  I started out with carrot, romaine lettuce, spinach, tomato, and parsley seed, watched them sprout, grew ancy continuing to watch them sprout for weeks, and now I have some official baby plants!  I really focused on the spinach and romaine, as I am so pumped to save a little money in the juicing facet of my life.  I have 28 heads of spinach and romaine growing, eight cherry tomato plants, and four pots of parsley growing as we speak.  I am SO pumped!  Oh yeah, I'm doing all organic, as well.

Romaine Lettuce

Cherry Tomatoes 

I'll update you all on the perfect choco-chip cookies in the next post ;-)
- CC Bloom

Let's look at the numbers...

I get annoyed when I hear people talk about juicing and their complaints about calories and cost.  Yes, the cost is higher, but the cost can be manipulated to be cheaper, and if you drink one Starbucks coffee a day, buy a beer at a bar, or eat out at restaurant once a week, then there's no excuse.  The calories?  The math's below.  Yes, good health does does come at a price, but seriously, it's not that much.  It's called priorities, people.

Yields over 5 cups of juice....5 CUPS!:

1 VERY large apple (300g):  140 cal & 14g sugar ($1)

2 lemons:  40 cal ($0.40)

12 leaves romaine lettuce:  40 cal ($1)

1 cup spinach:  7 cal

1 cup parsley:  22 cal  ($0.50)

½ cucumber:  22 cal  ($0.50)

1 large carrot:  30 cal & 2g sugar ($0.10)

Total:  301 cal, 16g sugar($3.50)

Yields 1 serving size bowl cereal:

1 cup Kashi Go Lean Crunch:  190 cal & 13 g sugar

1 cup 1% milk:  110 cal & 12.7g sugar

Total:  300 cal, 25.7g  sugar

The Cost:

• Yes, juicing is a little more pricey than a bowl of cereal in the morning, but the cost can be tinkered with.  Organic is the way to go, but if you can't afford it, you can't afford it.  Buy non-organic and your price will go down.  Also, notice how the apples and romaine lettuce are the most expensive items.  I put two apples (or one VERY large) in my juice because I make a LOT of juice.  I like it a little on the sweet side sometimes, and sometimes I don't.  Also, when you first start making green juice, you will probably want it sweeter, and then you will see your taste buds will start to need less "sweet."  Therefore, depending on taste preference, how much apple you use will affect the overall cost, sugar, and calorie levels. 
• Romaine Lettuce is one of the more pricey greens.  At my local grocery store, a head runs for $1.99 non-organic, and $2.99 organic.  I use at least a half head in my juice, but I also mix in other greens.  I'll use any leafy green lettuce, kale, and/or spinach.  All of these greens are nutrient dense, and are less expensive than romaine.  If you can't afford to use romaine every day, then don't; supplement with other greens that are less expensive.  Also, when I'm out of fresh greens, or running low, I have a jar of spirulina powder I use to supplement.  Just 1 tsp. has a huge nutrient dense profile!  When I go this route, I juice whatever I plan to juice, then pour it in the blender with 1 tsp. spirulina, and give it a quick spin to distribute.  It's still great!
  

The Nutrition:

• Fresh, unpasteurized, GREEN juice supplemented with a small amount of fruit is so much better for you than a bowl of cereal that has been most likely fortified with synthetic vitamins, mucus forming (and hard to digest) cow's milk, refined processed sugars, and acidic pH producing non-sprouted grains.  FYI, I know there are many worse things to eat for breakfast than cereal, but I decided to take the generally understood "healthiest" option to compare with juice to be the most fair.  Cereals do provide a good source of fiber, which is good.  Also, there are some great cereals out there made with natural sugars and sprouted grains, but you're going to pay extra for them...like you pay extra for quality juice.  Raw fruit/veggie juice is loading with enzymes and nutrients!  Enzymes helps us digest food, eliminate toxins and waste, assimilate nutrients, and support our immune systems.  They're, like, kind of a big deal.  When we pasteurize juice, we cook out all the enzymes and much of the nutrients, hence the necessity of having raw green juice as apart of your daily food intake.  Look at green juice as your daily mutli-vitamin and cell cleanser!

 

*Please don't feel like you need to rip me a new one if these calorie numbers are slightly off, etc.  The point is to get a fairly close general idea for comparison*

Coconut Milk Vegan Ice Cream

Not only have I been on the search for the best brownie, I've also been on the search for the best non-dairy ice creams.  Basically, I'm on the search for the best everything when it comes to food!  When experimenting with raw food, you may remember by fascination with and love for young Thai coconuts.  Well, I still think they're great, but living in a small town, I don't have easy access to a Whole Foods all the time.  Since weening off the raw wagon, I'm still looking for vegan ice creams to try that are not necessarily raw.  

I've seen some recipes using tofu (haven't tried, yet), cashews (tried and decent), coconut milk, and soy milk/creamer.  Honestly, I bet the soy milk/creamer versions are the best at mocking real dairy ice cream, but my gut tells me soy creamer just can't be that healthy for you.  Don't get me wrong, I LOVE that stuff, but it does seem real "fake" to me.  With all the negative literature that's been going on around soy, I figured I'd try to stay a little clear from it...especially with as much ice cream as I eat (no lie)!  I am anxious to try this non-soy "MimicCreme" product in the future, also, and will definitely keep you guys posted on that.  Back to the punch, here, I decided to give the canned coconut milk version a try, and so far it's my favorite, and easiest, of all the non-dairy ice cream recipes I've tried.  Non-vegan Steven even thinks it's great.  Give it a try; you won't be disappointed! 

Ingredients:

-  2 cans (14oz) coconut milk (not the light versions)
-  1 cup sugar
-  1/4 tsp. salt
-  1 vanilla bean (optional, but wonderful)
-  1 tsp. vanilla extract
-  1.5 Tbs - 2 Tbs. rum (vodka would work, too)

(as you can see, HEB did not have the Thai kitchen brand this time, but this brand instead...)

Directions:

Shake the cans of coconut milk before opening with can opener; it is common for it to be separated.  Basically, you just throw all the ingredients in a large bowl, and whisk to combine and break up those vanilla bean seeds.  Look here for how to open and scrape the seeds out of a vanilla bean.  If not using a vanilla bean, increase the vanilla extract to 1 Tbs.  

*The rum is not used as a flavor ingredient, necessarily; it's actually used to help cease the freezing process just a bit so the ice cream does not freeze rock hard.  I chose to use rum in this recipe (over the vodka) because rum and vanilla do go so well together, and the subtle taste from the rum would be pleasant.  Play around with the alcohol measurement; you may want to reduce it to 1 Tbs. if you feel the flavor is not for you.  Another way to help keep the ice cream soft is to use Agar Powder by heating the liquid ice cream mixture on the store with about 1 tsp agar until it slightly thickens.

VERY IMPORTANT:  Place mixture overnight, or for a few hours, in the fridge until it is completely cool.  You're ice cream maker will not cooperate with you well if you skip this step.

As you can see here, when you scrape a vanilla bean you can end up with some of the vanilla bean wall in your mixture.  You can leave these bit in your ice cream as it will not change the flavor, but for a pretty ice cream, I would advise you pour it through a strainer, as I did here.

Once your mixture has cooled completley, run it through your ice cream maker and make some ice cream...duh!

Mmmmmm, yummy ice cream!  Mission accomplished.  I store my ice cream in some GladWare, and keep in the freezer.  Try one of those vegan brownies topped with coconut milk ice cream...heaven!  This recipe can also be used as a base vanilla recipe for whatever your little ice cream lovin' heart desires.  Add mashed bananas, strawberries, flake coconut, nuts, cookie pieces, brownie pieces, whatever!  Add cocoa powder for chocolate, espresso powder for coffee, and the list goes on.  Get creative!

Lick the bowl,

CC Bloom