not chorizo

Life has been busy.  I have been traveling a lot to my Dad's.  Not so much for him but for me.  A partial cornea transplant is now being seriously talked about for being in my future.  A second opinion is next.

I feel sad.  Sometimes depressed, but mostly sad.  I keep trying to do the things that make me happy and healthy but it is hard.

So I walk.  I try to sew and crochet.  Sometimes I read and watch videos.  I am giving myself the grace to just feel what I feel.

We did take two fairly impromptu road trips.  One to Abilene.  Abilene was just because.  How many back roads in Texas can you hit between Houston and Abilene.  That is how it felt.  We saw some beautiful scenery and ate some good food.  But the wind was brutal.  I had hoped to go for a walk in Abilene but I felt like I was going to be blown away!

We also took a road trip to the Salida, Colorado area.  My Beloved wanted to test a long trip on his motorcycle.  I basically put a pin in the map and said here.  The area was gorgeous.  We did some camping.  Too many hotel rooms and too much food out were the only real issues for me.  But I realized that I woudl rather eat my own cooking and sleep in a tent.  I would do the trip again but differently.

Because of my eye, because of my arthritis, I am trying to do everything I can do without drugs to lower inflammation.  One of the things that helps me a lot is much less animal foods in my life.  I will probably never be totally vegan because I eat what people offer me when they cook and I like traveling.  Some of the places we have started to research have had the comment that being vegan is difficult.

I borrowed Unbelievably Vegan from the library.  The author has some really excellent ideas.  My Beloved, who loves beans, has had it suggested to him that he needs to eat less.  I decided to try her chorizo recipe.  

Now I like chorizo.  But I do not like how grease it usually is.  This not chorizo based on walnuts and sun-dried tomatoes tasted right to me without the grease.  I did not heat it up but it can be.  I was also thinking I could season it differently and it could be taco meat too.  This is definitely something I will make again.

not chorizo

From Unbelievably Vegan but with my own variations because of course I did not get everything from the grocery store when I was there!

1 cup sun-dried tomatoes, soaked in boiling water for 15 minutes and then drained (not oil packed!)

1 cup walnuts

1 teaspoon ground ancho

1/2 teaspoon ground chipolte

1 teaspoon salt (I use Real Salt)

3/4 teaspoon ground cumin

1 teaspoon ground sweet paprika

1 teaspoon dried oregano

1/4 teasppon ground black pepper

1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/8 teaspoon ground cloves

1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar

Put everything in the bowl of a food processor.  Pulse unit well combined and kind of looks like chorizo.  You may need to scrape down the sides.

I served this directly on the salad that is pictured.  You could fry it for breakfast or heat it for tacos.  I am going to make it again tonight for dinner with taco seasonings instead.  Since this can be served hot or cold, I have been pondering if it would not be good camping food.  I am seriously thinking about trying it in a couple week.

spring and not parmesan

I was at my Dad's again.  Lots of rain, some sun shine.  It was very much spring in the Pacific Northwest.

More doctor appointments.  There was good news.  His heart is healing from the COVID created congestive heart disease.  But it appears something flipped in his genetic code and he now has a very slow chronic leukemia.  He is stage 0 and caught very early.  The treatment is currently no treatment and it can be that way for years.  It is just a watch and see.  He has to go to the doctor's office every three months for a blood draw which he groans about but it is what it is.

Construction has started on the display room.  And the remodel of the house.  My Beloved said he wanted a kitchen remodel.  I said yes if he took care of it all.  Somehow, that project grew and I keep getting asked to make decisions.  It is not the small cabin I really want so I do not really care.  It is surprising how often I say I want this and someone else says I do not think this is a good idea.  Even down to colors.

I have been eating much more vegan and I find my inflammation has gone down so much.  One of those things that I did miss was parmesan.  I found a recipe for not parmesan that satisfies even though it is not parmesan.  I have used this multiple times now and it is wonderful with sauce or without sauce on pasta.

not parmesan (vegan parmesan)

Note:  This is from the Minimalist Baker website.  I have not even modified the recipe which is so not me!  (laughter)

3/4 cup raw cashews

3 tablespoons nutritional yeast

1/4 teaspoon garlic powder

3/4 teaspoon salt

Put all the ingredients in a food processor.  Pulse until a fine grind.  Like the horrible can parmesan.  This is better!

banana bread

I posted this picture on Instagram and my Aunt asked me if I had the recipe.  My favorite banana bread recipe is from Laurel's Kitchen Bread Book.  I have been using it for over 30 years.  

I am going to write it down here for family but I do not modify it at all.  The modifications are when I wish to make a quick loaf with other fruits or vegetables.  This is my blueprint.  It is vegan if I wish.  It has minimal sugar.  It worked when I modified it for gluten free flours.  It is just one of those recipes.

I did not jump on the banana bread wagon during the stay at home orders.  Why?  Smoothies were what we wanted then.  Peanut butter and chocolate.  But for some reason autumn is one of those times that I do more quick breads.  

banana bread

Note:  So yes, this is my blueprint but I still change it to a different sugar, all whole wheat and a different leavening agent.  My Beloved would say I just cannot follow a recipe. I always have to change it.

3 tablespoons oil

1/2 cup brown sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 cups super ripe bananas  (I usually use six.  Or two cups of other fruit combinations)

2 cups whole wheat flour

1 teaspoon cream of tartar

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 cup  of additions (if you like addtions to banana bread like nuts, fruits, or choclate chips, not me)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Farenheit.  Grease a large loaf pan

In a medium size bowl, mush the bananas.  Mix in the sugar, oil, vanilla and salt.  Mix in the flour, cream of tartar, and baking soda.  If you like additions, now mix them in.

Bake for about one hour.  I start checking at 45 minutes.  A knife should come out clean when it is poked into the bread.  This can be a dark bread if the bananas have a high sugar content.  The bread usually also recedes from the edge of the pan.

This bread is so good.  It is wonderful fresh but alos lovely toasted with butter.  I have pumpkin and applesauce in the refrigerator and thinking about making loaf.

Yes, I am putting this next update at the very end of my entry.  Not hiding that I am healing but definitly do not feel the broadcast.  I was working in the shop yesterday and an ax head flew at my face.  The video was watched to see what happened and the conclusion was that it was a perfect storm moment.  

I was very impressed with the public health hospital.  Ben Taub is the best trauma center in the city and I would have to agree.  Yes, there ER was very busy and there was a lot of waiting once they knew I was pretty okay.  But I felt well cared for, treated respectfully, and noticed that was how they treated every patient around me.  It was a much different experience then I have had at other hospitals.

After a CAT scan and stitches, I was able to come home.  It did take most of the day but they were also keeping me under observation in case of concussion.  There was a big sigh of relief when my skull was not fractured.  Yes, I laid in a hall for awhile but I never felt like I was unseen and I was checked on consistently.  

Stitches come out in about a week.  I will be wearing bandages for six weeks to protect the scar from the light to minimize it.  I will look strange until almost Thanksgiving.  I know this bandage is large but I am unwilling to buy extra until I am out.  There is no energy but also little pain currently.  I am told this is fairly normal for deep lacerations.  The itching is what might get me so keeping the wound moist and covered will help me not itch it.

It will heal.  I will heal.  I just have to take it slow.

watermelon salad

Busy summer.  And my Dad ended up in the hospital again.  I have to admit writing is not a priority.  I find I would rather stitch or crochet then write if there is quiet. 

I volunteer with Koda Bear at a farm a couple time a month.  More in the winter then the summer.  It is hot in the Texas.  One of their early summer lunches had a watermelon salad served.  One of those that made me go hmmm.....

So I made it.  It has been a go to recipe for the hot months this year.  If I do not write it down, I will forget what is in it.  Here we go.

watermelon salad

1 small watermelon, peeled and chopped into bite size pieces.

2 avocados, skinned, pit removed, and diced

2 cups white beans

1 or 2 cucumbers, peeled and diced

salt and pepper to taste

1 to 2 teaspoons oregano

Balsamic vinaigrette or olive oil and balsamic vinegar.

In a large bowl, put the watermelon, cucumber, avocado, and beans.  Mix together.  Sprinkle with salt, pepper, and oregano to taste.  Splash with olive oil and balsamic vinegar or a balsamic vinaigrette.  Stir.  Serve.

If it is really hot out, refrigerate before serving and it gets even better!  My body seems to crave this salad when it is very hot, more so then greens.  Watermelon has been a hit this summer.

lots of chai

When I go to Washington, I always vist the food co-ops.  I like them.  I have always liked them.  When I was doing shopping pre-Thanksgiving I found a chai tea I wished to try.  I forgot how much I like chai.  I like the taste.  I like how it warms me.  I like that because it is so full of flavor it can take the place of a sweet.

I have always been picky about chai.  Even before many of the chain coffee shops carried it, I drank it.  One of the ingredients I find I like in chai is astragulas.  For some reasons, chai with that spice/herb in it I seem to always like.  I really like Zen Dog Studio's Dragon Breath Chai and Morning Glory Chai.  It gets costly buying these though.  Especially if I am feeling the need for comfort.

I went down to Phoenica and bought spices.  I ordered a few on-line.  I got all the spices and herbs from the labels and went for similar quantities, not weights.  The list is:

Honeybush

Cinnamon

Cardamom pods

Ginger

Star Anise

Astragulus

Clove

Fennel

Orange peel.

I went a bit heavy on the orange peel and the ginger.  The tea I added was a pu-erh I did not particularly care for.  I have to add more black tea to every cup just because there really was not enough.  It is a good cup of chai.  I also have enough to probably six months to a year.  Which nice because I got tired of going to the store.  And airport security really does not know what to do with tea tins.