All Quiet on the Midwestern Front

I see that I haven't posted in a while, and in the meantime, some new folks have become followers of this site. Welcome, and I'm sorry I've been so inactive.

Honestly, I just haven't done much that I considered blogworthy. I've been cooking the same old things. They're still delicious, just not anything I haven't posted about already or that wasn't incredibly basic (brown rice with vinaigrette, anyone?). For example, tonight's dinner was zucchini-potato hashbrowns made with a shredded zucchini (liquid mostly squeezed out) and shredded leftover baked potato. I browned them up in a skillet with a little olive oil, grill seasoning and a sprinkle of nutritional yeast. (I'm still trying to find ways to use nutritional yeast.) I also had green beans with Earth Balance on the side. It was a wonderful and filling meal, but very basic and I didn't take a picture.

I've been reading a lot of other blogs lately and frankly, it's intimidating. There are so many well-written, beautifully photographed sites out there that my little blog is pretty rinky-dink by comparison. You'd think that I'd be inspired by all those great sites, but instead I just think that I'm not very creative with recipes and not that great a writer. Sigh.

But enough with this self-pity party...one new recipe I've discovered through my blog surfing has been Green Monster smoothies. Actually, I've only made one, but I was amazed at how delicious it was and how I couldn't taste the greens at all! In a blender, I mixed spinach leaves, a ripe banana, green seedless grapes, flaxseed, almond milk and vanilla extract until super smooth. Even Daughter loved it! This may be my new secret weapon to get some greens into her diet. (Son wasn't interested in it at all. One small victory at a time, I supposed.) I plan to try another Green Monster with kale - a nutritional powerhouse that I just can't stand to eat.

Coffee Conundrum

(I just wanted to use "conundrum" in a post title!) I try to keep a small container of soy milk in the office fridge to use in my morning coffee. If for some reason I run out and forget to refill, I skip the coffee and drink green tea with lemon. Today was a day without soy milk...and I really, truly, desperately wanted a cup of coffee. In the kitchenette cupboard - some store-brand non-dairy creamer.

Now, I know that the "non-dairy" part is false advertising. Read the label - sodium caseinate - a milk derivative classified as non-dairy. Huh? Definitely not on the vegan list. But I used it anyway because I wanted coffee and I don't like drinking it black. Now, I feel guilty because I fell off the wagon so early in the day.

One of my big issues with trying to eat vegan is that as soon as I make a conscious decision to eat dairy/eggs, I usually write off the entire day as a loss. I don't engorge myself with cheese omelets, but I make no effort to stop myself if a non-vegan food is presented to me. I didn't do that today (whew!)- I stopped at one cup of coffee - but I don't understand why I view the rest of the day as a "free pass."