Veg Mamas Tribal Roll Call and Veg Support: July Thread - Page 6

[PikkuMyy]

Oh, RAinbow! - you're missing out ! Lentils are the fastest and easiest bean to cook, no soaking or boiling necessary and they taste so good in different ways. Would you like my never-fail Egyptian Lentil Soup recipe? (ingredients: lentils, carrots, celery, onions, garlic, broth - really quick)

[LavenderMae]

Originally Posted by SandyBeachBums

I just thought I would throw out a link.

Thanks! I added it to my favorites!!

Lentils are quite good although I have had some not too pleasant side effects from lentil soup, other ways are okay though. I have made some good lentil burgers before!!

[tricia80]

hi everyone

ive been hanging out in TAO cuz the limited amt of time i have on the comp cuz of work, school, volunteering, and life has definately made it impossible to read long posts and replying to every thread i want to...

so im here.. reading.. miss all of ya veg heads.. :LOL

[PikkuMyy]

There you are! I was wondering where you were...

We miss you too! How are the cats?

[isosmom]

Hope some of you can appreciate this.........MIL is visiting, and we just came back from Trader Joes. I wanted to wait until she got here so she could get some food she wanted and I know she loves to go to TJs as I know there is none where she lives. She knows I'm vegan know (as opposed to veg last time she visited) so she kept asking, can you eat this? Can you eat this? Over and over again! I mean, I'm glad she is interested/concerned, but I'm like, I'm picking up the bill, I'll get what I want, you get what you want. The whole reason I took her shopping is because I know she doesn't normally drink oat milk (which she liked btw ) and all my funky food. Doesn't really bother me, I guess it just is a little annoying because then I feel like I'm being high needs when I'm buying groceries for my own house, kwim?

[PikkuMyy]

Did you ever see "Mother" by Albert Brooks? She asks him if he ( as a vegetarian) can eat salad! DH's mother asked him if he could eat bread. Some people just seem to turn their otherwise intelligent brains off for this topic. At least she was being concerned and trying though!

[Rainbow]

Originally Posted by PikkuMyy

Oh, RAinbow! - you're missing out ! Lentils are the fastest and easiest bean to cook, no soaking or boiling necessary and they taste so good in different ways. Would you like my never-fail Egyptian Lentil Soup recipe? (ingredients: lentils, carrots, celery, onions, garlic, broth - really quick)

- sounds good- throw it at me!

[Rainbow]

I'm going grocery shopping tomorrow so if anyone's got a great recipe send it my way. DH has been craving meat and driving me nuts. lol

[kimmysue2]

portabella mushrooms make a great BBQ grilled sandwich that meat eaters claim taste meaty.

[HeatherG]

Originally Posted by PikkuMyy

Did you ever see "Mother" by Albert Brooks? She asks him if he ( as a vegetarian) can eat salad! DH's mother asked him if he could eat bread. Some people just seem to turn their otherwise intelligent brains off for this topic. At least she was being concerned and trying though!

Ha ha ha , that is funny. I get silly comments like that too. Like, Oh i used veggie oil to fry the eggplant, can you have veggie oil? I just look at them and say, you think about that a minute.

But the coolest thing is, my grandmother, who was SO concerned when I became vegan 6 years ago, said how wonderfully healthy and big my 1yo DD is... then said who knew a little vegetarian could be so healthy.

Anyway, my family doesn't dought me anymore, they actually are very interested and ask tons of questions now, like what foods help for this and that. They are also asking and coming around on the organic thing too. They used to say that the checmicals were fine or they wouldn't put them on the produce or feed them to the food animals. Now that it is coming up slowly in the media they are questioning it. I get so mad, like "what you don't beleive me until channel 7 airs a story?"

[PikkuMyy]

Here you are, Rainbow -

Egyptian Lentil Soup (This is from a certain cookbook that is vegan and Mediterranean, but I've written my own directions and edited a bit.)

Ingredients:

2 med yellow onions
2-3 carrots
2 stalks celery
lots of garlic
1 1/2 tsp Cumin seeds or 1 tsp ground Cumin
1 tsp Fennel seeds (I've never used them)
4 C veggie broth (or water with bullion cubes)
4 C water
1 1/2 C lentils
1 fried chile pepper (or a few shakes of chile seeds)
salt 'n' pepa (if they'll fit in the pot! LOL)
lemon or red wine vinegar
several slices of red onion (optional)
Olive Oil

Directions:

1. Chop up yellow onions, carrots, garlic, and celery.
2. In big soup pot, heat up olive oil and sautee veggies with cumin (and fennel, if using) for about 10 minutes until slightly cooked.
3. While veggies cook, rinse off lentils and check for pebbles (in years of eating lentils, I've come across one pebble.)
4. Add broth, water, and chile (if using) and put to boil
5. Once water boils, turn down, partially cover, and simmer for about 15-20 minutes.
6. Uncover and let cook another 10 or so.
7. Optional - this does taste great but adds extra work - Toss red onion slices with olive oil and bake for about 15 minutes in a pan covered with foil. Do this while the soup cooks.
8. Serve soup with a squeeze of lemon or a bit of red wine vinegar (delicious! about a capful per large bowl) and top with red onion slices.

We usually eat it with buttered toast - sourdough works really well, as does a thick whole wheat. We'll have it as our dinner - big bowls with toast.

The original recipe called for the soup to simmer for 30 minutes, then simmer uncovered for another 15. I've found that the soup cooks in much less time nad if you cook it that long, you end up with squishy, falling apart lentils. So 15-20 minutes should be plenty for the partially-covered section.

Enjoy!

[UnschoolnMa]

Hi everyone,

I am a new vegetarian, and I just wanted to pop in and say hello! I grew up in a family of serious meat eaters, but it was never my favorite choice. I have always used alot of veggies and fruits but I did eat meat also. Lately though meat and dairy just make me feel all icky.. and life is too short to feel icky from food. Food is supposed be a pleasurable experience, and I hope to put that back into what I am eating. I got what appears to be a good book from my library, and I am about halfway through it so far.

Doing away with meat feels pretty easy to me, since I was never super into it to begin with. Going no milk seems harder for some reason. We shall see... I just want to enjoy eating again, YKWIM? Kristi

[Rainbow]

I wasn't a big meat eater either- but I'm very picky, so the hardest for me was opening up to new foods.

That looks awesome Pikku- i'm going to try it!

[tricia80]

I C U

:LOL

the cats are good.. the 2 youngest ones have been adopted into a loving home.. and will be welcomed by 3 older brothers and sisters...

poor mickey misses them but he will be ok...

now off to go eat more food that has to be mushed up cuz i cant eat solids yet

Originally Posted by PikkuMyy

There you are! I was wondering where you were...

We miss you too! How are the cats?

[PikkuMyy]

Originally Posted by tricia80

I C U

:LOL

the cats are good.. the 2 youngest ones have been adopted into a loving home.. and will be welcomed by 3 older brothers and sisters...

poor mickey misses them but he will be ok...

now off to go eat more food that has to be mushed up cuz i cant eat solids yet

But he has Khaila to love him, he'll be ok.

Why can't you eat solids? When I was younger, my mom and I used to make blended salad, and I really liked it. It was literally a regular salad in the blender, we'd use celery sticks to push down the lettuce. Then we'd put some lemon juice and a little oil in and eat like soup.

How about some creamy soups? Like potato leek - just saute the leeks and sliced potatoes, then once getting soft, add broth and boil for a short time, blend and voila!

[tricia80]

i had two of my wisdom teeth extracted on wednesday... so its been painful.. im slowly but surely eating solids..jus cant chew for a long time...

yeah mickey has been loving khaila more than usual and she is loving it... :LOL

[PikkuMyy]

Ouch! I need to get 3 extracted but I've been putting it off - partly because the more they grow in, the easier the surgery is, partly because we have no $$$.

I'd go nuts on mashed potatoes.

[amylsp]

Hi my name is Amy and I just joined the board recently. I've been a vegetarian for 17 years but am now looking for recipes for my three year old. This looks like a great thread to get some ideas!

[PikkuMyy]

Hi Amy! Welcome to our thread! If you look at the past postings, you'll get some. Also do a search in the good eating thread itself for our june thread, and for our previous veg mamas one. Lots of recipies posted.

[isosmom]

Strange margarine experience - help needed

Ok, so I haven't used margarine in who knows how long, it's been butter and only butter for quite a while. But now I'm on the vegan track, so.......I was making pancakes yesterday and the recipie called for melted butter, so I thought I could substitute melted margarine. Well it didn't melt. It did however let off a horrible smell that almost made me :Puke. So I used coconut oil instead. I was using Spectrum Spread. Is this normal? Do other margarines melt or not? Should I even try margarine or just stick to oil? The only time I use it is in baking, really. Please help!