Scrambling and Camping

Tofu scrambles is the ultimate easy vegan cooked breakfast.  Even more so when you are camping.  We always have in our camping ‘larder’ a couple of packs of long life firm silken tofu.  We also have our handy stash of herbs and spices stored in old 35mm film canisters, a little nutritional yeast, bouillon powder and either Braggs or soya sauce.  So as long as we can buy an onion and a few mushrooms (and any additional vegetables we fancy adding) we are good for at least a couple of scrambles during a camping trip. 

This year in Portugal we are delighted to see more tofu and seitan products in the chilled section with the vegetables at the supermarket local to our campsite.  We were even more delighted to find blocks of tofu with big chunks of seaweed in it and at a really good price (€2.50 approx).  It makes for a lovely tofu scrambles and we have been enjoying it quite frequently this trip without even touching the tofu supply we brought from the UK.

I know of no vegans who haven’t got their own version of tofu scrambles, but here is an idea of ours whether you are camping or not!

Scrambles for two

Oil or water for cooking

1 onion sliced
½ teaspoon of turmeric

6 mushrooms sliced

2 sticks celery sliced (optional)

Pumpkins seeds (optional)

1 level teaspoon of vegan bouillon

1 block of whatever tofu you fancy or can find

1 teaspoon of Braggs for soya sauce

2 tablespoons of nutritional yeast powder

Fry the onion in oil (or just use a little water instead as it still tastes as good) until translucent.
Add the turmeric and give it 30 seconds.

Add mushrooms and any other vegetables or seeds you might fancy (e.g. celery and pumpkins seeds).

When the veg starts to soften, add in the bouillon and cook for a couple of minutes.

Mash up the tofu and add and cook for about 4 minutes, stirring to mix everything together well.

Add in the nutritional yeast, stir to mix and cook for a couple of minutes.

Add in the Braggs or soya sauce and stir.

Serve whilst hot. 

We just have ours on toast normally as we have a little grill on our camping stove but it would be nice in wraps too.  Enjoy!

Perfect Padron Peppers in Portugal

No it’s not a tongue twister but it could be if you got one of the odd spicy ones!

So here we are in the beautiful outside world of camping in Portugal.  Apart from the wonders of sleeping under canvas whilst the whole tent is illuminated inside with silver moonlight, cooking outside has got to be one of the best things ever (and we don’t mean stinky barbeques).  The food always tastes amazing; like the special secret ingredient is the outside world itself. 

So imagine when Phil found one of his favourites hidden away in a local supermarket – padron peppers.  He was very excited.  Padron peppers are small green mild offerings with a slightly bitter but fresh nutty taste.  Every now and then one of them will have some spicy bite to it – you never know until you bite into it – but last night we were free of such surprises and left to enjoy the more subtle aspects of their taste.  The simple life is often the best and we enjoyed said padron peppers simply lightly fried whole in Portuguese olive oil and then finished off with a sprinkle of salt, a splash of early evening light and a sprinkling of fresh Portuguese air.  A perfect tapas dish! 

Smelltastic

You can tell that the Cornish Spring is just around the corner.  The fields are aglow with golden Cornish daffodils and the air is infused with the distinct smell of cauliflower.  Admittedly the latter isn't always a great smell (I compare it to the smell of slightly damp wetsuit and sadly Phil agrees and hence our bathroom occasionally smells like a cauliflower field), but regardless it does mean that we only have a short time left huddling in front of the open fire in the ongoing effort to dodge the forthright and chilly wind of winter.

Meanwhile what better way of enjoying the great indoors than infusing the whole house with the smell of curry cooking.  That is what is happening this very minute - the curry spice king that is Phil is creating his magic in the kitchen.  No recipe necessary - he just gets out his secret spice box and gets on with it.  I have no idea what is in that box as, like his toolbox, it is a place that is sacrosanct to the very maleness in him.  I never go there and neither do I want to as he is the curry king in our household.  All of know is that the result fills the house and my belly with exotic warmth.

So I say bring on the spring and fill the air with the 'eau de damp wetsuit' but in the meantime, and whilst we wait with anticipation for the warmth and excitement of the fairer months, we will create our own little exotic oasis indoors.  That also includes the sounds (most important whilst cooking) and we recently rediscovered the brilliance of Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan so whilst you think about and imagine the smells that infuse our house presently, have a little listen to this -

Mustt, Mustt (Massive Attack Remix) by aspidistra451

Proud to be Mooning!

Now hear this ladies (and modern gentlemen) - mooning is a good thing to do.  Fact!

I refer to the mooncup.  I've been using one for at least 8 years now and I think that all women should really consider the benefits of using one.  Any men reading this; your lady will love and respect you more for being so sensitive and concerned about her health as to mention this to her.  Don't be shy now. 

I'm not shy of talking about such things because I think it is important to share things that could have such an impact on health and the environment.  I wish somebody had told me about it years and years ago so I make no apologies for shouting it from the rooftops now but I do apologise for not blogging about it as soon as we had a blog.

I used to use tampons;  still do occasionally to be honest (but only Naturecare now).  You see the common brands of tampons use materials that are not free from pesticides, GM materials, bleaches and dioxins.  Not the kind of thing you want to be sticking up there quite frankly .  I used to use those common brands and then, after a smear test, I got 'abnormal cells' (I predict most men are holding their ears at this point and saying 'la, la, la' but hang on in there).  It was all okay in the end but it really made me think about the importance of taking control and thinking about all aspects of what you expose your body to (inside and out).  I instantly changed to Naturecare organic tampons (less toxic) and then continued to investigate further.  That's when I happened upon the mooncup.  I've had no problems since.  Could be coincidence but hey, I'm not really into gambling that much.

This about sums it up perfectly -

It might seem a little weird to use a mooncup for the first time but like anything, it becomes second nature.  Honestly it does.  Very little extra effort is involved and a whole lot of money and environmental cost is saved.  11,000 tampons or pads is what the average women would use in their lifetime.  Where do you think all that gets disposed of?  Landfill or the sea.  Yuck. 

Then of course there is the health issues to take into account.  35% of the moisture  absorbed by tampons is natural moisture.  That moisture is there for a reason!  All you need to get rid of is the surplus not the natural stuff!  The ingredients list of most common brands of tampons makes uncomfortable reading too.  You wouldn't eat it so why stick it up the other end - sorry but let's be frank and honest about it.

Be informed ladies and gentle sensitive loving men.  Be informed.

For more info please go to -

 http://www.mooncup.co.uk/

EDF' Up

Following the week-long shut-down and occupation of EDF’s West Burton gas-fired power station last October by campaign group 'No Dash for Gas', EDF has launched a civil claim for damages against the group and associated activists for costs the company claims to have incurred – a figure it puts at £5 million.

 

Should the claim succeed, several of the campaigners face losing their homes, and all could face bankruptcy or be forced to pay a percentage of their salaries to EDF for decades to come. The amount of the claim represents just 0.3% of EDF's annual UK profits, which rose by 7.5% this year to £1.7 billion.

 

This is the first time an energy company has attempted such a claim, and campaigners say it represents the opening of a new front against peaceful direct action protesters. If successful, it could have a chilling effect on other groups – such as UK Uncut and Greenpeace – who use civil disobedience to challenge social and environmental problems.

 

Taken from Earth First website - https://earthfirst.org.uk/actionreports/content/edf-suing-climate-activists-%C2%A35-million-protesters-face-losing-homes-wed-20th

 

Freedom of speech and peaceful protest allows you the right to express how you feel about this to EDF and in support of those people who represented all of us but may lose everything as a result.  Tell them what you think - https://www.facebook.com/#!/edfenergy

 

This is David and Goliath and we need to tell them that little David is not happy. 

The Milk of Human Weirdness

A few times now I have overhead conversations (either personally or in the media) where people were expressing their disgust about adult humans consuming human milk.  I'm sure you have even seen a comedy sketch at some point where milk stored in a fridge turned out not to be the cows milk someone thought it was.  I know I have.  Howls of disgust and laughter ensue.  Well, the joke is lost on me.  That is because the joke is why anyone would find the consumption of human milk, the very thing you were nurtured on as a child, the very thing that has been 'developed' by mother nature herself for human needs, to be more disgusting than drinking the milk of another completely different mammal.  How the hell did that happen and why can presumably intelligent beings not see the irony?  Maybe it's all that cows milk they consume degrading their brain cells.

The whole weirdness thing aside from that, there is also the ignorance of most people about how the moo juice gets from cow to cup of tea.  I understood that slavery had thankfully been abolished back in 1833 but consider the fortunes of a dairy cow.  She is kept in a constant loop of pregnancy and upon giving birth, she is then separated from her baby at great emotional stress so that the resulting milk can be transferred to the needs of the human.  If the calf is unfortunate enough to be male, he is deemed to be surplus to requirements and well, let's just say if you drink milk, you are not truly supporting a vegetarian lifestyle.

Environmentally it's a nightmare too.  Anything involving livestock production is.  It's an intensive process from the deforestation involved just to clear land for growing feed right up to the plastic bottles of milk you pick up off the supermarket shelf.  It contributes at least 200 million tons of CO2 per year.

Then there's the health.  400 million pus cells per litre anyone?  That's what is legally allowed.  How about the whole thing about you have to drink milk to get your calcium?  Well around 70% of the world's population get calcium from plant based sources well enough. What about the fact that osteoporosis occurs more in countries that consume the most amount of cows milk?  Hmm, is that coincidence?

To be honest the whole idea of consuming the milk of another mammal is completely alien to me but the interesting fact is why am I made to feel like an alien for thinking the only milk that should be consumed by humans is human milk?

Still think it's natural?  Check this out and make sure you watch it all - http://viva.org.uk/video/new-investigations.html and there is plenty more information about the benefits (to you, the environment and other sentient beings) on the Viva site too.

Samphire Brasserie in Plymouth

So excited to go and visit these guys soon and we wish them all the luck and love with their new venture!

Yum scrum - check out their Spring menu.

http://www.samphirebrasserie.com/

Clean Living

Many non veggies and non vegans already struggle with the concept and seeming complexities of a vegan diet; what do you eat and how do you survive, etc?  So once you've had that long conversation to assure them that really it isn't that complicated and difficult, you don't have the heart or the will to tell them about all the other aspects of vegan living beyond the food.  To tell them about the wines and beers, the clothing, the shoes, the cosmetics, the cleaning products and the choices of medical charities would no doubt send them in to a tail spin!  Ease them in gently I say but for all those non vegans out there reading this, seriously it really isn't as difficult as it sounds.  It just becomes second nature and opens up your mind to many different aspects of clean living that go beyond just food.

Take soap for instance.  My choice in soaps doesn't just come down to whether it is vegan or not but whether it contains any horrible chemicals and that is something that everybody should be looking out for regardless of their ethical stance.  Most soaps contain sodium lauryl sulphate (SLS).  Would you go into the local car wash and stand there butt naked and let yourself be washed like a car?  Probably not I imagine, but the naked thing and the aggressive washing rollers aside, you might as well if you use soap with SLS in it as it is also used in car washes and even in mechanical garages to degrease car engines.  It is an industrial degreaser that is cheap to use hence the inclusion in many personal cleaning products.  It's what makes your hair squeaky clean and it is what infuses into your hot open pores and into your body every time you wash with it.  It dissolves your natural skin oils and it's nasty stuff.  Just type 'SLS in soaps' into a search engine and investigate for yourself if you don't believe me.  Ever wondered why hairdressers suffer with really bad skin on their hands?

Luckily there are alternatives out there.  One of my favourites is One Village Sandalwood soap.  It's vegan, it's nice, it lasts a long time (and no I'm not a soap dodger!) and it is in partnership with a social project at the Palam Rural Centre in Southern India.  So it's all good really.  Make your life uncomplicated, ethical, vegan, clean and smelling nice and give it a go!  I can guarantee it is a lot less complicated and dangerous than standing in a car wash.

http://onevillage.org/soap.htm

Another Letter to Cook Vegetarian Magazine

I received my March edition of CookVeg magazine recently which included a separate free 'vegan'  guide that I had been told about in my previous correspondence with the editor  -

(see http://driftwoodvegans.blogspot.co.uk/2012/12/a-letter-to-cook-vegetarian-magazine.html for the details on that)

I had really been looking forward to receiving this but was hugely disappointed with its content.  I felt another letter to give feedback was in order.

Hi Fae,

After our previous email correspondence in regards to featuring more vegan recipes/content, I waited with great anticipation for the release of Your Guide to Dairy Free in March's edition of CookVeg.  I have to be honest and say that I was really quite disappointed.  It's message was confused in that it was titled  'dairy free' but made reference to being a guide for those giving up animal by-products (vegan).  Some of the recipes then went on to feature Greek Yogurt, butter and eggs. Was it a vegan guide or just a dairy free guide because it really was neither fully.

I also found some of the recipes obvious (e.g. beans on toast, big breakfast, veggie sausage sandwich) or uninspiring (that is the worst version of Scrambled Tofu I have ever seen!).  I think current vegans may have found its use limiting and those considering veganism, confusing and uninspiring.

Whilst I applaud your efforts I think you are still a way off of labelling CookVeg as the UK's leading vegan magazine.  That said, even though it may not seem it from my comments, I still appreciate your willingness to include such a guide and in recognising this growing sector of the food market.

Hope you don't mind my feedback!

Many thanks

Scooby


UPDATE - RESPONSE FROM COOKVEG MAGAZINE IN COMMENTS BELOW.  FAE THE EDITOR HAS GONE VEGAN FOR A MONTH (POSSIBLY MORE)!  WE REALLY LOOK FORWARD TO READING ABOUT HER EXPERIENCES AND SEEING HOW THE MAGAZINE DEVELOPS AS A RESULT.

Some Like it Hot and Healthy!

In my previous post about Chai oats (http://driftwoodvegans.blogspot.co.uk/2012/11/chai-soaked-oats.html) I touched upon the health benefits of certain spices.  When you get guidance about the importance of certain foods in your diet (5-a-day, vitamin and mineral charts,etc) there is never really any mention of herbs and spices so I wanted to expand on this a little more here.  The fact also remains that Phil is very fond of his chili hits so I knew it wouldn't be too long before we included chili in one of our posts!

Herbs and spices are not only extremely important in adding flavour to our food but it seems they are the hidden heroes.  They are some of the most potent sources of antioxidants.  Often people are extremely keen to grab for the nearest pill or supplement to sort out health issues but what about looking to add more of the natural and readily available benefits of herbs, spices and other flavourings in the first place? 

Take simple onions and garlic for instance, which luckily many people do naturally include when cooking; they both help the body produce gluthathione, a powerful antioxidant and the main detoxifier of the body.  If you don't cook from 'scratch' often and you rely on pre-made conveniences then maybe you are missing out on the good stuff more than you think.

Then there's chili.  Phil adores it and I like it to a certain degree.  I never really understood how something that burns your mouth and can make you perspire profusely could be good for you but research has shown chili to have surprising health benefits.  Actually it isn't that surprising that it can help clear congestion but it has also been shown to lower blood sugar levels, boost circulation and thin blood.  Chillies contain capsiacin, which is a potent inhibitor of substance P, a neuropeptide associated with the inflammatory process. The greater the capsiacin content, the hotter the chili.  Capsiacin can also provide pain relief, and there is currently a lot of research into this aspect of chili, with the use of creams to help the pain of rheumatoid  arthritis.  I even found research that indicated that chili can help prevent and treat prostate and gastric cancers. No doubt this is just scratching the surface of the benefits of this amazing little plant, as is the case with many other offerings that Mother Nature has naturally provided for us.  It is also no coincidance that chili is added to a lot of food from the tropics, as it is anti bacterial and helps the food keep for longer in the warm tropical climate.

There are so many different varieties of chili to explore too.  Like fine wines they each have their own regional qualities; from the smoky heat of mexican chipotle, to the intense heat of cayenne, to the game of "pot luck" played with spanish Padron peppers, where their lovely mild taste can lull you into a false sense of security as you bite into the 1 in 20 peppers that are really quite hot!  Some may 'blow your head off' but some of the less hot ones can have their own unique subtle flavour revelations to discover and enjoy.  We've only recently started to explore this area more and shall be looking forward to growing and eating varieties we've never tried before over the coming months (watch this space).

Our journey in chili exploration will probably begin at the Dartmoor Chilli Farm in neighbouring Devon. They farm naturally and holistically without the use of herbicides or pesticides and use the bio dynamic cycle to grow their plants.  Sounds like the right place to start our 'health kick'!

http://www.dartmoorchillifarm.com/storepage967678.aspx