Another week...

Did you all catch the new story about a lucky duck in Florida? She was shot by a hunter and spent two days in the refrigerator. When the hunter's wife opened the door, the duck looked up at her and she had her daughter rush the poor duck to the vet. Fortunately it is now recovering at a wildlife sanctuary. Link to article.

What else? This afternoon I went with a friend to see the movie Babel. I'd wanted to see it in the theatre, but didn't make it earlier. Thanks to the Oscar buzz, it is back. It is a very interesting movie that I enjoyed. One 30 second scene which wasn't all that necessary to the movie, stuck out to me because of the audience's reaction. In preparation for a wedding ceremony in Mexico, one of the actors kills a chicken for dinner. It was more graphic than necessary and the packed theatre expressed disgust rather audibly.

Situations such as these both perplex and frustrate me. There were likely few other vegetarians or vegans in theatre, yet everyone was shocked and revolted by what happened on screen. How is it that people can compartmentalize where their food comes from and then sit down to dinner?

Anyway, on to good vegan food. Sorry about the dark photos, they were taken with my cell phone. On my raw days this week I stuck to fruit and salads again which means not many pictures. To the right is grape tomatoes with some evo, basil, and crushed pesto LivingNuts. These sprouted raw nuts come from Maine. I originally found them while there for work. These babies are a little expensive, but they have an amazing taste and I order them every once in awhile. To the left is kale and collard salad. It is the same salad I made last week with swiss chard. I also blended up a noteworthy smoothie with coconut water, banana, raw cacoa powder, and raw almond butter.

It has been so cold here and of course when it was 10 degrees outside it was on my raw days. The very next day I cooked up a batch of Spicy Peanut Eggplant Shallot Stew from PPK. I'm pretty sure this is a teaser from the new cookbook. The verdict... I like it, but probably not enough to make it again. This soup was a lot of work and I had higher expectations for it. It seems like the lemon overpowers the peanut butter which is rather disappointing to me.

Last time I was in Maine for work, I picked up some of Little Lad's Not Cho' Cheese. This stuff is great and unfortunately, I've been unsuccessful at duplicating the recipe as of yet. It is made from potato, carrot, lemon juice, soybean oil, water, and "spices". What did I make with it? Pure comfort food... Mac and cheese with slices of soy dogs. On the side is Asian style broccoli. I've posted about this before. Just steam broccoli and add a dash of soy sauce, sesame oil and cracked red pepper. Yum!

Lastly, oven baked tofu. Also on my last trip to Maine, I picked up a bottle of Soyvay Wasabiyaki on clearance. I'd read about it, but this is the first time I actually saw it. How lucky am I to find it for half price? Anywho... I marinated slices of tofu in the Wasbiyaki (teriyaki with wasabi) then baked it for about 45 min in the oven at 425. I like to use my toaster oven as it uses less energy (no need to fire up the gas stove for 6 slices of tofu). Turn it once about halfway through cooking. I'm a now a Soyvay fan! Tommy also dug this tofu.

Thanks everyone for the well wishes regarding my knee. Every week it is getting better. I actually picked up a trainer for my road bike and I've been using that to keep up the exercise and also help rehab my knee.

Hope you all had a great week and that your are staying warm if you are in the North East!