Stocking the new kitchen!

First farmers' market from the new apartment. It was a nice little walk (about the same distance, but a different direction). I cleaned the new (to us) refrigerator to within an inch of its life before heading out this afternoon (yes, it was afternoon before I was done). That took about an hour and a half. I took out all the trays from the door and all the shelves and washed them in the sink with baking soda and hot water. Scrubbed out the inside of the fridge with baking soda as well. Dried and reassembled everything. It is sparkling. Then went nuts at the market.

Saturday Shopping List

1 lb. small red beans
1 lb. green beans
1 pint shiitake mushrooms
2 heads red leaf lettuce
6 ears bi-color sweet corn
10 red potatoes
10 sweet onions
a dozen carrots (smallish, with the greens still on)
3 summer squash
2 golden zucchini
2 green zucchini
4 small cucumbers
2 purple peppers
1 green pepper
6 heirloom tomatoes
2 giant red tomatoes
6 peaches
1 pint blueberries
12-oz jar of strawberry jam
1 lb. granola
1 loaf country white bread
1 oz. fennel seeds
2 oz. black pepper

Total: about $50


Came home and had raw green beans and carrots dipped in hummus for brunch. Haven't had coffee yet, so I'm venturing out in the heat for an iced coffee. Later, it's off to the old apartment to gather up dishes and cooking utensils.

We've been living large these past couple days, picnicking on gourmet food from the local restaurants. Gourmet veggie burgers and salads last night from Dock Street Brewery. Night before last, chickpea-tabouli salad, guacamole and hummus with pita and black olives, with orange-chocolate-chip cake for dessert, from the Gold Standard Cafe. Tofu scramble from Gold Standard for breakfast yesterday. But at some point, we have to actually settle down and start cooking again. Clean fridge, check. Groceries, check. Clean stove, clean cupboards, clean dishes next.

Quitting Tofu

Finally watched Food Inc. It's not as if I didn't know this, but I really, really... really have to stop eating tofu.

For real.

I know that over 90% of American soybeans are Monsanto soybeans. Why do I act as if I don't know it? Do I feel better if I buy something that says "non-GMO" on the package? Then I'm just as dumb as the sanctimonious liberal who buys the cow that says "grass fed." Do I really think I'm smart enough to find that less than 10% of soybeans that are real beans? Really?

Watching a farmer who didn't choose to grow Monsanto beans talk about watching his legal costs grow because his neighbors' soybeans contaminate his crop and once that happens, Monsanto owns the patent to his crops. Monsanto sending goons - thugs in big black cars - out to his farm at 4:30 in the morning to spook him. Watching him say, "How can they do this?" And then he gives advice to a young farmer: "Just try to get out of this thing with your skin intact. Roll over. You can't fight it." How can they do this? Just like that. If everyone stood up, they couldn't do it. That's why organizing - on any level but theirs - is their enemy.

Damn it.

And a lot of organic soybeans come from China. Great. There's something I feel safe about. Eating crap from China.

Fortunately, I have my protein-rich and versatile quinoa and of course, my good old-fashioned pinto beans and kidney beans. And, as I learned recently, I can buy local kale in a blizzard if I don't mind the cold! In most of the recipes I did use tofu in, I've already replaced it with mushrooms, which act very similar and taste better.

So, what the hell. Let's quit tofu.

First Farmers' Market in December

Here it is, December 5th. First snow in the forecast. And we've just come back from shopping at the farmers' market.The Clark Park market was back, after its unnerving hiatus last week. It was 66 degrees on Thursday. Today it's in the 30s. Kind of exciting and cozy. We bundled up and walked down to the park. It was raining a drizzly rain, but the air is so cold it bites your face a little bit, and my boots did not sink into the mud the way they do in summer and fall. It feels like winter out there, for sure. It smells like winter. Yesterday, we rearranged and cleaned the living room. Now that we're back from shopping, the plan is not to leave the house again.

So what do you get at a farmers' market in December?

Saturday Shopping List

about 3 pints of chestnuts

1 quart or so of yukon potatoes

1 bunch of curly kale

1 head of green leaf lettuce

1 stalk of brussels sprouts

1 giant head of cauliflower

1 quart of white mushrooms

a lot of purple carrots

7 smallish red tomatoes

4 yellow onions

2 green peppers

a jar of strawberry jam

1 loaf of white bread

1 loaf of red onion sourdough bread

3 chocolate-banana muffins

total: $52.45

On the way home, we stopped by a small grocery for bagels. That's what I had for breakfast, with sauteed tofu and onions. Still have red lentils and plenty of beans, along with sweet potatoes, sauerkraut, broccoli and some dark kale. The dark kale actually makes a good salad green if you shred it up. I had a dark kale salad last night, with onion, garlic, mushrooms, and topped with tiny bits of crispy fried potatoes, with poppy seed dressing. Have also been eating a lot of rice noodles (Thai Kitchen instant noodles), topped with sauteed peppers, mushrooms, onions, broccoli, whatever we have. A staple lately has been brussels sprouts with sauerkraut. The only seasoning it needs is garlic and a little bit of salt.

Thursday night, we had a pizza from Papa John's. The first time they delivered it, it was mistakenly covered with cheese. By the time they delivered the correct pizza (tomato sauce, mushrooms, onion, black olives, green peppers, and banana peppers), we were starving and the pizza was delicious.

I'm watching HGTV for the rest of the day.

Saturday market: tomatillos, spices, red beans, and mud

It's like summer outside. Another rainy day at the farmer's market, but instead of last weekend's Nor'easter, today we have 70 degree weather, low clouds, and balmy air.

Last night, I decided to buy something today that I've never bought before, but I didn't know what. At the market, I decided to buy tomatillos. I used to order something at a Mexican restaurant that had tomatillo sauce. Where was that? I remember, it was the place at 40th and Sansom, where I used to eat when I worked at the salon. I would get the black bean burrito with tomatillo sauce. It seemed hot and cool at the same time. Like if you had a spicy cucumber. I hadn't even gone vegan yet then, but I always ordered vegan things from there. I was such a closet case. It's always so obvious in hindsight.

Saturday shopping list

1 lb small red beans (dry)
3 leeks
1 pint tomatillos
2 portabella caps
1/2 dozen tomatoes
2 butternut squash
2 large yellow onions
1 bunch curly kale
big bag of multi-color carrots
1 oz curry powder
1 oz fennel seeds
1 oz southern seasoning mix
1 oz lemon pepper
1 loaf multi-grain bread
1 loaf sourdough bread
1/2 dozen brownies

total at farmer's market: $52.21

We did great on money at the market today, especially considering that we bought all those spices and a half-dozen brownies, and it still was under $55. However, to the total grocery bill, we have to add about another $10. We had to go downtown for cat food and a vacuum cleaner anyway (apparently, they don't sell vacuum cleaners for under $80 anywhere in West Philly), so we used the opportunity to go to Trader Joe's.

@ TJ's

two 14-oz packages of Gimme Lean soy sausage
1 lb of firm tofu
1 dozen English muffins

total: I didn't save the receipt, but $10 and change

So, about $60, and we are stocked with what I feel is deluxe food. I feel completely spoiled right now. Mark is frying up a couple of soy sausage patties while I blog this up. Nothing like breakfast for dinner. When he's done, I'm going to make a side of curried potatoes before I fix a soy sausage sandwich for myself.

Featured on today's shopping list: Tomatillos. Tomatillos are a good source of Omega 3 and Omega 6 fatty acids. Those are good for anybody, but they're really great things for vegans, and especially vegans with a high metabolism, because fatty acids burn slow on your metabolism fire. (Remember, carbs are like paper on the fire, and fats are like logs on the fire.)