hey there, invisible world.....

So.... thinking to myself ( and feeling quite guilty I might add......) that it is much harder to write regularly than I had initially hoped. So, even though *laugh* I'm the only one reading this.....I guess I must apologize to myself.

Sorry self.

The other day I compiled a list of several thousand books to read before I die.

I have a long way to go.

I'll post my opinions as I go.....

Mostly I'm thinking that I'll use this blog as a recipe archive for myself and anyone interested. i hope it's okay if I post other peoples recipes. what better way to keep track of them?

I'll start with a Basil potato salad I made the other day.....I got it off the Nourishing Gourmet blog....a wonderful place to go.

1/2 pound purple potatoes (about 8 small potatoes)

8 medium red potatoes

1/4 apple cider vinegar

1/4 extra virgin olive oil

1 teaspoon sea salt

1/2-1 teaspoon dry mustard

Lots of freshly ground pepper

2 large garlic cloves, peeled and finely minced

Pinch of red pepper flakes

Small handful fresh basil leaves, torn.

( or you can use dill..... )

Basil Potato Salad

Serves 6-8 small side servings

Because the purple potatoes are more expensive, I only used a small amount in this salad. But you could use more if you like, or leave them out completely if you can’t find them. This salad is good chilled, warm (eaten right after made), and at room temperature.

1-Scrub and wash potatoes. Place in a large pot and cover with water. Bring to a simmer. Cook until a knife jabbed in the middle meets little resistance (you don’t want the potatoes to be mushy, but also not hard. Tender, but still slightly firm). Drain and rinse with cool water and allow to cool until they are cool enough to hold.

2-Meanwhile, make the dressing. Combine the rest of the ingredients in a jar or bowl, except the basil leaves.

3-When the potatoes are cool enough to handle, with a small knife carefully peel off the skin. Cut into large chunks and place in a pretty bowl.

4-Whisk the dressing well and pour over the still warm potatoes. Very gently toss to coat the potatoes. I like to taste at this point and decide whether or not I need to adjust the flavorings (more vinegar, oil, salt pepper?). Place in the refrigerator to chill. *

5-When ready to serve, tear basil leaves over the mixture and toss gently again. Since the dressing has soaked into the potatoes, you may need to sprinkle a little vinegar/oil or salt/pepper on the salad, so once again taste test. We found it only needed a bit more salt at this step. Serve and enjoy!

*Or, for a warm potato salad, serve right away.

I quoted all this from the nutritious gourmet web site......

Enjoy!

Tomatoes will soon be upon us! I thought I start the season off early with a recipe I found at http://www.fatfreevegan.com/ in the veggies section. This recipe seems to have been passed down a bit, having been originally featured in Vegetarian Times. Anyways, it came out excellent. I would recommend adding a touch of rice wine vinegar for flavor... but it tastes good by itself too.

Tomatoes Stuffed with Black Beans and Corn

Submitted by: Courtney
Recipe by: Vegetarian Times

• 4 large or 8 small ripe tomatoes
• 1 15.5-oz. can black beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 cup corn kernels (fresh or frozen)
• 3 green onions, sliced (about 1/4 cup)
• 3 Tbs. finely chopped cilantro
• 1 tsp. chili powder, or more to taste
• 1/2 tsp. ground cumin

1. Preheat oven to 375F. Cut 1/4-inch-thick top off each tomato. Scoop out tomato pulp onto cutting board, being careful not to pierce sides or bottoms of tomatoes.

2. Chop tomato pulp, and place in medium bowl. Add black beans, corn, green onions, cilantro, chili powder and cumin. Mix well, and season to taste with salt and pepper.

3. Fill tomatoes with bean mixture, and place them in lightly oiled 9x13-inch baking dish. Bake 30 minutes, or until filling is heated through and tomatoes are tender.

Chocolate Soup

I tried out a brownie recipe from http://www.tatianacochran.com/. I tried to post on her website to tell her how good they were, but to no avail. Anyways, check out her newest recipe... it's pretty good. For me at least they were an adventure, as Im not much of a cook.

I added 3/4 cup of chocolate chips I had laying around. Pure chocolate, no sugar. I had nothing else to do with them they were so bitter. The brownies were good till you got a bite of chocolate then watch out!

I decided to do a little fidgeting to sweeten up the deal. I would have taken a picture but it wasn't the prettiest meal. I call it....

Chunky Chocolate Soup!

1 cup Tofutti vanilla ice cream

1 cup vanilla soymilk

1 heaping tablespoon unsweetened cocoa powder

cubed chocolate brownies (about 2 cups.....)

1. Mix ice cream, soy milk and cocoa powder. Either hand mix with a fork, or blend in a blender/magic bullet apparatus.

2. Pour over brownie chunks

3. Measure blood sugar and take insulin as needed.

Again no picture...... just imagine what it looks like.... I'll take another picture when I can dress it up more.

Here we go....

Good afternoon!

You know, everyone should write.

Many of us try, but how many of us keep up?

This is an attempt to chronicle my adventures as a newly fledged vegan. I live in Wisconsin, land of brats and beer and most certainly NOT vegetarianism in any of it's many forms.

I became vegan because it was a natural progression.

To love life is to appreciate and respect it's many forms -not to pick and choose who gets a treat and who gets eaten. Who gets the frisbee and who gets the axe.

Frankly, I'm relieved that I don't need to make this choice anymore. I feel a much deeper sense of peace than I ever thought possible.

I never realized what a burden meat was.

Anyways, I love reading the recipe blogs of other people. They come back to what they can take something from and recipes are certainly something you can reach out and touch. So I should definitely throw some of those in here. If for nothing else than to appreciate the beauty of a nice food picture!