Monday, November 1, 2010

Happy Monday, MoFos!

Anyone who is unacquainted with VeganMoFo is probably pretty offended by now, so let me wish everyone a Happy World Vegan Day!

Welcome, anyone new to Angst Loves Spinach - I hope you enjoy poking around here as much as I enjoy writing!  I'm super excited that VeganMoFo IV has finally begun and I can't wait for the round-ups to start.

By way of a short introduction, I'm Natalie :)  I went vegetarian 8 years ago, following the lead of my then-boyfriend, now-husband, affectionately known here as "Mister."  A brief, uninformed, PETA-induced stint with veganism followed about 6 months later and lasted for about a month.  Most of Mister's favorite things involve cheese or ice cream, and to be honest, for most of my life, I've been pretty in love with those things as well.  Last fall, I got involved with VeganMoFoIII, and learned so much from other bloggers, causing a great amount of introspection and self-examination.  I battled with myself on subjects like honey, wool, cats as natural carnivores, and my own reticence to take that last step.  However, in the course of being vegan for October, to be true to MoFo, I realized that it wasn't nearly as big a sacrifice as I thought, and after the Readers' Choice Awards issue of VegNews came out, I decided it was worth a second shot.  Over the last year, I've grown increasingly "vegan" in my lifestyle choices, and after reading Skinny Bitch three times this summer and then reviewing it here in September, I decided to just go for it.

Angst is my cat.  He loves spinach, various other leafy things (that may or may not include rose leaves and petals), jalapeno potato chips, pretzels, hummus, pizza, Sweetzels, and a variety of other things cats shouldn't eat.  They are all Sometimes Foods, though, so a little taste here and there shouldn't do too bad for him.  He is my little love and I thought his affinity for dark, leafy greens was funny, so now you know where the name of the blog comes from.

my muse, Angst
 
I hope you'll leave me a comment and say hi if you're new.  I'm happy to hear from new people if you've found your way over from VeganMoFo, Twitter, or Facebook (although, if you're on FB, I know you already).  Now, onto the vegan foodie fun!

Mister has recently left his job and is now our little homemaker; house-husband seems long and antiquated.  Anyway, upon my return from work today, I found that he used his first full day at home to clean out a mess that had been building in our entryway/kitchen/dining area (we live in a very small apartment in Philadelphia).  When I thanked him, he told me that he wanted my kitchen to be my happy place!  I found a keeper.  As a reward, I let Mister choose dinner from our weekly menu.  As you may know or will soon learn, Mister Loves Pasta, so naturally, he chose Pasta Florentine from The 30 Minute Vegan, accompanied by sliced artisan bread and a Tuscan olive oil dipping sauce.


The only thing missing was a nice glass of deep red wine and once I started cooking, you can believe I was kicking myself for not picking up a bottle on my way home from work.  We've had this several times since I got the cookbook in February because it's super-tasty to eat and even easier to make.  Oddly, though, I don't think I've ever made it taste the same way twice.  This time, Mister asked if it was normally "this spicy," and I explained that last time I had, in fact, forgotten to add the 1/2 tsp of black pepper.  I'm glad he was happy with the flavors because another difference in this prep was that I used Tempt hempmilk, and through my breakfast adventures, I've discovered that hempmilk and heat don't seem to like each other very much - the hempmilk seems to separate and is not at all attractive in coffee.  It played well with the nooch, though.

What I'm really excited about was this morning's breakfast.  I love breakfast the way Mister loves pasta and Angst loves spinach.  I especially love cold weather breakfasts like waffles and oatmeal and syrupy fruit.  I had some recent success with an apple oatmeal recipe, so I've been playing with some other flavors.  I also have a winter-breakfast cheerleader, so ALB, I dedicate this tasty breakfast to you!


Breakfast Fried Rice
serves 1 (but easily multiplied)

3/4 - 1 cup cold, cooked brown rice
1 [red] d'anjou pear, diced
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 Tbsp maple syrup
1/2 cup non-dairy milk (I used Tempt unsweetened hempmilk)

Heat pear in a large nonstick skillet 2-3 minutes, until the pieces are golden and begin to release their juices.  Stir in the rice and non-dairy milk.  Bring to a lively simmer/light boil, then lower heat to medium-low.  Stir in vanilla and maple syrup.  Simmer, stirring frequently, 2-3 more minutes, until all liquid is absorbed.

Enjoy and please let me know how it goes for you if you decide to make it!

6 comments:

  1. I love the title of your blog. Can't wait to come back and read more. Happy MoFoing.

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  2. Making my way through the MoFo Blogroll and so happy to have found your blog--everything looks delish, and I'm happy to be a new follower. :)

    xoxo,
    LJ

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  3. Cute kitty! I've got a dog that loves zucchini and tofu. Cracks me up. Looking forward to your MoFo posts!

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  4. Welcome, new friends! Pleased to meet you all - I hope you continue to enjoy my posts.
    @greenveggies, I have only convinced Angst that he wanted tofu one time, but he did eat three (kitty-sized) pieces that one time. He has no interest in other veggies - just spinach and kale, occasionally chard and basil.

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  5. My cat Millie has the same favorite foods as Angst. I can't leave my hummus unguarded or I'll find her face first in it.

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  6. Molly - that's awesome. At least Angst still begs [obnoxiously] for it, he doesn't just take. He saves that passion for Spinach and Sweetzels, sometimes pretzels, too.

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