Vanilla Cranberry Smoothie

I'll keep the prelude short, since I've been writing about smoothies a lot of recent. This smoothie continues to use my cranberry stash, and I added some rolled oats to help make it creamy. I added two leaves of Russian red kale from my CSA, because I could, and because I like adding in veggies whenever possible. In my mind, these additions, along with vanilla soy milk help the smoothie last longer -- and whether that's true or not, I felt less hungry a couple hours after finishing this smoothie, compared to some of my other recent concoctions.

Vanilla Cranberry Smoothie (with kale!!)

2 tablespoon OJ Concentrate

1 cup vanilla soy milk

1/4 cup GF old fashioned oats

1/2 cup cranberries

2 leaves Red Russian Kale

Combine all the ingredients in a blender and blend until very smooth. Add water or more soymilk if you like, to create the consistency you want (or that works for your blender). Serves 1.

Vanilla Cranberry Smoothie with Red Russian Kale

Buying Local

My friend Marissa, over at We*Meat*Again just posted a good reminder to us all about how buying locally doesn't always mean buying organically or ethically.

Remember, if you're opting for local and have the opportunity to talk to farmers about their practices you should do so. Or visit the farm, if that's an option. Visiting a farm will tell you even more than just talking to your producer, because you can see how workers are treated, what types of conditions animals are kept in, etc.

Jackson, WY Farmers Market

But you also have to weigh, as Marissa points out, buying local & conventional versus buying organic and imported from somewhere else. What you decide might depend on your budget, where you live (and availability) and even just your desires of the day. It's okay to have that organic kiwi once in a while, probably, but it maybe shouldn't be a daily habit.

In Diet for a Hot Planet, Anna Lappe (daughter of Frances Lappe) talks about how we could reduce, dramatically, our carbon-footprint just by changing the way we eat. I've just started to read this book so I won't comment on it much yet, but this is something to consider, especially as we finish up Eat Local America. Eating locally and lower on the food-chain both help reduce the carbon footprint. But so does eating minimally processed products, adopting week-day vegetarianism, and many other options.

Just a side note, Moving Planet is coming up on September 24th. The basic premise: we should move more and rely on fossil fuels for transportation less. That oversimplifies it a bit. But it leads to my point nicely -- if you can (and I grew up in a city where it was damn near impossible to do what I'm about to suggest) walk or bike (or skateboard, or whatever) to your market--super or farmers--the next time you need to pick a few things up. And try to choose groceries that didn't spend too long on a truck, if you can.

Tomatillos at Farmers Market in Jackson, WY

Basil Lemonade

A couple of weekends ago, I was walking around the Main Street Farmer's Market in my town and the co-op was selling basil lemonade. Oh, goodness this sounded refreshing--at 7 a.m., it was already in the mid-80s, and by the time I was walking around the market, it was past 7 a.m. The heat index for the day reached nearly 120. I live in a part of the country where not everyone has air-conditioning because this type of thing doesn't happen. Oh global warming, you make the summers icky.

I walked up to the co-op tent (where I knew all the workers), ready to buy lemonade, only to be informed they'd already sold out. It wasn't even 11 yet and the market runs until 1 p.m. Sadness! Because I knew these workers, I made sure they were holding up okay in the heat and went on my way.

Basil lemonade isn't hard to make. I've made it before -- I just wanted the convenience of being able to buy a $2 glass while I wandered around the market making other purchases (namely salad greens. I'd come into a bountiful supply of produce from a CSA share, given to me by a friend who was going to be out of town).

There are two basic methods for making basil lemonade. If you live in a place where you can get a good supply of fresh lemons, I highly recommend you make lemonade from scratch, so you can have it as sweet or tart as you like (and let's face it, fresh lemonade is amazing). I don't live in such a place, so here's what I did.

Basil Lemonade
1 quart low-sugar lemonade
1/3 cup (or to taste) real lemon juice (mine came from a bottle, for convenience and cost-efficiency)
1/2 cup (or to taste) freshly chopped basil

Mix all of these ingredients together in a container large enough to hold everything and allow the flavors to combine for at least 45 minutes before serving. Serve very cold. Will keep for several days.

Cool and Refreshing. Especially served in a mason jar!

It's Been a While

The end of the semester is a strange beast. Even this year, when I didn't feel as busy, I didn't seem to find the time to hop on here and blog. But! I have been baking and cooking and so new recipes should appear...soonish. Not to mention, the farmer's markets are starting up and I'm beginning to feel a new blogging-wind coming on (or maybe that's the storm brewing outside). Some recipes I've tried recently that might grace this blog:

Gluten-free vegan naan
Gluten-free vegan blueberry corn muffins
Gluten-free vegan lemon cupcakes with lemon-y frosting
White chocolate popcorn
Vegetable korma
Indian Yellow Spring rice
Black bean hummus

There are others too...but those are the ones I'm most likely to make again and/or already have pictures of! And we all know pictures help make food blogs interesting.

I was talking to Brenna over at Brenna Bakes recently about this notion of food blogging on a very tiny budget, in a state where it's sometimes difficult to get ingredients other people consider "common." And add to the equation: vegetarianism. And, add to the equation: gluten-free and vegan (at least some of the time). Well, you get the picture. That's part of what makes our blogging such an adventure though...and what makes us such a fan of substitutions!

So, I want to hear from you: what are your baking/cooking needs? And where are you baking/cooking from? A student kitchen is very different from a kitchen of someone who's lived in the same apartment for a couple of years and only cooks to impress a new sweetie is very different from the kitchen your mom/dad/grandmother cooked in when you were growing up. What type of recipes are you seeking out?

Me, I'm seeking out gluten-free recipes. I've decided I'm probably gluten-intolerant, but that's just because it seems to make me uncomfortable. So I'm going to try and avoid it, at least for now...and I'm starting to realize how many options that means I lose. You'll continue to find more gluten-free (and likely vegan, though I'm not vegan by any stretch of the imagination) recipes on this blog. If you're gluten-free especially, let me know what you're really seeking a replacement for. I can't promise I'll make it (or that it'll turn out good enough for me to post the recipe), but there's a good shot I'll at least consider giving it a try!