Don't hate me, but I have decided to eat my dog.

I know that I haven't updated this blog a lot, and I apologize for that, but I have a good excuse.  My dog has continued to get very sick with this distemper and I think I may have had an epiphany last night.   This distemper thing is bad and I think it's time to get real about the fact that Mooms will not not be here forever :)   The question is "How can i incorporate this life event into my philosophy about food-for-life?"  Well, guess what? There is some good news about distemper.  Apparently it does not pose a threat to humans if ingested.  I know this is hard for some of you to swallow (pardon the pun!) but think of it this way:  I once had a professor who help up a piece of chalk and asked the class "How do you think I can make this chalk come alive?"  Then he took a big bite of the chalk and declared the chalk is coming to life!  Entering his blood stream and now a part of his living body, the chalk is part of the living world!    

Well, what better way to honor Moomie's soul - to make her a part of my living body!   Everyone talks about having a low impact on the environment, but how many of us really live that way?? When Moomie is gone, I won't be driving to the animal hospital, filling this atmosphere with greenhouse gasses along the way and spreading tiny bits of rubber tire on the road and into the groundwater and into your body for you to get some kind of distemper-cancer-like disease.  No, I will find a way to honor Moomie in my own house, with my closest friends around  me to help me prepare Moomie in a delicious, respectful, honorable, and (healthy) meal.  Jen - if you are reading this, I know that it disturbs you. That's ok.  It's ok to feel uncomfortable.

Kim Jong-Un is Vegan???

Ok, seriously, I do NOT like guys who starve their people, but there are now reports that Kim Jong-Un told Dennis Rodman that he is a Vegan??  WOW!  Well, if that is true, then maybe it's time for some vegan diplomacy along with the basketball diplomacy. I have to admit that I have real mixed feelings about this...

So what does the North Korean leader love to eat?? I am researching what is going on here and will continue to update.

Morel

Miss Vegan April!

This is crazy, but April was asked to do a "sexy vegan photo shoot" and guess what...April is Miss April!  For the photo shoot, April received a total of $175 which we are donating to PETA.  Sweet!!

Here is a preview...more to come!  Thank April!

Yummy Vegan Fun - Quinoa stuffed peppers!

Served this for my favorite holiday - St. Jean Baptiste Day  and it was a HUGE hit.  It's one of my favorites and won't let you down for your next big event:

Quinoa- and tofu-stuffed sweet peppers are a protein-packed appetizer or light lunch that also presents well if you have company over for a vegan meal. Sweet peppers are often sold in multi-color packs that include red, yellow, and orange peppers, which increase the eye-appeal of this vegan recipe.

Quinoa Stuffed Sweet Peppers

Makes 15 appetizers

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup quinoa
• 1 cup vegetable broth
• 1 (12-ounce) block of firm tofu, pressed, drained, patted dry
• 3 tablespoons minced white onion, soaked in ice water for 10 minutes
• 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
• 1 tablespoon agave
• 1 tablespoon finely grated orange zest
• 1 tablespoon minced fresh Mexican oregano
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
• 15 sweet peppers (each about 3 inches long)
• 
  
• Directions:
• 1. Cook quinoa in vegetable broth according to package directions.
  2. Meanwhile, in a large bowl, crumble tofu and stir in onion, vinegar, agave, orange zest, and oregano.
  3. Add quinoa to tofu mixture and season with salt and pepper. Set aside.
  4. Slice the stem end off each pepper and remove seeds.
  5. Blanch peppers in a large pot of salted boiling water. They should be just softened and not mushy. (This step is optional.)
  6. Fill each pepper with quinoa mixture.
  7. Serve immediately or refrigerate for up to 1 day. Let come to room temperature to serve.

Just found out that our local bagel place is serving testicles!

Ok, I know this sounds wacked, but I went to get my bagel and shmear (with capers, yum!) and I saw this poster on the door:

 

They looked pretty good, so I asked my bagel barista, Sammy, for a dozen, and he replies that they only have enough meat for 4-5 at this time. "Have enough meat?"  What does that mean.  Well apparently, bagel balls are actually made of  TESTICLES from BULLS.  Yes, I am serious. Like rocky mountain oysters?  Yep. This wasn't on the poster or mentioned in any other media related to the "bagel balls".  So Sammy and I go way back, and I think he is putting me on, so I go back in the kitchen to see what is going on:

 

 

No kidding around, it's a bull testicle being sliced and diced to be be cooked and then put inside a bagel.  I am not sure how to feel about this, and I know nothing about how these testicles were harvested or how the bulls were treated, but I do know that I like my bagels with cream cheese, NOT with sliced reproductive organs.



Placenta Beef Jerky!

My friend Abby just had her baby and requested that I post one of my FAVORITE all time placenta recipes...what I call Placenta Beef Jerky!  LOVE LOVE LOVE to eat placenta and this is a way to keep eating your placenta all year long (or share it with friends).  Abby - just one request - when we are camping next summer with the gang, bring some placenta jerky for all of us!  If you name your kid "Morel" that's cool too!

Dehydrating your placenta

Instead of cooking your placenta whole, you can dehydrate it and then add it to meals!
...
Method:

Cut off the cord and membranes.

Steam the placenta, adding lemon grass, pepper and ginger to the steaming water. The placenta is "done" when no blood comes out when you pierce it with a fork.

Cut the placenta into thin slices (like making jerky) and bake in a low-heat oven (200-250 degrees F), until it is dry and crumbly (several hours).

Crush the placenta into a powder - using a food processor, blender, mortar and pestle, or by putting it in a bag and grinding it with rocks.

Put the powder into empty gel caps (available at drug and health food stores) or just add a spoonful to your cereal, blender drink, etc.

The recommended doses vary, some suggest up to 4 capsules a day, others just one. Perhaps the best advice is to take what makes you feel good

Vegan Mondays!!

I have decided to be a Vegan on Mondays.  Everyone hates Mondays, and my Vegan friends tell me about how good they feel, so I decided to try Veganism for one day of the week and see how it feels on that day.  Silly? I don’t think so.  Ever read “The Lean Start Up?”. I believe that Monday Veganism will be a MVP (minimum viable product) approach where I can test out veganism without the full investment.    Now, does this alienate me with true seven day a week vegans when I eat a BLT  on a Tuesday for lunch?  Possibly, but if I feel good on Mondays, I promise to eat less animal product one more day of the week. But I need your support people!  Send me good Vegan recipes.  Tweet them to me @eatingwithmorel or  DM to me!!  I promise to share the results! 

Fresh Tilapia from my basement?!

I keep reading about Aquaponic gardening.  This sounds so unbelievable I had to learn more, and a few weeks ago my buddy Rick and began building our own aquaponic gardening system and it's ready to go:

 

 

 In case you don't know, aquaponics is a system of gardening where you grow fish and plants in a symbiotic relationship.  The system is almost completely self sustainable.  The only thing you need to add is a little water and fish food.  The fish eat the food and their waste is used to fertilize the plants.  The tank water is pumped back into the plants which completely filter the water and return it to the fish tank.   "We can get off the grid!".   Anyway, dinner was amazing.  Everything came out of the garden in his basement.  Tilapia Tacos with a cucmber relish.  We grew the tilapia, which we ate within 30 minutes of taking it from the tank, talk about fresh.  We grew the coriander, cilantro and cucumbers right there above the fish.  And the most amazing thing was, we drank the pure water kindly filtered by those same cucumber plants.  Not a hint of fish poop left.

Tilapia Tacos With Cucumber Relish

 Ingredients

• 1  tablespoon  olive oil, plus more for the grill
• 4  6-ounce tilapia fillets
• 1  teaspoon  ground coriander
• kosher salt and black pepper
• 6  radishes, sliced
• 1  cucumber, halved and sliced
• 2  tablespoons  fresh lime juice, plus lime wedges for serving
• 8  corn tortillas, warmed
• 1  cup  fresh cilantro leaves
• 1/4  cup  sour cream

Directions

1. Heat grill to high; oil grill. Season the tilapia with the coriander, ½ teaspoon salt, and ¼ teaspoon pepper and grill until cooked through, 1 to 2 minutes per side. Break into pieces.
2. In a medium bowl, toss the radishes and cucumber with the lime juice, oil, and ¼ teaspoon each salt and pepper. Serve the tilapia in the tortillas with the cucumber relish, cilantro, sour cream, and lime wedges.

Jewish Food!

My friend Ari made THE most delicious dish for me and I had to post it.  I LOVED it, but we noticed something funny about this traditional Jewish dish while we were eating it - it looks horrible:

 This must come from the old country because it was made of cabbage, chicken, and potatoes. Some kind of jewish-y spices in there and...zap...we had ourselves a real old fashioned meal.  But it did make me think...why do Jews make such delicious food that looks so lame?  I love gefilte fish but it looks like a white bear turd.  I love potato pancakes but they look like smashed bear turds.  Another question - jewish moms tend to encourage their kids to eat the unhealthiest foods while telling them that they need to eat it to be healthy.  This is a contrast to my black friends, who might eat unhealthy food yet they fully acknowledge and embrace that the food is simply sinful and delicious (think friend chicken and waffles people).  But my jewish friends' mom push items on me like pasty, cold chopped liver with inexplicable pieces of hard boiled egg implanted in it; dense lokshon kugels, sweet noodle casseroles as unappetizing as a Christmas fruitcake, and they tell me it's good for me.

This made me think of a few things jews are good at and not good at:

Good at:  making food taste good, inventing stuff (circumcision, communism, and Scotchguard - yes Scotchguard!), singing along with musicals

Bad at:  being sick (they complain a lot), picking locales for their country (really - between Syria and Lebanon?), carpentry (aside from JC).

Great Vegan Recipe - pickled peanuts.

I had a weird dream about pickled peanuts last night and woke up with a craving.  Here is a no fail pickled peanut recipe:

PICKLED PEANUTS
INGREDIENTS:
2 Lbs green peanuts
8 Cups water
1/4 Cup + 1 tablespoon + 1 3/4 teaspoons salt
1.2 Cups cola
0.8 Cup rice vinegar
1 allspice berry
dash star anise or a small fraction of one star anise
1 dried chile, medium heat
INSTRUCTIONS:
1. Combine peanuts, water, and 1/4 cup salt and bring to a boil for 45 minutes. Peel peanuts and leave them as intact as possible.
2. Combine remaining ingredients in a pot and bring to a boil for 10 minutes. Add peanuts and boil for 5 minutes. Cool and refrigerate for at least 48 hours before serving. Can be refrigerated up to 4 weeks.