Arrivederci!

Good day everyone! Your insights in my last post reminded me that even though each person may have a different experience, so many of us go through a wide spectrum of emotions or even a period of apathy. And eventually we realize that life is about soul building. How do we build it? Well, that’s something you find out for yourself.

Today, I want to share a change that is going on with this blog. I have recently been developing it and also working on building my business (more on that another time), and have come across some roadblocks that have led me to the decision to change platforms. I’ve been on WordPress.com from the blog’s beginning, but now that I’m moving in a direction where I will need the ability to do certain things, I am moving on. One of those changes is that I am now happily a part of the Glam Media network as a publisher in their Foodie network.

I’m working on officially making some switches like re-directing this URL, but Katharina’s Food Adventures is already up and running on its new domain– www.ohonemorething.net.

For all of the WordPress.com users who are subscribed to my blog through them, I can manually add your email to the subscription list at the new link. Or feel free to go to the new site and subscribe through there.

For those who are subscribed through readers, you can change the URL to match the site where I will be updating from, once again– www.ohonemorething.net

Much love and see you there!

Heavy Thoughts For A Lighter Heart

Today I had two things in mind that I wanted to share… make that three, but the third would somehow be linked to one of the original two. So, Eeny Meeny Miny Moe!

I choose you!

You don’t have a soul, Doctor. You are a soul. You have a body, temporarily.

– A Canticle for Leibowitz by Walter M. Miller, Jr.

Ever since I can remember, I’ve always found the mechanics and wonders of natural sciences to be incredibly fascinating, and it inspires my spirituality as well along with the idea of an infinite blank.

Lately, I’ve been transforming my mentality. A fews years ago my private life started to feel like a battle zone. Anticipating the fatal missile to launch at any moment, all the while landmines were going off one after the other. But it all seemed to happen all at once. It was a time that felt as brute as weapons and as fragile as a flake of snow. Those years deeply affected me, and I didn’t realize how much they did until recently… until I realized that its the heaviness in my heart. I came to a realization while I was punching down repeatedly with intensity during a kickboxing session. All of a sudden I started crying, and felt this surge of emotion running through me. I kept punching. Then an image came to my mind. Recently, I’ve been physically challenging myself in ways that have helped me tap into my feelings and uncovering the “whys”. I have a tendency to brush over my feelings, reflecting more on logic. Overtime that’s what I taught myself to do till it became second nature. Facing my feelings is something I’ve been wanting to do though, but I became so disconnected with them that I confused it with indifference. Maybe I didn’t feel those things?

A video I made a few years back.

For The Love Of Vegetables

Ever since I was little I always remember having a love for vegetables. Whether it was my grandmother’s sopa de auyama or a plain bag of carrots and lettuce, I was known to be a veggie monster. Or perhaps I thought I was a bunny?

Proof lies in the spinach beard I proudly showed off for the camera

Although I don’t have it often, one of my all-time favorite breakfasts is a plateful of latkes. I would usually just eat them with applesauce, but people also serve them with sour cream. My dad likes to add corn to them when he makes them–something I definitely recommend trying.

Over the weekend I went on a full-blown cooking storm, and I’m pretty sure that’s what I spent most of my time doing. But really there’s not a day that goes by where I don’t prepare something. Anyway, I had stumbled upon a recipe for Sweet Potato Veggie Burgers. Having just used the sweet potatoes for another recipe, I used delicata squash instead. Besides it had been hanging around for too long. For the spices I used a ‘blackened seasoning’ blend, nutritional yeast, and thyme.

After the veggie burgers were done, and I had gone on a late night run (my prime running time), by the time I came back… I don’t know what it was but I decided that the veggie burgers would be great for breakfast! Not just that, but instead of serving them as a patty I thought they’d be interesting as pancakes. Something reminiscent of potato pancakes or latkes.

Something was missing...

It needed something to contrast in color and in flavor.

Aha!

I love how spring onions are a mild yet put a skip in a dish’s walk. They tasted good, but were a bit dry even if I had served them as veggie burgers. Next time I’ll experiment by adding in some eggs and oil to the equation.

So remember I said I was part bunny when I was little?

Guest Of Honor: The Liquid Lady

Good day everyone! I hope you all enjoyed those breakfast ideas in the last post. Perhaps you had a quiet moment to yourself over the weekend. Maybe you found yourself spitting mimosas through your nose at brunch. Or who knows, maybe both!

Today I wanted to share something special with you all. I asked my soul mate and fellow lover of all things coconut, Sway, if she would like to write something for my blog. She has a consciousness about her, a steady disposition, and a profound relationship with life. Plus, I love her a whole lot! I was so happy when she was just as excited about writing a post, as I was. She’s actually graced us with her presence on here before… a couple little reunions in Richmond (made complete with a hot chocolate request since it was written in invisible ink on the menu), and also when we went on a road trip to Florida.

 

Sway has traveled and lived around the world practically her whole life. She grew up in England, Japan and Germany before moving back to the US for her senior year of high school. Her travels have taken her to North Africa and all over Europe. When she came into this world she emerged from the crest of a breathtaking wave out in California. Dancing her way through life, she currently perfects her pointes at Alvin Ailey. She is also a freelance writer for Interview, is currently working on a book/magazine, and a few creative side projects. A lady on the move, especially when she’s running. And when she’s not on the move she finds stillness in her yoga practice. Of course, there is always room for older Woody Allen movies that make her laugh until she cries.  So without further ado, here’s our guest of honor. Let’s start things off with a nice, refreshing beverage…

—

A Way To Start The Day

I reminded Matilda of how lovable she is…

"What else did you expect?"

This is true.. I should also note that Matilda is no ordinary dog. No, I have to lure her with treats to go out for walks, and she doesn’t settle for just any kind of food, toy, or other dog. She can also eat an entire bar of dark chocolate without repercussions. Lucky her, but I don’t want to go through the experience of the latter again.

And definitely not with this pot of chocolate.

When I came across Ashley’s recipe for ‘Chocolate Coconut Fudge Sauce‘, I went to the store to fetch some coconut milk to make it later that day. The coconut milk was incredibly thick, so I knew this was going to be a yummy, decadent affair.

Chocolate-dipped strawberry?

Yes, please. I’m not exaggerating when I say that this jar was nearly empty by the end of the morning.

Since it’s Friday and the weekend is beginning, I thought I’d share some breakfast ideas with you.

Katie’s ‘Deep-Dish Cookie Pie‘

It's very moist on the inside and crusty along the edges.

Some people like their cookies crunchy all the way through, but I like to have a little bit of both worlds. Something that will melt in my mouth, but with a crunch my teeth I have to bite through first.

Topped with goat's milk yogurt and berries, and a cup of green tea.

I'm going to tell you a little secret...

This cookie pie is mostly made with beans! Red bean cakes anyone?

Around the table for a more traditional breakfast

When It Actually Works Out

Ladies and gentlemen, yesterday I poached an egg. As far as I can recall, I don’t think I had ever eaten a poached egg before yesterday. I just heard that it was a great way to enjoy them. Yes, I am joining Melissa’s club for the egg obsessed.

At first I thought to myself,

“Oh, I will use a small saucepan so I can use it to heat up the cheese sauce I made the other night. That way I won’t have to do as many dishes.”

Then as I was creating a whirlpool for the egg, water kept spilling out and hissing on the burner. That’s when I thought I had messed up, but I already started and you know… I don’t want more dishes to do! So I continued. Then I was pouring the egg from the dish into the hot water. According to the “how-to’s” on how to poach an egg, it is directed to not dump the whole egg in at once. Well, I tried to follow directions, but the egg just canon balled into the pan. Plop! First, this magnificence happened.

via Instagr'am

If I didn’t mess up before, then I definitely failed my first egg poaching attempt at that moment. Or so I thought. I thought a lot of things during the whole process, didn’t I? Anyway, I carried on. I tried to keep the egg intact, and safely above the bottom of the pan. To my surprise and excitement it was turning out! First egg poaching attempt was a success.

It was quite the little polite egg

As my dear friend and design extraordinaire, Marleigh, pointed out!

Minding its p's and q's

Pints and quarts of what?!

Then it was time for the revealing...

Who knew what I would find inside? A prize. Yes, to me it was a prize. My stomach was growling while I was snapping photos, but I had to document these moments first. I’m not sure how long it took me to eat lunch yesterday, but I know I took my sweet time.

Also, the other night we had some guests over for dinner.

Meet the Tomatoes!

“I go on working for the same reason that a hen goes on laying eggs”–H.L. Mencken

For the past couple of years I’ve avoided eating eggs because they were disagreeable with my stomach. However, it’s been a few years and the body does change. I’ve been incorporating eggs into my diet little by little to see what happens.

Thank you chickens!

Maybe I’m just overly-sensitive, but since my “experiments” whenever I’ve had eggs that have come from hens treated with hormones and cruelty, say if I was eating at a random place… I seemed to suffer from massive indigestion. With that, I don’t want to support that type of sourcing and ethic either–so next time I will be more thoughtful.

First, with just the egg whites

The egg whites seemed fine at first, but then sometimes they wouldn’t sit well with me. I know that I have to be mindful of what I’m combining them with.

Egg whites fried with small sweet peppers, smoked goat cheddar on millet toast

It sat well with my taste buds, and I hoped my stomach would feel the same! Crossed my fingers, and thank goodness it did.

Gifts From The Garden

The two winners of the giveaway are Billie Jean and Audrey!

I’ll be contacting you about your prizes to get them sent to you. I loved reading what you all had to say, and some of you are trying out tofu for the first time! I’ll definitely be posting more tofu recipes, and make some videos answering some of your questions about this food.

In other news, my dear friend, Lynn from The Actor’s Diet, is raising money for her next film The Man’s Guide to Love. It’s a movie inspired by her husband’s site “The Man’s Guide to Love,” which ended up getting critical acclaim. So this is where they’ve landed–from being online, to becoming a book, and now a movie! In the spirit of social media they’re raising funds through Kickstarter, and reaching out through anyone who wants to help out. Every bit counts, and of course, helping spread the word counts too! Keep the buzz going because they’re raising funds until April 19th. Contribute by clicking here.

And on the garden front…

The tomatoes are unstoppable!

No Cooking In The Kitchen

Hello, hello my dear friends! First off, I’d like to remind you to enter my Nasoya Tofu giveaway before the end of the day, which you can do right here.

Awhile back I was having the pleasure of consistently going out to eat in the city of New York. I’m telling you… I don’t think there’s a single person that has ever dined at all the restaurants the city has to offer. Especially because there are new ones popping up all the time, literally (i.e. pop-up restaurants).  And before you know it they vanish the same way they seemed to come out of nowhere. On this particular day I did not go to one of those restaurants, but rather an establishment. I say establishment because it’s pretty well-known in the raw foodists community. I think it’s nice to have a place that offers a wide raw-vegan selection in an ambiance beyond bright cafes adorned with shelves of wheat grass and bamboo. Maybe some of you can guess where I went that day.

Pure Food & Wine for lunch with a dear friend

I started out with a 'Hot Pink' juice

It’s made with beet, pineapple, pear, ginger. My parents would make juices regularly with beets, but I had never tried it with pineapple and pear.

Sushi rolls – marinated shiitake, avocado, asparagus, red pepper, jicama rice, nama shoyu

Lisa commented in the last post about not being able to eat rice anymore, which reminded me of this! If you can’t find jicama, cauliflower works as well. It’s got a similar texture, and all you have to do is shred it. I’ve actually been doing that for my deconstructed sushi bowls lately, and even when I recently made a stir-fry. Just make sure it’s shredded!

Taco Salad – romaine lettuce, spicy taco crumble, pico de gallo, guacamole, cashew sour cream, cilantro-lime dressing

I enjoyed this salad a lot! The cashew sour cream had me curious as to how they made it. It was blended to creamy perfection, and tasted reminiscent of sour cream. All of the flavors together made for a lively tasting dish.

Falafel with tabhouli – over whole romaine leaves or tossed with greens, lemon tahini, red pepper hot sauce

My friend is from Israel and says his friend makes the best falafel in town, so he wanted to see if this one was up to par. It was also his first time trying anything raw-vegan so I knew he’d be in for a little surprise.

Portabella and hempseed burger – sprouted manna bread, lapsang tea smoked cashew cheese, house made mustard, pickled pink onions, caraway kraut

It was such a little delight to look at... and eat!

I enjoyed the combination of the fermented, salty taste with the cooling pungency of the mustard, and biting into the incredibly dense bread. This burger is small, but no complaints here. I knew how dense it would be, and anything bigger would just be unnecessary to feel satisfied. And boy was I satisfied. My dining partner also underestimated how filling the food would be.

What Is Toe Foo?: Giveaway!

Some of you have asked me in the past what I stock my kitchen with.

Whatchu keep in your house?

It’s hard to answer that question without making a very long list because, frankly, I have a lot of things. Whenever I move, it is guaranteed that the majority of boxes are things for the kitchen. But I thought that this time I would feature something that I have had an off and on relationship with–tofu. When I first became a vegetarian, tofu was the first thing I started to incorporate into my diet. And like so many, I totally sucked at preparing it. After awhile, my passion for vegetarian cooking took me to the realm beyond tofu, veggie burgers, and hummus. So tofu was not on my grocery list for awhile, partly because I had also heard and read about it being “bad” for you, and that it could cause men to start buying training bras.

Nowadays it is back on my weekly grocery list, and I eat it consistently but not for every meal. My taste buds belong to a Gemini for sure because repeating things in the same day is not interesting to them. One thing that I do stress though, through all what you hear and read out there about tofu: if you’re going to buy it, buy organic. If you read the ingredients to a lot of pre-made food like chocolate, frozen meals, and sauces–there are traces of soy in them. It’s a crop that the government subsidizes and growing it organically is not an investment for them.

Here are some ways I’ve been enjoying tofu recently…