Animal Free 2013!

Happy New Year, everyone!  My BFF and I (yes, I'm saying BFF) made a pact to start the new year off right after we made one or two (or many) bad choices over the holidays.  While I remained mostly plant strong and healthy, I did stray a bit.  However, I am ready to be back on track and living plant strong.

We started the new year off by going to a Bikram yoga class at Yogani on New Year's Eve and a Kundalini yoga class at Yoga Village on New Year's Day.  I loved the Bikram class, it's my favorite (although this particular one was not hot enough...and I never thought I'd say that!).  The Kundalini?  Well, it was....interesting.  I enjoyed the peacefulness of it but I do not think the chanting is for me.  I did, however, really enjoy the gong meditation at the end.  If you haven't tried it, it's worth going at least once for the experience.  I set my intention at the beginning of the class not only for my practice but for the whole year.  I mentally set the stage for a healthy, positive year ahead!

Then we hit up the juice bar at Earth Origins Market.  It was refreshing and nutritious (carrot, kale, ginger, celery).  Admittedly, we weren't filled up by just the juice so we also got big salads for lunch.  This kickstarted our year off with a healthy bang...which we both needed!  And of course on new year's day I made vegan black eyed peas, cabbage, and cornbread (I cut down on the oil in this one, though!) and made three wishes/goals for the year.  I'm not going to tell you what they are now (what fun is that?), but as I accomplish them I'll let you know :).

Throughout that first week of 2013 I made the pumpkin stew for my family, had green smoothies every morning for breakfast (1/2 banana, lots of kale, silken tofu, almond milk, flax seed), and got in an Orange Theory workout and played tennis with my brother.  I must say, it was nice to enjoy the 70 degree weather in FL, especially when it was gloomy and cold in NOLA!

Anyway, fast forward to now and I'm back on the blog and wanting to share with you my first experience with making vegetable broth.  I have been freezing all of my vegetable scraps over the last month or so.  This includes celery, carrots, onions, green onions, kale stems, broccoli stems, garlic, jalapeno, cilantro, pumpkin insides, and probably plenty of other stuff.  So I threw it all in a big huge pot with a few bay leaves and fresh ground black pepper, brought it to a boil and then let it simmer for 1 1/2 hours.

Stage 1: Throw frozen veggie scraps in a pot with a lot of water.  Add 2 bay leaves and fresh ground black pepper.

Stage 2:  Bring to a boil, then turn down to simmer for 1-1 1/2 hours.

Stage 3:  Strain veggies through a sieve or colander.  I don't have a sieve and I didn't mind if my broth was cloudy so I just used a colander.  I ladled big spoonfuls of the veggies into the colander and squeezed out all the juicy yuminess inside, then poured the rest of the broth through the colander. These are all the veggies after (the volume was 3 times smaller than when they went in!)

Stage 4:  Finished broth.  Look how much it made!

Here's another picture so you can really see that deep brown orangish color. While I intended to make this broth then make a veggie soup with it for dinner, I ended up drinking two big mugfuls by itself because it was so good! The jalapeno gave it a slight kick and the depth of flavor was enhanced by the variety of vegetables and the pumpkin.  I really think any veggies could work, although other blogs have advised against things like cabbage, broccoli, etc.  So save those veggie scraps!!!

And I'll leave you on this note.  This is my salad for lunch tomorrow.  Yes, it really is that big!  That's a gallon sized Ziploc bag and it's filled with red leaf lettuce, green leaf lettuce, kale, spinach, cilantro, carrots, celery, red onion, flax seed, and fresh black pepper.  I'll top it with a dressing of vinegar, creole mustard, and a splash of olive oil right before eating and shake it up in a tupperware (I find it easier and less messy to shake in the container, but you could do it in the bag, too).  And voila!

Random shout out:  I went to Disney's Animal Kingdom Lodge and ate at Jiko, an African restaurant.  If you ask your server, you will be delighted to know they have a whole separate vegetarian menu that was absolutely delicious!  I wish I could remember what it was called, but I got an awesome couscous with roasted veggies and a spiced sauce that was so good...all the meat eaters couldn't keep their forks out of my plate :)  And all of the appetizers and desserts were amazing, too!  Apps were vegan, desserts were not....oh well, it was the holidays and I'd say that meal was at least 90/10 anyway!

P.S. A traditional New Year's meal can, in fact, be made vegan!  Deliciously vegan and served to vegan-skeptics, I might add.  Vegan cornbread (modified from here, using much less oil), black eyed peas, and boiled cabbage and potatoes.  I'm set on my good luck for the year, how about you?