Protein Quality and Quantity for Vegetarian Diets

There is often a debate amongst vegetarians and omnivores that vegetarians don’t get enough protein. Part of that conversation is about the quality of the protein. Vegetarians point out that if you eat based upon the amino acids you need to build a protein, then it is very easy (for instance Quinoa contains all the amino acids needed to build protiens in the body. Check out some Quinoa recipes: Quinoa Pudding & Blazin’ 3 Bean Chili).
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Crowdsourcing a Secret Project

I am working on something pointless, useless, and fun. But in order for the project to be really successful, I need to define how many syllables are in words. My word list has over 200,000 items in it and so far only 80 with defined syllables. Please help out and visit this page to define 10 (or more if you like it). http://tarnoff.info/syllables/

And before you start, Thank You for your help!

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Fixing Trackpad Issues in Mac OS X Lion

Apple magic trackpadWith Lion coming out last month, there was a lot of buzz about gestures. Well several people I know (including myself) were having difficulties with certain gestures after making the upgrade. My issue was none of the 4 finger gestures worked on my Bluetooth Magic Trackpad. Some others had issues with built in trackpads.

It looks like the way to fix this was:

  1. Open up System Preferences > Trackpad.
  2. On each gesture giving you trouble, click the drop down and set to something else.
  3. Now set it back.
  4. If using a Magic Trackpad, un-pair it, re-pair it.
  5. Profit.

This process has worked on 4 Macs by my count.

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I Love Retro Cameras

Fuji x100 Range finder digital cameraI have a collection of 18 cameras (for now) ranging in manufacture date from 1936 through the 2010. I have twin lens reflex, medium format, Polaroid, range finders, folding, 35mm and digital cameras. I can’t get enough. And I still shoot film. The problem is the scanning and post processing of the film.
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Homemade Maple and Brown Sugar Granola

One of the best things I did when I became a vegetarian is transition my family off of cookies and sweet, sugary cereals and onto to granola as our treat. We bought granola bars, granola cereal and I think I even tried a granola bread or two. Life was dandy.

Then I went vegan, and as a vegan I read everything. I was astounded to find out how often honey made it into anything granola. Worse yet, were the the ones that had ingredients like casein. Why was casein in a granola bar? So I started playing and this was my first granola hit. Continue reading →

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Kohlrabi & Beet Coleslaw

So this past week in the CSA we received a head of cabbage, my first kohlrabi ever and some beets. I don’t remember the last time I ate a beet. I have never been a big cabbage fan. But seeing these three things in the box, all I could think about was….coleslaw! The recipe was “baked” in my head before I knew it, I just needed to find a good slaw sauce that was vegan because most are made with mayo or at least egg.

Digging around I didn’t really find any, but I did come across a few DIY slaw sauces using mayo, so I subbed in some vegan mayo from the store (the only ingredient I didn’t already have – we don’t really do mayo in my house). Since I split my CSA share, the recipe is based on this, but believe me, this is a lot of slaw!
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Vanilla Quinoa Pudding

Found this on Yahoo (http://shine.yahoo.com/event/green/how-to-make-quinoa-the-powerhouse-seed-2410950/)
Quinoa in this application results in a cross between rice pudding and tapioca, with more protein than either.

  • 3 cups whole milk (works well with soy or nut milk for a vegan version)
  • 1 vanilla bean (split, or 1 tablespoon of vanilla extract)
  • 1/4 cup maple syrup
  • pinch of salt
  • 1 cup quinoa

Rinse quinoa. Mix milk, vanilla, maple syrup and salt in a saucepan and set on simmer. Add quinoa and cook for 30 minutes, stirring frequently (but not constantly).Once thickened, remove from heat and allow to cool. Serve warm, or refrigerate. Top with all kinds of delicious tidbits; berries, dried fruit, nuts, nutmeg, brown sugar, etc.

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Whole Wheat Pretzels

When I was a kid growing up on the east coast we would travel to New York City and Philadelphia. Each time I would beg my parents to get one of the soft pretzels from the guys on the corner. Nothing was better as a kid, and they remain one of my favorite snacks to this day. They fill you up and aren’t loaded with all of those horrible chemicals. The calorie count is low, and with my recipe using dark rye and whole wheat flours you get a better fiber and protein count into your system. Continue reading →

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Whole Wheat Herb Bread

This is my favorite bread. It rocks with any soup, chili or jambalaya dish that you put together. It also has the freedom to change up the spices and herbs to match what you like or the dish you are concocting. I make this with my breadmaker, but you could also do it by hand. You would have to mix the ingredients, let it rise, kneed it and rise again before baking though.
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Black Bean Burgers with Roasted Pepper and Garlic

Having to fed two omnivore children, especially when one leans to be more of a carivore, is always a challenge in a vegan house. One of the tricks I have found is to work with omnivorous meals and make them vegan. We have had the commercial burger patties in the past, but not all of those are actually vegan. I conceived this recipe as a variant of one my brother and sister-in-law make for their family. The flavor is off the charts, and when there are left overs, you can turn them into burritos instead of burgers.
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