Midnight at the oasis…  send your camel to bed…  End of 2011 and I’m channeling Maria Muldaur?  A couple of weeks ago I was channeling my father.  Who will be next?  lol

No camels here, tonight, and midnight is a few hours away.  I looked over my previous post where I promised to come back before the end of the year, and as you can imagine, thoughts are still running high.  A bit more contemplative today, though, than a couple of days ago, with a brand new year about to begin.

Still thinking about friends, health, the PBS show, and FOOD….. and wishing everyone health , happiness, love, great food, and kindness to your fellow human beings and animals.  It is said that we have “dominion” over animals, so please take care of them, protect them, and be kind……

All the best in 2012!

“Pretty Veggie” Mindy

It’s the time… of the season…. when thoughts run high…..

Thinking about friends, health, a possible vegetarian cooking show on PBS….  more thinking.  Will report back!  lol

Dec. 29- Wrote the above a few days ago and thoughts are still running high.  Friends who have been around for a long time, more recent friends (and those special friends who mean so much), friends who live in other places around the world who I’d like to be able to see more easily, friends who are now gone.

This crazy health related issue, B12 deficiency? Iron? Both? Neither?  Hope they figure out what I’m short on from the SEVEN vials of blood they took yesterday.  I’m am definitely going to be the “frontman” re taking the appropriate supplements for vegetarians who might need them.  No one told me but I’m sure going to tell everyone else!  I’m also going to cook more actual meals, rather than “grazing.”  Yeah, its more fun, but girl, ya gotta eat real food!

And, a vegetarian cooking show on PBS!  What an amazing opportunity.  I’ve loved PBS since I was a child and have volunteered at my local station for about 10 years now.  PBS has had a tough time with federal and state funds being cut over and over again, and having to do business mainly on pledges from viewers, so I understand the need to find underwriters for my show.  Its a large amount of money, but it’ll get done. 

Calling all food/veg/health/cooking related underwriters!

The time is right for a fun, unique and informative vegetarian cooking show on television, and I’m so excited….  I just can’t hide it!  (Goofy, I know.)

There will be closing thoughts before the year runs out….  so I’ll be back in the next couple of days!

 “Pretty Veggie” Mindy

It’s not easy being green.  I know its been said before, but Kermit aside, as much as I believe in being a vegetarian it can be tough. 

Nope, I haven’t slipped back over to the the carnivorous side, never would, but its SO easy to just slap a piece of cheese or veggie “meat” on a piece of bread (or two) and call that a meal.  Its SO easy to get lazy when you’re not cooking for other people on a regular basis!

I fell back into that habit a few weeks ago.  It was helped along by this maddening B12 deficit, which made me REALLY not want to cook.  (It made me really not want to get off the couch, but at least I figured out that a huge lack of B12 was the problem.)  So, I had a little talk with myself and decided I had to do better.

“Yo, listen, Self, this is not good! What’re we gonna do about it?”

What “we” did is dropped bread and cheese off of the menu, at least for a while, got my fridge full of fruits and veggies, and yogurt and tofu…..  and tofu noodles, and have temporarily stopped making “my” recipes.  That’s right.  “My” recipes always include rice or noodles or pasta of some kind, so I’m taking a breather from the carbs.

Do I hear any input from people more experienced than I?  Input is VERY welcome.

In the meantime, I’m pondering this question, “What kind of nice, veggie soup should I make for dinner?”  lol

Mindy

What a week!  MORE than a week, in fact.

A little over week ago I started preparing for two events that took place last Saturday.  One at a local supermarket.  My first “appearance”!  And, the other, a meeting/party for a local group.

Last Wednesday I shopped for, cooked for, and delivered the vegetarian food for the meeting/party.  The cooking consisted of making two kinds of ground “beef,” one for tacos and one for baked ziti, “chicken” strips for the tacos, “sausage,” also for the ziti, and….  a huge amount of par-boiled ziti.  Pots and pans galore on the stove, and then in the sink.  Food delivered, and ready for Round Two on Thursday!

Thursday I shopped for, cooked for, and delivered the vegetarian food for the supermarket “appearance.” The supermarket was nice enough to pack all of the items for me so I could just pick them up, which was helpful.  And then, the schlepping and cooking began. 

Sauteeing vegetables, and ground “beef” for Shepherd’s Pie, assembling 6 pies, topping with mashed potatoes, wrapping….  Once again, pots and pans bubbling on the stove, and then into the sink.  There was an assembly line of pie making and wrapping, and then, delivery! And pot and pan cleaning! Whew!

The supermarket appearance started slowly on Saturday, as nothing was set up when I arrived.  I laughed a bit, to myself.  First “appearance,” huh?  lol  Once the table was ready and Shepherd’s Pie was being served, it was SO much fun to talk to shoppers, and feed them! The shoppers ran the gamut from vegetarians to men who never expected to be eating anything “Yuk, vegetarian?”  But, try it they did, and they liked it!  Score!

After a short break at home (had to feed and walk the dogs, of course) it was off to the meeting/party.  Once again, SO much fun to talk to everyone, and watch vegetarians and non-vegetarians, alike, polish off all of the tacos and baked ziti!  Two for two!

And now, here we are a couple of days after Thanksgiving.  The big decision, “a turkey sibstitute, or skip ‘meat’ altogether?” was resolved quickly.  I wound up with “chicken,” stuffing, veggies, the best mushroom gravy I’ve ever made, cranberry sauce, assorted desserts, the works.  And what I’ll remember the best is that yummy mushroom gravy, made from scratch, no recipe.  My own concoction!  Yum!

And, now, what SHALL we do this week?

Hope you enjoyed Thanksgiving!

Mindy

Tomorrow…..  is going to be an interesting day!  Spent the last two days preparing vegetarian fare for a supermarket “appearance” tomorrow, and a combination meeting/party tomorrow night.

Vegetarians at both events, including the Regional Manager of the supermarket chain, and I understand she’s really interested to see what we’ve come up with.  Six Shepherd’s Pies, actually, which caused there to be leftover mashed potatoes on the stove last night.  BIG problem.  Yes, I ate some….  and finally tossed the rest….  or I’d have been in danger of eating even more!

Veggie food for the evening event is “chicken” and “beef” Tacos, and “sausage” and “beef” Baked Ziti.  Of course, that’s among the other foods at the party but it will be interesting to see if everyone eats the Tacos and Ziti!

And, of course, the “appearance” at the supermarket is a first.  My first time as “Pretty Veggie.”  Wish me luck!

Mindy

As they say in the Old Country (very Old Country), “Le’at, le’at.”  In Hebrew, slowly, slowly. 

Thanks to the help of friends, I finally fixed a couple of glitches and got a basic Facebook page up!  Yippee!  Look it up under Pretty Veggie or   http://on.fb.me/vOTs2y for now.

Particular thanks to Erick Hagstrom, erick.hagstrom@hagstrommedia.com , who fixed a couple of website glitches and added “optimization,” the website is running more smoothly, and we’ll soon be making a few more tweaks.

The ingredients for “Chicken” Pot Pie are still calling me from the kitchen and I’m hoping for a bit more cooperation from the B12 I just started taking, before plunging into that new recipe.  (No one told me I’m supposed to be taking B12!)

AND, I still have arrangements to make re a possible cooking show for PBS (SO excited!), and a veggie catering gig and “appearance” at a local supermarket are both coming up in a couple of weeks….  on the same day!  When it rains, it pours!  lol

Please take a look at the new Facebook page and let me know what you think.

I hope you “like” it!

Thanks!  Mindy