BABY IT’S COLD OUTSIDE!! But, hopefully, the Kinky Elfery Kitchen is busy enough to warm the whole house!! Actually, we don’t have a LOT to talk about this week; we’ve been occupied with non-kitchenery stuffs and have prepared little in the way of new recipes. We DID prepare a couple of previously featured dishes to share with some friends, so the week has not been a total loss in the food preparation ‘bidness’. HOWSOMEVER, what we do wish to be helpful and entertaining! This past week offered us a breather from the intense cold we’ve been experiencing, though since Friday, we are back in the Deep South Freeze and will stay here for a few more days. We in Mississippi hardly suffer from really frigid temperatures, so when we have several days with lows in the teens, we don’t deal with it very well. And aging infrastructures don’t either, so maintaining water service in the city of Jackson has been a challenge with well over 100 breaks in water mains. All of them were repaired just in time for this current and upcoming onslaught of dreadfully cold weather. So, here are just a few things from this past, almost cookless, week. On Wednesday, January 10, we had the honor and joy of speaking to the Alumni of the Dean Ornish Cardiac Rehabilitation Program at St. Dominic Hospital in Jackson MS. This picture was taken prior to our Elf-speak so there are a few folks that are missing. Can you spot Your Elf?
In any event, we had a BALL! Your Elf could NOT shut up and the very responsive audience/participants kept us on our pointy toes with questions and comments. The Ornish Program for the Reversal of Heart Disease is only offered in Mississippi at St. Dominic Hospital.
This link is for informational purposes; your Elf is on board for diet-regimens that support plant-based eating. In any event, these alumni have altered their life-style to assist in their cardiac rehabilitation; this includes not only plant-based eating but also limiting fat intake. So, you can imagine the challenge of not only becoming plant-based but also counting grams of fat. But, let us tell you, these folks are doing it and they are doing it to stay healthy. Bottom line, they are committed and they are eager to learn more about options that they have and recipes that promote the goals of the program. It’s not easy but they are up for the task. So, thanks to all of you who attended, who asked great questions, who offered their stories, and who listened. A common theme of comments and questions centered around how to incorporate variety, taste, and restaurant eating without sacrificing the plant-based, low fat guidelines. So, here’s a link for an ‘Oil Free 8 Minute Marinara Sauce’ compliments of Shane and Simple.
His blog and site is also full of great healthy options, so please enjoy. There was also considerable interest in plant-based meats in an elf-fort to stay away from the typically fat laden, highly processed, and not necessarily tasty commercial plant-based meats. So, we are offering this link to an older blog featuring our preparation of The Gentle Chef’s ‘Bacun’ (always with his permission). There IS oil used in this recipe so be forewarned.
AND! LOOKEE what Your Elf learned from this meeting! Yep, an Air Fryer. These have been the rage for a while now but we’ve been a bit reluctant to try.
One of the Ornishers, Ken Roberts, raved about his, so we decided to take the plunge and get one. So, far, we’ve managed to get it out of the box and will spend considerable time this week playing with it. We Googled ‘vegan air fryer recipes’ and found dozens of resources, sites, and recipe books all using air fryers. So, we should have some fun things to share with you next week; or not. We also found another interesting and easy recipe to try using our slow cooker...’Slow Cooker Cauliflower’. We love cauliflower so this looks to be a winner. We’ll let you know!
Thursday of this week saw us (Your Elf and Big Solid) in his home town of Water Valley MS. Water Valley is a small town (maybe 3000+) that has become a showpiece of rejuvenation. It has transformed itself from a dying railroad town to thriving mecca for the arts and businesses. To show you how ‘mainstream’ plant-based eating has become, a nationally famous restaurant called ‘B.T.C.’ (Be The Change) was established in an old vacant 'Ben Franklin' store
AND they offer vegan/vegetarian options! This WONDERFUL salad, called Oh Suzanne, was a luscious combination of fresh and locally grown greens, spicy walnuts, black-eyed peas, dried cherries, crispy Brussels sprouts, and a delicious golden beet and cherry vinaigrette! It also has pickled egg and honey goat cheese but we asked that be held to make it totally plant-based.
OH SUZZANNE! It was delicious! We also received our order of a CASE of Firewalker Hot Sauce…you may remember we found this on our trip to Asheville NC this past August.
WE LOVE this sauce but it will seriously challenge your heat tolerance!! Talk about adding flavor though!! WOW!
Today, as we were checking out at the grocery store, the woman behind us commented on the amount of fresh vegetables on the conveyor with’ “Looks like there is some healthy eating there”. We responded with an enthusiastic yes and mentioned that we were/are vegan. The checker also commented that she needed to eat better, so we had a moment to share our Elf card and talk about the blog. For whatever else occurs, we hope both of these folks will read, try, and try again. Life is good!
So, we are at the end of this little bloggery today with some guilt about not having ‘fixed’ some recipes. But, hey! There are the coming weeks, so stay tuned. In the meantime, remember to always LOOK for the GOOD, be an EXAMPLE of the GOOD, and ACT for the GOOD as HARD as you can, in as MANY WAYS as you can, EVERY DAY that you can. DO EPIC!
YOUR Elf!!
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